Matthew has joined us
Hi friends! I’ve taken a break from posting, as you probably noticed. For those who follow us on social media, you probably know why— we brought home our little baby boy in the middle of June!!!! Matthew joined our family and nothing has been the same since. He is now 8 weeks old and the last couple months have been just the absolute best time of our lives 😊. I promise to update more soon!
Natalie
Summer Above Ground Pool
Hello Friends!
Sorry for the delay in posting, I’m not perfect at this still. Today I’m going to share with you how it is going with out new 8 foot index easy set pool! It’s been a challenge for sure, but I am still very excited to have it. My sister got it for my for christmas so that I can have a filtered, chlorinated pool up all summer. It’s not huge, but neither is our yard. I LOVE it though!
Andrew and I are learning a lot as first time pool owners. For one thing— it isn’t easy! Getting it set up took an afternoon, but filling it took up a lot of the next morning. Getting the bottom flat is hard. The thing that’s really gotten to me though is how hard pool chemistry is! I put shock in the water, but apparently I put WAY too much in. We have been trying to bring it down to a useable level ever since. I’m really hoping that this weekend I can go in finally. Andrew has seen my struggles and is taking over the pool chemicals so hopefully this is a one time mistake. The pool has some great floats in it— there is a chlorinator float and a thermometer with rubber ducky tops. I think they are adorable! I also got a rubber ducky pool float for our pups to enjoy, since it’s deeper than the kiddy pools and they won’t be able to touch the bottom.
I can’t wait to be able to get in and enjoy this throughout the rest of summer and into the early fall! Any tips? We’d love to hear them!
~Natalie
Spring updates
Hello friends!
I know I missed posting last weekend and I am sorry about that. Hopefully this spring update makes up for that!
This spring both Goldy and I had surgeries. About a month ago, I had an abdominal surgery. I had been cramping and having some issues before it that lead up to this decision. Andrew and my friends and family and coworkers have all been amazing through this process. The surgery itself went well and was successful! I’m feeling WAY better but the recovery has felt slow. It was laparoscopic so I have a 5 small incisions that are still tender at times but other than that and my energy being a bit low I’m almost back to normal. It’s been a blessing to have such a supportive boss and coworkers, as I’ve been able to recover while working remotely to help ice and rest as needed.
Goldy’s surgery was a lot less intense- he had a large fatty lump removed from his stomach removed because it was bothering him. He has been such a trooper! He isn’t itching or trying to bite the incision site and has been snoozing near me or Andrew most of the time. The vet said we don’t need to use a cone on him if we keep it covered by a shirt or sweatshirt and he doesn’t go after it. So that has been awesome.
With my surgery I’ve had a weight limit for carrying, lifting, pushing, and pulling. Andrew has been absolutely amazing. He did all our garden prep and went with me to purchase all our plants. Our neighbor has also been the best— she helped plant everything in our joint garden and my side garden.
Other than those things and the posts we’ve been sharing, we haven’t been up to a whole lot. Jake is still loving nose work classes. We’ve been taking care of the house and the yard. And I spent Memorial Day at the cabin with my parents and extended family!
What have you all been up to this spring?
This is the day of my surgery when I got home to find a surprise from my bestie.
Goldy’s recovery outfit
Spring into Action! 2024
Hello friends!
This past weekend Andrew and I participated in Spring into Action! 2024. It’s our annual park cleanup event where we help the city get one of our neighborhood parks ready for summer and the busy season.
This year, our main project was spreading mulch in the center landscaped area of the park. On Thursday, the city had mulch delivered in what they call the “center court” area. We had six big piles of red mulch to spread out! Unfortunately, there were only 4 volunteers who could spread the mulch, so it took most of the afternoon. On the plus side— the four people who showed up (including Andrew) were amazing workers and did a ton! One man brought a wheelbarrow to help move the mulch around, we had our wagon, and there were lots of shovels, a garden hoe, and some landscaping rakes.
Partway through the project
We took a break around this point and enjoyed some pizza and beverages. We also had a little kid stop by and play some of our yard games. Then it was back to work
In the end, the event went pretty well, even with the low turnout. I’m glad we contributed to our neighborhood park and got to enjoy time outside meeting new people. Below is the finished product after an afternoon of hard work! What do you guys like to do to help out in your community?
~Natalie
Taming the Grapes
Hello friends!
