Not Too Far To Go

Stories of our travels and life in the largest city of North Dakota.

[lisaaltice-blog]

5 Newborn Activities in Fargo

Home. Alone. With a Newborn. This was the start of my new life and job as a stay-at-home mom. If I applied for that job, I doubt I would be hired. I don’t have any early childhood education training. I didn’t babysit little kids when I was a teenager. And my first experience changing a diaper almost ended with me vomiting on my nephew. (I left the room and had grandpa finish the job!)

However, my MBA was actually great training to be a stay-at-home mom. While I could have run a multiple regression analysis to find out what factors produce the most breastmilk, the more applicable skills were networking and managing projects. We were six weeks into our new life, smack in the middle of winter in Fargo, and coming down with a bad case of cabin fever. I needed a plan and fast.

The goal: Expose Emerson to the world around us while getting us out of the house and meeting other moms with babies. And also learn how to function as a mom outside of the house.

Here are five activities to do with a newborn in Fargo:

Nurturing Connections Baby Café - This was my group meeting with Emerson and one that we should have attended a lot sooner. This group is a great way to meet moms with babies very close in age to yours. What you’re experiencing as a mom when baby is three months old is drastically different than what you experienced at three weeks old. I connected with another mom whose baby is just 12 days older than Emerson and we trade stories as our boys go through the developmental milestones about the same time. Sanford lactation consultants are there to help with breastfeeding concerns or questions. There are two other breastfeeding groups in the area...Tender Transitions is offered through Essentia and there's La Leche League of Fargo-Moorhead.

Early Childhood Family Education (ECFE) – The best kept secret in the FM area! ECFE is part of Moorhead Community Education and you do not need to reside in Minnesota to take classes. They offer child-parent non-separating and separating classes. The non-separating classes tend to be shorter while the separating classes accommodate time playing with babies/toddlers and then an adult discussion in a separate room. The teachers and instructors are all very knowledgeable and helpful when you’re trying to figure out age-appropriate activities to do with your little one. Pictured below is Emerson at five months in one of our classes. I just love his caught-in-the-act look!

Library – Both the Fargo and Moorhead libraries have designated times for stories and songs with babies and preschoolers. These events are perfect outings because they combine learning, new stories, and songs with playtime for both mom and baby. West Fargo library has story time for lap babies and preschoolers. We’ve met several moms and babies from the library and continue to meet outside of the library events.

Park or indoor walking track – In the winter, I was looking for a place to walk without freezing Emerson. It wasn’t until spring that I found out that Fargo provides an indoor walking track. It has convenient hours, however, they’re subject to change based on school or programming events. Although we have yet to use the indoor track, we met up with moms at parks over the summer and continue to walk every day.

MOMS Club or other clubs/meet-ups – Search for MOMS club or other similar interest groups online and on Facebook. Once you find a group, mark your calendar and go to the meetings. Going to the first meeting is the hardest. I made excuses…it’s during nap time, what if I have to breastfeed in public, what if he starts crying and many more that just prevented me from getting out. Eventually, the timing worked (or maybe I just mustered enough courage to drop the excuses) and I went. If he was asleep, I woke him up to leave. He didn't seem to mind most of the time or maybe I was just lucky that Emerson was pretty flexible on his schedule.

The game plan worked. Emerson was exposed to many different activities and I learned how to be a mom outside the comfort of my home. Now that fall is upon us and the dreaded winter approaches, we’re armed with these activities and a contact list of other moms with babies.

[lisaaltice-blog]

Wasn't it just January?

I can’t believe it’s been eight months since my last post! I went into labor the following week and my life hasn’t been the same since.

On Friday, January 10, we finished the nursery and the thresholds were installed the day before I went into labor. My nesting instincts kicked into high gear that day because the flooring contractor tracked in saw dust everywhere and I spent three hours vacuuming, sweeping and mopping. I’m sure it would’ve taken less time had I not been ready for labor at any moment.

The nursery was done. The floors were done. I told Jason to make sure he got his work completed before the weekend because I had a feeling the baby was coming. And he did. We welcomed Emerson into the world early Sunday morning.

It’s so true that once you have a baby, your life will never be the same. I understood that there would be a human being relying on us for survival. Sure we couldn’t go out to dinner whenever we felt like it or just run quick errands because we had an hour to spare. But once Emerson was here, physically in my arms, it’s like we were the ones who entered into a new world. I didn’t know how much love I was capable of until he arrived. I also developed a greater appreciation for time and realized how fleeting the moments are.

