Wow...what. a. week. (<-- notice the forming trend...?)
It's going to be a crazy semester, that's for sure. I'm a little nervous about it, to be honest. The whole juggling class and spending 50% of my time working on my thesis thing is a little scary for me this semester. But, I think I'll get it and start to figure out how to manage my time with it. It might end up being more along the lines of 60% classes, 40% research...I'm hoping not, but we shall see.
So, what are the highlights since Tuesday??
Wednesday: Aunt June came in town!! It was so fun, she had a layover Wednesday night through Thursday morning, like way early morning, so we got together after my classes! We went to Ruby Tuesday in the Mall of America and had a genuinely lovely time together, as always. She rocks, just in case you were wondering. Definitely blessed to have such an amazing aunt.
Thursday: I got to talk to the pops for a bit after class (read: ~9pm) and that was super great.
Friday: I officially did dissections on my own!! I have no clue if I did it correctly, but I was able to make some sketches of genitalia and whatnot. I think I'm finally starting to get a handle on these critters' morphology! Now if I just need to learn how to slide mount everything and all that jazz. If you want an idea of what dissecting these moths looks like, check out this walk-through video. It's pretty informative, and SW knows the guy who put it together...yay networking!!
Friday was also way fun for a number of other reasons:
1. I have NO CLASSES of Fridays! WIN!
2. We had our ento grad orientation...nothing to thrilling, but good info none-the-less.
3. We had our first hangout with Frenatae!!! Frenatae is our ento grad organization. They took us out to Tugg's Tavern (nothing all that thrilling...but it was a good place to get together) in Minneapolis. We got the department credit card to pay for dinner - WHOOP! - and Frenatae took the tab for our drinks - again, WIN! It was really fun to hang out with our new community of peers and to get to know this year's cohort of entering grad students. Not everyone was there, but everyone who was there was extremely enjoyable :)
Overall, it was an enjoyable, though overwhelming, week.
Today was nice to sort of recoup, regroup, and process the week. I played with Jakers a bit this morning and did some general cleaning around the apartment - always makes me feel better. It was also beyond wonderful to Skype with a number of you today!
I have truly missed having the freedom to have Skype running ~24/7 and pretty much see your faces and hear your voices whenever I wanted. But, emails, gchatting, and occasional evening Skype sessions are sufficing, outside of my now extra special weekend Skype sessions :)
Gah, I so canNOT wait for December!!! I miss your beautiful faces and I'm pumped about getting to spend as much time as possible with you. Parties, shooting, concerts, dancing - it's going to be epic.
Sorry the blogging has been a bit sparse this week....I'll try to do better next week.
Could I implore y'all to pray for me regarding finding a church home? I'm not worried about finding one, but I want to find one soon so I can start getting plugged in and get the fellowship, encouragement, accountability, nourishment, etc., etc. that comes along with being an active part of the Body. Please pray that our Heavenly Daddy will lead me in finding the place He wants me to be while I'm here. I can feel myself beginning to get discouraged, even though I've only been her for 4 Sundays (counting tomorrow)...I simply miss having a church to call home.
Well my loves, with that I am calling it a post and a night. Hope you've all had a blessed weekend, thus far.
Shalom!
~MW
Saturday, September 11, 2010
Tuesday, September 07, 2010
Grad School...Day 1
Whew! What. A. Day!
I pulled myself out of bed at the (dark and) early hour of 6:30am so that I would have ample time to get ready for my FIRST DAY OF CLASSES! My first class was at 8:45am, so I wanted to make sure I had time to do everything around the house and still get to campus with time to drop my lunch and laptop off at the lab and stroll on over to class with at least a few min to spare. Success!
I cuddled with BigBoy for a few, made my bed, took Jake out for a good 15min, had my quiet time, made fresh coffee and a simple breakfast, packed my lunch, picked up a few odds and ends around the house, and got myself ready to face the day, complete with Texas A&M hoodie, WHOOP! It was a chilly 53 degrees when I walked out my door this morning circa 8am. Aaaand, the wind was blowing at about 24mph, with gusts up to 36mph or so. Made me walk a little more briskly, that's for sure.
