Getting Ready for Summer
Good morning everyone and happy Sunday!
This week I wanted to update you all as to what we have been up to outside to get ready for summer weather and getting our plants sorted. Last weekend, Andrew and I worked on the back fence area of our yard. We had two different vines growing there and wanted to take most of them off the back fence. I started by removing the main vine from the fence but I kept the grape vine that had two little branches growing. That took a lot of effort since we have a chain link fence and the vine was so intertwined with it! After we getting the main vine off the back fence (we like it on the side fence actually), we realized how much root there was trying to grow in leaves and plant debris on the cement that is behind our fence. This lead to us clearing out the debris and taking up the vine roots in an attempt to keep it from growing back in that spot. We also took out a baby tree that had been growing through the fence, since it doesn’t really belong there. I then made sure the grapes vine branches were getting trained to grow along the back fence where we would like them. Finally, we looked at the raspberry plants growing there and made sure they got the TLC they needed, because really we would love to have grapes and raspberries growing in that area. It was great weather to work on that last weekend! So nice to be outside but also to be cleaning up an area that needed help.
Also last weekend, our new cedar raised bed planter arrived for the deck. We are super excited since it is supposed to be self watering and it looks and smells great. We are using that to replace the multiple pots that I’ve had growing various herbs and plants on the deck. Since it arrived, I also bought seeds and can’t wait to start them! I’ll be growing basil, oregano, cilantro, rosemary, and radishes in this planter. Super exciting for me! These are herbs we use a lot in our cooking, so I plant most of them every year. The radishes I try my hand at every couple years but I’m pretty terrible at thinning them because I just love all my plants so much. I’m hoping by having them close to the house, I’ll be able to watch for when to thin them and harvest this year better than I have in the past. Just imagine teaching a toddler about plants and gardening— I can’t wait for that opportunity!!
One day at work last week we had a “lunch and learn” on how to care for apple trees. It was super helpful since we have two apple trees in our yard and weren’t doing all that we could to help them thrive. They taught me about pruning, fruiting, fertilizing, everything! Hopefully we can apply this new knowledge to help our trees going forward.
Yesterday we went to a plant nursery and to Menards to see about getting more trellises for the garage. Last year we started training the grape vines from the other side of our backyard to grow onto the garage and they quickly filled up the ground level trellises we purchased! Now we want to help give them space to grow up the garage and not just a few feet off the ground. But grapes are vines so they need something to attach to. Unfortunately we didn’t have much luck. neither store had what we were looking for. On the plus side, Andrew seems pretty excited to get wood and create more of what we want for the garage! That will be his project in the next week or two. While we were at Menards we found some really fun things though: an open bird house that is supposed to attract robins or cardinals and a butterfly bungalow to help our pollinators! They are super cute and I hope we get new residents in them soon. Andrew and I are on the lookout for a cool bird bath fountain as well—then we’ll have food, water, and a house for all our outdoor friends!
Soon (I hope) we’ll be able to start working on the garden on the side of the house and the back garden that we share with our neighbors. We might be building a raised bed on the side of the house this year, but nothing is completely set yet. It would be really nice to be able to add some better soil there, since the natural soil is pretty sandy. We’ll see what we come up with though!
~Natalie
New Born Care Class
Happy weekend everyone!
Andrew and I started a newborn care class with MedCity Doulas and our adoption study group on Tuesday. We will be doing one class a month on the first Tuesday of each month. This is the time we meet with other adoptive parents waiting for a placement match. Before our first class MedCity Doulas sent us a nice email with some things to get ready. So here is our ready for class photo from Monday night.
Our teachers were amazing, and we learned so much, I can’t wait for our next couple of classes. This week, we learned about different things we might see on newborns skin, about the umbilical cord, and some key facts on infant development through the first year. We learned how to put on a diaper, and practiced on our stuffed animals.
Along with diapering, we learned about baby poop, bathing baby, safe sleep, and how to sooth baby. We learned about Dr. Harvy Karp’s 5 S’s: swaddle, sway, shush, side, and suck. This included practicing different ways to swaddle baby. One of them I feel like I am getting, the other one I need a lot more practice with. Here is a photo of swaddled piglet.
During this two hour class, I feel like we learned so stinking much. I have about 4 pages of notes and Andrew took about 6 pages of notes on his iPad as well.
