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#marriedlife2015

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Our life in a nutshell… readying for more goodness in #sweet2016!

#marriedlife2015 * Emilee Ashlynn Overton born* Basketball * LaCrosse, WI * Dahl Automotive Museum * Tony and Tien * Starlite Lounge * American Sniper * Take Note! Choir Monday nights * Madison, WI * Flaming Mos * Ella’s Deli * The Imitation Game * Signing to SDSU * Osaka Birthday lunch with Mom * Art Show open house * Double Dates with Beth and Doug * Paddington * Soccer World with Kaydee * SocialICE * Brrrrr * Beersicle * The Doggery is a favorite * Birthday by the pool * Marissa is 27 * Basketball * Oscars 2015 * Still Alice * Almost Maine * Lanesboro, MN * Mini Cooper * 2015 4 door 200 hp * Go-Kart Handling * 100% more doors * Thirsty Belgian * Beth’s Birthday * Blues Fest * Cinderella * Gracie is 13 * The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel * La Poblana * Chris’s road trip to Rhode Island * Relocating friends * McFarland, USA * broken tooth * Baseball * Lakeview Drive-Inn * Texas Roadhouse * Gunnar is 18 * Danette is an LICSW * Such relief * Johnny Holm * Mac’s Restaurant * breakfast all day * Book Club * Minnesota Monthly Food and Wine Show * Winona, MN * Minnesota Marine Art Museum * Blue Heron * Lake Winona * Casablanca * Kentucky Derby * Take Note! * Gender Reveal * It’s a boy! * Billy Joel * Singalong at Gluek’s * Ike’s Food * 25th Anniversary party for Chuck and Carolyn * Graduation party for Sierra * Trajan is 16 * Pitch Perfect 2 * Memorial Day in Lanesboro * Thursdays on First * Gunnar Graduates June 2015 * We’ll Always Have Paris, a Memoir * Campfire with Friends * Road Trip to Chippewa Falls * The Leinie Lodge is booked up * Showdown in Curd Town * Ellsworth, WI * Tractor Pull * Spy * Mississippi Sippin’ * June birthday vacation at the Lake * Once * State Theatre * The Local * Hoy’s Resort * No pelicans this year * Ted 2 * Minnehaha Falls * Lola’s Lakehouse * Waconia, MN * Parley Lake Winery * All-Star Football game * hottest day ever * Mankato Air Show * Food Truck Summit * Inside Out * 4th of July * Minions with Kaydee * Book Guilt * Not reading much * Magic Mike XXL with the girls * Trainwreck * Tooth extraction and implant * live music * rooftops * The Afterwhiles * Marissa and Adam buy house in July * #2015isamachine * Gunnar goes to SDSU * Family time * Ferragosto * Hoy’s Resort for meals * National Day of Relaxation * August 15 * Mini in the Mountain road trip * Mitchell, SD * Corn Palace * Wall, SD * Wall Drug * Mount Rushmore National Memorial * Rocket Motel * Iron Mountain Road * Needles Highway * Wyoming * Loveland, CO * Denver, CO * Kristyn and Andrew and Natalie * Snooze * Estes Park, CO * Rocky Mountain National Park * Vail, CO * The Arrabelle at Vail Square * Continental Divide * Pikes Peak * Nebraska * Iowa * Derek’s shouse * Football * Berne Wood Fired Pizza * Macy is 13 * Thursdays on First * Sierra is 19 * The Afterwhiles * The Great Minnesota Get-Together * State Fair * Everything on a Stick * Hot September * Ricki and the Flash * Cosmo Girls * Bowling * Garden Party * Meals * Cosmos * Thankfulness * Rees is 10 * RYFA Rees’s turn *Me Before You *  Taylor Swift * I’m a Swiftie * hugs * A Walk in the Woods * Sierra and Aaron buy a house in September * Pickle Factor * Pepin, WI * On a Budget * Painful / Not Painful * Birthdayversary week * August Edward Rother born* Nana ‘Nette * Terza Rooftop * Pizzeria Lola * Couples massage * Covington Inn B&B * we’re on a boat * Surly Brewing * Christos for anniversary dinner * Love Greek * The Martian 3D * Sierra and Aaron get married in October * This queen gets a crown * Dentist work is no fun * Tyler is 23 * The Intern * Medea at SMU * baby cuddles * Satellite Sisters * You’re the Best * book signing * Satellite Misters! * The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2 * Glen Hansard * State Theatre * Ethan is 10 * Worked during Thanksgiving * Kevin is 17 * Bendson Cousins get-together * found a Cuban café in Rochester * Messiah Singalong * Take Note Christmas concert * Winona Brass Band * Cosmo Girls * Kaydee is 4 * Creed * Nana Duty * Star Wars: The Force Awakens * Twice * 3D Imax * Brooklyn * Pho * Honda CR-Z * One-Year * Almost a record *  Netflix Binges * Long Way Round * Gracie and Frankie * Orange is the New Black * The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt * Mad Men Finale * Refinance at Forest Knoll * Books * Book Club * #sweet2016 ahead

A Month of Gratitude

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I failed at the Daily Gratitude Posts on Facebook this November, so I thought I’d attempt a wrap up of the month.  There is, indeed, so much to be thankful for!

Oh-So-Grateful

I am grateful for the arts – music, movies, theatre… 

  • Chris and I saw Madea at Saint Mary’s University in Winona – a translation from Seneca which was creative and interesting to see!
  • 10 years of Take Note! Amazing… 10 years ago we created a group with people who loved to sing showtunes. We moved on a few years ago to incorporate different genres, but we still have a great time!  We have put on 10 Christmas concerts (our final one with our current director is this Sunday!) and 9 spring concerts. We have performed at community events, nursing homes, and with college students.  It has been a touchstone in my life, keeping me connected with the community where I grew up and raised my daughter, with my friends, and provided me with great visits with my parents.  Let’s see what the next journey is!
  • Koni, Gracie and I saw the final installment of the Hunger Games series, The Mockingjay Part 2.  We went to a late show and sat holding hands through the entire movie! Just a little stressful, that final flick.  A war film with monsters. I watched some through my fingers and asked for spoilers (Gracie remembers the story better than I do!). Glad to see it through!
  • Chris and I saw Glen Hansard at the State Theatre in Minneapolis! I don’t know what it is about Glen, but his passion for his art moves me. I had tears in my eyes for the first four songs!  He started the concert unamplified with strings. Wow.  Chris appreciated the live music and got a handshake as he came up the aisle!  A fun night! Tickets were purchased in August – the anticipation was worth it!

