i make things

Around Here: Spring is Here in MN

Spring has finally sprung...well that's what it feels like for me. Once the lilacs bloom in my yard I count spring as being here.

The lovely bush outside my bedroom window has finally bloomed and with it come the fragrant lilac smell.

I opened all of the windows in my house on Wednesday because it was a perfect spring day. Bright blue skies, a gentle cool breeze. Perfect. With that gentle breeze blew in the lilac smell.

It's such a simple yet beautiful flower.

The dark blossoms give way to a delicate lavender-colored 4-petal flower. It's pretty.

Onto the backyard.

 

The flowering tree in the backyard gives me these pink/fuscia beauties.

For some reason only one particular branch flowered right now. So I only have pictures of that. I'm a little disappointed because last year the whole tree flowered...so I might have to do some researching as to the why?

Anybody know?

 

 

Pacific Northwest Roadtrip: Day 1: Edition 1

Day 1 - Fly out to Seattle!

Starting my post with the word "fly" when my title has "roadtrip" in the title isn't exactly cohesive but I promise I can explain.

I'm flying out to Seattle where I will rent a car and roadtrip it down the Washington, Oregon and California Coast along Hwy 101. I'm not driving the entire length of Cali just the northern part where the redwoods are. Then I'm turning around and making the loop back up to Seattle on I5. It's going to be so much fun! I'm giddy with excitement. Literally like fidgety and twitchy in my seat. I couldn't sleep very long all week just thinking about this trip.

Everyone who I've talked to about this trip is so excited for me. Isn't it fun when people are genuinely thrilled for you and it truly shows? Those people usually say things like, "I'm so jealous." "OMG I wish I was going with you." and when they say that I think, "I wish they were too. I bet it would be awesome with them along."

I'm in flight right now. Yep, this flight has wi-fi in flight. So cool. I've never had internet access in flight before.

I need a moment to reminisce please. Thanks for humoring me. When I was a kid you brought crayons and a coloring book or in my case, either a book or homework. Yeah, I'm that kid that goes on vacation for Disneyland and brings homework on a plane. I was in 7th grade.

Anyway, That's what you did as a kid, you colored, read a book or whatever. As I got older, let's say, college, when I flew I brought along a book, a walkman (that's the prehistoric version of an iPod except bigger and you had to bring cd's with in order to hear music) or chatted with your neighbor.

Fast forward to now. Picture this. Sitting uncomfortably with my tray across my lap, iPad and minute keyboard in front of me typing this out. I have the remnants of a very surprisingly tasty meal of vegetable ravioli, spring green salad and a buttered roll right next to me washed down with a crisp ginger ale. The remaining ravioli sauce is beckoning my elbow to graze through it like a gentle breeze flows through your hair...except in this case the breeze keeps going and the ravioli sauce will remain on my shirt sleeve. Sorry sauce, you aren't winning that battle. The stewardess just picked up my tray. Anyway, Flook's album Haven is gently and insistently playing through my earbuds as I type. Flook is an Anglo-Irish band that plays traditional Irish instrumental music...so flutes, bodhran, guitar and whistle instruments. In honor of St.Patty's day I always listen to Irish music. It's so light and lively. I'm bee-bopping to the beat as I bang out this post.

My point in all that reminiscing is that times have definitely changed for me in terms of how I fly and what I do. I still have that book sitting next to me but I'm not reading it as my fingers are flying away writing this post. I'll get to once I finish this post but it's so much different nowadays. Makes me feel a bit old and I'm not really old.

Okay so back to Roadtrip: Day 1: Fly to Seattle

I had a couple hours to burn before actually boarding my flight so I perused the MSP airport and found some cool and interesting things. I didn't realize how many neat little shops and areas they have to buy things. I could've spent an entire paycheck buying the neat stuff I saw.

This neat batman-Moose-MN tee. Seriously...who thinks this stuff up. I almost bought it. Almost means I texted it to a friend of mine who LOVES batman cause I thought she'd like it.

A beautiful, lovely, cutesy teal heart. Teal and hearts are my thing so it warrants a picture. I didn't buy cause I don't really need to add weight to my luggage.

This cutesy little clutch? purse? wallet? reminded me of my college days where that's what you carried around. There isn't much room in it except for your college ID, $5 (hey you're a college student you're lucky if there is a dollar in there LOL) and that's about it. (Hey Kristi it made me think of you dear.)

Can you guess what this is? Look hard. You got a guess? Okay, now I'm going to tell you. It's an old-fashioned phone that you can plug into your smartphone so you can chat on the phone like I did when I was a kid. Using a real phone not a thin piece of metal that doesn't fit rounded-like in your hand with an end that meets with your mouth and the other directly with your ear. I call this "throwback" I ALMOST bought this. Seriously...when I head back through MSP on my way home I might just detour and grab this beauty. Hot pink please. thank you.

My life would not be complete without this bad boy. A walleye cribbage board. I almost bought this. I said that several times already but seriously I've been looking for a cribbage board other than the plain jane boring "everyone has it" cribbage board. I think this would go nicely in the fish house. Don't you?

