And a happy new year...

I think I've only ever spent New Year's Eve at my parents' house in Pittsburgh. It was fun as a kid, and then there were a couple years when it was like "okay, it's midnight, and I'll be up for another three hours..."

Anyway, I wasn't really planning on doing anything because I worked all yesterday and I had to work all today. But I texted my best friend Kirstine--she's always good for last minute plans. I went over to her place and her boyfriend Mike and his friend made dinner for all of us, we watched a movie and played with cats.



Then we went outside to a little frozen pond in a shallow in the woods (and when I say "pond" I mean "body of water outside and bigger than a bathtub but not by much"), cleared off a piece of it (partly with our sticks) and played boot hockey to ring in the new year. Half of the pond was underwater (it had been raining) so we used the part that had gotten snow when the rain turned to snow, and by the time we were done, our rink was more water than ice, too, because it warmed back up a bit.


I really wanted my camera, but it was too wet so I took one cell phone picture to commemorate.

It was dark except for the snow, it was warm at around freezing, it was good friends and a good spirit of competition and fun. It was the most Minnesotan thing I've ever done, ever. Possibly the most Minnesota experience there is.

We were trying to make it to the new year, but couldn't stick it out any longer and went back inside. Someone looked at the clock and it was 12:02, so we all said "Happy New Year", decided to say we were playing hockey to ring it in, and then I went home and everyone went to bed because we're old now.

Hopefully within the next couple days, I'll get a chance to write about the past year and the year ahead, but for now, I am quite content with the time in between. :)

Movie Review: Hugo (22/30)

My friend Marcia goes to school in Iowa and was in town for Thanksgiving with her family so we met up today for some chatting, shopping, food, and a movie.

We saw Hugo in 3D and it was absolutely enchanting. The movie is about a kid who lives in a Paris train station in the 1930s. His world is colorful and rich, steampunk'ish. His job is winding the big clocks throughout the station so the viewer follows him in these really neat "behind the scenes" sets through many striking camera angles. The movie was two hours long, but it went SUPER fast.

I don't want to give away too much of the plot, so I'll sum up: he meets a girl Isabelle and they have a prior connection that is fun for both of them to discover. Hijinks and setbacks ensue. Isabelle was my favorite character--for one, I absolutely adored her outfit. She's smart, constantly using big words for the fun of it; she reads a lot and she just wants an adventure like the kids in her books. Love that.

There were some superfluous storylines about other people in the train station which I personally thought were kind of boring, but I could believe they added a bit of color and humor to the film. Perhaps they were more important/developed in the book? I also feel like some of the connections between Hugo and Isabelle and their families could've had something more to it. Like what about Isabelle's birth parents? Looking forward to hunting the book down.

There were a couple neat cameos in the movie which I won't give away, but look for them!

All in all, a wonderful film, well worth the 3D price of admission.

Arrrrugh. Also, Packages. (6/30)

Missed another day, didn't I? Well I have two days off now so I hope I can catch up. :( Too bad I have to be an Adult tomorrow and do a bunch of Adult Things like pay bills and get an oil change and make phone calls. Meh.

Anyway! I've had a very exciting past week or so opening my mailbox!

My friend April sent me this stuff.

A Spiderman comic and lots of postcards from Spain, and a page torn from the Oilers game magazine with one of my favorite players. Plus a very sweet note. This package came on a day when I was kinda upset with some other friends--good timing.

My mom sent me an oddly shaped, small package.

After I guilted her into it when I was complaining about not being in college anymore--I was like "I miss my mom sending me care packages!"

Got some cookies, some Halloween candy, and a Boo Bob.

My friend Alice sent me these:

She understands my puck obsession better than anyone else. <3

Finally, my friend Lisa sent me this:

A recent Ice Time from a Pens game, and a Pens Calendar--much needed because my Wild one from last season ran out a month ago! And I didn't go to the opener this year for the first time in four years to get another one :(

I don't usually get so many packages, I have had quite the wealthy week! Now I need to start looking for fun things to send back to people...except Lisa because she owes me for helping her with a paper, lol.

