Don't Hug Me!

Another New Year's Resolution that we made was to do at least one cultural thing every month. We missed January, but we have a couple of things marked down for February.

We have a relatively loose definition of cultural. We just want to get out and do more things than just go to the movies or something. We want to experience more things in life. Our cultural events will include: plays, museums, zoos, galleries, lectures, etc.

Our first event was this past Friday evening (2/8). We saw Don't Hug Me at the Hennepin Stages Theater in the Hennepin Theater District. It was hilarious--so much so that Jeff really had exert quite a bit of effort to control some of his guffaws.

You know it's good when we are still quoting lines from the play two days later. :-)

It was a Minnesota love story--poking fun at the Minnesota cold, accent, and unique sayings (e.g. "Ya, sure, ya betcha!", "Oh, for sitting on a cat!" or "Oh, for fartin' in church!"). The acting was great!

My parents joined us for the play and the 4 of us went out to dinner beforehand at Zelo. This was fabulous! Jeff ordered a NY Strip and it was the best he'd had in a long time--definitely worth the price. My pasta was delicious as well, and their tomato basil soup was SO good. The atmosphere was really lovely, too.

Did you Caucus??

Last night was Super Tuesday--an opportunity for people in 22 states to attend their local caucus or primary.

It was an opportunity for Jeff and I to legitimately get out of class early. :-)

Well, that was our original desire to go. Neither of us had ever attended a caucus, and being 30 (and very nearly 30), we thought it was time for us to enter the adult world of political awareness. We didn't know what to expect at a caucus nor did we really know which (Democrat or Republican) we should attend. I believe that both of us had only voted once previously--one voted Democrat in 2000 and one voted Republican in 2004, so we didn't really feel that we were really aligned with either political party.

Even driving to the caucus last night, we were still undecided. We reached the turn for the Republican one first, so we decided to check it out. We were mostly interested in just observing to see what it was all about, because of all the people that we'd asked, no one really knew what one was or what occurred at one.

Here is what happened:

• We found the location of our address on a map to determine our Ward (12) and Precinct (4).
• We gathered into an auditorium where letters from the candidates were read.
• We were then divided into precincts and each met in a different room (Or at least that is what was supposed to happen. In reality, they were short on conveners, so our precinct was combined in one room with another one.)
• We nominated and voted on delegates and alternates. (I'm still unclear as to what this means and what the delegates do--except it's something on March 8)
• We took the straw poll on the presidential candidates. (Romney & McCain were tied in our precinct)
• We nominated and voted on a Chair, Vice Chair, and Secretary for our precinct. (No one was volunteering for these positions, and the Republicans apparently need more volunteers in Minneapolis, so Jeff volunteered to be Vice Chair, and I volunteered to be Secretary. We were uncontended, so we easily got the positions.)

Even though there were 50+ people crammed into a classroom at Minnehaha Academy, and they were getting a little unruly, since most people just came for the straw poll, and probably didn't know all the other stuff that was going to happen, we still really enjoyed it.

So, now we've aligned ourselves with the Republican party--at least for two years, because that's how long our positions are.

What started out to just be a curiosity and an excuse to get out of class early, turned into our becoming more active participants in our community. Our friend, Catherine, would be so proud. :-)

Another thing we love about our apartment...

Location, location, location!

Last night Jeff and I went for a walk. In about 7 minutes we were at Minnehaha Falls!

I LOVE the falls! The rushing water is so beautiful. It was dark, dark outside (I think it was around 8:00 PM), but still you could sense the power of all that water. I think we'll definitely be finding our way back there. It's fun how close by it is.

Here are a couple of pics. Sorry for the poor quality. We only had Jeff's phone with us. We have the exact same model of phone, but I think mine takes better photos. Go figure!

The other day, we also walked down to the Mississippi River. That was a fun walk, too, but no pics from that. We were too preoccupied doing Latin vocab. Ahh...the life of a student...and a student's wife. :-)

Dodsons are on the move...again...

This time we kept our move relatively local. We just moved from Eagan, MN to Minneapolis, MN. That's only about a 15-20 minute drive!

Our new address is:
4540 Snelling Ave #112
Minneapolis MN 55406

We found a lovely studio apartment in a fabulous building right on the Hiawatha Light Rail. You can visit the building's website: Oaks Hiawatha Station.

Our little studio has a decent sized kitchen including a dishwasher plus a washer & dryer in the unit!!

We are back in the ward that we attended when we first got married.

Life is GOOD!!

We are so overwhelmed with excitement about being back on our own in an apartment that we love!

