"Old Man" Gillie

             

In honor of the upcoming Father's Day holiday, I thought I would share a little bit about my old man.  And no, he doesn't take offense to the designation "old" and has come to terms with the fact that he no longer gets carded on senior citizen day at the grocery store.  At the ripe old age of 76, he still rides his exercise bike regularly, helps out on his farm, goes deer hunting, and gardens tons of delicious vegtables that he shares with me.

Some of the high lights of my dad and me are:
*Him teaching me how to skate, but more importantly how to stop.
*Him making me weed the garden and mow the lawn(s)
*Us driving for 15 hours to visit my brother and family down in Missouri- without music, because "music is annoying"
*Us rollerblading for hours on country roads-this isn't smart as there are lots of rocks.
*Him teaching me how to drive while I practically gave him a heart attack- it was windy that day.
*Him meeting my fiance, Darrin, and promptly putting Darrin to work moving branches and mowing lawn.
*He showed up for and helped me move in and out of every dorm and apartment while I was in college.
*He went to every hockey game and skated at every hockey practice from 3rd grade through senior year.
*Despite sleeping through half of both, he came to both my high school and college graduations.

He has always challenged me to be a stronger, more independent, nicer, and helpful person.  He is always available for advice, but lets me make decisions (and mistakes) on my own.  He doesn't like asking for help, but knows when he needs it.  And I suspect I got my stubborn streak from him, although that might have been passed down from both sides.  I couldn't have made it this far without him. 

Here's wishing all you dads a happy Father's Day!

~Anne

Summer Hiking Adventure Part 1

Despite Turtle River State Parks close proximity to Grand Forks, neither Mia or I had ever hiked its trails before.  So Sunday morning we made our peanut butter sandwiches, filled our water bottles, and set out on the 30 minute drive to Turtle River.  Once we arrived we started spraying ourselves down with sun screen and bug spray, but then tragedy struck.  We ran out of bug spray.  Let’s just say we will never leave on a hiking adventure without an extra can of bug spray, ever again. 

Since there was an almost constant swarm around Mia's head, we decided to hike as quickly as possibly in hopes of loosing the mosquitoes. While it didn't quite work, we did get a good work out hiking up and down slippery hills and hoping over a small stream that blocked the path.  We only stopped to take a few hurried photos and before we knew it we were back to the Lodge.

The itsy bitsy stream we had to cross- it was rough ;)

 

We saw a snapping turtle here!

Despite the mosquitoes it was a great hike, followed by a few hours relaxing on the deck and enjoying ice cream cake. Is there a better way to spend Sunday afternoon?

~Anne

What I love about North Dakota

 

I never have to run(or bike or rollerblade) up hills.

 

 

 

The low crime rate! Although that does translate to boring news paper articles.

 

Have you heard of "Minnesota Nice"?  The same thing seems to apply here in ND.  If you get stuck in a snow bank there will be at least 3 seperate people willing to help pull, dig, or push you out.

 

Sioux...I mean.. UND hockey is a celebrated event- even at work. Yes, I most definitely rocked a Sioux jersey with my dress pants and heels.

 

You can have the "Small town feel" and still live 4 minutes from a Target.  FYI- I couldn't live somewhere without a Target or similar one stop shopping place ever again.

You can build a snow man at any age.

The community here really comes together and is supportive. You need help sand bagging your house? Done.  Your school is holding a bake sale?  I can make sugar cookies and my neighbor will donate a pie and her sister makes awesome banana bread.  Your selling Pizza Corner to raise money for a class trip?  Put me down for 2 cheese and a pepperoni.  Your aunt is sick and you need help with the medical bills?  Lets plan a silent auction, 5K, or dinner to help cover costs- you know everyone will show up.

FYI Mia took this photo in April.

 

Winter in April! Or maybe not. -.-

 

But in all seriousness- This place isn't so bad.

 

~ Anne

Yoga Challenge Fail.

Judy, Mia, & I decided to create our own version of Olaf.

Well the world has conspired against me (dramatic much?) and I have already completely failed my Yoga challenge for april.  Last monday we had a blizzard.  That's right a blizzard on March 31st. And I don't mean a wussy little blizzard either.  Schools, stores, banks, basically everything was closed and we didn't even get out of our parking lot Tuesday morning until almost 10 AM.  This meant that yoga was cancelled for Tuesday.  Then on Thursday I was just plain lazy.  And today...A last minute work dinner was scheduled.  So I have done absolutely NO yoga in April. 

