I have been sick the last couple of days. A stupid cold of all things. I hate to not feel well & I am stubborn as anything about not wanting to just rest! 

As promised here are more pictures from our overnight trip to the cities. These were all taken Friday afternoon when we did our walking around the area of the hotel.  The final post will be from the Minnesota Zoo ; )

These first 3 pictures were the view from our hotel room window on the 21st floor

The following are just sites that I saw that I liked...

This was a HUGE Barnes & Noble ( I couldn't even get the whole store in 1 shot!)..this kind of stuff reminded me of NYC.

I will only post 1...but there are statues all over the downtown area of famous Twins players. The area that we were in were all of pitchers.

A bronze statue of Mary Tyler Moore adorns the front of Macy's Department Store.
The famous scene of her tossing her hat in the air is forever immortalized in bronze. The plaque states, "Who can turn the world on with her smile."

A lot of pretty buildings...

Fun to people watch!

There are a lot of water fountains & gardens throughout this area.

This water fountain reminded me of a big dandelion!

Loved the vines on this apartment building

We were very fortunate to have such a pretty day

Hello friends & family...it was so nice having a long holiday weekend & now a short week

I hope you all had a great 4th.

Friday was mine & hubby's 14th wedding anniversary. We headed out to Minneapolis late afternoon for an overnight trip. We are only an hour and a half from there, so not a bad trip at all.
The weather was actually nice, despite it being extremely windy.

We stayed at the Hyatt , where the restaurant that we have been wanting to try & had reservations for that evening was actually located inside of !

We got there late afternoon, so after we checked in, we went out for a nice walk to explore the area. We were in the Nicollet Mall & the Loring Park area.
There was a Twins ballgame that evening & the stadium is just up the road from where we were, so there were a lot a Twins fans out &  as well.
We have been to a couple of different areas of the cities now, and this one really impressed us. It was very clean & a lot of neat architecture & a lot of people as well.
It reminded us of NYC in a way, just a lot cleaner. 
We stopped at a place that we have heard about called Brit's Pub. I had read that they had rooftop lawn bowling that I thought sounded cool.
We went up to the rooftop, which all 3 floors & the sidewalk area outside were all completely packed.
They had the world cup game going on inside & the rooftop bowling was turned into a huge watching area instead. It was extremely noisy up there & inside, so we opted to sit outside on the sidewalk area.

We each ordered an ale

and then hubby asked if I wanted to split a Scotch Egg with him...I asked if he had ever had one, he said no.
I wasn't for sure what one was, but agreed to try it with him.

OMG..Yes, it was delicious...No, it can't be very good for you! lol... for those of you who were like us & don't know what they are,
it is a hard boiled egg wrapped in sausage & a breading & then deep fried. Suprisingly these were not greasy at all.
The sauce was a poupon style mustard.

Later that evening, we headed down to the restaurant.

me & my man....celebrating 14 years of marriage.

http://www.theoceanaire.com/locations/minneapolis

I didn't take pictures inside or of the food...(except when they brought us dessert!)
The restaurant is separated into small rooms with about 6 tables in each room.
There was another couple in our room who was also celebrating their anniversary.
Hubby & I each started with a martini. I had some type of a Pear martini ...mmmmm
Then we split a 1/2 dozen of oysters on the half shell. They were delicious. It has been hard to find good fresh seafood up here!
Next came a glass of wine & a Caesar salad that we were also splitting. Here is when the fun really starts...
our waiter who is very nice & we have been having a fun time with is splitting the salad. I jokingly tell him that he is giving hubby all of the croutons.
He then goes to point up in the air to tell hubby to look at something so that he can take back some of the croutons to give to me....
as he does this I get my entire glass of wine (thank goodness it was white) spilled into my lap as he knock it on me!
This is a high end restaurant...the other patrons all fell silent & kind of gasped to see what I would do.
The waiter hands me the napkins that he has on him & is apologizing & said he is off to get more napkins.
The manager immediately shows up at our table asking what he needs to do...do I need dry cleaning...what
I asked if they had any robes in the back that I could just take my dress off & put on!
That was the much needed ice breaker that the other diners & the manager needed...they all laughed & kind of breathed a sigh of relief.
It was an accident & we were not going to make any fuss about it or let it ruin our night. (even though I was a soggy mess!)

