I’m officially in my 30s! Today is my birthday, and after I get off work, my husband and I will drive up to Duluth to spend time with family. My husband’s family has never been to Duluth before, so acting as a tour guide and showing them around will be fun. Since I’m entering a new phase of my life, I wanted to share some of my favorite moments from my 20s in chronological order.

Junior Year – Fall 2014

My early 20s began when I was entering my junior year of college. When I think back on my college years, junior year will forever be a standout. This is the year I met my husband, although I didn’t know that then. I was living with a good group of girlfriends in an off-campus apartment. I was starting to get further into my degree and becoming more involved in Winona State’s Astronomy Club. This year was a great start to my 20s.

Buying My Car – December 2016

For the first few years of college, I did not have a car. I think that was for the best since my school was known for not having enough parking spots, and trying to get a parking pass was an extra expense. Eventually, I did bring a car with me to school. I drove a Ford Windstar Blue minivan that my friend named Bertha.

In my final semester before graduation, I was required to complete an internship. My internship site was thirty-five minutes away from my college campus. Unfortunately for Bertha, my car was an older vehicle, and I had concerns as to whether my car would withstand the extra miles. I wouldn’t consider myself a car person, meaning I don’t have strong opinions as to what type of car I want. With my mom’s help, we purchased a Subaru Forester in Jasmine Green. We named our car Ripley Rey. Ripley after Alien and Rey after Star Wars.

Since 2016, I have taken my car on countless road trips, including frequent trips to Chicago and Kansas City. I plan on driving my car as long as I can.

Graduating From College – May 2017

This is easily one of the greatest achievements from my 20s. Graduating from college was a longer journey since I spent five years getting my degree. By the time graduation rolled around, I was so ready to be done. I counted the days until I could move home to be closer to friends and family. The weekend I graduated, the weather was gorgeous! It was sunny, but not too hot. It was a lovely weekend when some of my extended family came to see me walk across the stage. I showed them around both Winona and La Crosse. Winona will always have a special place in my heart.

Visiting NYC – Summer 2018

I went on so many trips throughout my 20s, and each trip was fun in its own right. I decided to highlight the time I went to New York City. Everything about this trip was perfect. We walked around Central Park, ate a lot of good food, had a few boozy moments, and took tons of pictures. This was also my first adult flight. The only other plane I was on was when my family flew to Atlanta when I was in middle school.

I would love to go back to NYC someday. There’s so much to explore, and while we had a blast, there was no way we had time to see everything.

Orlando – February 2019

Orlando was a great trip. It was the first time I left Minnesota in winter, which I would definitely do again. It was a jam-packed week as we spent most of the time at Universal Studios. Our hotel was within walking distance, which was convenient, and there was a shuttle in case we were tired and didn’t want to walk back. Unbeknownst to us, this was the last trip we took before the pandemic. It took a while before traveling became safe again, and these memories kept me going throughout quarantine.

Mini-Moon – California Trip – Fall 2021

I wanted to add this trip to the list since this was the first trip after the pandemic. While Europe was always going to be the honeymoon trip, there were still limitations with flying and taking COVID tests. I did not want to be stranded in another country because I tested positive for COVID. This was my husband’s and my first time in California. We spent time in LA, Santa Monica, Disneyland, and San Francisco. The fun part about visiting Disneyland in the Fall was seeing all the Halloween decorations. It was great to spend time at the beach, and walking across the Golden Gate Bridge was a great thing to check off my travel list.

Europe Trip – September 2023

I can’t forget to mention Europe! This trip was a dream come true. I had been wanting to go to Europe for so long. This trip was everything I wanted it to be and so much more.

New Mexico – April 2024

I wanted to end with a memory from this year. The road trip I took with my mom was so much fun. The best moments of this trip were sitting at breweries and spending quality time with her. As I have gotten older, it feels more difficult to juggle all of my friendships, relationships, regular exercise, getting good sleep, and hobbies. This trip gave me time to spend with my mom, which I will treasure forever.

I am looking forward to my 30s. While my 20s have been fun, I’m fully okay with putting these years behind me.

It’s funny, last week I noticed something. I have been writing about CONvergence for so long and realized I was spelling out the convention as Convergence. I have since updated all the previous posts I had written about the convention. Proofreading is important, am I right? That said, CONvergence was last weekend, as it’s usually over the Fourth of July weekend. There’s always something special when I attend CONvergence, as it feels like I’m returning to my home base and the convention that started it all for me. I wanted to share a few highlights from the con.

