Away we go!

 

We are off! We have already flown from Minneapolis to New York, New York to London, and now we are waiting for a flight to Kuwait, and then finally to India!

The picture above is our meal. A stroke above the cookies and juice on the last flight! There was even a chocolate and a toothpick!

So far we have been through security three times in the last 20 hours. I think the longer I sit on a plane, the more suspicious looking I get as I had to be thoroughly patted down and scanned for "suspicious items" (Eric says I can't say the "B" word, as they are apparently scanning the internet for cooking blogs with terrorist tendencies) on the last checkpoint. I considered making a scene about the racial profiling going on, but Eric said he would under no circumstances visit me in jail if I did so.

Now we are sitting in the London airport and Eric is enthralled by the British accents. He has been trying to talk like a native, and is falling terribly short. He is reading over my shoulder as I type and just said "what do you mean trying to talk??".

Time to fly to Kuwait!

Shower-time Education

 

A couple weekends ago Eric and I visited my brother David, and we were given quite the education. Just like almost every bachelor I know, David has a world map shower curtain.

Since I am the world's longest shower taker ever, I had quite the brush-up on my geography. I was almost embarrassed to admit how much I had learned, but on the car ride home Eric brought it up. "Did you realize Russia was so ginourmous??" "Half of these countries I have never even heard of!" We ended up talking about this world map for another 45 minutes, and then officially decided we needed one in our shower. Behind our pretty one! :)Obviously Public Education has done us well! Or maybe it was all the giggling I did in 7th grade geography that did me in....

I started looking around and found all sorts of shower curtains.

If I lived in New York, I could definitely use this map of the NYC Subway. I can barely find my way to the grocery store as it is.

They even have SAT words shower curtains.

And periodic table shower curtains.

 

What kind of education are you looking to get in the shower? :)

Birthday Party!

Last weekend we ended up having one big Football/Halloween/Birthday party! On the menu was bacon, pink cupcakes, and crepes, as per Hadassah's demand.

We found out some interesting facts like, my Mom sure didn't get a fancy party like this when she was 5! She was pretty sure she did manage to get a nice kick-in-the-pants from Rex and Randy though.

We also had some wild trick-or-treaters. I almost got knocked down by quite a few little girls trying to make it into the "Princess Party" going on at our house. We also managed to run out of candy, and all the tiny vampires and werewolves were very displeased. I was pretty impressed with all the 16-year-old moms (yes, "all the", need I remind you, we live in Coon Rapids) getting candy "for their baby". Veeery tricky!

We had a great time, and were so happy to be able to host it!

Some of the thrilled party attendees, enjoying Favre and company.

This is Carson and Chloe brooding about Favre. Midway through the game when they finally did put in Tarvaris Jackson, Carson basically screamed for 10 minutes straight when he made the touchdown.

Hadassah, a.k.a Princess-Fairy Godmother-Queen waiting to get the party started already!!!

I was able to pick up enough flowery-pink china for all 16 of us at the thrift store, and we decorated everything in pink.

The kids with their crepes and bacon.

Some of our more serious party-goers, Larry Sr. and Larry Jr..

Singing "Happy Birthday".

Bobby in his chicken suit finally finding a part of the party he could really get into.

Eric's dad getting his baby fix with Rocky!

A Viking's cheerleader uniform from Grandpa and Grandma!

Pink cowboy boots from Uncle Carson!

Getting ready to trick or treat as a cowgirl-ballerina!

It was a pretty exciting party! I took a lot more pictures, but these were just some of the highlights!

Also, just so David doesn't get his knickers in a twist, Hadassah got some pretty cute ballerina shoes to go with her tutu and a huuge pack of Polly-Pockets from him. Hadassah is still deciding who won the Best-Uncle-Ever award.

Making a list, checkin' it twice!

We are on our way to the Motherland ( his, not mine, I think I'm German??), in 2 weeks! We got our shots, visas..almost, and let's see, we only have one million more things to do!

Here's all my drugs:

I was so mortified, I had to walk up to the counter and say, "umm, I have some extra strength anti-diarrheal medication to pick up...".

Yep, apparently it is of utmost importance to have this along, no over the counter stuff is good enough for India. Then I had to get Malaria pills, some heavy duty bug repellent so I don't get Dengue fever, and shots for everything you can think of including Hepatitis A, Typhoid, a Polio booster, and more. Oh boy.

