Silver Lake Sand Dunes

Camping went well. The campsite was a little crowded, but still fun. Weather could have been hotter, but oh well. The Silver Lake sand dunes were awesome though! I have never seen anythign like this before haha. It's seriously huge sand dunes next to a thick forest. Really cool. You climb through the forest and then on top of a hill you come up to these huge dunes. We hiked all over them. It was really difficult! It was cool though because once you got to the top of one dune, you could run down the other side or jump into the sand. You could also see really far on top of some of them. On one side you could see Silver Lake and on the other Lake Michigan. We ended up hiking to Lake Michigan, which was really neat because once we got there we went swimming. It was kind of windy, but it made for some fun waves. After a good swim we hiked back through the dunes. It was so much fun! I'm kind of glad the weather wasn't too hot because it made the dunes less crowded and enjoyable. At times we were the only footprints in the sand. I forgot my camera, but here is a picture my friend Kristen took. I think we might go back again before the summer is over. I'll for sure remember my camera this time!

Photowalk

Today was the second annual worldwide photowalk. I had heard about this a couple of weeks ago and someone got a photowalk organized for Bismarck. It sounded like fun so I signed up for it. Basically, it was a group of about 15 people and we had a couple of hours to wander around snapping pictures. We met downtown which is a great location for photos. I didn't think I would need two hours to cover downtown, but really I ended up feeling bummed that I didn't have more time. I will have to find some time to do it again. I ended up walking with a lady from North Carolina. She was here visiting family and knew she wouldn't be home to do the one there so she signed up for the Bismarck one. We were the only two with plain Jane digital cameras, everyone else had high tech professional gear, but we ended up with some nice shots. I have to also post these to the photowalk site. There is a chance for prizes, but really I'm just excited to see what everyone took pictures of.Every time we heard the train we were at least three blocks away from the tracks. I still took a picture of the tracks.

This is one of my favorite shots. I got snap happy here and was probably the reason I ended up with a full memory card before time was up.

This is my "don't do anything" picture. Don't walk, don't rollerblade and don't skateboard.

This is my most favorite picture of all. I thought it was neat, but when I saw the picture I was so excited about how cool it looked. I found it in an alley, kind of to the side. So glad I wanted to take some closer pictures of the alley or I would have never walked by this.

This picture is for Fred's mom. Apparently this is where the Norma Apartments are. There were so many things I saw downtown that I had never noticed before. I drive by these places all the time, but when you are busy driving you just don't pay attention to them.

My new cruiser!

I am so excited to show you all my new bike!!! I looked up the serial number and found out it's a 1974 Schwinn Breeze ladies bike. It's also banana yellow!! haha. It has three gears. I'm really stoked about my new find! My roommate Nicola actually hooked me up with it (she's really into biking). How nice of her!
I really want to restore it. I kind of wish I was at home so dad could help me! What a fun project! Right now, I have to get its rear brake fixed. That seems to be the only major problem with it. I'm also looking for a basket because I'm pretty sure it had a wicker one in the front. I'd also like to get a a new chain and gears. It definitely has some rust on it... oh well :)
Hope you enjoy, and let me know what you think!






Bike registration that expired in '78

4th of July weekend

Here are some pictures of me from the 4th. It was hard work, but I had a lot of fun. I didn't get to ride in a hot air balloon this time, but oh well. The weather was alright. Kind of overcast the whole weekend until Sunday, which was really hot. I hope everyone else had a great 4th!

The Crew!

Me and Sugar Bear! (Battle Creek is the home of Kelloggs. There's also a Tony the Tiger balloon)

Spotting the Thunder Birds in the sky for the camera operator.

After three hours of sleep... coffee is in order! the sun hasn't even come up yet...

Me shooting aerobatic. planes

Random hot air balloon pictures...

Happy 4th of July Everyone!!

Happy 4th of July! Brian and I are still trying to figure out what we want to do for tommorow. I have to work during the day only so I have the evening off to watch fireworks. We may stay at the hotel in the evening to watch the fireworks show along the falls. I'm not sure yet. I think Heidi will sleep through them but they do get really loud even when we were far away last year. We'll see. I have a cute outfit for her and I'll take some pictures to share. Hope everyone has a fun time tommorow. Oh and brian and I booked our flight to europe today!! yay! Laurie-we will have a 1 1/2 hour lay over in Detroit when we come back to the states. Hope you can make it for a little bit to say hi. Miss ya!

