Happy New Year....Christmas break in review!

Well we finally made it home. Saturday C and J arrived back from 2 great weeks of Christmas vacation. We started out in Minot and had Christmas at Pa and Ma Askvigs with Grandma Hoag, Auntie Beth, Greg, and cuz Nick having dinner and opening present with the family. I must say the highlight was when J's brother Ethen got the chicken dance ornament from Grandma. E hates the Chicken Dance so if any of you need present ideas for next year buy him something that plays the chicken dance song....seriously you'll be buying a present for yourself when you see how upset he gets when the song plays!



Christmas Eve C and J spent at Grandma and Grandpa Theisens. Here one of the most ruthless and yet funniest Christmas happenings occured. This side of the family does a grab bag gift exchange that allows for stealing presents or opening one from the pile. Well C opened a present that had work gloves (you know the cheap 99 cent ones) and thought that was all she got. After everything was almost over she traded (not stolen but willingly traded with Ethen for a small electric skillet. She didn't realize that E had brought the work gloves to the gift exchange and when E got them from C he reached in the gloves and pulled out a target gift certificate worth $10.

Next it was off to Williston. We opened gift with Shawn, Kim, Rodger, and Lucy Wenko. We laughed and went tubbing at the hotel when Kim's parents visited from SD. C got a new purse that she hasn't put down since she opened it and J got a gumball machine. The only problem is that it was Arizona State instead of Arizona....ooops! Oh well, it will get returned and the proper one ordered. The best part of the trip to Williston was the annual cake fight. Lucy makes better-than-sex cake every Christmas and the whole family fights over who gets the leftover pieces of cake because it is so good. Well this year C and Lucy got one over on everybody as they hid a piece to share for breakfast on the final day we were in Williston. Shawn was upset but that it the way it goes with the cake!

From here it was back to Bismarck for a couple of days when C had to go back to work. J cleaned up the house a bit while C worked. After a couple of days C and J were joined by their friend Corey and his girlfriend Jeannie where they drove the the Black Hills to stay at a cabin with 13 friends. While J drove everybody down, the others put in a movie and then proceeded to fall asleep in the car. However, we arrived to a beautiful cabin (see pictures here) where we celebrated the arrival of the new year in style and with lots of sticky silly string. Some didn't party too hard though because they went skiing at Terry Peak where a groupe of 8 went skiing on the first day and then a group of 7 went on the second day. 5 including J goofed off on the slopes as evidenced by this photo. It was a lot of fun especially watching Stu lose 7 games in a row only to win number 8 and like any good politician claim victory for the evening! :)

J and C will spend Sunday recouping before heading back to the "real world." C starts here internship with the North Dakota State Penitentiary on Monday as well as working 3/4 time, studying for her comprehensive exams, and going to grad school in the evenings. She will be very busy the next couple of months. J heads back to work and starts at the legislative session where he will be lobbying on behalf of public educators for improved pay, working conditions, and a better education for all ND students.

From C and J Happy New Year to everyone and here is to a fine 2009 for everyone!

Reminiscent Laughter

The holidays are a wonderful time. First, you usually get at least a short break from work...longer for some of us :)! Second, you get to see friends and family. Finally, and J's favorite, you get to reminisce and laugh. This is what happened with our family last night.

First, when we arrived back to Minot we stopped by Grandma's to see Auntie Beth, "Mountain Man" Greg (he was wearing a plaid shirt and flip-flops- forever the surfer!), and cuz Nick. We often forget how fast time flies by. For instance, Nick and I had to run out to the store to get something. When we were driving around Nick and I were talking about Grandma's house and he asked me a question that seemed so foolish to me but when I realized why he was asking made me feel.....well old. Nick asked where did grandma live before she lived at the condo. For me the answer was a DUH....at the old house at the experiment station. Then Nick said something that made me realize how fast time has passed....he said J I don't remember anything before Grandma's new place. It has been over 13 years since Grandma moved into the new place. My cuz is only 18...no wonder he doesn't remember he was 5. The cool part was that I got to run him out to the experiment station quick and we talked about how Minot has changed since I lived her and how it has changed every year he comes back. To think my "little" cousin is in college.

Later on in the evening we (Ethen, Jayla, C and I) retired to the casa de Mom and Dad Askvig. When we got there Mom and Dad were still awake waiting to visit with us. E, Jayla, Mom, C and I stayed up until about midnight telling old stories and laughing about past misdeeds. Some of my favorites were E getting a D-grade in 3rd grade just to see what it was like, Josh not going to get pushed off of his bike because E decided to be a smart ass to bigger older kids, E telling dad he still got a star for the day because he didn't hit one more kid.... We all laughed and had a great time telling stories.

