Lake Weekend

A few weekends ago Eric's nephew Bill (lil' Bill) celebrated an entire 5 years on this great green Earth and to celebrate he "planned" a pretty sweet family day at the lake! 

Well, he actually met us at breakfast and let us know that we could do some farming, if we wanted to, but that there would be cake and presents too! But as soon as the word "lake" left anyones mouth it was lake this and lake that with a mixture of "I'm gonna go fishing!" and I said I'd join him because in all of my 26 years.. I'd never been. 

Shocker, right? Big city girl like me, never fishing! In my defense, these guys have never gone surfing or explored the beauties that is hiking with my family. Can you feel the sarcasm with the family comment? Don't get me wrong, love them, but my sister hiked in a skirt once and I haven't heard the end of it since. 

So we headed out to a damn lake (that is the technical term) and from the shore I proceeded to swim and feel at home for the first time in a very long time. Water is my life and always has been. I luckily got to swim with lil' Bill and Bailey for a good while, even in a short rain storm, which was heaven! There is nothing like sitting on a beach, drenched, having rain fall from the sky and be totally okay with the fact that you are the only one there because everyone else is scared of a little rain ;). 

Now there wasn't a lot of picture taking on my part, I've been trying my best to leave the phone and be in the moment, but thankfully others caught the glory of me catching my first fish! I mean, it was a catfish and my goodness was that sucker ugly. I wouldn't take it off the hook or touch it, but I was more than happy to pose. I promise that as the summer goes on, I will learn to unhook a fish and even clean it. I wish you could see my face. 

Actually, that up there is a great picture of my face. That fish re-hooked itself about 4 times before Eric could get him back in the water! 

Showing Bailey my fish, which she was much braver and willing to poke it. 

All in all, it was a wonderful day! Cut short by some thunder and lightening, but what else can you expect from the Midwest? Sorry, Northern Plains. 

Until next time! 

**PS** lil' Bill did not catch a fish, but that kid is seriously good at casting! 

This is Home

So a few of you may remember when I was on Twitter asking about places in SC that you would recommend to live in, and what other states you might consider? Well, Eric and I had talked about moving within the next 1-2 years.. but then people were getting murdered, riots and of course extreme weather issues happened. 

We talked then, and still talk now, about the pros and cons to living in North Dakota as a long term possibility. I definitely didn’t see myself staying here long term, but the more I look at the rest of the world, the more I really don’t want to leave. 

I grew up knowing the following:

-Real friends are few and far between. 

-Most people just want you to do things for them and have a one sided friendship. 

-It is better to be a loner. 

Guess whose parents were wrong?! Mine. 

Moving here was definitely an eye opener. For starters, most of the people here are genuine. Seriously! Second, I’ve never had people offer to help me with so much before. When I had to unexpectedly move out of my first apartment here, my friend of less than 5 months was eager to help me move! That’s insane, usually I have to bribe people, but here its just something people do. I’m not saying everyone is like this, but  a lot of people are. 

Now the other good things about ND? 

-Close to Eric’s family. 

-Good school system. 

-It has jobs, lots of them, and that’s awesome. 

-The Northern plains bubble, it’s a thing. 

Not so good things? 

-Cold. I was raised in AZ and the coldest place I’d been to before this was up in the mountains of AZ or OR.. which doesn’t even compare to this place. 

-Long distances from city to city. 

-The closest Ikea, “big” Sephora and Cheese Cake Factory is 4 hours away. 

Granted some of the not-so-great things are things that are sometimes seen as a good thing. Do I like long car rides? HECK YES! In fact, I like driving in general so maybe that’s not too bad.. the whole Ikea thing? It’s a treat to go to the cities and see friends which makes it that much better. 

I guess in all, what I’m trying to say is: This is home. 

This is where we will probably get married and someday, God willing, have children. 

Farm Land | Langdon, ND

Something beautiful that I've had the opportunity to witness in the last six months of knowing Eric is seeing his families farm. Before seeing this kind of thing up close I'd had a very limited knowledge and non-personal relationship with anything farm related. 

Langdon farm land © Belle Hiver Photography 2015 

Going out to the farm this last weekend was a little educational, but also just amazing. I never really thought about where certain grains come from or how vastly large the Northern Plains are, but after seeing these guys out there.. I have a new appreciation in my life for farmers. Obviously I couldn't help but take a few pictures. All of these are © Belle Hiver Photography 2015 and are not to be used without specific permission from me. 

