The Final Hurdle

What a whirlwind this last few weeks has been. With final projects, finals, and my re-test for licensing, I have stayed rather busy and a little stressed at times. Finally, it is all over and the holidays have come and are almost gone. Now, I get to unwind before the craziest semester of Ty's and my life begins. I found out that I passed the more difficult version of the Spainsh test and now I have officially passed the FINAL hurdle has been jumped to finish my education. Ty and I will both be graduating in May and looking forward to facing the real world head on. The reality of finding jobs is hitting and we are excited to hopefully be back in Chippewa with our families. There is still a long road ahead, but we are almost there and I feel my second wind coming. This last semester I felt ready to give up, but now, the senioritis has passed and we are ready to face our FINAL semester!

There are SO many updates that I just don't even know where to begin, but they will come with time. I AM off until January 23rd afterall. Wishing everyone Happy New Year, and we are going to enjoy our time off together before its over and the hustle and bustle of the semester starts all over again!

Senioritis

The end is coming! We are SO close to the end of the semester. We are really getting antsy to come home for Christmas Break. Thanksgiving was busy, but nice. Ty has started back working with his internship, but they made it so that he could work from school. It is so great to have him making money without have to spend it in gas to Chippewa. My student teaching placements came over break and I am getting the paperwork ready for taking my Spanish licensing test. Everything is coming together and this just makes me want to be done with school all the more, but there are still 3 weeks of classes and lets not forget finals! There is so much left to do, and so little time to do it. It is starting to hit us both that we are almost at the end and we just can't wait to move back home to be with our families. Senioritis is hitting and hitting hard! We can FINALLY see the end! Now all I have to do is finish my silly e-portfolio and pass my test and the real fun begins, STUDENT TEACHING! No more sitting in class, I will be TEACHING the class. Sorry Ty, you still have one more semester. Anyway, thats what's been going on. We are just praying that I pass this test, because I have to in order to student teach and graduate.

Adoption: A Beautiful Reminder

This last week Matt preached about adoption because it was Orphan Sunday (link to the sermon).  With one beautiful niece who was once an orphan, the sermon hit harder than expected.  I don't think that I stopped crying completely at any point in the sermon.  Not only did it challenge me to think about how I could help the orphaned, but reminded me of a beautiful picture that we sometimes forget. If we are in Christ we are all adopted and He has loved us as He loves his own son.

As our family has been waiting for the next baby Lukowitz (Sophia) to arrive from Ethiopia, I have been reminded of this picture.  The beautiful reminder that I did not do anything and God chose me to be his child and he loves me as His child in a perfect way no one else ever could.  Like my sister-in-law is doing now, he has prepared a place for me (in heaven) where I can be with Him someday.  Adoption is a beautiful reminder and I am so happy that God has placed Annie and soon Sophia who will be a daily reminder of how much He loves us and that He adopted us into his family.  We can't wait to move back to Chippewa so that we can see it and be blessed by it all the time. We are so blessed to have this beautiful reminder.

Up date and Family Photos

We have been busy to say the least. School is picking up and birthday season is back in full swing. Taylor's was at the beginning of October, Mom's was yesterday, Brittany's is coming in two weeks and so many more. We have been coming home every weekend and trying to see everyone which is SO great, But...school has kinda taking the backseat and it is starting to creep up, on me at least. Last Friday Brooke was kind enough to take some pics of Ty and I and of course I got to process the pictures. If you are my facebook friend you have already seen one. Here are the rest. Sorry that this couldn't be a longer post, but I have to get back to homework. Oh, and if you are interested, my amazingly talented friend Hannah has started her own etsy shop:)called RufflesandTulle. you should check it out by clicking on the name. Here is a preview of our little family's pictures! Hope you all are having a good week!

