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