Our first anniversary

Dear Corey,

I can't believe it's been an entire year since our wedding! It's gone by so fast: where did that entire middle part go, from about January-April? I have been looking foward to our celebrating this weekend for some time now. Partly because it's a great excuse for you and I to get away. But also I've found myself over the last few months being very nostalgic for the day we were married. It's such a monumental thing, to stand up in front of all of your friends and family and say, I love this man with all I have, and I will do anything and everything to keep that sacred. It's days like today that remind us about what's important and what we need to devote time to make an even better us. Thank you for the suprise weekend to Lutsen; it was absolutely perfect and we have as a result created even more memories. I love you baby; thanks for being the person I am learning with, growing with, and dreaming with. Happy one-year anniversary, and to all of those ahead--

Je t'aime, bebe,

Carrie

Where nobody knows your name

Okay, I understand that in the karmic world if you make trouble, sometimes you get a little back. But my case stands tall: I have always liked my name. Six letters in my first name; six in my last. So when I was contemplating a name change, I thought I was lucky enough to have a "classic" last name that I could combine with another. It rolls off the tongue. Somehow that belief does not always transfer to the outside world. I completely understand that it is not the life's work of my friends and family to spell it, think about it, whatever. But when I deal with the customer service members of the world nobody gets it. I spend more time giving possible alternative names, spellings (including spaces), and I still get lost in the system. My hotel reservations are temporary lost. I am filed under T, K and all other letters in between. Apparently it's really hard to spell Kemp, also. Yesterday I was talking to our internet provider and he explained that nobody gets it because my last name isn't hyphenated. Oh. Okay, Mr. I Wouldn't Ever Consider Changing My Name. Believe me, if you keep it, I understand. If you change it, I understand. But gosh forbid I dare consider otherwise. Okay, this is a total whine fest that I've devoted too much time to.

New 'do

After reading Kim's blog this week, I've found that now is the time for new hairdos. I think it has something to do with the end of summer, when I just don't care about doing much of anything besides a ponytail. Plus, after prepping for a wedding, I had enough of the beauty maintenance for a while. I contemplated getting bangs, but I don't think mine would turn out as cute as Kim's. Or anybody's. I decided on a body wave so I can just wash it and go (I sound like a Breck commercial).

Roasting the Piggy

This past Saturday was the Despins' 7th Annual Pig Roast and was this year's theme was appropriately entitled "The Year of the Pig". After an interesting voyage down to Rochester, which included being hit on 35E and having the driver escape without retribution, Corey & I met the Despins, Tom's parents and my parents at Buffalo Wild Wings. I really needed a beverage after that drive. Corey likes crane machines. A lot. Just ask him where his Anaheim Angels wallet came from. The real one where he keeps his license, credit cards and other adult stuff. It's a riot. He managed to win a Twins bear for Nathan, Scooby Doo flashlights for Krista's friends' children, and a big prize for himself: a $50 gift card to BW3. Of course I was right there cheering him on, recreating the scene in In America where the dad spends their entire rent money on the ET doll for Ariel. Yeah for prizes. Saturday was a VERY HOT day for the pig roast; it started with rain but luckily the garage and tents set up in their yard shielded us from the sun. The pig roast has gradually transitioned from an all-out beer fest/frat party setup to a kid-friendly picnic of sorts. There were more kids there than a small daycare center. I was on Nathan duty and I've come to the conclusion that if you have a toddler, you don't really need to go to the gym, as chasing them around provides ample exercise. Whew! I was really lucky in that my whole family was there, including my nieces and nephews and my cousin. Plus, Tiff and Addi, Liz, and Nick, Anne & Gus (the dog) also came. It's great to see how this event is really anticipated by so many! Thanks for a great day, Krista, Tom & Nathan! We had a blast. Pictures to come.

"Trip" is a four-letter word

Just for fun--and to further procrastinate from work I should be doing--I calculated the number of miles I've traveled since March 2007, since I've flown somewhere every month since. The total numbers are pretty insane:

• 15,202: the # of miles I've flown (total distance)
• 9,455: the # of miles I've driven (trips to the cities, etc.)

So those of you who commute an inordinate amount of time each day, I sympathize. Plus, any time I am leaving to see friends or family, it definitely compensates for being gone--that part I am surely grateful for. Because of all the traveling I've been doing, I have definitely come to appreciate even more the concept of home. Tonight I should probably clean said dwelling. It's pretty embarrassing how long it's been since the mop's been out. The other night we discovered a bag of potatoes that were lost in the back of the cupboard for about 3 months. Not a good smell, let me tell you.

Special delivery

When we arrived back in MN from our trip to Chicago, Liz and I got to meet a great new person: Kat & Adam's daughter, Anastasia Marian! She was born Sunday, Aug 5. I am sure her early arrival brought extra excitment and jitters to her parents, but the Gartner family is doing great! Erin called to give us the news, and we screamed in unison. The people on the El probably thought we were lunatics. Congratulations, you two, your family is already so beautiful! You are one tough cookie, Kat. I will never mess with you in a dark alley. I am so lucky I got to meet her on her birth day. This little peanut will be ruler of the playpen very soon.

Sexy ladies in the city

Last Thursday afternoon, Janell, Liz & I flew to Chi-town. We wanted to have some city time before heading to Amber's wedding. It was hot, hot, hot, but because of the sunny skies we were able to spend a lot of time wandering around the city. That night we met Liz's parents at their hotel, the Palmer House, which was the first hotel in Chicago to have electricity and phones in the rooms. Little did we know that the power in the elevators would go out and people would be eating treats in the lobby handed out by the staff. I had a bit of a flashback to our sleeping in the NYC airport. We went to see Wicked, which, pardon the pun, was wicked awesome! Much better than the book and the music was unbelievable. Friday we took a tour bus around the city and had a bird's eye view of pretty much everything, including the bronze statue of the man hanging off of the building that Janell (very) briefly believed was real. We took the Amtrak to the bustling metropolis of Joliet. Saturday was Amber & Mike's wedding, and it was a really lovely ceremony. I knew it would be a very stylish party, since Amber's in the event planning business. We soon realized that this would probably be the last wedding for a while and the end of a summer of seeing so much of each other. Bless my lovely ladies (those in attendance and those who weren't); you are an exquisite bunch.