In the last 12 months.... dont ya know...

Happy one year anniversary to me and the state of Minnesota. I have lived here officially 365 days! Crazy I know. It seems like only yesterday my Mom and I were driving into my new home of St. James and hauling everything that I had piled into my car up the stairs to my new apartment. So. Here I am. One year later. Here are the things that the state of bitter cold has taught me in the 12 months that I have lived here..

#1 What was formally known as a Casserole in the western part of the United States, is known in Minnesota as a "Hot Dish".

#2 There is a difference between the corn that is grown in a field and fed to cows and the corn that you coat with butter and eat at a BBQ... which brings me to..

#3 What was known as a BBQ, a social gathering of friends, family, complete strangers, where meat is put on a grill and cooked to perfection is called a "grill out" in MN. BBQ's are known as the popular meal of sloppy joes. I hope that you aren't lost yet.

#4 Fish fry's, steak fry's, and chicken fry's are held almost weekly here in MN. Just contact your local VFW, Eagles Chapter, or area Legion.

#5 In the summer, State fairs and County Fairs are HUGE here. Any food that you want fried in a deep fat frier, they will do it for you!

#6 You don't know the meaning of cold until you step outside and the snot running down your face literally gets frozen to your face, and the boogers in your nose become boogercicles. Now that, my friends, is cold.

#7 In the small town that I reside, checks are still accepted and some businesses are not set up to take debit cards. Yeah. Weird.

8# Unlike the state owned liquor stores in the beehive state, the liquor stores in MN are privately owned, and some even come equipped with a drive thru window. Now someone tell me if that is safe?

#9 After a wedding, the bride, groom, and the rest of the wedding party will parade through town on a trailer sitting on hay bails, so that the whole town knows they were "just hitched". I don't know about you, bit it sounds like bad hay fever waiting to happen.

#10 Minnesota is a Pepsi loving state. All of the soda fountains are primarily Pepsi products. Here in St. James, there is one gas station out of four that serves fountain coke. That is not a very high statistic, and out of all the restaurants in town, none of them serve coke out of the fountain. Yes, I know. Sad, but true.

#11 There really is an accent that is acquired when you live here. Ryan's Aunt Brenda (also known as Bea) always says "oh my stars!". I have often found myself saying "ya know" at the end of sentences. If you are a local, sentences often start with "say...have you... or say, did you know?" Some older residents of MN really do say "you betcha!" Which makes me laugh every time.

#12 Even though I have had to drink Coca-Cola out of a can or bottle, and carry cash, or write checks instead of use my debit card, in the past year, I have learned that MN has some of the most caring, loving, nice people, I have ever met. Last year, when I didn't go home for the holidays, I had complete strangers invite me to their houses for Thanksgiving dinner. I have had people that I barely know fix my car. I have had people help me when I have been sick, people offer me a place to live if I ever needed it. There is often talk of a "Minnesota nice" attitude here. If the world could be a little bit more like the state of MN, I think that it would be just a bit better... don't ya know!