Just Another Day

Bill and I have talked about kids for a long time… a really long time. We are coming up on our 14th year together, and kids were part of the discussion way back in the beginning. I think as a young couple we just assumed that dating, marriage, and kids were all part of everyone’s plan. As the years kept moving forward, though, we did a pretty decent job of following our own time frame. After all, it took us 6 years to get married – it seems appropriate that we waited another 7 for a baby.

Over these past years we’ve had incredible adventures together – moving around the globe, creating a home, new jobs, traveling, and establishing our own traditions. It’s been a wonderful, wild ride, and I can’t deny that we were nervous to alter it all with the biggest life changer of all. But once we made the decision, I felt a great sense of relief. We have been so lucky to experience the love of being part of family – and truly, time with my nieces and nephews has been more fun and rewarding than I would have ever thought. I can’t imagine a life where we would’ve denied ourselves the second part of the family experience.

We’ll definitely start out like every other new parent in the world… sleepless, confused, lost, and 100% in love with our baby. We already are! We’ll find ourselves doing the things we swore we’d never do… We’ll be more strict that we’d imagined… We’ll let a lot of things go that we used to be appalled by. I know that we will never, ever be the same once this baby arrives. This is the very thought that scared me to death before I started walking around with this little human inside of me. Now it’s the thought that makes me happiest in life.

So, as long as this is a rather sappy post, I might as well mention that I am married to the most  wonderful man. I can’t wait to see him as a daddy. He’s been incredible these past months (and always). I can’t believe he’s mine!

Click below for the recipe I use to make the peanut butter twists I grew up on. Enjoy!

aune family peanut butter twists

PS. For my “glaze” I just mix together a couple of tablespoons of peanut butter, about a cup of powdered sugar, and some milk or half and half to make it runny. Drizzle that over the cooled PB twists and just TRY to not eat the whole pan!

On Thursday, MEA weekend began. It’s hard to believe that our first long weekend of the school year has already found us! The year has been fast and furious but overall really great. I wasn’t even feeling like I needed the break as I most often have in the past! That said, once Bill and I hopped in the car and headed to Duluth Wednesday night, I was ready for a few days to just get away and relax!

Wednesday evening found us out for dinner and then off to watch Argo. It was back to our hotel for a good night’s sleep and a morning spent watching Homeland before heading to Caribou to enjoy hot chocolate and some reading time. We also enjoyed lunch out and a walk around the mall before heading up to Lutsen Thursday afternoon.

We met up with the Glass family at Caribou Highlands – having found a great deal on this lovely resort! We enjoyed some pool time and a little ping pong before Jesse and April headed out for dinner, and Bill & I snuggled up with Sawyer and Laurin for the evening.

The next morning we headed out on a hike before driving up to Grand Marais.  It was a gorgeous day, and there were people out taking advantage of it! We even ran into this friendly moose wandering through town (and handing out suckers) before we walked down to the lake to do a bit of rock throwing. (Bill, by the way was a rock star when it came to skipping rocks. He even had his own fan club finding perfect skippers – I’m not kidding… a lady we didn’t know!)

We headed back through Tower on Saturday morning in order to get a visit in with Grandpa Poderzay and my mom. It was the perfect end to our little getaway. Then it was time to get home and do a little housework before crashing for a movie.

There’s nothing like a long weekend!

I’ll make this short and sweet. It was another good week… well, except that Bill sprained his ankle. That wasn’t so good. But maybe it was our sign to slow down a bit. Life moves at a frantic pace. Sometimes you need to just take a breath and appreciate what’s around you. And so, I’m looking forward to another good week.

Bill’s out flying. I just finished poking around on Pinterest. The house is quiet except for songs from the 50′s and 60′s humming out of my TV. I love this feeling. For the moment, life is simple.

We had another great week. I made a mid-week trip to Virginia to complete some errands, and that allowed me to be free of the running around on the weekend to tie up grocery shopping and school lists that seem to pile up each week. It also broke the week up nicely. As did a visit before school with my former colleague and good friend, Jenny. Time fills up so quickly; I’m so glad to have a friend who’s willing to get out the door a half hour early on school mornings to meet up when our visits have been too few and far between. I had another visit Saturday morning with my high school friend and college roommate, Laura. We met up with my sisters at April’s house. There were SIX kids to fill the house. Times have changed, but only in a lovely way. It was nice to have the chance to catch up.