Plus classes are going very well for Jeff--despite all the reading--and Clarinda is really enjoying her job at SC Johnson.

Oh, we will post some pics of our new place once we're all settled in.

Best Birthday EVER!!

I had my 30th birthday last Friday (Aug 10th), and it was so awesome!!

As I was biding my time at Keewaydin, waiting for 2 p.m. to come around (that's time to go home on Fridays, 'cuz of summer hours), I got a much anticipated phone call with good news! I was extended on offer to cover a 6 month maternity leave for the Admin Asst at SC Johnson Target Team in Minneapolis. I had interviewed for the position on the 8th and was very hopeful that they would choose me...and they did! How exciting to have something lined up for at least 6 months. Plus, now I can hope that at the end of my temp assignment, they will love me working there SO much that they will want to hire me. :-) Hey, you gotta have hopes and dreams!

Shortly after receiving this good news, I got a text from my wonderful husband saying that he was awarded over $31,000 in financial aid! Whoo Hoo! And the best part of that is that over $20,000 of that is FREE money (institutional grants). That was such, such great news!

Who could ask for anything better?!

Well, after work, I went and got my hair all chopped off. It turned out really cute! (Even now, days later, when I'm styling it myself). I went to a salon here in Eagan, Ficocello's. My stylist, Erin (I think) was terrific. I wasn't all that specific in what I wanted, and she created something so perfect. I love it!

Here are a few pics of my new haircut, and some of me/us all dressed up for my birthday dinner. I apologize for the quality of these photos. I'm not sure what the deal was, but Jeff took these with the camera on his phone. Our camera phones usually take much better pictures that this (at least mine does), but at least this will give you an idea of how sexy I/we looked for my 30th birthday dinner.



Jeff, my Dad, Marna, and I went downtown (Minneapolis, of course) to our favorite steakhouse. My Dad and Marna had actually never been there before. Morton's Steakhouse is phenomenal! We love the ambiance (very classy), and their steaks are to die for! So tender and juicy and melt in your mouth! Jeff and I actually split everything--a NY Strip, a baked potato (I honestly don't think that anyone could eat an entire baked potato on their own; they're HUGE), and garlic green beans! Delicious! Oh, and I can't forget the cake! Molten Chocolate Cake with Haagen Daz vanilla ice cream. Divine! It was a perfect ending to a wonderful birthday.

Riverview Theater

Jeff and I thought we'd splurge Saturday night and go out to a movie.

Well, we found this really awesome theater in the Longfellow neighborhood of South Minneapolis.

Here is a blurb from their website:
"Even though we feature state-of-the-art projection and sound systems, our customers enjoy the opportunity to "step back in time" and experience movie-going as it was in the 50s, when neighborhood theaters were in abundance. Some of our customers walk to the theater and enjoy arriving early in order to relax in the spacious lobby on the mod couches and chairs."

We were so impressed with the atmosphere of the theater. It really felt like a step back in time with the decor of the lobby. However, the actual theater (there is only 1 screen) was really impressive!

It was so much fun! I'm sure that we'll make our way to this theater again and again.

Oh, the best part, of course, is the prices! We got 2 movie tickets, a medium soda, and a medium popcorn all for only $9!!

If you've never been to this theater (and live in the Mpls area), you really ought to check it out!

Riverview Theater

The Bakken

Last Friday, Jeff and I checked out the Bakken museum in Minneapolis.

The public libraries in the area have a really cool program! You can check out passes to local museums, zoos, and historic houses. Each Museum Adventure pass that you check out allows free admission for up to 4 people.

I couldn't decide which pass to check out first. I'd wanted to visit the Bakken for quite some time, so I figured it was a good place to start. I really hope that Jeff and I will be able to check out all of the museums!

Anyway, the Bakken was awesome!

It is located right on Lake Calhoun, but that's not really what made it awesome. The museum is all about electricity. I learned a lot of things. It was a very interactive museum, too. If you've never visited this one, I'd highly suggest it. It's especially good for kids.

Well...except for the Frankenstein presentation. It's a little spooky and could frighten small children. Of course, it's great for the big kids that Jeff and I are. That was easily the best part of the museum!

Downtown Mpls

On July 9th, I began working a temp position downtown Minneapolis. We love downtown Minneapolis!! Jeff promised to send some pics of the old Federal Reserve Bank to his Art professor from PCC because they had studied that building in her class. So, after work, I walked down to Peavey Plaza to enjoy the water fountain. Jeff picked me up there and we drove down to where the old bank is and the new library.

Here are a few pics that I took with my camera phone while we walking around.