Family Ties

The hubby’s mom and stepdad came to visit us this past week, and Grandma brought baby pictures with her. Veronica looks just like Daddy . . .

Veronica

Daddy

and just like daddy’s mom!

Veronica

Grandma P.

Baby Shower, July 18th

Hi, all! Here are some photos from the baby shower we traveled 12 hours to attend in Minnesota. The trip was well worth it! We saw friends and family we haven’t seen in a while (some since the wedding–4 years ago!), and we had a great time. The cake was delicious (I was so excited for cake), and the company was awesome. Just for consistency’s sake, I was 25 weeks, 5 days at the shower. Enjoy!

Such pretty decorations; my mother-in-law coordinated this part of the party (it was a combo party with both families--the hubby's and mine).

Centerpiece from Mom and Rachel's table.

This one's for my cousin Jennifer, courtesy of Rachel and my mom! Gotta show off that smiling face and the baby belly.

Lots of family and friends from both sides attended.

Though the men were uncertain of this unisex baby shower, they were good sports, took part in the games, and kept each other company . . . in the corner they somehow designated as their own.

It was such a comfy chair that I didn't even mind it was front and center.

We received so many awesome gifts during the shower. This particular one is from my mom and dad. They packed the baby bathtub full of goodies for Baby Girl!

Just one more present-opening picture. We received a lot of pink that day (thank goodness I love pink! The hubby is still getting used to it all), but this little bath towel was so cute and the perfect gift from our friends, Kari and Dale. It's bright and happy like they are!

She’s two, and I’m sending presents. ‘Cause that’s what aunties who live 12 hours away do.

So, my little niece turns two tomorrow. While I can’t be there, I can still send a piece of me through my sewing! I finished this bag in record time tonight–about an hour and a half. And I really like how it turned out. I even spoke with my sister (my niece’s mom) tonight while making it. Though it won’t make it in time for her birthday, it should be there by this weekend, which is when my mom, dad, sister, and bro-in-law will be there to party hardy in celebration of the lil’ tike’s b-day. Here are some pics of the gift bag and her present:

It's all pretty with butterflies and dragonflies!

Close-up

Ribbon

Gingham interior

And what's inside? Squirrels! Handmade (not be me, of course).

I also made a card for her, so it’s a completely handmade present. Yay! I’m going to try to do this for Christmas this year, too, so maybe this is the first step. Right?

I’m Dreaming of a Green Christmas

My older sis and I decided this summer that we were going to do a “green” Christmas. We are purchasing gifts that are made in the USA, are organic, are used, or are handmade (even by us). We also decided that if we came across something that we know the person we’re buying for needs, we can break the rules just a smidge to get them that necessity.

I started off by purchasing a few used books for my niece (Fraggle Rock) and for my little sister and her husband (vegetarian cookbooks) from the Canton Public Library’s Secondhand Prose bookstore.

I purchased something useful for my brother-in-law, Reid: woodworking tools and patterns. Though only a few things are made in the USA, these are things he will be able to use in the future for his woodworking hobby.

The hubby and I purchased spinners, a double shepherd’s hook, and a napkin holder from a Hudderite colony in southern Minnesota. I can talk about these because we weren’t willing to drag them all the way back to Michigan, so the family got them while we were there.

Now we get to the fun part. I went shopping on Etsy, and I was able to score the following awesome stuff:

For my nephew and niece.

For my little sister.

For my brother-in-law (the lil sis’s man).

For my friend, Brooke.

For our friend, Trevor.

And even though my older sister reads my blog, I love this so much, I have to show it off. So, Rachel, don’t click on this link! For my darling older sister.

And this, this is for me (fifth picture down, Autumn Floral). For my new business cards. I have actual business cards for my work. Wow. I think I have a real job. Crazy.

I am making a scarf for my goddaughter, Emily (I have two Emilies in my life–two different spellings and two very different and lovely girls), and I am purchasing something useful for my husband. He reads this blog occasionally, so I won’t say anything more about that.

I’m going to upcycle old cards for my Christmas correspondence, or I will be using recycled paper and envelopes for a Christmas letter. I haven’t decided which yet.

I will also be making the gift bags for each present. I’m not sure if I’ll be able to make all of them in time for my family’s presents, but I’ll definitely be making them for the hubby’s side of the family.

I don’t want this post to sound all preachy, but this is something we chose together. I just thought I would share what we were up to.

My Sister, The Genius

I normally avoid the use of last names here for privacy issues, but I’m so proud of my older sister, I just don’t care.

