This Just In: I'm an Addict

I wish I could say that I have some sort of new and exciting update about my life, or that I have something inspirational to share but the last few weeks of my life have been anything but eventful.


What I do have is a link to my insightful friend Laura's blog. She wrote a very interesting exposé revealing the truth behind our generation’s addiction to triple grande extra hot double caff super double mochas. Check her out HERE!



She compares our generation's addiction to Starbucks-esque coffee beverages to the cigarette addiction of previous generations. Upon reading this I had an epiphany: I too am nothing but a pathetic addict. A sheep for the slaughter. Are we as American consumers, or just human beings in general, doomed to be forever addicted to whatever is being offered up at the time in a pretty package, or sold by cowboys, for all of eternity?

I guess if I have to have an addiction, I sure am glad it's delicious and sugary. Alcohol, cigarettes, coffee drinks. Soon I am sure the FDA will denounce coffee, milk and sugar or the combination of the three and we will be on the the next "harmless" addiction. I only hope that I won't be that only lady on her porch in her rocking chair sipping coffee drinks while the kids ride by on their bikes, pointing and laughing. They will tell their friends "Isn't that gross, doesn't she know lattes cause cancer?"  

Enlightenment:

http://laura-monteiro.tumblr.com/post/10040591700/the-addiction-of-a-generation

Don't Feed the Homeless?

I know this is quite a touchy subject for many people, but I absolutely had to write about it. What inspired this post was an encounter I had recently. I watched a girl, a girl I believed to be a college freshman, offer a homeless man holding a sign asking for money her cigarettes in place of the money she felt obligated to give to him.  I should say that I work on a very busy college campus and all summer this place was basically a ghost town. Not a homeless person or people with signs asking for money in sight. But lo and behold, freshmen week came and suddenly from my perspective the homeless population in Minneapolis doubled. These people were clearly targeting the thousands of new freshmen and returning college students with lots of student loan cash (and apparently cigarettes) to spare. Now this observation is nothing profound. The homeless clearly flock to more heavily populated areas because they more people they come in contact with, the more money they are likely to collect. Not to mention all of the new freshmen coming to a big city from various small towns in Minnesota who’s only weakness is their new found independence and desire to make a difference in the world. The first time anyone encounters a homeless person with some sort of heart wrenching sign explaining how hungry and cold they are, they are bound to feel a little obligated to “help” that person. The catch is this, their “selfless” act of giving is actually more selfish than they realize. They only thing you are doing is relieving the overwhelming sense of guilt that you feel when you see someone less fortunate than yourself. That dollar is not going to help that person in any way. All you are doing is perpetuating the vicious cycle that person is stuck in.

Best case scenario: you see a homeless man holding a sign that says he is hungry. You feel that proverbial tug at your heartstrings. You pull out your wallet, give that man a dollar. That man sits there all day collecting hundreds of those dollars, tax free. The man spends that money on food or a place to stay for one night. Gets up the next day, does the same thing, spends the money again and is back to square one: homeless, hungry and broke. That man has no way to save money so his only option is to spend it as quick as he can get it, on whatever he can. You really think he is going to save up all that cash for a security deposit on a new apartment or on a new interview outfit so he can go get a job? Be realistic.

Unfortunately, here is another scenario: you see a homeless man holding a sign that says he is hungry. You feel that proverbial tug at your heartstrings. You pull out your wallet, give that man a dollar. That man sits there all day collecting hundreds of those dollars, tax free. The man spends that money on drugs, overdoses and gets picked up by the police and dropped at the nearest hospital. He does not have health insurance. The hospital spends thousands of dollars in resources trying to help this man. If he lives, he is just back out on the streets drinking and doing drugs again. If he dies, your dollar didn’t really do too much to save him did it?

Many are correct in their assumption that not all homeless people are addicted to drugs and alcohol. Some people honestly just found themselves in very tough times, lost their job their home and somehow wound up on the streets begging for money. However, 62% of homeless people reported drug and alcohol problems, and that is just those who were able to report. I will never forget the time outside a Walgreens in Milwaukee, when I bought a homeless man holding a sign that said “Hungry, haven’t eaten in days, anything helps” a sandwich. He looked at it and said “no thanks I don’t like sandwiches”. Obviously, he was not that hungry. I was later told that man was a regular at the liquor store across the street from that Walgreens.

What the homeless really need:

-Help finding a job

-Help finding and paying for affordable housing

-Job training

-Medical Care

-Psychological Care

-If you really feel compelled to give, volunteer.

