Hello!

So, I've been a little MIA for the summer. It was time for a break... enjoying the first summer I've really had to myself in about 6 years because my work life isn't nearly so seasonally hectic anymore. Hooray!

So, what has been going on? Well, we've spent some time on the lake.

I've been spending a lot of quality time with my Nook. Some favorites were The Help, the Hunger Games series, and The Front Porch Prophet.

We enjoyed the 4th of July Family Fun Fest!

I saw Bill Clinton speak at the commencement for the university I work at.

I puppy sat for some friends. Meet Tex. He's the smartest, sassiest dog I know. (OK, maybe he doesn't look very sassy here, but he totally is.)

And I went to our family reunion (it's every 3 years, and I've missed the last two - see above about having summer back...) And now I'm on the committee for planning the next one.

And we did some family four-wheeling...

To a bridge that my great-great grandpa built in 1910... (is that the right number of greats??)

And, I'm back - and I feel like I'm on top of the world.

I plan to get back to regular posting now. Hopefully there will be some fun stuff coming soon! This Saturday I'm attending a photography seminar to learn how to use my camera's features properly. Sunday I'm going to a fringe festive play written by a colleague of mine (Change Agent - check it out). More to come!

Oh, and speaking of photos, I linked up this week to Ma Nouvelle Mode's Summer Lovin' photo contest. :) Thanks to my college buddy Laura @ Life with Laura for sharing.

Hope you're Lovin' Summer, too!

p.s. if you want to receive an e-mail notification when I post, you can subscribe here. Subscribers are neat. And so are you. Coincidence?  :)

people watching

People watching is something I enjoy, a lot and I think most of us do. I was thinking about this today from a couple of different angles. First, there is the fun one - where you're in a crowd of people you don't know - like when I was at the State Fair the day that K.I.S.S. was performing and there people walking around in their K.I.S.S. t-shirts and their faces painted -- and even better, the people who were in full-out super fan K.I.S.S. costumes.

At the state fair, and many other large gatherings, you're bound to see lots of things - mullets, people with dogs in clothes, stylish people, not-so-stylish people, people holding hands, people fighting, people laughing, drunk people, tall people, short people, purple, blue, or rainbow hair ... and the list could go on forever.

I love going to these types of things with my friend Emily, because we can say what we're thinking without saying a word. We've known each other long enough and have been to enough stuff together that when we want to comment on something, we do it with our eyes. Because I saw it, and I know she saw it, and I know we're thinking the same thing. And vice versa. Sometimes our eyes say nice things (Oh that's cute or that guy is hot) and sometimes our eyes say things that are kind of judging (let's be honest).Yesterday at the St. Paul Craft-stravaganza was no exception.

But it's not always judging. This morning, for example, I was in church I saw an older woman who looked like she was crying. I wondered:

• Did something happen recently that triggered something? 
• Does she really love the song they're singing? (I did - it was one of my favorites.) 
• Maybe her grandchild was one of those three kids who just got confirmed up front? 

I saw the young man sitting next to her (presumably her grandson?) put his arm around her, and they looked at each other, and she smiled and wiped her eyes. I never found out the answers to any of my questions, but it was really endearing, nonetheless.

I once played a game with someone where we picked people out of a crowded bar and tried to figure out: what do they do? who is that with them? what's their personality? have they been married? do they have kids? It's all based on assumption - and not necessarily being petty or judgmental, but it was more about curiosity. Curiosity about something we wouldn't find the answers to - but fun in the process.

So, the other aspect of this I was thinking about was the more personal, long-term kind. Watching people we know over the years - what do we see, learn from, and know about them? A common example here would be parents. We watch them and -- whether we like it or not -- will likely eventually turn into them, at least to some extent. We learn work ethic, how to treat people (and how not to), about honesty (and dishonesty), political beliefs (or disbelief), faith (or not), and, again, the list goes on... Fortunately, I've been pretty darn lucky with pretty darn good parents to watch. But that's not the reason I bring this up - at least not for today.

Left: Lavaine 
Right: Me & my godparents (I'm the cute baby)
Thanks Amanda for letting me use these pictures!

We recently lost a wonderful member of our family - a father, grandfather, brother, son, cousin, and godfather (to me and, I believe, 11 lucky others). Although he was my mother's cousin, he and his wife are like another uncle and aunt to me - and their kids are my cousins. We spent a lot of time together when I was young, so I had a chance to watch - and here's what I saw (from both him and his wife): kindness, laughter, a contagious smile, love, affection, and faith. To those of you who know him, this comes as no surprise because I know you saw the same things - and maybe more than I'm not articulating well.

