Well, the original plan was to have a really exciting 600th post. But, I was in the process of posting when I was alerted that I had run out of space for pictures and such and that is not OK! So I thought I had created a new blog but turns out that because it was connected to the same email, I was still out of room. So take 2. I'm working on another solution so hold your horses and I'll have a new one up and running quite soon. I promise. I've already got some good stuff planned. Promise #2.
****Update!!!! I'm made it work! This blog is called "This Blessed Plot, This Earth, This Realm 2" and it can be found here: michalyadlin.blogspot.com. It's almost the same as this website, just without the middle "r" initial. For those of you who have this one bookmarked, the address is hyper-linked so you can keep this bookmark and just connect that way. Hopefully it'll work, let me know if it doesn't. That being said, come join me on my new blog! Just because I'm not in England anymore, doesn't meant the adventures have stopped! *****
Thursday, November 1, 2012
Sunday, October 14, 2012
Midterm Update
Well this midterm update is a lot more positive than any other midterm update that I've ever had. I don't know what it is about this year's freshmen but they are awesome. I've talked to a couple of other profs/staff members and they all have the same reaction. My kids are the same. They talk, they participate, they do their homework for the most-part (there are always a few exceptions to the rule....), they make me laugh, it's such a good feeling. I love having fun while I teach and sometimes I'm so focused on those students who frustrate me that I can't enjoy the students who make my job enjoyable. This year 95% of my students make my job enjoyable and I love that.
I feel like there are so many variables this year/semester that it's hard to tell what's changed. Is it the students? Is it my slightly altered curriculum? Is it that I've been doing this for two years now and feel comfortable with my knowledge of the subject? Who knows. But it's a good feeling to know that my students are doing well and that the way I've structured things, the majority of the core issues are already taught. I assigned a midterm this year instead of just an essay or two (oh man are those essays usually horrific....) so I'm interested to see how the students will do.
The trouble with Effective Studying is that it's so hard to test. If the students do well the rest of their college career, they've learned. But you can't test that. So my midterm is all about making connections between what we've learned so far- like, how to learning styles, motivation and test-taking relate to each other. I teach one more class tomorrow and then they take their midterms so by next Thursday or Friday I should have an idea of how they've grasping the concepts. Second half of the semester is a focus on projects, some new concepts that I've never taught before, and my favorite days of speeches and debates.
Of course, I have those few students who are problematic. What would a school year be without them? A few students are very "roller-coaster-y", which I know is a made-up word. Sometimes they're great and sometimes they fail quizzes and don't turn in HW and don't participate. I have a few who haven't shown up for three weeks. I confiscated a phone last week because the student showed up late, didn't do his HW and then was on his phone in class. Don't mess with me. Seriously, don't mess. I want to try and help as many students as I can but in all honesty, the kids who don't make any effort whatsoever are kind of nice to have because it makes giving them a midterm score really easy.
My education students are all quite nice and we've had some fun days of role-playing for discipline strategies and discussing what to do in situations. What I've said since day 1 of teaching this Intro to Teaching class, it's so hard to teach teaching. I dont' remember much about how I learned to teach but I do know that my I learned so much from being in front of a classroom. I'm excited to see how they fare out at Middleton because, unlike last semester, I'm really not nervous at all about any of them in the classroom. A few kids are kind of quiet but they've also talked about their previous experience so I'm not that concerned.
This week is midterm week and then it's fall break- lots of fun things planned for the best few weeks along with the usual teaching things. Unlike the last few years, I'm really confident, excited and comfortable with what I'm doing. And I'm very grateful for that, as well as for the friends that support me on this crazy ride.
I feel like there are so many variables this year/semester that it's hard to tell what's changed. Is it the students? Is it my slightly altered curriculum? Is it that I've been doing this for two years now and feel comfortable with my knowledge of the subject? Who knows. But it's a good feeling to know that my students are doing well and that the way I've structured things, the majority of the core issues are already taught. I assigned a midterm this year instead of just an essay or two (oh man are those essays usually horrific....) so I'm interested to see how the students will do.
