Wild - Thanksgiving - Snow

The day before Thanksgiving the Moen's and the Fuglestad's went to the 2nd annual Flyer's vs Wild game. Dane's best friend Troy loves the Flyers. Last year Troy, his wife (my friend) Rachel and I went to the game. This year Dane got to join in on our tradition! We had a great time and the Flyer's won. Troy loved it!



The next day we hosted our 1st holiday! It happened to be my favorite holiday too! I made a 20 lb turkey, too many potatoes, just enough gravy, and all the other fixings. My parents, the Moen's, my brother Eric, Dane and I all ate a delicious turkey dinner!

Just before Thanksgiving Day Dane and I went to Home Depot and bought a real tree. This is my first real Christmas tree. I have to admit it really smells amazing! (I am a total neat freak so the pine needles on the floor are something I have to get used to constantly cleaning up.) It is a massive tree but that is exactly what Dane wanted since he really didn't have a tree last year in Kosovo.

This weekend it snowed. It started Friday night. We went over to our dear friends, the Reberg's, to watch their two cutie pies while they attended a block Christmas party. (How fun!) We really enjoyed spending time with their kiddos! The snow started flying about 10pm Friday night and didn't quit until about 10pm Saturday night. Good thing we stocked up on supplies because there was no way we could get out! It was awesome to be "stuck" inside! We napped, snacked, watched movies, and stayed warm! Sunday morning we decided to dig ourselves out!
This is my first time ever running a snow blower!

That's right 21 inches of snow to blow out!

We have been keeping busy and have lots of plans coming up. I am going to start practicing my new years resolution now.....take more pictures!

Hope everyone had a safe winter weekend!

Dear Oven,

As you know the holidays are approaching. I am going to be using you alot. I need to make cookies, banana bread, a 20lb turkey, green been casserole, and maybe even a couple of pizzas. I know this sounds like alot and I would greatly appreciate if it all turned out perfectly.
Thanks for your help,

Jamie Fuglestad



P.S. The weather sounds just nasty so everyone please travel safely and smartly! If it is too bad, don't drive. Pack a survival kit. Bring blankets, phone chargers, and whatever else you can think of!!

Crazy to Calm

I took a step back the other day.


I reflected on the last couple years of our lives and reviewed the craziness that it was.


There were lots of changes, emotions, tears, laughs, ups, downs, weddings, a house, a deployment, and all that happened in between.


No wonder I feel like I am forgetting to do something or make myself feel rushed for no reason. It was starting to become normal for things to be just absolutely NUTS. No countdown to be obsessing about, nothing big to plan, no major tasks to tackle, or no monumental changes coming up.

Time to take a step forward, RELAX, and enjoy life. Feel ok with normal life. Get a normal routine.

This weekend we will be heading to the Fuglestad's to begin the holidays. Dane hasn't been back to Hope (his hometown) since he returned from Kosovo. We are really looking forward to seeing his family! I am most excited that we will be having two Thanksgivings this year since it is my favorite holiday!

I am seriously in the holiday spirit this year. We are having my parents and one of my brothers over for Thanksgiving at our house. I already bought the turkey and most everything else. I can't wait for the house to fill with the smells of the holiday meal and be filled with family.

We hope everyone enjoys the beginning to the holiday season. May you all have safe travels, good food, good company, and remembering all we have to be thankful for!

So, I can't hardly end this post without a list. Let me count all of my blessings and appreciate all I have to be thankful for.

1. my families. Dane. His family. My family. All of our friends. Our military family.
2. jobs.
3. our home.
4. health.
5. that my husband is home for the holidays and the every days!

nesting

i love love love this weather. i love the leaves but not racking them. i love putting on extra layers of clothes. i love baking. i love the crisp clean air. football! i am in my glory.
something about this time of year makes me want to nest and prep for hibernation. i am extra excited this year because of the house.
this weekend i am going to paint one of the bedrooms and i can't wait! home improvement rocks. i love it!

dane has drill this weekend and will be gone from thursday-sunday. this is our first few days apart since he has come home 3 months ago. not going to lie i am going to miss him!

some sad news. three's company will be ending our run next weekend. our little nicole is moving back to fargo to be closer to her family and we are really going to miss her. the three of us have had a blast living together. dane and i owe her a ton for all she has done for us. she was really my guiding light while dane was gone and i could never begin to fully repay her for that.

