Long time with no writing! I was hoping to update my blog as much as possible over my vacation spent with family when my parents went to Canada, but we got to be so busy that it made it a lot harder. But I took tons of pictures, so I’m thrilled to recap this now!
I got home yesterday and just finished unpacking a little bit ago (as of 3:44 from June 23, 2018). I had quite the amount of bags to unpack: when I left, I had brought five bags. Yeah, I know that sounds like a lot, but since my mom was bringing her huge suitcase that I normally take for all of my clothes, I ended up bringing three bags of clothes. Yes, I brought the whole summer portion of my closet, and I’m glad I did: I was able to wear a new outfit everyday, haha! And I made Grandma take a picture of me everyday so I can post them all like the wannabe fashion blogger I am! Haha just kidding, but I am saving them for a future blog post on modesty.
I did only end up bringing one bag for my entertainment type things, and for once I brought only the bare minimum for those. So it all balanced out. And then my fifth bag was just my purse, so I don’t know if that really counts. I ended up coming home with NINE bags though, but that’s because they were smaller bags of things I bought that wouldn’t fit anywhere else. I got a lot of good deals and things I bought that I’ll go over, too!
First things first, my parents and brother went up to Canada with some friends, and it sounds like they had a good time! I already recapped our first trip to Canada as a family here, here, and here. I never did post our second trip, which was last year, and honestly that’s because it wasn’t too interesting on my end at least. I determined the fishing life isn’t my life, so I mainly stayed at the cabin and read. Canada was still beautiful, though, and I did have pictures that I never posted, so I’ll show you them below here:
*we went to Cabela’s on the way up, Tobie’s with amazing donuts, and attempted to feed deer
**Hunter caught a huge fish right off our dock when our parents were out fishing, so I helped him but he had most of it done himself, and then these guys in the cabin next to us had just come back from fishing and helped us store the fish—it’s mounted in his room now
***on the way home, I got Arby’s and went by the Xcel Energy Center, home of the Minnesota Wild
I already miss everyone and Estherville so much I could cry. It’s always a blast, and I’m already making plans to go up again. I blogged some images of my first day there here. I went up to Estherville to stay with my grandparents a couple days before my family left for Canada. They were spending the night at my uncle’s house, also, so I would have a few days to talk to them before they had to battle finding an internet connection. I had fun just hanging out with my grandparents and making the rounds at ShopKo and Dollar General.
I had ordered some jeans from American Eagle that (finally!) came back in stock, so as soon as Mom and I saw that, we jumped on them and bought them and had them shipped up to Estherville because I would be up there when they came. Also about that swimsuit, that didn’t get shipped until after we left to see our relatives up in the Cities, so I hope nobody has stolen it or the elements haven’t destroyed it…because I guess Estherville is drowning right now with all the rain…
That night we made it a goal to walk down on their recreational trail everyday, so we headed down.
This is random, but I was kind of proud of myself because I made it a goal to shower every single day I was up there (because normally when I’m up there I slack off and then always regret it because I have greasy hair in all of my pictures), and so I actually did that, AND I actually rotated through both of my shampoos I’m supposed to be using every other day, so yeah, now if I can just get that disciplined with my writing, Bible study, and fitness routines we’ll be good…. I also had had horrible drainage for the majority of my time up there, but it got better with each day, and I had to take these horrible pills that tasted disgusting on your tongue, and they were so big that I about gagged on one of them each time I took them. Ugh. Good memories.
The next day, I went for a bike ride with my Gramps. It was cool in the mornings with a faint breeze, and since I wore an airy top it was bearable. We didn’t get to ride bikes much later though due to the humidity and high temperatures. But we went on an extensive ride that day, clear down by the hospital and then headed south down by this church that always greets us upon coming into town. Then we had to find a place to cross the busy highway that goes through downtown, and it was uphill from there. We were definitely shot after that, but I loved it.
He also took me for our truck ride!! No visit to Estherville is complete without one of those.
Grams also took me on some rides out to Fort Defiance, and I love being able to talk with her on those.
My older cousin Kirsten who I’m super close to and who feels like more of an older sister than a cousin called us frequently, which is always fun getting to talk to her, especially past midnight when Grams is ready to kill us both. ;D
We also went to their VFW to talk with some extended relatives. I enjoyed the company of everyone and was glad I put on that long-sleeved shirt, which Grandma nagged me to change into because it was freezing.
