It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

The holidays have become a… well, an interesting time of year for me. I have realized that I over-induldge myself with everything Christmas: movies, pajamas, decorations, music, and even ice cream treats shaped like Christmas Trees. I love it SO much!  And with our family getting smaller as years go buy, it’s a time to appreciate who is there and remember who is not anymore.  This time of year I really learn to just take it one day at a time-because every day feels like it’s flying by at light speed. There are so many blessings each day provides (#1-not dying when driving in good old MN). In a couple weeks all the red and green will be packed away and the world will be a little less gold and sparkly until next year. That might be what is most exciting about Christmas time; it’s a short time filled with so much joy and cheer (cheesy-but true!). It gives anticipation for not just 1 day out of the year (like a birthday-which I also LOVE!!!), but an entire month or so.

Things I LOVE about Christmas time:

Christmas Movies

Christmas Music

Cheesy Potatoes

Winter Pajamas

Boots

Christmas Treats

Buying People Gifts

The Jolly Atmosphere

Watching the Snow

Baking Cookies

All the Sparkly Decorations-Christmas Trees, etc.

Late Night Candlelit Service on Christmas Eve

Things I’m a little less enthused about:

Roller Coaster of Emotions Brought On By Remembering my Grandma and Grandpa’s Deaths. (Grandma died right before Christmas years ago)

Cold

Traffic/Slippery Road

Scrooges

A little too much lovey lovey… I’m not bitter… just not involved.

Baby It’s Cold Outside

 

Those two bumps are my sister and her roommate’s cars down in Winona

They got 15″ of snow on Tuesday. Yuck!

Also, it’s -13 Degrees here today with windchill

I wouldn’t mind trying out a less arctic winter sometime

Highlight

The highlight of my day today, besides being brought a Latte (yippee), was the huge black guy (who is like a “gentle giant” in Julie’s words) that came in wearing a big black fur coat and big black fur hat and slept/snored in the waiting room until his appointment. Which he showed up a half an hour early for. Great Friday!

Giving of Thanks

In light of Thanksgiving, I decided to make a list of things I’m thankful for each day from November 12-November 26 (two weeks). I felt I was at a place where I needed to really focus on things like that to get out of a little big of a negative rut. I’ve learned to reflect each day on something I’m thankful for even since Thanksgiving.

1. Little Debbie Christmas Trees and new jammies!

2. A warm house… even when the power goes out.

3.  friends.food.wine.

4. My grandma-never a dull moment.

5. Tylenol. Sometimes I forget that you don’t always have to suffer through pain

6. The freedom to do so many things in this country without being persecuted. I’m reminded of this when I think about how this country is being “lead”… could be so much worse in so many ways.

7. My Parents-they are so loving and caring. Always looking out for my best interest even when it’s not what I want. I have really enjoyed getting to know them so much the last year and a half.

8. Having the luxuries that so many people are without: car, house, health, education, good friends, a comfy bed, etc. I often forget how there are so many people without most or any of these. I try my best to not take them for granted.

9. This beautiful warm weather in November!!

10. My sister-she is so great and I’m glad we’ve become friends after all these years. Apparently we’re a lot more alike than we might have ever thought we were.

11. The amazingly beautiful landscaping God has created. The drive to Winona helped remind me of this-gorgeous!

12. Having an awesome job-even when it feels stressful or working for 10 hours in a day.

13. Med Reps-free and yummy lunches!

14. Carin-for fixing my phone when I thought I’d have to bring it in and probably pay a lot of money and spend a lot of time.

15. Everyone in my life, past and present, who have helped shape me into the person I am now and for helping me learn about life and relationships. Even though there are people I miss, like my grandpa, I have learned so many things from them and will always remember and cherish them. I am very thankful for those who are in my life right now because I think they’re the kind of people that will be there for a long time.

Winona

I drove down to Winona to visit my sister this past weekend. It was such a gorgeous drive: driving along the river and in between really high bluffs feels like being on the coast! I also saw a lot of interesting things driving like decapitated deer, people randomly pulled over to hunt, towns with very small populations, tractors on main roads, etc. Gotta love southern Minnesota! I had a blast with my sister and her roommate Ali reminiscing on college weekends by sitting around doing nothing and eating pizza. A lot of pizza. And watching Gossip Girl. I was also there for the momentous event of my sister wearing leggings for the first time AND waering brown and black together. It was joyous! Did I mention this beautiful collegetown is great people watching? Especially when the main event for them is going to the bars (I don’t mean that in a negative way at all-simply factual). It’s such a different concept than where I went to school. Everyone gathers at Brothers or Gabby’s and they all know each other. It’s basically a really big hang out session.  It’s so much fun to see my sister in her element-she’s such a social butterfly. I had SUCH a great time!! I will be adding some pictures to this post as soon as I get them uploaded.

 

 

25 Things About ME

1.  I absolutely cannot sleep if my feet are cold. I’ve laid there for hours not able to sleep but too lazy to get socks.

2. I don’t like biting into food. I won’t eat apples without cutting them up. I cut most food up into pieces. Yes, like a child.

3.  When I very rarely drink pop, I like to drink pop at room temperature. When it’s cold it makes my eyes water a lot. Then it looks like I’m crying.

4. I get soooo excited about Christmas that when it’s over I get a little bit depressed. But then I get reeeally excited for my birthday.

5. I love cake (and sugar) so much that I had 5 of them for my birthday this year between family, friends, and work- and I didn’t even get sick of it.

