Pictures from our Minnesota life

Hello, world.

It's just after seven in the morning on Friday. I'm so relieved it's Friday, because my weeks just keep getting longer and longer. I spend 4 hours every morning tutoring children in reading, and I've decided, as much as I'm growing to like teaching my kiddos, I will never become an elementary teacher.

 A few minutes ago, I came in from my morning walk. It's a little chilly outside (although nothing compared to what my Idaho friends and family are going through), so when I got back in, my nose was running. Steve must have heard me sniffling from the bedroom, because despite the fact that he doesn't need to be up for another hour, he came in to see if I was okay and what I was crying about. He is the best husband and best friend a girl could have. I love him.

 Enough with the romantics.

 I am working on getting my book ready to publish on Kindle, and as part of that process, I am planning a blog that chronicles some of the childhood adventures of my main character, McKenna Ellery. The blog is keepdanikasafe.blogspot.com. I will alert you when the first post is up. I am very excited, about getting my book published and available for you to read, and also for you to get some of the juicy tidbits of her life that got cut in the writing process. Stay posted!

Reflections on my new life

Hello everyone from Minnesota. I have been here almost a month and haven't yet posted much on this blog. Partially because I've been (oddly) busy, and partially because I am attempting to digest all the changes that have occurred in my life. So here's what's been going on: 1) I have managed to acquire three part-time jobs. I am teaching online for ISU, working as a reading instructor in a local elementary, and working at the local library. I am still holding out hope that I can get work at a university around here sometime, but for the moment, this will work. I started ISU yesterday, the library today, and the elementary next week. So that will keep me fairly busy. 2) I have been called as the Young Women's president in our branch, which means I am in charge of all the teenage girls (there are 4-5 of them). I have no counselors or assistants, so I am doing it all. So far it is going okay, although the branch is run quite differently from what I am used to, and I am struggling a little to humble myself to work with them, rather than trying to railroad everyone into being more organized. I have also been called as a branch missionary, so I have been working with our missionaries on several occasions. That is pretty fun, but also has been busy. 3) As I knew that I was about to get really busy once school started, I have been attempting to get a few things done at home in advance. So I have been storing food. I have canned pickles and jam, and I have bags and bags of zucchini and corn in the freezer. Hopefully that will help us make it through winter. 4) Steve and I have been spending as much time together as possible. We've been to the Twin Cities twice (to go to the temple), and we are going again this weekend to go to the fair. We've also been spending time with Steve's parents, and that has been really nice for all of us. 5)In particular, I've been dragging Mom Yerka along with me to do family history, which I have been trying to do a lot of in the last few weeks. For some reason, I've been feeling incredibly drawn to our ancestors (both Steve's and mine), and I am trying to find them. 6) Let's see, that might be all. Except that I am struggling a little bit with missing my life in Pocatello. Everything is quite different now, and I know that I will get used to it. But I miss my friends and family, and I miss school (I'm such a school-junkie), and I miss Katelyn. She is doing okay, for those of you who know who she is. She's living on her own, and starts school tomorrow. Hopefully that will go okay. 7) One funny thing is, I actually don't miss my house that much. I mean, I do a little. It was a great house. But our little apartment is so much easier to clean and take care of, and it's kind of nice to have just enough space for us, instead of way too much. I particularly don't miss taking care of the yard. :) It is a little harder to entertain here in our small space, but since we don't know anyone, that's not such an issue. Okay, I have to go before this basically becomes a pity party. I really am okay. Just adjusting.

We have arrived...

...in Minnesota, that is. Whether that constitutes arriving in the traditional sense of the phrase is yet to be seen. But we are ensconced here in our apartment in Kandiyohi, and things are going well. The apartment is small, but we knew it was going to be, so so far I am not experiencing any latent missing of my big house in Pocatello. We went for a walk around town today, and it took about 40 minutes to circumnavigate the entire side of town (at least the part on this side of Highway 12). Along the way, we picked up a little friend named Faith who showed off on her bike for us for quite awhile until her parents shouted her back inside. She was very cute. We also went to church today, and although the branch was much smaller than I am used to, it is going to be just fine. I am quite pleased to be here, and I am hoping that things will work out well for us here. If not, c'est la vie. All is well. Pictures will be forthcoming, just as soon as we clear up some of the rubble.