This week Andrew and I also took some time off to relax and have a staycation. In fact, we took off Thursday, Friday, and this coming Monday to have a nice 5 days off in a row. It is so amazing and much needed. Thursday we relaxed, read, napped, and did our errands. Yesterday I didn’t do much— more napping, relaxing, reading, and just being a bum. This morning I woke up super well rested and have been having a blast! Some reading, chatted with my mom, walked Goldy, and watching some TV. I’ve got crafting with my best friend Mary coming up in a few minutes as well. The best thing is it isn’t raining today!
A final note, is that we’ve created a few new accounts for building our nest! Check us out on Instagram: @_buildingournest and on Facebook: @buildingournest1
~Natalie
Happy Easter!
Hello everyone and Happy Easter! This is the day Jesus rose from the dead in fulfillment of the scriptures.
Our COVID isolation celebration still isn’t the same as pre-pandemic but Andrew and I have a fun day ahead of us. We went to Target to get easter candy and an easter surprise toy for Goldy this past Wednesday. We clearly waited too long as the easter themed candy was mostly gone. It was probably for the better, because I have very little self control once I start eating candy. We did find a really cute hide-a-treat toy for Goldy that looks like a pez dispenser—we maybe love bark box a little too much. In addition to the candy, we’ve got mixed bagel egg sandwiches, mixed berry pie from a local restaurant with some of the best pie around, ham for Andrew, scalloped potatoes, and avocado alfredo pasta on the menu for today. A smaller meal since it is just for the two of us (and Goldy).
Did you guys know how beautiful the weather is this weekend?!? Yesterday I went outside about 1:00 and I don’t think I came back in until 5. It was amazing— sunny, warm, a slight breeze every once in a while. Birds were out, squirrels were out, Goldy and her new best friend Minnow (our neighbor’s puppy) were out, everyone was loving the warmth. I did my craft zoom outside and built a cute easter bunny carrot house out of legos. I read outside, chatted with our neighbors, really just loved life all of yesterday afternoon. It might have been a bit more amazing for me as I was finally feeling normal again.
Thursday I got my second dose of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine. I, thankfully, was able to take Friday off. I got the vaccine at 8:10 Thursday morning, and by lunch time was already starting to go downhill. I was just wiped out. The first dose I made it about 24 hours before feeling the side effects. This time around, I think I made it about 4. Then it kept getting worse. Overnight Thursday night I was feverish and a bit delirious. I slept about 12 hours Thursday night, took a 45 minute nap Friday morning, took a 3 hour nap Friday afternoon, slept 12 hours Friday night, and took a one hour nap Saturday late morning/early afternoon, and went to bed early last night as well. Between that and tylenol, I felt pretty good most of Saturday afternoon. This morning I just have a sore arm where the vaccine went in. Even with the last few days being exhausted and feeling feverish, I wouldn’t have missed getting vaccinated. I’m so thankful that I have my second dose and will be fully effective in a bit under 2 weeks. I am also thankful Andrew was able to get his first vaccine dose of Moderna on Tuesday of last week. He had no side effects and is doing just great.
I’m sorry I missed posting last weekend, but I do promise I’m trying to make a post every week. I hope everyone has a lovely Easter and has the opportunity to enjoy this beautiful weather.
~Natalie
Spices, Ending Hibernation, and Growing Closer to God
Happy Sunday!
I’m going to work on posting at least one post a week. So that is my new commitment to all of you! Hopefully you find it interesting enough to keep reading.
Andrew and I recently ordered a new kind of spice rack. One that is like little drawers that pull out rather than a stadium set up. It fits so many spices! They arrived Friday and we have spent a large part of this weekend getting them installed, going through our spices, and reorganizing. Wow is it worth it! First, we found some spices that we had three different jars of—totally unnecessary. We also found spices that we tried but didn’t like but never got rid of. Possibly the most exciting is it is so much more efficient storage and access! We can find our spices without things falling everywhere. They take up basically one shelf now (before it was two shelves, part of a drawer, and two hanging spice racks above the sink). It is such a small thing probably overall but I’m so stinking excited about it!!
The weather continues to slowly get warmer here in the Brainerd Lakes Area, but the key word is definitely slowly. We’ve been spending more time outside, walking Goldy or relaxing in the back yard. We’ve been spending less time with “screens” watching TV or on my phone and more time reading and just enjoying time outdoors. It’s been so nice. It feels a bit like coming out of hibernation. Part of that for me is definitely the return to the office rather than working from home. It was definitely an adjustment but it is back to feeling normal and is less stressful. My covid anxiety is going down, as the vaccine continues to be more available. I’m getting pumped to get my second dose (and preparing for worse side effects) in a week and a half. I’ve been enjoying reading books, listening to my audio books, and spending time with Goldy and Andrew.