Time moves at a constant rate, but it seems so much faster when you have a baby. That’s why I’m amazed it’s been eight months since my last post and since Emerson was born. He’s grown immensely in that time. He learned to smile, laugh, roll over, sleep through the night (most nights), and even crawl! He’s been on two cross country trips by airplane, grew 4 teeth, and eats solid foods.

I’m so grateful that I get to stay home and spend every day watching him grow and develop. Everyone told me that I’ll never get this time back. But really, you never get any time back. The seconds turn into days which turn into months and the next thing you know more than half of the year went by since you last blogged! Sorry readers, I think my time was spent wisely keeping up with Emerson. I will, however, post more frequently as I find writing to be a great "me time" activity.

[lisaaltice-blog]

And we're done! Sort of...

At the end of August, we finally moved out of our townhouse rental and into the basement that was just finished. All of our belongings were now in the basement and the garage since the upstairs carpet had been removed in preparation for hardwood floors. The Lumber Liquidators installer was unable to start on our floors until the first week of September due to scheduling and also to allow the flooring time to acclimate.

Fortunately, Jason painted the kitchen cabinets and all the upstairs baseboards before the new floors were installed. Remember how everything was oak?

Well in order to cover the oak trim, it took about 3-4 coats of paint. The white trim and cabinets make a huge difference in brightening up the upstairs.

The contractor got started on installation and we expected him to take a week. He had to remove the laminate flooring that was in the kitchen. The builders of the home took the easy route and laid the laminate flooring down before installing the kitchen cabinets and island. This means the floors ran under those cabinets making it difficult to remove or replace the flooring. Our contractor had to saw through the laminate flooring around the cabinets and island. When we checked on his progress, we saw burn marks on the floor and the newly painted kitchen cabinets. Not to mention our house smelled like fire.

The flooring installation was a painfully slow process especially because the contractor took a few breaks an hour to smoke. When he finally started measuring and cutting the planks, he set up his saw in our garage…without a dust bag. Just picture it: 2 night stands, a dresser, a reclining sofa, dining room table and chairs, tools, and boxes of clothes and belongings piled up neatly in the garage while a table saw is being used to cut hardwood floors with the dust flying all over our stuff. If he moved 2 feet over or repositioned the saw most of the dust could have been outside. As I’ve mentioned before, it’s difficult to find contractors that have a certain level of attention to detail and are considerate of other people’s property. UGH!

The floors were eventually finished after 2 weeks minus the thresholds for the top of the stairs and bathroom. The contractor had to wait for Jason to install the new floors in the bathroom and the new treads on the stairs.

We spent approximately 3 weeks living in the basement and we couldn’t wait to move upstairs. We finally had access to the kitchen, living room, and bedrooms. We had to wait on using the bathroom since it needed a slight makeover and a major cleaning after 2 months of use by contractors.

We painted the cabinets white and Jason installed the Duraceramic tiles. We changed out all of the hardware for the brushed nickel and updated the lighting. I put on a fresh coat of paint and Jason installed a pod light over the shower/tub that connected to the bathroom fan.

After laying the floors in the bathroom, Jason tackled the flooring in the foyer. He took what he learned from the bathroom and made the adjustments to really make the foyer look great since it’s the first thing you see when you walk in the door. The floors and the white doors and trim really brighten up the entry way.

The final major project was the stair treads. We bought oak retro treads from Lowe’s and pine risers from Lumber Liquidators. Jason was able to match the stain on the oak treads to compliment the new floors. However, that took 3-4 coats of stain and another 2-3 coats of sealant. I think he’s finally reached the point of hating staining and painting. Our next house will be move-in ready! Really!

He also had to figure out how to trim the gap on each side of the stairs that was left after removing the carpet. He removed the particle board for each step and cut off the overhang in order for the new treads to fit. He manufactured a jig to help him measure where to cut each tread because each step was different. With the help of his dad, the stairs got done just before Christmas. The final touch ups on paint and stain were done just yesterday. It was a lot of work, but the end result was so worth it!

(Ignore the oak stained banisters…they will eventually be painted white.)

Now we’re waiting for the contractor to come back and finish the thresholds. I’m sure he’ll show up the week the baby gets here.

It was nice to have the majority of the house done before the end of the year and I was able to enjoy the perfect spot for our Christmas tree!

I hope everyone had a great holiday and end to 2013. We're excited for all the great things we have planned for 2014! Next blog, baby prep and nursery...hopefully I'll have it posted before the baby arrives!

[lisaaltice-blog]

Prior to closing on the house, we searched for basement contractors that could finish our basement before we moved in. This put us on a huge time constraint between closing on the house and our lease running out. The $10,000-15,000 budget we planned was now doubled to get it done right and fast. If we did the majority of the work ourselves we might have been able to meet the original budget. With a baby on the way, I didn't want house projects looming in the background. 

