Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
On the Road Again
So, here I am. Out on the road once again. This time though, I am in uncharter territory, well... at least to me. I am on my long-awaited trip to the East Coast.
Let's start at the beginning. I had Good Friday off of work at Northland. I woke up really migrain-ey and feeling really sick and tired. I laid in bed until noonish and decided to get up and try to get some things done. Well, I just felt worse, dizzy and achey. So, I laid on the couch until my shift at the gym. I made it through work and went right to bed when I got home. Saturday morning I woke up feeling worse. I had a wretched ear ache on top of everything else. After taking advice from my mom, I called the doctor's office. I needed to make sure I didn't have an ear infection before I flew the next day. Well, the doctor's office was closed, so after consulting the on-call nurse, who told me to come in immediately. I went in to the walk in clinic to find out, luckily it wasn't an ear infection, it was plugged eustation tubes (ear, nose, and throat tubes). I was in and out quick and was given some ear numbing meds to bring on the plane with me. The nurse told me the plane ride would probably be really painful for my ears. Great. So, after going back to my place and packing up, I was off. I made a stop in Duluth for lunch and a walk through some shops on in Canal Park before heading to the Twin Cities. When I arrived I met up with my bff Katie for lunch. It was so great to see her!! I haven't hung out with just Katie in a really, really long time. We talked for 3 hours at the restaurant. It was great!! I think we both needed it. And after 5 hours of sleep back at the hotel, I woke up Easter morning and headed to the airport. I was a little nervous about my ears on the flight, but it turns out, there was no need to worry. The flights went fine and other than the normal ear popping, my ears were not an issue. I flew into Baltimore and from there drove on to Annapolis. The weather here was in the 40's, but the grass is gorgeous green and all the trees are blossoming and beautiful. When I got to Annapolis, I went straight to the visitor's center. From there, I ate Maryland Crab Soup at a little cafe and then walked around the historic district. I took a tour of William Paca's Colonial Mansion and Gardens. It was interesting. Then I explored the Capitol building to see the Senate and House Chambers. After this I hit up the Pier and took a boat tour around the waterways of Annapolis and the Naval Academy. Then I went to a crab shack for dinner. It was family style eating on long tables with benches and brown paper on the tables. People were all over cracking crab and littering the table tops with the shells. I opted for fish n' chips since I had my fair share of crab in Alaska.
Yesterday morning I woke up feeling groggy again but got up and at 'em. I drove through Washington D.C. to a Science and Tech. high school to drop of college info. and talk to the guidance counselor. Then I drove back past Annapolis and up the shore to Ocean City. I stopped on Assateague Island, which was the thing I was looking most forward too! I read these "Stormy and Misty: the Wild Horses" books when I was a kid. This is where the books where based from. Right away, I saw a young horse right on the side of the road. It was so cool!! I saw 13 wild horses, including a new colt, and some deer. I even stepped into the Atlantic Ocean even though it was not even 40 degress out. I spent probably 3 hours there. I was freezing by the time I left, but I loved it!!! So, amazing!!!!
I then drove to my hotel in Ocean City where I walked on the famous boardwalk. It was kind of eerie and ghost town-ish, but I can only imagine what it would be like in a month or two. After a good fish dinner, I was exhausted.
This morning I woke up feeling cruddy once again, but headed out for a high school visit and then I drove to Gaithersburg. So, here I am.
