ELC Field Day 2015
11 years ago
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Oh, the weather outside is frightful...
...and there is no fire to make me delightful...and since I'm sitting here at work under a fan that refuses to blow anything but cold air...(this is where the usual "Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow" comes in to this song, but right now, it's so cold that it wouldn't even be able to snow outside). It is freezing, people! That's all I have for you right now. I'll think about writing later when I'm more thawed out.
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Random ramblings during a slow week
It's the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, and things have slowed down a lot -- so much so that I almost fell asleep in anatomy class today. Wait...I come close to that quite a bit unless I have my trusty cherry coke zero to give me my much needed caffeine. Anyway, I have welcomed this slow week by spending time reading for pleasure instead of studying. I'm reading "Three Cups of Tea," which is about an American mountain climber who almost died attempting to summit K2 (large mountain in Pakistan) and ended up being nursed back to health in a tiny little village in Pakistan. The book is about all of this, and also details his mission to build a school for this village (and then many more). I'm a little over half way done, and it is an amazing story so far. I would definitely recommend it.
Today, my boss took me out to lunch at the Loring Pasta Bar in dinkytown -- it's this great brick building that has high vaulted ceilings and lots of trees and funky lighting. It used to be an old corner store or something like that back in the day. I love old places like that. I'll have to go there sometime at night....and have some wine instead of water....maybe with a cute boy instead of my boss. :) I thought it was really nice of her to do that. We were celebrating the fact that I just finished some pretty big projects, so she also paid the bill with the company card. Love it.
Well, I'm getting ready to head home on the bus and then take Indy down to Lake Nokomis to go for a run with Aunt Katie. I haven't run in a few weeks, and I'm supposed to do the Turkey Day 5K Thursday morning, so a jog in the chilly weather should be good practice. Oh how I miss being so close to that lake to run. I now live in NE Mpls instead of South Mpls, so I'm not close to the lakes anymore. But I do have the river and other cool places to run, etc. I just actually need to get my butt out there more often to do it.
Well, happy Thanksgiving to all and to all a goodnight! I'll be running the 5K in the morning, eating brunch at a friend's house afterward, then eating dinner at Mom's house around 1, then popping over to Aunt Jan's and Uncle Jim's for more snacks, drinks, visiting and potentially some games. Sounds good to me!
Today, my boss took me out to lunch at the Loring Pasta Bar in dinkytown -- it's this great brick building that has high vaulted ceilings and lots of trees and funky lighting. It used to be an old corner store or something like that back in the day. I love old places like that. I'll have to go there sometime at night....and have some wine instead of water....maybe with a cute boy instead of my boss. :) I thought it was really nice of her to do that. We were celebrating the fact that I just finished some pretty big projects, so she also paid the bill with the company card. Love it.
Well, I'm getting ready to head home on the bus and then take Indy down to Lake Nokomis to go for a run with Aunt Katie. I haven't run in a few weeks, and I'm supposed to do the Turkey Day 5K Thursday morning, so a jog in the chilly weather should be good practice. Oh how I miss being so close to that lake to run. I now live in NE Mpls instead of South Mpls, so I'm not close to the lakes anymore. But I do have the river and other cool places to run, etc. I just actually need to get my butt out there more often to do it.
Well, happy Thanksgiving to all and to all a goodnight! I'll be running the 5K in the morning, eating brunch at a friend's house afterward, then eating dinner at Mom's house around 1, then popping over to Aunt Jan's and Uncle Jim's for more snacks, drinks, visiting and potentially some games. Sounds good to me!
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
The sweetest words
Today, the sweetest words to my ears were: take-home exam.
I have had at least one test each week for the past five weeks, and I was pretty much over studying. But last night instead of doing something fun -- my usual Tuesday night consists of hanging out with Eric going to a movie or something like that -- I spent from 4:30 to 10:30 studying for a test I have coming up on Friday. This morning in class, the prof tells us that it's now a take-home exam. At first I thought, man, I could have just played last night instead of studied. But then I thought, awesome, now I'm pretty much caught up so I don't have to study as much for the final. So yeah, we get our tests emailed to us on Friday, we have all weekend to do them, and they're due on Monday morning.
Awesome.
I have had at least one test each week for the past five weeks, and I was pretty much over studying. But last night instead of doing something fun -- my usual Tuesday night consists of hanging out with Eric going to a movie or something like that -- I spent from 4:30 to 10:30 studying for a test I have coming up on Friday. This morning in class, the prof tells us that it's now a take-home exam. At first I thought, man, I could have just played last night instead of studied. But then I thought, awesome, now I'm pretty much caught up so I don't have to study as much for the final. So yeah, we get our tests emailed to us on Friday, we have all weekend to do them, and they're due on Monday morning.
