Cursing the Wind

Winter is coming to an end. Technically. I say technically because those of us who live in Colorado should be well aware by now that March, April, and May are often the snowiest months of the year. I love snow. I grew up in places where snow meant sledding, skiing, ice skating, etc... Basically all of the fun things that accompany Winter. I feel fortunate that I was never made to suffer through the infamous ice storms of the east coast or the sunless winter "days" of the north. For the most part, Winter and I get along pretty well. Sometimes my hair is full of static or it's just too darn cold in the morning to get out of bed without a few false starts, but the coziness and the beauty that comes along with Winter usually wins me over. However...

When Winter teams up with his buddy, Wind, the charm of this season is completely lost on me. Windy weather puts me on edge. I find myself feeling frustrated and angry and anxious for the wind to die down and go away. Even the sound of wind is ominous and when a gust makes the chimney whistle or the window panes bend, I loathe it even more. After allowing the wind to keep me cooped up all day today I finally sucked it up enough to venture out to a coffee shop in town... But not before grumbling to myself a bit about the horrible, no-good, very bad wind on my way to the car (a mere 10 ft. from my front door).

As usual, the universe was about to take this opportunity to teach me a lesson.

At the end of our street there is a big open field where people are usually letting their dogs run, but today in the wind and the sunshine and the melting snow I spotted a dad and his young daughter joyously flying a kite.

One person's trash is indeed another person's treasure. If given the chance today I would have thrown out the wind. Or, I guess, recycled it if wind is recyclable. But admittedly, I had completely dismissed the notion that wind can be desirable. This father and his daughter needed the wind today and it sure looked as though its presence was making their Sunday afternoon downright blissful. Seeing them in that field by my house made me smile. I smiled at them, I smiled at the wind, and I chuckled to myself because it's so easy to be discontent.

I know it is a choice to be happy. I know it is a choice to be optimistic. I know it takes much more effort to frown than to smile and now I know I can no longer curse the wind in hopes that someone somewhere is using it to fly a kite.

Paul & Babe and Bemidji, MN

Hi all!  It's been a while since we have posted anything, but we're getting our bums in gear, and as you can see, we're on vacation!  Check out our fame over at Today's Letters- Emily is a beautiful blogger with a big heart, and we are honored to be featured on her Fist Pump Friday list!!
http://www.todaysletters.com/
Hope you are all having a wonderful week, and look for regular posts coming soon.
Love to you all!
xoxo
Sonja & Natalie, the Sisters K

Winter

It's snowing again, and I just can't help myself from marching everyone out into the beautiful cold for an early-morning, mid-coffee photo session.   I'm lucky they love me so.

Happy February! 

~Sonja

Love Yourself

Coming up on 30, I started thinking that maybe it's time to retire the old peach scented lotions and cheap raspberry body sprays from middle school, and perhaps start smelling like a lady- whatever that means.  I dragged Natalie to our Sephora (yeahhhriiiiight!  there was no arm twisting) and despite my efforts to ignore the sales lady, she turned out to be very helpful, I wound up taking a personality test for my 'signature scent' and finding out that I am both "earthy" and "floral."  I gagged at a few scents, I respectfully declined a few others that were trying to make me into an elderly lady, and I picked out a few that I thought I could live with, but wasn't ready to commit, so I brought home a nice set of miniature vials from Tocca to try out, and so far I've loved them all.  Today I am wearing Stella with Bitter Orange, Blood Orange, and White Fresia, and I think my favorite might be Florence with Italian Bergamot, Green Pear, and Ivory Gardenia.  The best part, though, is that when you open the box it says "Love Yourself" on the inside lid, and really, no matter what scent I choose for the day, loving yourself is what makes a true lady.
~Sonja

Merry Christmas!!

And Happy 8th Birthday, Bij.

Zombies Crawl?

not written from the frozen spider den

Here we sit inside the heated, cozy, food filled, non-spider infested, welcoming abode of our friends who have taken us in for the evening for craft night. 

Craft night is a weekly tradition, which produces the occasional completed craft, but most often becomes a special evening including many glasses of (usually cheap) wine, 

a few (absolutely delicious and sometimes gluten free) snacks, 

and hours of (girly) girl talk. 

Some nights are held in a home where kiddos are being put to bed, usually spanning the entire length of the evening (thanks patient hubbies) - other nights are held in a home with too many doggies to keep track of, doling out kisses all evening under the table as we knit and chat away, 

however, this week finds us actively avoiding our frigid stone house where apparently black widows reside.  Yes. Black Widows.  

It's not bad enough that in the middle of a dresser switch-out, leaving piles - wait, mountains - of clothing strewn about the house, our furnace starts blowing carbon monoxide up into the house at deadly levels, but we also find that the web being built daily in the bathroom belongs to none other than Ms. Widow herself.  Crawling out of a bathrobe, MOMENTS before use, Ms. Widow prompted us to capture and rid ourselves of her.  We thought about taking a photo for your viewing pleasure, but decided against it since we are both rather clumsy and we figured one of us would accidentally let Ms Widow back out into the house, most likely waking up with both CO poisoning and black widow spider bites all over our bodies.  IF we woke up, that is.  

For now the furnace has been turned off, so carbon monoxide can no longer filter into the house, and the spiders have been contained (at least the poisonous ones), so we will continue to hang out at our nice friends' houses until a new furnace can be put in. Hopefully that'll happen before next Wednesday... I hear it's about to snow.