2000 - 2009 A Life and Times of Amanda Review

It may seem silly and cliche, but I love reading articles about the year in review and the decade in review. This seems like the appropriate location to review what my past decade has been like. I'm going to use my brother's set up, because it's a great one. This past decade has seen the biggest changes in my life and I don't think it could have ended up better. The decade encompassed my high school and college years. While they may not be the best years of my life, they certainly are some of the most important. I've learned a lot throughout the past decade and I'm looking forward to learning more in the decades to come!

*Some of these years may not necessarily be accurate, and that's because I have a bad memory.

2000

Finished middle school and started high school at Mounds View High School.

My mom borrowed 3 books from a coworker about a boy named Harry Potter. I started to wish my school was magical.

Said no to drugs and alcohol.

Made the competition dance line at Metro Dance and started getting serious about dancing.

Began my short career as a Cheerleader for the MVHS girls hockey team. They were the best group of people I cheered for (sorry Tony's football friends).

Went to the Homecoming dance with a boy who was 30 lbs lighter than me and 3 inches shorter than me. Felt like a giant. First experience hearing someone say "I love you" and being really freaked out by it.

2001

Without plans for our spring break, my parents send Tony and I on a mission trip to an orphanage in Reynosa, Mexico with a family friend. One of the best last minute decisions that has had a lasting impact on my life.

Became a football and soccer cheerleader for a school I increasingly disliked. Told football players don't like Twinkies.

Started getting into music and learning to love a variety of sounds.

2002

Spent a month living with a family in Cuernavaca, Mexico learning Spanish. Had a great time living relatively independently in a foreign country.

Able to take Spanish 5 at MVHS and unlearn everything learned in Mexico.

Joined the junior varsity track team at MVHS.

Started doing competition tap, ballet and jazz after many years out of practice.

Went to my first concert alone, saw Fuel, Sevendust at the Roy Wilkins Auditorium. Saved up $27 to buy a concert t-shirt from selling custom mix CDs at school.

2003

Found out that I could spend my last year of high school, not going to high school and attending college for free.

Got in to the PSEO program at the University of Minnesota, one of the best things that I've ever done. I learned to be independent, take risks, and explored a vast new place.

Continued to do tap, ballet, jazz and dance line at Metro Dance.

Got my first job at Proex, taking portraits of people and developing pictures.

Opened my first bank account!

2004

Declared a Spanish minor while still in high school.

Graduated from high school. Vowed to never step foot inside MVHS again. A promise I have since kept.

Accepted into the Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota.

Quit my job at Proex and started working at East Side Beverage, a challenging but rewarding job.

Moved into Middlebrook Hall on the West Bank of the Mississippi. A great place where I met some wonderful people and made new friends.

2005

Spring semester was the worst for grades as I didn't listen to the recommendation and took 2 difficult classes that I didn't like at the same time. Slacked off an incredible amount for me.

Learned that I can't always coast through classes and spent much of April and May catching up.

Got a lot of music from a fellow music lover and expanded my tastes in music. Though I still don't do rap.

Started a job at the Gopher Express and Post Office in the student union. Discovered a life-long love for Amy's Pizza Pockets. I am extremely knowledgeable about postal requirements. Mailed my first human body parts.

Joined the Student Association for Non-profit Enterprise (SANE). Voted president of the student group to start that fall.

Became a U-Crew in Middlebrook hall starting in fall semester. Got a single and a mandate to help the freshman residents on 6th floor adjust and enjoy their college experience.

Started drinking.

Realized that I didn't want to be an Entrepreneur and changed my major to Human Resources and Industrial Relations. Hoped that with that major I'd be able to help people.

Got a bicycle for my birthday only to have it stolen 2 weeks into the school year.

2006

Applied for study abroad and was accepted to go to the Quinn School of Business at the University College Dublin.

Declared a Psychology minor to fill in the gaps until I graduated.

Moved my parents to Covington, Indiana and helped sell the home I grew up in, in Arden Hills, Minnesota. My job for that summer was to pack up the house, take Chip out of the house when people came to see it, refill the ponds, and keep the house clean.

Worked in Danville, IL for 1 month as an audit assistant. Learned I don't like numbers job and that I must always stay busy.

Traveled to Ireland where I didn't realize until the plane touched down that I didn't know a single person in the country.

Had a great time in Ireland; drinking whiskey, making great friends, studied quite a bit, traveling around Europe, and bringing my family over to show them a good time.

I figured out that I do best when I am constantly learning something new.

2007

Moved into a closet in Minnesota.

Struggled a bit to adjust to the change from study abroad.

Over Easter I ran my dad's ATV into a tree. Thought I was about to die and then got afraid of driving and motor vehicles after that.

Met and started dating Andy Harvey. Our first date encompassed riding in Critical Mass and dining at a Thai restaurant in St. Paul. We watched a barge in the Mississippi during sunset.

