Pumpkins!!!
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Monday, October 20, 2008
CP's birthday
Nate and I- together 10.5 years!Do it, judge me...every year I gather people I love for a few adult beverages. Yes, I plan it myself. No, I don't care if you think that is tacky. I just really like to see as many of my loved ones as I can on my birthday. It's a great time to reminisce (some of my/our best moments are always relived...that means embarrassing), we have an adult beverage or too many and just enjoy each other's company. It is also the only day during the year I can justify mixing up my worlds. For example at this year's gathering I had friends from high school, friends from college, neighbors and family- you can mix that up every day...it doesn't always work. Here are some pics...hopefully next year some of my far away loved ones can join us!
Oklahoma family- I'm talking to you!!!
Crystal and I have known each other since 10th grade and we went to college together;
her husband Eric was there too (thanks Eric!). Crystal and Eric met and started dating a few short months before Nate and I met. I was there when Crystal met Eric and Crystal was there when I met Nate...it's pretty fitting that we are back together again celebrating life!
They have two beautiful boys, Alex and Aiden.
Nate and I will be venturing to Vegas with Crystal and Eric in December.
I have known Faith since college (she was a freshmen and I was a senior), then we worked together (technically I was her boss, but she taught me my job!) and now we are neighbors and best of all friends...all done by the hands of God!
(that's her husband Andrew...he makes amazing bon fires for us!)
Jen Foster (that's Officer Foster to you) and I met in college; we occasionally lose touch, but when we see each other again we pick up right where we left off!
This is my father-in-law Dean, but I just call him Dad and my sister-in-law Danielle. I have known Danielle since she was 16 and now she is married and a mommy---
wow, time really does fly!
Life is Good! I have amazing people in my life and for that I am so grateful!
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Phillips Autumn Tradition
We value traditions. A few years ago Nate and I started the yearly tradition of gathering the Phillips Family and spending the day at Jacobson's Pine Tree Apple Orchard in White Bear Lake, MN. It has become a yearly event that we all look forward to and can't imagine missing a year at the apple orchard. Here are some of my favorite pics from yesterday's adventure.
The Fischers
6 nieces and a very patient nephew
N&C
the Phillips children
Isabelle, Mercedes and ShelbyWednesday, September 3, 2008
August 08 for Mr. & Mrs. Phillips
August was certainly a busy month for us. Full weekends, birthdays of many women and a few guys, new adventures, old and new friends and pink hair!
This month we celebrated many birthdays: Faith Rattei, Melissa Stepan, Danielle Fischer, Bekki Hince, Crystal Rademacher, Jen Foster...am I forgetting anyone- good grief! Lots of important ladies in our lives to celebrate.
We went to a fun party for Nate's sister Danielle- some of the best, quality family time we've had in a long time.
This month we celebrated many birthdays: Faith Rattei, Melissa Stepan, Danielle Fischer, Bekki Hince, Crystal Rademacher, Jen Foster...am I forgetting anyone- good grief! Lots of important ladies in our lives to celebrate.
We went to a fun party for Nate's sister Danielle- some of the best, quality family time we've had in a long time.
The SPCC (my scrapbooking club) celebrated Faith and Melissa's birthday on the 22nd with tilapia, a slushie bucket, fruit pizza...oh and I guess we scrapped a bit too.
The Ratteis and Nate and I celebrated Faith again with a magnificent sushi platter on her actual birthday, the 29th and had some quality backyard/patio time. The dogs love running with the Rattei's dog, Lucy, in the Rattei backyard- it's bigger than ours therefore many more figure eights can be accomplished.
Nate and I also ventured out to Fogo de Chao with the Rademachers to celebrate Crystal and Eric's birthday this past Sunday. Oh- it was also their youngest son's, Aiden, birthday on the 25th- same as Crystal's birthday.
I still need to schedule some time to see Jen to properly recognize her big day. Hi Jen!!! Let's talk soon :)
Sometime during the month we also hosted friends and family for the UFC fight. Our little, 1941 home held a dozen people watching the fights with good food, great laughs and the fights weren't bad either.
