celebrating three

Today marks three years of marriage for my love and me.  These past three years have been the best of our lives.  They've been filled with so much joy, tears, challenges, and successes.  To celebrate these three years and the fact that our little family of two will soon become three, this past weekend we stole away into the north woods of Wisconsin.  We stayed in a tiny rustic cabin in the middle of the woods.  It was perfect for the two of us--quiet, quaint, and simple.  We loved it!  It was also only 30 minutes from Duluth (our honeymoon spot) and so we were able to spend the day there on Saturday enjoying our favorite places and sites.  It was a wonderful way to start this next year of marriage, a year which will be filled with new adventures, both big and small!!

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I love you, darling!  Happy anniversary!! 

adventures in new york

We just spent the past 4 days in New York City and it was perfectly wonderful.  Dan and I travel so well together and the time alone and away from real life was just what we needed before we enter the busy fall season.  We saw so much during our two full days there including Central Park, Times Square, Grand Central Station, the Empire State Building, Purl Soho (a wonderful little yarn and fabric shop!), the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island (from the ferry), Chinatown, Little Italy, Wall Street, and a show on Broadway!  We also ate a lot of delicious food and just enjoyed our time together.  It was truly a wonderful trip!  

hello from summerfest

Wow!  What a week it has been!!  I always think I'm going to have so much downtime in the mornings before we go in the music festival, but that just never seems to happen as I plan.  At Summerfest in Milwaukee, my husband Dan plays twice a day every day for the 11 day music festival!  It is quite a long two weeks, but such an overall great time.  We are blessed to stay in paradise with some friends at their lakehouse.  It's lovely to have quite mornings before the chaos of the afternoon hits.  Once on the Summerfest grounds we are busy playing music, selling CDs, and chatting with fans.  It's a full, but great time.  The only downside to this year's festival so far has been the weather.  The Summerfest grounds are right on Lake Michigan and it has been so chilly down there!  With high in the 60's and 70's and cold breezes off the cold lake it has hardly felt like the middle of summer--even for the midwest!  This weekend is looking a little warmer, though, and so I'm looking forward to that.  

One more full weekend here and then we'll be heading home to our little homestead...I must admit, I'm missing my garden, chickens, and especially my kitty buddy.  Oh, home, I miss you.

roadtrip adventures

This past Thursday afternoon, my Dad, little brother Riley, and I hit the road and headed to College Station, Texas.  As we started the drive, I couldn't help but think we were a little crazy--to and from Texas in 4 days??!?!  Well...we did it and it was quite the whirlwind!  We went down for a family wedding and had a wonderful time seeing so many members of our extended family, which is now spread across most of the middle of the country, including Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Kansas, Texas, and Arizona.  Getting everyone together is becoming much more difficult than it used to be when we were all kids and living in Minnesota, so when it does work out to see a bunch of the gang (and their growing families) it is so very worth it!  And being the frugal people we are...we drove to the occasion!  Two days of driving down, a day to enjoy everyone, and two days of driving back!  Yikes, does it feel good to be home!  

The wedding was beautiful and so much fun!  And the drive ended up being pretty good as well.  Bringing a bunch of our own food on the road made the drive down so much better.  There's nothing quite as great when driving for 10 hours to be able to make up a plate of homemade goodness...yum!  That along with several knitting projects, books, audiobooks, good tunes, and entertaining conversations made our 16 hour drives quite manageable.  On the way home my brother Tanner and his wife Lindsey caravanned with us and my grandparents joined us in the vehicle as well.  

Overall, it was a great trip and a great way to start the month of May!!

Happy May to all of you!

hello from phoenix

This week I've had the wonderful opportunity to spend time with my aunt, uncle, cousins, and grandparents in sunny Arizona!! It's been a very relaxing and enjoyable trip so far. Here are some pictures for your viewing pleasures and next week we'll return to the typical blog posting schedule...  

Happy Spring!!!