Weekends in Minneapolis

One of the great things about living in Windom is that it is very easy to make a weekend trip to Minneapolis. The ease of a Minneapolis weekend is increased by our incredibly generous friends, who host us and Sogn and are always happy to accommodate us into their weekend schedule. One of the hardest things about facing this new move is that even though I am so happy about this job I could cry (in fact, I have cried - tears of JOY), it is really far away from the Twin Cities and all of our friends and family who live there. I'm afraid weekends trips to the cities aren't going to happen as often and they're going to require planning. Planning? Eek.

Anyways - one of the new summer events we have enjoyed the past few years is the Lawn Game Olympics. No - there's no link, this isn't an even that's sponsored by a local brewery (although that's a great idea) - instead it's a fabulous event that is put together by a friend.

Basically, it's as amazing as it sounds. We arrive at a super secret location (well not really, but I'm not going to tell you where!), haul the coolers and grills, set up hammocks and lawn games, let the dogs off leash and enjoy the day. Although all of those things are great, it's wonderful just to stand around in the shade and chat with friends we don't get to see regularly anymore. It's amazing the things that happen when you're away for a few weeks - nieces are able to walk around the Patagonia store, people have moved and moved in together, and new jobs abound.

I will miss our weekend trips to the Twin Cities, but we will still visit and once we get settled in Crookston we willl extend some invites to return the generous hosting!

p.s. If you're reading this to procrastinate for the 2012 Bar Exam I wish you good luck. You will pass.

How To: Lake Mille Lacs Boat Launch

Last summer Calhoun attended the DDS's bachelor party which involved camping, fishing and Lake Mille Lacs. When the DDS proposed that they re-live the adventure again this summer Catalina insisted that the invitation be extended to all interested parties and we instantly accepted the invite.

So this weekend I went on my first boat launch.

A boat launch works like this:

- First -

Drive your foreign car to northern Minnesota - park on the grass at a resort that charters boat launches. We were hosted by Fisher's Resort on the east side of Lake Mille Lacs. We had an awesome rented cabin as home base and set up a little tent city in the back.

Saab, Honda, Honda, Toyota

- Second - 

Enjoy the sunshine, beers, and BBQ until someone tells you to load the boat. Then, still take the beers with you. 

- Third -

Set your bobber and bait. I learned how to set bobber depth which was really exciting/a boring but necessary thing I never knew how to do before. I'm still not ready to stab a squirmy slimy leech through with a fishing hook yet so Calhoun does that for me.

- Fourth -

Hang your line and your beer over and wait. 

- Fifth -

Watch the guy next to you (your husband) catch a fish.

- Sixth -

Enjoy the sunset and the ride home, and hope that there's more personal success on the next boat launch.

Oh hello, fandom

I've been absent from the blog for a while. My absence is partially because I find that when I get behind on posts it becomes really hard for me to catch up, and it's also because I've just been busy!

For example, I have this great picture of my niece Blueberry, and have been trying to find ways to talk about how great it is to see her when I go to the Cities and how hard it is sometimes to be so far away and how happy and blessed I am to have such great family and friends who are supportive even though they are hundreds of miles away. It was going to be a good post, except I couldn't get the words together so I just stalled - which means you ultimately get the short version.

Blueberry, so wonderful!

I've also been meaning to write about my knitting. I finished my first pair of selbu mittens, from the book Selbuvotter: Biography of a Knitting Tradition. Besides the fact that they don't fit so well (they're really big and resemble pancakes, but they fit Calhoun well if he wears gloves inside of them) I am very proud of my project and really have wanted to share it with you! But I stalled - and you get the short version again.

Then, last Tuesday, something happened that changed my life. So, thanks to this new hobby of mine called 'reading' and the impending release of The Hunger Games, the first book of the series arrived in my mailbox last Tuesday, courtesy of Swan. I have this natural aversion to all things popular and cannot believe that kept me away from this series for so long. Snelling was 100% right, this is a great read! I'm sure that my obsession was fueled by the fact that the real life love of my life, blue eyes and all, was away for the week that it took me to finish the series (that's right, finished in 7 days and even still went to work during that time), but it was AWESOME. I cannot wait to see the movie and I am afraid I have entered fandom on this one...I'm already reading it again!

