Memorial Day @ the Cabin: Part 1

We are having an incredibly wonderful Memorial Day weekend with our friends at the cabin. As I said to Andi yesterday, this place is seriously like vacation. It's hard to believe we're in Minnesota .. and the best part is, we get to enjoy it all summer long.

I drove up Friday by myself (well, with Chloe actually) since Andi was already up here from his work's photo shoot the week prior. I unloaded my bags and since no one else was here yet, pulled a comfy lounger down by the lakefront to sit in the sun and read a magazine. The sun shined down on me and the sound of the lake instantly brought a sense of calmness. I. LOVE. THIS. PLACE.

Later on, Andi and his friend Brian arrived and then our friends Mason and Ericka. We ordered pizza from Rafferty's (my new pizza obsession - Chicken Alfredo pizza to die for) and played cards into the evening. Everyone was pretty tired from the work week, so we called it a night. Plenty of late nights ahead this weekend ...

Saturday Joe and Danielle, Joe's friend Matt, Brian's girlfriend Melissa and Andi's sister Lindsay and her boyfriend Chad arrived at the cabin. Saturday was a gorgeous day - gorgeous! - and we spent all day outside on the pontoon listening to music, laying out and fishing. Our small lake was actually pretty hoppin' with a good mix of people our age, some kids and some older folks too.

Mason, Matt and Joe fishing from the sandbar

Captain Andi

(a rare photo moment when he's NOT behind the camera)

Joe and Matt playing the Frisbee game

Brian and Melissa

We made kabobs for dinner last night, with Nebraska's own corny macaroni (my aunt Cheri's famous recipe), seven layer dip, fruit salad and strawberry pie for dessert.

The girls making dinner

Last night, we made a fire by the lake, drank some beers and played games. This is definitely the way summer is suppose to be ....

Made Strawberry Pie & Mowed the Lawn - not at the same time, obvs.

Getting ready for the cabin tonight and I've got plenty to accomplish.

We're a go for our White Trash Party on Saturday and I'm trying to make everything that I possibly can ahead of time ... much rather do it here than there (when I'd rather be down by the lake, you know?).

When we throw a White Trash Party, we done do the menu up right! Here's what we're making:

- Pulled Pork Sandwiches with Cole Slaw
- Broccoli Salad
- Fruit Salad
- Taco Salad
- Seven Layer Dip & Chips
- Little Smokies
- Corny Macaroni Casserole
- Baked Beans
- Hot Dogs, Hamburgers and Veggie Burgers
- Veggies and Dip
- Potato Chips
- Strawberry Pie
- Rice Krispie Treats
- Popsicles
 
We should have enough food to last alll the way through the weekend.
 
I have a feeling Thursday nights are going to be busy! during the summer. Tonight I went to the store and bought groceries, mowed the lawn, watered my yard, made Corny Macaroni Casserole, 2 Strawberry Pies and painted my toenails. Chloe's jonesing for a walk but I just don't have it in me...I'm exhausted.
 
Here's my hard work all completed - pretty proud of my pies! First time I've made my mom's recipe so hopefully they turn out half as good as hers :)
 

Off to the cabin tomorrow! Can't wait!

MD White Trash Party

It's no shock to those who know me, I don't exactly know my way around the kitchen. I do okay following a recipe but I lack the natural cooking instincts (or maybe patience?) some people like my mom possess. She can never quite tell me what the ingredients in my favorite recipes are (eh, I don't know ... you'll just have to taste it as you're making it, she says) - not as easy as you think Mom! True signs of a great cook.

To take some pressure off, I'm trying to plan menus ahead of time to help myself "research" foods I'll need to make over the weekend. One of the other girlfriends, Danielle, is going to be a big help this summer. She and I were brainstorming fun theme meals we could make. For Memorial Day weekend, we decided on a "white trash" theme...here's what we're planning to make:

• Pulled Pork Sandwiches
• Fruit Salad
• Taco Salad
• Baked Beans
• Corny Macaroni (my aunt Cheri's famous casserole)
• Little Smokies
• Pinwheels
• Hobo Potatoes (wrapped up in tinfoil on the grill)
• Rice Krispie Treats

Glorious Internet comes in handy again ... I Googled white trash party ideas and found awesome ideas on this blog and a few other websites. I love the blow-up pool for beers and the outfits are truly inspirational (the trailer adds a nice backdrop, too). Sad thing is, I bet we all have something white trash laying around in our closets ... I have a camo skirt that'll be perfect! This weekend might also be my excuse to buy one of those cheap straw cowboy hats to sport. Andi'll have a cow :) Oh this should be fun ...

