The Streges

Valentine Card

2012-02-11T18:06:00.000-05:00

Frozen Feat

2012-02-11T16:06:00.000-05:00

This is first time I’ve run the Frozen Feat, a local 5k/10k race here in Grand Forks. I had a great time running the 10k despite temps being zero degrees and subzero wind chill. The cold didn’t bother me once the race started, and I actually felt comfortable running in tights and a jacket. This winter has been a blessing with having milder temps, and so far my Boston training has been going great! It was nice to see some results from the training running the 10k today – I think I’m about as good a shape as I am in the summer now. I had a great time visiting with a bunch of Red River Runners after the race and soaking up the running atmosphere here :)

Early Valentine Present

2012-02-09T15:15:00.001-05:00

We got a car!

2012-01-31T17:37:00.000-05:00

Well, I told some of my family I would post pictures of the new car when we got it, so here it is! It’s a 2005 Toyota Prius. I won’t go into details, but this whole experience, totaling the car in the accident, actually helped us out. If you haven’t heard already, everyone was fine in the accident - no one got hurt.

Wes and his monkeys

2012-01-29T16:15:00.000-05:00

Bye bye beloved Prius

2012-01-24T23:13:00.000-05:00

Family Home Evening Lesson - I am a child of God

2012-01-16T20:53:00.001-05:00

Lately we’ve been a little lax with having regular family home evening, so this last Sunday I decided to put together a calendar and schedule for the year to help us remember it more often – it has assignments for who prepares the lesson, treat, and prayer.

On Monday night, Dad played the piano for the opening song with Weston fussing in the background (we never figured why he got unhappy all of a sudden). Weston gave the opening prayer with our help. Mom gave a lesson from the Nursery manual on “I am a child of God.” Weston did great! He was able to repeat his name and say, “Weston is a child of God”.

Feels like winter finally

2012-01-12T16:07:00.000-05:00

Last pheasant hunt this season

2012-01-08T18:48:00.000-05:00

New Year's hunting trip

2012-01-08T18:44:00.003-05:00

With just a dusting of light snow on the ground, you would hardly know we’re in the middle of January this year; it hasn’t been much of a winter without the usual sub zero temps and heavy snowfall. Phil, Ben, and I went pheasant hunting over New Year’s, something I hear doesn’t happen often due to the winter conditions.

Friday-

The rain from the previous night froze everything with a glaze of ice by morning. Shindlers was the first area we started hunting, and it wasn’t long before my pants were soaked from the ice melting off the cattails. Leah never went on point or looked birdy when we were in the cattails; it wasn’t until we finished walking through them that she started picking up some scent in the grass. Ben was nearest to Leah when she went on point in the grass and shot the one rooster we would get all day. Leah ran down the bird, picked it up in her mouth, and carried it over to Ben with some prompting; this was the first time she’s ever retrieved a bird.

Northwest Winds Lake was another place we hunted that day. There was a rooster Leah picked up the trail on that sent Ben and me chasing it through the grass. This late in the season roosters are clever and hard to figure out sometimes – they sneak past when surrounded and flush wild out of range. This particular rooster Leah was trailing decided to flush wild. We saw where he set down.

Phil and Sage weren’t far behind us so we all decided to make our way towards the place we saw the rooster set down. Unfortunately, the dogs weren’t able to find any scent when we arrived at the spot and the rooster escaped!

Leah found another porcupine at West Winds. This time, the quills weren’t lodged into her eye or face as severely on our other hunting trip; instead, several were inside her mouth and chin. We all stopped hunting and tried removing as many quills as we could before heading back. Leah was uncomfortable and not in much of hunting mood until she picked up some pheasant scent again. Ben and I started chasing the running bird in some grass hoping to surround it so it would flush. Finally we managed to get the bird to fly and missed.
Later in the day, Phil and Sage came upon two large flocks of sharptail. One of the sharptails banked the wrong way and Phil brought him down!

Monday-

It was a gorgeous day – sunny, warm, and hardly any wind. Ben brought down 4 birds, Phil got 2, and I just missed everything.

We started at Red Fields and worked our way through the entire section without seeing any roosters; I almost stepped on a hen just before walking up to the road entering Green Fields.
Leah didn’t get birdy through Green Fields until the last slough. We were lagging behind her and should have called her closer to us as we found out later. Leah never went on point, but just as we started into the slough a rooster got up and set down a little ways away. We kept walking through this thick grass and the whole area erupted with hens and one or two roosters. We were out of range of the roosters and didn’t shot at the hens. Leah wasn’t acting right – maybe there was too much pheasant scent around because she wasn’t pointing at all. We decided to go over the entire area thoroughly and get Leah to start doing her job. This time, Leah went on point next to Ben; he shot and brought down a rooster! We were both very happy that we at least were able to get one of the roosters that had been in the area. Leah went on point again, this time bringing up a hen.

We went to another area not far from Green Fields and saw 6 hens. The next area we went to was Pink Fields. Since we had two vehicles, Phil parked one car at the entrance to Pink Fields, and we took the other up to a tree row we would push. Phil and Sage pushed one tree row while Ben and I pushed another one. Leah got birdy on the push down so we expect that she pushed a bird into Pink Fields. Phil and Sage saw a rooster set down in the field, and we both started making our way towards each other once we were in Pink Fields. Phil shot and brought down a rooster. We went over to help find the bird but didn’t see anything. Sage and Phil were able to find the bird after we continued hunting the area. Leah went on point and brought up a rooster; Ben hit the back end of the bird, and I just sent a spew of bullets in his direction. We saw the bird set down on the opposite side of the slough and went over to see where he was. While we were searching for him, Leah went on a light point and started covering the area without finding the bird. When we were watching Leah, we heard a rooster flush behind us and saw him set down. When we arrived at the area we saw the rooster set down, Leah found exactly where he was. Ben tried getting the bird to flush but wasn’t able to get him to fly again, so he reached down and grabbed his tail feathers. All he came up with was a fist full of feathers. Leah decided to just grab the bird and claim it as hers.

