Even though we already went to Hawaii this year, Boone got sent to California for work and I had a free plane ticket, so we decide to make it a vacation. Boone’s coworker Todd and his wife Kathleen also came along, and we had a really great time.

We spend a day in San Francisco- taking the trolly, walking the wharf, visiting Height and Ashbury, and soaking it all in. It was a really great town to visit! We had the best Irish coffee ever, got to see the bookstore where the beatnik movements started, walked through China town, and had some good dinners. It is such a nice town- like the Madison of California.

The next day we drove up the coast, made a quick stop in Sonoma, and got ready for the next day- Napa. We drove through the beautiful Napa valley and toured several wineries. The buildings were fantastic (just like you’d expect them to be) and the wine was wonderful. The people were really nice, not snobby like you’d think, and answered all our questions about how the grapes are grown and how the wine is made.

On the way back to the airport, we hiked through a national park and show a red wood- just one. The forests were further north, but the one tree was amazing.

It was a really great vacation, and Todd and Kathleen were so much fun to travel with. There are some picture in the link on the right (and 6 bottles of wine on our wine shelves) to remind us of the great time we had.

Aloha and mahalo for reading! We made the long trip to Maui in early July to enjoy the wedding of our good friends Jon & Mel (hooray!). It was a beautiful wedding indeed. The vacation had some good parts and some bad parts, but over all we had a good time.

Good parts:

Bad parts:

Oh well- a bad day in Maui is still a day in Maui, There is a page on the right with some pictures from the trip. Enjoy and aloha!

Also, congrats to Boone’s cousin Erin and her new husband Johannas, and our friends Scott and Kristin. We attended their weddings right after we got back from Maui, so the celebrations continued well into July.

So Boone and I haven’t really posted a whole lot lately, which probably tells you that we are busy. So, here is a wrap up post for the month of June:

-We went camping with Andrew and John at Lake Eau Claire and good times were had by all!
-We celebrated our 1st wedding anniversary with a fairly quiet evening involving dinner and wedding cake (still tasted good after a whole year in the freezer!).
-We were really lucky and missed out on most of the flooding in southern WI. Some of our neighbors had wet basements and flooded yards, but we were luckly enough to stay dry.
-We took our good friends up to Osseo for Lake Martha Days. I think they had fun and it was good to spend some in our hometown with family and old friends. Driving home through the Dells after the flooding made for some interesting times but we made it.
-We held bachelor and bachelorette parties for our good friends Jon & Mel, and also hosted a wedding luau for them (they are getting married in HI in July). Everyone survived with minor losses (glasses, wallet, dinner) and it was a good time.
-Boone made the trip way up north for Scott’s bachelor party, involving some good old camping and golfing.

Phew! And it doesn’t slow down! For July, we are high into wedding season. We’ll be in Hawaii for a week, getting Jon and Mel hitched, then we go up to Minneapolis for Boone’s cousin Erin’s wedding, then we go to Osseo and Eau Claire for Scott and Kristen’s wedding. Between last summer and this year, people keep telling me I should be a wedding planner or write a book about weddings. It doesn’t sound like a bad idea at this point.

Even though we went home last weekend to see the fam for mother’s day, my brother and sister came down this past weekend to take in the musical Spamalot. For those non-Monty Python fans, it’s musical based on the movie “Monty Python and the Search for the Holy Grail. Boone and I already saw it in the cities with our good friends Caleb and Amanda, but I knew my brother and sister would get a kick out of it, so we got them tickets. It was fun to hang out with them and afterwards, we had a grillout at our place with some friends.

It was a great weekend, especially since the SPAM stayed on the stage and off our grill!

This past weekend was the Crazylegs event here in town. Boone and a few of his co-workers, along with our buddy Matt, ran the 8K race and Mom, Dave, and I walked the 2K route. It was cold and windy, but the movement and crowds kept us warm (over 17,000 people ran). It was really fun to walk into Camp Randall and to hear the bands play, and the free beer and fruit was nice after the walk. Matt had a pretty good running time (he is a career runner though) and Boone got to run with his office mates. We also got to spend the weekend with Mom & Dave, and Aunt Nancy & Tom.

