mundial ! ! !

The last month has been awesome - all full of soccer!

But before I blab about soccer, you should watch this hilarious video of Thor. It is the cutest.

The World Cup is my favorite. I think it is bigger than the Olympics and this is why. The whole world loves soccer.  It is a huge deal and sadly, the United States doesn't appreciate it like we should. I must say though, the US is getting there and I am sure this World Cup created tons of new soccer fans out here. Anyway, that long rant about the world loving soccer - that means the whole world is watching! Yes, everyone is involved in the Olympics, but there is so much going on! Countries shut down to watch their nation play in the World Cup. That's serious and I love it!!

The United States gave it their absolute all and I am proud of the way they played.  Reading this article made me all misty eyed because it was so true.

Also, what about Argentina?! Yes, Germany won. Yes, they are amazing. But, come on, Messi! He deserved that cup, but it makes me happy to know that he received the Golden Ball.

(For those of you who don't know, my mother's family is from Argentina) 

So, naturally we had a big family party watching the game!

 that puppy belly!                                                            

melio

After we picked up Thor, we were in Utah for a few days. We went to watch my college roommate/sports companion/best friend Melanie marry her love Julio! I am so glad I was able to be there. Melanie made for a stunning bride and it was a beautiful day.

THOR!

We have a puppy!!!  

His name is Thor. Why did we pick the name Thor? Not because we love the superhero, but because of my maiden name (Thorkelson) and I think that it is the cutest. But as we were trying to come up with a good middle name to go with Thor, nothing fit! Ashton (being a bit of a LOTR/Hobbit lover) decided we should go with Thorin Oakenshield. So, long story short, his full name is Thorin Oakenshield Smith, but we just like to call him Thor.

How Thor came to be: I needed a puppy - we have all been there, right?! We decided on an English Bulldog. After searching for one in Utah ready for us with no luck, I took a nap. When I woke up Ashton told me he had found our dog in Iowa and just in time for us to grab him on our drive to Utah.

On June 4th we left Minnesota for a quick weekend in Utah (yep, the weekend before we were moving home). When we got to Sioux Falls, we veered off our regular path to pick up our Thor.

(ps. I can't stop taking pictures, so Thor has his own instagram account. Follow him @iamthorthebulldog and love on how cute he is!)

we are back!

The last month has been crazy.

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We drove to Utah for a weekend.

Picked up THOR!!!! Then left him in Utah because we...

Drove back to Minnesota with Porter and Parker.

Packed. Cleaned. Ate out lots.

I finished out the school year.

We headed home for reals.

We moved in and life with a dog has started.

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I also haven't been able to update our adventures because my computer wasn't working, but guess what! I turned it on this morning and voila!

So, I will sit here on the couch, while suffering from major hiccups as watching the world cup (driving my entire family crazy) with a puppy sleeping by my side, and try to slowly catch the blog up.

two and a half weeks

We are leaving Minnesota in two and a half weeks and my emotions are all over the place.

Our amazing friends out here threw us a going away BBQ yesterday. It was a perfect day, spent with people we will never forget. This little world we have created in Minnesota is all Ashton and I have known as a married couple, and beside the below freezing winter, we have loved it.

We love our Minnesota friends.

 

one year

I can't believe our beautiful, perfect day was already a year ago!

Sometimes, it feels like it was just yesterday (probably because I look at the pictures at least every week).

See my wedding posts here and here.

Other times, it feels like Ashton and I have been together for years and years.

Either way, it is amazing.

Ashton and I had a few ideas for what we wanted to do for our anniversary, but we wanted to keep it simple because we bought ourselves something super crazy great (but we will get to that closer to the end of this post).

We ended up at Valleyfair - a theme park that is less than 10 minutes from us and it was a blast, though Ashton and I joke that we have aged 20 years in the one year that we have been married. After four rides, I needed a good half hour break because my head was spinning.

 We happened to take most of our pictures on the ride that made us the most sick. I couldn't even look at it the rest of the time we were there.

We only lasted at Valleyfair from about 11:00 to 4:00 (see, we are old!), but we were able to do everything we wanted and then take a nap at home.

After the napping, Ashton found a fun restaurant for us to visit in St. Paul. It was delicious and, if we weren't leaving so soon, we would probably become regulars!

Remember that something great I told you we bought? This restaurant is the only clue I will give you until June 5th :)

 The cheese curds! Yum.

 Photobombed by the chef.