Back Yard Renovation July 2021

 Progress! 

I like this word it makes me feel like we are actually getting somewhere. When we bought our house we knew we needed a new deck, to fix the fence and do something with the side yard that refused to grow grass. Here we are years later and it is finally starting to feel like a little oasis. When you buy a house you think you will get everything done in no time. You make little lists of what you want to do but then reality hits when you realize it costs a lot of money, blood, sweat and tears to get it all done. I will be the first to admit that I am blessed to have a spouse that is extremely handy and tackles many of these projects to the point he is exhausted from planting trees this weekend. Here are so recent photos with some of the work we have been doing. A note here too paying others or knowing your limits is not a bad thing we hired someone to do our deck and pergola. Could Ryan (my husband) done them himself? Sure but it would have taken him a lot of time. 

The above images are the side yard that is just a little sliver along our home. It is between our lot and our neighbors. For years we tried to grow grass but in recent years we just mulched it all in, removed an old tree stump, planted 4 trees, Ryan built a cool stand for our hammocks and a little retaining wall. At the bottom of the wall he placed out little planter he made out of the fence posts that fell down years ago in a storm. Now we have these cute little pots here too to look at while in the hot tub. Ryan also replaced some rooted fence posts and we stripped and painted the leftover fence we have. The fence was a labor of love taking us a year and a half to complete. The last picture is before we removed the weeds and put the cute pots in this year.

The next space up in the yard is most likely the biggest yard change and of course cost the most. Where the back yard meets the tiny side yard we went through the difficult process and expense at that of installing a hot tub during COVID-19. It involved multiple permits, meeting with the city and loads of money. We are so happy with it though. The pergola was built by someone we hired. Ryan did build the sand stand surround and the stairs which were old wood from the deck that was replaced. The sun shade was purchased from Amazon. We are really excited for the future of this part of the back yard. 

Here is the last part of our tiny backyard the deck and corner before the side yard. Now we used to have an enclosed fence that went all the way to the end of the house. If you have followed me on social media you would have heard about a large part of that fence falling down because the  giant tree that used to be next to the deck pushed on it so hard and it was rotting. Ryan in the past year has replaced the rotting posts and used the wood from the  fallen fence to make all sorts of furniture and decorative walls in our home. He is good at not wasting wood. The fixed fence was painted as well this was mentioned above. The concreate patio was done before we bought the house and it works but causes some drainage issues we are working on with pea gravel along the fence to prevent future fence rot. Ryan stripped the deck and we had it rebuilt this year as the wood on the deck part was rotting. It looks great! We also bought replacement trees for the 3 trees we cut down along the house this year. It's really coming together. We are not thinking about upcoming mulch, maybe an arbor and finally planting grass by the deck. 

The joys of home ownership is that things are never really complete! 

Until next time~ Emily 

2021 Indy car races at Road America

 I barely took pictures so this is more of a text post sorry/not/sorry. I have been going to Road America for years. It is one of my favorite race tracks. There is something to be said about the smell of the racing fuel, the quick pace of cars around the corners and the thrill of an almost crash. 

This weekend when we went the races I could not believe the crowds. I go here often throughout my life and outside of a Nascar weekend this is the busiest I have ever seen it. We started by parking at the bottom of corner 5 (yes this track has multiple corners!) and walked around. The weather was hotter than I expected as the weather guy was wrong about it raining yet again. It did not rain. It was cool to see all the sponsor stands and take a quick walk through pit lane. I am not a fan of groups of people still so we tended to stray from that as much as possible. We then decided to watch a little of the race ending and then we were on the hunt for food. We found the perfect spot to watch the Indy race in the last corner before the finish line with a food/drink stand, cover in case it rained and TV to watch when they were not in our corner. I mean the course is 4 plus miles so you need a screen to see it all. 

Fun note of interest I have really gotten into watching this docu-series on Netflex about formula 1 that follows the racers called Formula 1: Drive to Survive. I bring this up because one of the drivers I really liked is now racing for Indy so I got to see him (Romain Grosjean) finish 5th at the race. 

Here are some highlights: 

Here is the only picture of an actual car I took all day. I was taking pictures with my brain though all day. Super cool! 

It really turned out to be a lovely day for a race. Enjoyed some slushies and an awesome view. 

I love being back to doing the things I love. We also went to a concert Saturday night! Keep staying safe out there. 

Until next time~ Emily 

Rhubarb Slush

 

It's that time of year were I am finding things to do with my giant rhubarb plant. A little background on this plant. I have had it for over 5 years now and it is a monster. I got it from this sweet old lady selling tiny plants at the farmers market. Each year I need to find new ways to use the bounty of the monster plant. This year I was determined to make rhubarb slush and it is AMAZING. Ryan and I tried it out last night. 

Here is the recipe. I think you could use strawberries too and it would be great.