 

Weekend with a Capital W

This past weekend we spent in Madison. Hence the "capital." It was a LONG weekend. Ty had a Cartography conference down there starting on Wednesday night through Saturday. It was a nice little get away. He entered a giant research project in a poster contest with 22 other maps made by people from across the country. There were people who were grad students from Madison and Penn State (apparently two of the best schools for his program) who entered their posters, so his expectations weren't high. I am still SO proud of him. While he was listening to people speak from Google Maps and ESRI (the company that makes the software he uses in school), I was galavanting around in Milwaukee with Brittany and Alyssa, my sisters who live there. I was great to FINALLY see my sister's house they had bought last winter and hangout with them just spending time catching up. I hadn't seen either of them in months! WAY TOO LONG!

After a busy day of pretty much nothing but getting coffee and eating(its what McDaniels do),I headed back to Madison to see Ty. Friday was another day of conference and I was able to see Brittany and her husband Eric with Ty for lunch. We ate on state street and after they left I did a little shopping....AT GOODWILL! Thats right, there is a GoodWill on State Street! AMAZING! Call me crazy, but a brand new Banana Republic shirt with tags still on for 3 dollars is worth looking for! After the conference, Ty and I walked around the State Capital, and saw a familiar face, someone from Chippewa (Sarah Wallace) was there touring the capital with a friend for the State Tennis Tournament! Lyssa came Friday night and hungout. We ate(of course) and chatted. Then we walked around the Mall. Over all, it was a good trip. We enjoyed every moment with family and realized just how much we missed them.

New Neighbors

The week is almost gone and it feels like we just got home from a weekend in Chippewa Falls. Ty and I were talking in the car on the way to school today and we decided that this year has been flying by! We are so excited to be done, but we can't believe we are getting closer to that halfway point in the semester.

This week we have been just trying to study for tests and we were blessed with the opportunity to get to know one of our neighbors. She is a Korean graduate student and started talking to Ty about our car and ended up talking about how she didn't really know anyone. Then, today in the University Center, we ran into her. She was talking about her homework and it turns out she is studying TESOL and is having a hard time with the same stuff I am studying in one of my classes right now. We are SO excited to have the chance to get to know her and her two little girls that we hear riding their bikes around our building parking lot. What a cool thing. Other than that, we are just getting ready for the weekend and coming home to see family and friends.

Almost Friday, hang in there people...

Homework and Fox in Socks

Wow! I can't believe that another week has passed already. We have been so focused on schoolwork that it seems like we were just home and now we are ready to head back again tomorrow. Ty has been spending countless hours in the GIS Lab working on his many different projects while I have been studying for tests. Don't worry, we have been finding time to do some of the things that help us relax. Today, Brooke and Annie came up and we went to the Ethiopian grocery store and have coffee. It is always so fun to have them make a trip over during the week. I was able to read Fox in Socks to Annie in the car. For anyone who has EVER read that book, it is a tongue twister of a book. Now, here we sit doing homework and preparing for our 1 class tomorrow. Oh how we look forward to Fridays! That's all for now. Sorry for the lack of pictures, I just never remember to grab my camera and cord. Maybe next post!

Fall has Fallen

Wow, a week ago I was wearing sundresses and sandals. Today I am all cuddled up in a cardigan and flats. Its amazing what a cold front can do. It is definitely Fall. So far, this semester hasn't been a very eventful. We only have classes on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday making Tuesdays and Thursdays study day and relaxing day. Ty has been busy with his three classes that require labs. He was feeling a little overwhelmed, but since his internship from the summer was extended, he was able to get 3 more credits for that instead of having to take another class. So, Ty will be working somewhere around 20 hours a month. Its not much, but we are hoping he can keep his foot in the door and maybe even get a job when he graduates so that we can come back to the Chippewa/Eau Claire area.

I have also been dabbling in Photshop. Brooke has been taking pictures of Annie (Our niece). Here are some that I did, when I should have been studying. :)

Wednesday, Heather Clutter was driving by and stopped in and had coffee with me in between my classes and it was so nice to have a piece of home in the middle of the week. Yesterday, we attended Intervarsity, a christian group on campus. It was a really great experience for both of us. One of the staff gave a talk from John about Jesus providing wine at the wedding feast and gave a new perspective on the text. Now, I am sitting here in Eau Claire just waiting for Ty to finish working and trying to make myself study a little. We will see how far I get. I guess that means I better start trying.

