Pixieland

Boundary Waters and Mall of America

2009-08-07T23:06:33Z

Last week Paul and I went on a canoeing trip with his family. It was tough at times, but it was a really good experience. This was the first trip I've been on where I had to hike and canoe several times to get to a camp site. It was also nice being out where it's all nature, so peaceful. I miss it now that I've been back at my desk job for the past week. Hopefully we'll be able to do a day hike soon.

On the way up to Ely, MN we took Scenic 61, which runs along Lake Superior starting at Duluth. It was 30 minutes longer, but definitely worth it.

Gooseberry Park (Middle Falls)

Our first stop along highway 61 was at the Gooseberry Park rest stop. It's just a very short walk to these falls from the rest stop vistor's center area and not very far from Duluth. So, like most pretty things that are very easy to get to, it was very crowded. We had to park pretty far away and there were people all over the place around the falls. You can see some of the people in the picture. I still think it was worth the stop.

Flea Market

Along the highway Paul saw this flea market and decided to stop to check it out. We ended up finding a frame hiking pack priced for $30 and Paul got it down to $20! This hiking pack was in new condition! It was really great for the trip, we just repacked everything once we got to Ely. I'm glad we didn't spend $200 for the one we were looking at in REI.

Palisade Head

We also stopped at Palisade Head off of Highway 61. I knew this was here from the research I did on the internet, but it took 5 internet sites before it was even mentioned and we still almost missed the turn because the sign for where to turn was tiny! Then it was a windy uphill one-way road to get to the top. So, this was a lot more unknown and harder to get to than the waterfalls, which meant it was a lot less crowded. And it was amazing! It was basically a bunch of rock/cliff formations overlooking Lake Superior (which is a very large lake, so you can't see the land on the other side). It wasn't restricted at all either, you could walk and climb wherever you wanted, there weren't any barricades or walls. We ended up staying for about an hour exploring the area, looking out into the water and watching some of the rock climbers.

Looking down from a cliff at Palisade Head

I crawled to one of the ledges to look down and I was surprised to see the water was very clear. I also saw a lot of rocks, so not a good place to go cliff diving.

Palisade Head

Here's a view in the other direction at Palisade Head.

Start of our canoe trip

We stayed at the bunk house when we first got to Ely and started on our canoe trip the next morning.

Paul steering our canoe and others following at the start of our trip

View from our first camp site

After canoeing for a while and having to carry all of our stuff across several long, rocky, muddy, and hilly portages, we made it to our first camp site. I really liked this camp site, it had a nice breeze and wasn't too buggish (the other camp site had tons of bugs because it was near a swamp)

Hanging out under the rain tarp

It rained off and on quite a bit the next couple of days. It was weird how it would be completely sunny one minute and downpouring the next. Since there was so much rain, we stayed at the camp site for 2 days. We hung out, played games, read books and took naps. It was nice and relaxing.

Paul making fire

Paul was the fire guy for the trip. He always made sure we had a nice fire going to keep us warm. :) In northern Minnesota it's pretty cool even in the middle of summer, it got into the 40's during the night.

Paul fixing the paddle

We're not really sure how it happened, but we found one of the paddles broken, it was cracked down the middle. Paul's always looking to fix things, so he took out his pocket knife and some rope and made it work as good as new. The guys back at the bunk house were all pretty impressed with his craftsmanship, so good job Paul. :) They didn't charge us for the paddle either, they said they break pretty often.

Paul and Ryan carrying canoes

The guys did a great job carrying all the canoes across portages. I know it was really tough for them and I'm glad I didn't have to do it. :P However, I did do my part carrying all those heavy equipment bags.

Beginning of the swamp

This was the toughest canoeing I've ever had to do. It was 2.5 miles of really thick swamp and bugs swarming everywhere. It really felt horrible at the time and we just wanted to get out of there as quick as possible, so Paul and I just kept paddling pretty much non-stop the whole way. We stopped once when we realized we lost everyone, but we didn't want to wait because the bugs were swarming us. So, we just kept going, they got back fine. The bugs seemed attracted to my hair, so I put on Paul's hoodie to keep them off and Paul said the bugs were all hanging out on the hood. haha. There were also several beaver dams we had to get out and pull the boat over. One of my legs fell into one of them and got caked in mud. Anyway, we eventually got through it and man did it feel like a real accomplishment! :D

We saw quite a bit of wildlife along the way, too. :) Including...

Turtles

A bald eagle

Many beavers, beaver dams, and beaver houses...they're always so busy building stuff!

