there's no place like gnome.

These places of cool are popping up all over the place these days. Pizza farms. Here is how they work:

You bring your blanket and your utensils. Any appetizers and beverages too. You pick a spot, order your pizza, and enjoy the atmosphere until the pizza is all done and gooey and wonderful from a wood oven in the back of a barn. Sit. Enjoy.

It sounds absolutely lovely, right? We thought so, especially for a beautiful Wednesday night. I actually had cut out an article about this specific farm months and months ago. The Red Barn Farm in Northfield was featured in Minnesota Monthly. It’s taken nearly a year but I finally have friends to go with me on a whim!

It was absolutely lovely, but the thing is, everyone else thought the same thing. We went to order our pizza right around 7pm and were told it was a two hour wait. Two hours. Like whoa. Plan B became sitting and enjoying the food we had brought, learning what to do better next time, and then going to order pizza somewhere else. Next time we will know.

We also were able to see a glimpse of what to work towards in regards to pizza picnics on the farm. Yesterday, we were amateurs in the midst of professionals. Professionals like these guys – they brought a table, tablecloth, chairs, real wine glasses, and much more. That’s the goal, people. Absolute class at the pizza farm. We will try again another Wednesday.

In other news, I’m off to camp this weekend! I’m super pumped. It will be an experience, I am sure. I’ll report back upon my return!

I love visitors. LOVE visitors. Melissa, Joel, Hannah, and Harper came and it was awesome. (Really, everything is awesome. Everything is cool when you’re part of a team.) We played outside, had pizza picnics, went to the Spam museum, ate outside some more, loved on Mabel, climbed on the treadmill, and, in general, had a ton of fun.

As it always is, it was hard to say goodbye as they pulled out of the parking lot on Monday morning. But – BUT – I might see them again in February. I hope the dreams come true. Plans are in the works for a third annual train trip to Montana …

I have guests arriving tomorrow! This is completely and utterly the summer of visitors and I love it. Tomorrow arriving are Montana friends Joel, Melissa, Hannah, and Harper. Here they shall remain until Monday or so. Hooray! It will be an adventure … my house is not even close to toddler-proof. However, I do own a built-in vacuum for the cracker crumbs and such; Mabel will beyond love the the toddler twins.

In an effort to catch up a bit on other life happenings, how’s this:

Today was the second session of day camp and it was all sorts of fishy fun. It really was a great day. Great kids, great youth leaders, great supportive adults. Super fun.

And just because I like to give you all a reason to laugh, I’ll tell you that I rode a motorcycle for the first time this past weekend. Dave is one of those motorcycle guys and he convinced me that we should ride to Decorah. On his motorcycle. I’m willing to try almost anything once …

However, you should know that I once fell off of a snowmobile that was going about two miles per hour (and my friends have never let me forget it) and have tipped many a golf cart. I’m not too great with open-air modes of transportation. That being said, we made it to the countryside around Austin before I asked him to turn around. Terrifying. Absolutely terrifying. We traded the motorcycle in for pedal bicycles, sketchy corner store Mexican food, and geocaching. I felt much more comfortable and safe with that afternoon.

A stranger told me to smile.

(Warning: Curse words ahead.)

I’ve mentioned this before. I feel like I have an over abundance of stories and experiences in which strangers tell me to smile. Let’s add another one, shall we?

I was at Hyvee. I had put everything on the checkout conveyor belt as the cashier finished with the woman ahead of me. She moved on, all her groceries paid for and bagged and in her cart. My turn.

Except the cashier didn’t begin to ring my items up right away as a cashier normally would. He looked at me, put his arm out in front of the start of my groceries as if to protest their need of being scanned and his willingness to do it. We made eye contact.

I’m not going to do this (He motioned to my yogurt and almond milk.) until you smile.

Seriously, dude? I smiled a cheesy smile, halfway pissed because yet another stranger had acknowledged and declared something had to be said about my perpetual frown and serious face. The cheesy, half smile was enough for him; he began to scan my groceries.

I explained to him that I don’t control my face (Seriously. I make faces that I never even realize.) and that he’s not the first person to demand to see my teeth. He told me that I just looked so serious that something had to be done and that I had a really pretty smile. Well, gosh. Thank you, crazy cashier at Hyvee. That’s sweet? creepy? strange? of you. Later he also referred to me as “the lady with the constant frown.”

Sigh. Just another example of what it is like in society to be plagued with RBF. (*cough* Resting Bitch Face *cough* It’s a thing.)

Top left: Colorful bowls! They always make me happy in the cupboard.
Top middle: A pot of risotto to eat thru the week. Risotto is the best.
Top right: Quilting for a friend who is having her first baby.

Middle left: I made my own nut milk! My process needs some improvement but who wouldn’t be happy with a little almond-macadamia-date action in their coffee? (ps I found plastic lids for mason jars at target and LOVE them. I use mason jars on a regular basis for food storage and plastic is much swifter than searching for the two piece metal lids.)
Middle: The Grand Budapest Hotel. Delightful and entertaining as all Wes Anderson is.
Middle right: I was given ten of these sturdy file boxes for free. I’m painting them, repairing them, and three are now travel boxes on my shelf, storing momentos from past adventures.

