Trader Joe's

I bought 4 bottles of wine for under $30 last night.

Trader Joe's... I love you.

Merry Christmas!

Eeek

It's been almost a month since I last made a post! We've been busy, busy, but haven't made any fun trips lately, though that will change this weekend when we go to a car museum, so lots of pictures there! We're going to be moving in January to our own place (finally!) so I'm sure I'll be even more busy in the weeks to come. Lots to update, though, hopefully!

Minnesota State Public School

When Josh and I went to see the Spam Museum I also stumbled upon another museum that happened to be on the same route and it ended up being one of the best museum visits I've had. We went to the Minnesota State Public School for Dependent and Neglected Children in Owatonna, MN.

The orphanage was open from 1886 to 1945 in which time 10,635 children passed through the doors. It was a fascinating and eye-opening experience, and we happened to very lucky because we arrived on a day when a tour group had arranged to be there, so we were able to take advantage of that and there was a willing volunteer around every corner - all of them connected to the school in some way. While we were there a gentleman by the name of Harvey stopped us and we found out he had written a book about his own personal experience in the school. He actually lived there for 11 years and wrote a very interesting memoir (that we bought). His voice is an honest one throughout the book, though it may not be poetic or win any awards. It definitely gives you a look into what orphanage life might have been like, and it wasn't an easy one. The hardest thing many of the children had to overcome was the institutionalization. He spoke about his trouble fitting in outside of the school and how hard it was to be in a family and to have his own after.

I could really go on and on about what we learned that day, but I'll stop and leave you with some of the pictures that we took instead. :p

Spam Museum

So Josh and I finally went to the Spam Museum in Austin, MN. It was Josh's 4th time, and my first, and it was actually pretty cool. There were a lot of interactive displays, and while we missed the 15 minute film, we got to see all sorts of Spam awesomeness. It's free to get in (also a big plus) and you get free samples. I now wish I had picked up a couple cans of the Garlic Spam because it's quite tasty. So, without further ado... some pictures. :)

Penguin Classics

I am ridiculously excited over these Clothbound Series books!! I want them all! Unfortunately it looks like only Series 1 is available on Amazon right now, though.

Clothbound Penguin Classics

Being a woman...

For those of you thinking of ever trying to epilate... I recommend a full bottle of wine because OUCH! Why did I think this was a good idea?

Lego Fun

I've been a bit busy, which explains my lack of posting. With the help of some Target gift cards for my birthday, though, we decided to indulge in some childlike fun and behavior. We added to our Lego collection.

And then we decided to create a dice-rolling game.

Oh yeah, and that white stuff on the table? I was painting my nails one day and managed to spill a bottle of nail polish remover on it.

Dassel, MN Train Museum

I've been meaning to blog about this fantastic stop we made on our way back from the Twine Ball. For $2.50 each we got to wander around this great train museum that is filled to the brim with everything train related that you could imagine. The woman there (I wish I could remember her name!) was super friendly and knowledgeable and fun to talk to. If you're ever in the area, be sure to stop!

The Twine Ball!

I'm so behind on posting! Here are some photos from our jaunt to Darwin, MN to see the The Biggest Ball of Twine (created by one man). Darwin is a very tiny town and the twine ball and museum are equally on the small side. They did have a neat little school house room in the museum and some fun souvenirs, however, so Josh picked up a twine ball starter kit.

The World's Biggest Boot

We drove out to Redwing, MN over Labor Day weekend to see The World's Biggest Boot. The museum was slightly lacking, and rather small and spread throughout the Redwing shoe store, so that was a little distracting, but we did get to stop and take pictures with the boot. :)

Como Zoo

We went to the Como Zoo this past Saturday and had a very nice day overall. Josh's younger sister Jenny joined us in our adventure, and we had a good time. There aren't a huge variety of animals, but there is a beautiful conservatory, and they had butterflies as well, which was one of my favorite things, aside from the large kitties. Unfortunately, a lot of the animals were indoors napping, and due to very poor lighting and dirty windows, we couldn't get good pictures of some of them. However, here are some highlights from the day.

Happiness

My sunflower is huge!!! One of them broke, though, so we tried to fix it, but I don't know how long it will last. It is sad and droopy. :(

Catch Up!

Eek, I've been neglecting my blog due to a little bit of a funk I've been in. I do have pictures of from the races at Canterbury, though! It was fun and I got a little bit of sun, which was quite nice. We do, however, wish they had had more than just one race each of the ostriches and the camels.

We saw this little guy on the side of a street we drove by - isn't he sweet? Must have been camera shy, though, because he refused to look over at the camera. :p

Harmony, MN

Finally I have put the pictures from our jaunt to Harmony, MN on my website...

Harmony, MN

Niagara Cave, Harmony MN

This past weekend we decided to take a trip to Harmony, Minnesota to see Niagara Cave and to explore the are a bit. More pictures to come!

Blog Lovin'

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It was a bit chilly this weekend - we went north to camp out at a B-Day party for a friend of Josh's family - people he's known for years. We did a little fishing, and sadly the only thing I caught is pictured below. I didn't even realize it was on my line when I reeled it in. I had felt a nibble, and thought I lost it, but no... it was just really tiny.

Josh's first catch of the day was about the same.

From there he caught two more about this size, but alas, no bass for us.

Some very nice views, though.

Snuffy's

So, for our 2nd Anniversary, since we're on a budget, we decided to go somewhere that Josh has been wanting to take me since we moved here. Snuffy's Malt Shop. We had tasty burgers and super yummy malts and we are definitely going back so I can try more flavors!

I love that after a month, there are still moments where I glance down at my left hand and see that sparkly ring and get completely giddy and squeal with delight. It's a marvelous thing to be loved and to know that I will always have someone to share things with - good and bad. I'm having one of those giddy, excited moments now and have to resist the urge spending unwarranted amounts of time online at work getting wedding ideas. :p

Holga Fun

I finally got the pictures developed from our road trip to Colorado that I took with my holga and I'm quite pleased with the results.

More here: http://madamesecretary.googlepages.com/2009coloradotrip