Thankful Thursday

  Since it is Thursday, and since there is always much to be thankful for, here is my list of the moment.

(1) Answered Prayers. 

 I (along with many others) have been praying for my fiance to find a job, so that I'll know where we'll be settling after we get married, but more so that he can put the degree he just earned to use doing something he enjoys. Well he was offered a job last week and he'll start the beginning of June. So praise God for answered prayers.

(2) Forever Friends.

 

 I was at a bachelorette party over the weekend for one of my best friends. It was like a reunion of college friends and I loved it! I'm so thankful that no matter the distance, I will always have these ladies in my life.

(3) The Farmers' Market. 

I finally got a chance to hit up Madison's awesome farmers' market last Saturday and I got all kinds of goodies. I'm thankful for all those who put in the work to grow the fruits and veggies and seedlings so that the rest of us without a big yard can enjoy them.

 

(4) Family. 

 

I had the chance to celebrate my younger brother's birthday last week as well as have dinner with my older brother. I'm so thankful that we all live close enough to get together. My parents are coming up tomorrow, so even more family awesomeness. All of Jeremiah's siblings were able to come celebrate his graduation and I insisted on a photo. Family is important. I'm thankful that was ingrained in us growing up, and I'm thankful that it holds true for the family I'll be joining in a few months.

(5) Beautiful Weather. 

Spring was extremely short and Summer seems to have appeared here. I'm loving being able to go bike riding or hiking for a few hours after work and still be home before it's dark.So thankful for health, beautiful weather and longer days.

 

(6) Pictures.

 I've been trying to do a little catching up on my scrapbooking, along with getting pictures printed. I'm so thankful for all the memories represented in each shot and all the people who make them up.

(This picture is of the first bible study I was in in Madison. Awesome group. 2 are now in the seminary and 2 have left the state.)

 

(7) Happy Hours.

Yesterday some of my coworkers and some of the ladies that used to work at our office all got together for some drinks, appetizers and catch-up conversation. I'm thankful for good people to catch-up with, patio seating and great food and drinks.

There's the short list of what I'm thankful for this Thursday. Enjoy it friends! There is much to be thankful for!

Thankful Thursday

Life has been pretty great around here, and with Spring finally showing it's face there is much to be thankful in my life, so I thought I'd revive my Thankful Thursdays (at least for this week...)

At this moment I am thankful for...

 

(1) Wedding Planning, and not being overwhelmed..yet. 6 months to go and things are coming together and I'm thankful that everything seems to be falling into place.

 

 (2) Friends that are full of joy and make me want to be more joyful. I am blessed to have many wonderful friends that show the joy of Christ to others on a daily basis. It's the Easter Season, we should all be more joyful.

Alright, so these are my brothers (not technically just friends) but this picture is so joyful. Love it!

(3) The quirky devotions of the Catholic faith. I went to a talk earlier this week entitled "Quirky but Beloved Prayer Practices". It was about the origin of some of the various devotions that are practiced (or used to be practiced) in the Catholic Church. It was fascinating and it was fun to here what others grew up doing in their families or communities. We talked about praying to St. Anthony to find lost things, burying St. Joseph when trying to sell a house, dressing the Infant of Prague and much more. The origins of all these practices, the stories of why certain saints became the patrons of the things they are is so interesting. Love it!

 

(4) Graduations. I have a good friend who just graduated with her nursing degree and my fiance is graduating on Saturday. I love to see people succeed and am so thankful for all those who follow their dreams.

Follow your dreams, even if it involves taking a picture with a giant mouse.

 

(5) Thunderstorms. We've had a lot of rain this week, which is great for the farmers. I love thunderstorms (as long as I'm not driving in them), I love to hear the rain coming down and see the lightning. It's a beautiful reminder of God's power.

 

(6) Letters. My mom writes all of us kids a letter every week. I love hearing about the news from back home, what her and dad are up to, what the neighbor did, etc. I'm so thankful for a mother who puts such a strong emphasis on staying in touch with those you love.

My mom and dad riding a jackalope at Wall Drug in South Dakota.         Blowing bubbles at my sister's wedding reception.