A moose

A bunny that hung out at our camp ground all night, it wasn't afraid of people at all

Paul's Aunt Cindy and Tom trying to find our way

When we started back towards the entrance we got very lost and it started downpouring and thunderstorming. The reason we got lost was because the map says there is a pass through two land masses, but it was actually a very narrow rocky stream that you would have to portage across. The map was pretty hard to read in general since it's not very detailed at all. It was just annoying having to canoe in such bad weather for two hours trying to just get started on our way. I thought it was pretty funny how when we finally found our way the sky cleared and the sun came out.

The whole group at the end of the trip (Paul's Aunt, brother, sister, brother-in-law, mom, dad, and then paul and me)

Mall of America entrance

On the way back we took a different route that went through Minneapolis. Also, 30 minutes out of the way, but worth it since his family was all flying out of Minneapolis and we got to hang out at Mall of America for a while. Once we realized there was no sales tax in Minnesota, we did quite a bit of shopping. :) We ended up staying there from 9:30 am - 5:30 pm, which meant we didn't get back to Milwaukee until midnight.

The amusement park inside is Sponge Bob themed now, it was Camp Snoopy last time I was here

For the girl who wants to wear a usb flash drive on her neck and still be stylish! :P I still wonder how much memory it has...

Legoland!

IKEA

Before we left, we stopped at IKEA. This was the first time I had ever been in an IKEA store, it was so much fun! I really liked seeing all of their model rooms and really nifty ideas for furniture. I also really liked the set up of the store where you write down the numbers and pick it up in the warehouse. There was a lot of stuff I was tempted to get, but we ended up just getting some placemats and tupperware. Maybe next time I'll actually get some furniture.

Moved Apartments

2009-07-15T03:09:02Z

Six Points Crossing Apartments

We moved to a new apartment this weekend. The move itself went really well. We were finished by Saturday night thanks to Cortney and Brent's help! So, we were able to spend Sunday cleaning the old place and doing a bit of unpacking.

I wasn't sure about it at first, because my drive would be longer (but it ended up being only 5 mins longer! yay for 7-4 hours making me miss high traffic times!) and it's in a more urban area, but I really like it here so far! The main reason we decided to move was to cut Paul's drive to only 30 mins instead of an hour and we're saving $500/month once you add everything that we were paying for in Brookfield together ($300 less rent, water included, cable included, and underground parking included - this is important in Wisconsin!)

Also, we're on the bus route now. The 18 bus can take us straight from our apartment to the riverwalk downtown! And State Fair Park is 1.5 miles away which is a stop for a lot of bus lines. There is also a ton of stuff that's walking distance from our apartment since the historic downtown area starts a couple blocks from our apartment. Mostly little shops and restaurants, which is great. There is also a shopping center with some larger chain stores within half a mile (Big K, Pick N Save - this is the large grocery store chain around here, Pizza Hut, Cousins Subs, Game Stop, Harbor Freight Tools, Office Depot, etc.).

I really like the club house too, but my key card still doesn't access it. :( They said I should have access by Thursday. At least I have a fitness center at work I can use until I have access to the club house and the fitness center is more important in the winter anyway. What I really like is the balcony (the balcony on the center building in the picture), it has a view of the Milwaukee's skyline. :) I'll take a picture once I can get in the building.

As for the apartment itself, it's larger than our old place, a two bedroom. Since it's a brand new building and we moved in mid-month, we're the only ones currently in the building. It's kind of cool, but also kind of weird.

West Allis Farmer's Market

There's also a farmer's market on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday across the street from the club house. :) There is a rummage sale there every Sunday.

Actuaries playing volleyball

I'm the culture committee head for the Wisconsin actuarial department. Corporate decided to give all states half a day off for free to do some kind of event together. So, the task of organizing it was given to me. I knew I would be tired the Monday after we moved, but it was the only afternoon all summer that everyone was free (not on vacation and no meetings). I planned a potluck style picnic and games in the park. And if it rained we would go bowling. Fortunately, it didn't rain. The weather was perfect, sunny and warm with a light breeze. Everything went well and everyone seemed to really enjoy it.

The lunch was really tasty, one of my coworkers brought in a strawberry and lettuce salad with strawberry vinaigrette dressing that all came from his personal garden!

After lunch we played lawn games: croquet, washers, lawn darts, catch, bocce ball and ladder ball. After a couple hours we took a break from outdoor games and played Apples to Apples. Then, we all played volleyball, which just added more bruises to my already bruised up body from moving. :P All and all it was a really fun day, sure beats sitting in front of a computer all day! Speaking of which, I think I'll end this here and get off the computer for a while.

