Annual Snowfest in Frankenmuth, Michigan

Left: The Man in the Moon snow sculpture.

Below: Men entering the annual ice sculpting contest.

Over the weekend I had the opportunity to go to Snowfest in Frankenmuth.

My family and I had been looking forward to this for about two months and it certainly met our expectations.

We did freeze but it was worth it.

Every year in mid-Michigan Snowfest is held and they have ice sculpture and snow sculpture contests from different schools and companies in the region. There were snow sculptures of Jaws, Dragons, fairytales and modern art. The ice sculptures were mostly magestic looking creatures and business logos. All were very impressive.

People from every part of the world came to see the ice sculpting contest where a man takes a three-hundred pound block of ice and carves it into whatever he desires. It takes a lot of patience and skill.

When we finished walking through the lanes of sculptures we ventured over to the Bavarian Inn where we feasted on a German appetizer plate, their world famous Bavarian chicken, breads, relishes and potatoes. There was so much food the children were taking bites from every plate that passed them, not to mention the endless icecream.

Frankenmuth is most definitely one of the best places to go on vacation if you are looking for fun, friendliness and good food.

Saucy Tunes

Last night I had the opportunity to go to a concert with my friend and sister-in-law, Dee, to see John Butler, G-Love and Special Sauce and a couple of other bands.

Let me be honest, I was thinking that I would be in for some kind of John Mayor ho-down or something. I was happily disappointed. As it turns out, the two above-mentioned bands totally rocked and rapped the house. I was pretty surprised. Happily surprised. I would even go as far as saying impressed.

Their most famous song to date is, "Baby's Got Sauce," which I have posted here so you can decide for yourself if it is as good as I think it is.

I think what actually impressed me the most was the many talents that the lead singer of G-Love and Special Sauce had. He can sing, rap, play the guitar and the harmonic and I don't mean just play. I mean he can play.

It was clear to me that the bands involved were not influenced by just one genre of music. I heard reggae, rap, rock, blues and even a little bluegrass. It was nice to see a band perform that actually had talent. It gives me hope.

For a sample of what I heard go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6kGSN0P8HA

Time is Valuable

No matter how long you live, you will never have enough time.

There's always something new that I want to do, something new to experience, something new to taste, to see, to hear, to feel...

My kids ask me, "Mom, can you read me a bedtime story?"

My husband asks me, "Honey, do you want to go have dinner and a movie?"

My family asks me, "So when do I get to see the baby?"

My friends ask me, "Are you going to have any time next week for lunch?"

Sometimes my head just spins with questions and responsibility. Do I have time? Yes, I have time. Let me see. Let me check with my husband. Let me make sure I have a sitter. Let me make sure the kids are going to be in school. Let me see if I have anything else going on.

I am a slave to time now. It is so weird. How does someone who is a stay-at-home mom have no time?

For those of you who manage to work in a few minutes with your significant other, I have made a list of things you can do to kill time. If you have little ones still home, you can take them to all of these places.

1. Go miniature golfing. It's fun, short and you can talk about things.
2. Grab a pizza and head to the park.
3. Find a museum.
4. Book stores are awesome "third places" to socialize, listen to music and relax.
5. Locate an indoor track and go for a run. Or go back to the park.

I have wasted a lot of time not doing the things that I want to do, not saying the things that I need to say and not being the person I want to be. I hope this blog inspires you to try something new and spend time with the special people in your lives before it is too late. Don't let your everyday responsibilities bog down your life. Don't get sucked into movie night and don't assume that you have to go on dates at night, only spend time with your kids during certain times or only visit your family on holidays. Call your mom and for God's sake, kiss your loved one when they walk out the door!!!

~Nika