Garden of Life

Christmas lights

2011-12-24T08:00:00.003-06:00

One of my favorite things to do every winter is to drive around and look at all the Christmas lights displayed throughout the neighborhoods. There is something so peaceful about it and definitely brings out the Christmas spirit.

This year none of the boys wanted to join us, but Pete and I headed out last evening and even grabbed a little plate of Christmas cookies to nourish us along the way. :)

I went online to see if I could find some great light displays in our area, and we headed out to several of those. None of these pictures really do it justice, but most of the houses put on quite a 'show' with music and all.

I love this Charlie Brown play house that is down the block from us.

But the highlight of the evening was the tree in Bloomington that can be seen from Cedar Avenue. Truly amazing and spectacular to see up close in person!!

After our light viewing we stopped to get an appetizer and drink at one of our favorite spots, Chianti Grill.
And then came home to start our Christmas present wrapping.
It was a perfect evening.

a Christmas concert

2011-12-18T16:59:00.001-06:00

Saturday evening Pete and I had tickets to 'The Story Tour' out at Grace Church in Eden Prairie.

We originally were to go with another couple, but at the last minute they were unable to go and so Drew was able to join us for a fun evening of Christmas spirit.

The list of performers was quite amazing and included: Stephen Curtis Chapman, Newsboys, Selah, Max Lucado among others.

It was a night filled with beautiful music telling God's story through the eyes of principle bible characters, starting in Genesis and finishing in Revelation.

Mixed in with Christmas music made for such a special evening.

Christmas Spirit, Skating and Shopping

2011-12-17T14:54:00.001-06:00

For many years now, Pete and I have talked that it would be really nice to spend a day together doing some Christmas browsing and maybe even get a little shopping done as well. It seems like we always have let the 'busy-ness' of the season get in the way, but this year we marked a day on the calendar and spent the day getting in the Christmas spirit.

Yesterday was that day. The day started early as we got the boys off to school,

but we had time to take in the glow from the Christmas tree,

enjoy a cup of coffee in a favorite Christmas mug,

and watch a beautiful sunrise.

We made a quick stop for one more cup of caffeine before we headed out for the day.

And then we were off to downtown Stillwater to poke around some of the cute little shops.

We stopped for some lunch at a cute little restaurant called 'The Mad Capper' right on Main Street in downtown Stillwater.

I didn't notice the sign in the window until I was looking though the pictures later, but it totally made me laugh!

{zoomed in}

After lunch, we decided to head over to Minneapolis and do a little ice skating at the Depot Rink. This is a historic train building that has been turned into an indoor skating rink and it is absolutely gorgeous inside!

The boys bought me new skates about 10 years ago for a Christmas gift- but as you can see they have never been worn. :) In fact, the last time I had ice skated was back in junior high!! Eek!!

Standing isn't too hard. :)

And on the ice, I was just fine if I had the wall to hang on to! :) Ha!

It did start coming back to me a little bit-- and I was just having so much fun!!

Pete and I had so much fun just skating around. listening to Christmas music and enjoying the peaceful atmosphere!

We enjoyed a cup of hot chocolate before heading over to Mall of America to continue our Christmas shopping and eventually a late stop for drinks and appetizers at the Cadillac Ranch after our shopping.

We had such a fun day and still managed to get a lot of our Christmas shopping done.

a Hockey Pasta Dinner

2011-12-14T16:45:00.004-06:00

Monday, we hosted Jake's high school hockey teams (both the JV and the Varsity) for a pasta dinner before the big game on Tuesday. This is the second year in a row that we have hosted a pasta dinner and I am still amazed at how much food 37 BIG boys can eat!!!

There were 8 of us moms that prepared and served the meal.

We served:

meat sauce, Alfredo sauce, 5 pounds of meatballs, 10 pounds of pasta, 75 bread sticks,

7 gallons of milk, a case of water, a large salad, and MANY desserts!!!

All ready and just waiting for the other moms to arrive with their food.

The tables were set up all though out our living and dining rooms- enough spots to sit 37 boys.

The boys showed up after their practice

ready to eat!!

The dinner was a lot of fun to host and appreciated by all of the boys... especially this one. :)

{It is just too bad that the pasta didn't keep Jake from getting injured at Tuesday's game } :(

Weekend Lens

2011-12-05T16:27:00.001-06:00

This past weekend kept us busy with lots of hockey,

which included a Wild game,

a high school varsity game,

and a Bantam hockey tournament

with a 1st place win!!

A celebratory team dinner at Buffalo Wild Wings.

And I even managed to squeeze in a little time for a little more Christmas decorating.

O Christmas Tree

2011-11-28T15:20:00.009-06:00

Thanksgiving weekend was super busy with hosting Thanksgiving dinner, hockey, work, and me not feeling real well... but it has been our tradition for years to put up our Christmas tree on Thanksgiving weekend. And with Tyler home for the weekend, I really wanted to make sure we took the time as a family to decorate the tree.

I always start by putting up the garlands and the poinsettia flowers and then it is the boys turn. The boys each have their own box of ornaments that is filled with the special ornaments that they receive each year for Christmas. Every year I pick out a special ornament for each boy that has some meaning to them from the past year. {You can look HERE at a post from last year on some of my favorite ornaments.}

After the boys were done hanging their ornaments I added a few finishing touches. :)

And our family Christmas tree was done!

Giving Thanks

2011-11-26T15:19:00.002-06:00

Thanksgiving is a time to give thanks for all that we have and all that is important to us.

One of the things I was especially thankful for this year was the opportunity to host Thanksgiving dinner for our family.

A little preparation and a lot of help made for a special day and a wonderful meal. I am so thankful for the memories made...

making the pies

~pumpkin and pecan~

and mash potatoes

"What are they??"

rutabagas :)

setting the tables

preparing the turkey

coloring the turkey from the newspaper

Grandma with her little grandsons

a cute new apron

help in the kitchen

football watching

puppy gates

picture taking

a perfect turkey

a proud chef :)

a pretty table

a Thanksgiving feast for my family

bountiful food

and finally a game of Scrabble

and a nap :)

So many blessings and so much to be thankful for!!

thanksgiving

2011-11-24T08:12:00.000-06:00

make a wish

2011-11-22T20:53:00.003-06:00

With all of the birthdays this month, it got me to thinking that I needed to do a blog post on our family's 'birthday song'. This song started when my Mom was young and has the tradition has been carried on throughout the years.

Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you,
Happy Birthday dear _____,
Happy Birthday to you!...

Make a wish and blow out the candles,
wishes for good boys and girls come true.
So... hurry and cut the cake,
We can hardly wait, Happy Birthday to you!...

Ra, Ra, Ra Hooray for ______
Hooray for _____,
Someone in the crowd is shouting
Hooray, for _______
Hut 2,3,4. Who are we for?
____ that's who!

another Birthday for me

2011-11-19T19:08:00.001-06:00

Yesterday I turned

I received some special gifts like a beautiful sunrise

an iPad

and a musical card that made me laugh :)

I spent the morning at the gym and then headed to do some power shopping at the mall. :)

That afternoon, Drew and I played a few games before he headed to a church retreat for the weekend.

That evening we went out to one of my favorite restaurants, Porter Creek Hardwood Grill. Love this place!!

And came home to my all time favorite cake (the Princess Torte from Wuollet Bakery)!

A perfect day!!!

Pumpkin Cookies

2011-11-17T09:59:00.003-06:00

Yesterday, it was our small groups turn to bring treats for our Women's Bible Study at church and I thought these pumpkin cookies would be perfect for the season. (This is one Drew's favorite cookies.)

Recipe:

3 1/2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoons nutmeg
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1 cup shortening\
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 cup pumpkin puree

Icing:
5 Tablespoons brown sugar
3 Tablespoons butter
5 Tablespoons milk
1 cup powdered sugar

In medium mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and cloves. Set aside.

In a large bowl, beat shortening and sugar until creamy. Add eggs one at a time, beat well. Add pumpkin and mix.

Slowly add flour mixture, mixing until combined. Drop rounded teaspoons of dough on cookie sheets and bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes. Cool completely.

To make icing: In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine brown sugar, butter and milk and bring mixture to a boil. Remove from heat and cool completely, about an hour. Stir in powdered sugar until icing is desired consistency. Ice cookies. Store very lightly covered.

a Family Birthday party

2011-11-13T18:33:00.001-06:00

Yesterday we had some of our family over for a birthday dinner to celebrate the November birthday's of Drew, and Tyler (who was away at college) and me.

We enjoyed a birthday dinner of lasagna, garlic bread and Ceasar salad.

And shared a favorite homemade 'Canolli Torte' birthday cake.

And opened some birthday gifts.

It is always so special to have family around to help celebrate the special days!

Birthday Celebrations

2011-11-08T17:55:00.001-06:00

On Saturday, we loaded the car and headed to Tyler's college to take him out to lunch and to celebrate his 20th birthday!!

We went to Granite City restaurant and enjoyed some great family time, a nice meal, and some time to open some birthday gifts.

Then we headed back to campus to Ty's dorm to sing 'Happy Birthday' and share Ty's favorite French Silk pie.

Make a wish!

Sunday was Tyler's actual birthday and I have to say that it was kind of sad not having him home and not seeing him, but I am thankful for being able to celebrate a day early!

Monday was Drew's 14th birthday! We started the day off with his request of homemade cinnamon rolls-- that must be eaten on the 'I am Special' plate.

And then it was time to open gifts before heading off to school.

There was hockey practice after school and then it was off to Osaka for a hibachi style dinner.

Dinner at the hibachi grill is always such great entertainment!

So much great food!

And maybe the favorite part is the birthday song with the drums and the crazy mask.

After an awesome dinner it was time for some ice cream cake back at home.

Happy Birthday to my birthday boys!!!

14 Years Ago

2011-11-07T18:01:00.000-06:00

14 years ago

{a day after Tyler turned 6}

another beatuiful blessing entered our lives

and

our family of 5 was complete

Tyler thought that Drew was the best birthday present. :)

Jake thought Drew was pretty special too.