Hey look… It’s me with Grandma in her signature pose, on the phone. 😉 <3
All the small town vibes <3
My family also recently introduced me to Forrest Gump, and oh my gosh, that just may be one of my next favorite movies. So Grams and I watched it at night and only finished it in three days, haha. That’s because she was too tired the one night and then too busy on the phone the next, haha.
The next day, we headed over to Spencer because Gramps got his windshield destroyed when a rock hit it when he was going to pick up Grandma after her trip. It turns out they ordered the wrong one, which he was not at all happy about, but we at least got to go shopping down at their little strip mall. It had rained heavily the night before, and thankfully we got back before more storms came, because Grandpa said that if it hailed on his car with all of the damage it already had he was going to drive it off a cliff… ;D
I went into JCPenney with Grandma, and I found two new summer tops that were both up to 70% off! The material also felt really nice, too, and not at all cheap. Then we went to Hobby Lobby, a store Grandpa and Grandma love that I do also now, and their girly room decor took my breath away! I think it was supposed to be marketed at five year old girls, so I guess I’m still five…? I don’t know, but I absolutely loved it.
Then at Hobby Lobby, I got this frame for my room. It’s hard to see completely what it says because I haven’t taken the packaging off of it yet, but it says “Live big little girl.” I liked that a lot, even though I don’t know if I’m so little anymore, but I probably act like one with all of my far fetched dreams and fantasies. 😉
We did our nightly walk again, and I believe we also went to the Dollar General again. I can’t remember what day this was, but on one day Grandma had to go to the Dollar Store so many times—I think five, no lie—and Gramps was so exasperated, he was like, we should move it to our front yard. ;D
Here I’m under the bridge that goes over the trail downtown. It has a weird echo, and every time we walk underneath it I morbidly wonder about it collapsing on us… I’m sure it’s fine though, and it is definitely different to walk underneath it, but I like it. The trail is a blast to walk on and so is the Swinging Bridge.
The next morning I bought six donuts at Casey’s because they had some deal going for that. And I ate all six of them over the span of two days. My diet is so good, you guys. I don’t even know what to do about it, except keep eating. 😀
I actually did do some sporadic writing on my book, and there were some times just driving around the town, under the perfect sunset, that my heart seemed to just swell with the story and the themes and the thoughts I had that I just can’t get over until I write about. If that’s not motivation to write, I don’t know what is. So I am going to seriously start working on it.
We went to the library later just to look around. I wanted to get a feel for the young adult books, to get an idea of any I might want to buy. I am SO picky about the books I read anymore because they are all so redundant—especially YA. As if teenagers can’t handle any deep things of substance. And sometimes they will put deep problems in the books, but you know what is always missing? DEEP THEMES. I don’t know if I was in the best of moods after reading all the summaries, haha. I have such a deep desire to make my stories different from the norms, but who knows if that even sells? Even most of Christian fiction is repetitive and fluffy: sure, they give their characters problems—that are all miraculously solved. It’s annoying because it’s not authentic.
But anyway, enough on that rant. I LOVE their library. While ours is more modern and sleek, theirs is more classic and timeless. I think I like their look more to be honest.
They also have the best furniture and these cute tables that I loved. I also like how theirs is two stories. The library gives such a fancy addition to the downtown.
I got to go eat out with Grams at Godfather’s again, and then we hurried home to see company and had some nice chats. I always love being able to talk deep with her though.
Their town is so pretty, I love committing it to memory. <3
I did stay up late working on the draft of a letter to you know who that I’ve been promising on here, but it got late and you know how Grandma gets when it’s “too late,” and then we went to meet my cousin Kirsten the next day (yay!!!) so I never got time to finish it up there. I will eventually, though.
For a year, Kirsten and I had been planning to go jet skiing over at Okoboji, and we had set money aside to rent one. We also had other plans to do things, and we got mostly everything we wanted to done. Both of us had just recently bought leather jackets, so we wanted to get tons of pictures together. We made poor Grams come out with us to the Swinging Bridge where we bossed her around with different photography commands. I’m sure she was close to throwing us off the bridge, but we made sure to thank her profusely, especially since she actually got quite the batch of good pics haha!