Man time flies.......especially with reminisicent laughter....

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Well its the Holiday season again. As we stated when we started this blog, it is finally a chance for us to update our friends and family after 5 years of Marriage. Yep, its been 5 years. So let us give you the first 4 in bullet point review and then the last one in a bit more detail.

2003

December 20th- J & C are married! A beautiful winter day.

2004

April- J accepted to The Graduate School of Political Management at The George Washington University in Washington, DC.

May- J & C graduate from Dickinson State University.

June- J hired by Senator Kent Conrad in his Washington, DC office.

- J and C move to Alexandria, VA

August- C gets hired by Senator Byron Dorgan in his Capitol Hill office

2005

January -Crystal leaves Dorgan's office and goes to work as a legal secretary for the law firm of Bracewell and Guiliani.....before you ask...yes that Guiliani!

May- J and C move 15 miles from Alexandria to Arlington, VA (still by DC)

2006

May- J graduates with a Masters degree in Political Management

- J hired to run the ND Democratic NPL 2006 coordinated campaign operations in the Fargo area.

- J & C move to Fargo, ND- move 3 in 3 years of marriage! Yeah crazy.

June- C hired as a Residential Specialist at CENTRE Inc. (A job in her major YEAH!)

October- Cat #2 (later named Lola) found in Crystal's work site...adopted by Askvig's and joins cat sister McKenzie (their the only grand kids Mom and Dad Askvig or Wenko have!).

November- J hired by the North Dakota Education Association as UniServ Director in Bismarck.

- J, C, & cats move to Bismarck (Yep move 4 in 4 years!)

2007

January- C starts as Residential Specialist in Bismarck CENTRE Inc.

June- J takes on assignment as co-director of NDEA Government Relations Program

- J & C gain sister Jayla when Ethen (J's brother) gets married.

August- C starts Masters Degree in Counseling Program at the University of Mary

September- J asked to serve on DSU Alumni Board of Directors

NO MOVES!!!

2008

Well it has been quite the year. Promotions, trips, and family fun!

In January, C's offices moved from Bismarck to Mandan. C always said she didn't want to have to drive across the river for work....well now she does. Then in May, C was promoted to Case Manager at CENTRE Inc. She is really excited about moving up and now has her first own office! In June C was a judge for the Miss ND pageant. She found it very interesting to sit on the other side of the stage and helped pick the winner! C also continued graduate school and recently found out that starting in January 2009 she will be interning at the State Penitentiary. She is excited to start trying her new found profession. She will graduate in May and will be a Master!

J has spent the year traveling. He spends a lot of his time as a UniServ director working with local school teachers and other non-administrative public school employees in Northwest ND. Also, he got to travel to New Mexico, New Orleans, and Florida for training and political conferences. Between the driving and the flying he has been on the "road" a lot this year. However, that will slow down for a few months, starting in January he will be a part of the NDEA lobby team at the State Capitol in Bismarck. Also, J spent another week in Wahpeton volunteering as a counselor at ND Boys State- he finally got his blue coat for 5 years of service...a big honor at Boys State. J also got his motorcycle license this summer. He found out that he loves to ride and has even C loving to go for a cruise!

J & C found out that they enjoy a new hobby in the summers....camping! I know who would have thought that C would like it but she loves it! We spent a lot of weekends camping on Lake Oahe. C does have a camper on her wish list for Christmas this year. C also started fishing this summer. She is the only Askvig in this house to catch a fish this year. J & C also took another trip to Sturgis for the annual motorcycle rally with C's brother Shawn and his girlfriend Kim.

The fall brought partying and family fun. J, when he wasn't on the road, got a little bit of hunting in...not nearly as much as he would have liked. Also, mom and dad Askvig threw the second annual Askvig Barn Dance. Also, J played best man in his best friend Klint Sickler's wedding. Further, C's brother Shawn got engaged. I know we never thought it would happen either! Kim and Shawn will be married in April 2009. C and J are looking forward to the wedding in Las Vegas. C and J also held their fourth annual Turkey Day Extravaganza. C and J spend Thanksgiving with the Cats making dinner and then spend the weekend relaxing together and decorating for Christmas.