(7) Growing plants. I planted some spinach and salad mix seeds the beginning of the month and I love seeing their little green leaves peaking out of the soil. There was an unwanted squirrel who decided to dig around a bit the other day, but I suppose I should be thankful even for squirrels and that I live in a place that they can jump from tree to tree.

Alright, that's it for me. Enjoy the rest of your Thursday! What are you thankful for today?

Month Catch-Up

Here's what I have been up to for the past month, lots of fun stuff. Hope your summer is super awesome and you are making time to do the fun stuff that makes you smile.

My lovely sister (who is a sister with the School Sisters of Christ the King) had her home visit the end of June, so it was lovely seeing her and having some good old fashioned family time.

Including a picnic by the Mississippi and a triathlon (badminton, horse shoes and croquet)

 I got to spend an awesome afternoon with my adorable Godson and his family.

Threw a summer party that was a blast. Lots of great food, drinks, awesome people, fun games and all around good times. (Minus, of course, the mosquitoes!)

Celebrated Jeremiah's niece's 1st Birthday.

 

recipe & picture from here

Made these for our my dad's side's family get together.

My little brother moved to Wisconsin earlier this month. That makes three of us :) I'll take it!

I've been loving concerts on the square (there was this insanely good harmonica player the last time I went), if there is any free music concerts offered in the summer in your part of the country I highly recommend you attend. 

Alright, that's it for me for now. I'm off to enjoy some more summer fun :)

7 Quick Takes (Vol. 15)

It's summer! I am supper excited :) Excited for longer days, warm weather, plants on the patio, flowers blooming, fresh fruits and veggies. I love it! Alright on to a quick list of my recent crazy life.

 

 ~~ 1 ~~

We had a siblings day a couple weeks ago because my younger brother was up for a wedding so we had some awesome hangout time and went to the great Wollersheim Winery (which I love). We're quite the stair-steps in the above picture.

This is what happens when Kevin chooses the pose. I can say that I think we entertained the lovely lady that took our picture, we were quite the group ;)

~~ 2 ~~

Did you know that they call Rockford, IL the Home of the Sock Monkey? Yeah, me neither. But it's true, I was there.

 

~~ 3 ~~

Over Memorial Day Weekend (I'm telling you, this is a hardcore catch-up post) my parents were up and we spent Saturday hanging out with my Dad's family and visiting the graves of my grandparents, great-grandparents and even great-great grandparents. The rain held off and it was a beautiful day.

We said a rosary at each of the cemeteries. It was a nice day of reminiscing about the past.

~~ 4 ~~

Last weekend I spent in the Wisconsin Dells with my boyfriend. It was a wonderful mini-vacation. The above picture was taken on the Original Wisconsin Ducks. I had never been and loved it. Wisconsin is such a gorgeous state. The tour was of course filled with all kinds of corny jokes that you had to laugh at, it's a very family friendly little tour.

~~ 5 ~~

 These Kangaroos were in the "nursery" the grown ones were outside in a larger area.

While in the Dells we also went to The Timbavati Wildlife Park. It was neat to see the variety of animals they had, but I didn't like the lack of space the animals had. They are doing a lot of remodeling,  so it may be better in a year or two.

 Can you tell he's an animal person?

~~ 6 ~~

 I was given a bunch of rhubarb and have enjoyed finding awesome stuff to do with it. I found this recipe that where you cook down the rhubarb and add some sugar and water to make a concentrate for drinks (bottle on the right). Add it to some sparkling water and you have a rhubarb Italian soda. The jar on the left is the cooked chunks of rhubarb that you can eat over ice cream or whatever.

~~ 7 ~~

I am in love with this sandwich! I made 1 big sandwich (using a hamburger bun) and cut the sauce recipe in half and it was awesome. It's a super quick and easy meal.

I hope you all had a wonderful week month, enjoy the weekend! 

For more Quick Takes, head on over to Conversion Diary.

7 Quick Takes (vol. 14)

So it's February, not exactly sure how that happened, but I'm ok with it. There is snow all over the ground and the sun is out, so I am hoping for a beautiful weekend. Here's a quick update on me.

