Day 5: December Photo Project!

This is Tiger. I received Tiger last year during the annual Nordyke Family trip to Disney. Tiger has become the Office mascot. He resides above my computer. Everyone always wants a better name for him, but after a million and one stuffed animals, you begin to run out of names! He's happy with it though.

Tiger has a tendency to be moved though. Every morning I will come in to the office, and Tiger has been moved. Head popping out of a desk drawer, on top of a door frame, on my chair, on a shelf....always moving! He comes to be there by one of our maintenance men, Joe. Tiger has stayed put every morning this week, so I thought it was time that Tiger left a little message for Joe on his paycheck...

Note the yellow spot right under his rear...yup, Im an adult!

Day 4: December Photo Project!

So today, December 4th, 2008, is my father's 55th birthday. I love my father to pieces, really I do. I work at his office daily, and see him at least one day of the weekends. He's one of the most generous men you could ever or will ever meet, he's hilarious, and knows when to kick back and say, "Let's just go to Disney."



So my pictures today, is a rare picture of him. He hates having his picture taken, or at least has grown to hate it over the past decade or so, so this is a rare opportunity! But he is doing something not so rare. He is attempting to explain to me that since it is his birthday, Best Buy emailed him, telling him that if he buys a new tv, then he gets triple points. Everytime we are in Best Buy he wants to buy a new tv. He has NO MORE ROOM for new tvs. He thinks its hilarious. But alas, since its his birthday, I will just ignore his "triple point bonus" instead of telling him that he is a silly silly man. :)

December Photo Project: Day 3

I was running last night (no I dont brave the outside, I have a treadmill at home) and across the wall splashed such color, I wanted to capture it. We all know that pictures rarely catch sunsets beauty, but I did my best. Out of 30 or so pictures, here are my two favorites....



I love solar flare. I just think its the coolest natural special effect.

Day 2: December Photo Project!

Iowa got snow this past weekend. Quite a bit for the first real snow of the year. Usually the first few melt off within a day, if not a few hours. This one seems to be going strong though. Combined with the Christmas decorations and staying warm under blankets. It's starting the season off right!

Day 1: December Photo Project!

So, I have been looking for something to blog about thats a little different, that might keep me more consistent. I found it! Its called the December Photo Project and once a day for month of December, I will post some part of my day, my life, my world. I hope to keep it interesting, and yet let it be just a window into my life as it is right now.

As it is actually December 2nd, I will end up posting two entries today to catch up. I am actually quite excited about this. Hope you all can keep up!

This first post is dedicated to a topic that I hope to steer away from for the rest of the month, mainly because otherwise, I would let it be in every single picture. My two precious children, my kitties, Myla and Nessa.

But it actually fits, because this morning, I woke up a little early, and found it to be that perfect winter morning. The snow is bright, the sky is clear, and the sun glows yellow, splashing patches all over the carpet. This is my kitties favorite morning past time, lounging and sunbathing. It just so happens that todays session is in the midst of our newly decorated tree.

Calling All European Travelers!

So in a little over a month, Tim and I will be heading across the pond for some well deserved vacay! We will be in Amsterdam over New Years' for a 4ish days, and then head on to Paris for 4ish days.

We are going on an EF Tour, and there's a few things built in to the tour, but otherwise we have free time to do whatever.

As part of the tour, we will be going to:
Anne Frank's House
Notre Dame
Louvre Museum
Seine cruise
Eiffel Tower

Are there any favorites of globe travelers out there? Or anything that we should skip? What's overrated and what is a can't miss?

We are open to hearing it all!

Overhaulin'

So I feel this blog has already lost its zest, its pizazz, its harumph!

What do you guys want to see, hear, or anything through this blog?

I am open to anything and everything.

Reviews, personal moments, day to day crap, how to's, anything!

If you aren't the type to comment on blogs, become one! At least just this once.

Let's hear your voices!


I will also accept the completely insane suggestions, maybe it will spur an idea!

Chilean Cha Cha!

Today's post is going way back when, back to the days of my first overseas experience.

When I was in 7th grade, my mom and I tagged along with NU's (local school) first trip to Chile. It took students (me, a 6th grader, and maybe 6ish 8th graders) and chaperones (my mom, a teacher at the school and his wife who were my moms friends, and the spanish teacher) down to Temuco, Chile for 2 weeks in the spring. We flew through Santiago, Chile on down.

As part of the trip, we were to all be split up and sent to stay with students and their families. Mine was interesting, to say the least. The girl was quite young, and insisted on being bestest friends with me immediately, which was awkward. I barely ever saw anyone else in the family. I saw her dad maybe once, very very early in the morning, and her mom a few times. We were up for school at about 6am and didnt get home til 5pm each day. Her house was very small, but for Chilean standards, it seemed average. The family had a maid, also standard, and also owned a condo by the beach that we went to for the weekend.


This was the weekend that I got extremely sick from eating so much fruit, but the family read it as I couldnt have any fresh food. So for the rest of my time there, all I was fed was cereal with yogurt, McDonalds hamburgers with guacamole (I still refuse to eat that nasty green stuff to this day) and Coca Cola. My mother would sneak me fruit during the day at the school. She felt so bad for me one day, she pulled me out of the school to take me shopping and out to eat for a real meal in downtown Temuco.

Our days were filled with going to school with the student we lived with, and field trips with our other American students to various parts of Chile. We went to a ridiculously large dam one day, met some high up in the Chilean government, went on a hike all the way up to the top of a mountain, and went to visit another school that showed us an entire presentation. During school we went to art class and gym class and all that jazz, trying to learn as much Spanish as we could. Como Say Disa (How do you say), was our favorite phrase. The school even hosted a dance for us at the end of the trip.



My host family, as I said before, took me to the beach that weekend. It was gorgeous. A view from the condo that was impeccable, even to a jr high girl. Along that trip, we stopped at my host families grandparents house, which was awkward because they didnt speak a lick of English. In fact, no one in the family did. My host girl spoke a little, the mom spoke none. It was definately a barrier. But we also went to the Termas, which ended up being my favorite part of the whole trip. Its the hot springs. Pools of water naturally heated by the volcanoes surrounding the area. It was fantastic. It might have to do with the fact that I was allowed to eat a chicken sandwich, but it was really cool. The pools were lined with pebbles and steam just poured out of the water into the chilled air.

It's sad that I don't remember much from an entire two week experience. I wish I could remember more. I kept a journal, as I always do when going on a major trip, but again, as a 7th grader, I didnt really note the stuff that I wish I had. Either way, its my first impression of the non American way, and it definitely involved way too much guacamole. :)


PS. Sorry for the crappy pictures. I didnt know how to take pictures of the actually cool stuff when I was a youngin. Plus, I apparently had a HUGE thumb...