weekend // pancakes, Swedish furniture, and Garrison Keillor

It may be March, but the snow is flying outside my window. I was of course hoping that would translate into a snow(boarding) day, but no such luck. Oh well. Coming home after a long day of work and relaxing by the fire as I watch Tim shovel is too shabby either.

This past weekend was another weekend to remember. For the past couple of years, I've become a fairly avid MPR/NPR listener, and with that came a love of A Prairie Home Companion. So much so that I added it to my life goal list. And last weekend that goal was lived out. Bob and Mary gave us all tickets to the show as a Christmas gift, and were planning a little family weekend in the Cities. But the Lord had different plans, as Bob was diagnosed with prostate cancer and was scheduled for surgery the Thursday before the show. So while the show was every bit as great as I imagined, it was a little bitter sweet not having Bob and Mary there.

Just like the "olden days"though, they listened to the show on the radio and we would text them pictures throughout the show. My cheeks seriously hurt after the show from pure joy. It was that good. But how can a show be bad when it includes Garrison Keillor, steel guitar, Heather Massey, and Emmylou Harris?

Other weekend highlights include:
+ babysitting little Miss Chatty Cathy aka Evelyn Ray
+ an early morning breakfast of blueberry pancakes and cheesy hashbrowns at perhaps the worlds smallest diner, Al's Breakfast in Dinkytown
+ hunting for deals at Midwest Mountaineering and REI
+ shopping the showrooms and aisles of IKEA
+ sushi at Osaka's
+ hearing Garrison say, "And that's the news from Lake Wobegon. Where all the women are strong, all the men are good looking, and all the children are above average."

the lessons of flight

pumping myself up before my first lesson

Sometimes when I get into something, I really get into it. Not sure if that's a blessing or a curse. Right now that thing is snowboarding. There's a mountain hill about 25 minutes away that offers lessons and is a great place to learn basics. Last night was my first lessons. I went into it with no expectations other than thinking that I'd be falling a lot and probably not make it completely down any runs. My only hope (cue the Mandy Moore song from "A Walk to Remember") was that by the end of the night I would at least feel like I had made progress...and that I wouldn't break my face. Good news: it went way better than I thought it would, only had 2 bad wipe outs, I was off the training hill by the end of the night, and I'm not on crutches. Seriously, so stoked. I know I have a long way to go, but now I know - I can do this. Someone get me a Red Bull up in here!

the state of hockey

disclaimer: please watch/listen to this while you read this post. for real.

Last week I fulfilled a life goal: attend an NHL hockey game. The best part was that it was free. Ah the perks of being married to someone in the corporate world where they have weekly drawings for sporting event tickets. We may have spent $7 for a hot dog and $15 dollars for parking and gotten home at midnight, but it was soooo worth it.

to travel the world

both images via

During my morning routine of reading through blogs and perusing Pinterest, these two images really hit me as beautiful and inspiring. There's so much in this world I haven't yet seen and my wish list of destinations seems to grow with each new issue of Backpacker we get in the mail every month. On my short term travel list: see the Tetons and Yellowstone. Long term travel list: watch the sunrise on the top of Mt. Kilimanjaro.