Mi Vida Ocupada: My Busy Life!

A Wonderful White Winter Wedding....

Last week my dear friend Noemy married Traves, the Love of her Life and I was appointed official wedding photographer.  My sweet SIL Michelle gave me a quick tutorial and let me borrow her "old" camera, a Canon DSLR to take photos and for a first-timer, they turned out pretty good!  I have been waiting all week to post some of the beautiful photos of the wedding party but wanted to make sure Noemy saw them first.   As of last night the bride has finally seen her photos, so I am now able to share them with you!

 

 

 

Congrats Noemy and Traves! 

Tuesday's Top 10: Favorite 80's Fashion

Today's Top 10 gives us another chance to look at the wonderful 80's.  This list is my favorite fashionable items of the 80's.  This does not mean I would wear any of it today, no matter how popular this stuff is again!  But here is proof that I was as awesome as it gets in the 80's!

1. Jelly Shoes & Jelly Bracelets

2. Plastic charm bracelets

3. NEON

4. Big HAIR (permed of course!)

5. Reebok high tops in every color

6. Big hair ribbons

7. Pinned or rolled jeans

8. Tights (textured, colored, you name it!)

9. Big, Bright Funky Patterns

10.Banana Clips

11. Puff-painted and jeweled t-shirts and sweatshirts

12. Leg warmers

13. Acid washed denim

14.  Anything with Scottie dogs

15. Esprit Bags

I am sure I forgot many fashionable items on this list...... what was your favorite 80's fashion??

Home for the Holidays

Last Sunday I went to a holiday party at my aunt Carol's house.  Her daughter Andrea (my cousin) graduated from college this past year and moved to Tucson, AZ to work as an RN at University Medical Center.  Andrea will be in AZ working over the Holidays but was only able to come back to MN for a short time last weekend, so her mom hosted a party with some family and a few friends.

 

Me, Michelle, Aunt Carol, my mom.  Boo that this photo is blurry!! I hate it when that happens :( 

 

My nieces were parked at this chocolate fountain 98% of the time.  Bianca ate about a million mini marshmallows!

Annika was more into the chocolate :)  (photo courtesy of Carol)

My aunt's house was festively decorated

 

Carol has a huge santa collection, here are just a few (I took a photo of some of her  Santa's a few years ago when I was staying with the kids)

Gotta love the Elvis ornament!

It was nice to see Andrea for a short while and always nice to spend time with family :)

Friday Randomness

I have a lot to catch up on in the bloggy-world so I thought I would do a random post 

One. Oh Happy Friday! This week seemed to take forever.  Looking forward to my upcoming break which starts next Wednesday.  Wish it was the full two weeks like most other years, but 8 days off is still a blessing.

Two. Noemy and Traves found a place to have their wedding tomorrow! Yay! And Oprah's Angels had nothing to do with it.  I will taking a million photos..... sure wish I had a DSLR camera with some awesome lenses to capture the day.

Three.  Speaking of photography, I have majorly stunk at taking photos this month and it might be a Christmas miracle if I can finish Photo Hunt #5 by the end of the month!

Four.  My SIL Michelle was featured in the local paper for her Photography business.  We are all so proud of her accomplishments!

Five.  I have most of my Christmas shopping done.  Online shopping is awesome!!

Six.  I have been dining out a lot frequently and have at least six restaurant reviews to write for Twin Cities Restaurant Blog

Seven.  I feel like I am always working.  My day job as a Gifted Education Specialist at two schools requires a lot of time plus I was hired as a consultant for testing at a 3rd school.  I also teach an after school program two days a week and have been working on web design for a client as well. (No wonder why I am behind on blogging!?)

Eight.  The web design project I am working on has been a great learning experience with CSS and HTML.  Its a cycle of extreme frustration and then great satisfaction when I conquer each new thing

Nine.  We got our first significant snow fall in MN last week.  The icy roads caused a lot of problems for many people and I ended up getting slammed into from behind while I was stopped at a stop light.  I felt only a little sore at first but the muscles in my back have really been sore ever since.  Lovely.

Ten. I will be back as soon as I can with photos from the past few weeks (once I actually have a chance to upload and view!)

Have a great weekend everyone!

A Desperate Plea to Oprah's Angels.....

On behalf of some very dear friends who are planning to get married this Saturday, I am desperately needing help that maybe only Oprah could offer......

Meet Noemy and Traves.

 

Noemy and Traves met and fell in love through mutual friends in the spring of 2008.  In the past year, Traves followed his calling and joined the military and has been away ever since.  The two of them have maintained a very strong relationship throughout Traves's training and this past October the two of them got engaged.  Traves requested a  personal leave to come home for the Holidays so they set the date for December 19th, 2009.  3 days from now.

The past 8 weeks that Noemy and Traves have been engaged have been a whirlwind of excitement for my dear girlfriend, with all of the wedding plans coming into place in such a short amount of time.  I have never seen Noemy happier in her life than in these recent weeks leading up to the wedding, which is supposed to take place this Saturday. 

Then a bomb was dropped.

The hall that Noemy is supposed to get married at has been double booked.  She received a call today that she no longer has a place to get married.

She is devastated beyond words! Traves will be home on Thursday 12/17 until the 1st of January and then they will not be able to see each other again until April.  There are many people trying to work their magic to find Noemy and Traves a place to get married with just 3 days notice, but so far it has not been successful.

Where oh where can Traves and Noemy get married and have room for a party of 200 guests???!!!!

Oprah, please help!!

PS  I understand you do a million great things for so many and that many people have needs greater than that of my request but you would make my friends so happy :)

Calling all Bacon Lovers ~ Bacon Novelties

Do you love Bacon?  Mmm, I do!  And as I was looking for something tonight I came across some fun bacon stuff and thought I'd make a post out of it.....

Did you know you could sign up for a Bacon of the Month Club at The Pig Next Door?  They boast bacon made from "America's finest bacon artisans".  Starting at $99 for 6 months (aka 6 lbs) of bacon

If you would like some bacon-flavor without the actual bacon, try some Baconnaise

 

Bacon Salt

 

Chocolate Covered Bacon  Two of the tastiest, unhealthiest items you could ever pair....I bet it is wonderful!