Swan mailed me her copy of the book, complete with fruit snacks to keep me going! Thank you!

So, I guess that's all good news right? I'm doing things? Seeing friends and family in the cities, finishing knitting projects and becoming obsessed with fictional characters thus keeping me away from the blog. Apparently I need to develop more hobbies that allow me to write while I hobby? Or not...

I hope this spring and great weather finds you well!

Our First Guests at The Lake

A few weeks ago, before the holidays, we had our first guests here at The Lake! They said that our house was brighter and more pleasant than we had described and we were so happy to have them!

Red and Swan came down specifically for a weekend of relaxation and hunting. Although Red was a Boy Scout and was an excellent shot at a target he had never actually been hunting. Calhoun has been out enough this season, and with enough frequency, that he was really looking forward to opportunities to host friends down here. So, they came down the weekend before Christmas to get in a few final hunts of the season.

It was really great to have friends down here. We cooked big breakfasts, took naps, spent the day in our sweatpants (Red and Swan are really good friends), had wonderful dinners and great time with them.

The boys - I guess they're men now? - hunted for two days. Calhoun was able to supply all the gear. A few winters ago, Calhoun and a collection of other friends journeyed to the DDS's home in Grand Rapids where they spent a few days ice fishing. When they came home Calhoun was enamored with the DDS's family's gear closet - reportedly a corner basement room filled with boots, snow-pants, vests, coats, shirts and all the blaze orange your heart could desire. Although he hasn't said so, I think it's Calhoun's desire to have such a collection of gear that he could have a dozen people out to hunt or fish and could dress all of them! Well, he's well on his way, and proved it when he and Red emerged from the basement both looking like real hunters.

They had a great time, they certainly came back smiling and exhausted. They even got one pheasant! Although I won't say who shot it :)

 Sogn, boots and a fire. Not bad.

In the end they headed back to the cities, as we knew they would. But it was great to host again and I can't wait to host some more!

October by the Numbers

It's been crazy.

celebrated 28 years young

attended 3 beautiful weddings

drove more than 1,200 miles between the old and new house

worked 9 days at the new job

became 1 of the newest members of the Minnesota State Bar

Up North Weekend

I've fallen behind in the writing and have many post ideas and pictures saved up and am not sure where to start! So, I'm starting with some material from a fabulous wedding up north a few weeks ago!

The D.D.S. and Catalina have been planning their wedding in Grand Rapids, MN for a long time and we've been gearing up for the weekend. Calhoun and I were especially excited because Calhoun loves Grand Rapids and the wedding was the weekend after the bar exam and was a little bit of a weekend away for us - not to mention we were really excited about celebration the marriage of the D.D.S. and Catalina!

The wedding was wonderful, it was on the lake and the weather was beautiful and everything was perfect. But the real story here (sorry D.D.S. and Catalina) was the decorations in the resort.

Because Calhoun and I have the fuel-efficient hatchback that supposedly had working air conditioning we were elected to drive up. So we packed the car with luggage, bikes and two friends, Hale and Menogyn. They were great sports about the hot car and, as always, were full of the necessary enthusiasm to keep the weekend going!

There's something very unique about going up to the north woods and the decorations that become standard decor out there. The moose and evergreen light and the canoe coat rack were fixtures of the cabin that reminded us exactly were we were!

But, just in case I really was to forget where I was for the weekend, about every five minutes Menogyn yelled out "Up North Weekend!!"

Love and Pizza in Wisconsin

I love my college friends and it's crazy to think that I have known a lot of these people since I was 18, that's almost ten years! We've shared a lot of experiences together, learned and celebrated together and we've done a lot of growing up.

Recently, a major part of our growing up has been marriage. Sometimes I can't believe I'm married and a lot of the time I look around at our friends and can't believe how many of them are married, or pretty darn close, as well.A few weeks ago the group of us got an email titled "A Top-Secret Proposition," inviting us to join Red and Swan for Pizza Night at A to Z Produce and Bakery in Stockholm, Wisconsin. Swan knew that she and Red were headed to Pizza Night to mark the one year anniversary of their last visit to the farm. What Swan didn't know was that Red was packing heat in the form of an engagement ring and had invited all of us to come for a rusprise and celebration.