The trouble with Effective Studying is that it's so hard to test. If the students do well the rest of their college career, they've learned. But you can't test that. So my midterm is all about making connections between what we've learned so far- like, how to learning styles, motivation and test-taking relate to each other. I teach one more class tomorrow and then they take their midterms so by next Thursday or Friday I should have an idea of how they've grasping the concepts. Second half of the semester is a focus on projects, some new concepts that I've never taught before, and my favorite days of speeches and debates.
Of course, I have those few students who are problematic. What would a school year be without them? A few students are very "roller-coaster-y", which I know is a made-up word. Sometimes they're great and sometimes they fail quizzes and don't turn in HW and don't participate. I have a few who haven't shown up for three weeks. I confiscated a phone last week because the student showed up late, didn't do his HW and then was on his phone in class. Don't mess with me. Seriously, don't mess. I want to try and help as many students as I can but in all honesty, the kids who don't make any effort whatsoever are kind of nice to have because it makes giving them a midterm score really easy.
My education students are all quite nice and we've had some fun days of role-playing for discipline strategies and discussing what to do in situations. What I've said since day 1 of teaching this Intro to Teaching class, it's so hard to teach teaching. I dont' remember much about how I learned to teach but I do know that my I learned so much from being in front of a classroom. I'm excited to see how they fare out at Middleton because, unlike last semester, I'm really not nervous at all about any of them in the classroom. A few kids are kind of quiet but they've also talked about their previous experience so I'm not that concerned.
This week is midterm week and then it's fall break- lots of fun things planned for the best few weeks along with the usual teaching things. Unlike the last few years, I'm really confident, excited and comfortable with what I'm doing. And I'm very grateful for that, as well as for the friends that support me on this crazy ride.
Memories from School
Dori and I had an impromptu lunch today and somehow began reminiscing about our days in elementary school. It got me thinking about these random memories that I have floating around in my brain so I thought I'd jot a few of them down.
I don't remember a lot from kindergarten other than through pictures but I do remember when we all dressed up like the Cat in the Hat and went to the different classrooms singing a song about the alphabet. My friend David, who was the tallest in the class, was the letter A and my friend Rachel, who was the shortest in the class, was Y and Z, with her sister Ruth.
I do remember my first day of school outfit. A black dress with a white collar and a little apple on the hem. I probably had a bow in my hair. And I definitely have a picture of me in that outfit, getting on the bus. The best part is my rain boots.
There was a pool at Cass Park (which I always equated with Casper the Friendly Ghost) and there was also face-painting there. So I have a picture of me in the pool with face-paint during a class party at the end of the year.
When it was your birthday in Kita Aleph (first grade), we passed out paper flowers to our classmates who put them into the shape of the age you were and then they sang. And then you had a private party with your classmates in the evening and I played the piano for my friends and they were blown away since they had no idea that I could play. Even though I went home every afternoon to practice.
My first day in the Mercav, I played with these little elephant plastic figures in the elevated sand box because the girl they had partnered me up with (Hadasi) had to go sing at a welcome ceremony for the Ethiopian refugees who had just arrived on the kibbutz. Also, another older girl (Gali Ben Ami) had showed me around the Mercav and when she showed me the quiet room. There was a pillow fight going on.
I got REALLY good at spit (the card game) when I was in the mercav. I would take on Ori, one of the staff members, and things would get tense.
Caitlin, Cori and I were in the advanced, advanced, advanced reading group in 2nd grade and often went out to sit in the hallway doing our reading. I remember reading Heidi but I think that was third grade.
Our spelling words in 2nd grade were always words that we misspelled in our story writings. I misspelled Darmouth once and asked my teacher how to spell it. She told me to ask Caleb who was wearing a Dartmouth sweatshirt. Never misspelled Dartmouth since.
I wrote about 15 stories in the 2nd grade. I illustrated some on my own. I was a FAR better writer than illustrator. FAR FAR FAR better.
I had a huge crush on my 2nd grade student teacher, Mrs. Chartier. She had red-hair and freckles.
