"Up North"....as the say in MN

I have been begging Mark to take me "up North" for quite some time. When my dad was going to come and visit us we thought it was the perfect opportunity to take the trip. One small problem.....my dad missed his flight, and wasn't able to reroute for a reasonable price. Mark and I decided to go anyway, so we left Friday after Mark got off work. We loaded up the car with our new bike rack and off we went. We got to Two Harbors, MN late Friday night and it was raining cats and dogs! After we checked into our cozy little cabin, we went and got some microwave popcorn and went back to our cabin where we watched a few movies (I watched one before falling asleep, Mark watched a few more) and ate popcorn. On Saturday we woke up early and biked from Gooseberry Falls to Beaver Bay where we stopped and had lunch and turned around. It was right along Lake Superior and the views were FABULOUS with the notorious "up North" fall colors! With a long sleeved undershirt and long pants we were warm most of the time! After we got back to Gooseberry Falls (about a 30mile bike ride) we went to a few sightseeing places in the car that we couldn't get to via bike.After a few Lake Superior highlights,we stopped for dinner/pie at World Famous Betty's Pies (thanks for the suggestion Walbruch's). Of course after we biked and ate I was tired so we went back to our little cabin on Lake Superior and built a fire and chatted. We had a wonderful Saturday! Being married and having a built in companion to do things with is AMAZING!  Sunday, we slept in and then got ready to head into Duluth and see what Duluth had to offer us. Duluth is a pretty town right on Lake Superior. I can certainly see why people think it gets deadly cold up there in the winter! That breeze coming in off Lake Superior carries a bite to it! We biked a few miles along the shore in Duluth and then headed back home so Mark could catch the Vikings game (true MN fan).

Here are some picture highlights from our trip:

Our View from our little cabin. We got to Two Harbors so late that we didn't even know what was outside our window until we woke up.

Gooseberry Falls

Above Gooseberry Falls

Looking down of Gooseberry Falls on the Gitchi-Gami Trail

You can see Lake Superior in the background

Lake Superior by the Split Rock Lighthouse

We found some sweet lounge chairs near Beaver Bay

Mark wants one of these in our living room!

We accidentally cut Mark's head off....that what you get for being tall

More of Gooseberry Falls

At the end of  Bike trail

There were people climbing this rock wall....SCARY! I couldn't even look over the ledge

Can you see Mark in the background

Look at the pretty fall colors

On the Gitchi-Gami State Trail

In our cabin

Our cabin with our sweet new bike rack

In Duluth

It was beautiful in Duluth

On the bike trail on the Lakewalk East Trail in Duluth

HAPPY 30TH BIRTHDAY!

HAPPY 30TH BIRTHDAY to my sweet hubby!

Last year for Mark's 29th birthday I flew in from CO to see him. It was so nice to be a) in the same town, and b) in the same house! I love being married. It's so nice to not have to say goodbye at the end of our days!

Mark's birthday this year was on a Saturday (Labor Day weekend no less) so he kicked his day off with 7am basketball (if you ask me 7am anything is a struggle but he loves it....so it was good that it was on his birthday this year).

When he came home from basketball this is what he saw.....

When Mark got done with Basketball this sign was on the door to direct him downstairs

This is what was waiting for him, I was behind the couch....camera in tow

I popped up from behind the couch the bag (and other goodies) was sitting on and took this AWESOME shot

My homemade card was super tender...I think (you'll have to ask Mark)

Mark with all his swag (Kelty Day Pack, carabiner's, rope, and a mini football)

I think he likes it

Both of us with his goods (luckily he shares nicely so I get to use/take advantage of his birthday gift whenever I need/want)

With a Cheesecake to celebrate

After we he got his birthday presents we cleaned up, and packed for a fun 2 day weekend of camping. It's nice that his birthday landed on the Saturday right before Labor Day. We didn't make it out of town too far before Mark wanted Old Country Buffet breakfast.

How does a 30 year old pass up OCB on his birthday? He DOESN"T!!!!

That was our first stop and then it was off to Rushford, MN. 

Right when we got to Rushford we set up camp...it was a little windy and frustrating trying to put up tents in  the HEAT and WIND...but we pushed through and got it all set up. After we did that and rested a bit we biked about 2 miles into Rushford and ate some yummy pizza and appetizers on the patio of this fun Creamery.

The Creamery we ate at....Neither of us even got ice cream (can you do that at a creamery?)

After the dinner, we went and got a few groceries at the local grocery store and started biking back to camp!

Sitting by the Campfire...note the birthday signs and balloons...I thought I was super clever

Tucked in for the night.....

.......complete with TV FOR THE BIRTHDAY BOY

......and a ceiling fan for both the birthday boy AND his wife

Mark made sure to bring headphones so we wouldn't disturb the neighbors with our all night TV marathons (well his...I can't stay awake watching TV)

This was our tent set up! You can see it a little better in the daylight the next day 9/2/2012

Tent complete with Birthday Banner

As you can see from our surroundings we had no shade so we had to stop on our way out of town and get this shade protector....it ended up saving our lives! This picture was taken 9/2/12

 After some breakfast Mark and I went on a 26ish mile bike ride from Rushford, MN to Lanesboro, MN. There are AWESOME paved trails right along the Root River which we dipped in when we got too hot! It was so REFRESHING!

Us on en route to Lansboro. This is my new bike that I got just a few days before our trip! I LOVE IT! We got it at Honest Paul's Bike Shop in Rochester...same place Mark got his a few months ago.

