pallet

A few weeks ago I came across a website called 50 things to do with a pallet. Well, I decided to try this out, and surprisingly it worked! I decided to make a headboard, It cost be about $7 and really added a lot to our little guest bedroom. I grabbed a pallet from the farm, sanded it, and proceeded to paint. It just so happens that we had a ton of paint on sale where I work that had faulty lids so I got a little quart of paint that would normally cost about $20 for $5! I put about 5 coats on….and wall-la! I also had to add a few blocks on the bottom to make it a little taller, also things I found at the farm. I got lucky also that I found a pallet that was long enough so I didn’t have to put two together. It was a cheap easy way to add a little spice to the room, it’s also different and unique and homemade! I would like to make a nice day bed but that will have to wait till we have more space!

cough cough

Yesterday Tim got sick, which means, he coughed. I wish I kidding...sorry Tim :( Anyways he thought that we should go to urgent care which I am all for because it means we get to go to Willmar and they have a Target, and people! So we went, and to start off with, hospitals, people who are sick, people who cough, people sitting next to me, people in hospitals in general FREAK ME OUT! We showed up, checked in with two different people grabbed a lemon bar and strawberry smoothie from the little coffee shop and had a seat. The first room was fine plenty of room and the only person in there was this sweet little man in a wheelchair, harmless. Oh and then there was this lady walking around carrying her two year old with no pants on, she will also appear later. Then we got moved into a different room with less chairs but only one other person, at first. A few more people showed up and Tim got called in, I decided to stay. I was going to wear one of those masks but Tim threatened to leave me…haha. So as I was sitting there I witnessed some pretty hilarious things. First came Eminem, well a wanna-be. He literally was the whitest punk kid with corn rolls I have ever seen. Then entered the man who fell out of his van, don’t worry he was fine. He did however decide to sit right next to me and tell his whole story to Eminem’s mom. I now know every one of his medical appointments for the next three months. Oh, and remember the lady carrying her kid with no pants…well, she too entered the room. And let’s not even mention the awkward child who was staring at me this entire time.  Oh and the twenty year old with a leather jacket and spiked hair sipping on his juice box while being pushed in a wheelchair. Who was told to stay seated but then decided to walk around. Let me just say I couldn’t update my twitter fast enough, nor could I try not to laugh at some of the things that were happening. I couldn’t get out of there fast enough and drench myself in hand sanitizer. On a side note I got a job today. Stay tuned J

betty crocker, watch out!

Yesterday Tim’s mom, sister, and I all took part in a bread making class! Milan might be small but sometimes they have a lot to offer. Although I thought the class was two weeks ago, funny story, we made it and learned a lot. It was held at the church and there were about eleven of us and then the instructor. I had my cupcake apron on and was ready to learn! I was a little nervous at first because making bread to me seemed super hard. The class was four hours so I figured we would be kneading dough the whole time. Turns out it was the complete opposite! Making the bread literally only took a few minutes and then we had to let it sit for two hours. After that she had some already made dough for us to try and bake. She had all sorts of other ingredients for us to try such as, tomatoes, peppers, cheese, garlic, herbs, olives, and sausage. I chose to use just garlic and cheese, considering I’m not much a risk taker and that I would actually use this recipe. It was super easy because all you did was bake the garlic for about ten minutes which made it soft. Then you spread it onto the dough or mixed it in and created your loaf. I then just threw some cheese on top and baked it for about 30 minutes! Super easy, right? Well to start with we made enough dough for four loafs but only used one; so, we got to take some home! When I got home I was feeling very confident and decided to try and make some cinnamon rolls out of the rest of my dough. I was a little nervous at first but decided what the heck, can’t be that hard, right? Well, it wasn’t! Here are some pictures and what you need to make this happen! RECIPE:
dough-

6 1/2 cups flour
3 cups water
1 1/2 tablespoon yeast
1 tablespoon sea salt

mix them all together, if your dough is a little hard just add some more water! Cover with a wet towel or anything else but make sure you leave some room for air, let sit for two hours and ta da!

mine kind of over flowed...haha make sure you have a big bowl!

Now for the good stuff. This didnt come with a recipe so I just winged it! And kind of came up with one along the way!

1. Sprinkle your dough with flour along with your surface and hands to make sure it doesnt stick to EVERYTHING!

2. Use a rolling pin to roll it out, make sure you have a square so it is easier to cut

3. Melt one stick of butter and spread it all over the dough

4. Sprinkle cinnamon and sugar onto the dough, I didnt measure this so its up to you how much you want!!



took the picture a little late but you get the idea.