Independence Day Celebrations

2009-07-06T04:07:04Z

Green River Ordinance

We had to do a lot of cleaning and packing this weekend, since we are moving next weekend. We still took out some time for fun! On Friday, we went to Summerfest again. Some of the bands we saw were Train, Gavin DeGraw, Shinedown, The Roots, The LoveMonkeys (really good cover band), and Lita Ford. Train was fun in concert, even though I didn't get to hear Meet Virginia.

3rd of July fireworks on Lake Michigan

The main reason we went to Summerfest on Friday was to see the 3rd of July fireworks on the lakefront. It was a very large and long show. It was an hour long and we actually got a fairly good view. No one seemed to be willing to climb the rocks all the way down to where the water was, so we were right on the water and had a very clear view.

Bagpipers

On Saturday morning, I was woken up by a loud speaker. After waking up and getting ready, I ventured out to see what was happening. There was a parade going on just a few feet away from our apartment (it was on the other side of the building, so I couldn't see it from the window). It had some cool stuff including some people playing bagpipes.

Donkey and Mules Society

A llama

Donkey and Mules Society

A camel

Juggler and Stilt Walkers

And lots of jugglers and guys on unicycles. Lots of the participants were throwing candy out to the crowd and the town provided free ice cream after the parade. I hadn't eaten breakfast yet either, so I ate tons of sugar!

4th of July fireworks in Brookfield

The firework show that night was probably the highlight of my weekend. Paul wanted to see how close we could get to the fireworks, so we walked around the park. We ended up finding a spot right along the fence only a couple hundred yards from where they were shooting them off. We could actually see the mortar tubes. That was the closest I've ever been to a community fireworks show, it was awesome.

Goodwill and Half-Priced Books pile

Besides watching firework shows, we also did some packing and got rid of lots of stuff, including a couple shelves worth of books, 25 shirts, 10 pants, 8 pairs of shoes, 4 coats, 3 dresses, and lots of other odds and ends of miscellaneous items. Paul also gave away some of his excess computer parts and sold his old xbox on craigslist. Yay for less clutter and less to move!

Some of the Brookfield Fireworks Show

Summerfest, Board Games and Zoo

2009-06-29T22:39:24Z

Summerfest - The Offspring - Blurry but gives you an idea of how crowded it was

Summerfest wasn't what I expected, but it was still really fun! My idea of summerfest was that I would see these big name bands for really cheap. But the big name bands were so incredibly crowded it just wasn't worth it (so packed I could barely breath and people smoking eveywhere made it even worse). The picture above was taken after getting out of the crowded part. So instead of seeing just the Offspring, we ended up walking around the festival grounds listening to all of the bands. However, we did manage to catch 'Staring at the Sun'.

Summerfest - Dropkick Murpheys - Irish Punk Ban

The stage next to the Offspring was the Dropkick Murpheys. I've never heard of them before, but they were awesome! I've never seen anyone rock so hard with a bagpipe. hehe. We also saw a folk singer, a jazz band, and an ecuadorian band that were all in little tents along the lakefront. The Ecuadorian band was really good and everyone was dancing, so we could dance without too looking silly. :)

We were going to go to Summerfest again on Saturday and I was really looking forward to it (BNL, Our Lady Peace, Sara Evans, the BoDeans, and a bunch of other bands were going to be there), but we ended up having a severe thunderstorm so we didn't go. :( I'm still kind of upset by this. Saturday was still fun though, we played some board games with some friends.

Dr. Who the huge owl at the zoo

Sunday had really nice weather, the kind of weather I would have liked on Saturday. :P But we still took advantage of the nice weather and went to the zoo. No matter how many times we go, we always seem to see something new! This time we saw the birds of prey show and saw things like the largest owl species above.

Bald Eagle

And the Bald Eagle trying to steady himself in the wind.

Parrot

And a parrot putting colored rings on the post (it took him a while, but once he got started he did the rest very quickly)

Bird and rubber snake

And a bird showing us how he kills a snake by wacking a rubber snake on the pavement multiple times (it was awesome!)

Crow

And the crow fold up our donation with his feet and put it in the donation bin.

Feeding the Australian birds

And then we went to the 'Birds Down Under Exhibit' and fed them birdseed on a stick. It was fun. Basically, it was a very bird-centric trip to the zoo.

Time for rock climbing and Moe's!