Bottom left: I backed my curio cabinets with yellow polka dot fabric! Not the bold effect I had hoped for but I’ll do with the subtlety.
Bottom middle: The garden got some much, much needed attention. It looks good (to me, the novice gardener) and veggies are growing!
Bottom right: My mom is organizing photos and sent me this gem. Say hello to Lindsay in kindergarten.

It occurred to me that I talk A LOT about my favorite things. But I am not the only person (err, thing that breathes) in this house. And thus, here are some of Mabel’s favorite things:

Taking walks.

Sleeping like this.

Laying in the middle of the parking lot because, well, why not.

Drooling on my kitchen floor.

Snuggling.

Not pictured: treats, jumping on new people, getting overly excited at new people, car rides with her head out the window, shredding toilet paper if given the chance, ice cubes, always making space for herself on the couch, and doggy friends.

She’s a pretty good canine and companion. She’s one of my favorite things.

It’s a made-up and self-diagnosed condition that I have.

Project brain.

I have projects on my brain and can think of nothing else.  [I write this while at work because project brain strikes most intensely when there is a sermon to be written.  For hopeless.]

I said goodbye to Dave last night; he leaves for a 10-day wilderness adventure in Michigan with a friend.  Without him in the picture for next week and a half, I suddenly have a lot of free time.  Hello, projects.  Like these –

Shelves for my soon-to-be cleaned and organized home office.  I plan to wander around Lowe’s soon to find necessary supplies.

Backing the corner curio cabinets [aka my gnome homes] with fabric.

New curtains for the office.

A baby quilt for a friend and quilted potholders for another friend.

A little quote word art and a little furniture rearranging.

Not projects, but also on my suddenly-lots-of-free-time schedule of hopes and dreams –

Those final two episodes of the second season of Homeland that wait for me.

The Grand Budapest Hotel.  Must watch.

Weeding the garden.

Walks with Mabel.

… I think that’s enough for now.  But before all of it – sermon.  *sigh*

I have a shirt. It’s official now.

The last weekend in July I’ll be at Camp Erin as a Sharing Circle Leader for a group of 5-7 year olds who have experienced the death of a parent/close family member. It’s bound to be difficult and profound with lots of hope and laughter mixed in.

I had an all-staff meeting last week in the cities to learn more about the camp weekend and learn what my role would be. As a Sharing Circle Leader, I – along with the two other women on my team – will use provided curriculum to guide and facilitate conversation with our group of ten little ones four times throughout the weekend. When it isn’t sharing circle time, I will have other jobs to make camp run smoothly. You know, serving root beer floats and stuff. Because I’m a SCL, this also means that I will not be in the cabins with the kids. (That job belongs to the Cabin Big Buddies.) At first, that made me sad … but it will be okay. I’m just excited to be at camp in any capacity.

We have one more pre-camp event – a ‘save your spot’ pizza party that welcomes all campers and their families to come and meet the volunteers and ease their nerves. After that event next week, camp will soon be upon us.

First: Day camp! My favorite. Last Wednesday was the first Wednesday of day camp for the summer. We had a great time painting with dead fish and playing sardines. (Eating sardines too. I didn’t think anyone would touch them but they devoured a tin of them in just a few minutes!)

Second: Kayaking! My favorite. Dave and I went out last Friday. I impressed him with my mad kayak skills and we both got a little wet, but it was all okay.

Third: Visitors! My favorite. My college roomie, Amanda, and her husband, Joe, are staying at the parsonage for the week. It’s home base for them as they begin to get things squared away to move to Minnesota again after a few years in Texas. Our weekly skype dates can now be replaced with in-person dates!

If you know me well at all, you know this is my pattern:

1. See people from Dawson.

2. Gush about people from Dawson on blog.

I’m a predictable sort of gal in that way so here we go.

1. I saw people from Dawson! The Agape Singers (which includes a boatload of my favorite people from Grace Lutheran, where I was intern pastor for a year) came to Red Oak Grove for a service of worship and praise last night as a part of their summer tour week. It was a shame that it was a stormy evening – which I think prevented some people from coming out – but those that came LOVED it. It. was. wonderful.

2. Let me gush about those people from Dawson! It was simply wonderful to see friendly faces – people I worked with on staff in my year there, youth I had in my confirmation classes, and children of staff members. It’s been almost five years since I packed up my car to move to that small western Minnesotan town where the gnomes greet you on the highway, but I still miss it. It was an incredibly fun year. Incredibly fun. I’m so glad there are moments in life like this – when the Agape Singers needed a church in the area and the connection was there. Moments to reconnect and hug friends from past lives. My heart is full today.

(Photos: Grace staff and staff children and me, trying to fit in with a green shirt too; Grace pastor, Kendall, and I selfie.)