Birthdays & Bittersweetness

The past week was a reminder that we are getting older and not living the college life anymore.  I celebrated two birthdays with two of my best friends.  Jes and Brittany both turned 24 on Sunday and Monday.  We celebrated Jes' actual birthday with a birthday dinner followed by a kayak adventure.  We ate Rigatoni with Chicken Sausage & Broccoli and Berry Mandarin Salad, paired with a Raspberry Wine.  These two dishes have become some of my favs the last couple of months and are pretty quick, homemade dishes to whip up - not to mention fairly healthy and delicious at the same time!  Yum!  On Wednesday evening, we had a combined birthday celebration for both of them.  What fun to get together and reminisce about the college days!

Rigatoni with Chicken Sausage & Broccoli, Berry Mandarin Salad, Raspberry Wine

Jes' Maiden Voyage

As for the bittersweetness part of this blog, Brit was back from Arizonia this past week on break.  It was such a joy to see her, but hard to see her for such a short time and have her go back to warmer weather and studying.  It made me miss the college days and being able to see one another every day.  Our good friend Peter moved back to Iowa over the weekend too, so we had a goodbye get-together before he left.  We are really going to miss him!  Wednesday nights just won't be the same without you Pete :(  We have come to the realization that we are not college anymore when everyone is across the country! Sad how our time in college went so quickly!  We do look forward to future visits to Iowa, Nebraska (where friends Jen and Jeff Bishop live), and Ohio (our friend Adam just moved there).  Hopefully I'll get a chance to visit Brit in Arizonia this winter.  Last but not least, my little sister has now moved out of the nest and started college at St. Norbert's in Green Bay, which means trips to Lambeau for us in the future!  She has grown up so quick! 

Friday night, we went to the State Fair which was an interesting experience.  Let's say, I can now say I've finally been to the State Fair and experienced the great "Minnesota Get-Together." I'm not sure if we'll be adding this to the Kramer family traditions in the future, but we shall see.  It was fun to experience what most Minnesotans crave and talk nonstop about all year.  We managed to just eat a piece of Green Mill pizza and a root beer each and shared cotton candy on a stick for dessert.  I think we managed to avoid excessive calories pretty well!  Let's be honest - when I heard you had to walk 11 miles to work off the cheese curds, I was NOT interesting in consuming a whole lot of greasy food.  We documented the momentous occasion of the Kramers at the fair.  This was a milestone in our five years of living in Minnesota. 

The Kramers at the State Fair.

Eating Cotton Candy