I’m Baaaaaaack!

Well, hello there!  Long time, no see.  I’ve been gone “relaxing” for the past two weeks, recuperating from my last semester before I student teach in the spring (starting February).  Before I get back to my regular blogging routine (which might not be so regular from now on, but I’ll keep you posted on that), I thought I’d fill you in on what I’ve been up to while I was gone.

Mr. Converse Sneakers and I drove down to our hometown where we met in elementary school and fell in love as high schoolers to spend Christmas with our family and friends.  We were gone for about ten days!
My parents’ house was decorated beautifully and we had nothing but fun eating, opening gifts, and playing games on Christmas day.





I got some amazing presents from some amazing people, like this planner I’ve been drooling over from Erin Condren.  It was glued to me for days!



I’ve been wearing my new riding boots every day since Christmas.



I don’t have a photo, but I was very excited to open my new flash I’ve been wanting for quite some time!
Mr. Converse Sneakers really scored big this year.  He had two small presents and seemed a little confused when he was the first one done opening presents.  Little did he know the present of his dreams was hiding in my parents’ bedroom closet (it had to be moved several times so he wouldn’t see it).  My mom emailed me right away after Thanksgiving telling me she ordered him a professional six-quart Kitchenaid empire red stand mixer that he’s been wanting for years.  We were going to buy it with wedding money and had ordered it in the cayenne red color he had been wanting for a long time, but we got an email saying they were sold out of the color.  Well, they never got it back in stock because that color is no longer being produced, so we were waiting to see if any similar color would come out.  Thankfully my mom didn’t want us to wait anymore and ordered it in red, the color I wanted it in and my hubby man would still love.

Here’s his reaction to opening it:



Can you see the tears in his eyes?  I was bawling before he even started opening it because it was such a thoughtful gift.  He is already making bread as I type!

After opening gifts, the men (i.e. my brother, Mr. CS, and my dad) conked out in the living room while dinner was cooking.  I snapped photos, of course!



And, yes, we all wear Santa hats on Christmas – mostly to hide our morning hair.  My dad has a special Scottish Santa hat.  He’s incredibly into his Scottish heritage.  We’ve had so many Scottish things in our lives: Scottish Highland cattle, a Scottish Terrier (Stewart Wallace), bagpipes, a Scottish Santa statue, the list goes on and on.  Here is my dad in his hat:



Dinner was amazing!!  Au gratin potatoes, a honey ham, squash ravioli, glazed carrots, wine-infused pears, and bread pudding.  I’m getting hungry again!



This was the first time I had to share Christmas day, but I enjoyed spending time with my new family.  Laughter is part of every celebration.



Between talking, laughing, and eating, we helped the little ones make a gingerbread Christmas tree.  Here they are posing hilariously. 



The rest of the week was just as hectic.  We only had one day not filled with visiting our loved ones and that included a Goodwill shopping spree, which I’m sure I’ll ramble on about at a later date.  Let’s just say 20 items for a little over $100!!

One of my best friends, Tiffany, got engaged on Christmas Eve so I got to see her, her ring, and do a little dress shopping.  We also got together with my other friend, Cindy, to go on a little mini triple date to the bar in town.  A couple Colorado bulldogs (with root beer) later and I was having a grand old time.  Here I am with Tiffany from my iPhone:



Overall, was an amazing break!  I thought I would have more time to sit around and read the four magazines I bought at Sam’s Club on our way home at the beginning of the break, but now I have to read them in the new year.  We love our family and friends so much and wish we had much more time spend with them.

Mr. CS and I came back on New Year’s Eve, the day that marks six years together.  Wow, six years!?  I can’t believe it.  Almost a third of our lives we have spent loving each other.  We went to Red Lobster with a gift card in hand to celebrate.  I ordered a raspberry margarita.  The waiter asked if I wanted the small or big one.  Thinking that the small one would be puny and the big one would be regular-sized, I ordered the big one.  Boy, was I wrong.  Check out the margarita and my new seven-inches-shorter hair that I’m slowly starting to love (chopped it off last Tuesday).