Third grade rocked. We created this colonial family that had ten kids, a set of parents, a set of grandparents and a mean Aunt Molly who had glasses and a lazy eye. (Poor Aunt Molly). We also had a garden that we grew in the back of the classroom. And we had a class rabbit that ran around the classroom and two baby ducks. We sold tomato and pepper plants to work on our math. We drew the family (after tracing our siblings who were the same age as our created colonial family members), wrote stories, taped our own audio books, created drawings of the rooms of their house which we bordered with wood and covered in saran wrap to represent glass. All in all, it was amazing.
In 3rd grade, we had a bathroom that connected our room and the next door classroom. There were no locks. You turned the light on and the light switch glowed to make sure that people knew the bathroom was occupied. It terrified me. I didn't want anyone to walk in on me. So I would take LOOOOONG water drinks and run down to the 2nd grade wing and go to the bathroom there. Once the principal asked me what I was doing. I had to tell her. Luckily she understood. And then later went on to teach me how to sew during lunch.
There were twins named Dan and Dave in my 3rd grade class. They moved to Utah. Only later did I discover that they were Mormon. I didn't know what that was in 3rd grade.
We would go to the Hood Museum once a month for pretty cool art projects and wandering around the gallery. One time we went over the class was in a fight about something. Angelina, the bus driver, encouraged us to sing. Half of us sang "99 Bottles of Pop ON the Wall" and the rest of us sang "This Is the Song That Never Ends." Angelina regretted it. My teacher wanted to kill her.
I learned about the solar eclipse in the 4th grade. We made pin-hole cameras and watched the eclipse.
I always thought the auditorium in the basement of Sem Hill was haunted. True Story.
Every once in awhile I would be allowed to collect attendance from the other classrooms. Or I'd have to deliver a message to the sixth grade teachers. I always hoped I could get to take the note to Ashley's classroom. It was one of the times she was nice to me and Danielle.
My main friends in 4th grade were fifth graders. They were much better readers.
I started hiding my books under my desk while reading in the 4th grade when we moved to Cailfornia. This was for two reasons. 1) I was bored. 2) I had no friends. Another True Story.
The best part about 4th grade was that we lived about eight houses away. Shortest walk to school ever.
We pretended to be Michelangelo by lying on our backs under our desks and drawing on the paper we taped onto the bottom of the desk.
When we moved before 5th grade, I had to ride my bike over to Girl Scouts once a week. I would always pretend my bike was a horse. True Story. Another True Story? I was a weird kid.
When we read the 21 Balloons in 5th grade, I had to do a project on a country that started with my last name. My choices were pretty much Yemen and Yugoslavia. Awesome.
I did not learn my lines on time for our class play. There was a lot of last minute memorization before my teacher got mad at me. It stuck though, I still remember my first line... "...And swallowed him whole!" Now that I write that, it sounds really inappropriate. To clarify, the play was "The Steadfast Tin Soldier."
Most awkward moment from 5th grade Outdoor Ed: Group 5 standing in a circle facing front to back and then slowly sitting so that we all were sitting on each other's laps. I'm pretty sure Kevin Beebe was sitting on mind. So awkward as a 5th grader.
We had to sing "Reach " by Gloria Estefan for 6th grade graduation. Ever since, I can't listen to that song without thinking about the hand motions. I'm sure you can imagine what they must have been like, especially every time she sang the word reach.
We had to read "The Bronze Bow" and do a power point presentation on it. All 30 of us. And then present the presentation. All 30 of us. I didn't quite read the whole book so I typed up the entire plot and put it as a part of my power point. The entire slide was covered with the plot. Unfortunately, the animation for that slide was the one that flashes the words once and then makes them disappear. Fortunately, with the last name Y, I had listened to the plot 29 times. That saved me.
Right to Read Day was the best day in the whole world. We wore our pajamas and got to read all day under our desks and on the floor. I could think of no better day in the world.
Hope you enjoyed my random memories. And to end with, here is a picture of me from kindergarten. In that dress I mentioned earlier.
I don't remember a lot from kindergarten other than through pictures but I do remember when we all dressed up like the Cat in the Hat and went to the different classrooms singing a song about the alphabet. My friend David, who was the tallest in the class, was the letter A and my friend Rachel, who was the shortest in the class, was Y and Z, with her sister Ruth.