Happy Birthday, Drew!!

We love you!!

20 Years Ago

2011-11-06T22:10:00.000-06:00

20 years ago, a baby boy came into our lives

and has forever changed my heart!!!!

So much joy and happiness you have brought us; and truly, I couldn't be more proud of the man you have become!!

Happy 20th birthday, Tyler!!!!!

{Ok, and seriously.... how can I possibly have a son who is 20 years old?? :) eek}

a perfect Jack-O-Lantern

2011-11-01T21:33:00.001-05:00

The perfect jack-o-lantern starts with the picking of the perfect pumpkin.

Next, you get a dog to guard that perfect pumpkin until ready to carve.

The next step is to carefully plan the design before picking up the carving tool.

And to have your assistant check out the details.

And when she is unsure, you keep at it.

Even if the assistant seems to be laughing at your progress.

And still very uncertain if this is going to turn out.

Keep working

Because soon

all of the work

will pay off.

Happy Halloween!!

Halloween Blizzard of 1991

2011-10-31T15:48:00.007-05:00

As we celebrate Halloween today, my mind is filled with memories from 20 years ago.

Halloween 1991 is one that Minnesotans will never forget and is for sure one that I will always remember. I was nine months pregnant and due any day!

(Ha! Even then I usually wore contacts but those glasses make me laugh!! Oh, and the hair!)

I remember earlier in the week, that the local weathermen were saying that there was a chance of snow on Halloween, but that it would definitely not stick. On Halloween, the snow did start falling around 11am and made the roads icy. The snow kept falling as I drove carefully home from work.

I remember Pete and I being cozy and safe in our little apartment and waking up on November 1st to even more snow—and it was still snowing. Everything was cancelled that Friday- which meant no work for us and an unexpected day off.

It snowed all that day and we soon realized that we were snowed in. We lived at the end of a very long road that winded though the townhome style apartments and they were just beginning to start digging us out.

I remember being so worried about what we were going to do if I went into labor. We could not get out and emergency vehicles were getting stuck everywhere and would not have been able to make it in.

Two blessings came with this situation. The first, my Dad was the City Administrator for the city we lived in and he said he would get a city snow plow through if we needed it. And the second blessing was that baby Tyler decided that he would wait out the storm. :)

The storm, which was being called the Halloween Blizzard, continued for 4 days with a total snow accumulation of 30 inches!!!

We finally were dug out of our apartment and made it back to work on Tuesday, November 5th. Pete drove me to work that day and the roads were still treacherous and traffic was horrible making for a very long commute. Late that evening, we were at the hospital and Tyler was born on November 6th! Our snow baby!

{It is hard for me to believe, but we have absolutely no pictures of this unforgettable snowstorm.}

Family Weekend

2011-10-30T19:23:00.001-05:00

This past weekend was Family Weekend at Tyler's college. We had such a nice weekend visiting,

doing a 5K fun run in a beautiful arboretum,

a chili lunch

and a football game.

Fun Family Weekend!!

Pumpkins, Polka & Frisbee

2011-10-24T15:40:00.002-05:00

Last weekend was one of those perfect kind of weekends with a mixture of fun, family time and relaxation. And on top of that, it was MEA weekend here in Minnesota, which meant for an extra long weekend for Jake and Drew.

Some highlights of our weekend included heading over to our local pumpkin patch.

Friday evening we went out to a German restaurant in Minneapolis called Gasthof’s. This is a fun restaurant that is very lively and can get pretty rowdy. We haven't been to this restaurant in over 10 years, so it was a fun way to spend an evening.

We enjoyed some German food, German beer, and accordion music.

After dinner we went downstairs where a band was playing and maybe we even a did a little Polka-ing. :)

By the end of the evening this basement area was packed- with mostly it being a much younger crowd but there was this sweet elderly couple that with no care in the world, came out for a night of Polka.

Saturday, we headed to Eau Claire, WI to see Tyler playing in an Ultimate Frisbee tournament. Honestly, I don't really understand this game too well, but it is fun to watch and it was a gorgeous day out! Plus we got to chat with Ty for a bit! His team name is 'BAM' (Bad A** Monks). Kind of funny. :)

I love this sequence of pictures:

We watched a couple of games, said good-bye to Ty and then headed over to Chippewa Falls, WI to the Leinenkugel's Brewery.

We sampled some beer.

And took a tour of the brewery. We took some pictures of the beautiful grounds and the buildings but were not allowed to take any photos inside the buildings.

Sunday was our perfectly relaxing day. We enjoyed a special treat of donuts and time to read the newspaper.

The boys spent the day watching ~~a little~~ a lot of football while I spent my time in the kitchen doing some baking and making Sunday dinner. One of my favorite things to do on a quiet Sunday is to take my time in the kitchen making my family a meal and maybe doing some baking. I love quiet Sundays!!

On this Sunday, I made some homemade applesauce. This is so good warm and is great just as is-- but would also be amazing on vanilla ice cream or on oatmeal.

I also tried a couple of new recipes, both of which the family absolutely loved. The first recipe was a 'pork chop and stuffing' recipe from my Aunt Jeannie, that is in our family cookbook. I didn't get a good picture of this- but it is so good and something I will make again soon.

The other recipe I tried was one I found on Stone of Remembrance blog awhile ago, and knew I needed to try it. Apple Dumpling Surprise is a perfect Fall treat and my family loved it!

family + fun times + perfect weather + good food =

amazing weekend

Apple Orchard Traditons

2011-10-20T15:42:00.007-05:00

Last Sunday was our annual fall trip to the apple orchard. We have been going to the Pine Tree Apple Orchard yearly since the Fall of 1992 (when Tyler was weeks away from celebrating his first birthday). So… this makes it our 20th year of making memories, enjoying family time, and getting some great apples and apple treats! This is one of my favorite family traditions!

The scenery at this orchard is so beautiful, especially on a sunny fall afternoon.

Our first stop was the tractor ride with a tour of the orchard.

Next was the corn maze.

There are letters scattered throughout the maze and the goal is to find all of the letters and unscramble them to make a word. A word that usually has to do with the orchard somehow.

This always takes quite awhile but is a fun challenge. At this point, after only finding the letters R, R, and C--

we texted Jake who was at home if he knew what the word was. He is SOOO good at things like this--

and he immediately texted back with the word "TRACTOR" ...

And of course Jake was right! :)

After the corn maze we stopped at the pumpkin patch.

(When did Drew get taller than me??)

And then walked back to the apple barn

to buy some apples and some apple treats.

It was another great day of making memories at our favorite apple orchard.

Weekend Lens

2011-10-17T19:31:00.002-05:00

bonfire :: hockey tryouts :: Tyler Ultimate Frisbee tournament in Milwaukee ::

Pioneer Woman cowboy steak sandwiches :: apple orchard :: BWW's :: trip to ER for Ty :: apple pie :: Halloween decorating :: Bella's birthday (the big 04 says Jake :)

Weekend Lens

2011-10-10T19:33:00.000-05:00

quiet weekend :: more hockey tryouts for Drew :: banana chocolate chip bars :: football in the park for Jake :: big North vs. South football game :: Tyler home for the weekend :: pot roast in the crock pot ::

Bella to the doggie spa :: family time :: sampling some favorite wine :: 80 degree weather

Wise Words from Steve Jobs

2011-10-06T15:19:00.001-05:00

The world has been a buzz since last evening because of a life taken way too soon; Steve Jobs, founder of Apple Computers; passed away from pancreatic cancer. Truly, so very sad!

But the testimony of his life and all that he has accomplished has been so inspirational. His
From Pete’s first Apple computer that he purchased in 1984, to the many versions of the iPod, and then the iPhone; our family like most families have been touched by this man’s creations. Steve Jobs has changed our world with innovative products but also with his wise words.

Some of my favorite Steve Jobs quotes come from his commencement speech that he gave at Stanford University in 2005.

"You can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backward. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something -- your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life."
"Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything -- all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure -- these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart. ... Stay hungry. Stay foolish."

"Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma - which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of other's opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary."

“Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don’t settle.”

"There's an old Wayne Gretzky quote that I love. 'I skate to where the puck is going to be, not where it has been.' And we've always tried to do that at Apple. Since the very very beginning. And we always will." "When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: 'If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you'll most certainly be right.' It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: 'If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?' And whenever the answer has been "No" for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something."

I love how he urges others to pursue their dreams and to see the opportunities in life's setbacks.

Wordless Wednesday

2011-10-05T15:34:00.001-05:00

{Fall beauty outside my window! }

25 Years Ago

2011-10-04T19:03:00.000-05:00

October 3rd 1986; was a cool, fall Friday and the beginning of ‘Little Sibs’ weekend at our college campus. I was a freshman, and had only been at school for a little over a month, so I was excited that my little sister and her friend would be visiting for the weekend.

That evening, we headed over to ‘Sneakers’, a dance bar/restaurant that was on campus. This was where most of the freshmen hung out on the weekends.

I remember dancing with a group of friends including my sister and her friend. We just sat down at a table to take a little break when this boy walks up and asks me to dance. We danced to one song and then I was going to go back to my sister, but the music changed to a song that I absolutely loved. So we started dancing to this song as well and I asked the boy if he knew who sang this song because I didn't know and no one else ever seemed to know. He did!

I am so glad that Pete asked me to dance 25 years ago! And I am so glad that I said yes!

We don’t normally celebrate this date, but Pete surprised me last night with 25 roses and an impromptu date night! Such a sweetheart!

