- Large bodies of water. There are some lakes here, but none that I see on a daily basis.
- Familiar people. I of course miss all our friends and family but I also miss recognizing people at the grocery store, gas station, Target-wherever. After working at the biggest church and one of the few children's entertainment places in a smallish town you get to know a lot of people.
- Stores. Yes there's a lot of stores here compared to a small town, but I'm used to being less than an hour away from pretty much any store. I miss the convenience of needing something and being able to just get in your car and drive there without much planning.
- Business people in business attire. There are very few professional jobs and therefore it is rare to see people in suits here. When we rode the train from our hotel to the stadium I saw many people dressed up commuting home from the office.
- Being in my cell network. We have T-Mobile, Minot does not. It's not that I think T-Mobile is better than Verizon or AT&T, its that when I get a voice mail I have to call myself and almost hack into my voice mail. When we were at the hotel I looked at my phone a realized it said "T-Mobile". I got really excited and kind of hoped someone would leave me a message. Also roaming really sucks your battery life.
- City driving. I don't know why but I like driving on free ways with more than 2 lanes and seeing crowds of cars not small groups. When we were approaching the city Josh goes , "There's traffic here so when you see brake lights it means there's congestion not just people being slow." "Yes Josh, I have driven in Seattle traffic before, I can handle it". "Well in Minot when you see brake lights it's because one person is slowing down." For me it's like riding a bike-you never forget.
- Big nice old houses. I suppose it hurts this city that there was a flood so wherever we go, even Bismarck I comment on how nice the houses look. On the train ride from Bloomington to Target Field (about 30 minutes) I saw a lot of older looking residential areas with the big well kept houses. Mostly it reminds me of North Tacoma.
- Being less than an hour drive from a major airport. Sometimes I feel like I'm on an island, but not a tropical one. Yes there is an airport in Minot but it's small and costs about $200 more to fly out of here than really anywhere (think Yakima size). Then there's a slightly bigger airport in Fargo that is a 4 hour drive and you have to weigh the drive over the slightly reduced fare (think Spokane size). The closest major airport like Sea-Tac is Minneapolis/St. Paul which is an 8 hour drive and by that time the price difference isn't worth it.
- Good ethnic food. Mexican and Indian food are the two I miss. I don't care what people here say about how great "Mi Mexico" is, it's not. A woman from California or Arizona even recommended it to Josh. After we ate there I said I think she's been here too long because she's forgotten what good Mexican food tastes like. As for Indian food-there aren't any restaurants, period.
- Population. In North Dakota there are a few bigger cities but after you've driven past the 3 exits that's it for 100 miles. I miss one city connected to another, not knowing where one ends and the other starts.
Friday, April 27, 2012
What I Miss
There's been a few things I've missed, but after just coming back from the Minneapolis area I was reminded of a lot more. This is in no particular order....
Monday, March 26, 2012
Climate Change
I always said if I had to live in the mid-west I'd live in Chicago. I'm not sure in what scenario I would have to be forced to only live in one region of the country, but whatever. Instead, not only do I live in the Mid-west, but I live on the prairie. Now before all of you who ever read Laura Ingalls Wilder books start to romanticize the prairie you can just stop. It's pretty flat (there are slight elevation changes), with tall brown grass, and not much wildlife. Oh and very windy (although Chicago is the windy city....). However, it's been a pretty good two weeks here for a couple of reasons.
First off, it's been sunny and warm here. While most of our friends and family have seen snow or gray skies, it's been mid 60s to 70s here and sunny. I don't care if this is "unseasonably warm", I'm going to enjoy every second of it! We've barbecued a few times and Josh built a picnic table for our back yard (see below). Josh and I both said that the weather has made living here a little more bearable.
I've realized how much weather effects you and even your reality. Things that I thought were just true or ways of life, I now know are actually part of growing up and living in the Northwest. For instance our car gets very dirty here (there is a lot of sand on the roads left over from people piling sand bags around their house prior to the flood) and I checked the weather report and it had no precipitation. So I thought it was a perfect time to wash the car, that's how I've always determined when to wash my car-wrong. A lot of sun here while there is still snow on the ground means puddles everywhere. Another example brings me to the other reason it's been a great few weeks. We (with another couple) bought a 5th wheel to rent out. It's an older 5th wheel and I had been warned it needed some work. To my surprise when I went in, it didn't smell. When I think "old" or "needs work" I think smelly. Josh reminded me that this vehicle came from Minnesota and it's not wet there so it wouldn't smell musty or like mildew..riiiiiight!