Bacon Lollipop

Now all the yumminess aside, have you ever cut yourself? You could have your very own  Bacon Bandages!

 

Or you could be really fashionable with this Bacon Wallet

Bacon T-Shirt

 Now who wants some bacon!?

Tuesday's Top 10: Favorite 80's Movies

I know I am slightly dating myself with this post, but I was a child of the 80's.  What a wonderful decade to grow up! Here is my list of Favorite Movies of the 80's

1.  Karate Kid

2. The Goonies

3. Ghostbusters

4. Sixteen Candles

5. E.T.

6. Indiana Jones

7. Purple Rain (totally inappropriate at age 8 but what can I say? Prince has always been my man)

8. Adventures in Babysitting

9. Willy Wonka

10. Star Wars

ETA at 6:21pm: There are a few more 80's movies I had to add since this morning when I first posted this

11.  Dirty Dancing

12. Stand by Me

13.  Back to the Future

14.  Ferris Bueller's Day Off (How did I forget this??!! It was almost my #1 Fave)

What were your favorite movies from the 80's?? Go ahead and make your own list and post it on your blog!

Sunday Night Check-In

I meant to use this weekend to catch up on my blogging, but here we are late Sunday night and I just didn't get to it.  I have been very busy working and will be back soon with updates.  In the mean time I will leave you with a beautiful sunrise I caught one day last week on my way to work.

Thoughts for Thursday: Amazon Kindle and Electronic Reading Devices

I have made it no secret over the years that I am an avid reader.  I love to read and I have been a bookworm my entire life, you can see the long list of books I have read in the past few years in my sidebar or even see some of my book talks here. I love BOOKS, I have hundreds of them and yes, they do take up a lot of space.  Despite all of that, I don't think I could ever replace my beloved printed books with a digital reading device such as Amazon Kindle or Sony eBook or  Papyrus or any of the other devices currently out there.

I can see how these reading devices are convenient, especially if you travel a lot, but I would genuinely miss the action of turning the pages, the smell of a book.  I know it might seem weird but some of my best memories as a kid are of reading Little Golden Books and the smell they had.  There are so many wonderful picture books out for kids now that I cannot even think about how these devices would be used with children.  All I know is that it would be a travesty if picture books ever disappeared.

What do you think about electronic reading devices? Do you have one or would you like one? Or are you a traditional printed-book-person like me? Do you think these devices will increase in popularity in time and eventually put printed books out of business or will man-kind return to the simple things liking reading real books after this craze has ended?

Other TFTs this week:

Kim on Inadequacy

Photo Hunt #5 ~ Details & Sign-Up

 Photo Hunt #5 went up today at Photo Hunt Challenges however the site has been down all day due to an issue with the server.  I had planned to post the details here anyway but I have also included the Mr Linky sign up and all the details until the Photo Hunt Challenges site is back up and running.. 

Here is the list:

1. 1. Holiday Lights
2. 2. Holiday Spirit
3. 3. A Holiday Treat
4. 4. An Ornament
5. 5. A Gift-Wrapped Package
6. 6. A Window Display
7. 7. A Winter/Holiday Icon
8. 8. A Tree
9. 9. A Tradition
10. 10.Something that says Noel
11. 11. Something Precious
12. 12. Something Peaceful
13. 13. Something Hot
14. 14. Something Cold
15. 15. Something Red
16. 16. Something Green
17. 17. Motion blur
18. 18. Black & White Photo (with selective coloring)
19. 19. Any photo using an Infrared Photography Technique (in-camera OR post-process)
20. 20. A Macro Shot

It is preferred that you take your photos between today (December 1st) and December 31st.  If for some reason you are stuck on the 31st without a few of the items on your list, then you can use a maximum of two photos from your archives, as long as they were taken less than one year ago.  You ARE allowed (and encouraged!) to use Photoshop or other photo-editing software as you’d like (it often adds to the artistic quality of the photo).

It is up to you whether you post your photos on your blog as you go, or wait until  December 31st to unveil them and make it a surprise.  One thing I ask is that everyone who participates posts all 20 photos in one single post on their blogs or in a set in an online gallery on December 31st/January 1st.

A new post will go up at photohuntchallenges.com on January 1st. I will be using the Mr. Linky auto-link widget.  Anyone who completes Photo Hunt #5 will need to add their name & the URL permalink of where their Photo Hunt photos are posted.  Everyone who adds their name to the auto-link will have their photos considered for my Favorites.   After I go through all of the participants’ entries, I will post my favorite photos for each of the 2o items on the list in a separate blog post with a poll for each.  Please note that I will not include archived photos in my favorites (it hardly seems fair!)  Anyone who votes is encouraged to vote based on their favorite photo, not just for a particular photographer. Voting is also open to anyone and everyone. The polls are open for exactly one month from the time I create them and I create each post as time allows throughout the month.  After all polls are closed I will compile the photos of all the winners and will display them here on the photohuntchallenges.com blog.

If you would like to participate, please sign-up by adding your name and blog url to the Mr. Linky widget below.  This exact widget will run on both this site and photo hunt challenges, so no need to sign up twice when the other site is back up and running.  If you would like to recruit others for the photohuntchallenges.com Photo Hunt or announce your participation, please feel free to post the above badge on your blogs and remember to link back to this post.

Tueday's Top 10: My Christmas List

I know I have been a good girl this year, but I don't know if Santa can afford the list I have put together!

1. Camera
2. Flat screen TV
3. A tropical vacation
4. A new car
5. Jewelry
6. A new backpack/computer bag
7. Clothes and shoes
8. Scarfs, gloves, socks, slippers, boots
9. Purse & wallet
10. Gift certificates to restaurants

What are you hoping to get for Christmas this year? Go ahead and make your own Top 10 and post it on your blog!

Pre-Thanksgiving Family Dinner

Last weekend my family got together for dinner at my parents' house since we would not all be together on Thanksgiving this year.  We had a grilled ham, roasted red potatoes with butter, dill and parmesan (my favorite), salad and dinner rolls, with pumpkin cheesecake made by Michelle for dessert.  My dad let me borrow his camera again for

Here is a pic of Michelle, Amanda and me.  I always wanted sisters and they're the closet thing I'll ever get :) We will all really miss Amanda when she moves out of state around Christmas.  Her job is putting her on a new assignment for the next two years.  I hope that time goes fast.