6. I plan to look for my birth mother probably in a few years.

7. I’m kind of handy, I like to fix things and figure out how things work. I have a knack for setting up things like TVs, computers, anything with buttons, etc. I don’t know where it came from but it’s kind of convenient! My parents say I’m in the wrong field but I wouldn’t want to do that kind of stuff for a living…

8. I’m one of the best bargain shoppers I know-not to brag. But seriously. However all the bargains I find seem to really be adding up these days and I find myself thinking I have a shopping “problem”.

9.  I want to work with children one day… not sure exactly what aspect yet. I will figure it out though.

10. I would definitely rather have a few extra pounds on me due to my appreciation for food then be skinny and discontent or afraid of food.

11. I make faces pretty frequently-why not?

12. I hang out with my grandma a lot, we’re kind of like best friends. We talk about everything. It’s great.

13. I can’t stand being near people smelling like smoke. It totally grosses me out and gives me a headache. About 90% of the patients that come in where I work smoke…

14. I do not like talking on the phone if it’s someone that I could get together with and have a real conversation with. I do like talking to Jennie on the phone though because she’s far away and that makes sense. Or my sister in Winona.

15. I don’t like when someone scares me intentionally. Like popping out at me or something. Hate it. And I took self defense so people probably shouldn’t mess around-I’m always prepared.

16. I love the airport. Even driving past it or picking people up from it. It’s one of my favorite places. Why? Because it’s full of infinite impossibilities. People are going all over the world from the airport and coming back from interesting places! And I like it best when I am going somewhere else.

17. I do seriously love my job, which a year ago, I didn’t even understand the concept of even liking a job. I love the girls I work with, the patients that come in, helping people, the atmosphere, the location, the company, etc. I know I can only do what I do for so long before I need to go back to school and continue my journey through life, but until the point comes I’m soaking it up!

18. I work out about 5 days a week. I haven’t seen significant “results” since starting this habit in June, however I figure it’d probably be worse if I didn’t do it at all.  Then I can go home and watch some tv and not feel guilty! I <3 endorphins.

19. Moving out of MN is something I reeeeeeeeally want (and am going) to do but also scares me at the same time. I don’t know. It’s just the unknown I suppose.

20. I don’t understand the world’s view of singleness being frowned upon. I am having a great time! I have the rest of my life to be with someone once the right person comes along. Going to a school where almost everyone I know is married, engaged, or in a serious relationship can really skew things.

21. I love puppies so much but am allergic to most of them. I will find one someday that I am not allergic to and probably buy 100… minus 99.

22. Favorite foods: macaroni, mashed potatoes, green beans, cake. I love trying new foods though.

23. I LOVE SHOES. And I am blessed to have small feet because I think shoes start to look goofy when they’re in really big sizes.

24. I think I’m funny but most of my jokes are either super corny or kinda dry.

25. I’ve learned how to knit 4 times. It never sticks with me. But I like it.

 

Oh Christmas Tree

 

For my friend Anna who loves Birds

With Jennie (and her Grandma) in Mind (Buttons)

Simple and Unique Ornaments

For a Good Cause

 

Let’s Get Outta This Town

I’ve been having feelings of antsyness living in Minnesota my whole life. It’s not that I want to leave Minnesota forever, but I think I need a break…an adventure per se? The only thing holding me back is that my parents says they’d miss me too much, but  they’ll get over it. I’ve been talking to my friend Jennie who was born and raised in MN and has been in Seattle for the like 6 years or so. We happen to relate on this topic quite a bit. She wants something different also. We both know we’ll likely end up in MN, so why not take advantage of our singleness(or lack of being “tied down”) and willingness to explore different facets of the country’s employment opportunities and scenery? I have tried to research where to best places to live in the countries for a couple people like us.  Some of the more consistent findings were places like Dallas/Fort Worth Tx, Pittsburgh PA, Albuquerque NM, Charlottesville VA, Athens/Atlanta GA, Raleigh NC, Boudler/Denver CO, Burlington VT. All seem like very different places than good ol’ Minnesota-in a good way!!

Any thoughts on these places? Looking for somewhere with a more milder winter? Looking more south/east

Grandpa

My grandpa was a Navy Veteran and Marine Veteran-a stern man. I was basically afraid of him growing up because when I would [frequently] cry he would put me in the corner. My grandma stayed with us every year for a week while my parents went out of town and he would just come over and eat dinner and cookies (thus giving him the nickname ‘Cookie Monster’) and go home. My grandpa did an impecable impersonation of Donald Duck. Nothing will ever compare. It was magical. I couldn’t have been happier that he was here for my graduation. He knew how hard I worked and struggled and was so proud of me that it really meant a lot. My grandpa also LOVED candy (like someone else I know…). I have been thinking of him a lot due to the major Candy Holiday we just had.  I used to get him candy for his birthday, Halloween, Valentines Day, Christmas, and just any other day it seemed like a good idea. He loved it and it made him happy which in turn made me smile. I would bring him some candy and we would share it and chat. I learned a lot about and from my grandpa through those special times. I miss my grandpa but knowing that I took advantage of all the opportunities I could get with him makes it a positive reflection. Every time I have candy I think of him-in a very good way. He turned out to be a great man and wonderful grandpa.

Halloween (A less than thrilling post)

How I spent my Halloween:

Ran in the Monster Dash. A 5k around Lake Harriet. Time: 34 minutes without stopping! And I got candy along the run-woohoo! (I’ll add some pics later)

Visited Grandma and ate some cookies

Helped rake 105,693,003 leaves.

Napped for a hearty hour

Got ready as Sandy from Grease for a low key Halloween Party with Anna and Ben (BenAnna as I call them). We ate more cookies and candy and played Rock Band.

Got a disgusting amount of sleep due to the added hour.

I’m not the biggest fan of Halloween, so I’m content with the speed in which the day went by.

P.S. I LOVE CANDY!