Life Lately

Since returning home, life has been busy and wonderful.  It's good to be back!

On the first day of each quarter, the teachers at my school have a potluck lunch where everyone brings a dish to share and we eat together catching up on everything that has happened during our break.  I was told that it was too hot to turn on the oven, so I made these no-bake cookie dough bars and they were a HIT!

The only problem with these bars is that they killed my trusty hand mixer.  One of the beaters would no longer lock in to place, and it started to smell like it was about to start on fire.  I took this failure or my hand mixer as the opportunity to finally get myself every girl's dream kitchen appliance - a Kitchenaid.  Isn't he pretty?

Once September hits, it's fall in my brain.  Even if it's 100 degrees outside - like it has been ALL week - my brain says apple and pumpkin and FALL.  I declared pumpkin season officially opened with these pumpkin chocolate chip mini-muffins that I brought to school for my team before parent orientation last week.

And of course, with fall and pumpkin comes one of my favorite parts of September, the return of the Pumpkin Spice Latte to Starbucks!

My brain might be saying fall, but my body is still saying summer and I'm trying to enjoy the last pool days of the summer!

September also brings with it one of my favorite days of the year - my birthday!  I had a wonderful birthday weekend, ended perfectly with dinner with TDN and two of our dear friends.  Heather made an incredible meal for me.  I am so thankful to have her in my life.

I'm also thankful that she caters so well to my peanut butter cravings.  She made me a chocolate peanut butter cup cake with peanut butter frosting.  It was incredible.  And sent us all immediately into diabetic shock.  But it was worth it.  So worth it.

We enjoyed some time together, some time with friends, some hiking, and some time with Little Max.  TDN thought Littles might want to ride in a Google bike with us.  He wasn't a huge fan, but he was a trooper!

That's life!

What's Up Wednesday

This week I'm trying out "What's Up Wednesday," a linky party that one of my favorite bloggers participates in.

1.  What we're eating this week...

This is my last week in South Dakota for the summer, so I'm trying to make sure I eat all my favorite Midwestern things before I go.  

My favorite breakfast treat of all time comes from the Royal Bake Shop in Centerville, SD.  They are most well known for their "zebras" - a thick glazed donut with a layer of chocolate donut in the middle.  Zebras are great.  However, not my all-time favorite.  That title goes to their filled maple sticks.  Yummm!

This little treat is a long-john filled with a maple cream and topped with mapley, crumbley goodness.

Next on the list...

On Monday I finally got my Taco John's fix.  Every time I come back to visit I crave some potato ole's!

There's also the good old-fashioned Midwestern comfort foods - basically anything Grandma makes!

2.  What I'm reminiscing about...

While I've been back at the farm this summer, I have been going through the house and purging all the crap that has accumulated over the last 130+ years.  I have found a lot of junk, taken a lot of things to Goodwill, and found a few treasures along the way.  Just yesterday I found some school writings and art projects of my grandpa's from 1937 and 1938.  Reading his papers, and just seeing the way he signed his name again has brought back so many memories of my first best friend.

3.  What I'm loving...

Bachelor in Paradise!  It's my favorite trashy TV show and guilty pleasure.  And right along with it come Sheaffer's weekly recaps!

I laugh so hard during the show, then on Wednesdays I get to laugh at it all over again when I read her take on the week's events.  

Normally I watch every episode of Bachelor/Bachelorette/Bachelor in Paradise with my friend Heather, then we read the recaps together after.  We love the nicknames and comment on so many of the same things that show up in the recaps.  Having been out of town for nearly two months, she and I have had to settle for texting each other after we've confirmed we've both watched the show (different time zones are a pain), and for reading the recaps together.

We'll be back together for it next week though!

4.  What we've been up to...

We just finished our county fair, where my family was named the 4-H Family of the Year!

It was so much fun to be back at the Turner County Fair for The Four Best Days of Summer!  I grew up going to the fair every year and spending all week there.  We showed sheep and always tried to outdo our total number of head from the year before.  It was fun - but a little strange - to be there for the sheep show without having any sheep of our own to show!

I've gotten to spend so much nice time with my family this summer, but the fair last week also gave me a chance to spend time with my "fair family" - those people that become like parents and siblings because of the amount of time you spend with them in the barn.  Papa Flint is one of those people that I've known for so many years and he has always been like another father to me.  I know that he and his family will always be there for me in any situation.

We can goof around and have fun just like I do with the rest of my family.  Papa Flint still likes to give me a hard time about having a bony butt when I was growing up, so I had to sit down on his lap and see if anything has changed.  This picture was snapped right as he was tickling me!

