Not a "Goodbye" but a "See Ya Later."

A big thanks again to Anna and Lee for helping us move out to Utah last week.  Here are some pics from their time here in the West with us.  :)     Enjoy! 

Hiking at Bell Canyon Trail

The view while traveling up the Mountain to Snow Bird

More view!

On the top of the mountain at Snow Bird.  We were afraid that
the storm was gonna get us! 

The Rain never came! yay! (Still Snow Bird)

Needless to say, we now live in a gorgeous state! 

On the trail at Snow Bird.  

Paul showing us the ropes up at Snow Bird

Their last night in Utah.  Feeling extremely full! 

Anna's crazy eyes! HaHa. Definitely miss being
strange together! 

Snow Bird

  

At the Draper Rodeo! People sure like their Rodeo! 

Lee lounging.  We did a lot of this too.  

Went to the Hogle Zoo.  This Giraffe was staring down Anna!

Definitely the best part of the Hogle Zoo! Kristi the Elephant!
She was pretty awesome!

Had a blast with them getting to stay out here for a few days.  Hope to see more of our awesome MN friends out here soon!  Love you all! 

Pip and Ri 

From Minnesota to Utah

As many of you may know, Riley and I have embarked on a new adventure in Utah.  Over the past few weeks we have moved out of our first apartment as Mr. and Mrs. in Waite Park, MN, hung out at my mom and dad’s home for 9 days, and crunched our trip to Utah into a day and a half.  Needless to say it’s been quite a ride!  

Mississippi Lovin'

 

 

 After moving out of our first apartment of almost 2 years, we got to spend some time with family back in the Plainview area before taking off for the West.  Though there was no cell service, Internet, or television at my parents, being able to spend time with them before we took of for Utah was essential!  We got to brush up on our card playing skill in 500 with my parents, soak up some Mississippi River sun and beach, eat WAY too much food, and spend time with friends/family that we have not seen in a long time (COUGH …. Anna and Amanda!) .  

After our remaining time in MN with family and friends, our good friends Lee and Anna came down from St. Cloud and helped us drive out to Utah.  We left late Tuesday night (11:45 PM) and were on the road!  Oh boy, was driving 19+ hours to Utah a BLAST! ;)   Lee and Riley stayed awake SOOOOO long, I didn’t know it was humanly possible to be conscious that long…..   Though Anna and I didn’t sleep that much either, the boys definitely were awake longer and did a majority of the driving….. With a long first day through Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska, and a half of Wyoming, we rested in a sketchy but much needed motel called First Choice Inn in Rawlins, WY …. Sleeping was WONDERFUL!  The next morning we woke up, hit the road and in less than 5 hours we had made it to our destination: South Jordan, UTAH!!!!!

Lee and Anna = to Love Birds ;) 

Driving on Little Sleep! 

 e

So we are here safely (and sanely!) and enjoying our last day with Anna and Lee before they venture back to MN    :,(   .  I hope you enjoyed the update and are looking forward to another blog of Lee and Anna’s “vaca” here in Utah with us ;) which will come in the next day or two.  

Thanks for the positive thoughts and prayers sent our way during our travels.  MN we love you and UT we are excited for what you have 

in store for us! 

God Bless Everyone!

Pip and Ri

Little Experimentation

With my current diet switch to gluten and dairy free, I’ve been experimenting with new recipes and just random Pinterest ideas and while I was with my family this weekend, I could not help but to think of all the yummy food my mom makes (who has already tinkered with gluten free flour to make me yummies!).  So I tried my hand at a version of my momma’s spaghetti pie … quite a different version!  HaHaHa.   

I had seen on Pinterest that someone used broccoli slaw in place of noodles in another "pasta" dish so I decided to use that instead of traditional spaghetti noodles (and I’m always looking to add more veggies into my dishes somehow!).  And since I cannot have cheese, I used my Go Veggie Lactose Free shreds.  

Here is a list of all that I used in this gluten/dairy free version of spaghetti pie:

1.     Broccoli Cole Slaw

2.     Oatmeal

3.     Chia Seed (a tiny Aztec see that is an excellent source of Fiber, Omega-3 (ALA) Fatty Acids, and higher in Antioxidant Activity than Blueberries!)

