¡México aquí nosotros venimos!

With the new school We thought as a Spanish major we could avoid the study abroad. Looks like we were wrong. I was looking through a syllabus for my Spanish class when I stumbled across something that said to be licensed as a foreign language teacher in Wisconsin, you need to have an immersion experience. What does that mean? It is so vague! I talked to my teacher and he said that there was the possibility of study abroad in J-term. For those who are not aware of what j-term is, it is the time between Christmas and the Spring semester. This is the perfect time to go, there is hardly any rain, its not too hot, and Ty is coming with me!

This means that we will be leaving from December 29-January19th. Today, we are working on getting our passports. Yesterday,  we went and had our pictures taken at Walgreens and today we will be going to the court house to file the paperwork! On this trip we will be with about 20 other people and we will get to see all the different cultures in Mexico. There are about 5 or more cities that we will be going to, in Central Mexico. The next few months we will be attending a class on Tuesday nights to prepare us for the culture of what we are going to see while in Mexico. The best part is, we are going for 3 weeks and we each get 3 credits, all we have to do is write an 8-10 page paper. For Ty it will be in English, but for me it will have to be in Spanish. 

Well, that's about all we have been up to lately, apart from watching the Bears beat the Packers, (that one was for you Tay) we have just been working on homework and going to class. Today I will get placement for the classroom that I have to observe in for 25 hours. This will definitely make for an interesting rest of the semester! Ty has two tests on Friday and after that we are home free for the weekend in Chippewa. I will try to keep you updated about Mexico. We will be getting more info tonight. Any questions you have feel free to post! We would love to give more information!

¡México aquí nosotros venimos! 

(Translated: Mexico here we come!)

Children in the Corn

Sunday was a day filled with the usual Vikings game and lunch with Perrenouds. The real fun always begins after the guys leave to play Frisbee though! This time we went to Klinger's Market and there was a corn maze for all the kids to go in. With Annie and Treyton being only a year old, they were carried most of the time, while Carter and Jackson were looking for clues to win a free gourd. 

Annie, Jackson, and Carter at Klinger's as Scarecrows or in Spanish: espantapájaros

Playing Tic-Tac-toe...They played with gourds and pumpkins in Spanish=calabaza

The maze was a cemetery or in Spanish=cementario

Here is Miss Annie in the Corn in Spanish=maíz

Over all, we had a good trip to Klinger's. Everyone was ready to go after we got Jack and Carter's Gourd and a treat for the road or candy in Spanish=dulces. After the corn maze it was time to head out. We went to McDaniel's for some Taco Soup, which they liked, and more football. We watched until the 3rd quarter and it was time to head home. After a fun-filled Sunday, it was time to go home. Another late Sunday night, we weren't home until 10:30pm, but it was well worth it.

The weekend begins!

Fridays are the best! This Friday is one that I have been looking forward to all week long. My only class was canceled and that meant it was a free-day! After we worked out this morning and straightened the apartment (mostly Ty did the cleaning while I was getting ready. What a nice guy!) Ty left for class and I waited for Hannah to come! She had the day off and we had some thrift stores to hit! First stop, a little store called Treasures of the Heart. Its a consignment store. There wasn't much there but, we still managed to find a lot of time to spend in there. 

Next it was time for lunch! Hannah was thrilled when we could eat at a Chipotle. After our tummies were full it was time for some more shopping. We first went to Goodwill in Hudson. There are two Goodwill shopping centers near River Falls and we just couldn't resist going to both. I was able to get a lot of good deals at Goodwill! I found a pair of Express dress pants for $6! What a great find! I didn't spend more than $10 on anything that I bought. 

The last stop was Woodbury's Goodwill! That was where Hannah was able to find the most. She found a new fall jacket for only $5. I never thought I could have so much fun at a Goodwill, but when it was all said and done, we had spent at least 2 hours in each Goodwill Store! What a beautiful way to go into the weekend! After we finished shopping, we headed back to my apartment where Ty had been waiting patiently for us to come back for supper! Now the rest of the evening will be relaxing with Ty! I don't know if I will post again this weekend or, not, but if you are in Chippewa I will see you on Sunday!

It was too wet to play. So we sat in the house All that cold, cold, wet day.

