Cabin Vacation & Holiday Weekend

Hi everyone!

I hope you've all been enjoying the long weekend and have fun plans for tomorrow! As for me, I'll be going to a nearby lake with Mr. G and some friends (and Molly, of course). We'll be grilling hot dogs, swimming in the lake, and watching fireworks. Pretty standard 4th of July stuff. I'm excited, though - the weather finally warmed back up in time for the holiday weekend.

While we were at the cabin last week, it was chilly and rainy basically all week. We were pretty far up north at Lake Vermillion, but I was still hoping for warmer weather. We got one nice day and took full advantage of it - Mr. G and I came back burnt and bug-bitten. But we still had a good time. The guys went fishing a lot, and I even went a few times! It was my first time actually fishing, and I ended up catching a total of 10 fish - 9 in one day. They were all small perch, but I was still pleased with myself. :)



my best catch - a fat perch


As for the rest of the week, I spent it reading, playing Wii with the kids, watching McHale's Navy, and I even fit in some shopping. I finally read a book my mom gave to me back when I moved to Connecticut - Whistlin' Dixie in a Nor'easter. She had read it as part of her book club and even got to meet the author, Lisa Patton, who happens to live in my hometown. She gave it to me because it's about a Southern girl struggling to adapt to life in New England (Vermont, specifically). Although the New England portrayed in the book was nothing like the New England I experienced (less maple syrup; more Jersey shore), it was still a fun read that was perfect for a vacation up north. Also, I did survive a couple nor'easters in CT, and they were bad even by New England standards, so I think (hope) I'll be ready for my first Minnesota winter!

All in all, we had a fun, relaxing cabin vacation. But I must admit it was very nice to come home to my bed...

Here are a few more photos from the trip:

Mr. G and me at a local restaurant

happy Molly on her first boat ride :)

In other news, I have officially started my internship at the ADA, and so far it's going well. I've even gotten a work perk already - free Twins tickets! Mr. G and I went to the game last night with some friends, and even though the Twins lost (in the freaking 9th inning), we had a fun time and I got to wear my new Twins shirt. :)

I'm sad to say that I won't be making cupcakes for the 4th. :( I was hoping to make festive blueberry and strawberry cupcakes, but Mr. G and I have stayed busy all weekend with friends and family. Plus, we'll be outside all day tomorrow, which isn't the best condition for cupcakes if you don't like them melted. But let me know what you're baking for the holiday! I'd love to hear your patriotic recipes. :)

Happy 4th!

<3 Mrs. G

Wish You Were Here!

Hi everyone,

I have really come to appreciate my new home, so in honor of that, I've decided to share with you what I've discovered to be great about the North Star State.

25 Reasons Why Minnesota is Awesome:

1. The accents.
2. We border another country.
3. We have moose. Do you have moose?
4. This is the land of 10,000 lakes.
5. Boundary Waters.
6. Twin Cities = double the fun.
7. We have all 4 seasons.
8. We get LOTS of snow.
9. Some cities have subways. We have skyways! 
10. No rednecks.
11. No guidos, either.
12. We are home to 21 Fortune 500 companies.
13. You can see the Northern Lights here.
14. Rhubarb! (See my post on it here)
15. Hockey.
16. Funny city/street/building names (ie: Ytterboe Hall at St. Olaf College - Mr. G's alma mater!) 
17. We have 68 state parks.
18. We are the most active state in the country.
19. Home to my favorite band - Owl City!
20. The people are very friendly - "Minnesota nice."
21. Viking ancestry. Enough said.
22. We have the Mall of America (and some of us work there).
23. Walleye.
24. Not the sports teams...
25. We may not have royalty, but we've got something better: The Kinetic King.

So, in short, you should come visit. :)

In other news, Mr. G and I had our first two games on Tuesday as part of our beach volleyball league, and I am happy to report that Team Adequate is turning out to be much more than adequate - we won both games and 5/6 sets! Yours truly didn't do so bad, either. Hopefully this is a sign of things to come... And based on what I saw from most of the other teams, I think that's not impossible; apparently "intermediate" encompasses a broad spectrum of talent. I'm mainly concerned about facing the team Mr. G has dubbed "Team Fit 'n' Tan" - you can probably guess why. But hey, we're already overachieving based on our namesake, so the worse that could happen is that we actually turn out to be, well, adequate. And I can live with that.

Also, speaking of tans, I laid out today in the beautiful weather and ended up getting one of the worst sunburns of my life. Based on the intensity and splotchiness of said sunburn - combined with the quantity of my freckles - I'm only a hair color away from achieving ginger status.

Last bit of news for today: I got an internship! I am officially a summer event intern for the MN chapter of the American Diabetes Association. :) I can't wait to get started!

Hopefully you all are enjoying your summers as well (and wearing SPF)! Feel free to share any funny sunburn stories.

<3 Mrs. G