Three Years.

Today is our three year {dating} anniversary! We've technically been together a bit longer, but we took awhile to become official. Still, May 21st has always been the day that we celebrate. Now that we're married and have started over from scratch as far as anniversaries go, it would be easy for this day to lose it's meaning. I don't want that to happen, at least not yet. It's the day that, three years ago, we were up at my cabin on Green Lake in Spicer, MN. It was late and Adam and I had just finished watching a movie. We were about to head to bed and Adam asked if I would be his girlfriend. I wish I had started this blog earlier, as it would have been very interesting to document my feelings at that time. Unquestionably, I was extremely happy and probably a little giddy. I knew he was special. I knew what we had was something different. Something worth being patient for. Something that would never stop feeling new and exciting. A feeling of such elation, yet peaceful at the same time. Peaceful knowing it was the end of 'you and I' and the start of 'us'. It was the season of our last first kiss and our last first date. I wouldn't change a thing, Mr. Erickson, our story is my favorite.

Mother's Day and Scotty's Graduation

One happening I didn't mention in my last post was Mother's Day! Adam and I met my family for lunch at The Sunshine Factory in Plymouth and spent the afternoon with everyone at my parent's house afterwards. It was such a great day celebrating my wonderful mama :) I am so blessed to have my mom in my life. She's my constant supporter and biggest fan; she's beautiful inside and out. She's passionate, funny and makes the best manicotti around ;) Not only am I blessed to have her, but I'm now lucky enough to have an amazing mother-in-law. Julie has welcomed me into their family with open arms and I'm so grateful for that. She's such a fun-spirited, easy going and caring woman. Adam and I are so lucky to have such Godly mothers and grandmothers in our lives. We have countless examples of commitment, faith and love to learn from.

"A mother is the truest friend we have, when trials, heavy and sudden, fall upon us; when adversity takes the place of prosperity; when friends who rejoice with us in our sunshine, desert us when troubles thicken around us, still will she cling to us, and endeavor by her kind precepts and counsels to dissipate the clouds of darkness, and cause peace to return to our hearts." Washington Irvine

Julie, me, Mom

This past weekend we headed up to Duluth for my little brother's graduation from the University of Minnesota Duluth! We went up Friday and stayed the night at my grandparent's cabin in Wright, MN, which is only a half hour south of Duluth. On the way up, Adam spotted a black bear on the side of the road! It was so incredible to see. I was obviously aware that bears live in Minnesota, but it's the first that I've ever seen in the wild. We spent the night with my grandparents playing the card game Wizard, watching the Twins game and catching up. It was so great spending time with them. Saturday morning we casually ate breakfast, got ready and then took off to Duluth. Adam had never been to Duluth, so it was fun seeing his reaction as we came into the city from high up on the bluff, looking down to the harbor :) It's' a very beautiful place (not in the dead of winter) and we loved having a sunny day to explore before the ceremony. We met up with my parents and brother a few hours later at Little Angie's Cantina. We had a couple drinks and soaked up the perfect day. The city was so busy! The University of Minnesota Duluth had an early ceremony and late ceremony, so there were tons of people milling about. I was told that restaurants near the graduation stadium had been booked solid for three weeks leading up to that day. We took so many pretty pictures near Lake Superior and the surrounding docks, landing and bridges. We struck up a conversation with a few local fishermen that were on the dock and learned some history about the area. The dock had been their backyard for 52 years and they proudly showed us pictures of their biggest catches to date. It's always those kind of interactions that stick with me :) My grandparents and cousin, Ashley, joined us as the ceremony was starting and we headed inside. It hit me as we were walking to our seats that it had been two whole years since Adam and I graduated. Crazy! I still remember our day like it was just yesterday. Scotty's ceremony went very smooth and was kicked off by a wise-cracker student speaker. He had officially graduated last December and is a few months into his career, but it was still so cool seeing him walk across the stage. Our little Scotty was now an adult. A college graduate. Adam and I are so proud of him. We all went to Texas Roadhouse afterwards to continue the celebrating and toast to the new graduate! It's great that we could all spend time together and celebrate his huge accomplishment.

1999 vs. 2014

Grandma and Grandpa Metcalfe

Sunday driving range with this cute guy

Busy Bees

We sure had a lot going on last week! Adam and his fellow dental students finished their second year of school. With how excited I am that it's over, I can't even begin to imagine how all of the actual students are feeling! Pretty wonderful is my best guess. Adam finished off the year strong and has happily transitioned over to year three this week. This past week he had his first patient and is loving this next step towards being a 'real' dentist. Our End of Year Two party was so much fun! We grilled, played bean bags and watched the NFL draft with about 15 or so other people. Friday night we got to finally meet our friend Erin's boyfriend, Derrek. He is in town from Colorado, so we grilled at our apartment and went to a concert at Toby Keith's. So much fun getting to know him! Saturday was my friend Molly's bachelorette day. We started off the day with a Saga Hill cooking class. Adam and I had been there once before and had an amazing time, so I knew the group would enjoy it. The bachelorette party had a private lesson from the chef and made an amazing meal of grilled tuna fruit salad, paprika and cinnamon seasoned flank steak fajitas and layered strawberry shortcake. Amazing. That's all I can say. Anyone who knows me knows that I'm not the most adventurous when it comes to food, but I absolutely loved everything we made. The thing that surprised me the most was how much I loved the grilled tuna! After the cooking class, we went back to Hotel Minneapolis for gift opening and cocktails. We finished off our night with a little dancing and drinking in downtown Minneapolis. It was so much fun celebrating Molly with all of her sisters and friends! While I was bacheloretting (not a word), Adam was up north with my family at our cabin on Green Lake. I asked him earlier that week what he was going to do while I was at Molly's party. I had assumed he would want to spend his first free Saturday relaxing, playing video games or something along those lines (and it would have been well deserved!). Without prompting, Adam said that he would ask if my parents wanted help up at the cabin. He went up with them and my brother to put docks in and do other cabin-opening projects for the day. One of the many things I love about Adam is that he is so giving. He'll be the first to offer a hand if things need fixing, offer a car ride home to someone, volunteer for a dental charity event and so many other selfless things. This small act of kindness speaks volumes of the blessed life I will have with him by my side. He will probably roll his eyes at me when he reads this, thinking I'm making a big deal over nothing, but I really do notice all of the small things that make him so wonderful.