This weekend I’m going to share with you how we are working on training, taming, and expanding the grape vines in our backyard. To be honest, we did this over a month ago now—But we still thought you’d like an update!
In mid March, before our final snow storm, Andrew and I spent a few hours in our backyard working with our grape vine. We started with the volunteer grapes that have begun growing on our back fence. In the past, I took out all the vines that weren’t grape there and last year we cut back all the raspberry and other random plants trying to grow along the base of the fence. Also last year, we decided to just encourage the new grape vine to take root and grow basically however it wanted. This year, it was time to start training the grapes back there. Together, Andrew and I chose which vines coming out of the main root and stem we were going to keep and encourage to be our main vines. We have one going along the side fence and one going along the back fence. After removing and untangling the other vines from the fence and pruning them off, we were happy with our decisions. But boy did that take a long time, since we had just been letting everything grow and intertwine throughout the fence in that back corner. Once we had our main vines, we did the typical first year of pruning, counting out bud spots on the spurs and choosing which offshoots to keep so we could have the vine focus on producing grapes rather than expanding everywhere.
Next up was the other back corner— the small space between our garage and our neighbor’s garage. We tried something new this year, cutting out a TON again. Last year, I started the process of trying to reclaim that back corner, since it’s cozy and has pavers back there. I thought I was going to kill the grape vines on accident in the process, but it actually helped them flourish! Andrew and I went crazy back there again pruning a lot of the overgrown vines out from the main stem/cordons. Then we tried something new— we took a vine we had started to train to go onto the trellis on the side of the garage and moved it to the fence along the other side of our property. We are hoping it continues to thrive in this new area, which should get a different amount of light but provides it a lot of space to itself. That took a bit of effort as well, since we had to de-tangle it from the garage grape vines and trellis and move it over to the fence. This vine cordon is long guys, but it’s going to be amazing this year, I can just feel it.
After moving that large vine and thinning out a bunch of newer vines from the corner, we moved on to the easier job of training and pruning along the garage. I should give a big shoutout to the University of Minnesota Extension and their grape guides and videos, because we rely on them every spring now for a refresher before we get out there. The vines on the garage are pretty easy to work with, since we’ve been training them for a few years now. Mostly, we just have to prune out the vines that are trying to grow into the crabapple tree or straight into our yard and then follow the guide of counting shoots and spurs and bud locations to trim for the best possible grape vine health. We still have one vine that has outgrown our trellis situation and goes above the door to the garage and around the corner, but we’ve trimmed that situation way back (in part because one of the vines that was going that way is what we moved onto the fence).
Now that all the hard work of training, taming, and teaching the grape vines is done for the year, we get to sit back and wait to see the leaves and grapes start to form. We are already seeing the bud areas start to swell and show signs of waking up for the year, and I can’t wait to watch them grow this season!
~Natalie
Traveling to See the Eclipse!
Hey everyone,
I wanted to share a few photos and details about my trip to see the eclipse earlier this month. I flew to Houston, TX and then drove to Austin to stay with my friend Steve. I arrived a couple of days early so that I’d be sure to have some extra time in case of flight or other travel delays. Everything went smoothly though so we had some time to enjoy Austin on Sunday before the eclipse! We went to Micklethwait’s for BBQ for an early lunch. I got some ribs, brisket, and also tried a vegetarian smoked mushroom taco. Everything was fantastic!
After the tasty food we walked around East Austin and checked out some cool shops and tried some tasty cocktails at the bars in the neighborhood. Later that evening we met up with some of Steve’s neighbors and plotted out our strategy for catching the eclipse the next day.
Unfortunately the forecast had turned and rain was forecast for Austin. Looking at some different forecasts I found that the area NE of Dallas was likely to be clear at the time of the eclipse. I fired up Google Maps and plotted a route for us to take in the morning that would keep us in the path of totality in case we hit unexpected traffic or construction delays.
Monday morning we left Austin around 8am for the drive north to our target of Sulphur Springs, TX. My route took us on some back roads so there wasn’t much to speak of besides some hills and wind turbines for the 4.5 hour drive. We arrived in Sulphur Springs about 45 minutes before totality and had plenty of time to get ready.
I got out my camera and 2 tripods, one for the camera and one for my phone to record a video. I had a special filter for the camera lens so I was able to grab some great photos of the partial eclipse while we waited for totality.
