Up North

Since James was gone most of the summer, we decided that once he got back that we would spend a weekend "up north". In Minnesota "up north" can mean a variety of places, but to us it means the north shore of Lake Superior. We have a lot of great memories from this area, and we usually make a trip up there at least twice a year...once in the summer, and at least once to go skiing.

Two Step Falls at Tettegouche State Park

Gooseberry Falls at Gooseberry State Park

We went during the third weekend in October. The fall colors were gone and there were a lot of families up there since kids statewide had a few days off, but we still had a great time visiting the state parks and just spending time away from the craziness of everyday life.

James at High Falls at Tettegouche State Park

The view from our room

The Marathon

Four weeks ago I ran the Twin Cities Marathon. It was my first marathon (and maybe my last?). I had to decide back in April if I was going to do this or not. I had signed up a few years ago to do it, but between moving and trying to sell a house I just didn't get the same training time in that I should have. I am very glad that I didn't run that marathon as it was 80 degrees and high humidity--not my kind of running weather. Knowing that James was going to be gone for most of the summer I figured this would be a good year for training, so with a little urging my sister (who I have to say somehow loves marathons) I signed up.

A gorgeous day for running!

I was nervous all summer, but when it finally came down to the day of my only goal to was to finish under 6 hours (and remain alive and somewhat able to walk). It was a gorgeous day for running...about 45 in the morning and slightly overcast. You can't ask for better weather. The fans (especially the super fans...my husband, parents and brother-in-law) helped...it was amazing to see everyone that comes out to watch. My half marathon time was a personal best, but I slowed down considerably after that. In the end my official time was under 5 hours and I could still walk (until the next day that is).

At mile 6...no problems yet!

Who knows if I'll ever do another one (although I am regretting now not training harder)...but at this point in time I can say I did and finished a marathon!

Finished!

Windmills

For some reason, over the past few years, I've become fascinated by windmills (wind turbines). You know...those big things that sit in farmers' fields. Yes, the ones that most "normal" people think are ugly. I think they are so cool. Everytime I make a trip down I-35 into Iowa or along I-80 near the Iowa/Nebraska border, I just watch out the window, looking into amazement trying to figure out how they convert wind into energy. This past weekend we drove along I-35 and I-80 and got some up close views of them.

1st day of school

Tomorrow marks the first day of school for most kids in Minnesota. It reminds me of all of the great first day of schools that I had growing up. The first day was usually the easiest, unless there was a transition to a new school involved (think first day of middle school or first day of high school). The fresh new backpack, school supplies, and new clothes. I remember that as we shopped for new school clothes, I usually had my first day outfit picked out months in advance. I even had those first day school clothes picked out in college.

Now that I have been working full time for 7 years (yikes!), there are no more 3-month summer vacations and no more first days of school. While I wouldn't trade my job, I would love to go back for those first days.

One of my sister's first days of school. I don't (but I know my mom does) have any pictures of myself.

Misconceptions

Many times I think that most of us judge something or someone by the first impression. We often don't give that thing or person a chance and really get to know what's going on.

There's a home in my neighborhood that has at least two (what appears to be) brothers living there. An old swing set occupies part of the yard that looks onto a busy road. Most days, even in the heart of winter, both people can be seen sitting on the swing set watching the traffic. A lot of people honk at them as they go by as if they know them. However, occasionally there will be an outburst that can be heard throughout the neighborhood by one of them. Usually yelling at the neighbors that live across the street from them.

The people that live at this house are a little "rough around the edges" and both have some physical disability as one walks with a cane and the other uses a wheelchair. They appear to be in their late '60's. I have never approached either of them in the two years I've lived here as they live across the busy street from us and I don't tend to use that sidewalk. However, that changed yesterday.

We had just finished our garage sale and there was one item, an old workbench, that hadn't sold which we figured someone would pick up if we left a free sign on it. Within five minutes of putting it at the end of the driveway, the one brother drove over and picked up half of the workbench (it was in two halves...the bench and the accompanying peg board) and walked home with it. When he came back he got his cane out of the car and started up the driveway. It was just my mother and me at home as my dad had left to take the rest of the unsold items to Goodwill. I was nervous at first about what was going to happen next. I ended up getting up and meeting him halfway up the driveway. He said he was interested in the other half of the workbench, but didn't have a way to get it back to his house until someone came over the help. When I asked him if I could take the free sign off and hold it for him, he politely declined and said since it may be more than one week before someone would be over to help, that if anyone else wanted it they could have it. He then thanked us and was on his way.

As my mom and I talked about it later that evening, we had a new respect for this person that sits at his swing set and watches the traffic go by. He is the neighborhood watch person...while he yells at the traffic if it is speeding, it's his way of protecting the neighborhood. As for his occasional loud outburst at his neighbors, I am positive that they are picking on him because based on my interaction with him yesterday...if you treat him with respect he'll do the same thing to you.