Then we made Grams take us out to Fort Defiance, too. 🙂
We had some downright hilarious photos as we attempted to get this one:
Kirsten requested that we eat at Godfather’s, which of course I wasn’t going to deny just because I ate out the night before. We were rowdy when we arrived—we were the only ones there—haha. And then when we went to ShopKo, Kirsten yelled “I gotta go pee!” a little too loud, right by a worker, haha. Memories. Since I’d gotten pizza the night before at Godfather’s, I decided to try their chicken. It was so much better than what I remembered it to be; I loved it.
Kirsten and I also went for a bike ride around the neighborhood.
We brought Kirsten with on our nightly walks and of course made Grams take more pictures.
That night we did our nails, and I finally used some of my polish from my large collection of nail polish I’ve neglected since 6th grade (right Mom?). It was a blast, except I’m so slow and messy when it comes to doing my nails. I need to do it more often.
We stayed up until three something talking about everything: guys we like and our types of guys, inside jokes, deep questions that are going into my book, psychology, creepy stories, our memories, etc. I love having someone like her to talk to.
The next day was going to be the day we had planned for: jet skiing at ‘Boji and all the fun things around there! There was a place to rent a jet ski just off of Arnold’s Park. We wanted that so we could have something as a landmark so we didn’t get lost out in the lake haha.
Jet skiing was so awesome. Seriously. It affirmed my dreams to live on a lake and get a bunch of toys for the water, a jet ski now being top of the list. We didn’t venture too far away, but we did go out to the center of West Lake Okoboji. Maybe if we’re braver next time we’ll go under the bridge that we drive over coming into Spirit Lake like we saw some other people on jet skis do. 🙂 We also couldn’t have asked for better weather. It was a blistering hot day, but honestly, those are the days you want because the water is cold if not, and the coolness of the water on your skin is that much more refreshing when you’re out there. Plus, you do get WET, as we found out, so if it’s hotter outside you dry off faster.
We rented a jet ski for half an hour, and I made Kirsten drive. 😉 I think she was worried about it, but she did a great job. We rode it as fast as we could (only like 7 mph…for some reason I thought they could go up to 70 like a car and I have no idea why I thought that haha). She was also smart about her driving, too, though, because the last thing we wanted was to tip over! And there were some solid waves out there because it’s a very populated lake. We made sure to slow down for those, but I absolutely loved each second of it. I let my arms dangle around Kirsten’s waist and made sure I stayed snug against her so that I wouldn’t fly off, but I really think that’s harder than one imagines. Both of us agreed we would do it again, and hopefully we can! We didn’t think we would get as wet as we did but wore a spare change of clothes just in case, and I’m glad we did. The water temperature was just right: my bare feet were getting scorched as we walked down to the jet ski, but letting my feet rest on the sides of it where the water collected felt amazing. Kirsten took the brunt of the splashing waves, haha, while I ducked behind her. But being the back, water would spray up from behind and splash me, too. I absolutely loved it. I wish we would have gotten more pictures of us on it, or that we had a Go Pro. We both agreed that if we ever become rich like a lot of the people over here, the first investment we’re going to make is a photographer who can follow us around and take pictures, haha. 😀
At first we didn’t know if we’d be able to get to go jet skiing but had a backup plan of going canoeing if not. I’m so thankful we got to go jet skiing though. I’m very thankful that God blessed us with those moments together. For years we’ve driven over the lakes, and I’ve watched as all of the people had their fun on the lakes, and so it was really special to finally be able to get to be a part of that. I hope we can do something like that again next year, and who knows, maybe one day I will make my dream come true of having a lake house on ‘Boji. 😉
Okay, then there were these pictures when we were done that Grams took. They crack me up. I just love how our movements are completely identical to each other—in this picture we look like zombies or something, and then Kirsten has an even better one of us where we’re looking over to the side and we LITERALLY look like the real BigFoot. Yeah, I can see that one: two BigFoots spotted live in action on the coast of Arnold’s Park.
The lake life in ‘Boji? Heck yes. Canada? Sorry, but I had my two years and was more than ready for this change of pace. 😉
We went into a nearby restroom to change into drier, fancier clothes. And then got pictures!!! Duh.
