Busy Times...

These past couple of weeks have busy ones for both Jim and I. School begins in only a week and a half! And students will begin to move into the halls in another week. Jim's Fox Valley Tech staff have been extremely busy trying to balance training with the UWO ResLife staff while handling their students who have already moved in and begun classes last Monday! I've been trying to put as much practice time in as possible while also trying to study for my exam on the 8th! In addition I've been working on getting all of my school supplies together to be as ready for this semester as I possibly can.

Today Jim and the staffs from all buildings go to Camp Onaway for a little staff bonding. They will stay the night and finish up after lunch tomorrow. Having been there three times in my life as a staff member, I can honestly say it's sort of like a great mini vacation with friends that's sometimes not long enough, but usually just right. The camp resides on an island with a mess hall; cafateria; baseball diamond; a ropes course (very fun!); cabins; a dock with boats and water slides, etc.; a small store; and a more comfy bording 'house' for some of the staff members such as RHDs. For the past two days people have asked me what I will do with Jim being gone... that's easy-- have a party! Just kidding! Actually, my softball team's last game is tonight and I will be having a friend over for movies and dinner! So it won't be as lonely as some would think. :)

I am looking forward to this weekend... there's the campus' anual power outage beginning on Friday so, Jim and I will be headed up to Appleton for some shopping and goodies (hopefully Chili's will be on the menu as well). While we're up there, I'm hoping to get some new shoes for school-- Khol's didn't have much. And, on Sunday, Jim and I may go down to Oconomowoc to visit my cousins before one of them go to their first year of college! :) I'm so excited for her!

Well, that's it for now!

Tetanus Shot

Saturday night, Jim and I were busy preparing the apartment and the hall for his Fox Valley Tech staff to join us for dinner the following evening. One of the tasks laid out in front of us was to haul this old/heavy door from a storage room up a flight to the front desk and try to re-attach it. Well, as I went to help Jim by grabbing one end of the door to walk with, I walked right past a rusty nail that I hadn't noticed sticking out of the door on my end. Needless to say a choice word came out of my mouth and I continued on with the moving of the door. When we got upstairs to the desk, I found that the nail gouged me and I had to wash out the gash it left behind. To make a long story shorter, I called my mom-- who has a nursing background-- and asked about tetanus shots. Basically, I couldn't remember the last time I had had one and began to get a little nurvous... I thought I had gotten some rust in the cut I had since part of it had black spots in it until after I washed it out. So, she thought it would be a good idea to go to the hospital... it was 10pm. Therefore, Jim and I spent an hour at the Oshkosh Mercy Hospital to get a tetanus shot. The nurses said that it was a good thing I came in, though, which made me very happy to hear... I thought it could have been a little silly for something so small!

One of the nurses actually told me that they recently had a guy come in who had a cardboard cut that had gotten a bacterium in it from the cardboard. Well, the guy had to be treated for days just for that little cut on his hand!!! Ouch!

Otherwise, the weekend went great! Jim and I helped move some friends of ours on Saturday and ate out a few times this weekend, which is always good! :)

Oh, and my cell phone came in on Friday! Jim had picked it up from the front desk early and suprised m with it on our way up to Appleton! It's so cool! And I keep trying to keep it clean, but I think that may be impossible! :)

Birthdays!!!

When I was little, my family and I would usually be well on our way to or in South Dakota on my birthday. I guess I was the lucky child of the three of us to have a birthday land on our typical family vacationing time. Well, since college, birthdays haven't been really anything special--usually just another day... and maybe I'd go to dinner with friends or family-- I guess I thought that that's what happens when you become an 'adult'--I didn't realize birthdays could still be fun. Well, this year was different. Aside from all the 'happy birhdays' I recieved on Facebook--which were great and really made my day!, this week has seemed like a big party. Earlier, Jim and I went to see a Timber Rattlers game; he and I are going to Chilli's (a favorite resturaunt of ours) tonight to celebrate another friend's birthday; tomorrow we are spending the day with some friends of ours and then eating at Applebees; and Sunday I get to go antique shopping with a friend and have Rocky Roccoco's Pizza with Jim in the afternoon! Yesterday, my parents called to wish me a happy birthday and sent me the most beautiful bouquet of summer flowers, which I took about a dozen pictures of! Yesterday, Jim's mom and dad sent me a card with an iPod gift certificate and my cousins/aunt/and uncle (and Peanut too--the cat) sent me a card as well! And, finally, Jim spoiled me by buying me a cell phone!!! I've never had one and it hasn't arrived in the mail yet, but I am terribly excited! It will be my first cell and I don't even know how to use one yet! But, Jim said he'd give me a quick tutorial! Hopefully, it will be something easy for this not-so-savvy tech to use! :)

It has truly been a great birthday! :) Two thumbs up!

Zoo Pics...

Here are some pictures we took at the zoo this past weekend... there will be others soon!



Here, Jim and I were at the 'Family Farm' area of the zoo where there is a small petting zoo with goats roaming around.


