Christmas 2010

Merry Christmas from the Mousels!

 

For Eric, 2010 began with a 3-week trip to South Africa through his involvement with the South Dakota Agricultural & Rural Leadership (SDARL) program. This is a two-year leadership development course that culminates in an international trip. 

 During the trip, the SDARL class toured an alligator farm - here's some of the gators!

 They also went on several game preserves and safaris. This is a sable (bull), which is quite rare to see.

Here's a lion cub Eric spotted while on one of the game tours.

 

Eric had the opportunity to go on a guided safari hunt, where he shot this blesbok after an *exaggerated* 20-mile hike. Here's a recount of the hunting adventure: Eric was using .375 magnum rifle, provided by the guide (next time, he'll bring his own). Eric shot the blesbok through a strand of trees and wounded him, and the blesbok ran off into the brush. The professional tracker was able to find the animal by late afternoon, picking up its hoof prints through numerous other wildlife sign. 

The guide, tracker, Eric and two other SDARL classmates were driving down the road and they spotted a blesbok at about 200 yards in a bush/tree thicket. So Eric took a shot, and they heard the shot hit, but the blesbok turned off and ran into the brush. So the tracker picked up his trail and followed it through several sets of different tracks, but no blood. They followed the tracker for a mile, and the professional hunter split off from the tracker (Eric stuck with the tracker, giving his gun to the professional hunter), and they came across the blesbok after another mile (but Eric was without his gun). They had to backtrack two miles to find the professional hunter, get the gun, and by that time the blesbok had run off again. After it was all said and done, it was probably a 20-mile adventure in 110-degree heat.

In February, Eric graduated from his SDARL program.

 

 

In May we took a trip to Oregon, visiting family and celebrating our first anniversary. We traveled to Portland, OR in May, with Eric's mom, Susie.

 Susie and Eric at the Columbia Gorge River Valley, just east of Portland.

The "Dam" Dam on the Columbia River Gorge. There's a hilarious Mousel-family story about this dam, so of course we had to see it for ourselves.

During our trip, we visited the Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum in McMinnville, OR. There were many, many airplanes, including the Spruce Goose!

One thing we really liked about Oregon were the vast forests and numerous waterfalls. This photo was snapped in Silver Falls State Park, near Willamette Valley. 

We even spent a day on the coast; our only "sun-filled" day of the 5-day trip. Well worth it.

And we ended our day with a classic lighthouse experience - sunset at Yaquina Head near Newport, OR.

Our last full-day in Oregon we toured the International Rose Test Gardens in Portland - here we are getting out of the rain.

And the Portland Japanese Garden was very tranquil and immaculate.

Alaina just liked the peacefulness of the Japanese Garden.

Our Oregon photos end here... let's take a look at what else has kept us busy this year.

Woodworking - Eric

 Eric finished our master bedroom set with this custom-designed King sized bed and end tables. Though the set had been built for a while, we were missing the cowhide-covered panels that insert into the bed. After two cowhides from Tandy Leather, the bed is complete. (Note, the Double-Wedding Ring quilt made by Alaina was Eric's wedding gift).

Since we like to spend much of our summer outside, Eric constructed this garden swing for our evening enjoyment. It's tucked between two trees and faces West. Nearby is a pond/waterfall we built (constructed after our Oregon experience). Unfortunately the mosquitoes this year were astronomical (due to ample amounts of rainfall) that we didn't get to enjoy it very much.

Something that kept us busy (or Eric, anyway), was dismantling an old barn near Elkton, SD, for the barnwood. Eric has the roof just about completely destructed. With the nice barnwood from the endeavor, he's been making furniture and gifts. Here he is with a pantry for our kitchen.

Another barnwood project was this gift Eric built for Justin and Abbey Namken's wedding gift - complete with 4 coat hangers.

 Quilting - Alaina

 Purses have been Alaina's forte this year. Here's a cute example she made for Anna in Kansas.

