Great Outdoors & Weather » Mi Vida Ocupada

Beautiful Winter Sunrise over White Bear Lake

Great Outdoors & Weather, Photography 4 Responses »

Jan 122012

One thing that I love about the months of Jan-March is that the sun is usually just starting to rise as I leave my house for work each morning. I often take a very short detour to the frozen shores of White Bear Lake on days that have a beautiful sunrise. Here is what I captured (from my car window!) yesterday morning….

January Sunrise over White Bear Lake

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On this date I have blogged about:

On 01-12-10: Read Tuesday’s Top 10: Favorite Desserts (01-12-10)
On 01-12-09: Read 2009 Bloggie Awards!! (01-12-09)
On 01-12-09: Read Taking it back to the OLD school…… (01-12-09)
On 01-12-08: Read Scrapalicious…. (01-12-08)
On 01-12-06: Read Today at school….. (01-12-06)

Thanks for reading, have a great day ;)

Strange Winter We’re Having {Record Highs}

Great Outdoors & Weather 4 Responses »

Jan 102012

Today, in the Twin Cities, we set a record high for this date.

It was 52′ F

52′!!!! JANUARY in MINNESOTA!!

In Minnesota, January is without doubt our coldest month. It is typically near 0′F and often gets even colder with the windchill. Do you remember the 7 Ft snowman that I posted a photo of on New Year’s Eve? Typically a snowman that is 7ft tall built at this time of year would last well into April.

This is what the snowman looked like 7 days later (taken two days ago, on Sunday). Today he is probably long gone….

The snow has all melted as well. It is very, very strange. I’m not complaining though, it isn’t going to last!

We are due for a deep freeze tomorrow!

Thanks for reading, have a great day ;)

Daytripping {along the St Croix River}

Great Outdoors & Weather 5 Responses »

Nov 042011

I meant to post this a few weeks ago and for whatever reason, I didn’t get around to it. You know how that goes, it’s the story of this blog lately! NaBloPoMo is making me step-it-up around here. Lol.

Anyway, a couple of Sundays ago my guy and I drove over to Stillwater for an early dinner at Charlie’s Restaurant and Irish Pub at the Water Street Inn. The food was good and we had a nice time but we weren’t ready to go home so we decided to go exploring instead.

The water level is back to normal after flooding this spring; six months ago the Stillwater Lift Bridge was closed

This Gazebo was almost completely under water, only the roof was above the water line last spring

Stillwater Gazebo on St Croix

Stillwater Lift Bridge Fall 2011

After our walk we drove north along the St Croix and into Taylors Falls. We then crossed the bridge into Wisconsin and headed toward St Croix Falls and then continued north again along the river on the ‘Sconny side. The River Drive is very beautiful…. you never see people or houses but every once in awhile a car will pass you.
We stopped at a landing along the river and went hiking. We have our very own special lookout spot

Lookout over St Croix River

Woods

Landing on the St Croix River

It was near sundown by the time we left the landing

DSC_3677

Somewhere along the trail we came across bushes of wild blueberries. I had myself a little snack…they were delicious!

Bunch of Wild Blueberries

At one point we made it to Wolf Creek, a small, honky tonk kind of town. Just out of town (which consists of a bar and maybe a mechanic shop) there is a creepy church that looks straight out of a scary movie. Or another era. Hopefully I didn’t have a curse placed on me for stopping there to take a few photos. lol

Wolf Creek Methodist Church

I love going on Sunday Drives with no particular destination in mind…. it is always an adventure!

Thanks for reading, have a great day ;)

Fall Portraits {Mason & Jonah}

Babies & Kids, Great Outdoors & Weather, Photography 3 Responses »

Oct 192011

A few weeks ago I met my friend Shannon and her two boys at a local park to shoot some fall portraits. It was the most perfect, warm, sunny fall day you could ask for and the trees were gorgeous!

I am by no means a professional photographer but when my friends ask me to take photos of their kids and/or families, I generally find some time to do it.

I have known these two little guys since they were literally days old, as Shannon lived two houses down from me for nine years. In fact, it is all Shannon’s fault that I bought the house I am in since she is the one who brought me to the model home just days after she signed her own purchase agreement.

It was fun and I am glad I got to spend some time with them. I miss having them as neighbors!

