Bleeding Hearts.

I took a bunch of photos of our backyard today now that SO much amazingness is finally happening! Can you say LATE SPRING? Geez!  I realized today that we have irises ( or is it iris'?!- if you know for sure, shoot me a note!) coming up as well as hydrangeas, at least ten fern plants, a large lilac bush, catmint, peonies everywhere - they have not opened yet, but when they do...it will be magical! I joked with Brad today that when the whole backyard starts to flower "We should probably just tell people we're staying home and we can sit and stare at it."

Then I threatened to make him get IN the flowers a la Anne Geddes, so I can take many photos of him, the dogs, my nieces and nephews, my BFF..everyone IN the flowers!

Sounds like a joke, but I actually forced my friend Melissa into taking nature photos like that in our 20's. She used to get mad at me because the photos were never without discomfort. People staring. Mildly embarrassing. Me yelling "NO! Get IN there! This will be worth it, I promise you!"

Fast forward 16 years later and her mom STILL has a framed 8 x 10 of Millie in some flowers at the Lake Harriet Rose Gardens. Now I just tell people "Don't fight me on this."

Bleeding Hearts! These started to bloom just a few days ago. And the ferns..soo pretty! My mom had bleeding hearts in our yard. I remember thinking they looked like a girl's head with cool pigtails. I now see that they are indeed- heart-like. But at age 7, they just seemed like a cool paper doll to me.

I have an early morning so I'll leave you with this teaser..I have more landscape pics and always...more to say.

Sweet Dreams, Sweet Friends~

xo
T

Ennui and Randomness.

I'm baaack!!

In a normal March, Brad and I would have already hit a beach someplace. Mexico, Jamaica, Bahamas.

I would have gotten a break from the 6 month long/near constant winter here in fabulous Minnesota!

But alas~ this year that is not the case.

I'm struggling, kids. I'm not gonna lie to you. The days are longer. Daylight savings time has ended (Praise God!) but we still have at least a foot of snow and it's very, very cold.

So...bring on the  unbearable ennui!

en·nui

  [ahn-wee, ahn-wee; French ahn-nwee] 

noun

a feeling of utter weariness and discontent resulting from satiety or lack of interest; boredom:

So...that's where I've been. I've had ideas for posts. Cake pictures I've wanted to share. A pile of books I want to read. And yet..when I'm not working, I find myself watching episodes of "Chopped"and other things I'm not interested in! I almost can't stop myself!

What I need: Fresh air! Sun! Warmth! I'm pasty and broken!

Just kidding about the last part.

Flowers from Brad for our six year anniversary on March 2nd. (We've been married five, together for six.)

Now THAT is happy!

I did see my best friend for lunch and pie yesterday. That was also fun. She is hilarious. I wish everyone had someone like her in their corner. She's very sweet, thoughtful and loyal. And when I am not my best self, she gently points out "Well..maybe that wasn't the BEST way to go about it." Necessary. Everyone needs that.

I also saw my nephews Emerson and Andrew for lunch last Friday. They both had the day off of school. Andrew was throwing out hilarious comments left and right and sounded mature. We drove by his school where he's in fifth grade and he said "Well, there's the school that's failing me!" ??? I tried to ask more about it, but he and Emerson heard a song on the radio that they had to sing along with. After lunch, they wanted to hit the McDonald's playland. Once we found it (I'm  not super clear where all McD's playlands are in their neighborhood) Andrew said 'Yeah, this will be fine but I really like the older ones. This is too modern."

And later...as we're leaving McDonald's and getting (I think) Shamrock Shakes around 5:30PM- Andrew loudly says "yeah, I think the Catholics just take themselves too seriously!" and proceeds to order two double cheeseburgers while everyone else is getting fish fillets. LOL. Hilarious. He's been "forced by my grandma" to go to classes for a catholic communion. He is so. funny.

I will now be heading back to work!

Have a beautiful day!

xo

T

Rocky Mountains Part Two

Yes, there are more pictures. Always more! I have a few cute pics of me and of me with Brad and then...many, MANY terrible ones. I told my best friend "There are even a few where I look like a Nordic man...are you and Brad BLIND?" and "This is why it's always good to really work on your innards!" I digress.

This little nugget was found at a gas station somewhere in Nebraska. I thought it was pretty sage advice:

Can't argue with common sense. It was about 105 degrees when I took this..fyi.





Have you seen a cuter window-washer recently? I have not. I heart Brad.

We didn't eat here, but I did stop to pee. I just love the look of it...and had I been hungry and had we not stopped oodles of times for gas and said urinating, I would like to think I would have eaten a BLT here with a vanilla coke.

On our way up to Estes Park.

I have to say that when this much beauty surrounds me, it's hard to even remember why or how things bug me. Brad asked me about something during this trip and I said "Honestly, it's so amazing here that I haven't even thought about that in a few days." THAT is also a good vacation!

We do a lot of self photos. For the first time in a few years, we figured out how to use the TIMER on our camera! So we used that a bit because it was fun with me yelling 'NO, NOW! Get back here! Five seconds!" We even had someone ask "Can I take your photo for you?" Us: "Nope, this is fun." Weirdos, we are. Yes. Easily entertained?