I do remember my first day of school outfit. A black dress with a white collar and a little apple on the hem. I probably had a bow in my hair. And I definitely have a picture of me in that outfit, getting on the bus. The best part is my rain boots.
There was a pool at Cass Park (which I always equated with Casper the Friendly Ghost) and there was also face-painting there. So I have a picture of me in the pool with face-paint during a class party at the end of the year.
When it was your birthday in Kita Aleph (first grade), we passed out paper flowers to our classmates who put them into the shape of the age you were and then they sang. And then you had a private party with your classmates in the evening and I played the piano for my friends and they were blown away since they had no idea that I could play. Even though I went home every afternoon to practice.
My first day in the Mercav, I played with these little elephant plastic figures in the elevated sand box because the girl they had partnered me up with (Hadasi) had to go sing at a welcome ceremony for the Ethiopian refugees who had just arrived on the kibbutz. Also, another older girl (Gali Ben Ami) had showed me around the Mercav and when she showed me the quiet room. There was a pillow fight going on.
I got REALLY good at spit (the card game) when I was in the mercav. I would take on Ori, one of the staff members, and things would get tense.
Caitlin, Cori and I were in the advanced, advanced, advanced reading group in 2nd grade and often went out to sit in the hallway doing our reading. I remember reading Heidi but I think that was third grade.
Our spelling words in 2nd grade were always words that we misspelled in our story writings. I misspelled Darmouth once and asked my teacher how to spell it. She told me to ask Caleb who was wearing a Dartmouth sweatshirt. Never misspelled Dartmouth since.
I wrote about 15 stories in the 2nd grade. I illustrated some on my own. I was a FAR better writer than illustrator. FAR FAR FAR better.
I had a huge crush on my 2nd grade student teacher, Mrs. Chartier. She had red-hair and freckles.
Third grade rocked. We created this colonial family that had ten kids, a set of parents, a set of grandparents and a mean Aunt Molly who had glasses and a lazy eye. (Poor Aunt Molly). We also had a garden that we grew in the back of the classroom. And we had a class rabbit that ran around the classroom and two baby ducks. We sold tomato and pepper plants to work on our math. We drew the family (after tracing our siblings who were the same age as our created colonial family members), wrote stories, taped our own audio books, created drawings of the rooms of their house which we bordered with wood and covered in saran wrap to represent glass. All in all, it was amazing.
In 3rd grade, we had a bathroom that connected our room and the next door classroom. There were no locks. You turned the light on and the light switch glowed to make sure that people knew the bathroom was occupied. It terrified me. I didn't want anyone to walk in on me. So I would take LOOOOONG water drinks and run down to the 2nd grade wing and go to the bathroom there. Once the principal asked me what I was doing. I had to tell her. Luckily she understood. And then later went on to teach me how to sew during lunch.
There were twins named Dan and Dave in my 3rd grade class. They moved to Utah. Only later did I discover that they were Mormon. I didn't know what that was in 3rd grade.
We would go to the Hood Museum once a month for pretty cool art projects and wandering around the gallery. One time we went over the class was in a fight about something. Angelina, the bus driver, encouraged us to sing. Half of us sang "99 Bottles of Pop ON the Wall" and the rest of us sang "This Is the Song That Never Ends." Angelina regretted it. My teacher wanted to kill her.
I learned about the solar eclipse in the 4th grade. We made pin-hole cameras and watched the eclipse.
I always thought the auditorium in the basement of Sem Hill was haunted. True Story.
Every once in awhile I would be allowed to collect attendance from the other classrooms. Or I'd have to deliver a message to the sixth grade teachers. I always hoped I could get to take the note to Ashley's classroom. It was one of the times she was nice to me and Danielle.
My main friends in 4th grade were fifth graders. They were much better readers.
I started hiding my books under my desk while reading in the 4th grade when we moved to Cailfornia. This was for two reasons. 1) I was bored. 2) I had no friends. Another True Story.
The best part about 4th grade was that we lived about eight houses away. Shortest walk to school ever.
