Just because

Just because I had my camera with me on campus today... no other reason!

Am I the only one who thought Irises came only in the purple color shown above? I had no idea there were so many varieties!

Busy week ahead

Man, time flies when you...have no time to stop and think about it! Here's what I have going the next few days:
Today: LAST Social Sciences class - woo! I have to give a presentation of my research method design...hopefully it doesn't get ripped apart too badly
Friday: Meeting for El Salvador, then heading to Boulder to start Ben & Alicia's wedding extravaganza. (T-dizzle's friends, he's in the wedding)
Saturday: Wedding party kick-ball game then out and about in Boulder
Sunday: Wedding in Lyons (just ouside of Boulder). Never been there, looking forward to it
Monday: Bolder Boulder 10K run - WOO!
Tuesday: LAST Environment & Sustainable Development class
Wednesday: Headed Home-aha! Family pictures, then dinner and Sex and the City 2 with my best E-town gals, can't wait :)
Thursday: Up to the cabin. Relax. Breathe.

Looking forward to it all! Note: Congrats to my friend Sarah who recieved her Snug Run t-shirt last Thursday - she made it to 10 runs already! (I have 2 more left...) She's in the photo on the bottom right. Love her!

someone's prayers must have worked...

I'm not sure whose - but they did the trick! Best e-mail I've gotten all week:

Greetings Ms. Muegge,

Congratulations! You have passed the Graduate Language Proficiency Exam in Spanish. We will send a letter with this information to your home address as well as a copy to your program director. Please let us know if there are any additional questions you may have.

Good luck from the Languages and Literatures department on your future endeavors.

Best,


Carrie Shrader, Office Assistant

Thanks Goodnes!! That was really the one final confirmation I was waiting for. Now only one more presentation to go on Thursday and I can truly relax. Phew :)

Heaps of news

Quite a bit of news, as of late!

1. I'm going to El Salvador! I was accepted into DU's service learning program in El Salvador and I'll be heading there with a group of 10 students from Thanksgiving to Christmas(ish), thus completing my master's degree. EEK! More info at: https://portfolio.du.edu/pc/port?page=4&uid=7376

2. Not only was I accepted, but they are giving me a $2300 scholarship. Not that it covers all of the expenses, but it makes quite a large dent! I'll take anything that they will give me :)

3. My Spanish proficiency exam is DONE. It could have gone better, but it also could have gone MUCH worse, so now I just wait and hope that I did well enough to pass! Should know in a week or two.

4. Next week is the last week of classes! Finally! Seems like this quarter took forever... maybe because it is getting nice outside and I don't want to be in my dungeon reading/writing/researching/translating...


5. Finally, (this one is for Briana, mainly,) I rewarded myself for finishing my test by purchasing a re-usable, insulated cup from a local coffee shop. Bring on a summer full of iced-coffees! (Lori, I suggest you invest in one, too! Also available at Starbucks) :)

Still have work to do on my final projects, but the end is definitely in sight. Much love from the Rockies!

Finally made it!

On Monday I finally made it to Water for People for my first day of work. And by work, I mean meeting people, reading background documents, and going out to lunch. A tough job, but someone has to do it :)

All the people I met seem so nice, and about 5 of them are from DU's international program. Which is a lot, considering there are only about 15 people in the office! I know the whole internship won't be sunshine and roses, but I'm excited to start working in the field that (I think!) I want to continue in.

That afternoon was an awesome, sunny, day so Kate and I headed to Wash Park to soak up to warmth. Hey, I can translate Spanish articles in the park just as well as I can at home, right? Well, except for the distractions of people-watching, wind, and very friendly geese...

Two weeks left

It has been a few days...wish I had some exciting news to share with you. But alas, it is writing, translating Spanish, and more writing that takes up my days. However, Travis and I did go to have a belated Mother's Day BBQ with his family...he tried his hand at making grilled bacon-wrapped jalapenos and I attempted the family recipe of buttermilk brownies (with dark chocolate cocoa, of course) and I am happy to report that they were both a huge success! Sweet. It totally could have gone sour on all accounts, but it didn't. :)

Also, while outside grilling I noticed these adorable flowers blooming on our climbing plant that is climbing the broken trellis on the side of our house. Love them! I get a kick out of seeing all the flowers blooming this spring, I'm not sure why. Maybe too much of a kick. I have to stop and smell all of the lilacs on my way to school every time. It has nearly made me late. Do you think I have a problem? Should I look into therapy? And does anyone know what kind of plant it is that is climbing up our broken trellis?

Updates

1. I had my El Salvador interview yesterday. If anything I tend to bowl over the interviewers with my "I'm sure I'm perfect for this position, don't you think so, too? Love me, Love me!" attitude...we'll see how that works out!
2. I registered for fall classes yesterday, too. Yikes. If all works out as planned, that will be my last quarter of real grad classes. And I started 8 months ago!
3. I was supposed to have my First-Day-of-the-Internship take 2 tomorrow, but...
4. It is supposed to snow 8 - 18 inches here. Seriously. My boss pre-cancelled assuming that his kids won't have school and he'll have to stay home with them. So we're trying to reschedule. Again. And if something else happens I'm going to wonder if the universe is against us.
5. I took a different route home from class today and saw a house that had hundreds of Irises planted! White, purple, dark purple, yellow...they were so pretty. I want to go take a picture when they are all blooming, but they may be covered in snow.
6. In case you missed it, it is supposed to snow here tonight. Tons. Seriously.
7. Talked with my friend Heidi about her Love of Meghan project (see a couple of posts ago...) and it sounds like it is really taking off! She's doing to awesome work through social networking sites and gaining a lot of exposure and support. I'll probably be posting a twitter link sometime in the future!
8. Sarah and I are going to pick up our race packets for the Bolder Boulder race on Memorial Day. Who runs a 10K at 7:45 a.m. the day after a wedding? I do. Great timing, on my part.

There you have it! Eight mundane things that you didn't know before. Is your day complete, now? Wish I had something more exciting, but it has come to the time in the quarter when all I do is school work. Again. Ugh.