It was one of the most wonderful nights I've had all summer. Calhoun and I picked up Cedar who just recently moved to Minnesota, packed up her and her green goddess pasta salad and drove out to Stockholm, WI. We rolled up into beautfiul rolling fields and precariously parked the hatchback on the side of a dirt road and walked to the farm.

I had previously heard and read about the pizza farm and knew that guests were asked to bring their own setup, including blankets, dishes and beverages. What I did not expect was to see that people had packed in complete dinner settings, complete with table, chairs, tableclothes and centerpeices! It was fabulous. The lawn was packed with people and wine and pizza! We looked around and finally laid eyes on the newly-engaged and got to celebrate on the spot!

We added our contributions to the table, poured wine and toured around the pizza farm. The location, atmosphere and community was beautiful. Pizza Night is gets its energy from the farm's beautiful wood fired pizza oven, and on a July night the wait can be longer than an hour and a half. I think it was well worth the wait.

Red had been in contact with the owners and shortly after we arrived wonderful pizzas came out of the brick oven, topped with homemade sausage and bacon, peppers, cheese, olives and a variety of other fresh and wonderful ingredients. I'm not sure what was better, the pizza or the friends and celebration. Either way, both lasted into the night and Cedar's pasta salad was delicious (I'm so happy she's in town so I can eat all the food she writes about on her blog).

Although this amazing night occurred in Wisconsin, we did transplant all of our Minnesota friend there for a great evening so I thought it was fitting for the blog!

It was a beautiful Tuesday night, complete with love and pizza in Wisconsin.

Minnesota Bachelorette Parties

The past two weekends have been filled with bachelorette fun!

Two weekends ago Coral was in town, finishing up some wedding plans for the October nuptials (October is the best month, just in case you didn't know) and she had her mother and grandmother along so we had a day of bridal festivities! Including a bridal shower and a true Minnesota style camping bachelorette party!

As Coral's matron of honor it I got to plan both events! The shower pretty much planned itself but the camping bachelorette took a little more though and preparation. I was a little doubtful when Coral said she wanted to camp, but after picking the camp sight everything else worked out easily and all the girls were so helpful! The weather was beautiful, the camp sight was perfect and the company was wonderful! We blasted through a healthy amount of beer and wine, s'mores and hot dogs over the camp fire. What a great party (if I do say so myself)!

camp sight 55

Then this past weekend was Catalina's bachelorette party, and I just got to go along for the ride on this one which was also awesome. Catalina's ladies rented a pontoon on Lake Minnetonka and we spend the afternoon soaking up the sun, making nice with a bachelor party and enjoying some quality time together.

Small Town Minneapolis

I love Minneapolis. I love it because it's a big city with big city attractions, but it's a place that is small town at heart.

On Friday Calhoun and I went to see Avenue Q at the Mixed Blood Theatre in Minneapolis. We planned to see it with a group of friends and when Calhoun and I arrived there we realized that we had another set of friend in the audience! It was great to sit with friends and watch the show, because it was hilarious and inappropriate and it was good to have lots of people around to share the humor with!

I thought our arrival at Mixed Blood felt a little small town. There is one small ticket window and no electronic record keeping for tickets. When we rushed into the theater, just a few seconds before the show started, the house was full with just a few hundred people in the seats. We were waived in by friends and enjoyed a great show!

After the show everyone headed over to the Kitty Cat Klub for some post-show libations, but we split off to meet the Cellos, who were coming into town to surprise Minnehaha's mom for her birthday.

When the the Cellos come into town it always feels like a small town homecoming. People make plans, get together and reminisce about the old times. I love the small town feel :)

A Great Thursday with Friends and Good Diction

Thursday was a great day. Sometimes great days happen by chance and sometimes they take a lot of planning. Thursday there was a little planning but a lot of chance that went into making it a great day.

