What's going on with the Rasmussen's

Well we are a little overdue on an update with what we are up to these days. Addison is now 15 months old. I remember a short time ago bringing her home from the hospital wondering what in the world we are going to do with this little tiny pooping machine. Its amazing how much changes in just 1 year and 3 months. She's walking, talking, winking, roaring, laughing, running, playing, and smiling now. She's burrowed into our hearts in a way I can't even put into words. Honestly, its hard sometimes for me to even enjoy being away from home because I might miss something funny or amusing. I remember the first time she "winked" at us. I put it in quotes because we call it winking but really its blinking. We were at the mall in Coon Rapids and we let her down from the table we were eating at. She wandered over to a table with a couple kids and one of the girls was smiling at her and winked. Addison laughed and blinked at her. It was such a precious little moment that I cherish so much. You can see some videos of our little girl here:
http://www.youtube.com/user/trevorrasmussen

She's getting ready to visit her FOURTH country (not counting the one she lives in) in less than a month and it makes me think what a charmed life she's been able to have so far. I never left the country until I was old enough to vote and she's seen France, Grand Cayman, Britain, and now soon Mexico before she can even go to the bathroom on her own!! I can't help but be thankful for how fortunate we've been with all the traveling we've done in the past year...it won't always be like this so we are enjoying it while it lasts (and while Addison can fly for basically free). God has blessed us amazingly...I can't lie there...we live a charmed life. Sure others have more, do more, its easy to focus on what we DON'T have...but what we DO have is pretty amazing.

Valentines Day is coming up, this year we are keeping it low-key again...following our past traditions. While its a fun day to remember how much we love each other, we try to not get too caught up in the whole thing. I usually buy Meghan a little something and we'll have dinner and then maybe relax by watching a movie together or something. This year, the Roelofs are coming by and we're having pizza (heart shaped of course) and renting a movie. Honestly I look forward to that as much as I do some extravagant dinner. I've learned to really enjoy the little things like that.

Our eBay business has expanded. We are no longer just a place to buy covers for your Wii Remotes. Our focus has moved more into selling clothes, books, movies, collectibles, etc. Anything around the house that we no longer use. Amazon and Craigslist have also been great places for us to unload stuff we no longer need! It started with our garage sale last summer. Our friend Rachel had a TON of nice stuff that just wasn't selling so we made an arrangement to sell it for them for a fee. Its worked out so well and we've both made a lot of money in the process. Then we moved onto our own stuff and even stuff from both of our parents. I actually enjoy it more than the our Wii Remote covers because every item that sells means a little more room in our basement and garage! We are finally getting close to fitting both cars in the garage which has truly been my goal. Once this is done, we hope to use some of this money to finish our basement and add some more value to our house. While eBay takes some time, its proven to be a great venture for us and we are thankful to our God for providing the extra revenue stream!

My first skiing adventure

Nothing makes you feel like a man more than having a seven year old girl fly by you going down a hill. That was my most recent new experience with my wife though. Can you believe that a person who has lived in WI, MN, and IL his WHOLE life has NEVER been downhill skiing? Sure I've gone CC skiing but never downhill...ever.

A few years ago in December I told myself that was going to be the year I made it downhill skiing. I even talked to some friends about it. Within a week...literally...I was in a cast up to my elbow that was on and off for the next 9 months. I never even made it skiing a bohemouth of a Ukrainian had his way with me on the basketball court. So much for skiing! So you can understand my skepticism when Meghan told me I would be going downhill skiing to celebrate our first married Valentines Day.

We found a nice local ski hill that wasn't even 30 minutes away and decided to head out on Friday after work (so it would be a little cheaper...skiing isn't exactly a super cheap hobby). We arrived at the hill and I was instantly intimidated. "There is NO way I am going down that" I told Meghan, while looking up at the "bunny hill". She points to the tiny trainer hill and says I know we are going there! haha Sure enough next thing I know there is a seven year old girl flying down this tiny hill past me.

After a few runs down this menacing hill, we hopped on the chair lift to the smaller of the green hills for my first run at real skiing. I have NEVER gone at speeds like this in my life I swear I was going 55 mph and at a reckless pace as well!! Not only did I not go slowly, but I veered toward the steepest part of the hill. I made it though...all the way to the bottom...until I came to the crushing realization that I couldn't stop! Sure enough there was the same seven year old girl in front of me..."Who's fastest now?" I screamed as mowed her down at the bottom of the hill! Okay I didn't take her down...I did however have my first wipeout of the night. I considered it to be a noble act...even a life saving act on my part really!! Though Meghan saw it much differently and came up a moment later laughing histarically at me.

Overall I have to say that skiing was a pretty fun time. I ended up taking a few of the blue hills and realized just how intimidating skiing can be, but also how fun it can be. Heck, I think I only wiped out 3 times all day (not including my wipeout in front of the chair lift...yeah I am one of THOSE guys) so I consider that a pretty good outing. I even figured out how to stop going pretty fast speeds. Meg was SO proud of her man and how he concurred the big hills of Southern Wisconsin!