by Amy | Dec 10, 2014 | Blog, The Art of Living
As the winter really settles in over Practically Canada, the grumbling tends to start. Oh, boy…here comes six months of frozen misery. For those that don’t complain {especially for those newish to the area} it can be a very uncertain time. What do you do all winter? It’s true, activities do have to be altered a bit, and you might need to get creative. However, this doesn’t have to be a time of woes and frostbite.
I’ve put together a quick list of 30 awesome things you can do right here in Practically Canada to fill these winter months. Some are Christmasy and time sensitive…those are first. Others are here until the thaw. And if this isn’t enough, you can review last year’s list of 40 fun things to do during the cold season. Here we go…37 Things to do in Minot this winter. {Maybe it’s better to say…in and around Minot…but you get the idea…}
1. It’s a Wonderful Life, a radio play–put on by the MSU theatre department. I love this story and tickets are cheap–only $6 for adults. More info here. Runs 12/11-14
2. Minot Symphony Orchestra’s Christmas concert–I’ve never heard a negative word breathed about the MSO. Their holiday concert will feature Christmas classics, followed by select scenes from the Nutcracker {performed by the Rinat Mouzafarov Institute of Dance & Ballet Theater}. More here. Concert 12/11
3. Historical Society Christmas Tea–This is the first year that the Minot Historical Society will be hosting an old fashioned Christmas Tea and Caroling. Will it be spectaular? I don’t know. It’s the first year. But I do know that events only get better if they are supported by the community. And I know that it’s better than sulking at home because you hate winter. So give it a try, and sip some tea, darn it. Tea on 12/13 2-4pm
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4. See the Canadian Pacific Holiday Train roll through town. Bundle up for one of my favorite holiday events! Music, dazzling lights, a concert, and {of course} an appearance from Santa. See their website here for complete dates and details. It rolls through Minot on 12/16.
5. Drive through Oak Park to see light displays. It’s not the Girswold house, but it’s still fun to see all the lights, and kiddos love it! Just a $5 donation per car that supports the Sertoma Club of Minot. Runs through 12/31. Info here.
6. Catch a concert from the Minot Chamber Chorale. See dates here.
7. Skate at the Maysa Arena. Rental is cheap and skating is cheap too. Check here for open skating hours.
8. Get skating lessons at Maysa Arena from the Magic City Figure Skating Club. Learn a new winter skill. Go to their website for links to coaches, classes and events.
9. Skate for free on weekends at the State Fair Grounds! You heard me. If you own skates it is FREE. Otherwise, just pay rental. Details here.
10. See a play by the Mouse River Players. Schedule here.
11. Paint along with a local artist at the Taube Museum’s “Paint the Town Red” series. Here’s their website, but the most current dates aren’t up. I have {from a good source} that painting classes are happening on Dec 16, Jan 27 and Feb 24. You have to register, so call them to be sure.
12. Take a class or simply pop in and paint ceramics at Margie’s Art Glass Studio. {During December she’s offering fused ornament and glass blowing ornament classes.}
13. Learn to cook something cool at a class from Gourmet Chef.
14. Take your kids to story time with Ms. Danielle at Main Street Books. They offer several day time story times through the week and an evening story time on the first Thursday of the month.
15. Cross country ski in Minot at Oak Park, or at Lake Metigoshe State Park, or Cross Ranch State Park.
16. Escape for the weekend by renting a cabin…like we did last winter. The North Dakota tourism site has this list of 7 great, cozy cabin getaways.
17. Ski at Huff Hills or the Bottineau Winter Park.
18. Tube the lazy way at Bottineau Winter Park {a conveyor belt pulls you back to the top of the hill!}
19. Take the kids to Minot’s “Discovery Center,” the first phase of a permanent children’s museum. Admission is only $4. Supporting this mini-museum will help raise funds for a bigger, awesome, permanent museum for Minot’s curious kiddos.
20. Sled with the locals at the hill at Magic City Campus {Minot High}
21. Build your own hot cocoa at Sweet & Flour. It’s the best in town.
22. Go to open mic night at the Beaver Brew. Check their website for dates.
23. Get midnight breakfast, or what is rumored to be Minot’s best milkshake at Schatz Crossroads. Yes it is a truck stop. Yes, the locals have told me it’s a well kept secret and totally worth hitting up.