B U S Y

I don't know how else I could begin to explain why I haven't blogged in almost 3 months. WOW! I wonder if I have any faithful readers left that have a shred of hope that I would return to my long sentenced, list filled, ramblings of a blog.

I will offer a list of excuses of why I haven't blogged.

1. We have not been home for one weekend since Dane has arrived home. We've been at weddings, drill weekends, camping, so on and so forth.

Don't get me wrong. We have had a blast! Go...go....go. That is how we roll I guess.

2.Our wedding. HOLY MOLY is there a lot involved with a wedding. I attempted to get the majority of it done before Dane got home but there were SO many little things that came up. If you have planned a wedding you know exactly what I am talking about.

Our wedding was last weekend and it was PERFECT and these are the reasons why.... (in no particular order)

1. family

2. friends

3. weather

4. family

5. friends

We enjoyed the weekend from start to finish! Our wedding party and families arrived Friday for a rehearsal and grooms dinner. There was a taco bar and lots of good conversation. We headed to the bar near the hotel for a night cap and to catch up with friends who traveled near and far. We are so lucky to have people care about us enough to make the trip and spend that time with us!

I woke up at 7:00am and was TIRED but started to get ready for the day. I sliced open my arm pit while shaving and was bleeding like crazy. That healed up fine THANK heavens! The bridesmaids and I got our hair done. We had a little lunch that my wonderful parents served up and headed out to the lake for pictures. The I do's were said and then off to the reception we went. The food was delicious, the weather was perfect, and we were surrounded by the people we love.

Dane and Willis Fuglestad

(No rest for us. We have gotten busy on the house. More blogging to come. I PROMISE!)

Home Sweet Home

Back together again! No more Skype. No more time difference. No more wishing the time away. He's home!!

On Friday 7/23/10 Dane finally landed at about 8:30am! My buddy Lisa took this picture and I had no idea until she posted it on Facebook! I am so glad she captured this moment for us!

We got into the car and drove into our driveway TOGETHER! We looked around the house and already began to make plans on how we could make it OURS!

We immediately made a trip to Menards and Target. Hours after Dane got home he set up the firepit and the grill. As he did that I mowed the lawn! Its like we assummed our roles immediately!

Dane's dad made the trip down and stayed with us Friday night and we had fun just hanging out.

Saturday Dane and I went shopping for clothes (and didn't buy any). We were right next to Slumberland and decided to step in and "just check it out." Well, one hour later, a new couch (for the man cave), a dining room table, and a much needed dresser for our bedroom we headed home. We had a nice night on a patio at a local resturant as well! (I have been imaging that for approx. one year!)

Sunday we went to the pool and then went to work on the house! Seriously, we did some work!

I went back to work on Monday and man would I rather be at home with him this week but I will take what I can get! :)

He has been busy painting and doing man stuff around the house. I can't wait to show you the changes!!

Thank you again for all of your support, prayers, packages, emails, phone calls, and thoughts. We are truly blessed to have such supportive and awesome people in our lives!!

THE FUGLESTADS

I feel.......

EXCITED to run up to him at the airport!

ANXIOUS to pull into our driveway and have him carry me over the threshold!
(usually done after a wedding but hey, I want to do it now!)

INPATIENT for Friday to come! The days are crawling to say the least.

PROUD of all Dane has done for me and our country!

CHOKED UP when I think about all we've been through, all we've accomplished, and how much we've grown closer in the last year. Seriously, what a year it has been.

THANKFUL for the support. Family, friends and co-workers. Without each and everyone one of you we wouldn't be where we are now.

APPRECIATIVE for the calls, emails, packages, and prayers. I owe a lot to some special people to me who just called to see how I was doing, just to chit chat to keep my mind off missing my guy, and just gave me a listening ear.