UP and Starting to Pack

2009-06-15T23:00:53Z

Ductwork Dude at Menards

My study manual came in the mail for the MLC, so it's back to studying for me. It was nice having a break for a month. The exam isn't until November, so it's not crunch time yet, but I'm still trying to get in 1-2 hours of studying every day.

This weekend we pulled everything out of the storage closet and gave a LOT of it to Goodwill and threw out quite a bit too. A lot of it was just stuff we've replaced and never got around to giving to goodwill, like old alarm clock, old vaccum cleaner, etc. I also organized all of the loose paperwork! There are still boxes scattered around the apartment, but we'll get it all sorted out this week. We picked up some clear plastic bins at Menards so our storage will be more organized in the future. I always like going to Menards because it reminds me of Nebraska. Even though they're the place that wouldn't let me buy elmer's glue when I was 15...but I think that was a NE law, not their fault.

We took a break from all the packing/organizing to go see UP in 3D at the Majestic Theatre. It was very good. Just like all Pixar movies, it was well made and worked for kids and adults. Pixar still hasn't let me down. :)

Frame Park

2009-06-12T21:33:54Z

Frame Park in Waukesha, WI

This wasn't the most eventful week, it was more a week of getting everything organized and relaxing after the NC trip. Those weeks are good to have sometimes, I got a bunch of stuff done that I've been putting off for a while now (like updating my passport to have my current name). Also, Paul got sick this weekend. :( Just a cold, he's better now.

We went to Frame Park on Friday to have a picnic and see if it would be a good spot for my half day work event that I'm organizing. I think it would be a good spot, since they have a bunch of picnic tables under and overhang. And a nice big field next to it to play games like ladderball, bocce ball, volleyball, etc. It should be fun, I just hope it doesn't rain! I'll bring board games and gestures in case it rains.

almost record snowfall

2008-12-23T14:26:45Z

Month to date avg snow fall for dec in milwaukee: 7.6 inches

Month to date for dec 2008 in milwaukee: 30.1 inches

We have had the 2nd most total snowfall so far this winter ever recorded.

Just letting you guys know how unusually harsh this winter has been even for wisconsin.

Oh well, I would say I'm handling it better than most people from here (possibly b/c I didn't know what to expect and this is more than they expected)

Gingerbread House

2008-12-21T17:02:15Z

Since I mentioned the gingerbread house in the last post, I thought I'd post a picture of the finished product. We used gingerbread, royal icing, Dots, Haribo Bears, Sprinkles, and Coconut.

more pics: http://picasaweb.google.com/mas0301/GingerbreadHouse#

Snow storm

2008-12-20T02:23:08Z

We had a HUGE snow storm today. It went from midnight last night to 3 pm today. We got 14 inches of snow (snow falling 2 inches an hour at times), thunder snow! (which is very rare...I've only experienced it once when I was in NE), high winds, etc. Very harsh weather even for people from WI.

Pretty much everything was closed...except my work. My boss said I could study and call into my confrence call from home in the morning. Then, when it was lighter snow around noon I went to work, thinking everyone would pick on me for coming in late b/c I'm the person from NC whose afraid to drive in snow, but that didn't happen b/c no one was there. The building I work in usually has about 120 ppl, I counted 15 cars. And since the parking spaces weren't plowed, I had to take out my snow shovel out of my trunk (which I am so glad I got!) and shovel myself out a space...about 10 inches of snow btw. But as Kelly says, at least I got a work out. :)

Oh well, at least I didn't have to use up any of my PTO (paid time off) this way, and I made it there and home safely. The drive home was a lot easier than the drive there.

Anyway, I did learn something on the drive to work today: if you are ever driving uphill when it's icey, DO NOT STOP! I had to slide back down the hill to get going again. haha. It was an experience I guess. And the fact that the only other people on the road were snow plows and salt trucks did make my drive a bit easier. The only really hard part (besides getting up that dang hill from my underground parking) were the exits on and off the interstate. I think the snow plows forgot about those b/c they weren't plowed at all.

Oh yea, and I also hate the guy who was using a snow blower on his side walk, throwing the snow onto the street!!! grrr...I wish I was a cop so I could have given him a ticket. I could have gotten in a wreck b/c of him just b/c he was too damn lazy to face his snow blower the other way to shoot the snow onto his lawn like you are legally supposed to do.

