Sunday, December 27, 2009

How was Christmas?

Well, here is how Christmas was: fun, but stormy. I got lots of nice things for Christmas, mostly things I can use in my house. But Andrew wasn't able to make it to Christmas because of the huge snowstorm we had move through here! We are having Christmas together in a couple of days when I head up there.

I love Christmas. It is my FAVORITE holiday. I love the snow, the tree, the TV specials, the family togetherness, and giving gifts to others. I love everything about Christmas! This year, however, it just wasn't the same with the huge snowstorm and no Andrew. But I'm still glad I got to spend time with my family!

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Snow storm!!

From tonight until Saturday morning, we are in a winter storm warning. The roads are already icky and we are expected to get 2 feet of snow. While I am not freaked out by this ( I DO live in Minnesota, after all!), it couldn't happen at a worse time. The original plan was for Andrew and I to spend Christmas Eve with my family and drive up to spend Christmas Day with his family. Well, now with the storm, we both have to stay with our respective families...stupid storm! Oh well, that is what I get for living in Minnesota, I guess.

Sunday, December 20, 2009

Money issues

Well, as a college student, money is hard to come by. Sure, the bank is nice enough to lend me tens of thousands of dollars every year, but one day I will have to pay if back double-fold. While in college, I do not hold a job because I figure it is enough that I spend 20 hours in class along with about 20 hours of additional homework. Pile on that dance rehearsal and spending time with my family and boyfriend (along with some procrastination) and I don't have much time to find a part-time job that will barely cover my rent every month.

I depend on my loans for school, a roof over my head, food, gas money (driving 2 1/2 hours almost every weekend takes a toll!) clothes, and some entertainment. College is needed in order to get a good job these days, especially because I want to be a teacher. I don't understand why college has to be so expensive if it is such a needed step in the education process. Jobs can be found without a college degree, but most cannot support a family.

I do get curious sometimes where all of this money goes that I pay to the school. Not only do I have to pay $3000 per semester for classes, I also have to buy books for the classes, sometimes spending up to $600 for textbooks. So what does the tuition pay for? Class room space? Over priced professors? The desks we sit in? I just don't understand it!

I am on a sort of rant, but at the moment, I have enough money to pay for January rent, gas to get back to school, and maybe 1 or 2 textbooks. I have already gone into debt with my parents for some Christmas presents. All in all, I live these few months in fear of spending my last dollar.

Well, rant over. This weekend we were thrifty enough to get a free Papa Murphy's pizza, Arby's lunch for $6 for the both of us, and all the free movies we could watch on Netflix. Christmas is my favorite time of year and I will be spending my next couple of days baking because I love to bake and it is free and keeps me occupied!

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Reading Habits/Review of "The House of the Spirits"

So, I read a lot and I read somewhere around 5 books at a time. During Christmas break, I brought home a bunch of books to read. For one of my classes, I was supposed to read 4 books. I made it through 2 all the way and the other 2 only half-way, so those two are on my reading list.



Today, I finished The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende. This book is about three generations of a family living in South America during a time of revolution. The spirit of the time is shown in the children that grew up during that time. This book incorporates magical realism to make it even more interesting. There are several mentions of spirits and other magical things happening. While I thought I wouldn't enjoy those parts, I ended up liking them the most.

The part that I didn't like, and that we actually discussed in class, was the character of Esteban, teh grandfather. He doesn't understand anything unless he is hit over the head with it. This makes all of the parts written by him very difficult to relate to. He is a hotheaded politician who doesn't notice anything around him unless he wants to. It isn't possible to sympathize with him at any part of the book, which is what I wanted to do. Each time I started to like him, he did something else to make me dislike him.

Overall, this book is a long read, but very interesting. It moves fast through all of the characters that are in the book and uses magical realism to make book even more interesting. I would strongly recommend it, as it was writted by a South American woman writer.

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Pictures!

I've never put pictures on here, so I'm going to try a few from the Holidazzle parade and my brother's band concert.

This is in the Macy's 8th floor Christmas display. It is so cute! The theme was "A Day in the Life of an Elf"


My favorite float, the Wizard of Oz float!


The Best Buy pirate float, this one was for Andrew!


Last one, this is my brother at his band concert last night! I can't believe he is a senior in high school already!

