So for Christmas my very sweet husband got me a new lens! It's amazing, I love it, and 2 famous people have used it.
Person number 1- Donna Boucher, who I got it from. Or is it whom? Either way. She informed me that
Person number 2- Ree Drummond, the pioneer woman, has used my lens! I love it.
My friend Amy picked up my lens from Donna on their way home for Thanksgiving, and I got it when they got back to the La Crosse area Monday night! So far, I haven't taken too many pictures, but here are a few of my favorites. This lens is SO sharp!!
Usually, we don't focus that much on Thanksgiving. We just enjoy the holiday, but look forward more to Christmas! This year, we had some very special guests from California coming, and everything would be held at my parents house, so my sister and mom and I did extra planning. We had a feast. None of which I have pictures of. We had turkey, two kids of stuffing, green bean casserole, mashed potatoes, gravy, brussell sprouts, pickles made by nuns, cranberry apple compote, and sweet potato casserole. We also had apple pie and 7 mini pumpkin pies that were handed out at the two mile turkey trot we did thanksgiving morning. I may not have pictures of food and table settings, but I do have pictures of the people I love and a fun puppy named Ruby.
The long weekend was filled with talking, eating, playing with the puppy, getting a Christmas tree, and remembering what we are thankful for.
Speaking of thankful, tomorrow I'm going to post a few pictures taken with the lens Brent got me for Christmas. I haven't even had it for 24 hours, but I'm in LOVE.
I got an iphone. And then I got addicted to Angry Birds.
And then I chopped a TON of hair off. See?
This week is going to be a delightful one. Tomorrow my sister is coming up and watching K while I take some pictures, and then we're driving down to our parents' house for a cooking extravaganza. We've been talking about what we're going to cook for almost a month! We even got a fresh turkey this year, not frozen. And Aaron and Ilana (my brother and almost sister in law) are flying in Wed. night! It's almost too much joy to handle.
Also, I know I've talked about Donna Boucher a million times. She taught me SO much about photography, and I really consider her a role model. I feel like she might consider me a stalker though : ) I read her blog, love her posts on the PW site, and comment on her facebook posts. I just really like her. Anyway, my Christmas present this year is a new to me lens... and i'm buying it from her! My friends are meeting her on Wed. to pick it up!!! When I told my mom about the transaction she said, "Oh, you're getting a lens from a celebrity! That makes it even better than if it were brand new!"
Thanksgiving, Aaron and Ilana, cooking with my family, and a new lens. Could life get any better??
When K was a baby, she wore a little bear suit, and it was adorable.
And now she has a big girl coat...
Amazing how one piece of clothing can make my baby look about 3 years old.
On Thursday night, we went to Taste of Home Cooking School in La Crosse with my mom and sister. We go every year... this was I think our 7th. If you haven't been to one, they do cooking demonstrations and talk about food and gadgets and such. This year was a little different though because about 1/2 way through a lady passed out, and they had to get an AED and paramedics, and it was kind of crazy.
Anyway, they give away all kinds of door prizes, and at the end, they give away all of the food they cooked on gorgeous serving dishes. We have never won. But we go anyway, and love every minute!
I've called K a lot of different nicknames... most of the time we call her Hootie. A few months ago, my mom got her a toy camera that clicks like a camera, and sings songs. One is "If you're happy and you know it" We've heard the song so many times, we started calling K Shirley. Shirley Showit.
Sing the song out loud, you'll get to the right part.
The longest I've been away from K in her WHOLE LIFE was about 7 hours when I went to the Madison area to learn about photography. Other than that, I've been there- all day, every day. I read to her, sing to her, talk to her, everything. So, naturally, she can't stop saying...
dada.
dada.
daaaaaaaadaaaaaa.
Really, kid?
Good thing she's so cute.
Last week I took pictures of the Onsager girls. Yesterday I was backing up files and doing some sorting, and I found a picture I didn't edit or use because there were all these crazy shadows and lights, and I just kind of passed it up. Editing is not my strong suit, but last night I worked on the picture a little. I'm glad I did, because I can't help but laugh out loud when I look at it.
Isn't she funny?
So, I'm already listening to Christmas music, but there are two songs that ALWAYS remind me of Thanksgiving time.
Several years ago, my friend Carolyn and I went to a concert in the cities. Kanye West was the performers name, and he wasn't big yet. Or big headed. Anyway, we went, and it was great, but what was also great, was this other guy playing the piano and singing back up and a few choruses.
It was John Legend. If you don't know John Legend, you should... at least his earlier stuff. This song will always remind me of Thanksgiving, because that year at thanksgiving time I was obsessed with him, and there's just this warmth to the song.