Throughout CONvergence, I went to three different panels. The first panel I went to was the “Andor Fan Panel”. I loved Andor because it shows a different type of story within Star Wars. Without stories like Andor, there wouldn’t be a rebellion. I thought the panelists were well-balanced in discussing the show and taking questions from the audience. The second panel I went to was “Wig Styling 101”. This panel was probably the most useful panel I went to. When I started wearing wigs, I didn’t watch a video tutorial. I threw my hair in a bun, stuffed it under the wig cap, and called it good. The panelists suggested braiding or twisting the hair so that when you put the wig cap on, it lies flat and there isn’t a bump at the back of the wig. This is such an obvious statement, but it never occurred to me to do anything different. Another takeaway from the panel is that the panelists highlighted several online websites to order wigs. I always ordered from Amazon, not necessarily by choice, but because I didn’t know where else to get wigs. While the panel focused on wig styling, I learned so much more about the basics of wearing wigs. The final panel I attended was “Session Zero: Setting the Stage for Your Epic Campaign”. I have thought about becoming a GM (not a paid one, but for fun). I don’t think I would focus on Dungeons & Dragons; instead, I’d love to GM Call of Cthulhu, Candela Obscura, or another horror TTRPG system. I think what worries me is how intimidating being a GM is, but I have to start somewhere.

Besides panels, CONvergence is another convention I cosplay at. This year, I went with Red Riding Hood, Harley Quinn, and Keyleth. Red Riding Hood is a cosplay that I rent. It’s been a go-to comfort cosplay for me, and it’s nice to have a breather from wearing wigs. The last time I wore Harley was back in 2023 for Planet Comicon, so it was nice to wear this cosplay again. The Harley wig I have has seen better days, so I might get one more use out of it before needing to throw it away. Keyleth was a character I have been wanting to cosplay for a while. I am so excited about how this cosplay came together. I’m going to write a more in-depth post about prepping this cosplay, so I won’t say much more than that.

Something I normally don’t do at CONvergence is gaming. CONvergence has always had gaming events, but either they don’t work with my schedule, or they conflict with something else. I wanted to prioritize gaming this year, especially since this was Badwolf Adventure Studios’ first time at CONvergence. I signed up for their Daggerheart event, which was a play test of Critical Role’s TTRPG system. I have a lot of thoughts about Daggerheart now that I played it, so I will write those in a future post. I’m happy to see Badwolf at CONvergence, not only from a business promotion standpoint but also providing more experiences for convention attendees to get into TTRPGs.

I had so much fun at CONvergence this year. It’s always bittersweet when this convention is over, but it gives me something to look forward to every year.

For my husband’s 30th birthday, he wanted to get a group of friends together to go axe-throwing. There’s an axe-throwing place near our house, so we all got together to throw axes. I have been axe-throwing once before, and I was terrible. I will not survive a zombie apocalypse. I surprised myself because I actually didn’t do too badly. I felt our instructor did a great job of explaining how to throw an axe. I’d argue this instructor was better than the one I had previously.

My husband completely kicked all of our asses. With every throw, his axe stuck on the board. I went head-to-head with one of our friends, and I won! I still can’t believe it. My husband was considering joining an axe-throwing league. I’m not sure if he will, but he would be great at it.

This was such a fun night out with friends. As we all get older, it’s difficult for us to find the time to get together. I cherish these moments where we can all spend quality time together.

I visited Tropes & Trifles for the first time during Independent Bookstore Day in April. This shop was packed! I’m glad to see so many people turn out and support local businesses. I didn’t end up buying anything because I like to take my time and shop. I knew I wanted to visit Tropes & Trifles again during a quieter time. I took a few of my girlfriends to Tropes and Trifles for a girls’ day, and I definitely want to stop in again soon.

For the most part, Tropes and Trifles is a romance book store. There is one shelf with books from other genres, but the rest of the shelves are organized based on sub-genre. There’s a paranormal section along with a section for dark and historical romance. I like how this was organized because I could gravitate to sections I was the most interested in. Some of the books had rainbow hearts on them, meaning they featured LGBTQIA+ couples or representation. This was lovely!

Tropes & Trifles was such a cute shop! The furniture, the aesthetic, it all fit perfectly together. As I mentioned, all the shelves were labeled, and there was a section with recommendations from the employees at the shop. I like this because it brings my attention to books I may not have known about earlier. The shop was spacious, and I felt I could meander around without bumping into anyone.

