Minnesota Has a New State Flag

Minnesota has a new state flag!

I'm a bit late with the news; Minnesota's new state flag was officially adopted in May. Although, I did mention a new state flag was coming back in November when I shared my ranking of the Best and Worst State Flags. I mentioned it again in March, when I talked about the Best and Worst State Flags for Crafting. 

I really like this new flag. It is a HUGE improvement over the previous flag. I like the symbolism, the color choices, and the simplicity. It is distinct from all over state flags, and thus easily recognized as it's flying. It is a much easier flag to draw, benefitting school children and craft bloggers like myself who design state-inspired crafts. 

I've updated my website to use the new flag. This means changing the photo in four places: my Guide to US Travel; the page with travel recommendations and craft ideas inspired by Minnesota; and the navigation pages that are alphabetically on either side of Minnesota, which include Michigan and Mississippi. 

I try to keep up with any proposed flag changes that are working their way through their state legislatures. By September, Illinois will have up to 10 potential new flag designs to consider, but we won't see a new flag (if chosen) until 2025 at the earliest. I was hopeful that Michigan might adopt a new flag in 2024 or 2025, but there has been no action since the idea was last raised in April 2023. It had been brought up in 2021 with no action either, so I'm not particularly optimistic. There is a big push to change the Massachusetts flag; in May, the Senate proposed a budget item to change the Massachusetts flag, seal, and motto. The budget went to the governor on July 1, but I can't find anything more recent about its progress from there. If you've read this far in my blog post, you might be interested in checking out this site with ideas for redesigned flags. I really like some of them, but not the design for Massachusetts. There's potential though, with a little tweaking. 

Want to display the new Minnesota flag? I found some ideas for fans of the North Star State. Affiliate links below. 

    

                         Minnesota Garden Flag                   Minnesota Ornament                        Minnesota T-Shirt       

Senior Prom

On May 25, Trevor attended his Senior Prom. It took place at San Francisco's City Hall, also known as The People's Palace. On the big day, I took a picture of him in from of our house, dressed in his tux. Then I dropped him off a friend's house, where I took a photo of the four classmates who rode together. The parents who drove took a photo of the four, plus a fifth friend they met there, outside the venue. I used those three pictures to make this layout. 

Senior Prom (affiliate link)

Built in 1915, City Hall was the perfect venue for the "Old Hollywood" theme the prom committee chose. Here are some of the pictures I didn't use on the layout. The outdoor ones are from the parents who drove and the indoor ones are from the school's Facebook page. 

  

Trevor's prom experience was completely different than mine, which also took place in San Francisco. Back in my day, we had to buy our tickets as a couple; if you didn't have an opposite-gender date, you didn't go to the prom. Trevor's school sold only single tickets. We could bring dates from other cities and, as far as I remember, there wasn't an age limit. Trevor's prom was limited to juniors and seniors from their school. We had separate proms for juniors and seniors; I attended both. Trevor's school combines the two; most students, including Trevor, opt not to go as juniors. We weren't served any food at the prom, so we went out to dinner ahead of time. Trevor and his friends ate at the prom, dining on tacos, crepes, and Shirley Temples. We drove ourselves. All of Trevor's friends either came in party buses or a parent drove them. We could come and go when we wanted - arrive late, leave early - but Trevor and his classmates had to arrive between 8:00 and 9:00 and were not permitted to leave earlier than midnight for any reason, except by ambulance. Our prom had dancing. If you weren't dancing, you were sitting at a table talking. Trevor's prom had a dance area, but it also had a games room and a casino area. He and his friends played ping pong and air hockey and a variety of games of chance. We took prom photos (as couples, of course) and came home with souvenir glassware and later received our photos and a book with all the couples' photos. Trevor came home empty-handed, which saves him from trying to decide what to do with a prom-themed brandy snifter 30+ years from now. One thing Trevor and I have in common: we both had a great time at prom. 

First-Year Seminars and Aggie Connections

I am incredibly jealous of my son. 