{Time has just flown by and I can't believe that it has been 25 years!}

Weekend Lens

2011-10-03T14:44:00.001-05:00

MN Wild game :: farmer's market :: hockey tryouts :: Trader Joe's :: dinner at Dixie's on Grand ::

a new Pumpkin Spice Yankee Candle :: a big pot of homemade spaghetti and meatballs ::

pile of new magazines :: Fall decorating :: Paula Deen's Pumpkin Gooey Butter Cake :: mums

This past weekend was one of those perfect weekends, with just the right amounts of fun and relaxation!

excited and humbled

2011-10-01T09:27:00.001-05:00

I am so excited and humbled to be included in this article, on More Magazine’s website, titled ‘Amazing Body Transformations.’

http://www.more.com/amazing-weight-loss-transformations

There are 18 ‘pages’ to this article and my story is on pages 9 and 10.

All the stories are so amazing and inspirational.

My desire in sharing my story of weight loss, is that hopefully it might inspire and motivate others looking to make a change regarding weight and healthy living. I know how difficult this journey is and also how important it has been for me to seek out others for inspiration and for the motivation to keep going; especially on those tough days. :)

I wrote this blog post recently on my weight loss and what I know now. You can find it here.
-------

Hope everyone has an amazing Fall weekend!

wordless Wednesday

2011-09-28T21:27:00.000-05:00

{This past weekend we had to bring home a loaf of Johnnie Bread!

Love the history behind this awesome bread}

college football

2011-09-27T22:02:00.002-05:00

This past Saturday, we headed to Tyler's school to visit with him, do a little tail-gating and see some football. It was a perfect Fall day, with the sun shining and cooler temps.

We lost the football game in the last 23 seconds- but it was still the perfect day!

And it was so nice to spend some time with my boy!!!

weekend Lens

2011-09-26T19:22:00.000-05:00

date night :: movie 'The Help' :: dinner at Burger Jones :: tailgating :: visiting with Tyler :: college homecoming football game :: beautiful fall weekend :: apps and drinks at Porter Creek Hardwood Grill :: Sunday morning bible study with friends :: browsing at Ikea and Pier 1 :: new custom goalie pads for Jake ::

awesome weekend

wrodless Wednesday

2011-09-21T21:35:00.002-05:00

{New Women's Bible Study started this morning at my church-- and it has been such an amazing feeling of knowing I am right where I am suppose to be at this moment! So many "God-incidences" led me to this study. Love when things happen like that.}

weekend lens

2011-09-19T20:07:00.000-05:00

quiet weekend :: coffee with friends :: beef stew in the crock pot :: golf tournament for Pete:: working on my new office area :: letter jacket for Jake :: pumpkin bars

{click on the names for the link to the recipes}

Friday Favorites

2011-09-15T14:27:00.001-05:00

Some things that made me smile this week ::

With the cooler temps and the feel of fall in the air, my mind and my taste buds have gone pumpkin. Two of my favorite Fall treats are here.

1) The Pumpkin Spice Latte from Starbucks. Of course!

2) And the Pumpkin Spice Hershey Kisses. Love.

3) I saw this YouTube video on Good Morning America yesterday morning and thought it was so incredibly cute and totally put a smile on my face.

4) I am reading a book right now called Life is a Verb: 37 Days to Wake Up, Be Mindful, Live Intentionally by Patti Digh.

From the paper it is written on, to the pictures shown and the stories told; this book is beautiful. There are different writing exercises, movements and actions that encourage you to tell your story and live more intentionally. I am really enjoying this book right now.

5) Something that put a big smile on my face this week was when Pete told me he thought I should makeover our guest bedroom into a office/sitting room for me. My very own office! It was so sweet of him to suggest that and has now gotten my mind going with all the possibilities. :) So I have been pouring over Pinterest and the Ikea catalog for inspiration. I am so excited to get started! :)

Happy Friday!!

wordless Wednesday

2011-09-14T13:49:00.001-05:00

{Photos from a recent walk at Ritter Farm Park}

MN Blog Conference

2011-09-12T20:52:00.005-05:00

This past Saturday was the Minnesota Blog Conference. I was so excited that I was able to get a ticket to this event as the tickets went very quickly. I have been wanting to go to a blog conference for a while now and when I heard about this one that would be right here in the Twin Cities and that it was completely free; I knew that I had to go.

The conference was held at the Allina Commons in Minneapolis, which was an amazing facility and easily accommodated a conference of this size. A big thank you to Missy Berggren (Marketing Mama) and Arik Hanson for organizing such a great event and bringing over 200 Minnesota bloggers together for a day of fun, learning and networking.

The morning started with the keynote speaker; Lee Odden from TopRank Marketing. He was a fabulous presenter and spoke of lessons he has learned from his years of blog writing; Blogs to Riches. He gave us 5 great lessons for being ‘online writers.’
     1) No blog plan is a plan to fail
     2) Adapt and thrive
     3) It is not all about you
     4) Ask- recognize- repeat
     5) The end is near, let’s start. (when you think you have run out, you’ve just begun)

And a great quote that he gave to us; “Content is King, Creativity is Queen.”

From here, we broke out into different sessions.

There were so many fabulous sessions to choose from and it was not an easy decision but the first one I chose was ‘Supporting Your Blog with Photos’ presented by Mandy Dwyer from Glimpses of Soul Photography.

She talked of the difference between a photograph and a snapshot and the benefits of each. She spoke on creating a photograph by slowing down, learning to see and to shoot intentionally. I loved this. She covered lighting, composition and perspective.

And Mandy left us with a take away for getting those great pictures :: slow down :: get out and practice :: shoot often :: change up perspective :: make mistakes :: learn from those mistakes :: get feedback from others.

The next session I went to was ’15 Essential WordPress Plugins’ by Mykl Roventine.

I am working on making the switch from Blogger to WordPress and am very interested in learning all that I can on this. This was another great session- even if it did get over my head a little bit. :) The list of the Plugins can be found here on his blog.

Next up on the schedule was lunch, which was an awesome taco bar and was also included in our free ticket thanks to the great sponsors Allina Hospitals, Kare11 and TopRank Online Marketing. It was nice to have an hour break to have some time to meet some new people and also a few minutes to process all the great information already given to us.

The next session I chose was my favorite of the day. It was titled, 'Scene and Story: Make Your Writing Sing' presented by Kate Hopper. She talked of using concrete details and using our senses (sight, sound, touch, taste) to bring the reader into the experience. She told us to “get to the point grounded in detail.” We did 2 different writing exercises that really stretched us and got the creative juices flowing. This session was so great and really motivated me to practice and grow my writing skills.

The final session of the day was ‘Moving Your Blog to WordPress’ by Tim Elliot. He did a great job breaking things down so we could understand it and he has also made his presentation available online.

My only regrets from the day are that I didn’t take more pictures and that because there was so much great stuff to choose from, I wasn’t able to get to all the presentations that I wanted to. The ones I sadly missed were ‘Building Communities’ with Jen Emmert as one of the panelists and the other one was ‘Vlogging: Lessons to Learn from TV’ with Erica Mayer. Oh well, hopefully next year. :)

The day flew by and I am so glad that I had the opportunity to spend a Saturday meeting and learning with other bloggers who all have their own story to tell.

Remembering 9/11

2011-09-11T21:05:00.002-05:00

As I sat there this morning, watching the 10th Anniversary Memorial that was being televised, I was not prepared for the wave of emotions that came flooding over me. Sadness, disbelief, horror, uncertainty…. Feelings that brought me right back to that day exactly a decade ago.

I know that I will never, ever forget those feelings of that day, and the days following.

September 11, 2001, is a day that so rocked our world, our nation and each of us individually that I know I am not alone in remembering that day in great detail.

That morning, Pete was off to work; Tyler, age nine and in 4th grade and Jake, age six in 1st grade; headed off to their 5th day of school. My boys were little and so I never had any morning news shows on and typically we left the television off before school anyway. So I had no clue what was happening in the outside world.

That morning, Drew (age 3) and I headed over to his new preschool for open house, to see his classroom and meet the teachers. We walked into the classroom, and immediately sensed something, but not sure what. A couple of friends walked up to me with somber expressions and said, “Can you believe it?” The then told me of what they had seen on the news just prior to heading to preschool. No, I couldn’t believe it.

We went through the motions of the preschool open house, all the while trying to get our minds around this tragic news, and trying to shield the preschoolers from what we could not even understand. It didn’t seem real. I couldn’t be real. This doesn’t happen in our country.

We had plans to go out to lunch with some friends following the open house but instead we all headed home. To the safety and shelter of our own homes. Home to turn the TV on and try to understand. Home to be with our loved ones.

Pete left work early and arrived home around the same time Drew and I did. I remember the hugs and I remember the feeling of wanting to go over to the elementary school and pull Ty and Jake out for the day and just have them at home with us. I wanted to, but I didn’t. When they finally did get home from school, there were more hugs.

I remember having the TV on and being glued for hours and hours to the news coverage. I think I felt if I watched the coverage enough, somehow I might be able to understand how and why this happened.

I know now, that we will never understand.

But we will always remember.

wordless Wednesday

2011-09-07T14:06:00.000-05:00

{an 8th grader}

{a Junior}

yesterday... was back to school

Labor Day Weekend lens

2011-09-06T20:39:00.000-05:00

quiet weekend :: finishing up summer homework :: Drew learned to make 'egg in the holes' :: cooler weather :: dinner at Bucca with family :: hike at Ritter Farm Park :: chili dinner :: getting ready for back to school

summer 2011 Lens

2011-09-04T09:39:00.000-05:00

Ty home from college :: hockey camps :: new bistro table :: bonfires :: the 5 8 club ::

walks around Lake Calhoun :: Tin Fish :: Project Flower Bomb :: flowers :: gardening :: beautiful sunsets :: shopping trips :: soccer refereeing :: soccer games :: baseball games :: Father's Day :: golf lessons ::

smoked pulled pork :: summer music :: fish tacos :: El Azteca :: Music in the Zoo ::

Charlie Musselwhite and the James Cotton Band :: sushi night :: Sebastian Joe's :: lawn mowing :: sun tea :: smores :: Minnehaha Falls :: Sea Salt Eatery :: farmer's market :: blueberry picking ::

Harry Potter movie :: U2 concert :: Rusty Taco :: excessive heat warnings :: Prior Lake Jazz Festival ::

new air conditioner :: Tim Mahoney :: Buddy Guy :: Chicago :: Gene & Jude's ::

college campus tours :: family reunion :: strawberry picking :: jam making :: fireworks :: bike rides ::

picnic date :: Punch Pizza :: Blue Door Pub :: cabin time :: golfing :: fishing :: George Thorogood ::

Twins baseball games :: country pub hopping :: peanut butter pie :: WA Frost :: Adele concert!! ::

stopping to smell the sunflowers :: state fair

college move-in day

2011-09-01T09:28:00.001-05:00

On Sunday, we packed the cars,

said good-bye to the furry one

and moved Tyler back to college.