Bill and I finished up the final season of 24 this weekend. I am pleased to say I was happy with the way they ended the show. And now that we’ve completed the series, I’m really thinking about canceling our Netflix subscription. With Redbox as handy as it is, I feel like we’d do just as well (and possibly better) to rent movies more regularly that way. So, yes, big decisions.

This morning I got to spend a couple hours with my sweet niece, Laurin. It’s not often that I’ve had the chance to hang out with her one-on-one. That’s a difference with the second round of babies in our family. So, it was fun to play with her – and I might even say “visit”. She is such a good talker for such a young little girl! We looked at pictures, read a couple books, and danced around a bit. She was far more cuddly that she’s ever been with me. So much fun!

The Vikings were on today, so I happily invested my time in a nap. This is turning into a fantastic Sunday tradition. After I woke up, I finished a couple of work items I needed to give a bit of attention to, and then Bill and I hopped in the boat again. My goodness it’s gorgeous on the lake. We took a nice long ride and tried to explore a couple of parts of the lake we’re less familiar with. Having grown up on this lake, you’d think I’d be able to navigated it like the back of my hand. But it’s so BIG, and I’m used to just going to the same spots. It’ll be fun for us to learn our way around a bit better together.

Next weekend I think I need to spend some time de-cluttering. It must be the change of the seasons, but I am antsy to simplify life. I want less stuff around. I want organization! I actually heard a story about how President Obama eliminated everything from his wardrobe except blue, black, and gray suits so that he never has to waste time or energy thinking about what to wear. I want that. (Of course, I would more likely go with flannel pants and long-sleeve t-shirts.)

On our first weekend after the official back-to-work week, Bill and I decided to head out for a walk in the woods. We checked out one of the ski trails to see what kind of clearing it’s going to need before the snow falls. Last year the trails weren’t able to be groomed as a result of time spent clearing and lack of snow. Hopefully this year will be a little better (though, truthfully, I plan to stick to skiing on the lake).

The fall colors are starting to really show. It seems early this year, but I’m pretty sure I say that every year. It was a gorgeous day to be back in the woods. And upon our return home, my dad joined us to watch the Vikings win their first game of the season. (I napped.) And then Bill and I headed out for a boat ride – because really, when the weather is this nice, you just HAVE to get out and enjoy it.

A combination of adjusting to a work schedule again combined with life in general has left me exhausted this week. We decided that heading to the Landing instead of cooking dinner sounded like the perfect remedy. So off we went, and it was a lovely end to a lovely weekend.

Oh my, what a summer. It was fantastic and lovely and oh so very fast! I know this must just be a part of getting older, but goodness I feel like time needs to just slow down.

Tomorrow I meet 28 fifth graders that I will spend the next nine months with. The first week is always exciting and overwhelming all the same. Of course each year holds new experiences as no class is ever quite the same.

So as I get ready for the nine months ahead, I can’t help but to think about what fun we’ve had the past three months. We tried to take advantage of the gorgeous weather, but somehow we always feel like we didn’t do quite enough boating, swimming, or relaxing on the lake. We were lucky, though, to spend time with lots of friends we haven’t seen regularly over the past years. We also got to spend time with family and enjoyed our favorite little monkeys when they made their way to our house. Bill explored the air while I worked to keep my feet planted firmly on the ground. We saw my favorite country singer in concert and enjoyed a couple of weeks up North. So, yes, I’d say we did our best to fill our summer months with fun. And we’ll look forward to the next summer, but not without first enjoying the seasons in between.

I’ll try to sum up the past two months mostly in pictures.

Projects

This spring was filled with projects around the house. We were in need of a new roof and a new dock. Lucky for me, Bill is always up for the challenge. Lucky for us, we can count on lots of help from our family. We couldn’t have done these projects without the help of Jesse as he was in charge of the designing and calculating of both projects. Then the crew spent several hours constructing. Things are looking great!

Celebrations

There have been lots of birthdays to celebrate these past months. I won a canoe this spring – so crazy! Bill’s sister, Katie, got married at their family’s cabin at the end of June. And Bill began flight instruction and completed his first solo flight under the instruction of his dad.

Summertime Life

We took a good trip into the BWCA. There’s been lots of time hanging out with the little ones. We’ve had great visits with friends. We’ve enjoyed drop-by guests both by car and boat. A few fish were caught. We’ve spent time with lots of relatives. And when we find a little down time, Bill and I have no problem soaking in wonder of this crazy, busy, beautiful life.

A very happy  birthday to my dear, sweet husband.

The guy who can always make me laugh…

whose patience melts my heart…

who fills my life with adventure…

who makes my life complete.