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!