For Lent this year, I’ve been doing a bible study with my family. I have really been enjoying it and feel like I’m growing closer to both God and my family. While we don’t always have all the reading/preparation done, we have been able to have very deep and fulfilling conversations related to our study. It also opened me up to looking at exploring adding a bible study to my life for a longer period. I’m starting up with a company called Bible Study Fellowship, which is a non-denominational christian bible study program. I’ll join my first full meeting this week on Tuesday, and I hope it feels as rewarding as doing the prep work, thinking deeper, and meeting with my family.
~Natalie
COVID-19 Vaccine and a Spring Weekend
Hey everyone!
On Thursday I was lucky enough to be able to get the first of two doses of the COVID-19 vaccine from Pfizer. I’m the first one in my family to have some side effects. I had a headache for a couple days and some body temperature rising but not to the level of a fever. Mostly I just felt crummy and exhausted. It was annoying but well worth it. I cannot wait until Andrew can be vaccinated. My mom, sister, and brother in law have all had their first dose. My dad’s first does is Tuesday. It will be nice to be able to get together with family without quite as much worry and anxiety.
A nicer topic I wanted to share is how nice this weekend has been! It is starting to feel like spring (despite the snow we received Wednesday). On Saturday I was feeling better from the vaccine side effects and spearheaded a long walk outside when it was beautiful! It was about 60* in the sun (a bit chillier in the shade). Andrew and I like to take what we call pup’s choice walks when it is nice out. I can’t wait until they are pup/child’s choice! We start by heading to the big park in our neighborhood and then let Goldy make choices as to where he wants to go—in the park, out of the park, anywhere. As long as there is a sidewalk and he isn’t taking us to the busy street at the edge of our neighborhood we go with it. Yesterday’s walk was 1.67 miles and felt amazing. I didn’t even need a jacket since I was wearing a sweater! Goldy wasn’t quite used to this level of activity (too cold in Brainerd in the winter), so he was tuckered out after that. But he had a blast, I had a blast, and Andrew had a great time. Andrew said nobody could have enjoyed it as much as I did, but that’s just because I’ve felt a bit cooped up this winter and it felt so nice to get out in the sunshine and warmth. Today we took another walk, about .85 miles, but didn’t allow as much pup’s choice. We are so fortunate to live in a neighborhood with multiple parks, sidewalks, and friendly neighbors! It is so walkable and makes spring, summer, and fall just amazing. Yesterday it was even warm enough to sit outside on the deck reading for a while after our walk. Now if the snow could just melt…
What did you guys do this weekend?
~Natalie
The Adoption Wait
Andrew and I have been “in the book” for a bit over a year now. During that time, we have made concrete steps towards preparing for a match but it has mostly been just a waiting game. When I started this blog, I planned to do more posts about what we were doing to prepare as we were doing them, but I’ve clearly taken a different approach. So I thought I would share the different steps we have taken to help cope while we wait for a birth mom and birth dad to choose us.
Before starting this process, we knew which room was going to be our nursery and that we wanted a Winnie the Pooh themed nursery. Our first step in preparing for baby was to paint the nursery. Two Christmases ago now, Andrew got me a hanging wall mural of a scene from the hundred acre wood. So we picked a nice shade of blue that coordinates very nicely with it. For a while, we kept it as a guest room after painting it. Below, see pictures of before, during, and after painting.
When my sister and her husband were up visiting this summer, I joined them as we went to Baby’s on Broadway to help get them ready for my niece to arrive. While we were there, we learned that there was an amazing sale on the Uppababy stroller my cousins both have and that we really like. So we got our main stroller for our future kid(s). It is flexible for one to two children, newborn and up. When we get a match, we’ll get a carseat and adapter so that it works as a frame stroller. It also has a bassinet that is sleep safe and a normal seat. We can get adapters to be able to have two seats/basinets attached. It is so slick and easy to use! It folds up small and stands when folded. Please excuse the mess in the photo, it was just unboxed and I was so excited to share with my family that it had come.
Another thing Andrew and I have done to prepare for baby is order (and eventually put together) our nursery furniture. We picked out a set from Target that we like and that fits nicely into the room. While we haven’t put everything in it’s final position yet, we are loving how nice the furniture looks. We are short one guest room but have a nursery ready for baby! Also, ready for visitors since all of our family and some of our close friends have babies or toddlers. In addition to the crib (with bedding) and dresser (with changing top), we also have a matching bookshelf. The only things we still need furniture-wise are a chair and a lamp.