In two months, Trevor gets to start college at UC Davis. He'll be taking classes, joining clubs, and living in the dorms. I want to do these things. I want to take classes. I want to join clubs. I want to... ok, I don't really want to live in the dorms, unless I can carefully hand-pick the people who live with me and institute strict rules that allow me to sleep and occasionally have some privacy. But I do want to eat three meals a day in the Dining Commons, not have to clean my own bathroom, and live walking/biking distance to everything. I loved my college freshman experience, but there are so many more cool things that today's UCD freshmen have that I didn't in 1990. 

Today I want to focus on two: First-Year Seminars and First-Year Aggie Connections. 

First-Year Seminars are 14-student classes that "offer first-year UC Davis students the opportunity to connect with faculty over unique interests and a shared sense of curiosity." The topics are interactive and hands-on, and allow instructors to test new course ideas, explore interests, or otherwise share topics they're passionate about with a small group of freshmen. Each course is 1-2 units; some are graded, but most are Pass/No Pass.  

Trevor is most interested in one of these for Fall Quarter:

I would love to take any of these, but particularly the nature one. I hope Trevor is able to get in. With only 14 slots in each, his chances aren't good, particularly since his college is the fourth (of 4) to enroll. Presumably, they'll be first in Winter or Spring, each of which has a bunch of interesting options as well. 

First-Year Aggie Connections are made up of 25 students. Some Connections are associated with for-credit seminars, while others are based on academic or extra-curricular interests. They're a great way to meet people and connect with other freshmen who have shared interests. 

The Nature RX seminar is also offered as a Connection, which is really exciting. I haven't heard from Trevor which Connections most interest him, but I would totally sign up for one (or both) of these:

I could easily find a dozen other Connections that I would love to join. Alas, I am not enrolled and not a freshman. But I do live within driving distance of UC Davis. Do you suppose they'd notice if a 52-year old woman skulked behind their group each week, darting between trees, trying to overhear their discussions about Aggie Traditions or the Language of Food? They'd definitely notice when the traditional snacks lured me from my hiding spots. Darn. 

The best I can hope for is that Trevor participates, takes photos, and tells me all about it. I am so excited for him and everything he can experience during this academic year!

Trevor at 18

Time for my annual Trevor At layout!

Trevor at 18 (affiliate link)

I really like how this masculine page turned out. What's funny is that the papers I used came from collections called "Her Birthday" (candle background paper and fussy-cut cake) and "Baby Boy" (blue diamonds). It's an important lesson not to be restricted by the title of a collection. All these elements work well for a young man.   

I'm so lucky to be the mom of such a smart, responsible, creative, ethical, calm, logical, trustworthy, honest, funny, hardworking, quiet, generous, kind, and talented guy. And I'm lucky that my 18 year old still cooperates with the birthday photos that are so important to me. I love you, Trevor!

Google Doodles on Your Special Day (and My Personal Google Doodle)

Happy Independence Day to my fellow Americans! Since I'm writing this in advance, I don't know what today's Google Doodle looks like, but I'm very confident that it features a patriotic design of some sort. At least, here in the United States. Fun fact: People see different Doodles depending on where they are in the world and what holiday is celebrated locally. 

I am a big fan of Google Doodles. Did you know there have been over 5000 since the first one appeared in 1998? Or that the first interactive Doodle, a PAC-MAN game, appeared in 2010? Google makes it easy to search their Doodles, so you can find all of the interactive Doodles and play to your heart's content, long after they first appear on search page. So fun!

You can also search for specific dates and see all the Doodles worldwide that have appeared then. These are all of the Doodles from my birthday, March 12:

Perhaps one day I will finally be recognized for my most important contribution to society and will warrant my own Google Doodle. If so, I'm ready. 

I was thinking it should run on March 12, but I've changed my mind. It should run on April 4, my blog anniversary. On that fateful day in 2011, I stopped keeping my genius to myself and those around me and started sharing it worldwide. You're welcome.