We made it to Lanesboro and had to have some lunch....can you believe the one place we picked to eat didn't have free refills for 2 parched bikers! We now ask about soda refill "situations" when we are biking so far!

We drove home on Monday, I caught up on sleep and Mark caught up on....well whatever he did while I napped.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MARK THOMAS DAY!

MISSISSIPPI

After 2 days of Mark taking the Bar, he was ready for a VACATION! Luckily, Mike and Lisa were wanting to get out of town too. We went up to the headwaters of the MISSISSIPPI and camped for a couple days. Who knew the headwaters of the Mississippi were in MN? We biked around Itasca state park (they have great paved trails), and rented a pontoon and swam around the lake. Our camping was luxury camping...including tent ceiling fans, air mattresses, running water, etc.

On our way up to Itasca State Park

Taking a break from our bike ride

Mark, Kyle (nephew) and Mike (brother-in-law) where Itasca Lake turns into the Mississippi

the BAR

Mark took the MN Bar up in St.Paul. It was a 2 day test, 8 hours each day. To me it sounds like pure TORTURE...and I wasn't even the one taking the test. We got a motel room a few block away from where he was taking the test and I mostly explored that area while he was testing/studying. Luckily I had a friend from MT that was randomly visiting MN and we did a couple things together. Now that the bar is over, LET THE SUMMER BEGIN!

Disclaimer: the pics were taken on my iPhone and therefore not the best of quality

There are literally 100's of people coming to take the Bar

The evening before the test

HONEYMOON

Mark and I had a fabulous honeymoon! We got married 4-14-12 and caught an early flight out of SLC 4-15-12. We flew to Portland Oregon, caught a train from the airport to downtown where we proceeded to rent a car and head out to the coast. We were out there a whole week. The weather was a little cooler than I would have loved, although I appreciated that it wasn't hot (Neither Mark nor I are hot weather people). Mark loved the weather and said it reminded him of his mission in Iceland. My favorite part was the hot tub at our motel. I had to barter with Mark to have a daily soak. It was so nice being in such hot water while there was a chill in the air. We went on a couple of hikes, watched movies in our hotel room, took a drive down the coast, walked along the beach, slept in, stayed up late, walked around cute little shops, had campfires, and I fell in love with Mark more than ever! How blessed I am to have him in my life!

Here are some pictures that we captured from our awesome honeymoon:

Mark in Seaside Oregon

Our Morning Beach Walk

Lookout point along the coast

The Ocean is BEAUTIFUL and POWERFUL

Resting after a short evening hike

Lucky girl

Another look out point

I'm sure I'm deep in thought here

A smidge windy...

I got stuck on this rock in High Tide....kinda

My Eagle Scout building a campfire for our cook out. This was one of my favorite days!

Hiking around near the beach after out campfire dinner

Mark got stuck out here during high tide. I was a little worried he wasn't going to get back to me. My camera is on full zoom so it's hard to capture just how far away he was from me

This was a really rainy day which also happened to be the longest hike that we went on.

Not sure why I even bothered with the umbrella...note the standing water we were hiking in

Just in case you weren't believing me about all the rain on this hike, here is more standing water and a little shelter

This tree presented a problem while walking through a river and carrying an umbrella

Mark straddling the hiking trail which was a small river at this point

Mark came under the umbrella too for some shelter

On our beach run

We I might have gotten too tired to run

Seaside Oregon! 

If you've made it through all the pictures then perhaps you were entertained enough to want to read on. I really want to write some of this down for journal purposes. So if you don't read, I won't be offended.

We were married April 14, 2012 at 2pm in the Salt Lake City Temple and then had a reception at the Old Meeting House in Salt Lake City. We we overwhelmed by the love and support of so many friend and family that helped us and attended the temple ceremony and reception! The only regret of the whole day that I have is that I wish I could have spent hours with each person (the nature of the reception beast I guess). As it is, we put in a good 30seconds. That is truly my only regret! Thank you to EVERYONE who helped and supported Mark and I on our wedding day. And, thank you to those who will continue to support us throughout our marriage.

After the reception we had to go back to the motel that my parents were staying in because I was running late for our actual wedding and didn't get a honeymoon bag completely organized....what bride does that? Anyway, we ate some grub with my family, watched our wedding video, and then went to catch some zzzz's before our plane left in the morning.

April 15, 2012 we flew out at around 7am with a 4 hour layover in Denver. I was exhausted. I think I slept the whole plane ride form Salt Lake to Denver and then a good majority of the layover in Denver in an uncomfortable terminal seat. At least I was asleep right? We finally got to Portland around 3pm and then took the train from the airport into town to rent a car. It worked out pretty slick. After we got the car lined up we were on our way to the coast. Once we got there it was party time. Good food, good hikes, good scenery and most of all good company! If you hate sappy stuff skip down a few lines, but I have to insert this. If Mark and I had to be alone for the rest of our lives I could do it. I can't think of a more perfect match for my personality and he makes me feel like I'm the only concern in the world to him! I am so blessed and looking forward to spending everyday our our lives together.  Okay....sappy stuff over!

We had a couple days of pure relaxation...movies, naps, hot tubs, walks, food etc and then we had a few days of hiking, running, playing, driving. Oregon is beautiful. I'm glad that's where we went. Neither Mark and I are hot weather people so Oregon was a good match (even with the rain). It reminded him a lot of his mission (Iceland) and I would much rather be bundled than sweating.

It was a perfect honeymoon!