Mrs. Dykowski goes north: 10 things about North Dakota

As many of you know, J and I moved to North Dakota about 2 months ago.

We and Cat live in a small, 3-floor apartment in a growing side of town.

Every day we drive about 10 minutes through a cute neighborhood, past a coffee shop, bowling alley and Taco Johns -this is especially important to downtown where we work in the same building.

You may well wonder why it's taken me so long to update the world on the latest goings on, let me fill you in.

We drove 22 hours over the two days following my graduation to move here. Within a week, I had started a new job with Agweek, a regional, weekly, agricultural magazine published by the same company that owns J's newspaper.

Between unpacking and settling our apartment, adjusting to a full-time work schedule and learning a new city, there hasn't been much of me left over to share.

Today, however, I decided it couldn't wait any longer...

When we told our fellow Texans we were moving to North Dakota of all places, most of them reacted as if we were about to banished to Siberia... "Don't y'all know it's going to be cold there?" they would say.

That was about all I knew about ND before we moved here. It's cold.

We haven't experienced real cold yet, but we've been preparing. I'll talk more about that in a later post...

Since I got here, there have been some fun surprises and some quirks I wasn't expecting. Here are a few examples:

1. The accent.

I didn't realize the impact ND's proximity to Canada would have on the accents of the people here. They say 'aboat.' They say 'yoo betcha!' all the time. And they take notice when I say y'all. We'll talk more about how I'm reppin' Texas culture later on too. :) The funny thing is, most people I encounter don't think they have an accent at all. Uh... yoo betcha, yoo doo.

2.  Hockey

Hockey is to North Dakota as football is to Texas. This is not very surprising to me in and of itself. What I was shocked to learn is... I love it! It's fast, violent and indoors, what else would you want in a winter sport? Point Midwest!

3. It's SO close to Canada

SO CLOSE! When in an article a reporter used the phrase "south of the border," I had to do a double take. He was talking about North Dakota! The border patrol office near my apartment building, is looking for illegal Canadians... I'd never even considered the possibility of illegal Canadians.

4. Canadians have a reputation for being terrible drivers.

If you see a "friendly Manitoba" license plate headed your way, look out! So they say...the jury's still out with me... Minnesota license plates seem to be just a dangerous. ;)

Fries from the world's largest french fry feed.

5. North Dakotans love french fries!

...And beer. But the french fry bandwagon is the one I can hop on! We even went to the World's Largest French Fry Feed this year. You should have seen the deep fryer they were using!

6. They grow sugar beets

I wasn't even sure this was a real thing when I moved up here, but it's one of the region's biggest crops. When I drive to work this month, I'm usually behind a huge truck full of them, heading over to Minnesota to the sugar factory. In fact, when the trucks hit a bump you have to dodge the beets that fall out on the road.

7. People only grow things that can be eaten

Speaking of crops, when I say my dad grows cotton, I get a funny look. "But you can't eat cotton..." Here, if it can't be eaten by humans, they feed it to the cows. An inedible crop is unheard of... Random fact: cotton seed and cotton seed oil are both edible products of cotton for cows and humans respectively. 

8. People here speak Spanish too!

I thought when we moved north, we'd have our weak knowledge of Spanish as a kind of personal language that very few people would know, we could have conversations without others eavesdropping ...even if they were mostly about our names and random objects. But I was wrong. In line at the grocery store a few weeks ago the family behind us had a whole conversation in it. My boss says it's the only language offered in most high schools. Even one of the families at the tiny church we go to speaks mostly Spanish. I wish I had practiced more in school.

9. People are friendly and helpful

Need directions somewhere? Want to know why some cars have extension cords hanging out the front of their hoods? Want some fresh produce? Want to go to a sporting event without spending any money? North Dakotans to the rescue! Seriously, y'all, people are so helpful here. I ask about 200,000 stupid questions a day about snow, the town, the state. I misspelled Winnipeg at work and no one made fun of me. We had a Bible study in our house and a sister brought us fresh tomatoes from her garden. Not to mention the free things we're constantly being given at work, hockey tickets, fresh produce from the publisher's garden, random ice cream treats, football tickets and so on. People are very accepting and generous here. It's great.

10. Some things are still the same

I'm still Mrs. Dykowski, I still call my mom when I need advice, I'm still a homebody, I still have a lot to learn, I still talk to my closest friends, I still prefer Texas to any state in the union but I would still rather have one day in North Dakota with J than a million in Texas without him.

Stay tuned!

Poor People Food: Spaghetti Edition

With the upcoming move and one income, I've been looking for any opportunities to save money on my grocery bill.

Tonight I wanted to share with you one easy, cheap meal you can make when you're in a hurry, but can't afford to go out.