LUCKY to have people who really care about me. I am lucky to have such an awesome parents, sister-in-law, roommate, good girl friends, co-workers, and fellow Army wives. The list goes on! The most important person I feel lucky to have is Dane! I can't tell you enough how much of a support he was for me and he was the one who was over there! I hope that I was just as much for him!


Its almost Friday.....about 50 hours away!

Sgt. Fuglestad has landed!

That's right! He is stateside!
At 8:00 last night I got a text message from him and one from the military that said, "KFOR 12 soliders have landed on U.S. soil!"

I paced around the house waiting for some contact from him last night. Just to know he is just a flight away, in the same country, close to the same time zone, within my reach!

He is at Camp Atterbury until sometime on Friday for demoblization. Friday is the day we are back together again! Eeeekkkkkkkk! This is what my head has sounded like since I heard they landed!

4 sleeps until my solider is home with me!

30 days (give or take)

One month.
Four weeks.
However you want to put it.
DANE WILL FINALLY BE HOME!
I recently read a quote that said "We may not have it all together but together we have it all."
In 30ish days we will have it all. We will have each other back. I can't wait for the little things. Just being together. Just being us.

I can't wait to go to dinner or a movie or shopping (even for groceries!)

I can't wait make travel plans. I can't wait to go visit our family and friends together.


I can't wait for a hug and a kiss. I can't wait to lay on the couch together.
I can't wait for our morning hugs. Nothing starts my day better.

Dane is my rock. He treats me like a queen and I am so lucky to have him as my husband. It amazes me that after almost a year apart I feel closer to him than ever before.

So in honor of the remaining 30 days here are my 30 things I can't wait for!

1. Dane coming home (obvious, I know)

2. OUR WEDDING (eeek it is exactly 100 days away!)

3. Picking Dane up from the airport

4. Working on the house together

5. Date night

6. A hug and a kiss

7. Going on a little trip (hint hint Dane!)

8. Our first BBQ at the house

9. DMB concert

10. Cooking and cleaning up after him (the excitement of that won't last long! LOL)

11. Spending time with family and friends together

12. Laying on the couch and watch TV together

13. Buying bikes and riding on the trails by our house

14. painting the house

15. morning hugs

16. having someone here to scratch my back (both literally and figuratively)

17. being in the same time zone and continent too

18. to yell honey I am home

19. having him on his side of the bed

20. not having to get a ladder to reach the high stuff

21. to call him at work and ask what he wants for supper

22. to be picked on (i.e. pit rockets, foot swipes)

23. to tell him how he likes his meat cooked (he never remembers...its medium well)

24. to have him fetch me a diet dr pepper when I am comfy on the couch

25. to know he is back in the United States

26. to see his cell number pop up on my phone

27. just live everyday life together

28. continue to dream big

29. show him how much I appreciate and love him

30. to hold my hand

Seriously soaked!

There was a shower last weekend and it was a soaker!
My aunt Lynn, cousin Laura, and some of my mom's wonderful friends threw a shower for me in Chokio on Saturday last weekend.
I am tearing up now just thinking about the genorosity of those who came from both near and far (my aunt Laurie from Iowa attended!). It was wonderful to see everyone and I was sad that I wasn't able to visit with all of the ladies that attended and gave such useful and thoughtful gifts.

We offically move into the house this Saturday and now I better start channelling my inner Martha Stewart, Betty Crocker, Rachel Ray, or any other domestic figure.
I can't wait to make this house into our home and all of those that gave us something helped me make a great home for Dane to come home to.

We are about 45 days (and counting) until Dane finally comes home and I CAN'T WAIT!
There is so much to look forward from now until he comes home. Maybe I will just make a little list of those things since I love lists so much!
-Movers come this weekend to move the "big stuff"
-Mya's wedding in Fargo on the 19th! (SO EXCITED!)
-Our friend Shawn & Tiffany's wedding the 25th
-Fourth of July!
-Our niece and nephew's birthday party July 10th
-Rachel's bachelorette party July 17th
-DANE COMES HOME!!!!

I need to keep busy because I am already SO anxious and excited for him to just get home already!

THANK YOU AGAIN to all of those who put on the shower, attended the shower, and thought of us. Your genorosity and thoughtfulness is much appreciated!

