Fall Classic, Movember and Thanksgiving!!!

I'm not even going to apologize for hardly ever posting. I promised to be better last time. The only thing that happened was another month went by without a post, and I look like a liar. My bad.

So this past month has been full of good times, cold weather, and good friends. I'll start off with things as they happened chronologically. This time of year is usually my most favorite for a number of reasons. It's starting to get cold (I love the winter), and I also love Thanksgiving being with friends and family.

There's also one more reason I love the fall. The baseball postseason. It's no secret I love baseball in general. Carissa surprised me earlier this year with a trip to San Francisco to catch a couple of Major League games. Carissa had never been to a Major League game before, and so we had only planned on going to an Oakland A's game one afternoon and a Giants game on a different night. Carissa had so much fun at them that we ended up going to another game the very next night. (To be honest, I don't know if she had THAT much fun, she probably saw how much joy it brought to me, and so she suggested we go another night). Regardless, the point being she knows I really love baseball. Well since Carissa's first full game was the S.F. Giants, we had been rooting for them during the playoffs (my favorite team, the Milwaukee Brewers suck, and have only made the postseason once in the last 20+ years).

Well as the postseason kept going the Giants were doing better and better. Long story short, they ended up making it all the way to the World Series, and they were going to be playing the Detroit Tigers. I have attended a lot of baseball games, and it's even a goal of mine to go to all of the Major League stadiums, but I haven't ever attended a World Series game........... or been to Detroit's baseball stadium. Now if you have half a brain at all, you know exactly where this is going. If you haven't connected the dots yet, I'll also give you another tid bit of info, my best friend growing up, Gabe, also lives in Detroit.

The first two games were in San Francisco, and the next three were going to be in Detroit. So naturally I mentioned to Carissa how awesome it would be to go to a World Series game and see Gabe. I may have used the excuse that I wanted to see Gabe's 6 month old boy Cannon as well. Gabe has always been a great friend to me and he also made time last summer to step away from dental school to come to our wedding. I may have also tried telling Carissa it had been a long time since we had hung out, and pretty much any and every other excuse/reason to find a way to get her to give me the green light to go. (I was getting desperate). After hearing my many plea's and lame duck excuses, she finally relented and gave me the go ahead.

I immediately called Gabe and made sure he wasn't going to be out of town or have a previous commitment. After getting off the phone with him, it was game on. I had to fly out of Minot and leave here at 4:30 Saturday morning, and arrived in Detroit around 1:00 PM. We went to the game that night at 7:00 PM, it ended around midnight, and after a quick power nap, was back at the airport at 6:00 AM Sunday morning. I wasn't in Detroit 18 hours, but had the time of my life.

I'm a firm believer that if you are going to go to a game (especially a World Series game) that you need to have good seats. There is a huge difference in experiencing a game from the nosebleeds as opposed to sitting close. So, since it was both of our first times at a World Series game, we splurged. If you ask me, it was money well spent, if you ask Carissa she might sing a different tune. All in all, it was an awesome little trip, and I can't wait to go to another. (I may have also used the excuse that it was a once in a lifetime chance to go to the World Series, but I may have fibbed...... Carissa needs to experience it......... and I'm sure my unborn kids will need to at some point as well). There is no describing the feeling and the energy at a high profile game like that. It was unreal! I'm definitely thankful to Carissa for putting up with my shenanigans to allow me to go. My brother Preston said it best when we got married "There is definitely a special place in heaven for that girl"

My nephews getting their World Series Care Packages in the mail courtesy of Mimi and Papa. I may or may not have gone around getting some "extra" towels for the kids!

 This is Gabe and Adriana's little boy Cannon. He has the biggest and brownest eyes I have ever seen. This little dude will be a lady killer! His lip may have quivered a few times when he saw the Walrus Mustache coming his way, but he settled down when he realized I was an alright dude.

Speaking of the Walrus 'stache. Unfortunately my job doesn't allow us to have full grown beards, but they allow us to have mustaches. If you know me, that's kind of a big deal. I can't remember a winter in the last 10 years when I haven't had a beard. So I grew the next best thing..... the Walrus. When I used to work at the airport in Salt Lake City, all of the dirty ramp agents, the guys who lose your bags when you travel, grew beards. Then in March, we would all shave the beards off and just have our mustaches for Mustache March. It's no secret I have a great 'stache (if I do say so myself). I mean, who else do you know that can grow a full on push broom on their upper lip? Well the last few months I've been growing my mustache and it's starting to get long enough that I can curl the ends, but you can't just curl the ends and hope it sticks. You have to know the secrets of the trade..... and I'm going to let you in on it.

Yeah, that's right..... Moustache Wax. Apparently if you are sophisticated enough and coincidentally man enough to have to use the wax, then you will realize it is no longer called a mustache, but a moustache..... (notice the spelling, it's now pronounced MOOstache) I think it's french. At any rate, it is awesome and is an ABSOLUTE MUST for anyone with an untamed caterpillar on their upper lip. I no longer have hair getting in the way of my food, and the best part is, I can now curl it down the side of my lip and then flip it outward. It's a complete game changer in the facial hair department!!! If you want to harness your inner Wyatt Earp, I would highly recommend this product to anyone.

Now after seeing my manly 'stache I think it's completely understandable that one would think "Tanner is a man's man" and while that may be the case, I hadn't truly earned my "man card" until I passed the ultimate test...... Clare B Niederhauser's Karmel Corn. (with a K).

My Dad is a great man, and there is no arguing I look up to the dude with the utmost respect. He has busted his butt our entire lives so that we could grow up with everything that we did. As we were growing up, there was an unwritten tradition in our house that Sunday Night was popcorn night. Most of the time it was your standard salt and buttered popcorn, other times it was chocolate popcorn (don't knock it until you try it), and then other times it was Karmel Corn. Now his Karmel Corn is unlike any you have ever tried..... it's not the Ooey Gooey sticky finger mess like everyone else has experienced. It's crisp, crunchy and delicious to the taste. My dad usually makes it for all of the neighbors for Christmas because, well it's awesome!!! And once you've had some of it, you long for the moment that you are blessed for it to touch your lips again. Well being the Christmas season, my brothers had sent out text messages of them making it. Since my brothers were doing it, I too decided it was time I became a man.

As you can see from the pic, I think I did it justice. I made a batch and took it to Carissa at work, all of her coworkers were ranting and raving how awesome it is. I wish I could say it was all me, but truth be told it's all in the secret recipe. If you're lucky enough to be considered a friend, then you may experience it at some point in your life..... if not, then you need to step your game up and become better friends with us!!!

This past week was Thanksgiving and we are very fortunate to have good friends up in North Dakota whom we spent the day with. Carissa made some killer homemade yams, and a very good banana meringue pie. It was awesome. My dad always used to joke "You can marry more in a minute, than you can make in a lifetime" and while I didn't heed his counsel and married someone in more student loan debt than most people have on their homes, I definitely married a dang good cook. So I consider it a win!!!

We are definitely blessed and we feel so grateful to have the friends and family we do. We can't wait to see you in less than a month.......

While this has absolutely nothing to do with the previous topics in the post, here is a sweet little parting shot I took the other day on my way to work..... North Dakota doesn't suck that bad!!!