Relaxing

This weekend we stayed in River Falls. It was nice to just relax and get some much needed studying done. My parents were driving through on their way back from the cities and stopped by for lunch. After they left we did our weekly grocery trip and headed home to make supper. At about 8:00 Leslie texted Ty to see if we wanted to Skype. With both our parents recently getting computers with webcam and microphone its been nice to be able to talk "face to face." We were also able to chat with Matt and Hannah our good friends who recently moved away from Chippewa as well, but in the opposite direction, to Oshkosh. It was a great time to chat and get caught up. Sunday we slept in and spent the day cleaning the apartment and watching football. In the evening we headed to church...which felt strange. Church has always been in the morning for me, but we have some friends in Hudson that were going to an evening service. After a little more reading, it was time for bed so we could be well rested for the school week. Now here we are and I am almost late for class. More to come this week assuming we are not too boring and I have the time.

Back to school

Where did the summer go?? I am not sure, but now we find ourselves back in River Falls finishing our first (short) week of school. We came back on Sunday and started classes on Wednesday. The other days we just used what was left of our summer to have a little fun. Monday was labor day and Ty had his Fantasy Football draft so we were at the Mall of America where he did his draft while I shopped. For those of you who know me well, know that I have been really excited about shopping at Goodwill and finding amazing deals on clothes. So, after the draft we spent 2 hours at the Goodwill by the Mall of America. After that the day was over and we headed back to the apartment.

Tuesday was truly our last hurrah. After yet another trip to Goodwill, in Hudson and Stillwater this time, we were able to find tickets to the Bon Iver concert. Ty was like a little kid in a candy shop as he has been following the band leader since he was in high school. I was pleasantly surprised that I enjoyed the concert as well. We made it home right around 11:30pm.

Wednesday was time to hit the books and head to class. Ty is really excited about all of his GIS classes whereas I am getting a severe case of Senioritis. The classes I am taking are the last ones that I will ever have to take and for that, they are really lame. Well, its back to the books for me. Hope this has been a pleasant week for everyone else. We won't be coming home this weekend, but we plan to be back next weekend.

Once Upon a Coffee Shop

Today is our 3rd anniversary, so I thought I would share this poem that I had written for Ty for Valentines day 2 years ago. It tells the story of how we met and got married. Hope its not too sappy.

Once Upon a Coffee Shop

The man behind the counter,

Smiled at a pretty girl

Each time that she stopped by

She didn’t seem to notice

The glance he sent her way

He had hoped that maybe

She would notice him someday

Once Upon a Coffee Shop

With friends they would go out

He went since she was there, in fact

He longed to speak to her

For her it was not obvious

The direction of his words

Finally the night would end

They’d leave without a word

Once Upon a Coffee Shop

you texted me to say

You wanted to have dinner

 I said we could someday

The texting did not end so soon,

It lasted through the night

It did not stop after just one

We wrote with all our might

Once Upon a Coffee Shop

We’d dated only days

You drove so far to see me

Stopped by in random ways

You couldn’t get enough of me

Nor I enough of you

You meant the world to me

And to this day you do

Once Upon a Coffee Shop

If it wasn’t for this place

We’d not be where we are today

Joined by our Father’s grace

It’s where we first began our love

My husband and my best friend

For…

Once Upon a Coffee Shop

I fell in love with you

A Night in River Falls with Willy Porter

Ty had the day off on Wednesday so Tuesday we headed to River Falls for a night. Ty was SO excited because this summer UW-River Falls is doing a free concert series in the amphitheater and the guest this week was Willy Porter. Before Ty, I didn't know who he was at all, but he has grown on me. We found out that this concert was happening about a month ago and were hoping that we could come back for it. Normally, the concerts are $14+ for admission. This concert was FREE! We drove up and enjoyed the concert and our time alone. 