I just figured out how to put pictures on both facebook and blogger.com... obviously I haven't mastered the skill yet, but, until I do, this is the best I can do. :)

Timber Rattlers Game

Yesterday the Residence Life staff and their families and friends went to Appleton to see a Timber Rattlers Game (Single-A baseball). We bought grass seats on the third-base line right where all the foul balls were sent! Well, when we weren't watching out for fouls, most people were just busy chatting. I had a good time watching the game, chatting with ResLife folk, and walking around the stadium--which, I have to admit, was well taken care of and very clean... a nice look for a single-A baseball team!

We all had a great time and I would highly suggest going to see the Rattlers play if you like baseball-- Tuesdays are $1 hotdog/soda night and tickets are around $4.50-$6! If you'd like to see more photos of this trip, please go to: http://uwosh.facebook.com/photos.php?id=71202604

It's Been a While

I believe May 30 was the last time I wrote a blog... nope, I did not fall off the planet... nope, I did not just disapear into thin air... I'm still here, alive and well. So, that being said, let me catch you up on what has been going on-- it may take me a few posts, but I'll get it all. And, for those of you who read Jim Droste's blog, I appologize in advance, some of this may be a repeat. :)

This past weekend, Jim, his parents, and I went to the Milwaukee County Zoo for a few hours. The last time I was there has to be more than ten years ago... so, needless to say, a lot has changed. For instance, I was extremely happy to see that the zoo wasn't using the old, dank cages like they used to and instead had made park habitats for most of the animals. It was a fun day to say the least!

Recently I applied for the Praxis II subject assessment exam for future educators. I'd like to be licensed for science (I am a biology major) and english and, in order to do so, I need to take these exams. I do, however, have a few qualms with these exams:

• Each exam is $80 each time you need to take it
• The science exam not only tests for biology but about five other subjects as well... most of which I've never had a class in... I guess we science majors drew the short straw.
  
• I wasn't able to take both exams on the same day, which will create scheduling problems.
  
• I had to push back my graduation date because in order to student teach by Fall '08, I need to have both exams passed by March.
• Finally, I took a class with Charlie Hill as a type of English boot camp and ever since, my English skills/writing skills are completely screwed up.

On a happier-sounding note, Jim gave me his old computer speakers and now I have music from my iPod in my work office! It has been really nice to have! :)

Finally, since school is steadily creaping up on all of us, I had to start practicing again. When I began, I could only play for about 15-30 minutes before my chops went out. Now, I'm up to about an hour! I have until auditions to get up to about 2.5 hours of practice... hopefully it will show in my auditions! :)

Well, that does it for now, thanks for reading!!!

Mario Brothers

Some people may know that I am a big fan of the ol' school classic video game archive... in addition to the old arcade magazine of games, I love the original Nintendo games! Last year, I bought a GameBoy Advance SP-- a smaller mimic of the original game boy that folds and plays games in full color. The first game I bought was Super Mario Brothers 3, a game that I have been playing through the eight levels ever since. Finally, as of today, I was able to beat the game, which I can proudly say I haven't done since I was ten years old!

Thanks to earning a little for helping Jim dog-sit for our pastor's dog, Buddy, the newest addition to my GameBoy game collection is Bubble Bobble-- an arcade-style game that involves little dragons and mazes and blowing bubbles to trap bad guys and then popping them to collect fruit and candy. I don't know, it's fun and very additicting!

Psssst.... the wedding's in 17 days! :)

Game Night

Last night we had our fourth game of the season and are now 3 and 1 thanks to a one-run lead at the bottom of the 7th. For me, it was a difficult game. First, the weather was terrible and rained off and on the entire game. Secondly, a fly ball came right to me at center and I caught it only to have it fall out of my glove because my glove slipped off in mid air. I did manage to help the team by catching a fly again (I really caught that one) and by driving in a run my first time up to bat, but that was only after injuring myself while running to first base. As hard as I run, I should have known to stretch before, but I didn't and it resulted in pulling both muscles in my upper quads on both legs. I was a liability after that and even requested a runner. My left leg wasn't too bad, but my right leg was and is still sore today. But thanks to Jim who took care of me last night after the rain-soaked game, I should be healed up and ready to go for the next game!

This weekend Jim and I will be doing lots of things! Beginning tonight, Jim will start house-sitting Buddy--our pastor's dog. I will be going home to pick up my wedding dress and look for a list of things to buy for the wedding. Tomorrow, I will be picking up our rings and driving back up to Oshkosh to help Jim house sit and relieve him for a while as well. Sunday morning Jim is leading our 9:30 church service since our pastor will be out of town! I've seen him lead services before, but I always get so excited to hear him and see him up there! He always looks like he's enjoying himself and really seems to fit what he does because the other people love to hear and see him lead services too... I think Jim is a terrific puplic speaker who can capture people's attention and interest in the subject and project it in a way that allows the viewer to feel that it relates to them personally some how. I know, I know... I'm slightly biased... but he's just good at what he does! :)