Blue Evening, September 30, 2009

Tonight I ran over to a park nearby with lots of hiking trails. I guess I wanted to make it feel like I was still on my vacation. :) I'm sad that the sun is slowly leaving earlier in the evening. I'm someone who loves the sun. Don't get me wrong I love cloudy, rainy days too, but given a choice I'd take the sunny crisp autumn day - like today.

Three years ago, the trees seemed to be quite a bit more colorful. Three years ago, I married my best friend amongst the colorful trees. Happy Anniversary! Tonight I brought Erik a fancy dinner of Arbys while he was at work and we are celebrating with a mini carrot cake.

Pelicans are easily scared away, September 29, 2009

My Mom and I took a walk on Tuesday night to ease our thoughts of our poor pup, BoBear, who has been suffering with a very sore leg. He saw the vet last week and got some meds, thinking it was a torn ligament or sore muscle, but he didn't get any better. So back he went today and we found out he had a blood clot and had no pulse in his back leg. So he is on some new meds that should break up the clot and make him all better.

My Mom and I saw some pelicans and I told her that they are scared easily, but then I was the one who wanted to get closer and I scared them away. :(

Monday Monday

Stuffed Bell Peppers, September 28, 2009

I don't think I was ready to go to work on Monday... actually I know I wasn't. I had such a nice vacation with Erik topped off by a nice Sunday at home and I could have just continued enjoying my days like that past few. I did take the time to make some stuffed peppers, as you can see. I stuffed with ingredients we mostly had. I filled them with brown rice, beef, bell peppers, jalapeno peppers, corn, parsley, basil, tomato, cheese, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper. I thought they could have used just a little bit more flavor... maybe some Italian sausage or I could have left the guts of the jalapenos in - I stripped them, because I was afraid it would be too hot if I didn't. They made for a great lunch on Tuesday.

Northwoods Vacation

Here are some more pictures of our little vacation in northern Minnesota.

A Windy Sunday

Blowin' Seeds, September 27, 2009

I got up early to watch some softball today. It was a good thing I did because I watched a couple of good games! Went out to my Mom and Dad's to check on BoBear, LauraBell and the garden. Something is wrong with BoBear's back leg and the poor pup is in pain. It was hard to see him struggle with finding a way to be comfortable. LauraBell was missing her buddy Chance and was eager to say hi to me when I went to see her and the garden. I got about a gallon of tomatoes and a dozen red peppers, a couple of green peppers and some hot peppers too. I stopped by at the nature center to take a picture. The wind has been fierce today.

September 26th: Photo of the Day

Funky Fall Fungi, September 26, 2009

We saw quite a bit of interesting or funky fungi throughout our hikes. This is from Mille Lacs Kathio State Park.

25th of September Photo

Suomi Hills Trails, September 25th, 2009

I love the ripples in the lake and how the clouds seem to ripple in the sky. Erik and I did quite a bit of hiking on our little vacation in the northwoods. This picture is from our hike in Suomi Hills Trails, located in the Chippewa National Forest.

24th of September Photo

Painting with Light, September 24, 2009

Erik and I played with painting with a flashlight in long exposure pictures. We had fun trying to figure it out. We used a small flashlight... next time a little bigger. It was a beautiful night at the cabin!

Photo of the Day

Cabin Stairs, September 23, 2009

Erik and I went up to the cabin for a little hiking, hunting, fall color viewing, and enjoying the northwoods.

Monday & Tuesday

I had a little love hate relationship with my sewing machine this weekend. As I was winding a bobbin, the needle broke into 3 pieces and spewed one piece towards my neck. I kind of freaked out because it was just a little needle and it hit my neck, but I had no idea where it went, maybe in my neck? But thankfully it did not and my panicking was for nothing. I have not really touched it since the incident, but I will because I have many projects to finish. Erik and I concluded that maybe the needle got bent and then got stuck there for shattering. Who knows.