I really enjoyed being one of the first people in the lab today - that was always one of my favorite things at Wharton's lab, too. It's just nice to start the day in the quiet of your "home" away from home. I dropped off my lunch and my laptop in my little cubbie, along with a few of my lep books and lit print-outs...it's always nice to lighten the backpack load before setting out on another hike. Fortunately, other than the 0.5mi trek I make from where I am currently parking ($1.50/day!! It's pretty much perfect, as long as I can get there early enough to get a spot - that right there, my friends, is incentive to get a move-on every day. I still need to look into paying monthly, instead of daily...if that secures me a spot, then my life will be so much easier - NO BUS!!) to the lab, and then back again come the close of the day, all of my classes are way close to the lab. Fantastic!
8:45am. First class: Insect Ecology.
- No books. WIN!
- No exams. WIN!
- Familiar faces from the Incoming Grad Student Weekend in March. WIN!
- Lots of readings for each class. Not so much of a win.
- Rude reminder that I absolutely hate the mathematics that goes along with studying ecology. Super not so much of a win.
10:00am. Close of class.
Immediately have awesome convo time with another 1st year grad student - we are officially friends. WIN! She's a Quaker...I don't know that I have ever known a Quaker before. I need to do some research on their beliefs. She's awesome, though. We hit it off back in March, too.
10:30am. We both decided it was time to hit the labs and get some work done.
The rest of the day was pretty much spent reading lit and continuing the data transfer from Yoshi to my desktop in the lab...I need to come up with a good name for the gigantor thing with the tiniest hard drive ever. Suggestions?? (It's a Dell...be nice, y'all - I didn't choose it.)
Got in some chatting on gmail chat and Skype...sadly, no actual Skyping was had. This will take some getting used to, for sure. I rather enjoyed the life of simply doing things around the house (Yes, I know I live in an apartment...but it's my home, so it's a house. Don't worry about it, it doesn't have to make sense.) and being able to answer calls on Skype at my leisure. Now planning (dun-dun-dun-duuuuunnnnnn) and scheduling will need to take place, I'm thinking. We can do this. We can survive this, right? Right? Sigh...
So, get a load of this, y'all: 3:55pm, I leave Hodson and make the 0.5mi trek to my car; I then drive 2.5mi to the bank; I spend about 20min there getting quarters for laundry (lame); I then drive the 2.5mi back to the lot and park my car; I make the 0.5mi trek back to Hodson; once inside I encounter the tiniest little Chinese girl I think I have ever seen and she is beyond lost trying to find her classroom, I walk her to the correct side of the building and put her on the elevator that will put her just outside her classroom; I walk back to my side of the building and take the stairs up to the lab; I sit down in my cubbie at, get this, 4:39pm. I did all that in under 45min!!! Awesome. Just sayin'.
That left me just enough time to down my peanut butter and jelly sandwich before my next class.
5:10pm. Second class, Scientific Illustration of Insects. This class is going to rock. I'm so excited about it! We are starting our training out in the world of old school: INKING! Yuh, like for serious - bottle of ink, crowquill pen, fancy paper that I can't remember the name of and EvErYTHING! After mastering that and learning a few other techniques we are moving to using Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator - SO legit.
7:00pm. Left lab and headed home to take care of Jake and do some laundry. We had a rather productive evening, actually! I threw a load in the washer down the hall, then took Jakers out. We went on a very brisk 1mi walk to get back in time to take the wash out and put it in the dryer. We made it, and I had quite the tuckered pup upon our return. I made some dinner, had some ice cream, swept and mopped the kitchen, folded the laundry, unloaded the dishwasher, and here I sit blogging and enjoying some Criminal Minds.
And with that, I'm off to get ready for bed.
Loves!
Shalom!
~MW
I pulled myself out of bed at the (dark and) early hour of 6:30am so that I would have ample time to get ready for my FIRST DAY OF CLASSES! My first class was at 8:45am, so I wanted to make sure I had time to do everything around the house and still get to campus with time to drop my lunch and laptop off at the lab and stroll on over to class with at least a few min to spare. Success!
I cuddled with BigBoy for a few, made my bed, took Jake out for a good 15min, had my quiet time, made fresh coffee and a simple breakfast, packed my lunch, picked up a few odds and ends around the house, and got myself ready to face the day, complete with Texas A&M hoodie, WHOOP! It was a chilly 53 degrees when I walked out my door this morning circa 8am. Aaaand, the wind was blowing at about 24mph, with gusts up to 36mph or so. Made me walk a little more briskly, that's for sure.