24. Learn to curl! The Minot curling season has already started, but you can contact the club to arrange an event for your organization or private party. Or, stop in and watch a game from the club house.
25. Stay in and read. Did you know Minot’s public library offers eBooks? You know what that means? You can check out a book for your eReader right from the library website. No cold air exposure whatsoever. Getting a library card is as easy as showing proof that you live here.
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26. Learn to dog sled. Yes, you heard me right. Visit Prairie Isle’s website for more.
27. Catch a class at the Minot Adult Learning Center. They offer all kinds of classes, from PowerPoint to yoga to watercolor…it’s a little known resource that offers lots of fun stuff. Some classes are one session and let you walk away with a finished product, like a wreath, pie, or paining. Here is the fall schedule to give you an idea of what is offered. New classes will start early in 2015. If you have a skill you’d like to share, they are always looking for good instructors.
28. Go to a hockey game. The Minotauros play all winter long. Schedule here.
29. Go to a game at MSU. It might not be the Big 10, but it’s still fun to take in a college game every now and then.
30. No gym membership? No problem. Get your cardio in at the MSU dome. It’s open to the public for walking and jogging. Mom’s even bring strollers…or just let their little ones jog ahead to wear them out. It’s totally free, and a great way to get out and be active while the world around us looks like Elsa’s been turned loose on it. Here‘s the public walking schedule.
31. Get your laser tag on at Planet Pizza. It’s a pretty good set up. If you go on a week night, or after 9pm…you’ll hit a sweet spot when there is no line of sweaty middle schoolers. Also, if there isn’t a line and you joke with the attendant, chances are he’ll give you bonus minutes of playing time.
32. Ice fish. Now, I’ll be honest. I’ve never been…and I don’t have a deep desire to try it. However, a friend called me out last night for not including it on the list. She loves it. And this winter time only activity does, indeed, deserve to be on the list. Woodland Resort has full equipment rentals. They are in Devil’s Lake, not too far from Minot.
33. Pretend it’s summer with indoor water slides at Splashdown Dakota.
34. Go bowling. Bowling is fun…but no one ever thinks about bowling. Minot only has one alley, but it’s big, smoke free and it turns galactic-glow-in-the-dark on weekends. Games are reasonable. And they offer a military discount. So…yeah. Here’s the North Hill Bowl site.
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35. Take a weekend trip to Fargo to explore the city and catch a flick at the historic Fargo Theatre. They feature a classic film series, indie movies, foreign films {they showed Belle!!}, and movies that don’t always make it to Minot. The theatre also boasts live performances too.
36. Rent snowmobiles and go riding. A rental place is tricky to come by, but…if you are military you can rent on base. I haven’t found a rental place for civilians yet. If you know of one–leave it in the comments.
37. Skate outdoors at Corbett Field or Polaris Park. The rinks are open now, and warming houses will be open as of December 15th.
PS–you should also follow the Things to Do in Minot page. They are the BEST at keeping me filled in on what’s happening.
by Amy | Dec 1, 2014 | Blog, The Art of Gathering, The Art of Living
I really hope you had a happy Thanksgiving. I know I did. This year I have so much to be thankful for…which, I guess, is true every year, but this time around I’ve been acutely aware of all I have and just how blessed I am. I’m walking {mostly pain free}, I just got the o-k to start jogging, work is good, I’m crazy about Derek {nothing has changed in that department}, the family is healthy, and Mom and Dad were able to make the trip up to Practically Canada for the third time to celebrate with us.
That’s just a few. My list could go for ages. I’m sure yours could too. And that’s a good thing.
Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays. Maybe because it happens on my own turf. We don’t travel, usually Mom and Dad come up to us. There’s much less stress, I get to make lots of food, I sleep in my own bed, and it’s an occasion that calls for board gaming while the food coma is wearing off. I love it. I also love that my Minot bestie, Katie and her husband Sean usually join us too.
This year, I went a totally different route with lots of things. Different brine, different turkey, different pie, different stuffing. I was nervous. But let me tell you…this is the best turkey {and pie} I’ve ever made. Here’s the secret. Start by reading this article from Alton Brown {my culinary hero.} I used his brine recipe, and lots of his handy tips. And–I learned the science behind cooking a turkey.
