Goodbye 2008

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It's amazing to reach the end of this year- a year that saw the death of two grandparents, a semester in South America, the beginning of my last year in college, and much more. I am excited to see what 2009 will bring!!! I have a feeling it will be a great year of new beginnings. 

GOODBYE 2008!!!

Milk

I saw the movie "Milk" last night and I would highly recommend it. Sean Penn plays Harvey Milk, the first openly gay elected official in the US who gets assassinated (you find that out right away, I didn't ruin anything). It was excellent- probably the best movie I've seen in.... maybe ever? The acting was amazing, the message was great, and the visual images were wonderful. Everyone should see this movie! 

Obama and me

I just signed up for a class for spring semester called "Community Organizing for Effective Public Policy". I'm going to be like Barack Obama!!!!! Maybe I'll get to visit the White House to discuss my plans to change the world..... I can see it now- Barack, Michelle, the girls and I sitting around the dinner table, chatting about life. :) No, but really- I think it will be a great class! 

Finals

NEW Post coming soon!!! Once finals are done (tomorrow).  Until then I am MIA! 

Christmas tree

Here she is- my lovely Christmas tree. Isn't she a beauty? 

Recap

Thanksgiving break was such a great time! I had a lot of fun playing 500, eating, watching movies, shopping and hanging out with the fam! Being at home recharged my batteries. I've posted some pictures from mom's birthday and Thanksgiving below. I have been so impressed by all of the blogging lately (props to Andrea and Emily), and felt like a slacker for falling behind!! My next project is to photograph the beautiful, live Christmas tree that currently adorns my apartment (thanks to some talented tree shopping with mom, dad and Tim). I'm gearing up for the last (less than) 2 weeks of school/finals. My interview for Teach for America is next Tuesday, December 9th. Here goes nothing... :) 

Thanksgiving and more

Here's another picture of Gma and I showing off our dickeys

The amazing pies Grandma made for Thanksgiving! (Not pictured: coconut cream)

Mom and Dad at Outback 

What a great picture!

My brand new slippers from Piggly Wiggly!! Andrea gave me these to replace my beloved blind/deaf/kidney failure/Easter seals slippers. What a thoughtful gift! :) I love both pairs

Mom's Bday

On Wednesday night, before Thanksgiving, we celebrated mom's birthday. Mom and dad, Grandma, Tim and I went out to eat at Outback Steakhouse. After church we went back to Grandma's to open a few more presents and collect the pies for Thanksgiving! Adam and Andrea got home later that night and we celebrated again! Here are a few pictures....

Mom modeling her beautiful new scarf from the A-team

Grandma and I modeling the infamous "dickey"!!! Don't we look stylish? :)

A new jacket!! What a soft inside!

The sibs at Outback celebrating mom's bday

Mom's stained glass window painting from Tim!

TURKEY DAY!!!!

I seem to post on my blog when I'm procrastinating. Tonight is no exception. As I struggle to focus on my 2 papers that are due tomorrow (only 2 pages each, don't feel bad for me), I find myself thinking about the joys that are to come within a few short hours.... Having been abroad for Easter, I am extra excited about Thanksgiving. YUM YUM. Plus, it will be great to see my favorite dancing elves (see the A-team blog), the Tim-inator (get it? terminator, timinator), ma & pa, Grandma G. and all of the rest of you!!! Mary Crocker Barnes' blog has been heightening my palette as to the culinary creations that we are going to savor..... ahhh, what a holiday. 

New cube

I'm moving up in the world. I'm going to have a real, life-size cubicle at work. Well, Yusra and I. We (your handy dandy Telemarketing Mail Coordinators) are currently stationed at a make-shift space, having not yet achieved the status of full-time cubicle occupants. But NO MORE!!! We are moving into a cubicle very soon, maybe even tomorrow. This is success. Real, life-changing success. 

Teach for America

I got a final interview with Teach for America!! I'm excited- I wasn't sure if I would make it through because it's so selective, but I'm one step closer! For those of you who don't know, Teach for America is a program that places college grads in low-income areas around the country to teach for 2 years in some of the nation's poorest performing schools. I'm putting Denver down as my top choice of location. I'm debating on what to put down for other top areas. I want to utilize my Spanish, but that could be almost anywhere.... Just think, if I get accepted and go to Denver you could all come visit me in the snowy mountains :) 

My interview is around December 10th, and is a day long, intensive interview. Part of it is teaching a 5 minute sample lesson plan. It can be on anything... any ideas? I'd like to teach Spanish since that's my area of study, but am not sure how to do that. What could I teach in 5 minutes? I want to use the model of I teach, we do it together, then they do it alone. Ideas I've heard of are: the primary colors, fractions, greater than/less than, Lewis & Clark... it should be something fairly concrete. 