I was at work all day on Thursday, and by chance had found out there were a few job openings that I wanted to apply for. So, I spent most of the day in my cube getting my writing sample and cover letters in order then went off to fax a few applications. The market is bad, and who knows what I'll hear back, but there is a great sense of accomplishment in knowing that I'm trying to get a job and hopefully, someone takes some time to review my application.

After work I picked up Uptown for a ladies night we've been planning for a long time. Uptown is the coupon/bargain shopping queen and had a two for one coupon to Dairy Queen, so we planned our night around DQ. We ended up eating at Rojo Mexican Grill which was fine, but the conversation was the key ingredient of the dinner. After dinner we went to DQ and had a few mini blizzards which were a great ending to a great night...or so I thought.

After dropping Uptown off at home I called Calhoun to find out about his plans for the night. I've been feeling bad about my long days away from home and encouraged Calhoun to go out with the boys, so he made plans to meet up with Minneopa and go to the Cause Spirits and Sound Bar. One of our mutual college friends, Red, was guest playing with another college friend's band, Good Diction. Britain is the lead singer, songwriter and guitar player. He recruited his wife for vocals and drums and a has another friend who plays great bass. Red and Britain have a long musical history together, singing in choir together throughout college and writing and performing a musical based on the life of Martin Luther. They are an amazing musical combination. It was great to see them play together on Thursday and I loved hearing Good Diction's witty and well put together music. Even though the show was pushed back because they were running late, and my ears are still ringing from the sheer volume of the acts that were before them, they were worth the wait, the cover fee and the late night.

In accordance with my hesitation to put pictures of people on my blog, I blurred this one. Artistic isn't it?

What a great Thursday.

3 Degrees - Feels Like Negative Twenty

We've had an incredibly busy and amazingly fun Christmas holiday. We headed up here to Calhoun's hometown on the 24th, spent a few days here then headed across the state to the North Shore to spend some quality time with great friends from college.

We left Sogn here with Caleb's parents so we had to come back here and get him before heading home. But the weather, as you good Minnesotans know, has been horrible. Since we've been traveling I don't know the details, but it has something to do with the moisture that's been making its way across the county and the low pressure area that's hanging around somewhere in the midwest. Long story short, we had a bad experience slipping on the icy road yesterday so we stayed the night in Grand Rapids then barely made it back to his parent's house today due to the bad weather. I wish I could describe this weather, but it's beyond anything I've ever seen. Calhoun says that if you're from this area you know it, but I've never actually been in white out conditions or seen snow snake across the highway looking like it will wrestle your car to the ground at any moment. I'm glad we're warm and safe, even if we are 260 miles from home.

So, despite our planning, we're spending New Year's Eve here, safe from the blizzard, winds and negative temperatures.

Happy New Year! See you in 2011!

"SORRY!"

I love my neighborhood. We're close to parks and the river and it's a straight shot to school. I also love it because many of our friends call this area home. I think part of the reason is that Calhoun and a bunch of his buddies lived in a house over here, so when it came time for them to all grow up and move out of the bachelor pad they knew the neighborhood and chose to stay here.

Saturday night, as the snow was slowing down, I got a call from Catalina. I figured she was stuck somewhere in the neighborhood and needed someone to come push her out of a snowbank, so I answered. And, to my great surprise, she wanted to know if they could come over and hang out. Apparently they were on their way to the Riverview Winebar and arrived to find it closed - and needed somewhere else to go as they were all suffering from cabin fever. I was a little hesitant, I had been in my sweatpants all day and my finals studying had exploded all over the kitchen table. I asked who she was with, she said she was with the D.D.S. and Boston, and Calhoun immediately extended the invite.

So, we put together a little display of fresh baked chocolate chip cookies, hard liquor and coca-cola to welcome our friends. They came in covered in snow and with some pictures from the walk that I've included here. Thank goodness for Catalina and her working camera!

This is not my car, but my car looked exactly like this before Calhoun dug it out of the snowbank.

Now, I'm a big believer in the board game "Sorry!". Calhoun and I play it a lot and I love it because it's a game, when between two people, that is of pure luck. Our win-lose ratio is basically 50-50. It doesn't create any arguments, especially because when you flip that "Sorry!" card, you have to sorry the other person!