Soon after that last photo totality began! It was unbelievable and really hard to describe. Day rapidly turns to night and you’re able to look at the sun without the protective glasses. The moon looks like it has a shimmering halo and it gets considerably colder out and many clouds in the sky rapidly disappear. It was a magical experience and if you ever have the chance to go see a total eclipse I highly recommend it!
Perming my hair again
Hi Friends!
On Saturday, I went to my amazing hair stylist and had my perm refreshed. I started perming my hair last year, just enough to add a wave not spiral curls. I love how it turned out but I noticed in March it was starting to fall a bit flat. So I got on the books to redo the perm and I’m so glad I did! It is a long process to do though, and takes about 5 hours. First up, washing and clarifying my hair so the perm chemicals take. Then my hairstylist has to section out my hair and put it all in curling rods. She does what is called a piggy back perm, so each time she is putting a roller in my hair it’s actually two different rollers on the same small section/strands.
After all three larger sections are broken up and rolled, she adds the perm solution and then we wait for it to work with multiple things covering my head. It looked really silly, so I took another picture…
After the solution is done, I get rinsed out and neutralizer goes on and sits for a bit as well. At this point, my head feels very heavy!! The benefit though is my hairstylist is amazing and gives me heated towels to cover my face with so I can relax while I’m laying back into the wash bowl. Once the neutralizer is done, she washes my hair and towel dries it just a bit so that we can go back to her station. I know my hair is still a bit of a mess in this next photo- but look at the curl!
Next, my stylist trimmed my hair so that the curls would fall nicely and styled it all for me. The frustrating part for me is that I can’t get my hair wet for 48 hours… or use the eye mask or CPAP I use every night to help me sleep better for that time period. It’s a bit rough but totally worth it! Here is the final picture, me in the car about to drive home!
I love how it turned out! Have you guys ever thought about perming your hair?! It can get this gorgeous beach wave if you have the right stylist and method. 😍
~Natalie
New closet setup!
Hi friends 😊
I’m sorry I didn’t post last weekend but we were a tad busy… redoing a storage closet off our laundry room! Andrew’s parents came up to help us and we had a nice (if busy) weekend together.
Here is what the chaos we started with looked like:
The first step is taking everything out. Andrew did most of the work since I’ve been crazy busy at work and coming home burnt out. He got everything in plastic tubs or on our Costco fold out table. Then on Friday, he started taking out the built in shelves and rods and hooks. Turns out it wasn’t completely painted.
So off to Home Depot to get paint we went. Andrew sanded and painted after I went to bed Friday, so I woke up to this beautiful painted closet Saturday:
Once Andrew’s parents got there, Andrew and his dad went to work. Before long we had the start of new built in shelving!
It took all afternoon and part of the evening but on Saturday night we had shelving on both sides.
Once we got that far, we stopped for the night. Andrew’s parents took us out to dinner and we had such a nice time!
Sunday was when Andrew’s mom and I really put in work for this project. With Andrew and his dad’s help we filled in the closet shelves. We fit everything that was originally in the closet and way more, which opened up an entire other closet space and some cupboard space in the kitchen.
That’s the finished product of our weekend of work- I’m obsessed and love how it turned out!
Andrew’s mom and I then loaded up the big wire cart that was in this closet with my home canned goods and slid it into the newly emptied closet off the kitchen. I didn’t get a picture but it’s definitely full again.
I hope everyone is enjoying this lovely weather this weekend!
Natalie
About us
Hello and Happy Saturday everyone!
I thought today I’d post about us for those who might be newer to our blog. First off, my name is Natalie. I do most of our posts, but Andrew is starting to post a bit too! Andrew and I have been married since 2016 (8 years this fall—wow time flies!). We have two pups named Goldy and Jake. We are in the process of adoption and hoping for a birth mom to pick us for placement of their child. We started Building Our Nest as a way to be more accessible and allow expectant moms and families to learn more about us while making their placement decision. Andrew and I live in the Brainerd Lakes Area and have built a wonderful community up here between neighbors and getting involved around town.
What Andrew says about me: Loving and compassionate, she has a smile and laugh that light up a room! Natalie’s also the smartest and most humble person I’ve ever met. She works as an assistant county attorney and she loves to craft, cook, garden, and read. Natalie has always dreamed of being a mom and I know she’ll be great! She loves with her whole heart and will completely devote herself to this baby.
