My Life As A Friesen: February 2015

Tuesday, February 24, 2015

On My Radar

Awesome things are happening around us every single day! How phenomenal is that?! Here are some things that have been "On My Radar" as of this past weekend ....

1) Late Night Restaurants - lets be honest, as a college student, there is not much better than restaurants and coffee shops that are open late at night. The most recent discovery as of Friday night is The Flameburger. Being that it was so late at night, I only ordered hash browns, but I will say they were quite good, there was a nice amount and it was less than $4 ... Absolutely incredible! A little greasy, but I can work with it. As one of my other friends put it though (and they ordered THE Flameburger), "I hoped it would be a 6.8, after eating it I'm going to give it a 5.2, and after about 10 minutes in the car on the way back home, I'm going to lower my rating to a 4.8." We can't win them all I guess!

2) Arm Knitting - I can't knit or crochet, but I can use my arms so I arm knitted TWO scarves this weekend!!! If I am being completely honest though, my first one still turned out a little sketchy, but my second scarf I am in love with and have worn it every day since Saturday, which is the day I made it. Basically, I'm incredibly proud of myself, all of my friends and family are going to get arm knitted scarves for both birthdays and Christmas over the next year, and I am going to make more scarves this coming weekend!!!

3) Eat More Dessert - My weakness is ICE CREAM! Gosh, it's just lovely and sweet, and is definitely my favorite dessert! I went to Izzy's Ice Cream for the first time this Sunday with some friends and it was just the darn cutest little shop and there were so many beautiful flavors - I got a split single of Irish Moxie and Graham Cracker ice cream and for my "Izzy" (which is a baby scoop of ice cream that they put on top of your cone - AHHHH!) I got Salted Caramel. It was heaven on earth for less than five minutes as I inhaled the deliciousness!

4) March Madness - In my world, it's a holiday, and I love it! Duke is my favorite college team, ever since I was a little girl and Coach K is such a great coach - I want to meet him before I die - so I will always cheer for them, even when they have a great regular season and lose in the first round (crying). I'm originally from Iowa, but I really hate the Hawkeyes and if I am completely honest I don't really like Iowa State (but my boyfriend goes there and they're playing well so I have been cheering for them within the last year and I know one several articles of ISU clothing). On the other hand, UNI is this great small Division 1 school and I cheer for them! They are having an incredibly fun season and most people have never heard of them - definitely will be cheering for them in the tournament! Bring on Selection Sunday!!!

5) Springtime - Stay calm, spring will come! Yesterday, I wore my floral pants for the first time since summer - and I don't care that I wore a sweater and boots with them and there was still snow on the ground! The sun is shining today and soon all snow will be gone - I am definitely looking forward to warmer weather and being outside.

Wishing everyone the happiest of days today ~ Today is a GREAT day to have a GREAT day!

-Courage, dear heart. C.S. Lewis

Lexi

Monday, February 16, 2015

Love is ...

Valentine's Day may be my least favorite holiday. My favorite thing about it is the cheap chocolate for the next couple weeks after - seriously. Dove also has new flavors of chocolate that I just noticed this year, so I will admit to buy some more expensive dark chocolate with red velvet swirls (delicious) prior to this lovely fourteenth day of February.

While chocolate is great and I love going on fancy dates (confession: my parents, boyfriend, and I went out to dinner on Friday), I actually spent Valentine's Day at a chiropractor appointment, stopping at Theisen's to pick up mouse traps, spent the majority of the evening at my sister's first playoff game in basketball, then went home and made dinner with my boyfriend for my family. Oh, and after that we all made popcorn, watched the slam dunk contest and then we all watched a movie together.

A lot of people laughed when I told them about my weekend - typical me or something - but my back was sore, we found a mouse in our house for the first time in forever, I don't care what holiday is happening I am going to support my sister's, obviously we have to eat, and what's better than ending a day with some popcorn and TV?

But ... isn't that what love really is?

Don't get me wrong, I think it's great that people go on dates and give their significant other rose and all those other great Valentine's Day stereotypes, but love doesn't equate to those events.

Love is spending time with all of the people who mean the most to you. Love is serving one another, even if it's just making heart shaped pasta. Love is going to church and serving the community. Love is when your brother gives you a hug even if you don't want him to. Love is when your dad fills up your car with gas. Love is when your sisters send you the ugliest snap chats and don't care if you screen shot them. Love is when your grandparents send you homemade cards in the mail. Love is when your boyfriend drives you to your chiropractor appointment even though its early in the morning and you stayed up late the night before. Love is when your friend grinds up your whole bean coffee because you forgot to check what kind of coffee you were actually buying. Love is when you come home to find a card and chocolate on your bed from your roommate. Love is when your parents fight for you because they want what's best for you and want to see you succeed. Love is what Jesus did for us, even though we are so incredibly undeserving.

And when I think about it like that, I realize that maybe Valentine's Day isn't so bad; maybe it's not my least favorite holiday after all.

1 Corinthians 13:1 - 7

If I speak in the tongues of men or angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship so that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil, but rejoices in the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Love never fails.

-Courage, dear heart. C.S. Lewis

Lexi

Tuesday, February 10, 2015

My weekend in Nashville

I will promise you this - my weekends are not typically spent in Nashville.

In February, especially, I like to stay curled up in my fleece blanket watching basketball and only leaving my room when I need food. I mean, I do a little more than that I suppose, but you get the idea!

This weekend though, I was fortunate enough to spend the weekend in downtown Nashville, Tennessee with four other students from my college where we attended the CMA College Sports Reporting Workshop.

Basically, what it comes down to is this: Friday from 9 am to 5 pm was spent at the conference. Saturday from 9 am to 12 pm was spent at the conference. I learned a lot so naturally I came up with a Top 10 list that I like to call The Top 10 Things you should know either as a reporter, or maybe just for life in general.

1. Make your interviews a conversation. Stay relaxed.

2. Every great story needs a conflict - players and coaches aren't always going to be 100% at the top of their game ... but also become good at resolving conflict.

3. Age 20 to 25 is the best time of your life to go do whatever it is you want to do.

4. Don't get married to a certain angle of a story.

5. Write stories that interest everyone, which includes people who aren't sports fans.

6. To only have one internship in your life is not enough.

7. You might not always like your first job, but your first job is there to get you your second job.

8. Interview parents, high school coaches, "the little people" because they have the "dirt," not the people directly related to the story.

9. No detail is too small.

10. You have nothing to lose and a whole story to gain.

Of course, I also have to include my favorite Buster Olney quotes from this weekend:

"I am embarrassed for our industry that we would spend five days analyzing whether Marshawn Lynch would talk or not."

"Don't treat (broadcasting interviews) like a hostage situation. It's sports. Have fun."

Aside from great sports talk and learning, I also watched great sports and attended my first ever hockey game! Tickets to the Predators and the Rangers game were included with the conference so naturally I was excited to knock another thing off my bucket list. I do feel like I may have set myself up for failure, or maybe my standards will just be too high now, as I have only attended one hockey game and it happened to be an NHL game with the number one rated team ...

Of course, my time in Nashville wasn't just all about sports!

First, we flew into Nashville - I sat in the very back row next to the window and I am incredibly thankful I didn't get claustrophobic, but I am still slightly disappointed in my lack of a good window seat.

Our hotel wasn't too shabby.

I wish there was a Frothy Monkey in the Midwest. If there is and I don't know about it, SOMEONE PLEASE INFORM ME ASAP! It's so adorable and has delicious food - I especially like their enormous parfaits!