4.     2 Large Eggs

5.     Go Veggie Lactose/Gluten Free Cheese Shreds

6.     Elk Burger from my Pappa J (browned with cayenne pepper, garlic, and cumin)

7.     All Natural Spaghetti Sauce

8.     Diced Mushrooms and Onions

9.     Baby Spinach

I baked all these yummy things into my own version of one of my childhood favorites and I’m not going to lie … it was GOOD!!! I think there needs to be a little tweaking in order to get it to be more sticky, but it sure tasted good going down!  I may try throwing in some Quinoa in there next time, but the broccoli slaw was a definitely good alternative! Now I have some tasty leftovers for my week!  

Now I just have to wait to see what the hubby thinks of it when he gets home from work later … He had a break from gluten/dairy free food the past few days resulting in him enjoying some cheddar brats with queso, cheese pizza and grilled cheese sandwiches.  HaHaHa! They sound delicious but I know my digestive system could NOT handle all that!  Anywho … I’m off to clean up my mess, store my leftovers, and relax after a gloriously fun weekend with my Schneider Family (Congrats to my cousin Julie and her new hubby Pete and step-daughter)! 

Happy Sunday!

Adjusting to all that life gives,

-Pippa

We're BAAAACCCCCKKKK ...

It’s been a VERY long time since I’ve blogged, and oh boy, am I excited to get back at it!  As some of you may have seen/heard, Riley and I are relocating to Utah in July.  Yes.  UTAH.  The Greater Salt Lake City Area to be exact.  Some of you may be wondering … “Why Utah?”  There are many factors that play into our decision to move there:

1.     Riley’s family.  They are excited to have us out there and we also look forward to spending the summer with Tate before he goes off to college in Colorado.

2.     Better job opportunity for Riley (and some potentially good ones for me too!)

3.     We absolutely LOVE the area.  Everyone seems to be significantly more active out there.  I mean with gorgeous mountains to be biked/hiked/climbed and skied/snowboarded down, running trails to be ran, lakes to be swum in, cool cities to explore, and MUCH MORE, who wouldn’t want to be outside enjoying everything!

4.     Milder and shorter winters, dry summers.  Sorry MN… your winters suck and I hate mosquitos and humidity. J

5.     My oldest brother is somewhere in the surrounding states of Utah, so we hope to connect with him a little more.

6.     A change of scenery. MN has treated us well but we are ready for something new and a chance to find a place where we sincerely feel we want to settle down. 

Of course where there are positives about something, there are always the negatives…

1.     First and foremost, we will miss our families terribly back in Minnesota, but our hopes are that this move will encourage them to travel and visit more.

2.     Our friends.  A good chunk of our college friends live in the Greater Twin Cities Area and the St. Cloud area. You will be missed L … Please visit us!

3.     The people I work with… 

-     I have some great friends that I work with at Great Clips and I’ll miss their hilariousness and friendship. 

-   And my little BRAID/YFC family … This is extremely bittersweet for me.  I have been working with these girls over the last 3.5 years and they have become my little sisters and I am so proud of how far they have come.  For the BRAID teenagers reading this, I will leave you with this:

“Let no one look down on your youthfulness, but rather in speech, conduct, love, faith and purity, show yourself an example of those who believe” (1 Timothy 4:12).  

As for my fellow YFC staff and BRAID Volunteers/VITS … you have been the BEST team to work alongside with.  You have been such an inspiration to me and the most wonderful individuals I could have asked to do ministry with.  I know that God has a huge plan for you all and for BRAID.  Thank you for everything!    

All in all, moving is slightly sentimental, but Riley and I are trusting in God’s plan for us and we ask that you continue to pray for us during this huge transition.  We have a lot to do still! 

1.     We still are working out how we want to move out there; we don’t have much so that helps!

2.     I’m in the process of getting my MN Cosmetology license transferred to a Utah one. 

3.     Riley is applying for some really great jobs in the Biology or Psychology fields.  I may be applying for a theology teaching position at a Catholic middle school (this depends on other factors). 

4.     Though we will initially live (modestly) with Paul, Mary Beth, and Tate this summer, we are looking into living arrangements, whether it be renting, buying, who knows!  This factor all depends on what jobs we land. 

Most importantly, it’s ALL in God’s hands and it will work itself out for the best.  Thank you for your continuous prayer and support!  We love you all and I hope you look forward to more postings of our escapades!

