Stillwater, MN

Today we went to Stillwater, MN. It is just east of the Twin Cities and is on the St. Croix River, which is the border between Minnesota and Wisconsin. We drove over the bridge to the Wisconsin Visitor's Center just so we could say we've been to Wisconsin! :)

After that, we drove to Stillwater. It's an old historic town with lots of cute little shops, antique stores and restaurants. Then we decided to go on a dinner cruise on a 3 story paddle boat that goes down the St. Croix River. It was about a 2 1/2 hour boat ride with dinner, dessert, and live music. It was very fun and such a beautiful day to be cruisin' the river.

Here are some pictures from our day!







2 Tourists in Stillwater.











Cute little town...













Teddy Bear Park












We were on a boat bigger than this one, but same style, for our dinner cruise.

Special Day!

Today is Grandpa Eckel's 85th birthday! Happy Birthday Grandpa! We love you and hope you had a wonderful party today...wish we could have been there to celebrate with you!

A Cargill Family!

Well, I have some happy news! I got a job offer today with Cargill!!! (Michael's company) So as our friend Jared called us today...we are now Mr. & Mrs. Cargill! :) haha I interviewed for this position 2 weeks ago and they called today with the offer! It is for an Administrative Assistant position with the Dressings, Sauces, and Oils Division. (sounds kinda random I know) I think it will be great experience and I feel really excited about it! It also has room for advancement, so that is encouraging.

I will be working at what is called the Lake Office, which is an old mansion someone used to live in. It is HUGE and has fireplaces everywhere, spiral staircases, etc. It is where the top executives of Cargill are officed. My department however is located in the basement of this building, but they said it's really more split level so we're not in some gloomy dungeon or anything. Although I'm not quite sure what type of view we will have when snow covers our view out of the window in the winter! ;)

Michael works in the Office Center. His building and mine are connected by a really long underground tunnel. So we can definitely meet for lunch. We probably won't carpool unless the weather is bad or snowy since we will have different time schedules.

Here are some pics we took of the Cargill headquarters last January when we came to visit...

Entrance to the Lake Office

This is the Lake Office where I will be working.

This is the Office Center where Michael works.

Texas Pride!

Our weekend was really nice...we got a new recliner for the living room and also got a new computer desk for our office! Sunday, we tried out a new lake called Lake Calhoun (just for you mom!). It was so pretty and was just packed with people laying out, swimming (burr!), and BBQing.

The highlight of our weekend was Saturday's lunch. We went to lunch at a place walking distance from our apartment called Baker's Ribs. It is authentic Texas BBQ!!! The owner is from Texas so the whole restaurant is covered in Texas paraphernalia. It was SO neat! He had TX license plates, Texas Monthly magazines, UT stuff, and best of all Texas A&M stuff! Of course we had to sit at the table by the A&M stuff and picture of Kyle Field! :) Michael was most excited b/c it is the first place that has served real (and non-flaovred) sweet tea! It was really fun and neat to see a place like that in Minnesota! I told Michael while we were eating that I hadn't felt all that homesick yet until we ate there! And when the older man walked in the restaurant with his UT hat on, I told Michael to hurry and put his A&M hat back on so we could represent! :)

Happy Father's Day!

We want to wish our dads a wonderful Father's Day! And even though we aren't there with you, it doesn't mean you haven't been in our thoughts all day! We love you and are blessed to have been raised by such wonderful fathers.

And to all of our brother, brother in laws, and friends who are dads....may God bless you and Happy Father's Day!

:)