Indianapolis

We added another state capital!  On our way home from Chicago we took a slight detour and went to Indianapolis to see the capital.  It was a brand new drive for Scott and I.  I have only been to Indy once before with my parent and that was off the I-70 drive.  This time we were coming in from I-65 and it was very interesting scenery.  The wind was really blowing the car around but we saw a bunch of wild wheat, red barns and wind mills.

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Once we arrived in Indianapolis we headed straight to the capital building.  We took a couple pictures of us at the capital and then wandered past the Occupy Indy protesters and went into the building...then we found out that the building and tour stopped at 2 on Saturdays.  We missed the tour by 15 minutes!  Oh well, another trip.  But we did get the all important picture.

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We then headed towards the center of the city and found The Soldiers and Sailors Monument.  We took an elevator ride to the top for some amazing views of the city.

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Of course what trip to Indy wouldn't be complete without seeing Santa Claus riding a red Harley around town?



After hanging out downtown we decided that we needed to see the Indy 500 race track.  Of course they were giving tour of the actual race track.  We were able to do a lap around the track, now how many people can say they did a lap on the Indy 500 track?  It was very cool to learn about the track's history and that there is a golf course through it!

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The stop there was well worth it!  I think a trip bad to Indy is in order because I know there is a lot more to see of that city!

 

Windy City Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving was a little different than previous years for me.  I didn't go to Omaha or San Antonio or even stay in St. Louis.  This year we went to Chicago to celebrate with Scott's sister Jeni and her family and friends.  We drove up to Chicago after work on Wednesday night.  It was the first time that we had absolutely no traffic on the drive up and into the suburbs.  We got in a little before 11, even with a stop in Bloomington at a Steak 'n Shake for dinner.

On Thanksgiving, Scott, his mom and sister ran in the North Shore Turkey Trot.  A mere 10K bright and early and a little chilly.  After the run Scott decided to partake in a neighborhood game of football with his nephew, Mason, and Kevin.  While they played we started dinner.  I made an awesome turkey appetizer.  Jeni found the idea online and it turned out great!



After I finished the turkey I was ready for football.  Football consumed a lot of our day.  We had a great meal that Scott's sister Jeni prepared for us.  And we even went around the table to say what we were all thankful for.  It was a great Thanksgiving!

On Friday, Scott and I drove into the city to meet up with a couple of friends of mine from San Antonio.  We met up with Cody and Stacy at the Wilde.  We had a great lunch catching and laughing at old stories.  Afterwards we walked around the Wicker Park neighborhood and drove through downtown Chicago.

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I love seeing all the big buildings and everyone walking around the city.  Later that night Scott drove me through the neighborhood where he used to live while working for Kevin's company a few years ago.  Then it was back to the Bate's house to play Dirty Neighbor.  All in all a great get away.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Wishing everyone a Happy Turkey Day from the Windy City!

Christmas Craft Fair

It's almost Christmas time and what a great way to get ready by going to the Lindbergh High School Craft Fair. We met a few vendors at the Kimmswick Apple Butter Festival that mentioned they would be at the Lindbergh Fair for us to get more goodies. We arrived right when it opened and there was already a line of cars waiting to get in.



When we got inside we were amazed with how many rooms inside the school that were set up for booths. We found the dip samples first and grab a few of those. Then we headed into the main gym and quickly found the people that made the wooden bear for our door and got 4 new outfits for him. I then found a new snowman. Zipf had a great time finding all kinds of deals on yard signs and sleighs.

Roaring 20s

   I love to have a reason to dress up fun and it not be Halloween.  About a month ago, while watching the Cardinals/Brewers playoff game we were brainstorming what to do for Zipf's birthday.  Scott came up with the idea of having a roarign 20s themed party.  Have everyone dress up and have it at her house.   That was a hit with her and the plans quickly came together. 