 

 ~~ 1 ~~

I forgot how much I missed crafting/sewing. I know that may seem odd since Christmas wasn't that long ago, but that's different, there's a deadline there (that I often miss, but it's still there). I've been on a tote bag kick lately, random I know, but they're fun and fairly quick (depending on how you do them). 

  I made this for a friend, no I am not quite that vain.

I also have piles of stuff I need to scrapbook. Maybe I'll do that this weekend.

 

~~ 2 ~~

So I had this lovely cold for about 2 weeks, bad enough to stay home from work, but thankfully I didn't have to deal with the Norovirus (which sounded awful!) and I figure it's winter, everyone is bound to get sick sometime, right? Anyways, I found an awesome comfort food that was perfect when I was home (I'd made it a few days before and had frozen the leftovers so the timing was great).

 

Cheesy Chicken and Rice

 picture from here

When I had it at first I thought it was a bit bland (not really any seasonings in the original recipe), so I add a bunch that first night. When I was sick I was glad I hadn't add the seasonings to all of it. It's good and simple. You should try it.

 

~~ 3 ~~

I've been on a red velvet kick, which is handy with Valentine's day coming up and all :) I made red velvet brownies using a cake mix and they turned out great. This recipe is good (I left out the nuts and chocolate chips and didn't frost them) if you want quick brownies and happen to have a cake mix on hand (or made your own mix). Maybe this weekend I'll make these cuties 

 

 picture from here

 

with this awesome Nutella Cream Cheese Frosting (although the original frosting sounds pretty temping as well). Sounds like a plan to me :)

~~ 4 ~~

I am currently reading The Breath of Dawn by Kristen Heitzmann (thanks Katie for the recommendation :) and it's great, although I think I may need to read parts of it during the day, I get freaked out by mental and supernatural stuff. It's a Christian romance, which means it's got a great lovely story and lots of strong Christian characters and usually a happy ending (that's what I'm banking on. I hate books and movies that don't have happy endings). I was in between books for a while, which kind of drove me crazy, but in that time I picked up Zen and the Art of Needlecraft: Exploring the Links Between Needlecraft, Spirituality, and Creativity by Sandra Detrixhe (my aunt) again and read a few more chapters. I love it because it has so may stories about my parents and other relatives, some I've heard and some that are new to me. It makes me miss family, but I love that there is a print copy of our stories.

~~ 5 ~~

Speaking of family, my younger brother was in "Dancing with the Local Stars" a fundraiser for Cornerstone in Quincy. Rumor has it they put all the dances on YouTu.be but right now here's a link to a sneak peak. Danny's at the 2:38-3:00 section.

 Picture from Table Sixteen Productions

 

~~ 6 ~~

I am so ready for the weekend, not sure what all I'm going to be doing, hopefully some baking, reading and scrapbooking, some time with friends and the boyfriend. I don't really have much planned, which means it will be wonderful :)

~~ 7 ~~

  I haven't really done any winter sporty stuff this winter season. No skiing or snowshoeing, skating or even good snowball fights or snowman/angel building. I need to rectify that in the coming week. After all, what's the point of living in Wisconsin if you're not going to enjoy the snow?

 

I hope you all had a wonderful week, enjoy the weekend! 

For more Quick Takes, head on over to Conversion Diary.

7 Quick Takes (vol. 13)

 ~~ 1 ~~

 picture from here

Happy Feast Day of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton! Do you know her? She's pretty amazing. She is the first United States born saint, was a wife, mother, convert, teacher, Foundress. Yeah, she's awesome. She's also my Confirmation Saint, so I may be a little bias...

~~ 2 ~~

So I got a donut pan from my wonderful boyfriend for Christmas and of course had to try it out.  So, I made these wonderful things.

Feast your eyes on Maple Bacon Donuts! I got this awesome recipe from www.jocooks.com and the only thing I changed was I substituted sour cream for the Greek yogurt. You should make them, but make sure to make extra bacon, I of course ran out, there never seems to be enough bacon.

 

~~ 3 ~~

I finally finished the Hunger Games series. They were very well written, I was frustrated with the ending (as were many people I talked with) but over all I thought they were good, disturbing, but good. I haven't watched the movie yet, but probably will, we'll see.

