Weekend at the lake

Friday night after work we headed out to the lake for a mini-vacation. Dan thinks I always get sick on vacations (which I do, on the big ones), so his plan is to have us go on lots of mini-vacations to the lake so that I don't get sick when we fly somewhere for our next vacation. We'll see if it works!

It was an awesome weekend. The natural light shines into our bedroom early so we woke up and started our day before 8. After enjoying a breakfast of "omelets in a bag" and playing the wii, we headed out for a walk on the lake. We walked through all three connected lakes and saw a bunch of ice fishermen, bald eagles, and some people cross-country skiing. I wore my boots but those slowed me down a little; I think I got a better work out with them though :)

We cleaned up a little bit, put the new pillows in the shams on our bed, and decorated our master bathroom with some pots my mom gave me.

More pics from the vacation

As promised here are a few more pictures from our vacation, just a little late. I can't believe how quickly we forget vacation because we get wrapped up into life back home. My tan has faded, and looking at these pictures it doesn't seem like just over a week ago we were in sunny FL. But, the weather this weekend was encouraging... maybe it won't be too long until spring.
Funny bird at Silver Springs. We went there on Valentines Day.

Ugly croc at Silver Springs. He looks like he's smiling a little slyly, doesn't he?

Bear at Silver Springs

The tiny owl, he was full grown and less than 1 lb!

Family of alligators

Dan looking through the famous Glass bottom boat at Silver Springs, there really is silver in the bottom of the springs!

The two of us by a strange palm tree that grew around this bridge. (Ignore my outfit, it was colder that day than forecasted so I improvised with my capri's :)

Another funny bird we saw on our boat tour of the river

Dan enjoying the all you can eat lobster buffet on Valentines Day.

First day at the new office

Today was my first day in my new office. We moved across the street since the rent in the Wells Fargo building was apparently too high for Wells Fargo employees so we got kicked out. Accounting firms pay more to be in our cool building I guess.

Dan dropped me off and I remembered what floor I was on and followed the signs to my new desk number 142. But, much to my surprise it was empty! Sure, the sign said Welcome, Heather but no monitor, no boxes... hmm... did I miss a memo or something about the status of my employement?

Very confused I looked around and everyone else seemed to have their belongings all setup and organized (since they moved last week when I was on vacation). Perhaps mine were locked away for safekeeping while I was out, so I checked with the hurrying admin that went by me. No, she said, your boxes should be there. She looked in the door and then back at me with a shocked look. Now, I was really getting scared. She scurried around a few aisles over and called me. There was another office labeled "142" but just in another group. All my boxes were there safe and sound along with my computer items all hooked up in the other location. After talking with the IT guys, they helped me move everything back to MY "142" office and I was up and running in under an hour.

Whew, what a crazy Monday. It would have been a great practical joke, if it were actually a practical joke!

Rest of the vacation - minus the pictures

The pictures are on Dan's computer right now so we'll post them later. To pick up where I left off, Wednesday was a lazy day around the condo and must have been relaxing because I started feeling sick. The last time I had a sinus infection was on our trip to Asia so Dan thought maybe we should not go on any more vacations... That doesn't sound fun so I think we should go on MORE vacations so my body doesn't have time to get sick each time :)

Thursday was still a little chilly but was really sunny. We drove to Silver Springs and saw the famous Glass Bottom boats and took a few tours that day and saw more alligators including an albino (sp?) one. On the way back we went to a mini-golf place and then an all you can eat Lobster, crab legs, and prime rib buffet. What a great Valentines Day :) After all the planning the guys did for us a few Friday's ago, it was the least I could do to take Dan to an all you can eat buffet for our special day.

Friday was the best day of the whole trip. It was 80 and sunny and we spent the whole day at the pool. Dan played basketball and tennis and his parents and aunt and uncle did the paddle boats later in the day too. I was content to soak up the sun and it made me feel a little better.

Saturday was an early morning to get to the airport for our 8 a.m. flight, but unlike the trip out we didn't have any problems getting home. But, a tip for anyone with sinus infections try to avoid flying! It was really painful to go up into the sky and back down twice feeling so congested and it also made my ears plugged. So, as soon as we got to Mpls we went straight to the Minute Clinic for meds and today I am feeling better. Good thing so that I can go back to work tomorrow at my new building. All in all it was a really fun trip and although I did get sick, I also got a sun tan that has kept me happy these last couple of cold days at home. At least it was in the 30s and not single digits like tomorrow will be so that we could work our way into the cold!

