there's no place like gnome.

Yes, my last blog post was about moving forward.  Yes, this one is about looking back. Yes, I realize those are two opposite things. Just stick with me, okay?

We’re going to look back. Two years specifically. January 20, 2014. 

It was a Monday night and I had a date. (Monday night might seem weird for a date but I was leaving for Montana that coming Wednesday and we wanted to squeeze it in.) If I’m honest, it was my third first date in two weeks. (Thanks, online dating.) If I’m completely honest, it was my third first date in two weeks in which the gentleman suggested dinner and bowling. I bowled more in those two weeks than I had in the previous two years!

So I arrive at the bowling alley to meet a gentleman whose name I think is Brennan. We shake hands.  ‘Lindsay?’ he asks. ‘Yup.  Brennan?’ I asked. ‘No. It’s Dave.’ Wait.  What?  (To be fair, his last name is what I thought his first name was so … honest mistake?)

We bowl. We drink a beer. We talk. We finish up our game. I return my shoes and he carries his out the door with him. (He brought his own bowling shoes!  Dork alert!). We decide to meet at a local pizza place (where I was the week prior for date one of three), and then, after pizza, we decide to see each other again. 

Two years later, we keep deciding to see each other again. Even though he is a dork who brings his own bowling shoes.  (I’m a dork too. I brought a board game to our second date).  We won’t be able to recreate the date tonight, like we did last year; alas, I have confirmation class. We will go out for pizza tomorrow night and, if anything like last year, Dave will request we sit at the same table.  

Last May on a bike ride in Decorah.

I won’t make any excuses for my absence.  I won’t say where I’ve been or what I’ve been up to for the past, oh, three months. Just forward.  Like Wisconsin. 

(Forward is Wisconsin’s state motto.  Fun fact for you there.)

I’m here today, breaking my blog silence, to brag share just a little bit. But first a story –

There once was this bag. It was called the Weekender Travel Bag. It was a pattern by the lovely Amy Butler and all my favorite quilty/crafter blog friends were making it. I’d see pictures. I’d read their tales of construction. I made a Pinterest board dedicated to the bag.  And I really wanted to make one. But I was intimidated. Oh, so intimidated. These bloggers that I follow – they’re, like, really good.  Like professionals in their fields. And they wrote about how hard the weekender was to make. Surely, I didn’t have the skills to pull it off. 

But you know what?  I just did. I was telling the boyfriend about this bag last month. Now, what you have to know about the boyfriend is he is really good at pushing me beyond what I think I am capable of myself. (It’s usually a good thing.) Buy the pattern, he said.  It will be fun, he said.  And so I bought the pattern and embarked on my own weekender tote adventure. 

And I did it.  Can you believe it?  I actually have a completed weekender that will hold (in theory) a weekend’s worth of stuff.  And it has flamingos!  And a green zipper I’m in love with!

   The instructions were so super clear and I took it step by step over the course of a couple weeks. There certainly were moments (It is hard sewing so many layers!) but I broke no needles and only stuck myself with a needle to the point of bleeding, like, nine times.  I’m so super thrilled with it that I’m already planning the next one. 

It will get on the train with me next week as I head to Montana for my annual adventure to see friends.  And I will guard it from getting dirty with my life.

October 31st it be – a day for pumpkin pancakes and handing out candy.   This post is also for Grandma – she sent me a letter inside the cutest Halloween card saying she’s been waiting for a blog update. Here it is!  Hi!  (As of right now, I plan to be home for Thansgiving so I’ll see you then!  Count me in to bring a dessert; Thanksgiving day is Dave’s birthday so I’ll take care of the birthday treat.)

Pumpkins were carved last night. Dave’s pumpkin wouldn’t stand up so it’s a face on its side … which turned out pretty cool.  I made this for supper (I recommend it!) and then we watched Inside Out – super cute and funny.  Tonight we’ll hand out candy at Dave’s house and then, delightfully, I’ll get an extra hour of sleep!  So excited.  

 What else is new since the last blog post, you wonder. Last Sunday was confirmation Sunday. Four young people were confirmed in a lovely church service.  

 I got a new tea kettle. It’s very exciting. Really. It is. It was a gift. A beautiful green Le Creuset tea kettle. Be still, my heart.  