 

Bennett and Bianca both got their hair cut earlier that day and were looking pretty cute trying on Grandma's mardi gras beads

 

 

That's all I got!

A Much Needed New Look....

I wish it was ME I was talking about, but I was actually talking about this blog.  Don't ya hate it when the site of your own blog starts to disgust you to the point where you can't blog again until you do something about the ugliness? I am a freak like that.  So my current excuse for not blogging all week was my ugly blog.  I am not dead-set on this new scheme either, but at least it is something different to look at for the time being.  This also reminds me that I desperately need a new profile pic

 

Now that my blog is looking a little cuter, I will be back soon with updates from the past week....

Tuesday's Top 10: Thanksgiving Day

This week's edition of Tuesday's Top 10 is looking at my Favorite Things about Thanksgiving Day.

1. Celebrating with Family

2. Green Bean Casserole

3. Apple Pie

4. Pumpkin Pie (and pecan pie too!)

5. Turkey

6. Stuffing

7. Mashed Potatoes & Gravy

8. Football

9. Traditional walk-around-the-block after dinner

10.  Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade (okay, its been years since I watched it, but it was a favorite as a kid)

Vote for your Favorite Photos ~ Photo Hunt #4

I know I mentioned it before, but it is VOTING TIME over at Photo Hunt Challenges.  All of the categories from Ph#4 have a special post with all my favorite photos from that category and a poll to vote for your favorite.  Click on any of the links below to see them :) This voting is open to anyone, the more the merrier.  I just request that you vote for your favorite photo rather than for a particular person.

*PS- I have spent a lot of time working on the Photo Challenges Blog and would love for you to head over there to check out the changes I have made even if you don't feel like voting (but why wouldn't you love to look at pretty pictures?!)

Favorite ~ Fall Activity

Favorites ~  A Fall Treat

Favorites ~  A Harvest

Favorites ~ Leaves

Favorites ~ Fall Colors

Favorites ~ Something Orange

Favorites ~ Something Spooky

Favorites ~ A Cemetery

Favorites ~ A Costume

Favorites ~ A Black & White Photo

Favorites ~ A Critter

Favorites ~  Symmetry

Favorites ~ Contrast

Favorites ~ Texture

Favorites ~ A Logo/ Mascot

Favorites ~ Something Neon

Favorites ~ Something Inspiring

Favorites ~ Something Entertaining

Favorites ~ Something Fast

Favorites ~ Something Slow

The Cutest Giveaway at Michelle Sauer Photography

Isn't this little dress just adorable? It is made by Kristin at Poppy & Peony

 

Michelle Sauer Photography is doing a giveaway of this dress.  The dress is made to order and comes in sizes 1T-6.  If you like it, then head over to Michelle's Photography Blog for details.  Winning is as simple as

1. Leave a comment for Michelle on her photography blog. Tell her what you are thankful for this Holiday season.
2. If you have a blog, write a post telling your readers about my contest and be sure to leave a link to Kristin's etsy store.
3. Go over here and become a fan of Poppy and Peony

For each of these things you do, you will be entered 1 time, so that's up to 3 chances of winning!

High School Questionnaire

1. Did you date someone from your school? A few, but also a few who had already graduated and then one who went to another HS

2. What kind of car did you drive? My parents' 1989 Ford Taurus Wagon (until a drunk driver hit me and the car was totaled)

3. What was the most embarrassing moment of HS? I have many moments from Jr High but can't really recall anything embarrassing happening to me in HS

4. Were you a party animal? I went to a lot of parties, wouldn't say I was a party animal - not until I was legal, anyway ;)

5. Were you considered a flirt? More than likely!

6. Were you in band, orchestra, or choir? No Music in HS for me!

7. Were you a nerd? As far as taking advanced classes and being smart yes.  I doubt anyone would've considered me a nerd though, I was pretty cool ;

8. Were you on any varsity teams? JV soccer

9. Did you get suspended/expelled? No, absolutely not!

10. Can you still sing the fight song?  Yes

11. Who were your favorite teachers?  Drawing a huge blank.  Isn't that sad? Probably my speech teacher but I can't remember his name or even what he looked like :(

12. Where did you sit during lunch? Depends on the year, but I remember South Campus, Jr year the best sitting with Jeanine & Kelly

13. School mascot? Bears

14. Did you go to homecoming, and with who? Craig-Freshmen Year  Dayan- Senior Year. I had boyfriends in soph & Jr year but didn't go to the Homecoming dance.  I should find my old dance pictures, then scan & post!!

15. If you could go back and do it again, would you? No way, not HS.  College yes

16. What do you remember most about graduation? I was never more nervous in my life.  I also had stayed up all night long the previous night and had zero sleep.

17. Where did you go senior skip day? Valley Fair

18. Were you in any clubs? I started a SADD chapter at my school just after I was hit by the drunk driver.  I was President.

19. Have you gained some weight since then? Sadly, I am about 35-40 lbs heavier now

20. Who was your prom date? I was dumped by my BF two days before Jr Prom and instead ended up going with a friend's older brother, Ken.  Senior year I went with my boyfriend Otho

21. Are you planning on going to your 10 year reunion? Nope, didn't go to 10 year because I was at Matt & Colleen's wedding.  My 15 year is next summer, probably go to that.

22. Looking back, what advice would you give yourself?  Continue to stay focused on school and look into careers other than special education

TFT: Drinking Soda

It has been about 2 years now since I stopped drinking soda.  Prior to that I was drinking approx two regular caffeine-free sodas a day, but only drank them with meals (usually Sprite or root beer).  After I stopped drinking soda I miraculously started losing weight, it seemed there was a definite connection between drinking soda and weight for me.  I have a sensitivity to aspartame so drinking diet isn't an option.  Every once in awhile I will drink a  soda if it is purchased as part of a combo meal, but I do not miss it and drink water 98% of the time.