When you play with a full board of four people though, it's a different story. Especially when a few of those people grew up playing with their brothers, and are jerks, and take you out just to take you out! It was not very Minnesota Nice, but it certainly was a lot of fun. I highly recommend all board games the next time you have a snow day!

Mountain Vespers

I met wonderful people in college. I met Calhoun in college and was welcomed into his community of friends with open hearts and open arms. Although I had known Minneopa through remotely related circles of friends, I really met and have come to know Minneopa through Calhoun.

After undergrad, Minneopa spent a few years here in the Cities with us but then moved away to pursue a graduate degree. Somewhere in the midst of earning that degree, he visited a place called Holden Village. I did not grow up in a Lutheran community but have learned that Holden is the thing of recent liberal art graduate dreams. Holden Village is a Lutheran faith community in Washington state - it is a place for learning, vocation, volunteerism, fellowship and music. It sounds kinda awesome. And it had a great impact on Minneopa and many of the people he met there and the people that he has met through those connections.

Minneopa has since moved back to the Cities, to continue his quest of the path of higher education and has brought many of the traditions of Holden Village with him.

Namely, as an incredibly gifted musician, Minneopa has been facilitating Vespers every Sunday night at his house, with his roommates - between the four of them I think they play about seven different instruments very well, including but not limited to the washboard. Tonight, they hosted a Friendsgiving and Mountain Vespers.

We have been invited for many weeks to attend, but as busy graduate students it is easy to create excuses not to leave the house on Sunday night. But tonight, because there was food involved, we went. And my soul sings.

I have found it challenging to find a faith community as a young adult. Calhoun and I have spent many Sunday mornings visiting churches, and have not yet been able to find a faith community that I love as much as the one I found when I was an undergraduate. But tonight, with guitars, mandolin, violin, and washboards in hand, I was amazed by the talent, generosity and strength of the community of people brought together by this little known Holden Village traditions.

I like to believe that much of the strength of this Holden Village tradition is also a Minnesota tradition and that is why, although I have never visited Holden, I rejoice in the traditions here. I have heard that Minnesota churches have strong musical traditions and are welcoming. I have met many people from Holden who come to Minnesota and are as happy as I am to find this community alive and well here, in a living room, in a neighborhood of Minnesota.

I guess this is getting a little off track, but Mountain Vespers was wonderful. Community is wonderful. Talented and generous friends are wonderful and it is wonderful when they come home, to Minnesota.

The Cellos

We spent our wedding anniversary weekend celebrating with great friends, Snelling and Minnehaha Cello, in Chicago. The Cellos are those kinds of friends who make you glad you spent way too much on a fancy liberal arts education - just to meet people like this.

Calhoun and Minnehaha have known each other since they were freshmen in college and lived in the same dorm. Even though I graduated with them I didn't actually meet Calhoun until we were juniors and didn't get to know the whole gang until we started dating as seniors. Although Snelling is a few years younger than we are, we started dating our men around the same time and have gotten to know each other more and more over the years.

After college Calhoun, Minnehaha, and a few others spent years sharing their homes and lives as everyone worked odd jobs and decided what to do with the rest of their lives. There were lots of VB House dinners, movies and wine nights. Some other ladies have come and gone since those first days after college, but Snelling and I have been around for a long time and I think that is makes for wonderful friendships between us and the Cellos.

The Cellos live in one of those super trendy downtown Chicago lofts, none of the walls go all the way up and the only doors are the main door into the apartment and the two bathroom doors. When we stay with them we stay in one room and across the hallway, through the open spaces, sleep the Cellos. Their furry cat, Dimitri, runs from room to room playing chew toy with our toes. I love staying with them and I love that we have the kind of relationship that doesn't flinch when we are sleeping across the room from each other. I love it even more when it means we can do our wedding traveling together, and share the cost of travel by staying in the same room.

But, we've come a long way from undergrad, and we've even come a long way from the years after undergrad. It has become strange to realize that we have been in this situation for more than 5 years - sharing rooms and spaces on overnights, walking around in our sweatpants and nursing our morning coffees together. I sometimes worry that eventually, we're all going to wake up and realize that we're too old to hang out with each other in our old college sweatshirts.