Top things you should know about me: I’m an attorney and love what I do! I’ve always known that I want to be a mom. I’m definitely a nester, and have been getting ready to bring a baby into our home for way longer than I should probably admit— definitely longer than we’ve been trying to adopt. One of my favorite things is being an aunt—my nieces and nephews mean the world to me! I love to read and craft and cook. I’m pretty sure cooking should be a love language because it certainly is one of mine!
What I’ve said about Andrew: Smart, caring, and funny, he is the rock of our family! Andrew loves the Gophers, the Steelers, and aviation. Compassionate, he often puts the needs of others before his own. Andrew works as a product manager at a software company. He can be found playing video games, adding new smart devices to our home, reading and learning about the weather. Andrew will be an amazing father, as he has shown while spending time with the children in our lives.
What you should know about Andrew: He has the most caring heart! When I get sick or one of our pups gets sick—he is there to take care of everything. He loves taking care of people. Andrew is actually the one in our relationship who does most of the cleaning, I’m honestly not sure how I lucked out on that! Andrew enjoys reading and video games in his spare time, but if the weather is nice you bet you can find him outside. Andrew is also very handy and loves to fix and upgrade things around our house.
Goldy and Jake are our two pups, both rescue dogs. They are quirky for sure, but so fun loving and sweet. Goldy has been with us since the summer before we got married. We think he is a cockapoo but he is a mutt of some sort. Goldy is our couch potato, pet loving, kiss giving, sleepy head pup. We brought Jake home almost 2 years ago. He is a purebred miniature schnauzer who was a breeder stud before being surrendered to shelter. Jake is a deep thinker and can be anxious but he loves hugs, being held, and snuggles. They are the center of our lives right now, and will be happy when we have a little less attention to give them when we bring home our future child.
What else do you want to know about us??
Easter 2024
Happy Easter everyone!
As you all might know, Andrew and I host Easter (almost) every year. This past weekend, we celebrated with our families and it was amazing! My parents came Friday and left last night after dinner. Andrew’s parents and his brother came up yesterday just for the day.
So what all did we get up to? Friday night I made us Pasta Al Limone, which is basically pasta in a lemon cream sauce. I found the recipe on Instagram and it turned out delicious! Saturday, Andrew made his famous french toast for breakfast. It’s one of our favorites, but more importantly it’s my mom’s favorite so we love to make it for her. My mom also taught me how to make tuna pinwheels, and it was so delicious! Should I do a post on that recipe— let me know what you think in the comments! Saturday dinner was enchiladas, which were yummy and gave me a lot more lunches as leftovers than I anticipated, whoops.
To work on celebrating Easter on Saturday, we dyed eggs! It was a lot of fun, even if the crayons from my now 3 or 4 year old kits didn’t work the best.
Sunday we went to mass at 7:30, which definitely felt early but worked out great because they don’t use incense at that mass. After mass, we had breakfast and did some final touches of prep before more people came over. When Andrew’s parents arrived, we had an easter egg hunt for our pups. It didn’t go so well, definitely no where as well as Jake’s nosework easter egg hunt did, but it was still fun. Andrew’s brother showed up shortly after that. We served appetizers and then our meal with dessert. I went a little cutesy this year, but I think everything turned out great! For apps, I made easter bunny puff pastry stuffed with cream cheese and our homemade pepper jelly, caprese skewers, and a flower veggie tray.
Between apps and dinner, we hung out and caught up as a family. Andrew’s mom brought our pups pigs ears as a treat.
I think we finally made about the right amount of food for dinner. We had ham that Andrew made in the smoker, a salad kit, rolls from Andrew’s parents, scalloped potatoes, arugula and avocado pesto pasta, and maple glazed carrots. Andrew and his brother did a great job setting the table for us (sorry, no individual pictures of the dinner dishes!). We also had wine, beer, lemonade, and iced tea available to people.
After dinner, we served individual desserts: puff pastry nests with chocolate pudding and mini cadbury eggs. They were a big hit!
My parents left shortly after dinner to head home, but Andrew’s family stayed for a little bit longer. It was really nice to catch up, plus Jake made a new friend in Brian while Goldy played with Andrew’s mom.
