Relief!

We were air conditionless for 17 days! 17 very long days considering we did not have air conditioning during one of the hottest weeks of the summer. The joys of owning a home!

Earlier this summer when we turned our air conditioner on it didn't take long for us to realize it wasn't working. We got it fixed immediately and found it that our air conditioner was over 30 years old! Apparently the lifetime of an air conditioner is about 25 years so why it didn't go out earlier so the previous owners would have had to replace it is beyond me, but it didn't, so we got the joys of replacing it. The air conditioner worked for about a month and a half and then it kicked the bucket for good.

We realized it was broke Sunday the 8th when we got back from the cabin. The next day I called a couple of different HVAC contractors to come out and get us estimates ASAP but of course the first one couldn't come out until Wednesday and the second one until Friday. After the first estimate I was a little discouraged that it was going to cost a fortune and we weren't going to get a tax credit. There are a lot of stipulations to get the tax credit for an air conditioner, the big one being that you more than likely have to replace your furnace as well so the system works together more efficiently. Well...our furnace had just been replaced in 2007 so obviously we weren't going to replace that as well. Makes me wonder even more why the previous owners didn't just replace the air conditioner at the same time! Anyway, at least the previous owners did purchase an energy efficient furance that was compatable with the air conditioner we purchased and in the end, we're able to get the tax credit. So instead of an enormous bill it's just a big bill!

Reasons why I am estatic about having air conditioning again:

--I can workout without being completely soaked in a pool of my own sweat.
--I can get ready in the morning without sweating the whole time.
--I can cook again.
--The dog isn't constantly panting.
--We won't have to run the dehumidifier 24/7.
--AND we can sleep in our bed instead of on the couch downstairs :)

Steele County Free Fair

This past week was the Steele County Free Fair which is a HUGE deal in Owatonna! We enjoyed a couple of nights at the fair enjoying fair food, entertainment and friends! We saw a local band, Hairball, perform the night the fair started up (Tuesday night) and Derek and Trevor came down for the show! Thanks for making the trip down guys :) Thursday night we went to the fair and meet up with my women's softball team in the beer gardens and finally, Jeremy and I went and walked around the fair in the heat on Saturday.

We enjoyed a lot of good food including onion rings, cheese curds, coconut shrimp, french fries, gyros, torey's wraps, some nitro ice cream AND homemade cookies. Although this was over the 3 different times we were there, this was a TON of fair food. I must say that I did behave when it came to fair food. My office is directly across the street from the fairgrounds and I refrained from eating there for lunch during the week. As you can tell, we ate our fair share without having to go there for lunch as well!

Here are a couple of pictures from Saturday at the fair.

A couple of the biggest rabbits I've ever seen!

Pig races at the fair.

Maple Lately...

I've realized that now that Maple's gotten a little older I haven't been taking as many pictures of her lately...I guess the excitement of having a puppy wore off a little bit. Here are a few pictures of Maple lately. Jeremy and Maple in the fishing boat up at the cabin. Maple and Cali got to go for a boat ride! She loves the pontoon as well! Maple all tuckered out at my mom's after playing hard all weekend. All snuggled up with the alligator pillow.

Weekend in Cambridge

I haven't had much to post about lately, partially because I've been busy studying and we haven't really done anything overly exciting on the weekends. We've spent a couple of weekends at home and a couple up at the lake, but last weekend we went over to Cambridge, WI to visit my mom & Matthew.

The timing of our trip over to my mom's was perfect because my cousin Jason and his finance, Kayla, were on vacation from FL up in WI and happened to be there the same weekend!

The whole gang.

Jason, Kayla, Jeremy, Matthew and I.

Jason, Kayla, Jeremy and I.

Jason's enormous burger from a local joint just outside Cambridge. This was the biggest burger I've ever seen and he almost finished it off!!