Falling in Love

(Part I) 

We went to Minnesota to celebrate the Love of one of my very best friends and ended up falling in love ourselves, with Minnesota.

  While picking up our rental car Friday night, the woman at the front desk asked if we wanted to upgrade to a 4 wheel drive.  She told us that they were expecting something like 6 to 10 inches of snow the next day.  We had checked the weather the day before we left and didn't see anything that said there would be snow, so we kept our little blueberry and away we went. Boy were we surprised the next morning when we woke up to a snow covered Minnesota.

  It probably should have kept us in doors but we were only in town for a short while and wanted to see as much as we could possibly see.  About the 3rd car we passed that had slid off the road I really started to question our sanity. 

We stopped by the Minnesota Center for Book Arts and Open Book which blew me away.  It was such a cool building with the best staircase I have ever seen.  There was a tiny cafe inside, you could find people reading books all over, and we saw at least 2 groups of people holding book clubs that morning.  A wood stamp making class was going on down stairs and we met the nicest lady who told us all about the different classes they offer and let us check out all the huge letter press machines.  It was amazing.     

(This is a wood stamp that someone taking the class made. Incredible right?)

Minneapolis has some of the coolest buildings, so we decided to do a drive by of a few of them before heading back to Bloomington. If we'd had the time and different weather conditions (it was seriously a blizzard out there) we would have walked the Stone Arch Bridge and in and out of a few shops. Maybe next time.

Finally we were off for a quick visit to the great Mall of America before the big event.  We shopped, had an Xbox 360 Kinect party (they had a bunch of the games set up to try out), ate at Arby's (because we don't have any close in Boston) and rode on a Sponge Bob Square Pants roller coaster.  

Stay Tuned for Jana's Wedding  coming up next . . .

"This is Halloween, This is Halloween"

-  Nightmare Before Christmas -

I love Halloween and usually get really into it.  The past two years I've had particularly cool costumes and fun things to do on this lovely holiday (here and here) which is why I was a little sad this time around.  Matt and I were just coming off a seminary week and realized a little too late that we wouldn't have time to dress up for the tri-ward Trunk-or-Treat.   

(you can't see them but Matt has two black birds attached to each shoulder)

Then, as if she knew my dilemma, my good friend Chen Ying came to the rescue.  I got home from work on Friday (the night of the Trunk-or-Treat) to find that a package  from Malaysia had arrived.  I about fell off the couch when I opened it and found a beautiful mask and hair piece inside.  Chen Ying had made them for a party she went to and then sent them my way thinking I could get some use out of them before the Holiday was over.  How right she was. 

Thank you Chen Ying for making my Halloween!

   

Our Perfect Day in Cambridge

Burdick's hot chocolate, the Charles River Regatta, shops in Harvard Square, an awesome street performing jazz band (with a tuba player) and no time limit whatsoever.  Perfection!

Time to Get Away

Sometimes it's good to get away. Sometimes you need a little fresh air, a little nature, and a little quiet time.  Sometimes you need an excuse to pull out your rugged boots and eat way too many ruffles chips while driving around for hours looking at all the beautiful fall foliage.       

Sometimes you need to forget your responsibilities, forget your worries and get outside to enjoy this beautiful earth that Heavenly Father created for us.

And sometimes you need to park your car and frolic through the fields of an old Shaker Village.

We had a lovely weekend!