Overall, we had a great weekend and an amazing Easter Sunday. We are so thankful for how close we are with our families and cannot wait to celebrate Easters to come with them and our future child. I hope everyone had a Happy and Blessed Easter this year!
~Natalie
Keeping in Contact with Friends
Hello friends!
I have friends all over the US from going to school on the East Coast and in Milwaukee but being from Minnesota and now living in the Brainerd Lakes Area. It’s hard to keep up with everyone sometimes, but social media really helps! What else helps? Phones and video chats.
Full disclosure, my mom is one of my absolute best friends. We live about 2 hours away from each other, but we talk on the phone basically daily. I call her on my commute to or from work every day and we usually talk at least once over the weekend. It’s such a great way to stay close! My mom isn’t the only one I talk to on the phone to stay in touch though— my other besties also get commute calls from me.
Mary and I talk about once a week (sometimes more, sometimes less) when we are both driving home at the end of a work day. We try more often, but we miss each other when our times leaving work don’t line up. Mary and I also talk a bunch by text and messenger on facebook and instagram. While Mary lives in Milwaukee, this helps us keep close. Outside of my family and Andrew, she is probably the most important person in my life.
Another friend I talk to while driving (and yes we also text) is my friend Kim. We net volunteering for the Walk to End Alzheimer’s and just clicked. Unfortunately, we both are busy and it’s hard to meet up. We don’t let that stop us though, as we call each other on our commutes into the office once or twice a month.
One of my best friends from undergrad’s name is Katie and she lives in Connecticut. When we were both living abroad after college, we started a habit we called Wineskyping. We’d chat regularly on Skype, while drinking wine (usually to start at least). Honestly, we were close before this started but we got even closer and it was amazing. It definitely helped that we were in the same time zone in Europe (I was teaching English in France and she was studying for her post graduate degree in Switzerland). After we returned to the US, we kept Wineskyping. We drink a lot less wine and a lot more water or pop or tea now. We try to video chat once a month, and have switched to FaceTime from skype, but it’s still a great way we keep in contact.
Technology really helps me keep in contact with my best friends! Between social media, video calls, texting, and phone calls it is amazing how much easier it is than it used to be.
~Natalie
What I’m Playing - Spring 2024
Hey everyone, Andrew here with an update on some of the video games I’ve been enjoying lately.
I spend a lot of my gaming time with Destiny 2. It’s a first-person game set in the far future. The last bits of humanity are fighting against a variety of alien and robot armies. A mysterious giant sphere (the Traveler) lands on the Last City on Earth and resurrects you, the player (referred to as the Guardian), and imbues you with a variety of space magic. You use your space magic powers in combination with a variety of cool and futuristic weapons to complete a variety of tasks to save humanity and defeat the aliens and robots.
The Guardian and the Traveler look out on the Last City in Destiny 2.
Destiny 2 has a 6-player activity called raids that I really enjoy. You and 5 friends work together across a handful of “encounters” to progress towards defeating a particularly powerful enemy. Each encounter has different mechanics and they’re both fun to learn when they first come out and perfect with friends over time. One of my favorite part about raids is that every person has some kind of job in each encounter so you really have to work together as a team to accomplish your goals.
There are also a number of more standard video game modes in Destiny 2 where you can play against other people or single player campaigns. These are also a ton of fun! A new mode is coming out in a few weeks where you have to
A preview of some of the new weapons and activities I’ll be playing here in the spring.
Destiny is wrapping up a 10 year run following the same main story this summer. The final expansion was a bit delayed so there hasn’t been as much new stuff to do as usual lately. That’s lead me to try out a new game called Balatro.
Balatro (latin for “joker”) is a deck-building game focused on expanding traditional poker.
The basic rules of the game work as you’d expect. You’re dealt a hand of cards and you have to play the best hand that you can after a couple of discards. As you play hands you’re able to purchase jokers that modify your played hands in a variety of ways. Some jokers can increase your scoring for a given hand and other jokers can make it easy to play certain hands. A few examples are:
Joker that lets you play a flush with only 4 cards of the same suit
Joker that gives you 2x the chips for playing a pair
There are 150 jokers in the game so there are a ton of interesting combinations. Your goal is to complete 8 antes of 3 rounds each. The 3rd round of each ante has a “boss” that adds an extra challenge. Some bosses may disable a particular suit of cards or others may deal you cards face down.
