Crazy Summer

It has been one heck of a crazy summer. I guess not really crazy but busy. We have had three sets of visitors, busy work schedules and we have not had a chance to go camping which is sad. :( It was nice to have family come and visit though. My mother, sister and Jon's brother and nephews all stayed with us this summer.

Yes in this second picture I am blinking. I seem to have a knack for messing up photos. Now that the stores have the back to school sales I know that summer is over and the nights will start to get darker sooner...although to me, since college, I have felt that summer blends in to the rest of the year as I work year round in an office with no windows. So, this last weekend with my sister and Nicole in town I had to try and get the best of it. We shopped A LOT!, we bowled at Lucky Strike, laid out at the beach and ate a lot.
Right before my sister visited, Jon and I traveled to his cousins wedding in Minnesota. It was nice to see so much green and feel the humidity of the midwest. It felt like a real summer to me. It was only missing the lightening bugs. It was great to catch up with Mom and Dad while we were there.
Thought I would leave you with once last image of summer...a HUGE kite on the beach in Venice...this was so large you could have driven a car through it.

Shake & Bake

So, my friend Sue gave me an Amish Friendship Bread starter kit and so yesterday I baked two loaves and made four more starters to give away to friends. This bread is amazingly good...as it should be since it is packed with cinnamon, sugar and even has a whole box of vanilla pudding mix in it. A starter kit for friends:
A sugar encrusted loaf that I made:

This bread rocks...those Amish know what they are doing. Would I give up TV and electricity for it....ummmm probably not.

In other news...something I should have blogged about a while ago. I got a fantastic package in the mail from my aunt. :) She sent me a lavendar sachet that I hung on my bedside lamp...the lamp kind of heats it and gives off a lovely scent. A small book entitled "She" which reminds me of an Irish silkie story for some reason and a cool catalog from a show that she went to. Absolutely fastinating. You should see some of this stuff from the art show...painstakingly small detailed work. Hopefully the artist gets her eyes checked regularly.

I hope I can make a nice enough package to send back. I have been taking my time on collecting things...I should speed up and get it in the mail.

I'm Back!

I am not feeling all that wordy...so I thought I would post a bunch of pics from my recent trip:We traveled up to Cambria, CA for the weekend. We went to Hearst Castle and hung out with the elephant seals at the beachLazy lazy elephant seals...they kind of look like driftwood on the beach.
This statue is worth millions and therefore, gets it's own fan for cooling comfort. We then drove by Nit Wit Ridge: a house made out of shells, bottles, etc. You can get tours, but must call the owners in advance...so, we just got a pic by the side of the road.
Then on the way home, stopped in Solvang to get a little of the Danish culture.

August vacation

Sorry I have not posted in so long, I guess you could say that I have taken this month off as a blog vacation. I went home to Illinios for a six day getaway which was great, but argh I forgot my camera....I hate when you remember right before you board the plane.
I hope to upload some photos that other people took and to update everyone on all that is happening out here. It has been hectic and stressful lately as I am planning an event at work that is coming up in November and we still have not gotten the invitations out because they are at the printer. I hope that all my stress will soon be in the past and then I will be back online. In the meantime, I hope everyone is having a great summer and enjoying some vacation time! :)