Stuck in the middle

I should be used to it; I was an "M" for most of my 29 years.

This weekend, it became more evident than ever that Andi and I are stuck in the middle of our circle of friends. Almost all of my girlfriends are married and many expecting babies or already parents. Andi's friends? Almost all single or living with their girlfriends. Andi and I? Stuck in the middle as the married couple who can't relate to the life experiences of our parenting friends and moved beyond those who are living the "I want what I want, when I want it" lifestyle. Sometimes, I've never felt so isolated.

The topic of marriage came up this weekend at the cabin, mostly because our friends who are living together can't possibly imagine why they'd venture into the life of marriage. In their minds, only tax breaks or the heavy hand of God may force them to make such a life commitment. I remember being in that place - where life was good ... the why fix it if it ain't broke? mentality. It's the secret they just don't know. Being married is just so much more than signing the dotted line and proclaiming vows to one another ... and there's no way to understand what it's like until you're here. I thought I knew what to expect and looking back I see, I was absolutely clueless.

Being married is hard work but it's beautiful, meaningful, fulfilling work that you share with your best friend, lover and life partner. While I may sometimes feel alone as I struggle to fit into the life cycles of our friends, I also realize I'm the lucky one sharing my life with the best man on the planet. My husband said to our friends this weekend that being married is challenging sometimes because you instantly realize it's a for real deal - there's no turning back if you're upset or angry or frustrated. It's not about you anymore, it's about what matters to "us" as a family. While his friends couldn't understand why you'd pigeon-hole yourself into that situation, my husband told them how it's also about building your life together. Those tough times are few and far between; mostly it's about being with someone who's got your back no matter what. You just don't understand until your here. Listening to him speak those words nearly brought me to tears. Half the battle in making a marriage work is finding the right partner, and that I know I did.

Maybe we're out on our own little island. Some days I'm jealous of friends who've embarked on the next chapter in life, secretly (or not so secretly) wishing I was there as well. But today, I'm praising God for bringing me to this spot. A wife enjoying every moment she spends with her husband. Today I don't want to be anywhere else.

"Good friends, good books and a sleepy conscience: this is the ideal life." ~ Mark Twain

It's part of the plan: rent a gorgeous lake cabin this summer with some of our closest friends. We spend most summer weekends together anyway - why not share a place we can all boat, grill, party and relax together?

Over the last few days, Andi and I spent our second weekend at the cabin and the first one sharing it with our couple friends. I've talked to quite a few people who were suprised we've entered into such an agreement with our friends, wondering how we'd "tolerate" each other? were we worried it would come between our friendship? I am happy to say cabin life this weekend was easy and fun. Everyone pitched in and helped cook, clean, etc. It was great to have close friends together to hang out on the lake, friends to sit by the fire with and to hit up the local towny bars, too.

Some of the group

Joe's grilling up some lunch

Andi's closest frineds
Brian (L), Joe (R)

Saturday forecasted 85 degrees and sunny and unfortunately it was rainy, windy and cold. Danielle and I made the best of it by grocery shopping for the weekend while the boys put the dock and pontoon in the water. The weather warmed up later in the afternoon so we were able to fish off the pontoon and sit outside, albeit bundled up in pants, hoodies and blankets. It is May in Minnesota after all, can't complain too much.

Andi caught a fish!

Brian did too ...

they were little and plentiful

Andi's friend Brian (one of the cabin renters) just got a new puppy named Indy who he brought to the lake this weekend. Chloe was not Indy's biggest fan - she chased and pounced on Chloe with her big puppy paws which didn't sit well with my little princess. So I spent most of the weekend breaking up the two!

Indy

My Chloe girl catching some rays

Saturday night we tried out Crosslake's bar shuttle. For $5 a head (seriously, $5!!) a shuttle bus picks you up at your house and takes you to the local towny bars. They'll take you from bar to bar if you call and then pick you up at bar close to take you home. Best. Service. Ever. We made good friends with the driver because I'm sure we'll see him plenty this summer.