Onsie grandpa & grandma gross bought Heidi.

She's starting to kick and hit the seasame street gang.

Heidi and daddy having fun together.

During our outing this weekend we walked along the falls.

We had a wicked storm roll through quickly with hail and flooding. My roses on ice.

Brian checking out the side street flooded. It's two houses down from us.

Pineapple Strawberry Punch:

2 packages (10 ounces each) frozen sweetened sliced strawberries, thawed

1 can (46 ounce) pineapple juice, chilled

4 cups lemon-lime soda, chilled

*In a food processor or blender, puree the strawberries. Pour into a large punch bowl. Stir in the pineapple juice and soda. Serve Immediately. (I had so much of this left over so I stored it in the fridge. It still was really good after sitting in the fridge for awhile. I used a 2gallon container from walmart ($4.00) that had a pour spout. It worked out great to get some from the fridge quickly.)

Banana Cream Cheesecake:

1 3/4 Cup Graham Cracker crumbs

1/4 Cup Sugar

1/2 Cup butter,melted

FILLING:
1 package (8ounces) Cream Cheese,softened

1/2 sugar

1 carton (8 ounces)frozen whipped topping, thawed, divided

3 to 4 medium firm bananas, sliced

1 3/4 cups cold milk

1 package (3.4 ounces) instant banana cream pudding mix

Directions:

In a small bowl, combine graham cracker crumbs and sugar: stir in butter. Set aside 1/2 cup for topping. Press remaining crumb mixture onto the bottom and up the sides of a greased 9 inch springform pan. Or a 9 inch square baking pan. Bake at 350 for 9-7 minutes. Cool on wire rack.

In a large bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Fold in 2 cups of whipped topping. Arrange half of the banana slices in crust; top with half of the cream cheese mixture. Repeat layers. (I just mixed the banana slices into the cream cheese mixture to make it easier. Who needs layers?)

(For this next part, I accidentally bought the "Cook & Serve" pudding mix instead of the instant. I still was able to use it. I just let the pudding cool for a little bit so I could pour it on top but didn't let it cool too much so it set in the pan. Then I topped it off with the remaining whipped topping. Still turned out great if you mistakenly buy the wrong pudding mix also.) In a small bowl, whisk milk and pudding mix for 2 minutes. Let stand 2 minutes or until soft-set; fold in remaining whipped topping. Pour over the cream cheese layer. Sprinkle with reserved crumb mixture. Refrigerate for 1-2 hours or until set.

Here's two recipes I tried for a BBQ with friends. They are so easy to make and taste so refreshing on those hot days. A Good summer dessert and drink. The Punch tastes like a melted strawberry margarita but of course no liquor. I got both of these recipes from Taste of Home Magazine.

Brian and I haven't been up to much lately. I finally organized everything in the house to get some things ready for a garage sale. I can't wait to get rid of some things. I found some clothes from my first year of high school! Yikes.

Heidi is doing great. We went for a nice walk the other day along the falls and there were some bands playing and a bunch of people out feeding the ducks and geese. It was a perfect afternoon and Heidi got some fresh air. By the time we came home from our outing, Heidi was ready for a bottle and then a bath. What a evening for her. She was so tired by time she was done with her bath at 10pm. I think I will have to go for a walk with her every night and keep that routine going so she sleeps. She didn't wake up until 6:30am the next morning. :) She's doing really well with her nights now. She knows when it's late and when it's time to sleep.

In between Heidi's naps this weekend, Brian and I have been planning our trip to Europe. I guess it's going to really happen this time. We have our hotel booked in Germany right now for the first week of November. We will be staying in Schliersee Germany, it's right in the foothills of the Bavarian Alps. We are still looking into hotels for the U.K because everything is so expensive there. We are going to ask our friend of where he would recomend to stay near thier wedding location. I can't wait to go. I'm excited but not sure if it quite has sunk-in yet.

Thrift store shopping

Today mom and I went thrift store shopping. I found so many good treasures. The best one being the bench in the picture. It is in the back entryway. I then found the picnic basket which will be used as a storage bin under the bench. This gave me some much needed motivation to finally clean up the back entryway. Things just get dumped back there, but now it's looking good. I also found some other neat stuff including an old bathroom scale, homecoming pins, souvenir glasses, and some other odds and ends. It was so much fun and a much needed break.