Thanks for reading, have a great day ;)

Moon Rocks {Real Lunar Samples}

Great Outdoors & Weather, School & Work 4 Responses »

Oct 032011

Did you know there have only been six missions that landed on the moon, all of which took place between 1969 and 1972??!!

Each of these missions allowed two astronauts to take a smaller vehicle from their space shuttle, land on the moon, get out and walk around. So in total, only 12 human beings have ever walked on the moon!

During some of these missions, the astronauts took samples of rocks and soil from the moon so that we could study it here on Earth. There are very few of these samples around. You can see Lunar Samples at the Smithsonian, Field Museum and the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center in Houston. There are also a couple of samples that travel with trained professionals.

These moon rocks are so rare (PRICELESS) that they are highly safeguarded. There is no atmosphere on the moon, therefore the rocks are contained in special pressurized cases that are extremely thick. Many are also stored in nitrogen

Each night these traveling samples must be locked up at a local police station to ensure their safety.

A few weeks ago we were lucky enough to have a specialist bring moon rocks to our school and visit one of our 6th grade classrooms. Here they are!! According to Wikipedia, the value of these Moon Rock samples is at least $.5 million USD or more!

Moon Rocks ~ NASA Lunar Sample

Thanks for reading, have a great day ;)

Sometimes the Rain brings Rainbows…..

Great Outdoors & Weather 4 Responses »

Jul 282011

Taken July 5th….

Rainy Day

Rainbow

Thanks for reading, have a great day ;)

Pink Asian Lilies

Flowers, Great Outdoors & Weather, Photography 7 Responses »

Jul 262011

My pink asian lilies were in full bloom for the past two weeks. We had literally 300+ blooms.

Pink Lilies

Pink Lily 2

Pink Lily 3

Pink Lilies by the dozens

Pink Lilies 2

This is one of the pink lilies early in the morning with the sun shining directly on it…

Pink Asian Lily

Thanks for reading, have a great day ;)

Hot & Steamy

Great Outdoors & Weather 6 Responses »

Jul 192011

Or should I say….

Hot and Sweaty

Hot and Humid

Miserably Hot

Sticky and Nasty

Whatever you want to call it, I am not loving this weather we’ve been having.

The past four days it has been over 90′ with 85% humidity. The dew point is like 80′!

Say what?

You might not know the difference if you work in the A/C (but praise the Lord if you do!)

These past two days of summer school have been unbearable. We do not have air conditioning at our school. It might be 110′ in my room when I get to work each day. No exaggeration, either. I have had no less than five students come dressed in sweatshirts (one in a winter vest) every day. No kidding. With pants, socks and shoes. I warn them how dangerous it is to be so hot, but some of them won’t listen. I plead with them not to wear sweatshirts and to wear sandals but to no avail. It is frustrating!

Being overheated for 7 hours a day and then coming home to a freezing cold house has made me sick. I woke up with a sore throat and stuffy on Sunday and now have a stupid summer cold. Oh well, today is the last day of summer school and I look forward to the next three weeks which will be all that I get for a summer break before heading back for workshops, etc. I plan to relax and work on the Twin Cities Restaurant Blog during that time. I can’t wait to sleep in past 5am every day for the next three weeks!

Thanks for reading, have a great day ;)

4th of July {Party with the Koch Fam}

Family Gatherings, Great Outdoors & Weather, Holidays 6 Responses »

Jul 102011

I know it has been a week since the 4th of July but we have been so busy having fun all week that I am just getting to posting my photos. My cousin Daniel was in town from Tucson and in an attempt to get everyone together, Brian and Michelle threw a party up at their new lake home. We spent time out on the lake, hanging out, playing games, drinking and eating. It was a wonderful day, I almost didn’t want it to end. Only about 1/3 of the Koch clan was in attendance but we still had 30+ people.

The visuals……

Some photos taken on land….

Gram got on the John Deere and gave tractor rides like she used to do with us when we were kids. They loved it as much as we always did!

The food….

I forgot to take pictures of the desserts but my Gram made her famous Club Cracker Cookies. Yumma yumma yumma.

Hope you all had a great 4th of July too!

Thanks for reading, have a great day ;)

Nature Photo Hike at Tamarack

Great Outdoors & Weather 2 Responses »

Jun 232011

One night last week we headed out to Tamarack to go on a long walk/hike. I hadn’t planned to bring my camera along because it is so heavy and my shoulders were still badly sunburned. So, of course I decided to bring my camera along (with my 55-200mm zoom lens)…. You just never know what you might come across when you’re on the trail, right?! None of these photos are very exciting but they document part of our hike.

