Lots o' Lights (Fo Free!)

I apologize cyber world for neglecting you all week... please forgive me! It's actually been a surprisingly busy week for the Bogart family. More so for Ryan than it has for me I guess since he's been busy with actual obligations and I've been busy just trying to stay busy (so I don't sit around and dwell on the fact that I'm still pregnant). I've done more cooking, some baking, a lot of Target/mall walking (even though my Christmas shopping is completely done) and I even treated myself to a pedicure, too! It's been a good relaxing and yet productive week. Ryan even took some time out of his busy schedule on Tuesday for us to go see the Bentleyville Tour of Lights.

For those of you who aren't from the Duluth area, or haven't had the pleasure of experiencing the magic of Bentleyville before, you are missing out! It's pretty much amazing. It has been held in downtown Duluth's Bayfront Festival Park for the past couple years now, but  it was first started by a man named Nathan Bentley back in 2004 when he hosted the event on his own property.  Now it is the largest light show in the upper Midwest with almost 3 million lights and it was voted the "Best Light Show in Minnesota". I told you.. it's pretty much amazing!

Plus, it's free! That's right - it costs nothing. It's sponsored by the Salvation Army and various businesses in the Duluth area and it's set up, staffed, and tore down completely by volunteers. And while you walk around the paths enjoying the pretty lights and views of Duluth you can sip a cup of coffee or hot chocolate, munch on some cookies or popcorn, and roast marshmallows in little fire pits for free! They even have Santa there every night too handing out Bentleyville embroidered hats to all the kids. You guessed it - for free!

Since it is sponsored by the Salvation Army, they appreciate canned food or new toy donations to support their other projects, but it's not a requirement. It's just such a cool event for the community and I've looked forward to it every year since Ryan and I first drove out to the middle of nowhere to experience the original Bentleyville our freshman year.

This year they added something a little different to the lights display - dinosaurs. Sort of weird, right? Not exactly something you would expect in a holiday light show. There was even an article in the Duluth Tribune a couple weeks back commenting on how that and how it didn't fit in with the "holiday theme" and apparently that offended some people...? I don't know. It didn't offend me but it's definitely unique, that's for sure. On a side note, Ryan wanted me to add here that it was his favorite part. (Go figure, right? Ryan liking something that everyone else finds weird and/or offensive... that's so unlike him! Hahahaha!)

The pictures I have don't really do justice to how great Bentleyville really is since my fingers were slightly numb.. So you should all visit the website, learn a little bit more about the "Best Light Show in Minnesota", and go enjoy it for yourself! It's open until December 26th!

http://www.bentleyvilleusa.org/



TGIF!

My little eskimo

Today is a sunny, but mighty cold morning in the Twin Ports area. I do believe that the temperature on my phone display showed 30 degrees this morning when I woke up. And as much as I would like to believe that was just my eyes playing tricks on me in the early morning, it was also mighty chilly in our apartment when I kicked off the covers. I can tell it's almost November when I need to rush to put on socks as soon as I get out of bed... but I guess I don't really mind. My husband, on the other hand, likes to think I'm trying to "freeze him to death".

Ryan is kind of a wimp when it comes to a cold house I've come to realize. It's incredibly comical to me because I'm the one who grew up in a house that was heated by numerous fireplaces and was kept around 76 degrees in the winter. I'm also the one who loves warm weather. But it's not because he doesn't like the cold that he complains, it's only because he likes to walk around in shorts and a t-shirt year round... and that doesn't work so well when it's only 64-66 degrees in our apartment.

See here's the problem boys and girls: Heat ain't free and money don't grow on trees! Unless, of course, you're heating with an amazing wood-burning Wilkening Fireplace... and then your heat literally comes from a tree. (Sorry, I don't know if that follows as logically as I wanted it to, but I just had to put a plug in for my dad's stellar business in Walker, MN while I was on the subject of home heating.) I can't wait until we own our own place and I can have multiple fireplaces...

Anyways, back to what I was trying to say: heat is expensive. Aside from our rent, it will be the largest bill we pay throughout the winter months. Especially because we will have a newborn in less than two months during the coldest part of the year. (Poor planning on our part, I know.) So my theory is this: Ryan will just have to suffer through the next 7 weeks of me "freezing him to death" so we can afford to keep the house warmer for the rest of the winter when the baby is here. Makes sense, right? I thought so. Keep our heating bill low now so we can afford to pay through the nose to keep the apartment above 70 when it's -20 without windchill outside.

Well, it's either that or I'll have to keep Baby Bogart bundled up like a little eskimo at all times. We do have a nice little snowsuit thing for him anyway. Which I guess could be pretty darn cute, but I'm thinking it would probably get old awfully fast with all the diaper changes and what not...  and so we'll freeze until December! Or at least Ryan will - I'm my own little heater these days. :)

Happy Hump Day! I'm off to spend the rest of my day cleaning and baking..

Love,
Christina

Sneaky Mr. Weatherman!

Alright who did it? Huh? Who told the weatherman about my post last week praising the amazing fall weather we've been having (or WERE having)? No one wants to fess up? Bueller? Bueller? Well whoever did it, just know you are on my bad list... and I'm telling Santa on you!

But seriously... the fall weather has officially arrived here in Duluth now and I'm none too pleased about it. Not that I don't love the fall - remember, I really do. I just don't love the bitter wind that accompanies the cooler temperatures in Duluth. It makes it much less pleasant to take walks, which means I have been staying inside more, which means I'm getting awfully bored.

Thankfully, this weekend will bring a change of pace as Ryan and I venture down to Rogers to see his parents. Ryan will be riding his motorcycle down (brrrr!) so it can get stored there for the winter and I will be driving down our BMW so he can do some work on it with his dad this weekend as well. I will probably just watch him do his thing and fetch a tool or two... or maybe just play with his cat and nap a lot. ;)

That's about all I know. I apologize for the lack of posting this week, but like I said... I haven't been doing much. And not doing much means there's not much to blog about. Unless, of course, you want to hear about how much longer it takes to sweep and mop now that I'm getting more pregnant? Yeah, didn't think so.

Enjoy the weekend, folks! I'll try to do something in Rogers this weekend interesting enough to blog about.

-The Bogarts

Shhhh! Don't tell the weatherman!

Has anyone else noticed how unbelievably nice the weather has been this week? Have you also noticed that it is now October? Nice weather in northern Minnesota in October... it's almost like an oxymoron! The sun has been shining, the temperature has been in the not-too-hot-but-not-too-cold range, and it hasn't even been too windy (which, in itself, is a small miracle in Duluth,MN).

The highs all week have been in the mid 70's and the lows at night have stayed in the 50's. That is far better than the average highs we normally see in the low 50's and the lows of mid 30's. Ryan and I actually have only had to turn our heat on a couple times so far this fall, and only at night.

I love it. This is the way fall should be. This is the perfect weather to accompany the perfect fall colors. This is the fall I missed out on last year when Ryan and I were in Sweden. As a matter of fact, I have a post from October 14th of last year that documented the first real snowfall in Lulea... and the snow never melted until long after we left. Ugh, it makes me cringe all over again just thinking about it.

I guess I probably shouldn't even say anything to jinx it because I know that it might very well be snowing here in Duluth by October 14th. But maybe... just maybe... this nice weather will hold out if you all promise not to remind the weatherman that it's fall. I won't if you won't, deal? Deal!

All our best from sunny, beautiful Duluth,
The Bogarts