Light and fresh potato salad

Fred didn't like this, but I didn't expect him to. I loved it! It is a really good salad for summer. I had some red potatoes I had to use up and this was perfect with our grilled sandwiches tonight. I just left out the orange bell pepper because they're too stinkin expensive. I'm taking leftovers to work tomorrow and probably the next day. Real good alternative to traditional potato salad. Once again from Cooking Light.
Ingredients
Dressing:
1/4 cup seasoned rice vinegar
2 tablespoons canola oil
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Salad:
5 cups cubed red potato (about 2 pounds)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup chopped peeled cucumber
3/4 cup sliced grape or cherry tomatoes
3/4 cup chopped green bell pepper
1/2 cup chopped orange bell pepper
1/4 cup chopped green onions
1 (2 1/4-ounce) can sliced ripe olives, drained
Preparation
1. To prepare dressing, combine first 4 ingredients in a large bowl; stir with a whisk.
2. To prepare salad, place potato and 1/2 teaspoon salt in a medium saucepan. Cover with water to 2 inches above potato; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 8 minutes or until tender; drain.
3. Add potato to dressing in bowl, tossing gently to coat; let stand 15 minutes. Stir in cucumber and remaining ingredients; toss well. Cover and chill.

Bats! Why'd it have to be bats?

So summer is in full swing. The weather is getting nice, but I still haven't made it to the beach yet :( I have been working a fair amount of hours at Bombay and I've been making good money. I got a sixty dollar tip one night for a large table. It was a nice feeling to make that amount in less than an hour! :D WGVU is going well. I work there once a week and then whatever other hours I can pick up. In July, I plan on working the Field of Flight Festival again, which is the one where I got to go up in the hot air balloon. It's usually a lot of fun. OH!... I almost forgot... the show last year won an Emmy! So now I can put "Emmy award winning" on my resume! Yay! Speaking of resume stuff, some of my footage for my internship might be used in a full-length PBS special. That would be cool! I've been having difficulties with organizing all my crap though and getting a crew together. Some of my film/video friends are interested in the production and one has already committed, so that is good. The communications professor that I'm working with and has the PBS connection offered to help me with the interviews and art direction so it's more "PBS material" and I said that would be awesome, but I had already asked some of my friends (and colleagues). I just hope we can do a good enough job. We've all graduated, and I know they do great work, so I guess I'm putting the people I know ahead of people I don't and have never worked with. I hope that's a good move? I'd just feel like I'd betray my friends if I told them that I was going to work with "professionals" instead of them. So yeah... wow. That consumes my life right now. Wow.
I have also ate a lot of Indian food lately. Go figure haha. Sooo good though. I wish I could mail everyone some haha. Looks like you'll just have to come to Michigan! :D I've also been doing yoga every morning for about 15 minutes. It's awesome! I don't really drink coffee anymore because of it, which is really great. Plus it's helped me feel really good lately both mentally and physically. It's great and I recommend it to anyone! Awesome way to start the day!
Craziness in the house lately. A couple of weeks ago we found a bat flying around in our attic one night. Nothing ever really came of it until two nights ago. We thought the bat left. Nope. So I went to go to sleep one night and felt something moving around under my sheets. Something furry and web-like. Startled, I jumped out of bed. I listened and heard a faint chipping. Holy s@*#! There's a bat in my f*@$&%^ bed!!! Craziness bestowed the house as I let my roommates kill it. We finally got it to stop moving, but bats never die apparently, so we set it outside in a bucket. It was gone in the morning. So either it's going to come back in vengeance or another animal took it. Needless to say, the attic door stays shut for now on!
Eric and I are doing good. In a couple weeks, he starts a job at a Parks and Rec program. I think he's excited because he can leave his current job. We'll also be able to spend more time together since we work opposite shifts right now. So yay!
My friends and I are planing a camping trip for sometime at the end of July, so that should be fun. I do need to make it to the beach soon though! I need a nonstressful day! I also need to get my tan on. Eric works outside and so I look so incredibly pale next to him :( hahah. oh well I guess. Oh and I have a couple current pictures to share. My friend Kristen snapped them the other day (I should be smiling though) Anyways, I hope everyone is having a wonderful summer!!! OH! and GO WINGS!