They’ve been making some new changes to the park, which look awesome. I thought it would’ve changed in appearance a lot more than it has, but I’m okay with that because I wouldn’t want the look to be unrecognizable. But Kirsten and I went walking through all of the shops, and there was this new museum for rock and roll and a new fun area with this huge slide we might try one day haha. Then up at the Emporium, they have a brand new Lilly Pulitzer store. OH, MY GOSH. I died, because I’ve always admired Lilly Pulitzer from afar and wish I had the budget to splurge on their clothes. The shop was so cute, and I found two tops easily I would’ve loved, each only $100! Not. I totally don’t have a budget for that right now, but maybe one day… Nonetheless, I’m glad they have the store; it’s adorable.
We also did the free Mirror Maze and Tipsy House inside the park, which are always fun. We got gum balls from the golf course I’ve always wanted to golf at and even won a yellow gum ball, which means a free round for one person to golf there! So then we made Grams take this picture, too:
We went to go eat at the Spirit Lake Dairy Queen (it never fails). Originally we had wanted to eat at a restaurant on the lake, but they were unbelievably crowded. Kirsten and I tried to check out one, and you could barely walk.
We actually got Gramps to go mini golfing in the park with us! Since it was Father’s Day, he got to go free. It was actually way cheaper than I expected it to be but very crowded. It wasn’t horrible though. I really enjoyed it, except it got a bit long after awhile especially with the heat. Every once in awhile there was a breeze. Ha, actually there was a breeze a lot, because our balls kept going all over the place, and Kirsten’s and my hair kept flying everywhere during pictures. It was fun though, and I’m glad we got to do it. Grams kept score for us; I don’t think golf is her thing. We always joke with Gramps about mini golf because a long time ago he went mini golfing, got mad, and hit the ball clear over the highway! Normally that’s how I feel because we went mini golfing the year before, and I did absolutely horrible. Gramps beat us by a lot, and Kirsten and I almost tied for last, but Kirsten lost by a couple more points. Kirsten’s ball really liked her: it kept coming back down the hill to the starting point hahaha.
Gramps also took us for truck rides, too, which we enjoy. We went on the Swinging Bridge again, too.
On a ride around town, the sunlight peeking through the clouds was an awesome sight:
Kirsten wanted to watch Forrest Gump with me since it had been years since she’d seen it, so I was more than happy to because I’m obsessed with it! We stole some of Grandma’s M&M’s from her food she was saving for circle at church the next day, and I sprinkled them on my popcorn. We paused the movie for awhile though to talk with Grams, which I loved. Kir and I had some honest talks that I loved getting to talk with her over, like our unfiltered, raw thoughts on different types of people. It felt good to be able to connect like that. You know, the more I think about how lonely I feel, what God has lain on my heart is that I’m not as alone as I thought. At school, yes, and in my faith, yes. But He knows how to send just the right people, like my cousins. Getting to talk with Kirsten is like getting to talk with the older sister I wish I had or the best friend I’ve been wanting. I appreciate that so much. I also love that we can have our own inside jokes, jokes that are better off not told with Grams in the room…haha. 🙂
The next day, Grandma had to lead circle for church. We were planning to go to Spirit Lake afterwards just to check out Walmart. Kir and I went for a bike ride while we were waiting. Grams had to be at church early to get ready, and the route we took led us by the church, and we saw her car. So we were like, let’s stop and say hi! So we did. The church was quiet and black, with hardly any lights on. Kirsten and I were trying to find her, but we couldn’t. Evidently she was outside and then tried to hide from us with one of her friends. It was funny. Their church is decorated really nice. What was even FUNNIER, though, is what happened a half hour after Grams said it would be over. We wanted to hurry and get over to Spirit Lake because Kirsten wanted to check out a consignment shop that would be closing soon, so we decided to walk down to the church since it wasn’t that far away. On our way over there, I made the comment that what if Grams drives right by us? We were hoping we could find her and then just get a ride back.