5.  What I'm dreading...

Packing!  I've been in SD for 6 1/2 weeks now and I'm finally going home on Saturday!  I'm happy to be going home, but I'm dreading having to get everything packed back up into my suitcase!

6.  What I'm working on...

Since everyone in my family teaches, this is a busy time of year for us.  I helped Baby Sister set up her classroom for the first time, and then yesterday morning I helped my mom get hers ready for the start of the new school year too.

While going through her things, we came across this gem:

Wasn't I a cutie? :)

7.  What I'm excited about...

This week marks my dad's third round of chemo for his neuroendocrine cancer.

When we finally figured out what type of cancer it was, the prognosis wasn't good.  He decided to try chemotherapy anyway, in the hopes that it will do a little bit of good.

After two rounds, the oncologist ordered a PET scan, which happened last week.

We got the results on Monday morning and they were much better than we ever could have expected!

He's still going to complete his planned four rounds of chemo, then they will scan again.  The chemo probably won't be able to kill everything, and he probably won't be "cured," but it's working and we'll take that!

8.  What I'm watching/reading...

I just finished reading The Casual Vacancy by J.K. Rowling.

I'll be honest, it wasn't my favorite.  It took me a long time to read it.  But it did have really great parts, as well as the beautiful language I've come to expect from Rowling.  The character development was also incredibly well done.  However, it was a bit of a slow read for me, partly because the narrator changes with each chapter, requiring me to mentally change gears more than I otherwise would have.

I've been working my way through Gilmore Girls on Netflix and am obsessed.  I would watch it all day if I could.  I watched the show growing up, but had never gotten even close to watching every episode, so it has been fun to go through them in order!

I'm also finally finishing Sherlock, the BBC miniseries.  I watched the first two seasons right after they aired, and simply forgot to watch the third, so I'm finishing it tonight!

9.  What I'm listening to...

Since I'm driving my grandma's '94 Ford Escort while I'm here this summer, and I'm spending so much time in the car with my dad, I've been pretty much restricted to whatever is playing on the two country radio stations we have!

10.  What I'm wearing...

The weather has cooled off a little bit here, so I've actually been able to wear jeans and boots for the first time all summer!  The problem with this weather is that I didn't bring home any jeans to wear with my boots, so I had to dig out some jeans that were still hanging around from my sophomore year of high school!  To my surprise (and enjoyment), they fit!

11.  What I'm doing this weekend...

I'm hoping to spend time with one of my SD best friends Friday night for a night out dancing before heading home.

Saturday will be spent flying!

And then, if plans don't change, Tall Dark and Nerdy and I will head up to Tahoe for Saturday evening through Monday!

12.  What I'm looking forward to next month...

My birthday!

13.  What else is new...

Counting down the days until I am back with my wonderful partner and my dog!

Life Lately

Here's a peek into what I've been up to lately:

Katie and I spent a wonderful day together, and I got to spend more time with her sweet kiddos.  Big Rig even got to go on the go-karts!

Papa Rist and I had a movie night together this weekend and enjoyed some of our favorite bourbon.

  

I have been trying my best to get as much cleaning and organizing done in this house as I can while I'm here.  I'm almost finished with the kitchen - finally - now that Baby Sister and I finished off the pantry!

The most recent organization challenge was the overstuffed coat closet on the porch.  Most of the things in there hadn't been taken out since we moved in 10 years ago, and others had been there longer than that.  I found hats, coats, shoes, you name it that had belonged to my grandfather.  I have 7 garbage bags full of coats, hats, and backpacks to take to Goodwill now this week!

South Dakota sunsets

I always forget how magical sunsets are in South Dakota when I'm away for a long time.  Seeing the entire sky lit up in cotton candy colors as far as the eye can see is breathtaking.

Being back on my family farm is always nostalgic - it feels like almost nothing has changed about this place since my childhood, yet I have changed so much.

I've seen some incredible sunsets around the world, but the clouds and the sky in South Dakota will always have a special place in my heart.

Life Lately

Here's a peek into what I've been up to lately:

This handsome guy is my nephew.  He was tuckered out after his baptism and needed some naptime with Auntie Jenna.

Baby Sister and I had a night out last week and saw the Eli Young Band at the Sioux Empire Fair.

Tall Dark and Nerdy is trying to make the most out of me being gone for the summer by getting in lots of backpacking miles with the boys.

Baby Sister has been working on a new patio at the farm with some nice landscaping and new flowers.  Our hibiscus has been blooming and has been stunning.

