Too Much Energy

30 Years!

‎30 years ago (Jan 18, 1982), I arrived at the US. This photo was taken upon arrival in Mankato. My aunt, Miriam, and her landlady, Viola Hagen, drove to pick me up at the airport. They missed the exit to 494 E and went 494 W until they saw signs for St. Cloud! It was a Monday, after one of the biggest snowstorms in MN history. There was 18" of snow on the ground. Of course, today is also Kevin Costner's birthday and Emily thought I came to this country that day because of him.

Birthday Wishlist

I'm getting requests from family members asking me what I want for Christmas and my birthday, which is coming up later this month. I've told Emily to be the keeper of the list so if you are getting anything from here, let her know so in case anyone asks, she'll know which items have been picked already. You can email Emily here.

Blue Ray discs in:

Field of Dreams (there are other Kevin Costner movies I'm interested in, but this is the only one of my favorites that are are available in Blue Ray)

Harry Potter: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2 oops! I opened up the Sound System last night and found Parts 1 and 2 of HP Deathly Hallows - so I'm good!!

Star Wars: The Original Trilogy (Episodes IV - VI)

The Living Seas

50 piee Tool Caddy Decorating Set (from Michael's - you can use the 40% or 50% coupon on this kit so don't buy at regular price)

Cake decorating Class #1 from Michael's in Maple Grove

Pandora Bead Charm: Forget-Me-Knot

Swarovski 2011 Annual Snowflake Ornament:

I can always use Gift Certificates to:

The Loopy Ewe

Blue Moon Fiber Arts

Amazing Threads - my local yarn shop

Knitting-related:

Electronic copy of Silk Road Socks. PDF can be sent to Ravelry ID mapleweave

That's all for now... if I think of anything else, I'll update this list!

2012 Calendar is up!

Finally getting back to scrapbooking. I'm so behind! I have Malcolm's 40th Birthday book (he is now 41.25!!) Then, there's Chris' 2010 Christmas album - she will get it before 2011 Christmas! But due to a sale with the calendars, my sisters and I had to get this finished and ordered by Monday! Enjoy!

 

Blueberry Peach Pie

So when you get fruits from Costco, you don't buy for 1 or 2 people.  You buy for  4 families!  The peaches look so good that I had to get some - that would mean a dozen peaches.  I decided to make Blueberry Peach Pie - no idea if such combination of a fruit pie existed.  These are the leftover peaches after I sliced the rest for the pie:

I googled for a recipe.  Found a few and decided to combine them.  So here we go... sliced peaches:

add blueberries:

mix it up and add other stuff and put on pie plate:

cover it with another pie crust:

After baking:

A slice of it:

I don't have good natural lighting inside the house so I took most of the photos outside.  I don't have a recipe to show because the pie is more liquidy than I like.  Maybe I sliced the peaches too thin.  Maybe I have to add more flour or cornstarch.  So, until the recipe is perfected, all you get now are pictures.  Here are our neighbors, Terry and Gary, and friend, Pam, over for dinner:

Pork chops were still on the grill...

Off to College

I forgot to take photos of the car all packed up (what kind of a scrapbooker have I become?!?!).  These were taken before we took off on Friday evening (Aug 19).  Alex's friend, Alex C, was visiting and saying goodbye.

I forgot to take photos of the pile of stuff that were unloaded!  His dorm room is on the 8th floor, but we got there early enough where there wasn't a line for the elevators.  This is Alex's roommate, Alex C  (yes, he only has friends named Alex C!).  They have been friends since Elementary School.

Alex C's parents helped set up the lofts.  After that we started moving in.. Alex C brought the mini fridge, Alex P brought the microwave, TV, bookcase, Playstation.  And their man cave is all ready.  Not all unpacked yet, but here are his bed, desk, and closest.

His suitemates (it's a suite with 2 bedrooms) - Josh is from Elk River and Young-Jin is from Korea.

Best of luck in college, Alex!  And work hard!

Graduation

is over!  After months of planning, it's now time to put things away until 2013!  Regrets:

- didn't take enough photos - busy visiting...  I don't even have one taken with Alex on Saturday when everyone looked nice!

- didn't order enough food - had to make a second run 1.5 hours into the party.

- had too much food.  Will be eating leftovers for months.

I'll be scrapbooking the photos I did take, but here are some to wet your appetite:

At Target Center, where the Commencement ceremony was held:

Being an Honor Student with High Honors, he sat in the front row:

Accepting his High Honors Sash:

Getting his Diploma

Display at Party:

Dessert Table (I forgot to take a photos of the main dishes!)

We had to deal with some sprinkles - but not heavy rainfalls.  Luckily, we had tents so we only had to use umbrellas to bring folks to their cars.

With the grandparents:

And the fridge:

 

The World Famous San Diego Zoo

I've been to many zoos!  But I was quite impressive with the SD Zoo.  It's not that big, but there is a wide varieties of animals and there is so much greenery that it doesn't seem like the animals are confined (except when the Polar Bears or Elephants are doing their repetitive movements... which is sad...).  Here are some highlights....

The 5-legged Elephant:

I didn't want to stand in the 45-minute line to see the Pandas, but I did see Po:

This Bird of Paradise was waiting for me to do his show... I saw this on the Planet Earth Series.  It was in one of my favorite episodes.  So I was just giddy when I saw this in real life.  This is one of my highlights of the trip!

Here's Mama Hippo and her baby, born in January. She's not ready to let the baby go yet so they haven't figured out how much the baby weighs.

Alex has friends (the girls) from his high school visiting San Clemente, about an hour away from San Diego.  They made a trip to the zoo so they met up.

And here's my favorite animal!  He gave me a ring for our 20th anniversary when we were in the Skyfari (an aerial tram over the zoo!)

 

A Hike at Torrey Pines State Reserve

Torrey Pines. I always thought that was someone's name. Not a species of a Pine tree! Then, there is the golf course. Today, we went to the Torrey Pines State Reserve, golf course, and drove through La Jolla. I'm on my iPad so I can't document after each photo. You will have to guess where each one was taken! The seals were at La Jolla.

On the beach

On the beach

Our beach house is not as spectacular as the mountain house, but it's at a great location. This is the view from our deck.

We watched a beautiful sunset from the boardwalk. And here are the parents in the trip.