HyVee, backyards and my cute boy who loves his truck :)

A blog that encompasses the time we spend in Iowa would just not be complete without significant homage to HyVee, one of the few places in Dubuque that offers bright lights, bulk foods, and mood lifting solace all in one, big, high ceilinged room.  Yesterday after we purchased our new camera for blog and life documentation (highly recommend the Sony DSC-W350, it has a 4x zoom and music!) we stopped at lovely HyVee to pick up some more whole wheat flour for making bread.  I have finally zeroed in on the right ingredient measurements and combinations (which include the highly technical terms "pinch" and "when it looks right") that produce great, whole wheat, flax and oatmeal breads.  Of course, I couldn't do this without the help of our handy bread maker, a wedding present that tops the list of most used gifts so far (thanks Jill and Dave).  But, the real reason that HyVee gets a mention in this blog is because the first time I visited Dubuque with Nick, it wasn't the great historical significance of the city that he waxed eloquent about, it was HyVee, where the aisles are wide, and people are nice.   

"HyVee, where there's a helpful smile in every aisle"

Also requiring documentation is the beautiful surroundings we've found ourselves in here in Iowa.  Theresa's backyard is really an oasis and we haven't taken advantage of it nearly as much as we could.  There is such a variety of plant life, and we have a little taste of home outside too, as the remainders of our house plants and Nick's propagation experiments have taken up residence on the back patio.   If you squint you can see some of the bounty of tomatoes we've been enjoying on the table: there is absolutely  nothing in the world like a home grown tomato, and we've been eating up tons of Theresa's, our bodies thank us for the vitamin C and lycopene!

Look at Nick's simultaneously cute and sad face as he says goodbye to his beloved truck; we are trading it in for some value to offset the cost of our new car that we're picking up tomorrow.  Don't uncross your fingers yet, there are still a few more little repairs that have to happen before we buy it.  By this time tomorrow, if all goes as planned, we will be part of the Subaru family!

Nick does indeed keep promising to write funny quips about this time in our lives, stay tuned.