As the old saying goes...never judge a book by it's cover. The same holds true for people.

Unicycle man

If you are working in our yard at the right time of day (say about 5:30 p.m. on a sunny day) you might just catch a glimspe of the unicycle man. Okay, so I'm sure he has a real name, but once in a while we see him riding down the sidewalk. I do believe that this is his transportation to work (he is dressed in work clothes with a backpack).

Now that's what I call alternative transportation!

Goin' Green

Here are the few ways we are going green in the Durbin house:

Using reusable bags for shopping (minus the Fred-the-cat)

Driving our 2008 Honda Civic Hybrid (yeah, we get 45 miles to the gallon)

Growing our own food in our garden

Collecting rain in our new rain barrel.

Each year we celebrate Fred's birthday. This year, on June 11, he turned nine years old. While this year's celebration was less extravagant than in previous years, we still had a good time. The typical celebration includes inviting Fred's grandparents (my parents) over for dinner, followed by a DQ ice cream cake (yes, Fred gets a couple of licks in). This year, we just had the ice cream cake. But, next year, once he hits double digits, watch out for the celebration.

From Fred's birthday in 2006 (I don't have the pictures from this year downloaded yet).

The hero

My husband is a hero. Yes, as in someone who saved someone else's life.

A few weeks ago coming home from church, we drove by what looked to be someone who had just driven off the road and wrecked their car. But, as we got closer, we noticed that there were a few other ordinary citizens giving a woman CPR because she had a heart attack. James immediately stopped the car and jumped out the second that it was put into park. James and another fellow Army person gave this woman CPR until the ambulance arrived. After awhile James left because he was no longer needed...at that time we thought the woman would never survive as she still was not breathing.

Until today we did not know what happened to this woman. James received a letter in the mail from the Prior Lake police department thanking him for his life saving actions. This woman had survived, miraculously.

Earlier that day I complained that we did not fill up the car with gas before church, but rather we waited until after church to do it. I do think that God had planned this all out. He wanted us to fill up with gas after church because then James was positioned to help saved this woman's life. It's amazing how he works.

I have always thought that my husband is an amazing person, but this just proves it even more!

Ampelmann

In Berlin they have something that they call the ampelmann. The ampelmann is like the walk/don't walk sign in America, but in Berlin it's a little person. Actually, it's one of the few remnants of East Germany, that's now spread across all of Berlin. For some reason, tourists in Berlin find this little guy fascinating once they learn about it's history...including us. In fact, it's so popular, they even have several tourists stores that sell only ampelmann related items.

European Food

Whenever we travel out of the country we always try to make sure that we eat what the locals eat, instead of the normal American food (ie McDonalds). The food is always so much better overseas...or maybe that is because we are always so hungry because all we do is walk all day long as we sightsee. Here are some of the local flavors from our recent European trip...

Yummy....Panekoken (Dutch pancakes). It was so good despite the fact that it was 2 p.m. and I was drinking a Coca-Cola Light (Diet Coke) and James was drinking a beer.

A speciality in the Netherlands is raw herring. Little did I know when James said he needed a "snack" that he was going to get this traditional dish. Yes, the herring was served raw, on a bun, with onions. I happened to capture him mid-bite, but despite the picture, he claims he liked it. I, on the other hand, thought that one bite was enough as it was slimy and I ended up smelling like fish for the rest of the day.

Fred says it's been a long time since he was in a post, so this post is for the little buddy. Fred manages to make sure he is always comfortable. Despite that fact I usually kick him off the bed when it's time to make the bed; however, my husband does not agree with that philosophy. He always tells me that Fred is the priority, so as you can tell my this picture (with an unmade bed) that it was James' responsibility to make the bed, but it just didn't get done because of Fred.

Knut the Polar Bear

A few year ago Knut was all the hype. An orphaned baby polar bear warmed all of our hearts as he managed to survive, and was the talk of the world. Knut's home is in Berlin, and so of course I had to make sure we went to the zoo to visit. While it was sad to see him alone in an exhibit without any friends, he did put on quite a show for us. These are just a few of the 100 pictures or so we have of him.

Knut was recently in the news again, as another German zoo (where Knut's father is) wants either Knut or some of the money that the Berlin zoo has made off of Knut. We met a nice Berliner at the zoo (although rather crazy I might add), that had a button that read "Knut forever in Berlin".

A historical trip

We recently took a quick trip to Europe, which included stops in Amsterdam and Berlin. As I find with most European cities, there is so much history attached with them, and these two cities are no exception to this. From the Berlin Wall to the Anne Frank House there was so much to see, and we barely made a dent in exploring both cities. Here are a few favorites:

The Brandenberg Gate, Berlin

The Berlin Wall (side note, the first night we were in Berlin we were in such a hurry to find a hotel before it got dark that we walked right by one of the remaining sections of the Berlin Wall and didn't even notice.)