Waking up this morning was not something that we wanted to do. It was dreary and Ty did not have class until 2pm. We decided that we should get up and workout because I had class and a quiz to take at 9:30am. Since it was pouring rain, we decided that we would drive to class. We may as well have walked. Parking in River Falls is terrible. Everywhere that was open was by permit only. Finally, we were about 5 blocks from school (not too much closer than if we walked) and we found a place to park. Another thing we learned today is that umbrellas are really good at keeping your heads dry, but our feet and bottoms of our pants were soaked! After finishing a 2.5 hour class I figured I would come out and the rain would be over, WRONG!The sun did not shine. 

Rain equals comfort food so I made homemade pizza and off to class we went. Basically, today was a soggy boring day. Filled with studying, pizza and coffee to warm us up after the cold. 

Its Wonderful Wednesday!

Today  has been a typical Wednesday. We woke up this morning, worked out and Ty left for class at 11. We actually live pretty close to campus so we just walk everyday. There is a paved trail that leads from near our apartment to the center of campus. On Wednesdays Ty has class from 11-12 and from 1-3, so we sneak in a little time to talk from 12-1. I do not have class until 2 which is nice, but then I have a lecture from 5-7:30pm. Ty gets to spend all the time that I am in class doing homework. Then at the end of the night we go home together. It s really a wonderful day in spite of all the time spent in class late at night.  With class so late we end up eating supper and then going to study before class. I am not liking this eating at 3:15 or 3:30. You take what you can get I guess.

This has been an interesting time being here. We always used to eat at family's houses and then we would sometimes throw a frozen pizza in the oven when family was busy or we wanted a night to ourselves. How the times have changed. I am now making meals every night. Don't get me wrong, I love to cook, but I am running out of ideas.If you have any suggestions for quick meals, let me know. I am always excited to try new things. Recently we tried Taco Soup! Thank you Hannah for the recipe. Ty has informed me that it is his new favorite.

Finally, I have decided to add a Spanish phrase every time that I post something.  So the Spanish phrase to day is : Te metiste en camisa de once baras literally = you put on a shirt made of 11 sticks which is similar to: you have bit off more than you can chew

Monday, Monday...

We have not been at this blogging thing very long, and already I am getting requests to update the blog more often. I can definitely find the time, I am just curious how often you would like to see a post. I would also like to know what you are interested in hearing about. Right now we are in the midst of some major decisions and soon there will be plenty to blog about, but until then, I would appreciate a comment or a question so I know what you would like to know. 

 

Here we are again, sitting in classes and the weekend is over. It seems like it will be forever until the weekend comes again. Yesterday was a fun-filled day of family and football, Frisbee and friends. Ty was so excited to watch the Vikings game with Matt and Brooke and I was lucky enough to spend a little quality time with Annie. We are amazed at how much she grows every  time we come home. After doing laundry and eating dinner with the Mom and Dad McDaniel and having some much needed Mother-Daughter, Son-in-law Father-in-law football time we hit the road at about 9:30pm making it home by 10:45pm. A beautiful day yesterday, to a drizzley rainy day today. I guess God prefers Sunday too!

Where we Live

For many of you, when we say we live in River Falls, you have no idea what that looks like or if it even exists beyond the exit signs off 94. I thought I would give you a little tour of our home and our campus.

 

This building is the Education Building. We will be spending a lot of time in here as we get into our content area. 

This is North Hall. Most of the campus is on one side of the street, but this building is the only one you actually have to cross the street to go into. 

 

This is South Hall, one of the oldest Buildings on Campus. If you are interested in Attending UWRF this is where the admissions office is. We would love to have you here!

This is the University Center or UC. The newest and most environmentally friendly Student center in Wisconsin. This is where Tyler and I spend countless hours doing homework. Even as I write this I am in the UC.

This is our living room. Our apartment is not huge, but we really like it. 

(Minus the part about not being able to bring Mia with us.)

This is our Kitchen/Dining Room. Thanks to Matt and Hannah, we have a table that will actually fit in our "dining room." I was thrilled that it had a place for all my Antique collectibles. 

 Well...as you can see Tyler is getting things done as I blog. I suppose it is time to get down to business.

School: Week 1

This week was our first almost full week of school. As many know we are both going to school for education. We have been trying to get all of our classes figured out and get the best schedule for the week. Finally, I was able to get into all the education classes that I needed and Tyler was able to take 15 credits. God was so good making it possible for us to be full-time students when we were unable to sign up for classes until almost one week before classes were to start. We are trying to stay optimistic about how long we will be here. We are on track to be done with school in about 2 years. Hopefully I will be able to apply to the education program this Spring and Tyler by next fall. We are enjoying classes and our new town. We miss all of you who are not with us! We hope to be able to keep people up to speed with our ever-changing life!