Oh My Pancakes!

I absolutely LOVE pancakes. Growing up we had pancakes every Sunday. Sometimes it would be waffles or french toast, but most often it was pancakes. When I was a little girl I would pride myself on being able to eat as many pancakes as my dad and brother. Then it was always the greatest treat in the world to go to Wisconsin where my Uncle Mike would always make his scrumptious skinny pancakes! A few years ago my mom was given the most delicious pancake recipe from one of her friends called Colorado Pancakes, and my mom and I again started making pancakes fairly frequently because they were what we would call "healthy pancakes" (so they were okay to eat frequently). They are made with wheat flour, wheat germ, flax seed, corn meal, you get the idea. Healthy ingredients but SO YUMMY (although really probably not actually all that healthy).
Now I have ANOTHER new pancake recipe. And these ones are REALLY HEALTHY and still yummy! I was talking with my dad and I can't remember why on earth we were talking about pancakes but he told me he had a recipe I should try. Here it is:
Oatmeal Pancakes
6 egg whites
1 cup old fashioned oats
1 cup cottage cheese
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 batch makes about 6-8 pancakes

That's it! I must admit I was skeptical. But I'm always up for trying anything that is healthy and supposedly yummy (I'm still pushing for people to try my spinach smoothie - if you haven't tried it you should! SO YUMMY AND SO GOOD FOR YOU!) and I think I've been pretty shocked each time I try something new because I always really like it.

So I made these pancakes and although it took a little while to figure out how to make them well, they really are yummy! They're different, that's for sure. They're pretty dense, you're eating oatmeal so it's not like the typical bread texture you're used to getting when you eat pancakes and the cinnamon aspect of them reminds me of french toast. They're kinda like french toast and pancakes combined. Are you sold yet? If not, you won't be, unless you walk into my house right now and smell the deliciousness, which no one is likely to do, unless you happen to be in Minnesota, which you likely aren't.

Here are my suggestions for making them. I've been able to experiment so you hopefully don't have to.
Cook them at 350 degrees
Let them cook on the first side for 4-5 minutes before flipping them - they can be messy if you try to flip them before they're ready!
Let them cook for another 3-4 minutes.
VOILA! And enjoy!


Oh, and PS they can supposedly be made as waffles, but I haven't tried it...

Moths and Malls and Moms OH MY!

I think of so many different things here and there that I need to write about on this blog but unless I write it right when I think about it, I don't remember it. Total bummer. They're usually funny things that happen to me or really good ideas and thoughts I have. It's unfortunate that most of it doesn't stick with me.

Here is the one I can remember. A couple weeks ago Jason and I were checking out at Target and I pulled out my wallet and a moth had somehow gotten stuck on my wallet, it wasn't squished or anything, it was just there. I started shaking my wallet to try to get it off/out and it wasn't going anywhere. This was one of the rare times that I started to squeal and I started begging Jason to take care of it. He got the moth out and I had totally thought it was dead, but nope, away it flew. It was really unpleasant.

In other exciting news, my wonderful friend Lisa has announced that she is pregnant! HOORAY! I'm so excited for her and her husband Ben! She's already in her second trimester and she is due on May 8th, Ben's birthday. But he doesn't have to worry about sharing a birthday with his kid because the baby is going to wait to come on MY birthday (yes Lisa, I'm sorry, I'm saying you're going to be 9 days late ;) I'm totally living vicariously through her, so if I talk about her pregnancy a lot and you don't want to read it, then don't. Hee hee. Part of why I'm excited about it is because it gives me at least a couple of reasons to travel to CO. When I go for my first trip in January she will have just found out the sex of the baby. Then I get to go in March for a baby shower and I'll go visit in June or July after the baby has been around for a little while.

Jason likely isn't going to be going on either of the later 2 trips with me. Law school keeps him busy, that's for sure! When we visit in Jan I'll be there for 5 days, but he's probably only going to be there for 4 because he'll be going to Florida to do volunteer work for the Law School for one week. In March he'll be volunteering over Spring Break, which is when I'll be in CO. And in the summer with any luck he'll have a summer internship which means he won't be going anywhere with me then either! After this trip in January the next time we'll be back in CO together may very possibly not be until Christmas 2011.