Next, while shooting a newborn session for the Rockwells {remember the maternity session}, Sarah’s father asked if I’d ever heard of “spatchcocking” a turkey. Nope. And, no, I’m not making that word up. It’s kind of weird…but it makes lots of sense. You cut the back bone out, then roast the turkey on a cookie sheet. Laying it out flat let’s all the meat cook faster and more evenly. To let you know just how fast…I cooked up a 14lb bird in about 80 minutes! Martha explains the technique really well. Just be sure to put some water in the pan and set the bird up on a bed of onions so the juices don’t burn up!
I rubbed the turkey down with compound butter. What’s that? It’s a treasure in butter form. Try this recipe from Alton Brown. Or this one from Miss Information Blog.
Now, pie. I make a killer apple pie. Someday I’ll give you the recipe for that. But in the mean time–let me show you this gorgeous recipe I used from Southern Living. A little time consuming, but entirely worth the effort.
I should have taken better food photos. But alas–I was too eager to eat. So, I only have these crummy Instagram shots. My bad.
Perhaps one of my favorite Thanksgiving traditions is whipping out the big, fancy camera {which we usually have set upon the tripod for the timered shot of everyone at the table} for some after-dinner photos. I’ve told you all the details and all the foody stuff. Now, I’ll force some random photos on you, that {hopefully} invite you right into my living room, into our holiday.
{I’ve just got to say…I’m the absolute weirdest in photos. Why am I holding my cup like that? Why??}
by Amy | Nov 18, 2014 | Blog, The Art of Living
This morning I was out of gas. The kind of out of gas that makes me happy I live on a hill and the meat of the city of Minot, ND is in a valley. I pretty much coasted down the hill to the physical therapy office. Because when it’s 0 degrees outside and dark and you’ve got an appointment at 7:30am, there is very little motivation to leave the house early to get gas. So I ran the risk and coasted the hill.
After said appointment, I high tailed it to the gas station. There’s one in town I really like. They give you a discount for paying in cash and they pump the gas for you. Very nice in the winter.
Today, I didn’t see anyone around, so instead of being high maintenance, I hopped out of the car and went in to pay, then pump myself. As I walked up to the door an employee stopped and said he’d pump for me, but told me I could wait inside until he was done to pay. So I did.
Also waiting at the counter was an older man. Mid 60’s-ish, short {just barely taller than me}, African American, gray hair and mustache. He was wearing a worn leather jacket, a newsboy cap and a scarf. I don’t know why, but I also noticed his wedding ring. Just a plain gold band, obviously worn, it’s sheen pretty dull dressed with years and years worth of scratches. The kind of ring that’s worn by a man who’s loved the same woman for a very long time. Sometimes I notice those things. Probably because I love people. And I love stories. And sometimes I like to imagine who people are and what their story is.
As I was pondering this ring, a gas station attendant walked in. “I think it’s going to be a nice day,” she told us. “Not too windy. Looks like it’ll even be sunny in a while.”
“It’s already too cold for me. I’ve had enough of this winter and it’s only just started. What do we have? Another seven, eight months left? Nah, nah–it’s already getting old.” The man chuckled at himself. I was on the verge of asking him if he was new to Minot, but then he went on. “It’s not the cold that’s so bad…but the wind. I’ll tell you, I don’t think I’ll live to see another winter as bad as 1982.”
The door dinged as the attendant walked out. There was silence, but not much. I love talking to strangers. I guess it’s a lesson I never grasped as a child.
“What happened in 1982?”
He told me this tale. It’s so unbelievable, unfathomable, my mind can’t even grasp it. I wouldn’t have believed it, had he not had the scars to back up his story.
Winter. 1982. The winter is fierce. The wind is wicked and wild. Snow has fallen, but it’s much too cold to stick to the ground, so it blows incessantly with the wind. The windchill drops below -90. He recalled a news report stating that the wind chill was -93. Who knows what the ambient temperature was. Cold, no doubt. Arctic.
Because it was so bitter cold, buildings were in danger. Pipes were freezing, furnaces going out. One night, in the winter of 1982, while the wind whipped at -93 degrees F, this man and a friend went to their church to check on the furnace. He said as they were walking in, he reached out to his friend, to steady his arm. His coat sleeve rode up, just a few inches, exposing a thin slice of flesh between glove and jacket.
