Trip number two.

So! I'm working on preparing a post with photos of the new place but don't have all my ducks quite in a row yet. They just keep wandering all around and I just can't get them to stand still. C'MON, ducks. So in the meantime, here are some pictures from our recent 1 1/2 week trip out to North Dakota!

The first few days we were out visiting Brian's sister Beth in Hettinger, ND. She had a garage to build and lots of delicious vegetables to be eaten from her garden. Paisley loved picking all the veggies and eating them fresh out of the dirt, but had to be coerced and bribed into eating the same veggies as soon as they were cleaned and cut up on her plate at the kitchen table. Typical, child.

Brian's parents were out there with us, and we had a grand ol' time exploring Hettinger and the nearby towns and the nearby playgrounds and the blow up pool in Beth's yard. We ate lots of tasty fresh veggies and salads and Paisley supervised all the garage building with a heavy hand.

Other destinations on our adventure were Cavalier, ND where the hubs was standing in a dear friend's wedding and Detroit Lakes, MN to stop at Castaway Club, a camp that we will be frequently involved with through Brian's work. It was all a blast and so fun and simply marvelous, except for the very darkly looming fact that I developed some horrible case of the stomach flu amidst it all.

And that's why there are tons of pictures in Hettinger, two pictures from the wedding, and only one picture from Castaway which features Paisley rolling in the grass. Something about having to spend most of your time in the bathroom makes trying to take lots of beautiful and lasting pictures seem super unimportant.

So now we're back! My stomach no longer hates my guts (pun INtended, heh heh heh), our bags are unpacked, and the cats did indeed survive our longer than usual absence. Hallelujah, praise be.

Thanks for reading folks! Tune in next time, and all that.

Weekend recap and some other stuff.

You know what's good? Strawberry ice cream with oreos.

Also, large glasses of orange juice with ice in them, but I think I've mentioned that before.

Sorry for repeating myself.

These are lilies in my garden.

This is the first year that they have bloomed. I think it's because I've weeded twice this year, which is more times than the other years we've been here. It must have been just the oomph that they needed.

In other news.

Our internet works again! I no longer have to work in coffee shops. Other nice things that happened this weekend include doing some major spring (summer?) cleaning, a date with my mom and sis, an evening of funnel cake, fireworks and friends at our neighborhood summer carnival, a delicious new recipe of avocado, bacon and basil pasta (I will definitely be making it again! so tasty.) and lot's of time spent catching up with some of my old youth group students at four, count em' FOUR graduation parties on Sunday.

It was indeed a nice time.

Also.

I have finally started visiting a chiropractor. Which really (at least so far) seems to help my ailing old lady back.

And there was much rejoicing!

The problem with peonies.

Hi friends.

Can we just talk about peonies for a minute? Like, how they have poor planning skills? Or something?

Exhibit A. Growing oh so very tall. So far so good. (P.S. I did not take any of these photos at the same time of the day each day that I took them. So even though every picture looks different from the next, it is indeed the same silly plant.)

Exhibit B. Something is starting to go wrong. The blooms that are about to emerge are starting to get heavy and they begin to sag towards the ground.

Exhibit C. The peony blossoms and does many face plants onto the grassy floor below. Cue sad, silly looking peonies.

Is there something I'm doing wrong? (Granted I'm doing nothing except watching these fools.) But it doesn't seem to be just MY problem - all over the neighborhood I see peonies looking like this! It happens to this particular plant every year. Perhaps it's an epidemic.

My pink peonies stay upright for the most part, so maybe it's only white peonies that are dysfunctional. Obviously I don't know much about these types of things...anyone out there have some gardening expertise for me?

Flowers on a hot day

Some pics today from our gardens!

When I say "gardens" it sounds like I'm some awesome gardener. Which of course I am.

Just kidding, I'm actually not. We really only have one garden (which we mulch in the spring time and don't touch again for another year), and then a little patch of dirt next to our house where some peonies grow. Which were planted there before we even lived here. I don't do anything to them at all except take pictures.

But I proudly display the pictures on my blog of course!

It's going to be a hot weekend here in the twin cities, hitting close to 90 degrees today! Trying to plan a fun date night for the hubs and I for this evening that doesn't include melting into big hot puddles.

My very favorite tulips.

First tulips of the season are sprouting up! This brings joy to my life and I stop to admire and give encouraging words to the growing buds each day when passing them on our sidewalk.

Then I shake my fist and shout curses at the dandelions that are already beginning to overtake our lawn.

My front porch. I mean...I don't have one.

The theme this week for Gussy's Inspiration Workshop was The Front Porch.


Since I don't have a front porch I naturally decided to take pictures of the front of my house.


Mainly because these guys have been sprouting up.

Awesome, right? And no, I did not plant them myself. I hate gardening, remember? The wonderful woman who lived here before us planted many flowers that in fact come up each year in front of our house. In the spring there are tulips (my fave), peonies in the mid summer, and sunflowers in the late summer. And I don't have to do anything except watch them grow!


Pretty spiff. That's short for spiffy.

Now that I'm thinking about it, this post would have better fit last week, when the theme was Gardening.


It's ok. I was gone last week. Plus the sunflowers bloomed THIS week. Everything works out for a reason, you know.


Still playing catch up over here in Pointsland. More stuff coming soon though.

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