July 02, 2007

“Don’t visit unless you intend on staying. It’s just that good.” – Garrison Keillor


Mr. Keillor was, of course, referencing his home state of Minnesota. A lot of people assume Minnesota is some barren wasteland in the middle of the frozen tundra. They don’t know what they’re missing. Try gazing at Minnehaha Falls in Minneapolis, riding your bike on the miles upon miles of dedicated bike trails in the Twin Cities, or just drinking coffee on the shore of Lake Superior in Grand Marais and then tell me it’s a barren wasteland.

The truth is, we’ve missed Minnesota for a long time. We only lived there for a few years, but it got in our blood. And so, we’re heading back. I’ll continue exploring my new passion for financial aid as a Financial Aid Counselor at Anoka Technical College, just north of Minneapolis. Nikki is looking at a variety of options in public relations.

Portland is a nice place. I can understand why a lot of people want to live here. But ultimately we had to heed the words of Garrison Keillor, the patron saint of Minnesota. And so we gladly head back to the Midwest, a little bit older, hopefully a little bit wiser, and completely ready to embrace who we are: Minnesotans.