I just found out yesterday- I'm going to be an aunt!!! And I am very, very excited about that! So, way to go Sami, if I were you I might have waited until I was 16 to start in on the babies, but oh well. Kidding. My (older) sister Jen and Her Sam (not to be confused with Our Sam, my little sister) are having a baby!! I am not allowed to tell anyone yet, however, so this post will have been published awhile after I actually found out. My secret-keeping abilities leave something to be desired, so hopefully I don't let it slip before I'm officially allowed. Okay, well I already did let it slip, but I had to tell Michelle!

So- big gigantic congratulations to Jen & Sam!!!!

I am now going to start a Jenny-and-Sam-have-to-move-to-North-Dakota petition so I can see little Jenny Jr all the time.

I have something that I would really, really, really like to say something about, but I don't have permission yet. So I'll have to wait until I get the go-ahead. Needless to say, I am very excited about this.

So, I guess I'll attempt to distract myself- I bought a new laptop the other day and I was very disappointed in Best Buy because I had bought 1GB extra RAM to have them install for a total of 1.5GB, but when I picked it up I found a 256mb stick in the box. I was slightly angry since they didn't mention that they had to take this out and now I wasn't at what I thought was my computer's maximum of 1.5GB. Anyway, I first called the store and got some condescending jerk who asked me why I even needed that much anyway. I bet he wouldn't have asked that if I were a guy. I had done a lot of research and I wanted a computer with the specs I expected it to have. So I took it back in and talked to a manager and he immediately said that he would take care of it. And he did. When I picked it up this time they told me that they had actually put in a total of 2GB. So, I am very happy with the Best Buy people today. Way to go Best Buy.

Oh, and Michelle and I made her a page on theknot.com last night, so check that out. I am heading out to Fargo with her today to hang out with her for the weekend since someone is going to be out of town AGAIN.

I applaud you Paul Matthews. I like this attacking from all sides stuff. Unfortunately I don't think it will work. And by unfortunately I mean unfortunate for Jason because I am perfect.

I am very happy to say Jason is finally catching on. If any of you remember last Valentines Day it was marred by the fact that Jason didn't get me a card. That's all I had wanted, and he didn't get me one. He did of course get me flowers and take me out to dinner, but no card. This year, though, he got me a perfect card and even wrote some nice stuff in it in addition to flowers and dinner. So, a little redemption for Jason, way to go. And just so you don't think I'm the kind of person who thinks he should do all this stuff for me and I don't have to do anything- he got 3 paintings from me for his Valentines Day gift. So there.

I think I deserved all of that and much much more, though, because as you know, it is the middle of February, and that means we have been in full basketball swing for nearly 6 months. SIX MONTHS! Six months of not having a boyfriend is pretty much what it amounts to. This is what I have decided: basketball does not belong in February! Like I have told him, though, I don't mind the games, I even kind of like watching them minus a couple of ugly ones when all I wanted to do was get up and walk out of the gym. What I don't like is him not being home EVER. Practice every day, away games, boo to all of that. Boo I say.

Well, it finally happened, my best friend since 7th grade soccer is getting married! Michelle and Kenny got engaged on Michelle's birthday on Thursday, so CONGRATULATIONS to them. She asked me to be maid of honor, which is no surprise, but I am very excited about that too. I always thought I would be her matron of honor, but I've hit a little impediment as far as that goes. I'm not going to say exactly what that impediment is but it rhymes with Jason is a poophead. That's fine, though, I'll just continue to live vicariously through all of my friends.

But anyway... : )  I am very sad that since Michelle now lives in Fargo we weren't able to go dress shopping immediately after it happened like we were supposed to. It's a good thing she'll be home this weekend, so we'll get plenty of shopping in then. She cannot pick out a dress without me there. Did you hear that Michelle?!?

Here's a pic of the happy couple. Congratulations again!

One of the big stories in the news today:

Black hole puts dent in space-time

Scientists deduce its existence from X-ray frequencies

the real question here is what are the implications of these findings? What I would like to infer as the only possible conclusion is that it would indeed be possible for Marty McFly to travel back (and forward) in time. I always knew it was a plausible theory. Doc will be so happy.

Due to its sheer brilliance, these guys deserve credit for their lego creation, so here is the link to the site that I got that pic from

Well, my prediction was correct, no one had to go to the emergency room. Afterall, we're not amateurs....

The trip was great. They had the best snow we've seen in years with tons of powder. Everyone is progressing nicely, although I still wasn't able to talk them into snowboarding down from neither the tram nor the challenger chair. Not for lack of trying, though. Maybe next year. I suppose that might be best considering some of the spills they took on the other runs. One of the highlights was Jen running into a tree, falling, getting up, and then finishing off with a summersault. Good stuff.

We decided to ride all 3 days at Big Sky so we still haven't had a chance to check out Moonlight Basin. Oh well, Big Sky deserved at least 3 days this year. The snow was that great.

I will get some of the pictures posted soon.

Russ again wins the award for the most inadvertently funny person I've ever met with this statement:

"there were two girls in our high school who got bred"

In case it's not obvious, Russ spends a little more time with cows than he does with humans.

Well it's the middle of January- and you know what that means- Schaaf Annual Big Sky Trip. I think now it can officially be called the snowboarding trip since we have all converted for the most part. Anyway- Jin's flying in tonight, then we're taking off in the morning. We'll ride at Big Sky for a couple days then hopefully check out Moonlight Basin on Sunday which will be a first for us. Right now they're officially sitting with 75 inches at the top of the mountain (and unofficially I've heard up to another foot or so more than that), they've replaced the slowest triple chair with a high-speed quad, and I get 3 days off of work. What more can you ask for? Well, maybe one more thing- that my wussy sisters keep up a little bit better. Just kidding :) After a number of painful years of learning, everyone is pretty decent now, which is great. Can't wait!

Oh, and I guarantee no one will end up in the emergency room this time!