Shameless plug

I have a husband.

He has a blog.

This is me plugging his blog.

He has a lot of writings that he's doing at work, with his very recent job change. But some other things, like grad school options.

And basically, I think you should read it or add it to your list of blogs you read or whatever you people do.

Because I love that he's writing, and professional, and keeping a blog!

Oh, wait, I'm not sure if I've linked it for you yet. ;) His blog is here.

Update-d!

So, after a friendly nudge from dear bloggerfriend Sabrina, I realize that it's high time for an update.

We're gearing up for Christmas travel and wonderfulness with our first Christmas as a married couple. We love our new Christmas tree, wrapped presents (thanks, K!), adorable little Holly-dog, and job changes!

That job changes are the biggest news. Starting on Monday, I'm going to go back to being an Administrative Assistant (III, if you must know) at the agency that I was previously at. I'll be working 4 days a week in our Bloomington, Minnesota office with the beautiful benefit of FRIDAYS OFF! I couldn't be more ecstatic at the prospect of a 3-day weekend. People keep telling me that I'll be so busy recovering from the longer days of work that I won't like the extra day, but I'm going to find out for myself.

Nick's job is changing, as well. He's going to be working exclusively for KTLK, the local talk radio station, updating their website and keeping tabs on current politics and breaking news. I'm very excited for him, as he'll be able to capitalize on his journalism education, plus his love of politics. Today really sealed the deal for me that his change is fabulous, as we sit and watch CSPAN while the senators take a vote and he names them one by one. He knows his stuff, people, and he's going to use that knowledge!

Merry Christmas to you and yours. We hope you have a great holiday-time filled with joy, love, hugs, and holiday cheer!

Proud Parents

We are unabashedly proud parents of a new (to us) dog! On Friday we went to the Golden Valley Animal Humane Society and met Holly, a 9 year-old Bichon Frise!

Here she is on the ride home from the humane society, cooperating nicely (although she wanted to sit on Nick's lap while driving... oops!)



Holly is very loving and somewhat mellow, although she loves attention. Here she is hanging out on the couch with me on Saturday afternoon while Nick went to catch the Gophers game. Maybe she's sad the Gophers lost??
She's such a joyful dog, we are already head over heels in love with this girl. We're so glad we've adopted a dog!

Vent

I just have to vent a little bit. We have an issue in our apartment parking lot. We've been assigned a spot and we're happy to have off street parking. Our "parking neighbors," though, don't seem to have much parking etiquette.

For as long as we've been parking there, our neighbors have been precariously parked. Crooked, skewed, sometimes creeping into our spot. It hasn't always been super horrible, and we understand that it's a tricky spot to get into.

This week, though, the parking has gotten to be quite atrocious. This morning we walked out to the situation pictured below. Nick, who drives us to work every day, had to walk around the car and get in from the rear because he couldn't get between the cars at the front.

More than anything, we wonder if some morning we're going to walk outside and find out that we've been hit because of the poor parking job.

See what we mean? You'll see a car clearly encroaching in our lane, and, worse, creating almost no space for us to get out without hitting the car.

We don't know whose spot it is. There are 20 parking spots and they're not assigned by us, so we can't, nor would we, hunt down the drive and approach him. Although I'm tempted to leave a note.

My only plea is that if this driver park so horribly, that he please realign himself to allow us some exiting room. After realigning, then he can put his Club back on the steering wheel.

more wedding pictures

Finally - more pictures! We're still sorting through our pictures from Joanna, our photographer, and picking the ones we love the most (the list is long!)

Until then, here are some pictures that my wonderful personal assistant, Roshelle, took the weekend of the wedding. Click on here to go to the Facebook album, loaded with lots of pictures.

life is.. life

So, we're settling into living life. And we're loving it! Click here to watch a YouTube video of our wedding pictures from our amazing photographer, Joanna Prosser. She did such an amazing job and we're so happy with the pictures.

This weekend, we went through all 675 pictures (eek!) and picked our favorites. I had 133 favorites, Nick had 125. Out of that, we agreed on 40. Hrm... well, we'll have to learn how to compromise! We're putting pictures into an amazing scrapbook that my cousin, Christina, made for us. It's all set to go, we just have to put in the pictures.

