what's on the mind on monday...

the location...
the crew...
the malibu 7 drink...
the chips & guac...

yes that is what is on my mind on this marvelous monday morning :) 7 more days!

a little bit of everything

so i know it has been a while since i have posted anything...i don't know why i thought i would good at this! so now i am way behind and every time i thought about writing i would think, that is just going to be way too much to write about! so i just decided to give some highlights and random thoughts :)

*garza and mom came to visit... it was so fun having garza up here! i so enjoyed his visit and getting to spend some time with him...we decided that he should move up here! then mom came in on saturday morning, so she and i had girls day and garza, adam & rick had guys day! i know the boys had a good time, but couldn't tell you all the details of their day because i obviously wasn't there! i do know it consisted of town hall brewery, u of m tour, and maybe lunch at bww! i do know girls day was oh so fun!! i miss my mom so much, we always have so much fun together (and with nikki too!) so we started the day of going straight to grand ave with the idea of doing some shopping, but we made it through one store and decided we needed lunch in order to effectively shop :) so i took her to cafe latte... i think one of my new favorite places to eathttp://www.cafelatte.com/index.html! so mom and i shoved our faces and in between bites had rory & lorelai (mom & daughter on gilmore girls) like conversations! lunch was so so so yummy, and having mom there with me was even better!! then we went to bread & chocolate and samples all the delicious desserts :) then once we were re-fueled we were able to start shopping! we walked all down grand (which by the way it was a perfect sunny day in minnesota and was so fun to be walking outside) and stopped in all sorts of fun stores and boutiques...and of course all the while talking each others ears off! mom got to experience my downtown driving and parking skills...haha...and learned how small my bladder really is at starbucks...i won't go into details and it probably won't be as funny (one of those had to be there moments!) we seriously stopped in almost all the stores, and then headed off to home goods, and then came back home to meet the boys for a good home cooked meal made by all! we got to take both garza and mom to our new church on sunday which was exciting for us to show them our new church home! we then enjoyed a yummy sunday dinner with kelly & gary and then had to send zach back to texas :( while the boys went to the airport mom and i went to get a chick flick (i won't say the name in case people liked it) which mom and i must not have been in a girly mood because we spent most of the movie making fun of it and giggling at the cheesiness :) oops! the next few days we enjoyed mall of america and all it has to offer, general store, zida, pink door, kazolees, and much more! she came and nannied with me mon & wed, and also fell in love with sammy boy! we got to just hang out at the house some too which was nice i know for adam to steal in some time with her! we also had to send mom back to texas which was no fun! we definitely enjoyed both of their visits and would like to remind them and everyone else that our guest rooms are now empty...just saying!! (p.s we have no pictures with mom or garza...sad day! we were just having too much fun to remember to bust out the camera!)

*home shows...all three home shows are done and were huge successes!! i got to "work" one day (pretend i knew all about laminate counter tops, estimates, etc!) at the minneapolis one and it was so amazing at how big it was!! holy moly! the honey-doers booth looked AWESOME and got tons of traffic and lots of leads! the lakeville and apple valley shows weren't as big size wise as the minneapolis one, but got just as much business or more from those two shows together!! for those of you that haven't seen any of their honey-doers work you should check out their site http://honey-doers.com/ they do phenomenal work...and if you live in minnesota and need some work done you know who to call!! okay i will stop!

*speaking of business...i need to double check with my business partner (jess) before i reveal too much, but let me just say jess and i have come up with a fabulous new business i know you all are going to love...i promise to give an update once i make sure we can officially let the world know!! YAY!! we are pretty excited!!

*march madness...i am not going to brag, i wish i joined a money league because i didn't do so shabby! adam didn't do so shabby in his league and won second place...wahoo! the most exciting thing though is that the TARHEELS W-O-N!! i love me some tarheels...and i think i have a small grandpa crush (aka: kinda wish he was one of my grandpas) on good ol' roy williams!

*dance show....so i actually didn't get to go to ashley's dance show (i had posted previously that i thought i was getting to go) and i was super bummed about that! all the other sisters got to go so i was even more sad to miss out on that part as well :( i heard only wonderful things about the show and can't wait to watch her video! she is such an incredible dancer, and will be sending any daughters adam and i have straight to aunt ashley to learn to dance! speaking of sisters...i am excited because i think adam and i are going to get to make a trip to milwaukee to see dr. deveneau! that is so crazy to write and know that she is a doctor (and from what i have heard, only the world's greatest doctor!!)

*speaking of trips...rick, ashley, spenser, adam, and i will be in CABO in eleven days...wahoo! :) i cannot tell you how excited i am bout this trip! all i can think about these days are warm sun and delicious chips & guac!! YUM!! it will be such a wonderful trip, i cannot wait!

