Poof and the Weekend Was Gone.

Having a weekend off is always fun. This weekend it was a McDaniel weekend. We stayed with my parents and had a good time. Friday night we rented a Red Box movie after having our ritual dinner with Brooke, Matt, Annie, Leslie and Jeff at Cancuns. 

  Saturday we headed to watch Carter play hockey at his tournament where he scored his first goal! Good job Carter! After hockey it was time for a trip to the Bent 'n' Dent. YES! Cereal and power bars all around! There were horses everywhere and little Amish children driving buggies. Every time we go its like a step back in time. If you have never been, you should give it a try. 

  When shopping was done we returned to the present for a game of "Simply Catan." We have come to love the games that Brittany and Eric have introduced to the family and are even playing them when they aren't around. After two rousing games, Ty and I watched " Have you Heard About the Morgans." It was a cute movie. sleep felt good that night and when we woke in the morning, it was already Sunday! Where does the weekend go? Its like it never happened it flies by so fast.

Church and time with my mom for lunch, then it was off to another hockey game for Carter. After hockey sometime to play with our dear little Mia and see Annie and Jackson. It was supper time, and then back to River Falls. Poof and the weekend was gone...now its back to work. 

 Spanish Phrase of the Day

¡Zas! el fin de semana fue ido

Translation: Poof! And the weekend was gone

A Sigh of Relief

This week has been both exciting and tiring. The beginning of the week was exciting because we were finally able start classes and see what they were all about. Now, we are nearing the end of the week and after two night classes, we are starting to lose the some of excitement and settle in to the new schedule for this semester. Thursday's are our least busy day as of yet. We have the entire afternoon to just relax and finish the homework we have for the rest of week and the one to come. What a nice chance to catch up before the weekends so we are not so overwhelmed when we come home. Speaking of coming home...only ONE MORE DAY and we are coming back to Chippewa. It will feel good to be back. Even though its only been a week, it gets a little lonely over here sometimes.  Also, there is an update on the number of hours I have to observe, its only 55! What a relief. That is definitely more doable! After I found that out I could breathe a sigh of relief. Alright, its time for studying. Hope you all have a good day!

Spanish Phrase of the Day

La ausencia es al amor lo que al fuego el aire

Translation: Absence makes the heart grow fonder

Literal Translation: Absence is to love what fire is to air

And so it begins....

Well, today is just the second day of classes and we are already beginning to miss the break we had. Ty is taking what is called his Senior seminar which requires him to do a huge research project and then present it to all the teachers in the department. I have no doubt that he will do well, but its going to be a long road to finishing that project. I, on the other hand, may not have a huge research assignment, but I will be required to do 75 hours observing in three different classrooms before the semester is finished...Oh boy! 

The classes I have had so far are great and I am looking forward to see how my Spanish improves in my Advanced Communication class and Advanced Spanish Lit course. This will be a lot of Spanish speaking. I will have to speak every day of the week! Sayonara Spanish withdrawal, Buenos Dias Spanish overload! I am looking forward to teaching lessons and speaking all the time. I have a techniques course tonight that will be 4 hours long...holy cow! I will hopefully be able to find time to blog still, I will do my best. And so it begins....

Well, that's all for now. More to come as the semester hits harder.

Spanish Phrase of the Day

Cada dìa tiene su afàn

Literally translated: each day has its zeal

Translation: take it one day at a time

Let the Semester Begin!

Finally, after waiting for my scores, and waiting for a reply, I got in to the Education program just in time to sign up for my methods classes. Wow! We can now try to nail down when we will be done with school and hopefully start looking for jobs. I will finish my major this Spring and then my minor and education classes in the Fall. By next Spring I should be student teaching and graduated in Spring 2012. What a relief! I have been thinking about this since I came back to River Falls. With Ty's major he should be finished by next Spring as well! God is good and worked everything out just right. We will be able to be home again soon! It feels so good to actually know when I will graduate. 

As for what we have been up to this weekend, not a whole lot. We have been catching our breath before heading back to school. On Friday night we went to the Mall of America and shopped and had dinner to spend the rest of our Birthday money. Then on Saturday we decided to get out of the house and see a movie. After wasting a little time getting a bagel at Brugger's and wandering through Target, we went to True Grit. It was alright. As my mom told me, "Its not really a movie you would want to go to." It was better than expected, but I am just not the Western Movie type. After the movie we went home and snuggled in for the night. After a game of scrabble we were fast asleep. Today has been rather uneventful as the Packers have made it to the Super Bowl. We watched the game and ate poppers, pizza rolls and veggies and dip (our little football party). Now here we sit, preparing ourselves for classes to begin. So, let the semester begin!

This is how I feel about school starting/How Ty feels about it

Spanish Phrase of the Day

¡que empiecen el semestre!

Translation: Let the semester begin!