I'll try and post pictures tomorrow if I can get them on to my computer from Dan's.

first half vacation update

Well, we are half way through our vacation and today it is rainy so we're hanging out around the condo. Monday we did everything we had planned and it was a wonderful day. All you can eat breakfast followed by the airboat ride in the Everglades (sorry Christina, it is an air boat and not an air balloon ride :) Dan got to hold a baby alligator there and the airboat was really fun to skid across the weedy Everglades looking for birds and seeing an alligator sunning itself too. Then we were off to Cypress Gardens and saw beautiful gardens and watched a water ski and ice show too. We went to the Arabian Nights dinner theater and then stopped by WonderWorks to end the day.


Tuesday was forcasting rain on the Gulf coast, but it was the only day we could do the Dolphin sightseeing trip and Paddleboat dinner cruise so we decided to chance it and drive to the coast anyway. We were so glad we did because the rain held off until we pushed away from the dock so they didn't cancel the trip. It was a little wet, but we saw lots of dolphins jumping the wake behind the boat. It was so fun to see! Once we got done it started pouring but we had a few hours before the cruise so stopped a Chick-fil-A on the recommendation of one of Dan's co-workers. There we met a guy who searches for shells on the beach 10 hours a day. He sells them sometimes for over $100 a shell and picks up at least 100 a day! He showed us a few of his recent finds and they were huge and very beautiful shells. We asked where he goes and then headed off to try and find a few ourselves. The first beach we didn't find many, but the second one Dan, Monica and Marsha found some really nice ones. The rain had let up, but not for long and the three of them got drenched running back to the car. If it wasn't so rainy we would have stayed longer and probably have found some wonderful shells to bring home, but we did get a couple. The dinner cruise was nice even in the dark and we saw more dolphins jumping the paddleboat wake. So, even in the rain we were all very happy with our decision to go to the coast!

Today Roger and Monica and Bob and Marsha drove to the Kennedy Space Center while Dan and I stayed around the condo. We walked across the street for a pizza buffet and it started pouring again, but we made it back without getting too wet afterwards. Now we're going to go swim in the heated pool/hot tub because it doesn't matter if its raining while we're swimming, right? But, at least the rain gave me a chance to update this mid-vacation.


Tomorrow we're headed to Silver Springs with the glass bottom boat and maybe Gatorland too. It is supposed to be 78 and sunny and Friday 80!

Hard to see, but an alligator is out there!
Airboat for Everglades boat tour






Jumping dolphins!Old Veterans hospital turned into fancy resort off the Gulf
Chilly and wet day at the Gulfhow we looked at the end of the wet day Tuesday on the Paddleboat

Florida!

Yesterday we arrived in warm Florida as scheduled but with a few scares along the way! It was so snowy and icy in MN before our flight left and somehow our pilot's schedule was mixed up and we did have one on our plane... so another one got called in but because our plane was sitting for so long it went through a 30 min de-icing period like a plane car wash. We left an hour and a half late and that was exactly how long our layover was in Cleveland. We thought there was no way we'd make our connection, but the new pilot picked up time and we landed, ran to our next gate and boarded the plane! It was so nice to get to Orlando and have it be 75 at 8 p.m. at night. Today we went to a Baptist church, picked up some fresh strawberries, oranges and tomatoes on a roadside stand and then sat by the pool while Dan and his dad and uncle played tennis. We scheduled the next two days activities and tomorrow will be a lot of fun. We're going on an air boat ride through the Everglades, going to Cypress Gardens, and then a dinner show. Tuesday's we'll go to the Gulf and do a Dolphin sightseeing raceboat tour and a dinner cruise. We have one more day of activities and Dan and I will probably go to Silver Springs and do a tour on the glass-bottom boat and maybe stop at Gatorland too. All non-traditional Orlando things to do, but I've done the Disney, Sea World, Universal stuff, so this is fun to do a lot of native outdoor tours. The resort is really nice too. On the days we don't do activities it will be fun to hang around here and use their fitness center and spa. It is wonderful weather this week, but I feel bad for the freezing weather in MN!! Stay warm :)

Super Sunday

On Sunday we had friends over to watch the Super Bowl and they came early to hang out and go ice fishing in the holes Tom left from the day before. Jeremy has lots of fishing stuff and I should have captured the moment, but the best picture of the day was Dan sitting at one hole in a lawn chair and Jeremy at one about 40 feet away in his lawn chair. What a great bonding time for them. :) When Jon, Kevin and Tina came we all went out for about 10 minutes to see if we could catch a fish during that time, but no bites. Jeremy apparently did catch one, but gave it to some other fishermen so he could come and watch the game with us. He didn't miss much, the game was only interesting in the last 5 minutes. And, the commercials weren't that good either. But, all in all it was a fun time especially because of the Rockstars and "the best things ever" appetizers!!