Buying loads of children’s and baby books. I have a confession, I’m addicted to buying books. Books for me and Andrew to read are great. Books to read to and with our future children and nieces and nephews are even better. Our bookshelf has three shelfs and I’d say that if all the books I had were on the same shelf, it would be a full shelf. I love reading and cannot wait to pass my love of books on to my children.
We also found a good deal on a pack and play that has a changing top and bassinet attachment for our family room when we get a placement. That way, baby doesn’t need to always be changed and sleep upstairs, but can stay on the main level with us as well.
The final thing I have been working on to physically prepare for baby is make some decorations for the nursery. As I said before, we have a Winnie the Pooh themed nursery. So naturally, I’m using my cricut machine to make winnie the pooh wall hangings! Check out a couple I’ve made below. These will go up on the walls around the nursery and be able to be used as baby grows up to play around on the mural that Andrew picked out. He also got me 4 baby pooh character cut outs for use with the mural.
To help with the wait, we are also meeting with other hopeful adoption parents monthly by zoom. These parents are at the same general stage as us with Adoption Minnesota and it is nice to be able to discuss what we are thinking and how the wait is going together. Starting in April, we’ll have a baby care class for 4 sessions and we are really looking forward to that!
Andrew and I are looking forward to being parents so much. Sometimes the wait is hard, sometimes it is easier. I’d love to know what else you all did to help be ready for baby, comment below!
~Natalie
February Update
Good morning everyone!
I know I’m not super consistent at posting but life is busy and sometimes chaotic and sometimes I just don’t know what to share. It’s okay to feel disrupted during this chaotic time in the world. We are about to enter a second year of a global pandemic. People are trying their best to continue to thrive and survive and be okay. We are trying to work on accepting and embracing this new normal. And then things shift and it might be a small change or a large one but you have to adapt again.
I went back to the office February 1st after being home since mid-March last year. It has been a month of adjusting for me. I had some anxiety over potential exposure to COVID-19. I was also adjusting to commuting again, a different sleep schedule, and having to put on real pants more often. Working from home I really enjoyed sleeping in, wearing sweatpants or gym shorts depending on the weather, and not driving very much. But as I adjusted back to “normal” life and working in the office again, I realized there are benefits there too. I get to see my friends at work in person (although still briefly, since I spend most of my day in my office with my door shut), and it is nice to have that feeling of togetherness and support back. There are more people there to help me. I’m not doing everything through a VPN connection. There are benefits even in the challenges that we face. And I learned it takes me about a month to adjust to a different sleep schedule—I’m full of energy and hope again.
This month, I’ve also made more of an effort to turn to God for help, support, kindness, and grace. Starting in January 2020, I’ve been reading a devotional every day. But this month, I’ve taken it a step further. For Lent, I started a bible study through zoom with family members. We are completing our second week today, and it has brought peace and perspective to my life already. It is okay that life is chaotic, because God only gives us what we can handle. Taking time each day to reflect on my faith, reflect on the Bible, and reflect with God has been amazing. Honestly, after this bible study I plan to continue to study the bible and learn and reflect in the grace that God provides. He helps me feel centered in the chaos.
~Natalie
The Christmas Season
Hey all,
I’m honestly not sure many people read my blog, but if you are here I am so glad! I thought I’d take a few minutes today and post about the lead up to Christmas this year. It certainly is different than in the past, but some things are always the same!
We are usually very busy in December. This year, there is only one trip down to the twin cities to celebrate Christmas. We are celebrating with Andrew’s family virtually tonight, which is the start of our Christmas celebrations this year—but not the start of our Christmas season! In fact, we started decorating a bit early this year. Each year, we put up a variety of decorations, and all of them feel special to us. We have 4 artificial trees that go up, one each in the family room, the living room, our bedroom, and the basement. Once we are lucky enough to add to our family by getting an adoption placement, we will add our 5th tree in baby’s room! We also have an advent calendar for Goldy, a wine advent calendar (from Costco) for us, and my personal favorite (and this year’s new addition) a Beary Merry Christmas advent calendar. My parents had this advent calendar and my sister and I used to rush to be the one who got to move the bear through the house while he is looking for Christmas. The picture below isn’t great, and it isn’t where it lives in our house, but it is what I sent to my best friend after I finished assembling it this year. In the past, these have been IMPOSSIBLE to find, so I’m thrilled to have found one at an affordable price this year (thanks Poshmark).