Our first towny bar experience attributed to the following learnings:

1) Forever 21 must have had a gigantic sale. The amount of plether shirts and pants were endless.

2) It's OK to bring kids - toddlers even - to bars in town. Because why not, right? OMG.

3) Dirty dancing is big here. BIG. This will be a problem since dancing and I don't mix.

We achieved our 80's and sun on Sunday and spent most of the day on the water, soaking up the heat and doing plenty of fishing off the pontoon. The cabin's seriously my favorite place in the world these days. It's our own piece of paradise. A busy week then back to the cabin for Memorial Day where I'm guessing things could get a little crazy ...

I'm starting to understand why my mom was always so stressed out.

Who knew having a second household would be so much work?!

Well, as I type that sentence it doesn't seem like you'd need a rocket scientist to figure that one out ... but still. It's been a busy week, thanks in part to summer skirting in and also in my own preparations for the cabin. There's 3 other couples sharing the cabin with us this summer - which means there's 3 other women around - yet for some reason I feel like the little house mother who needs to make sure we have sheets and towels and cooking supplies ... and everything we'll possibly need at the cabin this summer. I think it's mostly because we arranged for the cabin and we're the only ones who've been to the cabin thus far. I also don't know how much the other couples will be up there so I feel like it's ME who needs to make sure we're prepared. If nothing else, it's also being responsible in planning for my husband - not just myself - and I want to be a good wife who's well organized. I'm starting to see why my mom always said vacations were not vacations for her....

Also, spending ever weekend somewhere else this summer means I have so much to do at our house during the week - and not a lot of time to complete it all. This week after work I:

• Mowed the lawn
• Fertilized the lawn and flower beds
• Shopped for flowers
• Planted flower pots
• Watered the yard daily which is uber-time consuming
• Gave Chloe a bath
• Washed all the cabin bedding
• Washed all Andi's clothes for his upcoming work travel
• Purchased more supplies for the cabin
• Planned menus for the cabin and bought food to take up with us
• Dug through summer clothes; gave away what I didn't want, sorted through the ones I do and made piles for home and for the cabin
• ... all while working on a gigantic Excel project for work for a few hours every night which I FINALLY finished THANK GAWD!

I'm definitely not complaining. It was gorgeous outside this week so it was nice to spend some time outside. I told Andi last night, I was literally out of breath from running around so much. I'm either out of shape (which is very possible) or waaay busier than I'm used to.

Two stories this week in realizing men are just different than women:

ONE:
As I was frantically catching up on laundry last night to make sure Andi had all the clothes we wanted to bring up North this weekend, I asked him which clothes were a priority to have clean. He just looked at me and said "Well, can't you just wash all of them?" Yeah honey, I'll get right on that. He definitely didn't mean it like he said it but uh yeah, prime example of how husbands overlook the ways in which wife's make their lives easier. Oh, boys ... how you never change.

TWO:
One thing I've already realized about the cabin: my husband and I will seriously need some sort of "check out" system before we leave there every weekend this summer. I'd need more fingers and toes to count the number of times Andi said to me this week "Did my [insert item here] make it back from the cabin?" Shirts, pants, shoes, electronics, etc., etc., etc. What I thought to myself as I bit my tongue was "well, did you pack it ... because if you didn't, it isn't here." I can already see where this is going and I hereby go on the record as notice to my husband and future children: everyone is responsible for their own stuff.
The End.

As much work as it is, I am still so very excited for the cabin this summer. It's a lot of work to get there, but there's no better place to spend our summer. On my way up for another fun weekend ahead ... we're putting the pontoon in the lake tonight!

Signs of Spring

Things that brightened my morning:

Fresh flowers cut from the backyard tree

My first lily bloom of the summer

New pots in the front yard, ready to bloom big in the warm summer sun

Spring is in the air, I feel it!

The Happiest Place on Earth

How could this not be?

Lake O'brien on Saturday morning
photo credit: my talented husband

It's the first weekend of the summer at Cabin a la [Yet To Be Determined Name] and the only word I can come up with to explain the true wonder of this place is absolute serenity. We're going to have the best summer here.