The Anne Frank House

The Moth!

Last fall, we were about to start a fire in our fire pit (see September 2008 posting), but noticed a caterpillar climbing on the side. We saved it, and a few days later it started a cocoon on our deck. We've patiently been awaiting the big day that it would come out and hoped it wouldn't come out while we were at work. Luckily, James had yesterday off, and the big event happened. I made it home just in time to see the moth before it flew away a little later.

Before

During

After (June 12)

He wasn't small either. It was about a 5.5" wingspan in this picture. Isn't mother nature cool?!

Yikes...it's been a month since the last post. Hum...more posts to come soon, including our recent (like we just landed back in the USA 2 hours ago) trip to Europe.

The saying "One man's trash is another man's treasure" couldn't hold more true in the city of Bloomington (MN) this weekend. It's the city's annual dump your junk at the end of your driveway and we'll pick it up free for you weekend. However, while some people had been setting out stuff earlier this week, the real treasure hunt began tonight for more people than I could count.

All evening there were people driving by in pickup trucks and hauling trailers full of these "treasures". So, we decided to get in the game...by putting out something of our own. We had a storage cart we've been using in the garage; however, we gained new cabinets courtsey of my parents a few weeks ago, so we didn't have use for the cart anymore. It wasn't in bad shape, it's just that the cart was made to go in the kitchen, so it didn't work very well for storing garage related items. Well, James quickly cleaned it out and put it at the end of the driveway. Within one minute (no lie!) it was gone. The lucky person who quickly claimed it happened to drive by at just the right time.

Oh the fun!

Over the past 18 months I have been helping to prepare for the American Planning Association's 2009 national planning conference in Minneapolis. The conference, after 5 days ended today. It was a lot of work, but so much fun during it. I spent most of the past week up at the Minneapolis convention center, preparing for and the attending the conference.

It's amazing what 4,500 professionals in the city planning field look like in one spot. It's an amazing amount of knowledge and synergy. I met collegues from at least 13 other states, and had the opportunity to hear what is working in other places around the country.

In my professional career I have attended many conferences...but this one tops it all. While I am exhausted and am on information overload, I am glad that I not only had the opportunity to attend, but also to participate in the behind the scenes preparation.

GO BSU BEAVER HOCKEY!!!

In case you didn't know, the Bemidji State University men's hockey team is in the Frozen Four (yes, it's like the Final Four, but for hockey).

GO BEAVERS!!!!

Potholes

In Minnesota there are two seasons...winter and road construction. While the road construction season hasn't started yet, I think of many roads which could be done...mainly in the city that I live in.

I was coming home this afternoon from work and it just amazed me what horrible condition the roads are in where I live. No where else I have really seen it this bad. It's not only local streets but also county owned roads.

Maybe...someday once the state gets out of it's $6 billion deficit we may have better roads. Until then, I just hope the shocks on my car keep on working.

A loyal running companion

No, I don't have a dog that will go out for a run with me. And no, my husband won't get up at the early hour I do to go for a run; however, my cat will always get up with me. For those of you thinking that Fred goes on a run with me...well, no...he doesn't do quite that either.

We have long side windows by our front door, and as I am making my way back from my run, and come up my driveway I see I little figure watching out the side windows. There is Fred...he's always there...morning after morning when I get back waiting for me. Okay, so the motivation is that I feed him a treat when I get back, but it's fun to think that he's waiting there to greet me.

A new CD

James got a new CD this past weekend. As I was looking at it I realized it was a Christmas CD. Of course he was really excited about it and so we played it. Yes, it is Lent...and we are three past Christmas. Oh well...might as well get some use out of it. It was rather relaxing listening to it.

It's starting to warm up...so I wonder how my caterpillar is doing? I will have to watch for him to come out soon!

While we moved a few times growing up, our family has lived in Rosemout for over 20 years, so I have always considered it my "hometown".

My parents are moving next weekend to a new home. While a new set of memories will be made there, it will be different. No more Christmases in the old house and while my bedroom was turned into something else many years ago, it was always my bedroom. There will no longer be my bedroom, or Abby's bedroom. It's my parents home now..no longer my old home. It's sad, but I am very excited for my parents!

Within 5 feet

A few weeks ago, James and I went up to Lutsen to go skiing (and yes, for all of those asking, it was warm, the snow was soft, and we had a fabulous time). I wanted to stop at Gooseberry Falls to see if they were frozen and to enjoy the peace and quiet. As we were approaching the falls, I saw three deer (a doe and her two fawns) eating from a bird feeder. We thought that we could see how close we could get. Amazingly, they let us come within about 5 feet (we didn't try to get any closer though). It was so neat to see them up close, in the peace and quiet of a beautiful state park.

