Mackinac Island Road Trip

To celebrate our one-year anniversary, Jeff and I took a weekend trip to Mackinac Island.

We left on Saturday morning (I'm a week behind in sharing this), traveling along the eastern shore of Lake Michigan. We stopped in Grand Rapids and stocked up on Dutch peppermints, then had lunch at a nice little cafe.

We made it to Mackinac City but mid-afternoon and then boarded the ferry. This was a different ferry than what I was familiar with. The passenger ferries take about 20 minutes to get to the island. Our had a "jet" feature, with the roostertail spray in the back.

Mackinac Island is unique in that there are no cars. The main modes of transportation are bikes, feet, and horse-drawn carriages. Our hotel was a short walk down main street. Many of the buildings are Victorian. I thought the architecture was beautiful!

We took a walk to explore the island a little, then enjoyed dinner at the Pink Pony.

The next day we rented a tandem bike and took a ride on the trail around the island (it's about 8 miles to circle the waterfront completely).

We enjoyed the views of Lake Huron, Lake Michigan, the Mackinac Bridge, and the straights between the Great Lakes. We stopped to view the Arch Rock, as well.

That afternoon we took a carriage tour, which went through the interior of the island and provided more historic information. Mackinac Island was originally used as a special site for Native Americans. After the Europeans came to America, the island was used as a trading post for furs.

The second part of the tour went through the state park, which ended at the fort that was used to guard the fur trade.

(The fort from the lake)

After the fur-trading business died down, Mackinac Island became well-known for its fudge and has remained a summer resort since. The Grand Hotel is actually the largest summer resort in the world.

That evening, we got dressed up and went out for a fancy dinner at an inn that overlooked the water.

The next morning we shopped for a little fudge, then caught the ferry back to Mackinac City. We headed north and got to see some fall colors (part of the reason for choosing this trip). I was reminded of the Lilian Jackson Braun "The Cat Who" book series, which is thouight to be set in the Upper Peninsula, Michigan. I kept seeing signs for "pasties" (meat and potatoes baked into a dough pocket).

We decided to alter our route and visit Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. I had heard about Pictured Rocks while in Denver (thanks, Dan) and wanted to take the chance to visit Lake Superior for the first time.

The water on Lake Superior was gorgeous! It reminded Jeff and me of a tropical beach. The aqua colors were like what we've seen in Mexico or Hawaii (though certainly colder).

After Pictured Rocks, we headed home, this time along the western shore of Lake Michigan.

Although there was a lot of driving involved, it was nice to get away for a few days, and enjoy the world around us.

Oh, and the cake? You know, the cake that sat in my parents' freezer for 10.5 months, half-thawed on an airplane, sat in our already-full freezer for 1.5 months, then sat in our car and on the ferry for a day? That cake? It actually tasted good. Happy Anniversary, Jeff!

Refrigerator Pickle Experiment

This summer I was interested in trying my hand at preserving some food during the summer season. Unfortunately, my efforts at a garden were somewhat stumped by limited space and some harsh rain storms in late spring.



However, thanks to a well-stocked produce store in town, I was able to try pickling today. I used a simple recipe for Refrigerator Dill Pickles that I found online, with some pickling spice I picked up at the bulk store near our home. The process went surprisingly well, and at the end of a half hour, I had this:

I've always loved pickles, so this was the perfect thing to try first (I say this before tasting the final product, of course...). When I was younger, I remember fighting my brothers for the right to drink some of the pickle juice. Gross, huh?

While I was on a roll, I was also able to blanch and freeze some green beans that I found for a good deal, which added to the satisfaction of preseving and knowing what's in my food.

I'm looking forward to trying the pickles eventually, and am hoping they taste good too; that would be just the motivation I need to do more things like this in the future.

Way Behind and an Interesting Day

As the title implies and as evidenced by the timestamp on my previous post, I am way behind in keeping this blog updated.

As a quick update, since the new furniture arrived in our home, I/we have:

• Had friends over several times to enjoy seating for more than 3
• Had our first overnight guests. My brother and sister-in-law visited for a weekend in May, and more recently, our friend Mike was in town for a short stay
• Vacationed in Kentucky and Tennessee (our first "Travel after Tax Season")
• Officially transferred our membership to Western Springs CRC
• Played on a women's church volleyball team
• Played on a 12" coed softball team (the season is still in progress)
• Resigned our apartment lease for another year
• Recently (last week) began 16" coed softball season with coworkers
• Visited Six Flags Great America

That's a brief summation of some of the high points. Beyond these events, my day to day life involves work, eating, reading, and sleeping, with a few things thrown in here and there. Work has been keeping me relatively busy, although I am at times able to enjoy the flexibility of summer hours. For the most part I enjoy what I do. Today in particular was slightly different than usual. There was a lawyer looking at some of our documents and the firm wanted one of our people to sit in the room and act as a deterrent to keep any files from being copied or taken. Since I happened to be in the office, I ended up spending my morning working in a conference room (not unusual), occasionally eyeing the other person at the table to make sure they weren't stealing anything (unusual). That's the story of my (un)eventful career.

New Looks

This post is late in coming, at least for the purposes of my mom and sister.

