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just dance.

4 Feb

Not only the title of a song by my current favorite guilty pleasure, Lady Gaga, but also the name of the Wii game Drew brought to our house one evening.  Hold the controller in your right hand, follow the dance moves on the screen, and look like a fool while doing it.  We all got in on the action; it was a laugh riot.
This was just one of the fun nights I had while at home for a brief four and a half days.  It was great to get home, forget about work for a bit, and see lots of family and friends.  The trip had no real purpose or occasion (groundhog day?) but after not being home for Christmas and probably not being home again until well after Easter, it seemed like the right place on the calendar.  

cake balls.

4 Feb
Technically called cake pops, cousins Sam and Molly and I made a delicious dessert while I was home.   In some of my nightly blog-stalking, I came across a recipe which looked like a lot of fun.  Turns out they were fun, easier than I thought, and mighty tasty.  It was like cake and frosting, together, dipped in chocolate, on a stick.  Yum.  Even Connor, a 17 year old who never seems to say much except negative things towards me in general, said they were awesome.
I used a boxed cake mix (that Sam crumbles in the above picture – this is before he ran around the kitchen trying to get chocolate cake goo all over Connor) and also put a fair bit of wax in the chocolate which covered the cake pops.  It made about 48 chocolate-balls-on-a-stick.  We substituted wooden skewers for the sucker sticks because of convenience – go with the sucker sticks.  I think they would be sturdier.  And more pretty (like the picture from the website below).  

ps.  if you’re about to run off and make yourself some cake balls — after some further blog stalking, I have read that you can simply bake a cake, crumble, and then add a 16 oz. can of frosting (instead of the cream cheese and powdered sugar that we did).  A bit easier and probably just as tasty!  It appears the original link can no longer be found (gasp!) but let me know if you want the recipe and I can email it your way!

home: a brief summary

28 Nov
… I had a wonderful sleepover in St.Paul with my bestest, Sara, on my way home for thanksgiving. We did everything that we love to do together – watch Friends, IKEA walk about, play Carcassone, a bottle of wine, Pride and Prejudice and an extended conversation about office supplies – notably the multi-color packs of Sharpies.
… New Moon! Emma, Aunt Kari, Molly, Kay and I watched vampires and werewolves with their shirts off on Tuesday night. Kay and I cuddled (made easier after breaking the arm rest between us) and rooted strong for Team Jacob!
… an impromptu lunch with friends including the movie Up!, grilled cheese, coffee, and cookies. A perfect chance to catch-up. Timmy’s day-after-Thanksgiving party with trivia was a great time as always. Twenty people a year do this when they see the Goodyear blimp – ________.
… family at Thanksgiving. Well, family and the homeless guy. Two great games of 31 (which I lost), chats, a bake-off, a mini-hike alongside the creek, and yummy food.
… a thanksgiving day bake-off! This year the dessert had to include a vegetable and thus we had a carrot cake, pumpkin cupcakes, and a store-bought chocolate cake with a green pepper turkey on top. After the very technical voting process, the results were a tie between the three – the carrot and pumpkin desserts tied for taste and the cheater cake won for presentation.

… a trip to the playground. After the turkey and stuffing, a bunch of us walked to the elementary school where we had a crazy time running off some food and energy. The sway fun? It was way fun.
… the tiniest little black Friday shopping trip with Emma and Molly. It wasn’t a zoo according to Molly; there were no giraffes.

… family. friends. hugs.
I’d be lying if I didn’t say that it was difficult to get in the car this morning at 10 am to make the drive back to Dawson. Part of the difficulty is knowing that the next holiday is one I won’t be home with my family and also not necessarily knowing when I will next be home. Alas, eight hours later, I arrived in Dawson, unpacked, resettled, and I think it will be okay though I miss home a bit already.

one week.

17 Nov

In exactly one week, I will be home in Wisconsin.  Here is what separates me from my four days in Edgerton:

  • A sermon to write and preach this Sunday – twice
  • two Bible studies – leading (1) and participating (1)
  • Thanksgiving meal for 100 seniors to serve with the youth at Grace
  • Friday to Saturday youth gathering chaperone
  • staff meeting/local ELCA pastors meeting
  • family Advent event to plan
  • internship committee meeting
  • confirmation sessions to teach (2) including one on the sixth commandment.  eek.
  • sleepover with Sara, my bestest, in the Cities
  • an eight hour drive.  gross.
I’ll sleep when I get home.

transitions.

31 Aug
I graduated from my summer internship of CPE and have three months of self-reflection and a cheap pen to show for it. I enjoyed my time at the care center and senior apartment buildings. At the beginning of the summer, I’ll admit, I was scared of old people, not quite sure how to interact or be their chaplain. Fellow group members, conversation, and trial and error worked wonders and now I came to enjoy their company. I actually miss my Friday morning Bible study crew and my “favorites” at the nursing home.
Directly following the pomp and circumstance that was my graduation ceremony, I drove for home and there remained for two wonderful weeks. Family, friends, relaxing, and preparing for my upcoming year-long internship was all that the agenda contained. A few highlights included:
  • A day in Chicago. My sister, five cousins of ours, and myself took the train from Harvard to the last stop in downtown Chicago for the day. We walked everywhere, seeing the sculptures at Millinium Park, sitting by the side of Lake Michigan, eating deep dish pizza, and shopping State Street. We also frequented Sears for the bathroom facilities.
  • Cookouts! Love me a good cookout with fruit salad and eating outside.
  • Bowling, campfires, and otherwise hanging out with both new and old friends. It was great to catch up, eat giant marshmallows, bowl between our legs, and watch movies together.
  • My home congregation of East Koshkonong Lutheran celebrated its 165th anniversary this past Sunday.  The service was held outside where the sun the shining and the weather was perfect. It was also great to hear my grandpa tell me afterwards, “I was so proud of you.” He also told me he liked my blue sweater.
It was difficult to leave home after two weeks there but there was also excitement within me, knowing that I was leaving to begin a new adventure in Dawson. I left home on Sunday afternoon, spent the night in St.Paul packing, and now write this post from my apartment in Dawson, MN, a town of 1600 people and 17 gnomes in the gnome garden.*
It was a beautiful drive to Dawson today with green fields on either side of Hwy. 212. I was greeted by members of Grace Lutheran at the church building and then we taxied to my apartment building and unloaded my car within minutes with so many hands to help. The staff of the church and a few members of my internship committee treated me to dinner at the only restaurant in town that isn’t also a drinking establishment. I returned to the apartment amid reminders to “let us know if you need anything!” and have grown tired of unpacking. More time for that tomorrow after my first day as an intern at Grace Lutheran.
* Seventeen gnomes is an approximation. I have not yet had time to explore the gnome garden but will eagerly report back findings once the exploration has taken place.
… a shout out to Mark Gieseke, for whom I thank for the title of this blog, “There’s no place like gnome.” Who doesn’t enjoy a hilarious play on words?
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