Tuesday-

Phil and Sage weren’t able to join us hunting; Sage was stapled up at the vet early that morning and wasn’t allowed to hunt the rest of the day. Ben and I hunted Hun Run in the morning in decent weather conditions. Leah pointed several hens but no roosters were in that area. We decided to go back to Green Fields to see if we could find all those birds again that we saw the previous day. At this time, the wind had picked up to crazy speeds. There were lots of birds again, although we never got in range of them; they all flushed wild before we were even in the slough. We kept working Green Fields and saw several roosters flush wild except for one I should have had. Ben got a rabbit earlier in the morning and that was the only thing we would get that day.

We had a wonderful time on this hunting trip despite the somewhat frustrating moments we had getting birds to stop running and fly within range. I enjoyed spending time with everyone and watching the dogs work – it’s something you have to see and do to get the full perspective of how fun it is.

Christmas 2011/ New Year's

2012-01-05T18:35:00.003-05:00

Weston's first hockey game

2011-12-18T16:01:00.007-05:00

The office gave Ben two free tickets to the Sioux versus Russia Red Stars hockey game on Saturday last week. We opted out on paying for a sitter when we found out how much children tickets were - $15 dollars for ages 2-12. While we were in line waiting to buy Weston’s ticket, someone gave us one of their tickets for free!

Weston had fun dancing to the band music, clapping his hands, watching the hockey players and finding where the puck was. He surprisingly was very attentive and kept his eyes on where the action was happening on the ice for several minutes. This entertained him for most of the time; when he got antsy, we gave him some fruit snacks and popcorn to munch on. We did take him out a few times to run around, and to our dismay, Weston found a truck they were selling just outside our seating area and wanted to do nothing but stand next to it saying “truck, truck”. I stayed out with him for the last 10 minutes while he had his fill of seeing the “truck.” We all had a fun night, and I think he did well for a two year old…The Sioux played great – they won 4-1.

Pheasant Hunting

2011-12-04T17:19:00.016-05:00

Day 1 December 1^st –

It was a great day for pheasant hunting - there was just enough snow to see their tracks, little wind, and mild temperature. Phil saw the first rooster of the morning sneak into a shelter belt when we were driving. As we were working the area, the bird got up between Ben and me, and we both shot at the exact same time. Since the bird had been hit on the side I was standing on, we determined that it was my pheasant. We had to make an unexpected visit to the vet later in the morning because Leah, our dog, came in contact with a porcupine. The whole right side of her face and eye were covered in quills. Unfortunately, that was the end of her hunting for that day since the vet had to sedate her to remove the quills; by the end of the evening she was doing fine and was ready for the next day.

Phil and I went out hunting again while Ben stayed with Leah at the hotel. When we were hunting I walked just a few yards behind Sage and Phil let me have the first shot on the birds we saw. The first roster we saw, flushed 30-40 yards away; I brought my gun up but didn’t shoot because I thought it was too far away. Sage continued working the cattail sloughs well, making several points and bringing up hens. When we were hunting one of the sloughs, Phil saw a rooster set down not far from us in some cattails. We both worked our way towards the area from separate directions; I was excited and shot too early at the bird as it got out between us; Phil took two quick shots at it as well but didn’t hit it. We watched it set down in an area we would work later on the way back. On our walk towards another slough, we were in this thick grassy brush when a rooster suddenly got up behind Phil and me; Phil swung around quickly and shot at the bird but didn’t hit it. We had a clear view of where the roster set down and marked the spot not far from us. We decided to approach the bird at different directions, so we could surround it. When we split up, I started jogging toward the area where we would start centering on the bird, and while I doing this a rooster got up in front of me. My gun didn’t have a shell in the chamber so I quickly pumped it and shot but unfortunately missed. I wasn’t sure if this was the same rooster we were looking for, so I didn’t watch it closely set down, although I knew the general area it went. Phil and I worked the spot we thought the rooster we were originally chasing was and didn’t find him; we decided it must have been the rooster I spooked up. I wanted to try the area I thought the pheasant flew and work the outer edge, so we headed in that direction. Sage worked the area well and made a solid point. I had my gun up and ready as I walked into the area Sage was pointing; suddenly a rooster got up about 20 feet away as I pulled the trigger watching my first solo shot pheasant drop! I was so excited and felt awesome! Phil took a picture of my first bird, and he was a beauty :) As we continued hunting, Phil made a comment about why the rooster held for me on Sage’s point, he figured we had wore it out flying with all the chasing we did earlier. Phil brought down two more pheasants at the end of the day – making our total count to four birds.

Day 2 December 2^nd –

Weather conditions weren’t as nice as the day before; it was windy and cold the morning we started at Red Fields. I decided to go with Phil and Sage on this one while Ben and Leah worked the area from another direction heading straight into the wind. Sage was excited, full of energy, and working fast through the cover, making it hard for us to keep track of her in those conditions. As we were walking through the field, Leah came over to us – Ben must have lost sight of her, so I decided to walk her back to Ben and hunt with him. We saw a few roosters flush wild, and others we just didn’t get good shots at – the good thing about this was all of the birds we missed were setting down in Green fields where we would work later. Ben and I met up with Phil after working Red fields and regrouped before splitting up again as we started working Green fields. I went with Phil and Sage again this time. A rooster got up in front of us angling into the wind in front of me, I took a shot at it (I don’t think I led it enough) and missed, Phil also shot but didn’t hit it – it was definitely a bird we should have gotten. We did see the general area it set down as it flew away and would go after him later. Just at the end of Green fields, Phil brought down the first rooster of the day in a plowed field. At the end of working Green fields Sage found a jackpot of 5 roosters; neither of us shot at them because we thought it was posted land (we found out later it wasn’t); it was a fun sight to see!

