13 To Do's in 2013

Besides having a baby, I thought I'd make a list of other things I'd like to accomplish in 2013. Kinda like a new year's resolution - but more fun :)

(In no particular order...)

1. Pick Berries
http://berrypatchfarm.com/ isn't too far from us and I've heard it's fun. But I won't be too picky (pun intended) about the location - rather it just needs to be a PYO (Pick Your Own) farm.

2. Visit Becky at Loras
I'm kinda a bad sister. The last time I visited Becky at school was back when I was still in grad school (fall 2010) so 2 years ago. Oops. The spring is her last semester so I really want to go visit her. Remember how fun college was! (I have no idea who the girl is on the right, because I don't know any of her friends, which is obviously terrible.)

3. Go (back) to Galena
Matt and I have been to Galena twice and it's a fun getaway, without being too far. Plus if we're already in DBQ visiting Becky, we could extend the trip to include Galena.

4. Run a 5K
I participated in a handful of 5K's this year which has been really fun and I want to do more next year. Some I will obviously just have to walk with the baby in a stroller, but in the fall I think it would be a great goal to RUN one. Drop the baby weight and have something to look forward too. Last year I recall the Ft. Dodge AppleFest run was in October but there are hundreds of races across central iowa all posted on the Fitness Sports website.

5. Visit the Bridges of Madison County 
Ideally in the fall when the leaves are changing colors. It seems like everyone has been there but me. It's well past time to go. It may have to be without Matt if we want to do it in the fall (due to his work) but I don't want his work to be my excuse for never having been there.

6. Explore the Rose Garden
Rumor has it that the Rose Garden by the DSM Art Center is very picturesque -- especially in June. I've never been there but June sounds like a fantastic time to go, explore and take pictures! Julie and Mike took their engagement photos there this fall and their pics look great so I bet a visit in the fall would be fun too.

7. Get Professional Family Photos
I talk about doing this every year but the last professional photos we had taken were at our wedding. And unfortunately it was crazy sunny out and we're both a little squinty in our photos and it was way too muggy to take more than a few. Using Baby as an excuse I think this year will be my best shot at some outdoor family photos. And I'd love to add my parents and sisters on to the end of that photo session. Similarly the wedding photo is the last professional family photo that we have and it would be nice to have some that are more casual. And maybe we can take pics at the Rose Garden to knock out two of these in one shot.

8. Tackle some House Projects
We had lots of plans for updates around the house but none of them really happened this year. The big one that we talked about over and over again was new floors. Since the carpet is too dirty for a baby to be around, we know have a hard deadline to make changes to the floor. But changing out the floor leads to lots of other things -- new baseboards, painting the baseboards that aren't being replaced, painting or replacing doors since they no longer will match either, determining flooring for the bathroom (which might lead to a bigger bath remodel). Plus thanks to Baby we will be changing out things in the second bedroom, this means moving / getting rid of a lot of stuff. It's exciting but overwhelming. Creating Baby's room will be multiple posts I'm sure.

9. Visit Out-of-Town Friends
We kinda are horrible at this. Matt's job doesn't lend itself very well to getting this accomplished, and with the baby coming it'll probably make it more difficult, but I really really really want to travel to see a least some of our friends. I don't think we'll make all of the places on my list but at least a couple would be great.
   - Winona
   - Philadelphia
   - Kansas City
   - St. Louis
   - Chicago
   - NYC
   - Clear Lake
   - Iowa City / North Liberty
   - Salt Lake City
   - Eagle Grove / Fort Dodge

10. Go to 5 New Restaurants in DSM with Matt
I'm not the most adventurous diner in Des Moines but I check out a handful of new places each year. However, I tend to do this with my girlfriends. I realized that there are a lot of places I've been but Matt hasn't. So next year I think we should check out TOGETHER at least 5 places in Des Moines. They don't have to be new new, just new to us.

11. Buy a Car
There's definitely excitement in buying a new car but I also am very hesitant. We currently don't have any car loans but my car can't be worth much anymore so buying means probably having a car loan again. And while that isn't a big concern financially right now - I have no idea what life will be like financially with Baby (probably should start looking at that soon). Also, I bought my car before Matt and I got married winter 2008/2009 and somehow it kinda feels wierd to let it go. The next car won't really feel like mine but rather OUR car. (But I guess that's probably how Matt felt about trading in his truck last year for the Trailblazer.) Also, I feel like I haven't held on to this car long enough to be getting rid of it. But it's got over 125K miles on it and I'll never be able to transport BABY and Gable in it together. I've got my eye on a Kia Sorento but we'll see what I we actually end up with. 

12. Host a Party at our House
We use living in Huxley as an excuse for a lot of things and unfortunately one of those is related to having people over. While we're used to making the drive to DSM all the time for events, our friends are not. It's not that people have said - Huxley is too far for us to drive for a party, but I hear those off handed remarks about not wanting to drive way out to West Des Moines or all the way downtown so I know they think Huxley is too far. But screw them - I drive it pretty much every day and it's not torture, so if they think a party at our place isn't worth it, then I guess they're not really our friends after all.

13. Be more Cultural
I am quick to defend Des Moines and all the great things the town now has to offer. The metro really has changed so much since I was young. But I feel like I'm not taking advantage of all the culture that exists. There are so many things I would love to do (more). Examples: Attend an event at the Salisbury House, Go to the Symphony, Hear the Opera, Attend an event at the Art Museum, See a show at Hoyt Sherman, Learn to do something artsy - blow glass, throw pottery, cook. So this is just a challenge to say YES when the opportunities come up, and when we we're not seeing those opportunities to go out and seek them more. It's important to always be learning and growing.