Completed my Emerging Leadership Program on principle and couldn't continue with the honors program if I graduated early.

Pete came for a visit over the summer and I tried to show him a good time around Minneapolis. It ended up that he was able to create a good time for himself here as well!

First time I questioned a grade I received from a teacher and went into mediation. Was able to move my grade up and felt more confident.

House got broken into the day after I moved in. I lost my laptop, camera, and sense of safety.

Graduated from the University of Minnesota in 3 1/2 years. Had to do my graduation ceremony in the spring, despite finishing in the winter. Happy to be done with school!

Got my first car that was my own! A wonderful 2008 Honda Fit. It fits a lot.

2008

Got my first job as a Human Resources Assistant at Mall of America. Learned to love MOA and learned a lot about people.

Called the city on my landlord a few times for dumping. Dealt with Thursday night garage parties 2 houses down, roomies that didn't always do their dishes, and the wonderment of a house that could be so cold in the winter could be so hot in the summer.

Got my first promotion 5 months after being hired, now an HR Representative, I started doing interviews.

Andy and I moved in together in a small house in South Minneapolis.

Andy proposed on the train ride home from a visit to Indiana. Started planning a wedding. Bought a wedding dress a couple weeks later.

Moved work offices from upstairs in Nickelodeon Universe to the basement of MOA in December. Stopped seeing daylight for awhile. Enjoyed a bigger "office" and being around the rest of MOA employees.

2009

Learned that planning a wedding takes a lot of time and effort.

Made a plan with Andy that in 2010 we would start looking for jobs out of state in earnest and move out of Minnesota within 2 years.

Started gardening and grew our own tomatoes, carrots, beans, radishes, lettuce, squash, and peppers. Ate more vegetables and fruits than ever before.

Learned how to can and preserve summer food.

Received a canoe for a wedding present from my parents and paddled around the Mississippi and Minnesota Rivers and Lake Nokomis.

Took my first trip to the BWCA with Andy and he didn't end up as bear bait. He passed the family test with flying colors.

Got married on October 10, 2009. Had a great time seeing everyone and I realized that the best thing about weddings was seeing all of my family at once.

Honeymooned in Portland, OR and had a wonderful time. Came home knowing that's where we'd like to live in the future.

2010

I don't usually make resolutions, but this year there are some things that I would like to accomplish.

• The first is to keep better track of my finances. I don't usually pay much attention to them, but I've realized that's a bad idea.
• Get a dog! For Christmas Andy and I saved some gift money for each other to put to adopting a greyhound.
• Move away from Minnesota. After living here our whole lives, Andy and I think it's time to try someplace new. Preferable that will be Portland, OR, but we're open to other places.

A Day Off!

Today I got the day off for 4th of July. I'm excited to hang around and not do too much. Andy and I are going for a bike ride. For my birthday my mom got me new clip less bike shoes and Andy got me new pedals for my Trek (Maddy). It feels great to be able to pedal down and up! I've been practicing my upstroke, it's wonderful. I haven't fallen yet, but I almost did once. I forgot what kind of pedals I had and when I was getting off my bike in the driveway, my feet wouldn't leave the pedals. I got out of them before I fell down though.

After our bike ride we'll probably go for a paddle in the canoe, one more time before the big trip. Andy might haul it out before Tuesday, we need all the practice we can get.

Work is going good, the hiring is slowing down and so I can focus more on training. I'm working on revamping the trainings and making orientation more interesting and effective. It's the sort of thing I really enjoy doing.

Off to go biking!

Children Hate Me

I've never had much luck with kids.  They just don't like me, I don't know what it is.  Take today for example.  I was working up in Nickelodeon Universe for awhile this afternoon.  A lady was filling out an application with a child and I thought I could entertain the child for the time.  At a loss for what to say to a child, I picked an abundant topic at the Mall of America.

"Do you like Nickelodeon?" I ask, a valid question for a 3 or 4 year old.

"It's too noisy here. I hate this place," she responds, turning away.

Well, so much for conversation.  A little while later, my co-worker, Harry, just looked at the kid and she smiled.  Some people have all the luck.  Like my brother.  I don't know what's so special about him that kids like him so much.  It must be that since he's so tall, kids think he's a playground.

In general, the feelings I have with kids are mutual.  They don't like me, and I don't like them.  But every once in awhile, I warm up a bit.  Then things like today happen and reaffirm my feelings.  I'm glad to live in a child free zone.

I wish I had a dog.

The Great Minnesota Get Together!

It's State Fair season!!

It's a giant cow!! Watch out, it looks mean!

This is that special time of year when city kids encounter farm animals and farm kids encounter city animals. It's a wonderful mixture of quintessential Minnesota and the new forces of change. This year Andy and I went the first Saturday with free tickets from the Mall of America. Here's our story.