But, last week, I had a chance to hear what someone who I had never met saw and learned from Lavaine. It was a radio clip from a member of the family that owned his workplace; he sent condolences on behalf of the company and shared some memories of having him as a colleague and a mentor. This is a world I knew very little about, but it was so interesting to hear how he affected others outside of the family and the ridge. 

In the audio clip, he said things like: 

"I worked with him ever since I was like 10 years old... [list all of the various positions he held]. I had the fortunate to work under his supervision when I was in high school and college."


"He taught me the importance of customer service... communication, attention to detail, hard work, completion of a project (even if I didn't want to do it!)."

"He would always say we always make errors - everyone makes them - what you do is you admit it, you resolve it, you learn from it and you move on."

"I wouldn't be who I am today. He has done so much for me, for my family, for our business... etc."

First of all, how cool is it that they thought enough of him to do this radio spot about him? It's not something I've probably ever heard on the radio. Second, I find it really interesting to hear this side of things - something I was not at all familiar with - his relationship with and value to his colleagues. It definitely made me smile. :)

What about you? Any good people watching stories?

Ziggy zaggy, ziggy zaggy, hoi hoi hoi!

I'm a bit delinquent in my posts, but I wanted this one to be great - witty, well-written, and totally awesome to best represent the story.  Turns out that waiting didn't make it any more witty, well-written, or totally awesome -- but all I ask is that it's not boring. :)

So, last weekend, some of my awesome cousins -- Holly, Dianne, Colene, and Chelsey -- came to visit and I think I can speak for everyone (based on the emails I've gotten over the past few days from them) that we all had a blast! I was a little worried when, days before they got here, the rule was set: What happens in Maple Grove stays in Maple Grove.  If you've been here, it's not exactly Vegas... so what were they planning to do?!  Let's face it, though - my family enjoys a good party. And we're good at it. That being said, this is the for-public-consumption version of the story and we're stickin' to it.

Things started off tame enough.  We had lunch with Keith at Granite City, which is always good, and bloody mary's were had. And food, of course; I don't just feed my visitors bloody mary's. When we parted ways with Keith and he headed out of town and we headed to Minneapolis where I gave them the grand tour of all of the most interesting things in town - my office, the Guthrie, where the big ice skating rink is, and the deflated metrodome.  You know, big city livin'.  We went to the Midtown Global Market, which is place with a bunch of different kiosk-type shops with international foods, jewlery, clothes, and other goods from various countries around the world.  If you haven't been there, it's a great place to try something new for lunch and just look around.  Holly found some cool earrings, Chelsey found a cool ... well, I don't really know how to explain it... but it was cool, and in the local foods area, they even sell Spring Grove pop! The strawberry is good with ice cream, and the lemon sour is good with vodka, in case you were wondering. :)

After that, we drove did some more driving around, saw a few big houses/mansions, and made our way over to the sculpture garden. 

... Maybe this is a good time to break in and give you some context.  We were in Dianne's really awesome mini-van and I was driving. They were convinced that people were a) pointing, b) laughing, and c) giving strange looks to them on the way up to my place, in the van.  I wasn't sure about it, until someone pointed and laughed at us.  I told Dianne that, on the bright side, I'm driving and they all think it's my really cool van and that they are all stuck with me. haha!  It wasn't the first look, apparently, and it wasn't the last.  But we just laughed.  So, I think that means that they were laughing with us? or we were laughing with them?  It doesn't matter.  We were all laughing. ...

And now, back to the sculpture garden.  It's much cooler there in the summer because you can see the rest of the sculptures that were snow covered, but we just wanted to see the spoon & cherry.  We all got our picture by it, but I don't have a copy (hint, girls - please send copies of photos), but I do have this one with Chelsey!  And for what it's worth, my shadow is in it, also. And I think the other one is Holly.

We hit downtown for a little while after this and went to the big Target (2 levels) to get some coffee for the next morning and just to be there because Target is awesome.  And you can't be on Nicollet Mall while visiting here without without getting your picture taken by the Mary Tyler Moore statue. 

Can you find Chelsey?  It's like Where's Waldo? 

