by Amy | Dec 20, 2012 | Blog, The Art of Adventure, The Art of the Moment
Christmas is a magical time, no matter where you are…but I’ve come to believe that it might be a little extra magical the further north you go. And in Practically Canada it’s pretty magical. I know we are still a long way from Santa’s house at the North Pole, but I feel closer than I’ve ever been.
Is it cold? You bet. So cold that I can’t feel my fingers if I forget my gloves after dark. So cold that 25 degrees {F} feels balmy and I think…”Oh good, I don’t need a coat.”
But the thing about North Dakota is that the cold doesn’t deter folks from having a good time. Christmas festivities {yes outdoor stuff too} goes on in full flavor.
Last week I went to a Christmas cantata in a barn held in the middle of no where. We sat on hay bales and singers wore jeans and cowboy hats. I’ve driven through parks lit with lights, shopped the precious downtown stores, been served hot chocolate and shishkabobs cooked on the sidewalk while strolling downtown.
Then…when I thought I truly knew what Paul McCartney was talking about when he sang the song, “Simply having a wonderful Christmas time…” it happened. The coolest Christmas event I’ve ever been part of. The Christmas Train.
Yes. This is as close as you’ll get to the real life Polar Express. Each year the Canadian Pacific train makes a pass across the northern part of the country. Stopping off at towns along the way, spreading holiday cheer and raising awareness for community food banks. It’s one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen. My fingers were too cold to take video…but these folks took a pretty good one and posted it. You really need to watch this baby roll.
Was it cold? You betcha. Only 5 degrees with a windchill well below zero. But that doesn’t stop the masses in Practically Canada. Loads of folks braved the cold to see the lights, indulge in hot cider and cocoa…and partake in a sing along concert that took place on a stage that opened out of one of the train cars. Amazing.
And what would a Christmas train be with no Santa? Easy…the answer to that question is…LAME. So obviously the man-in-the-hat was there as well to dance on stage during the finally. Then, as sweetly as it arrived, the stage closed up, the crowd backed away, a whistle blew and the jolly express rolled away into the night.
See what I mean? Magical. I hope your December has been as special as mine has! For more info on the Holiday Train check out their blog here!
Amy
by Amy | Dec 3, 2012 | Blog, The Art of Adventure, The Art of Living
I can’t guarantee that this is the only awkward thing that will happen in my life this holiday season. But I can tell you that the event I’m about to describe goes down in history as one of the most janky, rigged-up, random things Derek and I have ever done.
And we’ve done a lot of weird things in our day. I’ll start by showing you a photo of the tree while we were decking it out. Now let me tell you how we got here…
So it’s Christmas time and we needed a tree. One of our favorite holiday traditions is finding our Christmas tree…and cutting it down ourselves if at all possible. The only time we’ve bought off a lot was when we lived in Oklahoma, and that’s only because they are so hard up for trees down there.
Over the years we have found some pretty precarious trees. Like the tree we got in Florida after driving by a random evergreen field. There was a mailbox with a saw hanging from a nail on the post and a sign that read : “Christmas Trees $25. Use the saw. Put money in the mailbox.”
Seriously I can’t make this stuff up. We hauled that one home in the back of our 1995 convertible LeBaron.
But what happened this weekend was even more redneck than that.
Saturday started innocently, with our weekly trip to Menard’s. {We always need something from Menard’s.} After picking up screws and bolts we went to the garden section to get a tree. But when we walked outside it just didn’t feel right. Sure, the nearest Christmas tree farm is hours away. But there had to be a Christmas tree for us somewhere in the wild. So we left tree-less and took a drive into the sticks to see if we could find a tree that we could whack down ourselves.
It turns out…there aren’t many more trees here than there were in Oklahoma.
We drove and drove. And what we found was that evergreens are planted intentionally up here. They lined lawns and created property boarders, but none seemed appropriate to cut down and haul off without facing criminal fines. We were about to give up and drive home when suddenly…there it was…
It was a true Clark Griswald moment. You know like at the beginning of the movie when he sees the tree, and it doesn’t matter that it’s way too big, or that it’s not even the kind of tree you use for a Christmas decoration. “Thith tree is a thymbol of the thspirit of the Griswold family Chrithmath.” And we knew it would be ours.
Where was this magical tree? I think this photo can speak for itself.
Yep. You are seeing correctly. It was at the edge of a gas station. All alone. Obviously an intrusive tree, not meant to be there. What gave us further calm about taking it for our own was the fact that it was half uprooted by the wind. If we left it, it would just die anyway…this was much more dignified. Sure, it was leaning back on another tree…but we’d be able to straighten it up in the stand. Sure it literally had empty bird nests in it…but we’d shake it good before taking it inside. Sure it was full…but we have tree trimmers at the house.
