Trick or Treat!

Last month when I went home I was there over Halloween and got to go trick or treating with my niece and nephews.  I brought Jax the cutest Halloween costume ever- a suagaro cactus made by Sandi.  I got the idea from Matt who was  a sugargo when he was little.  The body was made with green cloth and had ridges and the needles were made of yellow yarn- so cute!  

First you will see the fitting.  Getting a costume on a 15 month old is no small chore.  It took several people.  Since Sandi didn't know exactly how big Jax was she made the costume oversized so we could trim it down and fit it to him. 

We started our Halloween night at the grocery store where my sister Jamie works.  The first trick or treating station was at the store's floral counter.  The ladies there knew what Jax was right away! 

We took to the neighborhood at about 5:45.  I pushed Jax in his stroller.  It was a crisp 37 degrees out.  Regan, Jane and I shared a thermos of Baily's hot chocolate with heavy cream.  I ran Jax up to as many houses as I could.  It was a real workout as sometimes we were off-roading through people's yards.  He made it about an hour before he had enough.  Pete came and rescued him and the rest of us continued for a couple more hours.  Half way through we picked up the truck and headed across the main road to the other side of the neighborhood.  The kids jumped in and out of the back of the truck as we continued down many more streets (just like the way my dad used to drive us when we were little).  By the end of the night the kids had over 22 pounds of candy!

Minnesota Style

Unfortunately the only way I was able to take pics in Minnesota last month was with my phone.  This is a pic of my niece Liberty doing her favorite winter sport at the YMCA: log rolling!  She really takes log rolling lessons and is started to compete in log rolling competitions this month.  This truly is Minnesota Style!

A Post From the Road

 Matt and I said goodbye to our Rochester house at 1:30 this morning and hit the road headed for our hotel in Dalhart, Texas. 923 miles and 15 hrs and 20 minutes later we arrived.   The cats spent most of the ride in tow in the back of the Element but were taken into the big rig with us during the hottest part of the day to enjoy the air conditioning.  Matt is a pro at driving the Penske beast.  It took me a while to get used to it and I still don't like it but whatever it takes to get us home to Tucson!  

We left Minnesota and drove through Iowa, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma into Texas.  There is absolutely nothing of interest to see on the route except for the oil pumps that dot the fields once you get to southern Kansas.  I find them quite creepy, the way they slowly move back in forth in a perfect rhythm.  Now we are going to relax for a bit before taking a long nap and doing the same thing tomorrow, only this leg will only be 717 miles and then we will be home- yay!

Minnesota Blues

Things I will miss in Minnesota
My Mom
Joe
Jamie
Steven
Regan
Pete
Jace
Levi
Liberty
Jax
Monday night Bible study dinners with Katie and Joy
Wine study group with Barbara and Ruth
Working at Cap N Cork Wine & Spirits
Going up to the cabin
Hanging out at Regan's
Nelson's Ice Cream in Stillwater
Doing drive-bys of the house I grew up in
Thinking of my Dad everytime I pass Koch on highway 52
Roma Market in Mahtomedi (gorgonzola & candied fig wood fire pizza!)
Butter chicken from India Garden in Rochester
The giant jack pines on the north side of my house
The smell of lilacs in spring
The lightning bugs in summer
Mowing the lawn
The crisp air in fall
The leaves changing color in fall
The first snow of the season
Watching Jax do his tricks
Hearing funny Levi stories
Eating my Mom's cooking
Eating Regan's cooking
Hearing everything I never wanted to know about the Twins from my sister Jamie
Watching Jace grow into a young man
Seeing Liberty and Levi in their plays
Watching Levi's baseball games with my sisters
Hanging out with my sisters
Drinking wine with the ladies
Trying new wines at work
Valley Fair
Talking food and wine with Jane
Hearing hilarious chiropractor stories from Bransons
Smoking hookah with y'all
Visits to Cowtwn to see the rellys


Things I Won't Miss in Minnesota
Tornado weather!
Freezing cold temperatures
Overcast days
Mosquitoes, gnats and woodticks at the cabin

Last Day in Minnesota

This week has been crazy busy with packing and making the house rental ready.  I have also spent much time over the last week with friends and family saying good bye- which I hate!  I take great comfort in knowing we will be together for eternity but it is still hard to say goodbye.  I have some great pictures from the going away party last weekend with my family and once I am not too sad to look at them I will post some.  

In the mean time I thought I would share this fun picture with you.  Once Matt picked up our 26 foot rental truck with attached car trailer he thought it only appropriate to play the part.  So he shaved himself what he calls a "trucker-stache" for the drive home in the big rig.  10-4 over and out Minnesota!

Last Cabin Adventure

Matt and I went up to the cabin over the weekend for our last time before we move.  We wanted to see Joe and hang with the family.  We got to play some badminton, go for a canoe ride up the crick, take Joe out for breakfast at the Log Cabin, have fires, eat my Mom's delicious food, and flee the cabin at the sound of tornado sirens which accompanied some severe storms common this time of year.  We also got to hang with Jax and watch him play with his favorite toy at my Mom's house: Grandpa's oxygen cord!