We pretended to be Michelangelo by lying on our backs under our desks and drawing on the paper we taped onto the bottom of the desk.
When we moved before 5th grade, I had to ride my bike over to Girl Scouts once a week. I would always pretend my bike was a horse. True Story. Another True Story? I was a weird kid.
When we read the 21 Balloons in 5th grade, I had to do a project on a country that started with my last name. My choices were pretty much Yemen and Yugoslavia. Awesome.
I did not learn my lines on time for our class play. There was a lot of last minute memorization before my teacher got mad at me. It stuck though, I still remember my first line... "...And swallowed him whole!" Now that I write that, it sounds really inappropriate. To clarify, the play was "The Steadfast Tin Soldier."
Most awkward moment from 5th grade Outdoor Ed: Group 5 standing in a circle facing front to back and then slowly sitting so that we all were sitting on each other's laps. I'm pretty sure Kevin Beebe was sitting on mind. So awkward as a 5th grader.
We had to sing "Reach " by Gloria Estefan for 6th grade graduation. Ever since, I can't listen to that song without thinking about the hand motions. I'm sure you can imagine what they must have been like, especially every time she sang the word reach.
We had to read "The Bronze Bow" and do a power point presentation on it. All 30 of us. And then present the presentation. All 30 of us. I didn't quite read the whole book so I typed up the entire plot and put it as a part of my power point. The entire slide was covered with the plot. Unfortunately, the animation for that slide was the one that flashes the words once and then makes them disappear. Fortunately, with the last name Y, I had listened to the plot 29 times. That saved me.
Right to Read Day was the best day in the whole world. We wore our pajamas and got to read all day under our desks and on the floor. I could think of no better day in the world.
Hope you enjoyed my random memories. And to end with, here is a picture of me from kindergarten. In that dress I mentioned earlier.
Saturday, October 13, 2012
Eulogy to the Best Car Ever
Last week, I had to say goodbye to the greatest car that I had ever had. It was the only car I had ever had. A few weeks ago, Ezra's starter stopped working and the transmission eventually went out. I made the sad decision to donate him to NPR since I knew that nobody would love him like I loved him.
I got Ezra when I was sixteen, right after I got my driver's license. I got $5000 from grandma and Bruce found us a 1993 Buick LeSabre. Definitely a grandma car but I didn't car. It was a car. At times I scoffed at it because it wasn't cool or anything like that, but it was so reliable and sturdy.
I missed Ezra when I was off at school. And I know that he's sorry for the transmission going out when Roni was driving it.
He and I went through many long drives together, to and from Idaho. We hated the drive on the 395 and liked the drive up the 5, especially when we got to stop in Berkeley and visit Sonya. He never gave me any trouble on all of those long drives, even though sometimes it was hellish-ly hot and other times the mountains seemed really high and we had to drive really slowly.
Sometimes I drove him too fast and sometimes I wasn't very careful about going over speedbumps or other odd bumps in the road. But he never broke down on me. He never protested. He seemed to content for me to apologize and pat the steering wheel.
Although I never got to experience it myself, I received many compliments on how comfortable the back seat was.
Some of my favorite memories of Ezra include the following:
Driving to the Angels game instead of Bible Study with me, Andy and Garrett in the front sea, Kevin, Cindy and Seth in the backseat. I'm stuprised we weren't scraping the bottom of the car against the ground.
Taking the small group girls bowling and finding a way to get all 10 of us into the car while waiting for parents to come pick them up. Small Group 2010 can still be seen on the windshield when it got really cold or hot.
Almost losing Ezra numerous times because even though he was as big as a boat, he had a nasty tendency of blending in and hiding in parking lots.
Almost getting towed in Hollywood. Bad night. Good car.
Numerous road trips: to and from Idaho, to and from Salt Lake City, LA and San Diego, up to Berkeley a few times.
Getting as many things to fit inside the backseat and trunk, driving across the Bay Bridge to San Francisco, illegally parking in the alley so we could throw everything into Sonya's apartment and then do it all again the next day.
Late night drive through the back roads of Idaho one night with Brittany, singing along to Rent as loudly as we could.
