july | 2014

Yeah yeah, I'm running 4 days late with this post. Sorry.

I haven't blogged in forever. Life is a ZOO.

I should change the name of my blog to that.

It would be appropriate.

Here's what I learned in July:

1) CAMPING. I am not the great outdoorswoman that I thought I was. On July 2nd, Dad called me at work (at about 4...I work til 4:30...the guy flies by the seat of his pants) and asked if I would bring the camper out to Lake Bronson with Gus and Jadyn for the weekend. I've never backed the camper up. Whatever. I agreed to do it anyway. It couldn't be that much different from a pig trailer, right?

Uhh wrong.

A kind neighbor from across the way finally had to line it up and back it in for me after about 10 long, embarrassing minutes of trying.

And he did it in 12 seconds.

Then, we could not figure out how to unhook the camper. Kalli-Gus-Jadyn 0, Camping Experience 2.

AND THEN, we couldn't get a fire started. Seriously people. I felt like a worthless city slicker. Dad was right, COLLEGE HAD MADE ME SOFT.

You kind of just hit a point where you take a seat in your reclining Cabela's chair and start drinking Busch Light. Which is what I did.

Can you say The Griswolds Go Camping?

I'm more of a tenter anyway. That's REAL camping.

2) HORSES. Obsessed with the idea of getting one right now. When I'm done with school, that is going to be my first major grown-up purchase. They're just pretty, I like animals, and I need another hobby.

3) Lately I have the urge to put a hot pink streak in my blonde hair. And to get my nose pierced. Don't know where this is coming from, but wouldn't those be great with my non-existent Harley I was dreaming up last month? That's what I'm thinking.

4) I love the fair more than Christmas, Disneyworld, and my birthday combined. This isn't something I learned this month, but it was definitely reconfirmed. And we had a Ferris wheel this year. What's a fair without a Ferris wheel? It was magical.

5) My favorite movies have not changed in the last 10 years. Here's what I watched this month: The Three Musketeers (Kiefer Sutherland...what a fox, I have a thing for blondes), Rooster Cogburn, 8 Seconds, Coal Miner's Daughter, and Tommy Boy. What can I say, I like consistency. And no, I have no idea why I want a horse all the sudden.

6) While we're on the topic of favorites, I listened to this, this, this, and this on repeat this month.

7) DIET COKE. I drank approximately two this month. I just don't care for pop anymore all that much. I'm taking this as an okay deal.

8) We celebrated Matt and Marcella's bachelor[ette]ness on the 26th, as well as Marcella's shower. It was a really fun, really long day. I think they both enjoyed it.

It's not a bach party without the panty game!

THEY'RE GETTING MARRIED! 12 more sleeps!

It was mustache-themed.

I love facial hair.

9) July means bean canning season:

I love green beans.

10) These little ones came to live at our house! In the barn! Aren't you in love? I am. Durocs are my fave:

Yes, this is a snapchat from my dad that isn't a selfie. A rarity!

11) I've decided to include goals in these little monthly posts. For August:
- Stop whining so much. And worrying. Smile more. Be happier.
- Survive WEFest...(prayers requested).
- Have a fab time at Marcella's wedding!
- Move into my apartment (APARTMENT, people! As in - NOT MY PARENT'S HOUSE)
- Read at least 1 book before school starts. For fun.

12) Other than that...I am absolutely dying to move back to Crookston right now. You all know I think Kittson County is God's Country, but I flipping can't wait. I miss my friend Brooke and Muggs pizza like you wouldn't believe...

FUN FACT she shares a birthday with Harry Potter. Also, that' is my true smile and how I'll be smiling from now on.

...and Pitcher Mondays, Tea Tuesdays, Cup Wednesdays, and Bucket Thursdays...

new name. again. and other things.

Okaaaaay I admit I am the most indecisive person alive and "A Minnesota Twenty-Something" was not cutting it for me. It seemed limiting. "Love, Kalli" was created simply because that's how I signed each blog post. So here you have it: "Live. Laugh. Be Kalli."

"Live" cause, well, I'm alive, and living, and pursuing happiness every. single. day.
"Laugh" cause I chuckle way too much. One time in like 8th grade my friend Joel told me I laugh at everything and I laughed and said, "No I don't" and he said the word "ketchup" and I giggled for half a minute.
"Be Kalli" because I am Kalli and I have a bazillion interests that range from style to bottle calves to weekend outings to learning how to DIY, and I want to dump it all here and share with you.

I promise not to change again for a long time.

I'm working on a new blog design, too.