~~ 4 ~~

Picture From Here

Have you read "One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are" by Ann Voskamp? It's good, it makes me want to live a more thankful life, to dig deeper into my faith and who I want to be. It starts out very sad, so warning, it's not a warm and fuzzy book.

~~ 5 ~~

My holidays were really great overall. Christmas was spent at my parents house with my 2 brothers. There was lots of food, even more sugar, games and movies, sparkling nonalcoholic drinks, and lots of good old fashioned family time.

~~ 6 ~~

On December 29th I road tripped out to Lincoln, Nebraska for my sister sister's family visit. It was wonderful to see all the sisters (she's with the School Sisters of Christ the King) and the event was held at the church/school that she teaches at (St. Peter's) so it was nice to get the tour of the school and see her class room.

~~ 7 ~~

  My New Year's Eve was very low key. I drove back from Nebraska all day and ended up staying with my boyfriend's sister instead of driving all the way home. We had Chinese and some great sparkling wine I fell asleep early but woke up for both ball drops (east coast and midwest).

   this is not the best way to take out a cork, but it did work and no one was injured :)

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and New Year's! 

For more Quick Takes, head on over to moxiewife.com who's hosting for Jen this week.

I Took a Little Trip...

So I took a little road trip with my parents, a two week road trip to be exact. We headed out west to visit my sister in California and had some grand adventures along the way. We drove through 11 states and although I am glad I did it, it is also nice to know that I don't have to do it again. Next time I will fly to my favorite stops :)

Here are some quick random highlights/entertaining stops from the journey, no particular order:

Wall Drug

If you're driving through South Dakota there's not really any way to miss it. The signs are everywhere, and about the only signs for miles.

  

Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve

 Did you know there used to be active volcanoes in the United States? Well there were.

 

 Did you know that you can go to Idaho and walk around the lava and look at the effects of a volcano that erupted 2000 years ago? Well you can.

Doesn't my mom look like she's in a hazmat suit?

Yellowstone National Park

Have you been to Yellowstone? It's breathtaking.

Old Faithful is amazing to see, but it was a bit funny to see the time it would erupt posted in the middle of the visitor's center and rows of benches set up for spectators.

 We saw our first bear before we even entered the park. It put us in the mood for some good animal watching.

 I will definitely be back to Yellowstone, hopefully spend a few days, do some hiking and horseback riding.

Twin Falls, Idaho

 See that bridge? Well if you look out over the canyon this is what you see...

 Amazing! And yes, that is a golf course. Who knew Idaho was so beautiful?

California Awesomeness

 Friday we went to Santa Cruz and stopped at this great local ice cream shop that makes up their own flavors. Dad had balsamic vinegar and fig (which we all tried, of course) and mom had chocolate caramel sea salt (which I also had but in a root beer float) Tanya had some other random float.

My sister and brother-in-law got remarried in the Catholic church, while we were there.

The above picture is outside the mission church Holy Cross where they were married.

 After the ceremony. We matched nicely.

 Everyone. Small weddings are nice.

Yosemite National Park

Yosemite was beautiful too. There weren't animals everywhere like Yellowstone but the mountains were amazing and so white against the sky.

I'd love to go back and go hiking by the waterfalls (we were too late in the season for the falls to be falling).

We spent the day walking and admiring. Reading warning after warning about black bears, but never seeing any.

Antelope Island State Park

 So there's this island in the middle of the Great Salt Lake.

 It's beautiful, and filled with all sorts of fun animals.

 Bison crossing the road. It happens here, a lot. They have like 500 bison, just chilling.

 Can you find the horizon line? Cool huh?

We made lots of other stops, like staying at The Virginian Hotel in Medicine Bow, Wyoming (you'd have to be a western fan to appreciate that one), visited Buffalo Bill's retirement home (Scout's Rest Ranch in Nebraska, who knew?!), being a 3rd generation Danish immigrant we had to stop at the Danish Immigrant Museum in Iowa. Yeah there were lots of stops like that.

Well that's my trip in a nutshell. It was fun. We live in an amazing country. You should check it out!