JANUARY
In January, my dear friend Sarah and I went to see the Killers in St. Paul. We listened to the Killers in high school, and they were one of those bands who just seemed to speak with us. So many of their songs are about wishing to escape from a bleak small town (THAT WAS US!), and the lyrics are filled with emotion. The concert was absolutely everything we could’ve hoped for – they played all our favorite songs, and we danced like we were teenagers and not thirty-somethings with full-time jobs and mortgages. It was so amazing.
FEBRUARY
February brought the biggest change of 2018: I got a new job. I left my six-year tenure at Siouxland Libraries in Sioux Falls to become library director of the Rock County Community Library right here in Luverne.
MARCH
My friend and classmate Amanda and I went to Minneapolis in March to shadow reference librarians at the main branch of the Hennepin County Library system. This was for a class, and we had to write a paper about what we learned. This may not sound like the most fun thing in the world to you, but we actually had a blast. The librarians took us into the staff areas of this massive library, and we saw magazine archives, a giant automated materials handling (AMH) machine, and all sorts of special collections. It was a librarian’s dream come true.
APRIL
My birthday was in April, and James was tasked with taking me somewhere for a weekend trip. The catch? I wouldn’t know the location. There aren’t a lot of places one can go in a weekend, and we ended up in Omaha. I did really enjoy exploring Omaha for the weekend – they have a lot of great food and neighborhoods.
April also held the MOST ridiculous snowstorm – it shut down the entire state of Minnesota, including the library (which, according to my coworkers, was unprecedented).
MAY
May was the first Trivia Night in Luverne: a partnership between the library and Take 16, the brewery in town. It was so much fun, and we’ve been doing it once a month ever since. Take 16 is a great partner, and they have a beautiful event center for Trivia Night. We typically have between 60 and 70 people each time, including some die-hards that have been there every time. It’s easily my favorite library program.
May is the annual Tulip Festival in Orange City, Iowa, and Mom and I have been going for the past several years. This year, my brother Mitch was able to join us, which was a lot of fun!
Finally, James and I went to the cities for our friend Nate’s birthday extravaganza, which included a pitiful Twins game, three breweries, one distillery, and the Lyft driver from hell.
JUNE
Every summer, I try and dedicate as much time as possible to Lake Poinsett: my favorite place on earth. Summers are usually spent lounging about our friends Don and Carol’s cabin, but this year, things were a little different. My parents bought the cabin right next door to Don and Carol. It is AMAZING. James and I spent a ton of weekends there, and we spend the night a few times. I have to tell you, there’s nothing like waking up at the lake.
James ran Grandma’s Marathon in Duluth this year, which is nothing short of amazing to non-runners like me.
JULY
July is my favorite month because all the best things happen in July – and summer is in full swing. James and I spent the Fourth of July in the Apostle Islands of Wisconsin, which were absolutely gorgeous.
There was the Brookings summer arts festival, always a favorite. My uncle Dex passed away in May, and we had a celebration of his life in July. While the reason for the gathering was sad, I got to see cousins I don’t get to see very often, and we all had a really wonderful time spending time together.
At the end of July, James and I went with my parents and aunt and uncle so they could play the National Anthem at a Lacrosse Loggers baseball game in Wisconsin. It was a great experience, and it turns out minor league baseball is a ton of fun.
AUGUST
I was working full time and in graduate school full time during the summer, so I didn’t get as much lounging and adventuring in as I would’ve liked. I did have one week off from school (but not work) in between semesters, so James and I took a long weekend and went to Bemidji. We saw Itasca State Park and the headwaters of the Mississippi. Bemidji was more fun than we had expected – and yes, we did see Paul Bunyan and Babe.
SEPTEMBER
September saw me beginning year five of story time in Ellsworth. James also began year nine teaching in Ellsworth – WHOA. James’s brother Scott and his fiancé Kathryn got married in Two Harbors in September, and James and I spent an extra night up there camping. It was perfect camping weather, and the North Shore is gorgeous in September.
At the end of September, James and I spent the weekend in Minneapolis with my parents and went to see Hamilton. YOU GUYS. It was incredible.
OCTOBER
October was the busiest month of my life. I had two conferences, two new kittens, one trip to San Francisco, and approximately one million library programs. The conferences were in St. Cloud and Brainerd, so lots of driving. The new kittens came about because they wouldn’t make it on the farm at which they lived, and James and I have soft spots for cats in need.
So now we’re a three-cat household: Ned (the runt), Mabel (the semi-blind one), and Mona (the giant fluffy one). James and I went to San Francisco as a belated fifth anniversary celebration, and we had an amazing time. San Francisco is one of my very favorite places, and James loved it, too. The weather was perfect, and we walked across the Golden Gate Bridge, saw Muir Woods, explored the neighborhoods, rode the cable cars, and soaked in the ocean air.
Then there was Halloween – this year, I had not one, not two, not three… but FOUR costumes. I was Beetlejuice for a library murder mystery event, zombie Marty McFly for the Sioux Falls Zombie Walk, Marla Hooch for a strong women-themed Halloween party, and Winifred Sanderson on Halloween itself. Best holiday ever.
NOVEMBER
In November, James and I once again traveled to Minneapolis. This time, we met my parents, James’s brother Jesse, and my brother Mitch (who, by some miracle, made it at the very last minute) to see The Book of Mormon. We all loved it, but my dad and brother were especially appreciative. After the matinee ended, my mom said, “Do you think if we just sat here, we could watch the next show??”
DECEMBER
In December, I finished up my fourth semester of graduate school work with one of the more stressful semesters ever. As I’m writing this, I am winding up a five-week break from school and loving every second of it. Only two semesters to go. SIGH. We also celebrated my mom's retirement from SDSU after 32 years!
December held the fifth annual Norwegian Christmas with our friends Nate and Taylor, which is one of our favorite days of the year. We make all sorts of Scandinavian foods, create signature drinks, and laugh until our stomachs hurt.
Of course, there was regular Christmas too. My whole family was together, which was nothing short of remarkable – Mitch, at the last minute, was able to make it home for Christmas. There’s nothing like Christmas together.
And here we are, at the beginning of 2019. I hope you get what you’re looking for out of 2019, and I hope 2018 was as good to you as it was to me.
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