We were brought out fresh salads, me a new glass of wine...and we tried to reassure the waiter that it really was ok...that it was just an accident. (he felt so bad)

Our entrees consisted of Halibut for me topped with crab & a butter sauce. It was to die for. So fresh & delicious!
Hubby had seared-rare yellowfin tuna ahi, which he loved.

Then they brought us out (their treat) a baked Alaska, which I did take a couple of photos of....

mmmm.....good.    Then the nice thing was that we only had to walk to the elevators to go back up to our room!

I have a lot more pictures to share of our trip, but will do in a couple of different posts so you aren't' overloaded ! Plus I have a lot to do today to make up for the last several days off.

One final picture that I do have to share though is of my beautiful "COLLEGE" girl!

She had orientation last Tuesday...got her schedule. So many of the classes were already filled as this was the end of the orientation. But she is happy with her classes & is taking a full load. (16 credit hours)

 I know that I sound like a broken record...but where, oh WHERE does the time go?  
 I was going to do a post on Monday....and now here it is Wednesday already!

I actually worked outside most of Monday, before the rain came again.  Have I mentioned lately how sick I am of the rain?  
I actually just saw this picture on FB this morning...

Univeristy of Wisconsin - Madison students canoeing down a street in Madison...

I think that of all of the seasons in Wisconsin that I like the least it has to be Spring...but wait...wasn't Monday  just the beginning of summer? hmmmph....need to tell the weather gods up here that!

I hope all you dads out there had a great Father's Day.  We actually took the boat out on Sunday as it was a nice day. Explored yet another new lake called Island Lake. We loved it. It was huge & has channels that lead into other lakes. We still have a lot of exploring to do there, so we will be going back there for sure.  It is great bass fishing with all of the lily pads (which we love!)

Here's a couple of pics from that day...

There were actually a lot of really nice houses on the lake...but I loved this old boathouse that had collapsed!

The clouds were also really pretty this day ; )

Love this next shot...

Is that the passageway to heaven?....hmm...

Daughter had to work until 7:30 this day, then her bf got off at 6:00 & was going to drive 2 hours east to our house to have father's day dinner with us all before they headed another 2 hours east to his parents house where they were going to spend there days off together.
I have yet to get any pictures of them....his visits are short & few & I don't want to embarass anyone by dragging out the camera...yeah, I know what some of you are thinking..."since when has that stopped her"....lol....

I did get this shot of daughter & hubby before bf showed up....

Father's Day 2010

We grilled ribeyes out, I made a Caesar salad & baked potatoes. Good food, good company

I gave hubby a new game camera. This one is a huge improvement over the one that he already had (which had totally quit just a few days prior)
It has infrared, which he really wanted. Also is much smaller & more compact. Has a lot of different settings & has a trip remote for easier setting.
The quality is so much better than the old one is.

Here is a deer that was captured by the infrared at night. (the day pictures are in color)

I haven't been getting out much & playing with my camera with all of this nasty weather. I did capture this beautiful Scarlet Tananger though a few days ago.


This is the 2nd or 3rd time that we have seen him around. He is just gorgeous!

OK...going to leave you with a couple of cartoons that I thought were pretty cute....

Happy hump day y'all....

 :)        ~     Zanychk

Just a quick hello. Not a lot to report from here. We finally had a break in the rain on Sunday, but only for that day. Then it stopped again yesterday & it is out of the forecast for today, but back in for tomorrow.  I am so sick of it!

 We did venture out Saturday morning before the heavy rain hit  to a local Art Festival .  I always love to wander through the different booths & look at the artwork. I also enjoy talking to the various artists, but then I feel so guilty after talking to them or complimenting them on their work and then not buying anything. I would assume that they are use to that though.

Sunday, we headed up north with the boat. Tried a new lake that we have never been to called Fireside. It was a pretty little lake, but the weather had the fishing pretty messed up. Nobody was doing any good.  It was also pretty shallow & weedy, so we don't think that we will be going back to that one any time soon. That is what I love about this area. There are so many little lakes all over, you have such a variety to choose from.
We did see some wildlife there. Saw a red fox, our much loved loons, a couple of muskrats and a bald eagle who had a nest & 2 young ones that were out of the nest. Here's a couple of pics that I took of the eagle. They didn't come out too good at all. I was using my little point & shoot & it was at quite a distance & you can see how dreary the day was.

that is mama on the end of the limb and the 2 young ones below & behind her. The nest is there in the center.