Phil and I met up with Ben again as we made our way towards a tree row we saw the rooster we missed earlier fly into. Leah and Sage both started picking up scent on a narrow trail of grass on the way. Ben went to another part of Green Fields again, while Phil and I worked the tree row. Sage went on a beautiful point near a thicket of Russian Olives in front of the tree row. A rooster got up; I took a shot at him and missed, but Phil was there to bring him down. We worked the tree row separately and didn’t see any birds. On the walk back to Red fields, I stepped into a three foot deep hole I didn’t see; luckily I didn’t get hurt. We met up with Ben and Leah, who had found several hens and a rooster, before entering Red fields. On the walk back through Red fields, Sage found us a rooster Phil and I both shot at; one us broke the outer tip of one of his wings. We marked the spot he went down and headed for it. When we got there, no bird was in sight, it had taken off running. Ben brought Leah over to work with Sage to look for the bird; Leah started picking up sent in a thick grassy area, we all came over to help look but it was Leah’s moment to shine when she found the very much alive rooster!

The next area we worked was Crazy Rooster Run. I went with Phil and Sage again, where we saw two hens flush. Ben went back to the car to replace Leah’s bell, the ringer had fallen off, and went off in the direction the hens flew. Phil and I continued working down the sloughs but didn’t see any birds. When we met back up with Ben, we found out Leah had pointed several hens in some thin cover. Ben got some nice pictures of her on point.

When we were driving to the Quonset place, Phil saw a rooster fly down into the canal. All of us quietly snuck out of the car, loaded our guns and crept up to the spot we thought the bird was. Sage and Leah found him fast and flushed him right in front of us. All three of us shot –we decided it was Ben who had hit him first.

The last area we worked was a small slough near the Quonset place. Leah found a rooster Ben and I both shot at and missed. We only had a few minutes until sunset so we quickly walked a tree row we thought the rooster flew into but didn’t find him.

Day 3 December 3^rd –

I had watched Leah the evening before point and find birds and was excited to hunt behind her with Ben. Phil dropped us off at a part of Hun Run before he drove to another section to work with Sage. Wayne was hunting with us that day as well and already had started working another section with Mac. Right from the start Leah was working great! She was listening well, staying in our sight and found a rooster for us right away! It was so much fun watching this happen – I did take a shot, missed, while Ben shot and brought it down. I was having a blast even if I wasn’t hitting the birds – I was so happy Leah had found us a rooster and Ben had hit it ;) Leah found the scent of another rooster in the next pocket of cattails we worked that flushed wild. As we were making our way to another area, Ben stopped and was just about to tie his boot when Leah went on point in some thin brush cover. We were both surprised to see her go on point in that kind of cover but were ready when a rooster flushed out. Ben took two shots and hit him on the second. Leah pointed a few more hens for us before we finished working Hun Run. On one of her points Ben was on the inside of the cattails and I was on the outer edge when Leah went on point. Neither of us could hear her bell and knew she was on something. We both started moving towards the area we thought Leah was when a hen rushed out of the cattails. That was a fun moment :)

We regrouped with Phil and Wayne, exchanged stories (Phil got a rooster and Wayne got two) before moving on the Quonset place. We all split up in different groups working the area. Ben and I followed Leah through some cattails where we saw a rooster flush a ways out and set down in the direction we were heading. Leah was doing terrific! She found the rooster on the very edge of some cattails in light cover. Ben and I were not ready when he got up but still tried shooting at him. We continued working down the area we saw the rooster escape towards. Leah again found scent and started going on point several times. The rooster was on the run and this time we got him (well, Ben did.) On our walk back towards the car Leah went on another solid point and a roster got up. Ben shot and missed, and then I shot and hit him. We both marked the spot he went down but when we arrived there we didn’t see any bird. We spent several minutes searching for the bird and figured it must have run. Sage and Phil came over to help as well but we still didn’t find the bird. I was a little disappointed about not finding the bird since I know I hit it although I was happy I had been able to at least hit the bird –gave me a little more confidence in my shooting ;) We all cleaned our birds after regrouping.

The next area we went was Upland Road. Ben, Wayne and I were working part of an area while Phil got his final bird of the day right away with Sage. Wayne shot at a rooster Mac found and hit him when Ben and I were following Leah in another part where she found a hen. We went over to Wayne and found out he wasn’t able to find the bird; we all tried looking for the bird for several minutes but with no luck. As we were walking back Leah went on a solid point right in front of us, getting up a hen. Those are fun moments to see! A sharptail flushed wild on the way back to the car.

The rest of the evening we worked two other areas where we didn’t see any birds. We all felt like we gave it our best effort and called it a day.

Ruffed Grouse Hunting

2011-11-26T21:11:00.003-05:00

Ben and I were planning on waking up before sunrise and driving 2 hours to Cavalier, ND to hunt grouse on Saturday but changed our minds when we saw the weather forecast for 20 mph winds at sunrise, making it rather pointless to get an early start to avoid the wind. We enjoyed sleeping in (Weston was at Grandma and Grandpa’s) until 7:45 am. We woke up to snow on the ground as we started packing up the car with our gear. The drive took a bit longer than usual due to the slippery roads. The windy conditions didn’t affect us much once we entered the woods. Leah set off on a brisk pace right from the start and we followed closely behind her. About an hour and a half into the hunt, Ben flushed the one and only bird we would see all day. Without any forewarning that a bird was going to flush Ben wasn’t able to get a decent shot; luckily, I caught a glimpse of the bird just as it landed 100 yards away in a wooded swamp. I marked the spot where I saw it, and we both started walking towards the area, keeping our eyes peeled for the bird. This time Ben and I were alert and had our guns at ready when it flushed again. I took the first shot, but Ben’s shot was right after mine. Ben lost sight of the bird right after he shot because of the trees, but I had a clearer view. It dropped! We made our way to the place I saw it fall. Apparently we had only winged it as it started running when we got close. Ben called Leah over, who enthusiastically took up the chase. It didn’t take her long to catch up and claim the grouse as her own. We retrieved the bird from Leah and started celebrating. We were both ecstatic we got the grouse! We’re not sure who hit it since we both shot about the same time, so we’re calling it “our” bird.