Plus One More: Volunteer / Give Back More
We have so much to be thankful for and there are so many ways that we can give to others. We should be doing this so much more!  

Merry Christmas!

This year Gable wrote our Christmas letter. It's amazing what dogs can do without opposable thumbs. :) We were a little late getting it in the mail today but at least the letter was written and the pictures printed prior to Christmas. Hooray!   We hope you and your families all had a blessed holiday with those you love!  

Snowpocalypse 2012

Hello snow! We got 13 inches last night! Schools were all closed and lots of businesses too. Matt had the day off work and got stuck clearing out the driveway and walking Gable. I worked from home and made a batch of oatmeal raison cookies.

Gable was kinda funny about the snow. Shortly after it started coming down last night, he had a ball running circles in the backyard. But this morning he wasn't so fond of it since it was so deep! He didn't really even want to go out in it and when he did it was only to take care of business. He enjoyed his snow day mostly sleeping on the couch!

Gable's afternoon nap

Oatmeal Raison Cookies

Lots of snow!

Not so sure he wants to go out in the deep drifts

His new snowblower from last year wouldn't work, he used the old little one for some of the driveway but it wasn't powerful enough for all of it. Matt had to do a lot of shoveling too.

While he wasn't so sure about the back deck, he had fun out on his walk with Matt.

Deliciousness -- Mexican Rollups and Chocolate Chip Oreo Caramel Cookie Bars

I owe a special thank you to Matt for helping me making these delicious mexican roll-ups that I brought to work today. My contribution was coming up with an idea and going to the grocery store to pick up the ingredients. And then Matt did all the rest -- including arranging them on the platter.

And here's how he did it...

Combine
8oz cream cheese (we used the 1/3 less fat variety)
16 oz sour cream (also the reduced fat variety)
2 cups shredded cheese
1 packet taco seasoning
1/2 can of the small Rotel can of tomatoes and green chiles (drained)
2-4 tablespoons of Ortega taco sauce

Spread mixture on flour tortillas and wrap tightly. We used up a package of 8 and had extra mixture left. So either reduce the ingredients or purchase more tortillas. Also next time we might try spinach wraps. (But don't accidentatly get italian wraps - they are indeed gross!)

Let the wraps cool in the fridge for at least a couple hours before cuting them into small peices. Then you just need some salsa for dipping and your ready to go! But watch out - they go fast. I couldn't even grab a picture before people took a few.

Besides my contribution, my favorite plate at the food day was this delicious dessert - a Chocolate Chip Oreo Caramel Cookie bar.


From: Recipe Girl



This isn't the pic of the actual dessert but it's from the website where she found the recipe. And her recipe turned out exactly like the picture (I didn't know that could actually happen!) I've seen this on Pinterest and it looked good to me before but I had no idea how good it would actually be! And it didn't sound that hard to make. Pat down cookie dough in a 9x13 pan-- put down a layer of oreos --drizzle some caramel over that -- put down the top layer of cookie dough -- bake and enjoy! Fingers crossed that my attempt looks and tastes just as good!

Here's the recipe she used from Recipe Girl:

http://www.recipegirl.com/2012/08/20/oreo-and-caramel-stuffed-chocolate-chip-cookie-bars/ 

  



Gable's being promoted - May 2012

Last night the official facebook announcement went out so I figure I'm finally safe sharing this here! Official due date is May 15th. Even though no one seems to really have their baby on their due date, we're probably ok assuming he or she will arrive sometime in May.

In case you don't want to do the math, a due date of May 15th means I'm 18 weeks pregnant. But the first thing I learned was that you really don't know you're pregnant until weeks 4-5. So this means we've known since the beginning of September. We waited to tell out parents after our 12 week appointment (end of October). And while it's been a hard secret to keep for so long - it was most defintiely harder for our family to keep it quiet. But thankfully we all made it :)  

I have so many posts I've been wanting to write that relate to the baby, so get ready! :)

Race for the Cure 2012

I've done Race for the Cure a couple times before, but this year's was definitely the most memorable one yet. It was back at the end of October but I realized I hadn't posted on it yet and the pics are just too funny to forget. This year Mom and Dad walked it with Jackie and I. And Jackie's friend Liz walked with us too. And it is thanks to Liz and her infectious passion for the race that this year was so memorable!

Can't wait for next year and some more wacky costumes!

Christmas Card Love/Hate Relationship

Hands down – my favorite Christmas tradition is receiving Christmas cards. Ever since I can remember Mom has gathered us up for a family picture, written a letter and then mailed that out to all our family and friends. And since she was always so good about it – we always received loads of Christmas cards in return. Even now I love going home and going through the basket of letters and pictures.

After Matt and I got married I decided we should start our own Christmas letter tradition. I couldn’t expect others to send me cards if we weren’t willing to put in the time time to send out our own. Our first Christmas we were still wrapping up our thank you notes from our wedding and everyone that we would have sent a Christmas card to was already receiving a thank you (which included a wedding pic) so there was no need to do an additional Christmas card. In 2010 we wrote our first official Christmas card – we posted it on the blog here. And when I saw "we" I mean, Matt wrote it and I mailed them out. Last year we did our second one, but we were a little late getting it sent out. And it appears I didn’t post it at all since I had a gap in posts from October to March.
We haven’t started writing this years but we most definitely have plenty to write about. My biggest concern though is the picture. We went a lot of cool places and did a lot of fun things, but I can’t find any pictures of Matt and I that I really love. This is where the HATE part of the relationship comes in. Not only is it stressful going through the hundreds (maybe thousands) of pictures I took this year to find no suitable ones for the card, but now I have to convince Matt that we need to take a Christmas picture. And if you know Matt, you know that he HATES pictures. Oh man – this is not going to be fun. Wish me luck!