Ty and I waiting for the concert to start 

Willy Porter and a band member preforming

In the morning, we went to Caribou Coffee and I studied to take my Spanish Praxis (Wisconsin's teacher Licensing test, and Ty relaxed listening to music. Afterward we went to Stillwater and looked at some antiques. Over all it was a relaxing night away in River Falls. Its always so weird to go back after so long, but we always manage to have a good time when we go. Well, I have been putting off studying long enough. I take my test a week from Saturday.  

Spanish Phrase of the Day

Tengo que estudiar si quiero pasar el exámen de Paxis 

I have to study if I want to pass the Praxis exam

Is it July Already!?

Wow...the summer is just flying by! Ty has been keeping busy with his internship during the week and spending the weekends at wedding and grad parties. We have been able to sneak away a few times to sleep in River Falls and get some space of our own. Some exciting news has come though, Ty was asked to stay on after the summer is over to be a limited time employee. He will be working on more plat maps this school year. That means we will be back on the weekend for Ty to continue working for Applied Data Consultants. I am SO proud of him! As for me, I have been helping Leslie clean and get ready to sell their house which was recently put up for sale (in Chippewa Falls on the West Hill near Irvine Park). This has certainly been a crazy summer and the next few weeks will not be calming down. I recently signed up for the Spanish Content Knowledge Praxis test...needless to say I will be studying for the next two weeks for it to come and then we will be off to a relaxing vacation. This year both our families decided to go on vacation the same week in July. We will be going to Jellystone with Ty's family and then making the LOOOOOOOOOOONG trek up to the UP for a little less than a week in Houghton. There will be plenty of pictures to come.

Spanish Phrase of the Day

Me gusta el verano, pero soy emocionada a regresar a la universidad

I like summer, but I am excited to return to the university

Thats a Wrap

Wow! We have been finished with school for about two and a half weeks. Sorry I gave up on the blog at the end of the school year...it was a CRAZY last week. Finals were not so bad for Ty, but he ended up having to help me to finish mine. Apparently finals week seems like the best time for arts and crafts to some of my professors. I was printing pictures and coloring them by hand like there was no tomorrow. Then there was the final 5-7 page paper I had to write in Spanish and the poster representing the paper.  What a chore.  We managed to survive the week and are thrilled to say that we both got good grades this semester. 


Now, summer is here! We are thrilled to be back in Chippewa Falls and seeing family all the time. Ty started an internship in Eau Claire at a place called Applied Data Consultants and loves what he is doing and is learning so much. He hopes that this internship will get his foot in the door so that we can come back to Chippewa long term. As for me...I am still working as needed at The Rutledge Home and looking for jobs that might give me more hours. So far, no luck.  You know, its funny, now that we are back in Chippewa and its Summer, we are excited to go back. Only one year left and we are going to be FINALLY be college graduates! As Ty wrote when he had finished his last final, "School is done for the year, one year left...let this be a lesson to all...never take time off from school to "find yourself." Sooner or later, you will find yourself back in school."

Spanish Phrase of the Day

Por Fin! El semestre se terminó!

Translation: Finally! The semester is over!

UPDATE!!!

I know its been awhile, but things have been as crazy as you can imagine! Only two more weeks and we will be home in Chippewa. Originally we thought I would be stuck here for three extra weeks taking a summer class, but it was canceled and I am able to take it in the Fall so all is well. Ty gave his major presentation about his research project and poster last week Monday. It went well. He passed with flying colors and his professor was very impressed. Later that evening we watched the children of a couple living in River Falls with ties to Chippewa. They have three wonderful children and we were able to take them to play at the Burger King Play land. Later, while I put the little one to bed, Ty took the older two to see Rio. They came home raving about it!

The rest of the week was filled with class and homework. I gave two presentations in Spanish and then Friday Alyssa Came to visit! We had a great time. We went to a Mexican restaurant in Hudson and shopped at a cute little store downtown. It is always nice to have a visitor! I miss you sister of mine!