We continued hunting the rest of the day hoping to come upon some more birds but didn’t see anything. At our last area, I stumbled on a 9 point buck carcass in the middle of the woods. I didn’t have the camera with me, so I carried the antlers back to the car for a picture. When we got home Ben and I cooked up the grouse. This is by far one of the best tasting birds I’ve had – it tasted great!

Black Friday Zoo Trip

2011-11-26T20:25:00.007-05:00

On Friday morning, the day after Thanksgiving, we all went to the Como Zoo in St. Paul, MN. Weston enjoyed walking everywhere (we didn’t bring a stroller) looking at all the different animals. Unlike some visits we’ve made to the zoo where the animals are sleeping, this time they were all awake and active, making it much more interesting , especially for Weston. The primates were climbing trees and came right up to the glass on eye level with Weston. While watching the monkeys, Weston said his first sentence on his own - “there it goes” - several times. We walked over to the polar bear exhibit where we spent several minutes looking at the bear from a close distance. Then we went to see the giraffe and zebra eating. Weston knew how to say the next exhibit we went to, “cats,” where he watched a tiger, lion, cougar, and snow leopard walking and climbing around. When we all started walking to the wolf exhibit next, an ambulance siren began wailing. This sound must have set the wolves off because when we arrived they were all howling. Weston had fun imitating them. The last animals we saw were seals and penguins, which were swimming in the water. We all had a wonderful time, particularly Weston (and Dad)!

First snowfall this winter

2011-11-15T16:24:00.001-05:00

Trains

2011-11-10T07:08:00.003-05:00

I’m not sure what sparked Weston’s current fascination with trains, trucks, tractors and cars, but lately he gets so excited whenever he sees one in real life or in a book. Weston enjoys finding new books at the library on these subjects; when he finds a book he likes, he carries it around the entire time I am browsing. When we arrive home with the new books, Weston will sit down and look through them all pretending to read by himself. Once he is done, he will come find me and to have me read them to him. This week we’re planning on taking Weston to the zoo during Thanksgiving break. Maybe this will spark a new fascination with animals?

Untitled from Auralee Strege on Vimeo.

Inspirational video

2011-11-09T18:47:00.000-05:00

I WILL Foundation Introduction Reel from Brian Sabin on Vimeo.

First Deer

2011-11-06T17:51:00.009-05:00

This past weekend I was able to participate in one of the Strege family traditions - gathering together the night before deer opener to get ready for an annual hunt out at the “eighty”. This would be my first time actually participating in the hunt; the year before I had just sat on the stand with Ben to see if I liked it. I had a great time as I watched Ben bring down his first buck that year, and I was anxiously waiting my chance to try out this newfound hunting. Phil made lots of preparations from building a new stand, clearing shooting lanes, and repairing existing stands for this deer season.

The day before opener Ben sighted in both of our rifles with a lead sled. The lead sled made sighting in the guns much easier than previous years. While Ben worked on sighting in his gun, I got familiar with the gun Allison was letting me borrow, a pump action .270 rifle. I worked on putting the shells into the magazine and load it into the rifle, which I had a little trouble with until I figured out I needed to push extra strong to make the magazine secure in the gun. I practiced pumping it and looking through the scope before I took my first rifle shot at the target. Ben was able to sight his gun in with two shells - unlike last year where he needed 15.

The night before opener I sifted through a full suitcase of warm clothes to decide what to wear to keep me comfortable while sitting on the stand. I decided it would be best if I wore as many layers as I could so I wouldn’t get chilled from the forecasted windy day ahead. I tried everything on that night and borrowed a pair of soiled, well-worn hunting pants, orange hat, and vest over my down jacket and Columbia coat. I certainly didn’t look like a seasoned deer hunter with all my different colored clothes, but I was plenty warm for the upcoming conditions. Phil bought me some hand warmers which I brought as well. With all my clothes ready, Ben helped pack up my other miscellaneous items including magazines, head lamp, cleaning gloves and knife while I made up some sandwiches for our lunch. The plan was to leave tomorrow morning at 6:15 am and sit on our stand until 2pm before moving around anywhere.