Thank you for reading. I love my blog. It's nice to hear that so many others love it, too.

As for the "other things"...

The 4th wasn't overly exciting. I feel so lame, but lately, I'm more than happy to lay in my parent's air-conditioned basement and watch reruns of The Middle (I SWEAR I can relate to every stinking episode!) Spending so much time cooped up in the house isn't good for the soul, however...time to stop doing that! I spent one evening camping, one night out & about with my cousin, Nathan, and one afternoon at the beach (I'm red like a ketchup popsicle). Here's some pics incase you missed them on Facebook or Insta:

Sweet Peggy, Nathan's raccoon.

Sparkler selfie.

Other than that...

Hmm...I made the Dean's List for spring semester.

...

Don't have anything else for you right now.

Keep it real.

CONFESSION:

Note: As you probably noticed, the blog has a new name! Love, Kalli is now known as A Minnesota Twenty-Something.

Today, I'm going to share probably the lamest thing about me. It's embarrassing. Like, ridiculously embarrassing.

I, Kalli Peterson, used to lay awake at night and cry about the fact that I was a single twenty-something.

Sob. Bawl. Weep. Literally tears running down my face. Big, fat, crocodile ones.

This was all going on about a year ago. I thought I should have all of my crap together by that point. Because I was 21 and it was time to be a grown up, ya know, and everything should be working out just perfectly.

Haha. Hahahahaha.

Maybe I felt this way because I foolishly believed that everyone else in the existence of the whole universe was dating someone.

Maybe it was because, if you compare me to my mother, I would have a toddler and a newborn right now. Doesn't boyfriend ---> husband ---> baby daddy? (by the way, I was chatting with my goddaughter's mother and she was talking about how Brooky had to go up a nipple size on her bottle. Like a moron, I looked at her with a simply astonished look on my face and told her that, "I didn't know there were different nipple sizes!" Yeah, definitely not ready to parent).

And MAYBE it was because of my personal favorite: "Kalli, your biological clock is ticking. I would like to be a grandfather SOMEDAY." - Noel Peterson

For whatever reason, it really bothered me. Simply put, I had a fear of being single forever. If it wasn't happening now, it wasn't ever going to happen. EVER. It would come on randomly (I wasn't wallowing in my pity constantly. Just occasionally). I would just start tearing up and I'd curl into the fetal position and just keep thinking, "What's so bad about me?" or even worse, "Why does that dumb
bword have a boyfriend, and I don't?"

And then one day, I just decided to be happy. Because there's no good reason why I shouldn't be. I have two eyes that [kind of] work, two feet, two hands, family that loves me, friends I can't get enough of, I have the means to go to school, I'm able to work, and I can sit on the front porch every night and pet my dog. Seriously, the grass is greener where you water it. It's all about your perspective.

Please, please keep in mind that I am not looking for sympathy here (you know what they say...you can find "sympathy" in the dictionary between "shit" and "syphilis"). I'm not looking for you to tell me that someone somewhere out there will show up someday and will love me just as I am with all his heart and blah blah blah. If it's sposed to happen, it will. If not, well, it's like I always tell my friend Sarah, "Trust me, I know how great I am. I don't need anyone to reassure me of that." ;)

2010. Joel kind of got in the picture. That's his hand covering Nath's face.

But the point I want to make here is this:

My whole life, the only thing I've ever been certain of is that I want to be a mom. Because my mom was awesome. Is awesome. And I wanna be just like her. I still do. I'm a girl. I already have my children named. And they're each going to know the struggle of not being able to find a personalized keychain at The Walmart.

She had to give up a lot to be a good mom to me and Bailey when she was my age. Like a lot. Like be almost totally selfless (not that I'm saying that's the approach you should take to parenting. You still need to do things for yourself, right?) And she was ready for it, because that was God's plan for her. Clearly God wants me to be fun. Ok God, if you're gonna twist my arm...

This weekend...I was so happy to not have to be at home with two little ones, like my mother would have been. And I was happy to be able to make my own choice on where I wanted to go. And to leave when I wanted to leave, and spend time with who I wanted to spend time with. I'm not knocking anyone who has a spouse or a family at the age of 22, or 18, or 19, 20, 21. I have plenty of friends who are embarking on the starting-their-own-families adventure. I think that's awesome! I do! You'll be the young, cool parents when your kids are in high school.

