Saturday, November 10, 2012

Gratitude: September 2012

I went to a Cougar (University of Minnesota-Morris)'s first home football game on Saturday, September 1st. Unfortunately we lost 37-31, but I had the opportunity to participate in a half-time show (won a field-goal kicking contest and beat other kids and a couple of college students-not fair :().  I went home to work more on my basement using my "new" mitre saw, which replaced a cheap "Tool-Supply" brand.

On Thursday the 6th, I volunteered at the annual "Welcome UMM Community Picnic" at East Side Park..





. The turnout was lower than expected, so I was given 3 different buckets of  "homemade" cookies. Like last year, I decided to bless others (e.g. neighbors) with this "extra blessing".

The weather was still "summer-like", so I hosted a BBQ at my backyard  as a farewell for my housemate (Kazu). He invited some of his friends and went inside when it got dark earlier now. I then would drive Kazu to the airport that weekend as he would head home to Japan until next semester. We ended up hanging out in the Twin Cities doing various "cool stuff"..


Twins vs. Cleveland Indians Baseball Game



Apple Orchard (15-20 minutes west of Stillwater

The following day, it reached 88F, so I took advantaged of the "summer-like" weather by playing tennis. The next day, it reached 95F! The third weekend, I had a friend (Chris) helped me lay carpet in my basement apartment. Within a week after "hot-summer" like weather, it reached a high of only 54F on the 17th. It was our first frost of the season, which is great for the apple trees!

It was UMM Homecoming Weekend the third weekend of the month, which I had a couple of friends (Shannon & Joey) over for the weekend. It was also the same weekend of my local church (Morris Community Church)'s 30th Anniversary Picnic Celebration at East Side Park..

On the 26th, I attended a community gathering by CURE (based in Montevideo) on "issues" we as a county would like to address. It was very informative and currently working on some of these topics (e.g. soil reuse in farming, recycling, and ways we can "welcome the growing Spanish-speaking community") that were addressed.

I went to the cities again for the 2nd time this month to pick-up a friend/former housemate (Anthony) of mine. I took advantage of this time to hangout (e.g. played soccer) with my "now" 5-year old nephew as it was his birthday earlier this month. On our way back to Morris, I took Anthony to this cool nature center in Dayton, Minnesota to view some beautiful fall colors (changed early this year due to the dry summer) in this time of the season in our state..