you much now prettier

I am a conversation partner for the English as a Second Language program at Northwest. Last year I had two boys from China. I ran into one of my old conversation partners and he said to me...

"you much now prettier"

I couldn't help but laugh. All of the international students are excited to be here learning English and about American culture.This is a picture of my conversation partners and I from last year. This year, I have two girls from Japan. Their names are Mitsuyo Sugai and Yuko Wahei. Hopefully, I will be able to pronounce them by the end of our meeting time tomorrow.

Here is to another year!

My junior year of college has begun! I am so excited for the opportunities and adventures that are ahead of me this year!!!

I woke up this morning to go running and saw this huge spider's web outside of our house. Yes, I know it is nasty, BUT it was very pretty too.... it made me think about how neat it is that a small little spider could make something so big and detailed.I had four classes today and one tomorrow. My energy is high and I am feeling good about this year.

Goals for the year:

1. All A's

2. Stop buying clothes - I don't need anymore and I have to many

3. Stop buying things I don't need

4. Go the distance

5. Blog daily

6. Learn how to parallel park.

Hilary, me, and Nat before going to the Outback Saturday night.

a trip to sioux falls

yesterday i made a trip up to sioux falls to get a different phone and visit southeastern technical institute to look at their 2 year program for graphic communications. i stayed with my aunt deb and uncle jake. i also got to see my cousins kevin and kelly.

i am graduating from nw at the end of the year with a degree in public relations and advertising, but at this point i don't want to be done with school.

then i did a bit of shopping. i got the cutest winter coat.

other than that, i have just been working on all of my projects. i am making rosettes for a pillow cover and have about half of them done...

Taco Tuesday

Last night, we went to Webb, IA (don't even bother looking it up, its pry not on a map) for Taco Tuesday.

My mom and dad go out to eat with their good friends Mike & Paula frequently. Well, they heard of this small bar in Webb, IA that apparently serves 250-300 people a night on Tuesdays for their Tacos. We all didn't believe this was possible. The population of Webb is probably 75 people. So of course, we had to go see for ourselves.

There was a lot of people there. I don't know if they servered the usual 250 but I bet they hit 200. It was quite the experience.

I hate bar food. Never again.

Lisa & Dave's Wedding

The beautiful bride...

My beautiful cousin Lisa was married this weekend in Minneapolis. The wedding and reception were held at the University of Minnesota - Arboretum. It was absolutely gorgeous!

My sister Teresa, myself, my cousin Amanda, my sister Jessica, and my cousin's girlfriend, Kylie.

The sister's and I. If you zoom in on this picture it is scary to see how alike Jessica and I look.
My family before the ceremony. Potential Christmas card pic, eh?? :)
My grandma and I at the wedding reception. She is adorable, amazing, and genuine. I love her so much and thank God that she is still present in my life today. She is the only grandparent I have left and hope she will still be present when I get married.

As you know, at wedding receptions there is always the guests who are tapping the knife against the champagne glass ordering for the bride and groom to kiss. Lisa and Dave made a game out of it and in order for them to kiss, the guests had to demonstrate how they wanted them to kiss. People were standing on chairs kissing each other, grabbing each other's faces and more...but the cutest one was when my dad and Aunt Kathy stood up and each kissed my grandma's cheeks.

Lisa and Dave then went around to all of the grandparents and kissed their cheeks. Look at how happy my grandma is in this picture...

It was a beautiful wedding! It makes me excited to fall in love and live happily ever after! :)

culture shock?

I have been home for almost 3 days now. Luckily, I have some projects to keep me busy. I miss having everything at my fingertips. I miss interacting with people from different cultures. I miss noise. I miss.. I miss.. I miss...

I do enjoy having some down time at home and being with my family, but being here just reaffirms my desire to live in a city/metropolitan area. It was a great place to grow up...but there is so much for me to experience out there in this wonderful world!

I think I am going to come up with a list of "Only in Iowa"...stay tuned.

craft time

Today my mom and I went on a trip to the one of the greatest stores ever...HOBBY LOBBY!

I have about seven different projects that I want to do for my room at college. I started three of them tonight. I am so excited to wake up tomorrow and continue to work on them!

Oh...and my mom took me to get a manicure and a pedicure followed by ice cream at Dairy Queen...jeez she spoils me :)

day one at home...

Enjoyed some sweet corn for dinner! I was only outside for a few minutes today because the mos quites are terrible here due to all of the rain.

I really didn't do much today...unpacked a little (why unpack, when I am leaving in two weeks) organized a few things, made pudding...oh and I worked on my blog. I am trying to update it. So...it will continue to change in the next few days or weeks.

Home Sweet Home

Maryland, DC, Virginia, Wisconsin, Minnesota and Iowa. I was in five different states and the district yesterday as I traveled home.

My plane flew out of Reagon National Airport, which is in Virginia. I had a layover in Milwaukee and my connecting flight took me to Minneapolis.

I was greeted by my parents at the airport. So great to see them. We got in the car and headed home. Stopped for dinner. I had them pull over so I could take this picture.
It is so green and open! I feel that I can see for miles. I am surrounded by corn. I woke up to the sheep "bahhing " ... all I could do was smile! :)

newseum and my favs.

Anyone who is studying journalism could spend a week in the Newseum. I have been wanting to go all summer and finally went today. I enjoyed it a lot, but some of the exhibits were heavy. When I say heavy, I mean the pictures were very graphic and broke my heart...especially the Pulitzer Prize photos.This is the front page of all the major newspapers the day after 9/11.

After the Newseum I met up with my friend Jordan and we grabbed lunch and said our goodbyes.

I am all packed and checked in for my flight tomorrow...ready or not....I am on my way home.

I am so thankful the opportunity I had this summer to live in Washington, DC again. I am a very lucky and fortunate girl. I have been exposed to so many different things this past summer and have grown immensely as a person.

ten things i love about Washington, DC (in no particular order)

1. Diversity…I hear so many different languages throughout the day
2. Public transportation...it is a love/hate relationship
3. All the restaurants to eat at...Thai, Ethiopian, Vietnamese, Portuguese, Greek, etc.
4.Shopping & Fashion...especially H &M...I wish I could bring the style back to Missouri with me.

5. Free concerts and shows
6. Beautiful babies/cute children in maclaren strollers
7.Open minded people
8. The lady that I ride the 5:20 bus home with who makes the sign of the cross every time we pass by the Catholic church…she is precious.
9.The beautiful memorials and monuments
10. Wide range of volunteer opportunities

My list could go on and on…

sunday...goodbyes

I went to mass this morning followed by a non-denominational service with April in the Chinatown area. She has told me throughout the whole summer that they have great music, so on her last day we went! It was good and I enjoyed myself. I thought that the pastor was talking extremely loud (which he was) and she explained to me that you become used to it overtime. He had a great message...but could have turned his voice level down a few notches.

Then we had our goodbye lunch and went to this really neat restaurant. I can't think of what it is called, but it serves Portuguese food. It was beautiful inside. Check out how cool the lighting is!After lunch we went into H&M for the "last time" of the summer...sad.

Then we headed back to center and I took a nap while she finished packing.

Later in the evening I met up with my friend Chase and we went to the free evening show at The Kennedy Center. Tonight it was the Washington Children's Gospel Choir singing. They were really good and were having so much fun performing.
I had to say goodbye to April and Chase, two of my close friends that I made this summer. It was hard, but I am so thankful that God put them in my life.

"Every goodbye makes the next hello closer."

That is the quote I used to get through my freshman year of college. Whenever I had to say goodbye to my mom I would always think that. Think I will have to remind myself of that quote these next couple days...