The good news is that even with how busy he is... ALWAYS, he does seem to be enjoying it. Now I don't mean that he enjoys not ever having a second to slow down, but I think he enjoys what he's learning and he seems to like a lot of the friends his making and he even seems to really enjoy his professors. I think he also really likes how happy I am in school and that I'm likely going to major in American Studies because that means that he and I have a lot to talk about! I just had a test in Government and Politics that I was DESPERATE to get an A in because it's been a really tricky class and I need to have an A in the class in order to have a chance of getting into the U of M. So I asked him for help studying and he just pulled out my study guide and we went down the whole list of things but it was so fun! We just talked about it! Best thing of all, I did get an A, whoo hoo!

We've also been discussing a lot about my Astronomy class, I've needed help with bits and pieces of the math and science parts of things and again, he totally knows all about the stuff, so he's able to help me with that too, but it's always just fun. We end up getting into wonderful discussions about the stuff I'm learning. It's very helpful for me, and it's fun for both of us to talk about the stuff together. Being back in school has just been such a positive experience so far.

Let me finish up here telling about my mom's visit to MN. It was so wonderful to see her! She stayed at the Holiday Inn that's just up the street from our house and my Aunt Marci and cousin Gina stayed there as well because Lizzie had her baby girl (she came on Oct 31) and so we all went down to Rochester together on Saturday to see the little angel. It was overall a very fun weekend, I was able to visit with the 3 of them a lot, and had a ton of fun! It was wonderful getting to see the baby and to visit a little with more of the family in Rochester. On Saturday after getting back from Rochester we took my mom to Ikea! She'd never been and we just walked through it so she could see it all. On Sunday was when she and I got some time to be alone. After going to Crave with Aunt Marci, Gina, Kelly, Jason and my mom, for breakfast, my mom and I went and did some shopping just the two of us. She got to see the town that I would like to move to when our lease is up and then we went and walked around the Mall of America. But we didn't get to see much of it, because, it's the Mall of America and unless you have like a month to devote to it you just don't get to see it all, haha.

I was so happy she was able to come visit! I can't wait to see her again in 5 weeks for Kelly's wedding in MEXICO!! With any luck I'll be going to Mexico for a full week now instead of just the 3 days I currently have planned. After Mexico I'll see her again in January, so it's a happy time right now knowing I get to see my mom and more of my family in the near future :)

A Good Laugh :-D

So the DJ from our wedding has been posting all of these funny posts on facebook. I'm not sure if he's making them up or if he's finding them somewhere. But they've been making me laugh all day so I'm gonna share some of my favorites.

Dear All The Kings Men,
I'm pretty sure the horses aren't helping the situation....
Sincerely, Humpty Dumpty.

Dear Icebergs,
Sorry to hear about the global warming. Karma's a bitch.
Sincerely, The Titanic

Dear Gullible Teachers,
I DID NOT eat that kids homework. They were on facebook
all night.
Sincerely, Innocent Dog

Dear Men,
If your fiance is featured on a show called
"Bridezillas", now would be a good time to leave her...
Sincerely, Everyone

Dear Osama Bin Laden,
Well played
Sincerely, Waldo

I Walk Slowly, But I Never Walk Backward

Things continue to progress here in the Midwest. Last weekend my cousin Kelly, her sister-in-law Lizzie and I went on a road trip to Wisconsin for Kelly's bridal shower. It was weird taking a road-trip to WI that only took 6 1/2 hours. I'm used to even the shortest road trips taking around 8 hours, so this was sure a treat - though I wouldn't want to do it every weekend, that's for sure.

Kelly's shower was absolutely adorable! It was in the cutest little restaurant that we got to have all to ourselves and it was just very nice. It was also nice for me to get the chance to visit with a good chunk of my Wisconsin family. My mom is coming to town in a little over 3 weeks and I get to see a lot of them again because they're all going to head this way when my mom is here. We're hoping that Lizzie and Dan's baby will be here, she's due Oct 29th.