We got down by where the church was, and then Kirsten and I couldn’t remember which road it was we took that led us to the front of the church. We started down one road, but then we realized that it would probably take us by the back of the church, so we’d have to walk around. I told her to keep her eyes peeled for Grandma, just in case. Then all of a sudden from the road over a block, I see her driving by. I quickly yell to Kirsten that that’s her, so we actually RAN to the end of our road to go meet her. Mind you, Kirsten and I do not RUN, and we were certainly not dressed in running attire. We must have been a sight: running as fast as we possibly could right down the middle of the road, waving our arms and yelling. And Grandma? We watch as she drives right by us, not even slowing down. Kir and I were exhausted, and then we had to walk all the way home. Haha, good times…
Shortly after we made our way over to Walmart in Spirit Lake. I sucked on gum balls that we got from trying to get a bunch of yellow ones for mini golfing, haha. Mom says this looks like my tongue. Yeah, I wish I had a pink tongue, that’d be interesting.
I think Kir was kind of disappointed in their Okoboji clothing selection. I stayed by her to help her pick something out, but she couldn’t find anything really. Then we went to the makeup section together and talked about some of our fave makeup brands and which ones we haven’t found to be the best. We really waned to look at the nail polish in particular. When we did our nails, I had let Kirsten borrow a gold color I had, and so she wanted to find one like mine. We also wanted to find a rose gold color, and I wanted a bright neon pink color. She found her gold, and I found my colors, too. Then we did self checkout, which I just LOVE.
It was our last night to walk, so we enjoyed doing that together. Grandpa would always drive us down and drop us off by the Rock Garden, where the trail begins, and then he parks down by the Swinging Bridge.
We finished watching our movie, and Kirsten and I got preoccupied making food Instagram accounts. It was her idea; we decided that since we have so many pictures of our food, we should make accounts for them, haha. You can follow mine here!
After that we had to take Kirsten back. 🙁 The time with her flew; I wish we had a lot more. The three of us, my grandparents and me, were headed to the Twin Cities to see relatives. My other older cousin, Amanda, just graduated this year, so we were going to help them get ready for her graduation party. I am also very close to Amanda like I am Kirsten. I love getting to talk with her, too. We had a blast together and got to do everything we wanted to do. On the way up, Kirsten wanted a donut from Casey’s, so we got an awesome breakfast.
When we made it up there, Amanda and I convinced Grandpa to take us to Marshall’s. Kirsten introduced me to that store last year, which is a store with expensive stuff for really cheap. I got this plain black tee I’d been needing from Ralph Lauren for half its original price.
We had Wendy’s for supper, one of Gramps’ faves. He also likes Hardee’s, and when we were back in Estherville, I introduced him to their shakes, which he didn’t even know they had.
Amanda and I had fun going on Pinterest looking up pins of hot guys, looking through her collection of books, and bugging Grams by keeping her up until two thirty. On our first full day, we decided to go to Barnes and Noble, our favorite.
Afterwards we went to a nearby mall and checked out some stores. I got a few things there that were on sale from my fave store, though not as much as I thought. So I had a lot of money left over, even after buying three books. They also had the cutest puppies there in a pet store!! We had been to this mall last year, and I fell in love with them then. I wish they would let you hold them…
Two out of three books I got I liked. One was from a series I had already read and loved, but I wanted to buy it for myself. Another was the first book in a series by an author I loved because of their other previous series. And that series is actually being made into a movie on Netflix, and I’m already cringing over it. I’ve never read books first and then had movies made after them. Usually I see movies first, and then I go read the books. I know some people think that’s weird, but my reasoning is that I can’t stand it to go to all that work visualizing people in my head and having everything ruined by the movie. Which is happening with this! I was telling one of my older friends this clear back in December when I saw who they had got casted for all the people. They’re, like, slaughtering everyone in my head. There’s supposed to be this boy in the books who’s like your stereotypical hot guy, right? And the actor they got to play him, oh my gosh, I just can’t. I love his hair, but that’s it. It just goes downhill from there. And then there’s supposed to be this nerdy guy who’s also supposed to be cute that the girl likes, and the actor they got for him literally looks like he has the face of a five year old. I know that sounds awful, but I’m serious. I had to do a double take when I saw him, like what character is he even playing?! And then there’s supposed to be your boy next door guy who’s supposed to just be average looking…and he’s hotter than all of them combined. It’s a mess. But I’m going to watch it anyway, and probably cry over the fact that the boy next door is cuter than supposed hot guy. You just don’t make that mistake. It’s unforgivable.