I have been fortunate enough to reconnect with an old friend, Shanna (Moxness) Wright. It has been so fun getting together with her and getting to know her husband, Chris. Shanna and I took a walk on the wildside and got pink highlights. She is a hard working stay at home mom and I work from home- so it was fun to rebel a bit and do something crazy just for us. I wonder if Dr. Laura would approve???
Oh- what else? I was in Iowa, at my corporate office, for some training and bonding time with my co-workers.
We, as previously mentioned many times before, have our annual Vegas trip planned so its been fun planning with the Rademachers what we want to do when we are there...we are thinking about a little indoor sky diving...yes, that's a real thing. And we will visit the Neon Boneyard again this year. Lots of planning to do so we can hopefully just throw it all out the window and be spontaneous!
So as summer wraps up we are looking forward to our favorite season, autumn, and all of the fun that comes along with it. Apple Orchards, the Down Syndrome Buddy Walk, my birthday (you know the important things), walks in the leaveson the trail, high school football, college football, any football....good times!
Life is Good.
Hope yours is too!
Much love-
N&C
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Why I'm not a Liberal...by Denis Prager
and I agree...go ahead challenge me; I can take it.
The following is a list of beliefs that I hold. Nearly every one of them was a liberal position until the late 1960s. Not one of them is now.
Such a list is vitally important in order to clarify exactly what positions divide left from right, blue from red, liberal from conservative.
I believe in American exceptionalism, meaning that (a) America has done more than any international organization or institution, and more than any other country, to improve this world; and (b) that American values (specifically, the unique American blending of Enlightenment and Judeo-Christian values) form the finest value system any society has ever devised and lived by.
I believe that the bigger government gets and the more powerful the state becomes, the greater the threat to individual liberty and the greater the likelihood that evil will ensue. In the 20th century, the powerful state, not religion, was the greatest purveyor of evil in the world.
I believe that the levels of taxation advocated by liberals render those taxes a veiled form of theft. "Give me more than half of your honestly earned money or you will be arrested" is legalized thievery.
I believe that government funding of those who can help themselves (e.g., the able-bodied who collect welfare) or who can be helped by non-governmental institutions (such as private charities, family, and friends) hurts them and hurts society.
I believe that the United States of America, from its inception, has been based on the Judeo-Christian value system, not secular Enlightenment values alone, and therefore the secularization of American society will lead to the collapse of America as a great country.
I believe that some murderers should be put death; that allowing all murderers to live does not elevate the value of human life, but mocks it, and that keeping all murderers alive trivializes the evil of murder.
I believe that the American military has done more to preserve and foster goodness and liberty on Earth than all the artists and professors in America put together.
I believe that lowering standards to admit minorities mocks the real achievements of members of those minorities.
I believe that when schools give teenagers condoms, it is understood by most teenagers as tacit approval of their engaging in sexual intercourse.
I believe that the assertions that manmade carbon emissions will lead to a global warming that will in turn bring on worldwide disaster are a function of hysteria, just as was the widespread liberal belief that heterosexual AIDS will ravage America.
I believe that marriage must remain what has been in every recorded civilization -- between the two sexes.
I believe that, whatever the reasons for entering Iraq, the American-led removal of Saddam Hussein from power will decrease the sum total of cruelty on Earth.
I believe that the trial lawyers associations and teachers unions, the greatest donors to the Democratic Party, have done great harm to American life -- far more than, let us say, oil companies and pharmaceutical companies, the targets of liberal opprobrium.
I believe that nuclear power, clean coal, and drilling in a tiny and remote frozen part of Alaska and offshore -- along with exploration of other energy alternatives such as wind and solar power -- are immediately necessary.
I believe that school vouchers are more effective than increased spending on public schools in enabling many poorer Americans to give their children better educations.
I believe that while there are racists in America, America is no longer a racist society, and that blaming disproportionate rates of black violence and out-of-wedlock births on white racism is a lie and the greatest single impediment to African-American progress.
I believe that America, which accepts and assimilates foreigners better than any other country in the world, is the least racist, least xenophobic country in the world.
I believe the leftist takeover of the liberal arts departments in nearly every American university has been an intellectual and moral calamity.
I believe that a good man and a good marriage are more important to most women's happiness and personal fulfillment than a good career.