Now that our budget doubled, the custom-tiled shower in the basement was off the table. We had to cut where we could without going too cheap. We still planned on the master bedroom being downstairs and having his and her closets, but we nixed the fireplace in the basement. 

Planning for a remodel without having lived in the house proved to be a challenge. Not to mention we only saw the house four times before the contractors started: first look, home inspection, basement contractor walk-thru, and final inspection before closing. We had so many ideas, but weren't sure how or if they'd work in the house. We just made a plan knowing that things might change.

The contractors began the week after we closed and originally set a deadline for 4 weeks. They demolished most of the existing framing the previous owner did. I was amazed how quickly it came down. We finally saw the space for the new master bedroom and realized it was much smaller than the current master upstairs. This coupled with the fact that we no longer had a custom-tiled shower, made it easier to leave the master bedroom upstairs. Plus, having the master and nursery on the same level makes more sense.

Once we saw the new framing for the bedroom, we came across another change. After scrapping the his and her wall of closets, we decided to create a bookcase nook that would open into the family room. However, the framing of the bedroom made the room feel extremely small and the nook in the family looked really awkward. It was too large to be a bookcase. It was in a weird location to be another closet. We also didn't have the money to make it a fireplace nor would that be the ideal place for one. We decided to switch the framing so the nook would be inside the bedroom creating a perfect spot for a dresser. Otherwise any furniture besides a bed and nightstands wouldn't have fit in the bedroom.

One week down and two major changes. We hoped the rest of the renovation would go smoothly. Framing was complete, most of the electrical wiring and HVAC was in. Things were moving right along. We paid a little more for spray foam installation. Totally worth the extra money and after watching "Holmes on Homes" and "Holmes Inspection" we wanted the extra piece of mind that the basement would be warm and no moisture would get through.

All of the drywall was done over the weekend. While I appreciated the contractor working late on Friday and all day Saturday and Sunday, I'm not sure I appreciated his dog being over our house the entire time. He didn't ask if that was OK. The dog stayed outside for the most part, but we did see him inside the basement a few times. The drywall contractor also decided that it was OK to leave scrap pieces behind the wall. Not just a few here or there, but everywhere. We noticed this after his job was done and mentioned it to the general contractor. The taping crew removed what they could from behind the walls without actually unscrewing every board. Apparently contractors don't have attention to detail and are extremely lazy.

To save some money, we painted the walls ourselves once the walls were taped and textured. The doors and trim were ordered to match exactly what we had upstairs...the ugly oak trim. Here came our next change and just in time. We recently decided that we were going to paint all of the doors and trim upstairs white so we thought the same should go downstairs. We caught the new trim and doors before they went to the staining contractor. However, this meant we were now painting all the wood trim pieces (baseboards, windows, door jams) and the doors. Have I mentioned we hate painting?

The new floors in the bathroom and utility/laundry were installed. We went with a Duraceramic material and had it installed without grout. The flooring contractor forgot to cut out a hole for the floor drain in the utility/laundry room. Plus, he moved the AC condensation hose while the AC was running. This caused water to build up in the hose and eventually start overflowing onto the newly installed floors. Sadly we had to point out this mistake to the general contractor. Part of the newly installed floors had to be removed since the water seeped under the tiles and mixed with the wet glue. I can't think of a single reason a contractor would think it's OK to tile over a floor drain especially when there are hoses running directly to the drain.

The trim pieces and doors went in nicely for the most part. After the clean up crew got all of the tools and debris out of the basement, the final step was the carpet. Since Jason has really bad allergies and we saw how well other contractors "cleaned up", we vacuumed the entire basement. Jason even went as far as scrubbing the floors several times to get as much of the drywall dust off the concrete. 

The carpet was delayed by a week. Our final inspection was also delayed by another week and we already started moving in. We didn't drywall the utility/laundry room because it would've been another $1,000 or so with all the special cutting. However, since the spray foam installer sprayed the lower half of the utility room, city code required it to be drywalled. On the day of the final inspection, a different drywall contractor came over to finish the job. He tracked mud onto our new carpets and new floor in the laundry room. He also took it upon himself to use our brand new washer and dryer as a cutting board and made 2 gouges on top of our dryer. Later, Jason also discovered he closed both valves to our sump pump so our pump attempt to discharge the water, but the water had no where to go. We also made another recent discovery thanks to that drywall contractor. The drain hose that connects to the heater part of the furnace was detached so when we turned on our heat, the condensation drained onto the drywall and floors instead of into the hose going to the drain.