An example of a hand in Balatro. This shows some of the jokers available that make the game interesting and challenging.
I’ve been having a ton of fun with both Destiny and Balatro here as winter starts to transition to spring. It’s fun to look forward to these games when it’s cold or snowy outside!
The Price is Right Live!
Hello friends,
As part of our Christmas presents this year, Andrew’s parents got us tickets to see the traveling show The Price is Right Live. The show was last weekend, so we spent the whole weekend with them. It was so much fun!
We went down Friday after work. I had some time to catch up with Kathy and Greg a bit before Andrew got there since I work an hour closer to them than our home is. They made a delicious dinner for us to share- vegetarian sloppy joes, Mac and cheese, and coleslaw. We watched some of the television show of the Price is Right to help us get pumped for Saturday.
Saturday we had breakfast together and I took a nap before we went to see the show. We got to the casino that hosts the Price is Right Live early so we could register to try and be contestants. The registration process was pretty easy and we got our name tags just like on TV!
We had some extra time before the show started so we went to play penny slots— okay so Andrew and his dad weren’t exactly into this idea but his mom wanted to play and I joined her. To be honest, I didn’t expect to gamble with my mother in law ever (we aren’t big gamblers or casino people) but we had a lot of fun playing the penny slots next to each other! Kathy even got Andrew to try his hand at penny slots. Overall we both came out ahead too 😊
After penny slots we made our way into the theater a bit early. They had throw back video clips and fun The Price is Right trivia questions going until the show started. We also got popcorn as a nice snack. Here we are after our snack waiting for the show to start!
The host was funny and they plaid 4 games and had a showcase! One of the games was the much loved Plinko. While none of us got chosen as contestants, we had amazing seats and had a lot of fun watching and helping yell prices!
After the show, we returned to Andrew’s parents house. Andrew’s brother (Brian) and his wife (JoNette) joined us for the evening. We all caught up and had takeout Chinese food-delicious! Andrew’s parents then shared their great news— they are retiring the beginning of April! They are excited and we are excited for them. They’ve offered to come help us with things and spend more time at our house. We can’t wait to have more time together! (Plus if they are retired they’ll be ready to come spoil our future child a lot more.)
What fun things have you guys been up to lately?
Natalie
Our Journey to Adoption
Good morning everyone!
Today I thought I’d share how Andrew and I reached the decision to adopt. We have always known we wanted to have children and I have some medical issues that would make that hard on me. So from the start of thinking of growing our family we thought we’d try for one child naturally and one by adoption.
After being married for a few years and buying a house, we realized we were ready to start expanding our family (through more than just Goldy). We saw a couple specialists and I tried going off one of my medications. My body didn’t respond well to that change, and I ended up feeling pretty crappy and having more tests done. While it is possible for me to carry a child through pregnancy, it wouldn’t be a positive experience and my medical conditions would suffer and there were serious risks for myself and the child.
Andrew and I discussed it and decided against taking that risk. Instead, we decided to move forward with our plan to adopt. We dove in head first and very excited about this opportunity! We did our research and read a few books on adoption.
Ultimately we decided to go with Adoption Minnesota as our agency and started the process to adopt an infant. Now we’ve been “in the book” (legally ready and eligible to adopt) since January 2020. We are still just beyond excited to adopt and cannot wait to meet our future child and their birth family!
Natalie
Volunteering
Andrew and I care so much about our community and love to give back. We volunteer in different ways. Andrew sits on a few different boards in our community, including the park board. He gives back to our city and puts a lot of work and passion behind what he does. I am on a local charter school’s school board. We meet twice a month and work to improve the school and the student’s time there.
There are a few things that we volunteer for together. We have both worked on the Brainerd Lakes Area Walk to End Alzheimer’s planning committee and we both volunteer day of still. We also both work to clean up and support activities and the enjoyment of one of our local parks. Every year we do Spring into Action! to get the park season started by cleaning up from winter storms, some light weeding, and picking up litter. Last year, we also repainted the little free library in our park!
I know this post isn’t super long, but I just wanted to share briefly about what we do to help improve the community around us. I cannot wait to share our love of helping our neighbors and community with our future child. What ways do you guys like getting involved in your community?
