331 is where it begins...

Happy almost birthday to me!! It might not be my birthday quite yet, but I still started celebrating last night since it was the start of my birthday weekend :) My mom and I met up with my aunt and uncle at 331, a local bar/restaurant. We tend to meet for happy every couple weeks anyways, but this time we actually had a purpose: my 22nd birthday! Since it was happy hour, we obviously had drinks and split appetizers: cheese curds and shoestring onions. Both were really yummy. The cheese curds were almost fair worthy, minus the grease. For those that haven't had shoestring onions, they are tiny onion strings batter-fried to look like shoe laces. I'm not a big fan of onions or onion rings, but shoestrings are really yummy. Since we were celebrating my birthday, I got a free slice of chocolate cake. It was some of the best chocolate cake I have ever had! 3 layers of chocolate cake with thick and creamy chocolate frosting in between the layers and on top and along the side. There was also whipped cream and strawberry slices. It was AMAZING! :) Tonight is birthday bingo. Let's hope for a win! I could use some extra cash right now.

A Week of Holidays

It has been one full week of holidays and school. Beginning with this past Saturday, the week has been filled with holidays: the annual tree-burning potluck party, Valentines Day, Chinese New Year, Presidents Day, Mardi Gras, and Ash Wednesday. It's been crazy, but fun. :) Starting it all off was the tree-burning party happening President's Day Weekend every year. The hostess is an old family friend and my old pediatrician. Everyone brings over their Christmas trees to contribute to the fire and a dish to pass in the potluck. It's a lot of fun just sitting by the fire or sledding down the hill. One year I almost slid into the fire. Everyone there seems to be at least one person that goes off course and heads for the fire. No one has actually gone in it...yet.

Sunday was the busiest day of all: Valentines Day, Chinese New Year, and Mardi Gras at my church. I decided to be a good daughter and made breakfast for my parents. This is mostly because I don't have a sweetheart of my own to cook for, and I live at home while going to school. Anyways, I made pink chocolate chip pancakes and eggs. After breakfast, we went to church for Mardi Gras. My dad won a cake on his first try: chocolate frosted yellow cake with coconut creating a snowman on top. All of us won quite a few times at bingo: bubble wands, candy bars, a mosquito tshirt. I even got mini mardi gras ducks that glow in the dark! That night I made a Chinese Valentine supper in honor of the 2 holidays. We had Chinese chicken salad, pink rice, strawberry jello with heart-shaped marshmallows, and a pink spritzer created by my mom. And of course, we had fortune cookies for dessert. Yay for holidays!

Monday, President's Day, wasn't quite as exciting. My mom and I went to Savers for 50% off bargains when she got off work. I got lucky and found a MN Wild polar fleece and a Rascal Flatts concert tshirt for less than $5! Better yet, the tshirt was from Rascal Flatts tour when I saw them at MOA a couple years ago for free. This is also when they were standing about 5 feet away from me. It was AWESOME! Since they weren't selling anything there, I now have a tshirt as a souvenir. :)

Tuesday was the actual day of Mardi Gras. My mom and I met up with my aunt and her co-worker at TGIF for beads, masks, and hurricanes. However, the waiter was retarded and didn't believe that anything was going on despite the email we all got the night before. After finding another waitress/bartender, we got our free beads. Sadly, the hurricanes were $7 and served in smaller-than-average glasses so no hurricanes for us. We met my dad for dinner at Whiskey Creek that night. I ordered a drink at both places and neither waiter asked for my ID! Apparently now that I'm almost 22, I look older, even though I don't act any older.

Student Success Day

Today was the spring semester Student Success Day. In other words, it's a day of seminars to help students succeed in school and life. I met up with a friend's sister, who is also my friend, to spend the day of success with. After checking in a little after 8am, we headed to the room of our first seminar. It didn't start until 9, so we had time to sit back and relax while waiting for the room to open. The first seminar we went to was about laughter, mostly the benefits. It was very informative, and the speaker was hilarious! He is a speech teacher at the college, as well as a stand-up comedian in town. I learned how to laugh at myself--which I generally do anyways--and that I should surround myself with fun happy people. I knew that laughter was good fo rmy health, but I didn't exactly know how. And now I do. Laughing decreases depression, lowers blood pressure, and increases digestion activity. According to the speaker, 15 mins are hardy laughter every day will result in a 6-pk abs over time.

