Filed under: Uncategorized
Sorry for not posting anything lately. We are in the middle of the long, cold portion of the winter. Sometime after the holidays, after the solstice, you realize that you are in Minnesota and even though the days have started to get longer (which is supposed to make me feel better but somehow doesn’t) there is still 2-3 months of winter left.
This last month has been particularly, relentlessly cold. I am in that place that many Minnesotans get to in the middle of January, slightly depressed, tired all the time and not feeling like doing much of anything.
A friend of mine from a massage workshop reminded me that this is the time of Bear medicine, the time to honor that inner Bear energy and hibernate, look inside and to dream. In many traditions, Bear is a keeper of dreams. She is a healer, and guards the medicine wheel in the West, the place of dreams and visions.
May you walk with your Bear Medicine and take this cold time to heal and look inside.
Last night was Halloween. We were not at home; we ended up at my dad’d house in Andover for dinner. We never have very many trick or treaters at our house, either.
We had our first snowfall last week. Of course, it did not stick to the ground for long, but it was quite windy so it made driving challenging for a little while and did coat the ground in a blanket of white for a bit. It was more snow than we were expecting. Tommorow, temperatures are expected to be near 70 degrees again. Go figure.
I think we are finally finished with most of the outdoor chores. My herbs and roses are covered. I am trying to prepare myself to receive the stillness of winter, that time of looking within, but most of the time, all I can think about are how cold my feet are (despite the heavy socks that I will almost perpetually wear from now until next spring.)
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: bedroom remodel, finished project, renovations
Yay! Those of you who know me know that we have been working on the upstairs bedroom in our house for years. We have never actually occupied the room; we tried to get our bed up there once but it would not make it up the stairs (this is what started the whole renovation, we had to put a door to the outside of the house to get the bed in).
Before and after picrtures are posted below. Despite all odds (meaning our lack or carpentry skills and knowledge), it actually turned out really well, and we elarned a lot in the process. I am confident that the next room that we take on will go much faster and turn out even better (confidence is a lot of the battle, and we have more of that now.)
It was somewhat surreal to sleep up there the first night, and having space in our bedroom seems like such a luxury (the room that we had been staying in was much smaller).
The work won’t stop for long; we are on to another project now (the next room). I told Aaron last night that this is one more step on the way to selling the house and getting our hobby farm (and in the meantime, we will enjoy the finished room.)
Before:
The floor and a piece of the wall the way it looked before remodeling.
The old door and a piece of the wall
After:
One view of our newly finished bedroom
Another view of our new bedroom.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: ceremony, massage, native american, retreat, shamanism, stone medicine, washington
I just returned the other morning from my massage retreat in Washington. I feel great joy in my heart for all of the new friends that I made, and for all of the changes and abundance that Creator has given me. I went through some very profound spiritual shifts during this powerful experiecne, and have emerged a new person.
Here are some pictures, will post more about the retreat if I am moved to, otherwise I will probably also post more about the massage and healing aspect of it on the .“Creature Comforts Bodywork” blog
One of the treatment processes/ceremonies that we learned
Me with Jenny and Janelle, teachers at the retreat
Putting on the breastplate, the necklace and the headdress
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Annie Get Your Girlfriends, business, massage, networking
Spirit of Women in Business in action @ Annie Get Your Girlfriends
My role was doing chair massage, and I certainly did a lot of that (4 hours with only a short break to scarf some girl scout cookies for dinner donated to the cause by a grateful girl scout mom who had particularly appreciated her massage). I met a lot of wonderful people, and made some great business contacts.
Everyone was dressed in western wear. There was a wonderful bluegrass band wandering around playing (a family, with mom and children, the littlest one wasn’t playing but was trailing along handing out fliers).
Pam Gordon and the great people from Shadows of the Old West/Moondance Emporium were on hand in character to provide entertainment and enhance the old west flavor of the event. I will post more pictures when I get them, but they were hillarious! I wanted to give Biscuit a massage, but never for a chance as I was very busy the entire time.
A couple of the characters that were on hand at Annie Get Your Girlfriends
More of the characters that were onsite for the event last night
Links to the Moondance Emporium website and Shadows of the Old West can be found here (check them out, they have some neat stuff going on!)
Shadows of the Old West
Moodance Emporium
We are going with my dad and stepmom on the Parade of Ponds, which is a tour of exemplary ponds and water features in the Twin Cities area. In case anyone is interested, the link to their website is here:
One of the stunning ponds we saw
Filed under: Uncategorized
I had a monumental though recently…I thought that perhaps our family and friends would like more frequent updates about what is going on in our lives (vain, I know, becuase this is assuming that anyone else cares about the trials and tribulations of our daily lives.) This was brought about by the fact that our neighbors and some of our very best friends are moving to Colorado 
So, I have put this blog here and intent to fill it with what is going on in our lives (both exciting and possibly tedious.) I hope to post photos, recipes (whatever is fresh in the kitchen!) and stories, in an effort to help everyone whon wants to be feel more included in our lives (something I know that we aren’t particularly good at, as we, or at least I, aren’t good at calling on the telephone).
So, world, here it is…
Chocolate Raspberry cake with Sour cream frosting
Chocolate Raspberry Cake Recipe with Sour Cream frosting