Oh, and I remembered some of our most exciting news. We're going to grad school!! Nick will be going next fall for a 2-year program for a Master's of Science in Technical Communication. He'll be done in May 2013 and ready to technically communicate with the world. :)

In 2 years, I'm going to a 2-year program for a Master's in Social Work. I'm not quite decided on where I'll be going, I just know that I'll be starting in 2 years, finished May 2014. Then we'll be full of higher education and ready to take on the world. Quite literally. I mean, we're going to lift up the world just the two of us and hold it in our hands. Really. Belive me, I'm honest about this one.

That's our big news. We're super excited about getting the education to do things we're passionate about. I'm personally excited to have the prospect of a job that doesn't sit me in front of a computer for 8 hours a day.

1 Month

Well, we've officially been married for 1 month as of today!

So far, we are loving married life. Being together, not saying goodbye at night, and getting settled are just some of the perks, not to mention a husband who goes on a grocery run while his wife watches the premiere of Gossip Girl!

We're still waiting on pictures, but they're supposed to be done by this weekend or early next week, so we're hopeful!

Until then, you can check out the sneak preview from Joanna, our photographer, here. Her first look into the pictures is so wonderful, we can't wait to see more!

Tonight we eat our first piece of cake - hopefully almond raspberry has kept itself delicious in our freezer :)

Still Married... still no pictures!

We're still married (okay, 2 weeks, I know, no big feat!) and still have no pictures...

We can't wait to see them and promise to post as soon as we get them. Until then, go check out my Facebook at www.facebook.com/nikki.ehrenberg for a few sneak peak pictures (there are tons under photos of me...)

Until then, we give you the N/N Ehrenberg clan (inspired by a logo on a wedding card from one of our guests - we just had to make good use of it!)

We're Married!!!

We're married!!!

The day was gorgeous and fantastic and wonderful. The honeymoon was bliss. The gift opening was a blast. THe IKEA excursion was long. And now we're back to work!

Pictures coming later, I promise :)

overdue

Hi friends,

I'm long over due for a post and I know it. Life has been super chaotic in ways that I never imagined.

We're now down to the single digits - only 9 days until we get married. I can hardly believe it's so close, considering it felt like it was such a distant date for so long. Now it's almost here! We're monitoring the absurd 15-day forecasts that can't possibly predict the weather that far out. But we look anyway. High of 77, high of 97 - sure, we can predict the weather!

I have 2 more work days left until the fun begins. The crazy (or amazing?) thing is that I don't feel like our to-do list is endless. I know what needs to happen. I know there will be people there to help out, and I know it will get done. But I still think about the wedding ALL the time. I feel stressed, but not because it won't get done. Because that's all I think about. I'm just ready for days when I don't work. Feels like everything else has gone to the wayside with this planning, so I'm looking forward to some planning-free days :)

For now, I'll pack up my things and head out for work. I'll make some phone calls, ask people for money, and do my job. But 48 hours from now, I'll be having a girls' night in, enjoying time with friends, and celebrating the freedom of vacation time!

Hope you're all well.

Someone Else's Wedding

This weekend I went to my dear friend Rachel's wedding. She's been like a sister to me the last few years, and that means a lot to me.

After a few years of dating, lots of waiting, questioning, and wondering, Rachel & Josh got engaged and planned a wedding in 4.5 months.

Their wedding was fun, laid back, meaningful, and beautiful. Rachel looked beautiful. Josh looked wonderful in a suit (although a little hot!). We sat in the bright, 90-degree sun and fanned ourselves with their program for the reception. The lack of shade or a breeze was worth seeing them get married!

More pictures later... I'm going to rob a few ideas from them, for sure!

bragger

You may know it, or you may not, but I'm going to brag anyway.

My wonderful fiance has added something fun to his work over at KFAN, our local sports radio station. In addition to creating web content, he also works on the Twin Blog during the Twin season.

I'm pretty proud of him, to say the least. Check out his blog here. He's Nick Ehrenberg, and wrote the most recent post while we were at a Twins game last night (that means he sits in the press box and I bring a friend to keep me company in our cheap seats!).

new job thoughts

I've had a lot of people ask me how I'm liking my job, my office, my new location, etc. And as I answer, I realize that there are a few things that top the list of "faves" with the new job...

