What do you do...

with a big bucket of tomatoes from your garden?

You make tomato sauce and can it!

I ended up with 12 pints of these delicious babies that I'm hoarding.. so good. I'll post my totally easy recipe on my other blog. YUM!

On another note.. we've got 3 pumpkins! The rest of the garden is slowly dying due to the crazy summer weather we've had but we did get an albino zuccinni. Intriguing. Sarah tried to model it for you but it was a bit too heavy for her.

Bike Date!

Our Relief Society had its annual 'love auction' where sisters offered services, baked goods, and other fun things for others to 'bid' on with fake points. I found out there was a date offered and immediately set my eyes on it. I waited patiently until it came up for auction and bid all my points before anyone else could even think about it. I guess I was a little greedy about it... or resourceful.. but I figured if I wanted a fun date, I needed to plan it myself! My friend Anna offered a date on her tandem bike, a picnic lunch AND babysitting. Are you kidding?! So we went a couple weekends ago and had a fabulous time riding through downtown. We planned on riding to a lake on the north side of town but came across an art fair along the way. We ended up walking around the booths, listening to local artists and my favorite-getting henna tattoos! Usually these tattoos are way expensive but I found a great deal at the belly dancing booth. Hem..hem.. no, I did not do any dancing afterwords. Kurtis decided he wanted one too.. later on.. and found a more, shall we say authentic booth with real Indian ladies who did henna. He got a fancy but manly arm-band tattoo which promply washed off soon after. Mine however is still noticeable.. weeks later. It was a wonderful date and I'm so glad we got to go.

The tandem bike took a little getting used to. And no, I'm not that big yet. My shirt was blowing in the wind, I promise

The art festival. WE LOVE ART! :)

My tattoo lady

Kurtis waiting patiently with the minstrals in the background

His tattoo lady

Finished product. Mine had sparkles! (And it's upsidedown on my ankle)

Lake George

When we first moved to Rochester we lived like kings in a townhouse near a small private lake. We loved walking around it and enjoying the beauty of the outdoors. We go back every so often to walk around it and say 'hi' to some of the older neighbors we met when we lived there.

CELEBRATION!

Looks like we are going to be friends with these guys for the next few years...

               This is where Kurtis will be getting his MBA

And this is who will be helping us pay for it.

We feel extremely blessed and relieved to finally have a decision about our future. Bring on those Minnesota winters for a few more years!

Ramblings

I had some weird dreams last night, one of which that has left me thinking all day. Kurtis and I were at a game show of sorts.. kind of like 'Let's Make a Deal' where prizes were given out. The audience was so large that we sat in the balcony section way in the back. The host was going around giving away prizes and money and he came back to our section asking for someone who wanted money. He picked me and asked if I was happy. Evidences of my happiness flashed through my mind-my family, a good job, health, friends, etc. and I felt confident in my answer. The host then asked, 'Well, why do you want money then? I thought you were happy.' And I was speechless..I was happy..wasn't I? I mean, we could use money to fix up the house, pay for school, get a better car, go on a vacation, or for other frivolous things but we didn't need it. Did we? Would we really be happier? He kept pestering me on my state of happiness, almost mocking me while other audience members jeered and tried to get picked themselves.

I guess I woke up questioning if I was truly happy. I feel so extremely blessed that if I didn't say I was happy I would be most ungrateful. But we have been talking a lot about money lately.. due to Kurtis starting school this fall for his MBA and the saga of 'will IBM pay for it?' looming over us. We also have some bathroom issues that need attendion. We have a car that is on it's last legs and a baby coming this December. I feel like I have the faith that everything will work out.. and it will.. but just not how I may want it to. Maybe I'm getting a frying pan to the head from the Lord with this because I heard the song 'I thank God for unanswered prayers' on the radio this morning. Then I recommended Psalms 3:5-6 to a friend who's taking on new challenges in her life. Maybe I needed it for myself as well. "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy path."

Another quote that struck me I just wanted to share.. maybe for personal journaling reasons..but I felt like it's a perfect fit to today's troubled world and others could benefit. From the prophet Ezra Taft Benson:
"The Lord works from the inside out. The world works from the outside in. The world would take the people out of the slums. Christ takes the slums out of the people and then they take themselves out of the slums. The would would mold men by changing their environment. Christ changes men, who then change their environment. The world would shape human behavior, but Christ can change human nature."

Thanks for listening to my dream interpretations and ramblings! Love and miss you all!