My drink was huge!  I drank more this week than I did all year!  After slowly sipping on my margarita through our appetizer and salad, I had no room for the main course.



My hubby ate all of his food – every last crumb – so he had no room left to help me.



Here’s to leftovers on New Year’s Day!

I hope your holidays were as refreshing and full of love as ours was.  I’m ready to get back into blogging this week.  I’ll be posting our personal goals, my blog goals, and some other goodies this week, most likely randomly, so be sure to stop by for those!

Happy New Year, everyone!  I’m so thankful to have you all and my blog to spread some love, ramble on and on, and share my life.  This year is going to be amazing.

I can’t wait!

Happy 23 Year Birthday to Mr. Converse Sneakers!

Almost four months ago, I married the sweetest, more adorable man I have ever laid eyes on.  Today he turns 23! 



I won’t yammer on and on about what he means to me, because I would probably ramble well into tomorrow, so I’ll leave that for our anniversaries and times when I feel inspired to let the world wide web know how much I love him.

But, to make this a worthwhile post, here’s 4 reasons why I am thankful for my hunka hunka burnin’ love (I’m sure he’s dying reading this) on this day:



1. He has the sweetest heart.  He’s as sweet as pink lemonade!  Seriously though, this is a man who will tip baristas five dollars for a four dollar cup of coffee, just because he’s sweet.  Many men I know need to be forced to even leave a tip at a restaurant, and this is a coffee shop!  He is pretty reserved when it comes to expressing himself to others, but he will stand up for someone he loves at any cost.  I’ve never met a man (or probably a woman) with as big of a heart as he has.



2. He makes me lots of food.  Okay, so I would love my husband regardless of whether he could cook or not, but I sure fell in love with him much faster and have stuck around for six years partially because I don’t know what I would do without his cooking!  So, I’m exaggerating slightly, but I will never be ungrateful for each and every meal made with love by the cutest man on the planet.  I won’t post the photo I secretly took of him wearing my blue and red polka dot apron after much begging and pleading on my part just to see him looking ridiculous in it.  Now there’s a keeper!



3. He’s great at this whole marriage thing.  If I had to dream up what a perfect husband would be, I would picture my husband.  I’m beyond lucky to have found someone so patient, loving, and forgiving.  I’m definitely the spouse with a larger learning curve when it comes to marriage.  The second we said our vows, Mr. Converse Sneakers became everything I have ever needed and I couldn’t be more thankful.



4. He’s the weirdest person I know.  To some, being weird is not a good thing, but I grew up with a father who prided himself in being eccentric and anything but normal.  I’m afraid I’ve followed in his embarrassing-to-a-female-teenager footsteps and find joy in anything even slightly quirky.  Fortunately, my husband, though appearing normal to many people, is known by me to bust a hilarious dance move here and there, to have a crazy obsession with zombies (I seriously thought he believed they were real for some time), to play with his food (as evidenced above), and to want a say in decorating our house (unlike any man I know).  These quirks (and the hundreds of others) are what make me love him the most.  I hope we continue to cherish the weird moments we have together for all of eternity.

So happy birthday, Babe!  I hope I didn’t embarrass you too much in this post.  You’ll be getting a feast this weekend and I’ll be back next week to share the photos!

Have a great weekend, everyone!  Tell the ones you love why you cherish having them in your life.

My First Pumpkin

Last weekend, we had the opportunity to go to church with Mr. Converse Sneaker’s boss, which was awesome!  The sermon was about how we basically worship money like it’s and idol, and we constantly say to ourselves, “If I only had thismuch money, I would be happy,” but we never become happy from money because once we reach thismuch we want thatmuch.  Instead, we should put Jesus back where money has taken over and find happiness within Him.  I really needed to hear that sermon.  I almost thought about going home and donating everything we own, but then I calmed down and realized I don’t need to be that drastic, but I do need to make a drastic change in my thoughts.

Anyway, after we went to church, we tried a new restaurant called Which ‘Wich, which (haha) the hubs posted about on his blog, Obviously Cheddar, if you’re interested.  It was amazing and I’ve been craving it all week.

