In It For The Long Haul

Some things are worth waiting for. And some aren't. Hubby and I are in this dreamland together of a Viking Super Bowl victory some day "before we die." We don't invest much time in that, trust me!

What IS worth waiting for is the right partner in life. To love and support you unconditionally – and make you smile, laugh, and love yourself.

That's was I was blessed to find in Jim. And today marks 24 years of marriage. I won't say "wedded bliss" because people are lying if they say that after more than two decades with someone. There are ups and downs. But when I'm down, he pulls me up, and when he's down, I offer to help, but he usually helps himself! 

When you find THAT person, it makes it all worth it!

We didn't really get to celebrate today. Jim worked and I cleaned out a large box worth of clothes from my closet for donation. (Yay, stay-cation!) That's a start. Tonight he has golf league. 

But more wicked storms are coming, so he'll be lucky to finish. And I figured I better blog while we still have electricity.

Hug your blessings today – and tell them you love them!! 💜💜

Pre-Merry Christmas

We had sort of an unconventional Christmas Day – for us anyway. Since the boys (and rest of the in-laws) are coming to celebrate tomorrow, today it was just us old folks. 

I decided right away that even though Santa had stockings filled for everyone, we shouldn't have to wait until tomorrow. It's officially Christmas after all! I was thrilled Jim got us a couple's membership to our golf course again. And a gift certificate to one of my favorite locally owned businesses. If I can adhere to some New Year's resolutions, I see some wardrobe changes courtesy of Rustic Redefined. 💗

In addition to missing the boys, but grateful we're just a day away from seeing them, we missed our angels – my mom and dad...

And Jim's mom. But these ornaments always remind us they are close in our thoughts and hearts. We did have dinner at Jim's dad's this evening, so that was nice!

Otherwise, today was also just busy – getting the house ready for company, some food prep, doing a family photo shoot (for hire) and now that I have those two trifle bowls, make them tonight for a customer.

Andes Mint Chocolate Avalanche Trifle (Does Culvers have that trademarked?).

And Peanut Butter and Chocolate Trifle – with both Nutty Buddy bars and various Reese's PB cups. I think she'll be pleased.

And Santa also brought us a Vikings victory today. Yes, we're well aware this win over the Lions helps the Packers, but we're just happy to have this one small Christmas gift with our third- maybe fourth-string QB this season! Pretty sure we'll still be in a good place for the draft! 💜💛

Be Christmas nice and let us have our joy! 😁

Hope all of you had one or many Christmas blessings go celebrate today!!

Succe$$ful $unday

I won't even share a picture until I admit that I did not set an alarm this morning (even though our Vikings were kicking off at 8:30 a.m. central time) but awoke at 8:46 a.m.

As I stepped into an expected 2-minute shower, some thought in the back of my mind said "You're reading in church today!" Let me rush to the computer to read the emailed bulletin and try to print out my reading – only to realize I had no ink in my printer. So yeah. Just speeding to church to practice one time in a vacant classroom.

Thankfully no anxiety city or personal names so I got through it just fine. 

Meanwhile our Vikings game was happening and I got home just in time for the glorious final minutes. Why did it matter?

Mainly because son #1 Casey and our daughter-in-law were in London at the game and hoping for a great start to their delayed honeymoon. The stars and horns were aligned, kids! Enjoy the rest of your week! 

The rest of us state-side folks were just happy with a win. And selfishly my fantasy football player Addison produced in a big way, too!

I figured I'd try to carry on the Purple Pride luck to BINGO at Assumption this afternoon.

I realized I had to go there armed with both a seldom-worn Viking Purple ring and the new bracelet my grand-niece Kenlee made me. Guess what? It worked!

I ended up using my Viking Purple dobber to get a BINGO on the goalpost pattern of all things. Pretty sure that's a good sign for the rest of the season right? Let's just go with YES.

The rest of Sunday was both of us being stuffed up and hocking up lungs from random autumn cold season. At least with both our of baseball teams' in post season reviews, we had nothing to worry about.

