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