We had lots of help, with the 5 of us and plus a couple of Ty's friends that already moved in

It made for an a quick and easy move!

I think I ended up only bringing up a couple bags of groceries and a bag of hangers. Thank goodness for lots of strong boys! :)

It was a little chaotic to begin with- as it always is trying to fit so much into those tiny dorm rooms.

But Ty and his roomate quickly got to work lofting their beds and finding places for all the necesseties like the fridge, the futton and the TV's. :)

They seemed to have everything under control and didn't really need too much of our help

so we decided to take a walk around campus

and grabbed lunch at the picnic they have set up for families.

We headed back to Ty's room to find that they had most things set up and already had a room full of friends.

It was a little easier saying good-bye to Tyler this year, knowing that he loves his school and has some great friends. He was very excited to be back at school--

and really what more can a Momma want for her boy, but for his happiness!

(But I still miss him like crazy! :)

crockpot Wild Rice Soup

2011-08-31T12:40:00.001-05:00

With the kids heading back to school and the weather turning just a bit cooler; it has me wanting to pull out some of my great fall recipes and start cooking up those soups, chili's and stews.

I have been making this recipe for years and is always a crowd pleaser. It does require a couple of steps before you can just put everything into the crockpot, but it is a great meal to make in the morning and then just forget about until dinner time. {I wish I had a better photo, but this was all I could find}

Wild Rice Soup:

1 cup wild rice
1 pound bacon
medium onion, diced
2 - 10 oz. cans of cream of potato soup
2 - 10 oz. cans of cream of chicken soup
3 cups milk
2 cups Velveeta cheese, cubed
4 cups chicken breast, cooked and cubed

Directions: Cook the wild rice by adding the rice, 2 teaspoons salt and 4 cups water and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer for 45 minutes. Pour off water and rinse rice.

Meanwhile, fry together the bacon and onion.

Combine all ingredients in the crockpot on high until thick and hot (this can be kept at 'low' temp if you make this in the morning to serve later in the evening.)

*I am linking up to Kelly's Korner. Stop over there for some more great crockpot recipes.

Minnesota State Fair

2011-08-30T09:01:00.003-05:00

Summer is officially winding down. The daylight hours are getting shorter and shorter and soon all the kids will be back in school. But there is always that one last summer activity that we eagerly anticipate each year and is really the perfect way to wrap up summer.

The Minnesota State Fair!

We wanted to get to the fair early this year, so Tyler could join us before heading back to college. And I was so happy that the weather looked good and it worked in everyone’s schedule for our whole family to go this past Friday!!

Our first stop is always to get some cheese curds! This is my favorite and if I were to only get one thing to eat at the fair, this would be it!

Some other State Fair favorites include:

the Horticulture Building with the amazing vegetables and flower displays

the Space Tower

a stop at the Twins booth

the Pet Center where I bought this awesome gadget- seriously

a ride down the Giant Slide

apple dumplings

A stop at the Blue Moon Dine In Theater is a newer favorite of ours. This is a great place to stop and get out of the sun, sit down for a bit, watch a movie and eat some great food. The Korean BBQ tacos are great and the corn and bacon woodfire pizza is amazing!

No trip to the fair would be complete with out the mandatory stop at the Midway.

I think the Midway might be the whole reason Jake likes going to the fair! Look at that smile:)

He cleaned up at the basketball game. He even got Drew to hold them for him for while he kept playing.

That bag (that Jake brought from home) is filled with his winnings. :)

And the reason Tyler comes to the fair is because of Sweet Martha's Cookies.

Look at that smile.

And I found a patch of sunflowers. :)

With all of the fun things to do and eat at the fair;

my favorite parts aren't about any of that, but rather;

it is about spending some great family time,

the jokes and the laughter,

and the memories that are made.

That is what the fair is all about.

weekend lens

2011-08-29T16:53:00.003-05:00

lots of family time :: packing :: MN State Fair :: bean bag toss game :: smore bars :: Buffalo Wild Wings :: smoked pulled pork :: last day of hockey camp for Jake :: moving Ty back to college

sunflowers of summer

2011-08-26T20:18:00.002-05:00

Last evening, I coaxed Pete out for a little adventure. This past week, I had seen all over the news and in the newspaper about a stretch of sunflowers along a major highway near the airport. I absolutely love sunflowers and the story behind this completely touched me, so I knew that I had to take the little drive to go see this row of sunflowers.

According to the StarTribune newspaper, Tom Henry, a local resident, had an idea to plant “20 flowers on the stretch of unused airport land” but his idea quickly grew to “plant one sunflower for each day of the year.”

365 beautiful golden flowers that reach to the sun.

I couldn't wait to get my camera out and start taking pictures. :)

He has even added little month signs to help people find their ‘birthday flower’.

Pete's flower was very tall!

My 'birthday flower'.

This ‘long and winding row’ of sunflowers can be found in Richfield on the north side of Hwy 62 between Cedar and 28th Ave.

It is worth the drive to see this summer beauty and to ‘stop and smell the sunflowers!!’

We need more people like Tom Henry, who makes the world just a little bit brighter!

This is a lesson to all of us: to reach to the sun and make the world a little brighter!

Adele Concert!!

2011-08-25T21:27:00.000-05:00

I was so excited when Pete picked up on my ~~subtle~~ hints that I would really, really love to go the Adele concert and he purchased us tickets. After she had already cancelled twice for the Twin Cities and more tickets were available because she changed venues from First Avenue to the Excel, I felt like now was my chance and that it was meant to be.

We started our evening at a favorite St. Paul restaurant, WA Frost.

I love this spot in the Cathedral Hill neighborhood; the food is always good and the patio area is true summer destination. This restaurant’s patio has been on my summer ‘bucket list’ and so I was so happy that we were able to enjoy a wonderful dinner on the patio!

After our pre-show dinner, we headed over to the Excel for the concert. The warm-up band was Wanda Jackson and the Hillbilly Voodoo Dolls. Unique sound and good, but I was super excited when Adele finally took the stage.

She came out in a simple black dress and was holding a Wild Jersey with her name on it and the number 21 (the name of her most recent album). The newspapers today said that all entertainers are presented a Wild jersey their first time performing at the Excel but very few bring it on stage and acknowledge the gift. Very classy. And her first song was Hometown Glory.

She apologized to the fans for cancelling the show earlier this summer and promised to make it feel like it was First Avenue. Her set was so simple with hanging lampshades, which was perfect because it didn’t compete with her amazing voice. You really did feel like you were in some lounge and listening to her singing.

Adele was so warm and genuine and stopped after almost every song and asked for the lights to b turned up and talked to the audience about the song and where it came from. This is a great YouTube video of her talking and then singing ‘Turning Tables’.

She did a tribute to Amy Winehouse and asked for everyone to shine their cell phone lights to the ceiling while she sang ‘Make You Feel My Love’.

Her last song of the evening was everones favorite, 'Rolling in the Deep'. It was such a fun evening filled with amazing food and amazing music!

Thanks sweetie for picking up on all my hints! :)

an adventurous walk

2011-08-24T14:33:00.002-05:00

My walk today was a little more adventurous than usual and consisted of me running into traffic and also being told ‘I love you’ by a complete stranger.

My plan this morning was to go to the gym like usual, but for some reason at the last minute I changed my mind and decided to go on a 4 mile walk outside. I left Bella at home because she only makes it at the most about three miles.It was very windy, but cooler and less humid and was a perfect summer morning for a walk.

About 2 ½ miles into my walk, I was on a walking path along a fairly busy road when I noticed this dog running across the road, darting in and out of traffic. It was a young golden retriever (same breed as our dog) with no owner in sight. I knew I had to do something or that poor dog would get hit and there was no way I wanted to witness that!

So, I went out into the road and started stopping traffic and poor little dog came over to me and I grabbed its collar and pulled it back over to the walking path. I was still looking around trying to find its owner but saw no one. Ugh! So I am trying to calm this jumpy dog down while still holding onto its collar and call the phone number listed on its dog tag. No answer, so I leave a message. Ugh! So what am I going to do with this dog whose name on the tag said Josie. I couldn’t just let it go and there was no way I could walk a mile and a half home dragging this dog with just a collar (no leash) back to my home.

Luckily, at this point a man that was out running stopped to see if everything was ok. He held the dog by the collar while I dialed animal control, who said they would send someone right out. The runner guy then left and I am standing there on the walking trail trying to hold on to a dog who at this point is just wanted to be let go and is starting to get a little nippy. My cell phone rings and it is the dog’s owner who sounds frantic! I tell him where Josie and I are, and he says he is about a block away, he would be right there. Within a couple of minutes I see this big man running down the path flailing his arms. He reaches us all out of breath and gives his dog a big hug and then he thanks me over and over and says; ‘I love you, lady.’ :)

Even though my walk was stopped and delayed me about a half hour, I knew that if my dog were to get loose and lost in the middle of traffic, I would want someone to help her. And 6 month old Josie reminded me so much of Bella!

