This week has been fairly routine. Denny and Audra came over with the new baby, Ebben. He is really adorable! I wish you could have been home to see him. We are hoping that they will be able to come and visit sometime over Christmas, as long as the weather isn't too bad for traveling.
I'm getting used to having only two kids left in the house, but both of them are so busy sometimes it's almost as if nobody lives here anymore. I don't know if you know this or not, but, Brittany has pretty much taken over your room. I think she likes the bigger bed, and having her own bathroom! Did you know she started playing the piano again? We bought her a Justin Bieber songbook, and she's been practicing much more now than she was before.
Tyler's been his usual self, I don't know who he takes after. This morning we were without power because of the big wind storm, and when I told him to get out of bed, he said, "I can't get out of bed until I can take a shower. I need to be fresh." He is driving me crazy, yet he likes to tell me, "you're driving me to drink!"
I think this weekend we'll finish cleaning out the basement. We started this project last week and I felt kind of sad doing it. I know you wanted to have the basement cleaned out for you and your friends. Remember when you drew up plans and had furniture, TV, and rugs all drawn into your outline of the basement? Well, we probably won't do anything like that even now. We're just getting rid of all the things we should have gotten rid of years ago. We've been able to play ping-pong down there now, so, we have a pretty good start on it.
See, life is pretty much routine this way. Just getting ready for the snow to fly and for another long winter. I do like living here where we have the change of seasons. The change from fall to winter, then from winter to spring, really help me appreciate the days in between. In a way, families also have seasons. We had the season of being newlyweds with just the two of us, then we had "baby season," that changed to the long season of "kids", and now we're in "teen season." I just hope it's a long way off before "granparent season!" Ha-Ha! Have a great week, Kayla! I love you!
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Slowly learning more about this Metropolis...
So many interesting stories and events transpired over the last 7 days here in the Twin Cities. Where do I start? Hm, well first, why didn't I go to school in Florida? I HATE Minneapolis weather and wind. As I walked to class last night at 3:45 pm AND this morning at 7:40 am, the sleet/rain/hail/snow pelted me from all angles and I thought, "How could this get worse?" Then, as if God was punishing me for those Facebook pictures Mom enjoyed looking at, a fierce and never-ending gust of wind blew my umbrella inside out, then back again multiple times, each time spraying me with the water that it was supposed to be protecting me from. I couldn't help but start to laugh, was this a joke? Needless to say, I looked like a insane homeless girl, hair whipping around fiercely in the wind, pretending to go to school with a broken umbrella. Sad. Screw you Minnesota weather. Screw you.
Saturday was spent waiting in line from 10 am to 3 pm to see someone very important speak. Yes, as the chalk that colored many of the sidewalks stated, "The President is Back." We saw Obama! We were in the presence of the President of the United States! I still don't think the reality of how rare this is for so many people has hit me. It's kinda cliche, but when he was delivering his speech I felt so uplifted and enlightened, another one of those "college revelation" moments. All I could think about was how lucky I was, that this was a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and I never would've experienced it if I wasn't here.
Sunday night. From Wisconsin, in Minnesota. Packers vs. Vikings, 7:20 pm. Me and 5 friends naively think, "Oh! No one else in the world will want to watch this huge rivalry game at a Buffalo Wild Wings! Let's go!" A 45 minute bus ride and a near-death street crossing later, we arrive at B-Dubs only to hear the host, dressed in nasty purple and yellow, tell us "There's no tables until after the game." Great. We trek AT LEAST 3 miles over hills and valleys, parking lots and road medians to arrive at an Applebees. (Not that there's an Applebees 10 yards from our dorm or anything...) We get the worst waitress who brings our appetizers AFTER our dinner. First half of game is a back-and-forth battle, lots of excitement. We want to try to make it home during halftime, but lo and behold, buses STOPPED RUNNING to the city we were in. We decide to suck up the fee to pay a cab, and call the service, who says they'll be there in 10 minutes. We pay our bill and go wait outside, keeping an eye on the game through the windows of Applebees. We watched the game in this manner for an hour. The cab never came. In the meantime, a group of pirates walk out of the restaurant next to us. "Are we in Saw?" "Do you wanna play a game?" (The picture sums up our waiting experience.) Finally, a friend comes to get us, and his car is running a half-an-inch below empty. 3 gas stations we stopped at were closed. Can't catch a break. We make it back to the dorm just in time to see the pass by Favre into the endzone, scream in horror, then (because you all know how the game turned out) cheer like maniacs. A series of unfortunate events, resulting in the most intense laughter any of us had experienced in a while.
