And yet again I have been neglecting this blog. I want to work on changing that. I love my fashion blog and the community of friends I have found there, but sometimes I need to come back to my simple little blog here. I'm actually contemplating NaBloPoMo for November for this blog just because I miss writing, I think I need to get back into it more. Creative writing, day to day writing, just writing. My fashion blog is easy, if I don't have a witty story to share I just talk about my clothes that day. So, I feel like I'm losing my writing skills and I just don't want that to happen.
We've been having a very busy Fall - seems to be the norm though. I don't remember a Fall since we've been married that hasn't been full of stuff. Oktoberfest was amazing, I am again just bowled over by how blessed we are to have so many wonderful family and friends who come out to spend an evening with us. I am also so pleased to have so many different walks of people in the house at once who can put differences aside and mingle with one another. I think I have an exceptional appreciation right now because of what an ugly election year this has been - both sides are just really getting bad with the negativity, so I just appreciate that I could have a house full of people of different ages, religious backgrounds, political parties, etc, and all more or less co-exist with no problems.
But of course, the highlight of the evening was the beer - again I am beyond proud of Nate and the things he has done with this little hobby. The beer is just getting better and better and just gets more complex and interesting. I even had non-beer drinkers such as my mother walk away with at least one or two of our brews they could say they enjoyed. That's a pretty dang big deal.
We finished a pretty large project so far this Fall - we have re-stained and sealed our deck. A portion of it was done before the party and then Nate finished the rest this weekend. It's needed to be done every since my Dad and Nate rebuilt the deck, which was four years ago this last summer, so it was kind of overdue.
We've had the opportunity to do one more Living Social boat ride - this past Sunday in fact. We were extremely lucky to get to do it on what was probably the last nice evening of 2012. It was mild and there was a beautiful sunset as we cruised down the Mississippi. I highly recommend Living Social Adventures - we have yet to be disappointed by any of them. They've all been amazing, well organized and so much fun. I think I like them best because while I could come up with these ideas on my own for us to do, it's so much easier when someone else has done all the leg work and you just have to pay and show up!
So, we haven't had much down time as of late and that may need to change soon, but I think we'll figure that out. We always do find a balance somehow. I think we just love this time of year so much we cram in as much as we can. There will be a calm before the storm that is the holiday season - something I'm not even ready to start thinking about yet as much as I love them. Going to instead concentrate on soaking up these last glorious nice days of Fall while we can!
10/22/12
10/2/12
Countdown to Oktoberfest
Well then. Hello October. How did you get here so fast? I love you, but yet, I wish you weren't here already. It has hit me that I have things coming up crazy soon that I'm semi-ready for. I suppose semi-ready is better than not-ready-at-all! And in spite of that, I'm also excited.
Yes friends, Oktoberfest is less than two weeks away now. And it is true that in years past at this point I've been completely panicked, so at least we're not at that point. It's not as bad as the year the bar was being built and my living room was being painted and we got everything done literally days before the event. Nope, not that bad at all. But, true to form, we did take on some last minute projects this year too.
The deck was getting mildew and mossy again. We power washed it once after moving in and then replaced some of the wood when Nate and my dad re-did the stairs and entry of the deck. So there is new wood but there is old wood. The old wood is where the problem is. So since the weather has been nice and dry, this past weekend we decided to strip and wash the deck and hopefully seal/weatherproof it so it'll last much longer. We're about halfway through this process. If the sealing doesn't get done before the party, it won't matter, the wood will still look nice and new from the washing/stripping!
Beyond that everything else should all come together. All of the beer is done and happily sitting in their kegs. We've made the bar off limits to ourselves as tempting as it's been to sample some of our new brews! We want the majority of the beer for the party, if we run out that night, great, just means we have to brew more beer. Running out before the party would not be a good option!
Lots of cleaning to do between now and then - not that I don't ever clean my house, but for an event this big I do an UBER cleaning. You know, down to the wiping off of the floorboards and making sure all the cobwebs are gone from corners and even cleaning windowpanes and fun stuff like that. I know, I'm a little obsessive compulsive but it makes me feel better, especially when we have such an old house, the little touches I can do to make it look better make me feel good.
