Posted in Home, Home Improvement, Living, tagged Christmas card and home update on December 14, 2009 | 4 Comments »
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all of the Appreciating Life Up North readers.
We have a lot to be thankful for as 2009 comes to a close. It was the year of “the house” with endless remodeling. Can you believe that a year ago, our house looked like this?
Isn’t it just amazing how far [...]
Posted in Leelanau County, Living, Recreation, Traverse City, tagged Cedar Lake, DeYoung Natural Area, dog walk, http://appreciatinglifeupnorth.wordpress.com, Leelanau Conservancy, Leelanau Trail, Traverse City on December 9, 2009 | 2 Comments »
A few weeks ago, David and I went for a looooong walk with the dog. We walked from our house to this stunning Cedar Lake fishing dock.
The walk consisted of taking the TART and Leelanau Trails and the 1/4 mile foot path trail in the DeYoung Natural Area. The 145 acre natural area which includes [...]
Posted in Living, Recreation, tagged Bells Brewery, Community, Greenways, Kalamazoo MI, Michigan Trails and Greenways Alliance, Mid America Trails and Greenways Conference, TART Trails, Trails on November 6, 2009 | 3 Comments »
Last week, I had an opportunity to attend the Mid America Trails and Greenways Conference in Kalamazoo, Michigan.
It was a wonderful and inspiring trail conference that offered an opportunity for area trail and bike/ped advocates to get together and network, commiserate and learn from each other. I heard two very moving key-note addresses from Peter Forbes of [...]
Posted in Living, Traverse City, tagged 2 Lads winery, El Dorado, Grand Traverse Commons, Old Mission General Store, Old Mission Peninsula, Traverse City MI, Visiting family part II on November 5, 2009 | 1 Comment »
Three weeks ago, my mom and her three sisters came to Traverse City for two days. We really packed a lot of adventure in a short amount of time. We started the trip with a scenic drive up Old Mission Peninsula to take in the fall foliage and grab a bite to eat at Old [...]
Posted in Living, tagged rosewood dining table, visiting family on November 4, 2009 | 4 Comments »
Two weekends ago, David and I went to Chicago to visit family (including David’s super cute nephew, Tyler) and to pick up a dining room table and chairs set that we bought on Craigslist in downtown Chicago. It was a quick visit, but it was a good reason to make the drive and see everyone.
And… [...]
Posted in Living, Traverse City, tagged State Theater, Traverse City on October 20, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Recently, David and I had the opportunity to catch a movie at the State Theater on Front Street in downtown Traverse City. We saw “Capatialism: A Love Story” by Michael Moore and it was fantastic! Everyone should see it…and if you can, watch it at the State (pictured below.)
The State Theater is a beautiful art [...]
Posted in Living, tagged Michigan State football, MSU v. UofM, rivalry game, The big game on October 7, 2009 | 1 Comment »
At our house, the MSU v. UofM game is always a bit of a tense situation. You see, I went to MSU and David went to UofM, so one of us is always going to lose. Now, obviously with UofM’s historical winning record, the ol’ Sparties have taken their fair share of beatings over the [...]
Posted in Living, Recreation, Traverse City, tagged East Bay, East Grand Traverse Bay, fishing, Grand Traverse Bay, Lake Michigan, salmon, Traverse City on September 15, 2009 | 4 Comments »
Two weeks ago, I went fishing on East Bay at 5:00 a.m. It was an early morning, but rewarding. We saw a stellar sunrise. My friend Jim is a regular out on East Bay during salmon season and has a boat that is decked out with fishing doodads- fishfinders, downriggers, lures, depth sounders, rods and [...]
Posted in Leelanau County, Living, Recreation, tagged Dune Climb, Hike, Lake Michigan, Leelanau County, Michigan, sand dunes, Sleeping Bear Dunes, Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, Traverse City on September 9, 2009 | 4 Comments »
Ahhh… nothing like a hike up the dunes to Big Blue! The 3.5 mile round trip trek is quite the climb but worth the effort!
We went on the hike when David’s brother and niece were in town. It was a chilly 60 degrees with a slight drizzle here and there, but we toughed it out [...]
Posted in Living, Recreation, tagged Elk Rapids, Elk Rapids Chamber of Commerce, Evening on River Street, things to do in Elk Rapids on August 27, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
David and I stumbled upon Elk Rapids’ Evening on River Street event one sunny summer evening.
The concept is similar to Traverse City’s popular Friday Night Live events: close down the main street downtown, invite vendors, musicians and nonprofits to pitch tents in the streets, then invite the public to parade around on the car-free streets [...]
Appreciating Life Up North is a look into my interests and love of life in Traverse City, Michigan. I aspire to live simply, support local businesses, embrace ‘green’ living and try to enjoy every minute of it.