Throwing Needles, September 21, 2009

Laundry in Waiting, September 22, 2009

Last night I was all ready to do some laundry and all of the machines were full, so we had piles of laundry just hanging out in the living room last night. Thankfully they are open this morning and the laundry is getting done.

Sunday News

BoBear, September 20, 2009

Beautiful Night, September 20, 2009

Today, I went to the farmers market with Erik and then I went horseback riding with my Mom and Grandma. We had a nice ride in the park. And then Erik and I made dinner at my parent's and Katie was there too. It was good to be with everyone this evening!

Saturday Wedding

We went to Erik's cousin's wedding, Andy & Natasha, on Saturday evening at the Walker. It was a lovely evening.

Kim & Erik, September 19, 2009

Karen & Rich, September 19, 2009

Afton State Park

This guy and I went hiking around Afton State Park on Friday. I absolutely love our days together going on a little adventure. We often only have one or two days off together and make the most of our time. We've been hitting State Parks quite a bit lately, but we really enjoy them. We enjoyed Afton State Park too. Since we went on a Friday it was very quiet there and peaceful. I simply could not pick one picture of the day... but if I had to, it would be the dear that so lovely graced our presence and was just hanging out with us as we stood in awe that she was not afraid of us. The pictures are in chronological order of our hike around the northeast side of the park.

Crown Vetch

Path at Afton State Park

Purple Aster

Lower St. Croix Valley

Bridge over Trout Brook

St. Croix River Shore

Dock on the St. Croix River

A Walk along the Shore

Hello dear

Leaves are lip-licking good

Acorns on the trail (ready to be crunched by chaco wearing feet)

Creeping Vine

Wednesday & Thursday (& Photos of the Day)

Always Looking Up, September 15, 2009

I finished Always Looking Up on Wednesday morning. I enjoyed it. I picked it up when I was feeling like I needed to be a bit more optimistic earlier this summer and finally got around to reading it in the past couple weeks. It is a pretty quick read and when reading it, I could imagine Michael J. Fox narrating it. The words are distinctly his and it comes across in this book. He is pretty clear on his opinions about stem cell research and I like that. He has made a stand. There is a section on Faith that I really enjoyed as well. I really liked this quote from the book, as Micheal is talking about Chris Reeve explaining the difference between optimism and hope, "If optimism is a happy-go-lucky expectation that the odds are in my favor, that things are likely to break my way, and if hope is an informed optimism, facts converting desire into possibility, then faith is the third leg of the stool. Faith tells me that I'm not alone." I'd highly recommend reading Always Looking Up.

Spring Rolls, September 16, 2009

Thursday when I got home, Erik had my bike tires pumped up and ready to go. I want to get going with more routine exercise than I have been able to do this summer with all of my traveling. So I went for a little bike ride, nothing big, just a jaunt to move and burn some calories (some of the buster bar I had earlier in the day). Then Erik made Spring Rolls. He used a variation from this recipe. He also made a peanut sauce to go with them. They were nice and fresh and tasty.

In Lincoln, we often went to Home Depot on weekend evenings to look around, maybe after one or two little things for some project, but mostly just to look around. Thursday we did the same thing. We went after some supplies for Erik's Halloween costume and to walk around. Then we rented Bedtime Stories. Oh my, I loved it. Erik liked it too. It was funny and entertaining. The perfect thing.

September 15th - Photo of the Day

Larabars, September 15, 2009

Okay, so I know this is a lame shot, but I couldn't think of what to take a picture of yesterday. I was dehydrated and unbelievably tired last night and still needed a picture. So Erik bought a box of Larabars, a full box, so I thought that would be sufficient. I do like Larabars. Erik and I had the gingersnap one last night - they are delightful, but they weren't on sale like the others, so we only had one in our box. I like the apple pie flavor too though and they were on sale.

September 14th - Photo of the Day

Sunny One, September 14, 2009

I was traveling again this week, but just for one night. After a day in the field, I went to a wildlife management area and snapped a few shots, but the mosquitoes quickly sent me packing.