So, like I said, we're semi to most of the way ready. In other words, for now, Bethie is calm. I hope that continues. Maybe don't ask me if I still feel this way at this time next week. ;)
Yes friends, Oktoberfest is less than two weeks away now. And it is true that in years past at this point I've been completely panicked, so at least we're not at that point. It's not as bad as the year the bar was being built and my living room was being painted and we got everything done literally days before the event. Nope, not that bad at all. But, true to form, we did take on some last minute projects this year too.
The deck was getting mildew and mossy again. We power washed it once after moving in and then replaced some of the wood when Nate and my dad re-did the stairs and entry of the deck. So there is new wood but there is old wood. The old wood is where the problem is. So since the weather has been nice and dry, this past weekend we decided to strip and wash the deck and hopefully seal/weatherproof it so it'll last much longer. We're about halfway through this process. If the sealing doesn't get done before the party, it won't matter, the wood will still look nice and new from the washing/stripping!
Beyond that everything else should all come together. All of the beer is done and happily sitting in their kegs. We've made the bar off limits to ourselves as tempting as it's been to sample some of our new brews! We want the majority of the beer for the party, if we run out that night, great, just means we have to brew more beer. Running out before the party would not be a good option!
Lots of cleaning to do between now and then - not that I don't ever clean my house, but for an event this big I do an UBER cleaning. You know, down to the wiping off of the floorboards and making sure all the cobwebs are gone from corners and even cleaning windowpanes and fun stuff like that. I know, I'm a little obsessive compulsive but it makes me feel better, especially when we have such an old house, the little touches I can do to make it look better make me feel good.
So, like I said, we're semi to most of the way ready. In other words, for now, Bethie is calm. I hope that continues. Maybe don't ask me if I still feel this way at this time next week. ;)
9/18/12
Fabulous Fall
I am loving Fall so far. I know I lamented in a post a little while ago that I was mourning the end of summer - but I'm past that period now. It helps that we've been filling our Fall with fun activities and I've still been in this relaxed, day at a time pace of life.
It's funny - I always say Fall is my favorite season (and my apologies to my allergy suffering friends who cannot stand this season) but the last several years found Fall not being terribly kind to me. To the point that last year I was ready to say "screw this, I don't have a favorite season." It just seemed we'd get hit with less than pleasant things in the Fall - deaths in the family, Nate losing his job, the dark days we went through last year, etc. And it's early yet - in fact true "Autumn" doesn't start until this Saturday - but so far, it's looking promising.
I'm glad Mother Nature turned off the furnace at long last. It's been amazing sleeping weather - I love burrowing under blankets when there is a chill in the air.
Nate and I did another Living Social event this past Friday - a beer/boat cruise on Lake Minnetonka. The weather could not have been better. It wasn't too cold, but just enough that a light jacket felt nice. It was absolutely beautiful out there. The sun gently set over us as we cruised the lake for two hours. We enjoyed delicious appetizer and four small pours from a new brewery in town - Excelsior Brewing Company. We ended up sitting with some older folks - who were absolutely delightful. We have actually found that to be the unique thing at these Living Social events - we're forced to step out of our comfort zone and chat with people we don't know. We've had some great conversations with some of these folks. No, we haven't necessarily become lifelong friends and will likely never see each other again, but still. Friday was no exception, one of the older folks sitting with us was in town from Seattle visiting his brother and sister-in-law and man did this gentleman have stories! He talked a great deal about boating in South America and it sounded so beautiful! I could have listened to him for hours.
After the boat ride, the taproom was open at Excelsior so we stopped there as well. Nate wrote about this a bit more in his latest Pants Monkey Brewing post over here, so I won't say much more other than I am falling in love with all these taprooms opening up in the Twin Cities. I think my favorite is still Indeed Brewing in Northeast, but I've enjoyed all of the ones we've gotten to so far.
Sunday morning it was warmer and we decided to have brunch out at a patio. So we headed down to Eli's in Northeast. I had turkducken eggs benedict. You heard me right. It was FABULOUS. I couldn't eat the whole thing though, it was also crazy rich.
So that was just this past weekend alone, but I have to say, I haven't had a bad weekend so to speak since before Itasca! Not that any weekend is ever horrible, but yeah. And looking ahead there is more greatness to come - less than a month to Oktoberfest! And there are other fun dates on the calendar involving beer and friends and good times.
Maybe I'm going to jinx everything by saying this Fall rocks. So I will just say that for TODAY, I love Fall.