Surprisingly I am ok with it.  I'm not going to beat myself up because life got in the way.  Instead I have pushed back my challenge to start next week and finish mid-May.  This will bring me all the way up to my 10K on May 10th.  Hopefully life will be a little more understanding for the next month. :)

~Anne

Yoga Challenge

I made it through March without missing a single yoga session!  Now for a real challenge.  April's challenge will be going to yoga twice a week.  I noticed that yoga really helped curb the soreness in my calves and achilles tendons.  Now I can also, at least sometimes, touch the floor with more than the tips of my fingers!  It's the little things.  Hopefully yoga can help me up my mileage on the track and allow me to kick the Fargo 10k's behind in May.

~Anne

PS- my favorite day of Yoga so far- the day we did half hand stands, even when I thought I would fall on my face :)

A St.Paul Adventure

 

Many people would think it crazy to wake up at 4 AM to go to a hockey game.  Those people are obviously not pictured above.  My fiance and I woke up at 4 AM last saturday to drive the four and a half hours to St.Paul so we could see the Wild play the Red Wings.  Or maybe it was to spend the day with some of our closest friends.

 

Were we tired?  Absolutely.

 

Did we get lost in the Skyway system? Yes...

 

Did people stop to offer us directions? OF COURSE- this is Minnesota.

 

Did we drink beer and Irish wiskey? That shouldn't even be a question.

 

Were we dissapointed with our trip? No.

 

Despite the fact that the Wild lost, and Mia did a happy dance when they did- FYI she's a Red Wings fan, the game was close.  We met some new friends and goofed around with our old friends.  We ate and drank and sang songs from Frozen as we power walked between bars.  And yes, we are nerds.

 

~Anne

 

1984

I grew up in one of the tiny little towns that dot Northern Minnesota.  We had 3 televisions stations and dial up internet- If I wasn't outside or at a hockey rink you can bet I was curled up on my bed reading.  I was "that girl" who spent half her lunch hour reading, after I reviewed the lunch hour gossip that is.

During English class one year we were told we had to read one book each quarter- outside of our normal class assignments- this was obviously completely fine with me.  These books were ours to choose(from a specific list- of course) and if someone else choose the same book we were allowed to get to gether during class time and discuss.  There were two books that still stick out in my mind seven years later, but for wildly different reasons.  Catcher in the Rye made me want to pull my hair out, while 1984 made me want to read everything George Orwell had ever written. To this day I still see references from 1984 and point them out obnoxiously to anyone nearby.

Photo Credit to Google

As I have mentioned before, I participate in a bookclub once or twice a month with two of my best friends.  During these meetings we discuss hockey, soccer, beer, food, Scotland, travel plans, grad school dilemas, wedding details, oh... and eventually the book of the month.  I decided book club would be an excellent opportunity to hear new oppinions and insights about this novel that has, until recently, maintained its title as my favorite book.   

Before diving into 1984 again, I thought it would be a good idea to try and decipher why this book has stuck with me so long.  I only read it the one time, but I can still quote parts of it word for word.  Why did this book, out of the 20 to 30 I read a year, stay one of my favorites?

 

One of the main reasons is becasue it was different than almost anything I had read before.  I had been some what stuck in a Nancy Drewesque rut for a while.  I had only read mysteries, mysteries, mysteries, maybe a historical fiction book thrown in there for fun, and more mysteries.  This was my first foray into dystopian novels and man did I get hooked.


It's also creepy, but not horror movie- you will never sleep again so why bother trying- creepy.  Moreso, it is disturbing- at first glance a person thinks "This could never happen" but then the further into the book a person delves the more similarties they can see between orwell's version of society and our reality.  This is an intersting thought that leads to even more connections, thoughts, and discussions. 

Photo Credit to Google

Books that provide a segway into discussions- more so than oh that was a quick read- are so amazing.  How a person interprets a book and what conclusions they can draw from it are a reference point into how that person thinks about and sees the world. This has to be the second reason for loving 1984- it is one of those books you can discuss for hours beyond just literary themes or character development.

I am sure there are many more reasons that this book has stayed in my "recommend to everyone" pile.  However, I am interested to see how it holds up after April's reread.  Perhaps it wont have as much kick as I remember, or maybe it will have more.  I am fairly certain the ladies in book club will bring up ideas I never had thought of, that is if they can get through it- I know Dystopian novels aren't everyones cup of tea.

~Anne