#74 Learn a new recipe--not a dessert 9/24/2011

I have actually been trying quite a few new recipes.  I made Hot Pepper Jam for the first time this year.  I planted jalapenos peppers just for the jam.  I do like the way it tastes.  If you have ever had Sweet Chili Sauce, you have an idea of how it tastes.  I first tasted Sweet Chili Sauce in Australia.  They serve it with french fries and sour cream.  It is so good!!!!!! 

 I also tried making Salsa for the first time.  I am not much of a tomato eater, so this is really a stretch for me.  I used my Aunt LaVerne's recipe...with a few tweaks of course  :)  It turned out really good, I haven't gotten any bad press from anyone.  Jenni said that she ate a half of jar the first time she tasted it.  I think I added more jalapenos than it called for just because I had them.  I have to thank the people that donated garden produce to make it possible...my Mom and my friend Becky.

The last recipe that I would like to talk about is Drunken Chili.  I have it every year that I go to the Renaissance Festival in Shakopee.  They serve it in a bread bowl and there is only one stand that has it.  It isn't on the menu, you have to ask for it.  They fill half the bowl with chili and then fill the rest of the bowl with beer cheese soup.  So I have to thank Jerome for giving me the cook book where I found both of the recipes.  The recipes included Ben & Jerry's New York Super Fudge Chunk ice cream (my all time favorite).  The chili recipe was labeled Wendy's Chili and the Beer Cheese soup was from the 101st Airborne.  Being unable to follow directions, I added extras to each because I had them.  I have to admit it turned out really good.  I brought it to a potluck and there was only one serving of chili left.  There was more beer cheese soup, but I don't think that everyone knew to mix them together.  I will definitely make them again.  I just hope they turn out as well since I changed the recipes.

#32 Visit 5 new places on my bike 9/3/11

I love to ride my motorcycle.  The first time I got on a bike was when I was in High school and a guy asked if I wanted a ride home.  So, without a helmet, and knowing that my parents would be furious if they found out, I hopped on.  I knew the instant we took off that I would end up owning a bike.  It is almost like you are flying.  When I made this list I had nobody to ride with.  I wanted to make sure that I would get out on my bike the next summer.  My 5 rides started on Memorial Day Weekend with some friends from BE.  We drove around the Clearwater, Elk River area.  I'm not even sure where we went.  We ended up at my house because the guys didn't want me to have to drive an hour home by myself (very sweet of them).  I made supper for them as a thank you.

The second ride was a BE organized ride.  BE has a silent auction every spring to raise money.  For a few years now, some of the guys with bikes have sold their back seats with lunch for the fund raiser.  We went around Rockville and ended up in Hutchinson for lunch.  The third ride was to my friend Trina's cabin by Brainerd.  I had a route all planned out, unfortunately I got turned around in St. Cloud and lost my trail.  I then picked it up around Rice.  But Stearns County sucked me in and I spent a couple of hours going in circles.  The joke now is that Stearns county will always get me lost.  I tried to stop and ask for directions, but the corn field just didn't want to tell me anything.

The fourth ride was to see my grandparents graves in Onamia.  We then picked up Jeff's Mom and drove around Mille Lacs Lake.  It was a really good time with ice cream stops along the way, which was a good thing since it was such a hot day.  Trina took this picture from the back of Jeff's bike.  We were all over, Onamia, Rush Point, Zimmerman  were some of the stops.  I got home at midnight after driving through thick fog that kept me from seeing through my face shield.  I tried to wipe it off, but then I just smeared the bug guts all over.  The last 20 miles wasn't very fun.

The 5th ride was to Lake Itasca (where the Mississippi starts).  We had 6 riders and 4 bikes.  Have I mentioned that I love riding with this group?  The guys give my bike the once over before we take off and let me know if anything looks suspicious.  They have been telling me all summer that I am going to need a new front tire soon.  Jeff actually fixed my right front blinker for me before we went on the last ride.  It was a cold day and we dressed in many layers.  I drove to Alexandria on friday night  (met Jeff on the way, not a planned thing) and Ken, Glen and Sarah met us on saturday morning.  Things went really well.  We saw a lot of Sand Hill Cranes in the fields.  Itasca is beautiful.

We stopped in Dorset for supper.  Dorset is a small town with 7 restaurants where even a cat can be the mayor.  All you have to do is pay a dollar and put your name in the jar to be drawn for the mayor in July.   By the time we got to Long Prairie it was dark.  I had a little heart stopper in Eagle Bend when a little dog ran out in front of me.  I have no idea how I didn't hit him.  I'm glad I didn't, Glen said that a little boy was watching it all happen from the sidewalk with a look of horror on his face.  In Long Prairie we stopped for gas, the guys checked out my tire like they had been doing all day and discovered that there were cords showing.  Not a good thing.  After some debate and me being a stubborn german, I agreed to let them trailer my bike from St. Cloud home.  So off to St. Cloud we went being very careful about left turns.  In St. Cloud the guys loaded my bike on Jeff's truck and Glen offered to drive me home and bring Jeff's truck back for him.  Jeff went to Alexandria to drop off Trina.  I am very grateful to all of my friends for their concern and help.  I guess for the rest of the year I am going to have to be a passenger.  That will be fun too.

I hope to ride again next year with this group (after a new tire is put on).  They are great and we have fun adventures.

#37 participate in Postcrossing 8/29/11

This idea originated from my sister Rachel.  It is a whole lot of fun and  I am just getting started.  When you sign up for this site you request an address and then you send a random person a postcard.  After that person gets your card they register it on the web site and then you are eligible to receive a postcard. The nice thing about this is that you don't have to say much, I always struggle on what to say to people when I write a letter.  I have sent out 8 postcards so far and received one.  It was very exciting to get a postcard in the mail instead of ads or bills.  I am looking forward to both getting and sending more cards.