After all the morning fun, we headed to Marshall's Farm Market to pick up a pumpkin and some apples.  We chose it instead of any other pumpkin patch/apple orchard in the Cities because, honestly, it was closest to where we live.  I wanted to go to one that had a corn maze and fun activities, but we were limited on time.

However, we managed to snap some photos of our first pumpkin as a married couple.  How exciting!  Don’t me mistaken, that’s not a baby with some flaming orange hair it got from its Mama, it’s a perfect pumpkin we are going to carve on Friday!

I’m trying to get more comfortable pulling out my camera in public places.  I feel as though everyone stares at me, but I’m probably just imagining it.  If I could work up the courage to use it more, I would take better photos because I normally quick take a few photos, shove it in my bag, and then realize I didn’t even adjust any of the settings and I shoot in manual, so that can be a problem if the settings are from a different day.  Just another thing to work on!

Have you been to a local market to pick up fresh-off-the-vine pumpkins or apples?  I sure to love this season, although I’m going to have to trade my beautiful green toggle coat that I can only wear about two months of the year (spring and fall in MN go by quick) for my giant snowman Colombia jacket.  I’m not ready for winter!

State Fair Calorie Counting

This week has been full of Minnesota traditions!  First, it was the Renaissance Festival with my parents, and now the state fair with none other than my favorite hubby man, Mr. Converse Sneakers!  I sure love our county fair back home where both Mr. CS and I grew up, but we REALLY love the MN State Fair.  Why?

The food, duh!  If you want to know anything about our marriage, it is that it is food-driven.  Sure, we love each other and all, but we really love food!  Ha, of course I’m kidding just a bit, but we seriously spend much of our time together talking about food-related topics.

I thought it would be fun to tease you all with photos of the delicious treats we shared, and while you are drooling over each one, you can try to guess the calorie count.  I have no idea how many calories were in any of these, nor do I ever want to know, but I thought it would be fun to play along.

Let’s go!

Numero uno . . .



Ginger soda and ginger beer.  I guess 250 calories (we only had the soda).

For breakfast we had number two . . .



A HUGE cone of chocolate chip cookies.  I guess 1,500.



Numero tres was called “Puff Daddy On-A-Stick” which was Asian sausage rolled in puff pastry and drizzled with peanut sauce.  Hmm….400 is my modest guess.

We’re up to 2,150 calories guessed so far!



We had to have the caramel apple funnel cake which I think weighs in at least at 1,000!  It was huge!



Mr. Converse Sneakers had to have more beer at what I will guess is 200 calories.



Square cheese curds?



Nope . . . SPAM curds!!!  I only eat Spam at the fair, and boy was it delicious!  I guess 700.  I sure hope I am over-guessing.



One vendor was selling a kit to make frozen wine.  I normally don’t like wine unless it’s the really cheap, sweet stuff, but this was delicious!  I ‘d guess 90 calories in that little sample.



Chicken fried bacon was a must, especially with the cinnamon maple syrup sauce!  Definitely gotta be close to 700 here.

And now we’re up to 4,840 predicted calories!

But that’s not all!





Deep fried oreos!  I guess another 800.  I don’t even know what to base these predictions off of!  I’m sure I’m way off – but it’s fun!  You should play, too!





This raspberry malt from the dairy building was my favorite of the day.  The raspberries were so fresh and the vanilla malt was out of this world.  Mixed together, they were heavenly!  I’d say 500.



And lastly, the Australian battered potatoes.  YUMMY!  They were so good covered in nacho cheese and ranch.  They have to be pushing 1,200 calories, don’t you think?  They were huge!

So, I finished with an estimate of 7,340 calories eaten!  Well, we split everything but the beer, so it was more like 3,670 per person which is not horrible since that is all we ate all day, only putting us about 1,000 over our daily limit.  Only?  Haha, all for the sake of tradition.  But these were all guesses.  What’s your guess?

I also wanted to share some photos I took of the fun-filled day:



Apparently, I’m not the only Minnesotan who loves the fair.



Of course we had to check out the home improvement buildings!



Such pretty colors!



How many calories would you suppose is in a head sculpted out of butter?