I woke up at 5:15 am with excitement for the upcoming hunt and a little concerned about it being windy that day, as deer tend to bed down and move around less. I went into the hunt hoping to just bring down a deer; I’m not a seasoned hunter, so I wasn’t planning on passing up a good opportunity for a shot if the deer didn’t have a rack on it. I looked at a shot placement picture and different positions deer could be in before we were all ready to leave out to the eighty. Phil wished Ben and me good luck before we walked to our separate stands. The seating arrangements were Phil on the new stand, me on Ben’s stand, Ben on Phil’s stand, Wayne on his stand, and Tom on his stand. As Ben was walking me in the dark out to my stand, I saw two sets of glowing eyes in the woods not far from my stand. Ben walked back to his stand leaving me once I was at the stand. I was excited right from the start after sitting down; my eyes were alert and I was listening for any movement in the dark morning. I thought I saw a few dark forms move through the east section of the woods before 7:27 (shooting time) and didn’t get a close look at them. I kept looking around as the sun gradually came up. I practiced bringing the rifle up and looking through the scope a few times trying to find the best way to do it fast and quietly. From what I remember, I heard someone I thought was either Phil or Wayne shoot early in the morning just a few minutes into shooting time. My ears were peeled for any sounds of deer but decided I probably wouldn’t hear the deer with all the noise the wind was making in the woods. I still was listening intently and sometimes was able to tell if that noise was made from a squirrel or some leaves moving in the breeze. I heard Ben shoot around 8:20ish and was happy he had gotten a deer. I saw him get down from his stand and walk down part of the shooting lane before my view was lost from the woods. I was still scanning the woods and occasionally checking behind me since that’s where deer sometimes come from. Not long after Ben shot, I saw some hind legs just on the edge of the east shooting lane in the woods heading north. I watched it for maybe two seconds making sure what I saw was a part of a deer and not trees. Once I decided it was a deer, I quickly wiggled my hands out of my gloves and hand mitt before I brought my gun up. I looked into my scope just as it was entering the shooting lane. My heart was pumping fast and I was shaking a little from the excitement, but I found the deer right away and aimed at the lung area. I had just a few seconds to shoot before the deer took another step when I pulled the trigger. When I looked up, I was surprised to see the deer drop right where I shot it since I remember hearing this doesn’t happen often. I was super stoked I got a deer! I waited a few minutes to be sure the deer was dead before I got down out of my stand to see what size deer I hit. I walked 75 yards to the deer and saw it was a young male fawn. I looked up to see if Ben was in his stand (his shooting lane crosses with mine), but he wasn’t back yet from cleaning his deer, so I decided to go sit on my stand again and just wait for him to come to me. It didn’t take long until Ben walked over when I could share with him the great news! We walked over to the deer together and looked at it. I needed Ben’s instructions on how to clean it and started going to work after I shed my layers and put the gloves on. It wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be, and I didn’t feel grossed out by it since I’ve learned to clean ducks and fish already. Once I got the deer cleaned up I wanted to get a picture. Ben and I spent the rest of the afternoon enjoying the nice weather taking pictures of our deer, watching wildlife, and sitting on Phil’s stand together until 2pm.

Hanging out on the stand.

Me with my first deer male fawn.

Ben got an adult yearling doe.

Once it was 2 pm, Ben and I decided to walk over to Phil’s new stand to see what the plan was for the rest of the day. Phil invited us all up on the new stand. The stand was amazing and it fit all three of us comfortably with room to spare.

We shared our stories before deciding to get down and start pushing deer through the woods. The rest of the day we spent pushing deer and helped send a deer towards Tom’s stand. Tom shot a fawn buck running away from him down one of his shooting lanes. We were all happy he got a deer!

Phil and Ben pushing deer.

Phil and Ben walking up to Tom's deer.

Phil decided to go ask Wayne what he wanted the rest of the party to do while Ben and I went back to the stand. Wayne decided he wanted to get his own deer, so we all started cleaning up for the day – pulling our deer out to the road and gathering our gear. Yes, and I did pull my own deer.

Me pulling my deer out.

We spent the rest of the evening trying to push deer towards Wayne’s stand but had little success getting the deer to go the way we wanted. Eventually, it was time to gather at the car where everyone met up. We said our congrats to each other and shared our stories before loading everything up and going home. Lori’s mom (Lori is one of the Strege’s neighbors) had prepared us a delicious Thanksgiving feast when we got home! It was a great meal to finish off our successful day hunting. I had a wonderful time deer hunting and can’t wait to participate in many more deer openers again! It will be fun when Weston can join the Strege group and get his first deer with his dad, mom and papa.

Results

2011-11-02T13:58:00.001-04:00

http://surfthemurph.org/Results-50K.aspx

Trunk or Treating

2011-10-31T21:45:00.002-04:00

Surf the Murph Race Report

2011-10-31T21:22:00.003-04:00

My decision to run Surf the Murph came as a surprise to me because I had never heard of the race before and didn’t have any plans on running it until I saw Martin S. had signed up for an ultra distance race somewhere in Minnesota. I was curious, so I looked up the race he was planning on running and found out it was located not far from where my parents live in Forest Lake. I decided to sign up for the race for various reasons. First, I really wanted to run a trail race; I’ve always enjoyed running on trails at state parks or on hiking trails in the mountains (I went to a BYU cross-country camp in high school where I ran up Mount Timpanogos and absolutely loved it!). I also thought it would be perfect timing to visit my family who like seeing Weston, their grandson, during the Halloween season when they could take him to trunk or treat parties. After finalizing arrangements with my family, I signed up for the race. I had a tough time deciding between running the 25k and 50k until I finally thought it would be best if I did the shorter distance since I had never run a trail race before and had not completed any long runs (meaning 20 milers) in my training at that point. I didn’t have any second thoughts about my decision until Anne Marie S. and Martin S. suggested running the 50k with them. I changed my mind when I heard the way Anne Marie put running a 50k – it’s only 4 more miles than a marathon, and that got me thinking maybe I could complete an ultra distance since I had run 26.2 before. So, I called the race director and switched over to the 50k a few weeks before the race.