Matt Loves Tiling!

Okay, the title of this post may be a bit misleading... What's really going on here is that AZ is just around the corner and we are in a mad rush to finish up some work on our MN house in order to be able to rent it out once we leave. In an effort to jazz up our boring kitchen on the cheap we decided to tile the counter tops. Matt doesn't exactly love tiling but fortunately for me he is quite handy and he loves the way tile looks so he is willing to do it! He tiled right over the existing laminate which was in decent shape but quite drab. When we bought this house the kitchen was mint green with beige counter tops that had brick red trim... yuck! Here is how it looks now.Good job, Honey!

Monday Night Dinner Study

One of the things I will miss the most when I move back to Tucson some day is Monday nights with my good friends Katie and Joy.  We get together every other Monday night for dinner and to discuss a book of the Bible we have all been reading together during the week.  We have been alternating between each others houses, taking turns cooking and eating some good food!  This has been a huge blessing in my life as these ladies love the Lord, love His word and are so encouraging.  Thank you Katie and Joy for helping me to fight the good fight! 

* Update to this post: The Sunday after the ladies and I met to discuss the book of Ruth, Jerram Bars from Covenant Seminary was a guest preacher at our church and he preached on Ruth 3.  It was an awesome sermon and so helpful to hear after just studying the book ourselves- God is so good!  You can hear his sermon here.

Ron Paul in Minnesota!

Its been a couple of exciting days here in Minnesota as Ron Paul was in town!  I found out Friday that Paul was going to be here Saturday speaking at Mayo High School and thankfully Matt and I were both off so we could go.  We showed up and hour and half early and got front row seats.  The auditorium was packed by the time Paul came out and the crowd was excited to see him.  He spoke for over a half an hour on his usual topics- liberty, the constitution, the fed, ending the wars and nation building and restoring America.  It was awesome.  Afterwards he hung around a bit and signed autographs.  We got his autograph as well as a number of great pieces of Ron Paul flare.  My favorite is a bracelet which says "I (heart) Ron Paul" and "Champion of the Constitution" as well as Ron Paul family cookbook!

Tuesday night was caucus night in Minnesota.  Matt and I went out and caucused for the first time ever.  It was kind of fun and reminded me of being in high school civics class.  Ron Paul won our precint straw poll and Matt, after giving a great speech, was one of eight elected to be a delegate for our precint.

May God be merciful to America and give us Ron Paul for President!

Winter in Minnesota?

We have been having some very mild temps so far this winter in Minnesota.  I have to say I am quite pleased with them.  Last week we had a day that reached 57!  Yesterday was another nice sunny day so Matt and I decided to enjoy a little hooka action.  As you can see in the picture we have no snow.  Today's high is 45 while tomorrow's is 50- yippee!  The news is attributing this mild winter to La Nina.  Whatever the cause is I like it!

We picked up this hot plate at Menards to assist in heating the hookah cools which is a very convenient way to do it. The only thing that would be better is if we were in Arizona using hot mesquite coals from the fire pit!  Someday...

Winter Has Arrived

We had the first real snow of the season yesterday.  I had been telling Matt that we probably wouldn't have snow until December but he didn't believe me.  I am glad it held off this long and hopefully we won't get dumped on this year the way Minnesota did last year.  We found out today that snow blowing isn't as fun or as easy as it looks.  Some of this might have to do with our particular snow blower which we bought used off of craig's list.  The other part of it is that we don't know anything about snow blowing and are finding out as we go things like wet snow clogs up the blower and you have to go super slow in the lowest gear.  Who knew? The worst part of it all is that we have many, many feet of sidewalk we are responsible for which might as well be an ice skating rink.  Luckily our nice neighbor from across the street came over to tell us where we can get a free salt and sand. 

Valleyscare Weekend

Extreme Swing

Matt and I headed up to the Twin Cities over the weekend in order to join Reegz, Cbass and Janni in their spooky evening of Valleyscare and to surprise my nephew Jace with the dresser we recently painted for him.

"Valleyscare" happens each October when Minnesota's beloved amusement park ,Valleyfair, fills the park with spooky haunts.  I hate all things scary but since Matt loves them and never gets to watch scary movies with me I thought we should go.  I did not go in any of the scarey attractions with my group but I did indulge myself in many a ride.  Valleyfair was part of my upbringing as my dad took us every year for Regan's birthday.  I loved it then and love it still.  Even though each year I find myself more and more afflicted with motion sickness (can't watch some TV, movies, and most all video games) I can still ride the wild rails of rollercoasters, thank God!  This year I braved the "Extreme Swing."  Words can hardly describe the feeling you get when you're falling forward from the top, other than to say I thought I was gonna die, but this ride is awesome!  The rollercoaster "Wild Thing" was also a favorite.  I did not have whatever it takes to ride the wicked looking rollercoaster "Steel Venom" but Matt, who will brave any ride, enjoyed it.  

We were happy that Jace was gone for the weekend- not because we didn't want to see him- but because we wanted to sneak his new dresser into his room while he was away so he could come home and be surprised by it.  It turned out pretty well me thinks.  Good job Matt!

