Recently I have taken to labeling my summers. For instance "the summer I fell in love with Christopher" - 2008, "the summer we moved to Franklin" - 2010, "the summer we drove ALL over Wisconsin" - 2011.
The summer of 2012 is "The Summer I Fell in Love with Milwaukee." (My husband still says that Milwaukee the armpit of Wisconsin but I believe he is softening.)
We had decided early in the summer to try to stay put in Milwaukee, planning to take short trips about once a month to see family. We knew that Christopher needed uninterrupted weeks of studying and we just wanted to stay home a little bit more.
We moved a little over a month ago into a cute little house and perhaps that helped my infatuation become love. We now have a Milwaukee address which simply makes me happy. I love that we live close enough to Lake Michigan to be able to visit it several times a week. I love that we live within walking distances to the library, several grocery stores, many restaurants and Target. I love that while Milwaukee is one of the most segregated cities in America, the grocery store down the street has as many Spanish signs as English signs. (We moved from a blue area to a yellow area according to that map.) I love that there are many things going on in the summer, especially the free things.
But most of all, I love the people - and by that, I mean "our" people. I love our friends and i think they are pretty wonderful. It makes me feel at home knowing that there are people in our corner. People who like to play games, people who like to cook as much as my husband does, people who stop over just because they can.
My brother and sister-in-law's family are in the middle of moving and a pretty big life transition. It reminds me of when we moved to Milwaukee. Last week I hosted a get-together with the new spouses of PhD students. Only one women was brave enough to say "I really need friends." I remember that feeling and I'm sure it was echoed from around the room. Moving is hard. Change is difficult. It's an up-hill climb; the breeze may be nice and you may enjoy the scenery along the way but it is still work. I think that we have reached the top of that hill. We can stand there and look back and know that the climb made us stronger.
I am aware that while we may be at the top of the hill, others are not, which allows us to offer encouragement and friendship.
And Milwaukee? my love affair will continue - with pumpkins, apples, bike rides by the lake and cool evenings on the front porch.
Thursday, August 30, 2012
Monday, August 20, 2012
A weekend of extremes
I had planned to write a post titled "the summer I fell in love with Milwaukee" but that one will have to wait. Right now I think the weekend is much more interesting.
Friday night I went out with a small group of girls to watch "Grease" on a huge outside screen with about half of the people in downtown Milwaukee. This was really fun and certainly not extreme but was part of my weekend (and goes to show how little time I've spent alone in the last three days).
On Saturday I canvased local farmer's markets looking for 8 bushels, approximately 400 pounds of tomatoes in preparation for Sunday's tomato extravaganza. My co-workers and I have been planning a huge tomato canning day for awhile now and I'm a little impressed that we actually pulled it off. For anyone local: West Allis had the best selection and I convinced a farmer to give me nice bushels for the price we had been paying for seconds. We will go back to this place next year. Since I went to the West Allis market alone, I was super thankful for my co-workers push cart to get everything to my car.
Saturday night we had a house warming/end of summer picnic at our house. We invited a lot of people and about 35 people showed up, including many families new to Marquette as well as our neighbor girl who didn't understand the concept of veggie burgers. We had a great time and I am especially thankful for a husband and a friend who made and cooked all the veggie burgers. It was neat to have a houseful of friends and entertaining to watch the kids and dogs (our friends brought their puppy who is one of Loki's few doggie friends) run all around.
Sunday was the tomato extravaganza. We had approximately 9 bushels (450 pounds of tomatoes), two pressure canners, two water bath canners, two propane heat sources, one grill, two food processors, one huge turkey fryer pot and one equally huge wooden paddle/spoon to stir. About 16 hours later we ended up with about 240 jars of various sizes filled with various kinds of tomatoes. It was crazy!!! There were six of us so the yield is about 40 jars a piece. Needless to say, in the event of a zombie apocalypse, we will survive on salsa. We even have some tomatoes left over -- after the three ladies who had to work that night left, we remaining three decided to conveniently forget about the remaining two small boxes in the garage. We are already talking about a big apple canning day in a few months but we all need some time to recover first.
Now I'm sitting on the couch with Loki trying to decide what to tackle around here. We have lots of tomatoes from our CSA box and I may just make some salsa. True story.
Friday night I went out with a small group of girls to watch "Grease" on a huge outside screen with about half of the people in downtown Milwaukee. This was really fun and certainly not extreme but was part of my weekend (and goes to show how little time I've spent alone in the last three days).