It's funny - I always say Fall is my favorite season (and my apologies to my allergy suffering friends who cannot stand this season) but the last several years found Fall not being terribly kind to me. To the point that last year I was ready to say "screw this, I don't have a favorite season." It just seemed we'd get hit with less than pleasant things in the Fall - deaths in the family, Nate losing his job, the dark days we went through last year, etc. And it's early yet - in fact true "Autumn" doesn't start until this Saturday - but so far, it's looking promising.
I'm glad Mother Nature turned off the furnace at long last. It's been amazing sleeping weather - I love burrowing under blankets when there is a chill in the air.
Nate and I did another Living Social event this past Friday - a beer/boat cruise on Lake Minnetonka. The weather could not have been better. It wasn't too cold, but just enough that a light jacket felt nice. It was absolutely beautiful out there. The sun gently set over us as we cruised the lake for two hours. We enjoyed delicious appetizer and four small pours from a new brewery in town - Excelsior Brewing Company. We ended up sitting with some older folks - who were absolutely delightful. We have actually found that to be the unique thing at these Living Social events - we're forced to step out of our comfort zone and chat with people we don't know. We've had some great conversations with some of these folks. No, we haven't necessarily become lifelong friends and will likely never see each other again, but still. Friday was no exception, one of the older folks sitting with us was in town from Seattle visiting his brother and sister-in-law and man did this gentleman have stories! He talked a great deal about boating in South America and it sounded so beautiful! I could have listened to him for hours.
After the boat ride, the taproom was open at Excelsior so we stopped there as well. Nate wrote about this a bit more in his latest Pants Monkey Brewing post over here, so I won't say much more other than I am falling in love with all these taprooms opening up in the Twin Cities. I think my favorite is still Indeed Brewing in Northeast, but I've enjoyed all of the ones we've gotten to so far.
Sunday morning it was warmer and we decided to have brunch out at a patio. So we headed down to Eli's in Northeast. I had turkducken eggs benedict. You heard me right. It was FABULOUS. I couldn't eat the whole thing though, it was also crazy rich.
So that was just this past weekend alone, but I have to say, I haven't had a bad weekend so to speak since before Itasca! Not that any weekend is ever horrible, but yeah. And looking ahead there is more greatness to come - less than a month to Oktoberfest! And there are other fun dates on the calendar involving beer and friends and good times.
Maybe I'm going to jinx everything by saying this Fall rocks. So I will just say that for TODAY, I love Fall.
9/10/12
What We Watch 2012
I decided to update our list of what we watch since some of our shows are starting back up this week!
Copied from last year:
Sunday - Breaking Bad (AMC, season finale up soon),Hung (HBO) - cancelled, Dexter (Showtime)
Monday - How I Met Your Mother (CBS), Two Broke Girls (CBS),House (Fox) series ended, Bored to Death (HBO) cancelled, The Walking Dead (AMC) I think it's on Monday anyway.
Tuesday - Glee (Fox) moving to Thursday, Parenthood (NBC), New Girl (Fox)
Wednesday - Up All Night (NBC) moved to Thursday, Psych (USA), Happy Endings (ABC)
Thursday - Community (NBC) moved to Friday, The Big Bang Theory (CBS), It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia (FX)
Friday -Chuck (NBC) series ended
So it looks like we're down a few shows - but we are still making our way through the Sopranos and Monk, and also Modern Family and Parks and Recreation, which are both going to have new episodes soon but we'll just be wayyyy behind. We'll be also watching Shameless and Portlandia when they are back in January. At any rate, I don't think we'll be bored! We cram so much into our weekends sometimes it's nice to kick back during the week with mindless TV! I haven't done any research on new shows coming out yet to say if we'll be adding to our list or not though!
And as always I'll post the question of, what do you watch?
Copied from last year:
Sunday - Breaking Bad (AMC, season finale up soon),
Monday - How I Met Your Mother (CBS), Two Broke Girls (CBS),
Tuesday - Glee (Fox) moving to Thursday, Parenthood (NBC), New Girl (Fox)
Wednesday - Up All Night (NBC) moved to Thursday, Psych (USA), Happy Endings (ABC)
Thursday - Community (NBC) moved to Friday, The Big Bang Theory (CBS), It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia (FX)
Friday -
So it looks like we're down a few shows - but we are still making our way through the Sopranos and Monk, and also Modern Family and Parks and Recreation, which are both going to have new episodes soon but we'll just be wayyyy behind. We'll be also watching Shameless and Portlandia when they are back in January. At any rate, I don't think we'll be bored! We cram so much into our weekends sometimes it's nice to kick back during the week with mindless TV! I haven't done any research on new shows coming out yet to say if we'll be adding to our list or not though!