One of the great things about being back in SD for the summer is getting to spend time with my dear friends and their sweet babies.  I've been enjoying spending time with my goddaughter McKinley and her big brother Rig.

There's just something about a fire that makes it feel like summertime.  Baby Sister and I sometimes get in the mood to have a fire, so we just do it.  Living in the country is nice for that!  We start a fire, have a beer, and make some s'mores.  Perfect summer night with my sister.

Little Max is 15 now, which means he's getting a little grumpy.  His newest habit is pooping in the house on Mondays to let TDN know that he's angry for being left at home.  Poor little guy, he wishes it was always the weekend so he could have fun with his humans.

That's what's happening lately!

Ag Family

Teaching is the family business.  Especially teaching agriculture.  Both of my parents, as well as my older sister, are full-time agriculture teachers.  My younger sister will also be co-teaching with my dad during the coming school year.  I guess I'm the odd one out!

Last week was the annual conference for South Dakota Ag Teachers.  We had the rare opportunity to have all five of us (plus my new baby nephew!) together for the banquet and auction on the last night, as some of the proceeds of the auction were to go towards my dad's medical expenses.

It was so nice to all be together for an evening with not only my "Ag Family," but also the "SD Ag Family."

Wine tasting with Papa Rist

Since we already went to McWay Falls and the Monterey Bay Aquarium on this trip, and I had done the touristy San Francisco things with Papa Rist on his last visit, our last obligatory Bay Area must-do was wine tasting in Napa Valley.  

The boys really had to twist my arm to get me to spend a whole day wine tasting.  Ha.  I really enjoy wine, so a day dedicated to trying many different wines and finding my favorites is pretty much a perfect day.

We tasted at three wineries in the St. Helena and Oakville areas and had a wonderful time.

The first was one of Tall Dark and Nerdy's favorites:  V. Sattui.  They have a really cool story of being an Italian-family-owned winery from San Francisco before prohibition shut them down.  They also have some wonderful wines.  Before we even started tasting, TDN told me that I would love their Gamay Rouge and that we would be bringing a bottle home with us.  Like usual, he was correct.  It's light and sweet without being too much like those candy-sweet wines I used to love.

Next, we went to Silver Oak Cellars.  They specialize in cabernets, and since Papa Rist really enjoys Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon, this was a no-brainer for today.  The people in the tasting room here were so much fun.  We were talking about wine and welding and everything in between.  Definitely a great stop!

Number 3 was a place we had never heard of, Cosentino, but had great curb appeal on the way up to V. Sattui, so we decided to stop by on the way home.  This was a great little discovery.  The tasting room was much smaller than at the other two we visited, but the wine was great.  As an added bonus, they had purse hooks along the counter, which is a plus for any woman carrying a bag :)  We will definitely be stopping here again, too!

Staring at fish

Tall Dark and Nerdy and I are both, well, nerdy.  We like to "nerd out" about a lot of different things, both individually and together.  One of the things we have been nerding out about together recently is fish...well, more coral than actual fish.

TDN has a large aquarium in his house with incredible coral everywhere and some really cool fish.  

We had just spent a few days getting everything nice and cleaned up after he had been out of the country for a few weeks, and we got an awesome new fish, when Papa Rist came to town.

We decided that in addition to going to McWay Falls at Big Sur, we would go to Monterey while we were down south.  In case you don't know, you can't go to Monterey without visiting the Monterey Bay Aquarium.  It is really freaking cool.

So maybe we goofed around a little bit too :)

Papa Rist was done with his tour through the aquarium in about an hour...we, on the other hand, were a little rushed finishing in 3 hours.  We had so much fun talking about the fish, looking at the different corals and anemones, and dreaming of what we could try to get for the aquarium at home next.


The aquarium has a great jellyfish exhibit.  One of my favorites are these guys that has bacteria that make them glow like this.

McWay Falls

Tall Dark and Nerdy has been tempting me with a place called McWay Falls since we were first just becoming friends.  It's a picturesque waterfall in Big Sur that spills out onto a beach with waves crashing in all around.

Just hearing about it and seeing other people's pictures could almost take my breath away.

But, because of all my knee surgeries and his traveling for work, we still hadn't been there and I hadn't seen it in real life.

That all changed when Papa Rist came out to visit for Christmas this year!  On the day after Christmas, we got up early, hopped in the car, and drove down to Big Sur, not stopping until we were at the path to McWay Falls.

It really is beautiful.  And getting to experience it with two of the most important men in my life made it even better.