So Derek cut. And once it was cut we had another Griswald moment. Pretty much the same realization Russ has when he says: “Dad, that thing wouldn’t fit in our yard.” But we knew, “It’s not going in our yard, Russ, it’s going in our living room.” It was big.
But stuffed it in the back of the Equinox anyway. Somehow we got the doors closed and we hauled it home where we whacked off a few feet at the bottom, and I trimmed it into a respectable shape. Once up in the living room we really realized how ugly natural it looked. Full of holes, still a bit crooked. It looks as awkward as the circumstances it came from. But we put it up, slathered it in lights and used the trimmings to deck the rest of our halls.
In 2012 we cut down our own tree. And it was a beaut, Clark.
Amy
by Amy | Nov 30, 2012 | Blog, The Art of Adventure
Most of you have heard me lovingly refer to my new home of Minot, ND as “Practically Canada.” It is. The boarder is only a stone’s throw away. People here are silly-friendly and sometimes they drag their “oos” and “ohs.”
But that’s beside the point right now. Today I’m just itching to tell you about how I, Amy Allender, became Practically Canadian last night.
Derek and I….went curling!
Yes, Minot has a curling club. And, let me tell you…it’s awesome. {More awesome than it looks on TV.}
Let me describe the set up for you. Our friend Zach was cool enough to introduce us to the curling club and let us crash their exhibition practice.
I’ll be honest. We drove around for a while looking for the right place. First we actually missed the mark and ended up at a gymnastics studio. Lots of little girls in leotards. Hmmm…I was looking for teenage boys and middle aged men dressed in sweatpants and ski caps. Guess we were in the wrong place.
A second try landed us in the right place: The commercial building at the fair grounds, if you’ll believe it. Zach told us it would be cold…but this was really insane. They literally froze the floor. You could see your breath. Like a walk in freezer, but more fun. {Freezers aren’t that much fun. All the food is frozen solid and there isn’t enough room to play games.}
We were coached on by a curling pro. Do you believe that? I didn’t. Yeah, he’s so legit. He’s been to nationals. {Whatever that means.} And his son competed on the junior Olympic team. Legit. I don’t think he understood at first just how little we knew about the sport. As in “Umm…okay, so what is the point of the game?”
I’ll be honest, I change the channel when I see curling in the winter Olympics. I was clueless.
Here’s the brief on how the game works. Players take turns shoving heavy granite rocks down the ice toward a bulls eye. The rocks closest to the center score. You wear one slippery shoe to help you glide across the ice. Your teammates can sweet these little brooms in front of your rock to melt the ice a bit to help it keep moving further. Get it?
Now, here is the best part of the night. Kebly the curling pro said this to Derek:
“So…Amy must be pretty athletic. Did she play lots of sports in school?”
Yep. He said that. About me…B-Team Allender. Yes, I played lots of sports…poorly. Anything that required skill or coordination was pretty much out of the question. On the tennis team I got “most improved” {we all know that’s what they give the worst player. I went from awful to…pretty bad.} I was so bad I wasn’t even a real part of JV. I played exhibition. So if the opposing team had extra players that didn’t match up with ours, they could hit around with me. Pretty bad, right?
Anyway. The curling pro said this could be my sport. He says I’m a natural.
{Leave it to me to brag about something this weird and awkward.}
It was amazing. We are joining the curling club. I’m practically Canadian. Done-dundee.
Amy
by Amy | Oct 8, 2012 | Blog, The Art of Adventure
Fifer’s produce near Dover, DE
Lots of fun had this weekend during a trip to Fifer’s Orchard near Dover, DE. Lucky us for showing up during a Fall Festival weekend! Even though there were lots of activities geared toward little ones, we were still entertained for hours.
Fifer’s produce and corn maze near Dover, DE
Fifer’s offers loads of jolly times. Including a corn maze. This year’s theme: Tractor to Table. Check out the map of the maze below! Crazy, right? How the heck do they do that??
Tractor to Table corn maze Fifer’s Orchard
I loved looking at the cool pumpkins. This is the type of thing that Martha loves. If I hadn’t flown in…you better believe I would be going home with some of these squatty green guys and warty lovelies. Yes, that’s right, I have no idea what they are actually called.
And when we weren’t playing outside, we were hanging in the fruit stand. Sipping apple cider slushies {crazy delicious} and filling mix and match bags with the prettiest apples I’ve seen this season.
Fun and games at the fall festival
And what is it about orchards, corn mazes and tricycle races? I don’t know why they go hand in hand, but they do.
