I'm Back!

I've been absent from my blog for a few days - with good reason!  I took a trip North to the cabin (no Internet) and then headed to my hometown for some family time as my sister was a candidate for Homecoming Queen - and won!  Yay Sierra!  So, I didn't feel like taking time away from spending time with them to write a post or two.  Anyway, we had a great time at coronation. Here is a pic with the reining Queen Sierra and my other sister Skyler.

This week is going to fly by.  I was at work today.  Tomorrow I work at Children's and then I head to home again for a wedding! 

I also had my hair cut/colored etc. last night.  I will post a picture of that sometime soon. It was definitely a change I wanted/needed :)

'Pining' Away

I've been "Pining" away on Pinterest.com lately and I have found some adorable shots of little kids that I would like to replicate someday.  Notice, I said someday, not any time soon ;)  sorry.

 I hope I have a little boy that I can put into cowboy boots - isn't this just adorable?  I guess I can do it with a little girl, too.

And if I have a little girl - she will wear this outfit.  It's adorable. But if she has my hair gene her hair will never be this long - I think I was bald until I was four.  Haha.

And how adorable are these Fall Outfits???  Awe - I would wear them ;)

 Little boy - yes please =)

 And I will make these   

I'm telling you, if you haven't checked out Pinterest lately - or at all, it is a must!!  It is awesome!!  Look at all the cute ideas for kids.

*Disclaimer* We are not pregnant. We are not having any kids right now.  I just like the ideas ;)

Ahhh, Autumn!!

Like I've previously stated, probably 100 times, I LOVE Fall!  I found this little picture on Pinterest.com and it fits perfectly with things I love about the Fall, plus a few more!  Just wanted to wish everyone a Happy Autumn!  We are heading North this weekend for one last stay at the cabin. 

Fall Foliage Tour - Western States

Head West Young Man!  Anytime I think about the Western States I think about Toby Keith's "Should've Been a Cowboy!".  Granted, my list does not only include the cowboy frontier(s), but the song fits for some of them (plus I said a key ingredient for a road trip is a good CD mix!). Okay, let's head West!


 Maroon Bells, Colorado

 

The Maroon Bells are two peaks in the Elk Mountains near Aspen, Colorado.  The view to the Southwest is one of the most famous scenes in Colorado and is said to be the most photographed.  Due to its' proximity to Aspen, it's a highly sought tourist area.  However, motorized vehicles are allowed only limited access but you may take a tourist bus during the summer.

Wasatch Mountains, Utah

The Wasatch Mountain Range stretches 160 miles from the Utah-Idaho border, South through central Utah. It's considered the Western Edge of the Rockies and the Eastern Edge of the Great Basin.  Again, mountains and color - I can't resist!

Grand Tetons National Park, Wyoming



Located in Northwestern Wyoming, the mountains of Grand Teton National Park make up part of the Rocky Mountains. Unlike many other mountains, the Tetons lack foothills to obstruct the view, making way for sharp peaks ranging from 5,000-7,000ft above the baseline. 

Big Wood River, Idaho

Big Wood River is 137 miles long and suns South through Central Idaho and eventually empties into the Malad River.  Again, I can't stress how much I love the bright autumn colors!  Plus, I think water complements everything so beautifully!!

Pasayten Wildnerness, Washington

 

The Pasayten Wilderness is a protected area within the Okanogan National Forest in Washington. The Western Part (above) features dramatic views of the Cascade Mountains.  Sometimes I wish I weren't so afraid of heights, because climbing that would be very cool! 

Lithia Park, Ashland, Oregon

 

 When I saw this red, I had to pick this picture.  We've had a lot of yellows and oranges out West, but not as much red and red is essential on a Fall Foliage Tour. Apparently Lithia Park gets its' name from Lithium Oxide, which can be found in the water of the park - probably not something that you wanted to know, but basically, don't drink the water.

JOY

DO something that brings me joy: exercise (not actually doing it, but when I'm done)

BE that: Resourceful, today I will try think outside of the box.

SHARE joy: I will send a card to a friend

SPEND MORE TIME WITH THAT: I will continue to go to bed earlier so I can spend more 'morning time', I do love that. 

Fall Foliage Road Trips: Mid-Atlantic States

And we're on the road again!  This time to the Mid-Atlantic States - I know what you're thinking, we're heading South and you expect to see foliage??  But yes, yes, I do. Virginia, North Carolina and Maryland have some of the most beautiful Fall Foliage!  I also want to add in there Tennessee and Kentucky, because I think their Fall colors also rival the Midwest (which I will probably always think are the best, except for maybe Paris, but that's a different category).  Anyway, grab your tea or coffee or other hot beverage of choice and let's go!

