feels like forever...

it feels like forever since we made an offer on this hunting land and it was accepted and we started dreaming about this amazing piece of land that was going to be ours.  now it's finally

the week of our closing and tues. if you're heading north on 24, you may see a small convoy of

pick up trucks (2) pulling trailers full of beds, misc. household items,whiskey, boots & guns.

(miranda lambert is most likely going to want to come visit us here-i'll let her-but ONLY if she brings her guitar and that hottie mc-hotster blake that she recently married).

this is what the end of our long purty driveway looks like on a misty day~

this is what the neighbors place looks like-right smack dab at the end of

our driveway. gee wiz i hope some cool chick lives there-someone who wants

to bring me over muffins and welcome me to the neighborhood-or section-or forest, or whatever you call it when you move to the middle of nowhere.

the guy we're buying the land from (who looks like billy jack-and i knew you'd want to know that, especially if you're older like muwaa and even know who he is),

told us that when giving directions he always told people, drive to the

end of nowhere and then go just a little bit further and you're there) : )

my hubbie has ALWAYS told me that he wanted to live somewhere where

he couldn't see the smoke from another mans chimney-well the dude is getting his wish my friend.

so this is our -not nearly as quaint as that cabin at the end of the driveway-but it's ours-place! one of the first things i'm going to do is plant some trees up closer to the pole barn. there are about three million and one trees on the property, but none right up by the building. what's THAT all about?

and here's my cute little sidewalk. find me there in a lawn chair with a cold glass of something ASAP.

now....don't get too excited-this is not our bear rug. not yet anyway- this is what the place looks like right now. no offense to the gal who's lived in here for the past 6 years- but i think it's going to take me about 10 minutes to have it looking better. if you've been reading my blog you've seen some of the coooool stuff i've wrangled up to bring here right? so it's finally time to "get er done" and bring it all there and start nesting.

here's the kitchen. i know, i know- it's a cooks dream! my hubs plans to do stuff to it though, "stuff"...hmmm
can't wait to see what he comes up with. he remodeled our kitchen a few years ago and did a great job.

here's the kitchen cupboards. but WAIT...remember my fabulous black kitchen cupboard? that's going to class the joint up don't you agree?

and here, in living color is the entrance to some of the bedrooms. hilarious right? there will be
doors on them sooner rather than later. anyone want some fabric "doors"? i'll be giving them away!!!

look at this little charmer. it's been a chicken coop. we don't plan on raising chickens. yet. so we are dreaming of what to use this little space for. some ideas have been: the bunk house. a sauna- with another bathroom. (nice) a cleaning room for fish and miscellaneous furry critters that we'll serve miranda and blake when they come stay. a garden shed.

oh the possibilities. don't you just LOVE a good possibility?

 well, the guys are starting to pack the first trailer-i had better go boss them around and keep them organized. it's the least i can do in that testosterone laden situation. : ) giddy up~


xo, b

man in pink tutu...

i saw this photo the other day

funny? strange?  a little wierd???   umm yes, but something made me click on it and the story behind it is so  HEART WARMING!!!!!

this man, bob carey is a new york photographer. a few years ago, his beloved wife was diagnosed with
breast cancer....she had many hard days. one day in an attempt to cheer her up, he found this pink tutu, and set the self timer on his camera and took a picture in it to cheer her up-make her laugh-help her find some joy in that difficult day and all that lay ahead.

he never intended for anyone but her to see the picture. then one day he did it again, in another location. and so on, and so on~ ALWAYS in this pink tutu.

 and then he made it into a book.

now it doesn't seem so wacky does it? or at least not in a bad way- just a guy who loves his girl and was willing to play the fool for her.

i find this so touching-so adorable so worth sharing! if you want to see more of him google:

HAIRY MAN POSES IN PINK TUTU FOR A VERY GOOD CAUSE.

hairy men get a bad rap these day....i happen to have one of my own. they are good guys too, don't rule them out girls okay?

xo, b

can we talk about my favorite flower? o.k. good. it's in season right now and if you don't rush to some flower kiosk and get yourself some s.t.a.t. you are going to have to wait for another whole year to enjoy them. trust me-you do not want to do that--- buy yourself some of these friends, even if it means you have to eat mac and cheese twice this week cause money is tight! (they are that pretty- that worth it!) they are a bulb flower and thus their season is very short, so you can only buy them for about 4 weeks, where i live anyway.

