A New Year

Happy New Years!
Late and anti climatic but, here I am :) We didn't ring in the new year with anything special, outside of a HP and me dinner date. Jon had to work until 2 am but then had the 1st off. I have been on an extended vacation from work, almost 2 full work weeks off. It felt amazing. Last year I went in throughout the holidays and nearly fell apaet from lonely-holiday rage! So it was the right move to take a few days this time around :)

So whats happening in this new year?
-same jobs for both of us
-potentially putting HP into preschool this Fall
-a family trip to Portland for a week to see family and in my case work
-potentially going on a Europeon vacation with Jonathan in the Fall (cross your fingers and toes)
-doing some proper landscaping for the house (I did the demolition last year....just not the reconstruction so much)
-welcoming some baby additions to our circle of friends
-camping trip to Macinac Island
-oh yeah...turning 30
-talking to a realtor about the process of buying/selling a house (not likely to happen this year, but maybe next)
-finishing the basement
-joining Planet Fitness and saying farewell to the YMCA, even though we really did love HP's calsses it was just too expensive for our casual use
-maybe giving that 100 mile bike trip another go...and training for it this time

So there's the short list for now :)
Here's to a healthy and happy 2014.

Sum Sum Summertime

I would like to state that not seeing me writing and updating the blog shows I had a productive, busy Summer :) And now that I'm updating....well, that means that work is kicking into high gear again.

I know its only the early part of August but around here it definitely feels like we've turned that corner into Fall. I could have really used some more uncomfortably hot days. Come on, whats a Michigan summer without your legs sticking to every chair you sit down on?

Speaking of sitting down, I sat (or perched rather) on my bicycle for an entire (or at least the better part of) a day. Why? Because I finally accomplished a goal that has been on my list of things, I rode a century. 100 miles. In a day. ....without any real training....and without tuning my bike up.  I'm way less proud of those last two bits of information. But anyway. Check it off. Whew. Truly the only reason I did this massive ride was because I was shamed by my father :) More or less. Well, truly he is the only reason I actually finished that beast of a ride. And he drove us home while I was pretty much dead to the world. And he finished out the day running after my 3 year old while I lay like a slug on the couch. Yes, it broke me.

But I finished :) And that, in the end, is what counts!

My padre, cool as a cucumber

Quite possibly the Red Lantern of the Holland 100 :)

btw- celebrated 5 years married to this guy :)

 A few hot days at the beach 

family tattoos at the air show

Big fan :)

Cousins reunited! 

General silliness 

Plenty of snacking

And blueberry picking! 

That's my kind of summer :)

Spring Recap and Intro to Summer

I finally was able to get around to pulling the pictures off my phone. Although I do really like my phone and its picture capabilities I miss my real camera. Poor thing, all tucked away in a drawer.

Playing in the lilacs with my boys

Tulip Time in Holland with my parents 

Enjoying Festival of the Arts downtown GR

Camping in Manistee, MI

Growing some pretty tall peas! 

And tomorrow I set off for Dallas, TX. My last work trip of the 2012-13 School Year. I'm attending a bilingual professional development in the great city of Pittsburgh, TX. Haven't heard of it? Neither had I...

Summer Series: Part 2

The wind down following a long weekend of family fun can be a little sad. Why do we wait until a holiday to gather as a large group? Plane tickets and work always seem to get in the way. Blerg.

But I'll do my best to stay positive here, even if it is a truly dreary, dismal day outside! Here's a quick re-cap.
-I hosted my first professional development session Friday for 18 colleagues, I think it went well! There was only one person who chose to crochet through the entirety of the meeting...
-HP, Jon, Mom and I drove up to Alma for the Highland festival. We met Kellie and Dikran who had flown in from LA, my dad, uncle and cousins. Although the parade was relatively low-key we managed to fully enjoy the 2 days
-HP and I hosted our first grill-out of the season, yummy
-I popped H in the Burley Sunday morning and rode him over to Jenison. I have plans to ride a 100 miler with my dad this summer, so I thought perhaps I'd better get training!
-HP played his heart out with his 2 cousins- (2nd cousins?, who knows)
-Kellie, Mom and I watched Little Women for the umpteenth time
-The whole fam walked down to see the Jenison Memorial Day parade. Jon helped him score a whole pailful of candy

Let's start with a baseball cake :)

And a burley ride to Reed's Lake

Countless hours spent outdoors

2 parades! This one with kilts 

Sisters 1 and 2 

How much do I love Abuelita's curio cabinet 

Cheers to Summer- even if it is a shortened version of it!