Before

After

Mayo Foundation Gala

Matt and I got to go to a formal dinner last night at the Mayo Foundation House for his work.  The house is pretty much a castle and used to be occupied by Dr. Mayo and his wife.  We had wine and h'orderves on the main floor and then moved up 2 floors to a grand wooden paneled banquet type room where we had a 3 course meal staring filet mignon which could be cut with a butter knife.  The dinner ended with pumpkin cheese cake and then cordials and chocolate dipped strawberries on the way out.  I think this was the first time in my life I ever ate with real silverware.  Anyway a good time was had by all and the best part of the night was getting to see my handsome husband dressed up and getting to wear a gown myself- always fun!

35 Miles Closer to Tucson

As many of you know the Midwest (and much of the rest of the country) is undergoing a freak heat wave.  We were lucky enough to be moving in the middle of it this passed weekend.  Saturday afternoon we arrived in Rochester to unload our moving truck in 100+ degrees.  I heard on the news this morning that yesterday's temp was 115 when you factor in the heat index- SICK!  Let me state for the record that Arizona's heat IS A DRY HEAT and much more bearable than this Midwest summer!  

Despite the heat we are settling into our new house and area very well.  Rochester is around 120,000 people which seems po-dunk next to the Twin Cities, which boasts a population of over 2 million, but I really like this town.  It has most everything you need and nothing is very far away.  Matt has traded in a 25 mile drive (one way) to work for a 3 mile drive.  Our new home sits in the southwest side of the city with many stores close by and countryside not much further away.  This town is very manageable and the area is very pretty with many hills and trees.  I think I could get used to here...

Summer Nights at the River

My sister Regan lives by the St. Croix River and she often takes her kids to the beach to swim.  This is the spot where she and I baptized each other about 10 years ago after we became Christians.  Tonight we went to this beach for an evening BBQ with Regan's family and my other sister Jamie and a couple friends, the Bransons and Jane.  Matt grilled us up some burgers while the kids swam and buried themselves in sand. Good times!

Midwest Severe Storms

My mom lives in northwestern Wisconsin where she also owns a cabin.  We all planned to go up to the cabin for the 4th of July weekend.  Friday night severe storms swept across Minnesota into northwestern Wisconsin.  The severe storm hit my mom's town, Danbury around 7PM.  My mom and Joe had just left the cabin and were driving in the car when the black sky let loose rain, thunder, and incredible winds.  "Straight line winds" is what the news said afterwards but I wonder if there wasn't a tornado hidden in the storm too.  The storm ripped trees out by the roots as well as chopped many off halfway up and twisted others.  By the grace of God my mom and Joe were okay as well as her house and cabin.  Her car and garage roof each suffered a tree but the damage was minimal compared to what it could have been.  The sons-in-laws all headed up over the weekend and helped Joe with cleanup, chain-sawing trees until the blades could take no more.  They worked hard through heat and because my mom's house was out of power for 3 days it was a real challenge to get water.  The worse part is that Joe's dog died in the storm.  He was in the house and it seems he dropped dead from fear as he was extremely afraid of thunder.  Joe is very sad as he had the dog for 9 years and took him everywhere with him.  We are going up again tomorrow to continue the clearing.

Lately...

We have been having a lot of fun over the past few weeks doing many different things that I have been meaning to blog about. We have made a few trips down to Rochester as Matt has been interviewing at the Mayo Clinic. I have been doing one of my favorite things there- looking at houses! We are trying to decide if we are going to buy one or not and we are still unsure at this point but I have already found one I really like. We also attended a great conference at our church on desiring God given by Pastor John. Amazing! That same weekend we also had a fun Cinco de Mayo fiesta at my sister's house with my family and some friends. My two funniest aunts came from cowtown and cracked Matt right up. We made chiles rellenos for the fiesta along with Mexican red rice, beans, tacos, guacamole and salsa. No one had ever had rellenos before and they got mixed reviews. I used the mildest chile I could find but some thought they were too hot (this is Minnesota afterall). I also attended a free lunch concert with my sister Jamie who loves music (and loves all things free!). She talked me into going with her to see Easton Corbin who I had never heard before. I don't listen to a whole lot of country but I like acoustic guitars and twang so I appreciated the show. We met him afterward as you can see in the pics. Well, that's just a few of the different things we've been up to lately. We have a busy month coming up with visits to the cabin and visitors coming up to see us from the desert. We'll also begin packing soon for our move south to Rochester which I am considering a small detour on our way to Tucson.

Spring Has Finally Sprung

Looking down my street

Spring has finally sprung up here in Minnesota and there are beautiful blooming trees and flowers everywhere.  I was ecstatic to find a lilac bush next to my garage because this is my favorite flower of all due to its wonderful aroma.  They only bloom for a few weeks each spring so you can be sure I will be picking them every day for my tabletop til they disappear. I will try and bring my camera out and about with me so I can  capture more of the beautiful Minnesota spring to share with y'all. 

Bleeding hearts- a perfect flower in the yard of a perfusionist!

A lilac bush in my yard

My favorite flower!