ins and outs

The super bizarre bar in our basement/laundry room. Didn't know it existed.

Things are going well!

I'm back on the running train and it is a JOY to run in our neighborhood with this kind of weather. 

Cool weather makes Ben happy (and not crabby, like with hot weather), in return, making me happy.

I'm not doing more than 1-2 miles at a time because my knees are still feeling it a little.

I'm just easing in and trying to get my form back. 

We ate at Bel Air Cantina for Ben's birthday last night.

BEST Mexican place and food (within a 4 block radius).

I had a watermelon basil margarita and a pineapple ginger margarita. 

UH-mazing.

This morning we're checking out Rocket Baby Bakery.

A 3-block-walk, great coffee and baked goods. 

And I even bought a huge loaf of sourdough.

My dad's Cousin Don Schmeichel from Washington Facebooked me that my second cousin Cathy Schmeichel will be in the area pretty soon. 

She's around my age, so I really hope to make a connection at some point. 

We haven't seen those cousins in ages. 

We're just trying to take one thing at a time, but I can't wait until routine has been established. 

Really looking forward to the Brewers game and going to one million concerts (because there are SOOOO many good musicians that come through MKE). 

26 years, round I

Wearing sweaters and drinking Wisconsin beer in August.

Benjamin is 26 years old today.
The older you get the "harder" it is to remember how old you actually are.
(People love whenever we say harder...because it's our last name.)
We're back at Colectivo.
A coffee drink is a small price to pay for the luxury of Internet usage.
Just bought ourselves a spice rack on Etsy with a wedding gift card and some of our remaining REI registry gifts with REI gift cards.
As Ben just said, we feel like we're "hemorrhaging" money at the moment.
Which is what happens when you get married and move to a new place.
Just realized I left my birth certificate at home, so I can't apply to change my name until I get that.
Oops.
Ben is working on his Wisconsin licensure.
We're hoping to meet up with our music education "connection" over in Madison soon, not to mention Taylor and Ted!
Not sure how we'll be celebrating Ben's birthday yet, but I'll let you know.

Drinking our wedding wine gift (which was THE BEST MOST PERFECT wine I've had in a long time) from Cousin Jordan (who's manages a restaurant in Minneapolis so he would know what good wine is) and writing thank you's. 

settling

We're settling in, slowly but surely. 

There are fewer and fewer boxes sitting around. 

Ben and I are currently sitting in Colectivo Coffee (again for the internet). 

Between yesterday and today I have ordered:

- a stainless steel kitchen work table (so excited for this kind of counter space). 

- a food processor from Target

- books for Art Therapy Theory & History class and

- Fiestaware dishes, mugs and bowls

It's raining now (12:17 pm), but I woke up this morning and went for a run.

The first run in, hmmm, quite awhile.

The sun was shining and it was quite lovely before the rain came in.

We're heading to Menard's, REI and Target after this.

Not sure if we'll go check out the Mennonite Church this afternoon (Sunday worship is at 4 pm because they're a small, small congregation that meets at a Lutheran Church). 

Might wait until next Sunday when we're hopefully more settled in. 

Oh, and we're going to the Brewers game on Thursday. 

wisconsinites

I drove over to Colectivo Coffee to use the internet for "business", but I couldn't help but blog and briefly update you all.
We should have our own internet by Wednesday.
Fingers crossed.
Colectivo Coffee is the place that I raved about when I visited back in October, except it was called Alterra.
They changed the name because they sold their old one, so when I refer to "Colectivo" I mean "the old Alterra where they have amazing tea, coffee and food".
I hope to be spending not too much time and money here, but it wouldn't be the worst thing either.
Above is a picture of Miller Park (where the Brewers play).
We are only about a 10 minute drive from here, and on the way to Target.
I'm in awe every time we pass.
We're already talking about going to a game.
So as far as the house goes...we're still unpacking, but things are coming together nicely.
I'll take pictures when everything has its place.
The weather has been gorgeous (in the last 48 hours) and we've already enjoyed porch sitting and a cool evening walk.
I have grad student orientation on August 21st.
Looking forward to meeting some new folks and getting back into the swing of things.
I think there's more to say, but you'll have to wait for now.

the next move

Ben and my birthday supper date with Austin & Alyssa.
Went to Monk's House of Ale Repute in Sioux Falls.
A perfect place for a celebration with friends.

Here we go again.

We're all packed up.

Everything's in the trailer.

