27 October 2007

Local Cuisine

Our friends Traci and Greg came into Madison last night. Luckily we got a chance to meet up with them before we left town for the weekend. We decided to go out to dinner, but also invited our neighbors Anne and Ryan. The time was set, 7:30pm, and we had chosen a place called:
So, we also decided to invite Sarmila as well, then her friend Josh showed up too! We had a decent sized group going! Well, we got there somewhere around 7:45pm, and were seated about 8:15/8:30pm. We were having a blast. Josh started some random conversation about different drinks and life in California... Then Josh, Anne and I all ordered a drink called the Bomb Pov. Look familiar? I think so! This drink tasted like the Bomb Pop popsicle!! But it didn't look very nice after you stirred it all together, at least it was tasty! Then they brought out the bread! Warm, italian seasoned bread with olive oil and fresh ground pepper to dip it in!!! We devoured the first batch of it in no time flat!! Luckily our waiter rocked and brought us all some more.
I ended up ordering the New York Strip, it was Otto's choice. Personally I couldn't decide between a few meals, so I him make the decision. Unfortunately the bread and appetizers filled us up so much I hardly made a dent in my Steak!Lucky me, Otto loves to take leftovers to work for lunch! So that's why he chose the steak... At the end of the meal everyone was stuffed to the gills and happy to have had the chance to meet some new people and share some excellent food!!This is definitely a place Otto and I will visit again!!


Benvenuto's Italian Grill on Urbanspoon
23 October 2007

Serious Update

Well, I am now officially 26... not that it feels any different from 25. For my birthday I took off of work for a long weekend! We got into Rollingstone late on October 10th. We crashed out at the Dingfelder farm. October 11th Otto and I drove into town to pick up Jeb, then we dropped off Otto to spend some time with his mom. Jeb and I went out for lunch at the Acoustic! Very tasty!! I then dropped her off on campus for class and headed to Madison Elementary to see some old friends! I surprised my old student!! She was so excited she kept hugging me and refused to let me out of her sight. We spent her working time playing Go Fish with her new interpreter. It was a blast!!! I spent some more time walking around talking to kids, teachers and staff (sorry I missed you Kathy :( maybe next time). I then hit up 5 of the 6 Key Kids sites to see kids and staff!! It was a wonderful time! After I was done I headed to Becky's to start making dinner. I made Mmm Soup!!! And everyone ate almost all of it! Rachel bought me a cake! And we ate it all!Then October 12th we drove into Rochester to have dinner with Michelle and her new baby boy Jayne! He's so adorable!!! After lunch we headed to Cold Stone to see Adam, and so I could get my free ice cream!!!

Joanna came down to meet my family at Mr. Pizza for dinner!! I miss that pizza! October 13th we met Emily in Rochester for lunch and did some shopping. Then headed home for my Birthday party! Mom made an awesome ice cream cake!!! YUMMY!!!
All in all, I was overly spoiled for my birthday! Some gift highlights are: Electric teakettle, chocolate covered espresso beans, coffee, UNO!, gift certificates, hoodie, pizza stone, antique sign, and getting a chance to see everyone I did!!!

I'm still getting over all the excitement from the long weekend! Wish me luck!
09 October 2007

Tag Again!

My husband... (to-be)

What is his name? Otto George Dingfelder III

How long have you been together? Just over 2 years

How long did you date? As of Oct. 2, 2 years!

Where did you meet? At a game night years ago.

How old is he? 23

Who eats more? Depends on the day, and what we're eating.

Who said I love you first? Otto.

Who is taller? Otto is 5'11'', and I'm 5'5''...

Who sings better? Uh, I would have to say I do... but there are times...

Who is smarter? DUH! The engineer... who isn't me!

Who does the laundry? Mostly Otto

Who does the dishes? Usually Otto, but we do try to do them together

Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? Otto, because I have to sleep on the other side.

Who pays the bills? We split the bills so we each have some to take care of.

Who mows the lawn? Neither one, we don't have our own lawn!

Who cooks dinner? We basically take turns. We set up a menu a week ahead of time and work from that.

