thirty-three

This man, my awesome husband, is thirty-three today. 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, KEV! 

I love you. 

hey, good lookin'

A couple of weekends ago Kevin and I were relaxing at home, enjoying the coziness of being inside together on a chilly day, and when I noticed the lovely natural light pouring into the apartment, I made him my model for a mini photo-shoot.

Darn if I haven't gone and got a crush on my own husband.

20 miles

Kevin is nearing the end of his marathon training (less than three weeks to go until the Twin Cities Marathon), and yesterday he ran no less than 20 miles in a cool, grey, drizzly rain. He was thoroughly soaked by the time I picked him up at his finish spot, and I rushed him home for some Mountain Blast Powerade, a hot shower, and a giant turkey burger.

He's been training hard for what will be his second marathon (he ran the California International Marathon in 2002), and I am such a proud little wife. I can't wait for the actual marathon (which is on October 5) - it's going to be awesome!

post-its

Now this is what I call job security. In October, Kevin will make the move from advertising to the Post-it division at 3M. And really, will the world ever run out of a need for these magical little bits of paper? Nope, and here's why:

They're a handy alternative to paint and wallpaper.

They hold endless artistic possibilities.

They're an inexpensive way to redecorate.

They entertain children...

...and adults.

They help Kevin express his love for me.

kevin's 30th birthday weekend

A bit delayed, but here are some pictures from Kevin's 30th birthday celebration the weekend of June 6. So AWESOME to have had the Seniors, the Putnams, and Ryan come all the way out from California to join us for the festivities. June has been a crazy/fun/busy month what with our trip to Kansas, Kevin's birthday weekend, Ryan's 2-week visit, our weekend in the Wisconsin Dells, and now, Aunt Jan's weekend with us. The mister and I made a quick trip to Duluth with Jan on Saturday (we got back yesterday afternoon) and it was a lovely way to cap off an exciting weekend of Minnesota exploration. More on that, and Ryan's visit, later. (SO much blogging to catch up on!)

For now, here are some fun pictures from the birthday weekend. Thanks to all our awesome peeps (yeah, that's right, I said our peeps) who made Kev's 30th such a lovely birthday!

Hanging out at home - cards, food, friends. Loved it.

Kevin and his pal, Talia, rocking out on the guitar.

Mississippi riverboat cruise.

Drinks at the Guthrie.

Pancake breakfast in our makeshift dining room/bedroom.

Kev and his pint-sized posse at the lakeside bbq.

Saint Paul Saints Game.

Datil! All the way from Berkeley! Thanks, Ryan!

AWESOME M&Ms birthday cake.

you know what they say...

Here's a wee snippet of an amusing lunchtime phone conversation Kevin and I had today:

Kev: I'm going to the chiropractor today at 5:30.

Me: That's good. I can't wait for my appointment.

Kev: So, what are we doing for dinner tonight?

Me: I don't know, but I need real food because I don't think I can keep eating chocolate cake and banana bread for dinner.

Kev: You had cake? I had cake too. We celebrated Scotch Brite's 50th anniversary today!

Me: (silence) Your job makes me sad.

Kev: Yeah, haha.

Me: We should make stir-fry tonight. With the seitan, not the pork.

Kev: No pork?!

Me: We had beef stew yesterday, and I'm supposed to be a vegetarian!

Kev: Yeah, I was just really looking forward to the pork.

Me: Well, you can have it next week with some vegetables or something.

Kev: (silence) Well, you know what they say...save your pork for a rainy day!

Me: Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!

We're riveting, I know.

kevin, the wonder-husband

Photo by the talented Josh Gruetzmacher (our wedding photographer).

I have an awesome husband. What did I do today? I slept in, skipped church, put on sweats, uploaded pictures from our vacation, checked my e-mail, baked banana bread, watched a movie, did about four loads of laundry, and studied. What did Mr. Wonderful do today? Got up early, went for a run, went to church (looking mighty handsome, I might add), cleaned the bathroom (I'm talking major shower and toilet scrubbing), made the meal plan for the week, went grocery shopping, changed the sheets on the bed, helped with laundry, made dinner, snuggled me when I was feeling stressed out, and then went to the coffeehouse to do prep-work for his class this week. Hello, productivity!

Kevin and I, like many other married people, are apt to hit some relationship rough patches every now and then. However, we've come a long way since the beginning of our relationship and I like to think we try our best to live by our marital motto of "take care of each other." I feel 110 million percent blessed to have found a true partner in life - someone who shows me his love in a thousand different ways every day and who really and truly takes care of me. Thank you for today, Kev. I love you a super lot.

where DO we go?

I'm up late studying in bed while my sweet husband sleeps beside me. I just sneezed and it made Kevin lift his head up off the pillow and turn to me and ask, "Where do we go?" I was confused for about a millisecond until I realized that I was in the middle of one of my favorite Kevin experiences - sleep-talking! This is not the first time this has happened. In business school he used to sit up in bed sometimes in the middle of the night and start muttering numbers. Sheesh.

Here's tonight's little gem:

Me: (sneeze)

Kevin: Where do we go?!

Me: What?

Kevin: Where do we go???

Me: We go to (helpless giggling) sleep (giggle)!

Kevin: But, where do we GO?!

Whereupon Kevin lays his head down on the pillow and falls back into a peaceful sleep. He will not remember this incident at all and he'll only learn about it when he reads my blog tomorrow morning, which is a shame really because I so enjoy our midnight conversations!

P.S. - Kevin is going to kill me for revealing this, but my all-time favorite sleep-talking episode involves Kevin waking me up in the middle of the night to say, "Look at my muscles, Tam!" - all while flexing his biceps! Priceless, I tell you.

I wonder what he'll say next...

a friend of martha

FOM (Friend of Martha). That's what Kevin was called during a recent trip to a taping of the Martha Stewart Show in NYC (he was there, in NYC and at the Martha Stewart show, for work). It's just one of the many perks of working at 3M - Martha loves their sponges!

 I thought you all would enjoy this picture of Kevin, and some other FOMs (basically, a Martha Stewart Show VIP), with the inimitable Ms. Stewart herself. I admit it, I love her and I even tried to get Kevin to have her sign one of our wedding pictures. Can you blame me? She rocks my OCD-home-decorating-crafty-DIY-obsessed world.

our very own 3M store

I wasn't kidding when I said we're up to our elbows in 3M products!