*hair cut...well i am finally using abbey & ashley's christmas present! they gave a certificate to spalon to get my hair cut! i have been wanting to cut my hair off and i finally doing it! i am doing locks of love http://www.locksoflove.org/ so i for sure cutting 10 inches, but i think i will do a bit more!! i am not sure if it will look the greatest, but it is hair and it will grow back! :) the is the picture i think i am bringing with me...i might even go shorter...yikes i know!

well this is a pretty lengthy post so i better stop here! i am sure there will be a part two! plus adam and i have a walk to get to w/ harley! then some yummy dinner, maybe a movie, and off to bed! we hope you all have a wonderful week and a fabulous easter!! love you all!

march madness

happy march everyone! so there are some fun things coming up in march, and i am super excited! we start the madness off on the 4th, which just happens to be rick's birthday (HAPPY BIRTHDAY!) it is also the day i start subbing for french (no i don't speak french...yes this will be interesting) and this is also the kick-off day for the home show! adam just picked up their 10' x 8' pop up display that he designed and it is way cool! he did a great job on it, and has done an awesome job getting everything ready for the show! the home show ends sunday the 8th, which is also the day that we are taking abbey to the dave barnes concert (that was her bday present from us) i am super excited about the concert and getting to spend some time with abbey! the next week i do another full week of subbing french (i will let you all know how that goes!) and then the fun continues... GARZA is coming to visit!! he will be here the 12th-15th, and we are so excited about his stay here...we've been thinking of all sorts of fun things to do while he is up! (sidenote: he just has acl surgery, so if you are reading this say a quick prayer for him and a speedy recovery!) the fun doesn't stop there... MOM is coming to visit too!! she will be here on the 14th, and is scheduled to go back to tx on the 19th...we'll see if that happens! i am hoping that she has so much fun that she can't even think about going home :) hey i can dream!! then of course the real march madness starts! i love college basketball, but i realllly love march madness! i may have skipped a few classes in college so i could watch some of the games! oops :) the next event is the 28th... ashley has her dance show that hopefully i am getting to go down for...that is the plan so far! she is a very talented dancer and anyone that is in abliene should go check out her show the weekend of the 28th! well then we get into april....and since i am pretty pumped about it, i will go ahead and share my excitement for april...rick is taking the family to CABO! doesn't that sound so amazing!?! i can't wait! well then after april, comes may which means...our one year anniversary :) we have been looking at some places to go in mn to celebrate and get away for a weekend! check out some of the websites...and you can tell us your opinion :) or if you live in mn and have some better ideas, let us know!
http://www.grandviewlodge.com/default.asp
http://www.moondanceinn.com/
http://www.stcroixriverinn.com/
http://www.roundbarnfarm.com/
those are just the ones i can remember! i forgot to bookmark the places after we looked at them...oops! then after that we head into summer with abbey's graduation, dan & dana's wedding, kelly's birthday, nikki's birthday (hopefully a visit to see her, or she comes here to visit), mom's birthday, etc...and the list could keep going until i got to christmas! which since i realized i titled this blog MARCH madness, maybe i shoud just stick to march...there is just such much excitement it was hard to contain it all!! we hope everyone is doing well and love you all!

God is good

It has been pretty busy around the Berres house! A lot going on, but that's good right!? I have been subbing almost every day, and nannying the days I am not subbing. I was contacted by another family that is looking for someone to full time nanny :) Right now the teaching market in MN is not the greatest (at least Elem.) but God is good and faithful, and He is opening doors!





Adam has been busy busy busy as well! Honey-doers will be appearing at the Minneapolis Home & Garden Show (that is HUGE news...very exciting to be invited to have a booth at this!!!) He has been doing a lot of work to prepare of this, and have got a lot of awesome things for the show! I am excited to see their display...it is going to look great! It is March 4-8 and they have to put in long days for this, so pray for energy for both he and Rick during this because they are putting long hours in! The Honey-Doers do awesome work so I am excited to see the response they get from this! They already stay really busy and I know this will only bring in more business for them!

Adam and I are babysitting Sam (the little boy I nanny some days) tonight and we are both excited to spend some time with him! He is the cutest boy ever...and so much fun! We are ordering pizza and getting ready for a fun filled night with an 18month old :)





Since we have been a bit busy, I have ignored the blog a bit...which I really want to get updated! I wanted to put some pictures up of both our birthdays and Valentines day...yes this is how behind I am...those were a while ago :) But I did want to update you all on some exciting news...I think I official have an "business idea"that I am really going to go with this time and be serious about!! (Read the previous post for some of my "ideas" I have come up with!!) I talked to my mom and Adam about this last night, and I told them both I am SERIOUS about this one! I am really going to follow up with it, and I think it is just perfect! I will not tell you any more about the new "idea" yet...there are still some details before I tell too much :) I am trying to come up with a catchy name for my business, and as soon as I get some of the details worked out I will post about the business and get some of your ideas for a name! I am oober excited about this if you can't tell and I can't wait to tell everyone about it :)





Well we are off to hang out with the "Chunkers" that's what we call Sam...he is such a chunk! I will write again soon! Love you all!