 

I am grateful for family – 

  • We had a great weekend in Rushford during opening buck season. Many cuddles with baby August, Gracie’s first buck, Rees’s first hunt (with the big ones that got away!), and movies and relaxing together. Only thing that would have made it better would have been having Derek’s family and Chris there!
  • We had a delicious tuna casserole (made mostly by Chris) at Sierra’s house, with games and books and good times!  We also had Kaydee over to help decorate our Christmas tree – complete with hot cocoa and cookies!
  • I worked during Thanksgiving so I missed all of the family time in Rushford. But Dana and Koni invited us over (via an email from Rees!) for a Thanksgiving Feast on Saturday night! We had great food, great family time, and played some fun games (Suspend for the win!)!
  • Sunday we drove to the Cities for time with the Bendson Cousins! Kristyn, Andrew & Natalie  and Emily and Andrew were home and we joined them with Ruth and Steve and Marissa, Adam and August for snacks and chili. All was delicious and the company was fantastic. A great celebration of family!
  • The basketball season is underway, so we have made a few games with many more on the calendar!  I hope to make as many as possible!  Trajan, Gracie and Rees are all playing, so it’ll be a whirlwind!
  • It’s hard to get enough snuggles of that new little grandbaby. He’s giving us those precious smiles and it’s hard to stop looking at him. Love him so!  Marissa is counting down the days left at home, so send special wishes and prayers her way!
  • I’m looking forward to December and hoping for some quality family time, grandbaby snuggles, and Christmas cheer!

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I am grateful for friends – 

  • Cosmo Girls met at my house in November and the focus was gratitude. How appropriate, eh? We watched YouTube videos, TED Talks, discussed what we’re grateful for, and of course there were laughs.  We left everyone with a notebook to keep track of the things they’re thankful for and Thank You notes to send.  I’m going to start my daily journaling in December – so that’s tomorrow!  Looking forward to getting in to a habit of writing again!
  • The Satellite Sisters were in Minnesota for a book signing and us faithful followers drove up to be with them and get books signed by them!  They are amazing women/sisters, and it was fun to see Sheila and Liz in person and hear the stories they chose to share. There were many laughs and a few tears.  We had a great time and I’m so thankful that my Satellite Mister from NYC was able to  come to Minnesota and spend a little time with us.  He Periscoped from the Brooklyn signing and it was so fun to get that glimpse into the next-generation of women who wrote for the book, and it wasn’t too hard to convince him to trek to MN!  We had a great time with the Sisters as well as over dinner at Parma 8200.  It was such a fun day!
  • Work has been a little calmer than earlier in the fall.  I worked a lot of afternoons, evenings and overnights during November, so I am not used to getting up in the morning but I am working on it. 🙂  I’m thankful for my coworkers who work hard, are supportive and fun.  It makes the difficult stuff we do a joy.
  • I am looking forward to some intentional quality time with friends during this holiday season, as well!  I’m going to start making plans soon!  Time is precious!

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I am grateful for so much.

  • For the cookie dough I whipped up, which is in the refrigerator waiting to be rolled out into stars.
  • For Hulu and Netflix – I love commercial-free television.
  • For books – I’m hoping to spend more time reading and less time on Facebook in December.
  • For quotes and words and pictures.
  • For the wonderful autumn we have experienced so far – it has been amazing!
  • For Trader Joe’s.
  • And most of all for my daughter, the beautiful new momma, and my husband, my confidant and rock.

Life is good.

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Eternity

William Blake, 1757 – 1827

He who binds to himself a joy 
Does the winged life destroy
He who kisses the joy as it flies
Lives in eternity’s sunrise

A Catch-Up

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Is it possible to write a post which can summarize June through October 2015? I’ll hit just a few of the highlights…

A few photos from June 2015

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That Grandbaby

  • Baby August Edward was born on 9/27/15 at 3:08 PM.  I had the pleasure of witnessing the birth, and it was amazing and beautiful. Marissa was so calm and excited to meet her little man and he is perfectly beautiful. He was born on what would have been his Auntie Abbey’s 31st birthday, and that night was the Harvest Blood Super Moon.
    Ah, I love being Nana Nette.

A few photos from July 2015

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Travels

  • Early June, we took a drive on windy roads to Chippewa Falls in an attempt to go through the Leinenkugel Brewery. It was a popular destination that day and we couldn’t get a spot on a tour, so we bought some beer and drove on home. On the way home we drove through Ellsworth, WI and saw signs for “Showdown in Curd Town,” a tractor pull, so we stopped in!  We had a burger and curds and watched FOUR HOURS of a tractor pull! What good people watching that was!
  • Later in June was our week at the Lake. We had family time, alone time, time in the Cities and time at the end of the dock.  We enjoyed searching for a winery in Waconia on our way to St. Cloud to watch the All Star Football game on a blisteringly hot Saturday.  We saw the touring company of “ONCE” at the State Theatre in Minneapols and watched an airshow in Mankato. No pelicans at the lake this year, but it was still great to be there!
  • The 4th of July was filled with family fun, minus Chris as he had to work.  The boat parade was fun, the weather was hot, and the food was good.  Due to the epic road trip coming up in August, Ferragosto was condensed to a weekend this year; relaxing time with girlfriends, meals at the resort, and good cocktails at the end of the dock.
  • After Ferragosto we took a whirlwind road trip in the Mini – across South Dakota, through Wyoming, and to Colorado.  We drove beautifully scenic roads through Rocky Mountain National Park, stayed in Vail, and then drove to the top of Pike’s Peak. We slept in a retro motel, stayed at a beautiful resort, and in the lovely company of family.  It was a great time with great weather and great roads.  Chris is a great driver but I was still very nervous on those windy roads!
  • Late September into October we celebrated the Birthdayversary in the Cities. We planned to stay close to home due to the impending grandbaby arrival, and he arrived just in time to complete the celebrations that week with hours of baby cuddling.  🙂  We also had great meals out (Pizzeria Lola, Salut, Louis Ristorante, and Christos), and went on the Surly Brewery tour and ate at their delicious gastropub.  We stayed at the lovely Covington Inn – a B&B on a boat – and had wonderful family time.

August 2015

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Taylor Swift

  • Koni and I accompanied Gracie and her friend Taylor to the Taylor Swift concert in St. Paul in mid-September.  We thought we were going to hang in the Parent’s Lounge, but Dana surprised Gracie with floor tickets and we took her seats she had since her birthday.  Gracie and Taylor were noticed by Taylor Swift’s mother and got backstage passes after the show, and we tagged along to chaperone and moderate the emotions. 🙂  Ms. Swift doesn’t have to meet her fans, but she does and it was really a sweet time.

