you and me sunday driving....

this picture was supposed to be on the bottom but i can't figure out how to get it there

do you understand this?

chris and i spent the day relaxin' - it was (still is) splendid......

i woke up wanting bacon eggs toast and french toast. we didn't have any of that in the apartment. so we hopped in the car and headed to the New Louisiana Cafe in St. Paul. we stumbled upon it and february and it's awesome. the first time was a shocker - they have LARGE servings - now we know just to split - even then you're still stuffed for the rest of the day. but it's worth it :)

after eating we headed out to Minnehaha Park and took a little stroll - it was beautiful!

lean on me

i'm sure he won't appreciate me posting this but i love it!

we saw this boat on the way home - well we heard it before we saw it as it's large organ was playing! it looked awesome though and we now want to take a paddle boat ride down the Mississippi

it's been a lovely day thus far. now we're going to make some thai salad rolls and watch a movie. hope you all had a good weekend :)

p.s. i had a good day yesterday as well - i just got extremely frustrated at the computer while attempting to get photos ready for posting and just gave up before i ruined my night. technology makes me angry sometimes. (i know you all find that hard to believe...i'm normally oh-so-laid-back)

Sunday Monday

Happy Days!

One year ago this past Sunday - Chris and I met :)
One year ago this past Monday - Chris asked me out :)

We spent the weekend up in Duluth - beautiful weather for once! :) Our main reason for heading in that direction was to see my sister who flew in with her baby (my nephew..guess that's obvious though...) Max from NJ. I haven't seen Max since he was born - and he was absolutely adorable!! Unfortunately I was rather dumb and forgot to bring my camera - well we brought the camera but failed to buy batteries for it! (the pictures below come from Carrie - thank you!)

We drove up on Saturday and stopped in to see my friend and former co-worker Chevra at Michelina's (working that fantastic Saturday shift!). It was fun to see her and chat (hi Chevra!). After that we headed downtown to see Carrie and her new offices for 4TrackFilms (check them out!). It was beautiful - great color choices and great location! I was very impressed and in awe of it all! Next we headed to the lakewalk and enjoyed a nice stroll with my sister Amy and Max. It was great seeing her and I'm glad she was finally able to meet Chris :) And Max is just the happiest baby I've seen - all giggles and smiles - so cute! (tick tock tick tock tick tock.....sigh....)

For dinner we met Carrie and Steve at Sammy's Pizza to celebrate :) Without them Chris and I would never have met! So thank you very much Carrie - I owe it all to you! I still can't believe it's been 1 year! It's just flown by!

After dinner we headed back to their place for dessert - I made a spice cake with chocolate frosting and coconut (I died the coconut to make it look like fall leaves but ended up with with something that looked like the Jamaican Flag threw up on) It was really great to see Carrie again and actually have the time to sit and chat! She's looks so adorable with her little belly! (Tick Tock Tick Tock Tick Tock....[pouty face]...)

Sunday we relaxed - walked downtown and along the lakewalk. Had lunch at the Brewhouse (yum!) and then dinner at my parents. All in all it was a great weekend although it made me miss Duluth a lot. I just love that town - especially in the fall. And I miss beling able to hang out on a weeknight with Carrie and just sit and knit/crochet. So that kinda made me sad upon leaving - I'll just have to try and make it up there more often.

I'll post more about Chris and I on our (or what we've determined to be the 'official' year anniversary) year anniversary - October 7th (our first date). Suffice it to say that I've never been happier in my life! I love you Chris!! :)

discoveries on the path

pine point park

Chris and I went for a walk yesterday through the Pine Point Park. It was lovely. The weather was that perfect warm/cool combination. We started walking and I began to get irritated by my bra - I should have worn a sports bra! So we decided to back track and not take the long walk but opted for the shorter one instead.

As we walk I stop Chris multiple times to give him a kiss (I'm incredibly cheesy...I know...). Usually we are on a hill when this happens and that just makes him all the more taller than I. So when I spot a flat topped rock I jog over thinking I can stand on it and be closer to the same height for once. Instead - I find this........