It started to rain on us as we were heading out that afternoon.

Of course with all of the rain & cloud cover, my internet was once again in & out...more out than in though.

I stayed busy running errands & shopping for birthdays & Fathers day the first part of the week. Monday was the worst though. I got totally soaked twice while I was out. The rain was really coming down hard this day & if you were out, there was no way to stay dry!

Our yard looks horrible as we were not able to mow this past weekend & it looks like it may be Saturday before we can get to it at all.
The bugs are also horrible.

We had a raccoon up on our deck a few days ago. He drank all of my sugar water from 3 of my hummingbird feeders. He also turned over my brand new basil plant & just left it sitting upside down all night, breaking one of the stems
Plus I have a turtle shell that he took & hid under the porch! They are very mischievous little critters.

Haven't seen any more bears. We are seeing some deer & turkey in the yard.

Daughter has orientation on the 29th of this month. She is really excited about starting back to school.
She has been staying very busy working full time, traveling on her days off to be with her beau and then crafting in her spare time.

Hubby & I have our 14th anniversary coming up on 7/2. We are thinking of going to the cities to celebrate. There is a nice seafood restaurant that we have wanted to try out. Maybe catch a show or an art gallery or maybe even the zoo

Hoping to get some fishing in this Saturday and then celebrate Father's day on Sunday. Not sure yet what we will be doing. Don't know what hours daughter has to work.

That's about it from here for now...y'all take care & have a great weekend.

It has been rainy, cool  and dreary now it seems like forever! I know that it is good for the plants and the grass, but it is kind of cramping my style! Plus, being on this stupid satelite internet the clouds & the rain make it nearly impossible to get online & stay that way. But I guess that I should quit whining....it could be worse.
I have not even  been able to keep up with you guys with my slow or no connection. I am hoping that after I get this posted to start making my rounds.

Remember that bunny in my yard picture that I promised you from my last post? Yeah, you were hoping that I forgot! lol...nope..here it is

Isn't she cute! Much bigger than the little things that I am use to!  We have had several in our yard this past week.

 Also this past weekend was the air show that I was telling you about. Despite the heavy cloud cover & the rain, the show did go on!
I took pictures & videos of them practicing the couple of days prior to the show. We live close to the airport, so I had them flying right over my yard & house!
I loved it, but my cats were scared to death! lol....

Some videos to enjoy....be sure to turn the sound up to fully appreciate it! 
There are several, but trust me they aren't long!

The baby birds that are in the nest under my deck are doing well. Look at how different they look from last post!

here's a couple of shots of the many goldfinches that we have around..

And this is the doe that is so cute & friendly...she is the one who was watching me through the sliding glass doors a while back when I was doing my yoga!

We have not seen any bears now in a little over a week. We are hoping that they stay away.
We did capture a picture (not a very good one) on our game camera of a coyote. Just his tail end!

We are having problems with the camera. I don't know why. We did take it in over the winter so it couldn't have gotten messed up from the severe weather.
 I need to look at it to just double check that hubby actually has it all set up right. He says it is, but I think that I need to double check ; )

Speaking of hubby....I love that hard working man of mine who allows me to stay home & do my own thing  
I truly love my life & am so happy. (well, I would be happier if the rain would quit so we could go fishing!)

Taken this past weekend....yes, it was a lazy one...and no I don't have any makeup on!

OK.... I am going to attempt to submit this & will be very upset if my internet goes out doing so!

I promise to come around & visit with you all very soon (internet willing)

My internet has been touch & go the last couple of days so I have not been able to get a post up.
We have had storms & a lot of much needed rain. Today the rain is out of the forecast, but storms are back in tomorrow & the weekend.

We had a nice 3 day weekend. It just went by much too quickly!  Saturday we started the day by doing yard work & chores. Then had some friends over & threw some burgers and dogs on the grill, played some horseshoes & brought out the wading pool for the young ones. 

  Here's the couple of munchkins that tagged along with their parents

Love the hair!