The Fuglestad Residence

Today was the big day! Closing day!
The house is offically ours! We took this picture in front of the sold sign (which we are blocking quite well) before we even put the offer in!

It looks so different without their stuff in it and I already am imagining how we will make this our own.

We have been planning for a long time to get a house and things couldn't have gone more smoothly. I give tons of credit to Dane for being such a huge part of this whole process all the way from Kosovo.

We are looking forward to Dane coming home to our house in about 58 days!

We hope everyone has a safe and enjoyable Memorial Weekend.

13.1 Miles

On Mother's Day Dane ran his first 1/2 marathon!! He completed the 13.1 miles in one hour and 42 minutes! Not only was this his first 1/2 marathon but it was an international marathon!

It was on the streets of Prishtina in Kosovo and he said it was the most amazing thing he has ever done. Thousands of people from all over the world participated and he said there was a lady from Chicago that runs this marathon often.



There were about 20 people that took part in the various runs. What an awesome accomplishment!

He said the streets of the city were so amazing to look at. I am jealous. What a cool thing to have experienced!

Dane and I both have bucket lists. This year he ran a 1/2 marathon and the only thing I checked off my list was ride a mechanical bull. I think we can all agree his accomplishment was much more impressive!

We are getting really excited to close on the house and VERY EXCITED for Dane to come home!

May 2, 2009

May 2nd, 2009

It was a sunny but chilly Saturday. We woke up that morning and got ready to....get married!

Our parents came down to the cities for our 12:00 wedding at the Government Center in Downtown Minneapolis. It was a whirlwind of a morning. Trying to figure out how to get there and to be on time! (Isn't that some type of wedding jingle!?)

We had the option of doing the ceremony in the judges chambers or in the court room. Honestly the judges chambers were really messy and I always pictured that a courthouse wedding would happen in a courthouse!

It was a 10 minute ceremony and the judge had some wonderful words to say about marriage. It came time for us to say our vows. Dane went first and didn't fumble once but when it was my turn the judge prompted me to say my vows and I went ahead of him once!

He then pronounced us Mr and Mrs Fuglestad!

Sunday will be May 2, 2010 and I am so proud to be married to the love of my life. I can't wait for October 2nd, 2010 to walk down the aisle and have our union blessed in the church and celebrate with our family and friends.

Happy one year anniversary babes!

Thumbs Up

Happy Birthday Dane!!

The 19th was Dane's birthday! I talked to him and it sounds like he had a pretty good day. He really doesn't like to celebrate or let alone acknowledge that it is his birthday. So I will keep my singing to a minimum. Happy Birthday to you. Happy Birthday to you. Happy Birthday dear Dane. Happy Birthday to you!

Since Dane has left I have had a couple of days where I haven't been so positive. We have so much to be positive about that sometimes I have to remind myself of what is to come. Some of the other army gals told me how much harder it has been when their soldiers went back after leave and.....they were right. It is only about 14 more weeks left yes but that is just 14 weeks to many!

I like to make lists. They are like therapy to me. So, here I am doing some "blogging therapy" via a thumbs up list.



1. We close on the house in 34 days....Thumbs Up!

2. My good buddy Lisa for being such an awesome support system....Thumbs Up!

3. Dane won a Physical Fitness Award with a score of 275.....Thumbs Up!

4. I am going to pick up my wedding dress this weekend.....Thumbs Up!

5. Dane and I will celebrate our anniversary in 10 days......Thumbs Up!

6. Dane is one more day closer to coming home.....Thumbs Up!

7. My good friend Mya's wedding and showers coming up in May and June.....Thumbs Up!





We just want to give everyone a big Thumbs Up for being such awesome support. Whether it is a thought, prayer, phone call, card, or package. We truly feel blessed to have such wonderful people in our lives and don't know if we could ever repay you all for that.

All our love and appreciation
Dane and Jamie

14674 Dunbar Ct.

In 46 days we will own this perfect little home on Dunbar Court. We can't wait!
While Dane was home we took a day to go house hunting and were hoping to find our house that day and we did. We looked at approx 12 houses. We loved the first house we looked at and compared every other house to that one. Then we looked at this house. We loved it from the minute we pulled into the neighborhood. It is on a cul-de-sac and there is a park on both sides of the cul-de-sac.
It has 4 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, a great "man cave" for Dane in the basement to fill up with electronics, TONS of storage, and an awesome backyard.
We can't wait to make this house our home. I will post pics once we make it our own. It is so hard to tell with pictures so you will just have to come over and have a visit!