Two days before the race, Weston and I both came down with sore throats and colds. I still planned on running the race except my expectations were completely changed now that I was sick. Looking at the previous race results I thought I may have a shot at winning the 50k but now I was just hoping to finish since I barely had enough energy to walk up the stairs at one point. I drove down to my parent’s house on Thursday and was able to get some solid rest in as they were able to watch Weston. On Friday my sore throat was almost completely gone and my energy was coming back. Saturday morning I woke up at 4am to shower, get dressed, and eat before driving down to Savage, MN with my older brother. It was super nice of my brother to give up his Saturday and drive me down. I picked up my race packet at 5:30am while most of the 50 milers were getting theirs. I sat it in the car for a while before going out to use the bathroom where I saw Anne Marie; she was easy to pick out in the dark with her bumble bee antennas on her costume. We had a short chat before we went back to our cars, waiting until the time got closer to the start. I got out of the car at 6:50 and saw Anne Marie near the fire grate. Martin S. joined us shortly where we chatted for a bit. I was still planning on running conservatively since I wasn’t 100% at the start of the race and ran with Anne Marie and Martin for a bit in the beginning. Well, my natural habit of wanting to go out fast kicked in and I decided to start weaving between runners in front of me. My flashlight helped light up the trail so I could see the many rocks and uneven terrain on the course. The first few miles had several rolling hills where some runners were walking up them; I was surprised since I thought everyone would run up that early in the race. This sounds odd, but I find running uphill easier for me than walking because of my short legs and stride, and I feel like I exert less energy if I jog them instead of walking. So, I jogged the hills just a little faster than what people were walking them at. My legs were feeling good and I was actually enjoying the hilly terrain at this point. I didn’t feel like I was straining or working too hard and just kept going at a good tempo through the hilly part. Martin caught up with me and I thought I was holding him back because he cruises on the down hills, and I expected him to take off. We ran at the same pace for a little while not saying much because we were racing (now I realize I could have talked more since we had a long, long ways to go at that point, and ultra running is more casual). Well, I lost track of Martin for a bit in the hilly part until he caught up with me again on the flatter terrain. I was feeling good still and enjoyed taking in all the scenery as the sun came up – now I could see the trees and lakes. Martin and I ran a few miles around 8:00 min pace together by ourselves as there was no one else around until we gradually caught up to a group of 3 other 50kers. One of the 50kers was another woman who I talked a little to. We ran at the same pace for a while until the trail opened up into a single track. I took the lead and didn’t say much to her after that until we caught up to another woman ahead of us. At that point I was changing my strategy; I really still wanted to win the race and decided to keep pace with the other woman racer. We talked for a while and I found out she was from Duluth MN and had completed other 50Ks. We ran together for a while until I passed her after she led the way through a single track and then back onto the main trail. At the first aid station I briefly grabbed what I thought was water that turned out to be sprite and took a few sips before taking off again. I was surprised to see a full table of food that looked like something you get to enjoy at the end of a race and didn’t eat anything. I ate part of a GU I had brought myself about an hour or so into the run and kept the rest of it in my pocket. At this point I was starting to see some 50 milers who were very friendly and would offer a word of encouragement when I passed. I didn’t spend much time at any of the aid stations until I had eaten all of my GU and felt like I needed another. I grabbed a hammer GU at one aid station and a quick gulp of water before moving on. There was one point in my race that I went a little off course when I was leaving an aid station and went in the wrong direction only a little way before someone at the station yelled I was going the wrong way. The correct way was going in the same direction back until I came to a fork and needed to turn right down the trail. I was fortunate to run with another 50ker, dressed like a hippie, who had run the race two years prior and was somewhat familiar with the course. At one point when I was behind him on the main trail he cut into a single track (deer trail) suddenly which I would have missed completely if I had been alone. After that, I actually started getting nervous and made myself pick up my pace to keep up with him so I wouldn’t get lost. He was very kind and offered some of the best advice that helped me during my toughest part in the race was to always keep moving no matter how slow. He accompanied me on through the second start of the second loop hills again when my legs were starting to tire. I was able to hang with him for a mile or so until he took off as I couldn’t maintain my pace especially on the hills. I still was able to do a very slow jog up though the hilly section in the course but paid for it dearly the last 10 miles. At mile 22 or 23 my legs were at their breaking point, and I was starting to feel dizzy, probably a combination of dehydration, lack of food and being sick. I was having trouble even jogging and had to walk and jog at times to the aid station. I felt starving! I grabbed a couple handfuls of M&Ms and gulped them down, ate three cut quarters of peanut butter sandwiches, and grabbed two fruit snack bags and started walking away from the station. I ate the fruit snacks while walking when a 50 miler I had passed earlier came up to me and offered some encouragement and asked if I was ok. I said I was doing ok and just eating. At this point I didn’t know if I could even jog or let alone run anymore. A 50ker guy came up to me and gave me some great advice that gave me some hope on finishing when he told me to eat a lot of food even if I didn’t want to and then my body would start feeling better again after 5 miles or so. Well, his advice was true because once my body got some food in it, I felt much better and my energy level came back and I was able to do a slow jog. The last stretch of the race my legs were super sore, and I was having to walk a few hills and took the down hills carefully to avoid putting more pain in my quads. At this point, I didn’t care who passed me or if I even won, I just wanted to finish. Even if it sounds like I was completely miserable, the soreness wasn’t anything I hadn’t experienced already through running a marathon. I started picking up my pace as my body started feeling stronger and was able to re pass the 50 milers who had passed me earlier. They were very kind and encouraging at the end. One of them even cheered me on all the way through the last few hundred yards to the finish. I’m very happy to have completed an ultra distance and now have the chance to say I’m an Ultra Runner. I definitely want to do another 50k distance, and I know I can improve my time if I am 100% healthy. I just want to say a big “Thank you” to Martin and Anne-Marie for convincing me to run the 50k. This race turned out so much better than I expected!

Weston's Halloween Costume

2011-10-24T17:29:00.003-04:00

2 years

2011-10-20T20:09:00.000-04:00

Weston’s stats at his two year check up today.