A luggage tag that says this? Seriously every smart-alec in the world needs this. If I grabbed a bag and read the tag I'd bust out laughing. I ALMOST bought this. Yet again. Almost. Why can't I commit? Well, I know why. I'm on vacation and I need money for when I'm actually road-tripping. I don't need additional crap to put in my luggage and get me over the 50 pound limit.

Okay that's all I have for this Edition of Pacific Northwest Roadtripping

30 Things!

The final day is here! Day 30! Here is a link to the 30 Things post with every single question on it with links to my posts with the answers

30 Things

30. List 10 things you would hope to be remembered for.

These are in no particular order just whatever popped into my head.

1. My generally/usually happy attitude towards life and others.
2. My ability to capture awesome and memorable photographs.
3. My fierce love of family.
4. My willingness to always help out.
5. My creative and crafty talents.
6. My love of sports and being outdoors.
7. My love of travel and experiencing new places.
8. My ability to make tasty food and desserts.
9. My love of books and movies.
10. My child-like enthusasium that I exhibited for life.

30 Things | Day 29

30 things (original post)

29. What do you think people misunderstand about you most?

A lot of things. Most people, when I'm talking to them, assume right away what I'm going to say before I say it. They don't listen to me. So they misunderstand me right off the bat. I can tell because usually they are shaking their head or making a comment while I'm talking. That says to me that they already assume they know what I'm going to say. Wrong! Listen first.

I don't know if that really answers the question or not. I've had a lot of people misunderstand me which could be because I'm not saying something the way they understand it or they aren't really listening. Who knows. It's hard to tell.

People misunderstand my heart. I am very sensitive but I think some people don't think so because of my actions. I do what I can to guard from getting hurt by people. I try and stay strong which sometimes gets looked at as being heartless. I do what I need to in order to get something done or get past something. I don't cry a lot in public. I don't like arguing in public either. So by not doing either of those I can be portrayed as being heartless (not crying or showing emotion) or ignorant/impassive/don't care (not reacting to arguing in public). That isn't the case I just choose to release those emotions in a more private venue where it's more appropriate.

30 Things | Day 28

30 things (original post with 27 days of links)

28. What is your love language?

Words of Affirmation – not necessarily “I love you” a lot but unsolicited compliments. Even if I look embarrassed that type of affirmation means the most to me. I don’t read people well so hearing it means more to me than an action. It’s really hard for me to say what is most important for my love language. I should find a test to take. I also need quality time with people with no distractions. Hanging out with people really does it for me. I like one-on-one time and I like group but sometimes one-on-one is easier for me.

30 Things | Day 27

30 things (original post)

27. What is your favorite part of your body and why?

My legs…because they are muscular and long and generally look fairly hot.

30 Things | Day 26

30 Things (original post)

26. What popular notion do you think the world has most wrong?

You have to be a slave to your job. No, you don’t. Life is not about living to work it’s working to live. Work as much as you have to but not more than you really have to. Work enough to fulfill that need but leave enough room to have fun and enjoy life. Otherwise what’s the point? When I need to work extra I do but I don't all the time because then you start to get burnt out.

30 Things | Day 25

30 Things (original post)

25. If you could have dinner with anyone in history, who would it be and what would you eat?

My great-great Grandparents on my grandmother’s side. I would ask them why they decided to come over to the U.S. What life was like in Germany/Bohemia. What they wanted their future to be. What they think of our lives now. I would eat their traditional meal from their time.

 

30 Things | Day 24

30 Things (original post. I've got 23 days worth of days done and all days are linked into this original post, so you can go to each of the days I've completed.)

24. Describe your family dynamic of your childhood vs. your family dynamic now.

When I was a kid it was basically just mom and us six kids. Dad was working away from home a lot. So the older kids did a lot of cleaning and taking care of the younger kids. We had to share everything, our rooms and one bathroom. So we fought a lot because we were in close quarters. We played a lot together too. All of us would go to each other’s sporting events. We were a close knit family.

Now we are all done with school, married, unmarried and with kids. We get together whenever we can. We hang out together. Play on a family softball team. We go to movies together. Go on vacations together. Have card nights. Have game nights. Stop over at each other’s houses for the heck of it. Watch each other’s kids. We all live in the same county. A couple of us live a couple blocks away from each other. So we are still a close knit family. Sure we still squabble but that's normal.

30 Things | Day 23

30 Things (original post)

23. List your top 5 hobbies and why you love them.

Photography – Because I can take beautiful images. Because I document my family for the future. That’s most important.

Scrapbooking – Same as photography. LOL

Reading – Because when I read I am transported to someplace else. I am in the story. I am a different person and that’s so much fun. To be completely taken out of my realm and put into another. I can forget reality for a small time. Nothing’s better than that.

Traveling – I love seeing new places. Experiencing new things and eating food. J

Sports – I love playing sports and watching sports. I like doing sports outside, inside, in electronic games, etc. I like watching sports on TV and in person.