Falling by the wayside

As my sister has reminded me on several occasions, I continue to be sub-par in my blog updates. And I am pretty sure that she is the only person who reads this... so Megan, this is for you!

Two weekends ago, Ross and I headed up to WI to visit some of my high school friends who are both very intelligent and both pursuing Ph.Ds from the University of Wisconsin in Madison. Thankfully they took a weekend break from their academic and laboratory pursuits to entertain us and enjoy some winter fun. We went for a winter hike/walk on a frozen lake, enjoyed homemade tomato soup with grilled Wisconsin cheese sandwiches, went ice skating, checked out State Street (by the capitol building and central to the college scene), went to a "classic" Wisconsin bar, sampled some beer, thrift-stored, dined in a cafe... so yes, the weekend was a great success! So far our three WI adventures have been great (previously we spent a day in Milwaukee and a weekend in Sheboygan), and I think we probably have more in the future.

Last weekend we went east to Michigan to visit Ross's grandparents and to spend some time with the growing Van Huis family. The trip was a rather long day on Saturday... bookended with a church small group and a church potluck. It was a tough call to drive there and back on the same day, but there was too much good food and too many good people at the other events to be missed.

And on other fronts, I am actually in the process of making something from Pinterest (!). I will probably have to take a picture, although the original post is still bound to be much cuter. I probably should also blog about some sort of culinary adventure--since that is now the thing to do. I tried a Martha Stewart salad for a different potluck tonight, but it is no longer in a photogenic state. I will someday make something phenomenal. And the best news of all... Jesus Montero, the new catcher for the Mariners, wants to be like Dan Wilson! That pretty much made my day, although I did have to kind of chuckle when someone else commented that they agreed with that statement... aside from Wilson's abysmal playoff batting average.

The dog life, part 2

As you can see, Ollie fit into our lifestyle rather well. As you can also see, this left me without a cushiony place to sit.

The dog life

Ross and I were able to dog sit for one of my co-workers last Sunday and Monday. We learned quickly that pugs are very loud and very lazy... and rather endearing. Ollie spent 85% of her time with us on the chair and a half, and 15% on our bed. Apparently the kennel is not appealing when she knows that people are in a bed. That part got a little interesting since that was pretty much the only time she was vocal, and our building does not allow pets.

Anyway, we loved having Ollie stay with us. It's hard not to laugh when she made her noises or just looked cute. I'm having a hard time posting more than one picture on this post, so I will make one more post.

And we're going for round 2.5

I was told that I should re-start my blog that began during my third year of PT school. It had a slight resurrection after Ross and I moved to the Chicagoland, hence the .5. Ross and I don't lead the most fascinating lives, but we will do our best. This blogging thing is popular amongst our friends with kids, but we are not going to have a baby. Again, we are not having a baby.

So here goes...

Ross loves being a second year teacher. I like being married to a second year teacher. We do awesome things like watch Netflix and eat M&Ms. Sometimes we head into the city of Chicago, which is usually great for me and the source of many complaints from Ross. Lately we have been into chaperoning middle school events at church and school, which result in late nights and free pizza. So I guess we do lead a pretty good life. Now we are just waiting for the snow to accumulate enough for snowshoeing, or melt enough for running outside.

Today...

Ross and I ended our lives of leisure today... we had our first day of orientation at Elim! The day went well, and of course had plenty of associated paperwork. We also began our CPI (Crisis Prevention and Intervention) training. We will learn how to physically protect ourselves/other students and restrain and redirect students with physical behaviors. It is a last resort to use, but definitely something that is needed at Elim. Don't think that all students are violent, but some do have that tendency, and some may occasionally respond that way if something is irritating them and they don't have the ability or skill to resolve their feelings appropriately.

Our training group consists of about 25 people, and it was nice to meet others with whom we will be working. I was able to talk some with a nurse and a COTA, and we both met several paraprofessionals. Ross and I will be working in separate areas of the school. He will be in the ACE program for students with autism, and I will be in the cross categorical program for kids with mulitple needs. The whole staff will be training next week, so we will meet the onslaught of the 300 or so staff members at Elim. Students will then start the Thursday before Labor Day. I won't start treating that first week. The PT staff and I will split the caseload, develop treatment plans, etc. Ross learned more about his role with the 18 and 19 year olds. His classroom is kind of a new development with life skills, and will involve a separate lunch room, the Wii, and various community outings, along with some "regular" school components. All in all, I think we are both excited about our jobs.

So our exploring will be slightly diminished as we begin work, but we do hope to continue biking along some of the local trails, and maybe downtown as well. Last Thursday we brought the bikes downtown and rode along the lakefront--which was amazing. The city of Chicago is accomodating for bikers, but the suburbs are still less than ideal. We did invest in a new bike lock after a Chicagoan informed us that he could cut our current one with fingernail clippers.

Attempting blogging again....

It's been a while since I tried this blogging thing, and a lot has changed! It is no longer winter in the midwest, I have not snowshoed since February, and I am no longer living in Mankato--or in Minnesota for that matter!