Blue Ridge Parkway, Shenandoah National Park, Virginia

The Blue Ridge Parkway is 469 mile long National Parkway that runs mostly along the famous Blue Ridge, which is a mountain chain of the Appalachian Mountains.  It begins near the Southern terminus of Shenandoah National Park's Skyline Drive in Virginia at Rockfish Gap and runs to U.S. Route 441 at Oconaluftee in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park near Cherokee, North Carolina. The roadway is not maintained during the winter and is therefore usually shut down late fall until early spring.

Mt. Mitchell in North Carolina

Mt. Mitchell (elevation 6,684 ft) is the highest point in the Appalachian Mountains and in the Eastern part of the United States.  The nearest high point East of the Rocky Mountains is Harney Peak in the Black Hills, SD.  The Mountain is in Mount Mitchell State Park and surrounded by Pisgah National Forest. 

Maryland..er..D.C.

I know this isn't a typical picture on our usual back woodsy road trip that we were on, but I had to give a little love to the bigger cities. I do know that Washington D.C. isn't considered a state and it's not really in Maryland, but yet it was formed from the land that was originally Maryland, so for this post, that's what I'm going to categorize it as. Anyway, doesn't our Washington Monument look beautiful among all that orange!

Big South Fork of the Cumberland River, Tennessee

The river is 76 miles long and is located in both Tennessee and Kentucky.  It's a major drainage feature for the Cumberland Plateau, a major tributary of the Cumberland River System, which is also known as a worldclass canoe and kayaking stream.  The river runs primarily North through many remote areas.  Imagine the wildlife you could see along there!

Nernix, Kentucky

I couldn't find out much information about Nernix, Kentucky, but the fall foliage is sure beautiful.  I don't think they are known for it, but they should be ;) Louisville is suppose to have some beautiful shots, too, but I loved this aerial photo. 

Fall Foliage Road Trips - North Eastern States

Yes, another post about Fall.  It's my favorite time of the year.  I wish it lasted twice as long! 

If I haven't previously mentioned this - I love going for drives...nice long drives, road trips - anything involving a car, me and preferably someone else I can talk to - oh and a good CD mix or book on CD, those are good too!  And some great snacks - or at least a Caribou Coffee within stopping distance ;) 

Anyway, I decided to combine a few of my favorite things - road trips and Fall into a post about the places in the US that are considered to have the best Fall Foliage.  After I got going, I decided that I needed to cut it down into just a post about the Northeastern states today.  Though I'm sure I won't find a Caribou Coffee joint out East, I will probably find a ton of Apple Cider, Fresh Maple Syrup, Carmel Apples and other hot awesome Fall drinks!

Maine, Vermont, New York, Connecticut, and New Hampshire

 

This is Maine.  What I love most about the Eastern States (even though I've yet to go) is the coastal views and all the lighthouses!  My mom use to have a ton of lighthouses and it was a theme in our house for a long time. 

This is in Barton,Vermont.  This is exactly the picturesque view I imagine when I think of fall and a driving through the countryside. It reminds me a lot of home because on our farm we have a road that is covered by trees on both sides just like this.

Upstate New York...........doesn't it look just like the Boundary Waters of Minnesota?  I have a friend who has a cabin in Upstate New York and that's exactly how she describes it.  I'm sure urban New York has some pretty fall colors too, but this takes the cake for me - it's more my style!

Litchfield Hills, Connecticut is famous for its' fall foliage.  And I can see why! Connecticut also has the Wine Trail, which comprises 24 different vineyards and wineries within CT. It's so cool that it definitely deserves its' own post. ;)



New Hampshire and their White Mountains!  I love Mountains too - pair it with some beautiful autumn colors and the view doesn't get any better!

Becoming a Person of Action

The other day I stumbled across this article on The Positivity Blog, about How to Become A Person of Action . If you're my friend on facebook, you will notice that I linked up to it a few days ago as well. Anyway, I love it!  I think it's a very positive and motivational little blurp and I'm hoping to incorporate the suggestions into my daily routine. 

“It had long since come to my attention that people of accomplishment rarely sat back and let things happen to them. They went out and happened to things.”Leonardo Da Vinci

What action are YOU taking today?

Moscato Wine!

It's no secret that I love wine, especially white "desserty" wine.  I follow many different blogs and one of them that I stumbled across, Life's a Happy Hour, featured my favorite flavor of wine, Moscato and I was intrigued by her review of Villa Alena Moscato Wine from Trader Joe's, so obviously, I had to try it - and I loved it!  We drank some after canning on Friday night and I have to share our pictures of our "food photography" experiments.

Oops, too fast!

Again, my hand is in the way, and it looks just plain weird to have the bottle right there.

