Lent

I'm a Christian who grew up in a non-denominational church and family. Basically I was never required by my faith to do Lent. It was the time of  year I would sit in the cafeteria and shove my face full of all kinds of meat while my friends of other religions whined about what they couldn't eat and the things they decided to give up. This year I decided to observe Lent by giving up something that I felt takes up too much of my time, the time I should be using to focus on God and where I should be in my life. This may sounds silly but I decided to give Facebook a break. It's one of those things I love to hate. I'm always on it out of boredom and I admit that it's a distraction. I thought I might miss out on what's going on with my friends, but if they are real friends we will connect otherwise. Yesterday was day number one and I got to see three of my friends last night. Day number two is here and I have to admit it's a little liberating. Plus, I don't feel like a stalker.

Kat

Happy Thanksgiving!!! (a day late)

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! Last year my brother was really sick so I didn't go back to my parents. This year they had stuff going on and again, I didn't go. However, it made me very thankful for the 2nd year in a row that I had wonderful friends who welcomed me in to spend the day with them and their families. I do feel truly blessed.

I also couldn't help but think about about last Thanksgiving. (For your viewing pleasure refer to last year's blog....http://jkflutterfriends.blogspot.com/2010/11/happy-thanksgiving.html)  I remember it being really cold and there was snow on the ground. Joy and I were sleeping in when we had a lost car pull into our driveway. We thought they were lost because it appeared to be a nice family with a giant cardboard box and we weren't expecting company. Well, it turns out that even though we weren't the specific needy family that requested a Thanksgiving dinner from a local church/charity, we were the fortunate residents to receive an entire dinner on our doorstep. It was pretty amazing and rather funny. I couldn't help but to secretly hope someone would ring my doorbell again this year....

Welcome to Minneapolis

For those of you who aren't aware I've been living in Minneapolis now for a first week and half. It's been an adventure so far to say the least. In this short time I've already met many new and wonderful people, started attending a great church, and have been trying extra hard to learn street names (refer to previous posts on my need to learn direction). Here's a simple breakdown of the past 11 days of my life.

1) People: It's been hard adjusting to life in the big city. I'm grateful for all of the new people I've met and truely hope to develop all of the relationships I've made so far. Everyone has been a blessing despite the curves life continues to throw my direction.
2) Places: There are an overwhelming amount of beautiful places to see. There's always something to do here and for my reforming hermit self, this is a good thing.
3) Apartment Life: From the get go moving into my apartment was a hassle. Prepare for some complaining. Moving over Labor Day weekend is probably the worst weekend to move. When you are finally able to locate that checkin list burried underneath boxes and piles of stuff, you'll probably learn the office is closed. You'll be left with no working stove, a clogged bathroom sink, no smoke detector (but hey you don't have a stove. You're in the clear), and bedroom blinds that don't work. All of this is quite an overwhelming feeling. Especially considering I picked a 3rd story apartment because I ran out of energy to keep looking. However, I'm thankful I have a relatively nice and roomie place to live. It's comfortable and safe. Now, I just have to adjust to hearing noises all night. Maybe after a month I'll be able to sleep through the night? Lord willing...
4) Work: Work is going well. Having a 40 hour a week working lifestyle also takes some getting used to. I'm very thankful for having a decent paying job as a recent graduate. But I know it's not something I want to do with my life forever.

In a nutshell life is goodish. The journey has been and always will be filled with ups and downs. Each experience is shaping the person I'm becoming through the good and the bad. I try my best to remain strong and trust that God has a plan for me. There's no need to race through it or push our circumstances. Instead, I prefer to enjoy the crazy rollercoaster day by day.

Since it's been about a month

Too bad the A-Z challenge is over because we have very little to keep us inspired to write anything. Since it's been nearly a month without any updates I'll give a quick summary.

1. Congrats to Melissa who is all settled into her new place and job. She was a great 3rd roommate and we had tons of fun with her. I guess some people have to grow up. We are proud of you!!!
2. Advice to anyone with a roommate: Never let your drunk friends into your house after bars while your roommate is sleeping - no matter what they threaten to do to your car. We'll leave it at that.
3. Joy is working hard at applying for jobs and trying to figure out what she wants to do with life.
4. I am thinking of buying a magic 8 ball to decide what to do with my life.
5. We have roughly a month to let our landlord know if we are going to renew our lease or not.
6. Major problems: a) We aren't 100% sure we'll be staying in River Falls and b) even if we are, Joy might be too scarred to want to live with me for another year. Maybe she can borrow my magic 8 ball. Just a thought.