We have been passively trying to sell our Prius for a few weeks now. We have loved it and have no complaints at all! I think we're just ready for a change. I purchased it back in August of 2012, because I was driving quite a ways from my parents house to my work everyday. Fast forward to now, we live only 8 miles away from my work and this is our only car (we sold Adam's car last fall). We'd ideally like to upgrade to a more winter-friendly small SUV or sturdier sedan. We'll see what happens!

My (not so) little brother, Scotty, graduated from University of Minnesota Duluth last December. They don't have a commencement ceremony in the winter, so it will be held this upcoming Saturday! Our family is heading up there to watch our little curly headed brother walk across the stage. I can't believe he is that old already! I  remember him in his Ninja Turtle costume in elementary school and his binder full of Pokémon cards :) I'm so proud of him. We're spending the weekend at my grandparents (Dad's parents) cabin, which is just south of Duluth in Wright, MN. With having a family cabin of our own, we don't get up there very often. It will be another eventful weekend for us!

Toby Keith's 

The beautiful bachelorette, Molly!

Hello, May!

So, we've been really busy lately. I've fallen off the blogging train a bit, but I'm back! A few weekends ago we drove to Milwaukee, WI for the weekend for a college reunion with friends. It was so much fun. We didn't get to leave the cities until about 6pm, so we got to Milwaukee pretty darn late. We stopped at Target a few hours out of the city and I was so surprised to find myself passing through a liquor ailse...in Target. Welcome to Wisconsin! Our weekend was filled with catching up, trying a wonderful brunch spot called Blue's Egg and experiencing the area night life. There were eight of us staying in our friend's one bedroom apartment. The entire floor was filled with air mattresses and it felt like a giant slumber party. Almost everyone we met up with is either in medical school or is starting medical school this fall (aside from Adam and I). This means that we're all crazy busy and it is truly is wonderful that we found a weekend to get together! Being the cheese fanatic that I am, we stopped by a cheese shop in Wisconsin on our way home. We got curds and this glorious extra sharp cheddar cheese. I cut Adam and I a few slices of it and put it back in the paper bag. When we stopped for gas an hour out of the cities, I collected trash from the car to throw away. Sadly, my aged cheddar chunk snuck into my trash pile and got thrown. Tragic ending, but still a great weekend!

Our volleyball team has continued to be a rollercoaster of wins and losses. The Pocket Aces (our team) have officially made it to playoffs! I don't think this day was ever on anyone's radar. Last week we had out first 3-0 win over a team and it felt pretty great! It's been such a blast playing with everyone. We just signed up for a summer beach volleyball league on Lake Calhoun.

The Minnesota Wild made it to playoffs and beat the Avalanche in the first round! It's been so much fun cheering on our brother-in-law, Nate. It was also his birthday yesterday, so the Prosser side and our side all got together to celebrate. So fun seeing everyone. We are now mid-way through the Blackhawk series and are looking forward to game four on Friday! Funny story about last night. Adam and I were about two miles away from their house, on our way home, when Adam realized he didn't have his phone. We reversed, flipped the Prosser house upside down and could not find it. Long story short, we ended up finding Adam's phone about five miles away on the side of the road where I had picked him up from the bus stop. Whenever we go there, he takes a bus from Minneapolis and I pick him up from the stop closest to their house. The phone must have slipped out of his pocked when he got into the car. It was literally sitting on the road for three hours during the party. We were all amazing that it didn't get run over, stolen or rained on! Halleluiah.

This is how we found the phone

 

Today is Adam's official last day of year two! I can't even believe it. Long before starting dental school, he was told how awful year two was. This year by far had the most difficult and largest amount of material for him to learn. Not only did he get through it, but he did so well! I was amazed by his study habits, diligence and focus. After this year, it's mostly clinical, so we're on to the fun stuff! Tonight, myself and three other dental wives are hosting an End of Year Two BBQ for a bunch of people. Weather allowing, we'll be picnicking, grilling and playing lawn games to celebrate them. I can't wait! It's been so fun getting to know Adam's dental class and their families, we're truly blessed to have met these people. It'll be a great night of celebrating and letting loose (for them), as this girl has to work tomorrow ;)



Last day as a D2!

 

This weekend will be a busy one for us! Adam's going to get some much needed relaxation on the golf course with some dental friends, my friend Molly has her bridal shower/bachelorette party on Saturday and it's Mother's Day on Sunday. It's also the Fargo Marathon this weekend, where we have several family members running the half-marathon. We wish we could be up north cheering them all on! Can't wait to hear how it goes :)

Fun ice trays I found at Francesca's :)

Rock Bottom Brewery for our friend Brian's birthday