How we met
Andrew and I met volunteering in high school at the Plymouth Library. I started volunteering there before I started 8th grade. I thought it would be a great way to make friends, give back to my community, and keep busy in the summer. I had no idea what was going to happen the next summer—that I would meet Andrew. Andrew started volunteering at the Plymouth Library after his freshman year in high school. Andrew became friends with Jimmy, one of my friends from volunteering at the library, in math class that year and Jimmy convinced Andrew to volunteer at the library for the summer.
We were young and didn’t understand how our lives would change over time or that we would eventually spend the rest of our lives together. Andrew was shy and reserved, but I still noticed him. Andrew noticed me too. Whether we were at the library for a Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus event, truck storytime, or just the weekly volunteer meeting (C.L.U.M.P), we had a lot of fun volunteering together. We got close, and dated in that high school kids who don’t know what they are doing way. While we didn’t always see eye to eye, it seemed like nothing would break up our friendship. We went to Andrew’s Junior Prom together, which was a lot of fun. We also kept volunteering at the library throughout high school. Towards the end of high school, we fell out of touch for a while.
Andrew and I reconnected at a volunteer reunion in 2010, when we started texting and talking online again. We also started meeting up for lunches when I was in town (I went to school out of state). It was almost as if we picked up where we left off--as best friends. After a couple years, we started dating and the rest is history—and I like to think was our destiny. Andrew and I were meant to be together. Now, we get to spend the rest of our lives together building our family (and building our nest) through adoption.
Enjoy these pictures of socially awkward Andrew and I, a few snapshots from our high school volunteering days.
Mushroom Stock Concentrate part 2
Last weekend, we had my parents visit. It was so great having them around. One of the things we did together was make a BIG batch of mushroom stock concentrate! For the most part, I used the same recipe that I posted a couple years ago. It’s still super easy but it takes mostly all day. I tend to make a big batch every 10-12 months when we run out. In addition to what I posted before, I added a variety of dehydrated mushrooms this time.
Here is my setup to get everything started! I definitely used a canning pot instead of my usual stock pot, but hey- whatever works! Using dehydrated mushrooms to add a depth of flavor takes a lot more water but it ended up making a wonderful stock.
Here is what I used: 1-2 heads of garlic, 3 onions, 2 Costco sized mushroom containers, 3 different types of dehydrated mushrooms. You don’t need to use the dehydrated mushrooms and you can use however many types of fresh mushroom as you want. I also added fake salt (I’m on a low sodium diet), black pepper, and white pepper.
Put everything in the pot and cover with water. Keep checking the amount of water if you use dehydrated mushrooms, they absorb the water before giving back the flavor. Simmer for hours until the stock is where you want it.
Here the water is starting to simmer after I added probably 16 cups of water as the dehydrated mushrooms absorbed it.
Andrew captured this photo of me stirring while mom and I were chatting!
Next up we strained the stock— definitely a group effort!
I used a potato masher to get all the yummy mushroom flavor and liquid out 😊
Back in my stock pot (the normal one). Here is my mushroom stock, starting to simmer it down into concentrate to freeze. I keep going until it’s thicker and luscious and starting to stick to the spoon.
To store, I freeze the stock concentrate in ice cube trays and then transfer to a ziplock for long term storage.
Here are all my frozen mushroom stock concentrate ice cubes!
What do you want to read about us doing next??
Natalie
Nosework for Jake
Hey all!
Today’s post is a quick update on how we have gotten Jake to come out of his shell. We did beginning obedience with Nose 2 Tail Dog Training when we first brought him home. First, let me just say that the dog trainer—Brenda—is absolutely amazing!! Not only did she do a class with us for beginning obedience, but she did a demo and trial of nosework during that class. Goldy was not even slightly interested but Jake loved it! Nose 2 Tail does a lot of nosework training classes, and we have been keeping Jake in training.
I bet most of you haven’t heard of Nosework training or competing, so I’ll do my best (which is not great at all) at describing it. Nosework is a game for dogs that can be just for fun or can be done in a competition setting. There are three scents used in nosework— anise, birch, and clove. These scents are essential oil on a Q-tip end, with different strengths for different types of competitions. You put the Q-tips in straws or in little tins with wholes in them. It could be one or all three of these scents depending on where you are in training. These are called hides, which then get placed in the search area. They are usually hidden, but to start out they aren’t really. There are also multiple types of searches: normal, boxes, plastic containers, and buried (which can be water or sand).
