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Posts Tagged ‘Fargo’

  1. Sweet 14

    April 25, 2011 by Becoming Midwestern

    I was perusing the Inforum this morning, and stumbled on an article about the new driving law being passed in North Dakota beginning January 1st. This law would require drivers under the age of 16 to hold onto their permit status for an entire year before receiving their license. Wait, what? Drivers UNDER THE AGE of 16? How is that even possible?

    Back in Maryland, you have to have a learners permit for 6 months before you can receive a license. You have to complete 60 hours of practice driving before you can get your license. (60 hours with someone over 21=my mom screaming at me and pumping her foot at an imaginary pedal for 60 grueling hours). To receive your license, you have to be at least 16 and 3 months. That means on your 16th birthday, no trip to the DMV followed by a celebratory cruise around town with your closest friends. You also are not allowed to talk on your cell phone until you’re 18, and actually, I’m pretty sure you aren’t allowed to talk on your cell phone period in Maryland anymore. Finally, once you receive your license, you have to make it 18 consecutive months with no moving violations before your provisional license status is removed and you can drive past midnight.

    Now, I knew that the drivers license age in ND was low. When I moved here, my boyfriend’s 13 year old cousin was chatting about how it was almost time for her to get her permit. When I laughed and said 15 is still a long way off, I was soon corrected. I understand that out on the farms, parents need children to drive a little sooner, but his cousin is from Bismarck. Whats the reason there?

    I think I am going to make myself feel very much like my mother with this comment, but I’m sorry, you are just not mature enough to drive at 14 and I fully support this law change. Heck, I don’t think I was even mature enough to drive at 16 (please don’t tell my mom that I admitted that). I understand some of the points brought up by the relieved 14 1/2 year old quoted in the article that secured his license before the law was passed. Yes, it is difficult having your parents drive you around everywhere. Yes, you do feel a greater sense of freedom when you don’t have a parent next to you. But I’m sorry, 14… seriously? 14? On this one ND, I fully support your decision.

    As far as the new law that requires you to be 18 before you can talk on the phone while driving, I revert back to my teenage self when I say: DUH! Now, I consider myself a very responsible and attentive driver, and I have to admit that I jumped for joy a bit when I moved back to a state that allowed me to talk on my phone while driving at all… but is it the safest thing to do while you’re behind the wheel? Probably not. Now take a teenager, who just learned to drive, add a few friends yapping in the back seat, and give them a cell phone– disaster.

    So I’m sorry those of you that will be affected by this law, boyfriend’s cousin included. I’m sorry that you will now have to wait until you’re 15.. gasp.. maybe even 16 before you can fly solo behind the wheel. But all in all you have to put it in perspective. Almost anywhere else in the country and you would have to be 16 or older. And while my 16 year old self would hate me for saying this, and definitely roll her eyes, just because there is less traffic in North Dakota compared to living outside of Washington DC does not make you a more mature individual.

    So good job, ND. A thumbs up for your new law. After Jan. 1st I can breath a little easier out on the open road, and probably call someone on the phone to chat about it.

    To check out the full article: http://www.inforum.com/event/article/id/317281/

    Category Uncategorized | Tags: , | 3 Comments

  2. America’s Toughest Weather Winner… YAY Fargo?!

    April 1, 2011 by Becoming Midwestern

    I want to take the time to congratulate Fargo for being crowned “America’s Toughest Weather City” by voters and The Weather Channel .  Forget March Madness Basketball, I was glued to the March Madness Weather Tournament.

    This grueling tournament took place over the past few weeks where cities from every region of the country went head to head to become America’s Toughest Weather City. In the Midwest Region, Fargo had some true competition including our close neighbor, The Twin Cities, (Well that didn’t sound very Midwestern of me. I need to remember to call it “The Cities”), as well as International Falls.  Against all odds, Fargo breezed through to the Final Four and was up against cities across the country, including Juneau, Alaska. Now, in this round, I had my doubts. In fact, a good friend of mine is currently living in Fairbanks, Alaska right now, and was crushed when they got bumped out of the running for the Northwest region. Yet again, we blew past the competition. (Excuse the pun) The final match up was against Bradford, PA. I really thought we would breeze through this round, but apparently, it was a bit more of a nail biter then I expected. However, in the end, no city could hold a candle to that of Fargo, ND.