Awesome.
Sunday, November 11, 2007
Fall photos
I thought I should add some photos from the past month or so. Here are a few. Click on the links to see the full slideshows for each category.
Fall hiking: In September, Eric, Indy and I went to Wild River State Park (which I wrote about already). Then a couple weeks later, he, Stacy, Taylor and I went to Taylors Falls (on the Wisconsin side of the river). It was a gorgeous 80 degrees out during that first weekend of October. Absolutely amazing weather!
Bar Olympics: This is a pic of Ashlee, me and Karin at Bar Olympics. We were representatives of Team England -- notice our soccer (football) jerseys. Bar Olympics consisted of teams of 5 who had to compete in various bar events: foosball, bean bag toss, darts, karaoke and pool. It was a really fun time -- hope to do it again sometime! PS Picking countries and having team uniforms was optional -- I'm pretty sure we were the only team to do that. :)
Halloween/Bday: To your left is a photo of me in my "roller derby chick" costume. I did not win the contest, but I did at least get chosen to participate, along with Karin and John, who were figure skating champions. They even made it to the finals!
Fall hiking: In September, Eric, Indy and I went to Wild River State Park (which I wrote about already). Then a couple weeks later, he, Stacy, Taylor and I went to Taylors Falls (on the Wisconsin side of the river). It was a gorgeous 80 degrees out during that first weekend of October. Absolutely amazing weather! Bar Olympics: This is a pic of Ashlee, me and Karin at Bar Olympics. We were representatives of Team England -- notice our soccer (football) jerseys. Bar Olympics consisted of teams of 5 who had to compete in various bar events: foosball, bean bag toss, darts, karaoke and pool. It was a really fun time -- hope to do it again sometime! PS Picking countries and having team uniforms was optional -- I'm pretty sure we were the only team to do that. :)Halloween/Bday: To your left is a photo of me in my "roller derby chick" costume. I did not win the contest, but I did at least get chosen to participate, along with Karin and John, who were figure skating champions. They even made it to the finals! Tuesday, November 06, 2007
Rockin' Young People
As I was checking cnn.com this morning, I noticed a new section called "Rockin' Young People," and it contains profiles of young people who have done some pretty amazing, extraordinary or just different things so far in their lives. One of them was about a 25 year old guy who traveled around the middle east interviewing terrorists, their children and the under-30 crowd and then he wrote a book about it. I would definitely add that to my list of "must read soon" -- it's called "Children of Jihad."
But that's not the only reason I wanted to share my little find this morning. There was another person profiled who may not have done quite that, but she seems to be really inspiring in another funny way -- she is approaching her 30th birthday and has set out to do one new thing every day between her 29th and 30th birthdays, and she has a blog about it: http://www.jen365.blogspot.com/. I scanned some of the stories but decided I shouldn't just sit here at work and read her site, although it would be really easy to do that. Some of the things are funny, some are nice gestures, and she's had tons of visitors from all over the world reading her posts and posting comments or suggestions for other new things. So check it out! I think it's such an interesting thing -- funny, entertaining and inspiring.
The funny thing is a couple years ago when I was approaching 25, my co-workers at Clarian were asking me "So, do you have your list of things to do before your 30 figured out?" And I hadn't at the time. The only thing I could think of was skydiving (PS: now I'm not so sure I want to do that since people die sometimes). I think I had a couple more, like riding in a hot air balloon, and I recently got the idea from Eric that it'd be cool to travel to all the countries of my ancestors -- England (done), Denmark, France (done), Canada, Germany....I know there are others, but I can't remember. I'm kind of a mutt. I think I just like the idea of changing things up every now and then, getting out of your comfort zone, trying new things -- whether it's food, travel, hanging out with different people, trying a new sport, etc. So if you have other ideas of new things to try out, I think it'd be fun to hear what's on other people's lists. Feel free to share!
Here are some of the things on my to-do list (not necessarily to do before 30, just during my lifetime in general):
- travel to the countries of my ancestors
- skydive?