*blossoms*babies*beads*baking*

I am taking a quick paper break...the awful paper I have not been looking forward to, but trying to view in a positive light! Once I am done with this paper I am another step closer to finalizing my Minnesota Teaching Certificate...woo-hoo! It is a little discouraging because right now it MN there are no teaching jobs, well not in Elementary! I do know however, that God is faithful and He has a wonderful plan! This made me think of all of my little "plans" I always come up with, and it made me laugh! I always come up with these ideas or plans (most of you reading this are probably laughing with me because you are familiar with Amanda plans) I for some reason always want to start my own business...crazy I know, but I do! My first idea was blossoms...yes I really was excited and believed I was going to open up a flower shop one day. While I do love flowers and enjoy creating arrangements, I wasn't sure exactly how to go about buying flowers and the business side became more apparent to me than the fun, creative side to it all. So then the next idea was babies...no not having babies (well yes I do want to have babies, that just wasn't the idea for the business plan) the idea was to sell homemade baby clothes! I always think of ideas for baby clothes that are funky, fun, cute, and unique...I think it is the artist in me! Adding fabric, buttons, sequins, and other embellishments to onsies or pants just gets me excited thinking about it, and then reality hits me...I don't know how to sew! I took apparel in High School and our project was pajama pants...I stapled my together and the teacher gave me an A...she had seen me on the sewing machine apparently! So again, another one of my ideas/plans gone bad. I will have you know I made some onsies for one of my good friends Brittany's baby (who is the MOST BEAUTIFUL baby EVER... not even kidding!) just recently, and I thought they turned out pretty cute! I sewed three buttons on one of them...they were just for decoration, not to actually be able to button...wow I wouldn't even know how to begin doing that! The other one was more Amanda style because I busted out the hot glue gun instead of a needle and thread! I found this gorgeous fabric and cut a heart out of it, and glued around the edges of the heart so it would stick to the onsie. Then I used pink puff paint and outlined the heart to make sure it was really going to stick! Maybe not selling at a store worthy, but I bet Anna Grace will look just stunning in it :) Okay onto the next idea...beads (and also spoons, but I wanted the title to have all B's for some reason, and spoons would have messed that up!) I wanted to make jewelry, and my first thought was beads. I quickly learned I don't love working with beads, it takes a lot of concentration and patience. So I moved onto spoons...here is the one I really was serious about! I called my mom the day I had this thought and started brainstorming store names and thought about ordering these cute tanks for all of my employees to wear when we went to craft stores to sell my spoon jewelry! Well I found out some spoons break really easily when you try to bend them, and some you couldn't get to bend even if you tried hammering! I am pretty sure there are tools out there I would need, and one day I think I will get really serious about this idea! :) For now, onto my next and newest GREAT idea...I dreamed about it all last night...it was fabulous! BAKING...I want to make cookies, cupcakes, cakes, brownies, and all things sweet! I love the cookies and cupcakes that are fun and decorated and almost look too pretty to eat (I usually get over that, and dig in!) Again I think it is the artist in me that draws me to those things! Now I know most of you are thinking...oh no Amanda and sweets, bad idea! Don't worry I did the math and found that my absolute love for sweets + my lack of self-control = 424 pounds... and since I want to live to see my grandkids, baking is now out of the picture! Okay well maybe not out of the picture because I am super excited for what I am making tomorrow (chocolate chip cookie dough brownies with chocolate ganache) and I do just love to bake, but I guess the baking business plan is out! Who knows maybe one day I will remember all of my crazy ideas and plans and decide to put them all together in one store and call it All Things B, or something more creative...hmmm...this could be the new plan :)

I guess until then...back to the paper!

A Whole New World

So I caved in and joined the blog world, and just as I suspected I am completely lost! There are all sorts of layouts to choose from, fonts, settings, etc...easy right!?! Well not when you are technologically challenged! I always look at my friends and family's blogs and they are so cute, but I can't figure the cute part out, so this is all you will get until I become more blogger savy :) But really the reason we decided to start a blog wasn't to have fun backgrounds (although I still want to figure out how to have those!!) but to have another way to stay in touch with family and friends! We will try our best to keep it updated and slowly, but surely we will figure out this blogger world! Enjoy!!