February 28th

Tuesday, February 28th, 2017

If you don’t know me, let me let you in on a little secret: I love animals. When I say love, I mean love. Each animal hasn’t its own personality, quirks, excellences and shortcomings. Each is made for a particular purpose. Puffins swim, an arctic fox is stealthy, Lions sleep (20 hours a day!). Giraffes have crazy long tongues, polar bears are incredibly agile for their size, orangutans hang their entire body weight on their fingertips. I could go on and on.

That’s why I love the zoo.

And today was the quietest it has ever been when I have been at Como. It was so nice – we were really able to take our time at each animal, read about them, watch them, respect them for what God created them for. And the animals were very active today! We saw the wolves actually out in the open for the first time, the Tiger came up to the fence, the arctic foxes played, the gorilla came and sat on the other side of the glass. Maybe the quieter crowds attributed to that. All I know is that when we walked up to the puffins, one really liked Paul. She sat right next to the glass the entire time he was there, and followed him back and forth. So I took advantage of her interest and had fun photographing her 😊

February 27th

Monday, February 27th, 2017

Its date night!

Normally Monday’s are Small Group night, but with half the group out of town this week, we took a week off. We were encouraged to have a date night with our spouse. Paul took that to heart and cooked me dinner! Carnitas – they were DELICIOUS! And as I write this, he has dessert in the oven – Cast Iron Caramel Pecan Brownies! 😍

February 26th

Sunday, February 26th, 2017

Happy Sunday!

Not much to talk about today – with the windchill today we stayed inside and stayed warm as much as possible. A good day to play with window light and a dried flower bouquet.

February 25th

Saturday, February 25th, 2017

Hot off the presses!

I am so excited to share that A Borrowed Likeness will begin offering blank photo greeting cards this year! It’s been a project I’ve been working on all winter, and I just recently got my hands on them, so I had to share!

If you know me, you know that I like to write. I wouldn’t consider myself great at it, but I’ve always enjoyed it. Paul and I wrote letters back and forth in college and when we were on opposite sides of the planet during study abroad trips. When I moved out after graduation, my roommate and I continued to be penpals to make sure we stayed in touch. I’ve always kept journals. I was that weird human who enjoyed writing thank you’s after our wedding. So in short, I’ve always wanted to offer cards for those who love to write and send notes like I do.

My first show of the season is two weeks from today, and I can’t wait for them to make their debut!

February 24th

Friday, February 24th, 2017

My husband was in my bed when I woke up this morning.

I know what you’re thinking – isn’t he supposed to be there? Not when he left for an overnight flight last night and wasn’t supposed to be back until later this morning. Turns out he went to work, did his flight, but due to the weather at his destination they couldn’t land. So they were diverted back to MSP, and he was released from duty late last night. What a wonderful surprise!

I guess that means I’m a heavy sleeper 😆

February 23rd

Thursday, February 23rd, 2017

It was so refreshing to see these bright colors this afternoon!

Paul and I have heard raving reviews about this dog park not far from us, but we don’t have a dog so have never had a reason to go. Out of curiosity we stopped in today.

When I think dog park, I think a small fenced in area for dogs to be off-leash. This dog park was HUGE – at least 10 acres! Butting up to the Crow River, there were miles of trails winding through woods and open areas along the river. No wonder people love taking their dogs here! It was not only a great place for the dogs, but a beautiful place to just go for a walk.

While walking along the river, we were in an area with a lot of mature trees; Paul estimated that many were at least 50 feet tall. We came across a spot where many had fallen, more than likely a result of last summers big storm, and one of the trees had beautiful moss growing all over it. The bright saturated green was such a sight among the grays and browns of empty trees and bare ground.

February 22nd

Wednesday, February 22nd, 2017

I’m not the best meal planner.