I don't believe that I didn't take more pictures...especially when we were outside & when they were splashing in the pool!
I guess between visiting & eating, I just didn't think (or have the time!)

  Sunday, we took the canoe out to one of the small lakes up north.

We pretty much had the place to ourselves up until the end. We had a blast. Caught some bass & lost quite a few as well!

Hubby had already cleaned a couple before I realized that I didn't get any pictures of what we caught! lol...yeah, I AM slipping!

Here is what was left  after he cleaned a few...

Monday, we just hung around the house.  Hubby worked more on his retaining wall that he is building, I did a few things around the house. We put a brisket on the smoker. Just had a nice day.
Then that evening as we are sitting on the deck, it was just a little after 8:00 pm....we heard a VERY  loud crunching noise coming out of the woods....we both looked at each other & said "bear"
and sure enough....this is what came walking through the yard....

this is the BIG bear...

He just wandered through...didn't even sniff at the grill...
We did call the neighbor though to warn him that he was headed his way because him & his son were both outside.
Geeze...never a dull moment out here in the woods!

I have a nest of baby birds on the rafters under my deck.
Here's a couple of shots that I was able to take...

There are 3 , maybe 4 babies.  They are  Flycatchers. It has been fun watching mama & daddy feed them!

Then here is Chip. He is always very active & such a happy lil' guy as he runs & skips around!

The Blue Angels are in town for an airshow this weekend.  They just flew over my house! LOUD! lol.. We are close to the airport, so we will be getting a lot of that for the next few days!  I just hope the weather doesn't ruin the show.

Made this yummy & healthy dish the other night for dinner.

Grilled shrimp with cilantro dipping sauce:

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons minced fresh cilantro
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon minced fresh chives
1 garlic clove, minced
1 pound uncooked medium shrimp, peeled and deveined

DIPPING SAUCE:
1 cup fresh cilantro leaves
1 cup fat-free mayonnaise
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded
1 garlic clove, peeled
1 tablespoon white vinegar
1 teaspoon sugar
Dash cayenne pepper

Directions
In a large resealable plastic bag, combine the cilantro, oil, chives and garlic. Add the shrimp; seal bag and turn to coat. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour.
In a blender, combine the sauce ingredients; cover and process until blended. Chill until serving.
Thread shrimp onto four metal or soaked wooden skewers. Grill, covered, over medium heat for 2-3 minutes on each side or until shrimp turn pink. Serve with sauce. Yield: 4 servings.

Nutrition Facts: 1 skewer with 1/4 cup sauce equals 208 calories, 10 g fat (2 g saturated fat), 144 mg cholesterol, 615 mg sodium, 11 g carbohydrate, 1 g fiber, 19 g protein.

I served it with this:

Cilantro Blue Cheese Slaw Recipe

Ingredients
8 cups shredded cabbage
1 small red onion, halved and thinly sliced
1/3 cup minced fresh cilantro
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced
1/4 cup crumbled blue cheese
1/4 cup fat-free mayonnaise
1/4 cup reduced-fat sour cream
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 tablespoons lime juice
1 garlic clove, minced
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon grated lime peel
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon coarsely ground pepper
Directions
In a large bowl, combine the cabbage, onion, cilantro and jalapeno. In a small bowl, combine the remaining ingredients; pour over salad and toss to coat. Yield: 8 servings.

Nutrition Facts: 3/4 cup equals 63 calories, 2 g fat (1 g saturated fat), 6 mg cholesterol, 362 mg sodium, 9 g carbohydrate, 3 g fiber, 3 g protein. Diabetic Exchanges: 1 vegetable, 1/2 fat.

Both of these recipes came from Taste of Home Healthy Cooking.
Next time I make this, I will be sure to have flour tortillas & serve as shrimp tacos! (hubby's idea)

I have a yard full of turkey today. Funny thing is that they are so alert to sounds....just me walking (very quietly) in the house, scares them all off and running!
I also had a huge bunny rabbit which I did snap a few pictures of. They are still on my camera, so I will post on my next blog if they come out.

Here's a few funnies that I have gotten in emails that I thought I would share with you....

haha....ok, that's all that I have for today... y'all take care & I'll be visiting you soon.

TGIF! Where HAS the week gone?  I uploaded some pictures a few days ago to do a post & never got around to doing it. So now I have added even more pictures....sorry, but I love my camera & I love to capture life through it!