But the REDS and TWNS are so awesome! Again both DANG and DARN. Let's keep on keeping on for a successful Sunday for all of us!

Winners for the Win

My lucky fox talisman is on fire this week! I mean I did get a win a BINGO Sunday and my Vikings got a victory, so I have to give somebody or something the credit!

As for central Wisconsin, both the Packers and my Vikings were playing at noon so I hoped that would increase my odds if I went to BINGO. Turns out it might have. There were more than 100 of us so the larger jackpots were in order. And here I am winning the "kite formation" BINGO for $70. Works for me!

While sitting there and dobbing my heart away I knew that my Vikings were somehow winning and my fantasy team was on fire, too. Maybe I should credit going to bed at 1 a.m.!

Got home after BINGO and took a picture of our flag at the end of the driveway before I even pulled into the garage. Gotta keep the good vibe going!

And it worked for once! A 5-star re-run, if I do say so myself. Jim enjoyed it too after his return from golfing in Minnesota this weekend. I'm like "thanks for leaving the good vibes there"!

Tonight, after some "winning" (I think tennis matches), I'm about to embark on the next season of The Voice. Where I will wait for quite sometime before I declare a winner!

It Worked Out In My Purple Favor

Last night I blogged before I had to address the Monday Night Football situation. I mean even you Packer fans don't like the Bears so we have some solidarity there.

But I was not convinced during the first half that our very VERY young QB could rise to the occasion. I am so glad I was proven wrong. Especially since our two-week United Way campaign began at work today and the dress-up theme was favorite team.

Yup, I wore the lovely bracelet above plus my now favorite shirt...

The one Jim and I wore to a game last year! We are still hoping for one Super Bowl win in our lifetimes.

Let me just clarify. There were a few more Viking fans at work and they commented on needing a shirt like mine. We all know the pain and struggles. Then, since I went straight from work to shoot middle school football, I was wearing the shirt and a guy from the opposing team (Iola-Scandinavia in this case) asked if he could take a picture of my shirt.

Maybe creepy but I trust he's been through the same pain. Maybe Purple Power will carry us all (well some of us) through the week!

Beauty and the Bling

I forgot to report out on the great bling I received and earned yesterday.

First of all, we all received a ring to wear (they're fake but pretty and I'll probably wear mine in real life). Then throughout the shower if someone said the word "bride," you could steal their ring. Obviously the goal is to see who has the most at the end. And obviously with my competitive family, it was vicious! I managed to "trap" two people (including the mother of the groom) and that earned me a nice prize! 

The other bling is that beautiful purple and yellow bracelet on my wrist! My great-niece Kenlee (who lives in Minnesota) knows I am the only aunt to cheer for the Vikings so she thought it was perfect for Auntie Robyn. And it is! Taking after my mother, I wrote and mailed her a cute thank you note today and promised to wear it every game day. 

More precious than jewels, I tell ya!

As for the "beauty" part of the blog, it's not me but my hair. Had my 6-week locks refresh after work today and I feel like a new woman-ish. She always does a great job and I can usually "sleep carefully" for 3 nights to hold the style. I told her we have a wedding to attend Friday and asked "Do you think I can go for a record and make this last through 4 sleeps?!"

Our conclusion is that I'd have to sleep in a chair with one of those airplane pillows around my neck so I couldn't possibly twist, turn, or lay my head back on a flat surface. 

Guess what? That ain't happening. So I guess I might lose the "beauty" by the end of the week, but I'll still have the "bling"! Still winning. 

What the Purple?

If I didn't know any better – which of course, I DON'T – I'd think that's a V for Victory. Wouldn't you?

There was quite some time today that I wouldn't have dared bring up purple pride, but the signs were all there.

My church choir song was pretty purple (the song above). Then, right after the service, we celebrated our dear pastor's birthday with a lovely cake that just happened to have purple flowers on it. I'd show you a picture if I still had some cake!

And I swear that even though I was about to boast about lilacs and other Purple Pride, I'm so glad I kept my mouth shut!

Of course, with a sigh of relief, we'll take our purple pride victory and keep crossing our fingers! If you know, you know.