I know a ton of people out there drink a lot of soda every day, so now I would like to ask my readers:

Do you drink soda? Which are your favorites? Diet or regular? How many do you drink a day?  Do you drink it just to drink it or only with meals? If you do not drink soda, what is the reason?

Other TFT's this week:

Robyn on Pet Peeves

NicoleR on If Blood is thicker than Water

Anne on Playing with your Kids

Nic B on Kids playing with Toy Guns

Jenny on Thanksgiving Plans

Tuesday's Top 10: Favorite Foods

Alrighty, here we go with another installment of Tuesday's Top 10.   This week I will list my favorite foods.  This is super hard for me because I love food so much, it is hard to narrow down just 10 (as it is with all my Top 10 lists!). lol.  These are not in any particular order

1. Tacos

2. Sushi

3. Calzones 

4. Steak (ribeye, T bone or fillet)

5. Ice Cream

6. Chicken Pita with Spicy Feta

7. Beef Hot Dogs

8. Reuben Sandwich

9. Sesame Chicken

10. Buffalo Wings

11. Thai Green Curry with chicken & vegetables

I knew I wouldn't be able to stop at 10! I could go on and on with all the foods I like!

What are your favorite foods?

Happy Birthday Sony!

Today is my bff Sonja's birthday and even though I know she doesn't read my blog very often ( no computer, no internet) I wanted to wish her a very happy birthday.  A few of us ended up going out last Friday for all-you-can-eat sushi/Japanese to celebrate.

 

 

 

I hope you have a great birthday Sonja!

PS Thanks to Lanee for bringing the camera :)

PPS Happy Birthday to Dana too!

All I want for Christmas is........

A CAMERA!!!!!!

It's been over three months now that I have been without a camera.  After months of researching, I am pretty sure that I have decided the Nikon D5000 is the camera I want to buy. This will be my first-ever SLR camera, my first-ever Nikon.

 

Does anyone else have this beauty? Any thoughts on Nikon Vs Canon? I have been a longtime Canon user and I am seriously considering this big switch...... (Hopefully I can save enough money to buy it sometime next year)

I am curious to know what camera everyone else uses around here, so please enlighten me by sharing in the comments.  Thanks!

Favorites from Photo Hunt #4

The Photo Hunt Challenges that I started last April are still going strong.  In fact, October 2009 was Photo Hunt #4 already.  Many of you are already familiar with the Photo Hunt Challenges and some of you have even participated in some of them. (PH#1=April PH#2=June PH#3=August and PH#4=October).  Every month following a challenge I go through all the participant's entries and choose my favorite photos.  Then I create a separate post on photohuntchallenges.com for each item on the list and post all of my favorites in that post with a poll for people to vote for their favorites.  It has been a lot of fun to see all the cool photography that the participants come up with and how they interpret the category, there is such a variety!  I would love it if all of you would go take a look at check out some of the Favorites I have up so far for PH#4, like Fall Colors, Something Spooky, A Fall Treat, etc.  The voting is for anyone, I just recommend that you vote for your favorite photo rather than for a specific person.

TFT: Getting Gray

I am going to assume for a minute that all the readers of this blog are adults, 21+.  After making that assumption, can I also assume that most of you readers have experienced at least one gray hair so far in your lifetime?? If you haven't, well then lucky you. 

I think I was around age 23-24 when I got my first gray hair.  Not too surprising since teaching special ed level 4 LD/EBD at the Jr. high level can do that to ya! Luckily I was able to move on from special ed to gifted ed early in my career and didn't notice any more gray hairs for years.  But then earlier this year I turned 32.  I don't know what has happened since this last birthday, but the grays started coming much faster and since it has been over a year since I have had my hair colored, it is much more noticeable now.  Grays are way more noticeable on dark hair than light.  I always thought I was too vain to let it go natural but I can't afford to go to the  salon and have it colored regularly and I am fearful of do-it-yourself-from-the-box dye. Something must be done soon, however, before the kids at school start calling me grandma! lol

I guess my questions for you today are:  What age were you when you spotted your first gray? How about your partner? Do you color your hair to cover the gray or do you embrace the gray in a natural way? Do you think there is a double standard for gray on men vs. women?

Other TFT's this week:

Ang on how much time you surf at work

Birthday Brunch for My Mamacita......

This past Sunday the whole family met up at Running Aces Harness Park for brunch to help my mom celebrate her birthday.  Here it is 3 days later and I am still full from all the food I ate! Just kidding, but I really was full for at least 24 hrs afterward!

It was a semi-nice November day, nice enough for Jeffrey to show up in his flip-flops.  I have many photos of Jeff "posing" like this one, someday soon I will have to devote a post strictly to these photos ;)

 

A few photos from brunch:

 

 

 

 

These are the last photos I took before returning my dad's camera back to him.  (so sad to be without again)

Glad you had a nice birthday mom and I hope you're having fun in AZ!

Tuesday's Top 10: Travel Destinations

Did you know that I got a passport nearly 3 years ago and I have yet to use it?! Oh well, at least I have one and can be ready to go in an instant if I ever score a trip abroad ;)

Anyway, this week's Top 10 on Tuesday are my future travel destinations.  Because someday I WILL go to these places (and many others, these are just my Top 10!).

1. Costa Rica

2.  Barcelona, Spain

3. Japan

4. Rio de Janiero, Brazil

5. Hawaii

6. Netherlands

7. Italy (and Greece!)

8. Australia

9. Alaska

10. Thailand

If any of you have ever been to these places, I am seriously jealous!

Mother Nature's November Warm-Up

This past Saturday was one of the most beautiful fall days we could ask for in MN! The sun and 65' temp were a welcome sight after the cold, rainy month of October that we had.  I had wanted to get out and plant my tulips in the perfect weather but decided to go on a hike and get some exercise instead.  It was a beautiful day out at Tamarack! Ahhh, to see blue skies and the sun again makes me happy :)

 

 

 

Now that the sun is setting so early, we were able to catch it as it started to sink into the horizon.  Thought it looked really cool as it set behind this water tower, causing a cool silhouette.

This warm up might be brief but it is welcome anyway :)

Timberwolves Game.....