Hubby has got the best boss. Yesterday, the boss took him & another guy from the office on a 1/2 day guided fishing trip! How cool is that!  There is a lake 2 hours north of here that is crystal clear water. The bass have "nests" right now & are protecting their eggs. So the guide took them around to these places and showed them how to fish them. Between the 3 of them they caught around 25 small mouth bass. The sad thing is, that it is only catch & release on this lake until June 1, so they weren't able to keep any of them, but they sure had a great time, which is what really matters!  I only have 1 picture of that to post (right now ...haha) . We are waiting on the other 2 guys to email us their photos. (hubby brought his camera but left it in the truck) You would have thought that I would have taught him better than that!

Well, it seems like my site is fixed...don't know how, except that it had to be some glitch with Xanga and not me. I never heard back from Xanga. (hmmm...imagine that!) I sent in a request for help and also posted on the forums.
Please let me know if you have any problems though.

Yesterday we were coming home from the lake & exiting from the highway. It is one of those big loopy exits ...grassy in the center. It was 6:18 pm and there stood a bear in the center of the exit on they grassy area! It was a small one, but right there off of the highway & that early in the evening.  As we slowed down & yes, I was fumbling for my camera, he went into a culvert, or a drainage hole!  They are definitely out & about right now & a large population of them. We have seen 3 just in the last 2 weeks.

Something is wrong over here...I have no idea what it is, but you can see my posts in the subs area but can't click on them or my comments (nor can I) without being taken to the front page of Xanga.

I have contacted them for help, but who knows how long it will be before I hear back from them (if I even do).

If any of you have any suggestions, please message me.

thank you....

Happy Friday all. We are hoping for a pretty weekend after another week of rain & cold.  I wanted to do a post yesterday, but didn't have internet most of the day thanks to the bad weather.

We had a bit of excitement here Wednesday night. Hubby stood up during the first commercial during American Idol to go outside to bring the birdfeeders in (something we do ever since the bear has shown up). It was around 8:15, but as he got up he saw that the bear had beaten him to it....this bear was bigger than the last. It was also a male. Hubby said that I could get a few photos out of the window before he went out to run him off. I did..then we opened up the slider on the deck & both walked out & started hollering at him to get out. This bear could have cared less and was actually a bit upset with us. Hubby ended up having to go in & get his gun to shoot it off to scare it away.  We are discontinuing the bird feeding & if this bear continues to be a problem then we will contact the DNR to see if they can capture it for us.

Here's some photos that I got. Not great because they were rushed & also through the glass window...

This look he is giving us scared us...it is like he is saying F*@* you!

here is where he decided that we weren't going to run him off...

Until hubby shot off the gun.

Sad too because just earlier that evening hubby & I were enjoying the birds & actually saw 2 new birds at the feeder.

This is not a picture of those 2 birds, but of another 2 that I thought looked pretty together...a male grossbeak with a male cardinal

Have to show you all what hubby gave to me on Mother's Day....

So pretty! We hung it in the dining room window hoping that it will also defer some of the birds from flying into that window.

I have to share a recipe that I made the other night and that we all just loved.
I found it in the Rachael Ray magazine that daughter gave me for Mother's Day.

Lemon Chicken Tortellini Soup

4 Servings 
 Prep 10 min 
 Cook 25 min

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 pound skinless, boneless chicken thighs
Salt and pepper
One 32-ounce container (4 cups) chicken broth
One 9-ounce bag tortellini pasta
2 cups shredded escarole
1 1/2 cups frozen peas
Grated peel and juice of 1 lemon
1/4 cup chopped fresh mint

Directions:
In a large pot, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Add to the pot and cook, turning occasionally, until golden, 6 to 8 minutes; transfer to a plate. Let cool slightly before shredding.

Add the chicken broth and 2 cups water to the same pot and bring to a simmer. Add the tortellini and cook according to package directions. Remove from the heat and stir in the shredded chicken, the escarole, peas, scallions, lemon peel, lemon juice and mint. Season with salt and pepper  

Absolutely delicious! Even picky eater daughter ate it & loved it!

We are going to try to get out & go fishing this weekend. Going to try for Walleye.
I hope you all have a great weekend.