To Travel!

Joe and I are wrapping up our holiday visits, and we've decided to take the long-ish way home to Minnesota, crossing the Mackinaw Bridge, driving up to Marquette, and saying hello to Lake Superior.

Today was a snowy drive through the lower peninsula. This photo isn't black in white; it was just that gray.

We're staying the night in Mackinaw City, and over dinner, we thought about how little traveling we did when we lived in Michigan, how much of this beautiful state we still haven't seen. We thought about how we lived in the upper peninsula for four years and never even made it to Copper Harbor.

So, if we're talking New Year's Resolutions, I'm thinking we need to get traveling.

Even today, when we tried to take this shot in front of the Mackinaw Bridge, we realized this was the first time we stopped to really look at it. For four years, we drove back and forth across this bridge, and never stopped to say hello.


So that's my goal this year (among others). Wherever we are, wherever we end up, we won't settle for the thirty familiar miles around us.

Happy new year, everyone. Let's find some great views this year.

Cedric's Page

One more quick thing: Cedric's started his own site, so he can keep better track of his photos.

Visit him here: http://cedricthegnome.wordpress.com/

Frostbite

It was -13 with the wind chill today, but Cedric still insisted on shoveling. 

Snowy Days

Today I woke up to a winter wonderland. Joe offered to give me a ride to school, but I couldn't resist stomping around in the snow.

Here's a few pictures to document my daily walk to school.

Lots of curly branches.

One mystery trail that I'm too afraid to take, even though I suspect it might cut down on some of my walk time.

One cool sign.

One building-to-building tunnel.

One dreamy campus-view of the Mississippi.

I made a similar snowy walk to school yesterday before reading a few of my essays in an on-campus faculty reading. It seemed appropriate since one of the short pieces I was reading was about walking in the snow. Maybe I'll post the link to the video when it's ready.

Better hit the sack early. There's a new onslaught of grading, and Cedric's got some serious shoveling to do tomorrow.

Stubborn Maple

Three states in two years; our truck is having an identity crisis.

Cedric wants to know why we spend so much money on these things if we aren't going to use them. 

He made a good point, so I hung one in my office at school.  

Not much else has been happening lately. Our maple outside refuses to change colors!

 That was a couple days ago. Right now it's covered in snow.

We have been trying a little harder lately to make our apartment less like an empty box. It's not much, but here is what we've got so far.

There's a couch too! So many places to sit now! And Joe is putting together a desk as we speak. Don't worry, he's not doing all the work. I assembled the bookshelf and stained the dining room table. Hopefully our visitors this week like the smell of  polyurethane!

Ceddy's Visit to Marquette

Oh, I forgot to mention, Cedric was really happy with his visit to Marquette. It gave him a chance to buy that Kromer he's always wanted.

Marquette Again

When I told my mom yesterday that Joe and I were in Marquette, Michigan for the second week in a row, her response was, "You don't live there anymore, you know." 

I know. 

But we had a long weekend. And the leaves are changing. And I needed some whitefish.

And I wanted to repeat last Saturday when I woke up, bought a cranberry walnut muffin and a coffee from Babycakes, walked to the farmer's market downtown, sat next to a fountain, listened to Mike Wait play his guitar and sing to all the browsers and buyers of carrot bunches, bread loaves, honey jars, soap bars, bird houses, and everything else being made in the upper peninsula.

I wanted to watch the clouds sneak in over Lake Superior as people drank cider, pet strangers' dogs, greeted old friends, found the perfect tomatillo. 

It's raining again this weekend, but that's good because I've got plenty of work to do and the Peter White Library has the perfect view of a misty Lake Superior and a damp Marquette. 

I don't live here anymore. Tomorrow we'll go home to Minnesota, back to our undecorated and almost unfurnished apartment. But in a few weeks the leaves there will be just as bright, and I'll figure the rest out soon. I'll make some time to nest, to explore, to find that view that keeps me looking up from the page every once in a while. 

Full-Time...

...means no time for blogging. 

...means no new-city exploring. 

...means living somewhere for two months before buying a couch to sit on or a table to eat off of. 

But, hey, we have both now! Or we will by the time the couch is delivered on Wednesday. 

Other than getting our semesters at new schools on track, we haven't been up to much. We did make it back to Michigan for one of the sweetest weddings I've ever attended. 

There was a lot of love coming from everyone. And, a lot of crying. 

I got to see my niece getting ready for her big day: 

Her mom and sister putting her into her dress. Her friends watching from the other room.

Rewriting her vows before the ceremony.

And I got to see more of my sister's wonderful work as a floral designer.

Oh, and I got to see Joe's first time officiating a wedding. 

It's an odd feeling going to a wedding with your husband and eventually realizing he's not going to be sitting next to you.

One last reason this wedding was so delightful: a cookie bar.

It gave me a reason to make the French macarons I've been wanting to test out (filled with a raspberry butter-cream). They definitely could have looked better, but they tasted pretty delightful. Even some of the Europeans from the grooms side came over to compliment them. Good enough for me!

Guess I'll have to keep practicing, no matter how many cookies we have to eat. 

Tomorrow is my birthday. If I were in Spokane, I'd walk down to Madeleine's for breakfast. I'm settling for a haircut and a visit to a local cake shop (if there's time before I have to be on campus). The real celebration comes this weekend when Joe and I drive up to Marquette to celebrate our birthdays/anniversary. Lake Superior here we come! 

Still Not Unpacked

It's hard to stay inside and unpack all your boxes when there are sculpture gardens to walk through and baseball games to see.


Did you know the "Spoonbridge and Cherry" is a fountain? There's water running down the cherry. I had no idea!

Anyway, yesterday a few of us walked downtown to Target Stadium to see the Twins play against Cleveland. 
 

Cedric loves a good baseball game on a cool summer evening.

He foresees himself attending many more baseball games in the future.

And I foresee many more empty boxes in the next few hours.

BOXES

So, I would have written sooner if I weren't so sore that I couldn't move. After a few hours of hauling our belongings up to the third floor of our new apartment, we celebrated the end of another move across the country with a victory photo. 

Waiting in Minneapolis

The great apartment search has ended! It went very much like the Spokane apartment search of 2011.

Though, on the second day, things were a lot less creepy. It's not everything we wanted, but need the for hardwood floors was beaten out by the need to stop hunting for a place to live.

Days Two and Three

This morning I woke up in Minneapolis, and Joe and I drove the blood wagon (see previous post) to Coon Rapids to begin the search for somewhere to live.

But what happened between this and Buffalo, Wyoming? More driving and more beautiful views. More bad food. More music. More fidgeting. More shots of Cedric. Because there isn't much to say, here are some photos of our last two driving days.

Tomorrow we continue the home hunt!

cynthia-anne's photostream on Flickr.