OH! OH! Guess who made it back to campus from volunteering on Monday without hyperventilating in the middle of Minneapolis OR having a 19 minute phone convo with Dad at his office desk as he explains how to make it back to the dorm? BOOM! ME! Yes, that's right. I WILL get the hang of this, little by little. Next week my goal is to NOT utilize the city bus map I got, I looked like an idiot standing on the corner with this enormous map in front of me that covers more of my body than my Halloween costume.
What an eventful week, and this weekend I'm heading over to Madtown for this little holiday coming up. It'll probably be boring and I'll have nothing to report :)
Saturday was spent waiting in line from 10 am to 3 pm to see someone very important speak. Yes, as the chalk that colored many of the sidewalks stated, "The President is Back." We saw Obama! We were in the presence of the President of the United States! I still don't think the reality of how rare this is for so many people has hit me. It's kinda cliche, but when he was delivering his speech I felt so uplifted and enlightened, another one of those "college revelation" moments. All I could think about was how lucky I was, that this was a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and I never would've experienced it if I wasn't here.
Sunday night. From Wisconsin, in Minnesota. Packers vs. Vikings, 7:20 pm. Me and 5 friends naively think, "Oh! No one else in the world will want to watch this huge rivalry game at a Buffalo Wild Wings! Let's go!" A 45 minute bus ride and a near-death street crossing later, we arrive at B-Dubs only to hear the host, dressed in nasty purple and yellow, tell us "There's no tables until after the game." Great. We trek AT LEAST 3 miles over hills and valleys, parking lots and road medians to arrive at an Applebees. (Not that there's an Applebees 10 yards from our dorm or anything...) We get the worst waitress who brings our appetizers AFTER our dinner. First half of game is a back-and-forth battle, lots of excitement. We want to try to make it home during halftime, but lo and behold, buses STOPPED RUNNING to the city we were in. We decide to suck up the fee to pay a cab, and call the service, who says they'll be there in 10 minutes. We pay our bill and go wait outside, keeping an eye on the game through the windows of Applebees. We watched the game in this manner for an hour. The cab never came. In the meantime, a group of pirates walk out of the restaurant next to us. "Are we in Saw?" "Do you wanna play a game?" (The picture sums up our waiting experience.) Finally, a friend comes to get us, and his car is running a half-an-inch below empty. 3 gas stations we stopped at were closed. Can't catch a break. We make it back to the dorm just in time to see the pass by Favre into the endzone, scream in horror, then (because you all know how the game turned out) cheer like maniacs. A series of unfortunate events, resulting in the most intense laughter any of us had experienced in a while.
OH! OH! Guess who made it back to campus from volunteering on Monday without hyperventilating in the middle of Minneapolis OR having a 19 minute phone convo with Dad at his office desk as he explains how to make it back to the dorm? BOOM! ME! Yes, that's right. I WILL get the hang of this, little by little. Next week my goal is to NOT utilize the city bus map I got, I looked like an idiot standing on the corner with this enormous map in front of me that covers more of my body than my Halloween costume.
What an eventful week, and this weekend I'm heading over to Madtown for this little holiday coming up. It'll probably be boring and I'll have nothing to report :)
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
The Perils of Facebook
OK, Kayla. I hate to tell you this, especially since you and I have been getting along so great lately. I mean, since you've been gone, we've actually talked MORE than when you lived here. But I digress....I hope this blog message doesn't make you angry, but, just think of it this way...would you like to see my college pictures? Would you like to see me dancing around with guys that aren't your dad? Would you like to see me with a bottle of Jim Beam balanced on my head? I think not.
Well, good. Now we both agree. Let's take this whole "growing up thing" a little bit slower. One step at a time. You just turned 18, and just moved away from home. Let me know about the volunteer work you do, about the church group you might join, and about the new job at Noodles you may get. I can handle that. Or, as I used to say when I was 18, "Chill, pansy, I can handle!" (Although, that was in regards to other "substances," but, I digress...)
Minoc again... and send me your loose change.
I would like to let you all know that I am so dedicated to this blog that I am typing only with my right hand because my left thumb is submerged in ice water. Why? Well you see, upon wanting to make another pot of coffee (my love) this morning, I pulled out the machine to add more water and I forgot the hot plate was still on. After a second, a searing pain shot up from my thumb. I said a word I won't repeat here and a very attractive white blister appeared on my poor thumb. It really hurts. Soooo, that was fun.
