Insta-Friday - June 14, 2013

Ok.... so it's technically Sunday again!  Weekends are loaded full of fun-ness lately, so I'm glad I can still link up with Life Rearranged a couple days late!  So.... I'm just giving you a teeny little warning, today's post is gonna be a long one!  Last Saturday was my Godchild Tessa's graduation and 18th birthday party!!  It was a beautiful day out at the farm next to where I grew up!!  It was so fun to see everyone and see things that I remembered seeing as a child. The day meant to so much to me and I will never, ever take it for granted that we are living back in Minnesota!  Truly a gift!!!!  First some random images from my week....

I spied this cute white husky sitting amongst quite the interesting yard!

I just adore this bridge in St. Peter, Minnesota!

Old General Store & gas pump in Norseland, Minnesota! Too bad it's not open anymore. :(

Super cute new Silver jeans.... I mean capris. When you are short, you can wear capris for pants!

Taken near Hutchinson, Minnesota. Edited with Pic-Tap-Go and A Beautiful Mess.

St. Wendelin Catholic Church and Cemetery in Luxemberg, Minnesota

Peeling Paint

Train Tracks - Rice, Minnesota

Sale Tooday.... LOL!!  Only in Minnesota!

Wish this was still an open antique shop - in my hometown... Royalton, Minnesota

Green Giant! - Le Sueur, Minnesota

The Scorpion snowmobile from my childhood! Loved riding this thing! My dad is going to restore it!

Beautiful hilly (and stormy) Southern Minnesota!

Got a hair cut.... and she curled it cute!  Getting highlights tomorrow!

Painted my nails guacamole green!

For those of you who don't know, we recently moved back to our home state of Minnesota after living in Michigan for 12 years.  Michigan was so rich in microbreweries.... we loved it!!!  So imagine my surprise when a local liquor store had a sign outside that they are carrying Bells Oberon beer from Kalamazoo, Michigan!!  Not only that, it was on special!!!  So of course I had to buy a six pack!! And the liquor store manager is going to give me their Oberon signs!

You'd like we live in the country instead of a subdivision!  Behind our house....

Also behind our house! I hope they never build houses back there!

Interesting sunset.....

Beautiful sunset.....

Beautiful blue eyes.  Sigh. I love her.

And now onto the photos from last Saturday!!!!  It was truly such a beautiful day out at the farm!!

Top to Bottom, Left to Right - 1. Silos, 2. Me and my beautiful sister-in-law Tonya matching! 3. I have always loved this green garage door!  And I love it even more now that it's old and broken and beautiful! 4. Me and my sister, Sheena! 5. Cows in the barn. 6. Me and my sweet nieces, Ella and Alivia! 7. Holstein Cow. 8. My sister Sheena and niece Ella! 9. Baby Holstein!

My cousin's son, Marshall, is the cutest little boy!!!!!!  Love his hair!!!  Those curls steal my heart!

Grace & Marshall

Getting tired!

Nobody is too big to sit on a Little Tykes chair! Love my daddy!

Comfort is.... seeing the pond behind the house I grew up in.  The memories of walking through the pasture and swamps and forests.... All day long without a worry in the world.

The gravel road to my grandpa and grandma's house.... walked this road more times than I can count!

Fence post.... and pasture.  

Bleeding hearts....

Dandelions....

....and Lilacs!

It's been almost a year since we lost my cousin, Ashley, in a hit and run accident.  He is dearly missed.  The week he passed away, he and his wife were supposed to find out if she was pregnant.  And she was. Shelly gave birth to Zachery in February! It makes me sad to post this on Father's Day, but knowing Shelly, Zachary and Whitney, their 3 year old daughter, have a beautiful guardian angel watching over them, gives me peace.  I got to finally meet Zachary last Saturday. He is such a sweet little boy, and looks a lot like his daddy!!!!!

Sweet Zachary and I! I am in love.

My Aunt and Godmother Linnea... Ashley's mom, Zachary's grandma

And then we visited his grave.  They recently got his headstone placed.  It was so beautiful!  A beautiful tribute to a beautiful man.  Ashley loved baseball.... and he loved the Minnesota Twins.  And he loved playing softball with his team at little country softball diamonds.  I love that incorporated that into his stone.  Stunning.

My sweet Grace cleaning bird poop off Ashley and Shelly's headstone! Darn birds... poop somewhere else!!

Thanks for sticking with me through this long post!!!  I couldn't narrow down any photos.... they are all just too precious to me to eliminate any!

Fauxlaroid Thursday - June 13, 2013

Linking up with Angela for another installment of Fauxlaroid Thursday! If you want to learn how to make a fauxlaroid, click here.  Polaroids rock!! Someday, I am going to get myself a real Polaroid camera!  Now that would be a blast!!!  For now, here's my fauxlaroid for this week!!  Won't you join along?

Hydrangea - the start of something beautiful..... stay tuned for progress on this beauty!

Vintage Signs - Lipka's Soda Fountain - Montague, Michigan

In May 2012, my sister and I visited cute little Montague, Michigan!  We had lunch at Lipka's Soda Fountain!  It was super cute and totally delish!!!  I love how the entire shop still looked original, with a soda fountain, antique tables and chairs and tons of antique decor all over!

And their sign was so cool!!!!  Still hanging by chains, neon lights, faded lettering, rust and all.....

I found an article on West Michigan Fox 17's website about the is amazing place!

"A little ways down Ferry Street, is another big draw for locals called Lipka’s Pharmacy. While the building was constructed in 1878 with its original Victorian soda fountain, an updated old-time fountain was installed in 1947 and the business was purchased locally in 1952. Lipka’s is a great sandwich and malt shop where sodas are still made the old-fashioned way by adding flavored syrup and carbonated water with a real air compressor in the basement adding the C02 or carbon dioxide. Lipka’s is technically no longer a pharmacy, but it remains a family business where the special of the day is still written by hand on a chalkboard. There is no tv, internet, or wi-fi here. Owner Patti Ream says that’s the way she wants it. “I don’t have all the new things just because I want people to talk to each other, not just sit at a table and stare at something.”  The old-time serving bar stills remains along with the wooden plank floor and one of the last working soda fountains.  Patti Ream took over Lipka’s from her father who passed away in 2007…he was the original pharmacist from the 1950s! They bought the business in 1952 from the Ripley family. It is reminiscent of the TV show Happy Days or a scene from the Waltons."

Insta-Friday - June 7, 2013

Ok, so technically it's the 9th today... I'm a couple days late posting. We had a wonderful weekend with family, and just got home late this afternoon! You'll see all the precious and beautiful pictures from the weekend on next week's Insta-Friday!  If you'd like to follow me, I'm shannonbromenschenkel on Instagram

The clouds were insanely cool earlier this week!

 

Devil Cab?

Panera Bread's Frozen Cherry Limeades are fantastic!

Making invites for Grace's birthday party!

Wonderful summer supper!

Beautifully lazy!

Bee Balm just starting to bloom!

Basking in the sun....

Why would someone do that????

In the old days, an open door meant chasing Lady all around the neighborhood.

I love hilly Southern Minnesota! 

Lady loves going for car rides.... just as long as it's not going to the vet!

Pretty flowers!

Fauxlaroid Thursday - June 6, 2013

I'm linking up today with Angela from "Please Mommy, No More Daddies"!  I love her fauxlaroid Thursday where you post your favorite photos as a Polaroids!  I totally love the Instant app on my iPad.... makes super fast, cute and easy Polaroids!

There's something beautiful about these ugly things....

Bee Balm flowers in my front yard!  Super fun and super gorgeous!