Fantasy Football

Fantasy football has been a big topic of conversation in our household the past few Sundays. This year Pete is in a league for a small amount of money. I have serious mixed feelings about the worth of fantasy football.

On one hand, it makes watching the games more fun, even if your team isn't playing. We've definitely been watching more football than last year, and I'm loving it! It's fun to get into the games and always have someone to cheer for/against.

On the other hand, I think it takes away from pure enjoyment of the game. You're cheering for a team or player not because you really support them, but only because you hope to gain something from them. You also end up cheering in a very confused way; for instance, you might be for one team's offense, but against that same team's defense. Worse yet, you might root against your own team because they are playing key players from your fantasy team. Take today, for instance, when Peter cheered for Brett Favre playing against his Vikes. Shame. A real fan wouldn't let fantasy football sway his allegiances.

So yeah, it's a little bit fun and a little bit unfortunate at the same time.

One final note: now that October is almost here the countdown to hunting has begun!

Sweet Land

For what it's worth, here is a brief movie review. Pete spent all day today riding, so instead of cleaning the house by myself I took Fredo for a walk and watched a movie. I chose "Sweet Land" largely because the description said it was in Minnesota. It turned out to be a superb movie. It's about a German girl who comes to Minnesota in the 1920s to marry a Norwegian-American farmer. The scenery is beautiful and the story is subtle and lovely. This movie reminded me of my grandma and grandpa and reminded me of all my grandma's old pictures and stories. I highly recommend it, especially to those whose family were (or still are) farmers. It was happy and sad at the same time, and that's all I'll say about it except to say that you should watch it.

Bank of Anne

Normally I'm not a big one for lending money. I tend to generally agree with Shakespeare about "neither a borrower nor a lender be." I don't like borrowing from other people much, either. However, I recently made a small loan that I'm very excited about.

Last month Pete showed me an organization (Kiva) that offers an opportunity to lend money to entrepreneurs in the developing world. They request money for their businesses and you choose which person you would like to help and lend money toward their total loan. After the loan is disbursed, they begin paying it back. The default rate is much lower than I expected.

I loaned $25 to Jemimah Mwerezi, a tailor in Kenya who needed to buy a sewing machine. She had been running a successful business using her neighbor's sewing machine, but the neighbor is not letting her use it anymore. She requested $1200, and her loan was disbursed last week.

I like being able to use my resources to touch one person's life. I have so much, and I'm glad that I got the chance to share a little bit with someone else. I also appreciate that it's not charity, it's empowering people. I made my loan to celebrate getting engaged. I think I will make it a personal tradition to make a loan to celebrate good things that happen to me.

If you're interested in more information, the website is http://www.kiva.org

***Note: I just looked at the Kiva website, and due to a recent increase in publicity, they've funded every business on their website. It says they are currently processing applications for new loans, so if you want to donate, wait a bit and check back.

Candles

I'm not a huge candle person, but I like ones that make your house smell good. It's more fun to burn them in the fall or winter because they make houses seem cozy. I love candles that have mostly natural ingredients and not a lot of dyes, etc. So now that it's September, here are my favorite candles:

Caldrea - They make wonderful cleaning stuff that smells really good. Pete and I chose the Basil Blue Sage scent for our house, and we use their dish soap, countertop spray, hand soap, and linen spray. They also make very pretty candles in the same fragrances that smell fantastic.

Tocca - I have loved their lotion forever, but didn't buy their candle for a long time because it's spendy. I got over that, and I adore their candle in the Stella fragrance. It smells like blood oranges.

l'Occitane - I received a lavender candle from their store for my birthday and I'm loving it. I looked at their website, and there are several others I'm interested in trying. I'm in the market for an orange/cinnamon type candle for the kitchen, and I think they might get the nod.

Thymes - Their Frasier Fir scented candle will be coming home with my this holiday season :) Pete says we can't have a real Christmas tree because of the needles. This makes me sad, because I've never had a fake tree. In my family we always had Douglas Fir Charlie Brown Style trees. So this year we'll be putting up a fake tree and in exchange for my compliance, Peter will be purchasing me the most realistic smelling pine-scented candle. This one.

So Long Summer

In my mind summer is the span of time between Memorial Day and Labor Day each year. Today is Labor Day, so summer is over. It's always kind of sad, but there's a lot to look forward to. Here's a quick look back at the highlights of our summer:

It was our first summer in our new house, and it was so much fun seeing what came up in the garden.

Camping with Peter and Fredo at Maplewood State Park.

Camping with Prior Lake friends at Lake Bemidji.

Central. Air.

Visiting my family in Montana for two blissfull weeks and then scenic bywaying the heck out of the way home.

Watching the Tour for 3 weeks, routing for Levi but being happy for Contador, too.

Pete asked me to marry him on August 26th and still managed to surprise me. I said yes, of course :)

It was a wonderful, if very busy, summer. Here's what I'm looking forward to now that it's over:

SoDak pheasant opener - I get to see my parents and Huck and Tom!

Football. The Griz are supposed to be good this year.

Hockey! I'm ready to cheer for both Bucky and Goldy.

Planning a wedding. I'm so excited! My hope is that our wedding will reflect our personalities and that everyone who attends will have a fabulous time.

Drinking tea.