On Friday night, Andi, SIL Lindsay, MIL Janie and I made the 2 1/2 hour drive up to the cabin from the Cities. We were expecting quite a bit of traffic because it's the Fishing Opener this weekend. We waited until after dinner to hit the road and it was well worth it - made great time getting here w/ no traffic headaches. On the drive up, we passed Lake Mille Lacs (the 2nd largest lake in Minnesota) and the view was breathtaking. The lake was a pale blue color and as the sun set, you could barely see where the sky ended and the lake began. We were pretty tired by the time we arrived so we snooped around the cabin before calling it a night.

Saturday morning, I woke up to find Andi and his mom sitting by the side of the lake, watching the sun come up over the water. Our cabin is about 50 feet from the water's edge so it's easy to wander down to the water and chill.

Late morning, we drove into town and went to lunch at Riverside Inn. It's a bar/restaurant that looks pretty rough on the outside but has pretty tasty food and lots of local / organic stuff. Who knew? We sat on the patio outside and watched the Pine River flow by. The waitress told us you can tube down the river in June and July - definintely something we'll have to check out!

Afterwards we drove to about 15 minutes South to Brainerd to meet a couple friends of ours. They took us out on their Tige boat and Andi and Jon were brave enough to get in the wakeboard. I bet the water was 50 degrees!

Yesterday evening we drove back, grabbed some pizza at Rafferty's and hung out at the cabin. There's a sauna downstairs that Andi and I broke in for the very first time! Never been used by the owners. So relaxing and rejuvinating. We were ready for bed last night - a fun-filled day at the lake.

Janie, Chloe and I

Lindsay

Not a bad view, eh?

Cabin view from the water

Chloe likes it here just fine

Janie and I watching the sunset
Despite my best efforts, I still got bug bites

Sunday Funday today and more adventures w/ Chuck and Carol (the neighbors).

Photos to come soon...

Move In Day

It's officially cabin season!!!

You may remember me telling you about the summer cabin (aka: giant beautiful house in Crosslake) Andi, myself and a few of other couple friends rented for the summer. Well ... today's the day we officially move in and we couldn't be more excited. Andi even high-fived me bright and early @ 6:00am when he left for work because well, we're THAT excited for our fun summer ahead.

Having a cabin is a Minnesota thing I guess, or maybe it's a Northern states thing?  Growing up in Nebraska, everyone had boats and if you were lucky, a motor home to go camping every weekend. In my family, time at the lake with our little Mercery boat were some of the fondest memories I have as a child. We'd pull on our swimming suits early in the morning with little goosebumps on our legs because there was a chill in the air in the early morning. My dad would be in the driveway prepping the boat for our day at the lake; my mom in the kitchen packing sandwiches and snacks. Seriously the best. memories. ever.

I want those same memories for my kids and I know Andi does too. So our cabin adventure this summer will allow us to "test the waters" and see where we'd like to buy a cabin for reals. It'll also (cross your fingers) be our last summer hoorah ... boozy nights and fun in the sun with no little kiddos to be responsible for. A summer to remember for sure!

This is the post where you recommend I be committed to a mental institution.

 I'm pretty sure you're going to say that by the end, just warning you...

....
So, lately I've been pre-planning the decor for my non-existent baby's nursery. I was thinking about painting our bedrooms this summer and thought to myself, why not paint the spare room in the color of my future baby's nursery in an effort to be uber-organized? I mean really, why would I paint the room one color only to re-paint again in the hopefully very near future? So as I've been daydreaming about gender neutral paint colors to match my yet-to-be-purchased baby furnature, I've also been searching for a cool way to display a family tree in the baby's room. I think I've told you before how fascinating I find geneology and would love to showcase my baby's history in a cool, artistic way.

There's so many neat options out there including a few I found on Etsy.

Take a look ...

1) there has always been a special branch on our family tree just for you by: Kilsook
This print melts my heart. When you think about it, your family tree's always growing. There's many more branches waiting to be born :)

2) Or this Custom Family Tree by ErinJaneShop

...which is a great way to showcase more immediate family without listing everyone

3) Or this family tree by LizSage with handwritten names of family members

I love how custom this one feels with the baby's name at the base of the tree and all family members featured.

4) I might go big with a family tree decal like this one from Contemporarydesigns

...although it doesn't feature the names of our family and that's really the point I think.