Another song that reminds me of Thanksgiving came from a commercial (either Gap or Old Navy). I'm pretty sure I sang the phrase "If you are chilly, here take my sweater" no less than 10,000 times that year.
I love both of these songs. They remind me of family, being thankful, and joy!
So I left off yesterday telling you about a weekend of traditions. Saturday we had planned to go to Stockholm, WI for their women's weekend and then to Lavender Lane which is near Winona. Stockholm is a town of 66 people, yet they have all these cute shops and restaurants! It's fun. Lavender Lane is another thing we do every year. We always go in the afternoon, and its usually cold and blustery. It's a gift shop that is in an old church. They have very affordable and very cute things! If you spend 10.00 they give you a ticket, and that ticket gets you into a little tent outside the store. They serve soup, croissant sandwiches, cider, coffee, and Christmas cookies while you sit by an old wood stove fire and listen to Christmas music. It's amazing.
Well, we left about 9 ish to go to Stockholm, but when we drove past Lavender Lane, we saw this:
It was about 9:40, and there was a line of about 30 women waiting to get in! We had never gone early, so we didn't know about this rush to get in. So, we pulled over and got into line! They had drawings for prizes, they brought us hot cider while we waited, it was great! But then, they opened the doors. You could not move. We ended up leaving because you couldn't even turn around! When we came back later in the afternoon like usual, we found out someone had passed out that morning in all the chaos. Here's a better picture of how big the building is... now think about cramming 75+ people in there at once! Chaos!
I love that place. Stockholm was fun too. We had a delicious lunch, shopped, and ate pie. We also picked up a few things for our Thanksgiving celebration, and I got a bag of sun dried tomatoes that I cannot wait to cook with!
Another thing we do every year (or at least when we remember) is to go see the migrating tundra swans. The swans stop a little bit south of Brownsville on their way south. A few years ago, there were so many- it was breathtaking! There were a lot this year too, but more will be there next weekend.
If being an occupational therapist doesn't work out for my sister, she can always go into professional bird watching. She's got the squint. : )
As I wrote the title to that blog, I couldn't help but belt out a little bit of the Fiddler on the Roof Song. Anyway, there is a Hallmark commercial on tv right now that has the line "Traditions aren't just for keeping; they're for keeping people together." I LOVE that. Probably every other post I write in the next 2 months will start with "every year, we..." I'm big into traditions.
Something that is kind of a tradition, is our aprons. My mom, Jenny and I all have aprons made by the same lady. We got them out for the first time this year when we made wishing cookies a couple weekends ago. According to the recipe, if you make a wish, then break your cookie into three pieces and eat them without talking, your wish will come true!
And this year, we got K her own apron... made by the same lady that made ours!
Now to this weekend. Every year when Brent goes deer hunting, we go shopping! But before the shopping, I drove down and dropped my horse trailer off at the farm where Callie is living for the next year or so. Callie looked great! Also, the year end banquet for the horse show association in southeastern MN was sat. night. I didn't go, but got texts from Rachel, the girl who showed Cal last summer. For year end awards they got 3rd in western pleasure, tied for 2nd in western horsemanship and ended up with 3rd, reserve in both english equitation and english pleasure, and GRAND CHAMPION in showmanship. I totally got teary-eyed when I found out. I'm just so happy it's working out so well. They ended up 6th overall and that is amazing!! Okay, so after I dropped off the trailer I went to visit the Onsager farm and take some pictures. Here are a few of my favorites....
I love this last picture... these girls are so great!
Friday morning I was able to see some of my favorite people in the whole world- the St. Peter's girls! I love them and can't wait til our annual Buffalo Wild Wings Christmas night : )
Sat. and Sunday were filled with shopping, applesauce, birds, and general fun.... to be continued tomorrow!
Today, Miranda Lambert was on Regis and Kelly. I love her. My sister and I went to one of her concerts a few years ago in La Crosse. She was there with Blake Shelton, and it was amazing. We hadn't planned on going, I think we got tickets the day before. Here's a picture of us that night:
Anyway, Miranda has this new country group called the Pistol Annies. They have a song out that I LOVE. Here' the link to it:
There's just something about this song that makes me feel tougher and rebellious just by listening to it. Obviously, it's not a whole lot like my life, but it makes me want to drive about ten miles over the speed limit and throw an aluminum can in the garbage.
Another song that makes me feel tougher is this rendition of Highwayman. It's amazing. Take the time to listen to it. You'll feel tougher.