So we bought a 5th wheel/RV. As most of you know our plan was to buy flooded houses, fix them up, and then rent them out. When we told most people this plan a lot said something like, "well if there really are that many houses for cheap prices, why aren't companies buying a bunch all at once?". Guess what-they did. There are very few flooded houses left to buy and unless you have $30,000-$50,000 in cash it's hard to get a loan (I won't go into those details). A co-worker of Josh's was saying a while ago that he had thought about buying trailers and then renting them out. Before we moved here Josh noticed how much people in the area were paying to rent a trailer and how much less they were selling in surrounding states. So since we came here to invest and make money, they went into business together. We should have the first trailer rented in a few weeks and already have a second one lined up (I'd been told it needs no work, but costs a little more).
Josh and I point out patches of grass that have turned green on our way home everyday. You can almost watch the grass turn green. The last day or two it's been cooler and it's supposed to rain. Today is the first really gray and cloudy day I've seen since I moved. The forecast calls for thunderstorms this week, we're kind of excited for that because we've always heard about Mid-west thunderstorms. I have no idea what to expect for the summer. I've heard all different things, but I think I'll stick with one local who said, "Who knows anymore, nothing is normal. We had a huge flood last year and then a very mild winter- you just don't know these days."
First off, it's been sunny and warm here. While most of our friends and family have seen snow or gray skies, it's been mid 60s to 70s here and sunny. I don't care if this is "unseasonably warm", I'm going to enjoy every second of it! We've barbecued a few times and Josh built a picnic table for our back yard (see below). Josh and I both said that the weather has made living here a little more bearable.
I've realized how much weather effects you and even your reality. Things that I thought were just true or ways of life, I now know are actually part of growing up and living in the Northwest. For instance our car gets very dirty here (there is a lot of sand on the roads left over from people piling sand bags around their house prior to the flood) and I checked the weather report and it had no precipitation. So I thought it was a perfect time to wash the car, that's how I've always determined when to wash my car-wrong. A lot of sun here while there is still snow on the ground means puddles everywhere. Another example brings me to the other reason it's been a great few weeks. We (with another couple) bought a 5th wheel to rent out. It's an older 5th wheel and I had been warned it needed some work. To my surprise when I went in, it didn't smell. When I think "old" or "needs work" I think smelly. Josh reminded me that this vehicle came from Minnesota and it's not wet there so it wouldn't smell musty or like mildew..riiiiiight!
So we bought a 5th wheel/RV. As most of you know our plan was to buy flooded houses, fix them up, and then rent them out. When we told most people this plan a lot said something like, "well if there really are that many houses for cheap prices, why aren't companies buying a bunch all at once?". Guess what-they did. There are very few flooded houses left to buy and unless you have $30,000-$50,000 in cash it's hard to get a loan (I won't go into those details). A co-worker of Josh's was saying a while ago that he had thought about buying trailers and then renting them out. Before we moved here Josh noticed how much people in the area were paying to rent a trailer and how much less they were selling in surrounding states. So since we came here to invest and make money, they went into business together. We should have the first trailer rented in a few weeks and already have a second one lined up (I'd been told it needs no work, but costs a little more).
Josh and I point out patches of grass that have turned green on our way home everyday. You can almost watch the grass turn green. The last day or two it's been cooler and it's supposed to rain. Today is the first really gray and cloudy day I've seen since I moved. The forecast calls for thunderstorms this week, we're kind of excited for that because we've always heard about Mid-west thunderstorms. I have no idea what to expect for the summer. I've heard all different things, but I think I'll stick with one local who said, "Who knows anymore, nothing is normal. We had a huge flood last year and then a very mild winter- you just don't know these days."
Saturday, March 3, 2012
Adjusting
When Josh and I decided we were in fact moving to North Dakota we decided we need to stop saying "if we move to North Dakota" and instead say 'when we move to North Dakota". In the same way I have been making an effort to stop saying "at home..." and instead "in Washington..." As weird as it is and whether I'm ready or not, this is my home. We're still not sure if we go visit somewhere else and are asked where we're from how to answer that question.
