Jane's Journey: a Minnesota Novella.

Hello faithful blog readers!

It has been a long time since my last post. I apologize for being MIA, but I've been keeping busy as usual. I went home to Minnesota for a visit from June 20th through July 6th. Minnesota is so beautiful in the summer, and it was an overall enjoyable trip home! I will try and recap as much of my adventures as I can.

Early morning reading

My flight arrived at the Minneapolis airport quite late on Friday night (June 20th). It was delayed 30min, so I arrived at the airport a little after 11:00pm. Beth, my amazing cousin, picked me up from the airport and let me stay the night at her house in the cities. Despite getting in very late, I woke up around 5:00am. It was a beautiful morning, so I crept out to the sun porch and did some early morning reading, which was an amazing way to start my first full day of vacation. My cousin Erica and the rest of her family were all at Beth and Brian's place for the weekend, too, and once we were all up we had a delicious pancake breakfast out in the backyard. After breakfast we continued to soak up as much sunshine outside as we could.

My dad arrived around 12:30pm to pick me up and bring me back home to Carlton. We swung by my aunt Pat's house to say hello to her and we also made a quick stop at North Branch to do a little bit of shopping and grab a bite to eat. I spent the remainder of the evening getting settled in and my mom, dad, brother, and I played a game of Settlers of Catan before hitting the hay.

My first week back in MN was spent doing odds and ends and just adjusting to being back home. The weather was quite rainy and cold, so that was kind of a bummer. Throughout that first week I ran errands, got my haircut, had a dentist appointment and an eye appointment, did a bit of baking for friends and church, saw a couple friends, and enjoyed time with family.

Applebee's with Anna

Tuesday night (June 24th) was spent catching up with my best friend Anna! We went to the Warming House for coffee, made a quick stop at Walmart, and then picked up Applebee's for dinner. We went back to her place to eat and hang out for a bit. It was so much fun to see her and be our goofy selves!

Warming House with Ashley

On Friday (June 27th) I met up with the Pastor of my church, Gary, for lunch at Gordy's to talk a bit about potential future career options in ministry. It was an enjoyable talk, and it gave me lots to think about as I am open to almost any career ideas at the moment. After having lunch with Gary, I walked over to the Warming House to meet with my friend Ashley. Autumn (Ashley's sister) and her baby Hunter joined us for a little while, too, and it was so nice catching up with them! Later that evening I went and saw a band play at the Third Base bar with my friends Holly and John.

Twins game with my dad and brother

Jumping ahead to Monday evening (June 30th), my brother, dad, and I went to a Twins game down in the cities. The game was kind of a snoozer and the Twins lost, but it was still a fun experience and it was nice to spend some quality time together.

Mom, me, Alice, Teri, and Kristi

On Tuesday (July 1st) my mom and I headed to the cities to meet up with my aunt Alice, her wife Teri, and my cousin Kristi at the Como Zoo and Conservatory. After walking around the zoo and conservatory we all enjoyed a delicious lunch outside at Granite City. I had a very yummy chicken chop salad; the food and conversation were both very enjoyable! It was so great getting to see everyone and catch up. 

Vitta Pizza and Duluth

Wednesday (July 2nd) was my running around Duluth day. I ran some errands in Duluth before meeting up with my friend Mo at Anytime Fitness for her Zumba class! Afterwards we went to Vitta Pizza in Canal Park and ate some AMAZING pizza for dinner. (If you live in the Duluth area and haven't been to Vitta Pizza yet, I highly recommend it! It's right next to the Ico gas station, DQ, and Caribou.) After we finished eating, Mo and I said our goodbyes and went our separate ways, so I decided to walk around Canal a bit and soak up all the beauty Duluth has to offer. Duluth (and MN in general) is exceptionally beautiful in the summer, and Canal gives off some amazing summer vibes, especially when the weather is nice.

On Thursday morning (July 3rd) I met my friend Jessica for a delicious breakfast at Duluth Grill. It's always a blast talking to Jessica, and I'm so glad she could make time to meet up with me while she was in town. Thursday night was spent with Anna, Matt (her fiance), and her siblings celebrating her brother Josh's marriage at the Third Base, which is where Josh and his wife met. It was a fun, low key night that I'm glad I was able to be a part of! Oh, and I drove a truck for the first time!! It was great.