Height: 33 ½ inches

Weight: 22 ½ lbs

25^th Percentile

Grouse hunting

2011-10-20T19:57:00.003-04:00

Ben and I decided to skip pheasant opener due to the low bird predictions this year and instead went grouse hunting. We dropped Weston off at one of our friend’s around mid morning before driving 2 hours to the hunting area in Cavalier, ND. The weather was cloudy, slightly windy, and cool. We hunted a WMA Ben had visited the last time where he saw 8 birds. We walked through several thick areas of insane cover – so thick I could hardly push my way through – and on some tote roads and deer trails for 2 hours. A few times Leah pointed places where grouse must have been, but we didn’t see any. After deciding to head back to the car, we started making our way in that general direction when Leah took off on a scent. We followed her on a deer trail through some thick areas that opened up some into a depression with trees. As we were walking into the more open part, one grouse flushed in front of Ben when I was walking behind him. Ben hesitated on the shot thinking the bird would appear again in the line of fire after it flew past a tree trunk. Unfortunately, he never caught sight of the bird again and didn’t get a decent shot off. We walked around the valley area afterwards, expecting to see more birds but didn’t see anything. At this time, we decided to make our way back to the car again and try another spot to hunt. Once we got back to the car we drove to another WMA 5 miles west up near the Pembina Hills. We hiked through the woods to the top of the hill and didn’t see any birds. After we reached the top, we didn’t stay long as we needed to head back to the car to make it back in time to pick up Weston. We had a fun time despite not bringing down any birds and want to go out again another weekend. Here’s a few pictures of the hunt…

Some of the cover we walked through.

2011-10-15T07:59:00.001-04:00

Crazy Wind

2011-10-07T17:54:00.003-04:00

Look what the wind did to our basketball hoop. It snapped the pole completely at the base and left the cemented part in the ground.

Rebuilt Sherwood Forest

2011-10-06T20:12:00.006-04:00

Woods in North Dakota

2011-10-01T19:38:00.013-04:00

For Ben’s last half-Friday we decided to drive out to Cavalier, ND, an hour and a half from our house, to hunt ruffed grouse. I decided to come along with Weston more for seeing the woods and different ND terrain than for the hunting. This was the first time we brought Weston with us hunting, and he loved every moment of it! From the time we let Weston out of his car seat, he was excited to venture into the woods, running down the tote road with Leah darting in and out of the trees. It was pretty walking through the woods with all the different yellow, red, and orange leaves on the trees. Weston and I walked .3 miles following Ben and Leah to a clearing in the woods where we climbed up on deer stand. The stand wasn’t far off the ground, and we didn’t stay up there long because Weston wanted to move around, not sit, so we backtracked the way we came. Weston kept mentioning “dada” and “dog” the entire time we walked back wondering where they had went off too. I told him they were hunting birds and would come back later. He walked most of the way back except for a few times I carried him, only to have him wiggle out of my arms ready to walk again. When we were almost to the car I decided to just sit and let Weston play in the woods. He found a piece of bark he used to shovel leaves and played with some sticks. When Ben came back we found out that he had seen 2-3 grouse in some thick cover near a swamp. He had a split second to shoot at one but shot high. We drove a different part of the WMA where Ben saw 2 grouse and heard 3 others but didn’t shoot at any of them because the cover was so thick. Leah had actually pointed at some grouse just a few feet from Ben, but it was so thick he never even saw them when they took off. The highlight of the trip was on the drive back when we saw an elk standing on the edge of the road. At first, neither of us knew what it was since we only noticed the dark coloring of the animal until we got closer. It slipped into the woods before we could take any pictures, but it was something to see in ND.

Our duck count is up to 12 for Auralee and 14 for Ben...

A duck! A duck!

2011-09-29T21:40:00.001-04:00

Tonight Ben got home from work and went duck hunting at the WPA near our house. He got 6 ducks in 20 minutes, leaving enough time for me to go out that same evening before sunset. I went out and got two ducks after he came home. Weston was super excited to see all the ducks mom and dad brought back, shouting, “A duck! A duck!” So far this year, Ben has 13 ducks, and I have 10 ducks.

Potato Bowl 8k Race Results

2011-09-26T14:01:00.002-04:00

http://potatobowl.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/Potato-Bowl-8K-Run-Overall-Results.pdf

Potato Bowl 8k

4.97 mi 00:33 06:42 pace

It was nice chatting with fellow Red River Runners - Anne-Marie S, Martin S, Nick F, Eric P, and Stacy K - before the start of the race. I decided to try to run with Martin S in the beginning hoping I could stay with him longer than the last race. I was able to keep up with Martin S for a little while until he started opening up a gap after the pedestrian bridge. He is fast! After that, I decided to just run as quick as I could to try to keep my lead for the women’s race. After the turn around point, Anne, another woman racer, caught up with me and passed me. I was starting to feel the fast pace I went out at and wasn’t able to stay with her, but I kept her in view the rest of the race. As I was nearing the finishing hill, Eric P gave me some extra motivation cheering, and as I was kicking it in hoping to close the gap between me and the top woman. I wasn’t able to catch her at the end, but I definitely closed the gap some. I felt like I had a little too much kick at the end and maybe should have pushed harder in the race. That was a fun race!