I believe that males and females are inherently different. For example, girls naturally prefer dolls and tea sets to trucks and toy guns -- if you give a girl trucks, she is likely to give them names and take care of them, and if you give a boy trucks, he is likely to crash them into one another.
I believe that when it comes to combating the greatest evils on Earth, such as the genocide in Rwanda, the United Nations has either been useless or an obstacle.
I believe that, generally speaking, Western Europe provides social and moral models to be avoided, not emulated.
I believe that America's children were positively affected by hearing a non-denominational prayer each morning in school, and adversely affected by the removal of all prayer from school.
I believe that liberal educators' removal of school uniforms and/or dress codes has had a terrible impact on students and their education.
I believe that bilingual education does not work, that for the sake of immigrant children and for the sake of the larger society, immersion in the language of the country, meaning English in America, is mandatory.
I believe that English should be declared the national language, and that ballots should not be printed in any language other than English. If one cannot understand English, one is probably not sufficiently knowledgeable to vote intelligently in an English-speaking country.
Finally, I believe that there are millions of Americans who share most of these beliefs who still call themselves "liberal" or "progressive" and who therefore vote Democrat. They do so because they still identify liberalism with pre-1970 liberalism or because they are emotionally attached to the word "liberal."
I share that emotion. But one should vote based on values, not emotions.
The following is a list of beliefs that I hold. Nearly every one of them was a liberal position until the late 1960s. Not one of them is now.
Such a list is vitally important in order to clarify exactly what positions divide left from right, blue from red, liberal from conservative.
I believe in American exceptionalism, meaning that (a) America has done more than any international organization or institution, and more than any other country, to improve this world; and (b) that American values (specifically, the unique American blending of Enlightenment and Judeo-Christian values) form the finest value system any society has ever devised and lived by.
I believe that the bigger government gets and the more powerful the state becomes, the greater the threat to individual liberty and the greater the likelihood that evil will ensue. In the 20th century, the powerful state, not religion, was the greatest purveyor of evil in the world.
I believe that the levels of taxation advocated by liberals render those taxes a veiled form of theft. "Give me more than half of your honestly earned money or you will be arrested" is legalized thievery.
I believe that government funding of those who can help themselves (e.g., the able-bodied who collect welfare) or who can be helped by non-governmental institutions (such as private charities, family, and friends) hurts them and hurts society.
I believe that the United States of America, from its inception, has been based on the Judeo-Christian value system, not secular Enlightenment values alone, and therefore the secularization of American society will lead to the collapse of America as a great country.
I believe that some murderers should be put death; that allowing all murderers to live does not elevate the value of human life, but mocks it, and that keeping all murderers alive trivializes the evil of murder.
I believe that the American military has done more to preserve and foster goodness and liberty on Earth than all the artists and professors in America put together.
I believe that lowering standards to admit minorities mocks the real achievements of members of those minorities.
I believe that when schools give teenagers condoms, it is understood by most teenagers as tacit approval of their engaging in sexual intercourse.
I believe that the assertions that manmade carbon emissions will lead to a global warming that will in turn bring on worldwide disaster are a function of hysteria, just as was the widespread liberal belief that heterosexual AIDS will ravage America.
I believe that marriage must remain what has been in every recorded civilization -- between the two sexes.
I believe that, whatever the reasons for entering Iraq, the American-led removal of Saddam Hussein from power will decrease the sum total of cruelty on Earth.
I believe that the trial lawyers associations and teachers unions, the greatest donors to the Democratic Party, have done great harm to American life -- far more than, let us say, oil companies and pharmaceutical companies, the targets of liberal opprobrium.
I believe that nuclear power, clean coal, and drilling in a tiny and remote frozen part of Alaska and offshore -- along with exploration of other energy alternatives such as wind and solar power -- are immediately necessary.
I believe that school vouchers are more effective than increased spending on public schools in enabling many poorer Americans to give their children better educations.
I believe that while there are racists in America, America is no longer a racist society, and that blaming disproportionate rates of black violence and out-of-wedlock births on white racism is a lie and the greatest single impediment to African-American progress.
I believe that America, which accepts and assimilates foreigners better than any other country in the world, is the least racist, least xenophobic country in the world.
