Jordan Independent - friends - Comments

Yeah, my family, as it

bhall09 — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 10:45:37 -0600

Yeah, my family, as it continues to grow, decided this year to only buy for the kids. As much as I enjoyed receiving gifts, I must say it has been nice to only worry about buying for the kids. It saves some money, and really they enjoy it more anyway. It's about them. And I know, it is fun for me as I am able to see things through Logan's eyes. Seeing him light up is quite a gift for me.

"Didn't even exchange gifts"? You are talking in the past tense there. You have already done your gift exchange? How lucky are you to not have to wait? I wish I didn't have to wait.

Of course, I guess I didn't really have to wait. I already got a snow blower.....whoopdedoo!!!

(Brian Hall is the Sports Editor for the Jordan Independent and Shakopee Valley News, and can be reached at bhall@swpub.com.)

I love Christmas but dislike

Melissa Gilman — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 14:29:59 -0600

I love Christmas but dislike obligatory gift-giving. I only give presents to a few family members. This year my brother and I didn't even exchange gifts. What a relief for both of us! But we did enjoy purchasing gifts for each other's kids.

Melissa Gilman

Melissa Gilman is the editor of Southwest Saturday and Let's Go! Find more entertainment events at www.letsgosouthwest.com or submit your events and story ideas to mgilman@swpub.com.

Being bed-ridden most of the

Mathias Baden — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 10:26:54 -0600

Being bed-ridden most of the past week (more on that later) gave me a lot of time to think about what to get my family.

Every year, I thank my lucky stars that my darling wife works at Barnes & Noble -- I love 40 percent off discount week. We spent something like $155 and got a lot of stuff this weekend.

Most of the people on our Christmas list had better like B&N, Bibelot, or CreativeKidstuff, because that's where we found their presents.

(Mathias Baden is the editor of the Jordan Independent. He can be reached at editor@jordannews.com.)

I tried to finish all my

Brandon — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 07:25:22 -0600

I tried to finish all my shopping in just two days at the stores (one over the weekend and one a few weeks ago). But I haven’t even come close. And after about three hours of constantly being surrounded by people, I couldn’t take it any more. I had to get out of the mall, which means I’ll only have to go back as we get closer yet to Christmas.

Ya better B careful then ;-)

marty193 — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 22:01:19 -0600

Ya better B careful then ;-)

I’m not quite in the 25

Brandon — Thu, 07 Jun 2007 12:27:52 -0500

I’m not quite in the 25 plus category yet, but I am single and I know a lot of other people my age who are also single living in the suburbs.

I think the comparisons to “Friends” are right on the nose, though. I keep expecting life to be like that show (just like I expected high school to be like “Saved By the Bell”). The biggest difference in my opinion is that I don’t seem to have anywhere near as much money to spend as some of the "Friends" did. But that might just be me – I know a lot of people who spend lots of money often.

One of the most important things in my mind when I moved to Jordan was trying to find a group of friends my own age that I enjoyed being around. It took me a while to do it, too. I met most of my friends through church, and I looked long and hard for a young adult group where I felt I fit in. Some of the young adult groups seemed a little too young (recent high school graduates), while others were just a little too old (young parents). I felt like I was right in the middle.

One thing that surprises me, though, about living single in the suburbs, is how far I’m willing to drive to hang out with friends. I live in Jordan, go to church in Eden Prairie and have friends who live as far away as Roseville, Inver Grove Heights and Woodbury. Sometimes I’ll drive for 40 minutes to an hour to see a movie or go to a birthday party. Our church is a somewhat central location, so a lot of what we do for fun is in Eden Prairie – movies, disc golf, bonfires, going out to eat, parties, et cetera.

I’ve also noticed that a larger portion of people my age than I expected are still living with their parents. That was surprising to me. And many of those who aren’t living at home grew up in the Twin Cities area.

I would be more worried

Ray Sandey — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 10:11:48 -0500

I would be more worried about "Peace out" than "bye-bye"

Later dude...

Unwittingly, you have also

markaweber — Fri, 22 Dec 2006 11:15:18 -0600

Unwittingly, you have also become something of an expert on Jordan, Mr. Otte. Has anyone else visited the schools, the police department and other Jordan places as much as you? Uh-uh.