We're picking up our new mattress in Sioux Falls tomorrow morning on the way to Milwaukee.

And then off we go.

I think we've greatly improved our moving skills.

We were kind of flying by the seat of our pants when we moved TO Florida and also when we moved BACK, randomly shoving items in boxes without much organization.

Instead, we've been sorting, purging and re-packing for the past several days.

We also decided to leave all of our books at home.

That's right.

All of them.

(I guess a few are coming with us, but not many.)

We rarely read our old books when we were in FL.

We stuck to school textbooks and new ones that interested us from the library.

It would probably be the same case in WI.

And I must say that it is REALLY nice not having to box up and carry all of these books. 

Soooooo....

I'll update when I can, but we might not have internet for awhile.

We'll get to a coffee shop for free WiFi if possible.

So come visit us before I get too busy with school and don't want any of you to come.

(kidding just a little)

Packed up a bottle of wine that was a wedding gift from Cousin Jordan.
Looking forward to christening our new place with it.

final wedding hurrahs

Right before Sam & Keila's wedding at Faith Mennonite Church in Newton.

We're back from our 10 day trip to Kansas. 

Thursday and Friday were spent hanging out in the pool with our friends.

Saturday was our huge wedding extravaganza.

Sam & Keila in the morning at 11:00 am.

Lindsey & Austin in the evening at 6:30 pm.

We battled through the heat and humidity (both indoor church weddings, but outdoor receptions), but it was worth it to see some great friends get married and see others that we hadn't seen in a long while.

And we have now officially completed our summer wedding schedule.

We do have ONE MORE WEDDING to attend this FALL!

I'm super excited to say we'll be attending a wedding in West Olive, Michigan this October for one of my beloved modmates and my junior year roommate, Laurie.

We're planning on taking the ferry across Lake Michigan. 

How lovely it will be to already be so close up north.

Speaking of which, we're moving soon!

Thursday to be exact. 

While it was nice to hang out by the pool in the steamy weather we're pretty happy to be back in the slightly cooler South Dakota territory, and then on to the even cooler MKE. 

This week will be spent sorting, packing and purging unwanted items. 

Not always fun, but I'm actually feeling ready to take care of business and start getting ready for school!

Alyssa & I at Sam & Keila's outdoor reception at the Bethel College president's house lawn.

Lindsey & Austin's reception at the Unruh family farm after their Alexanderwohl Mennonite Church wedding just outside of Goessel.

salted caramel

I drove to Hesston for my haircut yesterday.

It was lovely.

My hair is still long but MUCH more thinned out and layered, making it MUCH more manageable. 

It is sooooooooo thick if it's all one length. 

The hair salon was located right next to the Lincoln Perk (Hesston's coffee shop), which is now owned by my friend, Holly. 

Holly used to own the coffee shop in Newton, Pages. 

She sold it, started an ice cream business with a friend (the Salted Creamery) and was then approached about buying the Perk by the old owner back in January.

She now has a great place to make and sell her ice cream. 

She also has this great little venture she's asked me to add some drawings to called "The Artist's Circus", which is basically a smaller version of a gallery for smaller versions of local artists' wares.

There are small ceramic bowls, tiny sculptures, embroidered hand towels, soaps and lotions, etc. 

So instead of selling a huge, framed painting or drawing I'll be taking her some 4x6 sketches. 

She said that she sells everything pretty quickly because they're small and priced pretty low in comparison to larger works of art.

So back to the ice cream...

I actually bought strawberry sorbet and not salted caramel, but that was the kind I WANTED to try.

The sorbet came in pint size and the caramel came in quart. 

I was not ready to make that kind of commitment to so much ice cream, so I went with the sorbet.

It turns out my friends are having Salted Creamery ice cream at their wedding this Saturday, so I'm banking on some salted caramel.

I also bought a dark, smoky iced coffee.

Ben and I then proceeded to lay around the pool alllllllllll afternoon.

The sun was quite lethal yesterday so we're definitely tanned/burned. 

Last night a bunch of Harders and a few Stuckys came over for supper.

Today I'm meeting a good old Bethel friend for lunch in Newton.

Then we're meeting another good old Bethel friend for drinks in Newton this evening. 

Between all of that I'll be drawing and swimming with buddies. 

P.S. Just found out from my wonderful friend Taylor, who's starting her 2nd year of MVS in Madison, WI, that the Milwaukee Mennonite Church and the Madison Mennonite Church are having a joint potluck/gathering in a few weeks. Neighbors!