65 in February

It was 65 degrees today! A perfect day to be outside, exploring a bit.

Stitch Fix...Again!

I decided to start up Stitch Fix again...I kind of missed getting the fixes when I stopped! So, without further ado, here is my latest fix.

1. Cube Print Faux Wrap Dress $78.00 - Returned     I liked it, just not not enough for the price. And plus, it was a bit shorter than I like. I teach kinders, so when I think about clothes, I tend to think about how they'd fair with bending over and kneeling on the floor.

2. Lex Textured Knit Dress $74.00 - Returned.    Again, too short.

3. Knit Cardigan $48.00 - Kept      I know I'll wear it in the winter as well as the summer! Here, I paired it with a belt, just to spruce it up a bit.

4. Funnel Neck Sweatshirt $64.00 - Returned    I like the idea of "dress" sweatshirts, since I like wearing them on casual Fridays. This one though, was a bit on the tight side and I just wasn't all that fond of it.

5. Split Neck Blouse $48.00 - Returned     I liked it, but I don't have enough things to go with it!

Beautiful February Days

Spring fever hit, yesterday, when it was in the 50's. It has been so beautiful lately and it looks like it will continue to be! The forecast is for high 30's to 40's this next week and I am absolutely loving it. Is it really February?! My days have been spent going to work and then coming home and taking Ruger for long walks. Occasionally Aaron comes along, which makes for good chatting time. Today we spent awhile out in our backyard, cleaning up Ruger's mess. When the snow melted, we were able to see a blanket that Ruger completely shredded, part of the lawn mower he chewed up,  and lots of branches that he drug up from behind the garage. Throw in cleaning up lots of poop the snow had covered and that was our afternoon.

Valentine's Day

One of my most favorite traditions growing up happened on Valentine's Day. Every February 14th, my mom would shut the dining room doors and when they would be opened, the table would be transformed into a beautiful Valentine's Day display. Candles would be lit with the lights off, Yanni would be playing on the Bose in the corner, Fine China dinnerware was set with Meier's sparkling duck in fancy glasses, and little Valentine's gifts would be sitting on our chairs. The meal was delicious. Everything was beautiful. 

The picture above is from one of mom's Valentine's meals. 

I've decided to carry on that tradition, although our meal this year wasn't quite as fancy. We don't have china place settings or fancy drinking glasses (yet!), and we don't have tall beautiful candles (another, yet!), but we ate by candlelight anyways! Our candle was a fat chunky candle from bath and body works and our music came from Pandora on my computer. Our meal for this first year of carrying on the tradition was steak, creamed corn, and apple slices.

Thanks, mom, for a wonderful and beautiful tradition in the bleak and cold month of February!

(The picture below is the last candlelight supper in our "Lisbon" house - my senior year of high school. This was four days after I broke my leg on the ice.)

GF Getaway

This last weekend we headed back to where Aaron and I first started - the college city of Grand Forks. Wow, the changes! We were amazed at how many hotels went up around the Alerus Center. My goodness... was muttered more than a few times as we admired the new med school building just going up as well as the new football practice arena. Both huge buildings! We both saw "our" college buildings and reminisced about all the time spent in them.

We drove by all our old living places. "I remember watching drug deals going on out our kitchen window," Aaron remembered as we drove by the house he used to live in. (He actually didn't live in a shady part of town, his neighbors just were very, very shady!) We then made our way to the house I shared with Andrea, Adrian, and Janna. We had lots of fun there, but what I actually remember most is the parking. There was just a one-car narrow driveway that we all would park on. And when someone had to go to class (which was usually the person that parked in first) we would all have to truck outside and all back out, and then all pull back in - until someone else had to leave for class! As we drove around campus and we saw college kids walking around with backpacks, we both agreed that we're glad we're done with that stage of life. "I enjoyed college, I really did, except for the studying," Aaron told me.

Besides reminiscing a lot (and I mean a lot) about what went on in the years 2009-2013, we also met up with Aaron's siblings. Jenna and I got our nails all pretty before her boyfriend, Mark, showed up, while Aaron and Karsten gun shopped. We then met up and (of course) had to hit up Cabelas.

We also got a pretty nice jacuzzi suite to stay in while up north. :) C'mon Inn is a great hotel! One not so great memory from this weekend, though, happened in the pool. I was swimming back and forth from one side of the pool to the other, trying to get my heart rate up while Aaron and Karsten were cannon balling into the pool. (How old are they again? ;) ) I had just gotten to the edge of the pool and was wiping my eyes when I noticed a little girl that looked like she was practicing treading water, but something seemed off. I watched for about 10-15 seconds until I started waving to Aaron that something wasn't right. Just then the mom in back of me yelled "Save her!" Karsten ended up being the first one to her and pulled her out. She was in fact not treading water, but drowning. (She did end up being okay.) I remember an article shared on facebook a year ago or so, with the title "Drowning Doesn't Look Like Drowing." How TRUE that is. I'm kicking myself for not immediately swimming over and checking it out when I noticed her. It sure was a scary moment that evening, for sure!

Our weekend was shortened though, when Saturday morning, across my phone, scrolled blizzard watch. I didn't have any plans ready for Monday so it would have been very hard to sub plan if we got stranded in Grand Forks on Sunday. Aaron talked with the front desk lady at C'mon Inn and was told that they have a 24 hour cancellation policy, but, since it was weather related, she would waive it for us. Phew! So we cancelled our Saturday night plans and headed home a day early. Although it was disappointing, I think we did the right thing. I soon noticed that the watch was upped to a blizzard warning.

We picked up our boy, Ruger, in Fargo, since he had a sleep over at grandma and grandpa's for a few nights. (Yes, Aaron and I have started talking like he's our son. We're those kind of people I guess!) I think he loved his time there. While I was packing for this mini getaway and he was watching me on the bed, I told him he would be staying with Tobey and Miciaha. He immediately perked up and stared at me, cocking his head from side to side. He loves his buddies! So while we were Grand Forks-ing, this was Ruger's vacation. Much more fun than staying at the vet's! Thank you mom and Will!