My Doctor also recommended this. Notice they sell T-shirts!! Apparently one time she had a mishap with the squatty potties there, and lost her pants to the depths below. Does anyone remember that scene from Slumdog Millionaire? Well if you were denied the privilege of seeing this, here is a link slowed down and put to some pretty great music. It is almost worth watching to get the full effect. (This post has suddenly gone downhill at a frightening speed.)

Last but not least, a present for Felix. If you have not tried these, once you do, you will realize your life has been devoid of pleasure thus far.

There is a possibility these will never arrive in India, I don't have a huge amount of self control. Sorry Felix!

Hadassah Hosanna Joy Triestman

Today is Hadassah's fifth birthday!!

Even with 17 years separating us, there is no one who I feel more akin to, we are so much alike, for better or worse!

All thanks to this darling couple.

 

And finally, my all time favorite video, that I have shown to anyone who will sit still because it is so hilarious. And yes, feel free to hire me as your videographer, I'm pretty awesome.

Celebration!!!!

 

I'm getting very excited for a certain little girl's fifth birthday!!

Good thing she doesn't read blogs... there is a possibility a couple of surprises could be ruined! :)

Marvelous Meatballs

 

For Christmas last year, my Dad bought me a book I had been wanting for a long time. A Homemade Life by Molly Wizenberg is a book about life accented by and often centered around food. At the end of each chapter is at least one recipe, and I have yet to find one to be less than superb.

So far my favorite recipe is a recipe for meatballs with a lemon-garlic sauce. It is so wonderful, and I love to bring it for potlucks or use it as an easy appetizer.

Meatballs

1/2 c. minced yellow onions

1/4 c. chopped cilantro

1/2 c. chopped pine nuts

1/2 c. chopped golden raisins

1/2 c. fine bread crumbs

1 egg, beaten

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp pepper

1 lb ground chicken, turkey, or lamb

Yogurt Sauce

1 c plain yogurt (full fat)

3 Tb lemon juice

1 clove of garlic, minced

1/2 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp salt

First mix together the yogurt sauce to let the flavors meld together while you make the meatballs.

Next, combine everything but the meat in a large bowl. Then add the ground meat and mix it thoroughly with your hands, being careful not to over knead as this can make the meat tough. With damp hands, roll chunks of the mixture into 1 1/2 inch balls. After you have formed the meatballs, warm 2 Tb of olive oil in a skillet, and start to cook the meatballs. As they begin to color, turn them gently and lightly shake the pan to get color on all sides. The meatballs are ready when they are evenly browned and feel firm, but not rock hard.

Serve hot, warm, or even room temperature with the yogurt sauce.

Yields 30 small meatballs.

All credit to Molly Wizenberg, who can also be found here.

A quick note, pine nuts can be crazy expensive at your local cub, but according to this lady they are very affordable at Trader Joes.

Don't forget to mail me some of those meatballs when you are finished, or else!

And buy this book, it is soo worth the 10 lbs you will gain by just reading about all that wonderful food, and also her story is incredibly touching.

Earmuffs??

I remember when I was pretty young, maybe 5 or 6, we were walking through a store with my Uncle Rex, and inexplicably he decided to buy me earmuffs. They were pretty awesome. There was an elephant head on one side of the ear muff, and then an elephant rear end on the other side. On the head side the elephant's trunk was coiled up and you could pull it out and it would boing back into place, on the other side, the elephants tail did the same thing. To say the least, I thought I looked amazing. I vaguely remember a lot of giggling going on between my mom and Uncle Rex, and I have a feeling they felt I was a bit more geek than chic.

As I remember fondly back to those elephant earmuffs, I realize they are the answer to all my problems, well maybe not all. I have an outrageously large head (thanks dad), I don't even try to pretend I can fit a hat on it, and I have some pretty wild hair to go with it.

I present to you, this cute little ear warmer head band!

Find it here.

My Thoughts on the Vikings

 

Under great duress, once again I watched yet ANOTHER football game. It is never as fun watching a Vikings game without a 3 year old Carson screaming at the TV about one big conspiracy involving the refs, the opposing team, and the NFL as a whole whenever the Vikings lost, but I continue to watch.

Apparently everyone found last nights game very exciting, My husband practically lost his voice. I happened to find the game mildly interesting for a few reasons of my own.

First of all, why does Brett get to have different sleeves from the rest of the team?

Here is Mr. Favre and his sleeves.