At this point in his story, he reached his arm out, reenacting the moment. He exposed that piece of arm for me and ran his finger across it.
“That’s where it got me first. It only took a second.”
“What, frostbite?”
“Sure, you can call it that. Happened so fast. It burned like nothing I’ve ever felt.”
In that split second, the wind and fridgid air burned his skin. To this day, on the dark skin of his arm, you can still see the mark. It looks like a rope burn, subtle, faded…but there.
“My biggest mistake was wearing my watch that night. I just didn’t think to take it off.”
“Oh, was it on your arm when it was exposed?”
“Nah. It was on the other arm.”
I gave him a confused look. Not understanding why a watch on a fully covered arm made any difference. But he went on:
“All of a sudden, I felt pain on my wrist. Like a bee sting. That’s the only way I can describe it. I flinched and rubbed at it, just instinct, I guess. But what had happened, was–the metal backing of my watch had frozen to my arm! When I ripped at it, it tore the skin clean off.”
I’m telling you–I couldn’t fabricate this story if I tried. I would never in my wildest imaginings think that these things could occur. Much less in a matter of seconds! He reached out his other arm–where he still wears his watch–scooted the watch up, and there it was: another scar. He reached up to his face and pointed to the fleshy spot where nose and cheek meet. The air burned him there too, but it didn’t leave a mark.
At that point, the door dinged again and the girl came back in. He paid. I paid. We left.
I’ve been fascinated all day by that crazy tale and I just couldn’t wait to get home and have a second to write it out for you. Lucky for me, and Practically Canadians everywhere, in his lifetime he only remembers that happening once. But the fact that it happened at all is just wild. I’ll probably never see him again, but in my mind that man is now kind of a legend. I won’t forget the winter of 1982 any time soon…and I wasn’t even born to witness it.
The moral of the story is, be safe. Don’t expose your skin if the wind is -93˚F. Don’t wear a watch.
I’m just crossing my fingers Derek and I have moved away before Minot gets another winter like that.
Amy
***Disclaimer. I wasn’t alive in 1982. There are no records kept of historic wind chills. I’m not sure if this happened in Minot, or another Practically Canadian location…or the actual Canada for that matter. But. This is a true account of what he told me today. And if nothing else, boy is it entertaining.***
by Amy | Sep 19, 2014 | Blog, The Art of Adventure, The Art of Living
I love it here. Northern Indiana, that is. It’s just the best. I loved it here when I lived here. And I love it more now that I’ve been lots of places. It might not be the most flashy of places. There are no mountains or canyons or vast deserts. But there are trees {I’ve lived in places with very few trees}, there are lakes {everyone knows someone with a lake house}, and all kinds of wonderful things are close at hand.
I love it here. I really, really do. Here’s a few reasons why. And a few photos from great photographers and visitor sites to show you why. Because, I love it so much, I get totally caught up and forget to take any photos of my own. Maybe some day I’ll change that…
There are small town things to do.
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And city things to do.
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And Lake Michigan.
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And the weather is perfect. It’s just what you want from weather through the year. Hot and humid in the summer, crisp and cool in the fall, snowy in the winter, and a spring that comes in slowly and lasts through April and May. The summers aren’t so hot they force you to stay indoors. The winters are just mild enough that you can play outside and enjoy the season.
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I could go on all day. But I’ll stop and just tell you that I love it here. When I’m here my mind lets go a little. I breathe a little easier and a little deeper. Call me crazy, but I truly am convinced that this is the best.
by Amy | Sep 18, 2014 | Blog, Devotional, The Art of Faith, The Art of Living
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I feel like I hear the same sentiment all the time. I have felt it, and you probably have too. I feel like it’s especially prevalent among the millennial generation. Our post high school years were filled with computers, technology and recession. Jobs were few and far between when we left college. Things were tight enough that living at home until mid-twenties became a norm, as did staying on mom and dad’s insurance.
“I just have no idea what to do with myself.”
I hear it from high school teens as they enter their senior year or as they exit their school years and step into a greater unknown chock full of choices. I hear it from college students. I hear it from peers–even as we inch in on 30, still we feel like there’s something missing….something we should be doing. A calling, a fulfillment, a purpose–missing.