Fireworks

Me at Lake Nebagamon

Friday (July 4th) was the Fourth of July! We spent the day at my aunt Karen and uncle Rob's cabin in Wisconsin on beautiful Lake Nebagamon. We had a fairly decent sized group which included my mom, dad, brother, and I, my grandma, my aunt Karen and uncle Rob, my cousins Amelia and Katrina, and my great uncle Wesley and his wife Dottie. I enjoyed relaxing and spending some time reading and sunbathing by the lake, but it turned cold, cloudy, and rainy in the late afternoon/evening. We enjoyed a delicious dinner of brauts, chedderwurst, and hamburgers with sides of potato salad, beans, corn on the cob, watermelon, and more! For dessert we had my grammy's delicious filled brownies with ice cream, raspberries, and tea. The rain let up just in time for us to watch the fireworks show from the pontoon boat on the lake! Overall it was an wonderfully enjoyable day!

Lite mocha from Caribou

EXACTLY 50.0 lbs

Sunday (July 6th) was my last day in Minnesota. My dad and I hit fourth of July traffic on the drive to the cities, so it took us three hours to get to the airport when it usually only takes two. Besides being stuck in traffic and fearing that I would miss my flight, it was really nice to spend some extra time with my dad before I headed back to Colorado. I was afraid that my suitcase would be over 50 pounds, and I was overjoyed when the scale rang in at exactly 50.0 lbs. Success! I was met with a long line at the security checkpoint, which apparently closed just as I got there, but with only 40 minutes until my boarding time I wasn't in the mood to tromp through the airport looking for another security check. When I slipped under the queue barrier I honestly didn't realize that the security checkpoint was closed, but the nice airport lady let me stay there anyways. The security line went much more quickly than I expected, and I was on my way to my gate in no time! I was overjoyed to find a Caribou coffee located about 15 feet from my gate, and I purchased a mocha for the flight home. We boarded and were taxiing the runway on time, but then...we stopped. The captain came over the intercom telling us that they were having computer issues and had to restart the entire system. A non-air conditioned half hour later (nasty side affect of the system restart I assume), we were finally ready to take off. The flight itself went smoothly, and I found my cousin Jake, my other amazing cousin, at the pick-up area without too much trouble, if you don't count me waiting on the wrong floor.

After a long day of traveling it's nice to come home, crash in bed, and get some much needed sleep. I woke up Monday morning and jumped right back into the swing of things. Adjusting to being back in CO has been harder than it's been in the past for some reason. Part of me is relieved to be back in CO, and another part of me is actually the teeniest bit homesick (for the first time since I've moved here) for certain things back in MN. It's a disconcerting feeling, but I know that the feeling will dissipate as the days go on.

Some of my favorite parts of my trip to Minnesota include the following:
Biking. Biking in the country is so amazing. Zooming past fields of wildflowers, often filled with deer, and feeling the humidity filled air hit your face and fog up your glasses...ahhhh, that's the life. ;) But in all honesty, I never thought I'd miss being pelted by dragonflies and butterflies while cruising on my bike at 15mph. Apparently I was wrong.

The screen house. I've often taken our screen house for granted. Although our screen house if very hole-y and mosquitoes and other insects can still get in, it's still an extremely enjoyable place to sit and read while sipping iced coffee on a hot summer day.

Gardens. My mom has a green thumb and creates/tends to numerous hanging baskets, pots, and gardens all over our yard. They're so beautiful, and something I haven't fully fully appreciated until I don't see them every day.

Family and friends. Not only my immediate family and extended family, but my church family and close friends as well. Minnesota is home to a lot of people who I've grown up with, and all these people mean a lot to me. I wouldn't be who I am today without all the wonderful people I have in my life.

Well...my Minnesota novella is now coming to an end. I know that I didn't include every single person I saw or every single activity I did, mostly because it's all blurring together already...I'm getting old. ;) I'm sorry to those I failed to mention by name - I still love you! There's a lot more that I could say and talk about, but I will save that for future blog posts! Thank you to everyone who made my trip to Minnesota so great! For those of you who were just dying to see me while I was in MN but didn't (I'm sure the list of people is just miles long...), I will be back in Minnesota for a week or more at the end of this month into the beginning of August. I'd be happy to see anyone and everyone. :)

I hope everyone had an exciting, fun, and safe fourth of July weekend! Have a wonderful week all!

♥ Jane