One idea is to teach 1-10 in Spanish, or the colors. I could have the "students" (fellow interviewees) repeat with me, or do some type of interactive activity... but then I need a way for them to demonstrate comprehension.

Thoughts?? I'll be practicing this on willing people over Thanksgiving and until December.... 

Proposition 8

The head of the Family Social Science department sent this YouTube video to all of the students in the department. It's a very passionate news commentary about Proposition 8 in California. 

Follow this link:

www.youtube.com/watch?v1HpTBF6EfxY

OH HAPPY DAY

I am simply amazed and grateful that we have elected Barack Obama to be the 44th president of the United States. I feel that he truly is a transformational figure, and I am prouder to be an American now more than ever. I am so excited to see how he changes our country and the way the world sees us. I feel inspired by his leadership, and am eager to take part in changing this nation!!!! Just incredible..... I think this election is a crucial turning point in American history. GO PRESIDENT OBAMA!!!

Update!

Happy November 1st!! It's daylight savings right? That means an extra hour of sleep tonight!!!! 

This week: 

- I lead a breakout session at the study abroad orientation for the students going to Ecuador next semester. It was so much fun!! I loved sharing my experiences, and got joy from answering their questions. I'm the 'student consultant' for the program, so I'll be answering their emails and questions until they leave for Quito in January.

-I taught two very successful Spanish classes. Successful in the sense that the kids had fun, I wasn't exhausted at the end, and everybody learned something!! At one of my schools the principal approached me to introduce himself and let me know that they'll be hiring teachers in the next few years for their Spanish Immersion program. I was flattered that he took the time to talk to me, and wondered if it was a sign that maybe teaching is for me after all.... I'm still exploring.

-Today I went to Loretto, MN to a YMCA camp for a day retreat. I've been attending a 10-week class with 2 friends called Seek at a church in Minneapolis, Mercy Vineyard. Today was 'Holy Spirit Day', and we all went to this camp. It was a gorgeous day and a beautiful location. We had 3 different talks given by leaders of the church, as well as time for discussion, worship and prayer. It was a really great day and I felt really close to God and the people in my group.

-Last night I was a chef!! We went to Dinkytown for a bit to celebrate Halloween and see all the costumes. There were a lot of Sarah Palin's.

ok that's it for me!

I know you just can't get enough of my funny pictures. Therefore I thought I would put up MORE! I spent a great weekend at home, and so these pictures are not just of me but of my beloved family as well!!! Enjoy!! :) 

MOOORE pics

I lied...more pictures

Gotta love the Mac. Some more pics for your entertainment. The first 2 are special effects. In case you didn't know :) . The last one is me currently studying diligently ;) 

Life Update

It's been awhile since I've posted....and I have to be upfront and say this update will NOT be as exciting as my fun pictures from last time!!

** I'm registered to vote in Minnesota!! Yay!

**Teaching Spanish is going well. I'm amazed by the ability of kids to retain knowledge. My kids are great at remembering things from one week to the next!

**Today during class I was writing an example pen-pal letter and I had to write my age. One girl guessed I was 36, the other thought I was 16.... amusing. 

**I had a great weekend at home this past weekend. It was great to relax and get out of the cities for a few days! I got to see Megan too, who was home from Colorado with her hubby! I went to the apple orchard with Gma G and Dad too which was a lot of fun, and now I'm savoring every drop of apple cider and honey crisp apples! 

**I STILL haven't made scones (find the excellent recipe on marycrockerbarnes.blogspot.com) but am anxiously awaiting the day (soon) that I do!!!!

**I'm currently procrastinating.. I have a midterm tomorrow in the Semantics & Pragmatics of Spanish. It will be as fun as it sounds!! 

just for fun

Sometimes my head is in the clouds...

Sometimes I feel like I'm on a roller coaster...

...and sometimes I pretend I'm on a tropical island!

I took these pictures with my super sweet Photo Booth feature. Thought you could use some entertainment :) 

New Haircut!

I got my haircut! Check it out :) Plus, I took that picture on my awesome laptop that has a built in camera and feature called Photo Booth- you can put cool effects on your pictures... it's super fun!!