I returned to the 715 this past weekend to see some dearly missed friends. It also happened to be Lakeland's homecoming, so that was a good excuse for a few of us to return home , see family, watch the football game, and catch up with each other. I loved seeing that never-emotional brother of mine crack a smile in the back of a truck during the halftime parade, having the sweetest of all senior girls sit on my lap during the dance team performance (there's your shout-out Mel!), and getting compliments on my boots :). I loved every single Homecoming week so much (the pic is before last year's game), and being back in the atmosphere was very nostalgic. But even though we've only been out 5 months, it was easy to tell that we were ready for the college life, that high school is now behind us. Though that fact didn't stop one of the best friends and me from parking her car in a lot and using the headlights to illuminate her instruction of the "Payne Train Handlebars" dance. We will still always be ridiculous. It was a fantastic weekend to say the least, and some aspects were more perfect than I could've imagined :)
Oh, and in case you were wondering, this Monday I made it to volunteering without any bus troubles!! Be proud. Though, on the way home I refused to pay another $2.25 for another bus ticket and ended up lost...again. Thank God for 19 minute phone conversations with Dad who goes on Mapquest hundreds of miles away to direct me back to campus. "I feel like I should see a little red dot walking down these streets, then at corners it would stop and blink to show you were waiting to cross." I need to invest in a map. Or like Dad says, "Just fork over the extra $2.25." No. That is a luxury I can't afford. I can use my legs and walk. Miles and miles...no wonder all my jeans fit better.
Always look for the silver lining right?
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Futures, Being Poor, and The Bus.
3 realizations this past week: 1) Teaching is definitely something I need and want to do in my future. 2) College is not the time to satisfy my shopping addiction. 3) It will be a miracle if I make it through the year without dying on the MetroTransit bus system.
I started volunteering this Monday at a local middle school for an after school program designed for students who don't speak English as a first language. It is for a few hours every Monday afternoon, and there are about twenty 6th-8th graders (most speak Spanish, a few speak Russian, and a few Somali) who get together with the school Spanish teacher, the Spanish interpreter, a Somali interpreter, and now me! to work on homework and speaking English in a comfortable environment. I spent the afternoon revisiting the Pythagorean (?) theorem and reading Charlie and the Chocolate Factory with a 6th grade boy who speaks very limited English. (It was actually quite surprising how little English some of these kids spoke, especially for living in a big American city.) We read for a while, then talked for a little bit in Spanish. I had only ever spoken it with my teachers or other classmates, so it was extremely cool to actually be having a conversation with a native speaker, especially a 12 year old boy. This experience I'm sure will only continue to motivate me more and more to become a Spanish teacher, it's like bridging a gap between languages! So cool...
Mall of America last week. Didn't NEED the boots, but now that I have them, I'm meant to own them. Of course I couldn't buy these amazing black heel boots without getting an outfit to perfectly coordinate, so 3 different shirts and a black skirt were also added to my wardrobe. (Oh-and a rockin' pair of earrings.) Even the bookstore. Did I NEED a baseball hat with an "M" on the front? No. But there was a sale and I don't have any hats that look good on me (I have a bad "hat head") and this one looked cute! The grocery store. Really Kayla, do you need Werther's Original Hard Candies? Yes...along with cheese in a can (it was on sale and it's fun to draw designs on the Ritz before you eat them) and chips & salsa, and Apple Jacks. (The Honey Bunches of Oats were too expensive...I was even being frugal.) I should start tapping on the streets for money.
I hate the bus. I don't think I will ever enjoy it nor understand it. I especially hate it when the crabby bus drivers are too preoccupied with themselves and getting done with their shift to help out a confused, panicked, blonde college student find the right bus stop. Is kindness that hard to show? Didn't think so. Long story short, en route to the middle school I kinda got lost in the middle of uptown Minneapolis and had a mini panic attack. I mean, I guess all's ell that ends well (meaning I didn't get kidnapped or mugged or murdered), but I'm not looking forward to trying to figure this out every Monday. I miss the Tahoe :(
I started volunteering this Monday at a local middle school for an after school program designed for students who don't speak English as a first language. It is for a few hours every Monday afternoon, and there are about twenty 6th-8th graders (most speak Spanish, a few speak Russian, and a few Somali) who get together with the school Spanish teacher, the Spanish interpreter, a Somali interpreter, and now me! to work on homework and speaking English in a comfortable environment. I spent the afternoon revisiting the Pythagorean (?) theorem and reading Charlie and the Chocolate Factory with a 6th grade boy who speaks very limited English. (It was actually quite surprising how little English some of these kids spoke, especially for living in a big American city.) We read for a while, then talked for a little bit in Spanish. I had only ever spoken it with my teachers or other classmates, so it was extremely cool to actually be having a conversation with a native speaker, especially a 12 year old boy. This experience I'm sure will only continue to motivate me more and more to become a Spanish teacher, it's like bridging a gap between languages! So cool...