I really enjoyed being one of the first people in the lab today - that was always one of my favorite things at Wharton's lab, too. It's just nice to start the day in the quiet of your "home" away from home. I dropped off my lunch and my laptop in my little cubbie, along with a few of my lep books and lit print-outs...it's always nice to lighten the backpack load before setting out on another hike. Fortunately, other than the 0.5mi trek I make from where I am currently parking ($1.50/day!! It's pretty much perfect, as long as I can get there early enough to get a spot - that right there, my friends, is incentive to get a move-on every day. I still need to look into paying monthly, instead of daily...if that secures me a spot, then my life will be so much easier - NO BUS!!) to the lab, and then back again come the close of the day, all of my classes are way close to the lab. Fantastic!
8:45am. First class: Insect Ecology.
- No books. WIN!
- No exams. WIN!
- Familiar faces from the Incoming Grad Student Weekend in March. WIN!
- Lots of readings for each class. Not so much of a win.
- Rude reminder that I absolutely hate the mathematics that goes along with studying ecology. Super not so much of a win.
10:00am. Close of class.
Immediately have awesome convo time with another 1st year grad student - we are officially friends. WIN! She's a Quaker...I don't know that I have ever known a Quaker before. I need to do some research on their beliefs. She's awesome, though. We hit it off back in March, too.
10:30am. We both decided it was time to hit the labs and get some work done.
The rest of the day was pretty much spent reading lit and continuing the data transfer from Yoshi to my desktop in the lab...I need to come up with a good name for the gigantor thing with the tiniest hard drive ever. Suggestions?? (It's a Dell...be nice, y'all - I didn't choose it.)
Got in some chatting on gmail chat and Skype...sadly, no actual Skyping was had. This will take some getting used to, for sure. I rather enjoyed the life of simply doing things around the house (Yes, I know I live in an apartment...but it's my home, so it's a house. Don't worry about it, it doesn't have to make sense.) and being able to answer calls on Skype at my leisure. Now planning (dun-dun-dun-duuuuunnnnnn) and scheduling will need to take place, I'm thinking. We can do this. We can survive this, right? Right? Sigh...
So, get a load of this, y'all: 3:55pm, I leave Hodson and make the 0.5mi trek to my car; I then drive 2.5mi to the bank; I spend about 20min there getting quarters for laundry (lame); I then drive the 2.5mi back to the lot and park my car; I make the 0.5mi trek back to Hodson; once inside I encounter the tiniest little Chinese girl I think I have ever seen and she is beyond lost trying to find her classroom, I walk her to the correct side of the building and put her on the elevator that will put her just outside her classroom; I walk back to my side of the building and take the stairs up to the lab; I sit down in my cubbie at, get this, 4:39pm. I did all that in under 45min!!! Awesome. Just sayin'.
That left me just enough time to down my peanut butter and jelly sandwich before my next class.
5:10pm. Second class, Scientific Illustration of Insects. This class is going to rock. I'm so excited about it! We are starting our training out in the world of old school: INKING! Yuh, like for serious - bottle of ink, crowquill pen, fancy paper that I can't remember the name of and EvErYTHING! After mastering that and learning a few other techniques we are moving to using Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator - SO legit.
7:00pm. Left lab and headed home to take care of Jake and do some laundry. We had a rather productive evening, actually! I threw a load in the washer down the hall, then took Jakers out. We went on a very brisk 1mi walk to get back in time to take the wash out and put it in the dryer. We made it, and I had quite the tuckered pup upon our return. I made some dinner, had some ice cream, swept and mopped the kitchen, folded the laundry, unloaded the dishwasher, and here I sit blogging and enjoying some Criminal Minds.
And with that, I'm off to get ready for bed.
Loves!
Shalom!
~MW
Saturday, September 04, 2010
Jake's First Adventure in the WIL-DY-NESS
So, today was pretty great...not at all entirely productive, but meh, that's whatevs.