There are adjustments everyday and there really are times that I think "I can't believe people live here!". One time recently was when I was walking from my car to the store on a half frozen, bumpy parking lot with the wind blowing side ways and you couldn't tell if it was snowing or the wind was blowing the already feet of snow on the ground. I wanted to scream out "Seriously you're ok living in this?!" This may be why a town of 40,000 is the 4th largest in the state. I have also learned that Minot may have almost all of the same stores as Washington, but they're all a smaller version. Let's take Best Buy-Josh wanted to check it out yesterday. Every Best Buy I've ever been to you walk in and are overwhelmed with all the products and different departments. The second we walked into Minot's Best Buy you could see the ENTIRE store. As my friend Michelle would say "Wah wahhhh..."
I do wonder if sometimes the transition is harder because I spent the last few years living in affluent Gig Harbor and not say...Kent or Puyallup. For instance Walmart- in Gig Harbor Walmart is a cheap, unethical monster. In North Dakota, Walmart is convenient and a great value (coincidentally "Great Value" is the name of their generic brand.). It is also normal and acceptable for people to simply put their trash bags on the curb for pick up instead of in the trash can. In fact when we put our trash can out, they did not take our trash. We think it's because we didn't take the lid off for them, but we're not entirely sure.
Not everything is "hard" here. In fact the water is soft (har har). Seriously it takes longer to wash your hands and hair, but my skin doesn't need as much moisturizing. Also, Dr. Pepper is EVERYWHERE. I love Dr. Pepper so this is a good thing. The only other place I've experienced that has the same love for this drink is Texas and I'm pretty sure that's because it's made in Waco, TX. Probably the best thing I've experienced here is the nice people! I'm not sure if it's because Minot still has that old small town feeling (post on that later) or because we're so close to Canada but in the few weeks I've been here I have numerous stories to tell about the great people. I'll tell you my most recent experience. This week we had a very angry customer at work. Whatever, strangely being the manager at a place that hosts kid's birthday parties I am used to angry customers. Later my boss was telling me that in the twenty some years he's worked with the company he's only experienced 4 or 5 people that angry. I laughed and said that was a weekly occurrence where I was from. This led to a conversation about the culture of this area. It is almost foreign to people here to ask for government help (no wonder this is such a red state), mostly because there is no need. You make a friend here and you're considered family. He then asked me, "After the flood out of the 14,000 people effected how many do you think went to a shelter set up by the Red Cross?" I guessed a third. Nope- less than 100 people! I was speechless. People took in others, there was just no need. Hmmm, maybe that's how people live here.
There are adjustments everyday and there really are times that I think "I can't believe people live here!". One time recently was when I was walking from my car to the store on a half frozen, bumpy parking lot with the wind blowing side ways and you couldn't tell if it was snowing or the wind was blowing the already feet of snow on the ground. I wanted to scream out "Seriously you're ok living in this?!" This may be why a town of 40,000 is the 4th largest in the state. I have also learned that Minot may have almost all of the same stores as Washington, but they're all a smaller version. Let's take Best Buy-Josh wanted to check it out yesterday. Every Best Buy I've ever been to you walk in and are overwhelmed with all the products and different departments. The second we walked into Minot's Best Buy you could see the ENTIRE store. As my friend Michelle would say "Wah wahhhh..."
I do wonder if sometimes the transition is harder because I spent the last few years living in affluent Gig Harbor and not say...Kent or Puyallup. For instance Walmart- in Gig Harbor Walmart is a cheap, unethical monster. In North Dakota, Walmart is convenient and a great value (coincidentally "Great Value" is the name of their generic brand.). It is also normal and acceptable for people to simply put their trash bags on the curb for pick up instead of in the trash can. In fact when we put our trash can out, they did not take our trash. We think it's because we didn't take the lid off for them, but we're not entirely sure.