********************************************************************

so without further ado~ here are some pictures of RANUNCULOUS~ ridonculously beautiful ranunculous.

so... are you sold yet? when you buy ranunculous-get them in as tight a bud as you can. they will reward you by blooming in a vase in your casa for about 2 weeks! seriously~

they are one of the most beautiful gifts the good Lord gave us. i love flowers-always

have, always will- i went to school for floral design even and i've had many favorites over the years but when i discovered these i fell in love. they had me at hello. : )

***

i'm looking forward to dinner out tonight with a bunch of girlfriends at

a bakery/deli i've never been to. i've been told to just

skip the dinner part and go straight to the desserts there~

and i always do what i'm told. (haha)

*changing the subject, but i just saw an ad for the summer olympics.

they are another absolute favorite of mine! i don't have an

athletic bone in my body-but a girl can dream right? i like to think

that i gave up that gene so that these "super heros" could have an

extra dose.

*oh and one other thing...it's easier to comment on my blog now, so please try it if you feel like it- i'd love to hear from you! you have to have a google account and they are

easy to open- like nancy reagan said: "just do it"!

hope your day is as sweet as mine!

xo, beth

they wed~

want a peak at the fun weekend i had? the wedding of some of our best friend's daughter happened on sat. it rained most of the day- supposed to be good luck right? pretty sure these two don't need a whole lot more luck. they are so perfect together that i told my girlfriend, "it's almost annoying".       : )

this girl from MN and this boy from ND went all the way to ecuador before they meet and slowly but surely fell in love at The Working Boys Center.

it was such a fun day for all of us- no matter how old i get-i still love a good wedding don't you? watching 2 people madly in love never gets old.

my favorite part of their evening might have been when the rather quiet, gentle groom took the mic and said "i've been waiting to say this for a long time, how hot is my WIFE" ???

the day before the wedding i got to snap a few pics...

the couple chose a very unique reception site in downtown mpls.

i helped make about 36 bokas for the tables using the brides favorite flowers~

okey dokey----it's their wedding day! above the bride and her baby sister~
below, the bride and her mamisita starting the hair and makeup fun.

and her dress goes on...............................

leaving for the church- the paparazzi was closing in~

                              her gorgeous bouquet

darling m.o.g.  (mother of the groom) and his baby sister who reportedly always got her way.....hehehe 

the bride and her sis's tatoos

what's a wedding day without a bit of heckling from your best buddies?

the service was especially poignant because aaron's dad is a pastor. he's on the right here- co-officiating.this catholic girl and lutheran boy were blessed by all!

 now it was time to p-a-r-t-y!

the newlyweds love to dance- they even salsa! i like salsa, but only on my chips thank you very much. : )

a highlight of the evening for all was keely's brother's band THE PISTOL WHIPPIN PARTY PENGUINS entertaining us with their amazing blue grass music....

keely and aaron are on their way right now to quito ecuador -where they met-  how freaking romantic is that?

* mr. and mrs. hendrickson~ we wish you all the happiness that the good Lord and life have to offer,

                                                     xo, beth

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lucky me

my sweetie subscribed to this magazine for me at Christmas. there are only 4 precious issues a year.

one came in my mailbox today!

each one is a treasure, a feast for the eyes...

i'm heading to bed early, to snuggle in and crack this baby open,

lucky, lucky me!

here are some things that are making me happy tonight~

adele's song, set fire to the rain

this picture of the inside of a pole barn. might ours look like this? maybe... maybe not : )

this lime green duster. it's a '74. this is the car my boyfriend was driving on the day i became his wife. picture it with tin cans hanging off the back bumper. : )  : )   : )   lol

the wedding of these two lovebirds in just 4 days. keely is the daughter of some of the best friends God ever put on this earth. we're going to party like it's 1999! 

these boots. my birthday. nuff said.

i still get teased about being the pickest eater EVAR as a kid. rumor has it that the only way i would drink milk was with a BIG helping of nestles quick in it. yummm-ma-me. wish i had some right now-it sounds delicious!

my hostas which are growing several inches a day...even though it froze here last night-hang in there guys-it's going to be warm again soon~

there were school closings in northern mn. today-it snowed 7 inches in some places-can you stand it? i have declared a moratorium on socks remember. my toes may turn  blue tomorrow.

i'll just pretend it's blue nail polish. : ) 

and here's my last happy. it's a drug called flonase. i guess i have developed allergies and without a couple sprays of this i could not breath. at all. that does not make for a good nites sleep. thank you flonase. see you in the morning!

xo, beth

Liebster Blog....