This morning we all (myself, BigBoy, the hissers, Jakers) woke up to a crisp, cool morning - seriously, I was sporting a hoodie, jeans, and socks. With the wind essentially gone from yesterday (which prevented us from playing after I left the lab), the conditions were absolutely perfect for taking a stroll in the park. So, off to one of the local dog parks we went. This place is just up the way from my apartment, maybe 2mi or so, so it's pretty close - bonus. The really cool thing about this particular park is that it has a few fenced-in off-leash areas as well as general walking paths (happen to be paved...nice for running. I'm thinking...I've found a good route - inclines and everything!!), so it works for everyone: if your out for a stroll with the fam/friends, going for a run, or if you want to take your pup(s) out to run around and play. Awesome.
We got there early enough today that we had to big off-leash area all to ourselves - fantastical. We had a blast. Played ball for a bit and then hiked around on the trails that have been carved out in that area...on such adventures is where the following video takes place, enjoy:
This morning we all (myself, BigBoy, the hissers, Jakers) woke up to a crisp, cool morning - seriously, I was sporting a hoodie, jeans, and socks. With the wind essentially gone from yesterday (which prevented us from playing after I left the lab), the conditions were absolutely perfect for taking a stroll in the park. So, off to one of the local dog parks we went. This place is just up the way from my apartment, maybe 2mi or so, so it's pretty close - bonus. The really cool thing about this particular park is that it has a few fenced-in off-leash areas as well as general walking paths (happen to be paved...nice for running. I'm thinking...I've found a good route - inclines and everything!!), so it works for everyone: if your out for a stroll with the fam/friends, going for a run, or if you want to take your pup(s) out to run around and play. Awesome.
We got there early enough today that we had to big off-leash area all to ourselves - fantastical. We had a blast. Played ball for a bit and then hiked around on the trails that have been carved out in that area...on such adventures is where the following video takes place, enjoy:
Well...after that I took my rather dirty pup out to the walking trail for some general strolling and perusing of the gorgeous nature that was surrounding us. I kinda geeked out for a bit looking at all the trees and decided that in my "fee time" one of my activities will be to flip through my National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Trees, Eastern Region. I just enjoy trees. Today I for sure saw red pines (gorgeous...also, turns out they are the state tree for MN...neat!), eastern cottonwoods, some variations of oaks I'm not familiar with, and some other things I need to look up. I was awestruck by the red pines though. Such magnificent organisms. I could have stood under them for hours just listening to their creaking in the breeze. SO cool. Here, look!
A little piece of heaven, for sure.
A little piece of heaven, for sure.
I also came across a lot of awesomeness like this:
Can't see it too well, but that's a swampy wetland!
Shelf fungus!!
We had a blast, to say the least. And Jake really enjoyed imagining himself running after all of the grey squirrels and bunnies and birds we saw...he's quickly learning the command, "leave it." It works for pretty much everything! And he's a fast learning - you can totally teach this "old dog" new tricks :)
After our adventure in the wilderness we headed home for a serious bath. And, I mean serious. I think I had him in the tub for a good hour...that's just how dirty he had managed to get himself, silly doggy. But now he's all glossy again and smells lightly of lavender, cinnamon, and patchouli - divine.
We were both rather tuckered out after all of that and pretty much took the rest of the day off. He slept, I played with the video editor I downloaded to put that little "film" together for y'all.
Tomorrow is a new church and I need to run up to the lab for a spell so I can back-up all of my files from my laptop onto my desktop there so I can send Yoshi off to Toshiba to get his CD-drive looked at and repaired. Which means, my dear readers, that once I send him off I'll be out of the blog world, at least as far as pictures and things go for at the very least a week...7-10 days is the estimated repair time. Here's hoping for less than that! But it won't cost me a dime - they're even sending me the box and postage to send it in, gotta love killer customer service :) While he's gone, I'll try to do updates from my comp at the lab, but those will probably be somewhat minimal...we shall see.
Now that I've told you all about today (er...now yesterday, I suppose...I really should be getting to bed, but I just don't think I'll be able to fall asleep...hmph!), I reckon I should fill you in on yesterday (Friday)!