    I rationalize our winning by taking into account all four seasons that Fargo has to offer:

    Winter- Really, do I need to explain this? Negative temperatures for the majority of January/February. Feet and feet of snow that seems to stick around until May. And wind chill that chills you to the bone.

    Spring- Flooding. The end.

    Summer- Hot. Humid. Humid. Humid. Mosquitoes. Tornadoes.

    Fall- Well, fall was actually not that bad, though it seemed to only stick around for about three weeks.

    Congratulations Fargo. You have made me proud, and slightly depressed.

    To read the full article in the Inforum, visit : http://www.inforum.com/event/article/id/314398/

    Category Uncategorized | Tags: ,, | 3 Comments

  3. It’s Grilling Season!

    March 28, 2011 by Becoming Midwestern

    It was a beautiful, sunny, blue-skyed, 20 degree weekend in Fargo. It’s such a tease when you wake up in the morning and see light streaming through your bedroom window. You jump out of bed, pull on you slippers, and creep out on to the deck expecting the temperature outside to match the sunshine. You just know that today… today is the day that you’ve been waiting for. Spring. Spring has come to the Red River Valley!

    Almost…

    Unfortunately for me, when I stepped outside this weekend, though I was showered with sunshine, I was not showered with warmth. It was a balmy 20 degrees. Though these beautiful North Dakota days do make winter tolerable (its better to have sunshine then grey skies at all times), it does make me get more an more antsy for warm weather. After the freak March snow storm last week, this was my last straw. This weekend marked the beginning of Spring for me, warm weather or not. With that in mind, Blake and I took a trip to the store and purchased our first grill.How could we become true Midwesterners without a hunk of meat roasting over a hot flame? Did we need the grill that can cook 22 burgers at one time while sauteeing onions on the side burner? Of course not, but when in Rome…

    Then it was time to pick out what we would grill. I suggested portabello mushrooms to which Blake took a sharp turn into the local butcher shop. This was also something new to me. A local butcher shop. I can’t claim that I am a huge meat eater. When my mom would cook, the meat was either chicken or ground beef, and I was a picky eater. For most of my child-hood my Subway sandwiches consisted of cheese, mustard and pickles with a sprinkling of lettuce. Last year, I lived with a vegetarian and I ate a lot of tofu for a year.  Since I’ve moved to North Dakota, I can honestly say I’ve consumed more meat in the past 6 months then I have done in the past 6 years. In other words, at a butcher shop, I was a little out of my element, but Blake, he was in a heaven. I almost heard the choir of angels as he walked through the shop doors.

    We opted for 2 hearty sirloin steaks, some fancy steak seasoning (that was selected purely based on an appealing label), and a few bacon cheddar burgers. Blake took on the roll of testing out our new grill while I anxiously awaited what was to come. As soon as I had my first bite of the delicious steak, the sleeping carnivore in me reared its head. I was hooked. The last bits of steak were barely shoveled into our mouths before we began planning our next meal.

    Though we were grilling with parkas on, Spring was officially here.

    Category Uncategorized | Tags: , | 1 Comment

  4. A Grand time in Grand Forks!

    March 19, 2011 by Becoming Midwestern

    Blake is on Spring Break this week from NDSU. Unfortunately for me, there is no Spring Break in the “real world”. Deciding I deserved a day off anyway, I took Friday off from work and decided we should adventure to Grand Forks. While this may not seem like the destination vacation for most Fargo natives, Blake and I had yet to visit. In fact, we’ve been so consumed with work and school that we’ve barely had time to visit any places outside of Fargo and Moorhead.