- snowboard
- make sushi
- ride in a hot air balloon
- travel to all the continents (except Antarctica -- I really don't think my fingers and toes would like the cold that much)
- go to the boundary waters for a long canoeing/camping trip
- buy a house
- sing on the mountain tops in Switzerland and pretend I'm in the Sound of Music
- go to Greece and eat real Greek food
- live in another country for an extended period of time (even if it's just 6 months)
- gain a better understanding of different world religions
- earn my master's degree
- learn another language (or at least enough to get by -- maybe improve my Spanish or ASL)
- own a cabin (anyone want to go in on cabin in like 5-10 years?)
- go flyfishing
- ride in a gondola
That's all I can think of for now. I might continue adding to this list...
Here are some cool things I've already done:
- rode a camel in Tunisia
- visited Carthage
- accompanied a friend to a doctor in Tunisia, where she got stitches without having any pain meds or anything to numb the pain (except a suppository, which is supposed to do the trick -- she refused to use it)
- lived in France for 5 months
- traveled to Normandy, France by myself and rented a van with 7 guys to tour the beaches, memorials and cemetaries
- wakeboarded
- skiied in Colorado and in the French Alps
- traveled to England, Ireland, Scotland, France, Italy, the Caribbean, and many US states
- lived in the high desert in southern California for 6 months (on $700 a month)
- learned about the tough system the US has for welfare when I applied/fought for food stamps and used them during my AmeriCorps experience in Cali
- set foot in the Atlantic Ocean, Pacific Ocean and Mediterranean Sea
- rode on a catamaran in Atlantic Ocean and got scared of sharks so only swam for about 3 minutes
- wrote a thesis
- sang in a wedding
- read in a wedding
- ate octopus and other unknown sea creatures in a "seafood salad" in Italy
- spent two weeks traveling in Europe with my mom
- ran a marathon and 2 half-marathons
- completed 2 sprint triathlons
- rowed on a crew team for 4 years
- let someone cut my hair by snipping off my braid (Sam and Emily!)
- lived in a house with 6 girls (oh the fun and the drama!)
- bought a puppy and trained her to be well-behaved (most of the time)
This is too fun! It's kind of fun to look back at all the things I've done and all the things I have yet to do. You should try it. It kind of reminds me that I really have done a lot -- especially when day-to-day, you kind of forget these things and sometimes get stuck just doing the same ol' stuff (like for me, studying, making dinner, etc.).
But that's not the only reason I wanted to share my little find this morning. There was another person profiled who may not have done quite that, but she seems to be really inspiring in another funny way -- she is approaching her 30th birthday and has set out to do one new thing every day between her 29th and 30th birthdays, and she has a blog about it: http://www.jen365.blogspot.com/. I scanned some of the stories but decided I shouldn't just sit here at work and read her site, although it would be really easy to do that. Some of the things are funny, some are nice gestures, and she's had tons of visitors from all over the world reading her posts and posting comments or suggestions for other new things. So check it out! I think it's such an interesting thing -- funny, entertaining and inspiring.
The funny thing is a couple years ago when I was approaching 25, my co-workers at Clarian were asking me "So, do you have your list of things to do before your 30 figured out?" And I hadn't at the time. The only thing I could think of was skydiving (PS: now I'm not so sure I want to do that since people die sometimes). I think I had a couple more, like riding in a hot air balloon, and I recently got the idea from Eric that it'd be cool to travel to all the countries of my ancestors -- England (done), Denmark, France (done), Canada, Germany....I know there are others, but I can't remember. I'm kind of a mutt. I think I just like the idea of changing things up every now and then, getting out of your comfort zone, trying new things -- whether it's food, travel, hanging out with different people, trying a new sport, etc. So if you have other ideas of new things to try out, I think it'd be fun to hear what's on other people's lists. Feel free to share!
Here are some of the things on my to-do list (not necessarily to do before 30, just during my lifetime in general):
- travel to the countries of my ancestors
- skydive?
- snowboard
- make sushi
- ride in a hot air balloon
- travel to all the continents (except Antarctica -- I really don't think my fingers and toes would like the cold that much)
- go to the boundary waters for a long canoeing/camping trip
- buy a house
- sing on the mountain tops in Switzerland and pretend I'm in the Sound of Music
- go to Greece and eat real Greek food
- live in another country for an extended period of time (even if it's just 6 months)
- gain a better understanding of different world religions
- earn my master's degree
- learn another language (or at least enough to get by -- maybe improve my Spanish or ASL)
- own a cabin (anyone want to go in on cabin in like 5-10 years?)
- go flyfishing
- ride in a gondola
That's all I can think of for now. I might continue adding to this list...