A few from September 2015

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Movie Minutiae

  • Spy – Melissa McCarthy vehicle; was fine, but not very memorable 🙂
  • Ted 2 – I never saw the first Ted movie, but I indulged my man and saw this one. Maybe I should have seen the first. 🙂
  • Inside Out – a great movie; that’s all.
  • Minions – I haven’t seen Despicable Me, so the love of Minions is lost on me. But it was fun to take Kaydee to her first movie in the theatre.
  • Magic Mike XXL – a great time with the girls. I still am going to try to get Chris to watch this!  it was so much lighter than the first and a lot of fun.
  • Trainwreck – Saw this one twice; I’m an Amy Schumer fan and this movie was great. So much fun. LaBron was amazing!
  • Ricki and the Flash – This was an unexpected treat! Fun to see Meryl Streep in this role alongside her daughter. Very thought-provoking and it had great music!
  • A Walk in the Woods – An adaptation of Bill Bryson’s book with Robert Redford (looking old!) and Nick Nolte (acting old!). A fun romp.
  • The Martian – a great movie! I don’t like to feel tense during movies and this one was light and fun.
  • The Intern – pretty predictable, but still lots of food for thought. A fun night at the movies!

October 2015 – just a few on the computer so far!

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Book Briefs

  • The Rumour – for book club; Elin Hildebrand’s Nantucket is always a fun place to visit.
  • Paper Towns – I didn’t see the movie, but the book was fascinating.
  • We’ll Always Have Paris – a memoir about mother/daughter travels and facing mortality
  • Someday, Someday, Maybe – an actress-wanna-be in NYC; light and fun.
  • Summer Blowout – a good summer read; very light
  • You’re the Best – the Satellite Sisters ode to friendship – great essays and conversations.

Work continues to be challenging and humbling, the Cosmo Girls are up and running for another year, the baseball season turned into the football season and now we are looking forward to basketball.  I love getting to as many events as work allows!

At the last football game of Trajan’s junior year I was talking with Kai, a 5 year old we know and love, about my new grandson. He was very astute when he said, “So you’re a grandma AND an aunt!”

“Best jobs ever,” I said.  The best.

February Fairly Flew!

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Time just keeps “March”ing on, doesn’t it?  Hard to believe we are moving into the end of the first quarter of 2015 – and creeping up on the 6 month anniversary of my wedding/birthday!

So far #marriedlife2015 is just grand.  We both work crazy hours at our job, which means we have random days off during the week and every other weekend off together.  We try to make the most of our time off.  In January, we had a daytrip to LaCrosse, WI where we met Chris’s friend from high school who is moving from Madison to Rhode Island in a few months.  We visited the Dahl Automotive Museum and Pearl Street Brewery, Buzzard Billy’s and the Starllte Lounge and then drove to the Ponderosa for movie time by the fireplace.

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Two weeks later we drove to Madison to see them before Tien moved mid-February.  We weren’t able to make the going away party, so had our own time with them, which was very fun.  Chris and I got there early and enjoyed a Restaurant Week restaurant, a Mustard Museum, and then we enjoyed a pub meal before retreating to their bar for darts and drinks.  Saturday we walked on State Street, went to the Madison Modern Museum of Art and then visited my old “haunts” – Ella’s Deli and Few Street!  Was quite a blast from the past.  My old stomping grounds revolved around a 4 year old, so they weren’t too exciting, but it was a great reminiscence.  We also had a delicious Vietnamese meal before we travelled back to Rochester.  It was a great weekend.  Next time we go there it will be to drop Chris off for his road trip to Rhode Island / New Hampshire with Tony!  Less than a month away!

Mom, Marissa, Gracie and I had a little daytrip to the Cities for Mom’s birthday in early February.  We went to Marissa’s apartment and said hello to the kitties, and then went to an art open house at Pam Weisdorf’s home  Afterwards we had a delicious hibachi meal and avoided all malls.  It was a nice little road trip!

In January, Chris’s new little granddaughter was born – Emilee Ashlyn.  What fun to hold a baby!  And what fun to witness Chris’s discomfort at the same.  He says he’s afraid he’ll drop her. She is a little peanut, but growing every day, as babies are supposed to do.  We took her big sister, Kaydee, to Soccer World one bitterly cold morning and played during their open gym time.  That was a hoot.  Fun to be inside, warm, and running around on fake grass.

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January and February means there is basketball almost every day of the week if you want.  It was fun to watch Rees, Gracie and Trajan play basketball.  And fun to witness Gunnar sign with SDSU for his collegiate football career. And I made it to section wrestling to see Trevor wrestle a few!  Phew, there is an abundance of sports in the winter!

February also means SocialICE – a yearly festival of the cold!  They moved it back a few weeks, so it coincided with Marissa’s birthday weekend.  They were hoping that it would be warmer, but it just wasn’t to be.  Chris and I went for about 45 minutes on Thursday night and it was sooo cold (-5).  Hot drinks were not hot, cold drinks were freezing – literally.  Chris had a beersicle.  We eventually moved inside for a cocktail at the Doggery.  Saturday we went back during the daylight with the kids, because the ice sculptures are really fun to see, but it got cold and windy and crowded fast, so we didn’t last long.  We celebrated Marissa’s birthday with the family tradition of pizza and ice cream cake!  Delicious…

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And the Oscars 2015 happened, as well!  I haven’t seen all the movies up for Best Picture, including the winner, but I did see a few.  I already loved The Grand Budapest Hotel and Boyhood.  I thought The Imitation Game was ok and American Sniper was very hard to watch.  I haven’t seen Birdman (the winner), Whiplash (looks painful), Selma or the Theory of Everything.  I have seen a few movies in the theatre in 2015 – Into the Woods (Rees’s “worst movie ever,” but I loved it!), The Imitation Game (just OK, not super-great), Paddington (sooooooo fun… used to LOVE Paddington!), and Still Alice (the book is SO much better – this is a watered down version, but with a great performance).

At home we’ve watched The Long Way Round series (documentary about a motorcycle trip around the world! Love it!  Ewan McGregor, so fun), The One I Love, The Wolf of Wall Street, They Came Together, The Hundred Foot Journey (nice little movie – I read the book!), The Edge of Tomorrow, and 84 Charing Cross Road (such a sweet story about this eccentric woman – so fun! Very true to the book!). 