It says:
Pine Point Cemetery
Here Lie The Remains Of
75 People Who Were
Residents Of The
Washington County Poor Farm
Located Here In The
Late 1800's And Early 1900's

For anyone that knows me - I'm rather fascinated with cemeteries. I know this may sound odd - and it's not for everyone - but to me they are so interesting! I've always thought this but became even more intrigued with them when I took a course in college called 'Graveyard Culture.' We studied the different types of stone that were used. What all the carvings mean. The history of the layout. You can tell a lot about the time period by looking at all these things. I was hooked! I even thought about becoming a thanatologist - someone who studies death. Now I know this may sound horribly morbid and I guess it is - but it's not like I'm into poking around a corpse. I'm interested in - well - what I mentioned. The layout. The stone. The history.

So - as you can imagine finding this was awesome! I've seen one once before (a poor farm cemetery that is) in Duluth. If you live there and are interested it's on Rice Lake Road. Park along the road on the wooded side across from the college apartment complex. There is a path. Follow it and it will lead to a large clearing. All the graves are marked with round cement stones with numbers. A few of the graves have an actual marker that was put in at a later date by a family member. Check it out.

Anyhow - that is what this was. I was sad to see that there were absolutely no stone markers. There were a few flags - but I'm not sure if these were meant to mark graves. There were only a few and as I found out from this website there are more than forty people buried here! Only one grave (seen below) was marked with a stone - which was unfortunately cracked. While it was incredibly interesting to find this - I was shocked at it's state and location. In a state park on the side of a trail. Vegetation covered the whole area! There were no boundaries. No attempt to respect the dead by putting in even simple number markers. I plan on writing the county to show my disappointment . The one in Duluth - while out of the way and completely hidden to the passerby is at least kept up. The clearing is clearly marked. It it mowed regularly...etc...etc. I'm sure that Washington County could do better - spend some time on that rather than large unsightly developments....

Ideally I would love to have a job that involved locating, researching, and maintaining cemeteries. Maybe someday I can do this.

me

chris

a walk in the park

today was absolutely beautiful! the skies were clear! the breezes were warm! it was fantastic! chris and i took nattie for a walk in the st. croix state park - we just got passes for the parks yesterday (with a deal of buying your second pass for only $10 chris bought me one as well :) isn't he a sweetheart?).


i wish i were a great writer. i can never fully get across exactly what i mean to. some writers can just take you and drop in a place - so much so that you really feel like you're there. seeing the sights. smelling the smells. i cannot do that. i wish i could though. i've decided that i don't have a favorite season - although if forced to pick i'd say fall - but i more enjoy the changing of the seasons. right now spring is on it's way. buds are on the trees - green things are sprouting up all over the place. and the smell! i wish i could bottle it up - i love it! it's strange how strong a memory trigger scent can be. just on our walk this morning i was taken back to sixth grade camp (remember that Kari?) and girl scout camp, 4-h camp - it was awesome! i love the sound of the leaves crunching underneath your feet. i love the sound of the birds chirping. i love feeling the breeze on my skin. of not being able to see any cars. any people. any reminder of the suburbia that surrounds the park. i just love it.


i've included a lot of pictures to let you enjoy it to - too bad the blogger doesn't come with a scent attachment. hope you are all enjoying the changing of the seasons as well :)

chris and nattie

my favorite picture of the day
old railroad ties along the st. croix river

nattie

blue skies - smiling at me. nothing but blue skies - do i see

the only semi-good picture of myself

chris and i holding hands - again...i'm still a dork :)

st. croix river

creek bed

Here Comes the Sun!

It's been awhile - but the sun finally decided to return. Well, it might have returned yesterday but I was too busy being lazy inside to really notice.....


I did, however, make it out today and it was gorgeous! Chris and I took Nattie for a walk. Nattie belongs to Anne but her and her family are out of town this week and so Chris is watching her. She is adorable and so well behaved - she makes this cat lover want to get a puppy!

nattie

chris and nattie

nattie sniffing out her territory

sun shining through the pines

chris and nattie

holding hands - had to include one cheesy picture (sorry chris!)

and once again...chris and nattie

So there is my day thus far. I'm looking forward to taking more walks with her! Much easier to handle than Moose - we tried to take the both of them for a walk yesterday but Moose just went ape over seeing Nattie! He was way to hard to control so we had to nix it! Hopefully Moose and Kelly's puppy Logger (yes - it's a weird name) will get along better as I hope to take care of him the week that Kelly and Richard are on their honeymoon. We'll see.....


For now I'm off to enjoy my egg salad and do some more job hunting - wish me luck!