Patrick the Nomad & the Cow Cookie Platter

This month is full of traveling for Patrick. Last week, we were in Michigan to visit family and attend a wedding. On our way back to Missouri on Sunday, I dropped him off at the airport in St. Louis so he could catch his plane to Jamaica (where he currently is until late Tuesday night, with a group from school). And 4 days after his return, he'll be headed to North Carolina to help his professor collect some research. So while we all wait for his pictures of far away places, I'll fill the void with highlights from our trip to Michigan and pictures of the wedding.

We started the week off by seeing Star Trek with my parents (very good!) and grilling at our friend Mike's. We also got to catch up w/ Brad and my best friend Cassandra a bit (which meant seeing her cute baby- she's getting so big!). The middle of the week was spent doing errands like health-related appointments and visiting secretary of state (Patrick drove me there insisting I replace my black hair photo when renewing my license). Thursday I had a girls night with Cassandra, Mattie (her baby), and our friend Amy- shopping & eating of course! Friday, mom took the day off so we could have a Goodwill marathon, paused for a delicious lunch at a new restaurant that used to be our neighborhood's library. Patrick came back from his parents house that night, after a retirement party for his pastor, to find mom and me in the process of making a mosaic covered table for him to use as a nightstand (right now he's got a stack of milk crates).


Turned out rather well, don't you think? :D

Saturday we attended the wedding of our friends Sam(antha) & Kory, who were both in the geology program at GVSU with Patrick. We both had a really good time catching up with some of our old pals and hitting the dance floor!

The new Mr. & Mrs.! (Thank goodness for facebook- I took this one from the album of someone I don't even know!)

What a philanthropist- donating to the dollar dance. What a sacrifice! I mean- look at her! :)

On the left is my old roomie, Sydney, during my last year at GVSU (also a geo-nut).
There were lots of tasty treats there! Several flavors of cake, candy galore (including some that look like rocks!), and Sam grew up on a dairy farm, which explains these sugar cookies. I thought they were simply adorable! (and delicious too!)I am led to believe this picture was taken when the DJ played Thriller. :) In addition to Sydney, Patrick's jamming to the tune with Ben (on the left) who shared a tent with him during field camp and who I took GEO112 with.
I grooved a lot of the night, but it took a while for me to get comfortable enough to let loose. This would be after "a while," seeing as I'm in the middle of the circle! (This one and the Thriller pic are also compliments of facebook!)

Partying Saturday night made it more difficult to get up early to leave Sunday, but it would have been difficult anyway. It's always sad to go! We're so happy we could come back to Michigan to see everybody. We miss you all already!

WHEEL.....OF.....FORTUNE!!!!!

On May 9 & 10th, the Wheel Mobile visited Branson, MO- only a 40 minute drive from Springfield- on a hunt for future Wheel of Fortune contestants! I carpooled with my friends Pat & Jackie on Saturday the 9th to the Welks Theater so we could test our luck.

There were three sessions. We were a little late for the first one, so we had to wait in a really long line for a while until the second session began. A small application form was passed out for us to complete. It asked us for basic contact info and gave us a few lines to write something interesting about ourselves such as a hobby or talent of some kind.




While we waited, workers also asked if people wanted to sign up for a Spin ID (during Wheel of Fortune, a spin ID number is chosen to give viewers at home a chance to win prizes). I received a talking bobble head Pat Sajek key chain for signing up. It's not what you'd call a valuable item, but it's my souvenir of my Wheel of Fortune tryouts experience!


Even though the line was long, we got into the second session without a problem since the theatre holds a lot of people. Here was the stage setup- a little different from the actual show since it's gotta be easy to pack up and take on the road (plus the tryouts are a little different format than the normal game). The letter board was similar to the old Wheel of Fortune board where Vanna turned he letters, except these were white boards that were written on as letters were called. Since money isn't given away at tryouts, the wheel was spun to pick prizes such as t-shirts, signed photographs, hats, etc. to give to the people who would be chosen to go on stage.



When we entered the theater, our applications were collected and thrown into a bin all together. The traveling hosts (Marty & Heidi) randomly selected 5 applicants from the bin to play 1 round. Each round consisted of introducing the players, spinning the wheel to see which prize they'd all win, and giving each contestant a few seconds to call a letter and guess the puzzle until it was solved. Once the round was done, 5 more names were randomly selected to solve the next puzzle. This happened about 5 or 6 times, then the session ended.

Afterward, we waited in line again (didn't take as long) to fill out another application form and get admittance to the theater for the third session. Sadly, our names were never selected. Only people who are called onto stage are considered for the actual show- their auditions began as soon as their names were read. A few people stood out from the bunch, but I gotta tell you- the competition was not fierce. All they needed to do was act a little rambunctious! If only I had been called....

The people who exhibited enthusiasm on stage would be asked to attend a final audition, during which, a few spots are left open for names to be randomly drawn from the applications we all filled out during that day. Crazy thing is, Jackie got picked! She received an email this last Thursday asking her for an interview. Go figure- she's going to be in Jamaica at that time and won't be able to go! What a bummer!