This weekend I got to do wedding events with Kelly again. This time we went out for her Bachelorette party! It was so much fun! I got to meet all of her school friends, and it was super fun to get all dressed up. They did this thing that turned out being really cool where they said that everyone needed to wear black, except for Kelly who could wear any color she wanted to aside from black. It was a really fun way to make her stand out in the crowd. Kelly also requested that all us girls wear high heels. This was a request made because Kelly, like me, is very tall, and so close in tall to Nate that she doesn't typically wear heels. But since we were just a bunch of girls (and a lot of TALL girls) she thought it would be fun. So I went out in 4 inch heels! I was very impressed that I only twisted my ankle once and I never actually completely fell! Kelly seemed to have a very fun night (until her purse was stolen in the last half hour) and she was certainly the most fun bachelorette I have ever heard of!

On Sunday it was time for me to go out for a job search. I'd heard on craigslist of a hostess position at a restaurant called Crave, the only problem was that there are 3 of these restaurants around and I didn't know which was hiring. I went to two of the locations and the second location decided to hire me on the spot. I was dressed well, have 11 months of hosting experience, and I worked with their reservation/seating computer system when I used to host, so after talking for 5 minutes I had the job. Very lucky for me, and I'm really pretty excited about this. It was looking for a while like I was going to be a nanny again, and as much as everyone knows I love kids and love being a nanny, I just really feel like that ship has sailed and I'm really happy to be at a job where I can move up and where I can meet a lot of new people. I really enjoyed being a host when I did it before and hopefully this experience will be just as wonderful, if not better.

I start tomorrow and I had to go buy a bunch of new clothes for the job (well not A BUNCH - 2 pairs of pants a 2 new shirts). My nice clothes have really dwindled down to nothing after being a nanny for the last 3 years and being spoiled with being able to wear comfy casual clothes every day. I don't have the slightest idea how many hours they want me to work, what I'll be paid, if it's a permanent or seasonal position, but hopefully I'll find all of that out tomorrow on my first day!

Random side note: I've noticed a LOT of women in the city with mustaches.

School Update

So it's been interesting transitioning back into the school life. I think it's been interesting for Jason and me both.

Law school definitely keeps Jason busy. It's a good thing we got a two bedroom so that he was able to turn the second room into a study, because he spends so much of his time in there. We'd be told that a spare office was unnecessary because it would go unused. That is just definitely not the case here. Thankfully he seems to overall really enjoy being back in school and so far law school seems to be a good fit! Just a lot of reading, cold calling and no tests until the end of the semester.

For me on the other hand, I've already had my first two tests and I'm semi-proud to report B's on both. I was striving for A's, but B's are certainly acceptable. The Astronomy test I left thinking to myself "I've got this in the bag, that is totally an A" and my Government and Politics class I left thinking "Oh crap, I do not feel as good about this as I'd like to..." So in one case the B was a disappointment and in the other it was a complete relief! I hope that now that I know how the teachers test that I'll be able to better prepare for the next tests in a month (which I've already begun doing).

I probably shouldn't talk about this on here because things could very likely not go according to how I hope, but I'd really like to get accepted into the University of Minnesota for Fall 2011. I spoke with an admissions counselor there about a week ago and explained to her how poorly I did before I stopped going to college 3 1/2 years ago. She basically told me that I'm going to have to get all A's both semesters at MCTC in order to be considered for admissions. So I'm just going to keep trying as hard as I can and hopefully things will go well. I need to start researching some other schools in the area though so that I have some back-up plans.

Overall things are grand right now! I'm heading to Wisconsin this weekend for Kelly's bridal shower and I'm super excited! Maybe I'll get some good pictures to post :)

Baking

Since moving to Minnesota I've found that baking is a way I enjoy spending my time. It's something I can do by myself and the outcome is generally delicious! Jason isn't so fond of this being my hobby because he tends to eat what I make and with only the two of us in the house, that means we're eating a lot of sweets.