ABC 123

Have no fear my friends.

I haven't lost my baby fever. Shall we say, I've become better at compressing my endless desire to have a baby. I've realized that talking about pleading with my husband in a wimpy, naggy puuulease-can-we-have-a-baby?!?! way is not helping my cause. So I'm doing my very best to keep my thoughts to myself. He knows how I feel about it (oh boy does he know...) and so we'll leave it at that. At least for now.

Since I personally don't have a little bun in my oven, I've taken to focusing on those who do. Case in point: my lovely cousin Jen who's expecting in October. I am BEYOND THRILLED for Jen, so much so that I send her daily email updates on books I think she should read, places to shop for maternity clothes, etc. etc. She probably thinks I'm losing it ... or maybe hopes I'll get a hobby ... but it's really my excitement and love for her spilling over. Just so happy for her.

My mom and I have offered to host a baby shower for Jen later this summer. I've been busy dreaming up a theme, decoration ideas and games we can play at the shower. Who knew planning a baby shower is practically the funnest thing ever?

So I just had to share the cute decorations I've made so far. The shower's theme is ABC's. (Jen's a 2nd grade teacher so I think it's super cute and perfect for her personality). Last night I painted letters that spell BABY to display as decoration....

I also bought ABC Flash Cards and made them into a "Baby Shower" banner using red yarn, teeny tiny clothes pins...

I took the same Flash Cards and made them into dangling decorations. I plan to hang these from the ceiling light or on the corner of a picture frame.

Just getting started! I have many more party ideas ... stay tuned!

Must Have's

Wouldn't you agree? What's inside a woman's purse tells everything about them. It's where we keep all our favorite beauty supplies - things we couldn't possibly leave the house without - and tells a story about our eating habits, shopping splurges and everyday responsibilities.

I thought it'd be fun to show you the contents of my purse (or really my work bag, because it serves as mine). Maybe you'll learn a thing or two about my inner-personality!

1. A can of Red Bull Sugar Free (the 8.2 oz. size because those other ones are just crazy big). Red Bull's the way I've started every morning since I was in college. Always have a can floating around my bag or my car in case the need strikes.

2. Burt's Bees Cuticle Cream is the only way to go for dry, cracked nails and cuticles. I've always had a horrible habit of picking the skin around my fingernails til they bleed. A nervous habit, I guess. This product helps to heal my hands and keeps me from picking - tackles 2 birds w/ one stone, really.

3. Dr. Scholl's Miracle Shield is a godsend and I never leave home without it. Everyone knows that part of being a girl is wearing cute shoes. And cute shoes more often than not = blisters and pain. A couple of years ago I discovered this magical product that protects against shoe rubbing. And it really works!

4. Burt's Bees Lip Balm with pomegranate oil is my favorite. An absolute never-leave-home-without item. I love that Burt's Bees products are all-natural too. I've been thinking a lot more about that lately. While I've made great strides to eat more sustainability this year, I haven't done much in the way of changing the products I use. Like ... I'm going to go ahead and guess that coloring my hair w/ harsh chemicals every 8 weeks isn't so good for me ... ya think?

5. Keys to my car, of course.

6. Photo cord for my camera in case I need to upload some photos while I'm out and about. I used to have a tiny one that was perfect for purse carrying but it was stolen when my car was broken into earlier this year. So now I carry this big not-as-cool one.

7. My eco-friendly notebook, you know for note-taking and such.

8. My wallet that I absolutely love, love, love. I picked it up at Patina - a cute little Twin Cities boutique a while back. It's great to carry just as a clutch (which I do a lot of times when I don't want to carry a purse) or shove it into my gigantic work bag when I'm, well, working.

9. My beloved Blackberry. You are my friend.

10. A pack of gum. This will come in while I'm avoiding food this week in preparation for lake season. The diet has officially begun today, btw.

11. A pen of course. Who doesn't have about a gazillion of these floating around in their purse?

12. My camera and its pretty polka-dot case. I keep it with me always. Unlike most people (ok, I'm going to go with some people as I suspect that you readers probably do this too) Andi and I have daily documentation of our lives. We take pictures of absolutely everything. I see something cute or inspirational - I take a picture of it. A mental work note for later? Pic. Another picture of Chloe sleeping on the couch - absolutely. My camera is my life.