A few weeks ago I blogged about how the MN Timberwolves organization remodeled our school library.  They also gave us several hundred free tickets so that students and their families could go see the Timberwolves play.  I was lucky enough to have my boss give me a handful of tickets to the game as well, so a group of friends and I went down to the Target Center on Friday night to see our young team play some ball vs. Milwaukee Bucks.

 

The game was kind of boring and we ended up losing, but it was still nice to be able to go to the game! My friends and I had fun :)

 

Snoop Dogg with Method Man & Redman at Epic Nightclub

Wanna know what I did last night?

Well, first I worked 12 hours.  But who cares about that!?

I got to see Method Man, Redman and Snoop Dogg at Epic Nightclub!! 

It took some deliberating about whether to go or not since the tickets were kinda spendy, I had worked a ton that day already and I also haven't been feeling good for the past few weeks.  You know me though.... rarely do I  pass up a good time or a good concert.  So glad we decided to go! Since Myth Nightclub recently closed it's doors, Epic is hosting many concerts now instead.  The club is very cool with all of it's remodeling, much better than when it was The Quest. 

I brought my dad's camera along and tried to get a few photos but none of the ones I used without a flash turned out very well.  These guys move around too much to get a clear shot, especially Redman! Here are a few of Meth and Red....

Hmmm, I wonder what Method Man is doing here!!!!?

This is the best shot I got of Redman

This shot is blurry but kinda cool; they were spraying water from a  water bottle

 

I was playing with my settings a little and thought this shot was kinda cool too

 

Meth & Red rocked! It wasn't the best show of theirs that I have seen but it was still a lot of fun.  After a short intermission the BIG DOGG himself came out to rock the house.

Snoop Dee-Oh-Double-Gee

 

 

I have never seen a public blaze fest like I did at this show.  Wow!

 

Unfortunately my memory card is only 2 gb and the camera is 14.7 megapixels.  Every time I tried to take a video my card would fill up and then I had to start deleting.  This was the only video I ended up getting and keeping...... Snoop with Lady of Rage

Snoop Dogg with Lady of Rage at Epic Nightclub 11-5-09 from kristi s on Vimeo.

Tuesday's Top 10: Concerts

In an effort to blog more, today I have put together a list of the Top 10 concerts I have been to (and ya'll know I have been to MANY over the years).  It was hard to decide but I chose the shows that were a combo of awesome stage presence,  emotional impact and just plain FUN!

1. Santana at Hard Rock in Vegas 12-31-99 (most memorable way I can think of to ring in the new millenium!)

2. Prince (can't pinpoint which has been my favorite, I've been to too many!)

3. Tom Petty (amazing)

4. Roger Waters (WOW! If only I had been old enough to see Pink Floyd back in the day)

5.  The Police Reunion Tour (kick ass)

6. Queensryche (many of their shows rocked my socks off)

7. Cynic (I am so happy they got back together and that I got to witness it. I love love love the album Traced in Air)

8. Pantera (RIP Dimebag Darrell)

9. Steve Vai & Joe Satriani (best guitar players in the world!)

10. Snoop Dogg (*this might've been the most fun at a concert I ever had!)

11. Sevendust (One of my all-time favorite bands, I almost forgot to add them to my list!)

A Super-Hero Halloween

Almost every year our friends Matt & Colleen throw a big costume party for Halloween.  Last year was the first time they made it a "themed" costume party, with "Musicians" being the theme.  This year the theme was Super Heroes.  Since I am not the type to prance around in my tights and underwear, this was a really hard one for me.  I ended up going as "Spider woman" or some sort of variation.  I had a sexy black dress and a transparent cape with spider webs all over it.  I sewed little fake spiders onto the cape and had my bestie Denise crimp my hair.  It looked pretty cute but I didn't get any good pictures.  Here is me with Heather (Mystique) and Colleen (Wonder Woman)

Since Colleen went as Wonder Woman, her husband Matt went as her Invisible Jet.  Time for a plane ride!

 

My bff Sonja (aka Little Red Riding Hood) decided to come at the last-minute, it was nice to have her there too!

 

I was too busy having fun to take pictures, but here are a few:

 

 

 

 

 

 It was a lot of fun, thanks Matt & Colleen!

Photo Hunt Challenge #4 ~ My Results

All of the participant entries for Photo Hunt #4 can be found HERE at the Photo Hunt Challenges website.  Since I am the hostess of the challenges, I get to pick all of my favorites from each participant's entry and then the photos will all be posted in separate posts throughout the month of November according to each item on the list.   Everyone is encouraged to look at the photos for each category and then vote for their favorite.  It is so fun to see how everyone interprets the list of items. 

Here is my entry for Photo Hunt #4.  Thanks for looking :)

1. A Fall Activity~ Cooking Soup

2.  A Fall Treat ~ Chili Cheese Dogs

3.  A Harvest

4. Leaves

5. Fall Colors

 
6.  Something Orange

7. Something Spooky ~ A couple of ghosts

8. A Cemetery

  9.  A Costume

10. A Black & White Photo ~ Split Rock Lighthouse

11. A Critter ~ A lizard (found during a kids' scavenger hunt at local nature center)

 
12. Symmetry ~ Pattern in my rug (lame I know, I hope to switch out ASAP)

13. Contrast ~ Sedum plant

14. Texture

15. A Logo/ Mascot ~ Crunch from the MN Timberwolves

16. Something Neon

17. Something Inspiring ~ Local church

18. Something Entertaining ~ Shows at Varsity Theater

19. Something Fast ~ Waves at Lake Superior on a windy day

20. Something Slow ~ Activity in the Harbor

Happy Halloween!

Hope you all have a safe and fun Halloween night!

 

MN Timberwolves Library Dedication

This past Monday was a very special day at one of the schools I teach at.  Last spring our school was selected by the Timberwolves' Fastbreak Foundation to receive a library makeover.  Over the past few weeks several members of the Timberwolves office staff spent hours and hours at our school, painting the library and putting together the new shelving and then re-stocking the library books on the shelves.   The walls are the blue, green and white of the Timberwolves plus we got giant wall decals with the current Timberwolves players.  Everything looks amazing!