Other decorations we have out include wall hangings, Steelers Santa, those cute seasonal birds from target, and multiple nativity scenes. Three of our nativity sets are actually very special to me, as they come from Israel. One my parents gave me when I was in law school that they had for a long time prior to passing it to me. The other two I bought when I was lucky enough to be able to visit Israel with a law school class. We also have an angel, books, a banner that says ‘ho ho ho’ and some white woodland animals. Of course, we never forget to hang our stockings either!
I also love decorating outside in the yard. This year, we have two light up snowmen and Snoopy sleeping on a decorated ‘mail box’ that opens to show a sleeping Woodstock. We also have super large and bright Christmas bulbs lining the sidewalk approaching our house. Most importantly in my opinion, we have Santa checking his list! Again, Santa is a throw back to my childhood. When we moved to the Brainerd lakes area, we found one exactly like the one my parents have and Andrew, being the great husband that he is, insisted we buy it once he saw the smile it brought to my face.
There are many Christmas traditions that we are doing different this year or had to skip, but we are still celebrating in full force in our home. I’ll post more about Christmas celebrations soon!
~Natalie
Happy Thanksgiving!
Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
This Thanksgiving is not what we anticipated when 2020 started. Andrew, Goldy, and I are celebrating just the three of us at home this year. We are sad that we won’t see Andrew’s family, but we also understand that this pandemic is something to be taken seriously. Despite the crazy year we all are experiencing thanks to Covid-19, there are still so many things to be thankful for this year. I thought I would share a small list of things that I am thankful for to help spread a little joy:
Andrew
Goldy
Our health
Our parents (Andrew’s and mine)
Our siblings and their spouses
My new niece
our extended families
good friends, even if we cannot see them in person
our house and our neighborhood
our jobs
Adoption Minnesota, for working so hard to help us and other families adopt
the birds and squirrels that come to our yard and our feeders and bring smiles to our faces
There are so many things to be thankful for this year. Today, I choose to focus on these positives rather than the negatives. I hope you do too.
~Natalie
Prosecuting Hard Cases
Hey all,
I’ve done a lot of thinking in the last week about what has been going on with me mentally/emotionally. I want to start out by saying I absolutely love my job—being a prosecutor is my dream job and the people I work with are amazing. It is rewarding probably between 90-95% of the time. It is that other 5-10% that gets me. In both October and November I had jury trials that were in the same case. In October there was a mistrial declared on day 7. In November we took 6 days and the case went to the jury. The result was that this defendant was found not guilty on all counts. Why am I sharing this? Because this case got under my skin. It is a case that included serious crimes that I still believe happened, even though the jury determined I had not proven it beyond a reasonable doubt. This case had a victim that has had a hard life but still keeps going and has been working very hard at bettering herself. It is a case that got under my skin and lived haunting my brain for far too long. The case was hard for me to process, to try, and to lose. I am not over the loss in court, but I accept it. And in a strange way, being done with the case, even in a negative way, has made it easier to move on and look ahead again. I’m sleeping better again. I’m doing okay. But I thought I would write this quick post to say that while being a prosecutor is what I am called to do, some cases are very hard. And when those hard cases get worse by getting under my skin, it was so nice and comforting to have Andrew and our family and friends support. We have a fantastic support system, and I would not be where I am without it.
~Natalie
September/October update
Hey guys,
I know it has been a hot minute since I posted last, but things just sort of got chaotic for me. So chaotic we are actually late getting our homestudy update done. So here is a quick update…
September was awesome! In addition to the canning I’ve already posted about my parents came up for a long weekend in late September for the Walk to End Alzheimer's. The walk was virtual this year, but we still had a small community presence in a drive through “flower” garden. My parents helped us set it up at Kiwanis Park and it turned out fantastic! Mom and I also made a LOT of jelly and jam. Apparently, we didn’t do great at checking the recipes for quantity, so we made one batch of grape jelly (with the grapes from our backyard), two batches of strawberry jam, two batches of triple berry jam, and two batches of hot pepper relish/jelly. We made so much that weekend, we had to send my dad out to find more jelly jars!
October is honestly a blur to me. Andrew’s parents came up for a day one weekend, which we really loved. It was nice enough outside that we were able to sit on the deck without our fire pit turned on. Andrew’s mom actually got a bit sunburnt from sitting outside! Their visit also allowed us to celebrate his dad’s birthday by baking him a cake and singing happy birthday. The other big thing that sticks out to me from October was my trial block. It was the first time I’ve had a trial go longer than a week—in fact, we didn’t even get a jury picked until Friday afternoon! Unfortunately, we didn’t get through the trial to a verdict so I’m actually going through a second trial on that case this week (and probably next week too).