Not everything is "hard" here. In fact the water is soft (har har). Seriously it takes longer to wash your hands and hair, but my skin doesn't need as much moisturizing. Also, Dr. Pepper is EVERYWHERE. I love Dr. Pepper so this is a good thing. The only other place I've experienced that has the same love for this drink is Texas and I'm pretty sure that's because it's made in Waco, TX. Probably the best thing I've experienced here is the nice people! I'm not sure if it's because Minot still has that old small town feeling (post on that later) or because we're so close to Canada but in the few weeks I've been here I have numerous stories to tell about the great people. I'll tell you my most recent experience. This week we had a very angry customer at work. Whatever, strangely being the manager at a place that hosts kid's birthday parties I am used to angry customers. Later my boss was telling me that in the twenty some years he's worked with the company he's only experienced 4 or 5 people that angry. I laughed and said that was a weekly occurrence where I was from. This led to a conversation about the culture of this area. It is almost foreign to people here to ask for government help (no wonder this is such a red state), mostly because there is no need. You make a friend here and you're considered family. He then asked me, "After the flood out of the 14,000 people effected how many do you think went to a shelter set up by the Red Cross?" I guessed a third. Nope- less than 100 people! I was speechless. People took in others, there was just no need. Hmmm, maybe that's how people live here.
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
The Train and Other First Impressions
After nearly 27 hours on the train I arrived in Williston, ND-120 miles West of Minot and two stops before mine. The train was stopped for 90 minutes right outside of North Dakota. We were told it had something to do with a broken wheel, but after seeing two guys with badges around their neck (Law & Order style) rush down the aisle, I thought otherwise. According to the other veteran train riders, delays are a very normal part of the train ride. With that knowledge and seeing the two gentlemen scurry down the train I decided to ask Josh to pick me up in Williston.
Ah yes the train. Parts of the train are luxurious-outlets at every seat, wide seats, enough leg room for an NBA player sleeper cars with showers, enough pillows for everyone, and a women's lounge. Other parts...seems more like a glorified grey hound bus. I mean sure a plane is cramped but in 27 hours I should be in South Africa not Eastern Montana. Overall, it was long, but I might be forced to do it again.
So some first impressions on Minot (I can't generalize to all of North Dakota)
These are just my observations over the last three days. Stay tuned for more.
Oh yeah, I got a job today-hired on the spot :)
Ah yes the train. Parts of the train are luxurious-outlets at every seat, wide seats, enough leg room for an NBA player sleeper cars with showers, enough pillows for everyone, and a women's lounge. Other parts...seems more like a glorified grey hound bus. I mean sure a plane is cramped but in 27 hours I should be in South Africa not Eastern Montana. Overall, it was long, but I might be forced to do it again.
So some first impressions on Minot (I can't generalize to all of North Dakota)
- Trucks, trucks, trucks. Not just small pick up trucks, but Ford 450s-large trucks!
- Snow makes your car REALLY dirty. Uck!
- Everything is very brown (I guess it would be hard for me to not think that since I did just move from the Evergreen State)
- I know I've said this before, but it's hard to not miss all the "Hiring" or "Help Wanted" signs-EVERYWHERE!
- There are also a lot of new hotels. This goes along with the previous observation. As Josh and I have been saying there is a housing sortage here. People are moving here daily for all the jobs and they cannot keep up with the housing demands. Most of these hotels are booked and I just looked, you cannot find a hotel for less than $100/night. Go look at how much hotels are in downtown Seattle-you can find better deals...
- TV shows are on an hour earlier. This will take some getting used to, but I love that it's not even 10:30 and I'm watching the Daily Show.
These are just my observations over the last three days. Stay tuned for more.
Oh yeah, I got a job today-hired on the spot :)
Friday, February 3, 2012
Preparing
For those of you who don't know, Minot is known as the "Magic City". Josh and I are not only counting on it being magical, but advantageous. I find it ironic that I must leave the "City of Destiny" (Tacoma, WA) to build our future.
So how does one prepare for moving to North Dakota? Most people like to remind me that it's cold there. Yep it's the Midwest, it gets cold However unlike Western Washington it's sunny in the winter (and fall and spring). So it's literally freezing there, contrary to Washington it is not acceptable to keep your heat at only 68 degrees, they know how to heat homes and buildings (maybe I won't have to wear a coat all day at work like in WA). I did buy a down coat knowing I would be moving in the dead of winter to the Midwest, but I have to admit I really don't know how cold -40 feels, even 10 for that matter.