Two weeks ago I made Reese's Pieces Cookies - they are SO delicious! And they were gone the next day. So then I decided to make some brownies (by scratch, naturally) and this time I decided I was going to seal them up in a bag and hide them from Jason. Unfortunately it's a small place and it wasn't a very good hiding spot, so before I knew it those were gone as well - though they did last longer than the cookies. I decided it was time for me to take a little break from baking. And today that break was over!

I decided I wanted to make either Monster Cookies or Sugar cookies. I ended on Sugar Cookies because they were simpler and as silly as this sounds, I figured they were slightly better for me (or perhaps I should say, not as bad for me). The sugar cookie recipe I have is so yummy, the finished cookies are perfectly thick and soft - just PERFECT! I got so excited and wrote down the recipe and then Jason and I headed to the store to pick up the ingredients that we didn't have here at the house. But go figure, we got home and I'd forgotten something. So I went on a search for a cookie recipe I could make with ingredients I already have and I found Chocolate Crinkles.

They turned out so cool looking! Jason loves them. They're made with unsweetened baking squares and I've decided that I really don't like how finished products taste when made with that kind of chocolate, they end up being sort or weak tasting... very bland. The cookies will get all eaten up for sure, but it likely isn't a favorite recipe. I attached pictures just to show you how pretty they are! Enjoy :)

He's a very sneaky frog!!

**Following Day Update: Now that these cookies are completely cooled off, they are SO YUMMY!

The Gym

So as many of you know, our home is located just a few blocks south of the University of Minnesota's west campus. This is ideal for us not only so that Jason is minutes away from the law building, but also because it's just a short 15 minute walk in order for us to get to the school's rec center. And that is what this entry is all about.

We've had an interesting experience with the gym so far. Our first experience going we needed to register me for a gym pass as well, so first thing when we got there we asked if we could do that. They told me they needed to see my marriage certificate. At a school gym. A school gym would not give me a pass without proof - No, not even proof, because I had my license which is proof - with a MARRIAGE CERTIFICATE. I seriously just need to fold up one of my marriage certificates and carry it around in my wallet. I'm going to need to show it for everything I do for the rest of my life. So as you can likely tell, I did not have my marriage certificate with me, but thankfully it was family day at the gym so I could get in for free. So we get inside, we get changed into our gym clothes, head up to the work-out room and get stopped as we walk inside. Both Jason and I were wearing shirts without sleeves which is against the dress code for the gym. So they gave us these hideous yellow polo shirts to wear "just this once".

The second time we go we decide we'll try taking the bus. It's good to know the bus routes and system since we're definitely not going to want to walk to the gym once winter comes. Unfortunately we missed the one that picks up by our house, or at least we stood there for a long time and it never showed up, so we walked further into the campus and picked up another one of the buses. It dropped us off about 3 blocks away from the gym, which was fine, we walked the ways and got inside, with marriage certificate in hand so that I can get my gym pass. If only we'd known that getting my gym pass was going to take 45 minutes. Once I had it and we were inside I went downstairs to get my locker which unfortunately took about another 15-20 minutes because I wasn't registered for a locker properly. So now an hour and twenty minutes to and hour and a half after we left for the gym, we finally get to work out, which we did for about 40 minutes.

At this point Jason is just sort of annoyed and is saying "I sure hope we can have a smooth experience at the gym one of these days" and I'm like shushing him, telling him not to worry about anything, these have just been silly bumps, we're just getting used to things, everything will be fine the next time we go.

The next time we go we decided we'd wake up at 7am and hop onto the bus by 7:25 get in a workout nice and early so Jason has plenty of time to get home and get ready for his classes that start at 11. And we decided we were going to take the same bus, but going the opposite direction because we know that there is a bus that comes up that way that drops off right in front of the rec center instead of us having to walk the three blocks (remember we're trying to get a system figured out for the winter). So the bus picks us up like 2 minutes late, no biggie, and we start going along. After about 5 minutes we're both like, "We're no where near the school... weird...". Another 10 minutes pass and Jason says, "There is no way, even in the coldest weather would I take the bus this way, it's totally unnecessary to add on this much time just to be dropped off in the front" and another 15 minutes pass... we're in Uptown, which is definitely in the opposite direction of where we're supposed to be and the bus driver stops the bus and tells us "This is the end of the line". It is now eight o'clock and we're in Uptown, Jason is upset because we wasted so much time and we won't be able to make it to the gym anymore because by the time we get back to where we should be it's going to be like nine o'clock. Luckily a bus drives up that I usually take to get home from school, so we hop onto that bus and it takes us right by my school and so from there I know my way and I know what we're doing. Then we ended up finding another bus that would take us straight to the University! It was about 8:15 and Jason was like, Lets go for it! So we ended up getting to the gym by 8:30, we got in a quick morning workout and when we were done we decided to WALK home.