Peanut Butter Pie

2011-08-23T08:20:00.003-05:00

A couple of weeks ago, as we were just coming home from a little vacation, I saw that Twitter and some of the blogs that I follow were all a buzz about something called 'pies for Mikey' (#piesformikey). I quickly found out the very sad reason why. A popular food blogger had lost her husband suddenly to a heart attack. He was so young and it is all so very sad!

The blogging community quickly responded and wanted to know how they could help Jennie and what they could do to support her and her family- which is so completely amazing and awesome! {You can read her entire post here.}

She responded; "As I spend Friday reflecting on the love and life that was gone in an instant, I'd like to invite all of you to celebrate his life too. Mikey loved peanut butter cream pie. I haven't made it in a while, and I've had it on my to-do list for a while now.

I kept telling myself I would make it for him tomorrow. Time has suddenly stood still, though, and I'm waiting to wake up and learn to live a new kind of normal. For those asking what they can do to help my healing process, make a peanut butter pie this Friday and share it with someone you love. Then hug them like there's no tomorrow because today is the only guarantee we can count on."

This story brought tears and touched me on so many levels.

And so, yesterday, I made Jennie's recipe for Peanut Butter Cream Pie. {And it was awesome!}

And shared it with the one's I love. You can bet it was made with extra love.

I am so thankful for this beautiful reminder of hugging your loved ones like there is no tomorrow!

Love you with all my heart! xo

Double Header

2011-08-22T20:18:00.000-05:00

Okay, technically it was not a double header... and we went home, and slept between games... but it kind of felt like one; because this past weekend, we had tickets to 2 games to the MN Twins playing the NY Yankees.

The first game was Saturday evening with a game time of 6:10pm. We had 2 tickets to this game and Pete and I had a great time enjoying some baseball on a gorgeous summer evening. And the Twins winning made the evening all the better!

The second game was Sunday at 1:10pm and we were so excited that the whole family would be able to go.

It was a great weekend of baseball!!

weekend lens

2011-08-21T22:24:00.000-05:00

beautiful summer weather :: country town 'bar-hopping' ::

evening MN Twins game :: afternoon MN Twins game :: hockey :: super fun weekend

sailing

2011-08-20T10:05:00.002-05:00

Thursday night, I met two of my friends for a fun evening filled with dinner, a walk and a lot of talking. We headed to Minneapolis for dinner at Risotto, a cute little Italian restaurant that specializes in risotto. :) After dinner, we headed down the road to Lake Calhoun, for an awesome evening walk.

These two friends are always a breath of fresh air to me and I am so blessed by their friendship.

Recently, I stumbled upon a blog that I have really been enjoying about health and fitness, and is very motivational and inspirational. Not too long ago, 'Fit This Girl' had a post about a day of sailing and her words were so powerful and with her permission I am quoting her post.

Lessons learned sailing:

"Not everyone in your boat has the same goals as you.
Not everyone wants to go the same way,
some people will want to tip the boat or fall out on purpose, others want to sail by the rules.
We don't always get to choose the people in our boat, but we can choose how we respond to them!
........
You can't always choose the people in your boat.
Not everyone will have your same goals
Not everyone will want to do what you want to
Some people will want to capsize the boat over and over
Some people will fall out and cause delays
Some people will try hard and sail by the rules
The wind doesn't always take us where we want to go
Often we have to work hard despite the wind, circumstances and people around us to reach our goals!"

I am so thankful for those people in my life that keep my boat steady!

George Thorogood {music in the zoo}

2011-08-18T15:03:00.001-05:00

We have seen a lot of great live music this summer and it has been so much fun. Last night, we met some friends for another amazing night of music. We had a pre-show dinner at El Azteca, our favorite little local Mexican restaurant, where we enjoyed some great food, margaritas, and conversation.

Then we headed to the MN Zoo, to see George Thorogood in concert at Music in the Zoo. This is the second concert we have seen at the zoo this summer and it is always such a fun way to spend a summer evening.

This was an amazing concert with a great performance by George Thorogood.

A perfect summer night with great music and friends.

{wordless Wednesday}

2011-08-17T14:57:00.000-05:00

savoring summer

cabin time

2011-08-15T22:08:00.000-05:00

Last week we were at a cabin for a little R&R.

This is the 7th year we have gone to this resort; the first time we went in 2003 and was with some of our neighbor friends; and then for the past 6 years we have gone with my parents and my sister and her family.

This year, I really enjoyed the time with Pete and my boys, knowing all too soon the hustle and bustle of the school year will be upon us. And, also knowing in that just a few short days, Tyler will be heading back to college.

We had some great family time going for walks, golfing, joking and talking, playing lots of games of ping pong and pool, games of scrabble, fishing, & watching sunsets.

With the busyness of our life's, I really, truly appreciate and value the family time that is so very precious!

weekend lens

2011-08-14T21:30:00.000-05:00

home from a weekend at the cabin :: hockey (of course) :: picked up doggie from the kennel :: back to the gym finally :: bonfire with marshmallow's :: walk around Lake Calhoun :: fish tacos at Tin Fish :: perfect summer weather

Friday favorites

2011-08-12T20:16:00.000-05:00

This weeks favorites. Short and sweet because I have been gone at a cabin for a week. :)

1) Pioneer Woman's Jalapeno Popper recipe! I have made this recipe a few times now, most recently at the cabin this week to go with grilled burgers and brats; and they are sooo good! I love how the sweetness of the BBQ sauce offsets the spiciness of the peppers! Perfection! (I made dozens of these but didn't get a picture until we were cleaning up and there was only a couple left.)

2) I saw this recipe for 'White Chocolate, Pretzel and Peanut Butter cookies' that I saw on Tina's, Stones of Remembrance blog a while ago (the recipe is originally from Picky Palate and can be found here ) and I knew must try it! I made a batch of these (and a batch of chocolate chip cookies) to bring to the cabin this past week and they were so good.

3) This song from Zac Brown Band has been in constant play in my car right now. 'Knee Deep'. Love it!

Happy Friday!!

wordless Wednesday

2011-08-10T10:01:00.000-05:00

sunset serenity

weekend lens

2011-08-08T09:15:00.001-05:00

hockey tournament for Drew :: a weekend of ice time for Jake :: dinner at Blue Door Pub :: much needed new hockey gloves :: Bella talking me into a walk :: hockey on the driveway :: tournament champions :: lots of stops at Starbucks

Friday favorites

2011-08-05T16:09:00.003-05:00

Some things that have made me smile this past week:

1) A cruiser bike

Is this not the cutest ever! I found this one on the Walmart website at a great price! I think that it would be so fun tooling around on this!

2) And I would totally add a little basket on the front. Love.

3) This is my new favorite ice cream treat.

I have tried several of the other items from Skinny Cow and my usual buy is the fudge bars. Which are also really good. But last time that I was getting groceries, Target was out of the fudge bars, so I grabbed this box. Oh my word! And only 100 calaries!

4) We have been enjoying lots of different music this summer and one of my favorite's right now is Adele.

She is coming in concert later this month and Pete surprised me with tickets!! I am beyond excited!
(And a bonus is that this concert is actually inside, so we won't be dealing with extreme heat or downpoars of rain!) :)

5) This salsa recipe from Pioneer Woman.

This is an easy recipe using canned tomatoes... which makes it an easy recipe to make year round.

Happy Friday!

a perfect day for a bike ride

2011-08-04T20:50:00.000-05:00

The last two days the weather has been absolutely perfect. Perfect summer weather with warm temperatures but lower humidity! Love it!

Drew and I decided to take advantage of the gorgeous weather and loaded our bikes up and went out to explore a new (to us) bike trail. We started in the downtown area of Wayzata right near Lake Minnetonka. I haven’t been out to this area in years and I totally forgot how much I love this town with all the great little shops, restaurants and a great waterfront area. But today we were not there for shopping, we were there for biking. :)

So, we jumped on the trail and headed out. The Dakota Rail Regional Trail goes for 12 miles west from where we started in Wayzata, along Lake Minnetonka, through this cities of Orono, Minnetonka Beach, Spring Park, Minnetrista, and St. Bonifacius.

This was a great trail that was very flat and had quite a bit of shade, which was nice because the temp did get up to 91 degrees while we were out there.

We passed some gorgeous homes and rode right through the Lafayette Club.

The scenery kept changing and I could have taken a bazillion pictures! Beautiful!

I loved the words on this sign.

It was a great morning of biking with great company!

And soon enough we were back to where we started.

Drew and I were both famished at this point and decided to stop for lunch in downtown Wayzata. Drew chose Punch Pizza as the spot for us to cool off and refuel. Perfect choice!

It was a perfect day for a bike ride! :)

wordless Wednesday

2011-08-03T15:26:00.000-05:00

{Sometimes things show up exactly when you need them to.}

fifty pounds & what I know

2011-08-02T19:27:00.000-05:00

I have not talked much on my blog about my weight loss journey but it has been such a big part of my life and I feel like I need to share some words about this path I have been on for the past year. This is something I have been working so hard on- losing weight but more importantly, living healthy. And as of March 2011, I have reached my goal weight. Fifty pounds. Gone. Forever!!

My journey to weight loss and healthier living began just a little over a year ago, in June of 2010.

I had known that I needed to lose weight and start getting healthy for a while, but the realization hit me when I saw pictures from our cruise taken on spring break of that year. I avoided getting my picture taken that entire vacation and the pictures that I was in, I didn’t like.

(Spring Break 2010) (Spring Break 2011)

And then finally what totally motivated me and made me realize that I really did need to make a change; was looking at pictures from Tyler’s graduation last June. After seeing those photos from that big milestone event, I made the decision to start exercising and to start counting calories.

(June 2010) (May 2011)

I started out simple. I counted calories and I started exercising again.

A big help was an app on my iPhone called ‘Lose It’ to track my food and calories. This helped me to budget my calories for the day and also helped me stay on goal for each day. I also started walking and tried to make it out six times a week and I gradually built up my walking route to a 4 mile loop. Then last August, I joined a gym, which has been awesome especially in the winter months and those hot and steamy summer days. The gym has also lead me to try some new activities and push myself even farther than what I thought I could do.

