March-Grief and Spring Break

 In true MN fashion, March teased us into thinking Spring was coming.  We actually had a break from Hockey and experienced nights of the week with NO activities! We got to see Dean's first school music performance (thanks Covid) and the whole family loved it.

St. Patrick's day I did my favorite and bought the boys matching shirts :) The boys had fun looking for leprechaun coins, loved the green toilets and green milk. They also decided to do their hair the same, and since Dean hasn't stopped wearing his "man bun". 

Even though the weather wasn't great, I continued with my goal of walking every day. Got some good walks in with Gordie because he was sick as well as Julie at work. I also did a lot of reflecting as feelings about grief/anxiety came at me hard this month. Grief surprised me this month. I had been feeling “back to myself” and then the wave came crashing in. I knew Spring Break was coming and we had planned on spending that with Paul, so that coupled with the anniversary of the loss of my baby, and my first birthday without Paul, I was definitely not feeling myself.

Luckily, like always a trip away was just what I needed. Galveston, TX brought Family time, the ocean, sun and sand; just what I needed to help me grieve my brother, spend quality time with family, and celebrate another year around the sun. PLUS we missed 8+ inches of snow, so that was a bonus too :)

"SpringTime" Has Begun

Spring has officially begun, but it has yet to start looking and feeling like Spring... here or anywhere I've been!

Started with a lovely weekend in North Carolina with my sutiemates to celebrate CAMMIE getting married! We stayed at a gorgeous lake, in a cute little house. We snuggled, giggled, ate food and danced together. And of course celebrated the special girl!

After this, time started flying by and it was almost Spring Break; and Mark and I did a crazy thing. We'd been looking at houses casually, and considered purchasing one we saw but it had a lot of work to be done on it so we were not sure. To help us make our decision we decided to look at another property to compare and before we even walked into the home, the 3 minutes walking distance to 2 beautiful parks with woods and lakes had me sold. We walked into the home and knew IMMEDIATELY we wanted it! Which is crazy, because Mark and I didn't always agree, and usually had to think things through more, but this one just felt right! We made an offer on the perfect home (with both a man cave, a beautiful kitchen and a craft room :) ) and our offer was accepted the next day! Unfortuantely we were scheduled to go out of town that weekend to Texas to start our Spring Break, but luckily Mark's dad Steve was there to help us through inspection and all other paperwork/decisions that have to be made immediately after purchasing a home! Needless to say inspection has gone through, things have been taken care of and we will close on our FIRST HOME on May 22nd! I made peanut butter brownies to celebrate! (This picture is for my sister-in-law Anne.... she doesn't like pictures of food ;) )

Recipe at end of article!

Me admiring our lake view from our deck

So we headed off to Texas, with a huge purchase in our minds, and entered the world of tons of babies and children. Mark's sister Sarah put it well "Why would you guys come to a house full of children and people to relax on your Spring Break?" But it was wonderful! We got to spend about a week there, and although the weather wasn't much different from MN (windy and 40's! They had a cold front) We still had a great time! Kaitlin had her 2nd birthday party, we played all day long, went out for an adult's dinner, and watched the Stockyards (cows walking across a road) in Fort Worth. We wanted to take a picture with a steer in the background... but it costs $5, Texas!

 So I got home from Texas and then to celebrate the end of my Spring Break, my mom came into town :) Which was VERY exciting! Her first time in Minnesota and over my birthday! And luckily it wasn't too cold. We got to show her our new house, we drove around the lakes, made yummy food, and celebrated Easter at Mark's parent's house. She also got to come with me to school a couple of days and see all my kiddos. And she was here on my birthday and got to celebrate with me! (Plus she brought me a cookbook organizer and permanent markers...she knows me so well!) It was a lovely trip but way too short, and I can't wait for them to come up again this summer to see our new house with all of OUR stuff in it :)

Me and Nancy and Mom

Almost identical.. kind of creepy

My easter tree and cupcakes

Mom watching me at school on my Birthday!

Although it was sad to see my mom go on my birthday, it was still a great day. Friends and family made me feel special all day long, starting with a phone call from my dad the moment I woke up, to three teachers coming in and giving my birthday hugs and a little gift, to my students wishing me a good day, text messages from old friends, videos from old students, facebook messages from family, a lunch note from Mark (very unlike him :) ) to homemade dinner AND getting to watch Food Network all night long! People know how to make me feel special and I really appreciate it! Oh, I forgot to mention my thoughtful brother and sweet girlfriend Susan's gift of a SLACK LINE which is something we spent a lot of time playing with over Christmas. Overall, it was a great 26th birthday, and we are continuing the celebrations this weekend, last night with a steak dinner in Uptown and frozen yogurt :) and tonight going to see the Timberwolves play, my first ever professional basketball game.

Mark's as surprised that he's making dinner as I was.

Beautiful flowering cactus from one of my students

So I'd say overall Spring is off to a good start. It may have snowed yesterday, it may still not have hit more than 55 degrees, the trees are all still brown and yes the lakes are still partially frozen; but the days are longer, my birthday has passed, there are two months left of school and I've got lots of flowers :)



(Brownie Recipe:

Skinny Peanut Butter Swirl Brownies)

Makes 12 brownies.

Ingredients

• 1/3 cup creamy peanut butter
• 6 oz. low fat vanilla greek yogurt
• 1/4 cup skim milk (or almond milk)
• 1 large egg (or 2 egg whites)
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 3/4 cup sugar (I thought this was too much)
• 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/2 cup old-fashioned rolled oats

*I added less milk and yogurt and added black beans, (YOU CAN'T TASTE THEM!)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Spray a 8×8 inch pan with non-stick cooking spray. Set aside.
2. Place all of the ingredients except for the peanut butter into a blender or food processor. (Yes, a blender!) For easier blending, place the liquid ingredients into the blender first. Blend until mix is smooth and oats are ground up. You will have to stop the blender and scrape down the sides a few times.
3. Pour batter into prepared baking dish. Batter will be thin. Microwave peanut butter for about 30 seconds. Drop melted peanut butter by spoonfuls onto the batter, swirling gently with a knife to create a marbled effect. (Try not to overmix!)
4. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until brownies begin to pull away from the sides of the pan. Brownies will be extra fudgy, so be sure to wait until COMPLETELY cooled - I stuck mine in the refrigerator for 2 hours, which allowed them to be cut very easily. Cut into 12 squares and enjoy!