Eric's brother coming over for dinner. He had been up till 2 the previous morning getting seeding done and making sure they were ahead of schedule. This is a 24/7 type of job, everything they have and their families have, is put on the line to bring wheat, canola and soy beans to our tables. 

This next set of three pictures is Eric's dad Hans, this land has been in his family for a long, long time. Hans' father, Hans VI, came out to the states from Switzerland and Hans VII has been working the land since he was a kid, probably close to 50 years. Eric has told me that this land is in his blood and I didn't believe him, until I saw Hans out there working and you can tell how much he loves it. 

Of course a weekend with his brother/parents wouldn't be complete without all the kids! Even though I work with kids all day long, I can't help but love being with these little's -especially when I get first hugs!

Sunday, Eric took me out in the side-by-side to see some more of the families land and get a real appreciation for how much there is to farm. We saw a barn - that looks like a narwhal- that was about 70/80 years old full of some pretty interesting things like turn of the century equipment! Of course a wonderful surprise is that they were mostly John Deere! 

My handsome. 

This is straight out of my camera, I was so happy with it! 

As I mentioned above there was old school John Deere equipment, a seeder that was from before John Deere, was John Deere. See my dad's side is from Moline and they love their John Deere. I found this seeder cap and just couldn't resist grabbing a picture. My dad and uncles are already asking how I can get this for them, I won't, this would be mine.. finders keepers? ;) 

I hope that you all are able to enjoy what I've provided in photography 

Bad Blogger//Big Changes

I know we all have moments where we are incredibly busy, or just feel so blah that blogging seems like a constant uphill battle. I've found that during this time it's best to just walk away until you feel better. 

The last four months have been incredibly hard on me. I've gone from loving my job to completely despising getting up in the morning.. I was just basically on auto pilot for the majority of Jan-April.. I complained and I had my amazing, supportive and loving boyfriend point out the obvious: Get a new job. 

So I started applying to office jobs around the Grand Forks/Fargo area.. each time coming back with a response "you have a great cover letter, but you're experience is lacking a little" which only discouraged me.. Insert Eric again to encourage the discouraged. If I didn't have him, I might have resigned to staying with Amazon.

So I took a leap... 

I'm going to be a nanny, again! 

I was a little nervous, especially after interviewing with two people who were not willing to pay a full time wage for full time work! Seriously, I was a little miffed. I walked into my third interview with the S's and before I left my car I was all "Hey God.. please?" I was blown away. For starters a 30 minute interview turned into an hour and a half! They have the sweetest children and I was so blown away that A and J were so open with me.. I felt immediately at home, immediately! God was sitting there going "Ya buddy!" and I felt silly for doubting my heart being called back into serving a family as their nanny. 

So... now I'm going to start a new, old, adventure.. I hope to have you all along for the journey. I plan to write a lot more now that I don't have this sinking feeling of sadness in my soul. 

Langdon and Pembina Gorge

So the weekend after Eric and I started dating he took me to the Pembina Gorge because he knew I've been missing landscape change. It can get kind of depressing living here when I spent my life in such amazing landscapes like Arizona, Oregon and Washington. 
So we went out toward Langdon -cause I also needed to see the farm- and it was a wonderful drive of him listening to my iPod and lots of long talks. The fun part was when we pulled up to the Pembina Gorge and stepped out of the truck, Eric walked around the truck and saw my face and said "that face right there is worth all the gas it took to drive here" probably had something to do with me tearing up a little bit. 
"the human spirit needs places where nature has not been rearranged by the hand of man" 

But walking out of the truck to a view like this was just absolutely fantastic. Yes it was foggy, but goodness I was so happy that he took his day to show me something that I absolutely needed. 

So of course I had to take a selfie and Eric got to get in on a selfie for the occasion too. 

We went to another area to check out a different view and I made Eric promise to bring me to this spot every season. I need it and I am just so happy to have someone who cares so much to share such places with me. 

After our trip out to Pembina, Eric took me to his families place out in Langdon and conned me into climbing up a bin to get a better view. A little known fact; I'm scared of heights. I am actually terrified of them and you can ask my dad, the guy who spent almost 2 hours in line with me to ride Goliath, just to have me chicken out at the last second. #scardeypants but I climbed up that bin and took a picture of a gorgeous sunset over the farm. I fell in love with this land while I was there and I can't wait to go back and visit this summer. Granted during that time Eric will be out farming, but I look forward to tractor rides and watching the sunset with my handsome. 