It’s not that I think I am better than homeless people because I worked hard, took out high interest loans and went to college. I don’t think that I am better than the homeless because I have a job and earn a paycheck every other week. It’s that I feel that every person has the right and the ability to work hard and earn a living. By giving them that dollar you are assuming that they do not have the ability or mental capacity to over come their very unfortunate situation. What the homeless really needs is shelter, education and medical care; they don’t need your dollar. These things are made available for them; maybe they just don’t know where to look! Don’t give money give food or offer resources. Avoid the possibility of this person using this money to buy alcohol, cigarettes or drugs.

Maybe you feel better about yourself for giving that man a dollar or bumming a smoke but they only good that is coming from giving that homeless person a dollar is just that, your own personal satisfaction, and giving for personal gain is not exactly “giving” is it?

Caught Red Handed

City Survival Guide: Postgrad Edition

Moving here from small town wannabe big city Madison has been quite the transition. Even in comparison to Milwaukee, the dirtiest little city I have ever seen, Minneapolis is a whole new world. Now I know it is no New York, LA or Chicago but this is honestly all the city I will ever need right here. I never thought I would admit this, but as I get older I may actually prefer suburban small town life. Anyway, here are a few things that I have learned so far through my journey:

1. Always carry quarters! From parking meters and laundry to vending machines and my personal favorite: using a bag of rolled quarters as a defense mechanism when being chased through a dark alley.

2. Don't call a cab if you don't know where you are going. Trust me, they don't know either. Any experience I have had so far with cab drivers is that they will pretend they know where they are going until you point out that they have been driving around in a circle with the meter running. You are better off using those quarters for parking, because like a mouse expects a glass of milk with his cookie, that incompetent cab driver will make it clear that he expects a tip after getting you lost and dropping you off at some random street corner downtown.

3. Starbucks Card is golden. If you are everything-intolerant like me free soy milk is almost as good as pumpkin spice lattes are delicious. 70 cents is 70 cents is all I'm saying.

4. Never, ever, EVER let anyone including that annoying cashier or A&F floor model (sorry friends) talk you into that store credit card. I let some snob at Gap talk me into destroying my will power one $10 off coupon at a time to the tune of 23% interest. All I get out of the deal is the guilt of wearing clothes hand stiched by homeless children in Taiwan.

5. You can run but you can't hide.... from your student loans. The only logical option? Go back to school and defer payment. Whats that? You thought your salary was going to add up to a whole lot more than you actually end up with every month? Yeah, me too. Turns out if you try to do the right thing, work hard, get a degree, and get a job after graduation all of that effort will just be punished with $500 monthly payments to your private student loans that you OBVIOUSLY cannot afford. Get your head out of the clouds, bankruptcy isn't an option, student loans will never be forgiven. Guess you really will have to get that THIRD job waiting tables at Applebees across the street. Who needs free-time, or sleep for that matter?

6. If you want to look like you are someone important, pretend to be texting (aka sending a "very important email") on your cell phone as you walk down the street. Don't worry about watching where you are going. If you are on your phone people know you mean business and will definitely get out of your way. There is only enough room for important people on the sidewalk. If you don't have important business to attend to, walk in the street. Honestly.

7. No one wants to finance a personal loan to a 23-year-old recent graduate with a sub par credit score. Not like I am trying to earn an honest living or anything. If I have learned anything from these banks, it is that I am basically useless. Everyone wants to give out private student loans, but no one wants to consolidate or refinance them. Good luck future students.

8. If you are ever having a bad day, do not, I REPEAT, do not go out and cut your hair thinking "a change will definitely make me feel better". That is false. You will hate your new haircut for the rest of the long and painful months that it takes for it to grow back.

9. More to come.

It is better to have loved and lost, than to never have loved at all.

Today was the official release of my all time favorite drink the Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte! I wait all year for this joyful drink which is only offered through the fall promotional season. Naturally, I made the trip to get myself a cup of deliciousness. It was a beautiful fall day, 60 degrees, the sun was shining birds chirping, puppies frolicking through the grass. I was thinking about how happy I was for the first frost and then end to my allergies. And then, something horrible happened. I had only taken a few wonderful sips of deliciousness before it happened. My mentally handicapped dog Miley darted off, pulling hard on her leash and my cup of happiness went flying out of my hands, through the air in slow motion right before my eyes. Before I could stop any of it from happening my wonderful Pumpkin Spice Latte was spilled all over the sidewalk. For a few seconds after it happened I tried to quickly think of a way that I could scoop up all of the liquid up back into the cup so I could go on enjoying it's sweet heavenly taste, until reality hit and I realized that it was all over. I stood there trying to remember those few sips I had enjoyed before it was suddenly ripped away from me. It really was good while it lasted.