Zip lining at Fifer’s Orchard
Oh, yeah. The best part? Well…besides spending an afternoon with some of my BFF’s?
The zip line.
Obviously. Weight limit cuts off at 150 lbs…so that meant I had all the fun while the boys stood on the sidelines crazy jelly. Did the children see my underoos? There’s a good chance. But come, on. It’s a zip line through bales of hay.
All in all…it’s one of the best days I’ve had this fall. Thanks Fifer’s. You rock.
Amy
PS…What did we do with all the produce we lugged home? Caramel apples, apple pie, pumpkin carving, pumpkin seeds, apples and peanut butter, and hot apple cider. I’m pretty sure I’ve gained 20 lbs this weekend. So worth it.
by Amy | Sep 28, 2012 | Blog, The Art of Adventure, The Art of Fitness
Happy Friday everyone. Today is Friday, I hope you have all been taking advantage of the awesome fall weather. I hope you are ready to get out and be active.
Last night’s Trim and Tone class used steps…so the circuits were not equipment free. So instead, I thought I’d share a bit about my recent experience at an Urban Adventure Race. It definitely got us out and running. It’s fitness, exploration, and adventure in a creative way.
We participated in the Great Urban Race in Minneapolis, put on by Red Frog Events.
At the start of the race each team {of 2-4 participants} gets an envelope with 12 clues inside. On “Go” everyone opens the clues and starts racing. Clues can be in the form or riddles, puzzles, etc. Each riddle leads you to a location in the city…usually a cool small business, art gallery or other local treasure. One clue was required a sudoku’s solution to discover an address. Another was deciphered by solving a cryptogram.
Once you know where you need to go, get there as fast as possible. No cars, taxis or bikes. Go on foot or bus. Locations are spread across the city and can be miles apart. Upon arrival, your team needs to complete another puzzle or activity. Then snap a photo to prove completion.
1. After arriving at indie art gallery we were lead to the basement. Then we had a choice…tarantella or cockroach? Well, you see what we chose. Then lay down, put it on your face and snap a photo.
2. Once arriving at Hell’s kitchen Derek needed to paint a mustache on me with chocolate frosting, then I dipped my face in dry cake mix. And…photo.
3. One challenge required taking a photo with a bald stranger. That was an awkward request to make…
It was crazy fun. We jogged/walked about 8 miles…in addition to performing other feats of strength. Like scaling a boulder wall, jumping off scaffolding onto an air bag, biking an obstacle course, and talking to lots of strangers.
1. At a local sporting goods shop we scaled a bouldering wall.
2. At a local artisan showcase we had to make a craft for each other.
You can find a race near you here. But there are lots of event organizers that put these kind of events on. Like Urban Dare, Gulf Coast Adventure, and Merrell Oyster Races. Any way you cut it…now’s the perfect time to find a creative way to get out and get fit…before the winter traps us inside.
Amy
by Amy | Sep 28, 2012 | Blog, The Art of Adventure
I thought it would be super appropriate to share some insider photos from my visit to the set of Parks & Rec.
I know…how lucky am I to have a super talented, awesome friend that works in production at one of my favorite shows? Pretty darn lucky.
Let’s review. Tyler and I met in college while studying abroad. We soon discovered that besides owning the exact same camcorder to document our adventures we had a lot in common…like, we’d rather be hiking through the wilderness than drinking at a pub. And we’d rather go to church {which we did twice a week} than dancing at the clubs. To this day, I still consider him family.
So you can imagine how proud I am that he has struck out on his own and made it in LA. He now works as a production assistant on Parks and Rec. And I was lucky enough to get to go to work with him for a few hours.
Ty said I wasn’t allowed to show these photos from the set. Copy right stuff and what not. But I couldn’t resist. So, check this out. It’s me behind Ron Swanson’s desk. I know…it’s a little blurry. That’s Krissy’s fault.
I had to block out a little bit of the shot…So Ty wouldn’t get fired.
I can however show you these photos. From the office upstairs, where the magic happens. It’s where the writer’s come up with the hilarious scripts that make up the show.
1. In the offices there is tons of P&R memorabilia from the show. Posters, maps, props…but best of all Lil’ Sebastian.
2. Welcome to Pawnee! The bottom says {First in friendship, fourth in obesity.} I am in love with this show, because they do such a good job at poking fun at Indiana.
3. Pawnee city map. Fun fact. Pawnee is a map of Muncie, IN inverted.
4. Tyler an me by his desk. It’s so legit.
Here are a few things I learned about making TV. First of all…it is so much work. They do each shot about 10 times. Just to garauntee that the funniest stuff makes it into your living room.
