We got a new couch!!

First off - let me introduce you to the muscles: my father and husband.

OUT WITH THE OLD:

AND IN WITH THE NEW:

Is it okay to be in love with a piece of furniture? I just can't help myself! I'm still trying to find the perfect rug and accent pillows. And.. if you couldn't tell, we obviously need a bulb and lampshade for that $2.50 lamp I picked up. But we have all winter to take care of the smaller details... right? 

Our One-Year Anniversary Adventure

Well... our one year anniversary went completely opposite of what I was expecting. 

I think excited is an understatement of how much I was looking forward to our island vacation in the middle of a huge lake in northern MN. It was the first time I ever had a fishing license, and I got new rain gear to prepare for the forecasted rainy day in our four-day trip.

We started off two hours behind on Wednesday evening, since the trailer lights decided to not work as soon as we were ready to take off. Since we knew we wouldn't want to boat to an island and set up camp in the dark, Chase had offered to take care of our sleeping arrangements on Wednesday night. I didn't find out where we were actually staying, until we arrived, since there were so many signs for different places as we kept driving, (houseboats, cabins, hotels, motels, etc.) and I really didn't care since I knew we would be sleeping under a roof that night. Chase booked a room at the Fortune Bay Casino right on Lake Vermillion, which we arrived at around 11:30. So we unloaded our essentials, grabbed a couple of beers, and headed to the casino. Chase played blackjack for about 20 minutes, won $65, while I played a couple of slot machines and lost $6. Go figure. I nagged Chase to stop playing, so he wouldn't lose any of our winnings, and we headed back to our room. It was pretty nice getting one last shower in and a comfy, warm bed before heading off into the wilderness.

Thursday morning, we got up around 11:00, grabbed some coffee and bagels at the hotel's Tim Horton's cafe, and took off for Lake Kabetogama. We arrived at the landing around 12:30, with the weather being absolutely amazing - it was sunny, warm, no wind, and a whole lot of lake. Chase loaded up the boat while I filled jugs of water. We opened up the lake map, and took off to find an available campsite. The first island we landed on had tons of raspberry bushes, so obviously I fell in love with it. However, Chase didn't like the openness of the area, so we ventured to the second island. This island was where Chase typically stayed at, so I wasn't a huge fan of re-living his past experiences since this was our anniversary trip and we needed to make our own memories - not re-live his. Fortunately, the campsite was already spoken for, and we ventured to our third island which became the final destination. It was so private, peaceful, and beautiful. 

We set up camp as quickly as we could, explored a little while finding campfire wood, and then took off for the first round of fishing. And.. we caught nothing. We didn't even have any bites. Which was fine, since it was so beautiful and I loved the scenery and stillness of everything. And the loons... oh man.. there were loons all around us, singing.. ahhh. it was beautiful. After a few hours of boating around, we headed back to camp, made an incredible steak and potato dinner, and sat around all night talking with each other and staring at the millions of stars. Unfortunately, the northern lights didn't want to make an appearance, but we did see about 10 falling stars. 

Thursday morning, we got up and made some coffee and tea, and boiled water for our luxurious oatmeal breakfast. Seriously.. I love camping. Especially waking up, making a bonfire, and sitting around in the wilderness with a mug of hot tea. Ugh... take me back now. Anyways.. Chase started sniffling about this time, but his allergies have normal flare-ups and it wasn't a big issue. We decided it was either the sleeping bag, which had been in our moldy Mound basement, or the algae-filled lake water which he hopped in to on Friday. But... he didn't want it to ruin our day. So we packed some snacks and ventured off for another round of fishing. This is when all sickness broke loose. Chase's nose started running constantly, he was sneezing, and his eyes were watering like a waterfall. It was bad. Really, really bad. We headed back to our island so Chase could take a nap, and we could make a quick lunch. After an hour or so, we ventured off to another part of the lake for the third round of fishing. This round actually became our lucky one - Chase caught three walleye and I caught one. Unfortunately, they were in the size range that you can't keep.. which I think is ridiculous and all I wanted was to eat one. But rules are rules and I guess we are good people. Chase was feeling pretty crummy, so we headed back to our island to make a brat and bean dinner. Chase took another nap, while I fished off the rocks and managed to get my lure snagged so I had to get Chase to come down and assist my amateur-ness. After about an hour, we chatted and finally made the decision to call it quits.

It was getting dark out and we knew it was supposed to storm, so we rushed to tear down camp and loaded everything into the boat. It probably looked like chaos, but we did it and made it back to the landing right as the sun disappeared for good and the darkness rolled in. We had no plans.. nowhere to stay, and it was probably 10:00 or so. We stopped at the first hotel, and were offered one of two suites for $200. No. Thank you. So we pulled out of the parking lot and pulled over on the side of the road to discuss what to do. A nice gentleman immediately stopped for us, asked us if we needed help, and informed us he didn't know of anywhere to stay. So we kept on. After a few phone calls with "sorry, we are booked" responses, I finally managed to book a room in Hibbing. We made a pit-stop at the Wal-Mart in Virginia, MN, which apparently had just opened. If I hadn't known it was 11:00pm, I would have thought it was 3:00 in the afternoon. Apparently this was the place to be, for babies through the elderly - the place was hopping. I was crabby, and advised Chase on a couple different allergy/sinus medicines to get, and we took off. When we arrived around 11:30, I walked in to check in to the room. After about 15 minutes, the gentlemen couldn't get the room key machine to work, so he finally gave up and told us that he would just open up our room for us. So.. we never got a key. Which was fine, since we would be staying in our room until we checked out. 

