A little touch of home

I moved up to Minnesota in June, and in August, two of my friends from high school--Meredith and Quinn--moved to the Cities, too.  Quinn came here to go to school, and Meredith came up here for an adventure (which you can read about on her blog MeredithRhea.com).  Though we're only 25 minutes from each other, we don't get to see each other too much.  However, the fact that they are in the Cities makes me more than happy.  I love having that little touch of home in a place where I definitely don't feel at home.

Meredith and me in high school

Quinn and me back in the day

This evening while I was working, I got a text from Quinn saying that he and Mer were in the area where I was working.  They ended up hanging around until I got off work, and then we went out to eat.  Since high school, it's been somewhat of a tradition for Meredith and I to go to Mexican restaurants, so I found it fitting that she was craving Mexican food.  I've also been searching for a good Mexican restaurant in the area, so I'm glad that Meredith's cravings were as they usually are.  Anyway, we did a search for Mexican restaurants and came across El Tejabán in Richfield.

We decided to go for it and try it out.  It definitely had that "authentic Mexican restaurant feel" to it which is what I've been looking for!  Not only did the waitress bring out salsa, but cheese too!  Both the salsa and cheese had quite a kick to them though--A little more than I like, but hey, they had two for one margaritas, so I dealt with the kick just fine.  I enjoyed my meal--Traditional Chicken Burrito--but was slightly disappointed with the lack of chicken in my chicken burrito! But, I did love that a side of guacamole came with my particular meal!

So the food was good, but I have to say that the service wasn't the best.  It felt like forever before the waitress brought out drinks.  She forgot that we had asked for water a few times.  She'd never make eye contact with us when she passed by our table either!  Overall, I felt like the food was pretty good, but the service wasn't the kind of service I like when I am at a restaurant where I'm giving a tip!  I'll most likely go back because it's the first Mexican restaurant I've found in my area.  But if I come across another one, I'll definitely try it out.

Aside from the service, food and dinner in general were wonderful.  I just LOVE spending time with Meredith and Quinn.  We got to reminisce about high school, talk about Chris' and my upcoming wedding (which apparently Quinn is ecstatic for), and talk about what everyone is up to these days.  I don't foresee either of them staying in the area long, but as long as they're here, I know I'll have that little touch of home.

I'm getting married.

I think it's finally starting to hit me that I'm getting married.  Just a month and a half ago, Chris and I got engaged, and in 137 days, we will be getting married.  Quick engagement to say the least (6 months to the day), but I'm certainly excited for it.  And you know what?  Chris is excited for it, too. You might be saying, "Well I sure hope he is..."--but I mean, it's just makes me all warm and fuzzy inside, knowing that he loves me and wants to be with me for the rest of our lives!

So enough of the mushy stuff...

Chris and I are doing fairly well with the wedding planning thus far.  Things that are crossed off the list are as follows:

• Church
• Reception location 
• Caterer
• DJ
• Engagement photos
• Dress

I like to think that we're doing fairly well.

Two more things I'd like to share.  One is that I think I'm wearing my grandmother's wedding dress.  I went dress shopping with Mom and my future mother-in-law a couple of weeks ago, and I came home with a dress.  However, the entire time since I bought the dress, I've been contemplating whether I should have chosen my Grandma's dress.  I'm calling an alterations person tomorrow with whom I have already met and shown the dress, and I'm going to see how much she estimates alterations will cost.  Without giving too much away (Chris reads this blog), Grandma's dress had sleeves (it's from the '50s), and those sleeves will be removed, as well as a couple of other alterations.

The second thing is that we just got our engagement photos back from the photographer--Matthias Orfield.  Matthias was SO much fun to work with, and he took some great shots.  Interesting fact: Chris and Matthias went to high school together...and they are both photographers!  Check out some of Matthias' amazing photos at his flickr site: http://www.flickr.com/people/matthiasorfield/

Here is a preview of a couple of our shots.

Aren't we precious?

Augustus

Augustus is my pride and joy.  He's my 7 month old kitty, and I just love him with all my heart.

He greets me when I'm home from work, he thanks me before every meal, and he plays fetch with his toy mouse.

Not only does my cat play fetch, but he likes water, too.

Basically, I just have the coolest cat on earth, though I'm sure some might disagree and say that their cat is the coolest.  However, I'm sticking to my statement.  Call me biased.