Something exciting and not work-related did happen though last month— my sister gave birth to the cutest little girl! I cannot wait to meet her (hopefully it will be safe enough with COVID that we will get to see them over Christmas). I love seeing pictures of her and hearing how her little life is going. Right now my parents are out visiting and getting to meet the new baby, so I’m pretty jealous.
Anyway, time to get ready for our homestudy update meeting.
~Natalie
Canning Tomatoes
I first started canning tomato sauce when I was in undergrad. This year I did more than usual— I canned over 100 pounds of tomatoes! Luckily I didn’t do this all in one day.
On Labor Day, I canned a box that was at least 25 pounds worth of canning tomatoes from our local farm pickup truck (the first of two boxes from them this year) and some of the fresh tomatoes from my garden. It was my second year making salsa, and I hugely thank my friend Sondra for the recipe! Making salsa is way easier than I thought it would be. The most time consuming part is the prep and cutting everything up. It takes a lot of tomatoes, bell peppers, jalapeño or other spicier pepper, onions, and some white vinegar. You dice up the veggies very small except the tomatoes, which are chopped larger. Boil it all together in a stock pot to the desired consistency. The box full of tomatoes resulted in 12 pints and one quart of salsa.
My new giant stock pot full of salsa boiling down on Labor Day
This past Saturday, I canned the rest of the tomatoes— another box from the farm truck and at least 50 pounds of heirloom tomatoes from a farm in Aitkin. It was a long day, but it was totally worth it! After washing all of the tomatoes (in batches), I blanched and shocked them so that I could peel them.
Some of the blanched, shocked, and peeled heirloom tomatoes.
My first batch on Saturday was pasta sauce from the farm truck box. The 25 or so peeled pounds went into my giant stock pot to start breaking down and reducing. I squished and crushed the tomatoes in my hands and removed the tough core. I also added a few chopped onions and a decent amount of garlic. After a while, I used our stick blender to get a smooth consistency. Here’s my hint at a great tomato sauce—add the rind from a block of parmesan cheese while it is simmering after blending. After it reduced far enough to fit in my smaller stock pot, I transferred the batch of sauce over so I could start over with the heirloom tomatoes in the giant stock pot. I also added a bit of red pepper flakes, fake salt (since I live low sodium), and some black pepper. Once the sauce is thicker and the rind has lost most (but not all) of the cheese/structure, remove it.
Pasta Sauce number 1 for 2020 simmering on the back burner while the canning pot heats up in front.
My very full stove- pasta sauce, canning pot, simmering lids, and the heirloom tomatoes reducing.
When it got to a good pasta sauce consistency, I added fresh basil and oregano chopped up small. I also mixed in some dried spices to taste and some parmesan melted in, then into the clean and sanitized mason jars and into the water bath! The farm truck box made 13 amazing pint jars of pasta sauce for Andrew and I to use into winter. After the first batch of pasta sauce, Andrew and I used the smaller stock pot to make a spicier batch of salsa—more spicy peppers and hot sauce went into it.
The heirloom tomato sauce that I made was honestly the most delicious sauce I think I’ve ever made. I used the same process as above, but waited a bit longer to add in anything (including the onion and garlic). I think it is probably just the difference of tomatoes—you can definitely tell heirloom tomatoes by taste. It also had a fresh rind vs. the frozen rind I used in the first batch. I only jarred 3 pints of pasta sauce from this set, which went into the canner with the spicy salsa. In the meantime, I continued to reduce the heirloom sauce into a nice, thick pizza sauce. After adding some cheese, I filled up 7 delicious pint jars of pizza sauce to use when we make homemade pizza.
There you have it, what I spent all Saturday working on, nicely sealed, cooled, and labeled. What a great outcome!
~Natalie
The Great Minnesota Get Together
One of my favorite things about the end of summer is the Minnesota State Fair. I don’t remember the last time that I missed the state fair, so it was a hard pill to swallow that the Great Minnesota Get Together was cancelled this year. Luckily, Andrew and I were able to get a ticket to the State Fair Food Parade this year. We went through yesterday just the two of us. It definitely wasn’t the same, but it was nice to have a piece of the fair this year. Andrew and I loved eating all the great food! We got some fair classics- The Mouth Trap Cheese Curds, Fresh Cut French Fries, Sweet Martha’s Cookies, and a Pronto Pup for Andrew—plus we got some new foods we haven’t had before— Eggroll on a Stick and Garlic Cream Cheese Wantons. They moved the parade along at quite a quick pace, and kept us busy and our car full of food. While the parade planners said to plan an hour and a half to two hours, we were out in just about an hour, although we had plenty of food to continue eating as we drove to visit Andrew’s parents. They did a great job with the food parade, not only did it go quickly and smoothly but there was a lot of fun and entertainment along the route as well. There was food parade bingo, live music, trivia, and a great local radio to listen to as we went through. While I missed the games, rides, animals, exhibits, and shopping, I’m glad we were able to get some sense of the fair this year.