The second seminar we went to wasn't quite as funny, but still informative. It was about stress and time management from a stoic point of view. So I learned about laughing and how to manage my stress today. And I got free lunch. And I got a new friend: a stress ball toucan named Timmy. And I now have a LONG weekend. No class til Wednesday! :)

Half Snow Day

Along with the rest of the midwest, we were hit hard with yet another blizzard Sunday through today. Luckily, I didn't normally have class until today. Unluckily, only 1 of my 2 classes was canceled today. I didn't have speech class today, so I wasn't able to survey the class on my informative speech topic: aromatherapy. However, I did have my bio class today, so I got to drive to school for a whole 45-min lecture. Not even 1/3 of my class was there today. But oh well. I guess I can't complain a whole lot because I only have a 5-min drive to school now, instead of 1 hour and 5 mins like a couple years ago. So I had a half-snow day today.

After class, my day got better by having free food. For the 2nd year in a row, Denny's dubbed today "Free Grand Slam Day." My dad and I headed to Denny's for a free brunch. For anyone not familiar with the Grand Slam, it consists of 2 pancakes, 2 sausage links, 2 strips of bacon, and eggs. In other words, its a lot of food. And better yet, it was free! My dad and I went last year too, and it was insane! This year was colder when standing in line, but the wait was a lot shorter this year. I love free food.

MAVT Conference

Yesterday I was in the cities all day for the MAVT Conference aka the state conference for vet techs. Yes, it was somewhat expensive, but it is pretty much the only option I have to earn ce credits with me not working at a clinic anymore. It was a lot of fun too. I went up with one of my ex-co-workers from the clinic who went to high school with my sister and is currently dating a good friend so she has entered the picture of my sister and I again. Anyways, we headed to the Twin Cities yesterday morning for a day of fun. When we first got to the hotel where the convention was being held, it took forever to find the registration desk. Once checked-in, we each got a heavy-duty tote bag with 2 zipper pockets filled with the info booklet and a pen. Everyone also got a $23 book similar to a textbook. It's the home edition of health care and diseases for every pet out there: dogs, cars, fish, horses, rodents, reptiles, amphibians, etc. It was then time to head to the first seminar on tick-borne diseases. The lady doing the seminar was from Tennessee, and she was hilarious! She stayed on track but was so random with stories and comments.

After the first seminar, it was time for lunch. I preregistered for the seminar luncheon, so we had to split up. The lunch was amazing and really fancy. When I entered the room, I felt so out of place in my jeans and hoodie. Then I found a table with a couple other people in hoodies to sit with. It was a 3-course meal with salad forks and dinner forks and desert forks. Water and ice tea were served in wine glasses, and a waiter put a cloth napkin on my lab when I sat down. I have never been to a place so fancy before, yet it was just a hotel room. So the meal started with a salad of what my sister and I refer to as "weed lettuce." It's all the dark greens and healthy lettuce vs. the Dole shreds. There were also mandarin orange wedges and olives to the side of the lettuce. Once topped with a vinaigrette, it was a yummy salad. The main course was also pretty yummy. There was baked lemon pepper salmon, steamed brussel sprouts, and buttery rice. The dessert was by far the best part. It was turtle cheesecake: graham cracker crust, layer of hot fudge, homemade cheesecake, topped with caramel sauce and chopped walnuts. It was AMAZING! While eating our meal, the speaker talked about all the different specialities for vet techs. I was interested in the zoology speciality, and I found out some pretty exciting news. As you all know, I am currently going to school for environment science. Being a vet tech and become an environmentalist, I can specialize in zoology and work in a wildlife park or zoo of some sort. I don't HAVE to be working in a zoo to be a specialist. Specializing also means an average increase of $20,000 a year salary. It is something that I am definitely keeping in mind.

After lunch, we met back up and wandered the exhibition hall, where we got TONS of free stuff. Besides the basic pens and candy, we got lots of treats, a bag of greenies, vet wrap, hand sanitizers, an ice scraper, bandage tape, and much more.

Happy February!

As of yesterday, I have officially survived my first test at RCTC! And it was pretty darn easy. I've made it clear that my Plant Bio class has been a review of high school biology, so this first test should have been easy. And it was. We got our tests back in lab today, and I only got 1 wrong! :) I love starting my classes out on a good note. It makes the rest of the semester so much easier and less stressful. I also found out that I got an A on my moose speech. :) So it has been a good day for grades.

On a different note, I was very busy over the weekend. I haven't said much on here about my grandparents, so I will sum it up as best as I can. Back in October, my grandpa fell on the sidewalk outside church and fractured his tailbone. He has been in rehab at a nursing home since then. After being apart for so long, my grandma got depressed and ended up in the hospital due to being so malnourished. She was eventually moved to the same nursing home as my grandpa right before Christmas. A couple weeks ago, both my grandparents got the okay to leave the nursing, and I found an opening at a senior living center in town with an assisted living floor. My family and I spent this past weekend moving my grandparents and all their stuff to the new "apartment." It was a lot of work, and I'm glad that they are out of the nursing home and in a better place.