My undergraduate degree is in environmental studies. I've always wanted to save the world and environment. For a long time I thought about a career as an environmental engineer, but somehow fell in love with my current career of city planning. People told me it wasn't surprising that I got married on Earth Day (April 22) even though I don't "technically" work in the environmental field. (Although for the record, city planners have a lot of influence when it comes to the environment...more than you probably think!).

I am involved with a leadership class through the local chamber of commerce and today our topic of discuss was energy and environment. I had been looking forward to this topic as I really enjoy learning about this sort of stuff. We had two tours today. The first was to Great River Energy in Maple Grove, Minnesota. This new building is the first LEED platinum commercial building in Minnesota. They have a wind turbine, partial solar roof, partial green roof, geothermal heating/cooling, and many other really cool things. The second tour was of a factory that makes peanuts (no...not the ones you eat...packing peanuts). These peanuts are made of starch and thus completely dissolve when put into water. How cool is that?! Now, every time someone sends me a package with non-biodegradable packing peanuts I am going to refer them to this company.

I had such a fun day today and now want to go out and save the environment!

It's my last day as a twenty-something. Going from age 10 to age 20 seemed to take so long, and going from age 20 to age 30 seemed so incredibly short. I guess that's what they say....the older you get, the faster time goes.

I am watching the clock tick by until tomorrow, and trying to figure out what I have accomplished over the last 10 years. I guess I can say I accomplished a lot. I received both a bachelors and a masters degree. I have held a steady job for the past 6.5 years, even receiving a promotion, in which I now supervise five positions. I found a wonderful husband, to whom I've already been married to for almost three years. I've managed to travel to five continents (North America, Europe, Africa, Asia and Australia). I have a fabulous house and great cat, Fred, and many other things that would take too long to put in here.

As I move into the world of being a thirty-something, I ask the question, what will I accomplish in the next ten years. I have a friend at work who said when she turned thirty she made a list of all of the things she wants to do before she turns forty. Perhaps...I will follow her lead.

Signs of Spring???

I tend not to be an optimistic person, but you have to do your best when it's winter in Minnesota 6 months of the year. However, as I was getting in my car to go home from work, it hit me, we are inching slowly to spring. No longer is it dark when I go to work...the sun is starting to come up. But better than that, the sun is up until I get home at 5 p.m. Even my car in the middle of the day isn't the frigid cold that it was a month ago. The sun's rays are getting stronger. While the outside air says 7 degrees with a wind chill of 0, I'll take any signs of spring that there are for now.

How cold is it....

•The high never got above zero degrees (I believe the actual high was about -7)

•I had to walk six blocks outside, and my legs and feet, which only had one or two layers on, took at least 2 hours to thaw out

•I woke up to a temperature of -20 and a windchill of -40.

•My faithful Honda even had a hard time turning over after being outside all day

•The road chemicals (salt and sand) that they put on after the snow don't work (therefore there is still snow everywhere)

•Black ice (ice that forms from the exhaust of your car) is everywhere...worst of all you cannot see it...thus you must drive very, very slowly!

•The furnace runs most of the day just to keep the house at 62 degrees

•Even with the electric blanket on high, it still seems cold in the bed

•We cannot wait for a high temperature of above zero

•It was warmer in Antarctic than it was here this morning (granted it's summer down there)

•This weekend's forecast is for 20 degrees and all we can think of is breaking out the shorts and t-shirts

•If you leave a bottle of water in your car all day it will be a bottle of ice when you return


But, despite all of this, just hardy Minnesotans just continue on. I still see people biking to work, taking a run outside, and walking around without mittens or hats. I wouldn't call those people dumb, but maybe just a little insane.



GOTTA LOVE MINNESOTA!!!

Unless you commute to Minneapolis for work, there are very few transit options in the Twin Cities area. If I had the opportunity to use the system I would, but rarely get the opportunity (usually for the infrequent baseball game). However, today I had a meeting in Minneapolis for the whole day today, so I rode the light rail train into Minneapolis. It was so much fun to not have to drive or worry about parking. Best of all, I paid less for the train ride than I would have for parking. I wish I could do this everyday!

James and I are jinxed when it comes to skiing. No, not in the sense that we fall all of the time (but leave it to me to make it down the black diamonds okay, but fall waiting for the chairlift), but when it comes to weather. Each year we try to make it up to Lutsen (for all of you that don't live in Minnesota, it's about 50 miles from the Canadian border on Lake Superior) for a weekend of skiing. This year, as we had vacation time to spare, we went up over New Years. We had a three day ski pass, but ended up only going two days. The third day, as the snow was coming down sideways we went for a hike in Cascade State Park. It was beautiful with the fresh snow!