We were relieved once those contractors were out of the basement. We paid the price to get it done quickly and for the general contractor to squeeze us in. If I were in the construction/renovation business, I would open up a business here. This area is booming with new construction and there is a limited supply of good contractors. I can't believe it's that difficult to provide a certain level of attention to detail or to be considerate of other people's property. Don't get me wrong, I love our new basement and the way everything turned out. I just think a lot of headaches and delays could have been avoided if contractors took a few moments to just think about what they were doing.

I tried to sum up the basement reno in 10 pictures. Each picture has a caption too. I don't think 10 pictures does the 6-week process justice, but it gives you an idea.

Next blog...we moved into the basement while new flooring was installed throughout the entire upstairs. The contractor woes continue.

[lisaaltice-blog]

Love is Blind

We bought a house that's in a great neighborhood and is close to everything we like. The outside was simple with landscaped rocks, a nice fence for the dog, an oversized deck, and a separate storage shed.

Once we walked inside, we could tell the carpets were just cleaned by the aroma in the air. We were warned the owners had dogs and a cat but aside from the toys we couldn't tell they were living there. The house is a bi-level home with a large entry way leading upstairs or to the basement.

The first thing we noticed upstairs in the kitchen/dining room was the overpowering color of wood, from the cabinets and floors to the trim and the blinds. A lot of homes in the area have wood trim, especially oak like this one. We also noted a yellow tinge in the lighting as if the house was occupied by heavy smokers (which is wasn't). The lighting effect was caused by the antique shades on all of the fixtures. We also failed to see the layer of dust and pet hair on EVERYTHING.

We were blind to all of that and looked at the bones of the space. The layout was perfect and I immediately found the perfect spot for my Christmas tree, centered in front of the bay windows.

There are two bedrooms and one full bath upstairs. The master bedroom seemed extremely small and the walk-in closet was over stuffed that you could barely walk-in. Renting spoiled us with large master bedrooms with tons of closet space. 

The other bedroom was also crammed with a lot of furniture, which was understandable since the upstairs was the only finished space. That's right, we knew the basement was unfinished when we went to look at the house. So much for move-in ready! However, we saw this as an ideal space for the nursery. 

Overall the upstairs layout was perfect. We knew we wanted to extend the laminate flooring throughout the main living area and maybe paint over the dark brown accent walls to lighten up the space. The bedrooms were functional although we wanted a larger master with more closet space. We saw that potential in the basement.

The owner had framed out the basement to fit a family room, two more bedrooms, a full bath and laundry room. Our agent mentioned that finishing the basement should cost between $10,000-15,000 and when added to the price of the home we'd still be under $200,000. Jason and I got really excited about the potential space for the basement, a large family room/office and a large master bedroom with double closets. We could have our own spa bathroom. Can you picture it based on this?

We fell in love with the possibilities and tweaked our "move-in ready" criteria to "as long as it's ready by the time we need to move in". We made the offer over Memorial Day weekend and settled on a closing date in mid-July. Our lease was up at the end of August. The goal was to finish the basement in less than 6 weeks so we could move in as our lease ends. Timing had to be perfect and the project couldn't have any lengthy delays. Remodels and construction projects never have delays, right? 

We went to the home inspection about 5 days after we first saw the house. The inspection also caught the owners by surprise so they didn't have time to clean. The recently cleaned carpets now wreaked of dog and cat urine attempting to be masked by the plug-in air fresheners. The dust and pet hair had accumulated all over the laminate floors and on the carpet. As we walked up the stairs you could see the layer of hair settled on the top of the carpet. Jason's pants had collected some of the hair at the bottom of his pant legs. 

As the inspector was going through each room, we looked at the return air vents that were supposed to be white but were slightly brown because they were covered in dirt, dust, and hair. The day was overcast so all of the natural light wasn't there and we saw just how yellow all of the lights were. Upon further inspection of the fixtures, we finally saw the layer upon layer of dust as if no one had cleaned since the house was built in 2009.

We stared at the laminate floors and how the carpet just seemed to break the flow of the large space. We already knew we wanted to remove the carpet in the living room, but now we were considering removing all of the carpet upstairs and going with all laminate. Then we noticed how the laminate color didn't really work well with the color of the oak and kitchen cabinets. Maybe we should go with something darker? What about painting the walls? What should we do with the stairs if we don't have carpet? Should we paint the kitchen cabinets?

The questions kept coming as we took a closer look in the basement. Ideas of how to personalize and make the space better for us and our growing family were flooding our brain. What was planned as a basement finishing project was turning into a larger remodel. We had roughly 6 weeks before closing and needed to hash out our plan for the house and hire basement contractors so work could begin immediately after closing. Our first summer in Fargo was going to be spent working on our new house.

Next blog will have before, during and after pictures of the basement.

