Fun text

Paul & George spent some time drawing together over the Christmas holiday.  ”Snazzy” is the name of the dragon that George created.  Not only do I love the name, but I LOVE the way that he writes it.  He has recreated this drawing over & over.  Paul named his dragon “Hank”.  (The quality of these photos isn’t great.  If I was more tech savvy, I would’ve scanned them, I guess)

  

I learned of the blog Notebookdoodles via Tara Whitney.  Here are a few of my favs.  

*Here’s a little factoid about Maggie:  I’m infatuated with matryoshka dolls, but for some stupid reason have never had a set of my own.  

 

2009 Holiday Photo Recap

 Ah!  I thought I’d finally do this before January comes to a close.  I think I’ve been stressing myself w/all of the things I “should” be doing, that I forget to do the things I want to be doing.  I think my heart (literally) is telling me that I need to slow down.  Without further ado, here are my favorites from the hustle & bustle of the holiday season.  

For the first time ever, I made Christmas Cookies.  Amy & I, took a day off of work, donned our aprons, had some cocktails & made a day of it.  

  

    

We celebrated with the Lindens x 2.  Hats were the theme.

Paul & I channeled our inner June & Ward Cleaver for a Holiday 50s Cocktail Party.

We spent a good chunk of time down in So. IL w/the Evans family.  Paul spent time gaining an appreciation for the Snuggie.

And finally some quiet time at home, opening gifts under the small little Christmas tree that I love so much.

A Snow Day & A Birthday

I have been so happy with my transition from working at 24 hour care unit at a hospital to a school district.  I really enjoy the work and it turns out that a “snow day” is pretty sweet too.  I can’t imagine what Summer will feel like!  

This is as far as I ventured outdoors (when retrieving the mail from just outside the front door).

 

This was my view for most of the day. Even though I apologized, I think the mail carrier was a little annoyed that our sidewalk & steps hadn't been shoveled. You can see him walking across the street.

 

Happy birthday Freddy!  This cutie holds the title of “My Favorite Person” for the 4th straight year!  When I called to wish him a happy birthday this morning, all he wanted to talk about at first was farts.  Good stuff!  xoxo!  Angela took the photo.

Head Shot

It was hard to get the perfect shot at the perfect angle.  

Finally!

Weather Update

Though we’ve had a heck of a lot of rain, we’re currently experiencing unseasonably warm November temps.  I’ll take it!  

We’ve devoted some quality time outdoors to take advantage.  

It was a bummer that Avery missed his last soccer game of the season but as a consolation he got to spend some time kicking the ball around w/Paul, Nana, Ray & I.  Then lunch at our favorite: Trotters afterwards.  

A. made us laugh because he was so serious about reading the paper as he drank his mug 'o root beer.

 

My handsome husband

 

 

This weekend the 3 of us took an afternoon to drive over to Pepin Lake, a fall favorite.  The trip included:  Paul & Avery reliving their ride around the lake this summer, a dog that would jump for sticks, a big goat that we all decided was yucky,some swedish donuts we wished we had more of, books on a roof, learning that my favorite greenhouse/nursery was closed, a delicious pizza dinner & a victorious ABC-Grocery-Store car game.

Before & after this photo was captured you can almost bet there was some eye rolling @ the silliness of Paul & I - which we get a lot of lately. Glad I captured a genuine smile!

Bogus & Paul

A Sunday consisting of a friend’s birthday brunch picnic, completing all of our fall yard chores & a big pot of soup made by Paul was a nice end to the week.

Fall Soup Recipe

Ever done a soup swap?  I don’t know these people, but stumbled upon this blog a few years ago.  It was the first time I had heard of a soup swap & it sounded like an excellent idea.  Made me want to organize one.  To date, I still haven’t.  Hmph.  

Every Fall Paul breaks out the big pot & the emersion blender & goes to town w/some soup recipes.  I reap the benefits. He made a curried roasted squash soup for us to have for dinner a couple weeks ago.  It smelled sooooo good & was a really yummy fall flavor.  

Admittedly, this photo is a touch staged.  The pretty red pepper was sitting clear on the other end of the counter just begging to be in the shot, so I moved it next to my bowl

Here’s the recipe:

INGREDIENTS 

• 1 butternut squash, halved and seeded
• 2 large onions, peeled and quartered
• 1 medium head garlic
• 6 cups vegetable broth
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 teaspoon brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon mild curry powder
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 cup plain yogurt

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or aluminum foil.
2. Place squash halves and onion onto the prepared baking sheet. Wrap garlic in foil and set with other vegetables.
3. Roast in the center of the oven for 45 to 60 minutes, until the squash is tender. Remove from oven and set aside until cool enough to handle.
4. Squeeze garlic cloves out of their skin like paste into a food processor. Scrape the flesh from the squash and place into the food processor along with the roasted onion. Puree until smooth. Add vegetable broth if necessary. Transfer the pureed mixture to a stockpot and stir in vegetable broth. Season with the bay leaf, brown sugar, curry powder, oregano, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a boil and simmer gently for 10 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in yogurt.
5. Remove bay leaf and serve hot.

Wish List

I’m pretty sure that my bike wants this beautiful hand carved “thistle” Brooks saddle by Kara Ginther.

The tandem saddles are very nice too.

Happy Halloween!

 

Satanic Mechanic & SunMaid

(Photo courtesy of HMW & her iPhone)

 

 

A Big Long List for the End of Summer/Beginning of Fall

Who doesn’t love a good list?  Especially when you get the satisfaction of checking things off.  

-Complete an official triathlon

-Begin sending out our long overdue wedding thank you notes

-Go to MN State Fair.  Eat junk.

-Get bangs cut

-Celebrate my Dad’s 80th birthday over Labor Day weekend

-Start new job

 -Throw big 30th birthday soiree for dear friend Amy

 

-Celebrate my 32nd birthday

 (This photo is of me on my 1st)

-Florist gig for wedding #2

-Start eating healthier & get back into an exercise program

-Eat Honey Crisp apples (ongoing)

-Take camping trips w/friends

 

-Take a trip w/my sister

-Plan a trip w/my new husband

-Plan a trip w/my girlfriends

-Big Fall yard clean-up, plant bulbs, lay paver-brick patio, pick pears & bake something yummy

-Buy a rug for the living room

-Blog post

For fellow list lovers: this is a fun feature.

A Year Ago

Tettegouche campsite '08

On the 5th of July a boy named Paul asked a girl named Maggie to marry him. They were camping with friends @ Tettegouche State Park for the holiday weekend. After stealing away for the afternoon to bike & hike they waded in the Baptism River & walked upstream from the High Falls. Paul asked Maggie to join him on a large rock that he was sitting on. He asked. She said yes.

Baptism River (pre-proposal) '08

Baptism River (post proposal) '08

Exactly one year later they went camping with friends @ Split Rock.  This time, the whole group made the trek to the river/High Falls.  

Baptism River/High Falls '09

fields of lupine

Split Rock Campsite '09

the gorgeous view of Superior from our site

quaint little lookout bench @ our site