February Photo Dump

Ahhh February, you sort of were wonderful and sort of the bane of my existence. I CAN'T handle the ridiculously cold weather any more and I am losing my mind. SERIOUSLY. I am over the ridiculously cold negative temps. I have read the books I wanted to read, I have watched more movies than I care to admit, my dog is climbing the walls because we can't take her for a long walk or really any walk outside, and frankly I am sick of having to warm my car for twenty minutes before I go ANYWHERE because it is sooooo cold. Midst the cold and miserableness I did manage to snap these photos. Enjoy a glimpse into my February: {True Story I admit none of them are to die for photos, however, given the month I have had, I am calling it a success.}

Adventures in babysitting

Not to far in the past my husband and I had an adventure in babysitting, we had our friends almost 2 year old, an 11 week old golden retriever, our almost 3 year old golden retriever, and a 13 year old golden retriever. Here are some photos from the night. We had a wonderful time.

Goodbye Beloved Gladys

My beloved Gladys, is my Macbook Pro that I got as a sophomore in college (Thanks Mom and Dad - it was a great purchase), mind you I have since graduated from college and a 4 year Masters program, and am now in year 3 of my job. Sooooo as you can clearly do the math - it is time for a new computer. Blah. Seriously. I LOVE Gladys.

What's that - you don't name your computers?! I had to. During all of my years in school Gladys was my constant companion, we spent copious amounts of time in the library together, we edited thousands of photos together, we listened to countless hours of music, we wrote emails, navigated the world of Facebook, and together we discovered Pinterest.

She has been wonderful. I love her.
I am still attempting to revive her, mostly because I want to get my music off of her, I (THANKFULLY) have all of my photos backed up online (Thanks Shutterfly), and there are a handful of documents I would like to retrieve, my undergrad and graduate thesis (however, I have the hard copies, I would love the electronic copies), I also have a few crochet patterns and recipes on there.
Dear Gladys, please start up one last time.


Now, I am off to drool at new Macbooks and look at our budget to make sure I have cash there to order one.


What kind of a computer do you use?
Are you loyal to any particular brand?
Has your computer ever crashed and you couldn't get everything off?

St. Louis

Generally when I travel for work, I travel with copious amounts of kids and youth ranging from kindergarten through college age with some other adults helping me out. Usually, on these trips we: sleep on church floors, at summer camps, in tents, on gym floors, or in some other makeshift sleeping quarters, wrapped in our beloved sleeping bags and on our thermarests. However, once a year, I attend what is known as the Extravaganza, which is held in a wonderful hotel, usually (not this year) in a warm location. Every third year it is held wherever the National Youth Gathering, is held, so that we can do some prescouting, make dinner reservations, and figure out where we are going and what we are doing before we are like ducks with our 40 or so ducklings following close behind. We attend sessions, worship, pray, network, collaborate, meet up with colleagues, brainstorm, and enjoy whatever city we are in.
Most recently (as many of you probably saw on my instagram or my twitter feed) we were in St. Louis, and had a marvelous time. We went to the art museum, toured Budweiser (I can't believe how BIG those horses are, I am on the far left of the picture and nearly 6 foot tall), we saw the arch, and we went to the most beautiful cathedral, Cathedral Basilica. GORGEOUS - if you are ever in St. Louis go see this place. Of course we also ate some delightful food and explored other aspects of the city, this was just a few of the highlights.

Have you ever been to St. Louis?
What is your favorite city to be a tourist in?

Eight Months as a MRS.

The Good:
-we got to take an amazing vacation to Mexico
-we are getting closer to getting people to come and work on our basement projects
-we have gotten through many books this winter due to the crazy cold
- we have been working our building our chicken coop - our chicks are suppose to arrive the first week of April
- being trapped inside we have great opportunities to try new recipes- lately I have been on a bake my own bread kick (delightful)

The things no one warns you about:
-two people can have very different understandings of what clean is in terms of the house (although we now are on the same page)
- we are dying to get outside and are crawling the walls (much like the rest of the Midwest) and we like everyone else get a little cranky when cooped up inside
- I hate running on a treadmill, please show up spring
- I fear my computer has died & we haven't saved up to buy a new one - suck! - now attempting several things to get it back up and running and also massively starting to save for a new one - we need at least one working computer - (confession - my beloved macbook is 8.5 years old)

The Misc. Things:
- Dakota is also going crazy not getting her good and long walks in (toooooo cold)
- I was in St. Louis for work last week and it was marvelous (post coming soon)
- the Olympics have begun - love them
- I am annoyed we have to save for a new computer when I was hoping to put that money towards doors or a bathtub/shower for the basement



How old is your computer?
What kind of a computer do you use?
How are you combatting this ridiculous winter?