[lisaaltice-blog]

We Broke Our Vow to Never Buy a House

Jason and I owned a townhouse in Virginia Beach for five years. During the first 4.5 years, we painted every wall, ceiling, trim piece, and door in the house. We tore up the backyard and laid patio stones and created two flower beds. We installed gutters while wrapping the outside wood trim in vinyl. We got a new roof, installed a new patio door and new windows. Finally, we remodeled the 2.5 bathrooms, installed ceramic tile throughout the entry way, hallway, kitchen, powder room, and 2 full bathrooms upstairs. 

We had about 6 months of a project-free house before we decided to put it on the market and the weekend it went up for sale, we had to replace our entire HVAC unit. We were crazy for all the work we did, but were lucky to sell our townhouse in the Fall of 2009 and walk away with decent proceeds.

We learned a lot during our first home ownership experience. We learned that we hated painting, installing ceramic tile is exhausting, and we always felt like our money was going into the house because we're constantly doing things to take care of the home or make it better.

We ended up renting for the next 3 years. What bliss! Drain clogged? Call maintenance. A/C not working? Call maintenance. All of the issues were somebody else's problem. Sure we had neighbors with lead feet, a noisy bird, and the fire alarm would go off in the middle of the night. But we were able to take lots of trips while also watching our savings grow. We also didn't have any debt (student loans don't count). 

We told ourselves we would never buy a house again. We couldn't think of a single reason why we would ever WANT to buy a house. We watched our friends start buying because interest rates were low. How did they come up with the down payment? How can they afford to do all those upgrades? We saw them going through the same headaches we went through. We just looked at each other and said, "Thank goodness that's not us!"

We've now been in Fargo for a year and the town has really grown on us. Maybe it's because the summer has been absolutely beautiful and we've forgotten how long winter lasted. We've been watching the housing market take off here. We realized that for the price we sold our townhouse in 2009, we could get a single-family home with a large fenced yard for our dog.

We began our search back in May and made a list of our must-haves: less than 5 years old, move-in ready, close to where we currently lived and preferably a single-family home. Surprisingly we made an offer on a house the first weekend we officially began our search with a Realtor. The house had been posted at 9:00 pm on a Saturday and by 5:00 pm on Sunday, the seller had two offers and ours won.

So, we broke our vow to never buy a house. Not only did we break our vow, we also left off the most important must-have on our list...move-in ready. We closed on the house back in mid-July and have been going through remodeling projects since then. Here's a snapshot of our purchase.

Don't let the picture fool you! Only half of the house is finished on the inside. It's very common for bi-level homes in the area to be built with unfinished basements. Stay tuned for additional blogs that will highlight our remodel projects. I'll do my best to explain why we bought another "project" house. We're still trying to wrap our heads around that one..

[lisaaltice-blog]

Our Trip to Medora, North Dakota

We spent Flag Day heading west on I-94 to spend the weekend in Medora, a quaint little town on the western side of North Dakota. On our way, we made a stop in Jamestown to see Dakota Thunder, the world's largest buffalo.

We also browsed the shops and buildings in Frontier Village and Jason got excited by all the vintage radios. One of the buildings was a replica of an old saloon. Jason couldn't resist sitting at the piano.

We headed back on the road and after 3 hours we finally made it to the outskirts of Theodore Roosevelt National Park. At the Painted Canyon Visitor Center, we got our first taste of the Badlands.

There was much more of the Badlands to come, so we got back in the car and made our way into Medora. We stayed at the Badlands Motel and took advantage of a packaged deal: two tickets to the musical, two pitchfork fondues, and one night hotel got us a $75 dining/souvenirs gift card. The Badlands Motel provides extremely basic accommodations, bed, TV, A/C, bathroom...and a fly swatter. What motel room would be complete without a fly swatter? When we go to Medora again, we'll opt for the Rough Riders hotel or a bed & breakfast.

After we made sure the fly swatter worked properly, we decided to explore the town. 30 minutes later, we walked end to end and said, "Now what?" We had some time before the All Horses Parade started so we secured a bench seat near the route and gazed upon a large tree in the street.

We wondered how many people actually live in this town and could we ever live in such a small place. Luckily, Jason and I feel the same way...towns like Medora are nice places to visit, but not a place for us to live day in and day out. Fargo is probably the smallest town we'll ever live in. (Yes, Fargo is small and is a town for all those Fargoans that call it a big city.)

The parade began as well as our hunt for our friends on their horses. They were easy enough to spot and we shouted plans to meet up later. They camped at Bar X Ranch (had to include a link to the worst website ever) with their horses and dogs. The drive to the campsite began with a warning sign, "Grazing Area Not Responsible for Damage to Vehicles". We understood the need for that sign once this guy jumped onto the road. Thankfully no Sentras were harmed in the grazing area.