Anyways...I can't believe being single (and, really, childless) used to bother me so much. How fricking stupid. I know these times I will get together with almost all of my friends from high school are limited. We're only 4 years out of school and it's still hard to get everyone in one place at the same time. I wouldn't trade it for the world. There is honestly nothing else I'd rather be doing right now. So why not enjoy it, be happy, and quit worrying?! And, frankly, if I do have children someday, I don't envision myself being okay with getting home just as the sun is coming up. Which may or may not have happened Saturday night.

Now if only someone could reassure my poor father that my biological clock is not going tick-tock, that'd be great.

Love,

Kalli

june | 2014

What I learned in June 2014...you're in for a treat because I learned a whole lot this month:

1) First, let's address my Hayday addiction. I downloaded it this month. And I hate myself for it. It is the most unrealistic game imaginable for someone who grew up on a farm. For one thing, you just seed and harvest your crops. You don't prep the land before. You don't spray. You don't purchase insurance. You don't even work the land after you "harvest". Among all the other things that go into crop farming. And, also, it makes me laugh that bacon can get "harvested" without killing the pig. If only real life worked that way. And, chickens do not lay eggs every 20 minutes. And if that darn many people visited the farm on such a regular basis...well, I like company, but the best thing about living in the country is that all your neighbors are at least a quarter of a mile away from you.

And, yes, I know I need a life.

Moving on.

2) I LOVE wedding planning. I'm certain that this doesn't come as a shock to anyone. It makes me stupid excited for my own wedding someday, and I've decided the four things I must have are an open bar, meatballs, a live band, and a tuxedo bib outfit for my father. I don't really care about anything else at this time. Anyways, the other bridesmaids and I have been working on planning Marcella's bachelorette party and bridal shower. It's really, really fun coming up with themes and decorations and games and food...oh the food. I hope she likes it! 47 days til the big day - holy moly! Wasn't I sposed to start working out daily six months ago?

3) It always makes me laugh when people put up a status on Facebook about selling homemade buns. Not because I think they're stupid...just because it makes me think every time my mom makes buns, one batch last maybe 36 hours.

4) My dad said to me about 835 times this month, "I didn't raise you to be a girl." Here's some of my favorites:

"Why are you wearing flip flops to catch frogs? I didn't raise you to be a girl."
"Quit being so scared of the electric fence. I didn't raise you to be a girl."
"My God Kalli, it is just a chicken. I didn't raise you to be a girl."

Just in case you're wondering what living with my dad is really like, there you have it ^^.

5) I've never watched a soccer game in my life. And I find it extremely hard to get excited about The World Cup.

6) New goal: go to all of these places. I've seen #24 and #29, so I'm off to a decent start, I think. Plus it's handy because I think a lot of them could be hit in the same trip.

7) Here's a picture of Bailey; she was mad she didn't make the last blog post. FYI, Wayne is Gus' show steer for the fair:

What did YOU learn?

Linking up with Chatting at the Sky.

Love,

Kalli

life is too short...

...to not stop and smell the lilacs.

...to not play with adorable calves.

 

 

...to not make time for your wonderful friends.

 

 

 

...to not make time for your insane family.

 

 

...to not pet your sweet pup.

...to not cuddle your precious goddaughter.

...to not screenshot every snapchat from your dad.

I asked him how spraying was going. Haha.

...to not spend every decent day you have off fishing.

Life is just too short to be anything but happy.

Love,

Kalli

may | 2014

My friend and fellow blogger, Anna, has linked up with Chatting at the Sky each month to write a blog post on "what I learned in the month of _________". I thought this could be a cool idea to try, so this is my first attempt!

1) Barbies made nowadays have bendable knees. Without hinges.

2) If you are cold and you are a major Gopher fan, do NOT ask your friend Brooke to bring you a sweatshirt. It will have a giant ugly Sioux logo on it. And then she makes you take a photo so there's evidence of this happening:

We can still be friends, I guess. Disclaimer: I did cover her up with a Gophs tie blanky at our last sleepover. She was just shaking & shivering so bad that I had to do something!

3) When reading a series, I take forever to finish the last book. I did it with the Twilight series (in fact, I went to the part one movie based on the final book, and it ended right where I stopped reading. I don't really have a desire to finish it. I'm very over my vampire-fascination era), I did it with The Hunger Games trilogy (and, the last book is definitely my least favorite), and now I'm doing it with the Divergent series. Not sure what my deal is. I guess I have a hard time letting things go.

4) Having my best friend live just a 3-minute drive away from me is literally everything I hoped it'd be. Sorry I don't have a frilly cute photo of us together...yet. We usually look pretty "ratchet" (yes, I just used that term) when we hang out. Also, Marce gets married in 77 days. How is this possible? Just yesterday we were laying around in my parents' basement putting Bugles on our fingers pretending to have claws, weren't we? (Annnnnd I just realized we were pretty "ratchet-lookin'" then, too).