As for this last weekend, we stayed in River Falls to do some much needed catch up on our major projects. We met Brooke, Annie and Leslie in cities for a coffee and then got right to work. We decided to stay up there for dinner. We tried this cute little Thai place. The food was really good. I always love to try new foods from other countries. Afterward we went to church at Bethlehem and drove home to relax. Sunday was more homework and not much for fun. Well, time to get to work again...here are some pictures from Easter. Yes, I am 23 and we still have an Easter Egg hunt!

Spanish Phrase of the Day

Un abril lluvioso trae un mayo hermoso

Literal Translation: a rainy April brings a beautiful May

English Equivalent: April showers bring May flowers

The Fire

Last night Ty and I decided to drive home and spend the night. Ty had an interview in Eau Claire for a summer internship, so we thought we would save an hour by driving home. Around 8:30pm we were looking at the River Falls Journal news paper for a new apartment when we looked on the home page of their website and saw the picture below....

Ty said, " Hey isn't that our apartment building?" Sure enough, when we read the story it was our apartment building! We couldn't believe what we were seeing. It was quite the scare. We quickly called the apartment manager, and she told us that there had been a fire on the other side of the building (left in the picture ours is the balcony to the right of the blue awning)...she said that she didn't think there had been any smoke damage to our apartment, but we were still nervous. She couldn't give us much information at the time, so we just had to wait until the morning after Ty's interview to assess the damage. I couldn't sleep all night.

When morning finally came, we went to Ty's interview and then headed home. When we drove up to the building, all we could see was a huge black hole on the back side of the apartment building. It was nerve racking. We didn't have renter's insurance at the time (I know, I know...bad us). When we got to the parking lot and we could see cleaning crews already there trying to make it livable for the rest of the tenants. When we got to our hallway, there was no smoke damage . Then came the moment of truth, we opened our door to find that everything was OK and that there was no smoke damage. There was an odor of burnt plastic, but we were SO blessed not to have any damage! Praise God, we were safe and no one was hurt in the fire. There are many who did lose everything in the fire and our hearts go out to those people. We will be looking for ways to help those people out. If there is anything anyone else can do I will post on the blog. 

Spanish Phrase of the Day

Quien inició el fuego?

Translation: Who started the fire?

Posters and Papers and Presentations , Oh My!

Monday hit like a ton of bricks...I was so tired I just didn't want to roll out of bed. Mondays are always hard, but this one seemed harder for some reason. Yesterday was a very productive day. Ty was at the school so I was home cleaning and doing laundry. After dinner it was back to the books. This semester has been a busy one, but these next few weeks are going to be especially crazy. Ty's big mapping project poster is due in a week. He will be displaying it in the University Center too. That will be VERY cool. 

As for me, nothing is really new. I am just observing in the classroom, teaching Spanish to Kindergartners and writing lesson plans. In two weeks there will be presentations coming out my ears and papers galore, but for now its all the same. 

Ty has an interview tomorrow for a part-time internship with a company in Eau Claire that does GIS (for those who don't know that's a mapping software). Please pray that it all goes well. Back to work...See everyone this weekend!

Spanish Phrase of the Day

Este semestre cogemos el toro por los cuernos

Translation: This semester we take the bull by the horns

Friday, My Favorite!

Well, this has been a very busy week. We have been trying to get through lesson plans and mapping projects between observation hours and studying for tests. We did find a little time to squeeze in some fun.

Monday, we were all settled in to sleep when Ty had this idea for his project that would make it "better" so, at 11pm, we hopped out of bed and drove to Hudson where I studied and Ty did research until 2am. Surprisingly, we weren't too tired to go and try to recreate our first date on Tuesday (more to come).