*I love, love, love being downtown and being able to walk around and run errands, like going to the transit store, the bank, or the post office
*I equally love, love, love taking the light rail in to work, which not only gives me some quiet time, but it also gives me some KDWB time as well as motivation to do some more walking
*I quite enjoy having my own office. Although I don't get much of a chance to shut my door, it's nice to have my own space with four walls!
*I love learning new things. 4 weeks later, there are still things that I'm learning to do
*I love the independence I've been given - I know what I need to be doing. Most of the time, the assumption is that I can do it in whatever way or timing I choose, as long as it gets done by a deadline.

Those are just a few things I love. The list for things I dislike is so short and I'm trying to shorten it to none, so I won't even go there!

june bug

Wow, it's been a long time since posting.

I guess I don't know if I have a lot to say. It hasn't really even set in that it's June 1st today...

Hmm. Nick had the flu last week, so that week flew by with taking care of him, monitoring his temperature, and praying and crossing my fingers for the fever to break. It finally did, but not before he had to take 4 sick days!

We went to Valleyfair for our initial inaugural visit this summer - we've bought season passes, so this will be the first trip of many.

Started my new job just over 3 weeks ago. Things are going well and I'm learning fast - I'm almost at the point where I can just do my job duties without having to go to someone else to learn something, although there are still a few odds and ends that need to be taken care of.

2 weeks until my birthday, 4 weeks until Nick's. We have a busy June ahead of us, 3 showers for our wedding, 1 for some friends, another wedding to attend, baseball games, happy hour, game nights, engagement pictures, finishing up premarital counseling, and who knows what else!

Drive-by entertainment

This past weekend, Nick and I drove down to surprise my parents with a visit. My mom is recovering from surgery and we wanted to spend some time with the family.

When we arrived, my dad said, "Want to help move some pianos?" Sure!

On Saturday, we spent a big chunk of the daylight moving things out of Grandma's house, which will be put up for sale in the near future. One of the projects was to move her piano to my parents' house. In order to that, we first needed to move our piano out of the house into the garage (for someone to hopefully come and take for free). After that, we went back to Grandma's and moved the piano from outside into the back of a pick-up.

My mom had always said that it would be fun to play the piano as it was being moved, but she was at home working on surgery recovery, so I took her place instead. My dad slowly drove the short 2-block trip from Grandma's to their house as I played on the way (Amazing Grace, the only song that would come to me at the moment!).

Luckily, it was garage sale weekend in Sioux Center, so we had lots of spectators as we drove along!

One year and counting!

Well, friends, it's a year ago to this date that Nick and I first laid our eyes upon each other. Both of us were nervous, wondering what would happen, how things would go, if we would like this person we were about to meet.

Little details I remember from the day we met...

- I had an all staff meeting that morning for work, and got relentlessly teased about going on a first date (I think I was even offered a pair of donated boxers with red lips all over them)

- I went to the chiropractor, finished early, and sat in my car because I didn't want to show up early

- I walked in the door of the restaurant to see a very laid back guy wearing khaki shorts and a orange polo (yes, it was warm last April, too!)

- After the date ended, I remember thinking that it had gone well, he seemed nice, conversation was great, and I would definitely go on another date with him!

Countless dates later, here we are!

Still crazy....

And happy....

Happy

Happy!

improvisation

What happens when you have a Rubbermaid storage bin and a laundry basket?

Dinner table!

I'm currently without a table, waiting for one to come up our way from my Grandma. But I've been wanting to have a sit-down dinner, share a meal, look at each other, take a little time out from everything that's going on.

So, I turned the laundry basket upside down, put a Rubbermaid storage bin on time, and then threw a tablecloth. It's not big enough to serve an army, but it will be enough for the two of us to simply have a meal together - until the real thing comes!

Hello, world of insurance!

Friends, I have some exciting news to share with you. I've been sitting on it for about a week and finally have the go ahead to go "public" with my news :)

Effective May 10th, I will be starting a new position at the agency that I work for, working as a Billing Specialist/Verification Specialist/Credentialing Specialist. I'm going to call myself an Insurance Specialist instead :)

Anyway, I interviewed just over a week ago for this position and am really excited to make the change - I'll be working in our downtown Minneapolis office, which means that I can take the light rail to work, and have super fun coworks, like KV. (Okay, let's be honest, she's the one who sold me on working DT with the multiple e-mails!)

The end.

New Apartment Pictures

Well, the apartment is clean "enough" for pictures to be posted. There's still some unpacking to do, but it's at least cleaned up enough that you can get a general view of the place. Click here for more pictures.

Opening Day, 2010, in the sun!