My posts are starting to get negative, but really it's just b/c I come on here to rant sometimes. Now, Paul and I are going to go to the grocery store to get some stuff to make a gingerbread house! :D

The Domes

2008-11-15T22:29:21Z

It was a kind of cold and overcast day today. So, we went to the Domes where it's nice and warm. :) There are three domes, as you can see from the picture above. The each dome has a different climate... My favorite dome (and the warmest) was the tropical rain forest. It had many different types of trees and flowers from all over the world. I especially liked all of the different types of orchids. There was also a desert dome. Which had some cool cacti and other desert like plants, but it was a bit cooler than the tropical dome.

The third dome wasn't really an ecosystem or climate of any sort. Just a really big garden. Good thing I took my allergy medicine before I went, or else I don't think I would have been able to stay in this one very long. The pamphlet says they change the theme in this dome five times a year. It must have been some sort of German theme going on while we were there, since there were gnomes everywhere and German-style miniature cabins.

It wasn't quite as big as I was expecting it to be, since everyone around here raves about this place. But, it was fun and very cheap ($3.50 for students and we had a buy one get one free admission coupon). It's nice to go here in the winter for the warmth, but I would like to go again in the summer when they have the nice landscape outside.

More pics of The Domes: http://picasaweb.google.com/mas0301/MitchellParkDomes#

Noodles and Company in Cameron Village

2008-10-22T04:43:15Z

They are building a Noodles and Company in Cameron Village.

This is my favorite chain restaurant and would always get excited to go to it when visiting family in the midwest. It figures they build one in Raleigh (not only Raleigh, but Cameron Village, where I always went to eat lunch with the teachers) after I leave. It's okay though, it would be worse if I left for a town that doesn't already have one. But I have one right down the street from my apartment and my work. You would think after eating there on average two times a week (at least) since I got here, I would be sick of them, but I'm not. I would go there more if it wasn't for the bit of self control I have.

Anyway, just wanted to let you who are in Raleigh or near Raleigh know about the noodley goodness coming your way.

www.noodles.com
http://www.noodles.com/files/files/web_menu.pdf (menu - mac n cheese, pesto, and mushroom stroganoff are my favorites, paul always gets the indonsian peanut sautee with tofu)

http://www.shopsofcameronvillage.com/go/fb/guide/store.cfm?storeID=2137026278&CFID=25793106&CFTOKEN=84710062

Oh, and if you sign up for the noodlegrams on the website, they'll give you a buy one get one free coupon by email.

I hate to rave this much about a chain restaurant, but they're so good! :P

Bradford Beach, Grand Avenue Mall, and Art Museum again

2008-10-15T04:06:00Z

I'm loving Milwaukee more and more every weekend. This Sunday we started by just walking around Milwaukee downtown for a while and saw the huge library and other cool looking gov't buildings. I also just like the feel of walking in a city sometimes. We ended up at the Grand Avenue mall, which is one of the most unique malls I've ever seen. It seems to be built in a bunch of old office buildings with catwalks connecting the buildings across the street. It was a really neat mall to wander.

Front entrance of Grand Avenue Mall
In the mall, I thought it looked cool. There isn't much below those stairs, just offices

Since it was built into office buildings, the anchor stores just took up the hallway on each side of the building. This is TJ Maxx

We also ended up going to the art museum again, because it's the cool place to be ;) We got a membership this time so now we can go to the museum how ever often we want and to all the exhibits without being charged extra. They also gave us some nifty magnets and we get discounts to all of the events

So, we saw the featured exhibit ("Activate the Art") and some more of the museum that we didn't get to last time. And yet we still haven't gotten to all of the museum.

"Snow" this is Paul and me if you can't tell

Paul waiting for the orange path he made to fade away

Blown glass is cool

And to end our day, we went to the beach! :D This is might have just been the deciding factor for me staying in Milwaukee! (we'll see if I'm still saying that in Jan...hehe) It is like having the ocean just 15 minutes away! I loved spending the evening walking along the tide coming in (the water wasn't actually wasn't too cold) and relaxing on the beach. It was a perfect day for it too, since it was in the 70's all day.

The moon over the water, since this is Milwaukee, the sun is setting behind me. Though, I bet the sunrise would look awesome.

Paul's always playing the sand when we go to the beach. There's a sphinx growing on my feet!

Milwaukee Art Museum

2008-10-06T01:09:58Z

This weekend we checked out the Milwaukee Art Museum. It's quite a bit bigger on the inside than I expected by looking at it from the outside. I mean, the building looks awesome, but it doesn't look like it could hold so much art (it's three stories and the part with the wings isn't the part that holds the artwork). We stayed until the museum closed and still didn't see all of it, or the special exhibit. We've decided we'll just get a membership, so we can keep going whenever we want and get access to all of the special exhibits, too.