Here are some cool things I've already done:
- rode a camel in Tunisia
- visited Carthage
- accompanied a friend to a doctor in Tunisia, where she got stitches without having any pain meds or anything to numb the pain (except a suppository, which is supposed to do the trick -- she refused to use it)
- lived in France for 5 months
- traveled to Normandy, France by myself and rented a van with 7 guys to tour the beaches, memorials and cemetaries
- wakeboarded
- skiied in Colorado and in the French Alps
- traveled to England, Ireland, Scotland, France, Italy, the Caribbean, and many US states
- lived in the high desert in southern California for 6 months (on $700 a month)
- learned about the tough system the US has for welfare when I applied/fought for food stamps and used them during my AmeriCorps experience in Cali
- set foot in the Atlantic Ocean, Pacific Ocean and Mediterranean Sea
- rode on a catamaran in Atlantic Ocean and got scared of sharks so only swam for about 3 minutes
- wrote a thesis
- sang in a wedding
- read in a wedding
- ate octopus and other unknown sea creatures in a "seafood salad" in Italy
- spent two weeks traveling in Europe with my mom
- ran a marathon and 2 half-marathons
- completed 2 sprint triathlons
- rowed on a crew team for 4 years
- let someone cut my hair by snipping off my braid (Sam and Emily!)
- lived in a house with 6 girls (oh the fun and the drama!)
- bought a puppy and trained her to be well-behaved (most of the time)
This is too fun! It's kind of fun to look back at all the things I've done and all the things I have yet to do. You should try it. It kind of reminds me that I really have done a lot -- especially when day-to-day, you kind of forget these things and sometimes get stuck just doing the same ol' stuff (like for me, studying, making dinner, etc.).
Friday, October 26, 2007
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Singing, shopping, testing, dog-sitting, reminiscing...
I have been meaning to post some nice pictures on here from Bar Olympics (bean bag toss/karaoke/pool/foosball competition at a couple St. Paul bars = good times!) a couple weeks ago and also from a hike in Taylors Falls a few weeks ago with Stacy, Taylor, Eric and Indy. I will do that at some point soon cause I'm pretty sure I got some good pics. I know some people (mainly Stacy) like me to update more often, so I just wanted to give a heads up and say "I know! It's on my to-do list!"
Anyway, things have been busy lately. Here are some highlights from the past few weeks:
- Sang with the Twin Cities Women's Choir at a U of M Nursing School conference last Monday -- funny side note: the choir director moved my friend Karin and me (former Alto 1s/Soprano 2s) to sing the Soprano 1 part. I laughed out loud when she told us to try it out. However, I decided that I like singing higher and not straining to hit the super low notes. The bad thing is: my voice is not used to trying to sing the super high notes either. I think I'm truly a Soprano 2 who likes to sing the Alto 1 harmonies, but who is now singing Soprano 1 because the choir needs more help in that section. You want to know a secret? I jump down to the Soprano 2 notes when it gets too high! Shhh.....
- Went Halloween costume shopping at ValuThrift (quick side note: I love huge thrift stores! I got almost my entire outfit at one store, including knee pads and wrist guards. What more could you want?) last weekend with Eric. I am going to be a roller derby chick, complete with a black and silver outfit, complemented by some hot pink (mainly in the form of a tutu). I just need to find some fake tatoos and some black shoes to make look like roller skates and I'm all set. A bunch of friends and I are going out on Saturday night (my bday) and everyone's dressing up. I love Halloween! Eric's going as a lumberjack -- my fav part of his ensemble is a) the fur hat and b) the thick red suspenders. Stay tuned for some pics from this Saturday night! PS If you haven't seen what the recent roller derby chicks look like, I would recommend going to one of these sites to check out the outfits: http://mnrollergirls.com/teams/ or http://www.nrgfanclub.com/girls.html. Little-known fact: the nrg fanclub site was created by a couple friends of mine who are HUGE fans in Indianapolis. They are also dating, and I believe they met at the derby.
- I survived my first round of midterms and did pretty well. Then I had one week with no exams, and now I'm back for round 2. Joking? Nope, but I wish I was. I have one test this Friday, one next Thursday, two the following week and then one more the week after that. Then, it's pretty much Thanksgiving. I will be giving thanks for no more tests (til Finals).
- Last weekend, I house/dog/cat sat for my friend Angie. She and her husband went to San Fran, so I got to have a mini-vacation and stay at their house to take care of Tonka (the 160-lb Newfoundland) and Calhoun (the 8-lb orange furry cat). Indy got to stay with me as well -- she got in a lot of wrestle and hump time with Tonka and enjoyed licking Calhoun a lot too.