 

It was time to celebrate on Friday night.  We got all dressed up and made a few dishes, salsa and turkey cookies.  It was great seeing everyone dressed up.  Even those that didn't want to buy an outfit came with accessories.  Zipf planned to have some food and dips, as well as, a signature martini. 

 

Turkey

A few years ago my mom introduced me to a great Thanksgiving treat, making turkey's with Oreo cookies.  We gave it a whirl and it was a hit within our family.  Two years ago I showed the Birch kids how to make them and Mathew had a little more fun eating the ingredients than making them, but they were a hit at Benton's birthday party.  This year I've been wanting to make them, but didn't have a place to take them.

 

This year I'm taking them to Zipf's birthday party, they will be her "cake."  Last night Scott and I made about 25 turkey's and they look great.  Here are the ingredients:

Oreo's - Double Stuffed works a little better

Hershey Kisses

Candy Corn

Chocolate Frosting

Red Hots (this year I used M&M's because we could not find Red Hots)

First you layer the Oreo with the frosting, then add the Hershey Kiss.  Behind the Kiss you add the Candy Corn (fat end down) and then a little more frosting at the tip of the Kiss and add the Red Hot/M&M.  This is what you get:

Roast

I had another culinary success story.  This past weekend we invited Scott's parents over for dinner.  We had decided that I would make a roast for the main dish.  I went to Soulard to get the roast and they didn't have what I wanted so I headed over to Schnucks.  The lady behind the meat counter was a great help in getting me the right size and type of meat.

Precooking was very easy.  I cut some garlic and slid that into the meat and then cut and onion to go under the roast and some on top and then poured wine on top.  Put it in the oven and a couple hours later it was done!

Last night I made French Dip Sandwiches for our dinner.  These sandwiches were really my main reason for wanting to cook a roast.  We got home from the gym and Scott sliced the meat while I got the broth ready.  In about 20 minutes we had great sandwiches for dinner.  I have been told that the roast might be a monthly meal for us.

Super Busy

I'm amazed at all the things we were able to do this weekend.  I'm still trying to catch up after the non-stop weekend.  On Friday I had a happy hour for our Director who was leaving LU and moving on to a better, less stressful job.  I had to leave in the middle to get home and meet Scott, then head to Kristin and Tom's for dinner and crazy game of Cranium.  The dinner that Kristin made was amazing and Scott and I won the game of Cranium, but need to work on our creative side.

Saturday was go, go, go.  While Scott worked out and took his car into the shop, I managed to clean the basement and get ready to go to the Highlander to watch the Nebraska game.  We met up with the Boland's and caught up on what's been going on with everyone.  Little Mackenzie has gotten so big!  The football game was kinda boring but I was happy to be a Husker fan when both teams came to the center of the field for a prayer before the game started.  It was a classy move.

I left the game a little early to meet up with Zipf and head down to Soulard for some much needed shopping.  I made a roast this weekend and wanted to see what kind of deals I could get.  I ended up with a whole lot of chicken, fruits and veggies and of course some mums to dress up the front porch.  I raced home, unloaded everything and relaxed with Reily for a little bit. 

Saturday night was Benton's 16th family birthday party.  I still can't believe Benton is driving!  I wasn't even driving when he was born.  It was a fun party to talk with family and get a great dinner of St. Louis Pizza and Wings.  Not to mention we introduced Benton's cousin to the wonderful movie, Dumb and Dumber.

Sunday was another busy day of cleaning and cooking.  We had invited Scott's parents over for dinner.  I had planned to make a roast and then some veggies and a salad.  I, also, made an apple crisp for the first time.  We spent the time watching some football and looking at wedding pictures.  After dinner and Scott's parents left we tackled the office and did some major cleaning and throwing away of junk. 

It was a very productive weekend, next up the basement!

Ankle Update

Well the ankle is still bothering me.  And about 2 weeks ago I call my doctor back to let her know that there is still limited mobility and soreness.  She referred me to a orthopedic surgeon.  I met with him this week and he did a few tests on my ankle to check the ligamates.  I don't think my ankle had hurt that bad in a long time.  When he was checking on which ligamates were sore, he pressed his thumb right into my foot.  I nearly cried with the pain of a little pressure. 