 This Day-and-Night quilt was a wedding gift for Amanda & Tyler Radke. To see more of Alaina's quilt projects, visit her blog: http://alaina-mamabearquilts.blogspot.com/

Friends, Family and Highlights Throughout the Year

Friends, Becky Detusch and Karie "KP" Geyer visited - here we're welcoming soon-to-be-born Mahree Geyer. In July, KP and Alaina walked the 5K Beef'N'Eggs in 54 minutes!

 In early August, our backyard was home to a migration of Monarch Butterflies. They weathered a South Dakota Thunderstorm in the protection of our maple trees. Though wet (here, early morning), they were swirling and twirling on their way by mid-day.

In August, Alaina traveled to Minneapolis-St. Paul for the Ag Media Summit, where the opening night welcoming party theme was, "Dress Like A Minnesotan."  Alaina chose to dress as Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz, since the title character, Judy Garland, was born in Grand Rapids, MN - the same place Alaina was born.

Alaina even made her own ruby red slipper for the part. For her efforts, Alaina was third place at the event!

On Aug. 28, Susie Mousel, Eric's mom, celebrated her 65th birthday! All of the Mousel siblings converged in Ayr, NE to celebrate with her. Alaina made a Star Sampler quilt in reproduction fabric for her.

Nick Mousel, Stacy Hilton, Susie, Stephanie and Eric Mousel

Over Labor Day weekend, the Burt family was exhibiting cattle at the MN State Fair Open Show. Here's the crew with their "Burt Jacobson" T-Shirts: Jack Burt (Alaina's dad), Carter "CJ" Burt (Alaina's nephew), Jason and Mandy Burt (Alaina's brother and sister-in-law), and Alaina. Eric is taking the photo. :)

The Burt family also visited us in Brookings for the South Dakota Pheasant Openor weekend. Here Mary (Alaina's mom), Jason, Jack and Eric stand in the backyard.

Alaina and Mary enjoying the swing Eric built (note - no mosquitoes). Mary wants a swing just like this... 

For Halloween, Eric dressed as Paul Bunyan.

And we hosted a pumpkin carving party Oct. 30 where 25-plus pumpkins were carved. Eric, of course, had ulterior motives, as he wanted ALL of the pumpkin seeds roasted.

 Some of the pumpkins that were carved at our house.

Paul Bunyan and Babe, the blue ox. (Originally, Alaina dressed as sock monkey, but thought this might be more fitting for Eric's fantastic costume).

Eric and Alaina participated in the Minnesota Deer Hunting Openor. Eric shot his first MN deer, a 4x4 (or for you Minnesotans, an 8-point buck), that weighed 146-lb. (dressed out). Alaina also shot a 126-lb. doe. Cousins Graig, Justin and Evan also shot two deer. It was a great weekend for MN deer hunting.

 We spent our Thanksgiving in the Twin Cities area. Here, nephew Carter Burt enjoys one of Alaina's Turkey Cookies. For Christmas we're heading south to Nebraska for time with Eric's family.

Afternoon delight

Yesterday, I went out to feed my fish, and walked into a whole new world. No, my backyard had not metamorphosed into a huge swamp-like mosquito haven - that was earlier this summer. Instead, I hit the pinnacle of my gardening career: I walked into a world of butterflies.

I have no idea how many monarch descended in our backyard - but I felt like I walked into the scene of a "Better Homes and Gardens" photo shoot. Floating haphazardly throughout the still air were these peaceful creatures.

All I can say is the caterpillar/cocoon we waited so patiently to hatch all summer must have told his buddies.

I have no idea how long they will stay, but they managed to spend at least one evening at the "Ranch B&B." They tucked up into our maple tree overnight, looking exactly like leaves when dusk set in. We had quite a bit of rain overnight, but this morning when I did chores (read: fed fish, again), they were tucked up in clumps.

Three different branches were covered with these Monach delights.

How lucky of a girl am I?

Amazed by God - and deer

So, my husband traveled to South Africa for a few weeks (Jan. 23-Feb. 7), essentially providing 2+ weeks of alone time. While he was sunning himself with 80-112 degree temperatures, I was bundling up and shoveling the driveway. It's not the first time we've ever been apart - he has gone traveled to Ukraine, Argentina/South America (twice!) and now South Africa since we've known each other. But this was our first mega-trip apart since we've been married.