(Taken from the College of Science and Engineering at St. Cloud State University.)

“A poster presentation by Rachel Lindgren took the top student poster award at the 2008 Phycological Society of America meeting held July 28-30 in New Orleans.

A graduate student of the Department of Biological Sciences and advisee of Professor Matt Julius, Lindgren presented ‘Is It Safe to Drink the Water? Filtering Algal Toxins in Rural Settings.’

One of 42 poster presenters, Lindgren described to the judges the methods and results of her efforts to examine the efficacy of certain portable water treatment options against cyanobacteria and their toxins. While these substances are usually safely removed from water sources treated by municipal water treatment plants, they may exist in dangerous concentrations in water drawn directly from a lake or stream. As such, they pose a specific threat to campers and hikers.”

So, I’m back. Very busy couple of weeks. We drove out to see my parents in ND. We spent five days there, and then we were swept off to MN for my little sister’s wedding. Then we drove down to my older sister’s house for a couple of days, and then took the train back to MI yesterday.

Oof. I’m tired writing about it. Anyway, here are some pictures from the wedding. It was beautiful; the sisters were beautiful; it was good. That’s all I’m going to write for right now because I’m still bushed from all the traveling.

Wedding season is bearing down upon me like…I dunno…like a bridezilla whose cake order has been screwed up?

Bad analogy, but you get the point. We have two weddings this year–one at the beginning of August (little sister) and one at the mid-end of September (hubby’s best friend). I’m the matron of honor, and the hubby is a groomsman. Then, in January, the hubby’s other best friend is getting married. Wedding no. 1 and 2 are in MN, and no. 3 is in SD. And we live in MI. You can do the mileage math.

Thank goodness for Amtrak.

As much as we love our family and friends, couldn’t you all just have waited one more year to get married? Not that one year will guarantee we’ll be any closer, but at least we could put off all this traveling until then. Or y’all could have spread them out more. Or something?!

Don’t get me wrong; I have no problem traveling great distances to reach family and friends, and we’d do anything for our loved ones, but seriously, three in 6 months? Oy.

Well, I’m back from my trip, and now I’m going through all the photos I took during those super fun three weeks. I thought I would put a few of them up here, just for fun.

Playing Animal Tracks Memory. We got this, and two other games, from here. They’re simply wonderful, and we loved playing it over and over again!

Off to North Dakota for a week! I love it in this state. Everything’s just so laid-back, and I love the small towns and the people there. And there are so many animals! I had so much fun watching the ducks and the pocket gophers the Canadian geese and the wild turkeys, and hearing all about the moose and deer. It was great.

We drove all the way to Chicago for my little sister’s second bridal shower, which was being thrown by her fiance’s family. It was fun to celebrate her upcoming nuptials (early August). She received lots of cool stuff, and I got to meet her soon-to-be inlaws. It was a good time.

We then went and celebrated the boys’ birthdays at Benihana in Schaumberg. The next day, I headed home with the hubby.

Good times. Good times. Much love to you all!

My apologies for being incognito. Actually, I take that back. I don’t apologize because my absence has meant that I have walked at EMU’s Winter Commencement, spent some quality time around Detroit with my parents, and have spent the last week and a half with my family, including my older and younger sisters, my bro-in-law, and my niece and nephew. It’s been nice to get away from the homework and the editing and the work and just be an aunt, a daughter, and a sister.

Here’s some of the fun we’re having:

Commencement (I’m two rows behind the woman with the peace sign on her hat).

Playdough is one of our favorites.

I taught Andrew how to play soccer.

Emilie had to get in on the action, too!

We even made a goal.

Andrew, Rachel, and I watched the sleeping bunny under the berry shrub behind their house.

I think Spring is coming. Though I love the Winter, Spring is always a relief. I’m not sure why. Perhaps because everything happens in the Spring or Summer, and the coming of Spring is preparing me for the whoosh of time passing that is always Spring and Summer.

We’re solidly in the 30s for the next week or so, and we’re up near 60 today. Despite that fluke weather pattern back in December that got us near these temperatures, this seems for real. Even if we get a snow storm, which could always happen, it’ll melt rapidly.

This Spring, and subsequent Summer, has a lot in store for us–three trips to MN (one for two bridal showers and two for weddings), and four graduations (one for me, one for my big sis, two for my best friends in Cali and MN).

And I start real life after this Summer. I’m not sure what that is going to entail, but I have an application for a freelance proofreading position with a science textbook publisher in my e-mail drafts box, so we’ll see. We’ll see.