Sunday, December 6, 2009

Month of November in Review

Wow! Where did the month of November go? I knew we were busy but I did not realize just how busy we were until I was going through our photos.

We ended the month of October off by setting a wedding date. The wedding planning has begun. We already have a church, a reception venue, DJ, photographer and I have my dress. Hopefully the sooner we figure things out, we can coast through the months leading up to the actual ceremony.

So we started the month of November off by attending the University of Minnesota vs. Bemidji State hockey game. It was the first time I had been in the Marriucci Ice Arena. It was very impressive. It was the size of a college basketball arena. It was a lot of fun. As we were leaving the arena the news was doing their post-game report. Alex thought it would be fun to get on tv. I took a picture of Alex on tv (literally). He is the crazy fan in the middle of the 2 commentators.


Next we were off to Chicago/South Bend for a visit with my parents and to close out another disappointing Notre Dame football season. We arrived in Chicago late Thursday evening so that we could spend the day with my parents in downtown Chicago. We stayed outside of the city by the airport and thought it would be fun to ride the "L" into town. It was the first time my parents had ridden the "L." (You can see where my brother gets his sense of humor.)


We had a great time hanging out in the city. We went shopping and had a very nice dinner. My dad and Alex were very good sports. The next day we were off to South Bend. It was a very special day because we were able to watch the game with my very good friends Jeff and Marie that I hadn't seen since I moved to Minnesota. Despite the disappointing loss, we were in very good company.


The following weekend was Thanksgiving. I had every intention of staying put in Minneapolis but I was trying to come up with some ideas for Alex for Christmas. He loves the Miami of Ohio hockey team and hasn't seen them play in over a year. They don't play this year when we are home for the holidays. So as I was looking at their schedule, I saw that they were playing in the Subway Classic hosted by the University of North Dakota in Grand Forks, North Dakota. I surprised Alex by going ahead and purchasing the tickets.

So after another successful Thanksgiving dinner cooked by yours truly and putting up the Christmas tree, we packed up yet again, and headed north on Friday to Grand Forks. I didn't know much about Grand Forks. I thought it would be an adventure. We were going to drive through Fargo so I thought that we could stop and check it out. Well we drove through Fargo. Stopped to eat lunch and asked the waitress what there is to do in Fargo. You could hear crickets in the room. "Not much" she responded. So we packed up and headed into Grand Forks.

When we checked into the hotel we were told that we could shop at Cabela's, Target, and Kohls. Fabulous! I just thought to myself, "We are here for hockey." So after we picked up our hotel key and settled into our hotel room we headed over to the hockey arena. It was huge! It made the Marriucci Ice Arena look like chopped liver. The place was immaculate. The floors were marble with the Fighting Sioux logo in the marble. Amazing!


After asking a few people about what there is to do in Grand Forks and realizing there is nothing to do we discovered the Blue Moose. A very good and tasty restaurant. We made a note to go back there if we ever went back to Grand Forks. Which if we do go back it will not be any time soon.


The last game of the Subway Classic was Saturday night. The #1 Miami Redhawks played the #8 North Dakota Fighting Sioux. We were 1 of 8 Miami fans and we felt very out of place. The place was packed with North Dakota fans. They definitely love their hockey.


In between the 2nd and 3rd period we were treated to a very impressive laser light show. This place puts NHL games to shame. However, I guess when the hockey games are the only thing to do in Grand Forks, it better be pretty cool.


As I sit here, I am thinking to myself that December is quickly flying by. The next thing we know it will be the new year. Which will probably be the next time I will have time to update my blog.

So just in case I hope everyone has a very
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

3 comments:

Kristan said...

YAY setting a wedding date! Congrats, that must be so exciting.

Also looks like you had a pretty fun, albeit busy, November!

Happy holidays. :)

Ape said...

is that louie's big brother in the pic on the "L"?

NDEmBug said...

yes it is, april! good eye!