And as always I'll post the question of, what do you watch?
9/4/12
Summer love affair
So. I guess summer is more or less over. How did that happen so quickly? Yes, the weather is still warm and yes there will still be time for outdoor activities and what not - but you can feel the change in the air already. The days are already a tad shorter. Kids are back in school this week, which has changed morning traffic patterns. There are even leaves already on the ground. Apples are in season. Halloween stuff is starting to make an appearance in stores. Fall is definitely on our doorstep.
And now you're all probably scratching your heads going, why is Beth waxing all nostalgic here, I thought she loved Fall? I do still absolutely love Fall, it is still my most favorite season. But we had a really terrific summer that makes it almost feel a little melancholy to move on.
It's funny, I am not the summer girl. But somehow, even with the extreme heat, I embraced the summer this year and somehow we sort of fell in love. I set out with low expectations - and maybe that is why things went so well. When I look at all the things we were able to do, I'm amazed.
Golfing....patio nights with beer....grilling a ton of food....beach days....picnics....Surly Brewery tour....celebrating some birthdays with people who mean a lot to us....dinners with outdoor seating....chasing rainbows....visiting Itasca....brewing beer....singing at weddings....Leinenkugel brewery tour and River tubing....seeing friends from out of town we don't get to see very often....jewelry parties....the State Fair....
I loved every single minute. I would be even so bold to say it was one of the best summers we have had in several years. So, even though I'm more than ready for Autumn and to move on, I can't help but be a little sad to say goodbye to Summer 2012. But, you can't stop the passing of time, so instead I will just say "thank you summer 2012. Thanks for being awesome." And on we go.
And now you're all probably scratching your heads going, why is Beth waxing all nostalgic here, I thought she loved Fall? I do still absolutely love Fall, it is still my most favorite season. But we had a really terrific summer that makes it almost feel a little melancholy to move on.
It's funny, I am not the summer girl. But somehow, even with the extreme heat, I embraced the summer this year and somehow we sort of fell in love. I set out with low expectations - and maybe that is why things went so well. When I look at all the things we were able to do, I'm amazed.
Golfing....patio nights with beer....grilling a ton of food....beach days....picnics....Surly Brewery tour....celebrating some birthdays with people who mean a lot to us....dinners with outdoor seating....chasing rainbows....visiting Itasca....brewing beer....singing at weddings....Leinenkugel brewery tour and River tubing....seeing friends from out of town we don't get to see very often....jewelry parties....the State Fair....
I loved every single minute. I would be even so bold to say it was one of the best summers we have had in several years. So, even though I'm more than ready for Autumn and to move on, I can't help but be a little sad to say goodbye to Summer 2012. But, you can't stop the passing of time, so instead I will just say "thank you summer 2012. Thanks for being awesome." And on we go.
8/29/12
Reflecting
Been rather contemplative these last few days.
A year ago at about this time, we were getting into a not so great place. We were struggling. There's no skirting around it, it's true. Nate was having a really hard time at work, not sleeping, not dealing with stress very well at all. It was scary, I know I wrote a lot about this last year about this time - that I just felt like he wasn't there for a bit.
I had my own struggles and coming to terms with things as I approached the big 3-0. I kept saying it was no big deal and I was accepting it as it got closer, but it was a struggle. I wasn't 100 percent myself.
Flash forward a year back to the present day. You don't want to jinx it by saying it out loud, but I also feel like I don't want to just hide it either - we're both in a good place. It took some time to get there, but we're really doing well. I'm especially proud of Nate - work has improved for him so that helped a ton, but he also worked hard on figuring out ways to manage his stress and I think he had to work through some things for himself as well. Now he's in a good place, he's healthy and happy. I can't ask for much more than that.
I came through the other side too - I too am in a really good place now. I think I have changed a bit. Not necessarily in a bad way. I feel less intense, less overly future-minded, more overall peaceful. Yes, She Reads Truth helped me with that a great deal, but also walking the road we walked over the last year has led me to this place as well. I gained some wisdom.