Mall of America last week. Didn't NEED the boots, but now that I have them, I'm meant to own them. Of course I couldn't buy these amazing black heel boots without getting an outfit to perfectly coordinate, so 3 different shirts and a black skirt were also added to my wardrobe. (Oh-and a rockin' pair of earrings.) Even the bookstore. Did I NEED a baseball hat with an "M" on the front? No. But there was a sale and I don't have any hats that look good on me (I have a bad "hat head") and this one looked cute! The grocery store. Really Kayla, do you need Werther's Original Hard Candies? Yes...along with cheese in a can (it was on sale and it's fun to draw designs on the Ritz before you eat them) and chips & salsa, and Apple Jacks. (The Honey Bunches of Oats were too expensive...I was even being frugal.) I should start tapping on the streets for money.
I hate the bus. I don't think I will ever enjoy it nor understand it. I especially hate it when the crabby bus drivers are too preoccupied with themselves and getting done with their shift to help out a confused, panicked, blonde college student find the right bus stop. Is kindness that hard to show? Didn't think so. Long story short, en route to the middle school I kinda got lost in the middle of uptown Minneapolis and had a mini panic attack. I mean, I guess all's ell that ends well (meaning I didn't get kidnapped or mugged or murdered), but I'm not looking forward to trying to figure this out every Monday. I miss the Tahoe :(
This is the day...
Today is an amazing day! The rescue is finally occurring for the 33 trapped Chilean miners. I'm watching CNN as each miner is slowly pulled through the ground to the surface. So far, 13 miners have been rescued.
What has this to do with Kayla at college? Not much, but, it's what I'm thinking about today as I write this. I think it's interesting how to hear how, even though today is the 13th, the Chileans view today as a lucky day, because it's 10-13-10, and those numbers add up to 33.
I love watching the families reunite, and hearing the miners talk about their faith and how they never lost hope. Watching them drop to their knees when they reach the top and offer a prayer of thanksgiving to God makes me want to do the same. What a wonderful day!
The most interesting interview was when one miner said, "I was with God, and I was with the devil, but God won."
Anyhow, Kayla, even though you're in college and immersed in that life, just take a moment to think about this day and these people and the amazing things God can do. Today is simply a good day to rejoice and thank God!
What has this to do with Kayla at college? Not much, but, it's what I'm thinking about today as I write this. I think it's interesting how to hear how, even though today is the 13th, the Chileans view today as a lucky day, because it's 10-13-10, and those numbers add up to 33.
I love watching the families reunite, and hearing the miners talk about their faith and how they never lost hope. Watching them drop to their knees when they reach the top and offer a prayer of thanksgiving to God makes me want to do the same. What a wonderful day!
The most interesting interview was when one miner said, "I was with God, and I was with the devil, but God won."
Anyhow, Kayla, even though you're in college and immersed in that life, just take a moment to think about this day and these people and the amazing things God can do. Today is simply a good day to rejoice and thank God!
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
A Whole New World
When I was driving home from work this week, the theme song from Aladdin, "A Whole New World" came on the radio. Suddenly I was smiling thinking of when Kayla was little and we'd sing this song together. I always had to sing the "boy" verses and she got to sing the "girl" verses that Princess Jasmine sang. We would be in the car together, singing this song from memory because we watched the movie so often. She was very particular in us getting the song right, so, we'd sing it over and over again until we each got out parts right. It's so funny to picture us doing that! We would be sitting in the car on a long ride to see Gramma and Grampa, and Kayla would be bored so she'd want to start some sort of car game to pass the time. She'd say, "Let's play Aladdin. You be the Prince and I'll be the Princess." (Of course.) So, I'd just start singing, "I can show you the world, shining shimmering, splendid. Tell me princess, now when did you last let your heart decide." And then from the back car seat, I'd hear that little sweet voice trying her best to sing, "Unbelievable sights. Indescribable feelings. Soaring, tumbling, freewheeling through an endless diamond sky." And we'd both sing together, "A whole new world. A new fantastic point of view. No one to tell us no, or where to go, or say we're only dreaming."
These were such fun times! I miss having that little princess that loved to dress up, went everywhere in a dress, tights, and crown. She was always singing, always dreaming, and, she really hasn't changed that much! I didn't realize until now, how that song really does describe her growing up, and our relationship. Now that she's in college, I just want her to see and do everything she can. I want her to use this time of freedom to explore and become the person she was meant to be. I hope she is seeing unbelievable sights, having indescribable feelings. I am sure she is soaring, tumbling freewheeling...
I'm glad she's in the Twin Cities, it is a place totally different than little old Minocqua. It is a "whole new world."
The end of the song, we'd sing together in harmony...here's the verse:
"A whole new world. That's where we'll be. A thrilling chase, a wondrous place, for you and me."
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