And speaking of books, we had book club last week.  We read The Perfume Collector and had great fun planning our French food theme!  Lots of fromage, French Onion dip, potatoes au gratin, quiche and croissants.  Topped off by French silk pie!  What was the book about?  Hmmm…   It happened in France in the 50s and was about gifts and independence and the role of our senses.  I read it in December, so had trouble with the details but we had a good discussion anyway!

Other books I’ve read in 2015 include: The Beautiful Daughters (see review here – it is released soon!), Yes Please (audiobook read by the author, Amy Poehler!  Loved it!), The Supreme Macaroni Company (Adriana’s book continuing with Valentine’s life in NYC), and Apple of My Eye (sooooo good!  Helene Hanff is quite the character and brings NYC in the 70s to life!  Loved it!)

I can’t decide what to read next… so I’m catching up on magazines.  Looking forward to diving into that next good book, though!

Would love to hear what you’re reading, what you’re watching, what you’re doing, while waiting for spring weather to arrive! Comment below!

No winter lasts forever; no spring skips its turn. ~Hal Borland

The Beautiful Daughters by Nicole Baart

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If you know me, you know I love authors.  I love to listen to them talk about their books, about their writing process, about their view the world, about the books the love to read.  I’m also loyal to authors.  If I like a book, I will continue to follow that author to see what they will come up with next.

If you know me, you also know I’ve been in a reading slump – planning a wedding and getting married takes a lot of brain power and time!  So when Nicole Baart, (an author I’ve followed since I read her book The Moment Between in 2009) posted on Facebook that she was looking for members of a “street team” for her newest book, The Beautiful Daughters, I applied!  The opportunity to read an Advanced Reader’s Copy, offer it for a giveaway, and then to receive a copy of the book when it is published on April 28, 2015 – I love stuff like that!  I was tickled to be chosen for her Street Team and for The Beautiful Daughters to be the first book I read in 2015.  Bonus:  She sent her favorite chocolates, book marks, signed book plates, and homemade soap made receipt of the package even sweeter!

Below is the description of the book from the Digital Catalog at Atria Publishing (a branch of Simon and Schuster), the tentative cover design, and a little info about Nicole Baart, the author.

Below that is my review and details on how you can get your hands on my ARC!!

The Beautiful Daughters – 

The Beautiful Daughters by Nicole Baart

The Beautiful Daughters
by Nicole Baart

From the author of Sleeping in Eden, described as “intense and absorbing from the very first page” (Heather Gudenkauf, author of The Weight of Silence), comes a gripping new novel about two former best friends and the secrets they can’t escape.

Adrienne Vogt and Harper Penny were closer than sisters, until the day a tragedy blew their seemingly idyllic world apart. Afraid that they got away with murder and unable to accept who they had lost—and what they had done—Harper and Adri exiled themselves from small-town Blackhawk, Iowa, and from each other. Adri ran thousands of miles away to Africa while Harper ventured down a more destructive path closer to home.

Now, five years later, both are convinced that nothing could ever coax them out of the worlds in which they’ve been living. But unexpected news from home soon pulls Adri and Harper back together, and the two cannot avoid facing their memories and guilt head-on. As they are pulled back into the tangle of their fractured relationships and the mystery of Piperhall, the sprawling estate where their lives first began to unravel, secrets and lies behind the tragic accident are laid bare. The former best friends are forced to come to terms with their shared past and search for the beauty in each other while mending the brokenness in themselves.

Nicole Baart’s lush and lyrical writing has been called “sparkling” (Publishers Weekly), “taut and engrossing” (Booklist), and “evocative and beautiful” (Romantic Times). The Beautiful Daughters is another exquisitely rendered, haunting story that will stay with readers long after the last page.

Nicole BaartNicole Baart is the mother of four children from four different countries. The cofounder of a non-profit organization, One Body One Hope, she lives in a small town in Iowa. She is the author of seven previous novels, including, most recently, Sleeping in Eden. Find out more at NicoleBaart.com.

My review:

I really enjoyed this book.  I love books with rich character development.  I love beautiful descriptions.  This book has all that, plus a suspenseful plot with insight into how tragedy affects people.  The book also tackles sensitive topics, but I don’t want to spoil the suspense.

Some of the passages that I re-read and bent the pages for include:

Regarding Adri’s father, Sam:

“Her father was one such daydreamer, the kind of man who spoke volumes in silences and heard God whisper in the song of distant stars keeping watch over the land that he plowed.”

Regarding Adri’s fiance’, David:

“In his personal life he was sensible and composed, able to take up and set aside the mantle of a playboy as easily as donning a coat.  To laugh and joke and drink until his imposing mother slipped into the room, a quiet and watchful revenant whose presence instantly sobered and reined in her son.”

Regarding The Five:

“Jackson was hand in hand with Nora, a new girlfriend who didn’t quite fit.  Harper couldn’t help resenting her.  When Nora was around, they were quick to pair up, but when it was just the five of them, they were a unit.  A fist clenched tight.”

This book is about young adults who meet at a small college in Blackhawk, Iowa.  Adri and her brother Will grew up on a farm in Blackhawk, and David grew up at Piperhall, a mansion down the road.  Along with Harper and Jackson, The Five become fast friends and spend most of their out-of-school time playing grown-up at Piperhall and when Harper suggests a trip to commemorate their college graduation and mark endings and new beginnings, they are unaware of the tragic event that will happen and change their lives forever.  They scatter – Adri to Africa and Harper into dark relationships – and are called home five years later when the matriarch of Piperhall dies.

This is a page-turner and I’m so thankful it was the first book I read in 2015!

Now, to get your hands on my Advanced Readers Copy, please COMMENT BELOW with the FIRST BOOK YOU READ OR ARE READING in 2015!  If you share this blog post on Facebook or Twitter (and share the link), you 10933699_10152994556774210_1188091013014551439_nwill get extra entries!

I’ll pick a winner WEDNESDAY JANUARY 28.

How to sum up awesomeness?

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2014I like to end each year by looking back and thinking about the big things and the little things, summing it up and tucking it away to be recalled in the future.  2014 was a big year.  Here is a sad attempt to summarize its awesomeness.  (Lots of links you can click on if you want more info or fun videos! Anything underlined is a link.)

Movie chat!

Movie chat!