Trail at Tamarack May 2011

We came across a couple of wild turkeys

Wild Turkeys at Tamarak

DSC_0460

Since I had my bigger lens on my camera (which I hardly ever use), I decided to take a few close-up photos inspired by my friend Toni Ecklund Photography. She is a pro at close-up nature photos, something I hardly ever shoot.

Pine Cone Macro

Pine Bough

I love the bokeh on this one

Meadow Grasses at Tamarack

That walk kicked my butt…. I am way out of shape. Need to work on that!

Thanks for reading, have a great day ;)

Porkapalooza 2011

Family Gatherings, Great Outdoors & Weather, Slideshows 5 Responses »

Jun 072011

My brother Jeff has an annual BBQ every May near his birthday. This celebration has been dubbed “Porkapalooza”. Every year he adds something special to the menu and this year’s addition was homemade sausages with chipotle and cheese. The sausages were delicious! Jeff even blogged about how he made them. I love the idea of making your own sausages, the possibilities for ingredient combos are endless! The food was wonderful, as it always is! Everyone brings something to share, I made fresh salsa. Yum!

The party was a good time (held on Sunday of Memorial weekend), I enjoyed hanging out with my Gram and Gramp, Mom, Dad, my nieces and nephew, and a few other family members. Jeff and Amanda too (although they were busy cooking and entertaining). Brian and Michelle were at a wedding that day so my parents brought the kids.

Anyway, I made a little soundless slideshow of some of my photos. I am usually too busy to think about all the cool things I can do with my Macbook but this was fun. Sound free because what music goes with pictures of pork??!! LOL

Thanks for reading, have a great day ;)

Patio Weather {It’s About TIME}

Family Gatherings, Food and Drink, Great Outdoors & Weather 6 Responses »

May 252011

It’s no secret that this spring hasn’t been the greatest weather-wise.

So what to do when the weather finally starts to get nice?

Hit up a local restaurant with a great patio!

I did that twice last week and it was awesome.

On Wednesday I met my brother Jeff at WA Frost & Co for Happy hour on the patio (review to come). Of course we were also celebrating Jeff’s 30th birthday. Please excuse the ugly backdrop, we were at the back of the patio with our backs to the wall

The patio at WA Frost is very big and very lush and their coconut-green curry mussels are to-die-for!!

Then Saturday night I went to Black Forest Inn to cover a piece about Spargelfest (festival of asparagus!) They also have a very nice patio, in a courtyard of sorts. They also have a giant tarp on a mechanical pulley that covers the patio when it starts to sprinkle. In Minnesota it is common for the weather to be sunny all day, start to cloud up and rain later out of nowhere and then turn sunny again an hour later. That is exactly what the weather was doing on Saturday. The tarp is actually covering the patio in the photo below, you just can’t tell because you still get nice daylight.

I hope to hit up many more patios around town this summer before it gets too hot, how about you?!

Thanks for reading, have a great day ;)

Mother Nature {Spring Cold}

Feeling Under the Weather, Great Outdoors & Weather 4 Responses »

Apr 222011

Dear Mother Nature,

What is up with the terrible weather this spring?

I would be fine with the typical spring thunderstorms, however

Twice this week I woke up to this site:

Morning Snow on 4-20

Really, Mother Nature???

Haven’t we had enough winter already?????

This weather has literally put me under the weather. I have been stuffy, sneezy, and have had a terrible sore throat and swollen glands for the past two days. Feeling like crapola

Please bring on the warmer weather and sunshine soon, PLEASE!!

Thanks for reading, have a great day ;)

Biggest Snow Storm in 20 Years = 2 “Snow Days” from School

Great Outdoors & Weather, School & Work 4 Responses »

Dec 142010

I still can’t believe how much snow we got, something like 21″? There was so much snow that even now, 3 days later, the streets in the city of St Paul are still in rough shape. Both Minneapolis and St Paul cancelled school on Monday and Tuesday out of safety for the kids. We bus 90% of our students district-wide and the bus routes were not clear and they didn’t want kids waiting in the near-zero temps for buses that couldn’t get to them. Better safe than sorry

Part of me was excited to have the extra-long weekend, but missing two days of school before a two-week break is hard to make up. So much to do, I might actually have to go in over break to work a few days.