We prepared for the trip as best we could. Did you know it's impossible to find a "safari hat" in South Dakota the middle of January? I tried. I was sort-of jealous that he was going to explore the world, and I was left to explore my own thoughts and emotions. He was getting outfitted for the adventure, while I...wasn't. It was kind of hard.

I love that he and I exchange daily encouragements to eachother when we will be away. I wrote a super-sappy card and a flip book filled with photos of us. He left me an envelope for each day he would be away, and signed every one "ROAR" and "YOU ARE THE LOVE OF MY LIFE, ALAINA." He's good to me, what can I say.

But being alone does something to me. Some people crave alone time (mothers, primarily earning that), but usually not newlwyweds. And since I haven't exactly built up a core group of buddies in this town yet, I felt doubly alone. No job to keep me distracted (ok, some freelance work, which ended up being a lot of work), no gal-pals to escape to. So, I did what I did best: Traveled.

The first weekend he was away I went to visit my brother, sister-in-law, and nephew in Minneapolis. While i was there I quilted two quilts and visited my former employer. It was a grand time. I came home and got stranded in Morton, MN due to blizzarding wintry conditions. That was blow #1. I made it home a day later, only to fall mysteriously ill - so ill I went to the ER room (my first time!). The mystery bug disappeared. Then I went to my parents house in northern MN, quilted with my mom and Becky, visited Becky's classroom, and was an all-around goof. It was nice to be home and showered with love. Back on the road I went, and it felt good to be home. But, I still had time for one more trip. So I went to visit my husband's family. That may seem kind of strange to folks, but I was able to deliver gifts (which I love to give!) and it was 110% worth the time I spent there because I was able to get to know each person much more deeply.

But that's not what this blog post is about. While staying with my mother-in-law in Hastings, NE, I was able to watch deer pass through her yard. I was awestruck watching these beautiful creatures (pests, some may say!), and the gentleness in their every movement. Graceful, you could say. I spotted them one night, and then the following morning. We watched "Bruce Almighty" that night, and I was reminded that God sends his little love messages to us (as identified by how Bruce (Jim Carrey) tries to win Jennifer Aniston back to him by carving every single tree on her running path). Those deer I was seeing were little love-note reminders to me, from a very loving God.

It was so simple. I'm continually amazed at the small and simple ways that God conveys his love to me. Ever-since, I've seen herds of deer - everywhere. They looked like a bunch of cows just outside of town one foggy morning. Or how they nibbled in the feed bunks at that cattle ranch I was at.

So open your eyes and look for the love-notes God is placing all around.

Martha and me...

I happened to take a break from my freelance projects on Wednesday and tuned in to the Martha Stewart show while I woofed down some food. I don't usually watch the entire episode, but I like to tune in for about 5 minutes to see what's going on. What I saw Wednesday gave me pause...

Claire Danes was on as a guest. Don't get me wrong, I grew up when Claire Danes was the hottest actress in starlet town (Romeo & Juliet comes to mind...). But she was promoting her latest project - portraying Temple Grandin on an HBO special that aired Feb. 6. If you don't know, Temple revolutionized the harvest animal industry (packing plants and feedlots) in the U.S. Martha spoke highly of her. And I thought to myself - right on, Martha. The coolest thing about this is, I've actually interviewed Temple Grandin while I worked for BEEF magazine. Read that article, here.

And just for a moment I thought, Martha and I, we've got something in common. And that was cool.

Honeymoon in Scotland

After arriving safely in Scotland, we ventured out of our hotel for some local shopping before the group tour we were on began. Doesn't the combination of modern structure into existing old-school buildings make for a unique city-street?

And this was our first stop - a fabric store - just across the street from our hotel. For those of you who don't know, Alaina is a quilter. :)

This was our first loch - Loch Lommond - just outside of Glasgow. We fell in love with it! The water was calm and the sky dynamic. "Loch" translates to "lake."

Here's just a snippet of the wild "man country" of Scotland. Trees, hills and running water - beautiful.Then the roads began to get winding and we traveled through rugged mountain passes - such as this one.