5. use a scissors or a pizza cutter and cut about one inch line, and roll them like a cinnamon roll

6. in your greased pan! place your cinni's

7. pre heat your oven to 450 degrees and cook for about 15 minutes or as your oven desires!

8. frost and ENJOY!!

Notes: I sprinkled some extra cinnamon and sugar on top before I cooked them, up to you!

Dontcha Know

In case you are living under a rock or I just haven’t told you, I am taking all online classes. This means that I do not go to class, and it is my responsibility to get all my work done on time without someone standing over me telling me to do it. Sounds way better, right? Well, so far it has been pretty easy I do a little each day and have even tried to designate a day for each class. Well I feel like I am a stay at home mom with two boys ages two and four. All they want to do is run and play and yell and eat and go outside and then play some more and then sleep on me. Wait, I am describing my dogs, same thing. So, as you can see for me to get anything done at home is impossible. Especially considering we are getting a new TV provider and I will have all the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills I can handle at my fingertips :) Moving on, yesterday I decided to go to the Milan Public Library. I was a little nervous considering I just always feel a sense of awkwardness whenever I do anything in Milan without Tim. The library is only open from 2-6 Tuesday to Friday and for like two hours on Saturday’s. I showed up at 2:30 and there was a sign on the door saying that he will be back at 2:45. You have got to be kidding me, right? So I sat in my car for 15 minutes waiting for him to come back and he did. I walked in went straight to the back and sat at this little table and took all my stuff out to work on things. If any of you know me at all you will know that people chewing with their mouth open, chomping on food, or sucking on anything like hard candy will drive me up the wall. This man working at the library was practically doing all three of those.

I later found out that not only was the chewing a little much, but, that it was also the towns central meeting for town gossip and such. First a lady, then a man, then another man, came walking into the library all to hear what was going on. You have to understand that this library is about the size of a high school classroom. Oh, and mom, there were two little micros in there on their Facebook, new friend request maybe? Anyways I continued to sit there for the next two hours listening to what was new in town and whose grandkids were coming when. As I left the man wished me a good weekend and to stay warm! I plan to go back next week just so I can keep up with everyone else!

uh oh

so, when I decided to do 30 days in Milan. I may have left out the fact that I was going to Winona for a week, oops. anyways we can start over tomorrow. have a great night everyone!

night on the town

So last night I got my first taste of my new life here in Milan. My boyfriend Tim is on the volunteer firefighting department and they had their annual dinner/banquet festivities! I was a little nervous at first because I didn't know what to wear or what to expect. All I heard was that it started at 7 and went until you decided to go home. You ate dinner hung out for awhile then they brought out enough booze for a small army and a huge ham and about 15 decks of cards. The idea was to just hang out, eat ham, and play cards. OK well I don't come from a  "card playing" family nor do I know any card game besides 31. So what did we play, 31. Overall it was a good time and I met some more people which is always good! In case you are wondering every other Saturday night has been spent cleaning the house, watching TV, and in bed by ten, we made it to one last night. Party animals!!

get excited everyone.

OK fellow readers...I am sorry for my month vacation, but, I assure you that it was NOT a vacation, between moving, trying to find a job,  several different Christmas's, and a 22nd birthday I have been busy busy busy. Anyways I have decided to fill you in on what I have been up to in this town called Milan. So, like my alphabet blog, I am going to do 30 days of Milan. Hopefully I can make it the whole thirty days ;) I will be starting tomorrow.

on the road again.

I'm moving. shocker. Let me explain, turns out my whole major is online therefor no reason to stay in the tundra. I will be taking all online classes next semester and moving to Tim's or should I say home. I will be moving right into our new house, which should be freshly painted along with a new fridge, kitchen floor, and some fancy furniture :) I am beyond excited! being up here without him just isn't the same. I have gone through so much work trying to get my new life all figured out that if you ever need advice on online classes let me know! Right now I get a computer through the school but turns out being an online student takes away that privilege....hmm. So if anyone would like to donate to my computer fund let me know ;) a silver mac is calling my name...