Summer Series: Modified Version 2013

Well, it is finally sinking in that for the first time in about 24 years I do not have my Summer 'off''. This is going to be a hard fact to swallow.

2012 I had 6 weeks of Summer, a far cry from the almost 3 months I experienced while teaching in NYC. But I managed to fully enjoy that Summer with HP and Jon.

Summer 2013 is going to challenge me. But I will salvage it by creating 3-day weekends for the foreseeable future! I hadn't taken any vacation days since accepting the new job, so I'm left with 2 weeks to get rid of before July 1st steals them away. Thus begins my first Summer Vacation Day! Here's the schedule:

1. Have a yummy breakfast with HP @Wealthy Street Bakery

2. Buy my tomato plants and gardening materials @Flowerland

3. Spin Class @YMCA downtown

4. Watch a solo movie (Star Trek) @Celebration North

5. Plant my garden

6. A tiny nap

7. Pick up HP and have a relaxing dinner with the family 

There it is in a nutshell! My glorious Summer Day :) Future days will include visiting my friend in Holland, biking around Reeds Lake, lounging in the EGR library, getting my nails done, maybe a haircut, a day at the beach and countless cups of coffee at each of my favorite locations! Care to join me?

Before I head upstairs to spin class (I love that the Y has a lounge area and a good Internet connection) I will say Happy Birthday weekend to my little HP! He enjoyed a giant baseball cake with his 2 best friends Bridget and Eli. A perfect birthday for a little boy :)

A Room with a View

Today I am very content with just sitting in front of the tv and listening to The Voice, no need to get out of this hotel. I am tired. And sad. There is just nothing worse than hearing about such tragedies like today's Boston marathon. Its hard to get out of my head :(.

I wish Jon and HP could've accompanied me on this trip to Cincinati. I was really surprised what I found here. It's pretty! Even if it is in Ohio...

See, sweet HP would have done backflips for this awesome train in a giant outlet mall!

Trees in bloom :)



So, I'll be here until I have to get up tomorrow for round 2. Three more schools!

Adventureland- Dallas edition

Dallas! You grew on me a bit!



sent to my sweet HP!



Even though I started off a little grumpy towards
the Lone star State, I ended up having an overall enjoyable experience. Yay!

Okay, if I could redo one part it might be the hotel- I almost got stuck on the one working elevator twice. When I mentioned it to the front desk they said "yeah, it's kind of funny". Yes. Yes it is.

I ended up really using the rental car, which I hadn't anticipated. Although I only drove 70 miles in the 3 days I was here I found it really helpful navigating around the complicated roads/trains/elevated onramps.

The West End area

I found some delicious meals. I ate breakfast for dinner at Ellen's Southern Kitchen, got chatted up (in a totally non-creepy way) by an ex-patriot from Japan, and walked around downtown Dallas.





Embarrassingly I was looking for the infamous 'grassy knoll' and well...it was right by my hotel. Not until I noticed a bunch of people walking through and around this monument did I actually read the placard.

That is one big memorial.













Opening Bell Coffee Concert

 I surprised myself by going to the yummy cafe, which I hit up in the morning, to grab a beer and listen to a guitar concert. The artist was from Lansing, how about that?

Little steps of bravery :)

So now I sit here at DFW airport waiting for my plane homeward. I plan to scoop up little HP immediately. It has been a long time apart for me. The longest I've ever been I think.

The good thing is, I have 3 weeks to stick around home base before heading out to NYC. Woohoo!

Hello...it's me Laura

I spoke about my little long lost blog yesterday and thought...why have I neglected it! Well, short answer is I've drained my creative and blogging reserves on a different project; my work blog. It's hard to love both of them equally, and although I can and am more candid and less like a suit here on this one, I find myself updating work once a week.

Bad and sad excuse. However, maybe the mood will strike like it did today and I'll pick up this worn out mac book to sit and reflect about me and my life, as opposed to my ever increasing work life. Which I love, don't get me wrong.

I am anticipating more me time as March moves along. Next week is the first week of travel-Laura. I'm headed over to the Detroit area for "work". Even though I'm eager to explain what it is I actually do, I think I'll just leave it ambiguous as I don't want to talk about it here, at least not a whole bunch. So, "work" brings me over near my Alma mater once again for 3 whole days. Me, a rental car and a 2 night stay at a hotel. That'll either be a relaxing me-cation or....well, not.