So Long, Farewell

It has been a great run this last five weeks. Time with friends and with family, but all good things must come to an end and this afternoon we are headed back to River Falls in the below zero temperature. This is going to be fun! Actually, we are not at all looking forward to this. We are realizing just how nice it is to be around both of our families and friends again, and we are not looking forward to leaving. Last night was our last night with the Perrenoud's for supper and the last night with the McDaniel's on Wednesday night. It has been so much fun to play ticket to ride with my parents and play with Annie and the boys during the week. We have had such a blast and it has been such a blessing to be back and see everyone again. Leaving my parent's house was so hard I just wanted to stay forever. When Annie kissed us goodbye last night my heart just sank. We are ready for school to be over and to come home again. You have all been so wonderful while we have been back and we are so thankful for everyone here and for family who may not be here in Chippewa. Every time we come home you all make it feel like we never left. Thank you everyone for a wonderful break. For suppers, for outings, for a place to stay. For lunches, for coffees and trips to River Falls. Only one more semester and we will hopefully be back for 3 months. So long Chippewa and farewell family. Here goes nuthin. The semester is about to begin.

Spanish Phrase of the Day

Vaya con Dios y Dios te bendiga

Translation: Go with God and may God bless you

Crazy Last Few Days

As promised, when the birthday celebrations were over, there will be pictures. Last night was the final celebration for Ty's birthday. I thought I would also bring everyone up to speed with what our last few crazy days looked like....

It all began on Friday with our supposedly lovely weekend in the Cities...

Friday Ty was planning this little get away for our birthdays in the cities. We found a great deal on a hotel and made reservations at a nice restaurant. Ty was working half days all week at Dove and just filling in, but Friday was different...He was there until almost 3:30 pm. Our reservations weren't until 5:45 so we thought would could still make it there a little early even. But we didn't plan for....THE SNOW! Apparently the cities was covered in snow and then we hit traffic...RUSH HOUR! So we thought we would call the restaurant and let them know we would be a little late...WRONG AGAIN! We ended up lost and never made it to the restaurant and just went to the hotel instead.  Then we walked through the skyway to  Applebee's and ate dinner there. 

Saturday we thought would be a great day to do most of the activities since we wouldn't be quite so tired...WRONG AGAIN! We were planning to go to a movie and do a little shopping, but Ty had been not feeling well all night and neither one of us slept well, so we decided after walking around Nicollette Mall we would head back to Eau Claire. We were supposed to go to a restaurant for Ty's birthday have cake and celebrate. We still did that, but the place we were supposed to go was...CLOSED....AGAIN (the same one we were supposed to go to For Leslie's birthday in Nov.)! After eating at Famous Dave's instead, we had a normal night and drifted off to sleep a little early.

Sunday was a day like any other. Besides being a little sleepy still, it seemed normal. We had a good lunch with friends and I picked up a shift at the Rutledge. Things seemed to be looking up. Then I remembered...I have to turn in my application to Teacher Education. I decided that I would go over to River Falls and drop it off. My friend Hannah had the day off for MLK day. That should have been a hint for the things to come...   

Monday morning I woke up and got ready. As I was in the shower I saw the website for the school in my head and remebered something on the schedule that said classes were canceled for MLK day. I figured, "The building has to at least be open and I can probably still put my application in someone's mailbox...WRONG yet AGAIN! Hannah and I got all the way there, trudged through the snow, only to find that all the buildings were closed... GREAT! So we did what any smart woman would do when she was down. Grabbed a coffee went shopping (at Goodwill) and drowned our sorrows in Chipotle. After returning to Goodwill and grabbing one last thing, we headed for home. I made a cake at my parents house and homemade pizza for Ty's birthday and we had a wonderful night playing ticket to ride. 

And today... I have to go to River Falls and try it all over again...here goes nothin!

And now, Ladies and Gentlemen, the pictures you have been so patiently waiting for....

Spanish Phrase of the Day

Aunque no fuera perfecto, fuera una semana buena por que dios lo hizp

Translation: Although it wasn't a perfect week, it was a good week because God made it

Duh Duh Duh Happy Birtday

Birthdays in my family were always a big deal. We would get out of chores, get a special pretty glass at supper time, and we were able to have pop(something that was not usually allowed) for supper. But not only did we get to choose a special drink for our Special glass, we got to decide if any of our sisters could have some. Oh the power! Most of the time we would share, but it was the power that we loved to hold over our sisters heads. Today is Tyler's birthday, and I am so happy to get to celebrate it with him. Ty, you mean the world to me and I hope you have a very special birthday. I am so excited to spend it with you. Who knows what we will do, but we will do whatever you want, and I might even have to find you a special glass ;) In the words of Gus from Cinderella, "Duh Duh Duh Happy Birtday!" (Yes, this is another tradition) 

Spanish Phrase of the Day

Espero que tengas cumpleaños buenos

Translation: I hope you have a great birthday 

Brithday Week

This is always a very busy week of the year. On the 7th is my birthday and on the 13th is Tyler's.. On Friday last week (the 7th) we went to the Cities to have dinner at the Spaghetti Factory. Taylor(my sister) is in Mankato which is about an hour and a half drive, and came to meet us. Right in the middle, it was the perfect place to meet! We had so much fun! My parents and Tay brought my presents and the waitress sung happy birthday to me...Oh the embarrassment of that! After our tummies were full, it was time to walk it off. We went to the Guthrie Theater a few blocks away and walked around. There are so many beautiful views from the many windows. After the Guthrie, we parted ways and made the drive back home. Ty slept most of the way home (haha had to add that).