We spent the evening hanging out by the fire, watching the stars come out. It was really peaceful out there and perhaps we'd consider staying at a cabin on the ranch the next time.

The next day was spent in the National Park. We stopped at the Visitor Center, got a few self-guided hiking maps, and took the tour of Roosevelt's Maltese Cabin. The first feature on our drive was Prairie Dog Town. These cute rodents kept "barking" at us to alert the others of our presence. 

We continued along the drive and had our first encounter with a bison. We saw skat along the center of the road and wondered if the animals really do use the road. They do and they also seem to be used to the cars. Jason was slightly concerned of boxing in the bison, but we just stayed in the car and watched him being herded by a Jeep.

We made our fist hiking stop at the Ridgeline Trail. It was a steep hike at the beginning and I regretted taking my jacket. However I was happy to have it once we made it to the top and the wind was gusting. Although it was in the mid 70's and the sun was shining, something about the wind just put a chill in the air for me. I just haven't developed that thick North Dakota blood yet. As you can see in the picture below, the guy to the left is wearing a tank top and shorts while I'm wearing jeans and light jacket.

The hike was gorgeous and we learned a lot about how the Badlands developed. One of the most interesting facts to me is that trees are slow to decompose in the Badlands due to the lack of moisture. We saw trees that were burned in a fire decades ago just slowing rotting.

Along the trail we saw numerous skat piles and animal tracks. We were hoping to encounter one of the animals that created it. Unfortunately the only animal we saw on this trail was a dung beetle. Jason couldn't resist taking a picture.

We continued on the drive making our next hiking stop at Coal Vein Trail. Jason found a nice sitting tree early in the hike.

The most interesting fact along this trail was seeing the vast amount of scoria and clinker. Scoria is the red color that results from the baking process of burning coal, which oxidizes iron present in various mineral compounds in the rock. Clinker are small pieces of scoria cemented together by exceptionally high heat. A large chunk of clinker is pictured below.

After two hikes, we were only about halfway through the 36-mile scenic drive. We finally saw more bison sunning themselves along the rocks.

Jason drove us on a detour to Buck Hill so we could overlook the park. From here, we saw a huge herd of bison on the grasslands below. There must have been 50-60 grazing in the fields. Unfortunately they were so far away that we couldn't capture a good picture. We did manage to balance the camera on the ledge to snap a photo of us.

We finished our tour of the park and headed back for much needed food. It was too late for lunch and only a couple hours until dinner, so we opted for the obvious choice...ICE CREAM! It was just enough to hold us off until our pitchfork fondue dinner. We've been laying off the beef (Jason more than me) but made an exception to experience a deep-fried steak. They really put steaks on a pitchfork and cook them in oil. 

Dinner was amazing and extremely filling. Jason had to walk off some of the meal so he took a stroll down to the edge of the rocks, literally. I'm not sure what he's standing on is securely attached. Thanks to our friend for snapping this photo. I stayed securely at the top of the hill.

We were able to get another photo of us overlooking Medora with the sun setting on our faces.

The trip concluded with the Medora Musical. The caliber of the musical is about the same as what you would find onboard a cruise ship. It was entertaining, but what made it completely worth it was the location of the amphitheater. We had a beautiful night and they used the land as a natural backdrop to the set. 

Out in Medora is very different from Fargo. The towns may be in the same state, but there's something about crossing into the Mountain Time Zone that makes Medora feel like you're now in the West. We had a great time and will definitely go back. 

[lisaaltice-blog]

Quinoa Salad with Apples and Almonds

Ingredients:

1 cup quinoa, rinse - prepare according to directions (will make 2 cups)

2 Tablespoons honey or maple syrup - can be less - put in to taste

1/4 cup lemon juice - fresh squeeze a lemon when possible

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 Tablespoons olive oil

1 cup peeled, diced tart apple - use more if you love 'em!

1 cup finely chopped celery - use more if you love 'em!

1/3 cup dried cranberries (craisins)

1/3 cup finely chopped parsley

1/2 cup coarsely chopped almonds, toasted if desired

Coarse salt and pepper

Instructions:

In a small bowl whisk together honey (1T at a time), lemon juice, and salt and gradually whisk in oil until blended (taste for sweetness). Add the apple, celery, craisins, parsley, and the almonds to the quinoa and toss the ingredients well. Add the vinaigrette and toss once more to coat the salad. Season it with sale and pepper to taste. Eat warm or cold as a salad.