After a hot shower and an okay night of rest, we headed down to the continental breakfast. And by continental breakfast, I mean some cereal, toast, and a couple of dried up clementines. Also, there was a decorative plate hanging from the wall that had a picture of snowmen on it and in the snow, with snowflakes, it read "welcome friends." So.. there's that. It's August.

We loaded up the truck, and drove to the gas station. Chase felt a little bit better, while being medicated, so we decided to drive to Ely. I love that little town, and we really had nothing else to do. I also had Mukluks on my mind, and have really wanted them for about four years now. But, the price and the long drive to the small town kept delaying my ownership of those incredible boots. I took over the wheel, since Chase was basically falling asleep driving and couldn't stop sneezing or blowing his nose. It was an adventure - I learned to pull a boat on windy, hilly roads... I could tell that Chase was nervous. But, I was in charge now, and that was that. After a few hours, we made it to Ely and parked right across the Mukluk store, and that was when Chase informed me that was the only reason we went to the town - to get me Mukluk boots! I was pretty stoked, and walked right up to the sales lady and asked for the boot I wanted in my size. We only stayed about 10 minutes, since I pretty much knew exactly what I wanted. The town was hopping, and there was a Blues Fest up the road, which we tried searching for but the signage was horrible and we found out it was about 15 miles out of town. Since Chase was feeling super cruddy, we decided to head off to Duluth. Chase was behind the wheel at this point, so I did some research to see what events we were going to encounter in Duluth. Turns out, there was a huge bicycle race and antique car show going on. After a few phone calls to hotels (along with one lady laughing at me), we found out every hotel and motel was booked for the night. We stopped at a marina and contemplated putting the boat in. While being kicked off of one of the docks, we chatted with the employee about the weather and what the swell was like. She said she saw a "tiny 19-foot boat even go out," so it must not be too bad....our boat is 17-feet. We didn't tell her that though. 

We walked around a little more, watched some scuba-divers, and chatted about why we haven't contemplated selling everything and living the marina life. And then I remembered we have student loans and that was the end of that conversation. Walking back to the truck, Chase let me know that he was feeling really, really sick. So, we drove to Duluth, traded seats at a gas station, and I drove us home while Chase slept in the passenger seat. It sucked. I cried. But, it was probably for the better. It didn't help that the entire time I just kept thinking about how we were supposed to be on the lake. We had plans for Saturday to boat over to a different lake, and Chase had told me all about the 30-foot cliffs and the run-down sweet bar we were going to grab lunch and some drinks at. So. I was bummed. Chase kept apologizing and letting me know how pissed he was, and I couldn't say anything otherwise I would have burst into tears in front of him and I didn't want him to know how upset I was and make him feel even worse. So, I kept my mouth shut and just nodded in agreement.

We finally made it home around 4:00. We unloaded the majority of our stuff, and Chase loaded up with medicine and went off to bed. I stayed up, watching movies, knitting, and drank my sorrows away with wine. I felt I deserved a little pity party, since, well you know.. everything.

We woke up on Sunday around 10:30, said our "Happy Anniversaries" to each other, and headed downstairs. Chase settled in on the couch and I started to clean the house and unpack everything. I couldn't stop moving otherwise I would start crying. When I finally got super upset and broke down while hanging up clothes in my closet, I jumped in the shower to relax for a bit. Afterwards, I made a sandwich and settled in on the couch with Chase. We watched a couple of Robin Williams movies, and then transitioned into our regular Netflix shows. Around dinner time, Chase made grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup. We were supposed to be driving home from Duluth and going out for sushi on our actual anniversary day. But, instead, we had our first meal at our new {used} dining table (which my parents had put in our house while we were away, so I guess that was kind of exciting.. our first dining table dinner together...). 

We went to bed around 10:30 and that was that. Happy one year anniversary! I'm just praying that no one gets sick on my birthday... which is the next time we took vacation time off from work. 

I am happy that no one got {seriously} injured on our trip, and we made it there and back safely. I am also incredibly happy to be blessed with such an amazing husband, even if he gets sick a ton and a simple cold completely wipes him out. I was constantly reminding myself of how marriage isn't about me, it's about us and putting our spouse before ourselves. And God seriously reminded me of that on our one-year anniversary. Luckily, we have a lifetime of anniversaries in our future and thousands of days to remind ourselves and each other how much we love our marriage and each other. There's still no one else I'd rather have spent August 17th with, even if it didn't go as planned. And honestly, we haven't had a relaxing, lazy, movie day since May. So... it was a much needed date. And it probably helped that he still looks smoking hot even being all sick and sporting sweatpants and a hoodie.

I AM looking forward to our sushi make-up date that is on hold until the sickness subsides. At least I'll be able to wear a dress now instead of comfy, smelly camping attire.

One Year Anniversary

Wow... I can't believe it's been ONE YEAR since I married the man of my dreams. We have been through an incredible amount of life adventures in this past year, it makes me so, so, so excited for everything in our future. When we said our vows a year ago, I never thought the very first year would bring us through all of it - sickness, health, richer, and poorer. But I wouldn't have changed any second of it. Being able to go through some of the most difficult times and best times with your life partner, gives you two an unimaginable bond that is simply one of the most beautiful things ever. I thought I knew that man so well on our wedding.. but looking back, I feel like I barely knew him compared to the incredible, strong, intelligent, courageous, humorous, loving man I know today. We are currently spending our one year anniversary on a five-day camping/fishing trip in Northern MN. Being on a huge lake sprinkled with islands and no cell-phone service, just enjoying each other and our marriage, is absolutely perfect. Oh, and of course there's wine.

I love you Chase Mastel. One year down and so many more to go.