December has been great. J's Dad Brent turned the big 5-0! Yep, Nifty and Fifty!!! Also, we attended our second Yuletyme (a DSU fundraiser). It was a cold and snowy night but we still had fun with friends and fellow DSU supporters. We are looking forward to going to Minot and Williston for Christmas and then we will be spending the first couple of days in the New Year with friends skiing and celebrating in the Black Hills in SD.

One final story. Our cats now have a new nickname...the Catnip Kids. McKenzie and Lola decided to open Christmas presents early this year. C decided to try and buy cat toys with catnip in them for Christmas and stuffed them in the cats stockings. Not even 10 minutes later all 3 toys were on the floor with both cats batting them and rolling on them. A sight and good laugh. Unfortunately, we forgot to take pictures or video. We have since hid the toys in the garage until they get to open their stockings.

Well that is what has been happening in our lives. We wish you the best and hope that you and your family have a great 2009!

Love,

J & C

P.S. If you want to keep in touch throughout the new year follow us at jcaskvig.blogspot.com

Nifty Fifty

Happy 50th Dad!

J's Dad Brent is 50! I know we can't believe he is that old either! By the age of 50 he is an accomplished author. He is also an excellent musician, chess player, father, teacher, and friend. Check out his bio here. Happy Birthday and here's to 50 more!

Here are some other important things that happened on this date in History .

(taken from encarta.msn.com)

On This Day in History :
1732: The Covent Garden Theatre opens in London, England. Learn more about Covent Garden.

1787: Delaware is the first state to ratify the Constitution. Learn more about Delaware.

1917: The United States declares war on Austria-Hungary. Learn more about World War I.

1941: The Japanese bomb Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Learn more about Pearl Harbor.

1972: Apollo 17, the sixth and last of the Apollo landing missions, is successfully launched from Cape Canaveral, Fla. Learn more about the Apollo Program.

Born On This Day:
Willa Cather, American writer (1873) Noam Chomsky, American linguist, educator, and activist (1928) Johnny Bench, American baseball player (1947) Tom Waits, American singer, songwriter, and actor (1949).

Mystery Person of the Day:
Who am I? I was born on this day in 1956 in French Lick, Indiana.

Astrological Sign:

The archer is the symbol of Sagittarians. Sagittarians are thought to be friendly, philosophical, and optimistic. Though they need freedom, they tend to be fairly conventional. They respect honesty in all its forms.

Decoration of Decadence Video 2

Here C is toping the Christmas tree with the Angel. I think she does a wonderful job! Again sorry for the crookedness.

Decoration of Decadence Video 1

Here is a copy of the video half way through the decorating the living room! Still working on uploading the others. Sorry it is sideways but I didn't realize that I couldn't turn it back to normal after I had captured it on my camera.

J's list

ALL RIGHT!!!! I get it, everybody has been asking me for my christmas list for 2008, so I will post it below. But you are getting what you asked for...remember that! But first for my diatribe: Many of you don't know this but I hate Christmas lists, to me it just makes the season so cheap and meaningless. Yeah yeah I know about the arguements of: but, I want to make sure you get something you like, I need to know what it is you want or need, I would be hurt if you returned it, etc... My feeling is this those of you who are going to buy me a present know me well enough to know what I like and what I don't like. You also can probably find something that would be befitting of me or would perk my interest or just flat out reminds you of me. I like creative gifts. Let me give you two examples from recent memory. Item 1: My brother-in-law last christmas- He bought me a remote control helicopter, now in the interest of full disclosure at first I thought what the hell is this for and I still have yet to play with it, but why is it a gift I like that reinforces my belief of not giving lists. Here is why, I will use it someday and I will probably use it to annoy someone in my office. My brother-in-law was obviously cognizant of this when he bought it for me. Nice work S! Item 2: My father every christmas recently- one of my favorite gifts every year comes from my dad. Why? A) I never know what it is going to be B) He puts thought and meaning into it. For example, he usually buys my brother and I and our spouses a book. Every year he spends time at the book store seeking out books that he thinks will peak our interest or that we would enjoy. Sometimes he is right and sometimes he is wrong but guess what: He takes the time to buy things that he thinks we will like. Disagree if you may but ITS THE THOUGHT THAT COUNTS!!!

