I’m Home (Home-Home)

In college, my friends and I had to find a way to differentiate between “home”—our dorm room, apartment, or temporary residence for the school year versus “home-home”—our permanent residence where we grew up and our parents lived. Instead of saying “home—where we grew up and where my parents live” we would say “home-home” and everyone knew what we meant.

Well, I am home-home now and enjoying a week-long vacation in Minnesota. I know many people out there picture Minnesota to be flat and boring, but I have grown to absolutely love the landscape. Yes, it is flat, but there are rolling hills to break up the topography. I love all the lakes, trees, and general beauty of the land.

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We came to Minnesota during November now because Craig wanted to go deer hunting. So far he hasn’t gotten a deer, but hopefully he will by the time we have to go back to Alaska.

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I love coming back home to the country and farmland. It sure beats the hectic city life.  DSC_0012

Saturday night the girls (me, my mom, and my sister) went to eat at The Cheese Cave in Faribault. The Cheese Cave makes their own homemade cheeses in caves situated near the Cannon River. Unfortunately they don’t give tours of the factory or the caves due to potential contamination of the cheeses. But we did enjoy some mighty fine grub at their restaurant.

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(Source)

We started with focaccia bread + a bleu cheese, bacon dip, and mushroom dipDSC_0022

We also got a cheese plate to start off with. I’ve gotten so used to having bland store-bought cheese that I didn’t realize what real cheddar cheese was supposed to taste like!

This plate also featured Tcho chocolate, which was the factory my girlfriends and I toured in San Francisco during my friend’s 30th birthday bash!

(10 points to any Cobber grad who noticed my sister’s ring.)DSC_0020

The seating area was right next the kitchen and you could watch them prepare all of our food, so you knew it was fresh. DSC_0017

My clone and sister, Kristy.DSC_0025My beautiful mom.

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Saturday night we went to the Waseca Marching Jays Indoor Marching Band Concert. This is a huge event for this community. Everyone comes out to support the high schoolers in this grand finale of the marching season. I was in the marching band for four years and it brought back a lot of memories.

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Monday morning we woke up to a not-so-pleasant surprise. It went from looking like this on Sunday to. . . . .

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a fresh dusting of snow! No one was expecting snow. I thought I was going to escape the snow by not being in Alaska. DSC_0032

It was quite chilly at 29* with a windchill of about 20* but that didn’t stop my sister from going for a run. We had to (literally) run to the store to get some crystallized ginger for some Kale Green Balance Juices.

DSC_0030I have been busy spending a lot of quality time with my family, enjoying family dinners, visiting friends, and just relaxing. I haven’t been very good about taking pictures, but I will try. I hope to stop in with another post soon.

Hi, I'm Michelle

I love running around the lakes of Minnesota, running after my two boys, and racing anything from the 5K to the marathon. I have been blogging here since 2010 when I ran my first marathon. I finally secured my sub-3 hour marathon after trying for 8 years.

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14 Comments

  1. 11.11.13
    Nichole said:

    I haven’t been the Cheese Cave yet! A shame since I live so close :). Would you recommend as one of those “must visit” places?

    • 11.13.13
      Michelle said:

      It was a cute little restaurant/store area. I don’t know that it would be a must-visit place. If you know someone, you can get a tour of the factory I hear.

  2. 11.11.13
    Sarah said:

    i totally get home-home too! that’s what we called it in college. 🙂 enjoy!

  3. 11.11.13
    Kati said:

    So fun that you went to see the Indoor! I haven’t been back for a few years, even though my sister’s still in the band. I miss that!

    • 11.13.13
      Michelle said:

      I hadn’t been back in years either. It was very nostalgic. 🙂

  4. 11.11.13
    Mom said:

    We are glad to have you “home-home” for a short time. I am enjoying our time together.

  5. 11.11.13
    Liz said:

    We called it home-home too! I know a couple who moved to Minnesota and it’s BEAUTIFUL! Then again, I’m dying to go to Alaska too cause I think it looks beautiful. The Cheese Cave sounds amazing! I love cheese!