I taught my lesson to Kindergartners again and they were actually listening to me this time. Then, I hurried back to campus to have my night class. When night class was over around 6:30pm we headed to the Cities to celebrate the 3rd anniversary of our first date. Depending on who you ask, it was either really terrible or really good. Since I am blogging, I will tell you why it was really good ;). We did get lost and we did have a difficult time finding parking, I will admit that was no fun. We did try to go to the restaurant where we had our first date, and were ignored by a waitress. BUT we found this cute place called the Loring Pasta Bar. Yes, the menu was more expensive than we expected, but I thought the authentic food was good (Ty was not as impressed). You could see the Kitchen from where we were sitting and there was a live band playing authentic Italian music while people were dancing. 

This is a picture from their website. I tired to take one, but it was just too dark.

Afterward, Ty suggested going to McDonalds for a McFlurry...I said, "After 3 years thats all I am worth? At least take me to Dairy Queen!" He ended up doing alright. We went to Coldstone on our way home. In MY opinion, I thought it was a unique way to celebrate our 3 year anniversary. We did learn one thing from this though, some good memories are just never meant to be recreated...

As for the rest of the week...it has not been nearly as eventful. Studying and working on mapping projects has been the focus. Well, I suppose I should study some of my Spanish Vocab before class at 3pm. We will miss seeing all of our Chippewa friends this week. It is getting to be CRUNCH time in the semester and we need to stay up here and focus for the next two weeks. 

Spanish Phrase of the Day

Una cabeza sin memoria es como una fortaleza sin guarnicion.

Translation: A head without a memory is like a fortress without an army  

 

A Special Day Tomorrow

DISCLAIMER: some parts of this post may be cheesy or corny...sorry in advance

So...this may seem weird or lame, I am not sure.  Tomorrow is a special day for Ty and I. When we first got married we hadn't had our 1 year dating anniversary yet (yes mom and dad...I can hear a quick wedding joke just writing this). We thought it would be fun to celebrate the 1 year mark of our relationship starting. Tomorrow it will be 3 years that we have been together. We were going to try and find a way to go out to dinner at the place we went on our first date (pictures to come). I have class so we won't be able to go tomorrow, but its a unique experience for us because we live so close to the cities where we went to a twins game and then walked around the Nicolette Mall with a group of friends. This has become "our special place" ever since. I guess do what you will with it, but we are excited...and in three months we will be celebrating 3 years being married (go ahead make the quick wedding jokes, I know you want to). 

As is obvious from my tan, this was not taken in April on our first date, but on our honeymoon in Puerto Rico...sadly we have no picture from our first date...if you were there (Heather, Kayla, Tanara) and have a pic we would love to have it. Spanish Phrase of the Day
Eres la luz de mi vida y no hay nadie para mí a parte de tú
Translation: You are the light of my life and there is no one for me but you

Almost Friday...

Well, another week is almost gone and here I am just posting for the first time since last week. Its crunch time and things are starting to get a little crazy around here. This last weekend was productive and fun too. We went to Menominee and studied for awhile. Leslie came up and had coffee so we chatted and went to an antique store. Then my parents came with Taylor and Alyssa who we haven't seen in awhile. We went to dinner and then to have more coffee and play a game of Ticket to Ride. What a blast! After they left we studied more and then headed back to River Falls. Sunday was another productive day for Ty. He was busy doing homework and I went to Goodwill and talked wedding with my friend Maggie who is recently engaged.

Ty is finally getting going on the GIS portion of his research and has been working hard every night while I sit in night class. This was the first week of observing in a middle school ESL classroom and my first week teaching Spanish to Kindergartners. I love my ESL placement. It is so fun to learn more about resources for ESL and what teaching is really like. As for the Spanish for Kindergarten...not my proudest moment. I guess I didn't realize how abstract the concept "my name is" and "I like" can be to kids in Spanish. I figured out I needed to change my style a little. like that song,  a little less talk and a lot more action was needed to keep the kids interested. They loved the commands when was having them jump up and down, but after that, they were bored.

Well...needless to say, this week has been anything BUT relaxing. I have been go go go since Monday and this afternoon is the first time I was able to just sit and relax...(well I did dishes but it seemed so much more relaxing than writing lesson plans). This has been a nice break, but I have some Spanish homework to get to.