5) My current obsessions are finishing season 2 of Revenge on Netflix (sooooo good...gahh), getting a sleeve tattoo (I don't know of what yet, and let's be honest, I'm not bad-ass enough for a sleeve), and owning a Harley. With lots of chrome and ape hangers. The latter is an old fantasy. Also, it doesn't make a lot of sense to own one, because I plan on living down at least a half mile of gravel for the rest of my life.

6) I have lost 4 pounds just by moving home from school. THAT is cray cray, because the food here is delicious.

7) To date, New in Town is still the most hilarious movie I have ever seen. I think I like it so much because it's pretty much my life. "Can I ask you a personal question? Have you found Jesus?"

8) Ordering a banana split at DQ is the easiest way to get that 5th fruit in. In addition, it tastes that much better while consuming over a conversation with an old friend:




What did YOU learn in May?

Love,

Kalli

life lately...

Hello, world!

I've been quite neglectful of my little blog so far this year. My bad. I'll bring you up to speed:

SCHOOL is HARD. I've said it before and I'll say it again - do NOT go into education thinking it is going to be easy! Don't get me wrong - it shouldn't be a piece of cake. If it was, we would be lacking in quality teachers. I am not exaggerating, however - this was the semester from HELL. I totally had the "D's get degrees, amiright?" attitude for most of the month of April. Anyway, with all the slacking, I could not believe how my grades ended up:

Seriously. Best news ever.

I also got my fall semester schedule all planned out. I may be absent from the world from August 26 til October 17, but everything in red is over after that:

My favorite thing about this semester was the classroom I was placed in for field experience. I got to spend time with the Title I reading teacher in one of the public elementary schools in Crookston. I have always loved reading (for as long as I can remember) and this was actually something that made me kind of nervous about teaching. While we've been instructed model an appreciation and love for reading, I was always reminded of the peers I had growing up who loathed reading - I even have friends now who still hate it! Struggling with reading is never something I had to go through, so I have always been worried I won't be able to relate to students who don't like to read. Being placed in this field experience was extremely beneficial for me because I was able to learn how to teach them tools that will help them succeed. And when they did succeed, their little faces lit up, just like the kids who learned how to do a back float on their own when I was teaching swimming lessons. Each day I was in there I was reminded of why I'm going to school for what I'm going to school for. And when classes are hellish, it's nice to get those reminders every once in awhile.

Anna, Haley, and I (as well as Haley's mother and aunt) took a much, much needed vacation to Las Vegas practically as soon as school got out. We flew out Monday afternoon and came home Thursday morning. I'm not so sure that I could've done another day there - it's expensive and there's a lot of people and the air is smoky and I just love Minnesota so much. It was a blast though.

We stayed on Fremont Street at Four Queens. I don't think I would ever go to Vegas without staying on either Fremont or the strip. It's just so convenient to be able to go walk around and then run up to the room if we wanted to without having to pay for a taxi. Transportation between Fremont and the strip is pretty slick too; you just hop on a bus and pay a fee and you're at your destination in 20 minutes! These Vegas people have it figured out I tell you what.

Because the hotel we stayed at is a bunch of liars (it claimed to have a pool, but the pool that it owns is at a different hotel/casino, and that pool was not open daily as advertised) Anna, Haley, and I went to The Golden Nugget. We paid a fee to use their private pool on the 3rd floor, which got us each our own padded lounge chair. And, it got me the nastiest sunburn you can imagine. And I mean the nastiest. It is currently peeling and I feel so itchy all the time now.

I swear I am the most tourist-y person when it comes to vacationing. I have to take photos with everything and I'm really good at embarrassing myself. For example:

"I bet you get asked this a lot, but did Caesar actually live here?"

Alan. From The Hangover.

With the Coca Cola Bear.

Selfy at the top of the Eiffel Tower.

The view from the Eiffel Tower at Paris was amazing. I would definitely spend the money and I do that again, particularly at night:

Now I'm back in good ol Kittson County, and I don't plan on leaving a whole lot for the rest of the summer. I'm working at AgCountry for the summer 3 days a week like last year, which is fun, because now I a) get to talk to farmers again all day long, and b) have an excuse to wear cute outfits.

I'm sure I'll also be helping my siblings take care of these precious littles, too:

That's it for right now! More posts are coming, I promise. :)

Love,

Kalli