Or put on top of spinach, rolls mixture with lettuce in a tortilla for a wrap, add strips of chicken breast to make it a complete meal.

Yields 4 cups, serving 1/2 cup

Calories: 225, Total Fat: 12g, Saturated Fat: 1g, Sodium: 192mg, Total Carbohydrates: 27g, Dietary Fiber: 3g, Sugar: 10g, Protein: 5g, Vitamin C: 15%, Calcium: 4%, Iron: 8%

Comment from Lisa: I received this recipe from a cooking class at Sanford's Family Wellness. I couldn't find anything like it online and this is such a great recipe. I had to post it and share it on Pinterest. The picture is my version of the salad. I used walnuts instead of almonds and also added ground flaxseeds.

[lisaaltice-blog]

Much Ado About Flooding

Our first Fargo winter lasted through April (I'm told that's unusual) and that led to our first Fargo flood or so that's what we expected.

Prior to moving, we were warned not to live too close to the Red River and to check the flood maps. We settled on a nice townhome, away from the river, yet close enough to highways and major street connections. We also had a nice ditch that separated the back of our home from the busy street providing some privacy. Here is a picture of that ditch from my scouting trip last July and our home is on the right.

At the time I was unaware this wasn't just any ditch or storm runoff. After speaking with the maintenance guys at move-in, I learned that this was part of the river diversion and is creatively named Drain 27. Fargo's record flood happened in 2009 and the city made major improvements to protect itself. What used to be a temporary levee is now my permanent ditch.

Although the first snowfall was pretty early even for Fargo, we had about average snowfall through January. The news and city officials would mention the flood possibilites time and again, but no one was really concerned. Then winter came with a vengeance and every Monday in February and March was another snowstorm. The snow piles kept growing and nothing was melting. 

I've been through a few tropical storms and small hurricanes having lived in Hawaii, Miami, and Virginia Beach. Usually you have a couple days to almost a week to prepare for the storm. Flood preparation is not like that at all. Forecasters became concerned and the flood predictions flowed in almost daily starting mid-March. Everyone kept talking about when the "trigger" would occur and if it would be a rapid or slow melt. The city spent months planning on how many sandbags will be needed to protect the surrounding areas.

Once it finally warmed up towards the end of April, snow and ice melted rapidly. The river crest prediction kept fluctuating because we'd have more snow or rain added to what was already melting. Finally sandbags were dropped off at locations around the city.

High schoolers spent a day setting up sandbags to protect homes for the potential flooding.

Temporary levees were going up around the city to protect homes and businesses.

All the planning and flood protection was finally going to be put to the test. Had Fargo learned its lesson from 2009 and made enough improvements to withstand another major flood?

I guess the answer is yes. We reached major flood levels even though the river crested below the forecasted height. The permanent improvements that were made a couple years ago protected the city. The temporary levees and sandbags weren't even necessary. While I didn't want the city to actually flood, I had so much anticipation built up for flooding that I was somewhat disappointed nothing really happened.

As for our ditch, the water rose very quickly, although not enough to cause concern. It was actually quite pleasant to have a river running through our backyard. 

After the flooding came "Cleanup Week" which can be described as citywide, dumpster diving curbside. While I would love to write a blog explaining all about that week, my friend, Laura, wrote a great blog about it last year. Check it out on here.

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The calendar says it's Spring. Yet Fargo's forecast doesn't get above freezing for the next week and it also calls for snow in a couple days. While I long for blooming trees and flowers and days where I don't have to wear a winter coat, I should take time to pay tribute to our first North Dakota winter. So here's to you, Winter! You arrived just 12 days into Fall and now you're overstaying your welcome. Spring, you're on deck!

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John Deere Orientation

Last month I visited John Deere’s world headquarters in Moline, Illinois. I also visited four manufacturing plants, a parts warehouse, and the John Deere museum. This trip was part of John Deere’s new engineer orientation, which covered all the divisions of John Deere and how to be successful while working there. John Deere has been around for 175 years and was started by a blacksmith with that name.

The orientation started at the world headquarters pictured below from glassdoor.com.

Supposedly all of the executive offices face the pond for a scenic view. The building is not painted and instead uses COR-TEN steel. The entire building has a rust-like appearance to give an earthy look.

The main floor has a museum with some of the history of the equipment. Here is a picture of me standing in one of Deere’s loaders.

These are John Deere Model A and G tractors from the 1930's to the late 50's.

Then we visited the seeding factory. I was amazed at how much technology goes into perfectly distributing seeds into the ground. Seeds have to be evenly spaced so that each plant gets enough water and they're not too far apart as to not waste valuable land. This also needs to hold true while the tractor is turning. This is a picture of me standing next to a 1720 CCS seeder. 