The museum included lots of famous artists too, such as Picasso, Warhol, O'Keefe, Kirchner, etc.

The Art Museum building. The wings actually continually flap, just very slowly. It goes between open and closed about very 30 minutes

My favorite, "The Two Majesties" Gerome

Andy Warhol

Picasso

The view of the lake from the third floor. It was an awesome part of the museum, in nice chairs surrounded by art and looking out on the lake. So peaceful.

They were setting up for a wedding as we left. I want another wedding so I can have it here!

Taking their wedding pictures, again, I'm jealous!

(more photos picasaweb.google.com/mas0301)

Hiking Kettle Moraine - Southern Unit

2008-09-22T03:05:14Z

This weekend we decided to do some hiking, since the weather was almost perfect for it (it was a tad bit hot...). Since we didn't feel like driving very far, we hiked part of the Kettle Moraine Southern Unit, which is a little less than 30 mins away from us in Brookfield. The Kettle Moraine is part of the Ice Age Trail, which is a lengthy trail throughout WI that follows the impact of continental glaciation. It makes for interesting terrain throughout the state. This section is named the Kettle Moraine for the flat depressions the glacier made when it melted. While Kettle Moraine is not the best part of the Ice Age Trail for scenery or difficulty (that is probably the Devil's Lake area), Kettle Moraine is quite a bit closer and still pretty cool. :)

Part of the terrain was prairie, everything is in bloom in late July, so we were a bit late. Still pretty, anyway!

Scary tree!

Paul crossing one of the several wooden bridges along the trail

Look at all of those bettles! Does anyone know what type of plant this is?

The forest area was welcome shade after the prairie area

The edge of the forest and where the prairie begins

Wide Open Space! :)

Logic Puzzle

2008-09-09T18:26:55Z

The actuarial dept likes to put up logic puzzles some days to have something to think about while queries are running.

You have three boxes. One is labeled "Apples", one is labeled "Oranges" and one is labeled "Apples and Oranges". All three are labeled incorrectly. You can pick one fruit from one box. How will you relabel the boxes correctly?

testing

2008-08-26T20:28:34Z

test

New job! I'm moving!

2008-07-04T00:21:37Z

It's funny how the most interesting moments of my life are never recorded in my journal, because I don't have enough time to post. I should really start making time for it!

Well, the title says it, I got an actuary job! My official job title is Actuarial Student and it's with WellPoint (BCBS) in Waukesha, Wisconsin (suburb of Milwaukee).

I actually got two job offers, on the same day. Banner Life in Rockville, MD also offered me a job. I choose WellPoint for several reasons.

First of all, it's health insurance, which is more interesting to me - I don't want to be one of those nerdy people talking about mortality tables at the dinner table, haha! Also, they offered me more money, even though it's in a lower cost of living area. UW-M is a better school for Paul also. And, we're both from the midwest, we both felt that homey feeling while we were up there. Something about the flatness and less trees. :P Also, they have Noodles and Company! The only negative we could think of for Milwaukee was the weather, which I don't know if I'm enjoying this heat in NC all that much right now anyway!

Of course, the negative with both of them is moving away from friends. :( Paul and I have been moving around all of our life and now we're moving yet again. Hopefully, now that we're older, it will be easier to keep in touch.

This move does have kind of a grown up feeling though. This is the first time Paul and I are moving somewhere because of us. We're only in NC right now b/c my parents moved here and before all of that it was because of our parents. Now, we're moving, and it's all b/c of us, not our parents. It has this cool independent feeling.

As far as the moving process goes, we have currently found an apartment and signed a lease. Our lease starts July 11 and I start my job July 14. WellPoint is paying for the move, so Mayflower just came over to evaluate how much work it will be to move our stuff. Alltel doesn't service Milwaukee, so we need to switch phone service. Also, we need to do all of that basic moving stuff: change of address to post office, utilities, cable, internet, water, car insurance, health insurance (b/c of the job change), dmv, etc. (this list was mainly for my benefit...)