On Saturday I canvased local farmer's markets looking for 8 bushels, approximately 400 pounds of tomatoes in preparation for Sunday's tomato extravaganza. My co-workers and I have been planning a huge tomato canning day for awhile now and I'm a little impressed that we actually pulled it off. For anyone local: West Allis had the best selection and I convinced a farmer to give me nice bushels for the price we had been paying for seconds. We will go back to this place next year. Since I went to the West Allis market alone, I was super thankful for my co-workers push cart to get everything to my car.
Saturday night we had a house warming/end of summer picnic at our house. We invited a lot of people and about 35 people showed up, including many families new to Marquette as well as our neighbor girl who didn't understand the concept of veggie burgers. We had a great time and I am especially thankful for a husband and a friend who made and cooked all the veggie burgers. It was neat to have a houseful of friends and entertaining to watch the kids and dogs (our friends brought their puppy who is one of Loki's few doggie friends) run all around.
Sunday was the tomato extravaganza. We had approximately 9 bushels (450 pounds of tomatoes), two pressure canners, two water bath canners, two propane heat sources, one grill, two food processors, one huge turkey fryer pot and one equally huge wooden paddle/spoon to stir. About 16 hours later we ended up with about 240 jars of various sizes filled with various kinds of tomatoes. It was crazy!!! There were six of us so the yield is about 40 jars a piece. Needless to say, in the event of a zombie apocalypse, we will survive on salsa. We even have some tomatoes left over -- after the three ladies who had to work that night left, we remaining three decided to conveniently forget about the remaining two small boxes in the garage. We are already talking about a big apple canning day in a few months but we all need some time to recover first.
Now I'm sitting on the couch with Loki trying to decide what to tackle around here. We have lots of tomatoes from our CSA box and I may just make some salsa. True story.
Thursday, July 5, 2012
Lil' House on the Hill
Dear lil' house on the hill,
We are now officially your renters, although we wont move in for about another week. When we looked at you, we were still thinking that we didn't want a July lease (but that changed after we saw many other places that didn't really fit the bill) so I don't really remember how big your rooms are or what color your walls are. I am fairly certain that the pictures on Craigslist are old and that the living room isn't bright blue but I can't say for sure.
I am pretty excited that the piano will be staying but am even more excited about the little postage-stamp yard with a small gardening plot. I'm already schemeing and dreaming of a compost pile, water barrel and more tomatoes and zucchini than we know what with. Oh and pumpkins! Maybe we'll grow enough food that I'll be able to work less. Or maybe we'll grow so much food that it will seem like I have two jobs! I'm working on convincing Christopher that he doesn't have a black thumb so that he can join me in this endevour/adventure/second job.
We think that your layout will work perfectly for us with our bedroom downstairs and two others upstairs. It will be nice for Christopher to have his office upstairs away from the main living areas. I hope that we will fill the third bedroom with toys and that we will hear little feet pitter patter on your wood floors. I hope that we will fill your rooms with memories and even better friends. I can't wait to sit on your porch and read or wave to the neighbors. I am excited to walk Loki through the parks in the neighborhood and to venture the mile east and enjoy the lake.
I want so much from you ... I want to create a peaceful space where we can love and grow. I want to entertain our friends in our home in a way that hasn't been as convenient living 30 minutes away from them. I hope that our family will visit and feel welcome. But most of all I hope that we will know that the real magic lies with the people in the house and not with the house itself. You will be the framework that holds our love and the place where we make memories but the bigger picture lies in the relationships and in the One who brought us all into being.
So lil' house on the hill (and I really hope that name sticks), we are super excited to see you in a few days!
We are now officially your renters, although we wont move in for about another week. When we looked at you, we were still thinking that we didn't want a July lease (but that changed after we saw many other places that didn't really fit the bill) so I don't really remember how big your rooms are or what color your walls are. I am fairly certain that the pictures on Craigslist are old and that the living room isn't bright blue but I can't say for sure.
I am pretty excited that the piano will be staying but am even more excited about the little postage-stamp yard with a small gardening plot. I'm already schemeing and dreaming of a compost pile, water barrel and more tomatoes and zucchini than we know what with. Oh and pumpkins! Maybe we'll grow enough food that I'll be able to work less. Or maybe we'll grow so much food that it will seem like I have two jobs! I'm working on convincing Christopher that he doesn't have a black thumb so that he can join me in this endevour/adventure/second job.