I am about to fall asleep typing this right now. So, I am off to bed. MWAH
Let's start at the beginning. I had Good Friday off of work at Northland. I woke up really migrain-ey and feeling really sick and tired. I laid in bed until noonish and decided to get up and try to get some things done. Well, I just felt worse, dizzy and achey. So, I laid on the couch until my shift at the gym. I made it through work and went right to bed when I got home. Saturday morning I woke up feeling worse. I had a wretched ear ache on top of everything else. After taking advice from my mom, I called the doctor's office. I needed to make sure I didn't have an ear infection before I flew the next day. Well, the doctor's office was closed, so after consulting the on-call nurse, who told me to come in immediately. I went in to the walk in clinic to find out, luckily it wasn't an ear infection, it was plugged eustation tubes (ear, nose, and throat tubes). I was in and out quick and was given some ear numbing meds to bring on the plane with me. The nurse told me the plane ride would probably be really painful for my ears. Great. So, after going back to my place and packing up, I was off. I made a stop in Duluth for lunch and a walk through some shops on in Canal Park before heading to the Twin Cities. When I arrived I met up with my bff Katie for lunch. It was so great to see her!! I haven't hung out with just Katie in a really, really long time. We talked for 3 hours at the restaurant. It was great!! I think we both needed it. And after 5 hours of sleep back at the hotel, I woke up Easter morning and headed to the airport. I was a little nervous about my ears on the flight, but it turns out, there was no need to worry. The flights went fine and other than the normal ear popping, my ears were not an issue. I flew into Baltimore and from there drove on to Annapolis. The weather here was in the 40's, but the grass is gorgeous green and all the trees are blossoming and beautiful. When I got to Annapolis, I went straight to the visitor's center. From there, I ate Maryland Crab Soup at a little cafe and then walked around the historic district. I took a tour of William Paca's Colonial Mansion and Gardens. It was interesting. Then I explored the Capitol building to see the Senate and House Chambers. After this I hit up the Pier and took a boat tour around the waterways of Annapolis and the Naval Academy. Then I went to a crab shack for dinner. It was family style eating on long tables with benches and brown paper on the tables. People were all over cracking crab and littering the table tops with the shells. I opted for fish n' chips since I had my fair share of crab in Alaska.
Yesterday morning I woke up feeling groggy again but got up and at 'em. I drove through Washington D.C. to a Science and Tech. high school to drop of college info. and talk to the guidance counselor. Then I drove back past Annapolis and up the shore to Ocean City. I stopped on Assateague Island, which was the thing I was looking most forward too! I read these "Stormy and Misty: the Wild Horses" books when I was a kid. This is where the books where based from. Right away, I saw a young horse right on the side of the road. It was so cool!! I saw 13 wild horses, including a new colt, and some deer. I even stepped into the Atlantic Ocean even though it was not even 40 degress out. I spent probably 3 hours there. I was freezing by the time I left, but I loved it!!! So, amazing!!!!
I then drove to my hotel in Ocean City where I walked on the famous boardwalk. It was kind of eerie and ghost town-ish, but I can only imagine what it would be like in a month or two. After a good fish dinner, I was exhausted.
This morning I woke up feeling cruddy once again, but headed out for a high school visit and then I drove to Gaithersburg. So, here I am.
I am about to fall asleep typing this right now. So, I am off to bed. MWAH
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
So, I have a chance to catch you all up now! Last week, I got to stay with my grandparents while traveling to college fairs for work! One night my cousin Jennifer and her husband, Sean came over for dinner with me and my grandparents. It was great! We had rigatoni, which my grandma knows is my favorite! Then, we played cards, which is a must while we are there! It was great!! The next morning I was supposed to go to visit a high school in Lansing, but I called before I left and there were no students signed up to visit with me. So, I got to sleep in another hour and spend the morning with my grandparents. A good family friend, Uncle Al, came over with a man he knew who has Parkinson's. The man was recently diagnosed and was talking to Al about it. So, Uncle Al brought him over to talk with my grandpa, who has had Parkinson's for 20 years! It was really interesting listening to them talk about it.
After they left, I went with my grandparents down to their little cafe for lunch and then I had to head out to Ann Arbor for a high school fair. The fair was crazy!! It was extremely busy for a high school fair, which is great!! The students were fantastic and again, I ran out of all my materials, which is a good problem to have! I love Ann Arbor. I love the plethora of cultures that are represented. The downtown is really cool. There were all sorts of great restaurants and neat shops. It makes me really want to live there! I just love the hippee, urban, cultured, collegiate feel of it all. That night I drove to Midland, which was almost a 2-hour drive.
The next morning I got up at 5:45 to leave by 6:15 so I could get back to Ashland before my gym shift. I was exhausted and was not looking forward to the 9+ hour drive! But, I packed up and headed out in the early morning rain. About 20 minutes into the drive, the rain turned to snow, making the roads very slushy. It was impossible to go more than 45 mph in a 70. Along the route, my stomach was not happy with me, making me take 4 emergency gas station bathroom stops along the way. Between the snow, and my stomach, I knew I would not making to Ashland before my shift. So, I called in and my boss said they would get someone to cover until I could get there. Ugh. I called my dad, to see what the weather was like in the U.P. He said it was gorgeous and he was right! About 30 minutes after crossing the Mackinaw Bridge the sun was out and the roads were bare. At one point I pulled over to take a picture of a bunch of deer drinking by a stream near Lake Michigan. When I went to turn the car around to get a good shot I glanced out over the ice shelf on the lake just in time to watch a coyote running across the ice. I sat and watched him for awhile. He was running like mad, and then he would slip on the ice and slide around. It was hilarious. He was really far off, so I didn't get great pics. But I will post a few. I also stopped to take a few pics of a light house in the southern U.P., I think it was in Escanaba. I finally made it back to Ashland afte 12 hours in the car!! I was beyond exhausted and barely made it through my 3 hour shift at the gym.