I always believe things happen for a reason, so as much as it sucked at the time, I figure we had to go through what we did last year for some reason. I learned things as I went. It's similar to other times we've been in that boat - when Nate was out of work, when I dealt with leaving Immaculate - these were tough challenges we had to deal with and somehow we still came through it stronger and better for it. And the same can be said for our bump in the road last year. That is how I choose to look back on it - a bump. There may be other bumps ahead, I'm not so naive to believe it's always going to be smooth sailing - but having made it over another one, I have even more strength and courage if another one presents itself.
For now, I don't borrow trouble, I love where we are and where we are going. I rejoice in it. I'm smiling a lot. And I take each day as it comes. Most of all, I'm incredibly thankful and blessed. I'll take it.
A year ago at about this time, we were getting into a not so great place. We were struggling. There's no skirting around it, it's true. Nate was having a really hard time at work, not sleeping, not dealing with stress very well at all. It was scary, I know I wrote a lot about this last year about this time - that I just felt like he wasn't there for a bit.
I had my own struggles and coming to terms with things as I approached the big 3-0. I kept saying it was no big deal and I was accepting it as it got closer, but it was a struggle. I wasn't 100 percent myself.
Flash forward a year back to the present day. You don't want to jinx it by saying it out loud, but I also feel like I don't want to just hide it either - we're both in a good place. It took some time to get there, but we're really doing well. I'm especially proud of Nate - work has improved for him so that helped a ton, but he also worked hard on figuring out ways to manage his stress and I think he had to work through some things for himself as well. Now he's in a good place, he's healthy and happy. I can't ask for much more than that.
I came through the other side too - I too am in a really good place now. I think I have changed a bit. Not necessarily in a bad way. I feel less intense, less overly future-minded, more overall peaceful. Yes, She Reads Truth helped me with that a great deal, but also walking the road we walked over the last year has led me to this place as well. I gained some wisdom.
I always believe things happen for a reason, so as much as it sucked at the time, I figure we had to go through what we did last year for some reason. I learned things as I went. It's similar to other times we've been in that boat - when Nate was out of work, when I dealt with leaving Immaculate - these were tough challenges we had to deal with and somehow we still came through it stronger and better for it. And the same can be said for our bump in the road last year. That is how I choose to look back on it - a bump. There may be other bumps ahead, I'm not so naive to believe it's always going to be smooth sailing - but having made it over another one, I have even more strength and courage if another one presents itself.
For now, I don't borrow trouble, I love where we are and where we are going. I rejoice in it. I'm smiling a lot. And I take each day as it comes. Most of all, I'm incredibly thankful and blessed. I'll take it.
8/20/12
Back to the ole grind
SO hard to come back from a week's vacation. It helps that we made it a short week this week though - Friday we're off again to go to the Fair.
Here are some highlights from Itasca - it was awesome. To quote Nate's cousin Tyler "This vacation is off the charts!" We are planning to hopefully go back next year if Nate's aunt Annie is able to get the Clubhouse booked. Fingers crossed.
The rest of the week was good too - we did a little shopping for Nate who has lost a bunch of weight (on purpose in a healthy way) and needed clothes that actually fit. Friday we brewed the last of our beers for Oktoberfest - a raspberry wheat. It should be delicious, real live raspberries went into this one. Saturday we got to go on Living Social Adventure that we had purchased - a tour of the Leinenkugel brewery and tubing down the Chippewa River. We were nervous going in because neither of us had ever gone tubing before and we also didn't know anyone, but it ended up being a lot of fun. It was a little chilly when you first got in the river but the sun warmed us up quite a bit. I would love to do it again sometime. Sunday we had church and then recovered from everything else!
I have to say, I have really loved this summer. I really hope the good times continue into this fall. Based at things I'm already seeing on the calendar, I think that is a high probability!
Here are some highlights from Itasca - it was awesome. To quote Nate's cousin Tyler "This vacation is off the charts!" We are planning to hopefully go back next year if Nate's aunt Annie is able to get the Clubhouse booked. Fingers crossed.
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| Our table at the Rapid River Logging Camp enjoying dinner |
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| Me on the bridge to the Clubhouse |
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| The Clubhouse |
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| Headwaters |
I have to say, I have really loved this summer. I really hope the good times continue into this fall. Based at things I'm already seeing on the calendar, I think that is a high probability!
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