Nate.

Today is my baby brother's 21st birthday. I actually remember 21 years ago sitting on a bench at the end of the hallway in the hospital with my Grandma K. We sat there patiently for what seemed like forever. Finally, I heard crying and my dad came out and said "You have a brother." I remember feeling very proud. I am so lucky that Nate and I are so close, he is one of my best friends and I know I can always count on him to be there for me no matter what, I hope he feels the same.

 

I am so proud of the person Nate has become. He is a junior at St. Olaf and was just elected as the captain of the St. Olaf basketball team. He is so smart, so driven and I know he is going to be extremely successful. I can't wait to see what he accomplishes, considering what he's already acheived at 21. I'm sure Nate doesn't read this and I'm sure he would make fun of me if he did, but whether he sees this or not I want my baby brother to know that I am so proud of him and I love him more than anything.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY PIE!

Week One

It's Sunday afternoon and Jason and are winding down and finishing up our first week of business. It has been quite the week. The 4:00am wake up call is definitely an adjustment! It's getting easier each day but boy is that early. We get to the shop between 5am and 5:30am Monday-Friday but I must say we are becoming quite efficient in the opening tasks, so we may be able to get an extra 10-15 minutes of sleep in each morning.

As for business, it's been good. Being that it is our first week, we have been slower than we'd like but the future is very promising. We already have probably 10 regulars who have been in 3+ days this week! A couple of them were even kind enough to write up some five star online reviews!

On a personal note, today is one of my favorite days of the year....THE ACADEMY AWARDS! I have always loved the show but after my three semester stint as a film major I have a greater respect and a greater interest in the industry and the academy. Every year I push myself to see as many of the nominated films as possible, but being that I have been slightly distracted the past few months I think I have only seen 9 of the films. I am on my fourth year of running a very cut throat Oscar Pool where everyone fills out a ballot for their choice of winners and pays a $5 entry fee. The past few years I have seen twice as many of the nominated movies and have never finished in the top 3, maybe now that i'm completely guessing like everyone else I will have a better chance!