As hard as it is to lose weight (and it truly is); it is equally difficult to maintain the weight loss. I have lost weight before. But this time it IS different.

With this whole weight loss journey, I have learned some new things.

The biggest thing that I have learned and that I know now in this journey is to get rid of the ‘all or nothing’ thinking that I have had. Previously, I would think I would have to eat perfect… and if I ate anything that wasn’t on my ‘diet plan’ that I may as well give up and go back to my old way of eating. I realize now that this is not a 'diet' but a lifestyle change. Now, I eat and actually crave healthy food a majority of the time, but I don’t deny myself anything either. If I really want that burger for dinner, I will have it; but then I am back to my usual healthier foods the very next meal.

I know that I have to exercise at least 6 times a week. I have to. And actually, I want to now. I usually go the gym Monday through Friday and work out for on our on the elliptical, the StairMaster, the bicycle, or the treadmill. Or some combination of the above. On the weekends, I will usually do an exercise DVD one day that emphasizes weights and I also might include a walk with the dog, a run, or a bike ride somewhere in the weekend.

I know that I have to keep mixing up my exercise routine and challenging myself. To push myself but also to stay motivated. For example, I recently purchased the book ‘The New Rules of Lifting’ for Women by Lou Shuler and am starting a weight lifting challenge through Priorfatgirl’s blog.

I know that I don’t know it all and that I don’t have all the answers. I have to keep learning… and staying motivated… and to keep challenging myself… and finding new healthy recipes… and pushing myself in the gym…. I need to keep doing!

And those pants I wore last year, for Ty's graduation....

weekend lens

2011-08-01T07:52:00.001-05:00

'Cheeseburger in Paradise' party :: homemade pizzas (one pepperoni, one veggie) :: Pioneer Woman Salsa :: rub on tattoos :: learning Photoshop :: Mickey Mouse waffles :: working on new blog :: new clothes :: margaritas

blueberry goodness

2011-07-30T08:14:00.001-05:00

Last week we picked 23 pounds of blueberries.

There is nothing like fresh picked berries!

And with 23 pounds of blue goodness, I could hardly wait to start using these beautiful berries!

I began with freezing 11 quarts of blueberries. This is always such a treat to pull out of the freezer for the rest of the year (especially in the middle of the winter) and use for blueberry pancakes, on top of cereal, or to make a pie.

Then I made one of Drew's favorites:

Granite Steps Country Blueberry Coffee Cake:
recipe from Paula Deen.

Recipe can be found HERE.

I made my Mom's Blueberry Sauce recipe,

which is amazing on top of vanilla ice cream or cheesecake!

Recipe is HERE.

I also made our favorite Blueberry Muffin recipe.

Recipe is HERE.

And I made a Blueberry Pie

(with homemade crust and all)!!

This recipe can be found HERE.

But I think my favorite way to enjoy the berries is on top of my morning cereal! Really, there is nothing better than fresh berries in your breakfast bowl!

Delicious!

parenting advice

2011-07-29T13:25:00.000-05:00

Over at Kelly’s Korner people are sharing their ‘best parenting advice.’ Originally, I didn’t think I would contribute to this topic, but I thought about it some more and one thing kept popping into my mind over and over again this week, so I decided I would share.

I am a mom to 3 teenage boys, ages 13,16 and 19; and even as I type that, I can hardly believe that my boys are that old already. It really, truly seems like just yesterday when I was changing diapers, tying their shoes, brushing their teeth, walking them to school…. And the list goes on.

So my ‘best parenting advice’ to all the mom’s of younger kids is….to enjoy every moment! All the birthdays, all the games of Candyland played, all the ‘booboo’ kisses, all the times you have to get up in the middle of the night and give a big hug because of a bad dream, and even all of the temper tantrums…. And as they grow older, enjoy the time being chauffeur to and from events, the late night chats (even if it is way past your bedtime), the family meals (especially when everyone is home)...Because all of these moments go by way too fast! :)

The saying that the days are long but the years are short... is so very true!

{I am linking up to Kelly's Korner. Stop by there for more great parenting advice.}

blueberry picking

2011-07-28T07:33:00.001-05:00

A week ago today, we went on our annual blueberry picking trip. This is always a favorite summer activity and something we always look forward to. Drew and I left the house early in the morning and stopped to pick up our fellow berry picker, my mom. This is the 4th year we have made the trip to Rush River Produce in Maiden Rock, WI. It is about an hour and half drive, but is worth every second of the drive which is incredibly scenic and takes you through historic Red Wing and the beautiful Lake Pepin area.

Rush River Produce has over 9 acres of blueberries, and also have currents and gooseberries. But we go for the blueberries.

We picked the perfect day to berry pick, the weather was absolutely perfect, especially considering how hot it had been even just the day before.

We got busy right away picking the berries and picked for about 3 hours.

Drew busy picking.

My Mom.

And me.

The berries were so big this year and there were so many... which made the picking so much easier.

Drew and I picked 23 pounds of blueberries which is the most we have ever picked. Although, it always seems that come winter, we have never picked enough. :)

After we were done picking and we had paid and loaded the berries into the car; I walked around the grounds to take some pictures of the beautiful views.

The gardens and flowers are absolutely amazing.

I so wish this was my yard!! :)

We stopped in Red Wing on the way home to grab some lunch. We stopped at the same place we went to last year, the St. James Hotel. This is a neat little city to stop in and the hotel has a great roof top patio where we enjoyed our lunch.

The beautiful flower baskets that are all over the streets of Red Wing.

Another great summer day!!

wordless Wednesday

2011-07-27T09:55:00.000-05:00

Video from the U2 concert showing what true and amazing entertainers they are playing in heavy rain through the entire show! The rain made the experience that much more memorable and magical!

weekend lens

2011-07-26T19:53:00.000-05:00

baseball ttournament :: Harry Potter movie :: homemade blueberry muffins :: hockey tournament :: visiting with family from out of town :: big pull-tab win :: U2 concert :: double header baseball games

U2 Concert

2011-07-25T21:35:00.000-05:00

Last week I won a ‘Mom’s Night Out’ give away on the Marketing Mama’s blog. The prize?? A ticket for me and a friend to the U2 concert, a pre-show dinner and drinks at the Hard Rock Café in Minneapolis, and transportation to and from the concert!!!! I really couldn’t believe I had won! I never win anything, and this was huge!!

I was able to choose a ‘mom friend’ to go with me and I couldn’t think of anyone more deserving than my friend Deb. She is a mom of 5 beautiful kids, ages range from kindergarten to college graduate; two of whom she adopted from India. She has the biggest heart of anybody I know and I was so honored that she was able to join me for the evening.

We started the evening on Saturday at the Hard Rock Café and had fun visiting with some other winners of the giveaway while we enjoyed dinner and drinks. After dinner, we loaded a party bus that would take us to and from the concert. This is really the way to go to a big venue like this- it was great not dealing with parking or traffic and we got dropped off right at the TCF Bank Stadium.

Our group at our seats before the concert began.

'The Claw' stage that cost $25 million to build.

This picture is from our seats and shows what a great view we had!

60,000 U2 fans!

The concert was AMAZING! U2 really put on quite the show and are true entertainers even through the downpours of rain. Luckily, we were all prepared and had our rain ponchos and we were able to enjoy the show and the entire experience, despite the weather.

The music was outstanding and they played so many favorite songs: Beautiful Day, Mysterious Ways, The Fly, Elevation, I Still Haven’t Found What I am Looking For, One; and they also did a tribute to Amy Winehouse, Stuck in a Moment You Can’t Get Out Of; which was really touching.

Bono also sprinkled in some medleys about the weather: Singing in the Rain, Purple Rain, and Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head; which totally added to the atmosphere of the concert. Amazing!!!

This was such a great concert and was such a fun night! And since the concert I have downloaded some more U2 music and have been enjoying listening to the great music and remembering the evening!

Thanks Missy, for drawing my name in the giveaway and for organizing such a fun evening! :)

Tacos and a Heat Wave

2011-07-19T21:43:00.000-05:00

We stopped at a new little place for lunch today. Rusty Taco in St. Paul has been open for a few months and we have heard a lot about this taco shop and couldn't wait to try it.

The menu is very simple and is made up of 12 different kinds of tacos and they also have sides of chips with pico de gallo, guacamole, salsa and queso.

We stuck with the tacos today and tried the black bean taco, the chicken fajita taco, the roasted pork taco and the fish taco. The black bean was fabulous with a great combination of flavors and the fish taco was our other favorite. These are small tacos and you can easily eat 2-3 for a meal but at $2.50 each it is really pretty reasonable. This was a great little restaurant and one I know we will be stopping back at.

I other news, Minnesota (along with a lot of the country) has been under an 'excessive heat warning' since Saturday and it looks like we will have one more hot day tomorrow before we have a little relief. All I can say is that I am SO thankful that our old air condition broke when it did and we were able to get a new AC installed before this heat wave! This is a snapshot from my phone earlier this afternoon. Yikes!

As much as I don't enjoy this extremely hot and humid weather, my little garden seems to be loving it! I went out to peek at it this evening and I think my tomato plants grew a couple of feet in just a week.

Stay cool, everyone! :)

weekend lens

2011-07-18T16:47:00.000-05:00

heat warnings :: Prior Lake Blues and Jazz Festival :: late night snack at BWW :: big boys playing with Lego's :) :: enjoying our new AC :: pizza and salad at Bucca :: new music :: mud

Jazz and Blues

2011-07-17T20:44:00.002-05:00

About a month ago, I saw an advertisement in our local paper about a Blues and Jazz festival that was coming to a town close to ours and that was headlining a musician that we have seen before in concert and really enjoy. The festival was a daylong event , to be held outside at a big park featuring many musicians, and the tickets were only $5!! We put the date on the calendar and were looking forward to spending a day outside listening to some great music.