The outside of the the house. I can't wait to hang some plants and x-mas lights!
The second living room on the main level. The kitchen and dinning room are all long this area.

My area....the KITCHEN! I love it but we will someday redo it!

The back of the house from the park. It is huge and we can wait to play yard games out there!
As you can see there is no deck but this is actually awesome....we can built what we want!

Dane will get to come home to this house when he finally gets home in either late July or August. I am keeping busy getting ready to close on the house and move as well as keeping on task with the wedding stuff.

Hope everyone is enjoying the green grass after this rain....I am enjoying it now but soon I will have to mow it!

BEST 10 DAYS EVER!!!

BEST TEN DAYS EVER (Well actually it was 10 days and an extra 4 hours!)

Saturday night ( this is where the extra four hours came in)
Dane's parents, Nicole, and I drove to the airport and anxiously awaited Dane's arrival. I ran up to him (a smaller more muscular version of him since I had seen him last) and hugged him. This was the best feeling in the world!
Sunday we spent the day at the Mall of America and ate some great food and drove by some prospective houses with his parents. Dane's parents tried sushi for the first time, we walked lots and ate some more!
Monday I went to work and Dane went to the dentist. (maybe this day wasn't the best ever)
Tuesday I worked and Dane spent the day with his parents. That night we met with our relator and made a house hunting plan.
Wednesday we shopped for houses ALL day long and ended up putting an offer on an house and.......THEY ACCEPTED!!!! I will blog more about this later but we are SO excited to move into our house! :)
Thursday we got our engagment pics done (see above)! It was a blast!! That afternoon we went to the meat raffle and WON! A lot of Dane's co-workers came out and we had so much fun visiting with them all.
Friday was DATE DAY. We went browsing for house stuff and started to chat about paint colors and deck options and flooring ideas...the list goes on. We enjoyed our favorite Mexican food at this awesome resturant near our new house (major bonus that is is close to our house!) Friday night we went swimming with Dane's sister's family. It was so fun to swim with the kiddos and catch up with Dane's sister and her husband!
Saturday we went swimming again and spent some time with my parents. Saturday night was a night out on the town with some great friends
Sunday we went to the Como Zoo with Nicole and took a much needed nap!
Monday and Tuesday were more days filled with house stuff and soaking up some time together!
Today I dropped Dane off at the airport. This goodbye sucked (for lack of a better word) but we have 4 months until he comes back home to our new house!
We will push ahead and keep looking forward.
Hoppy Easter everyone!

Traveling Soldier

I miss my traveling soldier.....his leave can't come fast enough. 17 more sleeps until he lands in Minneapolis!

I have been keeping busy with wedding stuff and spending time with my friends. Last weekend I went to Fargo and we had our annual PTT (Post Thanksgiving Thanksgiving) It is a tradition we started about 7 years ago. I love Thanksgiving (I think I have spoke of this ALOT) and love my friends like family so I thought we needed to celebrate together. I made a turkey and all that goes with Thanksgiving that first year and now every year we get together, cook a turkey, play games and catch up. This year we had two babies attend our party...what a great addition to our party! :)

These girls below are the Fab Four. We have been friends since the first day of college and have remained just as close over the years. We have gotten to share so many memories together from weddings to engagements to babies!

Everyone enjoying the food and good cheers!

My traveling soldier....

Dane has been keeping busy going on missions, working out, looking for houses, and working on some wedding stuff! He has been going on more missions than at the beginning because they have made some changes as to which companies are doing what assignments. The weather has been warmer than here and it sounds like Dane had some allergies or a cold from the rain they got.

He and I are really looking forward to his leave! Just to be together after 7 months is going to be the best feeling in the world (but obviously an even better feeling when he is officially home!)

We have his leave already planned out which is going to make it go too fast.