That's all you need!

I think I need to preface this by saying that J has hated spaghetti for a long time. Since we got married, I've found several creative ways to make it that he enjoys (adding ground beef, fresh squash, or cheese), but they all involve adding expense to the meal.

Recently I discovered that the flavor in the pre-made sauce is what really turns him away. By making my own sauce, I was able to cut the cost of an already affordable meal and please us both! This is starting to sound like a 1950's advertisement. Yikes!

First, I put the spaghetti on to boil with a tiny splash of olive oil and a pinch of salt.

For whatever reason I decided to whisk the sauce in a bowl.
This is unnecessary. 

Then I take a can of tomato sauce that costs less than a dollar and pour into a sauce pan over medium high heat. I add a generous dash of olive oil (probably around 1/8 cup), Italian seasoning, garlic salt and onion powder. I heat it until it starts to pop, stirring regularly. Then I turn it to medium low and stir it more often to keep it from exploding all over the stove, until the noodles are ready.

Tada! Dinner's ready! With one box of off-brand spaghetti and 4 cans of tomato sauce I can make four big meals for around $6. Bam, Martha Stewart! Take that! ;)

When I'm feeling extra adventurous, I mix the sauce and noodles in an oven safe dish and sprinkle white cheese on top. I heat it in the oven at about 200 degrees until the cheese is melted. Mmmmmm

Extra adventurous!

We're Moving???

Isn't it funny how things just seem to work out?

I finally worked my last day as a TA this month, and although we had been preparing, transitioning to one income has not been a picnic.

J's been applying for jobs for a while, and we were sure this week he was right on the precipice of getting a good offer, when he got two.

I can't describe the relief and excitement we felt when that second offer came through. What a great opportunity! I did the dorkiest happy dance ever.

The job is in North Dakota.

This is so exciting. I've never been to ND or even north of Colorado for that matter. I can count the number of Canadians I've met in person on one hand, but I'm going to live so close to the Canadian border, we're already planning a day trip. Do all the women look like Shania Twain and Colby Smoulders? ...just kidding!

I am a little stressed about making the transition. I know it's going to be worth it, but it is going to take A LOT of work and A LOT of driving to get us there.

Once we're there, then what? What will our place be like? I know it's cold, but what does that mean exactly? Will potato ole's be as good as I remember from my childhood? (just go with it.) What about Cat? Are we going to get to take him with us?

So many unanswered questions!

Then there's a duplex full of stuff to concern ourselves with. Our Amazon store has doubled in size in the past week. Need a book? Need 20? 50?

I've got all of this on my mind when I finally turn to the distance. No more quick weekend trips to the farm. Not to mention the 10 days Scott will be up there before I can go. 10 days may seem short, but when you've found your favorite person on earth 10 hours is too long to be apart.

Then I have to find a job for myself. This I think will eventually work out too. But in the meantime it's the cherry on the sundae of questions.

With all of this, I'm still so excited, proud and relieved that we're moving forward with J's career and our life plans. I think the community is going to be great.

Ready or not, here we go!

Cupcake Wars!

A couple of months ago J and I were hungry...Wait...we're always hungry....

And we also wanted to go on a date...

Seems simple enough--go get some food.

Unfortunately, we're also poor...

So we decided to have cupcake wars in our kitchen using things we had on hand.

I use the phrase "cupcake wars" loosely because it turned out to be J taking photos of me making cupcakes more than a competition.

We picked two cupcake recipes, Red Velvet and Lemon, out of a lifestyle magazine I get. Click here to read another recipe I adapted from the magazine. 

I'm not going to post the recipes here because they're pretty basic...just look on pinterest, it's been covered. The idea is, take your man to the kitchen and cook together!

Or as in our case, your husband will play with his new camera while you do most of the baking...still fun!

Here some of J's photos. I picked ones that highlight some cupcake simple baking tricks to make the cupcakes come out a little more delicious.

Invest in a stand mixer. It's not absolutely necessary but
it just makes everything easier and  more fun.

There are a lot of ways to separate eggs. This is my
technique. It's old fashioned but it gets the job done.
(Using the whites without the yolk makes the cake whiter,
fluffier and less fattening. ...I just added that last attribute
because it sounds good. If you care about fat, you probably
just shouldn't eat cupcakes.)

I squeeze a lemon just like anyone else, I just liked this photo.

I pipe icing out of a gallon baggie with the corner cut off.
To fill the baggie I put it in a glass then pour or scoop the
icing in.

Craftiness!

Hey y'all!

Yesterday I was in a crafty mood while waiting on edits from my thesis adviser. I saw this craft on Pinterest the other day. It said something about the doorbell being broken, but since we don't have one in our duplex, I thought it could be just as fitting.