We think that your layout will work perfectly for us with our bedroom downstairs and two others upstairs. It will be nice for Christopher to have his office upstairs away from the main living areas. I hope that we will fill the third bedroom with toys and that we will hear little feet pitter patter on your wood floors. I hope that we will fill your rooms with memories and even better friends. I can't wait to sit on your porch and read or wave to the neighbors. I am excited to walk Loki through the parks in the neighborhood and to venture the mile east and enjoy the lake.
I want so much from you ... I want to create a peaceful space where we can love and grow. I want to entertain our friends in our home in a way that hasn't been as convenient living 30 minutes away from them. I hope that our family will visit and feel welcome. But most of all I hope that we will know that the real magic lies with the people in the house and not with the house itself. You will be the framework that holds our love and the place where we make memories but the bigger picture lies in the relationships and in the One who brought us all into being.
So lil' house on the hill (and I really hope that name sticks), we are super excited to see you in a few days!
Tuesday, July 3, 2012
Whitnall Park, The Oak Savannah and Loki's Long Tongue
We are moving in 10 days (more on that later) to a different part of Milwaukee. I am excited for the community that we will be living in and am really happy to live closer to our friends.
But I will miss Whitnall Park. Loki and I have spent many hours in that park. It is incredible that the same place can look so different on different days and during different seasons.
I have great plans for the many pictures that I have taken these last two years at the park but that project may have to wait for some other creative juices to be used up first.
A couple of weeks ago we followed the foot path by the library and came across an Oak Savannah and Wetlands preserve. On a really hot day last week, I took Loki back there for a short walk.
And a few more funny pictures of Loki - all hot and bothered!
But I will miss Whitnall Park. Loki and I have spent many hours in that park. It is incredible that the same place can look so different on different days and during different seasons.
A couple of weeks ago we followed the foot path by the library and came across an Oak Savannah and Wetlands preserve. On a really hot day last week, I took Loki back there for a short walk.
And a few more funny pictures of Loki - all hot and bothered!
 |
| Just a little bit crazy! |
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
Summer reading
I pretty much love the library more than I think it is right to love a government building. I know many of you (Gina, Mom B.) will agree. I love that I can pick up books that I would never buy and browse through them at my leisure and I love that I can request books and have them delievered within a mile of my house. If the library system could get together with Amazon and just send books to my house, that would be the best. But then they would probably charge me for that service and I wouldn't like that. In fact, we would probably drop them as quick as we dropped Netflix when they raised their prices. After all, the library has movies for free too. =)
Sitting on our coffee table ...
That's pretty much sums what I've been thinking about recently: re-doing furniture, creativity, yummy Thai food (ahem, Christopher <3), budgeting, and organization.
I've also been reading Storm of Swords, the third book in George R. R. Martin's series "Song of Ice and Fire." It's only about 1,000 pages long and I have been getting it from the library, reading it for 21 days, writing down which chapter I am on and then returning it since there are other holds on it in the library system. After doing that twice, I bought it on Amazon. So Amazon will be sending that book to my house. =)
Back to the library system ... the Milwaukee library lets me (and everyone else) request 15 books at a time and the library website is not blocked at work. So this past weekend during some slow time at work I requested my 15 books and stored some away in the handy on-line list on my library page.
So I have some books on decorating, frugality, sustainable living and baking bread coming my way. I am also excited to read Kisses from Kate and something by Madeleine L'Engle this summer too.
And I'm wondering, since apparently my list isn't long enough, are you reading anything good this summer?
Sitting on our coffee table ...
That's pretty much sums what I've been thinking about recently: re-doing furniture, creativity, yummy Thai food (ahem, Christopher <3), budgeting, and organization.
I've also been reading Storm of Swords, the third book in George R. R. Martin's series "Song of Ice and Fire." It's only about 1,000 pages long and I have been getting it from the library, reading it for 21 days, writing down which chapter I am on and then returning it since there are other holds on it in the library system. After doing that twice, I bought it on Amazon. So Amazon will be sending that book to my house. =)
Back to the library system ... the Milwaukee library lets me (and everyone else) request 15 books at a time and the library website is not blocked at work. So this past weekend during some slow time at work I requested my 15 books and stored some away in the handy on-line list on my library page.
So I have some books on decorating, frugality, sustainable living and baking bread coming my way. I am also excited to read Kisses from Kate and something by Madeleine L'Engle this summer too.
And I'm wondering, since apparently my list isn't long enough, are you reading anything good this summer?
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