- Small world story: So yesterday I was talking to my boss at work and we found out that we both lived and studied in the same small French town (Aix-en-Provence)! It is the quaintest little town you've ever visited and I just loved it there. So we kind of bonded over that, and now I am getting the itch to go back again sometime. Oh how I wish I could go live in France again for a bit. I wonder if my language skills would up to par?
Anyway, things have been busy lately. Here are some highlights from the past few weeks:
- Sang with the Twin Cities Women's Choir at a U of M Nursing School conference last Monday -- funny side note: the choir director moved my friend Karin and me (former Alto 1s/Soprano 2s) to sing the Soprano 1 part. I laughed out loud when she told us to try it out. However, I decided that I like singing higher and not straining to hit the super low notes. The bad thing is: my voice is not used to trying to sing the super high notes either. I think I'm truly a Soprano 2 who likes to sing the Alto 1 harmonies, but who is now singing Soprano 1 because the choir needs more help in that section. You want to know a secret? I jump down to the Soprano 2 notes when it gets too high! Shhh.....
- Went Halloween costume shopping at ValuThrift (quick side note: I love huge thrift stores! I got almost my entire outfit at one store, including knee pads and wrist guards. What more could you want?) last weekend with Eric. I am going to be a roller derby chick, complete with a black and silver outfit, complemented by some hot pink (mainly in the form of a tutu). I just need to find some fake tatoos and some black shoes to make look like roller skates and I'm all set. A bunch of friends and I are going out on Saturday night (my bday) and everyone's dressing up. I love Halloween! Eric's going as a lumberjack -- my fav part of his ensemble is a) the fur hat and b) the thick red suspenders. Stay tuned for some pics from this Saturday night! PS If you haven't seen what the recent roller derby chicks look like, I would recommend going to one of these sites to check out the outfits: http://mnrollergirls.com/teams/ or http://www.nrgfanclub.com/girls.html. Little-known fact: the nrg fanclub site was created by a couple friends of mine who are HUGE fans in Indianapolis. They are also dating, and I believe they met at the derby.
- I survived my first round of midterms and did pretty well. Then I had one week with no exams, and now I'm back for round 2. Joking? Nope, but I wish I was. I have one test this Friday, one next Thursday, two the following week and then one more the week after that. Then, it's pretty much Thanksgiving. I will be giving thanks for no more tests (til Finals).
- Last weekend, I house/dog/cat sat for my friend Angie. She and her husband went to San Fran, so I got to have a mini-vacation and stay at their house to take care of Tonka (the 160-lb Newfoundland) and Calhoun (the 8-lb orange furry cat). Indy got to stay with me as well -- she got in a lot of wrestle and hump time with Tonka and enjoyed licking Calhoun a lot too.
- Small world story: So yesterday I was talking to my boss at work and we found out that we both lived and studied in the same small French town (Aix-en-Provence)! It is the quaintest little town you've ever visited and I just loved it there. So we kind of bonded over that, and now I am getting the itch to go back again sometime. Oh how I wish I could go live in France again for a bit. I wonder if my language skills would up to par?
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
2008 election vs. American Idol
So I kind of started giving some thought to the upcoming presidential race a while ago, and then kind of started slacking. I don't know too much about the candidates yet, but I keep saying that I need to start reading up on them. I just saw this article today on cnn.com and I thought it was pretty motivational -- it basically tells you to get off your butt and just spend a little time surfing the web to learn about the different candidates. And really...who doesn't have time to do that? I know I definitely waste time looking on other sites, like Letterman's Top 10, Overheard in Mpls, etc. The author even jokes (or says "shame on you") about how more people tune in to American Idol than the presidential debates. So I just thought I'd share this article to share my inspiration and say hey, I'm going to start reading up on this stuff too! And really, how cool would it be if the percent of voters really did increase for this election (especially for the young vote)? Happy reading...if anyone ever wants to chat about different candidates or share their findings/opinions, I would be happy to talk about it. I just want to try to learn as much as I can this time around and really feel like I'm making a good decision.
Monday, October 01, 2007
First A in grad school
Yay! I just looked at my Acoustics exam grade online and found out that I got a 92.5%. Let's hope that tomorrow I do just as well on my Phonetics test...and the same thing for Wednesday's Language Acquisition test...and again the same for next Tuesday's Anatomy exam....then the first round of exams will be over!
Back to studying how we produce sounds...wish me luck!
Back to studying how we produce sounds...wish me luck!
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