Friday rocked. Like, really, really rocked. I spent a good portion of the day visiting and working with SW up at the lab, which was simply awesome. I love this woman. Aside from the fact that she's an incredible scientist, beyond accomplished researcher/author, and is a good teacher, she is positively endearing. Such a delight to work with - and, she gives hugs. This, I absolutely love. Especially right now...when hugs are rather non-existent (I NEED A CHURCH FAMILY STAT!).
We went over a lot of general stuff regarding Euchaetes morphology and I have a few specimens to dissect next week (super stoked...like you have no idea - morphology and dissections are what got me hooked on entomology; thank you, Dr. Wharton...I blame you for everything, in the best possible way!), which will be just great. Dissections will really help me get familiar with these critters and should give me a much better handle on it all when it comes to reading the literature regarding arctiids, in general.
After we finished running around collecting stuff for me to do next week, discussing papers, setting up rough meeting/researching schedules for the semester, and just plain enjoying one another's company, she went off to her other world a few buildings over and I got to working on some me stuff in the lab: setting up some things on my desktop (p.s. - I feel way legit having my own lab computer...I mean, I won't get to keep it when I finish in 3yrs, but now I don't have to store everything on my laptop! Aaaand, this thing has a huge monitor...it's gonna be awesome when I start making phylogenies! Holla!), scanning some lit (the department has a scanner that emails the scans to you in pdf form - so awesome...and, I have Adobe publisher on the desktop...WIN!), setting up my scope/dissection station, stuff like that. Yay! Love it. Love, love, love it.
Well, classes finally start on Tuesday...I'm less nervous about this starting classes this semester than I ever have been before...weird. In my head I should be way more nervous than any other time I've started a new semester - this is, ahem, grad school... But, I don't know, it's just kind of a, "Meh...here we go again...let's make those grades..." type thing. Weird. Really, really weird. Basically, God rocks. I really haven't had any nerve issues since I got here. Now, those last two months leading up the move, oh my business, was I a wreck?! Seriously, ask anyone - I was an absolute mess. But since I've arrived, especially since I started setting up my home and all that jazz, I've been surprisingly at peace with basically everything. I feel extremely comfortable and at home in Hodson (the ento building) and my lab. I'm extremely comfortable with SW - I'm still figuring out the thresholds and boundaries with our relationship, but that's to be expected, and everything is different in grad school, as compared to undergrad...that is taking some getting used to. I experienced some of that with Wharton once I hit my senior year and we were going to conferences and doing presentations together and then after graduation, but that was different than this too, because I'd known him for over half of my collegiate career...he had taken care of me in more ways than one. He's family, at this point. But, I digress. I love this environment - makes me a little nervous, to be honest - I don't want to do academia...I just don't want to, but I'm afraid I'm going to get sucked in... I've never entirely nixed the idea of a phD, I've just said that I don't want to do it - I don't like all the politics involved with professorship, especially in the science world. But hey, no need to worry about that right now. I have plenty of time to figure all of that out :)
Well, kiddies, I think I might be able to actually get some shut-eye now.
Love to you all!
Shalom,
~MW
Can't see it too well, but that's a swampy wetland!
Shelf fungus!!
We had a blast, to say the least. And Jake really enjoyed imagining himself running after all of the grey squirrels and bunnies and birds we saw...he's quickly learning the command, "leave it." It works for pretty much everything! And he's a fast learning - you can totally teach this "old dog" new tricks :)
After our adventure in the wilderness we headed home for a serious bath. And, I mean serious. I think I had him in the tub for a good hour...that's just how dirty he had managed to get himself, silly doggy. But now he's all glossy again and smells lightly of lavender, cinnamon, and patchouli - divine.
We were both rather tuckered out after all of that and pretty much took the rest of the day off. He slept, I played with the video editor I downloaded to put that little "film" together for y'all.
Tomorrow is a new church and I need to run up to the lab for a spell so I can back-up all of my files from my laptop onto my desktop there so I can send Yoshi off to Toshiba to get his CD-drive looked at and repaired. Which means, my dear readers, that once I send him off I'll be out of the blog world, at least as far as pictures and things go for at the very least a week...7-10 days is the estimated repair time. Here's hoping for less than that! But it won't cost me a dime - they're even sending me the box and postage to send it in, gotta love killer customer service :) While he's gone, I'll try to do updates from my comp at the lab, but those will probably be somewhat minimal...we shall see.