I finished my clinicals, found a job, graduated from school, took a board exam, got married, went on a honeymoon and a half, and moved to the Chicago area. Ross and I are now residents of the state of Illinois and have the drivers licenses and temporary voters cards to show it. We were both kind of sad to give up our identity in our native states, but have enjoyed exploring our new area. We have found--with success--the grocery stores, many Targets (unfortunately just one SuperTarget), bike trails, and easy-to-assemble furniture. We even took an afternoon/evening to be tourists downtown Chicago. Yes, we visited "the bean" and Navy Pier. We have not yet taken in Chicagoland sporting events, but hope to see the Sox and Twins later on this season. I hope to make some great friends with ticket connections for the Cubs.

Today we took the opportunity to have another Chicago experience. We received some coupons for Brown's Chicken, a local restaurant chain that specializes in fried chicken, as well as hotdogs, Italian beef, and chicken/beef burgers... and pasta. If you are craving fried gizzards, we found your place. Anyway, since we are Dutch, the time to check out a place is when you have a coupon. I really wanted to try the Chicago Way Hotdog, with onions, mustard, dill pickle, tomatoes, and peppers. Ross went with the Italian beef sandwich so we could utilize a coupon. When asked if he wanted it "Dry, wet, or dipped," he went with dipped, anticipating that they would give us a cup of beef juice/broth for dipping. We got home, pulled out the food... and his ENTIRE sandwich had been dipped in beef juice/broth and then wrapped up! I have no idea how he even managed to hold the sandwich, let alone eat it. After seeing that, we were curious as to how that differed from the "wet" option for the sandwich. And how is a wet sandwich appetizing to begin with?? But the fries were good and I enjoyed the hotdog. All I can say is that it is definitely a good thing we had a coupon. :)

Tomorrow we are headed to Michigan for a quick camping trip at Holland Beach State Park. Hopefully the thunderstorms are very scattered so we do not spend a lot of time soaking wet as we did in Boston. We are planning to spend some time with Ross's family and some college friends. We probably will not eat at Brown's Chicken.

A Mankato Weekend

I spent this past weekend in Mankato--and that's a first since I have been living here. Ross drove down for the weekend, so that was really nice. We spent Friday evening at the MSU/U of M hockey game. Both schools play division 1 hockey, but the U of M has a very strong tradition of beating MSU. We had standing room only tickets in the packed arena (we being Ross, myself, and some of his army buddies)... and the U of M proceded to lose quite soundly. We stood next to a younger brother of one of the U of M players, and that was kind of fun. The kid was really into the game and he yelled at the players some. His brother was on the ice for one of the U of M goals. (I'm pretty sure the final score was 6-2.) We almost had a fight break out in the stands next to us. A middle aged Gopher fan started yelling at an MSU student for grouping all Gopher fans together as the type to throw items onto the ice... it was rather ridiculous, and we wondered who the mature person in the argument should have been. Despite the unfortunate outcome, it was fun to be at the game. (Sidenote: the Gophers also lost on Saturday even though they played MSU at Mariucci Arena in Minneapolis. I think that's the first time that MSU swept the U of M, but I could be wrong.)

On Saturday, Ross and I went snowshoeing! It was only our second time going, and first time this winter. The owners of the PT clinic that I "work" at recommended a park to me, and Ross and I loved it. The park is only a few miles outside of Mankato, and it runs along the Minnesota River. The trails were nice, but then we ventured off and had some really nice non-packed snow. My lower legs were sore at the end from lifting the snowshoes, but it was definitely worth it. We saw an eagle on our way to the park, but didn't see any other wildlife. We ventured out onto the frozen river and trekked on it for a ways. We did hear one crack in the ice while on the river. The temperature was above freezing, but it was only the second or third with temps above 32 since the beginning of December, so we weren't too concerned. After about an hour, we headed back into Mankato and to the malls to look at some bridesmaid dresses... and a John Deere toy store. In the evening we made soup with one of Ross's army buddies, watched the dismal end of the hockey game, and saw the movie Defiance.

On Sunday, Ross and I went to the church that is essentially in my backyard. My classmate's dad works there, and the church members were excited to find out that I am living with her family. The ladies that talked with us were really nice and welcoming. The church is a more traditional Lutheran one. I was hoping to use the green hymnals I remember from my Faith Lutheran School days, but it just wasn't to be. The afternoon was spent with wedding plans and relaxing, and counting down to the SuperBowl. We went back to Ross's friend's house for the game, and ate some good food, watched a good game, and some good commercials. It was really fun spending time with Ross's friend Nate and getting to know his roommates and some other friends.

So the weekend wasn't anything overly amazing or exciting, but it was great to relax and NOT WORK! This coming weekend should also be a good one--I'll be in California with family before heading to Las Vegas on Monday for a physical therapy conference. This will be my first trip to Vegas, so I am really looking forward to it. Seeing family before is a definite bonus to the trip, and I also hope to have some beach time in the sun.