The week after that finds me in the great state of Texas for 3 days for more "work". I haven't been to Texas since....forever. I have memories of passing through it in my family's big brown van on our epic trip to Mexico. It was hot, and we were bored.

In April I get to re-live my glory days in NYC. I am so very excited about that, even though most (all) my actual work is located in Brooklyn and Queens you can bet I'll be staying in Manhattan. I'm already planning on visiting my favorite eats (if they haven't closed shop in the last 4 years!) and meeting up with my girls from the days of Teaching Fellows :)

And also I'm going to Ohio. Eh...

So. There it is. 2 months of tripping and surely I'll have to work on finding things to do in new cities by myself. Any suggestions welcomed :)

Alma Mater

Recently, Jon and I took a road trip to my alma mater, my first one anyway. What do you call your graduate school? Hmmm.

Aside from some growing and building, the feeling of being on campus was the very same. The students weren't yet walking around in sweats tucked into Uggs, but they were wearing the warm-weather equivelent to that dress code. Maize and blue was everywhere and packs of freshmen girls sauntered across the diag as bros gave big, back-slapping hellos to eachother.  Ah sweet college.


Would you do college any differently? Everyone I know would answer a resounding yes to re-doing high school differently in some way, but college is another story I think. Hopefully you had passed through that terribly awkward self-aware time of the teen years and emerged a more secure person in time to live out your college dreams. Did you?

In celebration of it being a full ten years since I began my college experience I will do what I love best. Without further introduction here is my list of top 10 best and worst moments of attending the University of Michigan!

BEST

1. living in Stockwell, an all girls dorm my freshman year- although devoid of hotties without shirts, the hygenic atmosphere and stellar food made up for it
2. playing on the women's rugby team my senior year- travelling to tournaments, drinking too much, and learning ridiculously lewd songs, all in the presence of very fun ladies
3. living the true freshman girl experience with my own pack of friends, wandering from dorm rooms to frat parties and back
4. studying abroad in Finland my junior year- I couln't name all the amazing things I did and saw, but the best are the friends I made and still have from all over
5. living with and working alongside my sister- a very different experience than living with a sister under your parent's roof
6. chatting on AIM with that sweet crush from H.S. and having him come visit me that fall...and keep visiting all 4 years
7. trying out and participating in the campus orchestra- even though I was last chair I still loved playing my cello
8. having tickets to every home football game the 3 years I lived in AA, the highlight being my senior year FRONT row student section with my friends
9. graduating with a solid 3.5 GPA and a job offer lined up
10. being a Wolverine, even though I thought I had my heart set on Notre Dame, UofM proved to be the best place for that quintessential college experience, and I am still proud to wear one of my many UM tees just like any true alumni would
     

WORST

1. gaining my freshman 20 10 and hanging on to it for far too long!
2. getting so very sick after an epic night out whereafter I swore off the demon drink as I lay in the fetal position at the bottom of my dorm shower...shame shame
3. withdrawing from ECON 101 only to retake the class the following year and get a hard-fought C, clearly not my strong suit
4. making bad decisions about my major- if I could have a do-over I'd have taken more Spanish and Physiology and Anatomy
5. not taking Physics- I really liked it in HS and did well in it, so why didn't I go for it? I could've been somebody!
6. working too much- I got a job within a week of moving there and had one throughout
7. being shy- come on Laura! Get over yourself! Well, that's what I wish I caould've said to me back then...
8. Not purchasing any required reading materials...did I mention I was so so cheap? Yes...I tried my best to read them at Borders or get them fron the library, but I always managed to get the wrong edition!
9. living in AA during the summer when NO one was around and all I did was work, sweat and watch too many movies
10. burning bridges with some friends, not typical of me and I still am bummed how some friendships just arn't able to last
     

 



Summer Series: The Recap

I bet you were wondering what happened to week 6 of 6? Well, it came and went in a blink of an eye, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I can't even remember the details anymore but there were playdates, sleepovers, tickle fights and visits to the far off land of Chicago. 

Let me tell you how much I love this city. It is my kind of city. It calls for me...Truly truly. NYC had an energy that didn't quit, Chicago has a great pulse but you can always find a nearby place to take a mental time out. And please, it has Lake Michigan. What's not to love.

I resurrected my New York walking legs and promptly wore them out with huge wrong turns and epic walks.

I bought a dress at Zara that was destined to be mine. Love it. I had to justify the purchase by saying that a) it was on sale and b) I could maybe wear it to work with a cardigan. We'll see if I actually do.