Well that is all so here is J's list in order of preference!:

1. Season tickets to the Arizona Wildcats Mens Basketball games for the 2009-2010 season- you can buy them here. They should be cheap this year and next as the Cats are going to go through a rough 2 seasons until they hire Mark Few....You heard it here first!
2. A new car- Don't really care what brand or model. Something that I can drive and that has sync capabilities for my cell phone. Stipulation- IT MUST BE A BRAND NEW CAR!
3. A new motorcycle: I got into motorcycle riding this summer and love it! Here is my preference click here. If you can find it cheaper used and a year older model or something I am cool with that too! That or I would take a Buell...they just look like bad ass bikes!
4. Arizona gear. Visit the website here.
5. A trip to anywhere outside the U.S. and Canada- Preferably some place warm but if you are paying I don't really care!
6. Mittens
7. A house- preferably in Bismarck

Thats my list for now, if I think of something else I will add it soon!

J

P.S. I could also use a video camera!

Decoration of Decadence

Well this year's decoration of decadence got a late start. C and J slept in like normal. J decided that before beginning the festivities (i.e. drinking Mimosas) he needed a couple of things from the store. J forgot that Friday is called Black Friday for a reason. He ended up going to the store and got caught up in the "deals" that were posted everywhere! J bought his necessary items, you know razors, batteries, nail clipper, etc... (Yes J went to the store on black Friday to buy everyday items). When he got back he made the mistake of telling C about movies that were on sale and also that he found a deal on a new camera (we need a new one badly).

C in her impatience needed to go look at the movies....which inevitably led to J and C driving all around Bismarck looking at new cameras. Before anyone asks, we still don't have a new camera. The one we wanted was backordered. Instead we came home with 6 new movies and a new video game called Buzz. It a trivia game where players have buzzers and answer questions for points. You get a feeling that you are really on a game show. C and J plan to bring the game home to share with the family over the holidays. All I have to say is that when you can play with a mime as your character you have found a pretty sweet game!

We did eventually get back to the house to start our "Decoration of Decadence" we were a bit worn out from fighting crowds so the enthusiasm was defused a bit but we still took in plenty of festivities! We are trying to get some videos uploaded for you and will post them here when we do!

Turkey Day adventures

A picture of the "bird!"

So C and I held our 4th annual turkey extravaganza today. I must say we are starting to get the hang of this. We are much more efficient the first year I think it took us a total of 6 cooking hours today we only "cooked" for about 2 hours. Although for some reason every year we look at the potatoes when we are peeling them and say this will never be enough. The comes the run to the grocery store where we buy more and at the end of dinner we have too many potatoes and by too many I mean 10 pounds! We forgot to take pictures of our spread so close your eyes (after you read the list that follows!) and imagine.....a 10 lb turkey (only the breast this year...white meat is better for you...especially soaked in butter), 10 lbs of potatoes (literally!), yams, stuffing, crescent rolls, gravy, cookie salad, and cranberries....which C forgot until we were about 3/4 of the way through eating...Oh well....we can save them for LEFTOVERS!

We then baked the pie....pumpkin...homemade.....at the Sara Lee store! Then we fought about who had to stay awake to make sure the pie didn't burn and who got to fall asleep for a nap first. I won, C didn't like staying awake but made a mean pie. Remember all of this food is for just the 2 of us. I think that next year we are going to invite a hungry family over for turkey. That or we are just practicing for when we get to host with kids.

Anyway, we are now headed out to watch Four Christmases with Vince Vaughn and Reese Witherspoon. Here is a link to the discription of the movie if you don't know which one we are talking about: http://www.ropeofsilicon.com/movie/four_christmases/review/724

Anyway, if we can get our camera to work we will have pictures from tomorrow's decoration of decadence at the JC Askvig House. Yep, we drink Mamosas (sp?) and put up x-mas decorations. J pretty much moves stuff and Crystal hangs Christmas stuff!

One last picture for the day. Even the cats, McKenzie and Lola got into the Triptophan!

Happy Thanksgiving

Well Crystal and I were visiting the other night and we are both agreed that we are very poor at ensuring that we stay in touch with friends, family, and neighbors. In fact we don't even send out Christmas cards! Personally, I think we are both just lazy and don't want to do the work. Thus, Friend, Family, Foe, Neighbor or what be you...you can now keep up with Josh and Crystal via the jcaskvig blog. I have been wanting for some time to get into blogging and I think this just might be a good motivator. Especially if I start seeing friends and family comment on the blogs. So this is all for now and enjoy.

I will be posting more soon as Crystal and I will be holding the 5th annual Josh and Crystal's Turkey extravaganza starting Thursday morning. This is where Crystal and Josh cook like they are going to have about 10 guests and it is just the 2 of us. Pictures and posts to follow soon!