Driving Klaudia and Amanda home after the ugly Christmas sweater party at the Kondo. They were in the backseat under the dinosaur blanket and I was in the front seat looking for a song on my ipod. All of a sudden a police officer knocked on my window. I explained what we were doing and he wished us a good night, despite some weird looks at the girls in the backseat. Go figure...
Driving in the WORST FOG EVER, thinking we were going to die, when Tessa and I drove home from the Jars of Clay concert in Walla Walla.
I know that my lovely Ezra is going to be in a better place now. Raise a glass to the best car that a girl could ever have. I don't care who disagrees. He will always have a special place in my heart and I will miss him dearly.
I got Ezra when I was sixteen, right after I got my driver's license. I got $5000 from grandma and Bruce found us a 1993 Buick LeSabre. Definitely a grandma car but I didn't car. It was a car. At times I scoffed at it because it wasn't cool or anything like that, but it was so reliable and sturdy.
I missed Ezra when I was off at school. And I know that he's sorry for the transmission going out when Roni was driving it.
He and I went through many long drives together, to and from Idaho. We hated the drive on the 395 and liked the drive up the 5, especially when we got to stop in Berkeley and visit Sonya. He never gave me any trouble on all of those long drives, even though sometimes it was hellish-ly hot and other times the mountains seemed really high and we had to drive really slowly.
Sometimes I drove him too fast and sometimes I wasn't very careful about going over speedbumps or other odd bumps in the road. But he never broke down on me. He never protested. He seemed to content for me to apologize and pat the steering wheel.
Although I never got to experience it myself, I received many compliments on how comfortable the back seat was.
Some of my favorite memories of Ezra include the following:
Driving to the Angels game instead of Bible Study with me, Andy and Garrett in the front sea, Kevin, Cindy and Seth in the backseat. I'm stuprised we weren't scraping the bottom of the car against the ground.
Taking the small group girls bowling and finding a way to get all 10 of us into the car while waiting for parents to come pick them up. Small Group 2010 can still be seen on the windshield when it got really cold or hot.
Almost losing Ezra numerous times because even though he was as big as a boat, he had a nasty tendency of blending in and hiding in parking lots.
Almost getting towed in Hollywood. Bad night. Good car.
Numerous road trips: to and from Idaho, to and from Salt Lake City, LA and San Diego, up to Berkeley a few times.
Getting as many things to fit inside the backseat and trunk, driving across the Bay Bridge to San Francisco, illegally parking in the alley so we could throw everything into Sonya's apartment and then do it all again the next day.
Late night drive through the back roads of Idaho one night with Brittany, singing along to Rent as loudly as we could.
Driving Klaudia and Amanda home after the ugly Christmas sweater party at the Kondo. They were in the backseat under the dinosaur blanket and I was in the front seat looking for a song on my ipod. All of a sudden a police officer knocked on my window. I explained what we were doing and he wished us a good night, despite some weird looks at the girls in the backseat. Go figure...
Driving in the WORST FOG EVER, thinking we were going to die, when Tessa and I drove home from the Jars of Clay concert in Walla Walla.
I know that my lovely Ezra is going to be in a better place now. Raise a glass to the best car that a girl could ever have. I don't care who disagrees. He will always have a special place in my heart and I will miss him dearly.
Friday, October 12, 2012
Two Visits to Idaho
My lovely parents came to Idaho twice in the last six months and both times it was wonderful to have them. The first time they came up, it was during the crazy roommate situation, but before I knew I was moving the second time. They flew on Thursday night and we went to dinner at the Ha Penny with some of my grad school mates and then Friday, we spent some time on campus and then some time at the new place (#1) setting up my new room. Which lasted for another two weeks or something like that. Anyway. I made yummy veggie and shrimp pasta for dinner that night which we enjoyed after hitting up the Nampa Warhawk Museum.