Jake really just took to nosework instantly. It is so fun to watch him doing something he loves! As we progressed through different nosework classes (from beginners to multiple sessions of intermediate), Jake warmed up not only to the game but to us and became a MUCH more courageous dog. He went from a pup who was scared to be out of his kennel or be around other people (including Brenda, our trainer) to a dog who was full of confidence, out of his kennel, and loving life. It has helped him be around other people and feel more comfortable even in new places. Jake is a very different dog than when he first came home with us, and Andrew and I know it is in huge part due to Brenda and her nosework classes!!
Building Our Nest readers, just think about how much care and effort and time will go into our future child if this is just one of the ways we spoil and enrich our pups. What else do you guys want to read about our family? I’m looking for ideas on future blog posts!
~Natalie
Easy Whole Wheat Seedy Bread
Hey all!
There's something really special about making bread. I love having homemade bread so I know exactly what’s in it—and I can make it exactly as I like it! The smell in the kitchen is just amazing while it is rising and baking. Today I’m sharing with you guys a recipe that Andrew actually found but has become one of my favorites and now I’m the one who makes a loaf most weekends. Baking breads is something that helps me de-stress and have so much fun. This recipe is also super easy! Everything goes in a bread machine and then it comes out perfectly.
As you can see in the picture above, I’ve gathered all my ingredients, my bread machine, and my kitchen scale. Andrew’s uploaded this recipe into the app we use to share recipes (Paprika 3) in grams for weight measurements to keep it consistent. So what goes into the bread that makes it so delicious? You’ll need the following:
283 grams lukewarm water
25 grams olive oil (you can use vegetable oil, but I prefer using olive oil)
85 grams honey (my preference) or 78 grams maple syrup (Andrew’s preference)
297 grams whole wheat flour
35 grams of seeds—whatever you want in your bread! I love seedy bread and my preferences are sunflower seeds and pipitas (pumpkin seeds)
1 tablespoon vital wheat gluten (this helps the dough rise and stay light)
1.5 teaspoons salt substitute (the original recipe is salt but I live a low sodium lifestyle and don’t use salt in any of my cooking)
1.5 teaspoons instant yeast (I use bread machine yeast)
Put it in the bread machine, set it for a 2 pound loaf and I prefer either a light or medium colored crust. Then tell it to make you bread! Below, you can see the ingredients all measured and ready to start the dough process and then two pictures I managed to catch in action on my bread machine for this post.
When the cycle is complete, you’ll have a delicious, relatively healthy, loaf of whole wheat bread! It’s pretty easy to make, tastes delicious, and is a staple for my breakfasts. I like to add laughing cow or cream cheese, sometimes avocado, and sometimes part of an egg bake for protein. Yum! Store however you store your bread, in a bread bag or in a container like I did below.
There you have it! delicious but easy whole wheat seedy bread. What else do you guys want me to post recipes for? What’s your favorite bread recipe?
~Natalie
National Adoption Month Reflections
November is National Adoption Month. It is also the month that Andrew and I start the paperwork to renew our home study. A home study is good for one year, and then needs to be updated in order for us to remain “in the book” and ready to adopt a child should we be chosen. On Wednesday, Andrew and I filled out all the paperwork except our annual physical form.
For those who don’t know, we started our adoption journey with Adoption Minnesota in 2019. In the fall and winter of 2018, we learned that my body cannot carry a child due to my kidney disease—it would be too risky to both me and the potential child. Instead, we turned to adoption. Honestly, we always thought we would go through adoption for one child and have one child biologically. Our plans just changed and we are thankful for this opportunity to still be parents.
Adoption can be such an amazing thing. It can also be heartbreaking for all those involved. If you are an expectant parent, know that we are amazed you are even considering placing your child for adoption. We cannot imagine what you are going through, but we are thankful if you consider us as parents for your child. Andrew and I would like to have an open adoption and keep you as involved in your child’s life as you want to be. Thank you for taking the time to get to know us. Between us and our rescue dogs Goldy and Jake, there is so much love in our house and we cannot wait to grow our family through adoption. Hope to hear from you soon!
Please check out our waiting families page with Adoption Minnesota (https://adoptionmn.com/families/andrew-natalie/) and our social media (@_buildingournest on instagram, Building Our Nest on facebook), and the rest of this website for more information on us.