Monday, December 14, 2009

Duggars

So, I am obsessed with the Duggar show, mostly out of curiosity and not understanding their mindset. Last week, Michelle delivered #19 very early. I'm enough of a dork to care deeply enough and be worried. I really hope this baby is a fighter and pulls through with no major disabilities. On to what I was going to say...

On Saturday, I had a dream that I was best friends with Amy, the cousin of the Duggars. We were going with the family to somewhere like the Excel Center, but when we got there, whatever was going on wasn't "Christan" enough, so we just sat in the lobby. Michelle and JimBob were off somewhere so I had to help watch all of these kids! I remember being irresponsible and sending Jackson to the bathroom by himself to wash frosting off of his face!

But, either way, I wish the Duggars all the best! Even though I have completely opposite views from the Duggars for the most part, I still have grown to enjoy their show and I hope the best for them!

Friday, December 11, 2009

Christmas is in the Air!

Today, I spent the day with Andrew's mom and sister. We went downtown and saw the Macy's Christmas display. It was so cute! We had dinner at the Melting Pot. I've never had fondue like that. It was so yummy! I want to go again with Andrew.

After that, we watched the Holidazzle parade from one of the Skyways. It was such a cute parade! I wonder how you get into it. I'd like to go again with my family. I'll try to post pictures tomorrow from it.

Tomorrow will be spent with movies and Andrew. Hopefully we can go see The Princess and the Frog. It looks like such a cute movie!

Thursday, December 10, 2009

Driving and Band Practice

Today, I drove up to see the boy. Apparently, even though the roads were completely clear, people thought they had to drive super slowly and still I saw cars in the ditch.

At one point, there was a car going 45 in a 60. I, with my road rage, proceeded to get a bit angry. As I passed the car, however, I noticed that a small, old nun was driving. So, cute little nun, I am sorry for getting angry at your driving....But you should speed up a bit.

Of course, it being a Thursday, we had to attend band practice. Andrew's band, Control Theory, is an awesome band! (I know, I'm biased!) But if I happen to be up here on Thursdays, I spend an hour or two at band practice reading a book and slowly becoming deaf. Don't get me wrong, I love it! Their next gig is in January and since I'm 21, it has been great going to their gigs!

Andrew and I also spent the day watching Christmas specials at my insistence. Christmas specials are my favorites! I wanted him to bring me home before the Flintstones Christmas special tonight. We got home just in time to make popcorn and watch it!

In sad news, my brother's hockey team lost tonight. :( They better win when I watch!!

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Last Day of the Semester

Today I finished my insane semester of 22 credits. For those who don't know, a "normal" person takes around 16. Why did I do this? My crazy goal is to graduate in 4 1/2 years with two teaching degrees. And as of now, I am only 2 semesters away from that goal, one of those being student teaching.

I woke up this morning to 15 inches of snow and the evil plowman having plowed my car into a three foot drift. After I treked to campus, I took a test and turned in a paper, thus ending my 7th semester in college. When I arrived home, I decided to tackle the dilemma with my car. With one shovel, an hour of work, a picture for proof sent to my mother and Andrew, a couple of small breaks, and a nice chat with a man about the plowman, I successfully dislodged my car and moved it to the other side of the road....where it will most likely be plowed in again by morning.

That's what I deal with now that I have my own house, I guess!

What is going on?

Well, as I just finished my 7th sememster of college, I decided now would be a good time to finally get on starting a blog! I've been thinking about it forever and now that I have a month off of school, I am able to get my thoughts out

Here are the basics of me:
-My name is Mikki and that is all you need to know! I am named after my grandmother, whose nickname was Mickey.
-I am going to school as a double major for Elementary Education and Secondary English Education. Yes, I am crazy!
-I have a boyfriend of almost a year, Andrew. I love him so much I learned to drive in the big city for him!
-Which leads into me as a small town Minnesotan girl! I love it here and even though this morning I dug my car out of a 3 foot drift of snow, I somehow continue to love it!
-I have a brother who is a senior in high school and a sister who is a freshman in high school. I also have a teacher mother and a cement mason father. Combine that with 2 dogs (1 gigantic and 1 drama queen) and a feminine male cat and our family is complete!