Let's play catch up

So I am so behind on everything it seems, but I'm attempting to get caught up this week. Here is a rundown of everything we've been up to besides funerals and what not!

~Winterfest was fun this year. I am in awe of all the new breweries that have popped up in MN even since last year. There was no way we could have gotten around to them all in one night, honestly. There are a couple of newer breweries we'd like to check out in person sometime. It is pretty awesome that there has just been this crazy beer boom here!

~Nate has delved into the world of making sausages and other meat products. We got the meat grinding attachment that goes with our Kitchen Aid mixer and not surprisingly, he has done a ton of research and is giving it a go. So far he has made bratwurst. They were not bad, there are some changes he'll be making for the next go round, but he's going to keep at it. He hopes to make his Grandpa's Russian Sausage recipe in his honor soon. He said in a way it's perfect, beer brewing is better in the summer, so now he'll do meats in the winter!

~Because of the meat making and the fact that we've been trying out various meat markets and trying to stock up on meat, we decided it was finally time to replace the freezer in our basement that totally tanked last winter. We visited our friends out at Steve's Appliances in Mounds View and managed to find a lovely upright freezer that will fit through the basement door. I cannot say enough awesome things about Steve's - they will haul away your old equipment at no extra cost, you just can't beat that! The new freezer will be arriving after work today, I'm excited.

~Also in the storage genre, we realized we won't likely be remodeling the kitchen quite yet because of some major work we'll be doing on the exterior of the house this spring, yet, we wanted to re-arrange, re-organize and kind of overhaul the kitchen a bit. We made a trip to Ikea yesterday and found a lovely cupboard/organizer that is helping us immensely! Now we have to relocate our library table, but I think we know what we're doing to make that work. It's the little things sometimes!

So, you take all of that and throw in Praise Project gigs, birthday gatherings for friends and other various family things and we've been pretty crazed lately. I'm really glad that we're taking time out just for the two of us tomorrow to celebrate Valentine's Day. It's not to say we haven't enjoyed some of the fun things as of late, but it is nice to spend time just the two of us as well!

I think that more or less catches us up! Hopefully things will continue to be a bit more "routine" for awhile now!