Attending the Minnesota State Fair been a family tradition since I was little, and a tradition I personally cannot wait to pass on to whomever we are lucky enough to adopt. My dad took me and my sister when we were young, usually on separate days. It was a nice bonding experience. We got to eat mostly what we wanted to play games, go for rides, go through the fun houses, and walk around to see everything. In high school, my dad and I would still go, sometimes with a friend. Even though I went to undergrad on the east coast, I still made it to the state fair every year. In undergrad I started attending the fair more than one day when possible, which was just amazing. I also started going to concerts at the fair my freshman year of undergrad. We don’t catch a concert every year, but it is a lot of fun when a group or artist that we want to see is there. I think Andrew started joining my family at the fair the year I graduated undergrad. After a couple years, we started going just the two of us. We love getting there early for breakfast and he sticks it out all day with me. In the late morning or early afternoon we typically meet up with my family—whether it’s just my dad, both my parents, Andrea and Christian, or more extended family as well. It really is just a great day full of food, fun, and a ton of walking.
So what do we do at the fair when we go? First stop is always the Miracle of Birth Center, where we check out the piglets, baby sheep, baby cows, and baby lambs. They are just too cute!
Piglets from the 2012 State Fair
Andrew and I then get some food and start going around the fair. We love to get around the whole thing, not just the food and games, so we’ll hit up the west end market and the stalls in the grand stand. We walk up machinery hill to check out the pet pavilion, the eco building, and all of the cool stuff on the top end of the fair. Of course, we eat along the way—what’s the Great Minnesota Get Together without all the food?!? We’ll usually by this point get ready to meet up with my family, where we get Fresh Cut French Fries before hitting the Midway for games and rides. I LOVE going on rides at the fair but I usually have to convince people to join me.
After the midway, we’ll hit up the animal barns and check out all the animals. We’ll stop and check out live entertainment for a break when we need one. As a family, we check out the agriculture/horticulture building and eat ourselves around the food building. You can’t forget the middle of the fair with the DNR building, giant slide, and grilled corn on the cob! The best end to the fair is when there is a concert in the grandstand we’re excited for—sometimes with friends, sometimes with my parents, sometimes with Andrea, and sometimes with the cousins. Below is a photo from seeing Macklemore with my sister, her best friend, and our cousins. I’ve also seen Weezer at the fair twice, 38 special, REO Speedwagon, Journey, Pat Benetar, and Franki Valley and the Four Seasons.
What do you guys like at the fair? What are your must have for items?
~Natalie
Sunday is for Pesto!
Hello again everyone,
Yesterday was a busy day in our house! Andrew worked on a home improvement project in the basement. He has been working on re-routing the hardwired internet so that we can take the wifi point from our basement out of the old bunker and into the finished portion of our basement. He is so handy and good at things like this while I barely understand what he is up to. He added an ethernet connection from the bunker into the finished portion of the basement where his desk is. I think he also added a new ethernet switch, but I honestly don’t know what all he did. What I do know is that he got a new tool- a drywall saw. This let him add a plate for the ethernet connection going through the wall.
Meanwhile, I harvested about 8 pounds of tomatoes, some cucumbers, and a TON of basil from our garden. To give you guys an idea of just how much I’m talking about, here are some photos of the cleaned produce.