I am definitely going to visit NC. At least for Kelly and Aaron's wedding, if not sooner. But, here are some pictures of Milwaukee to entice those who may be in the area and want to visit us. :)

Milwaukee Art Museum on the Lakefront, it's beautiful

Six Flags over Illinois is 30 minutes from our apartment

Milwaukee Zoo, recently expanded to make the animals more comfy :)

Milwaukee Public Museum (like a Natural History museum) with Imax and Planetarium

The Domes, each has a different climate and has plants from that climate

The river walk through the middle of downtown. many places have cruises (some w/ dinner)

MLB Baseball team, Milwaukee Brewers. If your not into baseball, it's still a sweet building w/ retractable roof

Miller Factory, they have brew tours (Milwaukee has good beer in general, lots of breweries)

Harley Davidson Factory, also has tours

Botanical Gardens (different from the Domes)

German food!!! :) We ate at this restaurant. Paul was skeptical of the German food (he thought it would be all sausage), but loved it and asked when we can go again. :)

Fireworks on the lakefront every weekend during the summer

Bradford Beach on the lakefrontChicago is only a 90 minute train ride away, which takes you right next to the Sears Tower

And of course, awesome cheese!

And frozen custard! :)

Hello, Wisconsin!

I thought it was funny...

2007-05-14T04:01:52Z

Harry Potter Puppets!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tx1XIm6q4r4

Oh no! I'm catching the southern accent! :O

2007-04-22T15:25:04Z

Midland. The Midland (please don't confuse with "Midwest") itself is the neutral zone between the North and South. But just because you have a Midland accent doesn't mean you're from there. Since it is considered a neutral, default, "non-regional" accent you could easily be from someplace without its own accent, like Florida, or a big city in the South like Dallas, Houston, or Atlanta.

Southern. Love it or hate it, your accent says you're probably from somewhere south of the Ohio River.

http://www.memegen.net/view/show/2313

i miss math

2007-04-03T22:37:12Z

I MISS MATH! I MISS MATH! I MISS MATH! I MISS MATH!

i miss math lots, i hate education classes!

b/c kelly tagged me

2007-02-17T00:26:13Z

1.] grab the nearest book.
2.] open the book to page 23.
3.] find the fifth sentence.
4.] post the text of the next three sentences on your blog along with these instructions.
5.] don't you dare dig for that "cool" or "intellectual" book in your closet! i know you were thinking about it! just pick up whatever is closest.
6.] tag five other people to do the same.

"Catch 22" is the closest book (although not the book I'm currently reading)
"He coughed quietly, gingerly, and dabbed the pads slowly at his lips with a distaste that had become automatic. The colonel dwelt in a vortex of specialists who were still specializing in trying to determine what was troubling him. They hurled lights in his eyes to see if he could see, rammed needles into nerves to hear if he could feel.

Ok, I'll write more later.

Hm, most of the people on here who I could tag were already tagged and that would just be some never-ending circle. So, I'll say Paul, Kelly and Angel (but I don't mean it) for three and for the other two, Brittany and Laura.

Briefly, I'm in my all days at Hunt now and have been keeping busy. But the 30 students in such a confined space (3 times a day w/ different students) is finally taking toll on my immune system and now I have a fever. :( I went to the school anyway today b/c it has to be "consecutive" or else it doesn't count. My students were really understanding and sweet and had a lot of free time today :P (they had a test, but i didnt feel like teaching once they were done)

More later

travel bug

2007-01-24T23:15:09Z

If it weren't for that I would miss Paul like crazy, I think I would really like a job that involves lots of travel. I wouldn't mind having to work while I was traveling, as long as i was doing it. Right now I'm getting stir crazy, I want to go somewhere. But I shouldn't feel like this yet, I mean just last month I went to New York and Kasnas City and I keep going to Raleigh and I do drive to wilson every day, so you would think i'd be tired of going places and just wanna stay home. but no, i want to stay out! man, i can't wait till it gets warmer, i wanna go camping so bad! and hiking! and white water rafting! and rock climbing! and i wanna go back to california! and i wanna go see europe! and i wanna go to asia! and australia! i wanna go back to argentina and see the rest of south america too! I want to meet all of the interesting people and cultures of the world. i wanna go sky diving! *sigh* i need to do some cleaning to get some of this anxiety out of me. :P

dandelionpixie @ 2006-12-16T23:18:00

2006-12-17T05:15:55Z

Sheesh, double shifts are so tiring, yet it feels so awesome to come home w/ so much money too. :) Even though finals are over, I still don't feel like I can relax, I still have so much to do that I've been pushing off until after finals. Also, I've been working extra hours at Applebee's since I wasn't able to work much during finals and I need to make up that lapse in my budget. But, at the moment, my body is entirely refusing to let me move. I started sitting (something I haven't done since 9:30 am) and now I just can't stop. :P

Anyway, now I'm home from work, and I'm kinda lonely. Kelly's in Smithfield, Paul's in Kansas City, Leah is in Chapel Hill for the weekend and Summer goes to bed rather early. *sigh* I wish Paul would answer his phone. And for some reason his parents' house phone isn't working and their internet is shut off too, since they are in the process of moving. I think a lot of this feeling is just working all day and not feeling like I have any outlet to relax.

