Weekend Getaway: Minnesota

Hello, hello!

I hope this finds you and yours well and staying as warm as possible!

This weekend, I took a fairly spontaneous trip to Minnesota (St. Paul area) to visit a dear friend from college.  She has had so many new and exciting things happen in her life in the recent past, and I decided to just make the trip up there to see/experience it all first hand!

So, after teaching lessons Friday evening (got done at 6:30), I headed out - armed with Google and AAA maps (no GPS for this girl), a road trip care package from my brother (complete with our favorite road trip snacks and a mix CD), Nicholas Sparks' newest book on CD (from the library), and a double-shot vanilla cappuccino smoothie from Scooter's.

The drive went really well and pretty fast, both going and coming back.  Since it was mostly dark both times, I didn't see too many sites on the road (not that there were many to be seen, anyway).  On the way out, though, I was driving through Iowa and saw a bunch of red lights blinking in unison across the horizon.  At first, I thought it was an airport, but couldn't figure out which one, because I was in the middle of nowhere...in Iowa.  I don't know how it finally occurred to me that they were the windmills, but that's what they were!  There were soooo many, though, and it was kind-of creepy to only see all those hundreds of red lights blinking simultaneously out there in the distance.

After arriving a little after 2 a.m., we proceeded to have a most lovely weekend together!  And as my mother's daughter, I documented it with pictures.  ☺

Saturday's brunch at The Good Earth included salmon with potato hash and poached eggs and pumpkin pancakes with applesauce and dried cranberries.  All the food here is made from organic and mostly local ingredients.

 Then, we made a trip to St. Olaf college where my friend did part of her master's program and where my cousin is a senior!

(for all you relatives out there...)

What a stunningly beautiful chapel!  (This is one of many windows there - pictures don't do it justice)

My cousin works at a cafe on campus where my friend used to go with other grad students a lot (though they hadn't met till now), and he made us drinks before we left.  This was my Pumpkin Spice Latte.)

A picture on the campus of Luther Seminary (where she also attended).

A delicious meal was prepared for us by my friend's thoughtful and talented boyfriend.  After supper, the night continued with lots of great conversation and a came of Scattergories.

One of the "new and exciting" things I went to experience was a litter of 7 kittens.  Need I say more...?  ☺

For now, their names are Do, Re, Mi, Fa, Sol, La, and Ti.

Such a good (and young!) mama kitty.

Her sweet dog, Rondo, is pretty great, too!  I got to experience giving him a bath before I left on Sunday.

Since my friend is a (talented, organized, amazing) music/worship director, I took my trumpet and was able to participate in Sunday's All Saint's Day service.  It was so great to see her in her element (and hear her play organ!!), and also such a blessing to be able to be part of it all.

Afterward, we ate at a cafe that doubles as a bike shop - pretty cool...and also yummy!

A lot of people thought I was a little crazy for making this trip alone, but I really didn't think twice about it.  I figured there is no time like the present (and it was the only weekend between now and Christmas - when the kittens would be finding new homes - that worked), so I just went...and I'm so glad I did!  It was a really wonderful trip, and I feel like I got to do and see everything I wanted to.  Of course, there are lots of touristy things we didn't take time to do or see, but that doesn't matter - it's the real and meaningful "attractions" that matter most.  ☺

Also - I never shared my Halloween costume with you all!  I was originally going to dress up as something completely different (an idea I'm saving for next year, so not sharing now), but then I found this priceless sweatshirt-turned-cat-cardigan at Goodwill, and couldn't not be the Crazy Cat Lady.

That's all, folks!  Hope you have an exceptional week!

Home without a kitten or a Minnesotan accent,

Kensy

Favorites of the day:

having student evaluations done!

This is what Charlie's doing right now.

#100!

So...apparently this is my 100th post!  I noticed the count on my list-of-posts page before beginning a new one and was pleasantly surprised to see that number!  It makes me think of "100th Day" projects in elementary school!  Sorry - I'm not going to make a picture with 100 Cheerios, beads, marshmallows, or pennies for the occasion.  Here are some other stats, though:

• I've been blogging for exactly 1 year and 7 months.
• There have been 7,267 pageviews from...
• 10 different countries!

Thanks again to all you faithful readers!  Again - I'd like to extend the offer to write about anything you request (within reason), so feel free to leave a comment, anonymous or otherwise.

