Balloons + Flowers

This morning Campus Safety left a voice message on my phone. Before I listened to it I was sure it was going to be about the ticket my mom got over the weekend that she won't be paying for. Instead I had a balloon flower bouquet waiting for me.

When I finally had time in my day to pick it up I found out they were from the Director of Alumni Relations whom I worked closely with during Viking Days. I loved the gesture so much and had to show you how adorable the bouquet was!

Apples

Coming after my week spent in the Big Apple, even though I never left Sioux Falls, it seemed appropriate that I got a bushel of apples from my grandpa's yard. He has an apple tree or a peach tree planted for each of his three daughters and his four grandchildren. We all claim that the sweetest apples come from our own trees.

These apples even taste like Spearfish.

Also, look for my new addition to my blog on Fridays in which I post a picture from my summer in Spearfish!

"With Friends Like These, Who Needs Anemones?"

Part of being in college is surrounding ourselves with those people that will become our best friends. They simply get us, all of our weird quirks and all. The other night I was stressed out studying for a Chemistry Test - chem is not my forte- and Carl came over with printed and cut out pictures of Robert Downey Jr. At that point I didn't know who held the title as my favorite person ever- Carl or RDJ?

Get excited for all the blogposts to come! Viking Days! Queen Jackie! ResLife! Famous Dogs! Oh my!

WOAH!

Viking Days week is finally here and in an attempt not to get too overwhelmed I am looking to blogging! I have also realized that this week I will be living on coffee and spoonfuls of the jar of peanut butter that will always be in my backpack.

Yesterday I was studying with my friend Megan (check out her awesome blog http://meganphotography-megan.blogspot.com/). Some studying did happen but I also set up a tumblr account http://thejoyfultrek.tumblr.com/.

As I was leaving Caribou I said "Goodbye girlie" to one of my girls from last year that recently started working at Caribou. Then I got a text from my friend Becca saying that she just saw me which didn't make sense because I thought she was still at school at St. Ben's. Surprise! She came home for the weekend and I finally got to see her! We hadn't seen each other since May 22nd right before we left for different parts of the country for the summer.

I might need some 'not-so-funny' humor like this during this next week...

October-ness

Yesterday was payday which means that I bought grapes and inexpensive jewelry from World Market! I also filled up my car with gas but that isn't as fun.

I also stopped at the Starbucks my sister worked at before she left for school. The people preparing my Venti Passion Fruit Iced Tea recognized me as Brytten's sister and started asking how she was doing in school. I happily told them that she was doing very well and we all shared that we are extremely proud of her. We truly are. I had a blogpost a couple weeks ago about how I feel as though I am 'thriving', well Brytten definitely is. I texted my lovely sister about the interactions I had just had with her co-workers and then we texted the majority of the rest of the night, mainly about boys but that is what good sisters do.

Side note: You can tell she is an official West River College Student because when describing a guy to me that likes her she said... "And he fly fishes!"

I picked out this jewelry because it reminded me of what Brytten wears and hell, I miss my sister!

Triangle

My mom and I had a moment today that would only happen in my family. We were sitting at Barnes and Noble and she gave me a credit card with a little over $5 on it. She explained that this was the last of the child support money that we would ever receive. This became a comical situation (thank god because otherwise it is super depressing to think about) and she gave me the money to spend on coffee to which I responded, "Ooooh I will put honey in it!"

Such a Sanna thing to do but it is also quite metaphorical. Whenever I need a little boost in my day/life I put honey in my coffee in addition to my normal cream and cinnamon. I like that you don't truly taste the honey until the very last sip. Life is like that. We know that something great is coming and when it does, it is perfect. Through everything that my mom, Brytten and I have been through I have always maintained the slightly Polyanna-like thought that the next wonderful thing is just around the corner. And it always was.

Monday with Moxie

When I was little I had an American Girl pocket-sized book with buzz words. One of the words was moxie and it has been one of my favorite words since. I like to think that I have moxie and it helps in my day-to-day goal of surprising people. It really has nothing to do with a Monday except for creating an alliteration- my favorite part of speech.

Today my mom and I had our weekly Monday coffee date and she shared some of her pictures taken from our front stoop and at the Grands' house with me. Here are some of my faves.

My grandpa and his ducks

Me at Scooters. Moms always catch us at our nerdiest...