My First Anniversary

I am such a happy girl...

And now to the next topic: As of today, I have been in Minneapolis for one year now. Time to reflect eh? A couple of years ago I was in Minneapolis for Ian and Em's wedding. As my mother and I left the city, I remember thinking, "If I don't go to school up here, I'll probably never live here." For awhile I had felt torn between coming up to Minneapolis or going to the University of Iowa. But this last visit to the city had a strong effect on me and I made my decision to move up here. My senior year I applied for Inver Grove Community College, took my assement tests, and then happened upon MCTC while I was up one weekend with Ian and Em. I transferred my test scores and was accepted. I got onto craigslist.com (thanks Ian) and found my roommate Emily and on the 17th of August of 2004, my mom left me up here. Ooh, I remember that was such a weird feeling to just have my mom say goodbye and walk away, leaving me to stand alone on my new driveway and knowing that I'd be up here alone. A feeling of utter lonliness. Something I DO NOT want to ever feel again.
Moving up here was a big thing for me. I wanted to get out of Iowa; not because I hated the place (I love it), but because I knew I needed more. State Center just couldn't give me what I needed, nor did any other place in Iowa I felt. I wanted diversity and I wanted to be alone and in a place where I knew not what to do. Heh, and it felt good to be one of the few people who left the safety blanket of Iowa. I remember the first walk I took; I said "hi" to a couple people and they just gave me funny looks. It was weird not to know and be friendly with everyone I saw. I soon found that I couldn't go on a walk by myself without being hooted or whistled at at least a few times.
My first semester was really hard for me. It hurt to be away from my friends, but mostly it was Jay. I hated being away from him, but looking back I realize that I had a really unhealthy relationship with him. Towards the end, he'd get angry with me for stupid things and then he'd yell at me and not want to talk. Of course, I'm a talker and this just upset to the extreme. My first semester I just felt down and distraught a lot.

Thank God he dumped me.

Other than that, I had started my job as a cashier, which was a challenge for me. I'm shy and get embarrassed easily and it was hard at first to just deal with so many people face to face. But I feel it's been good for me. School went really well my first semester; I got a gpa of 3.76 Kick ass.
Second semester wasn't as good with grades for I took too many classes and I was working more. I didn't have time for the little things that I loved doing like reading and writing. But luckily, I met Tony, who had just moved up here from San Francisco (originally from Pittsburgh.) Together we got on our bikes and became true Minneapolis bikers; we'd bike the city and just look for new places to explore. We'd get up early in the morning and have breakfast at the little cafe's in Uptown. Oh, and our friendship is ever growing.

I've experienced some rather strange things. I had a very weird admirer(sp?) that went by the name of J.D. He was in my speech class, as was Tony, and he just became infatuated with me. I made the mistake of haning out ALL night with him and though I never let him hold my hand when he tried and told him I didn't want a bf, he still thought I liked him. He pursued me, but soon after, he just disapeared. He called once and left a weird message to say that he had been stopped by the cops on the way to my house to give me a flower and had been taken in for something little that happened a year ago and was having to go to a clinic. But now I have no idea what has happened to him.
I've seen two car chases while up there; was almost part of one once. So exciting! I saw cops wrestling a guy down on the street once when biking home from work. So great! And just the other night I saw a man running towards a woman as she swung a bat and tried to hit him while onlookers said, "Leave her the fuck alone." As the guy walked off he shouted back at the woman, "It don't matter, I already called the cops and told them you're stealing the bikes, you thievin' Indians!"
Oh, I love the city.

And to think that I almost left. I thought of going back to Iowa to be with Jay. Again, thank God he fucking dumped me.

I look forward to more bizarre admirers, car chases, and maybe a shootout???

Oh Minneapolis...