Now that I've told you all about today (er...now yesterday, I suppose...I really should be getting to bed, but I just don't think I'll be able to fall asleep...hmph!), I reckon I should fill you in on yesterday (Friday)!
Friday rocked. Like, really, really rocked. I spent a good portion of the day visiting and working with SW up at the lab, which was simply awesome. I love this woman. Aside from the fact that she's an incredible scientist, beyond accomplished researcher/author, and is a good teacher, she is positively endearing. Such a delight to work with - and, she gives hugs. This, I absolutely love. Especially right now...when hugs are rather non-existent (I NEED A CHURCH FAMILY STAT!).
We went over a lot of general stuff regarding Euchaetes morphology and I have a few specimens to dissect next week (super stoked...like you have no idea - morphology and dissections are what got me hooked on entomology; thank you, Dr. Wharton...I blame you for everything, in the best possible way!), which will be just great. Dissections will really help me get familiar with these critters and should give me a much better handle on it all when it comes to reading the literature regarding arctiids, in general.
After we finished running around collecting stuff for me to do next week, discussing papers, setting up rough meeting/researching schedules for the semester, and just plain enjoying one another's company, she went off to her other world a few buildings over and I got to working on some me stuff in the lab: setting up some things on my desktop (p.s. - I feel way legit having my own lab computer...I mean, I won't get to keep it when I finish in 3yrs, but now I don't have to store everything on my laptop! Aaaand, this thing has a huge monitor...it's gonna be awesome when I start making phylogenies! Holla!), scanning some lit (the department has a scanner that emails the scans to you in pdf form - so awesome...and, I have Adobe publisher on the desktop...WIN!), setting up my scope/dissection station, stuff like that. Yay! Love it. Love, love, love it.
Well, classes finally start on Tuesday...I'm less nervous about this starting classes this semester than I ever have been before...weird. In my head I should be way more nervous than any other time I've started a new semester - this is, ahem, grad school... But, I don't know, it's just kind of a, "Meh...here we go again...let's make those grades..." type thing. Weird. Really, really weird. Basically, God rocks. I really haven't had any nerve issues since I got here. Now, those last two months leading up the move, oh my business, was I a wreck?! Seriously, ask anyone - I was an absolute mess. But since I've arrived, especially since I started setting up my home and all that jazz, I've been surprisingly at peace with basically everything. I feel extremely comfortable and at home in Hodson (the ento building) and my lab. I'm extremely comfortable with SW - I'm still figuring out the thresholds and boundaries with our relationship, but that's to be expected, and everything is different in grad school, as compared to undergrad...that is taking some getting used to. I experienced some of that with Wharton once I hit my senior year and we were going to conferences and doing presentations together and then after graduation, but that was different than this too, because I'd known him for over half of my collegiate career...he had taken care of me in more ways than one. He's family, at this point. But, I digress. I love this environment - makes me a little nervous, to be honest - I don't want to do academia...I just don't want to, but I'm afraid I'm going to get sucked in... I've never entirely nixed the idea of a phD, I've just said that I don't want to do it - I don't like all the politics involved with professorship, especially in the science world. But hey, no need to worry about that right now. I have plenty of time to figure all of that out :)
Well, kiddies, I think I might be able to actually get some shut-eye now.
Love to you all!
Shalom,
~MW
Friday, September 03, 2010
Stats
Day: 3 September 2010
Time: 9:40am
Temp: 55 degrees F
Wind speed: 26mph
Wind chill: 51 degrees F
People, I don't know if today is a fluke or not, but it seems to me that...IT HAS BEGUN!
I'll let you know if I turn into a human popsicle come the close of today.
Shalom!
~MW
P.S. - Texans: send me some of your warmth!
Time: 9:40am
Temp: 55 degrees F
Wind speed: 26mph
Wind chill: 51 degrees F
People, I don't know if today is a fluke or not, but it seems to me that...IT HAS BEGUN!
I'll let you know if I turn into a human popsicle come the close of today.
Shalom!
~MW
P.S. - Texans: send me some of your warmth!
Wednesday, September 01, 2010
It's beginning to look a lot like...
...Home.