I hope you enjoyed my post about Langdon and Pembina. If you get the chance to run out that way, I would suggest it.. but don't, it's mine. 

Weekend Recap

So I know it's Tuesday night, but this weekend was a lot of fun and to be totally honest this new 7AM to 4PM shift is taking some getting used to. I've been spending most of my week getting my space at work decorated and I will post sometime soon of all the cute things, but there is a preview below. 

My work was completely unique with my name.. cause I don't use it anywhere else *cough* my blog link *cough* 

But I was hanging out with my coaching lead this week and she was all "hey, keep up the good mood/motivation" and what is more motivational than being a hustler? Nothing. 

ANYWAYS

This last weekend was full of lots of fun things! My very best North Dakota friend Tresa is having a baby girl #steeviethewonderbaby who has her own hashtag because her mama hates hashtags or "hash browns" as T calls them. 

At Tresa's baby shower! I cannot wait to meet Steevie. I gave my lovely friend and her family some sweet baby clothes and a year of photography! This was just my way of being around the baby all zee time! 

Right after the baby shower Eric and I went and watched the Sioux vs. Duluth game and I was paying attention.. didn't mind it too much! Despite the Sioux loosing it was still a good game, but those boys need to start taking shots more! 

Had to have a kissing picture #duh and I know that Eric will love this. 

We had pretty decent seats thanks to our work.. aside from my vomit tasting chili cheese fries which made me very sad. 

Here is another daw moment. 

So we had a pretty lazy Saturday and then Sunday Eric decided to take me to Devil's Lake which is about an hour and 40 minutes out from Grand Forks. We went to a restaurant (which I forget what it's called) and saw Bubba the giant lobster. He is a big guy. 

So the big reason we went out to Devil's Lake is because I'd never been there and Eric is on a kick of showing me how pretty North Dakota is/can be. So far, its working. A few weeks ago we went to Langdon where his family is from and that was gorgeous and now I can say that I've seen the most frozen water I've ever seen! I mean there's a lot of it.. and it's creepy eerie. We drove up the lake most of the way and were going to go to a view but it was closed so we went to lunch and then drove back toward Grand Forks. 

On our way back I wanted to walk on the ice before since I'd never done it and as much fun as it is I don't really think I'll be doing a lot of walking on huge frozen lakes. For starters, Eric drove the big truck out there F-150 and that was scary -to both of us- and then I was like "I'm gonna go to those pressure cracks over there" Yeah I made it like 10ft out before I decided I was too much of a chicken to go further. 

Gorgeous view of the sunset. 

My frozen lake selfie #nodakbucketlist 

So after getting off the ice and sending an email titled "I walked on a frozen lake and didn't die" to my dad we stopped off at a field and watched the rest of the sunset. Overall I'd say last weekend was pretty dang amazing, as most of my weekends have been in the last month + of Eric showing me around. 

Its getting cold

So I woke up about a week ago to foggy windows.. sometimes this means it's just really humid, but in late September it usually means that our short fall is coming, which then means winter.. winter means snow and crap. 
This morning?  Frost. 
You guys might go "ooo, sounds like a cute thing to wake up to!" 
Yeah. No. 
See while you're all enjoying your slow decline into winter, we are preparing for the worst.. Game of Thrones "winter is coming" kind of prep.. sans zombie ice beasts and beheadings. For instance, today I was googling how to winterize my windows, what shovel I should buy and work neighbor looked over and our conversation went like this. 
Dan: Hey, Acacia, do you live somewhere that you need to shovel snow? Me: Uh... yeah, North Dakota?  Dan: Oh no, I mean your home.. like do you need to shovel out your drive?  Me: Yeah, why? Dan: Can I get the address? I'd like to know where to setup and watch the show.  Me: Ha.. funny... you suck. 
I realize that this is my "first" winter where I'm relying 100% on myself and I will not have a garage. My workplace seems to enjoy the thought of the Arizona/Washington girl doing any of her own winter-type activities. 
But in all seriousness, I was raised as a kid to always have an "essentials" pack in my vehicle or on my person when doing anything outdoors. Water, sunscreen, mag-light and a hat were basic things my dad would tell us to keep in our car.. Now that I'm living in the frozen tundra I've found a few other things that are needed. 
First Aid Kit Bottled Water -or jugs- changed out on a 2 week basis. Blanket(s) Body Warmers (they are packets of joy)  Road Side Safety Kit i.e. flares, jumpers and such.  Ice scraper and snow shovel Tire Chains Tow rope Mag Light  - this is my dad's influence.. if you need a light, its a light. If you need a weapon.. its an awesome weapon.  Kitty Litter -just go with it, traction!-  Phone Charger - I recommend a solar one too-  Extra Clothes... no explanation needed. 
Now I also keep a pillow and a thick sleeping bag in my car during trips.. if it's going to be a longer trip I will actually pull a seat down in the back before I leave, why? Oh cause last year my trunks latch got stuck and I couldn't get to anything in my trunk for almost 2 months.. this made me worried.. I like my trunk. 
I've also learned that while I am great at driving, blizzards suck and no one is good at driving in those.. if you tell me you are, I'll call you a liar. 
Make a survival kit, be safe and enjoy the fall while it lasts! 