With a 50% chance of rain looming today, we're all crossing our fingers that the Twins get to play their home opener this afternoon at 3pm. Here are the long ago promised pictures from our trip to the Twins Exhibition game just over a week ago.

Nick's face was pretty much like this the whole game. So was mine. Ecstatically happy just for the fact of baseball. Outside!
4th largest display screen in MLB. It's big! And it's HD!
The two men (Minnie and Paul), shake hands and light up when a home run is hit. Thanks, Denard Span, for hitting the first one in the park and giving us the pleasure of seeing the sign in action!
The beauty of real, green grass. It's not astroturf, folks!

Go home early and watch the game (they don't need you at work!)

Moving catastrophe?

Well, I've moved. The process was actually more seamless than I expected, thanks to help from a few church friends and Nick's dad, in addition to multiple cars and wide hallways.

Pictures will be forthcoming... I just haven't cleared up the clutter enough to take good pictures. Maybe later this week, if I'm really productive.

But we did have a minor catastrophe. Well, after the move. Nick was over... makes sense, since it's technically his place too, although he sleeps at his other place and keeps his clothes elsewhere. Anyway, he was over. And I notice how badly he needs a shave. We find him a disposable razor and my can of shaving cream that I save for guests, because I don't use shaving cream.

He's trying to get some out, says it's all gone. I find this hard to believe, so I mess around, shake, push the button, and then push that little black button on the bottom of pressurized aerosol cans.. Here's what happened...

Shaving cream. All over Nikki.

Great weekend behind, busy week ahead!

We had a great weekend, filled with all kinds of events. On Friday, we started out by going to the very first Twins exhibition game at Target Field. We can't wait to go back - the field is great, open, and beautiful in the outside! (Pictures soon - my camera won't cooperate this morning!)

From there we drove out to Nick's parents to spend some time with them. Saturday morning breakfast, hang out time, Crazy Golf on the Wii, and then a fun birthday party of a cousin's daughter.

Saturday capped itself off with some massive packing, thanks to some help from a friend. I now have stacks and stacks of boxes and I'm still not done!

Sunday we had brunch with some friends - they served amazing french toast and crepes - we felt entirely spoiled! Then, we enjoyed the outdoors before heading into church to celebrate a risen Christ and a wonderful Eastertime.

This week will be hectic, to say the least, but I'm excited for all that it holds.

Most of my week will be spent packing boxes, cleaning, organizing, and hopefully donating a large majority of my belongings. On Friday, the moving extravaganza begins, as I hope to be completely moved out, with my keys turned in, by the end of the weekend.

Also, on Friday, I'll be interviewing for a new position at work. Same agency/place that I work at now, but something different. Currently I fluctuate between nervous and excited. Interviews always freak me out a little bit, but I plan to hone my interviewing skills before then, look my best, and present myself as the best candidate.

That's my week, in a nutshell!

Grandpa would have loved it.

My Grandpa Maatman passed away last week on March 22nd, 2010.

We were comforted with the assurance that he is with his Lord, who he served faithfully all of his 86 years of life.

He would have been proud to see all of his family joined together for a picture - young and old, from all different parts of the states. Some of us hadn't seen each other for at least 10 years. But for this moment, for this event, we joined together and remembered our grandpa, father, husband, and everything else that he was to us. (Sorry it's not better quality.. that's all I got..)

It's coming.

So, it's raining outside. And it's been dreary. And I can hardly take it anymore.

So, I'm taking matters into my own hands. I am going to control the weather with my very own handmade machine that diverts the rain from around me, almost like an umbrella, creating sunshine wherever I go so I am blissfully without dreary rain.

Or,

I'm going to think about the better things that are coming.

• Twins games! 20 of them!
• Twins vs Braves series on June! Cannot wait. No, literally. More excited than ever.
• Walks with the boy around a lake. In the outside. Without a coat. Feeling the sun. Needing, I mean really needing to wear sunglasses.
• Moving - in 24 days
• Going on a honeymoon to Riviera Maya, Mexico

Wait, what, you're moving?

Yes, indeedy friends, the time has arrived. Nick and I found an apartment we are looking forward to call home, althuogh it will be home for me for about 4 months before it is for home. Staying in South Minneapolis, it's a 2-bedroom, 1-bathroom, 1-kitchen, 1-massive living room, 1-half dishwasher, 1-normal sized refrigerator, 1-electric stove, paint colors we got to pick out, apartment!