Jon: "Come on fishies, I only have 2 minutes before the game starts"

A view of the finished product from the lake

Moving

On Saturday we moved all the large furniture items out to the lake. Thankfully it wasn't snowy and it went really quickly. We had lots of help from our family and friends - thanks to everyone who came!

We had an "outdoor" team that unloaded and brought the furniture down the icy driveway, and then an "indoor" team that took the furniture to its final destination. It was lovely to sleep on a real bed Saturday night!

Kevin, Dan, Jon and Tom (and Brent - not pictured) were the "outdoor" team

Some of the "indoor" team, Tom K. , Scott, Joel (my dad not pictured) and then the girls Christina, Kara, Erin, and my mom focused on the kitchen and helping me make the beds. It was so helpful!

Thanks again everyone!

Personality Test

Here are some quotes about my personality... they seem pretty true!

"ESTJs live in a world of facts and concrete needs. They live in the present, with their eye constantly scanning their personal environment to make sure that everything is running smoothly and systematically. They honor traditions and laws, and have a clear set of standards and beliefs."
- Portrait of an ESTJ (The Personality Page)

"...go by experience and that is what counts, not speculation and experimentation, and certainly not fantasy. They keep their feet firmly on the ground and make sure that those under their supervision do the same..."
- The Portrait of the Supervisor (eStJ) (Keirsey)

"responsible, finisher, decisive, norm following, respects authority, punctual, hard working, stiff, self confident"

- Jung Type Descriptions (ESTJ) (similarminds.com) "ESTJs thrive on order and continuity. Being extraverted, their focus involves organization of people, which translates into supervision. While ENTJs enjoy organizing and mobilizing people according to their own theories and tactically based agendas, ESTJs are content to enforce "the rules," often dictated by tradition or handed down from a higher authority."
- ESTJ Profile (TypeLogic)

"ESTJs prefer occupations that require an organized, logical, and practical bent that incorporates an effective use of time and resources. They pay attention to the organization's hierarchy and use policies and procedures to help them to move the tasks along. They like making decisions and dealing with concrete, specific facts."
- ESTJ - The Enforcer (Lifexplore)

And, here are some famous people that have the same personality as me:

Famous ESTJs

Real ESTJ People

Andrew Jackson - American President
Bette Davis - actress
Carrie Nation - advocate
Elliot Ness - prohibition agent
George W. Bush - American President
Grover Cleveland - American President
James Monroe - American President
John D. Rockefeller - industrialist, philanthropist
Lyndon B. Johnson - American President
Pat Summit - basketball coach
Rev. Billy Graham - evangelist, writer
Robert A. Taft - Governor of Ohio
Sam Walton - founder of Wal-Mart
William Henry Harrison - American President


Fictional ESTJs (Characters)

Lucy van Pelt - Peanuts (Charlie Brown)
Mrs. Harbottle - All Creatures Great and Small
Mrs. Rachel Lynde - Anne of Green Gables
Princess Leia Organa - Star Wars
The Mayor - The Music Man
Tony Soprano - The Sopranos

It also lists careers that would fit my personality, good thing my current job is on there and I also like some of the other options too...

ESTJ Career Matches

ESTJs are often happy with the following jobs which tend to match well with the Overseer/Protector personality.

Accountant
Auditor
Banker
Business Administrator
Business Analyst
Computer Specialist
Detective
Economist
Editor
Engineer
Government Worker
Insurance Agent
Judge
Lecturer
Librarian
Manager
Marketer
Military Leader
Nursing Administrator
Police
Researcher
Sales Representative
Scientist
Senior Manager
Teacher
Teacher/Professor
Technical Specialist
Underwriter
Writer

Take this test and let me know your results and if you think they are accurate!