Here is Adrian modeling what the rest of the team's sleeves look like. I'm so curious to know why Brett's are different. Eric completely lost all ability to speak when I asked him. Hmmm

Another thing, so everyone is soo excited about Randy, but really?? This is who we express our undying love to? This man soo badly needs a stylist.

Where is Randy's mother???

I also happen to be enjoying breast cancer awareness month and the visual interest it brings.

And last but not least, Jared Allen. Sans mullet, this man almost looks cuddly. Apparently he has some important job called a defensive end, I would think if your job is knocking people down, you would want to look a little more intimidating. Hasn't he ever read the bible? Samson and his hair?  His new wife must be something pretty special, if he is willing to go mulletless for her.

 

Allen with a mullet, and fu manchu, it really doesn't get any better than this.

Positively cherubic looking sans mullet.

Feel free to invite me over any time to watch the game! I'm super fun to watch it with!

All images courtesy of www.nfl.com/photos

Pedro the Donkey

 

I have been working at a quiet little chiropractic clinic for a month or two now. I work a couple hours a week and I really enjoy my job.

So the other day, I was quietly sitting at my desk minding my own business, and I looked out the window and there was this crazy looking lady (with the best mullet I have ever seen) standing there with a donkey! She motioned for me to come outside and introduced me to her pet donkey,Pedro. Apparently she was a former patient at the clinic and regularly drives around town with Pedro in the front seat. I am not making this up!! She begged me to let her bring him inside the clinic promising me "He never poops inside, he's really nice!".

This is one of the Doctors I work for, with Pedro, and crazy mullet lady.

The clinic has two doctors, a father and son. The above Doctor, is the Father (obviously), and he is 73, and pretty quirky. After the little donkey episode, the rest of the afternoon he walked around the clinic muttering about Pedro the (insert biblical term for a donkey), it was hilarious.

Nothing like a good day at the office!

Study

Credit:http://weheartit.com

I really feel that that coffee and studying the Bible go hand in hand…

Lately I have been involved in a biblestudy with some very lovely ladies. We are doing a study developed by Nancy Rollinger. Nancy is one of my very favorite speakers because it is so obvious that she has been touched by the Lord in a special way. She has a heart that is so sensitive to the things of the Lord, and every time I have heard her teach I am struck by something new I have never even considered in passages that are already so familiar to me.

In our biblestudy we are doing Nancy’s series called Be a Quality Woman, which are a study on being a godly woman from the book of Titus. In our biblestudy we listen to the audio for the week and do the lesson at home, and then come together and discuss it. I have been so touched by the fellowship in the biblestudy, but not only that I feel that my thought life has been changed through the lessons I have been working on. I have found the lessons challenging and not at all  fluffy like I find a lot of women’s studies to be. I enjoy this study so much.

If you are interested in the studies here is a link: http://www.rolinger.org/studies/studies.html

Even if you don’t have the opportunity to do it as a group, I think it would also be great on a personal basis.

A lovely Fall weekend

This last weekend we went up North for Sponsors weekend. The fall colors were out in full and it was so beautiful. Fall is my favorite time of year, and it makes me especially nostalgic about my home up north.

My mom, Priscilla, the kids and I were working on a project outside.. which I will blog about once it is finished. Sweet gloves huh?

This was our gorgeous view as we worked.

This gorgeous little guy just hung out on the grass and cooed as we worked on our project.

Our own little Papa Larry Jr. :)

Do they come any cuter???

Twins 2010

 

As we near October, the likelihood of attending another Twins game lessens.

This year was especially exciting with the new field. It really is an awesome stadium (can I call it that?), yea maybe as Minnesotans we could have found something better to do with our money, but I have thoroughly enjoyed it. The view, especially at night, of the skyline is beautiful. The food is wonderful and there are so many options, try the asian stand, and the amazing icecream!! Also.. during cold games, the bathrooms are heated!! (I know, gross, but for real some of the games were COLD!) The only down side to Target Field is it’s so crowded and hard to get tickets! The Metrodome was great for being empty and cheap!

I may or may not have spent some extra time in the bathroom during this game..:)

VERY excited to be so near to the brand new Target Field!

They were soo excited about the REAL grass, and some guy even gave them a sample. :) Weirdos.

Oh Kirby…

I’m really feeling this baseball as my new career.

We looked super cool at this game with our free hats!

Eric lost a bet this day and had to buy and wear a white sox shirt to the game. He was veeerrryy frustrated and David was thrilled.

David said he really wanted a picture of the skyline. Hmmmm

It has been a super fun year, maybe we will be able to fit one more game in before the end of the season!