When the waves roll in, the waterfall is suddenly running right into the ocean for a few seconds.

I could just sit and listen to waves crash along the shore for hours and hours.  In the early morning, with hardly any other people around, this was a magical place and moment.

Stanford Football

While I'm still feeling our heartbreaking loss to Michigan State in the 100th Rose Bowl on New Year's Day, I want to remember a couple of my favorite moments from this football season, because it was definitely one to remember!

During our awesome defeat of Oregon, John Elway was recognized on the field at halftime and his number was retired.

Our Big Game victory was the largest in the history of the rivalry game, winning 63-13.  

Also, the trombone section's group costume (each section wears a costume together for the Big Game) made this Big Bang Theory fan happy.

2013 Year in Review

2013 wasn't all roses, but, looking back, there are so many wonderful memories that I kind of forgot the hard parts of it all.  The first half of the year involved many, many physical therapy and doctor appointments for my knee, but the half-marathon I ran in the fall kind of made up for it.

January

2013 literally started out with roses when I traveled to southern California to watch my Stanford Cardinal play in - and win! - the 99th Rose Bowl.  My friend Kyla and I made the trip together, celebrating New Year's at a fabulous mansion party in the Hollywood Hills before watching our team in Pasadena.

At the end of the month, we celebrated Jas's birthday by going to a pop-up black-and-white masquerade ball and dinner party.  Masquerade ball has now been officially checked off of my bucket list!

February

My second knee surgery in six months happened on February 6.  The first surgery wasn't able to heal the whole tear in my meniscus, so they went back in and re-did the surgery to get the second half to heal.  My friends and neighbors were so sweet to bring me care packages.

 March

In March, I flew back home to South Dakota for "spring break" and Easter with my family.  Baby Sister, my cousin Les, and I had fun with the baby lambs, dinking around on the 4-wheeler, and going shooting with a dear friend of mine.  Holidays in South Dakota are definitely one of a kind!

April
April was marked by the start of the season for our garden.  We spent a day planting and setting up the drip irrigation system, and it was all worth it for the months of fresh veggies we got to enjoy!

May

In May, I had my first Bay to Breakers experience - a "run" across San Francisco with thousands of my closest friends, in costumes, with a lot of beer.  It was definitely memorable, and I'm glad I did it with this guy.

June

In June, I was finally able to go back to work with a mostly-recovered knee.  The same week, I also started graduate school!

Earlier in June, Tall Dark and Nerdy had an aunt and uncle come to visit us, so in showing them around, I got to see Yosemite for the first time.

July

I went to a lot of concerts in 2013, but two really stick in my head as representing the year.  Possibly because one was the largest concert I've ever been to - Justin Timberlake and Jay-Z's Legends of the Summer Tour.  Possibly because I planned the best date night ever taking Tall Dark and Nerdy to see Weezer in San Francisco at an incredible temporary venue.  Possibly because I went to these two concerts two nights in a row.  Whatever the reason, they were a couple of really great shows!

August

August brought an incredible vacation to Europe with Tall Dark and Nerdy.  With our time together in Germany, our long weekend with friends in Munich, my day by the lake in Zurich, my time in Scotland with my grandmother, and my days in London with friends, this trip couldn't have gotten much better!

September

I was able to fly home and be a part of when of my oldest friends' special days this fall.  I have known this girl nearly all my life and we have become such close friends since high school, even with me living 2000 miles away.  It was such a wonderful weekend kicking up our heels and celebrating a great couple!  And I got to spend time with Baby Sister, which made it even better!

October

On October 20th I participated in my second Nike Women's Marathon.  This time I did it pretty much on my own, and I ran more of it than I thought possible.  After all my struggles with my knee this past year, this was a huge day for me.  I couldn't run the whole thing, but it will come, maybe in 2014!

Now, as dorky as this sounds, the other highlight of October was getting our wood burning stove installed at the cabin.  Now I can relax by a fire all winter!

November

Every fall, the school I teach at has a wonderful auction to raise money for our scholarship fund.  Tall Dark and Nerdy and I went, talked with wonderful parents, and had a really nice evening (and even took a nice picture!)

At the end of the month, we headed to Cozumel, Mexico for a mini vacation.

December

The reason we headed to Cozumel was the Tall Dark and Nerdy was competing in an Ironman triathlon.  I'm so proud of him!

My dad came to visit us for Christmas, prompting a trip to Big Sur to see McWay Falls - which Tall Dark and Nerdy has been tempting me with almost since we met!

Wow, 2013 had a lot of memories!  I can't wait to make more in 2014!