Monday was the big celebration, with the Timberwolves people (along with school district administration) coming out to help us celebrate.  A couple of the Timberwolves players were supposed to be there also but were running late from that morning's practice.  They finally showed up after it was over and signed a few autographs.  The organization has promised to bring the players back when they can come, but with the start of a brand-new season, it may be awhile before that happens, we'll see.

 

 

Crunch, the Timberwolves mascot was also along for the fun and even helped act out the book that was read aloud, The True Story of the Three Little Pigs. It was great!! 

 

After the celebration Crunch insisted he have his picture with me. Too bad I was in the middle of saying something when this photo was taken, I look like a big dorkis.

 

If you'd like to read the Timberwolves article about the project, read here.

Thank you Minnesota Timberwolves!!!!

The Sweetest Kiss.....

My niece Bianca kissing Grandpa, taken at Jeff's house last Sunday.

 

So cute, I had to share!

The Legend of Pork Fussili

Legend has it that once upon a time a guy traveled to California where he had the most amazing, unique meal called Pork Fussili.  It was unlike anything he had had before, a fusion of Asian, Latino and Italian tastes.  The meal was so good that he could not stop thinking about it, but since California was too far to travel when his cravings would strike, he attempted to recreate the dish he remembered.  This took nearly a  hundred attempts but finally he was able to recreate the delicious pork fussili he remembered trying in California.

Lucky for me this guy somehow met my brother Jeff and cooked him this delicious Pork Fussili.  Recognizing a genius dish once he tried it, Jeff pleaded and begged with this guy to share his secret recipe for pork fussili.  The guy did so, but only on the condition that he would steal Jeff's 1st born child if Jeff ever shared the secret. (I made that part up but it had a nice effect, eh?)

After getting the recipe for pork fussili and making it himself for the first time, Jeff bragged to all of our family about this awesome dish and promised us he would make it for us sometime when he was in town (very rare these days!).  The day finally arrived this past Sunday, so we all went to Jeff's for dinner.

The pork fussili was indeed AMAZING! While I fear for the life of my family or any future nieces and nephews, I dare not share the recipe with you, but I will tell you some of the ingredients and tell you how it all works.  Preparing this dish is something it takes an entire day to do.

You must cook a pork shoulder until it is tender enough to pull.

You must make a habanero pesto, using cilantro instead of basil

 

You must boil a combo of ingredients (including pineapple juice, soy sauce, garlic, ginger, etc) to make a tasty sauce.

Boil thick, curly fussili noodles.

Start an assembly line of all prepared ingredients.  In individual bowls put noodles, ladle of sauce, dollop of sour cream, dollop of habanero pesto and top with shredded pork.

Mix ingredients together in your bowl and SHIZZZZAMMMMM, you have Pork Fussili.

 

It is spicy and unlike anything you have ever had before!! Fabulous.

Thanks for making this for us, Jeff! Can't wait to have it again :)

ETA: I just noticed my brother Brian also blogged about our Pork Fussili dinner!

The Day it DIDN'T Rain.....

I've mentioned before that the weather around where I live has been really crummy this season.  It seems like it has been either rainy or just dreary every day for the past month.  We actually had a semi-decent day this Saturday with temps around 50' and no rain so  I took advantage of the nicer weather and went on a short walk at Tamarack.  The colors are past peak but some of them still looked pretty.  You can see some of my Tamarack photos here.

 

Mr Sun, Sun, Mr. Golden Sun........

Please Shine Down on Me!!!

Farvapalooza.....

A few weeks ago the Minnesota Vikings played the Green Bay Packers on Monday Night Football. This rivalry has always been a BFD, but never more so than now, with ex-packer star Brett Favre playing quarterback for the Vikes!!

In honor of this big game, my brother Jeff decided  to a throw a football party termed "Farvapalooza".  (He loves to name his parties...remember Porkapalooza from last summer?) What a hit both the game and party were! Jeff made 28 lbs of pork shoulder, which he smoked and then pulled to make sandwiches.  Great stuff!  There were around 30 people at the party and every last bite of the pork disappeared before the end of the evening!

One of the coolest new things that Jeff has bought this past summer (and this boy loves toys and gadgets!) is an outdoor movie theater.  Giant Blow-up screen, hi-def mounted projector (removable) and mounted outdoor speakers!  This photo was taken before it got dark out, so you can't see the images on the screen as clearly, but you can see the giant screen itself.

 

Here is a better view of the screen when it started to get dark out.  Gotta love how the broadcasters always use Madden Football game to do their pre-game predictions, etc!

My dad and his brother Joe also showed up for the football party

You like my new purple hat? I got it in Duluth on my trip to the North Shore, thought it would be good to wear on Viking game days!

 

And apparently this hat makes me look younger because a few of Jeff's friends (pictured below) mistakenly thought I was Jeff's YOUNGER sister!! That made me feel great because I am actually 4 years older than Jeff! They are now my new best friends! lol.  I thought they were so cute, she is a Vikings fan and he is a Packers fan.  They wore their respective jerseys and also brought along their Vikings/Packers reversible blanket!!

 

Jeff was jealous of my cool new hat and decided to steal it from me for a minute.... (notice he is wearing Twins gear instead of Vikings??!! The following day was the Twins best game of the year!)  Another classic Jeff pose.....

Jeff's parties are always a good time and the best news is that the Vikings beat the snot out of the Packers to bring them 4-0 and we have won the past two games since.

Vikings are now 6-0 baby!!!

Thoughts for Thursday: Skinny Jeans on Guys

You want to know what I think about skinny jeans on guys???

FUUUUGGGGLLLLYYYY!!!

GUYS!! Please, I beg you......... DO NOT, I repeat DO NOT WEAR SKINNY JEANS.  Not even if your life depended on it!!  I seriously don't get why they are fashionable.  They are sooooo unflattering.  They shrink the length of your leg, make your butt look gross and they're just plain repulsive to look at.

Why?

Please tell me I am not alone!  Ladies, I know you don't let your men out of the house wearing these hideous pants.....

Random, Schmandom

It has been ages since I have done a bullet-style random post, but I have a lot of little things on my mind to blog about, so I might as well go for it!

