What’s Up Wednesday: February 2017

Hey Friends! Here’s what I’ve been up to his month.

What I’m Eating

This month I made an effort to have healthy lunches. Here are two recipes I tried (from Pinterest):

And here are two dinner recipes. The first was for our Small Group “Minnesota” themed dinner and the second is an old favorite of mine and Aaron’s.

What I’m Reminiscing About

Aaron and I celebrated Valentine’s Day early. I called it our “Old Married Couple” date since we spent a Sunday afternoon touring an old mansion and went to dinner at 4:30 PM :). It was just right, though. I loved visiting the James J. Hill house. True confession- I’ve actually visited a lot of old Victorian homes in my day and I think this was one of my favorites. It had a beautiful art gallery with tons of natural light, a GIGANTIC pipe organ, a regal staircase and many cozy fireplaces. I can’t wait to go back at Christmas time when it’s all decked out for the holidays! There’s also a Nooks and Crannies tour we wouldn’t mind going back for to see all the places not included on the first tour.

You guys. This pipe organ is built into the wall and had 1,006 pipes. Yep. Move me in now.

After our tour, Aaron gave me my gift in the car and he did a great job! He got me a beautiful necklace that is just my style. It was his first rendezvous into jewelry since the engagement ring and I loved it. Chocolate and dinner at CRAVE sealed the deal.

It was the perfect little date and was so fun to have an occasion (even if it’s a “commercial” holiday :)) to celebrate during the long, cold winter.

What I’m Loving

This winter Aaron and I have really gotten into making cocktails! Lower your expectations- they are very basic and are often a weird adaptation of a recipe because we’re missing ingredients.

Aaron’s been enjoying Moscow Mules so I got him a Moscow Mule kit for Valentine’s Day. We had been having them in normal glasses, but as any mixologist knows, that just won’t do! You need the copper mugs. We’re not sure if it was because of the mugs or because we tried a new kind of ginger beer, but boy did it have a kick to it this time around!

I’ve been loving having decaf coffee with Baileys 🙂

What I’ve Been Up To

We’ve had some fun celebrations with friends and family this month.

We celebrated our friend Mike at the 80s themed arcade Up— Down.

We watched that crazy Super Bowl game with some good friends (who make really yummy cocktails!).

Aaron finished his puzzle and I finished my Shutterfly books.

We got to see all of the Cryes to celebrate David & Jana’s baby (due this summer). I’m starting early to make sure the baby’s football allegiance is placed with the proper team.

And this last weekend we got to spend time with the Dickies. I got to meet my new cousin D’Mari.

What I’m Dreading

The housing market! Aaron and I are preparing to house hunt and went to an open house this past Sunday. We loved the house and it was in our price range. Except the realtor stated it will probably go for $20,000 over asking. And it did…less than 24 hours after the open house. THAT. IS. JUST. RIDICULOUS. So, we’re preparing to have our hearts broken a few times and get our competitive spirit kicked into gear.

What I’m Working On

We’ve been working on educating ourselves on house buying. The City of St. Louis Park put on a free seminar that we attended and it was so helpful. With that information, we’re now filling out mortgage applications and preparing for our first few appointments later this week.

What I’m Excited About

I have a new project at work that I’m pretty excited about. I’ll be working with a consulting firm that I did a project with last year and a ministry team at my company that I’ve only worked with marginally to this point. We’re having some kick off meetings next week in Dallas and I’m excited to get started and learn more about what we’ll be working on this year.

What I’m Watching/Reading

A friend of mine recently shared his Plex account with us and it’s been dangerous! He has so many good movies and TV shows on it, but the one I was most excited about is my old favorite The Black List. I started it on Netflix, but am now caught up to the current season and this Plex account allows me to keep up without having to watch it live.

Monday night, Aaron had me watch his favorite Nic Cage movie, The Rock. I actually liked it! It had some funny moments and likable characters. You can find it on Netflix.

This month, our book club is reading The Magnolia Story by Chip and Joanna Gaines. I LOVE them and this book has made me love them even more. I hope fame doesn’t do any damage to them because they’re just so down to earth and great. I recommend it if you’re a fan of the Gaines family or just like memoir type books.

What I’m Listening To

In honor of Valentine’s Day, I’ve been listening to some of my favorite love songs:

What I’m Wearing

My new necklace from Aaron 🙂

What I’m Doing This Weekend

As long as that predicted blizzard doesn’t ruin our plans, we’re planning on going to my parent’s this week. We haven’t been back since Christmas so it will be fun to visit the farm. My grandma is very excited for Aaron to do some work on the trees in her yard :).