I just drew the letters in pencil and painted it with acrylic paint. I mixed the colors myself to give it some depth.

Can you tell I'm tired of writing? Long thesis=short blog. ;) 

Have a great week, y'all!

5 Reasons Why I Hate Editing

Friday was reorganize chapter one day. 

I'm now in editing mode on my thesis. Here are a few reasons why I hate it.

1. I have a HUGE ego.

That's right ladies and gents, I have a hard time admitting that that 10 page paper I pumped out from 2am to 5am isn't a winner. What do you mean I used passive voice?! Passive voice has never been used by me!

2. I know what I said, so why do I have to read it again?

 I hate rereading things! I can hardly read my favorite book again five years after I read it the first time.My own writing is the worst, because I wrote it. I know what it says....don't I? Wait...I wrote what? What does that even mean...?

3. It takes FOREVER!

I'm a busy genius, who has no time to waste with such nonsense! I must be churning out more brilliant copy, or watching Gilmore Girls... I have no time for this tediousity! (And I'm an excellent word inventor!) Let the little people handle the editing...

4. I'm tired of working on the same thing.

This is a massive paper that I've spent the better part of two years working on in one form or another. Can't we just call it a day and give me my degree already?

5. I don't have a long enough attention span.....

Wait, what was I talking about....

So there you have it, folks. Why I hate editing in a nutshell. Now that I've procrastinated...I guess I'll go find something else to procrastinate with...

Focusing on the Good Things

Hey everybody!

I know it's been an eternity since I last posted. 2013 in general is not shaping up so well, so I've been pretty busy.

Maybe I'll post some sweet nostalgic posts about the difficult things that have happened at some other point. Right now, I'm trying not to throw myself a pity party. You can ask anyone who's ever lived with me that I have a very strong tendency to throw pity parties and they're not fun events. There are no hats or pinatas, and only sometimes is there cake and I usually eat it all myself. ...I realize while I'm writing this that it's a really good thing I'm already married...

So sorry to my former roommates, immediate family members, and J! I really am working on it....

So instead of wallowing in the struggles of my life, I've decided to celebrate the things that are going well!

First, I am still married to my best friend.

In fact, we celebrated two years of marriage this month.

When I first came to graduate school, we were legitimately newlyweds. ...So new, I used to bring him up in conversations with new people to try to get used to calling him my husband. In hindsight I bet that was pretty annoying...oops. Now I sometimes have a hard time remembering what it was like to be single.

In all these hard times, he's been my rock. He's taken care of my every need, spoiled me, looked after me, taken care of things above and beyond his responsibilities, and bought me ice cream, an embarrassing amount of ice cream. He's an awesome guy, and I take that for granted way too often.

Second, I've been able to get more involved at church.

I'm finally teaching Bible class again and it makes me so happy! A friend and I get to teach half-a-dozen of the sweetest, most exhausting, smartest, and most adorable toddlers twice a week. I love their chubby, smiling faces and their sweet, honest hearts. I've hoped and prayed for a way to get more involved, and now I have one.

Third, I have finally drafted my thesis.

A friend from my cohort dubbed it "The T-Word." It was that evil monster-cloud of death hovering over my head for the past two years, and today I finally finished the first draft! There's more work, stress and long days to come, but the basics are there. That's a win in my book!

Fourth, all my friends seem to be getting on with their happy lives.

My Facebook is full of weddings, promotions, graduations, happy babies and rain. Rain is a really big deal in West Texas. My Facebook feed blows up at the first sign of a cloud...kind of makes windows seem redundant.

Anyways....

Did I not brag on my HS best friend's military promotion yet? I didn't?! Well she's totally killing it in the Army and I couldn't be prouder. I am a little scared that when she gets out, she's going to try to make me work out with her....If I get really fit suddenly, you'll know why. But seriously, she's an amazingly strong lady and I'm so proud of her accomplishments!

Did I not brag on my childhood best friend's baby? Man, I've been slacking! He's adorable. I haven't seen him since he was born last month, but I'm pretty sure he's gotten even more awesome since then. Talk about strong ladies, this girl was looking all kinds of gorgeous, smiling and greeting like 800 million visitors the day her huge perfect and adorable, but HUGE baby was born! I brought her a king sized candy bar because I have no children and therefore no idea what a new mom needs, and I love chocolate. If you need chocolate at any important point in life, I'm your girl.

Okay, I could go on and on and on....y'all know I'm prone to do that, but I'm going to stop there for now.

Thanks for bearing with me in the drought of last month. I hope to be back to posting recipes and fun stuff very soon!