I purchased three books, a sticker, and a coffee mug by the end of my visit. I joined their frequent readers program, so for every $100 I spend, I get $5 in store credit. For someone like me, this will add up quickly, much to my husband’s chagrin. I can absolutely see myself reading more romance going forward.

I can’t believe Free Comic Book Day was almost two weeks ago. May is going by so fast! Free Comic Book Day was on the same day as Star Wars Day / May the Fourth Be With You. For Free Comic Book Day, I went to two comic book stores. I didn’t take pictures, so this will probably be a shorter post than usual.

The first comic book store I went to was Mind’s Eye Comics. Mind’s Eye Comics recently moved and is now located in the Burnsville Mall. Their new location just opened, so they were still doing a lot of setup. This location is bigger than their previous location, which is nice because more space means selling more comics. When I entered the store, I noticed a rack with jean jackets. The jean jackets had been refurbished with comic art on the back. I was smitten! I will be back to purchase one because they look cool. I ended up buying one graphic novel and many single-issue comics.

The second comic book store I went to was Issues Needed Comics in Apple Valley. Issues Needed Comics is another favorite comic book store that I go to. They have a good selection of single-issue comics, especially from indie creators. I always find something interesting whenever I visit, and this time was no exception. I purchased even more single-issue comics.

Thanks to Free Comic Book Day, I have a nice stack of comics on my nightstand that I’m slowly getting through. It was a solid day, and it reminded me that I need to go to my local comic book store on a regular cadence.

Random stops are among the best parts of going on a road trip. I don’t know about you, but I can’t drive thirteen hours without getting out of the car besides stopping for gas. For my last ABQ post, I wanted to highlight all the road trip stops on this trip.

Denver

To start off, there was no way I would be able to drive from Minneapolis to ABQ in one day. That’s why I added Denver as a stopping point. From Minneapolis to Denver, it’s about a thirteen-hour drive. The drive itself is easy, but long. At this point in my life, I am done driving through Nebraska. I have done it four times now, and I think enough is enough. Nebraska is such a long state, and there isn’t a shortcut. I will say that I could have driven into South Dakota and cut south into Nebraska, but because that’s not a direct route, that also would have felt long. In the future, if I want to revisit Colorado, I will be flying.

Taos, New Mexico

If there was one recommendation I received from friends and family, it was to visit Taos. Taos is a city in the North / Central region of New Mexico known for its architecture and art. One of the most surprising things for me was the drive to Taos. After pulling off the interstate, I imagined the drive would be on freeways. I couldn’t have been more wrong. We drove on narrow roads with rock formations and dark green forests on our left. There were several streams where a few people pulled off to fish. If that wasn’t enough, I saw a little brown dot on the side of the road, and it was a groundhog. It was something out of a cartoon because the groundhog was on its two feet with its front feet pressed together. There were so many groundhogs! We could see them scurrying on the side of the road.

Upon arriving in Taos, Taos was a cute town. The main strip is where all the shops, restaurants, and art galleries are located. We arrived on Sunday, so unfortunately, the restaurants and shops were closed. I recommend visiting Taos later in the week or the weekend to get the most out of the city.

Buc-ees

Buc-ee’s is the best gas station I have ever been to, and there was a Buc-ee’s on our way home! For those who don’t know Buc-ee’s, visiting a Buc-ee’s is an experience. Buc-ee’s is a chain of gas stations mostly in Texas, although they have locations in other states. I first went to a Buc-ee’s two years ago when my husband and I went to West Virginia, South Carolina, and Savannah. One of the funniest things about Buc-ee’s is its advertising. There will be billboards that say “242 miles to Buc-ee’s” as a reminder not to forget to stop at Buc-ee’s. While driving north through Colorado, I saw a Buc-ee’s billboard. I was so excited that I had my mom look up where the Buc-ee’s was to see if it was on our way. Sure enough, it was outside of Fort Collins, which we would be driving through anyway.

My mom, at this point, was along for the ride. She has heard me talk about Buc-ee’s but has never been to one herself. Buc-ee’s is a gas station times one hundred. There are at least 50+ gas pumps, and each Buc-ee’s is huge! There’s a walking Buc-ee’s beaver mascot to take pictures with, people are making prepared food to purchase, and there’s a full clothing store. I could have bought a Buc-ee’s bikini with the beaver logo on the top.

