Love the Country!

Job Well Done -

Well I made it to the fair tonight -- took care of some paperwork

from shows earlier in the day.

Hubby and I then took a stroll looking at some of the animals - I will

make my grand tour on Saturday and take a peek at the 4-H'ers'

projects.

A little strange being a "visitor" - some of you may remember that

I stepped down from being the assistant leader of our 4-H club and

then daughter went independent -- no more 4-H club.

Do I miss it - not too much. It appears that most of the issues

still exist and I saw some reminders even on my

very short visit tonight. It is too bad that individuals need

to act that way - but that is a whole different blogging story.

(which I won't even write because it isn't worth it..)

Daughter to say the least had a wonderful year to mark her last

county show. She took four pigs -- two market barrows, market gilt

and a breeding gilt. She ended the day with four grand

champion trophies and one barrow in third place.

The third place barrow is the barrow we feel is the best

and is the one that will make the trip to the State Fair.

Cheers to You Girl! --- Job Well Done!

County Fair

Show Pigs 2009

I was in the process of preparing a post about our County Fair which began yesterday and explaining all of the years our family has been involved. I was also sharing that this is more than likely "daughters" last year -- we've had many shows ---- pig shows, horse shows, dog shows and projects after projects - way more than I can count!

And you know the senior year thing -- last time this and last time that. This will be the beginning of the last. To daughter it is just another day!

So Welcome just another day!

So on this Thursday just like every other Thursday I will be working (unwilling to ask for time off from my new job--saving time for days off for the state show) - I'll be working and answering phones trying to pretend it is no big deal when really..... I will be at the 2010 County Fair - our families' last.

Momma Says.....

My momma always says.... Reach for the stars baby!

Be whatever you want to be....

Sing it high

Sing it low





Give it my all...

and go far

Maybe it will be just a little love song

or just a slobbery diddy for my daddy!

Anniversary and Family

This past weekend we celebrated another anniversary that

is coming up in August --

Hubby's folks are celebrating 50 years!

The entire family gathered for a nice dinner out

and then afterwards at the farm for pictures, homemade

icecream and cake.

50 Years on 8/13/10

Family

The entire family - kids and grandkids!

HOLY COW!

HOLY COW --- IT'S HOT!

Let Me Explain!

I have had many comments on my new header.....(thank you) which

this header came about by accident. I was too slow

and missed the shot I really wanted -- the girls were

down seeing Jack (the horse) and by the time I

got there with my camera they were heading back!

But it turned out wonderful!

The St. Paul area has many flower gardens -

This is the St. Paul Cathedral from afar....


It is an amazing piece of architecture.... I believe back in
our 6th grade trip to the cities we visited the cathedral
and I remember it being massive and having beautiful
stained glass.

I was able to get some pictures while on a walk around
the outside grounds.... I really should have visited the
inside but didn't get that done.

If you are ever in the St. Paul area get yourself on google and

check out this area --

Counting the Days to a Routine!

The last two nights we've ventured out for supper -- as

suggested "good places" to eat. They were only 6 blocks

away by the Mears Park -- well 6 blocks was more like 6 blocks

then another 6 blocks -- seemed like a mile each way. We

walked although it was quite warm both nights -- it sure has

been nice to have somebody to hang out with. There are

three of us attending training - one gal is commuting and

the other gal doesn't drive to the cities so she gets dropped

off and assumes that I will drive her around -- which is OK -- she

has helped with the driving and directions. It is amazing that

we are three people who didn't know anything about each

other and we have all clicked and have really made our

training a lot of fun. One of our instructors asked us if we

were going to take our comedy show on the road! -- Uh ohh

having too much fun? We have learned a lot and really

made it fun.

On our way we saw

many buildings some which are quite old.

Don't worry FarSide - we are safe.... always stay together

and only go right after work.

This trickling setup of water was in Mears Park which is a

very nice park friendly to dogs

Other than a few dogs and some park goers the only other

wildlife I saw were a few of these little fellas.



I admired this building.....

One of the sitting parks had sculptures of some of the

Snoopy characters...

and another had thousands of these white petunias - they were absolutely

beautiful and smelled so good!

ONLY 2 MORE DAYS and

my time in training will be done.

No more 5 hour drive twice a week

through this CONSTRUCTION --

Which this week the areas of construction

seemed to multiply.....

And no more hotel among the other hi-risers - the

room this week catches all of the cities noisy traffic...

probably since we aren't on the top floor!

There will be no need to have my cheatsheet (paper) on

the passenger seat telling me exactly what road leads to

the next road and on and on.... I know exactly how to

get from home to the judicial center for training and to

the hotel and back.