What you need~

• 8 cups of rhubarb washed and chopped loosely
• 6 cups of water 
• 2 cups of sugar 
• 1 can of frozen lemonade concentrate 
• 1 can of frozen orange juice concentrate 
• 2 cups of booze (I used vodka)  
• 1 ice cream type bucket to use that can be frozen
• Lemon/Lime soda to serve 

Set out the frozen concentrates 20 minutes before starting to thaw. Start by cleaning and placing your rhubarb in a large pot with the sugar and water. Boil until the rhubarb is really soft. Place a colander over the ice cream bucket you will be using. Strain the hot rhubarb mix over the bucket careful to not let any of it get into the liquid you are straining. Add the thawed out concentrates and booze then mix really well. Freeze for at least 24 hours. Take the mix out and shave/stir it up. Place back in freezer till you want to use it. Then you can start drinking it whenever you wish. I take two giant scoops of the mix and then pour the lemom/lime soda over the top. 

I will be making this with strawberries next for sure. Such a delight! 

Until next time~ Emily 

Paddling: We can do HARD things!

 I love being on the water. I have always loved it even as a child. As an adult I want to be out there even more as it helps with my mental health. It's often very relaxing to paddle around out on the water on a nice day. I don't really have good stamina with it though as my upper body is not the strongest. I bring this whole thing up because I just did something yesterday I am really proud of. Often I go with more experienced paddlers who I am sure annoyed with how slow and limited I make the paddle. 

So Sunday.... 

We went to a lake we have never been to before in Green Lake. Once we put in and started paddling around we noticed the lake was really busy with traffic and the water was pretty gross. We laughed because of course they named it Green Lake it is GREEN! I of course was unsure how long we would be out paddling. In the past I start to get fatigue and over heat really easily on the water. I made sure right away to keep my pacing at a pace I could do that was not with Ryan speed. He can really paddle fast. On top of the pacing I packed water and made sure to get my feet wet/arms wet throughout the paddle. We also stopped for about 20 minutes out of the 3 hour paddle to swim around a bit and cool off. I think for me too I get to a point where I could paddle for hours was really impressive for me and it reminded me that I can do hard things. 

You can do hard things. We can do hard things! 

Hope you lean into your challenges this week. Stay safe and healthy out there!

-Emily 

Some Thoughts On Hair

 I am sure you came to this post thinking... what is this all about? Well it's just my thoughts on something people find important and part of their identity really. After almost 35 years on this earth over time my hair has gone through every length almost and I look back on the styles... cuts and am always surprised how hair can really define a person. I have always wondered why that is too because for me I like to have my hair cut and colored and looking good too but I never thought how it can make or break your attitude like daily. 

I actually became sort of fixated with cutting my hair during the pandemic. Thank goodness my hair stylist Heather is patient with me.  I have for years known my hair does not do well long. I do not have thick hair so when it grows out it is really just stringy looking and not a good look. Over the past years I have rocked a bob and loved it. So post pandemic for me after being vaccinated I thought about going for a longer pixie. Yes. A pixie and we ended up with a pixie bob. I am loving having short hair and it's funny because I thought I would get more comments on it. Specifically negative comments. 

Let's dive into that a bit. Social norms. I don't like them and I think it is silly that in our culture you cannot have long hair as a guy and not be considered a hippy, in a band or in a biker gang. Same thing for woman who want to rock short hair. Why is short hair for old ladies only? I feel like you do what you want to do with your hair that makes you feel good. I actually found that my husband who now has long hair gets A LOT of comments on his hair like non-stop when we see family and friends. I found this so very interesting because I expected the comments on my hair not his. 

Also fun fact: I have a bald spot on the back of my head. Super funny. Well not for poor Heather when she found it but it is something funny to laugh at now. 

This was last weekend. Rocking short hair! 

I am loving the short hair with cute headbands.

This was right before the big chop post COVID-19 pandemic.

My hair was the longest it had ever been for my wedding in 2013. 

This is Ryan and I on our 1 year anniversary in high school. Notice my messy longer curls. ugh.

I made a life mistake during the pandemic and used overtone on my hair. Sorry Heather! It made my hair a rose gold that will not go away. 

I have had many lengths over time this is me and my grandmother years ago this was a in between length.

I rocked a bob for a couple years and loved it. Not as much as my short hair but I liked it! 

Remember do what you want with your hair. What makes you feel good? I also highly recommend that you find a hair stylist you can trust with your hair that will not just do what you want but work with you on what looks good on you and is honest with you on what is do-able. I go to Heather at The Bewitchery. She is the very best. 

Stay safe out there! 