Who drives when you are together? Depends on who's car we have... and how tired we are at the time. But mostly Otto.

Who is more stubborn? ME! :)

Tag: Michelle, and everyone I tagged from the last post!

Tag

Who kissed who first? Otto kissed me the night of our first date, and I just sort of sat there stunned! I was surprised even though he told me he was going to do it.

Who asked who out? Otto asked me out, and then I told him I needed to think about it... so I drove the 3 hours home to talk to him on the phone for hours before I decided to say yes.

Who proposed? Otto, of course! He took me to the Arboretum. I was setting up a picture of lilacs and just as I clicked the picture he slipped something in the picture to blur it. Frustrated I said, "What are you doing?" He told me to look at him, and as I turned I called him a dork and there he was standing with the ring in his hand... He then got down on his knee and proposed! I was taken off guard, but at least I remembered to say, "YES!"

Who has more friends? Hard to tell; our friends are blending together these days!

Who has more siblings? Technically I do... a sister and a step-brother

Who wears the pants in the family? We make decisions together... but I tend to get my way, but he gets his too... when he really cares about the decision!

I would like to tag: Kerry, Kathy, Grandma, Mom, and anyone else who reads this!!!
03 October 2007

Day 81

Work

So this week has been interesting so far. I didn't go out and start telling all the staff about my engagement, in stead I saw my regulars and let them in on the news. And here's how it went. One of the Sunflower Teachers is often in my room in the morning because the ratio is over as early as 7:30am, I don't get in until 8:30 because they need me later in the day. So I came into the room, and we had a short chat about our weekends, and just before she left the room I told her to wait I had something to show her. She was super excited, since she's met Otto a handful of times and teased him about when he was going to get around to asking. She then gave me a huge hug and headed off to her room. A few minutes later the other Sunflower Teacher poked her head into our room, and said I had something to show her. So I did! She was even more excited about it!! And from there staff slowly learned about the engagement. Some found out by asking how my weekend was or by someone saying something to them. One staff from the Sunshine room stopped by just as I was leaving last night. She stood in my doorway and started saying, "No way you didn't tell about this! I gotta see it!!!" I started laughing and walked over to her. We chatted for awhile, and as everyone has offered she said if I need any help to just let her know. Thus, it's been an interesting week, and today my be ever more so. My co-teacher hasn't been in yet this week, she took Mon. and Tue. off, so we shall see how her reactions goes today...

Madison/Extra

Last night was our 2 Year Anniversary, and we decided to go out to dinner as an Engagement/Anniversary Dinner. We both got home from work, put on some nice clothes and headed to a local Hibachi grill called, Edo Garden. It was very good!!! We had the entire Hibachi table to ourselves! And the funniest part was the fact that they only gave you chopsticks! After awhile Otto called surrender asking for a fork, the waiter gave him and fork, but also gave him a set of chopsticks telling him to practice at home; the first surrender was acceptable, but next time... After dinner we headed to Cold Stone! Gotta love the Cold Stone!!! All-in-all it was the best!

Gas prices are down to $2.85! Now, if only it would stay that low!

I plan on making it back to the SE MN area as early as Wednesday, October 10. Unfortunately it won't be until extremely late! But the plan is as follows:

Thursday Morning: Head into to Winona to Madison Elementary to see children and people
Thursday Lunch: Somewhere in Winona with my best friend Jeb
Thursday Afternoon: Hit up Key Kids to play games and sing songs!
Thursday Evening: CSI night with my peeps in Winona!!
Friday Morning: Hang out at the farm
Friday Lunch: Meeting up with Michelle and baby Jayne!!
Friday Afternoon: Spend some time in Rochester
Friday Evening: Spend some time with Family!
Saturday Morning: Sleep in!!!
Saturday Lunch: ???
Saturday Afternoon: ???
Saturday Evening: Birthday Party!!
Sunday Morning: Sleep in!!!!
Sunday Lunch: ???
Sunday Afternoon: Leave to return to Madison

This plan is completely tentative... Cause one never knows what will happen!
01 October 2007

Video Post #1