California Chicken Sandwich

I grilled the chicken just because it was easier and one less pan to wash. It turned out great. We didn't have avocado with it, but it was still very good. It's a really good sandwich for the summer. We had corn on the cob too.
Ingredients:

Citrus mayonnaise:
1/3 cup fat-free mayonnaise
2 tablespoons thawed orange juice concentrate
1 teaspoon lime juice
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/8 teaspoon hot sauce

Sandwiches:
4 (4-ounce) skinned, boned chicken breast halves
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
Cooking spray
8 (1 1/2-ounce) slices diagonally cut sourdough bread, toasted
4 small romaine lettuce leaves
2 plum tomatoes, each cut lengthwise into 4 slices
1 peeled avocado, cut into 8 wedges

Preparation
To prepare citrus mayonnaise, combine first 5 ingredients in a small bowl.
To prepare the sandwiches, sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper. Place a large nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray over medium-high heat; add chicken. Cook 5 minutes on each side. Reduce heat to low. Cover; cook 5 minutes or until done. Remove from heat. Cut chicken diagonally across grain into thin slices.
Spread 1 tablespoon citrus mayonnaise on each of 4 bread slices. Top with 1 lettuce leaf, 1 chicken breast half, 2 tomato slices, 2 avocado wedges, and remaining bread slices.

Graduation

Here are some pictures from graduation. The first is a picture of me outside the house I live in. The second picture is the cake eric's parents got me. then some pictures from campus and me in my cap and gown.

The weekend was fun, but it went by too fast! It rained most of weekend and it still is. Tomorrow I have a job interview. Wish me luck!

Heidi Renae :-)

Victoria is meeting the new boss in town.

Daddy, the engineer seems confused on the bottle situation.

Heidi Renae Gross

Kelly wanted me to post a picture before all 3 of us went to sleep, so here ya go! I am still in shock as to how incredibly how fast it went. I came home from work at 6:30 and she was starting to have weak contractions. By 9:30 they were 5 minutes apart and hurting, so I decided it was time to go to the hospital. She was at 4 cm once they checked her so we were certainly staying for the night. After some intense contractions, Kelly opted for the epidural and by the time the anethesiologist was finished she was going into active labor at 12:50. So that left only one hour from when she started pushing to when Heidi was born at 1:54am. She is 6lbs 12oz and 18.5 inches with some hair, blue eyes and a Gross/Seeberg schnaz. Time for some z's.

Fun times

hey everyone.

So last Tuesday Eric and I got to get all dressed up to attend a scholarship dinner that he was invited to. It was at the oldest hotel in Grand Rapids, which was really neat. I had fun, and I got to meet with some people who might be able to hook me up with an internship! :D Yay! Diner was SO good! We had hors d'oeurves, spinach cranberry salad, stuffed chicken, and vanilla creme brulee for desert. I really wanted to lick the dessert bowl, but I didn't think that would be proper haha. After diner we went down to one of lounges in the hotel and had an overpriced drink. Eric decided that since diner was free and we were already dressed up, he would buy us a drink. How nice :)

This last weekend I decided to help my friend Erin out with her film/video senior thesis project. She asked if me and Eric wanted to star as extras, so I thought that would be fun. Plus she's a good friend, so why not. The film took place in the 1940s at a school science fair. It was fun, and we shot in a really old school in Grand Rapids that was built in the 1920. Really net. It was really time consuming, but a lot of fun. We were on the set for like 12 hours on saturday and 8 non sunday. We were so exhausted by sunday! I fell asleep so fast and didn't wake up once haha. I can't wait to see the final cut of the movie, which is only 4-5 minutes long. She also shot on 16mm film, which was really cool.

Other than those two big events, not too much else to report. Eric and I have been working hard to fix up our lawn before mom and dad come to visit. It's nice to be outside after that terrible winter. Thankful for nice weather!

I'm also nearing the end of my undergraduate degree. Excited and nervous all together. Can't wait, yet I can. I've just got settled in Grand Rapids, and really like it, so I'm not sure what I'm going to do in the near future. Plus, Eric still has to complete another semester. We'll see, I guess :)

It's going to be a busy week though finishing up my school work...

Well here some recent pictures. enjoy.

At our house :)

Creme Burlee!

I did my own hair! Eric was suprised at how much I actually like to get all dressed up and stuff :p I told him that I occasionally do like being girly :P


Eric wanted me to put this one up. We're weird...

Downtown