- Emily 

Memorial Day Weekend 2021

 

What a jam packed 4 days off for me from work. I took Friday off to take my great aunt Shirley & mom to lunch. We also went to Wery's to stock up my house with flowers for the year. They have such good quality plants there. We had such a good time Friday. Being able to see my family and hug them thanks to being vaccinated is such a big thing for me. The hardest part of pandemic isolation was missing out on that for so long. See a full recap of the weekend below. 💓

Here are some Friday picture highlights. Notice my sweet mug from Spork where we went to lunch. 

Aunt Shirley's mug at Spork.

Quiche. The salad dressing was amazing.

I may have ate healthy for lunch but went Midwest basic for dinner. 

Planted all my plants!

They look great. 

Saturday I planted above pictured plants and then we spent the afternoon with my husbands family celebrating Rilynn's birthday. It was an afternoon filled with laughs and good food. So nice to see everyone after so long at a normal family event. That night we got to see friends around the glow of a camp fire. 

Sunday was busy! Filled with a short biking trip, helping friends move and grilling. Some photos from the day. 

Someone loves the sun. 

mmmm egg bake for breakfast.

Just passed out on her scratching post. Monday was her 14 year gotca day. Don't worry she was spoiled all day!

Some days my body will just nope out of exercise. In the past I would push myself harder and regret it. Went for a short ride in our local park and called it good. 

Bloody Mary type day before helping friends move.

Mexican street corn and burgers with beer onions/mushroom topping.

We walked to get ice cream. Turned into an hour and a half adventure by the stadium. So nice to get out. 

Monday was Memorial Day. I did a lot of reflection this year on those that gave so much for our country and watched a ton of documentaries on the topic. We spent this day with a delightful slow paddle down the Oconto river all the way to the bay. My mom picked us up and we had lunch with her and my dad. It was a really nice way to end a busy weekend. I actually did not take many pictures this trip because I wanted to just be in nature and enjoy it. 

My favorite snack I keep in the car for post workouts.

I want this beetle.

We really adore our new canoe. It is lightweight and works well for our life style.

We drove all over Oconto looking for a place that was open for lunch. Ended up with some tasty brisket tacos. So nice to be able to eat out again with family!

As we settle into some normal activities I am for once really excited for the summer. Even bought some Foo Fighters concert tickets yesterday. Something a couple of weeks ago I would not have done with how the pandemic was going. 

Stay safe out there!

Emily 

Coming Out of Isolation

 I will be honest half way through 2020 and the pandemic I was not into writing anymore. I was done. I was spent. I had nothing I wanted to share. I felt like for the first half of 2020 I put on a brave face and tried to keep up with writing but my heart was no longer in it anymore. I took time off and lately I have the itch to start sharing again. It really started last week when I made Mississippi Roast. I thought to myself this is new I have never made this before and it was so good I thought about sharing the recipe. Then I thought to myself that I really did not have a platform for that anymore. I post daily all day on Instagram but that is not a writing platform. At this point I started debating starting back on my blog again but it had been so long since I really sat down to write anything. Writing for me is personal and it is a good way for me to refocus on what matters and share some good in the world. 

Here we are coming out of isolation and I mean ISOLATION for me. I went weeks during the pandemic not leaving my house. At first it was more like self-distancing but the more I learned about COVID-19 to became more of a isolation because I knew I had to protect myself at all costs with this disease. Now that I am on the other side of it after losing friends, family and colleagues this past year... I am ready to move forward with positivity and light. I am setting up boundaries with the types of events I am comfortable with and I have been pretty good and sticking to that. Some things I am learning to apply. 

1. Boundaries are healthy and if people do not respect them then you should not have those people in your life. I have been blessed to have friends/family as I come out of the pandemic isolation that are extremely respectful of my space. I even attended a wedding this weekend. I was extremely stressed about it but my friend Jared who was getting married was respectful of my concerns and really told me to take everything at my own pace which helped me not be an anxiety mess. I think telling others what I am comfortable with and not being embarrassed about it at all has been good for me and worked well. 

Ryan & I at the wedding this past weekend.

2. You do not need to say yes to everything now. I used to say yes to everything I was invited to. During the pandemic slowing down a bit with my social calendar was not always a bad thing. Say yes to the things you want and no to anything else. You also do not need an excuse to say no to something. People should respect you enough to understand that you do not want to attend. 

3. It's okay to not go back to all the things you were doing before the pandemic. I mean I used to be at the gym like 2-3 times a week. I now have a home gym that I love and it is so much more convenient to my life style. Will I never go back to the gym? Nah-- I miss my zumba gals so I may snag a class here or there but it is okay to not go back to all the things you did before.  

Those are just some of my basic thoughts on coming out of isolation. Let's be kind to each other and patient as we all come out of this a little more worn and torn. 

Here is a picture of that Mississippi roast I was talking about. Look forward to more recipes soon....

Mississippi Roast

I hope you are all stay healthy and safe!

-Emily