We're pretty much in love. Can't wait to live there, to get settled there, for Nick to move in, to start our lives together.

See, now I don't care about the dreary. It's all about forward thinking.

Things I like...

1. Coffee and oatmeal in the early morning
2. Going on an old school "dinner + movie" date
3. Looking up the weather forecast and seeing 40's as the high ALL WEEK
4. Making appointments to pick up my wedding dress
5. Planning a wedding cake with my mom
6. Going to a double baby shower for good friends
7. Baking, baking, and more baking
8. Hearing someone at church ask, "Did you make the treats today? They were really good!"
9. Watching Lion King with my fiancee and singing along to the best songs
10. My fiancee.

In Memory

Last week we unexpectedly lost my aunt Becky, at age 55. She had a life-long struggle with diabetes and was on the brink of going through treatment that might help ease or even end that struggle.

My aunt was a loving, vibrant woman. She spent time tutoring missionary children in both Mexico and Costa Rica. She was the aunt I had conversations in Spanish with. She was the one I wanted to sit next to at big holiday dinners because the conversation would inevitably turn political, and I would at least agree with her.

She will be missed by many, especially my grandparents, who have now survived two of their daughters. Their pain is tangible, their tears difficult to bear. They loved their daughters and never expected to live more years than they.

My brother made a video of pictures for her memorial service this weekend. It's great to watch her grow up and enjoy her life. You can view it here.

Vegas, there we went!

Hello friends!

This won't be as detailed as planned since I wrote the post and lost it once already, but here's a little update on our mini-vacation to Las Vegas last week!

We left on Monday, fleeing the white-out conditions! We arrived that night and hung out, had daiquiris, and toured the Stratosphere Hotel where we stayed.

On Tuesday, we had breakfast, walking, rain, the Stratospher Tower (think, Floor 108), Stratosphere Thrill Rides (think, 1,100 feet above the ground on an amusement park ride), dinner at Hard Rock Cafe, and The Lion King. It was a fantastic day. The Lion King gave me thrills and I couldn't stop smiling.

On Wednesday, we checked out the strip again. Nick took me on a gondola boat ride at The Venetian for an early Valentine's day present. We went out for Italian that night and then checked out Fremont Street and the light show over the street.

On Thursday, we checked out of our hotel, wandered the strip, and took an extended stop at Margaritaville. Then we wandered some more and ended back up at the hotel to shuttle back to the airport and fly home.

We got back to a welcome from already arrived guests, which will follow in a later post. Pictures to follow, also, of course!

Oh, and we didn't gamble. At all!

so good

life is so good right now. indescribably so.

i love my job.

i love my family.

i love my boyance.

i love minneapolis.

i love my friends.

I love the balance I've finally found some sort of manner to achieve.

The Big E

That's right, the big E: Engagement.

Here's how it happened.

On December 23rd, our 8 month anniversary, Nick had the day off but I was working. I knew he was up to something, but not sure exactly what or how it would happen. He showed up to my office that morning with gerbera daisies (my favorites!), Russell Stover chocolates (yum!), a CD, and a card. The card had a picture of us inside, with a note on the back that said "This is for the last eight months."After he left, but not before he told me that there were more surprises to come, I listened to the CD, where he read me a poem he had written.

I worked the rest of the day, but wasn't very focused! After work I went to my massage appointment, then to my chiropractor. While I was at the chiropractor, Nick showed up. He waited for me to finish, then took me to the nearby restaurant where we'd had our first date 8 months ago. We reminisced what it was like then and what it was like now. He gave me another card with another picture, this time a note on the back saying "This is for today."

After dinner we drove back to my apartment. At my apartment, he took me into my room, plugged in his iPod, and told me he'd found this great song during the day and wanted to play it for me. It was "This I Know" by Sam & Ruby. We'd never heard of the duo before, but the lyrics were perfect. (I tried to find them online to share them, but no luck. Sorry!) We danced together during the song.

After dancing together, Nick told me to stay put and went back into the living room. He came back with another card with another picture inside that said "This is for the many years to come."

Then he kissed me on one cheek for 8 months.

Kissed me on the other cheek for today.

And then he got down on one knee and said, "Nikki Maatman, will you marry me?"

So here we are, happily engaged, enjoying the moment before we packed up Nick's car and drove to his parents to avoid the blizzard conditions.

Here's the ring. Beautiful!

And your token engagement picture..

And kissy.