While I do have the holidays on my mind after a surprisingly large number of convos with Jake about them (who knew I would find my way into the lives of so many people who have a ridiculous affinity for the holidays like I do?!), I can't quite decorate for the holidays (any of them) yet...it is, however, almost cool enough here for me to call it fall!! Which means....FALL DECOR! Some of my absolute fav, outside of Christmas, of course. But, I digress...
I am officially out of boxes to unpack! WHOOP! Glory, Hallelujah! Etc., etc., etc. All of the boxes I moved in with have either been broken down and taken to the recycling bin, or broken down and stored away in my GIGANTINORMOUS storage closet. (pictures to come!)
This is what I worked on today:
It's my little visiting corner...I just LOVE it!
Sorry it's a bit dark...but you get the idea.
It's my whimsically fancy set-up :)
They are seriously one of my favorite things ever.
While I do have the holidays on my mind after a surprisingly large number of convos with Jake about them (who knew I would find my way into the lives of so many people who have a ridiculous affinity for the holidays like I do?!), I can't quite decorate for the holidays (any of them) yet...it is, however, almost cool enough here for me to call it fall!! Which means....FALL DECOR! Some of my absolute fav, outside of Christmas, of course. But, I digress...
I am officially out of boxes to unpack! WHOOP! Glory, Hallelujah! Etc., etc., etc. All of the boxes I moved in with have either been broken down and taken to the recycling bin, or broken down and stored away in my GIGANTINORMOUS storage closet. (pictures to come!)
This is what I worked on today:
It's my little visiting corner...I just LOVE it!
Ok, ok...so maybe it's a bit hodge-podge...but, it's homey and it makes me happy. Plants, pictures of people I love, wood, color...makes my heart sing...and, those are vertical blinds on the right side of the picture, allowing for a substantial amount of light and quick access to le balcony! FTW!
I set this up a few days ago, and I'm pretty pleased with it as well:
I set this up a few days ago, and I'm pretty pleased with it as well:
Sorry it's a bit dark...but you get the idea.
It's my whimsically fancy set-up :)
I have a few other things in progress...but they aren't quite ready yet - pictures to come later on!
Have I mentioned how much I love these rolls???
Have I mentioned how much I love these rolls???
They are seriously one of my favorite things ever.
They are SO good! And easy. Grab however many you want out of the freezer, let them rise for an hour in an oven that has pre-heated to 200 degrees F (and has then been shut off) with a bowl of water on the rack below the pan. Then bake at 350 for 20-25min. If you don't want to do the "quick bake" you let them rise for like 5-6hrs and then you bake them...I usually don't plan out what I want for dinner that far in advance, though....
Oh! I don't think I told you all that they DO have Dr. Pepper here!! See, proof!
Mmm, mmm, good.
Oh! I forgot to tell you all how church went on Sunday! I tried a different church than I did last Sunday, and I must say that I liked this one much better. I'm still not sure if I will be calling it home, but it was, over-all, a much better experience. I ended up being a few minutes late, because I can't read: I-35E does not = Hwy 36... Just so you know... But, to my credit, part of my directions did involve getting on I-35W... I went to Good Shepherd Lutheran (LCMS) in Circle Pines. It was very small, much like my home church in Arlington. There is good and bad to that. Good: I love the community that comes with small churches - it's just, good. Bad: I'm pretty much the only 20-something in existence. This can be a little exhausting at times, to be completely honest. That's something I've always wished for at BSLC: that there were more people in my age group around. So, I'll have to think about that first. But, I have a few other churches I want to try.
The pastor was great. The congregation has been going through a series on "Heroes of the Bible," and this week the character in question was Rahab. I absolutely love Rahab's story, so it was exciting for me to hear a whole sermon devoted to her. If you aren't familiar with her, you can find her story in Joshua 2. She's the prostitute who hide Joshua's spies during the battle of Jericho. The part of the wall where Rahab's "inn" was is the only part of the wall that didn't fall on the day the Israelites walked around the wall 7 times and the wall fell. Rahab later went on to marry into God's family and bore Boaz who married Ruth and bore Obed who fathered Jesse...do you know what this means?? A prostitute played a key role in furthering the line of Christ! How awesome is that?! I mean, what an incredible example of how God can forgive our sins and use even the "worst" of us for greatness. SO COOL! (I also just read Matt 1 as part of my study today...Christ's genealogy...it's all kind of fresh in my mind...I get a little excited sometimes :) So, yeah, I liked the sermon. The worship, well, it wasn't what I'm used to, but it wasn't bad...quaint with a touch of folksy might be the best way to describe it.