• This school year has been beyond busy and stressful.  I am teaching way too many things to way too many groups of kids.  There just isn't enough time to plan it all effectively (but I am doing my best!)

• I had last Thursday and Friday off due to MN state teacher conferences (MEA).  The weather was cold and rainy for the 3rd week in a row so I pretty much just stayed home and didn't do much.  It was nice to have the break.

• I need to get moving on Photo Hunt Challenge #4.  I have my dad's camera on loan until the end of the month,  but there have been so few days with nice weather that it has been really hard to get motivated . Anxiously awaiting the return of real Fall weather soon.  Do you hear that, Mother Nature?

• I feel like I am on my way to making a blogging come-back.  It is no surprise that someone who maintains FOUR BLOGS (yes I might be crazy) falls behind every once in awhile.  After getting a slight kick-in-the-pants to get rolling on my restaurant reviews, I cranked out 5 reviews this past weekend for the Twin Cities Restaurant Blog (nothing like working on my days off!).  Just a few more reviews to post from my trip to the North Shore and then I will be all caught up for the time being.  I also started uploading photos to my Daily Photo Blog and it feels good to get going on that again.

• Speaking of blogging, I have added a couple of special features to this blog.  There is now an option to "Tweet" or "Favorite" any of my posts.  There is a little button at the bottom of each post that allows you to do this.  Give it a try!

• If you are a blogger using Typepad, have you set up your Typepad profile yet? Here is mine.  Makes it easy to follow other Typepad members and/or have them follow you. I guess the benefit to this is attracting more traffic if you want it, and also being able to see what blogs your contacts have commented on, etc

• Halloween is 1 1/2 weeks away! I am going to a Super-Hero themed costume party on the 31st and I need some HELP on what to dress as!!! Any ideas? PS I do NOT wear tights but I will wear a halter top and a cape! LOL

• I thought I would post a link to one of the funniest bloggers I know at Moving to Mexico.  After her (secret) husband was deported to Mexico a few years ago, she made the move to Mexico to be with him.  The craziest stuff happens in Mexico!! Or at least it is funny to hear the perspective of a transplant Gringa!! This chick has been cracking me up for years, but she is now pregnant and has been blogging up a storm about all sorts of random pregnant or Mexico-related stuff.  You gotta check her out!
• I have hives all over my face and it itches like mad.  They started last night after dinner (steak, baked potato and zucchini- all of which I have eaten a  million times before so I don't know WTF is going on!) and I didn't have any Benedryl (or so I thought).  I woke up this morning and it is still just as bad.  After searching the house I found some Benedryl and just took two.  Hopefully it goes away, I have to work 10 hrs today!

So that's all I got for now, be back soon ;)

Birthday Shindig.....

On Friday night my brother Brian threw a party at their house for Michelle's 30th birthday.  It was fun but pretty relaxed.  Anyone who knows Michelle knows that she loves wine (especially red) and it seems just about everyone brought a bottle of something or another!

Here are a few other photos from the night....

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hope you had a great birthday, Michelle!!

Birthday Shout-Out to Michelle on her Milestone Birthday!

I wanted to wish a very Happy 30th Birthday today to my beautiful sister-in-law, Michelle.  (Photo courtesy of Gruman Photography)

 

She is the wife of my brother Brian and the wonderful mother of my nieces Annika & Bianca and nephew Bennett.  She has been a part of our family now for 13 years!

Hope you have a great birthday Michelle! Looking forward to celebrating with you on Friday night :)

Little Readers....

My parents had a little brunch this past Sunday and I got to spend a little bit of time with my nieces.  It is amazing to me how smart they are and how quickly they catch on to things.  They are smarter every time I see them!

The girls had fun reading their books and they looked so cute while doing so!

 

That's all for now.... I just wanted to brag for a minute about how cute and smart they are ;)

Something is wrong with this picture!!

A perfectly beautiful maple tree, covered in SNOW. (Taken 10-12-09)

 

I woke up on Saturday 10/10 to find snow covering the ground!! It melted by afternoon but that is the earliest October snowfall that I can remember.  Two days later on 10/12, there was more snow on the ground when I woke up and it continued to snow almost all day!

Has Winter has decided to come early this year??!! As much as I detest snow and cold weather, I hope we have a very snowy season this year so that our lakes can fill back up! It can wait until December to arrive though, it would be nice to enjoy the rest of Autumn first :)

Cemetery in Fall: Pretty or Creepy?

My love of photography has superceded my fear of ghosts and I now find it pretty cool to wander around cemeteries with a camera. 

I thought I'd stop by a local cemetery during lunch one day last week when I still had Jeff's camera and got the following shots.  I plan to use one of them for the photo hunt, just not sure which to use.  Which is your favorite?

 

 

 

 

 

 

I love photography and taking pictures and I am so grateful to my dad and brother for letting me use their cameras from time to time.   I have three months worth of  photography to post on my Daily Photo Blog; one of these days I hope to get caught up!

Video of North Shore Trip

I absolutely LOVE animoto.com, they make it so easy to make cool videos!  Here is one I put together of the photos and video from our trip last weekend and I love how it turned out!

New Fall Scheme...

Fall Colors in Lutsen

The highlight of my trip to the North Shore was a day in the Lutsen Mountains.  On Saturday we took the gondola up to the top of the mountain just after it opened for the day.  The gondolas hold up to 4 people and are suspended from a series of cables; a one-way ride takes about ten minutes.  Neither of us had ridden one before and it was really cool!

 

There was a small river flowing through the valley

The colors got much more spectacular the higher we climbed and the further we went from Lake Superior.  It was awesome to see all the beautiful colors. Too bad the weather was overcast and damp, the colors just don't gleam the same.  Still pretty though!

 

 

Once we got to the top we stopped at the overlook to enjoy the beautiful view of the valley below us.  Breathtaking!! Just imagine it with blue skies on a sunny day.....

 

(Yes, my hair is getting ridiculously long.  I can't stand it)

 

Next we proceeded to go on a hiking adventure like neither of us had ever been on before! The first few miles were partially off-the-beaten-path.... I was climbing a dang mountain!! With a lot of loose rocks, soft soil and tree roots everywhere. I didn't take too many photos during the hike as I was being extra-careful with my brother's camera, but here are a few....