 What else is currently bringing me joy?

• The new season of Homeland. 
• Having a few nights at the sewing machine. 
• The annual fall theological conference for the synod’s pastors begins tomorrow in LaCrosse. It’s always a good time with colleagues. 
• A new polka dot Fitbit band. 
• It’s lefse season. 
• Finding a pair of shoes that I had forgotten about and loving them.
• Discovering a new, sneaky way of hemming jeans that works incredibly well. I have jeans that are the right length!
• Dreaming of doing this in my back entryway.   

Happy Halloween and happy-extra-hour-of-sleep day!  Hope it’s both spooky and restful.  🙂

Two quilts have been delivered to their respective baby girls. The first to Miss Charlotte, daughter of my friend Sara, and the second to Miss Hadley, daughter of my Montana pals Joel and Melissa.  Check and check. Both babies are well into the infant stage at this point; I was pleased as punch to get them finished before they started walking!  (That’s the new baby quilt goal. Before they walk, I hope to have their quilt completed.) 

   
And for a quilt in progress?  This is the current state of my coffee table. It’s always in progress, one paper pieced diamond at a time.  

It’s not often I talk about work on the blog anymore. I don’t necessarily know why. (Maybe because, uh, I just don’t blog very much anymore?). But tonight I need to process in writing so here I am. 

Tonight we kicked off Wednesday night family night/Sunday School/whatever you want to call it. Our Sunday morning education program simply was not working anymore and we had to try something new. So we chose to try Wednesday night. 

My wise ministry friend told me to look for small wins when I told her we were trying something new. Look for small wins. Don’t call it all off because it doesn’t work as you planned. Stick with it. Small wins. 

There were definitely small wins tonight. Parents blessing their children. Families we haven’t seen in church for many weeks came tonight. People who belong to the same small church but don’t know each other interacting. There were definitely small wins. 

I’m trying hard to let that be my focus. Not the fact that this evening has stressed me out all week. Not the fact that there were lots of squirmy kids doing their own thing. Not that we budgeted time incorrectly. Not that I can’t help but wonder what everyone thought and if they are going to come back next time. 

Trying new things is exciting – and I’ve been super excited about it – but, boy, is it hard too.  Trying something different than what has been done for decades is not easy. But I also believe it had to be done. We need to try something new … so small wins. I’ll take ’em.  We try this again the first Wednesday of November. Hoping for more small wins then too. 

Ice water always available. 

The control of the tv remote. 

A kitchen to cook in.

My own bed. Mabel. 

A room for sewing. 

The coffee beans I prefer. 

It’s funny how a week away makes you appreciate those little comforts of home all the more. I’m excited and I look forward to vacation … but at the end, coming home again is its own kind of (lame) excitement. 

I was away last week, riding shotgun in a car for thousands of miles. Here’s how the epic roadtrip Dave and I took went down:

Austin to Edgerton. Depart after work.  Hi, Mom. Night one. 

Edgerton to Indianapolis. Hi, sister Emma (who goes to grad school there).  Let’s eat pizza for a late lunch while the car tires get balanced. 

Indianapolis to Asheville, NC. Rain. Late night of mountain driving. Tunnels!  Hotel. Night two. 

Visit the Biltmore (and get soaked in the rain) and the Asheville Pinball Museum. (Guess who put that second destination on the itinerary …) 

Asheville to Winston Salem. Nights three, four, and five with Dave’s brother and his family. 

Daytime exploring in Charlotte: Billy Graham library & NC Aviation Museum. 

Coloring and playing trains with Dave’s niece and nephew. Lots of coloring and trains. 

Winston Salem to Pittsburgh. More pinball excursions. Eat supper in a church-turned-brewery-restaurant. Night six. 

Pittsburgh to Michigan. Visit Pink Castle Fabrics in Ann Arbor (one of the few modern quilt shops in existence). See Dave’s childhood home, feed carrots to donkeys, and eat supper with Dave’s parents. Night seven spent on an air mattress at the apartment of Dave’s childhood friend. 

Last day: early morning departure (Dave had ants in his pants which led to a 5am packing of car and leaving. I slept in the passenger seat.), survival of Chicago traffic, and safe arrival home to MN.   