I will say that it’s mainly because I lack creativity. Coming up with new meal ideas that sound somewhat healthy and appetizing rarely is easy. Pinterest is a good place to start, but having more options for filters would be great – anytime I search “Healthy Dinner Ideas” it’s all salads. “Dinner Ideas” leads to pasta dishes and sodium saturated meals. Can I get a happy medium?

Well in a lucky find, I stumbled across Carl’s Bad Cravings recipe blog via Pinterest, and we’ve gotten some GREAT recipes from her! Lots of Mexican inspired dishes, but we love Mexican in our house. Last week we tried her Teriyaki Chicken tacos with Grilled Pineapple Pear Salsa (it was amazing!), and so this week was Blackened Fish Tacos with Pineapple Cucumber Slaw. Having the fruits and veggies in the slaw and salsa is a great way to add lighter, fresh flavors to a traditional taco. I had to take a picture of it it was so colorful! (Sorry for the busy plate pattern – I really didn’t think the tacos would turn out so pretty!)

February 21st

Tuesday, February 21st, 2017

This weather is blowing my mind.

With highs being in the mid-fifties, and lows staying above freezing, Mother Nature doesn’t know what to do. The rain yesterday led to lots of moisture in the air creating a thick fog this morning before the sun broke through. So moody, so beautiful.

As I look outside now, the sun is shining without a single cloud in the sky, setting us up for another beautiful “spring” day. Hopefully the sun today will help dry out the puddles before the snow comes later this week!

February 20th

Monday, February 20th, 2017

Homemade applesauce is all the buzz at our house right now.

Paul and I jumped on the pressure cooking bandwagon and bought an Instant Pot about a month ago, and we LOVE it! The recipe possibilities while cooking with our IP are endless. One of our favorites is an applesauce recipe. The best part? It’s obviously delicious, but it only takes three minutes, and the only added sugar is honey!

Tonight I peeled and cored a whole bunch of Braeburns so I could make   a giant batch tomorrow. Can’t wait!

February 19th

Sunday, February 19th, 2017

The outdoor Christmas lights came down today.

I’m that person who loves their Christmas lights. I put them up right after Halloweeen, and I was planning on holding out until Easter, but this warm weather made it irresistible to start thinking spring. It may not last, but it’s a welcome break 🙂

February 18th

Saturday, February 18th, 2017

SIXTY DEGREES!

This weather is so spring-like, it’s impossible to not want to be outside. And living on the farm, you forget how much work “spring” brings. Making sure culverts are flowing, creating channels in the field to help it drain, sweeping, cleaning, ice chipping, pulling horses out of the pasture so try have a dry place to relax. Grooming said mud-covered horses. 😒

But we opened the front main slider barn doors for the first time this year, and everyone – horses and humans – were enjoying that! Just like inside your home, the air gets stale in the barn, and it made a big difference to get a solid flow of fresh warm air to move through. As it gets super dusty in the barn when we don’t have adequate air flow, this also meant we were able to sweep the barn aisle for the first time in a few months (look at all that dust and crud!). Felt like a whole new place!

February 17th

Friday, February 17th, 2017

Happy Friday!

Well, I’m back in MSP. Currently wasting some time in the airport waiting for Paul to finish a St Louis turn, then we can head home. What a whirlwind couple of days! This life is a blessed one.

So to waste some time, I went up to the observation deck to watch Paul’s plane get ready for the next leg. He came to sit with me for a while on his downtime, and after he left it was funny the amount of sideways looks I was getting. VIP – hahaha NOT. 😊

Although this was a smooth trip and low stress as I got on every flight I needed to the first time around, Wednesday I sat in the airport waiting for 8 hours, yesterday was for 6, and today will be 4. I’m ready to be outside and not around hoards of people!

The observation deck was nice and quiet, and gave me a great view of the planes and *bonus* I got a little Vitamin D. I really wanted to photograph more, but the glass glare won. So I took advantage and did a self portrait. (Paul’s plane is the tail sticking up from the bottom!)