One Year

October 30th marked the one-year anniversary of our arrival to the Northwest Angle.  We have been official Minnesota residents for an entire year now.  How the time flies and how it does not.  Since all this craziness started, somewhere around June 2011, we have had some stress and some tears.  Some sadness and happiness.  Major life events and teeny tiny moments of realization.  In that year and a half we have experienced changes on the work front that started the talk of moving, welcomed a baby girl, put our sweet dog to sleep, watched the progression of my mother's illness, quit our jobs, sold our house, moved to Minnesota, adjusted to a lifestyle that I never knew existed, said a final farewell to my mom (my third trip between Minnesota and Washington during that time span) and dealt with the ups and downs of leaving my beloved home behind.  In the last year I have learned some things about life, about myself, about life's ebbs and flows.  Here is a list of some of those things.  Some Angle related and some about the bigger picture.  Some things I've known, but needed reminding.  Just some observations about life....From This Angle.

• The Northern Lights are worth getting up at 1:00am to see.
• I have given directions to my house here one time.  Everyone knows where I live.
• Lonely is a state of mind.  Sometimes you have to change your state.
• I have a quick gag reflex for kitchen sink drains and poopy toilets. 
• Very kind people live up here in the woods.
• Seeing a happy husband and spending time with my kids are worth every second of homesickness.
• Circumstances can change your life in the span of 24 hours.  The scariest decision can bring the happiness you've only heard from other people but haven't found.
• All women should join a Bookclub and a Bible Study.  Anyone who disagrees hasn't found the right women or the power of prayer.
• Mileage is not the end of true friendship, it is the proof.
• Dinner is called "Supper" way up here in the north.  Although if you are Tyson, it is called "Lunch", and so is every meal you eat. 
• Hot Dish.  In Washington, we call this a casserole.  Here it is called hot dish and it can contain anything.  The biggest hit in Northern Minnesota is the Tater Tot Hot Dish. It's known as TTHD at the schools.  This festival of calories entails ground burger, cream of mushroom soup, milk,  frozen vegetables, and tater tots all layered up and baked in the oven.  You want to see my family go to town on dinner, you serve up the TTHD.
• There is no one like your mother.  Be this good or bad, it is a fact.  We take things for granted in this life and mothers are on the top of that list.  Make sure you aren't topping your list like that.
• If there is more than 2 of something---can it, pickle it, or freeze it.
• When I ask where a town is located, 9 times out of 10, the person will say "South".  You can imagine my surprise-- based on my latitudinal coordinates.
• Fish scales stick to kitchen sinks really well and don't care to budge.
• If you need something for your house or clothing related, make it.
• If you hate birds, this may not be the place for you.  They are large in size and in number,
• 32 degrees in Minnesota feels warmer than 32 degrees in Washington.  The difference is that Washington doesn't go much below 32 degrees for very long.  Minnesota likes to dip it down low for a LONG period of time.
• One can survive without WalMart or Target. 
• You could even go so far as to say one could survive without a coffee shop or espresso machine.  But you won't hear it from me.
• You can miss someone the exact same amount in 1 month as you can in 12 months.  Missing someone  doesn't change based on segments of time.
• I am still the new girl around  here, based on not knowing how things work and what animal made that poop.  But I'm not sure I can be called the new girl on the block anymore otherwise.  I think it may be time to wrap up the blog and move on to another form of creativity.  Obviously that would likely be sewing or canning or bird watching.  
• I have enjoyed writing the blog for all of you.  Thank you for reading it and saying such nice things.  The people of the Angle have followed it all along and made sweet comments, even though my writing may sound ignorant to them.  You've made a new girl feel right at home.  
• I'm not ready to say my "home" is still Washington or that it is now Minnesota.  I will always include both if someone asks me.  My heart resides in both.