Another visit was at the parts distribution center. This warehouse has the same square footage as 54 football fields (Bing map below). It has almost one million parts in stock and ships close to 80,000 order lines per day. There are automated guided vehicles or AGVs and one of them collided into the side of our tram during our tour. Our guide didn't make a big deal of it, I guess this occasionally happens. Nobody was hurt and it was pretty funny. I felt bad we interrupted the robot working.

We also took a tour of John Deere Davenport Works in Iowa. Here they build Deere construction and forestry equipment. The orientation class drove dump trucks, loaders, and tractors and we even got certified. It was a lot of fun having the chance to experience firsthand these huge pieces of machinery. The ADT articulated dump truck is 35 tons empty with a rated payload of 82,157 lbs. so of course I had to see if it could hold me.

Below is a picture of me just before I got to drive the ADT. I always wanted to drive big trucks so I was very excited to finally do this. Driving it was easy as any new car. It has an 8-speed automatic transmission.

I was also able to drive a 9000 series tractor. These tractors are also huge but again drives smooth as a car.

This factory also makes forestry equipment. Here is a feller buncher or as I call it, a tree-cutter-downer. It tricks the tree by first giving it a hug then quickly chops it down. The tree never even knew what was coming. 

Our final tour was at the harvester factory. Here is a picture of me in one. Good times!

This factory was amazing. They even have laser alley row with fully automated lasers. Some of the them are powerful enough to cut 8-inch steel.

Well, as usual most of my posts are pictures. I had a lot of fun touring John Deere’s facilities and also learned a lot. 

-Jason

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It's So Cold!

The end of January is approaching and we're right smack in the middle of winter. It's the coldest time of year in Fargo. I was warned that temps would hardly be in the positive and the wind cuts like a knife. Those are all true and here are a few more things that happen when it's this cold.

It's so cold outside that...

your contacts feel like they're freezing to your eyeballs.

your snot freezes inside your nose and makes a crunching sound when you squeeze your nose. Then as soon as you step inside the house, your nose runs like a faucet.

after two minutes outside, your hands are so numb and stiff that you can no longer bend your fingers.

the moment temps are above 20F, people wear shorts.

the snow doesn't stick to the ground. Instead it blows around on the road like dancing fog.

the street lights reflect off the ice particles in the air and cause a shimmering effect.

in the clear blue sky, you'll see a sundog, which is a luminous ring or halo around the sun. The wiki page has a pic of a sundog in Fargo.

when you throw hot water in the air it VAPORIZES! Click here for a demo.

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Merry Christmas!

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We've been running a humidifier at night and I noticed the window was wet. Upon further inspection, the window actually had frost build up on the inside. I thought it was a bit drafty in here.

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We visited the Festival of Trees at the FARGODOME. Artificial trees were decorated and sponsored by community businesses, organizations, and families. After being displayed for several weeks, the trees will be donated to local families who would not otherwise have a tree for the holidays. These are a few pictures of my favorite decorations. And our tree of nine years is also pictured. I spent two hours trying to find the bulb that caused the lights to go out on that row. I was unsuccessful, thus it will be the last Christmas for this tree.

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I love the holidays!

I love this time of year with Thanksgiving and Christmas. I started decorating for Christmas almost as early as the retailers...just after Halloween. Our Christmas tree and lights around the house provide the perfect atmosphere to get in the holiday spirit. Christmas music has been playing non-stop on the radio in Fargo since before Thanksgiving (LOVE IT!). 

For the past two months, the weather has been a bit brisk and wintry by Virginia Beach standards. Snow and ice covered the roads on Thanksgiving. We actually ventured out to eat and within the hour our car was covered in snow. Oddly enough all of the snow/ice finally melted on Monday thanks to the 50 degree sunny day we had. The following day didn't make it to 25 degrees and with the wind chill it was in the teens. I thought the weather in Virginia Beach was erratic, but Fargo has taken it to a new level. 

We had our first visitors last month. They also lucked out and had a sunny weekend in Fargo. We stopped by the Pride of Dakota Holiday Showcase and got to sample a lot of North Dakota goodies like wine, sauces, honey, coffee, and even ground flaxseed. We were supposed to be shopping for gifts, but ended up buying more things for ourselves. OOPS!

We finally made it to the woodchipper when our friends were here! Yes, it is the original woodchipper used in the movie Fargo. It was fun to see and wear those awesome hats. 

I was very much looking forward to the holiday parade. It's always a lot of fun to see the floats, lights, and marching bands...or so that's what I thought. The Fargo parade didn't have a marching band or any type of band. That was disappointing. However, the lighted snow plow somewhat made up for it. Isn't he cute?