I was not feeling so adventurous at that point ( I was being a  big baby, actually) but things got better once we found the main trail again.  We came across the Spur Trail, which is part of the Superior Hiking Trail system.  We did not have a map with us (as we had not really prepared for a hike at that point in time in that particular area) but decided to continue our hike.  There were a lot of obstacles in our way, such as this cluster of trees that had been uprooted.  They had been growing on a solid layer of hard rock.  It's crazy that they were able to grow there for as long as they lived without the roots being able to anchor into the ground like they do in soil.

Some other photos from the hike

 

 

After 4-5 miles (about one mountain over from where we started) and not having a clue where we were headed, we turned back the way we came.  A few miles later we came across the first official sign (which we had somehow missed on the hike out so we must've been on a slightly different path).  Only 3 more miles to go, all of which was slightly different than the way we came.

 

About 8-9 miles after we started our hike ( holy moly was that tiring!), we finally made our way back to the top of the mountain where we could catch the gondola for a  ride back down the mountain to our car.

 

We saw some of the ski runs and chair lifts that they use in winter.  (Sidenote: Downhill skiing is something I have never done in my life, nor will I ever do.  I would hate to go out like Sonny and that is probably what would happen, knowing me.  Breaking my arm while sledding in third grade was quite enough for me, thank-you-very-much.)

 

We both loved Lutsen and look forward to going back again.  The fall is a beautiful time to go but I am sure it is beautiful in spring, summer and winter as well!

Thoughts for Thursday: Rereading your Blog Posts

Wow, I think its been nearly a year since I last posted a TFT! Had ya'll given up on me?!

My topic of the week is about rereading your old blog posts.  Its been 4+ years that I have been blogging now and quite a bit has changed with my blogging behaviors since then.  In the past I used to read and visit my own blog frequently (like at least once every day).  I have always had my blog set so that I have the 20 most recent posts showing on the main page, so it is very convenient to scroll down to the bottom and get caught up with what I have been up to for the past couple of months.  Despite that fact, It had been so long since I looked past whatever current post I had on top that I actually sneaked a peak last night at just the posts on this main page and was really surprised that I had as much stuff posted in the past few months as I did!! I rarely feel like posting without pictures and didn't think that I had actually blogged much in the past few months since I have been camera-less.  I guess borrowing my dad or brother's cameras has saved me from becoming a blog failure!

At this point in time I have nearly 1400 posts (but at least 150 of those are photo posts that I imported from my Daily Photo Blog back in June) and it would take me hours to go back and reread them all in order.  I do go back and find old posts that I want to reference from time to time, but I think I have only read my entire blog all the way through only twice, and that was for the purpose of categorizing old posts and for creating a blog highlights post.  I think I need to make a better effort sometime soon to go back and reread what my life has been about the past 5 years!

So my question for today is, do you go back and reread your own blog? How far back do you usually look?

Trip to Lake Superior's North Shore

Last week I took a couple of vacation days for the first time in three years and spent a nice long weekend up at the North Shore.  I have been to Duluth many times over the years and my family used to camp up on the North Shore way back in the day, but to my recollection, I had never been any further than Little Marais.  (Here is a MN map for reference)

 

Here is a map of Lake Superior

 

The first night we stayed in Duluth at the Holiday Inn.  I had earned four free-night-stays during a promotion they had going this past summer when I stayed at the Holiday Inn in Austin, TX and decided to cash a few of them in for this trip.  It rained all day Thursday and we were off to a late start so we didn't get to Duluth until late in the evening.  Here is a view of Canal Park from our hotel room.

Early Friday morning we left rainy Duluth and started our drive northeast along the North Shore Scenic Drive.  The rain prevented us from stopping at many of the scenic overlooks, but we stopped at Split Rock Lighthouse for about .32 seconds until we realized you had to pay $8 admission.  Forget about it! 

It had stopped raining at Silver Bay so we stopped at a scenic overlook.  It was sooooo  crazy windy that day, like 40-50 mph.  The swells of the lake were 8-12', it was like being at the Ocean the waves were so big.  I have video footage that I will post sometime soon.

 

It was nearly impossible to catch a clear photo of the berries, it was so windy

We got back on the road and continued the drive to Grand Marais.  The weather got better the further we drove north along the lake.  We stopped at another scenic lookout  somewhere between Lutsen and Grand Marais.  It is so incredibly beautiful! Being at Lake Superior is almost like having the ocean in Minnesota, especially on windy days that bring big waves.

 

We had lunch at the Gun Flint Tavern (which has an awesome Cuban sandwich that I will be reviewing on the Twin Cities Restaurant Blog soon) and then sent some time walking around the town and browsing the shops.  

 

Cool little scene in the Grand Marais Harbor

Later in the afternoon we drove back south to our new hotel in Tofte and then out for a fancy late dinner at the Blue Fin Grille (which I will also be reviewing soon).  Took a couple photos on their beach as the waves kept crashing in.

 

The hotel we stayed at was overlooking the lake and our room was literally less than 20 ft from the waves that were crashing all night long.  I was so tired that I slept peacefully anyway.  We got up early the next day before heading the Lutsen Mountain, which I will be blogging about next!

Living Colour at the Fine Line Music Cafe

Last Wednesday Living Colour was in town to play a gig at Fine Line Music Cafe.  We've been fans for about 20 years but  hadn't ever seen them before, we so jumped at the chance when tickets became available.  Before the show we met a friend downtown at Pizza Luce, where we ordered dinner in the restaurant.  It was really good; much better than I remember from a past experience with their late-night pizza-by-the slice.  I'll link to the review as soon as I have it written up.  After dinner the three of us went to the show, which was really good! It was loud but the guys sounded great.  My brother Jeff was kind enough to let me borrow his camera for the weekend, so I got a few decent photos. 

 

 

 

 

 

I also discovered that the G9 has HD video.... I owned the same camera for a year (until I dropped it) and must've had it set on the crappiest quality you can get because I was never happy with the overall quality. I took a few videos at the show but had to reduce the size of the video for Youtube. Check out "Cult of Personality" below