Saturday the weather here in Minnesota turned hot and steamy and an ‘Excessive Heat Warning’ was issued from noon on Saturday until Wednesday evening. And Saturday also happened to be the day of the Prior Lake Jazz and Blues Festival. The high temps were to be in the 90’s with dew points in the 70’s and heat indexes in the 100’s. It was going to be hot but we decided we were going to go and just be very careful to drink enough water and really once we got there we were going to be just sitting-nothing too taxing. :)

We were so glad that we went! It was such a fun day and yes it was hot, but it wasn’t horrible.

We arrived around 4pm just in time to see a local musician, Tim Mahoney. I had never heard him play live before and was excited to see his performance. He didn't disappoint!

He was selling and signing a $5 CD after his act and so I had to get one. :)

The crowd was awesome. Everyone was so laid back and so nice; and as the day went on the crowd kept on getting bigger and bigger.

Next up was another local favorite, Lamont Cranston and Bruce McCabe.

Walking around between the live music was a bit of a challenge as it had rained several inches the night before left the field quite wet, which quickly turned to mud with so many people walking on it. (My favorite sandals are ruined, but it was worth it. :)

We stopped by the misting tent to cool off.

Then we heard Lukas Nelson (Willie Nelson's son). He was amazing!

Waiting for Buddy Guy to begin.

There were some sound difficulties to begin with, but he is always amazing and quite the entertainer.

7 hours of great music in massive heat and mud in great company equals an awesome day! :)

Gene and Jude's

2011-07-16T12:41:00.003-05:00

While writing my last post on our recent Chicago visit, I got to thinking about the memories I have had…about a hot dog stand. :) But not just any Chicago hot dog stand. Gene and Jude's.

Gene and Jude’s is an iconic hot dog ~~restaurant~~ dive in River Grove, IL that opened in 1946 and is a spot that my mom and her siblings frequented when they were in high school. (I know the sign says Gene's and Jude's but we have always called in 'Gene' and Jude's.)

I am not exactly sure when my first Gene and Jude’s hot dog was, but I do know that some of my earliest memories of visiting my Grandma and Grandpa included this tradition.

Our family would make the 6 hour car drive and would usually arrive at my grandparent’s house well past the dinner hour. After visiting for a little bit my Grandpa would sneak out and bring back some Gene and Jude’s hot dogs loaded into brown paper sacks. This was a tradition every time we went into Chicago and such a sweet memory. When I was real little, my sister and I would split one of these french fry loaded hot dogs.

But to really truly experience Gene and Jude’s it is best to load everyone in the car (or cars if there were many families going) and make the drive out there, wait in line and then to eat in the parking lot.

It will be guaranteed that any time day or night the parking lot will be full and there will be a long line often times right out the door.

The menu is limited: hot dogs and tamales and soda. But really, why mess with perfection? :)

When we finally get to the front of the line we place our order of hot dogs with everything but peppers.

One of the guys behind the counter grabs this big wood tray that holds up to ten dogs and starts making our order.

Bun, hot dog, mustard, onion, relish, and fresh cut fries. Mmmm! (And a word to the wise here, don't even think of asking for ketchup. :)

After paying a ridiculously little amount of money, you can choose to stand at the long counter facing the parking lot or you can do what we always do and take your bag of greasy goodness and go eat out in the parking lot. This is always fun especially on a summer evening with car radios blaring.

(photo of Drew from summer 2005)

(photo of my Father-in-law, Tyler, Drew, Jake and my Dad from 2005)

The love for Gene and Jude’s seems to be being past down from generation to generation, too. My mom started going to this hot dog spot in high school, I grew up eating these, and my kids love them too! In fact, it is one of the first things (and last) they want to do when we get into town. It is good to start them young. :)

(photo of Jake and Tyler from 1997)

(photo of Jake, Tyler and Drew from 2004)

It is hard to believe that I devoted an entire post to hot dogs, but that is how good Gene and Jude’s is! And what says maybe even more, is that I don’t even really like hot dogs! :)

There are a few funny stories that I can remember from over the years about this spot.
Story 1: One time, years ago, when we were placing our order the guy behind the counter said; “Woe, the mind can only hold so much!” We thought this was funny because if you look at the menu there are only a couple of things on it- not too confusing. :) This became a popular saying in our family over the years.

Story 2: Our whole family (aunts, uncles, cousins…) love Gene and Jude’s so much we have been known to bring boxes filled with hot dogs to reunions, hotel lobbies and even funerals. :)

Story 3: Another time, when I was in high school, we had gone to Gene and Jude’s with my Aunt and Uncle and cousins, and we had brought our food out to the parking lot to eat. Another car had some loud hip hop/rap music blaring through though the parking lot so my dad turned up his radio to blare some music. His classical music mixing in with the hip hop/rap made us all laugh and has been an often repeated story over the years.

Story 4: In September of 2008, the river flooded and left Gene and Jude's under water. The jokes were that the place could use a good cleaning, this was the only time they changed the fry oil, and they would now have to boil the hot dogs. :)

(I am not sure where this picture originally came from, but it circulated around via email right after the flood.)

So the moral of this story is: if you ever find yourself in the Chicago area and you are craving a really good hot dog, you really ought to make a stop at Gene and Jude's! :)

Chicago Weekend

2011-07-14T21:31:00.000-05:00

This past weekend we headed out of town on a little road trip to Chicago.

We went there for our 35th annual family reunion, a bridal shower, a couple of college tours & and to enjoy some of our favorite Chicago food (pizza, hot beefs, Mexican, and hot dogs).

Saturday morning we went to the University of Chicago for a college tour. It is hard for me to believe that we are starting this whole college process again- it seems like we were just doing this with Tyler and now it is Jake's turn.

This was a beautiful campus and it is so hard to believe that it is part of such a big city.

Some of the buildings were amazing with the ivy growing up all over.

After the tour was over we headed to the family reunion which was held at a park in a suburb of Chicago. We had so much fun visiting with family, playing baseball and football, cribbage, breaking a pinata, playing bags and eating some great picnic food. It was a fun afternoon that went by too quickly.

{

{Some of these reunion photos were taken by my cousin Jodee who graciously

gave me permission to use them.}

That evening we headed back to the hotel and basically took over the lobby for more visiting, fun and food.

Lots of people and many different activities going on all at the same time makes for a lot of fun for everyone.

::scrabble::

::cribbage and other card games::

::relaxing::

::and jewelry making::

Sunday, there was a bridal shower for my little cousin Matt and his fiance Priscilla. It was a beautifully shower that was put on by my mom and her sisters. Such a cute couple.

That evening, a bunch of us went to a great little restaurant for some Mexican food.

Monday morning, we packed up from our hotel and headed to our next college tour at Northwestern University in Evanston. Another great school and beautiful campus.

After the tour and before leaving town, we made a little detour to our favorite Chicago hot dog spot: Gene and Jude's. {This place is so good and has so many memories for me that it deserves it's very own post- which I am working on. :)

We even ordered a couple extra and threw them in the cooler to bring home to Tyler who stayed behind this weekend. He was very happy to have this special treat! :)

It was a fun weekend... spending time with family that we don't get to see often enough.

wordless Wednesday

2011-07-13T09:02:00.001-05:00

{a Chicago weekend}

strawberries, strawberries, strawberries

2011-07-09T07:09:00.001-05:00

A week ago, we went to a strawberry patch and picked 23 pounds of strawberries.

::Since then we have been enjoying strawberry jam::

{I canned 18 jars of jam this year}

::strawberry shakes::

::strawberries on cereal and strawberry yogurt parfaits::

::homemade strawberry ice cream::

::strawberry shortcake::

::and just plain ol' strawberries::

So delicious!

And soon it will be time to pick blueberries! :)

Guacamole Salad Recipe

2011-07-08T11:19:00.000-05:00

I have made this recipe many times because it is so versatile. It is great as a side dish, or a stand alone salad, and I have even used it as a dip paired with tostito chips. It is so good and definitely a great summer recipe!

Guacamole Salad

1 pint grape tomatoes, halved
1 yellow bell pepper, diced
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 cup red onion, diced finely
2 jalapeno peppers, minced
1/2 teaspoon grated lime zest
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lime juice
1/4 cup olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 avocados, diced

Combine tomatoes, peppers, black beans, red onion and lime zest in a large bowl. Whisk together the lime juice, olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic, and cayenne pepper and pour over the vegetables. Mix well.

Just before serving, fold the avocados into the salad. Enjoy!

{I am linking up to Kelly's Korner-- click over there for more great side dish recipes.}

4th of July Lens

2011-07-07T19:02:00.000-05:00

relaxing in the backyard :: hot tub :: sprinkler :: Frisbee :: BBQ dinner {Tequila Lime Chicken, Guacamole Salad, corn on the cob, Strawberry Shortcake} :: fireworks :: water balloons :: soaking in the sunshine

a boy and his dog

2011-07-06T09:04:00.000-05:00

{Wordless Wednesday}

I Did It

2011-07-04T11:23:00.001-05:00

I did something Sunday that I haven't done in 17 years...

I actually went running!

Around Lake Calhoun.

And there was some walking in the middle of the running.

But I went running and it felt so good!

I ran Cross Country and Track for four years in high school and I also ran for a while when Tyler was little...but it has been a long time!

It was hard but it felt so good to push myself and now that the weather is so nice I think I am going to try and get my running legs back. :)

bike ride to the city

2011-07-03T11:22:00.001-05:00

On Saturday; Drew, Pete and I loaded up our bikes and headed out for a bike riding adventure. :)
We drove to St. Louis Park and parked the car, unloaded the bikes and took off on the 'Cedar Lake Trail'. This trail is known as a bicycle freeway because if its three paved lanes: separate one way lanes for bikes and another lane for pedestrians.

We started the ride going through a prairie area and headed towards downtown Minneapolis.

We went right under Target Field (MN Twins ballpark). This part of the trail just officially opened in June.

