Weather

It has become a tradition for P & I to travel in bad weather. It seems no matter when we travel bad weather rears it's ugly head. We were pretty fortunate this year to miss most of the bad weather over the Christmas holiday. We were able to travel home and be with friends and family, watching the winter weather from the inside of our warm family homes. Merry Christmas to all of those I was unable to see.

Thanksgiving

I had cooked my first Thanksgiving dinner this year for my family. I served turkey, sweet potatoes, stuffing, ham, and of course pumpkin pie. The food turned out well and I had such a nice time with my family.

Berbee Derby

Ran in the Berbee Derby this morning. P and I had a great time. It was cold, the snow was melting away from the night before and we could feel sprinkles of rain every now and again. Freezing before the race, but warm after! Now we are going to give thanks and eat some turkey. What a great day to spend with friends and family.

Happy Thanksgiving!

The Great Pumpkin

Tonight a new tradition was created. Every year L & I clean out pumpkins with her girls. This year Addi asked how the pumpkins got carved. L said that "The Great Pumpkin" carves the pumpkins at night while the girls sleep. Each girl chose a picture they wanted carved into their pumpkins and after they went to sleep the pumpkins were carved. This has been a tradition that L and I have done for years, but this year the girls got to be part of it! We had a great time.

The Cake

My nephew turns 3 on Sunday. I was unable to attend his birthday party last weekend, so my sister is bringing him to my house for the weekend. I had a late day at work and fell behind on things I needed to accomplish. I still wanted to bake my nephew a birthday cake before he gets here (any minute). So I just finished frosting the ugliest cake I have every seen. The cake fell apart when I removed it from the pan. I didn't have enough frosting to cover up the ugliness of the cake and it is lopsided and will be lucky to remain on the platter until my nephew gets here. I assure you it will taste amazing even if it looks a little unappetizing!

Pumpkin Patch

Fall is one of my favorite times of the year. There are always so many activities to do. P and I had some fun with family and friends at Sutter's Ridge Family Farm. It was a beautiful day to spend outside. I enjoyed the hay ride and picking a pumpkin to carve.

Weekend Plans

Spending the weekend with my fiance's nieces. I am so excited to spend some time with them. I have several fun activities for us to do. I hope they enjoy themselves! :)

UW Badger Football

It is that time again when summer begins the inevitable change to fall. With that comes cooler temperatures, shorter days, and of coarse football. I was given the opportunity to attend the first Badger Football game this year. It was an evening game with beautiful weather during the day! P and I had a great time tailgating with friends. It has been a long time since I have been downtown Madison for a football game. I had forgotten about the sea of red down Monroe Street. The evening was highlighted by a Badger victory!

Obsession

This summer I have been very preoccupied by learning about the food that I eat and where it comes from. I had my own garden this year and enjoyed many meals harvested myself. I am all for local farmers markets and locally grown food. This summer has been very easy to support the local community. This fall will not be difficult either with the abundance of fall harvest. This winter and early spring will be a little more difficult for me, but I look forward to the challenge.

Spring Reading

I have a new book that I have been listening to in my car. Animal Vegetable Miracle has been an eye opening read and has yet again inspired more hobbies for myself. I have learned many basics of cooking with regional and local food and have been interested in making new food from Mt. Horeb's local farmers market. Today while listening in the car a new idea was construed to me - cheese making. I had never contemplated making my own cheese. Not a hobby I will begin tomorrow, but one that I will put in my back pocket for a rainy day.

Gardening

Well - Thanks to my fiance my garden has been thriving while I have been away. He has kindly been watering the plants. In the beginning of the season I had this cute little garden and was so excited about the produce we would have. Still excited about the garden produce I have been less enthusiastic about my gardens appearance. I don't seem to be the only one excited about the produce in my garden. I have a friend who I have started to call Ralph who also really loves my produce. Ralph is a tiny little rabbit who has devoured one jalapeno plant and a geranium. My garden has now been imprisoned so that I might enjoy some produce as well.

Weekend Seminar

I spent this past weekend in Baltimore, Maryland at a veterinary dental training seminar. I had such a great time. I think it is always fun to find people who have similar interests and learn the different techniques that are used in each facility. This weekend was a reminder that the more I learn the less I feel I know. The weekend was very tiring but also well worth the trip. I would recommend anyone interested in veterinary dentistry to attend one of these training seminars.

I also got to have a little fun out in Baltimore as well. I had dinner at Red Brick Station and had a fantastic Crabcake and Maryland's Crab Soup. Later that night we attended the summer concert series on the fountain.

Gardening

I admit to having a ton of hobbies. I enjoy many different things. I don't do any of them particularly well, but the end product is not the point. I have been reading up on gardening and listening to pod casts and the radio for tips. Four weeks ago I planted seeds and they are looking quite nice. Now I am working on putting together my garden. I can't wait for fresh produce.

However, last fall I planted some bulbs looking forward to some color for the spring. This spring has been for not. Just the other day I was admiring my almost empty garden and came upon my first flower. It is okay though, because today when I got home I had a few more flowers blooming in my little garden.

SVM Open House

The veterinary schools open house was this past weekend. Besides for the rain it was a huge success. Many people attended and enjoyed the tours as well as the children interactive center. Topped off with Babcock ice cream how could you go wrong?

Easter Sunday

We spent the weekend with the families for Easter this year. A fun Saturday cookout with D&J and Sunday dinner with P&S and my family. Topped it off with a Easter egg hunt for the kids. What a fun weekend with the family.

Brewer Home Opener

P bought a bunch of Brewer tickets this year. The home opener was this past Friday and I got to go with him. The weather was beautiful for a Wisconsin spring day. We had such a great day together. I took tons of pictures.

Beer Tasting

Yesterday P and I went to T&R with B&L to have a beer tasting. This is just an excuse for us to get together and taste some new brews. We each bring a beer or two to share. There are always some great brews and some flops. It is always fun to be with friends. At one point T brought out his Larry Bird jacket from his childhood (what a great jacket T). Thanks guys for hosting the 2nd taste.

Dirty Dog, Happy Dog, Tired Dog

Today was a beautiful spring day in Wisconsin. I was out of work on time and had the opportunity to take Kilo to Stewart Park. We had a great afternoon of hiking on the trails in the nice weather. The trails were mostly dry, but some parts were very muddy. Kilo and I had muddy paws and shoes. It was worth it! Kilo has been home for an hour and not moved yet.

Back in Action

It has been a while since my last post. There have been many complaints that I haven't followed through with the blog. There are many things for me to post about and I will try to catch up in the next few weeks. Today is the first day that I myself have had a chance to breath. I am spending my afternoon taking and editing pictures. One of the activities that I have missed the most. I encourage you to follow my Flickr page as the photos are now updated. My currant favorite picture is below.

Vacation Day

I had the day off today and decided that today would be a vacation day. I got lost in a novel that kept me turning the pages. I did put the book down long enough to do a little grocery shopping and some laundry. I can't remember the last time I took a day to relax and do what I wanted to do. What a nice day!

New Camera

I received a new digital camera from P this year for Christmas. I have taken many photos with it but today was the first day that I was able to play with it and figure out all of the features. D & J gave me a digital photography book for the holidays as well and it has proven to help. You can see more of my pictures at the bottom of my blog page. Remember there is not much color in January in Wisconsin so I had to use my imagination.