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Monday, August 25, 2014

Down on the farm

This weekend I took a break from city life to go down to my parent's farm.  It was my stepdad's birthday, so it was the perfect excuse to go visit!

Sunset on Friday night.  The colors were amazing!

There were thunderstorms later through the night, which brought over an inch of rain, along with very muggy conditions.

Yep, lots of corn down 'yonder. Taller than me!

My parents have baby farm kitties!  These little guys were ADORABLE!

This little orange kitty enjoyed following us through the yard and through the garden.  I wanted to take him home, but I think 5 cats would be a bit too many for one household!

Wednesday, August 20, 2014

Photo Shoot

This morning I had the rare opportunity to work with our marketing department at work!  I had a chance to help out with a photo shoot of our plants for an upcoming magazine advertisement. We loaded up our plants and headed to NE Mpls where we met with the photographer and ad agents for the shoot.
 
Blushing Bride Hydrangea.  After I made this plant "pretty"; all ready to be photographed.

My co-worker Michelle tweaking the final touches of Twist-n-shout after a few photo takes. 

Our Bloomstruck Hydrangea, all "dolled up" by me and Michelle and awaiting it's photo shoot in the studio.  It was a really great experience to see how we prepare our plants for advertising!

Monday, August 18, 2014

Weekend visits

This weekend was all about catching up with some friends!  Friday night I had a great visit with my longtime friend of 20+ years, Jolene! We haven't seen each other for a good many years.  She was home from Texas for a quick visit, and we had a chance to get together for a few hours in St. Paul. 
 
Jolene and I; we never get together enough!  Living far apart makes it tough, but somehow we always pick up right where we left off!  I'll have to take a road trip to Texas one of these days!  :)
 
On Saturday, I headed into Minneapolis to get a hair cut (4" off!).  Before my appointment, I stopped by to see my previous landlord in NE.  It was great catching up with her and hearing about the changes in our old neighborhood.  This is a photo of the house that was next door to us.  For 4-6 years, this place sat abandoned.  There were no windows, siding was rotting, the interior was an absolute mess, and the yard was nothing but weeds and piles of dirt.  Many a stray cat lived here, as well as the occasional raccoon or two upstairs. I simply cannot believe how amazing this looks now!  It's not the same house that I lived next to!
 
A steamy day today in Minnesota.
This weekend the mugginess hit Minnesota, with dewpoints spiking back up into the high 60's and even into the 70's.  The swampiness left me struggling on Sunday during my 7.6 mile run (I couldn't reach 8).  We've been fortunate so far to have a nice cool summer; I am hoping the humidity goes away soon!

Wednesday, August 6, 2014

Biking!

This afternoon I took a nice long bike ride along the Gateway Trail and Oakdale Park with my good friend Terri. It has been a really stressful week, and the bike ride is exactly what I needed to destress!


Almost 19 miles on my old school ride! Bike riding is a great way to strengthen my legs for my half marathon training. I definitely felt the burn earlier!