Boundary Waters Canoe Area

This past week a few friends and I along with our favorite toddler, took a four day trip up to the BWCA, this is an annual end of the summer trip for most of us. We spent our days: paddling, napping, swimming, portaging canoes, taking ridiculous pictures, jumping off rocks, and eating. It was a GLORIOUS four days. I seriously recommend EVERYONE put the BWCA on their vacation to do list. It is GORGEOUS and we ALWAYS have such a marvelous time. We went up to our favorite lake, Rose, and despite the mosquitos that were out in full force for who knows what reason, I would go back in a heartbeat. 

Have you ever been to the BWCA?

Do you have any favorite routes up there?

What is your favorite food on trail? (Mine was the Thai Peanut Noodles we had one night)

What are your opinions on canoeing?

Wine and Dine Training

I feel like this season of training I am getting better at cross training - on my off days of running I feel like I am actually still being active and getting in a decent workout while being able to keep up with the running. Some times when training I feel like my cross training or non running days can be fairly lame and limited to dog walks, while yes, I am still doing those I am loving that I am getting in some biking and swimming miles.


August 23: 45 minute bike ride
August 24: 75 Minute run
August 25: Swim
August 26-29: This weeks workouts come in a bit of a non traditional sense. No I am not racking up the miles in terms of running, but I am getting plenty of a work out - I am spending this week up in the BWCA -Boundary Waters Canoe Area - paddling and swimming and portaging canoes (actually a lot of work - but totally worth it). I will definitely post a full report when I get home.


Have you ever been to the BWCA? (I believe EVERYONE should go sometime - it is that awesome)
Do you like canoeing?
Where is your favorite place to canoe?
What races are you training for currently?

Back in the saddle

Summer has been crazy to say the least.

• I got married
• took 5 trips for work
• had my colleague on vacation for a month
• put my house on the market
• had a full ministry schedule
• co-directed a camp
• and a few more things here and there

I am thankful fall is around the corner (the kids are going back to school...whoooooop whooooooooop) and I am staying home for a while. I love being out and about. I love traveling for work and the opportunities it provides. I love my call. I also love being home and the routine of fall. I love knowing what is coming next and how things will flow. I love that people are around and the tourists are gone. I now am looking forward to the normalcy (as much as my job ever has) for the rest of the month. I think towards the end of the month I have several days of comp time that I am hoping to sneak away for a few days to go to Boundary Waters Canoe Area, but we'll see how that all plays out.

Our house is sort of going to be a revolving door for the next month and a half or so. We have Dakota's best friends, Gus and Luther, until Sunday. Oskar the wonderbernard comes on Saturday until the 21st of August. Then on August 20, Kevin, Martha, and Petzl (the black lab), are coming to stay until mid-September while life is in transition for them. It will be crazy but ridiculously fun month. Bring on dog-a-palooza and other such madness. Truthfully though we are blessed by having friends come and stay with us and we are thrilled to watch friend's dogs, we love them and Dakota thinks she has died and gone to heaven.

In the mean time we continue to have our house on the market - I am becoming less and less optimistic it is going to sell any time soon. Our showings have become much less frequent and we seem to be stuck at square one. Who knows. We continue to pray it sells and try to not look at houses online. I have found a couple that I am interested in but they have all sold and are now off the market. I have decided to not look at houses online again until our house at least gets an offer that we can even mildly consider. 

Goals for the rest of August:

1. Get ready for fall at work
2. Go through 4 boxes in the attic
3. Get spare bedroom cleaned out so our month long guests have plenty of space
4. don't get behind on Wine and Dine Training
5. Finish summer ministries photobook
6. kayak 4 more times
7. apply for my new passport
• I find it ridiculous that you have to pay a crap ton to replace your passport - which is still valid. blah blah blah. I am over this name change crap and companies that make it ridiculously hard to change my name. 
8. clean out bedroom closet
• Donate clothes that I don't need
• move some of the excess things that don't necessarily belong in my closet to the attic space

     ***Bonus goals*** 

• finish part 1 of our honeymoon photobook
• crochet a hat
• make a baby gift for a friend
• write three letters just because I can
• send a care package to someone for no reason
• try a couple new recipes
• finish a pinterest project I started last May

What is on your list of goals for the rest of the month?

Are you traveling anywhere fun the rest of August?

Do you use pinterest? love it or hate it?

Kitchen Remodel - It is finished

It is finished (or nearly - I still want to replace the light fixture, but other than that I may be at the point that the kitchen is finished).

Last week while I was up in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area (BWCA) my brother and fiance (still fun to say), finished my kitchen. They worked and worked and worked I imagine while I sat and swam and paddled and relaxed (I sort of feel guilty now but am MASSIVELY appreciative of them) - Cubby and Marc put up the tile in my kitchen! I came home and my kitchen looks like a million bucks! Literally I was floored! It looks awesome and I now have the desire to have lots and lots of people over.