I blame some of it on the Internet. We know so much now. We know about quirky, niche jobs that we otherwise would have no way of seeing. It’s easy to track down jobs and lifestyles we think would be amazing…”if only.”
If only I’d majored in something different.
If only I’d gone to college.
If only I lived in there instead of here.
If only I had a better job, then I’d have savings and I could…
If only I was married, then I’d be totally happy.
For me, it’s usually in the depths of this type of wallowing that leads me to scroll through my Facebook feed. There I can what everyone in my graduating class is up to–and it always looks cooler and more put together than what we’ve got going on. There is always someone with an awesome vacation, promotion, or adorable family portraits cropping up in the News Feed. There’s always someone who looks like they love their job, make great money, have an awesome life…are totally happy.
So I got thinking today, maybe a major part of mastering the Art of Living has to do with finding contentment. I’m usually pretty happy. Which lots of people don’t understand, because I live in Practically Canada in a town that isn’t exactly on par with New York, NY. My husband has to work a lot. His work makes us move. I’m constantly shifting jobs, friends, homes…just trying to make it work. But somehow–like the cockroach that just won’t die–I remain joyful.
And I think it’s because I work very hard at being content.
Once the choice to strive for contentment–satisfaction in our station, not throwing in the towel on dreams, not hating on where we are–joy and happiness soon follows. Like lots of things, it is a choice. Like lots of choices it can be a hard one to make and even harder to follow through.
Instead of striving for perfection, take inventory of your heart and your life. See what is keeping you from contentment. Is it too many far-fetched comparisons? Step away from social media. Is it that you hate were you live? Find a way to get involved or an activity to pursue that you are passionate about. Is it relationships that squelch your dreams and self-worth, and feed a negative attitude? Put yourself out there and seek a positive circle.
Find a way to step toward contentment and joy will follow.
by Amy | Aug 16, 2014 | Blog, The Art of Art, The Art of Living
Through the summer Minot holds Arts in the Park every Thursday and Sunday evening. A few months ago, I was blindsided when I got a call from the Minot Area Council of the Arts contacted me and asked if I’d be interested in being a featured artist.
Arts in the Park works like this. A band plays in the band shell, people come and listen, and an artist stands off to the side. You can do anything you’d like to as the artist, they just encourage it to be something interactive or a demonstration. Like most things, my art is pretty diverse. I had no idea what they wanted me to do, but they were clear that I could do anything I wanted.
So I did what I usually do in a situation like this. I try to think what I would want to see if I was just attending. This is what I came up with.
It’s a community canvas. I drew a black outline of a design {inspired by sunflowers, so perfect for this time of year.} Then I put a dot of color in every space, denoting what it should be filled with. People are welcome to come and fill in as much or as little as they want. And when it’s all filled we are left with a lovely piece of art that many hands had a part in creating.
And people loved it!
Which was so flattering, since I tend to think that my arty stuff is only stuff that my mom would like. Better yet, a woman from the arts council asked if she could buy it. {Say what??!} But wait–there’s more. Minot has an “Arts in the Schools” program that sends local artists in to schools to teach art to kids…and they asked if I’d be interested in being involved. {Duh!} Nothing is super official, but it’s still nice to be considered.
Here’s a progression of the canvas throughout the night.
What I’m getting at is that is was a great night. A night much needed as this fell right around the time of the “Unstuck” post. It was an up that I was in need of. Arts in the Park is done for the season, but if you live in Minot, you should keep a pulse on the cool things the arts council is doing. These folks are working hard to infuse our community with art, culture and fun activities, which I think is something we are all in favor of.
xo
Amy
by Amy | Aug 7, 2014 | Blog, The Art of Living
Yesterday’s post was set in a thrift store. Today I’m going to tell you about the amazing deals I found there. It’s going to make you so jealous. Unless, of course you live in Minot–in which case you’ll just be thanking me for the tip.
Okay, so starter info. This is useful to anyone anywhere. We all love Target, right? I have yet to meet someone who’d rather be at Wal-Mart. Barf. Anyway. Local Targets always make a deal with a thrift shop. At the end of the season, when they change merchandise out, or have overstock, they donate it. Brand new, untouched, off the rack, off the shelves overstock. In a lot of places it goes to a Good Will. But not always. I’d even venture that you could call your Target store and ask them who they have a deal with. Then shop there.