I saw some movies in the theatre.  In no particular order, I saw Inside Llewelyn Davis, Her, The Lego Movie, The Great Beauty*, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, Saving Mr. Banks, The Grand Budapest Hotel, Divergent, 12 Years a Slave, Belle, Neighbors, Chef, The Fault in Our Stars, A Million Ways to Die in the West, The November Man, Boyhood, Unbroken, Wild, The Hunger Games: The Mockingjay Part 1, Dumb and Dumber To, St. Vincent, and Gone Girl.  (*Rochester Int’l Film Fest)

Some were seen alone, some with girlfriends, some with family, some with Chris.  Some felt like they were MADE FOR ME (The Grand Budapest Hotel, Boyhood, Chef, St. Vincent); others not so much, but I love a movie in the theatre, no matter what.  (Thankful for that Mayo discount and living within walking distance to a theatre!)

Netflix DVD watching also happened, including The Salt of Life, 20 Feet from Stardom, Austenland, Iron Man 1, Iron Man 2, Iron Man 3, 10 Years, August Osage County, Blazing Saddles, What’s Up, Doc?, Here Comes the Boom, Love Is All You Need, My Life Without Me, The Tiger and the Snow. 

None of them stand out as wonderful, except 20 Feet from Stardom – that was fun.  I blogged about that around Oscar time last year.  Some were sent back without being watched – life was just too busy to sit on the couch in 2014!

Great seats for our first show!

Great seats for our first show!

The stage and Proscenium

The stage and Proscenium

 

In 2014 I saw some things on a stage.

Musicians – The Skivvies at 54 Below with Koni and Troy in NYC, Jeremy Messersmith at First Ave for Marissa’s birthday, Jim Brickman with Chris for Valentine’s Day, Paul McCartney at Target Field with Mom and Dad, Marissa and Chris

Comedians – Lorna Landvik at her Party in the Rec Room at Bryant Lake Bowl in January with John and Deadra, Mike Birbiglia at the Pantages with Marissa (on a whim, due to horrific driving conditions keeping me in the Cities longer – so glad we went! Thankful we weren’t later arrivers!!)

Plays – in Minneapolis Jenny and Chris and I saw Peter and the Starcatcher, and it didn’t disappoint the second time!  We hung out after and listened to the actors talk about their magical performances night after night… So fun.

Authors – only one in 2014!  Allison McGhee, a Minnesota author.  I still haven’t read any of her books, but she was fascinating to listen to!  I do love to listen to and meet authors!

And speaking of books – you can click the BOOKS I READ IN 2014 page on my blog to see the list of books that I did accomplish in 2014.  I didn’t meet my reading goal (again, not a lot of time to sit around and read in 2014!) but I changed my goal and hopefully set a realistic goal for #marriedlife2015.

Heading in to the first show of our trip!

Heading in to the first show of our trip!

And speaking of plays, can’t forget Broadway!  I had TWO trips to NYC in 2014! The first was in early January – a girl’s weekend with my sister-in-law/great friend, Koni.  We ran through airports to catch planes, celebrated the arrival of our luggage, we braved their elements (12 degrees, which was 30 degrees warmer than we left) and were the only ones to show up for the  cupcake walking tour of the Lower East Side.  We ate delicious meals, we SHOPPED, we saw THREE Broadway shows (Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder – the Tony winner of 2014! – Cinderella, and Matilda!), we saw people singing in their underwear at 54 Below (the Skivvies – click to see a video!), we celebrated when our flight home was cancelled, as it meant we had a bonus day to see our 3rd show, hang around the Superbowl celebrations in Times Square, and enjoy more Cake Boss treats.  Read ALL about it here.

One of everything! Yes, please!

One of everything! Yes, please!Also in 2014:

Also in 2014:

  • Birthdays were celebrated – at wineries, at the Lake, at restaurants.
  • I went to as many kids’ sporting events as my schedule would allow.
  • I continue to love my job, crazy schedule and all.  Coming up on my 3rd anniversary on January 30.
  • Someone drove through our Target exit doors, right after Chris and I walked out. Quite freaky!
  • Choir continues to bring joy and happiness to me and all who participate – can’t wait to start up again!
  • Marissa met a man that she enjoys immensely, so that’s fun for mama.  She continues in graduate school, hoping for an early spring graduation.
  • Cosmo Girls continued to meet monthly – a solid crew of amazing women that I am thankful for!
Cosmo Girls at RAC 2014

Cosmo Girls at RAC 2014

And then of course, last but not certainly not least,
we got engaged in July and married in October 2014!

The ring arrived!

The ring arrived!

Proof that he is the ONE?  When we were discussing the hows and whens and wheres of getting married, he said, “Can we get married in New York City?” Um, yes!  Most people think it was my idea, but it was his idea, which is why I love him so.  He knows how to make this girl happy.  I’m very lucky!

July to October was spent hammering out details, planning, organizing, and celebrating.  Chris moved in with me in July and that adjustment has been surprisingly smooth (further proof that he is the ONE!).  I had a wonderful, abbreviated Ferragosto week at the lake, which was almost like a Bachelorette week.  So much celebrating and planning and laughing!

It was great fun to plan the week in NYC for family and friends.  Everyone was so joyful and lovely.  The blog detailing the events of Wedding Week 2014 can be read here: #woohoowedo2014.  I’ll end this never-ending blog with the ceremony that Chris and I worked on in the hopes that we would have time in the chapel for more than just vows – and we did.

2014 was sure filled with blessings!  Looking forward to #marriedlife2015!  More adventures await!

LOVE Sculpture!

LOVE Sculpture!

-NYC Wedding Ceremony October 1, 2014- 

OPENING PRAYER – Dad
COMMITMENT TO THE COUPLE / RING WARMING
SCRIPTURE READING  – Koni
POEM – Deadra
READING (If time before vows) – Robert Fulgham
VOWS
CLOSING PRAYER – Dana

OPENING PRAYER – Dad – He did his own prayer 🙂 

Dear God, for the joy of this occasion we thank You. For the friends and family who are here today to witness this joy, we thank You.  For the significance of this wedding day we thank You. For this important moment in an ever growing relationship we thank You. For Your presence here and now and for Your presence at all times, we thank You. In His holy name. Amen.

COMMITMENT TO THE COUPLE / RING WARMING – Beth

Your very presence here, in this city, in this building, shows how much you love and support Chris and Danette and their life together.  Will you promise to continue to surround this couple in love, offering them the joys of your friendship?  Will you support this couple in their relationship, at times of conflict, offering them the strength of your wisest counsel and the comfort of your thoughtful concern?  At times of joy will you celebrate with them,nourishing their love of one another?

(Hope for enthusiastic “WE WILL” from all!) And they said “WOOHOO WE DO!”

During this ceremony, Chris and Danette will exchange rings.  These rings are a strong and visible sign of their love and commitment to one another. Chris and Danette ask that you, very important and loved members of their lives, hold their rings in your hands for a moment and warm them with your love.  Say a silent prayer or make a wish for Chris and Danette and their future together.