So, after GC for lunch, MGM for shopping, sculpture garden, target, and a visit with Mary (we're on a  first name basis now), we went to a restuarant I really like called Spill the Wine.  And this, I think, was the turning point from really fun to hilarious and awesome. And this is also where Kate joined in and it was great to see her!  We had appetizers, wine, a couple of us had dinner, a few of us had wine. I'm not pointing fingers. And we had conversation and laughs, and it was a good chance for us all to get to know each other a little better, too... outside of a standard holiday. 

Spill the Wine was fun, but it's not a party place.  It's a wine bar and it would be weird if someone got up to start dancing. So, we headed off to our next destination - Psycho Suzi's, which recently moved into a new location and I haven't been to the new site, yet.  But according to their website, they have 3 themed bars and a couple of my friends have told me how awesome it is there. 

Apparently it's really SUPER awesome because when we go in the vicinity there were cars everywhere and nowhere to park my awesome van. We drove around. And around. And then parked a few blocks away to call Kate -- we needed a new plan. 

So, we headed to the Gasthof - a German restuarant/bar that's pretty popular... you've probably heard of it or maybe you've been there.  When we walked in, the entire dining room was singing and it's a really fun atmosphere -- but we spent most of the time downstairs.

• Picture this: lots of young people (under 80) hanging out in the basement of a building to listen to (and often dance) to polka music.  On purpose. Having fun. And drinking.  And then the band plays AC/DC Shook me all night long - polka-style.     

As hard as the girls' tried to convince Kate to stay out all night, she did have to leave us after a while.  Kate: next time we'll have to arrange for you to stay... you missed some of the interesting stuff! ha.  I won't get into all the detail, but I will say that we had a few drinks, did a little dancin', and made some new friends... and decided that next time they come, we're skipping the rest and going straight to Gasthof for some hearty German food and to get our polka on -- maybe during Oktoberfest! 

I don't have many photos to share, because by this point the rule had kicked in - and was extended to to be What happens in the Minneapolis-area...  Don't worry, though - nothing illegal, and nothing highly inappropriate.  And maybe we just want to leave a little to the imagination. :)  So I'll leave you with this:

And then we went home and had pizza.

Thanks for coming, girls!  Until next time... ziggy zaggy, ziggy zaggy, hoi hoi hoi!

one, five, ten

Today has been one year since we lost Grandma D.  This year was also the one year anniversary of losing Grandma K., 5 years after losing Grandpa K., and 10 years after losing Grandpa D.  Big year.  I've been thinking about this and it brings a smile to remember the memories. Christmas eve's with G&G D.  Christmas days with G&G K.  Grandpa K helping the guys on the farm.  Grandpa D. with his video camera and the memoir he made.  Grandma D. with her funny poems and scrabble and cards.  Grandma K. making quilts for each of us. 

And I was lucky to have grandparents (all of them) who were so proud of me. Of us. All of us.  I started my first 'big girl' job when Grandpa K. was in the nursing home and he was so excited for me - he had me write my job title on a piece of paper that he kept in his drawer so that he could tell everyone what a great job I had gotten... and he did.  And while Grandpa D. was gone by that point, Grandma K. and Grandma D. always made a point to ask how my job and my life were going. 

I know several of you are thinking about Grandma D. today, too.  And I'm thinking about you.  We were blessed to have them in our lives and I am blessed to have you.  Feel free to share a memory here, if you'd like, of any of them.  :)

I posted these videos when I first started this blog in January, but thought it an appropriate time for a repost.

vacation & family

As some of you know, I went to Florida on vacation with my brothers and cousin Julie to visit our aunt Gail and uncle Duane - we left last Saturday and got back last night (Wednesday). It's funny because when you tell someone that you're going to (or just returned from) Florida, they give you this look of jealousy and get excited for you. I think they assume that you went to Miami, Orlando, Key West, or one of the other usual suspect vacation spots in Florida. But when you tell them you went to Tallahassee, a look of confusion overcomes the jealousy. Why Tallahassee? Because that's where our family is. And to be honest, I would take that over Disney any day.

An overview of the trip:

Saturday
Travel day from Minneapolis to Houston (where we met up with Julie) and then Houston to Jacksonville. We rented my cool mini-van there and drove to Tallahassee, stopping in Live Oak at Big Daddy's for dinner.

Sunday
We went to the beach house and enjoyed great food, drinks, views, and company. We took an intermission to our sitting around and visited St. Mark's lighthouse, saw some gators there, and then returned to the beach house where we continued to relax and had a great dinner there.