In Minot, this stuff goes to the Dakota Boys & Girls Ranch Thrift Store. If you don’t know, it’s on Broadway just south of Heritage Park and it looks like this.
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It’s not just clothes. There are lampshades, table cloths, bedding, dishes, yard stuff. After Christmas this place is a treasure trove.
But right now they are having an amazing sale. All the clothes they are getting from Target, as the store makes room for back to school merchandise, are coming here–and they are all $0.99!! They have a ton of clothing from baby to adult and they are all less than a dollar. Best of all, I talked to an employee and she told me that they have received so much they will be processing it all through the month of August and the sale will last until the end of the month. So get over there already.
Did I mention shoes are a dollar too? And purses? Yep. And everything from Target is new, untouched and usually still comes with the tags on.
It’s practically stealing.
I went a little crazy. Here is a small sampling of what I picked up.
To give you the full rundown, I bought a dress, a skirt, two shirts, red pants, a pair of jeans, a scarf and five pairs of shoes.
Derek also lucked out. Well…I lucked out for him. He hates shopping, but his wardrobe has been looking really sad. I am talking olive cargo shorts with the hem ripped off of one leg–sad. Really, we are old enough and financially stable enough to afford pants. Come on. But he has been out of town, and as stated he hates shopping. So I took a stab in the dark and picked up a pair of new cargo shorts, some khakis, three polos, a pair of flip flops and another pair of shoes. All fit. Less than $10.
Awesome.
So. Be jealous, or get out to the Boys & Girls Store.
Amy
by Amy | Aug 6, 2014 | Blog, The Art of Living
“Why don’t you work on your blog? I like reading it.”
“Ugh. Because I have a bad attitude and I’m not doing anything interesting or anything worth writing about.” As soon as I say it I can hear my awful, negative attitude oozing from the words. As soon as the sentence is out there, I want it not to be true. And it doesn’t have to be.
“Maybe I should go on an adventure. Or find something that actually can that won’t leave me feeling like I’ve been run over.”
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We are standing in a thrift store and I’m talking to a woman I’ve only met a handful of times, but am wishing I knew her better and as this conversation is going on, I’m creepily scheming up ways to find myself in her company more often. Which is probably even more creepy…since she told me she reads the blog, and I’m sure she’ll know this is about her. But I’m so awkward I throw caution to the wind.
We are there–in the thrift store–with another friend. And, little do they know, the two of them are pulling me out of a rut. An awful, annoying, terrible rut.
For a few days I’d been caught in a cycle of pain, Percocet, inactivity, anxiety and insomnia. One leading to the next, the next and the next. I stopped writing {which many of you know if my favorite activity} because, as stated, I wasn’t doing anything worth talking about. Outside of memorizing my daily verse from Colossians I couldn’t even bring myself to spend time in the Bible in order to write a good devotional.
But Saturday, as we scored major deals {more on that later}, I started to feel more like myself again. I was having a great time, doing something unique, getting an unbelievable deal. And my sense of adventure was restored. I was reminded that I am a creature of free will. There is no rule, fast and sure stating that I am to succumb to a case of the forever down-and-outs because I can’t do all the things I used to. There is no regulation causing me to mourn my old self. There is no reason I can’t come up with interesting things to do despite my physical restrictions.
And I have. Since Saturday when this all went down I have done all kinds of interesting things. I just haven’t written them because I haven’t had time. And when I had time I was too tired. I hope you’ll forgive me, but I’ll really try to stay more interesting and less David Coppery {disappearing and all.} Sometimes it just takes a minute to get back on track. Sometimes it takes a person, or people to get you back on track…even if they don’t realize what they are doing at the time.
The point is this. It can be really easy to stay in and be down. Especially when we are physically down. But there is always a choice. Sometimes that choice is very hard to make. Like really, really hard. It might even take all of the sapped strength you have to make a choice to take a single step toward your regular, happier self. Maybe so, but that’s always a step worth taking. Trust me. I get off kilter more often than I’d like and it’s a step I’ve taken more times than I can count. But it’s always worth it. Always.
Amy
PS–I’m eager to tell you about the outrageous scores I found at the thrift shop. But they just didn’t fit in with the vibe of this post. Come back tomorrow and I pinky promise you’ll be jealous. Unless you live in Practically Canada…in which case you’ll thank me.