How many calories . . .  Oh, heck, I’m just kidding!  Pigs are one of my favorite animals. I’ve always wanted to name one Disco.  These little ones were just a day old and oh so cute!  One was trying to shake his ears off his own head.  Darling!



We’ll end this post with a shot of my studly man who likes to wear those red sneakers.  I love him so!

What fatty foods do you love to indulge in?

What was your final count of how many calories we ate?

Pssst....Mr. CS also posted his version of the day.  Check it out on his blog here.

Partaking in the Local Traditions

I’m a Minnesota native.  I grew up on a hobby farm in the middle of nowhere and graduated in a class of 80 students.  I have never lived anywhere else besides this lovely (well, not always lovely) state, so it is home.  I can’t imagine living anywhere else, although I do imagine waking up to a view of the Atlantic Ocean.  Part of what makes it so homey are all of the traditions that so many Minnesotans partake in, creating a statewide community.  I’m sure every state and community has these things, but I like to think ours are unique and special (doesn’t everyone?).

Over the weekend, the tradition Mr. Converse Sneakers and I partook in was going to the Renaissance Festival with my parents.  It’s located just outside of the Twin Cities and it is a pretty big deal to Minnesotans, although I don’t know many who make it a yearly tradition to go, since it’s pretty much the same every year.  I’ve gone probably five times now in my life and have always loved going back after a few years.  If you’ve never heard of a festival like this, it is basically a ton of vendors selling things like pottery, garden sculptures, beer mugs, swords, and renaissance-inspired costumes at high prices mixed with tons of people dressed up and acting in renaissance ways.  The festival also includes many different types of shows to attend including hypnotists, tight rope walkers, comedians, and basically any crazy thing you could think of.  If you have ever seen the TV show Gilmore Girls (my all-time favorite show), you may remember Liz (Luke’s sister) and TJ (Liz’s husband) who sold jewelry at a renaissance festival.  The show did a great job of depicting what these are like.

Here are my sweet parents.  I got some good genes!

If I were to nickname them something fitting for the blog, I’d call them Mr. Work Boots and Mrs. Comfy Slingbacks (not in the picture since tennis shoes are a must at the Renn Fest where the walking paths are made of dirt).  Not that it really matters since I’m probably the only one who comes up with these strange shoe monikers.

We were greeted by a trio singing Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah.”  I love that song!

The whole place is lined with these renaissance-inspired buildings with awesome signs and really cool things to purchase, although we rarely buy anything since it is all pretty taste-specific.

While we were watching the Scottish dancers do their thang, I got pulled up to join them.  I’m the one looking embarrassed as I skip around in my bright floral shirt.  People that work there are basically paid to make a fool out of all the paying customers.  They even have old stocks they put people in and make them say vulgar things to be released.  It is pretty funny, but it can also be a little . . . much.

What we really like to go for is the food, since you can buy all sorts of things like giant turkey legs, which my parents both devoured, and my favorite, chili in a bread bowl.  When I heard a man shouting out a funny advertisement for frozen chocolate-dipped bananas, I knew I had to have one!  It was delicious.

Unfortunately, it rained throughout the day so all other foods that we tried were not accompanied with photos since I did not want to get my camera wet.  Other things we ate/drank included: macaroni and cheese bites, loaded potato skins, apple dumplings with cinnamon ice cream, oh, and tons of beer.  Well, I didn’t have a drop of beer, but both Mr. Converse Sneakers and my dad are big beer-enthusiasts so we went specifically because they offered a free beer tasting that day.  Mr. CS lucked out since I hate beer, so he was given all of my beer making the day that much more enjoyable for him!

There are so many other cool things to see at the fair, like fifteen year old trained turtles begging for money . . .

. . . a human bench . . .

. . . and an enchanted forest complete with miniature houses . . .

I had a blast spending time with my parents, eating good food, and laughing at all the craziness around me.  I definitely could have done without all of the breasts everywhere (think this times 1000), but the abundance of adorable pooches (it was pet fest day) well made up for it.  All for the sake of tradition, right?

What crazy local traditions do you partake in?