The week went by so incredibly fast. I feel like I blinked and was home again. Hours upon hours of driving were filled with car games (We found every license plate but Alaska & Hawaii – of course – and New Hampshire and Nevada.) , Harry Potter on audiobook, conversation, and watching the mountains pass us by. (Though most of the trip it rained and made looking out the car window gloomy and difficult.) I also passed time by binding two quilts and basting a whole lot of EPP diamonds! (I did a total of, oh, five hours of driving. The rest was all Dave and me quilting.)

It’s now back to life as we know it, appreciating a little more the comforts of home. And hitting the ground running at work as church is a busy, busy place these days. Here’s hoping the time away restored me enough through rest and relaxing to get me through the next weeks!

It is a small kind of accomplishment, I suppose.  Lizzie Bennet, Pride & Prejudice

I’ve had this blog post in my head for a while, to keep you abreast of what I have accomplished of late. And since I’ve thought about this blog post, that quote from P&P has been in my head all the day long. Small kind of accomplishment, I suppose. 

Okay. Small kinds of accomplishments, aka projects and happenings, here we go. 

I finished mod-podging this paper mâché pumpkin with fabric scraps. It is September now; pumpkins are allowed, right?  (The white one is from my garden.)

 My stack of English paper pieced six-point stars keeps growing.   

 
 Dave and I finally found this geocache in Austin. It literally took us four bike rides to the coordinates to find it. Fourth time is a charm.  

 I gained a new piece of furniture – a gun cabinet my dad made while he was a youngster. Dave, my super handy boyfriend, helped me add shelves. Now, it’s no longer for guns but for fabric storage in the sewing room, holding fabric stored in shop bins from my dad’s shop. 

I baked this loaf of bread in my pretty blue Dutch oven. (Colder weather means the Dutch oven comes out.) It was as it looks – crusty on the outside and soft and chewy on the inside. I recommend the recipe. Mmm.  
 Also – I made my first pot roast and quilted a quilt. Tomorrow, my accomplishment will be leading cowboy worship at church. (Hey!  Tomorrow marks four years here. Crazy!) 

Life is busy.  Life is good. 

(Two blog posts in one month?  Please. Don’t fall off your chair. Somehow it’s true.)

It was quite the lovely weekend, blog friends. I hope yours was equally lovely. 

Mine began with a Target run with Pastor Paige.  It’s been f-o-r-e-v-e-r since we’ve been friends who actually see each other.  Next, we went to Carter’s house for supper, crafts, and a movie outside projected on the house. It was pretty spectacular to be with friends doing such fun things. 

On Saturday, Austin hosted its big arts festival which included some sort of attempt to bust a record for bubble blowing.  Dave and I biked downtown to participate, however using ones breath to send the bubble into the air was not necessary because the wind itself did it for you.  It was so super windy!  There were also SPAM samples a la fancy (coconut encrusted SPAM with pineapple chutney? not too shabby.) and local artist displays to admire. 

 I came home Saturday evening to a lovely birth announcement in the mailbox. A birth announcement for the newest addition to my favorite Montana family. Along with the pretty, pretty pictures was an invitation I am beyond honored to accept. So honored.  

 Today – Sunday – was busy, busy. Church at Red Oak Grove with a service of sharing the Detroit trip with the congregation. Off to the local care center to lead worship and drink coffee. Sewing, watching my newest show (the quite enjoyable The Newsroom), and deciding to finally do something about the abundance of tomatoes my garden is producing.  Hello, oven roasted tomato sauce. So excited to try it on pasta tomorrow.  It smells wonderful!

I’ve started a collection on my kitchen counter. Every $5 bill I come across goes in the jar.  That’s the rule. As Dave and I plan our NC roadtrip next month, I campaigned for a stop at Pink Castle Fabrics in Ann Arbor, one of the coolest, most awesome modern quilt shops ever.  (Or so I guess.  This will be my first time there.). Must. save. money. (Campaigning for this stop wasn’t super hard since I’ll be playing pinball for a couple hours in Pittsburgh.  Quilt shop for pinball arcade.  We’re even.)  

Oh, and I should mention that my pinball-playing boyfriend is a serial killer.  According to my mom’s dream (nightmare?) she had, he kills people by strangulation or – wait for it – throwing furniture on them.  I mean, really, makes sense since his family owns a furniture store. Abundance of weapons, you know. 