My mom was enamored! I’m telling you, it is worth it to stop at Buc-ee’s. It’s so beyond a regular gas station that it’s more of a running joke now. I took a picture of the outside of Buc-ee’s and sent it to my husband, who was jealous that we found a Buc-ee’s on our trip. My mom has now been converted into a Buc-ee’s fan.

This was such a fun find and, honestly, a highlight of the day considering that the whole day was spent driving to our final location on the trip.

Cheyenne

The final stop on our trip was Cheyenne, Wyoming. Wyoming is a state I had never been to, so I wanted to cross it off the list. Cheyenne is the capital of Wyoming, and it’s the most populous city in the state. When I was looking at pictures online, Cheyenne had a few art murals and cowboy boots spread out throughout the city. I knew I wanted to go on a scavenger hunt to find all the art murals. While the weather could have been nicer, I still had fun running around and taking pictures. To end our trip, my mom and I went to Black Tooth Brewing Co. to have a few beers and listen to live country music.

Reflecting on this trip, we accomplished a lot in a small amount of time. As far as future trips, I think my next trip will be Gen Con in August. My husband and I have been mulling over the idea of flying to Seattle or Portland for our third wedding anniversary. I’m looking forward to having three full months of downtime where I can catch up on my hobbies, make time for friends and family, and enjoy the warmer weather.

It feels good to be back from vacation. I thrive on having a routine, whether that’s scheduled workout classes, printing out new recipes, or having time to see friends and family. This trip was exactly what I needed, as I was on the brink of feeling burnt out. While we stayed mostly in downtown Albuquerque, I did want to make a separate trip to Santa Fe. Santa Fe is northeast of ABQ by about an hour, so it’s easy to get to. From what I knew about Santa Fe, I knew it was a touristy area, but also an artsy city. I couldn’t agree more, and I enjoyed our time exploring Santa Fe even though we had only a day to spend there.

When we arrived in Santa Fe, we stopped at Clafoutis, a breakfast cafe outside of downtown. Clafoutis is a French bakery and a sit-down restaurant. I’m all for having a cup of coffee and starting the day with classic breakfast food and a croissant, because why not? After Clafoutis, we started driving more toward downtown Santa Fe. I’m not an architecture person, so don’t come after me, but part of the beauty of Santa Fe is how everything is historically restored. The buildings are all styled in the Spanish Pueblo architecture. Part of what I enjoyed about exploring Santa Fe was finding a bench and looking at our surroundings.

One request my mom had was to check out the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum. While Georgia O’Keeffe was born in rural Wisconsin, she spent the majority of her time in New Mexico, and the beauty helped inspire her in many of her paintings. I’m not going to lie, I’m not a big art museum person, but I think this museum was an exception. While Georgia is known for her paintings of flowers, I was drawn to a painting she did of an animal skull. The painting has this darker, grittier, gothic tone to it, and it was my favorite painting throughout the exhibit. The exhibit took about an hour or so to walk through, and it was worth it.

Besides the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum, the next item on our list was to check out Meow Wolf. Meow Wolf is difficult to describe. I would say it’s a mixture of an escape room, interactive art, and exploration. One thing I would recommend is to make sure you buy your tickets ahead of time. I figured it would be okay to show up, but when I looked online, I noticed the tickets were for a time slot. I would have been bummed to miss out on Meow Wolf if the tickets were sold out for the day. Our tickets were for 12:40, and when we arrived, there was a long line. Parking was limited, so if you’re planning on checking out Meow Wolf, taking an Uber is a good idea. We parked a little way away, but I hate going somewhere and struggling to find a place to park; it puts me on edge.

We didn’t end up waiting long, and the line moved fast. Once we were inside, there was a door that led to the entrance of the exhibit. As we moved inside, it was mesmerizing. There was a huge house directly in front of us. We went up the stairs, and the museum guides recommended touching everything. Certain puzzles could be solved, and the chimney of the house was open, so you could crawl underneath it. I wore a dress to this, so you would not catch me accidentally flashing someone to crawl throughout the area. By touching some of the gadgets, hidden doors would open, which revealed hidden passageways connecting parts of the exhibit.

Meow Wolf is interesting because there are no readily available maps, so it was difficult to know if I truly explored everything. My type A personality did not like not having a map of the area. I felt like I saw everything, but it wouldn’t surprise me if I ended up missing something. Meow Wolf recommends spending at least 90 – 120 minutes; I felt an hour was the perfect amount of time. I was able to take pictures and roam around. I’m glad I checked out Meow Wolf, and if I happened to be in a city where there was another Meow Wolf, I would go.