Estes Park. This town was super cute and beautiful, but a bit too touristy for me. Too many t-shirt shops and stores selling junk. To me. I understand if others like it. We stayed five minutes away from all of this and I liked it much better. Pretty, just not for me.


Estes Park Sock Tree for Kim. I don't understand it but tried not to question the how or why.

I find this kind of beauty humbling, inspiring and proof that God does exist. 

Bradders. This picture makes my heart happy as he had hip surgery last September and is finally up and around. 

I simply love this. It's beautiful. We didn't want to bother the tree by adding our initials and didn't think it important, but seeing this made my heart happy. Wonder if these couples are still together, alive, etc.??

From 90 degrees to 55 degrees in less than 48 miles. That was pretty cool. I loved it up here minus the terrifying roads with NO GUARDRAILS. Seriously. How many people just drive off the road? When I took my first roadtrip through Colorado (through the mountains, I had always just driven through the east side.) and asked a guy "How scary is the drive?" He replied "It's okay. We lose some people every year at the Ouray Pass because they drive too fast, hit a goat and go off the edge." ???? Stuff that you can only find out from locals! It's like when I lived in Sedona. People regularly wear the wrong shoes, fall off of rocks and die there. It's bad for tourism so no one really talks about it. I digress. The point? Listen to the locals! I have a respect for scary mountain roads that are unfamiliar!

The coolest thing about being up here...the various animals. The flower and plant life in such a harsh environment. Apparently the grow season for some flowers is only 40 days! Also..we saw a bee pollinating a flower at 11,000+ feet. That was pretty amazing. I would be remiss if I forgot to mention that we also had a fly travel with us from middle Nebraska TO Colorado. Talk about hitching a ride! I think that needs to be made into a kids movie, but another time, another day!

Off to dinner! If I get the guts, I may just post all of the vacation uglies..pics that is.

Wishing you all a lovely evening!

xo~

T

Things I Can Get On Board With.

Kite Art in Emerson's classroom. Yes, they will be having "Kite Flying Day" in a few weeks time. I find that darling. I don't recall my elementary school doing things like this.

 We got to visit after his spring concert. I was able to see his little desk and how very organized it is. Sorry, no pics of that. I didn't want to embarrass him by taking weird photos. We bought some things at the Target dollar spot a few weeks ago. He chose a few colorful file folders. I thought it was cute and asked why. "Well, I can really organize my desk at school with this!" and lo and behold..he did! Thanks to his $1 choice, little man's desk is quite organized.





Little kids singing. They did "Crawdad Song" which  Emerson has been singing since winter time. Also...he's a huge fan of  "You're A Grand Old Flag", it is very cute. He spent a lot of the concert chatting with his little pal in front of him here. He and Kid in striped shirt were giggling...looking off into the distance, making jokes. I found it quite cute. Thanks to my  Sony point and shoot for the great quality! I was trying NOT to move. Alas, this is what I ended up with. Em is in the tuxedo shirt. He wore that to my wedding as ringbearer!

I love this little reading nook in his classroom. This is Emerson and Andrew.

This chair was a curbside steal years back. I think it was an ugly green with horrible fabric on the seat. I would like to say "Oh, I saw its wonderful details and lines and knew it would be great." but the truth? Back then I was a poor design student, saw it one night driving home in Minneapolis and TOOK it. With paint and    burlap it has become quite beautiful to me.

My dahlias! These are absolutely beautiful. I have never bought these before and I can tell you this: They make me smile everyday!

Free downloads! I printed this out a few months back & placed it in a cheapish frame. It makes me happy. I bought the bowl at a thrift store with my best friend, Kim. She bought the matching bowl. It's very Martha Stewartish, I think. I swear I saw Martha staining and sealing a bowl similar to this years back.

Bought this at a flea market a few weeks back and I LOVE it. It's some sort of suitcase/pail/picnic basket/purse. I don't know.  I just know I love it. I expected my husband to like it more than he does. Perhaps he's just not sharing his enthusiasm over it? Who knows? Why? He had a set of very nice decorative cases and suitcases when I met him. We still have them. He used to keep Daisy's dog toys in them. He has a great eye and his townhome was beautifully decorated by HIM. I digress. When we moved into our home, he had movers deliver all of his items. For a few days, the suitcases were missing. He got very upset one day and decided "The movers took them!"  Me: "Huh? Don't get me wrong, they are nice..but those guys were moving flatscreen TV's of yours and very nice things. Why would three straight guys want your decorative cases?" and he replied (upset): "Because they are really NICE!" LOL. I'm  laughing again!  About a week later, I found them and told Brad "Your stolen cases have been FOUND!" I don't think he finds it funny like I do (sorry honey!) but I still find it HILARIOUS.

My peonies are about to bloom! This is early for Minnesota! And they are twice as huge as they were last year! The first year after planting them, they did nothing. The second year, a flower on each one. Last year..a bit of growth. This year= HUGE!

My favorite Weinerschnitzel/Lab Animal! He's excited about the backyard where he now runs freely. He's wiped out by 10pm and he's VERY excited about all of the greenery and flowers..don't let that poker face fool you.

I'm off to an eye appointment. I can only hope to get those cool glaucoma glasses to drive home in after my eyes are dilated.

Holla!!

xxoo

Waiting For Spring

Less snow, more of this!! I'm "patiently" waiting....



Image Via Pinterest