The darling, Miss Nay, at Cover to Cover and Everything in Between

 awarded me with the  "Liebster Award"  last week

(Thank you so much!!!)

and now it is my turn to pass it on to 5 of my favorite bloggers...

so, without further ado, here they are:

1. Jamie at Making Mama Happy

2. Deanna at It's Just Me

3. Breanna at Counting Blessings

4. Sassafrass

and last but not least ...

5. Sunshine at Cancer in the City

Congratulations girls!!!!

~Beth



good reads!

                     i have to tell you about two AMAZING MOMS.

they both have blogs and they have each written books. their books came out within a week of each other this month and although i haven't gotten either one yet, my birthday and mothers day are just about here and either of these would make me very happy!

kelle hampton's book BLOOM is a celebration of her life since her second daughter was born with downs syndrome 2 years ago. she was livin the dream...living a rather perfect little life-when unexpectedly her little one was born with a 23rd chromosome. initially kelle thought her life was forever altered - IN A DEVASTATING WAY- only to discover that baby nella was going to be the very epitome of what she needed to rethink life and see the world through new eyes. if you want to see her blog, just google her name and it will pop up-oh boy will it pop up! her book hit the charts running as #11 on the best seller list. it's no wonder---she's got a gift for putting thoughts on paper like almost no one else . she is eternally upbeat and inspiring. there's a tab at the top that says "start here if you're new"  get a box of kleenex & click on that if you want to read one of the most incredible birth stories ever.

then there's nie nie. that's short for stephanie nielson and her blog is the nie nie dialog. nie was the young mother of 4 little ones, again living an almost perfect life, blogging away and throwing elaborate parties, gardening and raising her kids and she was beautiful inside and out.  her life was forever changed though when the small plane she was riding in crashed and she was burned over 80% of her body. she wasn't expected to live--in fact she wanted to die-but her faith and the faith of those who loved her-brought her back and she has just released a book,  HEAVEN IS HERE,  about her struggles and triumphs in the 3 (?) years since the accident.
* another amazing miracle is that last week, along with her book coming out, she gave birth to her 5th baby!!! can you even stand it? she may look different-but she says that she has been taught that you can survive anything and love yourself again!!! she too is uplifting, real, funny and just one of the coolest people i have ever had the honor to know---and when i say know- i mean read about.

 when someone blogs- they are opening up their lives to others-and when you have read someones weekly thoughts for a couple of years you feel like you kind of know them and they are definitely your friend in a way. if either of them were to call me up and say "let's meet at caribou this morning", i'd feel like we could just hang. just get together and talk-like old friends do.

congratulations kelle and nie- your stories will change lives.

let me know if you read these books will you? i think you're going to love them. i'm already hooked on both these amazing woman so i know i will!

xo beth

toes in the sand

so...my darling daughter and her boyfriend arrived back in the states today after a week in sunny jamaica. i'm excited to see them and see their pictures today. it's always good to know your ducklings are back nearby where they belong isn't it? : )

 and speaking of sunny skies and having sand in your toes, i had the pleasure of taking  photos at the reception for a kaa-ute couple who had a destination wedding in mexico a couple months ago. wanna see some of them?

these two little brothers were as cute as socks on a chicken! they were nice little fellas too- adorable and well behaved, what a perfect combination.

this fab looking lady below is their grandma-i know, hard to believe right? she and her son, the groom were dancing and laughing up a storm here-don't they look happy?

this was taken in mexico the day of the wedding.

this beautiful mom and daughter are as sweet as sweet can be. i'm not talking about nutrasweet or splenda either. it's the real dealio!

chase and kate-i wish you a thousand years of looking into each others eyes the way you did that night.

xo, beth