It’s been 1 year since we bought and moved into our condo and what a year it has been. We never thought owning a condo would take up so much of our thoughts, time, and money. We also never thought owning a condo would be so different from owning a house, both good and bad. We’ve enjoyed fixing it up and most of what we have done are little things: paint, new lights, a dishwasher, and various decorations and furnishings.

We are anxious for spring and summer to come so we can start more projects, but a lot of what is left to do is bigger so we will have to wait until after our wedding run in July. We are trying to make smart home improvements, ones that will increase the value of our home while still allowing us to be able to make the money back when we sell. It’s a tough condo market in Madison right now, but we are researching things carefully before jumping into it (those who know us best are saying, duh!).

For those of you who haven’t been to our place, here are a few pictures so you can see what we are up to.

…a dishwasher! I love my car!

Recently, our jobs have been taking us traveling a bit. It has given us a chance to endurance test the luggage we got as wedding presents; the 28 inch bag is hanging in there but we had to envoke the ten-year warrenty on the 21 inch which was replaced quite promptly. Luckily or not, our jobs and the house have kept each of us busy while the other is away.

Boone went to Santa Clara, California two weeks ago for a conference, and next week he heads to New York for another. He really likes seeing the other people in his industry and getting to do something different. He got to see some friends of ours, Alyssa and Anish, in California and is hoping to meet up with his old pal Ryan in New York. Unfortunately traveling for work doesn’t leave a whole lot of free time for touristy stuff. He really enjoyed California though and we are hoping to go back together and maybe do a wine tour in Northern CA.

Last week I went to exotic Lebanon, Missouri (near Springfield) which included 13 hour working days and a seven hour flight delay (which did not help my flying anxiety). Interesting, but definitely not the best trip I have done. At the beginning of April I get to go to Houston, Texas for work, which should be much warmer and the days should be shorter. I wish I had time to stay there and visit my cousins Ryan and Katie (and in utero Kieran) but the vacation days don’t last as long as they used to.

I think we are both looking forward to Spring when the traveling is easier, the weather is warmer, and the work-load lightens.

Boone and I are snow bound tonight, along with the rest of the Madison area. The snow started yesterday afternoon, grew to blizzard conditions this afternoon, and by the time it ends late tonight, we will have about 13 inches inches- from just this storm. We have had about 73 inches of snow so far this winter- only 2 more inches to go to beat the record of 76! One of our neighbors works for a snow plow company and every time I see him he looks more tired. In fact, I think I hear him plowing out our parking lot now…

The Mini Cooper and I braved the roads to get to work today (no I didn’t get stuck!) and Boone stayed home with the cat, though he did brave the winds to grab the mail and push somebody out of a snow bank. Cabin fever is definitely settling in. Let’s all hope for some sun and temps above 30. Until then, for those of you not buried, here are a few pics:

Happy New Year everyone! Boone and I celebrated the beginning of 2008 with a delicious dinner at Jon & Mel’s place, and then we headed downtown with them and Matt for a few drinks. We stopped at Natt Spill, a cool, dark bar with a great DJ, and then we headed to Brocchas, one of our favorite Irish bars. They had Rock Star Gomeroke, a live band karaoke group called the Gomers. It was great because even though the singer may not have been great, the band was rockin’ and everyone had a great time. We got home late, but were still functional to next day to watch the Badgers fight hard (but still lose) and to visit with my aunt Nancy and my cousins Carrie & Mark.

I thought about some New Year’s resolutions, but I don’t know that either of us have a solid one. I’d like to quit chewing my nails, but it hasn’t worked the past dozen times, so there is no pressure. I’d also like to try to find a workout that I actually enjoy or budget my money better (those darn sales at Borders get me every time). With the new year, the possibilities seem endless…