After Georgia O’Keeffe and Meow Wolf, my mom and I stopped for lunch at Palacio Restaurant. I ordered enchiladas while my mom opted for a sandwich. I mentioned this in my ABQ post, but we had such good food throughout the week. After lunch, we were debating what to do next. Santa Fe has a ton of shopping, cocktail lounges, and art galleries to see. Most of the art was completely out of my price range, as most of the pieces we saw were thousands of dollars. I’m not here to nitpick the cost of art, as I think that’s rude to do so. After all the walking, we decided to drive back to ABQ as it’s still an hour’s drive, and the next day was when we were going to begin driving back to Minneapolis.

Santa Fe was a beautiful city; there’s a lot to see, and I found the city to be walkable. Being able to park and walk to everything is a plus. Both Georgia O’Keeffe and Meow Wolf were worth the drive, and I would recommend checking both of those places out. To finish my ABQ three-part post series, I will recap all the fun little stops we made throughout the drive from Minneapolis to ABQ and then back to Minneapolis again.

I am back from my road trip to New Mexico! I was gone all last week, and it was a recharge for me. Originally, I had planned this road trip as a solo road trip, but at the last minute, my mom was able to come with me, and I appreciated the company. I had underestimated how much driving this trip would entail, so it was nice to talk to someone, especially when driving across Nebraska. With my travel posts, I like to split them up, so I don’t have one extremely long post. This will be a three-post series; the first post will focus on Albuquerque, the second post will focus on Santa Fe, and finally, the last post will be on all the miscellaneous stops on the trip.

Albuquerque is the city we spent the most time in, so I figured I’d start with ABQ! Albuquerque is stunning! The Sandia Mountains surround the city, and in the sunlight, they are a bronze or golden color. I couldn’t get over how beautiful the mountains were; no matter where we drove, they were always within sight.

For every trip, I like to pre-plan an itinerary, so I don’t miss anything. One of the first places we went to was Old Town. Old Town is slightly north of downtown Albuquerque and is filled with shops, restaurants, and art galleries. The reason Old Town is worth a visit is that all the buildings are historically preserved. Walking around Old Town, it feels like you are walking in what used to be a Wild West town. If that wasn’t enough, someone had a pet kitty that would walk around the shops, and it was friendly. It would come up to tourists looking for pets. I’m a cat person, so that’s an added bonus.

Besides shopping, one museum I wanted to visit was the National Museum of Nuclear Science & History. New Mexico is filled with history since it is the U.S. state where the Manhattan Project was housed and where the first nuclear bomb was tested. The National Museum of Nuclear Science & History was well worth the trip. There were several sections within the museum that I found fascinating. There were items from the Los Alamos gate, which is where the scientists would gather and test their findings. While this museum heavily focused on the Manhattan Project, I liked how it talked about how nuclear science shaped medicine and how nuclear energy has been a focus for renewable energy. There was so much to see and learn, and I felt like I learned something new.

Another thing that we did was check out Sawmill Market. Sawmill Market is adjacent to Old Town, and it’s an indoor market with various vendors. We had the best Mexican food at Flora. We split Chicken Enchiladas, and they were so good! Speaking of, we ate a lot of good food on this trip. That’s another reason I love to travel. I love trying new restaurants, food trucks, coffee shops, and other local places. I do not limit myself when I travel, and I think food is such a great way to connect people together. I could go on and on about all the food we ate, but this post is already getting long as it is.

The final thing I wanted to add about ABQ was all the breweries! ABQ has a lot of breweries, which I wasn’t expecting. I have always liked the atmosphere at a brewery, and since the weather in ABQ was so nice, I was specifically looking for breweries with an outdoor patio or seating area. In total, we went to four different breweries in ABQ specifically. I wanted to mention one of my favorite breweries that we stopped at, Bow and Arrow Brewing Co. Bow and Arrow is a woman and indigenous-owned brewery. If you’re thinking to yourself, who cares? Let me tell you. Doing a quick search, breweries are primarily owned by men. I think it’s great to see more women getting into the craft beer industry. With Bow and Arrow, their beer is brewed on Native Land, and proceeds from Bow and Arrow go directly back into Native non-profits specifically. If that wasn’t enough, Bow and Arrow has a lovely tap room and their beer rocked.

To say that I enjoyed ABQ would be an understatement. I have wanted to explore the Southwest for a long time, so I’m glad this trip happened. For my next post, I will share a summary of our trip to Santa Fe, which is about an hour Northeast of ABQ.