We've been to the gym two more times since then and we've walked both ways each time. We figure a fifteen minute walk isn't so bad, haha. On Friday or Saturday when we get back to the gym again we'll attempt busing there and back - one of these days we WILL ride the bus to the gym and home and everything will go smoothly.

Experience Is What You Get When You Do Not Get What You Want

I am facing my first real struggles with being away from home right now. I am feeling so much sadness right now and it is so hard to go through without being in Colorado.

I mentioned the fire in Boulder in my last entry, which has destroyed 169 homes, last I heard. Imagining what all these people are experiencing, who have lost their homes, and they live so close to where I have lived for the last 12 years. I feel like they are my neighbors and I know there is so much going on to help each and every one of them and I just wish I could be there to help. Although I don't know that there is much that can be done, or at least much that I could do, I just feel like it's my job to help them and I'm not there.

Then I think of my dear Lisa. Who sent her husband off to fight this massive fire - only his second real on the job experience - and was so scared to see him go. Thankfully he is an optimistic firefighter, ready and willing to get out there to do what he can, and I think the fact that he makes it home to sleep for 8 hours a night before he gets back out on the job has calmed Lisa down a bit. But then a tragic accident occurred on Wednesday night and Lisa's sister-in-law lost her little sister.

I went to high school with Lisa, her sister-in-law, Ashlie, and Ashlie's little sister. Lisa, Ashlie and I were all in the same grade and knew each other. I never actually met Ashlie's sister, but of course knew who she was and saw her around all the time. To hear of someone you know, loosing a sibling in such a horrible way can really shake you to the bone. It reminds a person of what is important in life. (I think that the fire and the death coinciding has pushed me further into the feeling of wanting to do whatever I can to help those people around me).

Lisa being the strong, caring person she is, is of course spending time with Ashlie and doing her best to be Ashlie's support. Ashlie's husband is on his way from from Afghanistan, but won't be making it back to CO for some time still because he has to stop in Arizona to be debriefed. So Ashlie needs all the additional help and support around her that she can get. I am so proud of Lisa and I just wish I could be there to support HER as she goes through all of this.

Ashlie's sister had two sons, Jaiden and Trystain. I believe they're 4 years old and 20 months old. I told Ashlie that I would donate money to the Educational Fund set up for the two boys and I'm going to post the information for the fund in case anyone reading this would like to help out as well.

Jaiden & Trystian Treasure Educational Fund
Great Western Bank
811 S Public Rd.
Lafayette, CO
303-666-0777

Again, I just feel overwhelmed with pain and sadness for all of the loss going on right now. It does make it difficult to be away from home, but I figure this is a growing experience for me. I am thankful that everyone in my family is safe and healthy. I just always need to remember to love and be thankful for those around me and remind myself on a daily basis how grateful I am for all that I have.

I LOVE YOU ALL!

Ahh, Life

It is always nice to get an unexpected reminder about why it was the right thing for us to do, moving 1000 miles away from our home.

Getting to the point of "What are we doing?" is easier to avoid when there are regular reminders of what we did and why we did it. :)

All Polar Bears are Left Handed

Would you like to know what is odd about moving to a new state? All the everyday things that you grow so accustomed to without even realizing it. For example:

People talk about their state ALL THE TIME.

