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Month: November 2012

photohistory

photohistory

growing up in austin was a completely wonderful experience (or my perspective of it was). we lived in the country, and austin had a lot amenities for your average 8-year-old. after we moved when i was 14, and i adapted to a larger class size (MUCH larger), then went to college and adapted to a larger city to live in, going back to austin for various reasons always resulted in my taking a second look at my hometown and thinking, “oh my god. what a dumpy little town.”
so, when i accepted my new job and also accepted having to live in austin for the next 5 months, i avoided going into town, and when i did, i got in and got out, mostly in the walmarts and targets. i did more shopping in rochester than in austin.
but when i do drive through austin, and i have more in the past two weeks since nate’s been in town and i’m here on the weekends, i find that i know where i’m going without thinking. and rather than dumpy, the atmosphere makes me more sad and reminiscent than anything else.
today i went around town and took pictures. i’m sure there are about 500 people in this town who looked at this crazy girl taking pictures and wondering why on earth anyone would want to document this town. but i’ve been wanting to for a while. so i did, and here are the results.

snow

snow

thansgivings of my youth have made me expect enough snow on the ground to go snowmobiling with my cousin bill, enough snow to get stuck in the drifts in the pasture.
last year, there was barely any snow all winter long, and it was warm enough in january to go without a coat. minnesota’s in a drought, and i can’t imagine anyone denying some sort of climate change.
and while i hate being cold, i do live in minnesota where i expect the cold and don’t deny the cold. i don’t get surprised at -3, and in fact brag about it. i don’t like the cold and bundle up against it, but goshdarnit, i’m hardy?
so where’s my snow? where’s my average december temperature? it’s got to be lower than the 50 degrees that are supposed to make an appearance this saturday. i want my cold temps! i like snow on christmas, the white draping over lights-strewn pine trees, the ground changing from a drab november brown to a crisp december white, ย so where is it?
i’m hoping that by the time i pull out my christmas decorations and hopefully find the room for a tree, there will be something white on the ground, or at least in the long-term forecast.
here’s hoping.

colorado pics!!

colorado pics!!

oooh, picture gallery!
a quick run down:
day 1: arrival at 11 p.m. play cards against humanity
day 2:: thanksgiving. go to copper mountain. stop at grocery store. cook food. eat. eat. eat. buy some black friday stuff. eat some more.
day 3: jane liz and i go to frisco and breckinridge.
day 4: jane and cha leave early ๐Ÿ™ liz, doug, nate and i are out by 10, go to denver and walk downtown. saw some 99%ers in front of the fed. napped. flew home.

update

update

got a call from the landlord today, and he says our place will be ready in a week to week and a half (or so). here’s hoping! i’m ready to be in one spot and unpacked.
we got our final paperwork and check from the house sale yesterday! that was a big check-so big that i actually had to mail it in to ING because they don’t do image checks for amounts over $3000. so it’s a final deal. it was kind of sad driving south out of the cities after flying in from denver instead of north. oh 94, i knew you well ;(

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pics

pics

here is a preview of colorado pics. i don’t know where my card reader is right now, so i’m relegated to posting pics from my phone.
speaking of pictures, this friday i am going to try my hardest to take some architecture photos around austin. i think the juxtaposition of old and new is so fascinating in this town. mostly the old stuff not being torn down, like it would be in most places.
image_2 photo2 image_1
 

view from downtown frisco, which actually was a bad touristy town.

 

back in mn

back in mn

1. i must remember to never fly without dramamine again.
2. christmas music!
3. kitties!
4. there’s a lit up tree between faribault and owatonna that is strung with clear blue lights for the solstice season. it makes me happy whenever i drive past it. tried to get a pic tonight.

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this does not do it justice at all ๐Ÿ™

title here

title here

i think i have some pie photos that i will post when i get back to a computer tomorrow, if i find my card reader somewhere. waaah i hate living out of boxes!
the day after thanskgiving is awesome because we get to have pie for breakfast – today i had pumpkin and key lime! yum! and then later on there will be many leftovers of turkey and squash (yummmm). that will be after i recover from eating my nutella, banana and strawberry crepe i had earlier today. it was ginormous and almost as yummy as squash. maybe yummier.
liz, jane and i took a tour of frisco and breckinridge today and have deduced that frisco isn’t that great for touristy stuff. but frisco had a roku for dad’s xmas present at walmart, and we got $20 off! woo! much better than a 10% employee discount! then we walked around breck where the only things i bought were food. ah well!
tomorrow we’re leaving the condo by 10 a.m. and spending the day tooling around denver for a little bit before flying out at 7:30-ish. we should get back to mn around 10:30. then sunday, and then back to work. ๐Ÿ™ hopefully nate and i will be able to move in next weekend. hope hope hope.

tday!

tday!

update 4:30 p.m., thursday
happy thanksgiving! this is the most laid back t-day i’ve had. we had eggs and bacon for breakfast, then went to copper mountain to poke around. there didn’t seem to be any other touristy types there, just skiers and snowboarders. then we came back to the condo, ate pizza and made pumpkin pie. now the pie’s in the oven and we’re waiting for charlie’s friend hammill come for supper. we probably won’t eat until 8 p.m. D:
update 4:36 p.m., thursday
ken helped us make pie:

oh, ken.
update 7:06 p.m., thursday
just finished eating. blaaargh….
for being mostly premade, this meal turned out pretty tasty!
update, 7:34 p.m., thursday
watching charlie brown thanksgiving. tried checking out at kohls.com ย and they are having issues. >:( losers. i want to buy something, and now they won’t let me. maybe i’ll try again in a couple hours.
update, 8:17 p.m., thursday
just ate pie. ugggghh, so full! time to pass out…