Jeff and I recently added some new furniture to our apartment. After 3 1/2 years of good, solid use, my old orange, floral-patterned couch was put to rest. I found this sofa on craigslist while in my junior year of college. It moved with me to 5 different apartments. While it served me well, it was time to move on, and remove one more item of "college" furniture from my life.

The slipcover gave it a bit more life.

Beneath the slipcover...

Out with the old

In with the new!

The red is cozy and adds a nice splash of color to the room.

There are two pieces; a sofa and a loveseat. I love that the cushions are still somewhat firm. I like the soft texture of the fabric (not microsuede, but a soft material - polyester, I think). I really like that the cushions are attached and don't need to be fixed every time someone gets up. I love that Jeff and I can each sit on a couch if we'd like. I like that it's easier to seat guests when they come over. I like that our living room has more definition from the dining room and the entrance to our apartment.

Can you tell I like our furniture? We got these couches in early March and I'm still pretty stoked about them.

In other news, I may have just worked my last Saturday for a long while. April 15, here we come!

Thoughts on Fasting

For lent this year, I decided to fast one day a week. I had gotten the idea from my friend Jacque, who was also fasting once a week. I did this on weekdays, and chose to not eat breakfast and lunch, breaking the fast after work, for dinner. Some of my thoughts on this choice:

- I really wasn't concerned about health. In general, I'd argue that most adult Americans would benefit from (or at the very least, not be hurt by) eating less food.**

- Some days were more difficult than others. I think this depended on a variety of things, including what I ate the night before, and if I exercised the day before.

- One of the difficult aspects was how to approach this from a work standpoint. This was something that was a personal decision that I was keeping (for the most part) to myself. I often work in an environment where I'm in a room with one other person all day. I tried to choose days when I was working by myself, or would not need to explain why I didn't want to join for lunch.

- I did notice some change in my work by the afternoon on fast days. I was less focused.

From a spiritual standpoint, there were benefits as well. This was probably most noticeable on Good Friday, when I didn't eat until communion during the service in the evening. I think it made the day and service 'hit home' more for me, as I recollected on the day. Easter dinner was also a great way to celebrate Easter, the end of lent, and Christ rising from the dead.

From a work/physical standpoint, I am glad that this complete - eating lunch on a work day is, if nothing else, a nice break from the day. That's all. I hope Easter was wonderful for all of you!

** On a trivial note, while reading "Superfreakonomics" by Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner (a follow-up to "Freakonomics," also a good read), I learned that Muslim babies born during May are have a higher likelihood of "[having] visual, hearing, or learning disabilities as an adult," due to their mothers day-fasting during Ramadan (currently starting in mid-August). The loss of nutrition during the first month of pregnancy can have a lasting detrimental effect on the unborn child. This has been seen in southeast Uganda (where Islam is predominant), as well as in certain Michigan regions, where there are also large Muslim populations.

You Know it's Going to be One of "Those" Days When...

- Your (and your coworker) are placed in a conference room at the back of the chapel (it kind of reminds me of the old 'cry room' at church)

- You think it'll be okay because they just had mass yesterday, so you shouldn't feel like you're intruding on Communion today

- It's actually better than that; the chapel is acting as a polling site for the local primary elections

- 6 people are sitting there eating (a Big Mac at 8:30 am - really?) and glaring at you as you walk by. Oh, and literally talking non-stop for 7+ hours straight, so loudly you can hear them through the door you closed

- You watched someone trying to escape while several others tried to subdue them

- You really had to use the bathroom, so you finally walked past the pollers (new word?), only to open the door to the bathroom and find it already occupied. They forgot to lock it. Whoops.

- You are asked "So, how long have you worked for..." I hear this question once per week as they try to figure out if I am indeed old enough to be doing my job (I occasionally get a kick out of this one...just not as much today)

It's slightly more amusing tonight, looking back on the day. My coworker and I decided that tomorrow will be better, no matter what.

I'm just hoping there isn't a memorial service in the chapel.

Yup, It's Been Awhile

Since it's been almost 2 months since my last post, I figured I should play catch-up.

My sister may poke fun, but here's another food/project picture. These were peanut butter cups I made (back in November...not that it's been awhile or anything...).

Jeff and I met up with our friend Laura downtown. We went to a burger bar in Wrigleyville. After 2 hours of waiting, we got a table. It was pretty tasty, but I can't say waiting that long for food is typically worth it.

I didn't take any photos around my birthday, but it happened, and there were good times with friends. Within a group of college friends, there are about six of us with mid-late November birthdays. We often have a get-together to celebrate (I think this was the fourth or fifth year of celebrating).

Thanksgiving dinner (I love that we have colorful fiestaware.) Jeff's mom and Samson came down and we prepared dinner. It was a fun time :). That night I became one of "those people" who goes to the store at a ridiculous hour after Thanksgiving. It probably wasn't worth it and I don't anticipate doing the same thing next year.

My other big activity from Thanksgiving weekend was completing my first race! I entered a 5k near our apartment. My time wasn't great, but I didn't have high expectations. My goal was to finish. I had wanted to give myself something to work toward with my running, so I decided to finish a race of some sort by the end of 2009. The weather wasn't too cold and the course wasn't overly crowded.

Jeff came to the finish line to cheer me on.

Crossing the finish line.

I'll end this post now, as it is becoming fairly large. I'll get to December sometime soon :).