I feel like all I've heard since I moved here is people talking about Minnesota. Which I guess makes sense, because I'm in Minnesota. But it becomes pretty easy to forget I'm in MN when I'm just going about my day. Clearly I'm in a new area, but it's very easy for me to forget I'm not in Colorado and I think I just assume (without realizing it) that I'm in a new place in Colorado. But then someone begins talking about Minnesota and it's like "Oh yeah!". And that really happens surprisingly often. When I think back on it though, it was the same way in Colorado.

Unfortunately for people around me, I still talk about Colorado a ton. I'm trying not to because I feel like when I talk about Colorado I'm going to drive everybody crazy. Then I remind myself that I have different people I talk to in each of my classes and so it's not just one person I continue mentioning CO to, so that's a good thing.

It's hard not knowing ANYTHING about the area. I mean, I don't know surrounding cities, streets, restaurants, bus routes, none of that. Almost everyday I get someone asking me if I know where something is and it's my instinct to assume that I do know, I knew where a lot of things were in Colorado, so I'm used to being able to say yes. Until I realize (again) that I'm not in Colorado and I have NO IDEA where ANYTHING is.

Finally, I do miss the mountains. No one take offense to this, but I think so far the mountains are what I miss. I don't think I've been gone long enough or had enough time really getting into my life here to super-duper get to the point of missing people, I'm just too busy. But I've dreamt about the mountains and I've looked at the pictures of the fire in Boulder and that's what makes me feel homesick. My poor mountains are getting all burned up! If I'm homesick for anything, it's Colorado. Again people, don't take offense. I love you all dearly.

A New Month

Happy September! I'm experiencing a similar thing right now with time as I did right after the wedding. I get so excited about one specific date and that I just totally focus on it then once I get to the date I'm shocked to see time move on so quickly... if that doesn't make sense, I'll explain - I waited and waited for it to be August so it was time for us to move and BOOM, now it's September. August is a whole year away again.

This week has been probably our most settled week since we got to Minnesota - which is both good and bad. It's good because it's nice to be settled, if you're settled that means boxes are mostly unpacked, the house is generally cleaner, and we are able to relax and get a real feel for our life here. It's bad because so far, we don't have much of a life here and now we don't have much to do. Which can be rough when you have a 4 day weekend ahead of you.

School this week was just really good again. I like the second week better than the first week actually because you start to do things and you're able to get a better idea of what the teachers expect of you. Plus, your classmates start opening up as well. I have met a bunch of new people this week! It's not as though I'm going out to a party tonight with a bunch of friends suddenly - but I like knowing there are people I can talk to in each of my classes. Social interaction is nice.

Jason has had Law School Orientation all week and came home today really excited about what lies ahead for him. It was great to hear! It sounds as though he's getting to know some of his classmates and he's getting a good feel for the law school, which is what orientation is all about. Plus he came home with his new laptop today that the school gave to the students so now I get to have my computer all to myself :)

There was a meeting tonight for the Parents and Spouses of law students. It was semi-informative. A lot of it I feel like I've already heard plenty of. It was making sure that everyone is aware of how time consuming law school is. It was one of those, "Expect to be alone a lot" speeches, followed by "Please be understanding that this is just what happens in law school". They had a few extra pieces of advice that were good to hear and a few things that were kind of depressing to hear, such as "Don't plan on going home for Thanksgiving... at least not this year". Which kinda sucked to hear because that's when we've been intending for our first trip to CO to be. But maybe waiting until we could do a longer trip in December once we're both on winter break would be better anyway. We'll just see what happens. There is still a good chunk of time before Thanksgiving rolls around.

Jason and I went to check out the U of M Rec Center and it is super nice! We're gonna have to pay a little something for me to have a membership there, but it will totally be worth it. As long as I go. But I'll just make sure I go - it'll be a requirement I have of myself ;) Plus, it is going to be one of the times each day that I'm guaranteed to spend with Jason, so that'll be all the motivation I need.

Settling Into Our New Home

Oh my how things have been crazy. A little too crazy for my liking. Thankfully we're nearly completely unpacked now and will be able to just focus on school very shortly... well that is until I find someplace to work.