There!  The grapes do the trick!  I think the wine glass could probably be moved off the cutting board, but we are amateurs, what do you want from us? ;)

Fall Favs!

There are so many things I love about Fall.  One being all my favorite TV shows start back up!  This year, I cannot wait for....

Grey's Anatomy: Thursdays ABC 8pm CT Season Premiere Sept. 22!



House MD: Mondays FOX 8pm CT Season Premiere Oct 3!

Bones: Thursdays FOX 7pm CT Premiere TONIGHT!!!  2 hour Special!

 Two other favorites are

 One Tree Hill - Only, as I looked for the premiere date it looks like I may have to wait until Spring 2012!!  But I am just grateful it's coming back - AGAIN! 

I learned from a friend the other day that Chad Michael Murray signed on for this season too!  Woohoo!!!

And,

Army Wives
but again, I think I have to wait for Winter 2012 for that show.



It's probably a good thing they are spread out though, now I won't spend ALL my time in front of the TV. 

Canning Adventures!

This past weekend, Jessica Malone and I canned.  It was awesome and exhausting!  We definitely made a whole weekend out of it!  On Friday night, we canned dill pickles.  Saturday morning we were up at the crack of dawn and pulling into the Farmer's Market right when it opened!

Yes, that's the clock in my car.  We had to take a picture because otherwise we were afraid people would not believe we actually got up that early on a Saturday!

We bought all our produce and headed to a place called Granny's Donuts for a quick breakfast.  I will have to share more about that place another time.  It's got a great little story behind it and is such a great bakery in West St. Paul.  We made another quick stop to the grocery store for some seasonings and were chopping and peeling by 9am!

Peeling Tomatoes!

Jess taught me a great trick about peeling tomatoes that I hadn't done before.  I'm sure it's well known to the canning world, but this was our first time canning without someone else who really knew what they were doing!  We boiled the tomatoes for 30-45 seconds and then plunged them into ice cold water.  The peeling just slipped right off - it was awesome!  And saved us soooo much time!  I also used my food processor for parts of the chopping process.  We had a nice mixture of chopped tomatoes and pureed tomatoes for a perfect consistency.

Then we chopped onions, peppers and added all the seasonings!

We mixed it all up and started boiling it on the stove.  Once simmered for what we deemed "an appropriate time" which I can't honestly tell you, because we didn't keep track - we filled jars and put them in the canner.

We canned them for 15 minutes and let them cool enough so we were sure the pressure cooker wouldn't blow up and then took them out :)



Viola!  Finished product!

Sadly, we didn't get a picture of all the jars we did.  However, we made mild, medium and hot salsa.  We took a Caribou break for an hour or so, but for the most part our canning adventure lasted from 5am-8:30pm on Saturday.  Then we decided to can some raspberry rhubarb jam on Sunday. 

We prepped the rhubarb on Saturday night so it could soak in sugar overnight. Then we added the raspberries!  

And boiled it on the stove.

We decided to hot water bath our jam, just to mix things up and give us full exposure to two different types of canning.  And after 10 minutes or so they were ready!

How cute!!!

Overall, VERY successful canning weekend!  Thanks Jess!

Canning, Football, Friends, Fun!!

My weekend was filled with fun.  I'm exhausted!  Friday night, I canned dill pickles (read bout it here). Saturday morning I woke up at 5:10am and headed to the farmer's market for my produce to can some salsa!  Yum!!!  And it was so much fun - and lots of work.  I have a bunch of pictures, but they are on my friend's camera so you will have to wait to see them until tomorrow or something.  We canned ALL DAY!  Then Sunday we made raspberry rhubarb jelly and rhubarb muffins.  Sunday afternoon we headed to a friend's house for some Vikings football and even though we didn't win, it was still a wonderful time!  Our host made bbq ribs, corn muffins, cucumber salad - wow!  I ended the night reading a book - all in all, successful, fun filled weekend!!

And I made a new friend - and we are going to start a book club!  I can't wait!

Dill Pickles!!!

I love Fall.  I love Fall for so many reasons.  One of these reasons is because it's canning season.  Today Jessica Malone and I canned - dill pickles!  It was my first time canning pickles myself and Jess's first time ever.  For a couple of newbies, we did pretty well!  I can't wait to taste them in 4 weeks when they will be completely finished.  Here are a few of our pictures to document our adventure:

Washing cucumbers - with a brand new toothbrush, no worries ;)



Beautiful garlic!



All Clean and Ready to be canned!



Jess, stuffing jars!



 

Me, stirring the pot



Filling Jars with Vinegar solution

Final Product! 2 dozen quarts - well almost!

 We have been preparing for salsa and pasta sauce tomorrow!  Stay tuned for pics of our adventures tomorrow :)

I had a great day...until...

