falling back in love with minnesota

these past two years, chad and i have not really liked minnesota, especially in the winter. we love our friends and family here, but we were really ready for a change and were hoping to move as soon as i graduated grad school. we started brainstorming our dream city, debating living abroad and started to plan on doing so.  but, things happen and i landed a great job here in minneapolis. which lead to our decision that we will be staying in minnesota for at least another two years, if not indefinitely. we were trying so hard to get away, but things kept strongly pulling us back. so we will take it and instead of dreaming of where we should move to, we are gong to refocus and re-fall in love with minnesota. now, this isn't always easy. minnesota has some glorious spring, summer, and fall days, but the winters get rough. but, we are no longer going to let it bother us or complain about it. we are going to embrace it! with our decision to stay here, we are really trying to find all of the good things about winter in minnesota. like playing hockey at the outdoor rink, going on winter walks all bundled up, drinking a lot of tea, getting cozy with a nice book. and it is slowly working. little by little we are falling in love with all of the minnesota seasons. i do have to say, it is pretty nice here :)

a little video of our life in the range

life in the range. amazing. i tried talking about our experiences in the range last october (HERE) and the other day (HERE) but it doesn't do it justice. i tried writing but nothing comes out. or nothing sounding too great. thankfully chad and his creative self created a lovely video highlighting some great parts of our trip and all of the fun we had.

have you ever gone on a cross country road trip? what was your favorite part or your favorite route? we are taking recommendations so we can start planning the next big venture! (hoping for a trip down the west coast, starting in Seattle!)

a fast on sweets

so for some odd reason i decided to give up sweets for 21 days. it may have sprouted from my resolutions for 2014. but either way. it hasn't been fun. do i feel better? yes. do i miss chocolate on a regular basis? yes. do i plan what i am going to be baking up as soon as my fast is done? yes. all of a sudden, flavored yogurt (which i usually don't eat, due to artificial sweeteners/i usually make my own) taste like a chocolate bar!!

another good/bad thing i have been doing is every time i crave something sweet, i read about how bad sugar is for you... ha!it the natural researcher inside me. one article i read stated that sugar is as addictive as cocaine (so that is why i am having with drawls....)

finally though i feel that i have control over my body. it is weird how sugar affects you so much.i hope that i can continue to balance this whole sweets thing even after my little fast. even if the only yummy food that sounds good is desert ;) any healthier desert options for this lady??!!

outfit details:

jacket// thrifted
pants// american eagle
scarf// aerie
boots// frye
bag// madewell

Life in the Range // Part 2

it's been a while since i have posted anything about our road trip last october (posted HERE). it is hard when a trip is so great, to put it into words beyond amazing, incredible, beautiful, so fun. however, it has been months since our little adventure and i still haven't posted. so instead of trying to explain every last bit of what we did, because i failed so many times, i wrote up short, bulleted highlights from our trip.

a little recap of our trip: over 12 days, we ventured from minnesota to colorado, utah, arizona, back through colorado, and down to kansas city. we camped out in the back of a ford ranger pick up truck which we transformed into a portable campsite. we visited 7 different national parks, hiked over 45 miles, ate a lot of meals on the go, or on the back of the tailgate, and drove a total of 5,000 miles. yes, in 12 days.

things that make me say yay/ 07

Things that make me say yay...

the smell of pine
stove-popped popcorn
a clean house
vacuuming
pretty lamps
layers, and lots of scarfs
husband's hoodies and socks
jcrew catalogs
the thought that i got a new job and start today  (eeeks!)
new shoes
calendars in january
watching seasons of the french chef (as always)

what makes you say yay?

once january hits.. all one can think about is the warm weather

happy monday! minnesota is a balmy 0 degrees outside, luckily, chad and i were able to escape southward and are in florida for the next week! wahoo!

this time of year gets rough, the funness of the holiday season is over... and you are stuck, in the dead of winter. dreaming of those nice sumner days.

so to make everyone feel better, here is a video that chad made from a camping trip we went on in wisconsin with some of our friends.