We started off at the AM1500 stage listening to the live broadcast of Saturday Morning Sports Talk. You might be wondering why I would listen to a sports program, but never fear, it makes sense. Read on. The second hour of the broadcast was the annual Baby Walk competition. This is where parents bring their small children to the two hosts, tell the hosts the child's name and the hosts determine if the name is "approved" or "not approved." For example, an approved name was "Margaret May." A not approved name would be something like "Jaymie Starshine." There is nothing better than starting your day off hearing defenseless little children being ridiculed. Many parents lined up for the Baby Walk and to determine if their child was going to be made fun of for the rest of it's life or not.

Parents and their children lining up to see if they're terrible parents or not at the Baby Walk

After enjoying the Baby Walk, Andy and I moseyed around in search of food. I found Hot Dish on a Stick and Andy got a burrito. We also got cheese curds, mini doughnuts, and milkshakes from the dairy barn to top it off.

Me eating Hot Dish on a Stick, it was de-lish.

After chowing down on delicious food we visited the animals. I never knew they had bunnies at the State Fair, but I got to pet many soft bunnies. We also communed with the chickens and turkeys. Turkeys are smarter than chickens and were a lot more fun to see. One tried to eat my camera and another tried to eat Andy's hat.

If Buffy were a rabbit, she would look like this.

These are funny looking chickens.

Andy talking to the turkey.

After the poultry we checked out my favorite animals, sheep! They were starting to show some lambs as we were petting the animals. It looked pretty difficult to keep the lambs under control. The handlers didn't have leashes for the lambs and just had to hold their heads. Andy and I didn't visit the Miracle of Birth barn, but in the sheep barn we did see the "miracle of conception." There were some pretty frisky sheeps running in circles.Me and a fuzzy new friend.

These were the frisky sheep. I got nervous knowing what I was about to see, but it was over quick.

After seeing all the adorable animals and watching the cows in the Colosseum we wandered our way toward the exit. On our way we stopped by the DFL booth to see what we could see. It turned out that Al Franken was about to be on his way to speak to the fair crowd. So we waited a bit and then got to see Mr. Franken. I think he would do a good job in the US Senate and represent Minnesota well. We can all appreciate a little humor!

Al Franken at the DFL booth at the state fair.

That concluded our 2008 state fair visit. We didn't see everything, but then again, you can't see everything at the fair. I did something new, petted some sheep, and learned a little more about turkies! I also felt like poo for all the greasy, fattening food I ate, and it was time to go.

Best Work Week Ever!

This past week was a wonderful week at work. In general I like where I work and all that, but this week was especially rewarding. Tuesday I got to go into work late. I had to stay late, but I did like spending my morning relaxing and such. I had to stay late for orientation and it didn't go as bad as I worried it would be.

Wednesday was Administrative Professionals Day! My job as an administrative assistant falls into this category, and so I was celebrated. It was a wonderful surprise, since I had no idea that day existed. My boss took me out to Starbucks for tea and a snack with my coworkers. And then I got a gift bag full of wonderful goodies. It was really fun!

Then Thursday I got a promotion! One of my coworkers has decided to move on to another job, and Kelly and I shift up our positions. So now I will be an HR Representative and do interviews, and hiring people. It'll be a lot of fun. I get a cube and a salary! (Instead of hourly wages).

Later on Thursday we had a quiz sent to us and the first two people who answered correctly got grab bags full of stuff. I guessed an answer and it turned out to be correct! My favorite part of the grab bag was the actual bag. I've already bought groceries and put them in it. There also was a little socky thing for my iPod. Which it is currently sitting in, looking cute.

I start my new position in two weeks, my training starts on Monday. I'm learning a lot at work now, and I really like it.

I want an iPod

It feels blasphemous to say after avoiding iPods for about sevenish years. I'm going to buy my first mp3 player and it's going to be an iPod Nano. Other products for the same price offer the same amount of storage, but are harder to get at. Being that I work in the Mall of America and the Apple store is right there with tens of eager "geniuses" competing for my attention, an iPod is the best and easiest purchase. Though, with a $200 price tag, this little 8 gig harborer of music will be mine only after some saving. And, since I'm not prone to making big purchases like this (unless the price tag is in pounds, then I don't realize what I'm paying) it'll be nice to wait on it for a bit.

I like it in blue.

Life and Times of the Jobbed

I have a job! My first day is Tuesday and then I have 2 weeks of training before jumping into the good stuff. I'm really looking forward to going to work everyday and having something to do. I'm also looking forward to being busy all day, being unemployed really sucks. Not having things to do all day means I eat a lot, watch more HGTV than is healthy, and read. Reading is good, but I can also do that when I have a job.

I'm an HR Assistant for the Mall of America in the recruitment portion of the department. People who want to be hired by the mall (ride operators, ticket sellers, security) have to see me first. This is a good job to give me experience in HR and working with a lot of different people. I'm really looking forward to it.

I'm also looking forward to getting into the work force. I plan on taking the bus and the light rail to get to work, make a lunch everyday, and take out any stress on the bumper cars. This is going to be a good year!