In that same pass, there was a sign warning of the danges of landslides - and therefore, no overnight parking. Hiking trails were abundant throughout this area.

Just another breath-taking view of a Scottish loch. Opposite of this view is an aquaduct of steam train railroad tracks - made famous by the filming of Harry Potter movies.

Take a break from the breath-taking scenery with this silly little sign. Eric likes to snap foreign signs that he finds humorous - such as this. The sign even resembles a "Scottie dog!"

Here is the view on our way to the Isle of Skye (via ferry). We didn't know if we'd get to take the ferry beacuse the water was so rough and choppy. Look at those clouds! Whew!

It was on the Isle of Skye that we came across one of Scotland's infamous castles, the Eilean Donan - probably one of the most photographed. We've speculated that the recent move, "Man of Honor" (starring Patrick Dempsey) was filmed here. Beautiful views and still open for public events. A wedding took place here just after our tour ended.

Another view from Eilean Donan castle.

Views such as this were literally right around every bend in the road. This area is known as the Highlands - and where Eric's family clan originated - the MacDonalds!

After a day of touring the Highlands capitol, Inverness, we stayed at this beautiful castle. To be specific, the left spire. Alaina asked Eric if they could stay in a castle one night - both agreed - this was it! Nearby was a beautiful wooded walking forest where we spotted a red deer and waterfowl.

A definite highlight of the trip, at least for these two farm kids, was the sheep dog herding demonstration. Here dogs are spaced at intervals while other Collies weave the sheep among the dogs. The breeder was hilarious because of his strong Scottish accent. Alaina jumped in a demonstrated how to shear a sheep, then fell in love with a newborn pup. Sheep dogs get started working ducks before they progress to working with sheep.

This pretty much sums up the roadway experience - except in places where it was one-lane. No wonder Alaina fell asleep almost every time she stepped on the bus!

Leaving the highlands. Alaina is walking through heather, which turns purple in August (a very popular tourist month in Scotland). You may get an idea of this from the Sound of Music scenery.

Eric enjoyed swinging the clubs on the practice course of St. Andrews - where golf was born.

Despite having a pro golf instructor give away free tips, Alaina still has a terrible slice. Fore!!

It rained while we were in St. Andrews. But it is home of the University of Scotland, St. Andrews golf course and surounded by the North Sea. Interestingly, it is in the kingdom of Fife, where Alaina's family originates. This snapshot of Eric in a graveyard marks the interesting religious history of St. Andrews - home of the Cathedral of St. Andrews, built in the 1320s.

What would a trip to Scotland be without seeing a "wee hairy beastie" as our tour director, Marge, so often referred to them. These are also known as Scottish Highlander cattle. Yes, there are Continental and bBritish-based breeds of beef cattle there, too.

When we arrived in Edinburgh, there were bagpipers hanging out, playing their pipes, on regular street corners. This one greeted us for a special Scottish performance.

You can see we're back in the busy city now - Edinburgh streets are brimming with traffic (and while we were there, road construction). This view looks down towards the coast. Edinburgh is home to many famous writers such as Sir Walter Scott and Robert Louis Stevenson. While walking around we even saw the coffee shop that J.K. Rowling began her Harry Potter books.

This is a view from Edinburgh castle - we would later climb to the top of the dark monument on the left-side of the photo - known as the Monument of Sir Walter Scott. It's blackened from the soot. The tower is 200 feet high with a total of 287 steps and was built in 1844. At the top you can look out over the city and see four beautiful stained glass windows.

Here is a view looking down from the top of the Sir Walter Scott Monument. Gotta love that traffic (and tour buses).
Here is a beautiful shot of Edinburg Castle - a sight you cannot miss in Edinburg (photo taken from the top of the Sir Walter Scott Monument). It's perched on an extinct volcano, also known as Castle Rock. Signs of human inhabitants start showing up around 900 B.C., and has a tenuous history since! Every day a cannon is still fired.

Of course, Eric would want to be the one firing the cannon - but here's he's just admiring the view.