My job. Well after two months I quite tonight. My last day is the December 13th which also means I get to be home for Christmas :) I have been applying to several different jobs around Milan so, keep your fingers crossed! I am just so happy to be able to go back and be at home, I can barely wait!! Pictures of the new house coming soooon!!

news

Ok so I haven't been blogging lately and that could be because I am trying to figure out the next 2 years of my life in about two days. I have decided that since my new job made a rule that almost no one can go home for Christmas I have decided to make my own rule. By taking all classes online I will be free to move wherever I want, and I think we all know that "wherever" I want is Milan, with Tim. I will also be able to quite my job and go home. It will also give me a chance to work more if I take online classes in turn having more money.Overall its a pretty good deal, I also have a meeting at Morris on Tuesday. Let me bring you up to speed, I may also be transferring next year to the University of Minnesota, Morris. Yeah things are sure changing I hope you can all keep up!

jaws

The things this dog puts up with :) but, isnt he the cutest thing ever?!

whiteys

So, last night was my first official night of working at my new job. Well, after a meltdown in front of my manager, and only two tables later, I was feeling pretty down. I made about $34 which for only two tables isn’t too shabby. May I also mention that none of us were really trained in on ANYTHING, and pretty much just told to go for it...anyways I couldn’t sleep last night because I was terrified of going back, I mean when you cry on the first day, it’s not like you’re going back to Disneyworld. So, after some sleep and class it was time to go back. I got all ready and left hoping for the best! I got a section in the bar with one of my now new friends Meghan, so I was feeling pretty confident. The bartenders were super cool and I had four high top tables with about 3-4 stools on each, I thought, I got this! Well I did :) I walked out tonight with about $140 in tips and worked for about six. Granted the last hour i did practically nothing except wait for my table of four, who I thought for sure was going to run the bud light keg dry! Overall it was great and I am now super excited to go back tomorrow, oh yeah, and the next day. Unlike my other job I have found people who I like and would consider being friends with. So, after work me and my new friend Alex sat and had some margaritas while these three drunk guys hit on us haha, needless to say it was a pretty good night. It is now 12:30 am and I am just getting home pretty much, and have a lab book to work on and 8 am class. Even Stella is making all sorts of noise in my room and I could really care less J

ink

Yes mother, I know this is your all time FAVORITE blog post! I'm glad you're soo proud :) on a lighter note...yes, I got a tattoo, which for those of you who know me it shouldn't be a huge shocker. Considering what my ears look like which, again, mother soo proud :) It says "never a failure, always a lesson" yes it does mean something to me. I have gone through a lot to get where I am today in my education and although I have felt like I have failed I was only learning along the way. And it was either this or I love Kelly Bestul, which was a close second ;) and no Ann I don't know how to rotate it..

princey!

This is what happens when we havent seen eachother in 5 days. Or, in some cases, 5 minutes. Welcome to my life...

salt n pepper

look who just flew in :)

202 miles.

So, I hadnt seen Tim in three weeks, and for those of you who have had to deal with me in these past three weeks, thank you. I had 24 hours to see my boyfriend and I was bound and determined to make it happen. I left Crookston at noon on friday and Milan at noon on Saturday, that is a total of seven hours of driving. For normal people thats crazy, but I look at it as a trip to Winona. It was worth every minute I had to spend in the car just for a simple hug from someone who means the world to me. We have three more weeks till we see eachother again,  so bear with me people! On a lighter note we bought a house! I love this song, and Tim, I miss you.

rume rume shines again

This weekend is the annual MN 4-H State Horse Show! WOOHOO!!! Even though I am too old to compete :( Rumer isn't, and will once again be making her final debut! My friend Katie's little sister Keri (or according to my biology teacher, my little sister) will be showing Rumer in the all around events and has added pressure to continue on Rumers success, with winning a class, or two :) I have mixed emotions about going, good and bad. I'm over joyed to be going again, considering I think it is the best show of the season, besides all the drama. I am a little sad to be watching Rumer shine with out me, but, will be one happy girl knowing she will do awesome! I am so blessed to have such an awesome horse that not only I have had great success, but, that I have someone else that can share and have the same opportunities to have one of the greatest experiences of my life, winning a state title :) GO KERI!!

just another manic monday..

I can almost guarantee this will be in your head for the rest of the day :) you're welcome!

366 days

Tim came to see me this last Friday and just left this morning :( It was our one year anniversary yesterday! WOOHOO!!! We went to Fargo to eat dinner and just hang out, and of course we had to stop at sears in the mall so I could check out the clearance section for my favorite brands :) Over all it was a great day and I was so happy we could spend it together even though we are three and half hours away from each other. I would have posted a picture with this post but those didn't turn out so well...no comment. But, I should probably get back to my creative writing class which reminds me everyday that I have nothing creative or interesting to write about my life.

ruff.

if this dog could talk.

bio 1009

So, it's my second day of school for the fall semester and I have placed myself in a 1000 level class. For those of you who don't know what that means, one word, FRESHMAN. I am surrounded by people who are four years younger than me and do not know a single person. If this isn't a lesson in doing things right the first time, I don't know what is. Oh, and my teacher's name is Ms. Elf and she looks like she practices which craft, which just adds more humor to this sticky situation.