SO - as of Tuesday we will have already been in Minnesota for 3 weeks. That's hard for me to believe. I knew it would take a while for it to set in on me that I don't have my family around. I figured it would be around the time that I'd want to start showing off my new home. Well that time is here and I do feel a little sad that no one is here. But luckily I have taken pictures! Really the upstairs isn't much to see yet. It's just our front room and kitchen that are completed. The bedroom and study don't have much left to be done to them, but they're just messy and plain.


So here is our dining area. We bought the table, chairs and microwave cart all from Ikea! That is one serious store!
Here is a picture taken from our family room looking at our front door and the first landing on the staircase - so those of you who listened to me explain the way the stairs are set up, maybe this helps you understand it better.

These other two pictures are our living room from two different angels. Nothing too grand with our mixed furniture and it's a little tight, but I love it.

For now that's all you get to see I had one more picture of the kitchen but accidentally deleted it and I can't get blogger to let me upload it again so you'll just have to do without for now.

We are definitely staying in this place - at least until May and then we might try to get rid of it again. Some of you heard the story about us not being too fond of the area and wanting to get out of the lease right after moving in. We're living in the outskirts of Minneapolis, so it's kinda an icky part of the city. We don't really have anything around that's pretty or worth walking to. But it is very close to the Law school and it is a short bus ride for me to make it to my school (as long as I don't miss the bus or write down the wrong time - happened to me a couple times last week). We are having an ADT security system put in later this week which will make Jason feel better about the times when I have to be home alone and it'll make us both feel better about the place when we have to leave it all by it's lonesome.

We caught the mouse that was running around the first few days we were here and we haven't seen another one since. We have big ants running around the place but not too many of them - we see like 3-4 on a bad day, yesterday I didn't see any. We put out ant traps which will hopefully take care of that little situation. I had one crawling on me in bed the other night... TOTALLY freaked me out!

We've heard a lot about "Minnesota Nice" since we moved out here. Supposedly people are unbelievably nice in Minnesota. Unfortunately, again, we haven't experienced that quite yet. But we're also chalking that up to where we live and hope that next year in a new area we'll feel differently.

The best part for me so far about being here (aside from the fact that I get Jason to myself all the time :) has been my experience at school. Even getting to school is a good experience (again, if I actually MAKE the bus). The first great things about the bus is that I don't have to drive. Minnesota roads are craptacular! You HAVE to take a highway to get everywhere you want to go. The on ramps and off ramps are short and sparatic. There is construction going on everywhere and Minnesota drivers are INSANE!!! So having the opportunity to sit and relax on the bus is excellent. Plus, the bus drivers are extremely nice and helpful. Then once I'm at school, I have wonderful teachers! I mean seriously, very cool teachers. The classes will be a good amount of work, so I'm not referring to easy teachers - but fun, exciting, nice teachers who keep me engaged and paying attention to what is going on. It is AWESOME! And all the other staff in the school, the counselors, and all the other people who help you with all the different things you need help with - SO NICE! So I guess maybe I should consider that this is perhaps what "Minnesota Nice" is like. But I just really like my school so far - I wish more of the kids were outgoing and that I could say I've met some people, but that just hasn't happened yet. Hopefully it will though.

Alrighty, well it's time for me to peace out. It's been a long day and I'm going to go and enjoy all my hard work for the next hour before I go to bed. I have a webcam and I got accounts set up on Skype and MSN so if anyone wants that information just let me know.

Love you all! Xx

Just a Spoonful of Sugar Helps the Medicine go Down

Who knew that moving to a new state was going to be so much work? I certainly didn't! And it's still a bit more than a month away. Everyone knows that the packing and the actual moving part is tricky, but that was about as far into it as I'd thought... at least until recently.

I decided I should get online to research Minnesota state law for their license plates. We have to get the car Minnesota license plates and get our Minnesota drivers licenses within 60 days of moving to MN. Getting the drivers license is going to require us to take a written test :( Boo! But I realized that my CO license plates expire in July and so we're trying to decide exactly how to go about the license plate stuff. We've had a few suggestions, so hopefully it won't be as big of a hassle as we feel like it's going to be.

