Anna's Favorites - #1

UPDATE: I have made the move out of Ames. I transitioned for a few days in my own home in Indianola and now have officially moved up to Okoboji/Paradise. J This is not a very current update, but I’ve been neglecting my lovely blog…
(so sorry about that)

After WEEKS of posting nothing, I want to start a new segment called Anna’s Favorites! It’s going to be a reoccurring post whenever I think of something that anyone other than myself might be interested in.

Today’s favorite?

Driving past the windmills (wind turbines) on the drive up to the lake.

My very favorite part of what is supposed to be a four hour drive to the lake is driving through what I am going to call a “wind farm,” just south of Pocahontas. When I can just make out the tiny town of Pomeroy, its motto is “Town and Country Working Together,” I begin to see the fragile little silhouettes of hundreds of wind turbines.

The spindly little skeletons of the wind turbines from a distance.

And soon enough I’m speeding a little too fast and sitting on the edge of my seat to take it all in…the fields crops, the small farms sprinkled in between wind turbines, the chapel, the massive shadows...it’s incredible.

I’m not sure a what point exactly it is that my goosebumps show up, but I’m nearly positive it’s when I pass the first turbine that is close to the road and know that I am in the heart of something so much bigger than myself.

The Close-Up. Right alongside the road.

It’s hard to describe my relationship with the windmills. Since I was little, my mom has always had some fascination with old-time windmills making their homes on small farms. That fascination then turned into a collection of antique models of windmills that salesmen would carry with them. And now, with the recent energy movements, it only makes sense to update the interest to wind turbines. So, our family has watched this wind farm grow over the years and have seen the dozens of new wind turbines each year.

This wind farm has a magical quality to it. When I drive through I am humbled by the fact that there are hundreds of machines moving in sync with each other surrounding my little Saturn and myself. I love feeling as though I am in the midst of an alliance bigger than just me. It’s a fairytale moment every time.

But, what I have yet to mention is how often I drive through the area at night. You would think that when everything is dark there would be nothing to see, but FALSE! This is the most exciting time. All of the sudden you are being surrounded by red flashing lights for miles. On the right side of the road, they blink almost all together and on the left side they are a little less synchronized but still blink nearly all at the same time. Feels as though you’re entering an alien base of sound kind….sounds strange, but I dare you to disagree.

Although driving through the wind farm is only a short segment of my journey to the lake, it is truly a favorite time of mine. And if there is any time that I am at all excited while driving it is a small miracle. J

Roommate Fate...?

For the past nine months, I have lived with a girl who I was chosen to room with by Iowa State. There was no searching on Facebook for someone similar to me, no roommate searching website, just a whole lot of faith in Iowa State’s ability to choose someone normal for me to share my 15’ x 11’ room with for my freshman year of college. That takes a lot of faith.

The day that my roommate’s name was posted I was immediately on Facebook with my family creeping on this girl who seemed normal. Knowing that she lived a mere 40 minutes from my hometown was definitely reassuring and it appeared she was in choir, like I was.

Day 1 at ISU. Stranger roomies.

We had a few small conversations to decide who would bring what to our room, the color scheme of red, black and white, and to share some basic information about ourselves. This girl seemed really sweet, but with Facebook as my only source, anyone can make himself or herself seem normal.

Move-in day came along fast and soon this girl and I were living together. Our moms took the awkward picture of the two of us in our new room, basically strangers, and we were off. Our schedules were compared, our sleeping schedules decided, our space divvied out, and soon we had our own little home in Maple 818. 

Battle of the can opener. First semester adventure.

My roommate, Rachel, has turned out to be an unbelievably kind and caring person, but more importantly she has become a trusted friend whom I will be forever grateful for.

The friendship between two girls stuck in an extremely small space together may seem inevitable, but the two of us are very different. I am extremely social, sarcastic, loud, and probably talk more than anyone and at 100 mph. Rachel is much more quiet and subdued, a great listener and a determined student. (Well, she was originally not very outspoken at least.)

An image of our friendship. Dressed up and dressed down...

Two very different personalities have created quite the friendship. Our room is covered in post-its quoting silly things we’ve said. My computer is full of videos of the two of us dancing around and lip-syncing to a variety of songs. My TV provides the daily Friends episodes and Rachel’s microwave is the mastermind behind dozens of mugs of hot chocolate over the year. We’ve become quite the team.

If there’s ever a time when I’m having a weak moment, Rachel feeds me exactly what I need to hear or leaves me to my headphones and time alone. If she’s having a meltdown over something I think is hilarious, I do my best to try not to laugh and listen to her calm herself down by talking about it. We complement each other in our own special way, I suppose.

All dressed up!

Freshman year is hard and we’ve created our safe place of Maple 818. If this isn’t home, than I’m not sure what is. And if this isn’t friendship, I’m not so sure I know what friendship is. My first roommate, Rachel, will always be a wonderful, hilarious, and surprising memory in my mind and forever a close friend. ♥