To be perfectly honest, even getting that far took a long time, those are piles of basil leaves/branches. I still can’t believe all of that basil came from two plants. After letting the basil dry a bit, it was time to get cooking. I love making pesto—it’s so delicious and versatile! We use pesto in pasta, on sandwiches, and on caprese salad (which is a summer staple for me). Cooking in general is also a way I relax (and cooking for others is one way I show that I care). I’ve had friends ask me for my pesto recipe, which I would love to share if I had one. I learned to make pesto by feel rather than quantities. Here is what I can share though: take clean basil leaves, olive oil, parmesan cheese, pine nuts, and garlic and blend in a high quality blender or a food processor. I prefer using a food processor. People like different amounts of the ingredients and like a different texture. If you want it to be smoother, you use more olive oil. If you like it a bit thicker, don’t blend/process as long and use more pine nuts. Garlic and parmesan really are to taste. Feel free to add salt and pepper as well, we are just a low sodium household and I prefer to add salt/pepper when I’m using it in the future. Guys, it took me over an hour to get all the basil leaves off the stems and make the pesto yesterday. Andrew even came up and helped de-stem the basil for a while. It was a lot of work to do this much at once, but it is a labor of love. Overall, I made three big batches of pesto in our food processor. Here is the thing about pesto though if you don’t know it yet—it doesn’t keep very long in the fridge, especially if you don’t use preservatives. So after putting the pesto into jars, all but one went into the freezer. It will keep great in the freezer, just thaw and use! For storing jars in the fridge, I have learned a great tip in the last year or two: every time you put the pesto in the fridge, make sure there is a layer of olive oil on top. This helps with browning/oxidization and will keep it good for a bit longer! Even so, pesto should really be used in a week or two in the fridge. Below is a picture of all of my jars of pesto that Andrew took.
Three batches of pesto in various jars- from tiny ones to huge ones!
I can’t wait to share my love of cooking with our future child. While we wait for a match, I’ll keep sharing what we are up to with you!
~Natalie
Quiet Saturday Morning
Hey everyone,
I don’t have a ton to share today, but I wanted to give you a glimpse into how we are spending time at home during this pandemic. This morning has been super nice and relaxing (I know, can’t always expect that once we have a baby). I usually wake up before Andrew on the weekends—he is a night owl and I am more of a morning person. Goldy woke up with me this morning and we came downstairs to relax and de-stress from the week of work. I had been reading a good book by Harlan Coben and only had about 60 pages left. Goldy and I sat in the library and enjoyed the quiet of the morning. He dozed and I read. After finishing the book, I started a new one (1st Case by James Patterson and Chris Tebbetts). A few minutes later, Andrew woke up and came downstairs. Goldy was thrilled- his humans together giving him attention!
Our stroller arrived a couple of weeks ago. I’m going to post more on that later, but for now all you need to know is we hadn’t put it into storage yet. We tested the stroller’s frame in my car’s trunk to see how much space I’ll have with baby and their stroller in the car. Not as much as I’d like but enough I could go to the store. The stroller finally made it into storage in our basement while we wait for a match. We also cleaned up some of Goldy’s toys. If there is any indication that our future baby will be spoiled rotten, it is Goldy’s overflowing toy crate combined with how many things we have already purchased for baby—the future nursery’s closet is full of furniture!
After tidying up a bit, we went to our back deck to read and relax. Andrew read the Lake County Journal and surfed on his iPad. I continued reading the book I started this morning. Goldy explored the yard, laying down in the sunny grass. We turned on our fire pit and enjoyed being in our happy place. I imagined our future child running around the back yard with Goldy. We listened for the birds, who seem to have been scared away by all the squirrels. It was just so peaceful and calm. Something that everyone needs once in a while. Now, Andrew is making french toast for breakfast as Goldy lays on the top of the couch behind me keeping an eye on both of us. Happy Saturday everyone!
~Natalie
About Us
Welcome to our new blog, Building Our Nest! Thank you for joining us on our adoption journey. Between Andrew, Natalie, and our rescue dog, Goldy, there is so much love in our house! We cannot wait to grow our family through adoption and sharing with you how we are getting ready to bring a future baby home. At this point, we have gone through the home study process and are “in the book”. Feel free to check out our online posting: https://adoptionmn.com/families/andrew-natalie/.
During the COVID-19 stay home order, we contributed to the #frontporchproject and had a lot of fun staying business on top but casual on the bottom.
Andrew and I first met in high school while volunteering at the Plymouth Library. Volunteering is still an important part of our lives, and we both volunteer with the Brainerd Lakes Area Walk to End Alzheimers. We love spending time with our dog, traveling (although not so much during the COVID-19 pandemic), photography, spending time outside, and cooking together.
I am an assistant county attorney. In addition to my work, I love to craft, cook, garden, and read. I have dreamed of being a mom for as long as I can remember and I cannot wait until we have a match and get to bring our baby home.
Andrew is a product manager and designer at a software company. He loves the Gophers, the Steelers, and everything airplane related. In his free time, he plays video games, reads, and enjoys learning about the weather. You might not hear much from him on this blog, but I promise he is doing most of the work behind the scenes!
If you are looking to place a child for adoption, we would love to have you consider us! If you are on this adoption boat with us, please feel free to reach out or comment below to share your story or what you are going through.
-Natalie