SCRIPTURE READING – Koni

1 Corinthians 13:1-13

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing. Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge,it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror;then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully,even as I am fully known.

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

POEM – Deadra

i carry your heart with me ~ e.e. cummings ~

i carry your heart with me (i carry it in
my heart)i am never without it(anywhere
i go you go, my dear; and whatever is done
by only me is your doing, my darling)

i fear
no fate(for you are my fate, my sweet)i want
no world(for beautiful you are my world, my true)
and it’s you are whatever a moon has always meant
and whatever a sun will always sing is you

here is the deepest secret nobody knows

(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud
and the sky of the sky of a tree called life; which grows
higher than the soul can hope or mind can hide)

and this is the wonder that’s keeping the stars apart
i carry your heart (i carry it in my heart)

VOWS – Jimmy 

Benediction – CLOSING PRAYER – Dana

The wedding is not over – it has just begun.  Marriage is not something said and done, but a promise, whose fulfillment is acted out over time.

So for Chris and Danette, we simply pray that the promises of marriage have a long and complete fulfillment; that their love is nurtured and shared by their families and friends; and that the seasons be joyous along the way. In God’s name we pray. Amen.

READING Union  ~ Robert Fulghum ~ Read by Marissa at Starbucks

You have known each other from the first glance of acquaintance to this point of commitment. At some point,you decided to marry. From that moment of yes, to this moment of yes, indeed,you have been making commitments in an informal way. All of those conversations that were held in a car, or over a meal, or during long walks – all those conversations that began with, “When we’re married”, and continued with “I will” and “you will” and “we will” – all those late night talks that included“someday” and “somehow” and “maybe” – and all those promises that are unspoken matters of the heart. All these common things, and more, are the real process of a wedding.

The symbolic vows that you are about to make are a way of saying to one another, “You know all those things that we’ve promised, and hoped, and dreamed – well, I meant it all, every word.”

Look at one another and remember this moment in time. Before this moment you have been many things to one another – acquaintance, friend, companion, lover, dancing partner, even teacher, for you have learned much from one another. Shortly you shall say afew words that will take you across a threshold of life, and things between you will never quite be the same.

For after today you shall say to the world –

This is my husband. This is my wife.

6/21/14: Summer Solstice! And summer begins…

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It is a pleasure to walk outside at night and feel the warm summer air!  Aside from all of the rain we had this week and last, we have had good June weather so far!  It’s also a pleasure to have some weekends off to enjoy the summertime!  But, as I’ve said before, I don’t usually let a little thing like work slow me down…

Here’s what has been bringing me smiles from the past few weeks:

Movies

  • Saw “A Million Ways to Die in the West” with Chris – I’m not a Family Guy watcher or a Seth McFarland groupie, but this was fun.  It’s a Western with modern language, with shocking humor and interesting characters.
  • I saw “The Fault In Our Stars” by myself on opening night.  Well, not by myself, but with a theatre filled with Tweens and Teens, swooning and sobbing.  I wish I hadn’t gone that night, because I felt more like an observer of the theatre than a movie-watcher.  I thought the book was so much better (no surprise) because I liked the parents so much better in the book, I liked their relationships so much better in the book, and the movie felt watered down and immature.  \
  • Tonight I saw “Chef,” which I think is my favorite movie of the year!  I’ll have to think back for sure (“Grand Budapest Hotel” was this year, too… hmm) but it was so fun!  A fun story about having passion for your work and doing what you love, about fathers and sons, and about Cuban sandwiches!  I almost danced throughout the movie, because the soundtrack was incredible (and is now purchased!), and I had tears spring to my eyes twice, just because of happy emotions!  Loved it!

Books!

  • There have been a few rainy days, so I’ve been reading on my Kindle and catching up on Oprah Magazine.  I finished a smutty book while on the dock, “Bettie Page presents: The Librarian,” and then returned to the world of Pride & Prejudice with “Georgiana Darcy’s Diary.”  Ah, there is something about that book and those characters.  Good stuff.  Now I”m working on “Wild” and almost finished with listening to “Whistling Past the Graveyard.”

Road Trips and Adventures!

  • For Jenny’s birthday, we had lunch at Trempeleau Hotel and went for a tasting at Elmaro Winery.  It was a beautiful Sunday and the winery was in a beautiful setting, so we sat outside and enjoyed live music, a fruit and nut plate, and some delicious wine.
  • Chris and I went to the cabin for his June vacation.  We had two great weather days, one washout day, and one very windy day.  There was reading, DVDs (Breakfast Club, War Games, The Upside of Anger, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo), and good cabin food.  There were a creche (I think) of White Pelicans who must have stopped there for the summer, and they were amazing to watch and learn about!  Who needs TV when you can watch pelicans?  And as always, the sunsets were spectacular.
  • One of the days we drove to Northfield to have dinner with Deadra for her birthday!  It was fun to explore Northfield and we had a delicious dinner in a Tavern there along the river.  The day started out breezy, cloudy and cool, but it ended up clear and calmer.
  • When I got home from the lake, I joined some peeps at the rooftop of the Tap House for Sunday Night Trivia!  We rocked (mainly one guy rocked) and got one free round of drinks and 3rd place overall.  I love trivia.  And the weather was perfect for a night on the rooftop!

Looking forward to celebrating the first day of summer at an International festival in Rochester and then I’ll travel to Rushford to see Mom and Dad and hopefully some Rushford friends!  I’m counting on a campfire to celebrate the shortest night of the year!

Chris has a Summer Solstice birthday, but he gets t work.  I’ll bake him a cake for when he’s done with this 7 day stretch!

Yay summer!

4.17.14

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In the name of Procrastination, I’ve been wanting to blog all week.  It’s Palindrome Week, after all.

4.10.14 – 4.19.14.  I love stuff like that.

I’m finally giving in, with the hope that getting a blog off my chest will allow me to actually write a paper on “Larry.”

So here, we go.  Things that make me happy, with a PALINDROME twist!  And there are random photos from the past 4-6 weeks in a slide show at the end of the post, if you have patience and can get there!

