lonely nights...

So Mark left last Friday night for Banff and I talked to him for the last time on Saturday. :( So now I'm all alone in our big house. I hate it when he's gone, not only because I miss him like crazy, but also because I get spooked in the house and don't sleep very well. I'm headed up north tomorrow after work, though so I will get some sleep before he comes back on Sunday.

Here's an update on recent activities...

Saturday I had a wedding to go to for a friend from high school. My mom was my date since Mark was gone and it was lots of fun. It made me a little sad to think that the fun times we had as the three musketeers are now changing, but it's a good change. I just struggle with it sometimes.

Sunday my mom and I met up with Tom and his girlfriend (Jamie) at the state fair. I ate the following:

A pickle on a stick (a yearly tradition and as usual it was YUMMY!)
French Fries
Seville Sandwich
Mini Doughnuts (DEFINITELY not gluten free but reallly yummy!)

I also sat on the tractors, watched a lumberjack show, saw lots of farm animals, and all in all had a FANTASTIC time. I LOVE the Minnesota State Fair, in my mind it is the happiest place on Earth (sorry Disney). A random side note, as we were walking through the pet building we saw an organization RAGOM that rescues golden retrievers and finds them new, loving homes. They are having a fundraising walk in September so I signed up and am now accepting donations. More information to come in a future post. Overall we spent about 8 hours at the fair and afterward I was exhausted, but happy.

Monday night I went to my aunt and uncles with my mom. My little cousins are really cute and so much fun to be around. I was feeling a little down on Monday, but spending time with them made me forget about the rotten things going on and definitely put me in better spirits.

The rest of this week has been spent trying to keep myself busy. I installed new spice racks in my pantry, did laundry, cleaned the bathroom, and did some cooking/baking. I made:

Gluten Free bread in the bread maker (it's better than anything I've bought at the store, it actually tastes like real bread)
Gluten Free Baking Powder Biscuits ...these are really yummy, I would recommend them to anyone. The recipe calls for rolling them in cornstarch before cutting them into biscuit shapes, but I found that the cornstarch is a little "chalky" does anyone have any suggestions on what else I could use to roll them in?? If the recipe doesn't have flour in it would it be ok to use it anyway (I have gluten free flour)?
And last, but not least, I made attempt #2 at the crock pot pork recipe of Stephie's...it turned out much better this time, still a little salty, but definitely yummy. :)

This weekend I'm headed home to my parents. On Saturday I'm going to hang out with my gramma and she's going to teach me how to make her BBQ sauce and milk potatoes. Stay tuned for an update.

Until then...Ciao!