Vacation 2012

Some pictures and memories from our road-trip vacation:

- We drove through 11 states down to Florida and back with Christopher's entire family.

- Loki spent most of the 45+ hours of driving on the lap or on my feet. A little too much togetherness.

- We spent a little bit of time helping Christopher's sister's family moving into their new home. They live in a little lake community in rural Orlando.

- Chris and I drove to Satellite Beach to visit my cousin and his family. We ate at the same taco place we went to when we visited for their wedding several years ago. We went to the beach and played with their little boys.

- Then we left Loki with our family (who graciously watched him the week we were gone) and sailed away on a cruise ship to visit the Western Caribbean.

- We went snorkeling in Honduras and learned that isn't the best activity for us because I can't see much without my glasses and Christopher's beard made it hard for his mask to fit properly. We also kayaked that day which was a nice redemption for that excursion.

- We had ice cream ... every afternoon. Ice cream, in my mind, is within the definition of vacation. Usually not everyday but poolside ice cream overlooking blue waters quickly became our standard afternoon activity.

- We spent a lot of time walking around the promenade deck and talking about various things in our life. Being removed from the responsibilities of our daily life and the stress of work and school really helped us connect and see things clearly.

- We went to Altun Ha, Mayan ruins in Belize. We were a little too early for the end of the Mayan calendar, though!

- We met a couple on the cruise who invited us to drive with them around Cozumel, which was my favorite day of the cruise. The beaches were beautiful and we ate fresh seafood in the sand at a little Mexican restaurant on the ocean.

- And then, at the end of the week, Christopher's parents brought Loki to the port to pick us up. We were pretty excited to see him. =) ... Oh yeah, and the rest of the family, too.  But, who are we kidding, really Loki.

- We celebrated an early Christmas with our family in Orlando and we enjoyed spending time with them. Christmas with kids around is decidedly more fun than with just adults. The three dogs also added to the fun.

Since coming home, we've been doing a little bit of Christmas-y things and are keeping with the low-key, relaxed vibes that came from our vacation. Our shopping is done, our little tree is up and decorated and only a little bit of snow would make it feel more like Christmas.

Hope you are enjoying the holiday season with your family and friends!

These last two months ...

So in the last two months ...

- We welcomed my brother John's long-time girlfriend and short-time fiance into our family. They had a beautiful wedding and a fun reception at Lindsey's parents' ranch. I'm excited for them as they begin their marriage and look forward to many future memories.

I wish the horse in the background showed up in this picture!

- Christopher gave a presentation at a conference in New York and finished studying for his Qualifying Exams which he passed last week. Yay! I'm proud of his hard work and dedication and excited that he has this milestone behind him. Per our agreement, I took over much of the housework, cooking and Loki duties - tasks that we usually split or he just does (like the cooking). I've enjoyed cooking new things using the produce from our CSA box and I've learned that no one really cares if the dust bunnies swirl around another day ... or two ... or three.

Roasted Pepper Soup. I can't tell you how many times the fire alarm went off while I was roasting the peppers. Probably wouldn't have been a big deal it is wasn't in the middle of the night. Not my best Susie Homemaker moment.

A lot of this happens in the mornings.

- In the midst of DQE studying we entertained Christopher's family in Milwaukee for a weekend.

And I went to Chattanooga with a friend to attend a conference. Maybe more on that later - let's face it, I haven't been the most consistent blogger. But there are several idea floating around my head ...

- After a relatively small accident our taurus was considered "totaled" so we bought a car. More specifically, a 2007 Prius which we named "Gorgeous" but I call him "Geo." Although it was a little sooner than we intended, we were glad to pay for him outright and make Dave Ramsey proud. It was great to see the rewards of our frugal-ness. 

- I canned lots and lots of apples with friends, adding to our zombie-apocalypse cellar.

So, what's next? We are going on a road trip-vacation. The road trip part is with Christopher's family and the vacation part is the two of us on a cruise ship in the Caribbean. Here's to a week of relaxation, good food and spending time together!

Loki, our little social butterfly

Disclaimer: This post is mostly about my dog. If you stop reading now, I wont be offended. 

 A year ago, Loki had one doggie friend, an older cocker spaniel (my in-law's dog) who he has known his whole life. Today, he has four (with one partial, I'll explain). We thought he was "beyond help" for getting along with other dogs and had stopped actively trying to change that.

Enter Penny, a tiny tea cup poodle, who came to visit us last fall. Whether it was her size or her timid nature, Loki didn't say boo to her - just sniffed her butt and went along his business. We were surprised, but then again, maybe he thought she was too small to be a threat.

This summer some good friends of ours got Lucy, a sweet little rescue dog. We knew that they needed to be friends because we see Lucy's owners often and we'd like the dogs to be able to be together. To our shock, their first meeting went well. Lucy and Loki worked out their differences pretty much on their own; Lucy, being a puppy, wanted to play with Loki, being an old dog, and he would have none of that nonsense. Now, they have come to an agreement and it seems like he sometimes tolerates a small amount of playing. They have romped in the woods together, attended many parties, and have shared their toys.  A few weeks ago, Loki was invited to a party and met Milo. He was content to let Lucy enjoy playing with Milo while he scouted out the ground near the grill.

Hanging out with Lucy.

So, that's four dogs, which is a significant increase. After many years of believing one thing about our dog, we have begun to believe another, and - perhaps - have begun to let him be a dog. We are more confident with him when we approach other dogs and we know that, after the initial rough meeting, he will probably do okay. The "dog aggressive" label that he was given has slipped and we are amazed as he shows us what he is capable of if we let him.

He does have one "partial friend," the verdict of which will be decided this coming week. Christopher's sister and her family have a nice little dog, Scout, who ventured to the U.S. alone from Asia a few weeks ago. Christopher picked the dog up at the airport and she spent a night here with us. We think (hope) that the disorientation and trauma of being flown halfway around the world alone and being picked up by a total stranger didn't allow Scout a fair chance at meeting Loki. Loki, however, did great and even responded calmly when she kinda freaked out in the middle of the night (doggie version of jet lag?). We think that Scout will do better with her family in a different environment.

So, what can be gleamed from Loki's recent increase in dog friends? Sometimes we get labelled and end up in a rut because we don't allow ourselves to experience anything else. Maybe all we need is a little push out of our comfort zone to help us realize that we are capable of more than we ever thought.

The Summer I Fell in Love with Milwaukee

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.

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.