Hello blog followers,

I promised a post about mornings last night.  I didn't get to it this morning.  I did however, get up earlier, so that's a start!!  I had a great day.  I worked both jobs, I got to spend time with a great friend and we ventured to a farmer's market - but then, my day kind of turned around....stupid ATM ate my debit card!  ugh!  I mistyped my PIN ONE TIME!  Aren't they suppose to give you 3 tries?  Anyway, I called the bank - of course I got no answer and was cut off multiple times.  Needless to say it was kind of a crappy ordeal.  I treated myself to frozen yogurt to soothe my irritability.  It worked, for a little while.  Then I came home and complained to my hubby about it.  And he made me a personalized pizza to make me feel better....yes, pizza makes me feel better.  At least it was a pita pizza so it was a bit healthier - and turkey pepperoni...that helps.  Anyway, I'm in a slightly better mood.  At least I know where my card is.  I probably won't get that one back, but no one else has it and my money is safe.  So I will go to bed and start fresh tomorrow.

I use to be a morning person...

...but lately I feel like all I want to do is sleep.  I want to get up.  I love mornings.  I would choose mornings over evenings most days of the week, because once I'm up and accomplishing things my day feels so much more complete.  However, it's the dang getting out of bed that is the problem (and how tired I feel afterward - I need to work on getting more sleep).  So, I went to my favorite website http://www.oprah.com/ and typed in mornings and came across this list

 - that I spent an hour typing and then there was an error and then it got erased....so you will have to wait until tomorrow, because I'm going to bed because one of the tips was to go to bed earlier so I can get up earlier....it's worth a shot.  I just miss the days that I hardly needed any sleep at all.

"We would accomplish many more things

if we did not think of them as impossible."

~C. Malesherbes~

Great quote and a wonderful way to start this next work week.  Last night I was reflecting on the things I'd like to accomplish this week and it seemed a little overwhelming.  However, I know it can be done, just look at how much fun I packed into this last weekend!  I just need to not procrastinate, starting with getting up earlier, so I can spend more time blogging =)

Hope everyone has a wonderful Tuesday!  

Whew!

This weekend was a whirlwind.  Let me give you a quick recap - I will try have a more interesting post tomorrow, right now I'm wiped!

Friday night I saw The Help - AMAZING!!  but the book is always better!

Saturday Morning I studied - yes! Mission Accomplished!

Saturday noon I got my hair did - always a treat!

Saturday night I went to a wedding - EPIC Night with med school friends! Congrats Kristen and Bryan!

Sunday Morning we all ate breakfast at Baker's Square - my new favorite 'Perkins'!

Sunday afternoon I went to the State Fair and got to see my godson - wonderful!

Sunday evening my hubby and I had date night - Chinese food and the last Harry Potter movie (finally!)

Monday morning - work, which was awesome. I'm serious, it was actually fun (and time and a half doesn't hurt!)

Monday noonish - grocery shopping. I finally have food in my house again!

Monday afternoon - Got to walk Lake Nakomis!  Another cross of my Summer to do list!!  Wooohoo! 

Monday evening - Another walk, this time with my hubby!! And some quality FB time as well as catching up with all my blogs! =)

I hope you had a wonderful weekend - and maybe got to relax a little more than I did....wait, who am I kidding, I love this stuff!!!

Coffee Love

Maybe I'm just crazy, or grew up in a rural area that didn't have coffee shops, but since when do high school girls come to Caribou on their way to school?  I stopped to get my fix yesterday morning and in walk two high school girls in their uniforms.   I was just surprised. 

First of all, when does the caffeine addiction really start?  I know we endorse it from a very early age with pop and other sugary/caffeinated drinks like ice tea, but when do people start drinking coffee?  So much that they come to a coffee shop before going to school?  I always thought of coffee as something you grew accustomed to during college or when you had to work a late/night shift somewhere to help you get through the days/hours.  I never drank coffee in high school - I tried it on the weekends at my grandparents house but frankly I found it disgusting.  I still don't drink straight coffee, but I enjoy 'mixed' coffee drinks like lattes and coolers.  So, I continued on my merry way and when I got to my car, a whole car full of girls (again in uniform) pull up. 

Now I'm curious, is it the norm to have drinks other than water at your desk during high school?  In most of my classes, we weren't allowed to have anything to drink or eat.  Occasionally, there was a class that allowed a water bottle to accompany you at your desk.  Are these girls really going to bring their fancy lattes and coolers and coffee to home room with them?  I wish I went to that school ;) 

Can you say culture shock or generation gap (and I'm not very old)!  I am really curious though, is that how it was in your school?  Did you drink coffee?  Am I just from the sticks and this is totally normal behavior?