Meeting Another Author!

This past Tuesday, my mom accompanied me to another author meet-and-greet at the Mall of America. I've followed Shawna Lander on social media for a few years; her one-woman skits and the characters she plays are wonderful. She tackles fun topics, as well as serious issues, like pregnancy loss. She had a special host for her MoA stop, Amber Estenson, also known as That Midwestern Mom (she lives in Minnesota). And unbeknownst to us, another social media figure was just a few people ahead of us in line as an attendee...Kristen Knutson, aka "your boomer mom."

These two were delightful to listen to, and even better to talk to in person. I'm very glad I'm making a point to attend things like this that matter to me; it's been a long time since I've been able to really prioritize doing stuff like this, close to home.

We had a big dip in the temps this week, and the leaves are starting to show their beautiful colors, even with the rain giving a gloomy background.

G's been doing great at school lately! He received an Irish Award last week from his comms teacher for being kind to all students. Way to go, kiddo!

I made apple cookies with salted caramel frosting...good, but insanely sweet!

We started prepping the outside for winter. I covered all the deck (#1) furniture, cleaned and brought the solar lights inside, and removed all my potted plants except the mum on the front porch. It needs to tough it out for a few more weeks! G helped clean off the deck and pick up a ton of sticks in our backyard.

Arya was missing Pria, so I took this pic for her. Arya noted that it looks like an author headshot, lol

The big news is that Arya finally got a job! She'll be working at a coffee shop in a nearby town where she goes to school. We are so pleased this worked out, as she's been applying to many places and hasn't had much luck. Way to go for this kiddo, too!

We're heading into a busy time of year...G's friend birthday party is next week, and then it's Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years'! And it feels like it's just that quick, too!

Comments

Exploring Local Places

Last Sunday was the perfect day to explore an area that neither Arya nor I had been to before. We headed east to walk around the Vermillion Falls/River and Greenway area. The path was nicely paved, with lots of overhead shade from trees; there were so many families out on bikes and walking, and we had a nice view of the Vermillion River. Arya got some great pics, and I enjoyed spending time outdoors with my sweet girl. This weekend, G and I will be heading out to explore a creek area in a few towns just south of us. And I've already got an idea for another creek I want to walk by next month (it's a bit further away, and I'd rather put that aside until Arya is off at college) The tree leans to find the sun On the way home, we stopped at the DQ in another town (we have a love/hate relationship with the DQ in our town, so I wanted to avoid it.) The warm weather felt great, and we enjoyed some sweet treats while watching the world drive by. We're counting down the days unti...

What a Week

The weather has been unseasonably warm this fall, so we've been able to extend our outdoor projects just a bit. This past week Scott's been working in the garden, cleaning everything out, and repairing the back wall of our garage. Ava was such a good little helper, scooping up dirt, but still trying to keep her hands clean while doing it! I swear, a box is all she needs to make her happy. Princess Darla. Princess Darla has had enough. I personally like how she and Ava have the same expressions in this picture. Apparently Spanky was bored - check out that yawn in the background! We went down to Grand Meadow this weekend, and as always, it was so fun to see Ava and Isabel play together. They actually had several little conversations with each other - and they were so polite while doing so! We even had them share a room last night...boy, that was a challenge. I think they finally fell asleep around 10:00pm. And of course, Ava wa...

All Done!

We made it! May was extra busy this year, leading up to Arya's graduation. And now that we are a week out from the chaos, I'm happy to report that we survived and are enjoying a slightly less busy pace in our days and nights. On Friday, May 29, 2026, 601 Rosemount High School seniors graduated, with the ceremony held at the University of St Thomas campus in St Paul, MN. It was a new venue for graduation this year, and it went really well. We were allowed six tickets in total, but were provided with a link for others to stream it on YouTube. We ended up parking at St. Kate's and shuttling over to St Thomas, so the parking situation was easy peasy for us. The ceremony was so well done, focusing on the triple A philosophy: academics, arts, and athletics. We are so proud of Arya, and can't wait to cheer her on in the next phase of her life! We did a pre-graduation photo shoot with a few friends from school Last day of high school! Red Pine is a special school in the distric...

Go, Go, Goers!

Search This Blog