P.S. Thanks for the amazing smell of lilacs – especially in "almost" October!  💜

Silent Night

After closing our Christmas Eve service with Silent Night, I realized yes, it was going to be a pretty silent night on Blue Jay Drive. 

I went to 1 p.m. church since choir was singing and then went home to watch the end of the Vikings game – SKOL! – and get the Christmas Beast dinner going.

Yes, Santa confirmed that the victory on a 61-yard field goal means I am on the Nice List this year. Well, I mean someone in our house is. Maybe both? Either way, SKOL to a 12-3 record! Wow.

Clay and Becca came over for dinner at 5 p.m. The thing about Christmas dinner is that even though it was just 4 of us, you still prep it like you would for 8 or 12. Right? I did ham, cheesy potatoes and Jim's mom's famous dressing recipe. Got it right this time!

It was a nice quiet evening and by default, Clay and Becca got all the stockings and presents, ha!

Jim got all 3 boys the official poster from The Who concert they went to in Portland. We framed them and they're pretty cool. Only Clay got to open his, of course. Carter will have to wait. And I have to ship Casey's yet. Pretty awesome remembrance.

Don't you love that Clay's socks match Becca's hat? Perfect match, those two!

Even got Jim to stand by the tree. He got around a bit today without any assistance of a walker or cane. Thanks for the new knees, Santa!

Speaking of Santa... I tried to leave him Candy Cane ice cream in a special Rudolph cup but this Sly elf wasn't about to share! We'll see if he visits. If not, we know who to blame.

Hope you are having a wonderful Christmas weekend surrounded by your loved ones. It's tough having empty chairs for the ones who are far away right now. (My heart was filled with joy when Carter called me this afternoon from Alabama, where they're with his girlfriend's family).

It's tougher still having an empty chair that won't ever be filled again. We sure miss Jim's mom and I know so many of you are missing someone this holiday season. Just know I heard a lot of angels singing today so they're definitely nearby. And always in our hearts.

Have a blessed Christmas!

Almost Missed That One

This 100% sums up today's Vikings game. And the jaded fans in this house almost missed the historic moment.

Oh yes, it was on TV.  But when we trailed by an embarrassing 33-0 at halftime, hubby changed the channel to golf and I finished editing posting my JV basketball pictures from last night. Even my sister in Arizona texted me asking what was up and I said between the interceptions, fumble, penalties, and more, it was a Christmas stocking full of purple missteps. I might have thought a stronger word, believe me.

When I was done editing pictures, I checked the score on my phone and not only had we missed the 3rd quarter, but we missed some Viking scoring.

I went out to the living room and said, "Honey, we're trying to make a game of it." No response. So I said, "What channel is this on so I can watch in the basement?" He told me the channel and then added, "Sucker!"

I know, right? We are lifelong Vikings fans so we do have a long jaded history behind us. So many "so close" moments that weren't close enough.

But still, I didn't want to miss out in case, as I texted to Carter, "We pull off a miracle here."

We kept scoring and closing the gap and I kept pacing – you can check my FitBit – and yelling the score up the stairs in case Jim cared. It was unreal. They kept saying that if we won, it would be the largest comeback victory in NFL history. No pressure, guys.

And then it was OT and we found ourselves with little time on the clock and in a situation no Viking fan wants to see...

Needing to kick a field goal to win. It has actually happened in our favor this season a few times, but we can't forget moments when we really needed it – like NFC championship games, Gary Anderson and Blair Walsh! Uff da. Instant tears, headache, and teeth grinding. Today wasn't going to be season-ending if we lost or tied, but we had the opportunity on the line to clinch the North, which doesn't happen often and definitely not when there's a few weeks of the season let to play.

So we held our collective breaths across Purple People Land...

And it was good! A historic comeback! A division clinched! And there was much SKOL-ing and rejoicing! I think my heart rate will come down by Christmas. We couldn't have scripted this any better.

That was a way happier ending than the two Hallmark movies I watched to day. No offense, Hallmark. Believe me when I say that unlike my favorite NFL team, you've never let me down yet. 