Bingo Wings

What are bingo wings you ask? Let my insightful friend Monty enlighten you.

MOA

It has been one busy weekend and past couple of days. It was great to have Brother Brandon in town for a visit.  Honestly, I don't think I will ever understand fantasy football, or why it is important to ride a bus 5 hours in order to do your draft, but I guess that is just what brothers do. I know that Corey couldn't have been happier to have his brother in town and it was nice to have a little QT (that's quality time for those of you who are acronym inept) with Brandon myself. The most exciting part of the visit was definitely Nickelodeon Universe at Mall of America. I knew about this place but I honestly expected it to be kiddie rides and over priced pick-a-duck. Instead we were definitely pleasantly surprised! Although I will never ride the "Avatar Air bender" EVER again, due to my fear of losing my lunch in public, I honestly haven't had a better time since the Cottage Grove festival had the zipper. Just kidding. Sort of.

The Newest Addition to our Family - BUCKY!

As you may or may not know, on a stormy Tuesday evening in August, we gave in yet again to our love of puppies! We are happy to welcome the newest member of our family, a Bichon Frise/Shih Tzu mix named BUCKY! He is 7 weeks old and is as cute as can be! We have been wanting this second doggy for quite some time now. Knowing that our first baby Miley is much happier when she has a sibling around to play with, and how much we loved having Oscar! When we got Oscar last year we could not have been happier with him. Unfortunately for us, the timing and the situation was just not right. Oscar went to live in a foster home for a while until we could get back on our feet, but just as we predicted, his foster parents fell head over heels for him just like we did. We miss Oscar immensely and he will never ever be replaced in our eyes, but he found a wonderful home with parents and a big sister that love him. We look forward to holidays knowing that we will get to see that cute little boy again! That is why we started looking for a new puppy like Oscar. I was starting to think that it wasn't going to be financially possible, just because that breed was going for almost $1000, BEFORE the first vet visit and vaccines! When we came across this opportunity, we knew we couldn't turn him down!

So far training with Bucky is going well, as well as training a 7-week-old puppy can go! Only a few minor number two accidents and so far (fingers crossed!) he is doing VERY well and better than expected, with number one! Miley still looks at him as if he is some furry inanimate object. We are pretty sure she is not ready to give up any of her beloved attention.

Why I Walk...

This was submitted to the Alzheimer's Association eNewsletter about why I am participating in the 2011 Walk to End Alzheimer's:

I walk to make my Grandpa proud. After fighting to maintain his pride and intelligence for many years my Grandpa, and most importantly my hero, died at a young age of 72 from complications due to Alzheimer's Disease. From a young age I remember a strong and intelligent man. I remember when I was very young I thought my Grandpa was an "inventor", I learned later on that he was actually a master electrician. I remember sneaking downstairs into Grandpa's office to "read" his textbooks and I remember "hooked on phonics" on Grandpa's lap. I walk because although in the end my Grandpa slowly lost most of what he spent his whole life learning, he planted a seed in me a long time ago, that grew into a desire to learn and succeed. By the time I graduated from college it was difficult for my Grandpa to even leave the comfort of his own home, but the happiest moment of my life was when he made the trip to watch me, the first grandchild to graduate from college, walk across the stage and get my diploma. It was a little over a month after my graduation ceremony that my Grandpa passed away, and I have lived every moment since hoping to make him proud. I walk to support finding a cure for the horrible disease that took my Grandpa's intelligence away. I walk to find a cure for the disease that affects millions of people and the family and friends that love them. Most importantly, I walk to show my Grandpa that I will never stop working towards making him proud.

Click Here! To view our 2011 Walk to End Alzheimer's Team Page!!

More Info:

http://publichealth.lacounty.gov/ha/reports/LAHealthBrief_2007/Alzheimer's_Disease.pdf

My Favorite :)

Ickle Me, Pickle Me, Tickle Me Too
from the book "Where the Sidewalk Ends" (1974)

Ickle Me, Pickle Me, Tickle Me too
Went for a ride in a flying shoe.
"Hooray!"
"What fun!"
"It's time we flew!"
Said Ickle Me, Pickle Me, Tickle Me too.

Ickle was captain, and Pickle was crew
And Tickle served coffee and mulligan stew
As higher
And higher
And higher they flew,
Ickle Me, Pickle Me, Tickle Me too.

Ickle Me, Pickle Me, Tickle Me too,
Over the sun and beyond the blue.
"Hold on!"
"Stay in!"
"I hope we do!"
Cried Ickle Me, Pickle Me, Tickle Me too.

Ickle Me, Pickle Me, Tickle too
Never returned to the world they knew,
And nobody
Knows what's
Happened to
Dear Ickle Me, Pickle Me, Tickle Me too.