Ahh.  Good weekend indeed, even if I do need to keep an eye open for flying furniture now. 

It’s time for an update, eh?  An attempt to include nearly all of summer in one blog post. Here we go –

My mom got married. I surprisingly took, like, zero photos of the ordeal. But she got married!  It was grand! I went to Detroit for the national youth gathering and had a pretty great time with 30,000 other Lutherans. (It’s always particularly fun to run into friends!  Lots of friends!) After being gone for those two weeks, I was grateful to come home and stay home for the last couple weeks. 

But being at home doesn’t mean it was without adventures or projects. 

Emma and Molly came to visit. We went to the sculpture garden in Minneapolis and ate on a rooftop in Uptown.  We also had organized craft time and went out for Mexican food.   

I painted this chest coral.  It now resides by my bed.  (And now, of course, I have a new quilt on my brain to tie the bedroom colors all together.)

 I finished a quilt top, started another (or four).  I’m currently smitten with my epp (English paper piecing) project (below), though progress is slow. It will be at least a year in the making. (It’s my work-on-away-from-home project.  No sewing machine required.) I went on a fabric shopping adventure in the cities with Marilyn and her daughter. I bought more fabric. For more projects. Oye.  I have a problem. 

 I entered my hexagon quilt in the Mower County Fair, which was this last week. It was an experiment; I’ve never really entered anything in the fair. The quilt received a third place ribbon, which also means I’ll be getting a check for $2 in the mail.  My mom told me not to spend it all in one place.  

 Speaking of the fair, Mabel has been going to dog obedience classes through 4H with one of my neighbors. Yesterday was the dog show.  For those of you who know Mabel, you know this probably would not end well.  But, actually, she did fairly well!  Alex took home a couple blues in different events, in addition to a reserve champion in showmanship.  

 This summer, I’ve rekindled my love of reading. I seem to go in spurts; I read a lot or not at all. I’ve devoured a number of fiction books this summer and currently am reading The Fellowship of the Ring everyday while I eat breakfast. You know I’m a HUGE Lord of the Rings dork but I’ve never been able to get into the books – until now. I love it. 

Day camp returned to Red Oak Grove this summer for three Wednesday’s. We had a big crowd this year and lots of fun, including a water blob!

 My garden is kicking out produce to keep me full on tomatoes and zucchini. Anxiously awaiting the first butternut squash and sweet potatoes!  

Dave was gone for a week at Sturgis which then kinda meant we were attached at the hip those first few days he was back. Fun included (*cough* checking out a pinball machine for sale in the cities and then) dinner and a movie at a fancy theater, the tractor pull at the fair, and another dinner out in Rochester with gnome beer!  These last weeks of summer will prove to be busy too. Movie plans with Carter and his family in Owatonna, a drive-in movie, and soaking up time outside. A vacation is in the works for the end of September, which will be a nice pause in the busy of fall. (Road trip to NC, baby!)

So there you have it. Summer in a blog post. Of course, that’s not everything.  It’s been a good summer and – like everyone will say – it has flown by!  Now here’s hoping I post again by the end of fall. 

Freedom!  Independence!  The day we remember the signing of an important document!

The day I declare war. 

On the rabbits. 

Last year, my garden remained unharmed and uninhabited by such creatures. Perhaps it was because it was the first year it was there. Perhaps because at that point in time, they believed Mabel to be a ferocious warrior dog. (They have since learned otherwise.) But this year is different. They have attacked. 

I surveyed my garden this afternoon to find it drastically changed from yesterday. Many carrot greens, one pepper plant, and two sweet potato plants – gone. Ate in their prime growing season. Add this to damages done earlier; only yesterday did my investigation into the bush bean plant disappearances come to a head. There was also the strawberry incident of early June.  Rabbits. Evil rabbits. 

(Why don’t they eat the lettuce?!  I’m not going to eat it all.  Is that too stereotypical for them to eat a little lettuce?  Just, please, not the sweet potatoes!)

Game on, rabbits. Game on. Your eviction notice has been served. You have one day. 

(Because that’s how long it will take me to buy and install a fence.)