Changes made to the kitchen since buying the house June 21, 2011:

• take down ugly lace-ish curtains
• replace window screens so I can open windows without bugs attacking
• paint all of the walls
• paint the ceiling
• change the light cover thingys (technical term for sure) on the light fixture
• remove gross old tile and put up new tile
• paint baseboards
• paint cupboards
• paint hardware for cupboards
• replace dishwasher
• replace counter tops
• put up new window trim

This is not the most amazing picture becuase it came off my phone while making
breakfast this morning but does give you a glimpse at a lot of what has been done
since moving into the house! YAY for a 99% completed project!

Boundary Waters Canoe Area

I spent all of last week in the holy of holies, the sacred ground on which few dear to tread, the space in which you look all around you can't help but meet God there, I was up in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area (BWCA) in northern Minnesota. A couple friends, one 5 month old, and myself spent four nights loving every second we had together in the boundary waters in northern Minnesota. We went into BWCA through Duncan lake, over the staircase portage (no small feat), and found ourselves on a campsite on Rose lake overlooking Canada. It was glorious. I couldn't have asked for a better vacation.


A view out of our campsite - we had a 3 tiered campsite

 One of the quirks of our campsite, which we loved, was that we were right across from the portage so we watched people coming and going from Rose lake. It provided hours of entertainment, checking out what people packed and how and what type of boat they were using as well as what time of day they were coming and going. We also were able to talk to many people. One day while out swimming we saw some day trippers who had probably come over to admire the water falls as we were swimming in the bay and realized they were from Brainerd, so they jumped off the rocks with us and swam around.


Hammock Village - we overlooked the lake and bay from here

What did we do you may wonder? We spent our days:

• playing with the baby
• laying in our hammocks
• reading
• napping
• paddling around
• hiking
• swimming
• relaxing
• enjoying one another
• watching the wildlife: beavers, bears, bats, mice, bald eagles, and countless other birds
• laughing
• cooking and eating well
• chicken pesto pasta
• chicken with Thai peanut noodles
• beans and rice
• crackers and salami and cheese
• chicken, broccoli, and cheesy rice
• popcorn
• brownies
• oatmeal

Love these three

It was delightful. We had a blast. Our cellphones had no reception and I wouldn't have wanted it any other way [there are rumors of a cell phone tower going up in BWCA and I think even if one does go up I will continue to shut my phone off while up there]. Yes, I did miss being able to talk to people and know what was going on, but it was also very good for me to disconnect with the world for a while. It was glorious and now I am back to work dreaming of my next trip north.

BWCA

Today I head out for the boundary waters canoe area! I couldn't be more excited. It does mean however I will be off the grid for the next week!!!!

See you when I get back!

Prevacation Brain

   Sunday, Sunday I leave for vacation and couldn't be more excited, I am headed up to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area [BWCA] with a few good friends! We all are rejoicing that we have survived the summer grind (we all serve in churches and work closely alongside youth, meaning our summers are nuts). I haven't been on vacation all summer and am thrilled to be going. However, there is work to be done today (tomorrow is my regular day off) and Sunday I still get to preach and lead worship and then we are off!
   I have a list that is sitting in front of me structuring exactly what needs to be done before I leave for vacation, and a sermon that needs to be finished (it is getting close) but my brain is in the boundary waters, with thoughts of sitting in my hammock and reading a good book or going for an afternoon swim and even on brownies made over the fire. Yes it will be good and long overdue. I am excited that there is absolutely no cell phone reception. I am excited that we won't have internet connection and no one is hauling a computer (there will be no blog updates). Although there are certain people I will miss talking to and hear from but it will be a marvelous week!
   I.Must.Try.To.Focus. on things other than BWCA. In fun between now and then I am running the Dru Sjodin Purple Elephant Run in Pequot Lakes on Saturday. Saturday evening another group of friends and I are having what we have dubbed "bacon fest" - we all are bringing some type of bacon related item. I am bringing bacon wrapped water chestnuts. I hear another friend is making bacon bowls to put salads in and what not. The last exciting piece is my brother is coming up at some point, he is going to stay with Dakota for the week while I am up in BWCA and he is going to putz with my house (YAY!). It will be wonderful to see him again. Although when he leaves he is taking Nala with him and I am certain Dakota isn't going to know what to do with herself as Nala has been around all summer and we have gotten up to 6 dogs in the house this past week. She will be one lonely puppy - we'll have to spend lots of time with her best friends Gus and Luther to help her cope. I am thrilled to be going back down to a one dog house!
  Now I must go back to work and attempt to focus on work not all the excitement coming up shortly.