Anyway, that’s super off topic. The last book was a new one I had bought, over a girl with mental illness and who meets this cute neighbor. I already had my concerns about it because I absolutely hate it when there’s someone with a ton of problems and then someone else comes in to save the day. It actually wasn’t like that though, it was way too slow and almost didn’t even have a plot I thought. But you know, being a writer, I don’t think reading a book is ever wasted, even if I didn’t like it. A) It still helps that I’m reading, no matter if I like it or not. It’s good practice. B) If I don’t like a story, that helps me narrow down what I want to write about. Like okay, I wanted to read this book about forgiveness, but I felt they didn’t dig in deep enough, so in my book I’ll go way deeper, for example. The more I read, the more I want to write. This sounds bad, but I think it’s because I honestly don’t like the way books are wrote anymore. Like I mentioned earlier, they are all the same thing practically. It inspires me to write my own books, books that are diverse and interesting and authentic and deep. I really do need to get writing, I miss it so much.
I still have a blast reading, though. Amanda and I were holed up in her room, me sitting on the bed or floor with a blanket and her on the opposite end reading on her phone. I finished all three books in the two full days we were there. It was so much fun; it gives me so much joy. Then with my leftover money (and her family gave me money as a late birthday gift, thank you!!!), I bought five+ new books on Amazon last night because they’re much cheaper on there, so you can buy more. I can’t wait. I wish they would come sooner.
We also went with Grandma to the store, and Amanda and I were just a little embarrassed when we were checking out, and they tell us that you can get another box of donut holes free since we bought one. We were already done checking out, so Amanda and I said to just forget it, but Grams goes running back to get one, and then we’re just left standing there when someone is supposed to pay… The guy behind us made some joke about how he would have bought them too or something. It was amusing.
On our last full day, we went to Target. I bought this planner I needed for next year, for $16… It was pretty and thick with lots of space to take notes and places to record specific times, which my old planner didn’t have. However, I’m that girl who uses a planner diligently for the first few months until gradually by the end of the year I don’t use it at all. So I hope this doesn’t happen with this one. But $16, that may be motivation to not slack off…
That night we went walking down to Walgreens together with Grams. By their busy road and everything…
That night, Kirsten called Grandma, and Amanda and I put her on speaker so that all three of us could talk. Honestly, how do you even describe the warm feelings you get in your heart from moments like that? From being understood and just getting to goof around over inside jokes and everything? They’re like the best friends I don’t have, and I’m so thankful God has put them in my life.
The last day, my family came home from Canada and was going to stop and visit with their family for awhile. The visit was really nice, and I enjoyed getting to see everyone. The week flew by, but it was a great start to my summer.
On the way home, I was heading back with my family. Going through the Cities, we passed this big, sleek building that had to do with neuroscience. Sometimes I am filled with a sense of longing as I contemplate where I’ll be in my future. I don’t know why, but sometimes I think of myself dressing professionally, working in a big city in a pristine building like that. It’s probably a shallow desire—after all, that’s the American dream, and I hate to be one of those people who wants the cliche things everyone else does. But only God knows, and if I can give Him glory through a position like that, then I’ll do it. More Christians need to be in positions like that, and I’d be more than willing to do it.
Here is back in Iowa… Man, I do love my state, though. I have a hard time thinking that I’ll move away from it, but I know that all depends on jobs, my future family, etc. But no matter where I end up, I’ll be thankful I was raised here.
My dad picked out a souvenir for me from Canada. I never did get a souvenir from Canada when I was up there because I never found anything that really caught my eye. However, what Dad got me far exceeded my expectations. I don’t think I could’ve asked for anything better. This pretty dreamcatcher is a representation of the Native American culture up there, and it’s so gorgeous that it will definitely be used as a decoration in my room.
I am so thankful for these memories. It has been the perfect boost to my mood after freshman year. I regret spending the better half of freshman year being such a baby about things and letting myself develop mindsets I never wanted to have. But I am so thankful that God is faithful and that He never gives up on me. I hope I can get right with Him this summer, too, back into the healthy thought patterns He’s helped me have. And I know He will. I had to do a lot of growing up during 9th grade, but I’m thankful for that. Looking back on it all, it was worth it.