13. A sweet little I Love You note from my husband. He left it for me on the bathroom mirror a few months ago and I stuck it into my purse/bag for safe keeping. I like it when I stumble upon it during the day - makes me smile :)

14. A Band Aid for those darn blisters again. See line #3.

15. My iPod Shuffle which is really my back-up emergency iPod. More often than not, I forget I even have it... and as you can see it doesn't even have any headphones attached to it which really does me no good, does it? But it's in my bag in case I'm running to the airport and forget my iTouch or in case I find myself in need of tunes. That moment may arise, you know.

16. Oakley shades. I alternate between a few pairs of shades but today it's black ones.

17. Sprint broadband card for instant internet access. Actually I carry this with me wherever I go as well but I rarely use it.

Ok, I showed you mine. Now you show me yours. What's in your wallet ... er ... purse? Are you thinking of that creepy viking from the Capitol One commercials? Sorry that was cheesy. I just couldn't help myself :)

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to all you mommys out there!

This was the first Mother's Day I celebrated with my Mom in almost 5 years! Andi and I met my parents, sister, brother and niece in Des Moines (which is half way between my parent's home town and ours) to celebrate my mom and sister.

We met Saturday @ noon with original plans to go to the Blank Park Zoo, just down the street from our hotel in Des Moines. Unfortunately Mother Nature didn't cooperate and it was only 45 degrees yesterday! Too cold for a little 2yo to be outside. Instead we went to a late lunch, then came back to the hotel to swim.

It was super cute - it was the first time Brookie had been to a swimming pool and at first, she didn't quite know what to expect. She was a little nervous to get her face wet and couldn't understand why she had to hang onto someone. "I can do it by myself," she kept saying. Eventually she got the hang of it and had a blast jumped into the pool over and over.

At first there was lots of splashing ...

then I taught her how to kick her legs ...

What a smiley girl :)

Splashing Andi ...

Swimming with Daddy ...

Mommies are good for getting warm afterwards :)

Afterwards, she was exhausted and all of us who swam with her were too! Who knew keeping up with a 2yo in a pool was such hard work. We showered up, then my parents took us to a nice dinner for Mother's Day. We lounged around the hotel and visited last night.

It was so nice to see my family and even better we didn't have to drive 7 hours to do it! Hopefully we can meet my family in Des Moines more often. It was so nice to spend the weekend together.

Fun House

Chloe hates to have her picture taken.

I know what your thinking, why would a dog even care but I promise you, it's her least favorite thing. I think it's because I've shoved a camera into her little face since the day I took her home with me. I have about a gazillion Chloe photos - probably from each month of her 5 year life.

I tell you this story because I finally know what it feels like. And while I love being the center of attention (you know I do!) I, too, am growing tired of the camera love. Who's the offender this time? My husband. It all started a few months ago when Andi bought his new fancy camera and all the various lens that go with it. Now every time I turn around he's snapping photos of me ... and definintely not the flattering kind.

There's times like this - when you husband buys a new wide-angle lens and tests it out on you (at very, very close range I might add) just because he can ...

Ah! Trying to take a drink here...

Uh huh, this is real funny ...

Andi, I'm warning you ...

Ok, at least he's taking unflattering pics of himself too ...

Oh good times ...

Happy MIL Day!

I'm looking forward to Mother's Day this year. It'll be the first time I spend it with my mom in nearly 5 years! To celebrate, Andi and I are planning to meet my family in Des Moines -- the half way point between my parent's hometown and ours. Just can't wait!

Since we'll be spending time with my mom on Mother's Day this year, we celebrated an early MIL Day with Andi's mom today. Our day started with church this morning, a visit to the St. Paul Farmer's Market, then lunch at our backyard patio table. A wonderfully enjoyable early Mother's Day celebration if I do say so myself. Here's a few pics from the day:

Andi and I at Minnehaha Falls Park
The sky today looked like it did on our wedding day!

Andi and his mom Janie

Janie and I

Did I mention how lucky I am to have an awesome MIL?

At the Farmer's Market

Don't ya hate when your husband secretly takes photos of you? Mental note: gotta smile more

Ah yes, there's my gorgeous smile :)

Great day had by all.
Happy Mother's Day Janie!!!