Spanish Phrase of the Day

Un poco menos se habla y mucha más acción

Translation: A little less talk and a lot more action

The Long Week

Well, its been awhile so I will recap on our LONG week this week. Monday was nice. Just a little chilly. We hung out, went to class and worked on homework. Then it was up early Tuesday morning. I had to teach a lesson at the Hudson Middle School. What a blast! The kids were doing a story with actions to help them remember their vocabulary and I was the one in front of the class showing them what to do...exhausting, but fun. After the lesson teaching i got a short break and then I had to go back to class. I found out that my teacher was only going to count 4 of the 6 hours I spent in Leslie's classroom observing over Spring Break. She wants me to go to a 5th grade classroom too now.

Then there was WEDNESDAY... terrible, terrible Wednesday. SNOW everywhere! Then of course we got stuck in our parking lot for 20 minutes and I was late for class and soaked to the bone...should have put the hood up ;). I thought it was Spring. On the bright side, I had one class canceled so Ty and I went home early and were able to relax. The sun came out just in time to head to night class...LAME! We still got out of class a little early though. Thursday was another teaching day, and learning day for me...the second lesson did not take off like the first. I learned a lot about writing and creating lessons and how presenting them is SO much different...that was the last day at Hudson...only 27 hours to go.

Now its Friday...one more early day and preliminary meeting with the last placement I have. Then we rushed back to school for class at 10. Now here we sit, waiting for class. Writing this it seems like it wasn't a very long week, but it sure seemed long to me. Its time for the weekend. Only one more class for me and two for Ty, then we are freedom bound!

Spanish Phrase of the Day

Ponerse como una sopa

Literal Translation: To put on yourself like a soup

English Equivalent: Soaked to the bone

St. Patty's Day

As my grandpa would say, "I am 100% Irish." Though that is not the case, on St. Patty's day we let the Irish in us shine. Both Ty and I come from some Irish background so we thought this year we would celebrate.  This year we headed to St. Paul with Brooke and Annie and saw the St. Patrick's Day Parade. Annie didn't know what to do with herself, but Ty, Brooke and I had fun. Annie pretty much stared blankly and was overwhelmed by all the noise. When we got back to the parking ramp we asked if she had fun and her reply was, "Uh" which means yes. Here are a few pictures.

Walking to the parade...cold....

Trying to keep warm

The biggest Annie Smile I could  capture

Bagpipe players

Overall it was a fun day. After the parade we headed home and stopped off for a bowl of soup at Panera.  Then it was nap time for Annie and shortly after returning home it was nap time for us too. 

Spanish Phrase of the Day

Tengo sueño, voy a tomar una siesta

I am tired, I'm going to take a nap  

Life Lately

Spring Break is here and I will finally have the chance to do something besides sit in a classroom and watch teachers teach. Don't get me wrong, it has been fun, but I am looking forward to some fun that is not centered around school. YAY! That will be tomorrow.


Monday and Tuesday I was in a Spanish classroom at Hudson Middle School. I forgot what that setting was like. Worrying about who was going to sit at your table in the lunchroom and what person of the opposite sex was trying to get your attention. From a teaching standpoint it will be much different. I am excited to teach a lesson to the 8th grade Spanish class and see what it is really like to have to manage my own class for a short time. After my observation we headed home for dinner with the Perrenoud clan and relaxed the night away.


Today, I was observing in Leslie's 1-3 grade class at the Chippewa Valley Montessori school in Eau Claire. That was interesting. Going from 7th and 8th graders to 1-3grade was not as different as I thought it would be. Oh, well. Thats what observing is all about. Seeing what to expect. Now to top it all off, I just finished watching my niece Anne and we are going to have dinner and Idol night with my parents!  Great day so far!