I spent my free days off reading, lounging, baking cookies and calzones, Christmas shopping, and eating. Very little blogging!

Back to work tomorrow, looking forward to it ;)

Staff party at Shamrocks Irish Pub after work!

Thanks for reading, have a great day ;)

Snowmageddon, Snowpocalypse, SnOMG { That’s a LOT of SNOW}

Great Outdoors & Weather 9 Responses »

Dec 122010

For the record, we had a gigantic snowstorm here in Minnesota that started in the wee hours of Saturday morning and lasted throughout the day. Official reports at the airport say 17″ but some places got more like 21″.

View of my deck at the height of the storm:

Snowmageddon

The pile of snow in my front yard is at least 12′ high. No kidding!

Mountain of Snow in my Front Yard

We got snow much snow that the roof of the Metrodome collapsed and they had to cancel the Vikings game and move it to Detroit. Craziness!

Video footage of the Dome collapsing:

Hope my fellow Minnesnowtans enjoyed the snow day from the comfort of your warm, safe homes!

Thanks for reading, have a great day ;)

The Snow Makes Me Want to Fly Away….

Great Outdoors & Weather, Travel 7 Responses »

Nov 132010

We had our first official snowfall overnight….. 6″ or so.

First Snowfall of the Season

Despite living in MN nearly my whole life, I am not one of those cheery winter people. Instead, the first sight of snow makes me want to pack my suitcase and head out of town. It would have to be a big suitcase because I wouldn’t want to come back until April or so! LOL

Where would I go right now if I had the time and money to head out of town???

Costa Rica

Tucson, AZ

Hawaii

Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico

Who’s with me??? Does the sight of snow make you want to fly somewhere warm too?? Where would you go right now??

Thanks for reading, have a great day ;)

Fun Adventures in Minneapolis {with Bradie & her girls}

Babies & Kids, Friend Time, Great Outdoors & Weather, Photography 3 Responses »

Oct 312010

A few weeks ago when I had the day off of work I spent the day with my oldest girlfriend and her three little girls. It was a beautiful, warm October day so we hung out at their house, went out for lunch at Jakeeno’s Pizza and Pasta, hiked around Minnehaha Falls, took a bunch of photos, watched airplanes coming in for landing, and hung out some more. I love these girly days when we get ‘em :)

Minnehaha Falls in Afternoon

Neven 5

Thanks for reading, have a great day ;)

An Autumn Day in Taylor’s Falls…..

Great Outdoors & Weather, Photography, Travel 9 Responses »

Oct 102010

Last Sunday we went with some friends to Taylor’s Falls on the St Croix River (the border between MN and WI). We hiked the cliffs and had a picnic in the middle of the woods. It was fun! Oh, and of course I took a bunch of photos :)

Thanks for reading, have a great day ;)

Out on the Lake {at last!}

Family Gatherings, Great Outdoors & Weather 3 Responses »

Sep 062010

Unlike many other summers, this year I was deprived from any boating on the lake, due to being in Texas most of the summer. Last weekend I finally got my chance…. My brothers, Michelle and the kids, as well as my cousin Vicky and her kids all came up to my parents place for a day of boating and dinner. It was a HOT, humid day and very breezy.

Isn’t Annika’s curly, red hair beautiful? She is a lucky girl

Fun times!
Glad I got out there at least once this summer, the way that the weather has been looking the past few days…. Autumn is on its way.

Thanks for reading, have a great day ;)

Sunset at the Oasis {2010 Version}

Friend Time, Great Outdoors & Weather, Travel 11 Responses »

Aug 052010

One of the coolest things to do in Austin is to head out to The Oasis on Lake Travis to see the sunset. Last year I made the trek all by myself but this year I had Carolyn and Chaitra to keep me company. We went together after dinner with the big group of work friends. It was such a beautiful night! The first in many that it was clear and not raining (it has been a very rainy summer down here in TX) although it was HOT…..

Enjoying the sunset (and the Frozen Margarita- which had a floater of Chambord)

The Oasis is Ginormous, with seating to fit over 1000. They are building a new addition right now as well, so I am sure it is going to be even more magnificent when it is done. Hopefully I will see it for myself next summer ;)

Thanks for reading, have a great day ;)