Never Enough Time

There's never enough time when we come home to visit my family in Illinois...no matter how many days we spend there.  We are headed back now since they put a big snow storm into the forecast for kansas.  We should get 6-8 inches starting early Monday morning with lots of wind and cold.  Dan wants to get back to help take care of the cattle.  I'm actually somewhat ready to get back and unpack/organize all of our Christmas gifts.  We did get to visit with some of our favorite people...mom, dad, aunt Becky and uncle Danny, Maria, Addie and Michael and the boys, Nancy, Jesse and Jose and their kids, Laurel and Doug, and Mary Frances.  We just missed seeing the rest of the Edwards family and my good friend Zach and numerous other friends and family. And my bestest friend Angela who lives in Wisconsin was not able to make it back to Illinois to visit her family either due to snow. Like I said, there is never enough time no matter how long we stay.  It was a good trip.  I think it's just easy to fantasize about being "home for the holidays" when you don't live where you grew up.  Nothing is ever the same, everything changes.  It's not bad or good, just different, which is ok.  I think it's important to live in the moment and not compare our holidays to pictures on Facebook.  The Yukon is full of toys and gifts...we took in a wonderful mass at St. John's on Christmas Eve...and the girls had lots of fun.  Also reminds me of a quote my dad loves in Lonesome Dove when Lorie is yearning for life in California.  "Lorie darlin', life in San Francisco, you see, is still just life. If you want any one thing too badly, it's likely to turn out to be a disappointment. The only healthy way to live life is to learn to like all the little everyday things, like a sip of good whiskey in the evening, a soft bed, a glass of buttermilk, or a feisty gentleman like myself."  I also love this quote.  It's always good to visit and look forward to trips but it's more important to enjoy the little everyday things in life.

~ Lydia 

My new quilt

Dan's Grandma Norma pieced together a quilt for me made of my t-shirts from college and grad school. Her friend Shelley finished it by quilting it using the meandering style. I love it!  I can't help but smile and laugh at the memories held in each t-shirt.                 

 Some of my favorite moments:                    

Studying Agriculture Economics at Illinois was an amazing experience.  I will never forgot how proud dad and mom were of me (and my twin sis Maris too) when we got into the university.

Sigma Alpha was a huge part of my college experience.  I met some of my best friends through this organization and gained valuable leadership skills.  I was in charge of recruitment the year we made these t shirts.  Wow - 10 years ago 

What a memorable trip!  Maria, Jennifer , Julie, and I road tripped in the Tahoe to Buffalo, New York to accept an award at our sorority's National Convention.  "Buffalo or bust". We saw Niagra Falls and came home through Canada. 

Senior year I went on a 2 week study tour to Argentina.  It is still hands down the best trip I've ever been on. It didn't get off to the best start, as our plane was delayed and we were stranded in South Beach Florida for a day/night without our luggage.  That city was an eye opener for us farm kids from Illinois.  I hope I can go back to Argentina someday as it was an amazing experience (once we made it out of South Beach).

Long live the Chief!  

Broomball champs!  I think all the other sorority girls were scared of us corn fed farm girls. We knew how to play hard on the ice.

One of the best decisions I made was to go back to grad school.  Graduate school was definitely a lot of work but I'm very blessed to have worked at such a prestigious agriculture school like Purdue.                                  Thanks again Grandma Norma and Shelley!

Gluten Free Pony Shoes

I miss "home" sometimes on Sundays so I decided to make horse shoes for lunch. Illinois is famous for horse shoes and I made a gluten free version.  Usually Texas toast is the bottom layer but we just ate them without bread.  Definitely not too healthy but very good.

 Gluten free flour    

 Yummy cheese sauce 

 Gluten free steak fries - some seasonings on frozen fries have gluten, so have to be careful here too!

 

 Hiesterman ground beef - a staple in our house 

Finished product with some ketchup