Busy day

Today was very.... "us". It's St. Patty's Day, and Charlie and I contemplated going to downtown St Paul to participate in all the festivities since buses let you ride for free (so you don't have to drive or find a place to park) and it's AMAZING weather, so the parade and everything this year was supposed to be great.

We contemplated it for a while... but. Let's face it. That's not really "us". So we had our own festivious day.

We started by cleaning. Which was actually kind of nice. We opened all the windows and you can hear the birds chirping outside and see squirrels all over the place. And, as Charlie put it, "Minnesotans are like BUGS. They come out from everywhere when it gets warm!" That made me laugh. I must be like a bug, too because I can't get enough of this. 

I think this blog is going to be very long. Maybe I should split it in half? Maybe not. We'll see. 

We then decided that it was Pernkie's lucky day because it's been so warm for so long. BTW... we are having record-breaking heat up here! The last time it was this warm in March it was 1930. And then it was 71degrees. We got up to 79 yesterday! This is apparently May and June weather! If this hangs on till then.. I'm just gonna be the happiest little country bumpkin that ever lived in the Great White North. 

SO we shaved Pernkie and she is SO CUTE. Our little bear in pajamas. 

Charlie and I had a nice lunch together after some more Spring cleaning, and then ran a few errands. Then we took the doggies back to that dog park. I'll post the videos and pictures tomorrow. WE HAD THE BEST TIME! We were the only people there (because the waitress from Dino's left with her boyfriend and dog after we got there.) And we tramped down through the park to the wetlands area. From just 2 weeks ago everything has completely melted and there were ducks and canadian geese everywhere. Charlie found an old tennis ball, so he and Rufus had a great time playing. PUNKIN WAS WILD. I hope the videos show up clear enough for you to see 1) how muddy she was, 2) how happy she was, 3) how many times she slipped, and 4) her one big nose dive into the lake. We had so much fun. 

We came home, bathed the puppies, I painted my toenails a bright blue color (I got myself a new shade to celebrate the weather), and we started cooking. And we cooked everything. EVERYTHING. 

Here, let me show you:

Asian Slaw with Ginger peanut dressing.. it's GOOD! And my lunch for the week.

Chocolate hummus, which is pretty good and going to be the icing for....

Black bean cake!! (I'm sorry! I had to test it out in case it's nasty!)

And Charlie is WILD right now and on a king cake kick, and he is going to make cinnamon rolls outta this

And while we had every dish we own dirty, we thought we'd go ahead and make supper. Charlie even made the gravy from the chicken stock. We worked hard today, and this meal really hit the spot.

Happy to be close to eating.

See? We had a most wonderful day that reflects Charlie and I so well. But if you made it reading this far, good for you! You get 10 gold stars! :)

homework homework homework

But it's the weekend now, and I'm taking it! Maybe. Probably.

Soooo I just found out I'm getting flown out to DC for a big dietetics conference on Public Policy! There's a grant paying for a few of us to go and learn about different policies being discussed having to do with nutrition. I'm REALLY excited. I got an email today saying I need to read like 15 different articles on bills to prepare for it! Eeek!! I do not know much about policy, so it should be a really good learning experience.  AND the farm bill is a big one, so maybe I'll learn a little something for Charlie, too.

I haven't been to DC in..... a long time. It may be cherry blossom season! And I think we may try go do a little sightseeing before the conference starts.

I feel so blessed! 

Beware the Idea of March

I supposed I have to begin my post this way since it is the official start of the annual Ides of March blogging challenge.
I completed one homework assignment today... but am not very motivated to keep going. Probably because I found this beauty:



CHOCOLATE HUMMUS, PEOPLE.

I am definitely trying it soon.  MUST TRY.

Spring Break

I finished my two-day Spring break class learning to design, implement, facilitate and analyze focus group interviews. It was really interesting and I want to conduct one now! Even if it has nothing to do with nutrition! :) Basically, I learned how to lead meaningful conversations! Pretty neat.

Our teacher said that we shouldn't feel jealous of friends who got to go on vacation and get nice tans... because we received something that will LAST! I actually reallyreally want a little tan/slight sunburn... but he's right. Hopefully I'll be able to use this tool.

Unfortunately, now I'm ACTUALLY on spring break and feel like actually being on spring break! Not doing homework. I have a very long list of things I need to get done. Maybe I should take today off and then work tomorrow and Friday. I think I just talked myself into that on my blog. HA.

Risa, Ashleigh and Adrian are coming soon! That means so many happy things! :) 1) I get to see them! 2) The hunger games movie. 3) ROAD TRIP! 4) An excuse to do some fun things in the Twin Cities. 5) A reason to clean my house really, really well. ha. Puppy hair is IMPOSSIBLE. I would swear to you that Rufus should not have 1 hair left on his body. I have never seen a creature shed like him.

The Bachelor is dumb.

Why don't apartments like puppies? Who doesn't like PUPPIES?

spring break

I had a very good weekend. This week is Spring Break except for the part where I have class Monday and Tuesday and a million assignments to do Wednesday, Thursday and Friday!  Yay Grad School spring breaks.

It was another BEAUTIFUL day today. I LOVE NICE WEATHER. Open windows. Sunshine. Vitamin D.

I'm thinking about eating with anti-inflammatory foods in mind... increasing omega 3's... decreasing omega 6's... increasing polyphonols. We'll see how it goes.

Dog Park

SUNSHINE!!!! It was BEAUTIFUL weather!

To celebrate our first day of Spring, we took a family trip to a neighboring dog park. It was very slushy--everything is melting... but we had a REALLY nice time!

Pernk had a great time walking on water

Everything is melting, so we didn't let them go too far out

Sniffing around the wetlands

Winter is coming to an end! Praise Jesus for seasons!

This is old... from our tragic car-malfunction in Iowa... but I thought it was funny!

That was a LONG two days! Our babies were troopers!