Update

The sky is BLACK right now!! I think we're in for a big storm tonight. I haven't had anything too exciting to report, but here's what I'm up to:

- Both of my Spanish classes have enough kids registered, so I will be teaching Tuesdays and Thursday afternoons. Tuesdays I will be in Stillwater (kind of a trek), and on Thursdays I will be in Minnetonka. One class is level 1, and will be very basic Spanish. The class in Stillwater is level 7, so the kids are a bit more advanced. I went shopping today for supplies (I get an expense allotment!!) and I feel like a real teacher! I start this Thursday and will let you know how it goes!

-My classes are going well. I'm learning a lot in my Borderland Spaces class about the U.S./Mexico border. It certainly does not have a pretty history (or present, for that matter). We have quite a few varying opinions in the class (a Marine, an anti-government revolutionary girl, and a lot of in between), which makes for fascinating discussions. 

-I LOVE my ipod. I just discovered podcasts last night (for those of you who don't know, podcasts are broadcasts that you can download for free!!) and have put a ton of them on my ipod. I can get the news in Spanish, free concerts from NPR, the Today show, and so much more!!! It's like a whole new world :) 

-Mom came and visited this past weekend, and we had a lot of fun!! We went to dinner at Masa, a new Mexican restaurant downtown, and went to see the The Women on Friday night. The restaurant was wonderful, and I'd give the movie 2 1/2 stars. Saturday we went to IKEA and had a nice lunch at Panera. It was really fun having her here to visit! 

The rain is starting... I'm going to go huddle in the basement laundry room. (just kidding)

Big Day

3 posts in 2 days!!! I know, I've been overachieving on the blog side of life. Hope you don't mind!! I had a big day today! I DID go running with Nikki at 5:45 (well, we were out the door by 6). It was cold, and reminded me of those 2 a day cross country practices in the wee hours of daylight. It went alright, despite the fact that my knee is bothering me. As mom would say (in good humor), I'm a wreck of a human being.

In other news, I bought a new computer today! I know, it's drastic. I had been having minor technical difficulties with my Dell, and took advantage of the Educational Stipend that was part of my AmeriCorps service this summer. I am the proud owner of a new MacBook! I'm currently on my "old" laptop, because I'm setting up the other one. So far I really like my new one!! It's schnazzy.

Also, I got a new job today!!!!!! YAY!!!!! I was hired as a Part-Time Spanish teacher with Futura Language Professionals. I will be teaching 2 Spanish classes a week, in (most likely suburban) schools. I'm excited! The company will provide basic cirriculum, but I will be in charge of everything: lesson planning, parent newsletters, an end of term fiesta, classroom management, the works. It will be great.

You might also be interested that I have a position with the Learning Abroad Center, which hasn't started quite yet. I am the MSID Ecuador Student Consultant. Fancy title, you like it? I'll get to lead a section of orientation for students who are going to Ecuador next semester, as well as next fall. I will also be responsible for email correspondence with students who are already planning to go, as well as those who want to know more! I'm looking forward to it.

What a day. Have fun catching up if you haven't seen my 2 posts from yesterday. Love the updates on everyone else's blogs!

scotland

Ok, I was about to go to bed... but I wanted to share a thought. For the past 2 nights, as I've been brushing my teeth and looking at my wall map (see post below), I've been trying to locate Scotland. Now, before you judge my poor geography, how many of you can honestly say you know where Scotland is? (Looking at the graphic above doesn't count) I'm not saying you don't. Maybe you are all thoroughly educated on world geography, I have no way of knowing.

I knew this lovely country was somewhere in Europe... and I thought it was in the northern region- I can say I was aware that it's not in the heart of Europe. However, I felt a bit dismayed that it was nowhere to be found. So where did I turn? Google, of course. Turns out, Scotland is just north of England, on the very same island. My map does not distinguish between the two countries, but just has it labeled as the United Kingdom. I had no idea. How related are these 2 countries? Are they sometimes lumped together under the greater label of the UK? Dad, I'm hoping you'll have an explanation for me.

Now that I know the makers of my map did not in fact, forget Scotland, I will be able to sleep.

:)

(picture from www.maps-of-britain.co.uk/images/map-scotland.gif)

New Apartment!

Thought I would post some pics of my new place!! Nikki and I have made several runs to IKEA in the last week, so now the kitchen/"dining room" areas and my bedroom are pretty much complete. We are still working on getting "art" on the walls in the living room, so there will be more pics to follow. AND we finally got connected to internet today!