Good Friends and Bird Graffiti

An evening like last night reminds me why I wanted to come live here in the cities in the first place. While the food, beauty and entertainment is infinite, the close friendships are what really make this city somewhere I am happy to now call home. True friendships are the ones that withstand any amount of time and distance, because truly, that is how life goes. People come in and out of our lives every single day, but the ones that matter find a way to stick with is through thick and thin. There is absolutely nothing better than sharing a girly drink garnished with something pretty, or a pitcher of cheap watered down beer to remind us of college, with a good friend. Followed only by a fruitless quest to find some sort of high calorie desert. There are so many good memories I have to share with my amazing friends that I will not even bother to try and recall them all, only continue to make more.

"Sweets" for my Sweet Tooth

 

There is honestly nothing I love more than sweets, and finally I have found a place called just that. Sweets Bakeshop with locations in St. Paul and Minneapolis is so far my favorite little shop in the city. I have been dreaming about enjoying their delicious french macarons since stumbling upon them while visiting a year or so ago.

 Lucky for me, our new apartment is conveniently located less than 2 miles from their St. Paul location on Marshall! There is literally no other way to describe them except to call them "AHHH MAAAAZING". On my most recent visit I chose the Raspberry Jasmine cupcake and my ultimate favorite, the Tiramisu cupcake!

Two mini cupcakes were not enough, I could eat these delicious little beauties all day! With specials and flavors that change every day of the week, this is a place I will definitely be a frequent customer. So if you are a "Sweets" lover like me, I definitely recommend giving Sweets Bakeshop a try.

http://sweetsbakeshop.com/

Check them out HERE!

Run Lindsay Run

Last night the heat index finally dropped below 115 and was able to go for a run, for the first time since I've moved in, to take in the scenery along the Mississippi River Parkway. Being an elite runner is something that I have always dreamed about, but lets face it, after a mile and a half of enjoying myself I feel like I would rather just lay down in a pile of fresh cut grass (which I am allergic to) and die. That being said, I still think that there is something therapeutic about going for a nice long run (with some walking incorporated in). I can crank up the power tunes and just run, with no particular goal or destination. No where to be, no deadline to meet, no scheduled times, just GO. Sometimes I get wound up so tightly, and I forget to slow down. I have always been the kind of person that likes to schedule herself to the MINUTE, each and every day (bathroom break today 12:45). I wake up in the morning at the exact time I need to in order to get ready and get to work, I have appointments scheduled throughout the day, and everything else is scheduled in specifically as well. Running is something I can just go do. Whenever I want, however  I want. I think that is a lot of the reason I struggled with doing something with my undergraduate degree in Kinesiology. Without additional education, my opportunities were limited to personal training. Honestly, I just can't see myself enjoying that. I will preach up and down the importance of physical activity, but to me it is an escape not a chore. To make it a job would put a lot of pressure on me to succeed in it, and less pressure to actually enjoy it. I am as some would say a perfectionist. Those of you who know me best just chuckled, because perfectionist is putting it lightly. To be a personal trainer would mean I would have to be the BEST personal trainer, always at the top of my game, number one. That mixed with the fact that I am NOT perfect was simply a disaster waiting to happen. For now I let running be the one thing in my life that isn't a competition. And if I ever complete that marathon, I definitely won't be first, but you can bet I wont be last!

A New Beginning.

I have been living in the Twin Cities area for about 2 months now and I can honestly say that I feel right at home. I was lucky enough to be able to stay with a good friend and her family the first few weeks I lived here, and it was an amazing way to transition into a new, and substantially larger, city than I am used to. I can’t thank her and her family enough for that. Not to mention the fact that I now have bragging rights to living with a local celebrity for a month. I moved into my new apartment 20 and to tell you the truth it is a complete disaster! I have yet to find the time, or the right place, to put away all of my things. I won't mention that the only furniture in the apartment right now is one IKEA chair and a borrowed twin bed. We chose this apartment for the amazing kitchen (that I am yet to utilize), gorgeous running and biking paths as well as the close proximity to the U. I have been pleasantly surprised so far by how much I actually enjoy the new place, although the downstairs neighbors may beg to differ, I am so far happy with our new home. My new job is amazing. I couldn't have asked for a better experience. I actually look forward to the work week, and I feel like I finally have something important to contribute to. I am taking a class this fall to keep my mind sharp, and hopefully within the next year or two I will be able to apply for graduate school and get some letters behind my name! This has been a roller coaster ride of a year. Looking back I never would have been able to tell you that I would be where I am right now. But I guess that is what life is all about, taking chances and hoping for the best.