Everyone works so hard. Ty pulls 12 hour days all week. Some of the cast shows up for work at 5 a.m. The hair and make up folks are constantly on call. It takes about a week of super long days to make one episode.
The set is so awesome. City hall is more than partial rooms build to look like a government building. It’s halls and rooms and offices. The detail is insane. Photos, vitamins, random objects all in perfect place to make the set look incredibly realistic. All the paper is headed with the Pawnee logo, all the photos say Pawnee City Hall.
Everyone’s hair looks extra big in person. Especially the men.
Amy Pohler is so cute and she has the silliest laugh. Rashida Jones is even more beautiful that you can imagine. Aubrey Plaza is super pretty and I heard her say some really awesome-random things.
Did I talk to any of the celebs. No. Absolutely not. I was blessed enough to be there. They were working. I was a random spectator at their place of employment. So I let them do their thing. And I just stood there…and tried not to make eye contact or get in anyone’s way.
1. Funny stuff from the office.
2. Celeb trailers on the lot…literally, trailers.
Happy Thursday Comedy Night Done Right {NBC}.
Amy
by Amy | Sep 20, 2012 | Blog, The Art of Adventure
Okay. Admittedly I’ve been more miss than hit this week. But, there hasn’t been a lot of time for borrowing a computer to post on lately. I’ve been more busy experiencing life as a local {kind of}, being a tourist and catching up with two of my besties.
But here’s a quick over view of what’s been eating up my time.
We ate this fancy ice cream made in front of our eyes with liquid nitrogen. {Like gourmet Rocket Science…}
Visited a classy hotel that looks like a mission. Then we snuck upstairs to “guest only” quarters to see the views.
We ate a golden velvet cupcake from Casey’s Cupcakes…winner of Cupcake Wars. It is literally dusted with 24k gold. Yeah, not making that up.
We saw the Griffith Observatory…but it was closed.
Went to a mall with a legit puppy store. Pure bred puppies living the high life. The cutest thing I’ve ever seen. What? you want to touch one? That’s fine…just ask them at the counter, tell them which one. Then cuddle. It was amazing.
We ate blue velvet cake from Aroma Cafe in LA. It’s a local treasure frequented by celebs. No big deal.
Saw the hand prints outside that Chinese Theatre. I learned that John Wayne’s feet were the same size as mine.
Learned where TV is made. This is the CBS lot where Tyler works on Parks and Rec.
I saw where Parks & Rec is made. This is Ty’s desk. The writers are down the hall. We saw the whole cast. Working. Up close. Standing about 3 feet away. Was I starstruck? Most definitely. I just tried not to make eye contact. No photos there though…that’s not allowed.
I practically met Li’l Sebastian.
All in all it’s a good trip. Today we are going to Sea World…among other awesome things. I miss you, and I promise I’ll tell you more interesting things in the coming days.
Have a good one. Make today an adventure…even if you aren’t on vacation.
Amy
by Amy | Sep 9, 2012 | Blog, The Art of Adventure, The Art of the Moment
Keeping with the blog theme here, let’s talk about the unexpected. Over Labor Day Derek and I got some tourist action in down in Rapid City, SD. Tonight I’d like to share some photography and thoughts from our time at the monuments.
I don’t think the four men featured in this monument would have ever expected to be immortalized in this over the top fashion. If you had told George or Tom that their face would be larger than life, carved in a mountain…I dare say they would not have believed you. These were men who did their job, who made their lives count. I don’t think any of them “saw it coming.” The impact their lives would have on our nation, the lasting affects their efforts would have on the generations to follow.
So often we can’t tell how our lives will ripple into the generations to follow. We cannot predict the circumstances that will come our way. We can only face the unexpected with a courageous heart, solid values, and a compassionate soul. Hoping to navigate in such a way that we live a life worthy of remembrance…even if we aren’t carved in a mountain.
Call me corny, but I’ve wanted to lay eyes on this rock for the better part of my life. I thought it would be simply breath taking. And it is.
If you’ve never seen it, don’t believe people when they tell you it’s hokey. It’s faces carved into a mountain. In case you didn’t know…hokey is not a synonym for awesome. This is awesome.
During our time in Rapid City we also went to the Crazy Horse Monument. {It’s where that awkward photo moment took place. } Like Rushmore, it’s a memorial sculpture in a mountain. Which is amazing because it is a project totally funded privately. Generations of family members have worked to preserve this land and move forward with the project. It’s been going since the 1940’s. Someday it will {hopefully} look like this scale model. You know how they “carve it”? Dynamite. Seriously, I’m not kidding. They are carving a person in a mountain with explosives. It blew my mind. {I love puns.}
Amy
