A Little Family Time

I got to go to Wausau for a couple days over the holidays. Spent time with the family and a few friends. It was great to just relax and see some faces that I hadn't seen in awhile

Katie, my parents and I on Christmas Eve

Grandpa Don!

And of course, I had to harass the big black dog for a little while...

Spoiled!

Well, this year I was particularly spoiled. I got a ton of awesome stuff.

An end table made by my Grandpa Don to match the coffee table he made for my birthday

Peregrine tanktop made from bamboo!!

Putting my new spotting scope to use

Eagles Everywhere!

Temperatures have been dropping and the backwaters of the Mississippi River are starting to freeze. That means EAGLES! And lots of them! Yesterday, the highlight of my day was watching all the eagles out on the river across from the center. Lots of action - eagles perched, flying, catching fish, stalking waterfowl and ice skating. Love it! And the numbers are only supposed to get better :)

Channeling My Creative Side

I have been a busy bee lately - I've made a few Christmas presents and a few things to help decorate my apartment. I can't show you everything but here are 2 of my favorites :)

New decor for my hallway

Penguin Christmas ornament made from an old lightbulb

Let it Snow!

Morning after the first snow

Well, winter has arrived here in the river valley. We got so much snow that I got out of work early today. The Impreza did great in the white stuff - SOOOO glad that I switched cars this fall.

Clock tower in Wabasha

So Pretty!

Made a little snowbunny on my deck

Sunsets!

I know I have said this before but I have some of the most AMAZING sunsets! Here a couple from the past month - I love how they look over the river. You're jealous, right? Well feel free to come visit and see one first hand! :)

Golden Eagle Search

This morning, I went out searching with a couple people from work for Golden Eagles. I hadn't seen one in the wild before so I was excited. We found a couple!! Yay :)

Male kestrel hanging out on a power line

We also spotted several American Kestrels - one of my favs! As well as numerous Red-tailed Hawks, Bald Eagles and a mob of crows! It was a great way to spend the morning!

Pretzels

You know how sometimes you just crave those awesome mall pretzels? Well, last month I found a recipe and I can make them at home. They are pretty tasty!  And I'm craving them now - I guess this will be on my "to do" list over the next couple days!

Election Day!

Well, the much anticipated day has arrived here in the United State - Election Day 2012!

Voter #40 and here are my stickers :)

I live without TV, so unlike many of you, I have not had to suffer through all the campaign commercials. I still find this all rather exciting. Right after I finished my coffee this morning I headed down to my local polling place - a 3 block trip from my apartment. I was one of two voters there at the time so I registered to vote and cast my ballot in under 10 minutes. I even got to use one of the fancy touch screens! The people running the polls were extremely friendly and made my whole voting experience today fantastic :)

Swung through Starbucks while running errands and got a bracelet for election day

I am now curled up on my couch in my pj's, streaming CNN - Live to my computer. Should be a good night as all the results come in!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Happy Halloween!!! We gave our birds some pumpkin enrichment just for the occassion :) After they figured out the pumpkins wouldn't explode, most quickly grabbed the food!

Destroying the pumpkin

New Perch!

I had way too much fun making this mouse pumpkin!

Leaning as much as possible to get the food!

Back to the Northwoods

This past weekend, I headed up to visit friends and critters at Audubon. It was great to catch up with folks and see a few of my favorite animals :)

Spike investigating some raspberry

Spike and I

Northwoods Cookies!

Coffee Table

So, I got this really awesome birthday gift. My grandpa built me a coffee table for my apartment using reclaimed wood. I guess this wood is about 130 years old and has lots of cool looking knots and holes. Its awesome!

Me and my grandpa with the table

The table in my apartment - looks great!

View of the table from the top

My Drive to Work

I am lucky - I get to drive to work following the Mississippi River. Many mornings, I am easily distracted by the beauty, the birds and other critters. Occasionally, I have enough time on my drive to or from work that I can pull over and take a few pictures. The past week in particular has been awesome!

Cormorants (I think) having a party

Juvenile Bald Eagle

River on a cloudy day

River perfectly calm and glass-like

Love the reflections!

Hike to Buena Vista

There is a fantastic city park right in the city of Alma. Its called Buena Vista. You can either drive up and enjoy the view or hike to it right from my apartment building. The trail is good and the views are great the whole way up. Here are a few pictures from my latest hike!

The Trail

Oak Tree

Aspen Tree (I think)

Me along the trail

Almost to the top

Made it!

Deliciousness!

I have been busy baking things over the past week. Some things I found on pinterest, some are recipes I have had for years. Love spending days were the weather is crappy baking up goodies. I didn't take pictures of everything but here are 2 of the standouts!

On the top is my attempt at "Dr Seuss cookies" - tasted just like sugar cookies but I didn't quite get the swirl effect. On the bottom are my northwoods cutouts - notice the porcupine!!

Cinnamon rolls from scratch for dinner - AMAZING!

Whitewater State Park

I love fall. The cool crisp air. Beautiful leaves. Sweatshirts. Lots of blankets. Hot beverages. Whats not to love?

Today was an amazing fall day so I took advantage and headed over to Whitewater State Park for a hike. I hiked to Inspiration Point and it was fantastic.

Bald Eagle - one of the many raptors I saw today

Stopped to enjoy the view on my way up the bluff

Its fall and Whitewater was just about at its peak for leaf color

Inspiration Point - totally worth the hike. AMAZING views!