I had a delicious $5 brunch with a H.S. girlfriend now residing in this great city, and who I live vicariously through occasionally :)

I met up with my BFF and her fiance direct from taking (and passing, let's be honest :) ) the NY Bar. They let me crash in their hotel, and brought us all up to the great city of Grand Rapids. They got to experience little HP in all his glory, he even sent them to bed with a gentle hug for both of them.

Thanks for coming! It's my turn to visit next :)

So I have come to the end of my summer adventures 2012. I went back to school this past Monday. Planned some plans, scheduled some schedules, etc. etc. Looks like its shaping up to be another full year. Get ready for my next chapter of adventures, hopefully to include:

completing my first bicycle century

coaching boys soccer

getting back to Chicago with Jon

at least 2 more beach trips

and more 

more

more

Summer Series: Part 5 of 6

This past week was a winner. Not only did it cool off a bit, back down to high 80s for the most part, but we had our summer camping trip! I picked a place I'd heard was good from a co-worker. It was in Manistee, which was a little farther south than last summers trip to Sleeping Bear Dunes and well, less roughing it. Our little campsite seemed huge because all we put in it was this tiny little tent we got from our registry 4 years ago :)

But it did the trick well enough. The sight was on an old apple orchard and was steps away from Lake Michigan. How can't you love this lake?

These steps were a good hike for a short-legged H. Bear. But he made it and happily went right into the water (soaking his diaper entirely, we hadn't changed him to his water wear yet). He was big into throwing sand, burying my feet and walking way out into the sandbars with Jon.

My favorite parts of the trip were getting a giant ice cream from the House of Flavors (it was called Eskimo Kisses: coconut, fudge and truffles, ahh!), building our fires and walking around the cute city of Manistee. It was like a cross between Turku, Finland and Holland.

Also, earlier that week thanks to the in-laws we got to see one of my old favorites at Meijer Gardens. Fiona Apple was still way cool :)

So, for the 5th week of my summer vacation I am planning the following:

Blueberry Picking Round 2

Burley ride and sleepover in Jenison

Cleaning up the crazy in my backyard

Playdate with H's bff

Library visit

Summer Series: Part 4 of 6

Week 3 has flown by in a flurry of excitement. Although we didn't manage to get to the beach again we did almost everything, and more, that I wanted to do. We even took advantage of a BOGO coupon to the Children's Museum downtown. I've been there once before with H last year, but he has been several times with his babysitter and buddy Eli. It felt odd to be shown around by a 2 year old. He maps places really well.

We attempted the 4th of July fireworks. A friend of mine invited us over for a backyard viewing and we went trying not to have any expectations of H.

We made it til 8:30.

Next year I think will be the year :)










This week is full of my kind of adventures :)

Fiona Apple concert at Meijer Gardens
Camping Trip to Manistee for 2 nights!
Enjoying the much cooler temperatures, whew, 100+ is not fun unless you live on a beach

In other H news: We're going to be evaluated at Early On soon for his speech. It's a little funny feeling as I've never done, or thought about this before. But H is pretty close-lipped (literally, he talks through a closed mouth), points his way through the day, and acts embarrassed when I ask him to try saying something (he'll slap his head and cover his eyes). This is not my specialty. I know how kids act when acquring a second language but I'm at a loss.

In all other aspects H is thriving and speeding along. I'm fairly sure he's just a late talker. But we'll see, and if nothing else it'll be interesting to see what a baby speech pathologist does to evaluate a 2-year old. 

Summer Series: Part 3 of 6

I will try not to mention that this week marks mid-summer to my very short 6 weeks off. That's all I'll say about that. Instead, I'll put on my happy face-------------> and tell you all about the lovely things I've gotten to do during week 2.

I got to swim with this handsome man (and his father) in Lake Michigan. We even were able to walk all the way out to the poles that signify You've Gone Too Far! because of the amazing sandbar. H was not as willing to jump in as I hoped, it is a little early for it to be warm warm in the water. So we ended up picknicking, kicking around an inflatable ball and digging in the wet sand.

We made it to the zoo with our friends on a perfectly not-too hot day. H was especially loving the fish and penguins. And he was very gentle petting the little pygmy goats.

It was a successful week all around.

The line-up for Week 3 is as follows:

raspberry picking
Fulton Street Farmers Market
Beach Day #2
Library Toddler Storytime
Several good burley rides (I need to get it in gear as my first ever Century is fast approaching!)
watching the Tour de France, a lot of tennis and Olympic trials