Spanish Phrase of the Day

Asi es la Vida

Translation: Thats life

One More Day

Its finally Thursday! The most relaxing day of the week. With each of us only having one class, there is plenty of time for homework and studying. Today is special because we are going to see Taylor when she drives through on her way home for the rest of her Spring Break. It feels like its been forever since we've seen her. You know, when I think about it, its been like three months! That's a crazy long time. 

We are so excited for the week to be finished! We are jumping out of our skin just itching to leave for home on Friday. Maybe we will get some quality time with friends and family and some much needed Mia time. Lately we have been looking for somewhere to live where we can have her here. Wow, the semester is almost half over and it is just amazing to think about how the time has flown. After Spring Break it will be crunch time, but for now we are just going to focus on the relaxation to come... Here is a little song about Spring from Mexico.

Spanish Phrase of the Day

Antes que lo sepa será la primavera

Before we know it, it is will be Spring

Another week

Well, its time to get into the swing of things again. The weekend was was so restful. Friday night, Ty and I just had a nice time relaxing together. While Ty went for a run, I went a got a pizza and a movie. After a crazy busy week with midterms and papers due, we needed to unwind. Saturday morning we met Brooke, Leslie, and Annie in Hudson and hit the antique shops. No one really found any treasures, but it IS always fun to look. Then When it was time to go our separate ways, Ty and I made our way to Woodbury. Our computer seems to be on its last leg and no college student can really survive without one. We never did find one. After looking around a little longer, we headed home for another relaxing night. 

Sunday was fun. We hadn't seen my parents in about 3 weeks with their trip to Las Vegas and our staying in River Falls for a whole weekend before they left. Soup and salad at the Olive Garden and the Adjustment Bureau was just what we needed before we were headed back to another busy week. Afterward we played with Carter, Jackson, and Annie. They are always so much fun. 

Now we are back to reality. The reality that we are only one week away from Spring Break! That's right, Spring Break! This week we are just focused on pushing through. WOW! Where did the semester go!?

Spanish Phrase of the Day

Las vacaciones de primavera aquí venimos

Spring Break here we come!

What a week!

Sorry it has been so long since my last post. Even now I am thinking that there is something else that I should be doing, but I need the break. This weekend we were home  visiting with family. Saturday, was a bridal shower for Tyler's cousin Rachel. While Leslie made food and Brooke got her house ready for the many guests that were coming, I watched Annie. She had a cold, but such a trooper. The shower was filled with fun games,  great food,  getting to know Ty's family better. Sunday we went to church and ate the left over food from the shower. It was just as good the second time! After eating and playing with the kids a little, we headed home to play with more kids. A missionary couple with ties to Chippewa recently moved to River Falls and asked if we would watch their kids for a short time. They were so much fun! We learned a new game and were able to get to know some pretty great kids. Then the week began....

Monday I woke up with a terrible cold and that was just the beginning of the craziness for the week. That meant a lot of tea for me. We have been studying and trying to fight a nasty cold while still trying to make it to class. I can't wait for this week to be over. Thank goodness Friday is just around the corner. Only one test to go and then we am home free for the weekend. Well, this has been a nice diversion for my day, but it is time to get to work. 

Spanish Phrase of the Day

A diario una manzana es cosa sana

English Equivalent: An apple a day keeps the doctor away

Wednesday Already!

It been a seemingly short week this week. With classes canceled for me on Monday, the week has just flown! The detour to Brooke and Matt's Pizza Ranch fundraiser was a great time to see family and help them raise money to bring home another baby Lukowitz. We are SO excited for them! Class resumed on Tuesday as usual and homework is steady as Ty has a test on Friday that he has been diligently studying for...not a whole lot of fun. Yesterday I had night class and he actually had to go to the library to study because it was just too loud. Its crazy to believe that its midterms already. The big things are coming up and we are having to work a little harder, but that makes the weekend all the more worth it. Speaking of working a little harder, I should get back to work. 

Spanish Phrase of the Day

A quien madruga, Dios le ayuda.

Literal Translation: God helps those who get up early.

English Equivalent: Early bird gets the worm

Michael Scott translation: Early worm gets the worm