We continued on to the Mississippi River.

And saw some great Minneapolis sights.

We went over the river to St. Anthony Main.

Here we grabbed some lunch on the patio at Vic's enjoying the view of the river.

After lunch, we walked over to Water Power Park.

We went to look at the St.Anthony Falls area.

The power of the falls was simply breathtaking.

A view of the Stone Arch Bridge.

And some more great views of the City of Minneapolis.

On our way back- over the Stone Arch Bridge.

A stop on the Riverfront.

Back under the Twins ballpark.

Minnesota is blessed with so many biking trails and after having such a fun day, I can't wait to go and explore some new areas.

{We biked about 11 miles and burned about 580 calories...not too bad for a day of fun!}

Strawberry Picking

2011-07-02T21:10:00.000-05:00

It has become an annual tradition every summer to go and pick strawberries. Thursday morning we cleared our schedule (skipped hockey camp) and headed to our favorite strawberry patch: The Pine Tree Orchard in White Bear Lake. {This is also the same spot we go to get apples every fall.}

It was going to be a very hot day and we wanted to beat some of the heat, so we left our house bright and early and stopped to pick up my Mom on the way to the orchard.

The Pine Tree Orchard has approximately 20 acres of strawberry fields.

We loaded the wagons for the short little trip to the fields.

Drew and me.

My Mom and Drew.

And then the fun began. :)

We finished picking really pretty quickly and then loaded our berries onto the wagon for the ride back to the parking lot. We picked 5 boxes total- and Drew and I brought home about 23 pounds of beautiful berries.

It was a great morning, and we have been totally enjoying the reward from all our "work".

a picnic date

2011-07-01T16:47:00.002-05:00

Wednesday evening the boys were all busy with their various activities: Jake and Tyler each refereed two soccer games and Drew had a baseball practice. This left Pete and I with about an hour and a half of time before we had to go back to the ball park to pick Drew up.

The weather was absolutely perfect and the sun was actually shining. So we decided to take advantage of the beautiful weather and our little piece of time and go on a little picnic date. Because we didn't have a ton of time, we kept things simple and picked up some Subway on the way to this quiet park in our town.

We found the perfect picnic spot and soaked in the sunshine.

Something so simple...such a great evening.

wordless Wednesday

2011-06-29T09:37:00.000-05:00

{I posted this on twitter the other day but thought it would be the perfect picture for Wordless Wednesday.}

Drew is doing a Monday thru Friday, 5 week hockey camp this summer.

I think it may be wearing him out a little. :)

He was on his way to take a shower and I guess couldn't make it another step.

20 minutes in this spot. :)

Weekend Lens #5

2011-06-28T10:35:00.000-05:00

This past weekend was another great summer weekend. The weather even cooperated and it was beautiful on Friday and Sunday. It rained for most of Saturday, but we still got some fun things in and overall it was a great weekend.

We had a grad party to go to, golf lesson for Drew, and Tyler headed back to his college for the weekend to visit friends.

Some other things we enjoyed this weekend:

I hung little lights around the spot on my deck where my bistro table is. I love how this turned out and it is just the perfect lighting out there in the evening.

a bonfire

Pete playing cars. :) Actually, he pulled out this huge tub of matchbox cars (that I am saving from when the boys were little) and was looking for a specific car that was given to him at our wedding by my cousin (who

was little at the time), and is now himself getting married.

Dinner at the 5-8 Club.

Had to get a Juicy Lucy. :)

a walk around Lake Calhoun.

After our walk around Lake Calhoun we stopped for lunch at the Tin Fish.

we sat and enjoyed the view over the lake

eating some delicious fish tacos

did some weeding in the front of the house

finally planted my flower from 'Project Flower Bomb'

got my little garden all weeded

and enjoyed a beautiful sunset

equals a perfect weekend

Friday Favorites

2011-06-24T17:19:00.000-05:00

This week just flew by and it is Friday again. This summer is flying by and I am so hoping that the weather makes a turn and catches up with the date on the calender. It has been a cold and rainy spring and summer and ~~I think~~ I know we are all ready for some nice summer weather!

Some things that made me smile these past couple of weeks (since I missed doing this post last week):

1) Pinterest
I have gotten lost on this virtual pinboard sight for hours. It is very addictive but so much fun and a great place to find pretty things and to 'catalog the things you love'.
Go HERE to see what it is all about.

2) Lake Harriet (and the other lakes in the chain of lakes).
This is one of my favorite summer activities. I love taking the dog down to one of the lakes and heading out on one of the awesome walking paths. Always great scenery, fun people watching, and a fun way to get in a little exercise. (Plus, it always brings back fun memories from high school cross country. We spent many hours running these lakes.)

3) Fruit Pizza
A great summer dessert and always a favorite in our house!

Recipe:
1 package refrigerated sugar cookie dough
1 (8 ounces) cream cheese
1/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
Assorted fresh fruit, such as strawberries, blueberries. kiwi, etc. cut into pieces

Place rolled out dough on baking sheet or baking stone. Bake 18-20 minutes or until golden brown.
For topping, combine cream cheese, vanilla and sugar and spread over cookie dough. Then place on the fruit.

4) A new outfit from Chico's
I found an outfit in the June catalog that I just fell in love with. I kept that catalog open to that page on my kitchen island for a couple of weeks and would randomly say to any of the 4 boys in my house "isn't this outfit so cute, and wouldn't it look adorable on me?" :) I got a lot of "sure Mom" and "ya's" but they were just not as excited as I was about it. :) Anyway, Pete surprised me one day last week with lunch out at Mall of America and then a little shopping trip to to get this outfit!! He even patiently waited while I tried the outfit on! So sweet!

5) Homemade pesto
Made with fresh basil from my herb garden. I made a batch of this last night for dinner. I love the smell of fresh basil!

Recipe:
2 cups packed basil leaves
2 cloves garlic
1/4 cup pine nuts
2/3 cup olive oil
kosher salt and pepper
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, grated

Combine basil, garlic and pine nuts in a food processor and pulse until coarsely chopped. Add the olive oil and process until fully mixed and smooth. Season with salt and pepper. Mix in Parmesan cheese. And it is ready to serve. {This freezes well.}

Weekend Lens {#4}

2011-06-20T21:36:00.000-05:00

Father's Day weekend :: Dinner at Bucca :: golf lessons :: Coastal Seafood :: soccer tourney reffing ::

Weber smoker :: rain :: salmon BLTs :: baptism for a nephew :: fruit pizza

Happy Father's Day

2011-06-19T20:44:00.001-05:00

Happy Father's Day

to my hubby

the father of our three boys

20 years

of being a daddy

thank you for being so involved

and a part of our lives

We love you!

And appreciate all that you do and give to us!

We wish you the best Father's Day!

You deserve it!

***********************************

And also a big Happy Father's Day to my Dad, the best dad a daughter could ask for.
"You're My Hero"

"I would ride on your shoulders
And look out on the world
Pretending I was big and tall like you
When you were there to hold me
I never was afraid
You made me feel there's nothing I can't do

If I'd spread my wings to fly
When I was very small
I knew that you'd be standing by
To catch me if I fall

You're my hero

Chasing the monsters from my room

Going on trips around the moon

The one who's always been there faithfully

You're my hero

And 'cause you're my Dad...

I'm twice as blessed and lucky to be me

As I kept on growing

We often disagreed

But you let me find myself in my own way

And it's funny, how just lately

I've come to recognize

How wise you are becoming every day

There's so much you've given me

I hope I've made you proud

You're everything a Dad should be

And it's time to tell you now

You're my hero
You didn't have to say a word
Your love was the message that I heard
Inspiring me to be all I can be

You're my hero
And 'cause you're my Dad...
I'm twice as blessed and lucky to be me"

{lyrics: You're My Hero by Teresa James}

Love you Dad.

summer music

2011-06-18T20:32:00.000-05:00

It is summer... and I am enjoying every second. I have always loved summer, but the older I get-- and the older my boys get, I seem to be appreciating this season even more. This summer we have many new fun things planned and mixing those with some of our favorite summer traditions.

One summertime date night we have been doing for the past 5 years or so, is going to 'Music in the Zoo' at the MN Zoo. This is always such a fun and relaxing night and really there is nothing more perfect on a summer evening than listening to some live music outside.

We started the night by meeting friends at a favorite little Mexican restaurant not too far from the zoo.
El Azteca always has great food and great drinks and the service is wonderful. We were so lucky that it was a beautiful night and we could sit out on the patio. Perfection!

After dinner we headed out to the MN Zoo in time for the concert.

We enjoyed some great blues music by Charlie Musselwhite

and the James Cotton Band.

It was such a fun and relaxing night and made me really glad that we booked two shows for this summer. I can't wait to see George Thorogood in August!

Weekend Lens

2011-06-12T20:31:00.000-05:00

Although the weather didn't seem very summer like; it was another great summer weekend. And now that all the boys are out of school, it really is starting to feel like summer break in our house. I absolutely love having the boys around and all the activity that goes with it.

Friday night was cold and rainy so we decided to stay in and have a quiet night with some take out sushi from Byerly's and watched an old movie. It was a perfectly relaxing Friday night.

Saturday was spent getting some things done around the house, 2 of the boys reffed some soccer games, and another boy took the ACT test. We went to a grad party and took the dog for a walk.

Today, we decided we needed a little more activity so we took the dog and headed out to one of my favorite walking spots at Lake Harriet in Minneapolis.

After the 3 mile loop around the lake we stopped to grab some lunch at Bread & Pickle, the new snack shop at the band shell.

It was a little chilly out but it was still fun sitting by the lake enjoying our lunch. I got the Black Bean Burger which was so good (and huge!).

After we left Harriet we ventured a few blocks to a favorite ice cream spot for a little treat.

I love the patio at Sebastian Joe's (especially on a warm summer evening.)

We had a great low key kind of weekend which was perfect and what was needed before a busy week ahead.