the good life

I have been overwhelmed with gratitude lately. I am so thankful to have a job that I love, a wonderful husband, an amazing family and a spectacular circle of friends. Now that I have more time on my hands, I'm feeling so grateful for a job that I can easily get away from in order to spend more time with family and friends. And so, we've been doing just that!

This past week, Mikey went to Bowens Lodge on Lake Winnibigoshish with his dad for their annual spring fishing trip. It's a tradition that they both look forward to every year. I've been lucky enough to be able to join them for parts of their trips for the past 4-5 years. This year was no different. I joined them on Thursday night for dinner, wine & cigars. Then on Friday we got out fishing for about 5 hours. I caught a nice 14" walleye... it was a keeper.
Then, the rest of the Fudala fam (Mike's mom- Dianne, sister- Kristen, b-i-l- Jake, nieces- Sienna & Sydnie) joined us Friday night for the fish fry. It's always nice when Mike and John catch enough fish to feed us all. The Fudala fam is quite fond of freshly cut french fries, so we indulged in those as well.
Then, on Saturday Mikey and I hung back at the cabin to spend some quality time with our nieces.
Sydnie did a lot of this:

while Sienna was on the go:
It was nice to catch up with everyone.
Then on Sunday we arrived back in Duluth before noon and realized we had a whole day together and wanted to make the most of it. So, we took a short road trip to Ely. Ely has been in the running (I think like top 10) for the coolest little city in America. It's very rugged as it's an entry point to the BWCA. We scoped out the culinary scene and decided to try a new brewpub. We split the fish and chips and a cheeseburger with onion rings. We both tried their IPA beer and it was pretty good. The meal was total glut but you gotta stick with a restaurant's specialties and on Sunday it was all about the pub food.
The best part of the trip is what we encountered on our way home. The trip along Hwy 1 to Hwy 61 is absolutely gorgeous. Very woodsy with beautiful little lakes. Along the way, I saw my very first moose in the wild:

The drive got even better as we took Hwy 61 down the north shore. Dense fog was moving in over Lake Superior and so we stopped at Palisade Head to take a look:
There was a group of people climbing the face of Palisade (see them at the top?)
We had such a wonderful day and really appreciated living in such a beautiful landscape together!!

Another perk of the spring fishing trip is that Morel mushrooms are abundant in the area around Lake Winnie. The local bottle shop in Deer River was selling all of these mushrooms for $8- a total steal!
We brought a bag of morels home to make mushroom risotto. We had the risotto with grilled chicken on Monday night:
The rest of the week has been pretty uneventful. I'm looking forward to seeing the Christenson fam this weekend when I go down to Nicollet for Hannah's graduation ceremony & party. I'm just so glad I have the time to do these things now without the stress of anything waiting for me when I return. I can truly relax and have a good time.

Speaking of relaxing... it's a gorgeous night here (80 degrees in May in Duluth is unheard of... we broke a temp record yesterday). I'm thinking life is good as I sit outside on our porch and enjoy a Sierra Nevada Pale Ale while using my new laptop!!
It was a graduation gift from the Fudala 'rents and I couldn't feel more spoiled. Thanks you guys!! Have a great memorial day weekend and happy graduation to Hannah!!