Our dining room area- Isn't the red great?!!

Part of the kitchen- it's an alley setup

Part of my huge bedroom! I have a ton of closet space. Not to mention a great world map that I stand and look at while I'm brushing my teeth!! :) You learn something new every day.

More of my room- notice the painting of Quito, Ecuador above the bed and the fabric from the market in Quito around the lamp


OK that's it for tonight. Nikki thinks I'm waking up with her 5:45 am (?!?!!) to go running. Does she know me? :) I'll do my best. No guarantees. In other news, go Packers!!

senior year!!

I'm done with my first week of class as a senior!! I think I am really going to like my classes. I am taking: Family Systems and Diversity, Family Psychology, Modern Latin America, Borderland Spaces: US/Mexico Border, and the Semantics and Pragmatics of Spanish. All seem interesting. Plus, no class on Fridays!

Also, Nikki and I are all moved into our new apartment. I'll try and get pics up soon so you all can see where I live :). We're pretty well unpacked, but we won't have internet until Monday. I'm currently across the street at my friend Dee's place using her internet and watching John McCain speak. I won't get started on that.

It was a pretty easy week, and it hasn't been too bad getting in the swing of things again! I'll post again soon with something more exciting!!! In the meantime, I'm enjoying everyone else's blogs!! A few new ones to check out:

marycrockerbarnes.blogspot.com
ceejandem.blogspot.com
ashleighlincoln.blogspot.com

trip to California!

I had a great time on my trip to California. It was great to see Maggie, Heather and Lilian. We spent 3 days at the ocean, all at different beaches. We went wine tasting, took a last minute road trip to San Diego, and celebrated my birthday in Hollywood. Here are some pictures...

^^ Singing karaoke with Heather on my birthday^^

^^Wine tasting in Santa Barbara County at the Firestone vineyard^^

^^Grapes at the vineyard^^

^^Next to Johnny Cash's star on the Walk of Fame^^

^^One of the beaches we went to, in Malibu^^

^The girls^

^^When we picked up Heather from the airport, we found out that she's engaged!!^^

^^We found this sign on my birthday!^^

what a difference a year makes

Remember this? I believe that it's a year to the date that I got my tonsils out. The top picture is from my 21st birthday, when I looked malnourished and could only eat DQ ice cream cake! This birthday should be a little more active! I'm flying out to Los Angeles on Saturday with Lilian and will be there until the 23rd. Pictures to follow!

Updates

There's been a request for an update. :) I guess I've been a little slackerish on my blogging lately. I have however, been enjoying the A team's blog. I think the fact that I'm currently living out of my car and sleeping on a friend's couch may be cause for my lack of posting. NEWS on my end:

I officially moved out of my house in Minneapolis (hence the couch sleeping). My new lease begins on Sept. 1.

Monday is my last day of work for the summer! YAY! I'm heading back to Altoona on Tuesday morning.

Lilian is coming to Altoona on Tuesday!

Lilian and I are going to LA, California on Saturday the 16th to stay with Margaret Meinen. Woohoo!

One of my classes for fall semester got canceled. Boo. Upside: I can rearrange my schedule (my favorite thing to do) so that I only need 2 classes Spring semester to graduate!

I went salsa dancing last night! It was SO much fun. AND I got to speak a lot of Spanish. Earlier in the day I had gone to the Lake St area to Mercado Central, where they have a lot of little Mexican restaurants. I had delicious tacos and spoke Spanish with the cashier. So it was a very Spanish filled day, which was great. I absolutely love speaking Spanish.

I turn 22 in 11 days!

I copied down a lot of recipes this summer while at the library, and I am very excited to try some of them out. If you want me to cook for you, let me know!


Alright, well that's the news on my end. I've been enjoying watching the Olympics this weekend. Hope you all are doing well!

Sand Castle Competition

Aquatennial, a water festival in Minneapolis, was this weekend. I went with my old roommates Erin and Nikki today to check out the sand castle competition at Lake Calhoun. We didn't stay long enough to find out who won, but they all were really well done. This takes a lot of talent!

This one above represents the movie The Mummy

This one ^^^ was my favorite

You maybe can't see this one very clearly, but it's title was "Got Gas?". There are 3 people with their butts hooked up to a car. On their backs, one says "Unleaded", another says, "Ethanol", and the other one I'm not sure.