Find your happy this holiday season. Keep believing!

Well That Was Wonder-SKOL

I'm gonna have to credit my great-nephew Nils for the Vikings OT victory over the Bills today. 

Early in the game when my sister (his Grandma Nell) texted me this picture I responded: "Of course he's smiling – he's oblivious to our current suckage situation."

Or maybe he was onto something?

I had a family photo shoot at 3 p.m. so missed the 4th quarter but got home when OT started. Of course they switched to the Packers game here so I couldn't watch the critical final minutes LIVE. So hubby "rewinded" back to the last few minutes of the 4th quarter and I could watch it and feel the stress of it. Even knowing it was going to lead to OT at least. Wow. Crazy finish in regulation.

Then the Red Zone Network picked up our OT action and we were able to see the crazy and amazing finish that put us to 8-1! SKOL!

I should also credit this really cool bracelet I bought at a craft show somewhere and haven't worn until today. Now it's gotta be part of my Game Day wardrobe!

I'll acknowledge we aren't the only happy people around here. Packers also pulled off an OT win. Now no one can gripe about anything tomorrow, can we?

Ha. We'll all find something. For now, I'll enjoy the wonder-SKOL Sunday! 

Enjoy Your Hibernation, Mr. Deck Chair

Honestly, we didn't really look at the forecast for today. We just figured with the Vikings on bye and nothing to watch on TV that it was time to get our final yard work done. And yes, that includes seeing hubby carry off Mr. Deck Chair to hibernation! Good thing, too.

I disposed of my hanging flower baskets but did take a final picture to prove my purple and yellow flowers are heartier than Mr. Skol Man in the background. Mr. Skowl Man these days. Me too.

After my outside work was done, I got distracted by a squirrel feverishly looking for food to store. It's not just a joke when people illustrate A.D.D. by yelling, "Squirrel!"

This guy captured my interest because I was wondering what was on his head. Then I realized he was just white behind the ears. Haven't seen that before.

Then he turns my way and he's scratching his white belly and I'm like, "I didn't know squirrels had white bellies. How have I not noticed this? Or does it just look weird because he reminds me of Santa?" Obviously, I needed more coffee at this point.

Then I really thought my eyes were playing tricks on me. Snow? How did I not know it was going to snow today? Oh I know. Because I had no place to go. I watched church online and had no photos scheduled.

Our scowling Mr. Skol Man didn't like it either.

At least it's not sticking to the roads. Again, I have no place to go anyway.

And it looks almost pretty. Again, because I have no place to go.

Not sure how long it will stick. We obviously are trying to hold onto summer and fall yet.

So are these leaves. Stay strong, little ones!

Pretty sure my projects and yard work "to do" list is buried and gone into hibernation with Mr. Deck Chair.

Also pretty sure this scene right here is clear sign I should be watching some Hallmark Christmas movies. 

Sounds like a good winter survival skill I need to practice right now. Have a good night!

Nature Shoot

I have proof (above) that I was busy doing something wild and dangerous last night so I didn't have time to blog. Or I was just on a senior photo shoot on someone's land in the middle of nowhere and traipsing through tall grass and a swamp to get a good angle!

Thanks to the mom for shooting me in action! There's proof I'll go to any length for a photo.

And here's proof that I am pretty much always shorter than my subjects!!

See how handsome he is from this angle? Well, any angle! So I gotta do what I gotta do. It was a very nice evening!

Tonight I had to scout out a new spot and it was back to nature for me. My highlights – besides prickly burrs on my shoes – were some pretty colors.

I don't like mushrooms as a rule. But when they look like an Elephant Ear from the state fair, I love it!

And then there's the Viking Field in bloom. All kinds of purple and yellow!

These flowers remind me of badminton shuttlecocks. I told Carter they're called Badminton Blooms or Shuttlecock Flowers. I don't think he believed me. Can't beat "mom humor!"

So it was a pretty sight to wrap up my day. Throw in a nice walk with the neighbor and her dogs, and it's been a good two-day stint in my wild world. Hope you've had time to stop and smell the flowers.

Even the purple ones.