Ten Things I Really Miss about College

My friend Kirstine and I visited our alma mater today. It was difficult. I wanted to be back there so badly! Campus was gorgeous, it was a prefect fall day, the campus was lively and bustling. We saw our favorite professor and the newest building on campus, and neither of us wanted to leave. It was a weird ache, though. Like nostalgia, more than wanting it to exist right now. The place was perfectly familiar, but still not quite mine. And I know I can't go back--it's so fruitless to want to.

Kirstine and I tried to come up with things that are better about not being in college, and barely came up with anything at all. Here are the things I miss most about college, but tomorrow I promise I'll come up with as many things that are better about being out.

In no particular order....
10. Writing papers. Starting papers when they are due in 12 hours.
9. Having stimulating class discussions.
8. Reading great nonfiction, books and articles--and procrastinating/skimming/ignoring the crappy stuff.
7. Speaking Spanish almost daily, same for reading, writing, listening on a regular basis.
6. Having meals ready for me. Do I miss the food itself? Not really but you have to admit it was convenient.
5. Connecting with professors. I always really enjoyed talking to profs (about life or school or whatever) and I miss that, their wisdom and perspective and knowing they cared about me.
4. My job at the writing place. By my senior year, I was GOOD at editing other people's papers, and I loved it.
3. Not having chores. I HATE washing dishes the most.
2. No bills or paying for groceries, fewer tanks of gas.
1. Walking around campus. It was one of those things I liked complaining about at the time, but in truth, it felt good to be outside in the fresh air and get that exercise on a regular basis. Plus, campus is gorgeous. Yes, even when it was negative 10 or super windy--hint: ALWAYS windy!!



picture not from today, but accurately beautiful.

A great day with a great friend!

I really don't get out and enjoy Minnesota as much as I should/want to. There are so many pretty spots, and there are still tons of places I haven't been. Little hidden things that I wouldn't expect.

Today we went to Fort Snelling State Park.

View Fort Snelling State Park in a larger map

I would really like to visit Fort Snelling itself one day, but it's only open on Saturdays in Sept/Oct (and more in the summer) and I just haven't made it. The park, however, is open year round and would probably be excellent for skiing and stuff in winter. The park stretches to the south in the Minnesota river valley. There is an island called Pike Island which is where the blue marker is on the map and where we went today.


The Highway 5 bridge. I cross this thing all the time: airport, Mall of America, some ice rinks, etc etc. We walked right over it above a tunnel--you can't tell at all from the top that you're over a highway.


One of the buildings at Fort Snelling (where we started the day).


Totally need to go back when I can go in this stuff!


I believe this is the highway 55 bridge--from where you have an amazing view of both downtowns, St Paul and Minneapolis. I really want to walk across it someday but we went about four miles already today so it wasn't gonna be on this trip. Now I know how to get there!


Kara looking adorable, on the bridge to cross over to Pike Island.


~Historical marker~


We were walking through woods like these for a long time.


Then we came out along the Minnesota river, which we walked along for awhile.


Until we got to the spot where the Minnesota (right) and the mighty Mississippi (left) meet. Nice little confluence (zing!).


Looking back up the Minnesota.


And up the Mississippi.


We saw several deer on the island.

Then we went for dinner. We visited the Groveland Tap because they had....

Poutine!! Poutine is a Canadian food (Quebecois originally) which is fries with gravy and cheese curds. This poutine had beef and veggies on it--it was delicious even though I wasn't expecting the extra stuff. We also split a bacon cheeseburger which was amazing as well.

Then we traveled to this place called Shish on Grand--I will definitely go back someday for real food because they had a million delicious things listed.

We had this turtle cheesecake--the part with caramel was DELICIOUS but I wish the caramel had continued under the nuts :(

All in all, a great Minnesota Sunday. <3