One down, Nine to go

Weeks of school, that is! Not that I'm keeping track or anything... I officially made it through my first week! It is tough getting back in the routine of reading and writing, but hopefully it won't take long as I have a paper due next week... Some highlights:

Gender & Development: Seems like an interesting class! As the professor put it, "Gender as a topic, as long as the teacher doesn't kill it, can keep nearly everyone awake during the 2 o'clock slump." Good! Because the class is from 2 - 5

Financial Management for Non-Profits: Taught by the CFO of WFP! Nice to know the professor starting out. I may actually learn something about non-profits other than just being thrown in :)

Communication & Collaboration: First off, this class is from 6 - 10 p.m. on Thursdays which not only eliminates Snug Run for the quarter, but also requires some caffeine as I am not a night owl, and DEFINITELY not a night owl that can co-exist with PhD students and sound somewhat coherent without some caffeinated assistance. This class will be, um, interesting. Our professor said, "I have no attendance requirement. I hope you all come most of the time. Otherwise I just feel like an asshole." Now you're speaking my language. Let's keep 7-syllable words out of this.

Now, as suspected, I should go read. After all, I have a paper due next week. Ugh. Back to the world of deliberative democracy and epistemological egalitarianism. (Maybe this quarter's theme will be alliteration, rather than 7-syllable words?)

Here we go again

The Great Midwest Adventure

Ten days, 2,200+ miles, many many gallons of gas, and several gas-station Frappuchinos later, Travis and I have returned safe and sound to Denver. Neither one of us pushed the other out of the moving car, so I guess it was a success! LOTS of things packed into a week, so I'll (try to) be brief :)

Thursday night - brief stopover in E-town to stay at Mom and Dad's before getting up at 0'dark thirty to get back on the road.

Friday - Monday - in the quad-city are of Iowa/Illinois. I'd never been there before, and Travis's impression of a "loo-ee-tee-ana gader cundry" (Louisiana gator country) accent entertained me on the last hour or two before we arrived. We stayed in Orion, just outside of the quad cities, with his aunt and uncle. It is a small town of about 1,800, but it so happened to be their fall festival! So we hit up the midway and rode the rides, browsed local craft stalls, watched the parade, and went to the go-kart races. OH! We also went to a wedding also, which was the whole reason for the entire trip in the first place! I didn't get any pictures of that...oops.

Orion town center for the parade.

Go-Kart races in... Rock Island, maybe? Pretty cool!
The sun sets on a corn field in IA. There was a pretty good Midwest-style thunderstorm that night, which I had been hoping for!

Monday - on our way back West heading to South Dakota! Had to stop here, of course...

Tues - Thurs - at the lake house! Everyone else had to go home for work/school, etc., but Mom and Dad stayed a couple of extra days. There was a LOT of water in the area and the spillway on the dam was open for the first time since we'd been there. We didn't have the greatest weather for being on the water, but it was still great to be up there.

A bit windy :)

Mom and Dad toured us around Devil's Nest in the area - a meant-to-be very fancy resort before the economy tanked in the 70s. In operation for three years, but now it is mainly abandoned, with all of the infrastructure still in place.

Old ski lifts. Yes, they even had ski runs there!

"Ski Devil's Nest"

A bit worse for the wear, now!

Travis and I stayed a couple extra days and were able to take the boat out once more. Travis is hooked. His words, "I guess I need to get a boat now." And, perhaps a hat :)

Leaving the lake on Friday. You can't see it, but it is out there! At least it is easier to leave the lake on a cloudy day than a sunny one

Friday - back to E-town to have a bonfire with family and friends. A huge thanks to everyone who was able to make it out - it was so great to see you all!! However, I did not get any pictures of that either, dang. But it was a great time, as always!

Saturday - 5 a.m. and on the road to Denver. Had to be back for grad school orientation on Saturday afternoon. Not the best way to spend a sunny Saturday afternoon, but catching up with friends from school made up for it :)

road trip!!

Road trip! Travis and I are heading out this afternoon to embark on the great adventure of... Colorado-Nebraska-Iowa-Illinois-South Dakota-Nebraska-Colorado... woo-hoo! Heading to IL for his cousin's wedding, then swinging back through NE/SD to spend some time at the lake. I don't care how chilly it is - I WILL ski :)

Our trip will be just like this picture, I'm sure. Except Travis's car is black. I don't have pink flower flip-flops (though I would probably wear them). And I won't hang my feet out the window, because I think that is gross. Other than that, just the same!

they're baaaack...

They're swarming in, they're everywhere, they're taking over! Students, that is. And that can only mean one thing - impending doom, I mean, classes.

But before we go there - nothing like a Rockies game to enjoy the Sunday afternoon sunshine. This is the view from the cheap seats. Literally. Rockpile tickets are only $4! An afternoon with my favorite CO ladies...
Rockies v. L.A. Dodgers - Rockies win!

Skirt Chaser

Yesterday was the much-anticipated Skirt Chaser 5K! Yes, the girls all wore skirts, and yes, we got a 3 minute head start over the guys. And yes, I got passed by a guy before I even hit the one mile mark. Dang.

Heidi and I did the race together - it as a bit spendy for a 5K but hey, we got running skirts out of the deal! And Chipotle and two free drinks each, not a bad deal. But it got even better...

Heidi and I enjoying our post-race burrito - yum!

And somehow we managed to snag 5 more free beer tickets, two more burritos, and a free case of Gatorade-type drink. And all we had to do was sit on the curb and people brought stuff to us! (Okay, okay, I asked for the extra burritos, but Anne was hungry!)

I don't even know what this was advertising, but it's funny!

Snuffy Debate

So Snug Run was eventful tonight... not only was it stinkin' hot, but a hot debate struck up on the patio after the sticky spaghetti and smashed garlic bread were consumed:

Snuffleupagus: Imaginary friend or not?

We all agree that he's Big Bird's friend, but some people feel strongly that he was Big Bird's imaginary friend. Others, like myself, feel strongly that he was never imaginary. Honestly, the thought never crossed my mind until tonight!

SO I throw it out to you, O blogger friends, what is your vote? Wikipedia has its own ideas, but I'm not entirely sure I believe them. I trust my friends over someone else's iPhone. But, after all, I did think that Sesame Street was on all day every day growing up (when in reality, we only watched TV when it was on), so I might not be the smartest at Sesame Street trivia.

Yes, this is what grad students talk about when school is not in session :)