*NURSE, I SPY GYPSIES. RUN! /*NEVER ODD OR EVEN – Some random Palindromes for work stuff:

  • I am working on my clinical social work license, so I am taking a class to get more clinical content hours.  It meets the first Friday of the month for 9 hours.  I have three papers due by the first Friday of May and then it will be done.  It is interesting and learning is always fun – but papers?  Not so much.  Oh well.  Soon it will be behind me.
  • Driving to class was harrowing in April.  Gross.  I’m ready for the winter driving to be behind me, as well.
  • I worked a lot of overnights in March – 8 to be exact.  I worked 5 in one week as an experiment.  I think it worked for me – it’s nice to stay in the “up late, sleep all day” routine, so that transitioning back doesn’t have to happen as often.  We’re short-staffed right now (after LeeAnn left), so the schedule is crazy.  And it’s crazy spring time, so I think I will have to practice a lot of self-care on work days and on days off.  Ah.

*IN WORDS, DROWN I.  I’ve been reading some books.

  • I finished listening to The Goldfinch.  It was looooong but a good read.  Theo Decker (“Potter”) has his life changed forever while at a museum with his mother at around age 11.
  • I finished Divergent just before seeing the movie, and now am almost done with Insurgent.  I hope for answers in the 3rd book.  I’m not as pulled in as a certain 12 year old I know.  She loves the relationship.  She said she’d loan me Allegiant but I needed to know that it would “hurt me.”  She cried for quite a while when she finished.
  • I did a review of My Wish List: A Novel, which you can read more about here.  I can’t wait to see the movie!
  • I’m reading The Boy Who Was Raised as a Dog for my class, and it is interesting and terrifying.  I put down Mo’ Meta Blues until I get through that Divergent series!  Can’t stop now!
  • My Kindle and nook apps are filled with books that need to be read… I can’t wait for this class to be over!

*SO MANY DYNAMOS!  Since I last blogged, I’ve seen a few movies:

  • 12 Years a Slave – Certainly not a ‘feel good’ movie, but very powerful.
  • Divergent – I liked the movie a lot, much more than the book.  I thought the changes they made were meaningful and the movie just flew by!
  • The Grand Budapest Hotel – This movie was made for me!  Whimsical, magical, and unpredictable!  I had a smile on my face throughout the entire thing!
  • The Great Beauty – The opening film of the Rochester International Film Festival and the 2014 Best Foreign Film Oscar winner.  It was long, riotous, and a little obtuse.  I read an article about it the next day which helped me understand it a bit more, but it was a joy  to watch, so that’s fun, even if it was hard to understand.
  • Iron Man, Iron Man 2, Iron Man 3 – For some reason I had the urge to watch these movies, so I got them on DVD from Netflix.  They were pretty fun, but I’m kinda done with the superhero movies for a while.

I’m an *AVID DIVA – *“RUM… RUM…” I MURMUR. – I’ve had some nights out!

  • Chris and I had a Thursday night off so I was looking for something to do.  And lo, and behold, there is Trivia Mafia in town!  So we invited Kristine and Mike to join us for some beverages and trivia at Big Brad’s!  I love trivia and we held our own!
  • We had a grown-up slumber party at Beth’s – margaritas, pizza, and girl talk!  So much fun – and so needed!
  • Of course, there was Peter and the Starcatcher – you can read about that fun night here!
  • We had a work happy hour to say goodbye to LeeAnn!  She relocated to the Cities and we miss her much!
  • St. Patrick’s Day was a hoot.  Chris and I went to Dooley’s and parked in a booth and enjoyed bagpipes, funny costumes, good food and good company!  We had to start early since I had to work very early the next day.
  • We also had a great night at Boomers, listening to the Jukes of Hazzard.  Marie’s guy is drummer in the band and it was fun singing along and watching the clientele at Boomers.   *YO, BOTTOMS UP! (U.S. MOTTO, BOY.)
  • Another recent weekend off (they feel so few and far between!), we saw The Grand Budapest Hotel with Jenny and Tammy and then met Kristine at the Loop for dinner!  It turned into a Girl’s Night Out + Chris!  He could hang with us and it was a lot of fun.  Good conversation with good friends.
  • Cosmo Girls was a blast.  We met at the Rochester Art Center and enjoyed a guided tour (two guides/curators!) and the art project they had set up for us afterwards.  We laughed a lot, got a lot of good pictures, and learned a lot!  We had so much fun together.

*WON TONS? NOT NOW.  / *WAS IT A CAR OR A CAT I SAW? – Life is good in the simple things…

  • One of those precious Saturdays off I got to watch Rees play basketball and eat at his choice – the food court at the mall!
  • I hosted another Book Party – the theme was Books Into Movies and we drank Bridget Jones’ Daiquiries (strawberries and champagne!) and we talked about books and laughed a lot!  This is going to happen again (and again and again…).
  • Girl time with a pedi is always the best.  Ah.
  • On April Fool’s Day, I made a Screwy Lewie – so delicious!  And such fond memories of childhood slumber parties – mine and Marissa’s.
  • Spring has finally shown its pretty head (every now and then) and we’ve enjoyed long walks outside and our first dinner and drink on a patio.  Looking forward to more time outside with the nicer weather!
  • I took Gracie to B&N to shop for books for her birthday.  It was fun to peruse the book shelves and talk about what kinds of books she likes to read.  She’s growing up so…
  • The “blood moon” from the lunar eclipse was this week and we were able to see it.  Small adventures in the middle of the night are pretty fun!
  • There’s a new coffee shop in Rushford and before choir (yay choir!) Mom and I went there to get a sandwich and coffee to go!  It was delicious and I can’t wait to go again for a leisurely coffee with friends!

And now, because April is Poetry Month, here are some Palindrome poems I found online:

Poetry Is:  (Palindrome)

Poetry
Words flowing
from the heart
written down
freely.

Freely
written down
from the heart
Words flowing
Poetry.

SMILE

day brighter
load lighter
SMILE
lighter load
brighter day

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Palindrome

BY LISEL MUELLER

There is less difficulty—indeed, no logical difficulty at all—in
imagining two portions of the universe, say two galaxies, in which
time goes one way in one galaxy and the opposite way in the
other. . . . Intelligent beings in each galaxy would regard their own
time as “forward” and time in the other galaxy as “backward.”
—Martin Gardner, in Scientific American

Somewhere now she takes off the dress I am
putting on. It is evening in the antiworld
where she lives. She is forty-five years away
from her death, the hole which spit her out
into pain, impossible at first, later easing,
going, gone. She has unlearned much by now.
Her skin is firming, her memory sharpens,
her hair has grown glossy. She sees without glasses,
she falls in love easily. Her husband has lost his
shuffle, they laugh together. Their money shrinks,
but their ardor increases. Soon her second child
will be young enough to fight its way into her
body and change its life to monkey to frog to
tadpole to cluster of cells to tiny island to
nothing. She is making a list:
            Things I will need in the past
                        lipstick
                        shampoo
                        transistor radio
                        Sergeant Pepper
                        acne cream
                        five-year diary with a lock
She is eager, having heard about adolescent love
and the freedom of children. She wants to read
Crime and Punishment and ride on a roller coaster
without getting sick. I think of her as she will
be at fifteen, awkward, too serious. In the
mirror I see she uses her left hand to write,
her other to open a jar. By now our lives should
have crossed. Somewhere sometime we must have
passed one another like going and coming trains,
with both of us looking the other way.