I had never been the museum before because I was saving my two for one entertainment book coupon for when Abba could come with me. There was some really cool things there- old planes that Abba helped me identify, an old hot air balloon and so many artifacts from various wars and conflicts, especially from Idaho battalions and crews. There were some amazing cartoons from WWII and these great old concrete walls that were covered in graffiti that reminded me of the Berlin Wall
On Saturday morning, we headed into Boise for the rest of the weekend. First thing was my rehearsal for MSO since we had a concert that night (luckily that concert we didn't have a Friday concert). Afterwards, we went over to Salt and Tears for some coffee and sandwiches, which were absolutely delicious. We wandered around the art gallery as well as Abba met a friend. Because of that late lunch, we didn't really have anything for dinner that night but went on a run through the foothills and then chatted with Brooke and Kevin before we had to head out to our concert. I loved playing "Lincoln Portrait." It was a great concert and I'm glad that they were able to hear the performance.
The next day, the foothills had dried out and so after breakfast we headed out to Table Rock to hike. It was such a beautiful day and the view was spectacular. It wasn't too cold and there weren't too many people up at the top. I love the view of Boise from above. After our hike, we stopped into the Old Pen, said hi to April and then wandered around. I had never been there before and parts of it reminded me of Alcatraz. The cells were freezing but there were some great stories that were fascinating to hear and read about. Also, there was a tombstone with the worst pun ever. On the way back, we drove through downtown Boise and stopped at the Ann Frank Memorial, which was bright in the sunlight. It was such lovely weather, after it had snowed on Thursday, three days before.
Dinner on their last night was a pot-luck extravaganza. Kevin BBQed, I made bruschetta, Brooke and her mom made some various salads and it was all delicious. We ate inside but then spent the rest of the night out around the fire-pit, talking, telling stories, listening to music. I loved that my biological family and my adopted family were able to meet and spend time together.
A few months later, after I had moved into better new house, we caravan-ed back up to Idaho with all the things in the garage. There was a little snafu at first picking up the U-haul trailer but that was the only snafu of the entire trip. We left early, early in the morning, before the sun was even up, and started over the Sierras, stopping at Bishop, like usual, for sandwiches and some bread and muffins for the next morning. The views of Mono Lake were beautiful as we drove over the mountains and we had installed an app on to our phones to stay in touch without having to make phone calls.
OK, I guess the other little snafu was on the way to Carson City where the roads were washed out. We all sat for a little while and eventually, I turned around so we could take a detour. It added an extra hour onto our drive and it took me a little while to catch up so Mom and Abba turned around once to try and find me and then I also needed to get some gas last minute but finally we made it to Reno and the Lenzes and got to bed early for another long drive.
Day 2 had one stop in Winnemucca where we all got big drinks and by the time I made it to the Idaho border I had to pee like a racehorse. Finally we all made it back to the house and started the two days of cleaning, unpacking, organizing, etc. We got all the books organized and into the shelves, set up the furniture, went to Boise to find a few extra things, including a couch and love-seat for $100 which we finagled into the house. We still had time for some fun things- we went to dinner at Bitter Creek, walked around downtown, including Freak Alley, went to thrift stores with no plan in mind. We also took an afternoon to drive out to Marsing, hiking to the top of Lizard Butte (although the visibility sucked- thank you fires), driving along the Snake River, sitting on the pier by Lake Lowell, enjoying the sunshine and luckily not too incredibly hot day.
I'm definitely incredibly grateful for my parents coming up to Idaho both time. The first time to see what my life was like and the second time to set up my house. Best parents ever!
Thursday, September 27, 2012
Just Some Pictures Of Life
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| dinner with Jasper Fforde |
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| breakfast experiments |
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| smokey view from Barbacoa |
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| Abbey! |
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| Red Fish Lake in McCall |
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| soooo many freshmen! |
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| lake at sunset |
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| bonding activities |
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| inside the Caldwell Depot |
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| old waiting room |
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| train models |
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| train themed quilt |
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| old desk |
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| said Caldwell Depot |
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| gorgeous day at the Indian Creek festival |
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| little vineyard |
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| sexy sexy Chevy Impala ('66) |
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| fresh produce! |
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| dinner created with above fresh produce |
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| the spread for Rosh Hashanah dinner |
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| results of a massive day of baking and cooking |
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| last day of summer trip to Ste Chapelle |
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