Anyway, I figured I should introduce my Gus Gus because he will pop into my posts here and there.

First snowfall

Minnesota received an early present this year.  Snow.  In the second week of November.  How early!

As an Iowan, I never drove much in the snow.  Granted, I know we get snow in the IA, but it's not like it is here.  Not nearly as many people drive SUVs in Iowa, and we usually don't brave the snow like Minnesotans do.  If it snows in Iowa like it did today in Minnesota, school is usually cancelled, businesses are closed, and kids get to play in the snow all day or watch movies. 

But, that's not the case in Minnesota (which is fine and all because I understand it's what people are used to up here).

However, I am not used to it.  On my way to work today, I drove slowly as I mentioned I do in my previous post.  The person driving behind me was tailing me (and I was really only going about 10 under the limit).  SUVs were flying past me in the left lane, kicking up extra snow and slush onto my windshield.  I just know that those SUV drivers were frustrated with me and thinking, "Dumb driver.  Pick up the pace!  It's just snow!" 

Well, Mr. or Mrs. SUV driver, I am not from Minnesota.  I don't drive an SUV.  I don't have all-wheel drive or 4-wheel drive.  I drive a Bonneville with front wheel drive.  So there.  I will not drive fast when it's snowing or slushy.  That's just the way it is.

On a semi-side note, I stopped by Haskells on my way home from work tonight.  I'm not a big drinker, but occasionally I'll have a drink or two.  And here's a little something about me--in the summer, I drink fruity drinks; in the winter, I drink whiskey.

This is what has been in my fridge:

And this is what I bought at Haskells:

It's officially time to whip out the whiskey.  Thus, Christopher and I are going to have some Jack and Cokes and watch Prison Break on this cold, not even officially winter evening.

I'm not a Minnesotan

Something wonderful happened the other day. At work, I was going through old newsletters that are sent out by the company that I'm with, and I came across a "fun" section of the newsletter by Jeff Foxworthy about "Living in Minnesota." I started to read through it a bit, and I thought I'd share what I found.

"If you consider it a sport to gather your food by drilling through 18 inches of ice and sitting there all day hoping that the food will swim by, you might live in Minnesota." I don't.

"If you're proud that your state makes the national news 96 nights each year because International Falls is the coldest spot in the nation, you might live in Minnesota." I'm not.

 "If you know how to say...Wayzata...Mohtomedi...Cloquet...Edina...and Shakopee, you might live in Minnesota." I can say three of them...and only because I work in one, my fiance is from another, and there's a road with one of the names in it.

"If vacation means going 'up north' for the weekend, you might live in Minnesota." Goodness, I can't tell you how true this is for everyone in this state....EVERYONE has a cabin...including my fiance's family!

"If you can drive 65 mph through 2 feet of snow during a raging blizzard without flinching, you might live in Minnesota." Mmm yeah, definitely can't do that. I'm one of those really slow drivers when it's snowing...

This just confirms that though I may live in Minnesota, I am definitely not a Minnesotan :)

From Iowa to Minnesota

To give you a brief history of myself and this blog, I was born in Minnesota (I lived there less than a year), moved to Illinois and then Iowa (where I've spent a majority of my life), and after 22 years, I'm back in Minnesota.  A state that I really don't like.  Why don't I like Minnesota, you might ask? Because my heart is not here. My heart is in Iowa.





In June of this year, I came to Minnesota kicking and screaming.  My fiance, Chris, was born and raised in the Minneapolis area, thus we find ourselves residing in what I call a "God-awful state." Now for all you Minnesotans reading this, I promise that my blog will not be all about me bashing your state.  I just need to get my few negative words out there about Minnesota, maybe to make myself feel better about packing up my life and moving away from home.

Since I moved here in June, my attitude toward Minnesota has changed a bit.  I'm accepting that Chris and I will be here instead of my home in Iowa.  I'm getting the hang of 494 and heavy traffic.  I'm learning to comprehend "Minnesota talk" (ex. beg = bag), and trust me, that is a big feat.

Although I may be accepting my presence in Minnesota, I will ALWAYS consider myself an Iowan, I will (hopefully) never pick up that God-awful accent, and I will always think that Minnesotans are a breed of their own (which I'm sure I'll blog about in the future).