After service I got to visit with a number of the members and met the (ehem, three...) college kids...they made me feel old...haha. But, they were all really fun kids and I can see us enjoying one another's company. I exchanged contact info with the pastor's daughter - she's a fun, artsy gal and we had a nice little visit. I was hoping to invite her over for dinner one night this week...but I got sick (no worries, I got beh-tah!)...so that hasn't happened yet. Hmph! I'm trying a different church this Sunday just to make sure I'm not missing where I'm supposed to be. Trying to keep my heart, eyes, and ears open to God's direction in finding my new church home. He's always provided just what I needed and I know He will do the same here.
So, that has been my life of late. Hope you are all well...miss you all like you would not believe.
Shalom and blessings!
~MW
P.S. - I have a confession to make...I am officially addicted to Criminal Minds. Man, is it interesting!! Geez!
Oh! I don't think I told you all that they DO have Dr. Pepper here!! See, proof!
Mmm, mmm, good.
I have also acquired my very own Rainbow Foods card! Their brand name is "Roundy's." The only thing I'm not too sure how I feel about is that it's a gas rewards program (kind of like Kroger has), which is awesome...but they do everything through BP fuel stations...le sigh, I'm just not so sure how I feel about that. But...the in-store savings are still "Pretty Good!" (You're welcome, Jake!)
Oh! I forgot to tell you all how church went on Sunday! I tried a different church than I did last Sunday, and I must say that I liked this one much better. I'm still not sure if I will be calling it home, but it was, over-all, a much better experience. I ended up being a few minutes late, because I can't read: I-35E does not = Hwy 36... Just so you know... But, to my credit, part of my directions did involve getting on I-35W... I went to Good Shepherd Lutheran (LCMS) in Circle Pines. It was very small, much like my home church in Arlington. There is good and bad to that. Good: I love the community that comes with small churches - it's just, good. Bad: I'm pretty much the only 20-something in existence. This can be a little exhausting at times, to be completely honest. That's something I've always wished for at BSLC: that there were more people in my age group around. So, I'll have to think about that first. But, I have a few other churches I want to try.
The pastor was great. The congregation has been going through a series on "Heroes of the Bible," and this week the character in question was Rahab. I absolutely love Rahab's story, so it was exciting for me to hear a whole sermon devoted to her. If you aren't familiar with her, you can find her story in Joshua 2. She's the prostitute who hide Joshua's spies during the battle of Jericho. The part of the wall where Rahab's "inn" was is the only part of the wall that didn't fall on the day the Israelites walked around the wall 7 times and the wall fell. Rahab later went on to marry into God's family and bore Boaz who married Ruth and bore Obed who fathered Jesse...do you know what this means?? A prostitute played a key role in furthering the line of Christ! How awesome is that?! I mean, what an incredible example of how God can forgive our sins and use even the "worst" of us for greatness. SO COOL! (I also just read Matt 1 as part of my study today...Christ's genealogy...it's all kind of fresh in my mind...I get a little excited sometimes :) So, yeah, I liked the sermon. The worship, well, it wasn't what I'm used to, but it wasn't bad...quaint with a touch of folksy might be the best way to describe it.
After service I got to visit with a number of the members and met the (ehem, three...) college kids...they made me feel old...haha. But, they were all really fun kids and I can see us enjoying one another's company. I exchanged contact info with the pastor's daughter - she's a fun, artsy gal and we had a nice little visit. I was hoping to invite her over for dinner one night this week...but I got sick (no worries, I got beh-tah!)...so that hasn't happened yet. Hmph! I'm trying a different church this Sunday just to make sure I'm not missing where I'm supposed to be. Trying to keep my heart, eyes, and ears open to God's direction in finding my new church home. He's always provided just what I needed and I know He will do the same here.
So, that has been my life of late. Hope you are all well...miss you all like you would not believe.
Shalom and blessings!
~MW
P.S. - I have a confession to make...I am officially addicted to Criminal Minds. Man, is it interesting!! Geez!
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