WHAT?

It snows in Michigan? I just thought that was a nasty rumor! As you can tell from the photo our house is under a healthy layer of snow right now. Sampson isn't too big of a fan...which explains why he's running in our front door instead of playing in the snow with me. Better luck tomorrow I guess!

My Lill

So today I received my very own Lill Studio handbag. I have been talking about these bags since I can't even remember! Last Christmas my brother and sister-in-law gave me a gift certificate to make my own Lill! Unfortunately it took me almost an entire year to make a handbag of my own and it arrived today! I absolutely love it and I can't wait to make another one! 1154 Lill Studio is based out of Chicago and you can either make a handbag at the boutique or you can create one online! Fabulous!

O Christmas Tree

After walking through a local tree farm for quite some time we finally decided upon this one, the perfect Christmas tree for our family room! It's a Fraser Fir which according to both our parents AND Martha Stewart is the best tree for hanging your ornament collection!





My very own lumberjack!



Now to get it all the way back to the farm to be wrapped up.



A little longer than we'd imagined.



Perfect...well, after a few trimming sessions it will be! Now to get some decorations up there!

A Go Blue Christmas

Here's our attempt at a Christmas card picture. This was sadly the best one out of the lot. Somebody needs a little more practice with posing I guess! Check out that belly!

A Hard Day's Night

Sampson had the stuffing beat out of him today by Tank and Kaiser. This was him at 9:45 tonight.



Check out those legs...straight up in the air!



Close up on the sleeping puppy...he was snoring so loudly we had to turn up the volume on the television!



Nathan felt I was degrading the puppy by taking photos of him with his legs in the air, so he crossed his legs for him. Ha!

Snow and Sampson

Sampson had his first experience with snow. He was very cold but I'm pretty sure he liked it. I can't wait for him to be big so I can have a snowball fight with him!

A Wisconsin Winter

Amazing what can happen in just a few hours while you're in Wisconsin!

"The" Bed

I love this bed. I just love it. Isn't the peacock gorgeous? Between Bev and her mom they made the pillow cases, dresser scarf and the fabulous bed spread! Fabulous!

Breakfast of Champions

Nathan surprised me by making pancakes this morning...FROM SCRATCH! They were so delicious and the best part was that he did it all himself, including the dishes! I had a blast watching him work from my seat at the island...he's such a perfectionist when he cooks and thats hard to control when you're making perfect pancakes! It's so nice for Nathan to not have to think about school right now and just relax...and I am obviously loving it too! (Notice the triple layer of clothing I'm wearing now...it's COLD here!!!!)

Home Sweet Wisconsin Home

We arrived at Nathan's parents house at 5am today. Nathan did an amazing driving here...straight through the NIGHT!!!! We made great time despite a few detours and very little traffic in Chicago.

Nathan's parents recently moved back to Wisconsin into this beautiful house. I absolutely love coming here because we are so secluded from the city life of Minneapolis, even though it's so close, and we have so much room to roam! Their house is surrounded by woods so Sampson can run around in the backyard that's "naturally" fenced in! I have a favorite bed in their that I love to sleep in. I'll take a photo of it tonight...it has a beautiful handmade quilt on top of a peacock! It's so comfortable and I swear I always sleep amazing when I am here!

For Grandma and Grandpa

When my grandparents moved from their house to their condo they decided to give so many of their things to the family. Well, Nathan and I have managed to furnish our townhouse with many of the amazing pieces that my grandparents no longer wanted. This picture is for them...my Grandma wanted to throw this silver pitcher away! Can you believe it? It's one of my favorite things to see when I enter our house. I love to fill it with fresh flowers from the Ann Arbor Farmer's Market. The table is actually 1/2 of a full table that my Grandpa cut to make into end tables for a guest room in their old house. Because of Sampson we've moved the normal pieces from the bottom of this entry table, but the other half of the table serves as the entry table to our back door as well! Along with the side tables and pitcher we "inherited" two sofa chairs, a polar bear statue (I LOVE IT!), a small wicker basket (I can remember cracking the nuts that were in it at my grandparents old house), platters and servings pieces galore, an apple peeler (used every year for homemade applesauce...yum!) and many other items. We even have a buffet and coffee table that were originally my Great-Grandma and Grandpa Line's....and I even managed to snag my Great Grandma Line's beautiful china!

I love new things just as much as the next girl, but there's something special about walking into your house when it's filled with special items from your family! Thank you Grandma and Grandpa...this blogs for you! :)

M Go Blue!

A great beginning...



with a horrible ending! (FYI...I forced him to stick out his lip too!)

We, along with over 111,000 other fans, endured the horrible weather on Saturday afternoon to watch the Michigan vs. Ohio State game. The rain quickly turned to sleet and good ol' Mr. Sun never did show up! Although we cheered loudly as Michigan claimed the first points on the scoreboard, our cheering ran out as we failed to score again. A disappointing day for all Michigan fans, especially Nathan and I whose brothers and sisters will remind us of this game and entire season for years to come! We are now convinced, along with the majority of Michigan fans, that it's time to turn in our old Carr and get one with Les Miles...

The only thing Nathan and I know for sure is that we're still proud to say M Go Blue!

Totally Irresistible

How could you resist those eyes? I LOVE HIM!!!!

Makeout Session

Nathan took some photos of us tonight. Sampson wanted to makeout the entire time! He has the slimiest kisses ever, but I absolutely love them! Check out that tongue!