    We hopped in the car and headed North. Grand Forks or bust! We were able to meet up with two of Blake’s relatives. A “fousin” we deemed them. “Fake cousins”. (His mother’s, cousin’s, daughters?) Luckily, they were able to give us an exclusive tour of the Grand Forks area. We went by the “Ralph” to purchase some Sioux hockey memorabilia, had some delicious local pizza, and experienced the Grand Forks night life. All in all, we had a fabulous time.

    One thing I have come to love about the Midwest is how proud everyone is of their town. I have yet to meet someone that says, “I hate it here and can’t wait to leave.” In fact,  I haven’t even met anyone that wants to leave the state of North Dakota. I think this would surprise most people outside of the state. I think people view North Dakota as a desolate, boring, tundra of a state and couldn’t think why anyone would live here, led alone stay.

    I grew up living on both sides of the country. My parents divorced when I was young and I spent summers in Washington State, where my dad lived, and on the East Coast with my mom the rest of the year. When I’m asked where I call home, I shrug. My mom and my high school friends are in Maryland, yet I have no urge to return. I loved going to college in Virginia, and would love to return to the Shenandoah Valley at some point in my life, but thats purely because of the breathtaking beauty and not so much for any other reason. The majority of my family is split between Washington and Oregon, but they are the only reason I would move back, not because I feel like the Pacific Northwest is my home. To me, I crave a sense of “home” more than anything else, and it’s refreshing to come to an area where everyone is content right where they are. Even people who have left North Dakota,  would love to move back  at some point. It is home. Blake’s parents are from North Dakota and while his dad is usually quiet and reserved, you see him light up when he discusses him home state or talks about Bison football.

    Home is where the heart is, and for the time being, that means North Dakota for me.

    Category Uncategorized | Tags: ,,,,,, | 5 Comments

  5. “Why the heck did you move to Fargo?”

    March 17, 2011 by Becoming Midwestern

    The question I get asked most often when I introduce myself to someone new in the FM area is, “Why the heck did you move to Fargo?”

    While I originally was a little surprised by this comment, and would stumble with my words to come up with an answer, I’ve now gotten into a routine with my “elevator speech” like response. “For a boy.”

    A year ago, I was living in Washington State and serving as an AmeriCorps VISTA with a program called Washington Reading Corps. I had moved to Washington in May of 2009 as a bright eyed graduate from James Madison University in Virginia. My year of AmeriCorps was soon ending, and I was beginning to contemplate my next move. It was around that time that I received a phone call from my boyfriend, Blake, in which he said, “I got into NDSU. Looks like I’m headed to Fargo!”

    Priding myself on my sense of independence and cringing at the idea of following a man anywhere, led alone a place where I had no family, no connection, and no idea what I was getting myself into, I decided to have a glass of wine and start job hunting. If I was supposed to move to Fargo, I’d get a sign. That sign came sooner than I thought when I stumbled across an AmeriCorps position with Lake Agassiz Habitat for Humanity in Moorhead as the PR/Marketing VISTA. While I wasn’t thrilled at living below the poverty line for another year, this was my dream job– PR/Marketing for a non-profit.

    I interviewed with the organization over the phone, and then came the inevitable question, “So, why do you want to come to Fargo/Moorhead?” To which I replied, “Well, it sounds like a great opportunity.” <<pause>> “So, you know it gets pretty cold here, right?” To which I replied, “Yeah, I can handle it.”

    A few months later and I was Fargo bound and ready to start my adventure in the Midwest.

    It’s been a few months since I’ve arrived, but I have come to realize how much I absolutely love the Midwest and its unique charm. I have played my first game of beer darts, learned what a “hotdish” is, survived my first winter, and I’m preparing to tackle my first sandbagging experience. I have tried to embrace the Midwest, and build relationships with some of the friendliest people I have ever come in contact with in my entire life. I am saddened by how many people still associate a movie with a wood chipper as a good representation of this unique community.

    In this blog, I’ll share my experiences in North Dakota and the Midwest (lutefisk excluded), and shed a little light on the glories that the Midwest has to offer. I’ll try to become truly Midwestern. :)

    Category Uncategorized | Tags: ,,,,,,,, | 17 Comments