I hope you all had a great weekend - I sure did!  Saturday was spent at the pool and a summer concert/festival with friends.  It was pretty much the perfect summer day!

Yesterday, it was another spectacular Sunday school session (hooray for alliterations!) and worship service.  Then, I got to help host a Nebraska Brass concert and had the pleasure of working with a lovely older woman who came (volunteered) to help.  That evening, I had the opportunity to play for an ordination service at church.  I was moved to tears (yes, more tearfulness...) when each of the supporting pastors (there were 11) individually laid their hands on the young man being ordained and gave him their own words of encouragement - from scripture and otherwise.  Such a powerful display of Christ-like love and support.  I wondered if they were all remembering their own ordination during this time.  This was followed by a violin/piano/organ arrangement of "Here I Am, Lord" - one of my very favorite hymns...it always gets me.  Luckily, I was able to compose myself before playing for the last hymn.  Even though the service lasted much longer than I anticipated, I was glad to be a part of it.

Charlie says, "Hey."

That's all, for now!  Have a wonderful week!

Centennially,

Kensy

P.S. If I had made the decision to go to France with the NWU band, I would've been gone for the past 10 days.  Though I know they all had an amazing time, I do not regret my decision to stay in the least!  Not only would I have missed out on a week's worth of work and had to find subs/make-up times for so many students, I would've missed that beautiful wedding last weekend and all the great experiences this weekend!  Maybe (hopefully) next time, Europe...  ☺

P.P.S. Those of you who work downtown and/or have a lengthy lunch hour should come check out the Lincoln Community Foundation Garden Performance Series concerts at noon on Wednesdays!  Yours truly will be hosting a lot of them from here on out, and I'd love to see you there!  Look the series up on Facebook, or click here for the schedule of performers.

Favorites of the day:

cool old houses

sunshine

iTunes

Mysterious Ways + Salt of the Earth

Happy Super Bowl Sunday!  I just made puppy chow to take to a get together in a few hours.  I'm not rooting for anyone in particular, in case you're wondering - I'm one of those people who are just in it for the commercials and company.  : )


Thought I'd share a bit about my weekend thus far:


Late Friday night, I woke up with the flu (the throw-up kind).  I can't remember the last time I'd had the flu, or even thrown up...had to be early high school or even jr. high...?  Anyway, I was SUPER bummed when it didn't go away by morning, because I was supposed to go to my grandparents' 60th anniversary celebration on Saturday.  I was the only cousin not in attendance and missed out on spending the day with my immediate and extended family.  (I'm not looking for a pity party, by the way.  I had a pretty good one here by myself on Saturday morning.)  Instead, I spent the day on the couch with Charlie.  Can't remember the last time I did absolutely nothing for such an extended period of time.


Sorry if that grossed any of you out.  The reason I'm sharing this is because all day I was trying to figure out why God had me all cooped up on such a special day.  My answer came this morning:


I'd been asked to baby-sit for some friends this morning, but told them yesterday that it probably wasn't a good idea for me to do so, just in case, and they found someone else to help out.  When I woke up this morning, though, I felt 100% better!  I hadn't set an alarm for church, because I thought I should let my body rest as long as it needed to, but still woke up at a decent time.  A couple minutes after turning my phone on for the day, I received a call from a church music director asking if I was available to play this morning with the church orchestra - his 2nd trumpet player was sick.  I said yes, of course (playing in church is my favorite way to use my God-given talents)!  


It was such a wonderful service to be a part of!  Not only was the music amazing, but the guest preacher was awesome!  Her message about being the "salt of the earth" was funny, historical, relevant, and refreshing.  She spoke about a recent news special she'd seen about salt and how there are four kinds of it, each with its own special use (seasoning, ice melt, etc.).  Also - did you know that in Jesus' time, there were community ovens along the streets that were fueled by animal poop that had been dried out using salt?  Yep, it's true.  When the fires had died out, a clay-like substance was left, and thrown on the streets for people to walk on.  SO, that's what Jesus was referring to when He said, "You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot." in Matthew 5:13!  


We, as the salt of the earth, are called not to make icy walks safer, not to make French fries tastier, but to be a catalyst for the fire of the community of Christ.   


So, even though I was so very sad to miss out on a day of family and fellowship yesterday and baby-sitting for a sweet girl this morning, I feel so blessed to have been a part of today's service.  


God is good.


In Him,
Kensy

Favorites of the day:

feeling better!

friends

budding relationships (no, not my own, but very happy for someone else!)