#88 Do the 30 day picture challenge 8/5/11

Floating around in facebook cyber-space is a 30 day picture challenge.  The instructions are to post a picture a day for 30 days.  It begins with a picture of yourself and 15 facts.  I tried to use pictures that I had taken whenever possible.  It was fun, but I kept forgetting to post everyday,so I sometimes posted for two days or when we went camping for the four days we were gone.  I would do another one, it made me think about things a little different, like who could you not imagine your life without. 

#38 Get a tattoo 7/23/2011

I have given a lot of though to this goal.  In fact I have thought about it for 26 years.  My friend Janet said it so well, I hope that I can explain it like she did:  When you are expecting a child you create hopes and dreams for that child and for your involvement with that child.  When things go wrong and you lose that child, for whatever reason, there is a void that can never be filled.  You are reminded of that void almost daily.  You're living children are tangible, you can call them, text them, or touch them.  Time lessens the pain but the void remains.  My friend Trina works with the M.I.S.S. foundation.  She has told me that many people get tattoos in memory of  their child to transfer the pain from within to an external memorial.  
That is what this goal is about memorializing my daughter in a tangible way that I can see everyday for the rest of my life.It is not about showing the world, it is about me and Sarah.  I have placed the tattoo in an area that is not visible except to people that I want to show.  Like I said I have thought about it for years, but I never had a design in mind.  One day I was on facebook on a high school classmate's page she had the design posted.  I knew the minute I saw it that it was exactly what I wanted.  I printed it out and taped it to my mirror so I could see it everyday.  It was taped there for months. 

I had a noon appointment at Jeff's Tattoo in St. Cloud.  Judy was my tattoo artist.  I have never had a tattoo before or even been to a tattoo parlor.  There was a little tweeking of the design, I wanted Sarah's name (in Hebrew) placed inside of the heart.  She had placed it above the heart.  We got down to business.  It did sting, at times it was very uncomfortable.  I liked that she would answer my questions, I always need to know what is going on.  She was very efficient and even with the time it took to finalize the design we were done in an hour.   The shading on my tattoo is a little different from the picture.  Judy showed me different shading options and I picked the one I liked.  Janet was there for the whole thing, I was grateful for the moral support.  The hardest part was not moving for the time that she was doing the tattooing.  I couldn't even laugh.  Now I have 2 weeks of special care (washing, and applying lotions) until it is completely healed.  Will I get another one?  I don't think I will, once is enough.

# 8 Make a bucket list 7/20/11

Since I was going to post the other things I had done, I decided to see if I could complete a goal today.  So in looking at the list I decided to write out a bucket list.  Some of these things overlap with my 101 goals.
1.  See the Neuschwanstein Castle in Germany.  This is the castle that Disney modeled the Disney world Cinderella castle after.  I have a soft spot for castles, dragons, fairies and all things fantasy.
2.  See the Colosseum in Rome.  As a bonus I may get to see Chiara, she was a foreign exchange student Jenni's senior year and they became very good friends.  She spent many hours at my house.
3.  Go to the Louvre.  As an Art major I have heard so much about this place that I can't imagine not seeing it.
4.  Have a picture (painting or photo) displayed in a gallery.  Another art major thing.
5.  Live in the country.  I miss the country, it's quietness and the space.
6.  Have a garden.  This goes hand in hand with the living in the country, right now I don't have the space to have a garden.  I have too many trees that block the sunlight that a garden would need .  I miss planting, watching the plants grow and produce.  I even miss weeding, just a little.  I have pots on my deck, but they don't mature due to the lack of space and sunlight.
7.  Get a German Shepherd dog.  Living in the city, it would be cruel to have a large dog that couldn't run and would have to be cooped up in a pen or in the house.  I have always wanted a German shepherd dog.  I think they are so beautiful.  If it is male I want to name him Gunther or Kaiser.  :)
8.  Move closer to my parents.  They are getting older and are in need of more help.  My brother does so much for them and I am so thankful that he does.  I would like to share the load.
9.  Go on another trip with my sister, Rachel.  I had a great time with her when we went to Australia.  I thought we traveled well together, I hope she thinks so too. I have MANY great memories of that trip.
10.  Go back to Australia and see the Great Barrier Reef and the Southern Cross.  Those were the two things that I would've like to see when we were in Australia that I didn't get to see. 

#7 Visit my Grandparents graves 7/16/11

This another goal copied off my sister's list.  This may sound like a morbid thing to do but with losing a child, it just makes sense to me.  My paternal grandparents are buried in the same cemetery as my daughter Sarah.  As a result I visit their graves briefly every time I go to Sarah's.  I try to make it back to the farm around Memorial Day and put a pot of flowers on Sarah's grave that stay there all summer.  My parents like to ride along and stop at Emma's and Otto's graves before we go to Sarah's.  After we are done with that cemetery we head over to the Taylor Cemetery to visit the graves of my Dad's grandparents.  Both of these cemeteries are within a mile (opposite directions) of my parent's farm.  I regret to say that have only visited my maternal grandparents graves once before this and that was when they were buried.  I was talking about this adventure to some friends and they thought it would make a great bike ride.  So off we went on our bikes on a misty Saturday morning.  It soon cleared up and became very hot.  The cemetery was a little hard to find, even with directions.  My Mom had given me descriptions and directions on how to find not only my grand parents but also both sets of great-grandparents from her side of the family (they are all buried in the same cemetery).  I did end up calling to clarify directions and found the sites.  I think that exceeded the expectations on this goal. I not only visited grandparents, but also 3 out of the 4 sets of great-grandparents also.  The last set is buried in Indiana, if I am ever down that way I will be sure to stop.