The other comment (or I guess question) is, "Why North Dakota?" It's pretty simple-OPPORTUNITY! Yes people we currently live in one of the worst economies since The Depression, but North Dakota didn't get the memo. The economy and housing market is boom-ing! Where else can you find fast food jobs paying $10-$15/hr? Ok, there is a little more to it than that, there are actually a few factors that make Minot specifically unique and what drew us to that city in particular.
Although the economy is growing (due to the oil), Minot was also hit with a huge flood this last summer. About 1/3 of the city was flooded, but the whole city was affected. It's one thing to see the pictures of houses completely under water and another to walk into a flooded house with the buckled floors, clothes still hanging in the closet, and dishes in the drying rack waiting to be put in the now molded cupboards. Neighborhoods are lined with FEMA trailers, trailers that were recently in Louisiana (you know, from Katrina...), signs in yards that say "We're coming back!" letting people know that they haven't given up or abandoned their home. Still there are many houses that are abandoned for one reason or another. This is only a small glimpse of what Josh saw this summer on his bicycle trip and what I saw during our brief visit in November. Experiencing this, it's hard to not want to move there and do.
The whole thing is still not totally real to me yet. Yes, I watched Josh pull away in the moving truck with all of our earthly belongings and car towed behind (ok except for the boxes that we're storing in my parents garage-thanks guys!). Yes, I had to say good bye to my sweet 2 year old niece who thinks "Auntie Em" is the best because she has a key to an indoor bounce house facility and I'm afraid I'll loose my ranking when I move. (nothing breaks your heart more than hearing "No leave Auntie Em") Yes, I'm presently living out of a suitcase at my parent's house, and yes I have forwarded my mail to a North Dakota address- but as I listen to the rain drip out of the gutters and wash through the streets, it's hard to imagine our new place over 1200 miles away. I really don't think it will hit me until I've been there for a few months and realize that I'm not leaving.
So how does one prepare for moving to North Dakota? Most people like to remind me that it's cold there. Yep it's the Midwest, it gets cold However unlike Western Washington it's sunny in the winter (and fall and spring). So it's literally freezing there, contrary to Washington it is not acceptable to keep your heat at only 68 degrees, they know how to heat homes and buildings (maybe I won't have to wear a coat all day at work like in WA). I did buy a down coat knowing I would be moving in the dead of winter to the Midwest, but I have to admit I really don't know how cold -40 feels, even 10 for that matter.
The other comment (or I guess question) is, "Why North Dakota?" It's pretty simple-OPPORTUNITY! Yes people we currently live in one of the worst economies since The Depression, but North Dakota didn't get the memo. The economy and housing market is boom-ing! Where else can you find fast food jobs paying $10-$15/hr? Ok, there is a little more to it than that, there are actually a few factors that make Minot specifically unique and what drew us to that city in particular.
Although the economy is growing (due to the oil), Minot was also hit with a huge flood this last summer. About 1/3 of the city was flooded, but the whole city was affected. It's one thing to see the pictures of houses completely under water and another to walk into a flooded house with the buckled floors, clothes still hanging in the closet, and dishes in the drying rack waiting to be put in the now molded cupboards. Neighborhoods are lined with FEMA trailers, trailers that were recently in Louisiana (you know, from Katrina...), signs in yards that say "We're coming back!" letting people know that they haven't given up or abandoned their home. Still there are many houses that are abandoned for one reason or another. This is only a small glimpse of what Josh saw this summer on his bicycle trip and what I saw during our brief visit in November. Experiencing this, it's hard to not want to move there and do.
The whole thing is still not totally real to me yet. Yes, I watched Josh pull away in the moving truck with all of our earthly belongings and car towed behind (ok except for the boxes that we're storing in my parents garage-thanks guys!). Yes, I had to say good bye to my sweet 2 year old niece who thinks "Auntie Em" is the best because she has a key to an indoor bounce house facility and I'm afraid I'll loose my ranking when I move. (nothing breaks your heart more than hearing "No leave Auntie Em") Yes, I'm presently living out of a suitcase at my parent's house, and yes I have forwarded my mail to a North Dakota address- but as I listen to the rain drip out of the gutters and wash through the streets, it's hard to imagine our new place over 1200 miles away. I really don't think it will hit me until I've been there for a few months and realize that I'm not leaving.
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