I'm sure that day will come eventually, in 60 years or so?

In the meantime I will look forward to all the weekends we will share with them, in our sweatpants.

Powdered Sugar Goodness

Went to church this morning. We have a neighborhood Lutheran church that we love and we've been going since we got married nine months ago. The music is wonderful and the preaching is very good - but our attendance has dropped a bit this summer. We went this morning with a friend who is church shopping and felt a little less guilty when we got there and realized that we aren't the only people who find it more difficult to get up and attend during the summer. Despite the smaller attendance - we were at the early service - I left feeling wonderful and refreshed.

And then we went to A Baker's Wife (4200 28th Ave, Minneapolis) for pastries.


I love this place. One of the reasons I love it because it's a very no-nonsense kind of establishment. There are a few tables outside on the sidewalk and about six chairs inside but it's mostly the kind of place where you go to pick up a half dozen pastries for $10 and then walk around the lake and enjoy the crispy, buttery, fruity, chocolate goodness. The line usually loops around once inside the shop, and in a very non-Minnesota way you find yourself yelling across people around you to place your order.

Another reason I love it is because selection and quality of the pastries is wonderful. The pastries are large, and there's not question that all parties benefit from sharing. They have a great combination of fruity and sweet pastries. This morning I had a blueberry cream cheese turnover and Calhoun had a chocolate croissant. Not to mention they have the best donuts in the cities...doughy deep fried frosting covered goodness. And, it's an old-school bakery that rewards the early riser, their legendary ham and cheese croissants were gone by the time we arrived about 10 am.

And, they have this cow statue outside. How could you not love this place?!

Then, to work off the blueberry cream cheese turnover I went on a ride with Uptown. She's training for a triathlon and totally kicked my butt, but it was fun to get out on the trails and see all kinds of people enjoying the Minnesota weather, just like we were!

That's What Friends Are For

My friend Uptown is not originally from Minnesota, but she's from Pennsylvania which I am coming to believe is a state that belongs on a top-ten list. She is a wonderful friend.

Tuesday afternoon Uptown and I, along with most of Minneapolis, headed to Lake Harriet to enjoy the sunshine and people watching. We brought Sogn along for out little picnic, which seemed like a good idea. Lots of people enjoy the beautiful Minnesota weather with their beautiful and well behaved dogs I was thrilled to finally be one of these people! But, as the weather gets warmer we have learned that Sogn still has an undercoat of puppy hair and gets very hot very easily. So, after walking about 10 blocks to the Lake, Sogn had had it. He was hot and water was nearby and my webbed-footed puppy had one goal: WATER. Finally, we came upon a section the lake that was water entry possible and so Uptown and I went down and let Sogn run into the water. But, he's getting bigger every day and has to go in deeper to get all the way cooled off. I was wearing shoes that were not water friendly and Uptown was sporting thong sandels. Uptown has been a great friend for a long time, but she stepped it up even more when she stepped into the water up to her calves so Sogn could wallow in the shallows. Uptown, raised in Pennsylvania, is a great friend.


Sogn got cooled down and we were able to continue on our walk and then our picnic. Overall, a great Lake Harriet outing.

Sogn, admiring the view

Lyndale Park Rose Garden

After weeks of planning, I was finally able to meet up with my friend Hale to take a walk around her new neighborhood. I'm glad the dreary weather is finally letting up, because we brought Sogn along and got to burn off some energy.

Hale lives in the East Harriet neighborhood, some of those houses are fa-A-ncy! She does not live in one of those fancy houses, but she does live in a cute apartment that makes me wish I had given South Minneapolis a chance when I was an apartment dweller.

Anyways, we strolled around the sights and made our way to the Lyndale Park Rose Garden. The roses aren't out yet, it's still to early for those perennials, but the tulips are beautiful right now, so if you're in the area I suggest you take a quick detour. Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures of the tulips because Sogn was being a bit of a puller.

However, the trees at the end of the empty rose garden are in full flower, and they are simply beautiful. I'm definitely no plant identifier, so I won't pretend. But here's a picture!