St. Cloud, Minnesota … Check out date July 1^st

Plainview, Minnesota …Check out date July 8^th

Salt Lake City, Utah … ARE YOU READY FOR THIS???

On a Crazily Exciting Journey Together,

Riley and Pippa    

A Little Mid-Afternoon Adventure

Today – after a joyous return back to YFC – it was such a beautiful day out that Riley and I decided to go searching for the supposed campground that is close to our apartment complex.  So we set out on what was to be a quick look around for where we thought the campground was to be and it ended up being quite the adventure. 

Right across the street from our apartment is a little river that many people fish at, so we followed along side that up to the park right down the street.  We had thought that if we ventured past all the baseball fields and Frisbee golf course we would run into the campground.  We got hopeful when we saw some tracks left over from cars driving on the grass leading to a very drivable path into the woods.  We followed the path only to eventually come to railroad tracks ….. and a bridge for the train over the river.  So what do Riley and I do??? Cross the railroad bridge J  With the fast moving water under the spaced beams on the bridge,  by half-way point on the bridge we were getting a little disoriented (At least I was!)

Once we crossed the bridge (which I thought we wouldn’t be crossing again) we followed the tracks to road that we had NO IDEA where it led to … So what better to do then follow such road! This road was getting a little hopeless, then we ended up at a little surprise: Pineview BMX Racing track!  This is something close to us that we could come and watch once in a while! Yay, something else to do then go watch movies all the time J.

After exploring the track, we noticed that there were some wooded areas behind it that looked like there was potential for trails back home because first, our feet hurt because we were not wearing appropriate exploring shoes and second, by this time we were not interested in finding a campground anymore!  We found a trail that looked promising so we decided to follow it.  Our choices were to either attempt the trail or turn around and go back the way we came (which was a long way).  On the trail we started noticing these little posts with numbers on them and fake animals displayed all over… near the end of the trail we ran into a sign telling us that it was a part of the archery club, which totally explains that animal dummies!  After discovering where we were, we reached the end of the trail…. which brought us right back to the BMX track…. YEEAAAAHHHH… guess it was time to hop back on the road and re-track our way back home….

By this time my flip-flops were digging their way in between my poor tootsies that I kicked them off and walk barefoot wherever possible.  Needless to say our intended brief jaunt to find a non-existent campground turned into an hour and a half adventure that resulted in enjoying the nice weather and blisters in between my toes J.  Though we did not find a campground we did stumble across a few cool things that we will definitely check out in the future! 

Hello Turkey Burgers!

Today as we ventured out to the grocery store, Ri and I picked up the ingredients to make some deliciously lean turkey burgers.  I was inspired from Hannah’s yummy burgers at our BRAID Celebration BBQ and decided to try making them!  We picked up some lean turkey burger (lean of course because we are watching our figures J), some bell peppers, carrots, onions, and cilantro.  Mash it all together with a little salt and pepper, and we got a delicious combination! 

Unlike Hannah, we don’t have a cool hamburger presser-thing that makes a perfect patty every time, so I just patted them myself.  We made a lot of them because we like having easy leftovers to warm up and grab for work.  These are very simple to make and quite a bit better for you than ground beef, and Ri and I are always looking for healthy alternatives to our favorite foods. 

Anyways, if you would like to try and make these at home, here is what you need.  To make roughly a dozen turkey burgers, you need 2 lbs. Lean Ground Turkey, 1 Bell Pepper, 1 Onion, cilantro, and a handful of baby carrots.  I used our handy-dandy Chop Wizard to chop the vegetables into tiny little pieces to mash into the burger.  Salt and pepper it a bit for flavor. 

{This is a must-have for the kitchen!}

Once the patties are made, it’s up to you how you want to prepare them.  We used our George Forman grill since we don’t have a grill.  (The George Forman squeezed out that excess grease we did not desire on them either.)  Ground Turkey should be cooked to at least 165 degrees for safety.  

About 10-15 minutes later, we had some yummy turkey burgers!  Thanks Hannah for the inspiration.  The ingredients for these delicious burgers will be a staple in our refrigerator from now on.  They are simple, delicious, colorful, and healthy.  Num, num! Enjoy! J

{Oh so Colorful!}