Hello, hello!

So I haven't really written anything since May and it's been quite an eventful few months! I don't know where exactly to start, but I definitely am in a happier place than I was back at the beginning of 2014.. actually I'm happier than I've been in pretty much 5 years! 
So I moved out of A's and moved in with a completely crazy person who was a total jerk on top of their crazy.. not a fun combo. Thankfully I managed to move out and find one of the only one bedroom apartments in Grand Forks!! That's a huge deal, B-T-Dubs.  Here's a little sneak peak:

It's a small place with enough room for me and my horde of things.. which surprisingly doesn't include a couch or table/chairs. It has been brought to my attention that my life choices have been questioned and my boss said he'd like to go into those further... AKA you're 26 and you don't own normal grown up things.. THANKS! 

Moira from McDancing Through Life gave me that picture frame/motto and I love it! 

I do have a pink bathroom which is what kind of sold me on this place, well that and the price. Basically when I was a kid my Great Grandma Dee had this love affair with pink.. no joke, she had strawberry pink carpet -that my sister pooped on once- and white whicker furniture.. Also.. I had a pink bathroom at my dads. I literally typed that up as if I were telling you guys something embarrassing. My Stepmom loves pink and pretty much gave me all things pink.. I used to hate it, now I look back with fondness. Here's this lady, who I thought hated me, giving me things that her mom had given to her.. I'd not had a normal mother-daughter relationship and thought she was just trying to "buy me off".. but that's another story, for another time. 

So here I am.. 26, in my very first apartment by myself and I am happy. It's truly amazing how in a matter of months I went from being completely miserable to happier than I've been in ages. 

Here's to plenty more blog posts and loads of fantastic things happening! 

North Dakota Living

In case you didn't know I live in North Dakota now... its a very cold place, where the buffalo roam.. more like where the oil workers roam! Seriously this was never on the "top 10 for Acacia to live" in fact when I thought of the Dakota's I thought of Mt. Rushmore, cows, cowboys and cold. 

But here I am two months in and I kind of like it here... 

I know, slap me! 

I am the girl from Arizona, the one who hates cold and wants to permanently never wear shoes, likes North Dakota.. #smh -I like to use hashtags.. it makes me sound ridiculous- 

Now before we all get bent out of shape I can easily list the reasons I like this place: 

1. Its small! I was not meant for HUGE cities and I kind of like that it only takes me 10-15 minutes to get anywhere.. including another state. 

2. We live right next door to Minnesota, over the river -literally- to cabellas we go. 

3. My dog likes it. He is a fan of cold weather. 

4. Like minded people. I am conservative, but in a weirdly liberal way.. I like my Jesus to be talked about and not looked down on for it, but I also support marriage equality... nothing wrong with love in my book. 

5. I finally feel less judged for wearing leggings as pants. Stupid reason? NOT! You know how much it blows being looked at like a common whore -I said it- because Acacia was too lazy to put on pants? NO because here, people don't care, they are like "I like wearing leggings as pants, because they are pants" YAY! 

Do I fit in? Probably not.

Is my redneck showing? YES... incredible amounts of real tree and duck/deer meat have been blessing my home. 

Does A like it? I think so.. we both miss small things about "city living" but in all.. this would be a place to raise any sort of family.

How does my family feel? They laugh uncontrolably when I tell them about the weather. In fact my dad said he could never again tell me I'd never experienced a "real" winter. Win. 

So here it is.. my redneck, starbucks loving, boot wearing, leggings are pants declaration to my love of North Dakota... but I am extremely excited about going to Washington in Feb!
-Acacia