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!

7 Quick Takes (vol. 10)

It has been a fabulous few weeks, so I'll share a bit of the randomness with all of you lovelies :)

~~ 1 ~~

See these two adorable boys? Well I enjoyed a lovely afternoon celebrating their Birthdays. Check out some of Bonnie's fabulous creations for the day here.

~~ 2 ~~

So Monroe, Wisconsin hosts the Green County Cheese Days every other year. I think I have to go.

 

 the theme song, yes it's awesome!

 

~~ 3 ~~

I love fall :) I am currently drinking a caramel apple spice from Starbucks and it's like drinking an apple pie. Love it. I am ready for apple picking and corn mazes, campfires and fall colors. Oh! And homemade soups and stews :) and hoodies, I can go on, but I will spare you.

~~ 4 ~~

The church I work for had our annual parish picnic last Sunday. It was a wonderful afternoon of food and games. I love it because everyone is always in a good mood, no complaints, just enjoyment of the weather, and each other.

 Our two great priests

Maynard (Madison Mallards Mascot) doing his usual pose   ~    A bit of dining music       

~~ 5 ~~

I just watched Sundays at Tiffany's. It was super cute, great if you're in the mood for a Hallmark or lifetime-esque movie (evidently it actually is a Lifetime movie). I totally get in those moods.

~~ 6 ~~

So even though I am no longer in school, don't teach and don't have children in school, life still seems to follow the "school schedule". Two of the young adult groups I am in are starting up new books. So for the next few weeks I will be rereading Style, Se.x and Substance along with The Screwtape Letters. I really excited to discuss both books.

~~ 7 ~~

 

It's Friday and I have no plans set in stone, which means it will be a fabulously packed weekend doing a bit of everything :)

 Alright, that's all from me for this lovely Friday. Enjoy the weekend! 

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!

A Little Food Post

I've had a bit of free time, so I have been happily spending it in the kitchen. I was talking with my friends a few weeks ago about the challenge of using what you already have on hand and cooking fabulous (new) recipes with those ingredients instead of finding the recipe and then having to go out and buy the ingredients. Liking this idea, and what it would mean to the many neglected odds and ends in my pantry, I decided to do just that. Below are some of the recipes that came from my odd collection of ingredients. I'm big on bread, can you tell?

Cheesy Garlic Bread Sticks

I didn't use Lauren's pizza dough recipe, but instead used my simple recipe from my Better Homes and Gardens cookbook. Dipped it in some pizza sauce and it was pretty amazing :)

Beer Bread

This recipe is ridiculously easy. It's fabulous for that can of beer that someone brought over to your place and left and has been sitting in your fridge for months...This would be amazing with a fresh bowl of soup.

Raspberry Muffins

So see these 6 beautiful muffins? That's all this recipe makes! It's amazing. I'm always nervous about doubling or halving new recipes, afraid that my proportions will be off. Uma has already done the dirty work and here's a lovely recipe if there's only one or two of you in the house. I used butter milk instead of regular milk (yes, ridiculous that that's what I had on hand) and of course added a bit more vanilla :)

Lemon Basil Pesto Pasta

picture from here

If you've got fresh herbs and want a very flavorful side, this recipe is great. I did not use anchovy fillets (shockingly I did not have any on hand) but did have capers, that are who knows how old, that were dieing to be used. Also, I feel like I never have the right type of mustard for recipes. I just used plain old yellow mustard in this recipe and it turned out quite nicely.

How about all of you? Any clean out the pantry recipes you've found and love?

What a Weekend!

It's September, it's beautiful, fall is almost here :) I had a lovely weekend with friends.

I attended the Wisconsin State Cow Chip Festival, I figured I had to do it, and since I was actually in the state this year for Labor Day weekend I figured this was the perfect year. They have a different theme each year and this year's was Pirates of the Cowwabean.

It was a bit intense.

Look at the dedication!

It was also a lot of fun

Saturday I had the pleasure of attending a friend's beautiful wedding.

 

It was a wonderful day with college friends. Everyone had a fabulous time!

 

Sunday I was off to the Taste of Madison. Amazing! The capital square was filled with people and such a great combination of food.

Here's my friend with some chocolate covered bacon on a stick :)

The rest of the weekend was spent at my friend's house on the lake, complete with kyaking and pontoon boating, guitar sing-alongs and games. Then it was over for dinner with the boyfriend. All in all it was a pretty fabulous weekend! 

I hope you all enjoyed your weekend and are having a wonderful week thus far!

 

What I've Been Up To (Summer Vol. 2)

Alright, since it's the end of August and I've been slacking on the whole actually posting regularly I thought I'd do another quick run through of my life, for all you interested folks and share some of the fun stuff I've been up to...

What I've been reading.

 My Life with the Saints by James Martin, S.J.

My friend Katie did a great review over at Look to Him and Be Radiant, Check it out! (oh and that's where the picture is from)

What I've been baking/concocting.

Super Chewy, Really Awesome Chocolate Chip Cookies

Picture from Here

butterscotch chips + chocolate chips + peanut butter chips = AMAZING! 

(cleaned out my stock of chips :)

Foolproof Cinnamon Buns (with no yeast!)

 Picture from Here

My go to Summer cupcakes (Lemony Goodness!)

Picture from Here. 

 I've made them before and had to do it again :)

And, a whole lot of these recipes, including Salsa, Blueberry Lemon Tea Bread and Crispy Coconut Chicken

What I've been making.

Remember This picnic blanket that I was going to make? Well everything is cut out, but that's as far as I've gotten, so maybe I'll finish that in September...hopefully!

I've actually been making a lot of greeting cards. Yeah, I used to it all the time but got out of the habit, picking up a card is so much quicker, but not nearly as fun and personal. Some of my current inspirations have come from Busted Button.

I Love her work, especially the four seasons. Head over and check it out! (Picture from bustedbutton.com)

What I'm listening to (Music).

Pontoon by Little Big Town, love it!

 Sound of Music Record

Fiddler on the Roof Record

What I'm listening to (books)

 

Garlic and Sapphires by Ruth Reichl

Picture From Here

So far so good. I just started it, so we shall see...

The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey

Picture from Here

This one I felt like everyone my age/within 10 years of my age, had read/was doing. I actually found it extremely helpful and I love that it is very Christian based.

What I've been doing to enjoy the Season of Summer.

Camping

I went with this cute boy over the weekend, and despite the rain it was a lot of fun.

Canoeing

Lots of Birthday Celebrations (Lots of good times at the Nitty Gritty)

Quality time with family and friends

So that's me. Hope all of you are fabulous and enjoying the end of August, end of Summer, and return to reality.