Monday
The boys swam a bit in the morning. We split up for the day and the boys did the antique car museum (which actually held a lot of other things - pianos, boat motors, motorcycles, etc...) and then they went out for wings/beer with Duane. Julie and I went shopping with Gail and we only made it through Bealls, which was great - but we then had to figure out how to pack for the way home. Gail made appointments for me and Julie to get massages, which was awesome.

Tuesday
Duane took the guys and Julie to Wakulla Springs to do a boat tour to see more gators and other wildlife. I stayed behind at the house and sat in the sun by the pool with a book and some coffee. One of my goals for the trip was to relax - so this was perfect. Gail could do her thing for a while and I did mine - and then we had some nice one-on-one time. That night, Russ did a test-run with Duane's new smoker and we had smoked pork chops that were awesome.

Wednesday
Another travel day. We left early in the morning and drove back to Jacksonville and then back to Minneapolis. It was cold when we got home and were all ready to go back to Florida weather.

What I Learned
Something I learned from Duane: y'all is singular; all y'all is plural. :)

That's the brief version and I'm happy to tell you more if you want more. All I can say is it was amazing - we all thought so. We all appreciated Gail and Duane letting us invade their home and their lives for a few days. We ate in for most meals (awesome food, including the best key lime pie I've ever had) and spent a lot of time just hanging out, relaxing, and having fun. We can't possibly thank them enough for their hospitality and generosity.

I've mentioned before that last year was a rough one for us. Among other things, it was the year we lost both of our grandmas. And it was the year we became grandparent-less. One of the things that I worried about (and still do sometimes) is that extended family came together for holidays and events so that our grandparents could see everyone... so what now? That was part of the reason this was important to me. And we've never been to Gail and Duane's to visit and it's something I've talked about and wanted to do for a long time. So, why Tallahassee? Because that's where our family is. And that's why I head to Caledonia regularly, and have visited Becky in Atlanta, and hope to go to Colorado again.

And without further adieu, here are the pictures:



More later on our flight stories... :)

traditions

The last time I sent an email blast out about updates, I asked if there was anything anyone wanted to see me try or write about that I haven't. I didn't get much response to that question, but did hear back from someone that they wanted to see more about what I've been up to, outside of the kitchen. I choose not to write much about work here, so you won't see a lot about that. Besides work, it sometimes seems there isn't much else that I do that is super interesting, but I'll try. :)

So, Laura, this one is for you...

We all have traditions in our family, friends, and/or work lives. Not surprisingly, one that first comes to mind for me is around the holidays - Christmas, specifically. Growing up, we spent each and every Christmas eve the same way. Everyone went to church, watched the kids in the family who were currently in Sunday School participate in the program, and then loaded up some gifts and went to Grandma & Grandpa D's. By everyone, I mean my immediate family, my grandparents, all the aunts and uncles on the D-side, and all of my cousins. The thing about traditions is that they eventually change, so when G&G moved out of the farm house, we started doing our Christmas eve tradition at my parents or an aunt and uncles home, but the people were the same. And then people get married, have children of their own, and other commitments are added, so the people then begin to change. More people, or less, depending on the situation. It's not just the people that have changed. We've gone from full dinner to doing appetizers, changed the way we do gifts, and have even occasionally added little contests - best dish (even with aunt Belva dressed as Rachael Ray) and ugliest Christmas sweater, etc...


And even though the original holders of this tradition - my grandparents - are no longer here to join us, the rest of us still do this. And hopefully will for years to come. It's OK that not everyone can always come each year, but there is still a great turnout each time. And I get to spend my holidays with the people I love.

The other thing about traditions is that they have to start somewhere. A few weeks ago, my friend Emily and I went out to dinner on a Sunday night because there was a need for a girls' night. The next Sunday, there was another need for a girls' night, so we did it again. At this point, we decided that a weekly get-together was in order and we're hoping that this is the beginning of a long-lasting tradition. For the two weeks that followed, Sunday didn't work out due to Labor Day plans and the Packers' game (her issue, not mine - for the record. *wink*) Instead, we simply moved it to Monday. This past Monday, we went to Granite City for dinner because I had a BOGO coupon that would soon be expiring. The bonus for us was that there was a Mug Club party happening that night because they had just tapped their Oktoberfest beer for the season. Being members of the Mug Club, this meant that we got a deal on Oktoberfest beer, free dinner, and a chance to win prizes! And although we didn't win the prizes, this was so much better than what we were expecting.