The end of all this leads me to a new work chapter

and a new routine. I'll let you know when I get all settled

in, organized and to my comfort zone.

------------------------------

P.S. Thank you for all of the anniversary wishes -- you are all

a great bunch of blogger friends!

Time Together

On July 19th we celebrated our 24th Wedding Anniversary --

we've both changed a little (or maybe a lot).

One thing that hasn't changed is that we both

enjoy each others' company whether it is hanging

out in the shop (Hubby's garage) or out for a 4-wheeler ride

or Hubby watching tv and myself sitting at the kitchen table

working on a project. And lets not forget our winter fun of

snowmobiling -- last year we went many weekends and many

miles.

I am looking forward to some new projects -- Hubby has rigged

up a new watering system to haul water for the flowers (using

his new tractor) and due to the excessive rain our yard will

need some excavating....

1986

Meanwhile, together we will continue

into our 25th year -- cherishing memories

and making more!

Ahhh Home....

Back on familiar roads

Through the fields of grain they wind

Only a few miles from home

and they appeared....

Family....

Mom and Dad

Steve, Leah and Family

Steph and Cullen


Floyd, Jess and that special little girl

Grandkids

Aunt Georgia and Uncle Vern

Lineman Son and Dena

Experiences....

My visit to St. Paul has certainly been full

of experiences...driving in the cities, road construction

galore, parking ramps and paying for them. It costs

$14. a day to park at the hotel and during the day without a pass

to park I would have had to pay every

three hours to hold my spot - I'm guessing $10. a day.

One morning we visited the Hennepin County Government

Center -- that is sure a place! Parking in itself was like

a carnival ride full of turns and twists - I was sure happy

I wasn't driving through that underground parking ramp

twisting winding up and then suddenly putting you right

into the traffic.... we ventured thru the skyways, had lunch

at D. Brians (wonderful salad) and took a little walking tour.

One thing for sure is we have had an interesting time eating.

Our hotel doesn't have a continental breakfast only room service.

So thank goodness there is a very nice cafeteria close by to our

classes -- we've eaten most of our breakfast and lunches there.

Just down the block is an Italian place -- we've eaten there

a couple of times. The pizza we had there tonight was wonderful

and they sell it by the slice!

Last week we ate at the Irish Pub in the hotel --- I had a Reuben

but certainly found their menu very interesting.....

One of their specialties was "Duroc Pork Cutlets". I found

this very interesting since I grew up on a hog farm and

my dad raised durocs. "Duroc" is a breed of swine.

Why not serve Yorkshire Pork Cutlets!

I checked with the waitress asking her what Duroc was -- she

informed me that it is a Fine Quality of Pork that is Organic...

So is only duroc pork organic? Oh my goodness!

Mickey's Diner sits on the corner - yes they have free

parking but it is easier to walk...I would hate to

try to get out of the small parking area in high

traffic which is most all of the time.

This was one of the first homecooked meals we

had - kinda reminded me of Wimpy's at home.

Even had the old little jukebox above the tables - of

course, they stated that they were out of order.

It is a good thing that the hotel is in the middle of quite
of few restuarants - since we haven't driven around much.

One thing I've noticed is that everything is hustling and bustling
at a pretty hectic pace -- you kinda get caught up in it hurrying
here - eating fast and so on.... in fact one of our tours us 3 (the trainees
almost got left behind a few times) -- there was no time to take a
look at any displays or interesting items because we had
places to be!

A hotdish or something on the grill sure sounds good!

Special Moments!

We not only had beautiful weather last weekend but we had

a wonderful family and friend weekend.

Friday evening we gathered with family and friends as

our folks hosted a potluck neighborhood picnic.

I believe we counted at least 97 people who attended

and all brought food!

Mom and Dad were celebrating having their entire family

home and their 40th Wedding Anniversary.

Jessica, Floyd and Renee were here from Louisiana - it has

been 6 months since we have seen them. Renee just

celebrated her 1st Birthday. She is such a little treasure!

Stephani and Cullen were also here and they brought

Nick and Marcus with them.

And my family was also there. We had a fun time

visiting, enjoying the bonfire and doing a lot of talking...

and, of course, it was a wonderful opportunity for pictures -

I did a few photoshoots and will have a few posts coming up.

This is Renee with Hubby and I --- she is

such a little sweetie and has a great smile!

oh and don't forget those beautiful blue eyes!

This is the whole "dang" family and some extras!

On Saturday, this group gathered for pictures and

then we all went out to eat in celebration of Mom and

Dad's Anniversary.

Enjoy these ....

Grandma and Renee

Grandpa and Renee

Celebrating 40 years!