I believe the leftist takeover of the liberal arts departments in nearly every American university has been an intellectual and moral calamity.
I believe that a good man and a good marriage are more important to most women's happiness and personal fulfillment than a good career.
I believe that males and females are inherently different. For example, girls naturally prefer dolls and tea sets to trucks and toy guns -- if you give a girl trucks, she is likely to give them names and take care of them, and if you give a boy trucks, he is likely to crash them into one another.
I believe that when it comes to combating the greatest evils on Earth, such as the genocide in Rwanda, the United Nations has either been useless or an obstacle.
I believe that, generally speaking, Western Europe provides social and moral models to be avoided, not emulated.
I believe that America's children were positively affected by hearing a non-denominational prayer each morning in school, and adversely affected by the removal of all prayer from school.
I believe that liberal educators' removal of school uniforms and/or dress codes has had a terrible impact on students and their education.
I believe that bilingual education does not work, that for the sake of immigrant children and for the sake of the larger society, immersion in the language of the country, meaning English in America, is mandatory.
I believe that English should be declared the national language, and that ballots should not be printed in any language other than English. If one cannot understand English, one is probably not sufficiently knowledgeable to vote intelligently in an English-speaking country.
Finally, I believe that there are millions of Americans who share most of these beliefs who still call themselves "liberal" or "progressive" and who therefore vote Democrat. They do so because they still identify liberalism with pre-1970 liberalism or because they are emotionally attached to the word "liberal."
I share that emotion. But one should vote based on values, not emotions.
Thursday, August 7, 2008
The Neon Boneyard
the letters that make up the word TRUST were rearranged from the Stardust signHere are some of our favorite photos from the Neon Boneyard. The boneyard consists of abadoned and donated neon signs from up and down the Vegas Strip as well as Downtown Vegas (original Vegas). The boneyard is a pretty well kept secret, it is located on the northern end of Las Vegas Blvd and if you drove past you'd never know that this historical collection of old Vegas signs is hiding behind some very tall fence. Occasionally you can get a glimpse of items that are in the boneyard in television and music videos: CSI (Vegas, of course), Carrie Underwood's "I Don't Know My Last Name" video and Jason Aldean's "Johnny Cash" video just to name a few.
SIN from the word CASINO
The Horseshoe's "H"
Wedding chapel sign- it is Vegas after all!
this "W" appeared on CSI in a crime scene, of course, as a "dead body" lay underneath it
from the Stardust sign
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Ahhh...Vegas
We finally booked Vegas for December. We usually book in March or April but with me not working we thought we better wait; unfortunatley that also meant we had to pay a bit more- but it wasn't too bad. Especially since it's the only vacation we'll be taking this year.
Vegas- the ultimate adult amusement park and escape from reality that we need once a year. The strip is 3.3 miles long and is full of amazing food, great shows, (not so great shows), street entertainers, night clubs, gambling, alchohol, interactive attractions (i.e. NYNY roller coaster), people watching and shopping.
We'll be gone December 10th-15th and the Rademachers are going with us this year! They've been to Vegas a few times before so we think it will be interesting mesh our fav places and see where we end up. Crystal and I really want to go and see Jubilee; it's one of the last real Vegas show girl shows. However, I'd be happy to take in a Cirque show or a comedian instead- I'm not picky. I think we'll partake in the New York New York roller coaster. Crystal, Eric and Nate have "enjoyed" this ride before but I am a virgin NYNY roller coaster rider. I do not care for rides, especially roller coasters, however I don't want to be the dud of the group so I will fall to the peer pressure and take the ride.
(you can see the roller coaster in the above photo- it's the crazy red curvy mess of metal tracks)My favorite part of Vegas, besides the yummy food, is the Bellagio fountain. I took this photo on my 29th birthday while the water moved to "Luck be a Lady" by Frank Sinatra. It was exactly how I wanted to spend my 29th birthday- it was one of those perfect moments. Nate and I had a great dinner at Mon Ami Gabi at the Paris Hotel, the weather was amazing and to top it all off they play the fountains to a Sinatra song- ideal!
Upon our return I'll be sure to post photos from our adventures; but in the meantime I will post some of our favorites over the 8 times we've been in the last 6 years to help the countdown pass for us.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)