He gets here later Saturday night. His parents will be here to greet him at the airport too. We will spend some time with them. I have to work on the Monday and Tuesday of the first few days he is home but then after that we are going to be two busy people. We are going to be looking at houses all day and Wednesday. On Thursday we are going to the meat raffle (a weekly raffle at a rinky dinky bar...its fun!). Friday we are taking engagement pics (better late than never!) Saturday we are going to Dane's favorite club in Minneapolis and spending some time with his sister, her husband, and their kiddos! Sunday we may need a nap! Monday and Tuesday are probably going to be lazy days. Then that brings Wednesday....I don't want to talk about that day. After Wednesday we will have about 4 more months and then HOMECOMING!

My next post will be about Dane's leave so until then I will wait patiently for my traveling soldier!

Thankful

Valentines Day was just two days ago but I am feeling both thankful and in love.
Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday and since I am a sucker for the lovey dovey stuff I also like Valentines day too. This year I am thinking of them both at the same time.

This deployment has taught me a lot about being thankful and the strength of love.
I am thankful for Dane's sacrifice and love my hero with all of my heart.

Dane has finished with his leadership school and is back to his regular room and regular schedule. He said it is supposed to be 55 degrees this coming Saturday in Kosovo. I can't remember what that feels like!

I worked at Helzberg again over the Valentine's Day weekend so that kept me really busy! I am starting to get some things ready for when Dane comes home on leave. We are applying for a mortage and trying to pick out some prospective houses. Recently, Dane's car didn't start and I am assumming (and hoping) that it is just a dead battery so I will try to fix that this coming weekend. (Doesn't that just sound like fun!)

About 31 more days until Dane is here!!!!!

Days

42 days until Dane comes home on leave
188 days until Dane comes home
256 days until our wedding

Clearly I have been watching the days click down until I get to see Dane. I am positive he is aware of them to and maybe because I remind him often!

Dane has been in school for the last week in Kosovo for his Sergeant promotion. I don't think he is having a blast doing it either. He doesn't get to stay in his regular room, doesn't have Internet access there, and it sounds pretty boring. He has one more week of it but after he is done with that there will be only 4 weeks left until he gets to come home on leave!!!

Last weekend I took a little trip up to to visit my cute niece and nephew! We didn't get to see each other at Christmas so I gave them their gifts and got some cuddle time in! They will be the flower girl and ring bearer in the wedding! Aren't they going to be SO cute!


Loving some cuddle time!

I will continue to countdown the days until my honey is home! My good friend Lisa whose husband lives with Dane only has one more day until he is home on leave. I am so excited for her and her girls to see Ben tomorrow!

Holy Moly

Holy moly it has been awhile since I have blogged. What have we been up to? Here are a few things that have been occuping our time.....


I went to Fargo to meet my great friend Leslie's perfect little bundle Benston. He is such a cutie pie, talker, and gave us some big smiles. We had a blast passing Ben around and spoiling him with our attention. I am so happy for Andy and Leslie and their new little guy! We also went bridesmaid dress shopping for my great friend Mya's wedding! We picked out some beautiful dresses and I can't wait to wear them in June!

Dane has been meeting some really great families in Kosovo. These interactions have taught him more about the culture, the family structure, what they do for a living, and some of their great food. When they go out on missions they usually go out to eat of one of the resturants in the hotel. He has had pizza and hamburgers but says they are much different than they are here.

My brother Eric has moved in with me and Nicole. We have a two bedroom with a den (which is now Eric's room). It is nice to have him around to help with the man stuff. He recently graduated with his masters at Southern Illinois University. The lovely lady in the picture with us is his fiance Laura.

Dane has met this one family in particular with six kids. They live in a very small shack and have very little. Dane's squad is collecting shoes, clothes, coats, socks, and other necessities. If you are interested in donating anything just let me know and I'd be happy to get you the address! Dane gave these kids some of his shirts he brought to work out in since he can't wear civillian clothes like he thought he could.

We have still be able to talk often but have had a few days where the internet has quit working there and has cut our conversations very short. I am thankful that we have been able to talk as much as we have though.

We are about 200 days away from him coming home and I just can't wait!