Sidewalk Chalkin

So there I am watching Tom and Jerry, (like any 21 and 4 half year old avoiding all the homework she should be doing) when Kat comes along insisting that it is time for us to go out and draw on our sidewalk with my sidewalk chalk. So we did, here are the photos from our fun

 

Kat says "is it too gay if I write Joy and Kat love here"

Well of course that's real gay, write it anyway!

We traced our hands and feet, then decided to make our hands into turkeys.

Our landlord pays the guy in the other half of the duplex to do the grounds-keeping work such as ya know, raking leaves. As you can tell he works hard for the money.  We can't wait to see how long it takes before he cracks out the snow blower once the snow comes!

P.S. We'd appreciate all of our RF friends come visit and use the front door so you can admire our work!

Another Weekend

Last night I had plans to go with Joy to a haunted corn maze. I'm a terrible person and it's an hour away so I didn't go. (I'm sorry Joy!!!) Instead I went to Katie's and we had plans to watch the Wild game with another friend. Well, long story short two of her friends in River Falls wanted us to come over to their grill out so we did. We get there and we're going over the introductions, having a couple of drinks, watching the game and waiting for food. We were also forwarned about this couple that was going to be making an appearance at their house and she allegedly beat him up not too long ago. Kinda crazy. Katie was extremely excited to see this couple and maybe she had a little too much to drink or she has a hidden violent streak in her, but she was making bets on who would win if another fight were to occur. So, along with the girlfriend coming in was an older lady. It was sort of a weird combination. This woman was apparently only 50, but she looked like she was in her 60s. Her memory wasn't so great because she introduced herself to us all on multiple occassions and asked what my major was twice within about 5 minutes. She was petting one of the guy's chest (yup, it was creepy) and when this guy got out of his chair she sat down in it and was excited by how warm it was. She kept proclaiming she doesn't normally drink this much (yeah right) and hasn't drank in about 3 years (doubtful). She was hilarious without even meaning to be. In fact we had a nice heart to heart about her lazy daughter. It was fabulous.
The guys' house we were at were pretty funny too. Katie was trying to play match maker and asking them a million questions about what they look for in a girl. You learn alot about someone while they are drinking. I guess some guys aren't into cankles, girls with annoying laughs, or big purses. The rule of thumb is if a purse can fit a poodle then it's too big. I didn't know that. Also, I've come to the realization that I may be a bit blunt. I just say things. Like somehow the conversation of friends dating people each other have dated came up. I don't get how people do that and after awhile they are like a buffet. I guess my mouth has no filter.

<3 Katrin

P.S. My birthday is in one week.

Whatever, It's the Weekend

Well, as you know from Joy's entry on Friday we got to see our old besty Rachel. So, Friday as you can imagine was an adventerous night consiting of Rachel drunk dialing my brother, kareokee, a ride in a limo and pretty much everything in between. I've literally had no life for quite some and it was great to see old friends and let loose a little.

Last night I attended one of my good friend's birthday/husband's going away party. We met up a place called PINZ which has an arcarde, lazer tag, bowling, and a restaurant/bar. A bunch of her friends came and we bowled for a couple of hours. I learned that I'm a truly awful bowler. Gutters were my thing for quite a few frames. However, I did get a couple of spares and on multiple occasions I almost had strikes but that last pin never wanted to fall for me. It was still a blast. A couple of us came back to their house to hang out and watch season 1 of "The Office" which I got her for her birthday. I was never really a fan but I have to admit that it was pretty funny. We watched all of the season and stayed up until infinity. I'm kind of curious to find out what happens throughout the series now.

Overall, it was an amazing weekend and I haven't had this much fun in a very long time. I got to kick some butt in lazer tag and get creamed in bowling as well as meet some really great people which I hope to see again. As for my Joy-Joy she went home for her niece/nephew's birthday party. Now I have to try and get my head out of the clouds and get some studying done. We'll see about that.

Adios,
Kitty Kat