Business in Milwaukee

In the middle of March I got the opportunity to go to Northwestern Mutual's home office on my very first business trip.  Although exciting at times, flying alone is still a bit of a hassle.  I went out for a 2-day training seminar so decided to save the company some money and not check a bag..that of course meant lugging my carry-on and laptop around.  But besides all that, the trip was great.  I had warm(er) weather, a nice hotel, and informative training sessions!  Enjoy some pics below..

My hotel room..done in pink for just me :)

 View from my hotel window of downtown Milwaukee:

 Inside the atrium of one of the main buildings where I had my training:

 In the same atrium as the above picture, just lower in the room.  There is water in the center circle pool and it was one of those infinity pools (I think thats what they're called??) when the water goes right to the edge or just barely overflows: 

Northwestern's famous columns:

I am blessed to have a good job and to work for a great company, but I have to be honest and say that I still look forward to the day when I get to work out of our home :).



Some Plants and Things

For those of you that got to see 80 plus degree weather in March, we were not included.  Spring has barely sprung up here in Syracuse but Clay and I took it upon ourselves to bring some Spring indoors!  This is when I want a house with a front porch that can have hanging baskets full of flowers and window boxes and a walkway up to that porch lined with little pretty green plants that bloom.  But for now, we will plant what we can living five stories up in the air.

About mid-March we planted our beloved herb garden and flower pot:

Our herbs include parsley, oregano, rosemary, and basil.  We're a little nervous because the seed packets said to plant some of them a foot apart and we planted the seeds about a millimeter apart..and rosemary can get a couple feet tall.  Oops.  Oh well.  We have high hopes for these little guys!

Then, the favors from our wedding were seed packets (with a cute little note too!) so I wanted to be able to plant some of those flowers..the clay pot.  We'll see how everything works out.

To go back a little bit prior to this planting...these may help you understand why we're so anxious for spring:

Winterfest 2011 featuring a real ice castle complete with ice sculptures.  Yip. Ee.

I genuinely hope Spring is coming quicker for you than it has been for us!  We'll let you know how the plants have been growing!

Walking on Snow

So as I've said before, we try to make the most of where we're at..and in Syracuse after having seen a good 150 inches of snow, that means embracing the snow rather than avoiding it.  I say that through clenched teeth because who really embraces the snow after putting up with that much of it?  Well, February 5th, our 8 month anniversary provided the opportunity for us to go snow-shoeing..and I'm not so sure we will ever go again :).

Clay and I had talked about going on a couple different weekends and just hadn't made it happen yet.  So this Saturday was a little warmer (maybe upper 20's low 30's instead of low 20's..let's just make sure we're on the same page with warmer) and the day was open.  A nearby lake, Beaver Lake, offers pretty cheap rentals so we strapped the snow shoes on and we were off!

Two trails were offered for snow-shoeing around the park, and being the young and active people that we are, we opted for the long trail.  So we start off and about ten steps onto the trail, we wondered why we had these random boats strapped to our feet when simply walking on the trail in our boots would have been much easier..but its all for the experience, right?  I think we still could have gotten the experience on the shorter trail..

But, we had a good time..made some fun memories and really enjoyed the scenery.  Our time on the trail reminded me of snowmobile trails--everything seems so calm and right and covered in snow so it all sparkles.  You can't help but appreciate the beauty of Creation when taking a little hike like this.

If we are to go again though, I think I would make sure we were going on a trail that didn't have packed-down snow so that some use of a snow-shoe was actually necessary :)

A Visit with Patty and Stu

Patty and Stu came to visit one weekend in January.  It was kind of a late Christmas celebration but not really.  Last time they came up we had beautiful weather and sunshine and took lots of pictures..and this time...not so much..

The one picture from the weekend just makes me laugh:

We were cold and the snow was blowing, but stopping for a picture was a must!  We made the most of the never-ending snow, and I discovered the cutest quilting shop (they carry Amy Butler!!!) while walking through the snow in Cazenovia.  Let's just say that Patty and Stu got to experience in a weekend what Clay and I put up with all winter. 

Thanks for coming for the visit!  We'll hope for better weather next time..