The Year of the Duck

2011-09-24T11:16:00.004-04:00

We were right on schedule as we left the house at 5:40 am driving to the WPA two miles away. The stars and moon were still out when we pulled into the WPA and unloaded our gear on a cool 45 degree morning. Ben carried one bag of decoys, poles for the blind, and a case with our shells while I carried a bag filled with waders, down coats, and extra hats and gloves and both guns. Ben used a headlamp to see where he was going through the cattails, leading the way to a spot we’d decided the day before to set up. Ben didn’t have any trouble finding the spot in the dark, and we started setting everything up just as a bit of light was coming up over the horizon. We put the blind in a soft muddy area near some catails at the edge of the pond. As Ben was setting up the decoys in the water, we heard ducks fly into the pond. Once everything was set up we had to wait the longest 15 minutes until shooting light. A mallard duck flew into our decoys close to the blind a few minutes before shooting light and started quacking, bringing in another two teal into the decoys. The ducks didn’t stick around long once they discovered our decoys were fake and took off before shooting light. Finally shooting light came, and no ducks were in our decoys. We only waited a few minutes before teal started setting in towards our decoys. I’m not sure about all of the upcoming details, but from what I remember, a group of teal were flying into our decoys, and Ben brought down one. When he was out retrieving it, he also shot a merganser on the water. I remember looking behind me in the blind opposite of where Ben was and seeing three teal flying close by. I shot twice and brought one down. I was so excited when I hit one that I didn’t mark the placement of the where the duck fell well and went running in the direction I thought it might have fallen. I thought the duck may have fallen in the pond next to ours, but when I went and looked, it wasn’t in the water. I searched around the cattails for a few minutes and almost gave up when Ben came over to help. When he came over I started walking the line again looking in the cattails. I looked down and there it was, my first duck of this season! After I found it we sat down to look at it more closely just as another flock of ducks were flying near us. I looked up fast, and shot bringing down another gadwall in some cattails across the water. Ben shot at the same flock and brought down a hen mallard. I made sure to mark the place I saw my duck fall and saw a bit of wing movement just inside a clump of cattails. I watched the area closely until Ben could come over and retrieve the bird since he had waders on. He found the bird right where I had marked it. At this point I was starting to feel a bit more confident about my shooting and was excited for what the rest of the day would bring. Ben, I think, had already shot 5 ducks (1 merganser – meaning he still had 2 more ducks to hit until his limit) to my 2 ducks at this point. The ducks slowed down just a bit letting us catch our breath for a few minutes. Just then, a shoveler started coming into the decoys. Ben let me shoot first, and it took me three shots to finally bring it down out of the air into our pond. When Ben was retrieving my duck, another group of teal were coming in just behind me, not where Ben was. I shot once and brought down a teal into an open muddy area at the edge of the pond. I brought down my fifth and sixth ducks shortly afterwards. My fifth duck was another teal that flew towards our decoys in front of the blind. My sixth duck flew in front of the blind as well, but it took me three shots to bring it down, and by the time it dropped, it was behind me in the other pond. Ben shot his last duck in a clump of cattails near our blind. As Ben was searching for his duck, more teal flew right into our decoys and set down. I didn’t shoot them and they eventually flew when Ben came out of the cattails with his 6^th duck.

This was the best duck opener I’ve experienced! I took pictures before we packed everything up, trying to save the memory of our morning. It took us less than 59 minutes to both fill out, and we were back home by 8:30 am.

Race Pics

2011-09-23T09:48:00.005-04:00

Scouting out WPA for Duck opener

2011-09-22T20:59:00.004-04:00

The water level looked a bit lower than last year today. There were plenty of ducks flying around and it looks like it's going to be a fun opener :)

Warning another long running post

2011-09-17T16:00:00.007-04:00

Running the Boston Marathon has always been something I’ve dreamed about doing but never thought would actually happen due to the various challenges that come with entering the race including making the qualifying time, being able to get in, and funding the trip. The first time I got a qualifying time for the race, I didn’t have any ambition for trying to sign up due to the various reasons listed. After having Weston and growing up a bit, I’ve realized how important it is to take advantage of opportunities that come your way before letting them pass because life changes and sometimes you won’t get a chance like that again. So, this last summer I was able to get a fairly decent time for qualifying and have thought a lot about how I could possibly make it happen. Well, one opportunity came up when I got to know a girl in my ward whose family lives in Boston. One time we were talking about me running Boston and she mentioned she would be happy to travel with me to visit her family.

This year the Boston Marathon has a different way of registering due to the overwhelming numbers of people who want to run it. Runners register at certain dates according to their qualifying time and the faster you run under the qualifying time gives you advantage over other runners when signing up. This year I was able to get 12 minutes under the qualifying time for my age group (next year my age group time is dropping 5 min) so I was hopeful I would get in. At exactly 9:00 am on Wednesday September 14, 2011, my registering slot opened up. I had everything typed in on the Boston marathon’s page and was ready to send it off several minutes beforehand. After my time registering slot came, I signed up. I didn’t know if I got in until I received a confirmation email guaranteeing my entry. This Friday at exactly 7:26 am I got a confirmation email! I was super excited and a little surprised I got in. All that’s left now is booking our plane tickets to Boston. I think my dream of running Boston is actually going to happen now! It’s going to be a challenge training for the marathon this winter here, but I’m looking forward to it – it will give me motivation to work hard when the weather gets tough to run in.

Fall Frolic Race 09/17/11

And if you’re not tired about my running yet, here’s a bit more I want to write down. I had great time running the Fall Frolic 15k this morning in Grand Forks. Ben and Weston didn’t come due to Ben not wanting to sit out in the cold windy weather this morning watching runners ;) I loved the race course which included turns, hills, and obstacles. I took 1^st in the women’s race with an unofficial time of 1:04. I won a sweet Red River Runner jacket and a cute Halloween decoration/trophy.

Results: http://redriverrunnersgf.blogspot.com/

And I have something else to post besides about running...Ben got the first dove this hunting season :)

And I got the second dove this hunting season!

Potty

2011-09-13T15:03:00.002-04:00

These past few weeks Weston has realized he needs his diaper changed and regularly will let me know when he goes poo. Now that he has started noticing his bodily functions, I decided it was time to buy a potty. So far, he likes playing pretend going pee and poo when he runs to the bathroom and sits on his potty. He hasn’t had any successful times going yet, but I think he is off to a good start getting comfortable with his potty. I’m just going to let him take his time figuring things out at his own pace from here.