He concluded that the ligamates damage was trying to heal itself and creating scar tissue.  The pinching of the scar tissue is causing the pain.  So I'm now off to 3-4 weeks of physical therapy to try to strengthen the ankle.  If that doesn't work, I go back for an MRI and shot of cortisone and from there I could have surgery to remove the scar tissue. 



                                                                                          

It's all very exciting.  In the mean time I've been going to the gym and walking on the treadmills and biking to strengthen it.  Also, I'm off the air cast and wearing an ace bandage for support during the day.  I have to say that I'm getting used to seeing black pants and tennis shoes for my work attire.

Pere Marquette

 

I have been wanting to go up to Pere Marquette for almost a year.  We first went for a long hike on July 4th, 2010 and since then I've been wanting to go and see the Fall Leaves.  So on Sunday we finally took a drive up to Grafton to check out the colors.  They were well worth the wait.  The drive up the Great River Road was awesome.  There were some amazing colors to see.

 



 

We ended up taking a very short hike and got some amazing pictures of the leaves.





On our way back home we stopped in Grafton to get some ice cream and a new candle at the antique store.  It was a great way to spend a Sunday.  I hope this will be a fall tradition for us.

History Hayride

On Saturday Scott, Zipf, and I headed North to Fort Bellefountaine for the History Hayride.  It was a crazy windy day and a little cool, but it was sunny so it made the trip pleasant.  We arrived and were greated by an amazing view of the Mississippi River from the top of the Fort.  This fort was opened in 1805 and was the beginning of the Lewis & Clark trail.  The fort was used by the Army through 1828 when its decaying condition and the changing military needs of the region, convinced the War Department to abandon the location.



We were greeted by a soldier in Reveloutionary War uniform and were given the history of the fort and his uniform.  We then learned about World War II soldier and their uniforms and guns.  Follow by a Spanish soldier who fought in Puerto Rico.  We concluded our hayride with Union and Confederate soliders talk about their role in the Civil War and how they moved weapons to the battles.

 

The hayride was about 2 hours, but it was a lot of fun and I actually learned more than I knew about some of the wars and the role that Missouri played.  I would recommend everyone to check this out.

World Series Parade

Scott and I decided on the way home from downtown, early Saturday morning that we were going down to the parade on Sunday.  We arrived at Scott's work to park and walk to the parade routine with about an hour to spare.  Once we got closer to the stadium I couldn't believe the amount of red I was seeing.  It took us a while to get the perfect spot and did we get the perfect spot!

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We were across the street from Paddy O's and I was able to go up to the barricade.  We did have to wait an hour before we started to even see the parade.  First came Tony and the Clydesdales kicking the parade off right!  Then all the players with their families in the bed of the pick up trucks.  Those in the front office and medical crew had their own trucks, trolleys and trams.  It was well worth the wait to see the players smiling at us...not to mention the World Series Trophy was front and center.

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Halloween

Another Halloween in the books!  Scott and I headed down to the Birch's for our Halloween tradition of handing out candy while the kids trick or treated.  I arrived early and helped Mathew get dressed as Superman.  We even spent some time spray painting his hair because he has to have the same hair as Superman.  Catherine was a Hershey candy bar and Elizabeth and friends went as cowgirls. 

It seemed as if trick or treating started a little early this year.  I arrive at 6:15 and there were a bunch of kids already walking around the neighborhood.  I found out that St. Gabriel's did not have school on Monday and so parents were most likely get a head start.  I did hear a few good jokes this year and saw a couple really creative costumes.  The favorite of the night were the gnomes.  They were cute kids and young enough not to care what they wore just yet. 

Can't wait till next Halloween to learn some crazy new jokes, hear some old ones and check out the creativity of costumes.