Qith my car on my mind I started thinking about the fact that we're only going to have the one car in MN instead of the two cars we have now. Which means I want my car to be in top condition. A lot easier said than done. We realized it's time to get new tires on the car, we need a new windshield (the last snow we got in May cracked my window, go figure), and I'm going to take the car in to get the oil changed and I'm crossing my fingers that we don't have anymore things that need to be done. Though of course if we do I'll be happy to fix them, the last thing we want is our one car breaking down on us on our way to our new home!

Speaking of our new home, we still don't have one, in fact I've still never been out to Minnesota in my life. BUT I am finally going in less that two weeks! HOORAY! It won't even be a 48 hour trip, but it will be enough time for me to figure out a lot that we need to get figured out. I've got a list of places to go checkout and some that I am really excited about. Hopefully the places and the areas are as good as I think they are. I've found a good handful of places very close to the law school that I think will make Jason a very happy camper if they work out. We will need to have a place decided on and a lease signed no later than July 15th because we have to let our storage facility know when we'll be out or else we'll get charged extra. SEE WHAT I MEAN!? Details Details Details!

But honestly, even though all the details are kind of a headache, I like taking care of them. I'm so excited about this move and for this new exciting step for Jason and me. We're both so ready to be in Minnesota, this feel like a major transitional time for both of us. It kind of just feels like sitting around and waiting for life to actually get moving again. We are just taking it fairly easy trying to enjoy this time with our family and friends here in Colorado. We aren't delusional thinking that we aren't going to miss our families and thinking that this won't be hard. We both know it will be. But ... (I have a lot of options to say here, why don't you pick your favorite):

1.) The best rewards come from hardships
2.) Who ever said life is supposed to be easy?
3.) We're so excited and we look forward to all the ways we'll grow
4.) We're always up for a good challenge
5.) It doesn't have to be forever
6.) Even knowing it will be hard we just can't wait for this new chapter!!!

The Plan

Plans have been all over the place for us in regards to when we'll be moving to Minnesota. Which is frustrating because right now we just feel like we're sitting here in Colorado in this horrible limbo waiting to get a date nailed down so we can start figuring out what in the world we're going to do with our summer. Thankfully it is finally looking like everything is coming together. We don't have everything completely worked out right now so it could potentially still change - I'll just have to let you know when we do figure it out FOR SURE, but as of today it is looking like we will be staying in Colorado until August. And I have a pretty strong feeling that this is a plan you can count on.

"No Jason!"

That seems to be what I say to Jason a lot now that we're married. We've decided (okay, really I decided but Jason has helped me, so we're both on board) now that we're married and moving away in a couple months, that it is time for us to start up a blog (again. Except this one is for us both and not just for me).

Jason has been accepted to a number of law schools and after a lot of time reading about the different programs at the different schools, looking at scholarship offers and reading about all the different areas, we have finally come to a decision regarding what school Jason will be going to: The University of Minnesota. Before you mention how cold and gray it is in Minnesota, let me just tell you that we've heard it from everyone already. I mean EVERYONE, parents, siblings, friends, aunts and uncles, cousins, co-workers, that guy who stands at the corner of 287 and HWY 36 holding up the "Anything will help" sign. But now that I've told you, feel free to let us know what you think of the weather in MN.

We are getting very excited for our big move. Of course this will be the first time I have ever moved to a new state, and the first time either of us have ever moved away from our families, so we know that there will be a lot of challenges ahead of us. But we'll deal with those when they come. For now the excitement is just too much fun and there is no reason to push it aside in anticipation for what may or may not be difficult for us. We've been spending a lot of time on Craigslist looking for houses to move into. If anyone has another website that you suggest we use please let us know. There have been a number of awesome places, I imagine that when we're actually moving we'll have a lot of good places to choose from.

In the meantime we're just living our lives here in Colorado. Jason is working at Starbucks and I am nannying. I'll be done working at the end of May and will just spend my remainder of time in CO with family and friends before moving away. We're living with Jason's parents for now - we decided that as long as we have the option to live at a parents house and save up some money we may as well do it. Once we move, we're on our own! Eek!