The next day I had to be to Northland's campus at 7:30 am to administer the ACT's. I was so tired, but it's an easy $100! So, I really can't complain! Then I went home and took a 2 hour nap before Patti's pregnancy photoshoot, which was so much fun!! When I got home a little after 8 that night, I put on my pj's and relaxed for awhile and went to get some much needed sleep!
Sunday morning, I drove out to Patti's to snag a ride with her to her church. I have really wanted to find a church here, but have been having a hard time. It's always weird to go alone. Her church is a tiny little thing in the middle on nowhere, but it was full of people! There were so many kids there too! It was a good sermon too. I think I will be going back soon. The service made me think about a lot of things. God provides for us in strange way sometimes. And sometimes it's the little things that help the most. Fpr example, lately, I have really been struggling with money, and as much as I try not to let it get to me, it has really stressed me out. I was getting nervous about my next set of bills and knew that I would just make them all, but had no money for food or gas for the week. I didn't know what I was going to do. Then I got an email saying that a payment went through to my account from something I sold on ebay. I wasn't expecting the payment for another week, so it was perfect! It was really like an answer to prayer. Even being asked to do the ACT's was great, because I really needed that extra money. God provides and never leaves you alone. Even when we feel really discouraged and don't know how things will work out in the end, they always do. Sigh. God is good. I know He will help me figure all of this money stuff out. :) I totally was lazy the rest of that day, which was wonderful!!
Monday, I took a half day so I could meet with college friends at the Twin's Home Opener. I picked up my friend Johnny in Duluth and then we headed to Minneapolis. We had some good chats on the way there, since I hadn't caught up with him in ages! We finally made it to the dome and found parking. Outside of the dome was crazy! The game was sold out since it's the last home opener in the Metrodome (they are building a new outdoor stadium). There were people everywhere! It was great! We found our other friends and after hugging everyone, we settled into our seats. It was so much fun! The Twin's lost big time. But it was really fun. I am not a huge sports person, but I love going to sports games. I love the excitement of the crowd, and of course being surrounded by friends, especially friends I don't get to see to often, is always great. The game ended around 10ish, so we then headed to Old Chicago in Uptown for 1.99 personal pizzas! I hadn't eaten much since breakfast, so I was famished!! Then I headed across the cities to stay at Megan's house for the night. We chatted in her room that night until we both konked out. I headed out from there yesterday at 7 to pick up Johnny and head back. After dropping him off, I headed back to Ashland and staight into work.
Oh yeah! Another story! I have a new boss now! I am really excited, because I think he will be great for us. He is currently the Director of Financial Aid, so he worked with us before too. He has implemented a work night for each of us, where we work from noon-8 and call students. So, yesterday was my day. Which worked fine, since I could take the morning to drive back from the cities.
Whew!! Okay, I think that was all!!
Here are some pictures of the events described above:
After they left, I went with my grandparents down to their little cafe for lunch and then I had to head out to Ann Arbor for a high school fair. The fair was crazy!! It was extremely busy for a high school fair, which is great!! The students were fantastic and again, I ran out of all my materials, which is a good problem to have! I love Ann Arbor. I love the plethora of cultures that are represented. The downtown is really cool. There were all sorts of great restaurants and neat shops. It makes me really want to live there! I just love the hippee, urban, cultured, collegiate feel of it all. That night I drove to Midland, which was almost a 2-hour drive.