Now we are only a few days away from Ty's Birthday! Since our birthdays are so close together, we thought we would do a special trip to the cities. We were able to get a great deal on a hotel and are going to be staying near the Nicolette Mall area. That has kind of become our place because on our first date we actually went and walked around down there. Once we get back there will be more pictures and more blogging.  

Spanish Phrase of the Day

Gracias por todos los cumpleaños desea y regalos

Translation: Thank you for all the birthday wishes and presents

To Infinity and Beyond...or maybe just Milwaukee

Well, the last 24 hours has been very busy.  Instead of my parents making the trip to Milwaukee and going to work tired Monday morning, I said I would take Lyss back and make a sister trip of it. We headed out around 3pm and arrived around 6:30pm to get Britt. Since my birthday is not far away, we thought we would celebrate it while we were all together. We tried a new restaurant called Ethiopian Cottage. It was excellent. Alyssa had wanted to try it. We were able to experience the food from another country which just happens to be close to our hearts (our niece Annie was adopted from Ethiopia). 

After a taste of Ethiopia, it was time for a reminder of dorm life. It was interesting to come back and try it again. I watched a movie while Alyssa finished some homework then, we drifted off to the sound of the fan diffusing the hall noise. In the morning, Alyssa had class at 8am. So she walked me to the library where I waited for Brittany to come and get me for coffee. 

I sat for about 20 minutes looking like a homeless person with my sleeping bag, pillow, and backpack in tow. When Britt arrived, we stopped off at Alterra Coffee to get a special gift for Matt and Brooke and then Britt showed me around town and where the house they had bought was. Then, it was off to her apartment where we made scones and chatted while drinking coffee. 

After an hour or so it was time to make the dreaded trip back. Four hours  in the car ALONE!!!!! Ok, so maybe it wasn't all bad, I did stop and do a little shopping at the outlet mall on the way home. Hey, a girl's gotta stretch her legs doesn't she!?  Finally, almost exactly 24 hours after leaving for Milwaukee, I was home. It was a long trip, I felt like I had been to infinity and beyond, but it was worth the trip! Love you sisters. Thanks for a great 24 hours!

Spanish Phrase of the Day

¡A infinito y más allá!

Translation: To infinity and beyond

(for all you Toy Story Fans out there)

Girls Night and New Years

Well, as usual, I waited to post until life slowed down...its been a crazy busy week with family-filled fun! Tuesday was a night of games with my family and Alyssa's friend from school. We ate dinner and watched the Vikings win on "Tuesday Night Football." Wednesday was errand running and sledding with the boys. Ty went, and I stayed home. Thursday was another trip to the Mall of America with Brooke, Annie and Leslie. We had a good time. When we returned more fun! It was girls night!

Hannah and Heather and I went to listen to Anna and Julia Johnson play at the Living Room Coffee shop in Eau Claire, WI. Anna has been a friend since I was in 4th grade and comes home from Nashville (where she is pursuing a music career) and plays a few shows. All the girls got together to hear her sing and then we all went to Hannah's house for food and girl talk time.

 

If you want to know more about her music you can always go to her website by clicking on this linkAnna Johnson Music

New Years Eve brought more excitement playing games at Brooke(Ty's sister) and Matt's  house. We played a new game that we were given for Christmas. Brittany and Eric are all about the strategy games and thought we would like a new one called Ticket to Ride Europe. That took a little more than an hour and then we played to rounds of Mad Gab...Hilarious! With icy roads we decided to head home a little early and get some rest. 

New Years Day, we were off to Minneapolis to meet my parents and Taylor and Alyssa for a last hoorah before the break was over for mom and Alyssa!  We went the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. After spending an hour listening to grumbling tummies, it was time to find food. We drove over to Dinky Town and ate at Annie's Parlor. My parents had eaten at when they were in college. Since Tay was leaving from there to Mankato, we decided to get one more sister Picture...It took a little while to get a good one...

Finally!

After driving home, we had to play ONE MORE game of Ticket to Ride Europe with my parents and Alyssa. What a great time...Ty and Lyss were so close, but Ty won. Overall it has been a busy week, but the next few will be incredibly boring, so I guess it was nice to be busy for a little while. Now I am off to Milwaukee to take Alyssa to school. Then we'll have a little sister party with Brittany and a sleep over in Alyssa's dorm! 

Spanish Phrase of the Day

Buenos propósitos de Año Nuevo

Translation: New Year's Resolution