At least we enjoyed getting to find out what happens when the Wheel Mobile stops into town, and we consoled ourselves afterward by going to Branson's Ben & Jerry's ice cream parlor afterward. Mmmm! Otherwise, the show is being filmed in Branson during July, I believe. We'll have to watch and see who was picked to play that week. And perhaps we'll have to buy some more ice cream to ease the pain that it won't be us. :)

Commencement 2009 continued

The group at dinner.
At Wilson's Creek Battlefield in front of a house that was used as a field hospital after the battle.

Commencement 2009

Wednesday night my parents arrived from Texas and Thursday Marissa and Jackie drove down from Michigan to spend a few days celebrating commencement with me. Thursday night we went out to dinner and then for a dip in the pool and hot tub at their hotel. Friday we met up in the morning for breakfast and then headed over to JQH Arena for the ceremony. The ceremony was short and succinct. We processed in, sat down, listened to a woman from a local environmental firm giver her life story in ten minutes, got hooded, then marched out. It was a little more involved than that, but not too much. After, we went back to the apartment until it was time for dinner (6pm reservations). Our friends Pat and Jackie joined us at the restaurant and then we all headed over to a party. We spent a little time there and then headed home. We met up with everyone for breakfast, this time at Bass Pro (Marissa needed to experience it), and then Jackie and Marissa headed for home. My parents, Atalie, and I then went out to Wilson's Creek Nat'l Battlefield to do some sight-seeing. We had a good time and the weather cooperated with us the whole day. My parents treated (again!) to dinner last night and then headed home early this morning. It was a whilrwind weekend without enough time to really visit, but it was nice to see them just the same.



Everyone waiting for the graduates to come out.

Me in the center followed by Kat and Luke.


Getting hooded (on the right side of the screen).

Tornado!

God decided to unleash his heavenly wrath upon Springfield, MO several times in the past two weeks. For those of you that don't know what I'm talking about, consider yourself lucky. Starting around 8am on friday the 8th, a line of severe weather thumped us a good one. We've seen some hairy weather down here, but never a sky that green (the pictures don't do it justice!). Little tornadoes (EF 1, 60-70 mph winds) were popping up for short bursts, knocking down trees and blowing windows out at the mall and some stores south of us. Up here we only got wind and rain (lots of it). The day ended up being gorgeous- clear blue skies and in the high 70s.

The same thing happened last wednesday (the night my parents got into town). Not as big of a deal for us, but the wall cloud (big funnel in the sky) passed right over the hotel my parents were in. The next day was beautiful, which made up for it.

The only picture that (almost) captures the green sky.

you can hear the sirens in the over the rain and the flashes are lightening

Sin City

This past week I went to a conference in Las Vegas where I gave a presentation on my thesis topic. The presentation didn't go very well but things balanced out since I won $200 at the $.25 slots. LV is definitely a city of sin, which is oozing from every crack in the sidewalk: booze , boobs, gluttony, and money. It's a bit much if you stay past your limit, which I found out is three days for me. Despite the earnings the trip wasn't all that great (see the previous two sentences). I flew out last Saturday afternoon with my advisor, who then rented a car and drove us north of town to Overton (near Lake Meade). Sunday we went to the Valley of Fire SP, which was pretty cool (see pictures). Then we went to the conference. I had my presentation on Tuesday which I followed with winning at the slots (God's way of consoling me?). I don't mind, in all I'll be ahead $100 with what the school won't cover. Came back yesterday morning.


Valley of Fire SP (note the red rocks- hence the name and plus desert=hot as in fire)



Petroglyphs (Native American graffitti- from the looks of it they had been smoking paiute)


Near Lake Meade



The Strip




Never stay here- I'm serious, avoid this at all costs.

I have returned!

Sorry to those of you I may have worried or got guessing reasons for my disappearance. Patrick had me locked in a closet and I finally escaped, unharmed, so no need for any further concern or speculation. :)

Actually, that isn't too far off. I might as well have spent the last few months in a closet for all that I've really been up to! Usually we write on this thing when we do something out of the ordinary, but since life has been pretty normal, we've lacked subject matter to post.

Not to make it sound that we (more like Patrick, in particular) haven't been busy though. Patrick is getting stressed in anticipation of a presentation he's giving at the Association of American Geographers' (AAG) annual meeting on the 24th in Las Vegas. Pair that with periodic work trips lasting several days that dig into time he could spend preparing, add in thesis and school work, and that equals a pretty full plate.

Other than work, I've just been experimenting with new recipes for dinner, trying to keep the house clean (our landlord recently began bringing in people to tour the apartment, giving me extra incentive), and staying caught up with my favorite TV shows. I also bought tickets for the midnight showing of Watchmen on opening day, in the new downtown theater. Patrick and I went to dinner with our friend Kat at a favorite Mexican restaurant near the theater, then the three of us got in line behind about 30 other people 2 hours before the movie began. Going to bed at 4 in the morning and waking up for work the next day made me feel young and crazy again! (Really, it made us feel old and tired, but you get what I'm saying!)

So, that's all for now. At least with this conference of Patrick's there will be some 'out of ordinary' subject matter to post again soon. But in spite of that, I apologize again for abandoning the blog for so long! Shame on me! :)