7 Years...

Seven years ago today, Diane and I were married. The day was long and full of craziness. I remember not being remotely prepared for all of the social aspects of the day, and I made some huge blunders that caused others to reprove me for things that I didn't know. All in all, most of what happened that day contributed to my being fairly grumpy. However, I can honestly say that I am not in the least bit grumpy about being married to my wonderful companion. I love her so much, and she manages to put up with my worries and grumpiness somehow. Diane is definitely the optimist of the two of us. She always reminds me to look for the brighter aspects of life, and she has helped me learn to do that so much. I am so grateful for all of the things she teaches me to help me be a better person. She has helped me to mellow significantly. I am not nearly as high strung or temperamental as I used to be. I appreciate that she always encourages me to be my best self without getting down on me for my weaknesses. She has taught me a lot about forgiving and trusting myself. She has taught me how to see myself as more than the sum total of all my weaknesses and short-comings. Being away from her so much over the last few months has been exceedingly challenging for me. I have felt my depression eating at me so much, and it reminds me how much her presence builds me up and provides a positive influence for me. I love her so much! I can hardly begin to express how much I love her. She is driving to MN today and tomorrow, and I am looking forward to spending the little time we have together this week with her. We get along so well with one another, and that makes me very happy... especially after I get done with a long day at work trying to deal with people who have no idea how to get along with others at all. During the first year of our relationship, we learned that we should not have deep or important conversations while too tired or too hungry, and having followed those two rules has created a special feeling between us that protects our marriage and strengthens us as individuals and as a couple. We get along fabulously, and on the rare occasions that tension arises between us, it dissipates quickly. Our relationship has continued to be and grow stronger as we have been apart, and that makes me so very happy!

Tomorrow

Yes, it is a quote from Annie. But that is just a coincidence, since it is also the word for the day after today, and that is the word I need. I guess I could have used Morgen, but the Deutsch word might have been confusing. Sorry for the non sequitur. What I really mean to say is, tonight is the last night of my show, which is quite sad, but it is balanced by the fact that I am going on vacation to Minnesota tomorrow! I am very excited. I am mostly packed, and I have been working for the last two days. Yesterday I cleaned up the yard, vacuumed (which was a miracle based on a dream), shopped for groceries, took a meal to a neighbor, and attended a meeting for K. Today I went hiking, cleaned the kitchen, mowed the lawn, and packed. I've done more in the last two days than I have in the last month. Embarrassing, but rather nice. Anyway, see you in the Central Time Zone. Oh, and P.S., this is Post #100!

I am lying on my couch watching Gilmore Girls, and I realized I hadn't actually looked at the blog in a very long time. Honestly, I don't have much to say now. I am sitting around a lot, waiting. It's exhausting. (Or that might be the lack of sleep I've been getting, or at least the strange hours I've been keeping.) I miss Steve. I've been cooking a lot, but not too much else, and I'm excited and scared to move on with life.

New Stuff

We had been waiting to post this in general until my mother knew, but she knows now, so here is what is going on, I guess. We are moving to Minnesota. Or rather, Steve has moved to Minnesota, and I will be moving to Minnesota, to get the tenses straight. He left last week. He is living with his parents (something I tease him about, although he has a pretty legit reason) and looking for work as quickly as possible. I am still in Pocatello, where I must stay until 1) the lease on our house runs up (July 31) and 2) Miss K turns 18 (Aug 1). So we will be apart for a few months, although I think he will be able to make it back for my graduation/little sister's wedding. Although it is sad to be not together, we both feel really good about the decision in general. I am still hopeful that I might get into the two PhD programs I applied to in the Minnesota area, giving me something to do for another 4-6 years, but even if I don't, I will probably be able to find work. In the meantime, I am a single mom and Steve is a boomerang kid. It's a fine, fine life.

Holidays and Bowling

Hello everyone. I am sitting in my office (alone, for once), waiting for the next thing on my schedule, which is a voice lesson. And I'm feeling rather sore. Why, you ask? Never fear, I will explain. Because I like to tackle things that are too big for me. Yesterday was the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, so K and I didn't have school. I did homework, cleaned my kitchen, went running, etc. Then we decided to go bowling. I love bowling, as many of you know. K does not, but we didn't really know that until halfway through the first of the three games we had bought. She was done at the end of the first game. Well, I decided I would just bowl the rest of the games for both of us. I made it through Game 2 pretty well (actually bowling a 126 and 103, which are good scores for me). Then in the third game, I switched things up so I bowled one player with my right hand and one player with my left. That worked pretty well at keeping my right arm going. But it means I woke up this morning with sore arms. Sadly, my left hand is almost as good a bowler as my right. That is enough bowling for the week, although clearly I need to go more often, to keep my bowling arm strong and remembering how to aim. In other news, we are working on our spring break trip, when we will be going to southern California. Never having been there before, I am quite excited. K is also excited, because that is where she is from and she hasn't been there in quite a while. It's going to be great. One hopes.

A new one

I guess it is about time to put something in this blog. We had a great Christmas break, which just ended yesterday for me. Two days into my semester, and I'm feeling a little behind already. But that happens. It's going to be an exciting semester, full of busy-ness and bad movies. Also, at some point in this semester, we will be making some plans for the fall. That is simultaneously scary and exciting. I guess we'll see what happens.