I've been watching a lot of TBS lately, it's weird. But I do like comedies.

I guess I'll go do something now.

Later.

One more final to go...

2006-12-15T13:09:53Z

Just one more final to go at 11 and I'll be done. Everyone else was done yesterday so everyone did all their celebrating yesterday. *sigh* I feel so left out. Oh well.

I took Paul to the airport on Wednesday, which was a lot more complicated than it sounds. I already knew I needed new tires soon, but on 264, the truck next to me told me to roll my window down and said my tire was coming apart (btw I was surprised how well I could hear him going 70 mph), so I pulled over and sure enough it was. Paul put on the spare, but I couldn't ride on that but so long, and the others were looking about as bad. So after dropping him off at the airport, I got new tires. Which, I definately did not have the money for, and when I called my mom, she said they'd buy them for me as an early birthday present. :D That was really nice. And my car does drive a lot better with the new tires.

My exams have been going really well so far, I'm pretty much sure I'm going to get an A in all of them, I'm just not sure about my next final at 11, since it is the Spanish class, and also the same particular Spanish class that everyone dreads because it's really difficult. It's Latin American History and Culture, and really if you think about it, it is a LOT of material to cover in just one semester. American history is bad enough, and that's just one country's history and government system...they try to fit in every country in Central and South America's history and government systems. Oh well, I'm sure I'll at least get a B, and at this point in the game, I'm not going to complain.

I'll write more later, I need to study more.

Paul is Awesome!!

2006-12-07T17:01:17Z

I have a really awesome bike!!! :D Paul asked on pec for old bikes for a project summer and him are doing. Well, the only two people to donate bikes to their project so far actually gave him REALLY nice bikes (one men and one women), they were just dusty and missing parts. But Paul knows how to fix things, so for me and many other people, the bikes would still be useless, but having three nice bikes with various things missing from each, Paul created two really nice bikes! So, thank you sooo much Paul!

Kinda funny...since the men's bike donated was a nicer bike than paul's bike that got partially stolen, instead of fixing his old bike, he ended up using the parts from that bike to fix the other two bikes and it has even less parts than when this whole thing started. hehe. we have really nice mountain bikes. i cannot wait till we get a chance to go to the western side of the state! heck, even raleigh has good mountain biking trails...greenville's one trail sucks :P but it'll still be fun. I better do my homework so I can go there soon!

Yay!

In other news...

I had my last day at Wilson Hunt today. I start back on Jan 5 after the Senior II meeting in the morning. Then I will start teaching the last week of January and end the last week of March. To bad I'm not going to be able to help the hispanic students as much. They seemed sad when I told them my last day was today and I am going to miss helping them. You know that feeling you get when you help someone and you actually do see the results? Yea...I sometimes think maybe I should be an ESL teacher since that is what I seem to be enjoying the most.

Yesterday I turned in my huge portfolio, at least that's the adjective everyone who saw it said. Turns out, even though the College of Education says 5 lessons (not including review and test days), Math Ed seems to think it's 10 lessons and didn't tell us until a couple weeks before it's due. And when they say 10, they mean 12 or 13. So, having all of those lessons typed up, any activities I'm doing finished and in there, worksheets, tests, notes I'm giving to the class, etc. Along w/ my classroom management plan, parental contact sheets, intro letter and about 50 other misc items (and yes, I mean 50), it became rather large. :P Oh well, at least it's finished, and it's pretty much the same thing that's required for next semester, so next semester should be quite a bit easier, since it's already done :D

Yesterday, I went to "The Daily Grind" w/ Paul and that place takes back my comment before that there is no good food in Greenville. Seriously, if you guys haven't tried it, go there! It's fairly cheap for eating out at a sit down place and the ingredients are really fresh. The roasted veggies in my tri color tortellini were sooo good, and the pasta was fresh too. I never went there before b/c from the name it sounds like a coffee shop like starbucks. But this girl in math ed in the level below me said she waited tables there and, well, that didn't really go along w/ what i thought it was in the past, so i figured i'd try it out and i'm so glad i did. :D i love good food.

time to go to the grocery store.