The next morning I got up at 5:45 to leave by 6:15 so I could get back to Ashland before my gym shift. I was exhausted and was not looking forward to the 9+ hour drive! But, I packed up and headed out in the early morning rain. About 20 minutes into the drive, the rain turned to snow, making the roads very slushy. It was impossible to go more than 45 mph in a 70. Along the route, my stomach was not happy with me, making me take 4 emergency gas station bathroom stops along the way. Between the snow, and my stomach, I knew I would not making to Ashland before my shift. So, I called in and my boss said they would get someone to cover until I could get there. Ugh. I called my dad, to see what the weather was like in the U.P. He said it was gorgeous and he was right! About 30 minutes after crossing the Mackinaw Bridge the sun was out and the roads were bare. At one point I pulled over to take a picture of a bunch of deer drinking by a stream near Lake Michigan. When I went to turn the car around to get a good shot I glanced out over the ice shelf on the lake just in time to watch a coyote running across the ice. I sat and watched him for awhile. He was running like mad, and then he would slip on the ice and slide around. It was hilarious. He was really far off, so I didn't get great pics. But I will post a few. I also stopped to take a few pics of a light house in the southern U.P., I think it was in Escanaba. I finally made it back to Ashland afte 12 hours in the car!! I was beyond exhausted and barely made it through my 3 hour shift at the gym.
The next day I had to be to Northland's campus at 7:30 am to administer the ACT's. I was so tired, but it's an easy $100! So, I really can't complain! Then I went home and took a 2 hour nap before Patti's pregnancy photoshoot, which was so much fun!! When I got home a little after 8 that night, I put on my pj's and relaxed for awhile and went to get some much needed sleep!
Sunday morning, I drove out to Patti's to snag a ride with her to her church. I have really wanted to find a church here, but have been having a hard time. It's always weird to go alone. Her church is a tiny little thing in the middle on nowhere, but it was full of people! There were so many kids there too! It was a good sermon too. I think I will be going back soon. The service made me think about a lot of things. God provides for us in strange way sometimes. And sometimes it's the little things that help the most. Fpr example, lately, I have really been struggling with money, and as much as I try not to let it get to me, it has really stressed me out. I was getting nervous about my next set of bills and knew that I would just make them all, but had no money for food or gas for the week. I didn't know what I was going to do. Then I got an email saying that a payment went through to my account from something I sold on ebay. I wasn't expecting the payment for another week, so it was perfect! It was really like an answer to prayer. Even being asked to do the ACT's was great, because I really needed that extra money. God provides and never leaves you alone. Even when we feel really discouraged and don't know how things will work out in the end, they always do. Sigh. God is good. I know He will help me figure all of this money stuff out. :) I totally was lazy the rest of that day, which was wonderful!!
Monday, I took a half day so I could meet with college friends at the Twin's Home Opener. I picked up my friend Johnny in Duluth and then we headed to Minneapolis. We had some good chats on the way there, since I hadn't caught up with him in ages! We finally made it to the dome and found parking. Outside of the dome was crazy! The game was sold out since it's the last home opener in the Metrodome (they are building a new outdoor stadium). There were people everywhere! It was great! We found our other friends and after hugging everyone, we settled into our seats. It was so much fun! The Twin's lost big time. But it was really fun. I am not a huge sports person, but I love going to sports games. I love the excitement of the crowd, and of course being surrounded by friends, especially friends I don't get to see to often, is always great. The game ended around 10ish, so we then headed to Old Chicago in Uptown for 1.99 personal pizzas! I hadn't eaten much since breakfast, so I was famished!! Then I headed across the cities to stay at Megan's house for the night. We chatted in her room that night until we both konked out. I headed out from there yesterday at 7 to pick up Johnny and head back. After dropping him off, I headed back to Ashland and staight into work.
Oh yeah! Another story! I have a new boss now! I am really excited, because I think he will be great for us. He is currently the Director of Financial Aid, so he worked with us before too. He has implemented a work night for each of us, where we work from noon-8 and call students. So, yesterday was my day. Which worked fine, since I could take the morning to drive back from the cities.
Whew!! Okay, I think that was all!!
Here are some pictures of the events described above:
Monday, April 6, 2009
Pregnancy Photoshoot
I have so much to catch everyone up on, but I don't have time to write it all right now. I will get to that tomorrow.
But... I did a pregnancy photoshoot for my friend Patti at work. She is 8 months right now. It was so much fun!!!!
Here are a few of the shots.
But... I did a pregnancy photoshoot for my friend Patti at work. She is 8 months right now. It was so much fun!!!!
Here are a few of the shots.
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