The photo above is Emily and me - and our Oktoberfest beers. Our newly-founded girls' night tradition has been a lot of fun and something that I missed dearly. When we were in college, Emily and I had a tradition of going to the Pioneer in Eau Claire every Tuesday after our APO meetings. And then we graduated, she moved to Florida and I moved to the Cities. A few years ago, she moved to the Cities, too - and we've now come full-circle back to a modified version of our weekly tradition.


And if you know us, or one of us, and would like to join some Sunday just let us know! It doesn't even have to be a girls' night. Just a friends' night. With food, beer, dessert, and most importantly laughter and support. See you Sunday, Em!

I'd like to hear about your favorite traditions - new or old, current or past. Feel free to share!

mmm... food!

Everyone has a favorite food. Or a number of them, depending on the category. Here are a few of mine:

• Mom's home cookin': chicken noodle soup with dumplings (the dumplings are key)
• Special restaurant outing: a great steak, medium
• Vegetable: green beans, though I like most
• Indian fare: chicken makhani
• Fruit: pineapple (cold, only. I won't eat it on pizza or in other warm foods)

I eat out quite a bit between work functions and travel, but nothing is better than home cooked food... especially if mom made it. Those of you who know my mom and have been lucky enough to eat her food know that she's one of the best cooks around. This morning, as is often the case when I plan to cook, I called mom to talk through it to make sure I won't mess it up! The good news is that, with that guidance, it turns out pretty well. And this morning, it was awesome -- apple panakuchen. I used mom's panakuchen recipe (without apples) and modified a bit after researching a bit on the internet... and definitely recommend trying it!

Apple Panakuchen

*glazed apples*
2 apples (I used one golden delicious and one granny smith)
1/2 stick butter
1/4 cup brown sugar

*panakuchen*
3 eggs
1 1/2 cups milk
3/4 cup flour
pinch of salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Pre-heat oven to 450 degrees. Melt the butter on low/medium heat on the stove top. I used a frying pan with a cover. Add brown sugar and stir until blended with the butter. Add apples and stir into the glaze. Cover, stirring frequently, until apples are tender. Pour the mixture into a deep pie dish (or an 8x8 pan would probably work).

Beat the panakuchen ingredients together in a bowl until well mixed and pour over the apple mixture. Bake for 30 minutes. Serve warm with powdered sugar and syrup.

Hope you like it! I don't always measure when I'm making things, so I estimated as best I could with the apple glaze part... so it's approximately accurate. The rest is correct for sure!

Thanks, Mom! Love you!

a lost art?

I just returned from a few days in Caledonia and was able to bring back with me a bunch of old letters and cards that my grandma kept through the years. I love her for keeping them so that I can sit here today and read them... old letters from family and friends in the military during the wars, from her mother, and -- my personal favorite -- from my grandpa to her... and from her to him. They sure were adorable to each other far before I was born. It makes me think that writing letters is truly a lost art.

What do I have that future generations can see? In an age of digital images, email, cell phones, and facebook, twitter, etc... my answer is 'not much.' What about you? Think about your last birthday. How many actual cards did you get in the mail? And then think about how many came in the form of some sort of technology -- email, text, and facebook wall posts. If you're like me, a couple of cards came in the mail, but a majority of what I have is not a permanent record that noone will ever see 40 or 50 years from now. By then, the technology will change and all of those messages will be long gone.

Don't get me wrong. I love getting a message in any format! And am completely guilty of doing pretty much everything in an e-format. But having the letters to read from the 1930's to the 1970's before I was born has made me think... should I do everything that way?

Case in point: I'm writing this on a blog to share with all of you as I sit in a room where 3 people are sitting at their computers doing various things. The convenience is great! But does this make it too easy where we very seldom will take the time to find a pen and a piece of paper to write a personal letter?

So, don't be surprised if you get a letter from me soon, via the good old USPS... and I would encourage you to try it, too. Now if only I can find that place that sells those funny little sticky things... I believe they are called stamps???

big day

Hello!

Yesterday was a big day. It was the first day of a new decade, the day I started this new blog page, and the day that I decided to try to make a video. As you may or may not know, we've been scanning a lot of family photos recently -- and I thought this might be a nice way to share some of them.

This one is called 'The Diersen's' - enjoy and happy new year!