Lisel Mueller, “Palindrome” from Alive Together: New and Selected Poems. Copyright © 1996 by Lisel Mueller. Reprinted by permission of Louisiana State University Press.

Source: Alive Together: New and Selected Poems (Louisiana State University Press, 1996)

New Blog Layout

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Evidently WordPress dropped some plugins, which makes me pretty sad. It used to be so easy to find related articles and links to Wiki or IMDB for the things I was writing about, but now it isn’t automatic. 😦 I guess they want me to “Go Premium,” but I won’t be doing that anytime soon, as I already “bought” my domain name. I’ll either work a little harder for more links on my blog or I won’t. 🙂

Not much else going on here… a great grown-up slumber party last night means I’m exhausted tonight. I work overnights Monday and Tuesday, so I’d better try to bank some sleep. I know that Monday I’ll be enjoying my current book – and getting ready for my next blog tour book! Two weeks!

Happy Monday, everyone!

There Were Things Happening – 3.3.14 edition

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It gets a little old to start every blog post off with “Where did the last month go?” but here I am, once again, thinking the same thing!  So I’ll recap my month in the only way I know how – by listing the highlights and the things that have made me happy since I last blogged! With pictures!  

There were some games:

  • The Superbowl happened – I worked but made it to the party before halftime.  Not much of a game, but the pool on the score always makes it entertaining when those final seconds tick down each quarter.  
  • Got to a few of Trajan’s basketball games.  His season is over now, but I look forward to watching him in the years to come!  
  • Went to one of Gracie’s Rochester tournament games.  Her season is over now, too,  but again, many years ahead!  

There were epic weekends: 

  • SocialICE 2014 was a lot of fun!  We warmed up with cocktails and Trivial Pursuit questions at my house, enjoyed some warm and cold beverages at the ice bar, went underground to The Doggery, and sang some karaoke at the Viking Lounge!  The next day we went to Newt’s too late for brunch, but it was good nonetheless.  
  • Marissa’s Birthday 2014 was also a lot of fun!  The drive to Minneapolis was treacherous, so it took a long time to get there, but I made it with plenty of time to spare before the Jeremy Messersmith concert at First Ave!  First we ate at Kieran’s, a favorite pub, and then we were at First Ave right after the doors opened – which meant we were there a LONG time before the main event!  
  • Jeremy Messersmith is just such a good songwriter… I love that you can understand every word he sings and that his songs always have a little twist in them.  So clever and fun.  After the concert, we went dancing at a club where the average age was likely 25.  Very much not my ‘scene’ but it was a fun night.  Saturday we laid low and read and watched TV.  I had decided not to face those roads again, so we worked on getting tickets to Mike Birbiglia, a great comedian!  He was sold out, but we found tickets and we went! 
  • Mike Birbiglia at the Pantages was amazing!  It was nonstop laughter about “earlies and late-ies,” the uninhabitable city Minneapolis is, as evidenced by its skyways, and swearing in front of Muppets.  Funny stuff.  Afterwards we celebrated National Margarita Day with “made at the table” guac and fancy margaritas at Rosa Mexicano!

There was an early Valentine’s Date:

  • Chris and I both worked on Valentine’s Day and that weekend, so we planned to celebrate on Wednesday 2/12, so it was perfect that I won tickets to Jim Brickman in concert for his”Love Tour” for that night!   Beforehand we went to Chester’s for a delicious dinner, and the concert was very fun!  He has a good sense of humor and a good ‘tell’ that shows he’s done.   Chris brought me the most beautiful roses and a box of chocolates.  It was a good date.  
  • The next night, the Cosmo Girls went to a local nursing home and made Valentine’s with and for the residents.  It was a fun time, followed by a pot of tea at Press Coffee House.  

There were books and discussions:

  • I had my first class of the semester, requiring a ton o’ reading, online discussions, and case study papers.  Psychopathology will be good for me, good for my job, but it confirms my dislike for professional reading in large quantities.  Ugh.  I was nervous, as it’s been a LONG time since I was in school, but it will be good.  
  • I had lunch with Cindy at India Garden, and that always involves mega book discussions.  Planning the next book party is underway!  
  • The ED book group discussion was held at Tonic last week – we discussed Winter Garden, which had been in my TBR pile for years!  I always felt like it should be read in the winter, and I’m glad it was.  It was a good book about mothers and daughters, forgiveness and understanding.  And it had a secondary story which took place in Russia, so it was timely with the Winter Olympics!  Next up is Divergent!  We’re going to the movie together.  
  • There was a brief visit with Sarah and her kiddos in the warmth of their home.  That also means that books were discussed.  Look forward to another visit!    
  • I’m still listening to The Goldfinch and just started reading Questlove’s book Mo’ Meta Blues.   Next TBR is a book for a book tour – I can’t wait!  Details to follow… 

There were movies and award shows:

  • The night before the Oscars, Jenny and I watched 20 Feet from Stardom, the documentary about back up singers.  We also went to see The Lego Movie, which was a lot of fun!  I loved the ‘meta’ of it and loved the voices.  Maybe it’ll be Oscar nominated next year!
  • I love watching the Oscar’s every year.  I blogged about the nominations when they came out and you can read that here.  20 Feet from Stardom was not a favorite to win the Best Documentary category, but it won!  That was so fun… I loved the acceptance speech and that Darlene Love sang her heart out during it!  Other things I loved were
  • Ellen’s selfie
  • Cate Blanchet and Lupita Nyong’o acceptance speeches
  • Pizza for everyone!
  • Spike Jonze winning for best screenplay for Her – the movie about relationships and intimacy.  A great discussion piece!
  • All of the songs performed live
  • Following along on Twitter all night – until it broke for a while!  Crazy selfie retweeting overload!  
  • The jokes following John Travolta’s major introduction fail.
  • I’m sure there’s more, but for now, that’s it.  

I’m sure that’s an overload.  I either need to blog more often or remember that people probably only read one paragraph before moving on!  If you made it to the end, I’d love to hear from you.  What made you happy in February?  It was a brutally cold month with horrible weather where I live, so you gotta look for the good to stay sane!  

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