Biwabik…(bye-wah-bick)

Do you know where that is?  Before Friday, I had no idea where Biwabik, MN was nor did I know exactly how to pronounce it.  All I knew was that it was up north, by Duluth.  Well, it’s a little further north than Duluth, near Lake Vermillion.  Yup, I didn’t know where that was either.  Let’s just say if we would have driven an hour longer, we would have crossed the border to Canada.  That far north.  To add to it, I was pronouncing the city wrong!  What I thought was (bi-wah-bick) was really (bye-wah-bick)!

What’s this all about, well Alex and I ventured up there this past weekend for a little rest and relaxation.  This had to be blogged because it marks the first time in the 6 years I’ve known Alex that we have vacationed together without picking up a golf club.  That calls for documentation.

On Thursday afternoon we took off up north and headed to Two Harbors.  I had really been wanting to try out a resort that I had drooled over on the internet, Larsmont Cottages.  Let me tell you, exactly like the pictures.  This place was so relaxing and bonfires and s’mores makes everything better.  We spent the night, rode bikes ate s’mores and then ventured west to Biwabik.  Then we almost ran out of gas on our way to Biwabik…this was the first place we found!

Due to a mix-up we were actually planning to play golf, but in the end it didn’t work out.  That’s how we ended up with plans to head to Biwabik, well that and a great Groupon special on lodging for Giant’s Ridge.  Nonetheless, it was incredibly relaxing and with the Open Championship on all weekend, it was the perfect Brogle weekend.  We geocached went on walks, got cones at the local A&W, explored many very small towns, played cribbage and learned to play chess.  And we found raspberry buches on our walk…perfect snack:)  That along with some good books to read and the perfect company of my hubby made for a very relaxing and wonderful weekend away.

       

   

 

 

Reusable Produce Bags

Over at one of my favorite heathy living blogs, Carrots ‘n cake, she did a spotlight on reusable produce bags by Bite.  I was intrigued, but also wondered when on earth I would use them.  Of course, I also wondered did I NEED another bag!

Well, over the 4th of July holiday they had a deal on 3-packs of reusable bags so with shipping it came to around $15.  I figured that was worth it and took the plunge.

I couldn’t be happier.  Perfect for transporting our produce after we split our CSA, perfect for the farmer’s market, and just perfect because they are incredibly cute to look at!  Don’t you love the pink!

So, if you’d like some of your own, check out BITE-  :)

Chard, Pea Shoots, and Scapes…oh my!

(this week we received: yellow Squash, beets & beet greens, cabbage, chives, dill, spring onions, sugar snap peas, lettuce, and carrots)

After much discussion and research we decided that this year would mark our first as participants in an area CSA.  A CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture, so basically we pay money and weekly receive a portion of the bounty of an area farm.  After 3 weeks, we are hooked! 

Not only is it great for me, since working more this summer leaves little time for Farmer’s Markets and even the grocery store, but we are eating food that tastes so much better than store bought (no kidding) and we are expanding our vegetable comfort zones.

We chose Tangletown Gardens CSA not only for it’s proximity to my work (it’s ~2miles away) but also because their CSA provides vegetables AND fruit.  And though they are not certified organic, they do not use any chemicals, etc. on their crops, meaning they are local as well as basically organic!

We decided that the weekly bounty might be too much for us so we decided to get our feet wet with another friend.  So we split a 1/2 share, which runs $300 for 18 weeks (June-Oct).  So for 18 weeks of fresh veggies, $150, or  $8.30/week.  Not bad, and after 3 weeks, SO, SO, SO worth it…at least at the Brogle house.

What do we do with all of these?  Well that’s to come!

Live writer

I’ve been trying to find ways to help make blogging easier and more time efficient.  On many of the blogs I read, I’ve heard Live Writer mentioned.  So, when we finally invested in a new computer for me (a PC, not a mac) I was eager to figure out what live writer was and how I could use it to my advantage with blogging.

Live Writer is a free program through Windows Live for PC and now that I have gotten the hang of it, I can’t imagine blogging without it.  What it does is it allows you to write blog posts through a program similar to WORD, so there are many more options for editing, etc.  One thing I love it that it makes linking to past posts far easier and allows you to configure your pictures a lot easier than you can through blogger.  Also your posts are uploaded to your blog with the click of a button.  The only thing I haven’t figured out how to do yet, is to pre-publish a post.  More to come on that later!

If you happen to have a Mac, I’ve heard there is a similar program called ECTO, that basically does the same thing. 

Curious, do you use either of these programs for blogging?

Fertility next steps

Are you curious what we are up to in this area?
After finding out in April that our last injectible cycle did not result in a pregnancy, we were a little discouraged and in need of a break.  We decided to take a couple of months to seek the Lord for his will, seek out more knowledge over our options, and set up an appointment with a Reproductive Endocrinologist to see if anything was missed and to get a second opinion.
Over the course of the last 2-3 months we have seen how the Lord’s hand is so intertwined in what is going on.  I don’t even need to look back to see the refiner refining me in so many other areas of life.  During this break, fertility was the furthest thing from my mind, so much so that I had the jitters of nervousness before our appointment this past Friday.  I felt as though we had not been through any of the previous cycles as we headed in to the doctor for the first time.
In the past 2-3 months we have researched much, looked into IVF, and sought counsel from friends, older and wiser friends, and family.  In the end, we crossed off IVF for now as an option due to cost and just not feeling as though everything was okay before the Lord.  If you are interested in knowing more about how we came to that conclusion, leave a comment and I’ll get in touch with you!
So, back to Friday, we headed in to see a doctor that many of our friends recommended.  She did not disappoint!  We felt heard, left very informed, and walked away with a prescription in hand.  We will be starting again, this time with Femara, a drug I was interested in trying.  Femara is very similar to clomid, though it works better on those with Polycystic ovaries, like myself.
We’ll see how this goes, but our prayer as always is that not only will the Lord be glorified in all of this but also that our hearts would remain trusting in his perfect sovereignty and that he would create a miracle within me, because he is the GIVER and CREATOR of life.

Happy 4th of July, a little late:)

 

I don’t know if I have ever looked forward to a 4th of July more than I did this year.  Why?  Because we didn’t do anything:)  With nothing on our plate and a very long week behind us, this was the perfect 4 day weekend, filled with as much relaxing as we could handle.  And sometimes in the Brogle household, relaxing means NOT doing anything with anyone, but ourselves of course!

Just because we didn’t do anything, doesn’t mean we neglected the holiday.  On my thoughts were my Grandfather and all the soldiers who have fought and continue to fight for our freedom, something I know I take for granted at times. 

A few weeks ago my Grandpa passed away at the grand old age of 96.  Being that he fought in a war, he was entitled to a military funeral.  As we went about our day, he was on my thoughts yesterday.  Taps in my head, the images of the rifles firing, and the flag being so respected as they honored my Grandfather. 

I’m going to miss him immensely. 

Praying you had a safe and very enjoyable 4th of July holiday weekend