Our Protector

This statue always sits in the our living room. I bought it after our trip to Africa. I have no idea what happened tonight...wait until you hear his deep bark!



He is such a good little protector!

Monkey Breakfast

I made monkey bread this morning since Noah was leaving. It seems like I always make it for the Zyduck family when they are here! Anyway, it was so good! Too bad Noah slept so late that it wasn't even warm by the time he tried it!

My mom use to make monkey bread on special occasions but she'd also surprise us on random Saturday mornings with it too. (Speaking of my mom, she's the one who painted that funky platter for me!)

I absolutely LOVE monkey bread and now Nathan is hooked too! It's a great recipe to make ahead of time or with your kiddos! Yum! Yum!

Monkey Bread Recipe

INGREDIENTS
3 (12 ounce) packages refrigerated biscuit dough
1 cup white sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 cup margarine
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
1/2 cup raisins

DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease one 9 or 10 inch tube pan.

2. Mix white sugar and cinnamon in a plastic bag. Cut biscuits into quarters. Shake 6 to 8 biscuit pieces in the sugar cinnamon mix. Arrange pieces in the bottom of the prepared pan. Continue until all biscuits are coated and placed in pan. If using nuts and raisins, arrange them in and among the biscuit pieces as you go along.

3. In a small saucepan, melt the margarine with the brown sugar over medium heat. Boil for 1 minute. Pour over the biscuits.

4. Bake at 350 degrees F for 35 minutes. Let bread cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a plate. Do not cut! The bread just pulls apart.

Like Brother, Like Brother

Noah, Nathan's brother, came to visit this weekend. On Friday night he and Nathan stayed up until the crack of dawn playing the videogame NCAA Football.



Sampson and I gave up on trying to stay awake while they played...as you can tell from his picture! I went to bed at midnight. It's not very fun to watch. I guess it's fun to play. They must have played until 3 am...crazies!

Sampson's Surplus

Nathan and I broke down and went to Sam's tonight. I know, what an exciting Friday evening. Anyway, Nathan thought we should buy Sampson the large dog bones because he just swallows the medium ones whole. Well we decided to buy two bulk boxes so that we "wouldn't have to come back next week." When we got home and opened the box we realized our mistake. Unlike most things at Sam's, these bones were filled to the top not packaged inside of smaller boxes. We won't need to buy bones until spring now!

The Aftermath

This is how tired they are after celebrating Shabbot...isn't she a sweetheart? She was out cold for two hours just like this!

Shabbat Shalom

The rabbi came today to tell a bible story, just like every Friday that I've been there. He is very good at making the kiddos laugh, hence the other photos.



On Shabbat we have a blessing for the "wine" and challah then sing a bunch of fun songs.

Before the blessing of the wine and challah.



After blessing the wine Christian collected the "wine glasses"




Look at those exited faces for the challah blessing!



The children really enjoy it...and so do I!

Shalom in the home!

Garlic Challah

Looks good...smells good...probably is good...eh Dizzy?

Wedding Event Websites

In case you're interested, here are the links to our wedding day locations.




The chapel: http://www.stpaulsnewport.org




The reception venue: http://www.dreespavilion.com/

(sorry...that's not us...but that is the view you'll be able to see of Cincinnati on May 30, 2009!)

So exciting!!!!

Time To Go

I knew it was time to leave when my adorable niece, Evelyn, decided to play "Wonder Pets" Band with metal containers and wooden spoons. Ouch! Definitely time to go home.

'Dem Bones

Sampson loves bones. Maddie hasn't been interested in one for five years. Funny how a little competition over who gets to have the bone turns into an hour of chewing for both puppy dogs!

Cousins

At least they get along, right? Maddie, Sampson and Lucy had a fabulous time playing together this weekend. Hard to tell from the picture, but they love to wrestle with each other!

Mark Your Calendars!

We have a wedding date! May 30, 2009!

This is a photo from this morning at 8 am! My dad left the house at 5 am to line up outside our hopeful reception site. He got in line with all of the other bride's and mother of the bride's and waited patiently for the 9 o'clock opening. Fortunately, he only had to stay out in the cold for about 30 minutes, because they opened up the building for everyone to wait inside with their paper numbers. Dad was number three! Woo hoo! He made me promise, along with my mom, not to come until 8...at which time we promptly arrived shocked to find him chatting it up with all the other MOTB's and bride's. It turns out, one of the catering companies provided coffee, tea, bagels and warm raspberry chocolate chip scones! Rough! We had a great time talking until the 9 o'clock opening of "the 2009 books." We got into a single file line and waited our turn (only two spots...thank you Dad!) until we could ask for our hopeful date which was still available (have I said "Thank you Dad!" yet?). We filled out the paper work, turned in the down payment (ouch!) and headed to breakfast, our treat to him! Here's a shot of us waiting for the clock to strike 9. I am so excited and I feel so blessed to have secured this date for our wedding. May 30, 2009 is eleven years to the day that Nathan and I met...collective sigh...now to plan the rest!

Cage Girl

Evelyn was obsessed with Sampson's crate. Here's what our dinner conversation sounded like.

Adult: Evie, eat your dinner.
Evie: la la la la la
Adult: Evelyn, if you don't eat your dinner, you can't go in Sampson's crate.
Evie: (chomp) (gulp) (chomp)

What a bribe, right?