So I think someone was pushing for an update... I had been thinking about it too, but life was a little bit in the way and then when it wasn't I didn't really want to sit on my computer.
What have I been up to? I went to MN for Labor Day weekend. It was splendid and completely too short. Thursday we left in the afternoon, arrived at Erik's parents' house. Friday morning we left their house and continued northward to their cabin. We had a wonderful time at the cabin. After sitting in the car so long, Erik and I both went for a run and then jumped in the lake. It was cool but nice and refreshing. And the best part - I could see my feet!!! All the way down to my feet when I was vertical in the water! That was so nice when you compare it to NE lakes.
On Saturday, Erik went fishing with his brother and dad. I sat on the dock and put my feet in the water - wow was that a nice treat. I sat in the sky chair and did some reading. I'm reading this book: A Thousand Splendid Suns. It is very good. I don't want to put it down.
I also finished up these three whales for Erik's cousin's little girls. Aren't they cute!
Sunday, we left the cabin and drove to my parents house. We went to the Renaissance Festival. It was a really fun time! I was so happy to be hanging out with my parents! We had good food and a good time! We had a nice dinner at home and spent the evening talking until we were just about falling asleep in the living room. Unfortunately we had to leave in the morning. That was the crummy part. I really didn't want to leave. We will be back in a week, but it doesn't really matter it was just so nice and I didn't want to leave that comfort.
With the stress of traveling and no desire to go back to work, Erik and I were both a little under the weather. It was a strange and stressful week for both Erik and I. We are both glad last week is behind us. That is all I'm going to say about last week.
This past weekend, Erik and I got Chinese take out on Friday night. We got darts for our 'new' dart board from Mom and Dad's basement. Saturday we ran a couple errands and we rented the Rug Doctor. It was nice to get our carpets cleaned. They needed it so badly. We have terribly old carpet in our apartment and the carpet shows everything. Then Erik went and shot clays. I went on a few more errands. Then we had our neighbor, Abby, over for peanut butter chicken. It was a fun time. We played Mexican Train too. And of course we played with Jessie (Abby's oh so adorable dog) too.
Sunday we went to the farmers market, but mostly we stayed around the apartment. I worked on a present for a friend and got some extra sleep. Erik did some much needed laundry - that was very nice of him!
Today, I was incredibly productive at school. That was nice. I was surprised when it was already time to leave. I also found four jobs in Minnesota that I'm going to apply for. They are exciting possibilities!
So that is the story here.
It has been a dizzying past few days... sort of like there is just to much to do and I need to go in ten different directions. Sunday I went out to the barn and work three of the horses that we use for therapeutic riding. I wish I could have ridden Mamasita longer and forgot about working the other two because she was super sweet and easy going. We went and rode in the field next door and it was beautiful out, a little hot and sticky, but beautiful. I did work the other two though and they were good too, but Mamasita is my favorite. Sunday I also attempted to make banana bread with chocolate chips... and it didn't cook all the way through even though it appeared to have. I was frustrated. Later I made brownies. I brought them over to our friend's place with some ice cream and toppings for dessert. We went over there for dinner. It was a good time. They are expecting their first baby, a little girl, in a little under a month. Courtney also quilts so it was fun to talk about quilts and she has some software called Electronic Quilt. It is cool program that you can design your quilt with. Yesterday Erik and I went to the dentist. I really don't like dentists. I think if we were staying here we would switch dentists and try a new place. Yesterday the dentist was a bit on the rude side. Not a good way to start the day. It was also the first day of classes here. It was weird having so many people on campus again. Not a whole lot has changed for me. I'm working on the same stuff but today I have class. I'm auditing a stream ecology class. Last night Erik and I continued the craziness. I through a fit at the Walgreens photo people (3 of them and they still can't get things figured out). I won't get into it right now, but they are getting a letter that is for sure! Then we went swimming because we both needed to relax. Then we made dinner and did some laundry. Erik attempted to fix is computer from sending out emails without him - frustrating! Then we went out for Kimpy's leaving for AR and Kevin's and Chris' birthdays. It was fun. I spilled cherry coke all over myself, like a cherry coke shower - sticky. We also played some darts and that was fun. I think my chacos are still sticky today though. :) Yesterday we also had a heat index of about 106 degrees. It is hot and sticky. Today I saw this comic and I agree... I'll sit in some ice cream too. http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/2007/ga070828.gif
These are the days the pavement melts and the reason in parking lots there are depressions where the tires of cars sit. I do not like it! You can see the air - it has been so humid here. We've had heat indexes of 105-118. YUCK! There has been no biking and no running but still plenty of sweating. I was extremely jealous when I looked up high temps yesterday... Lincoln = 98, Prior Lake = 80, and Fargo = 73. Seriously too hot here! This past Friday, a group of us went out to Pawnee Lake so those with guns or wished they had guns, could shoot clays. Mary and I weren't in that group. We watched for a bit and then went up to Branched Oak Lake were you could swim. (You can't swim in Pawnee because of blue-green algae). Although I think Branched Oak was pretty disgusting as far as swimming lakes are concerned. There was floating gobs of stuff that had algae on it and floated up from the bottom of the lake - it was gross. Also if you put your hands at your side, you couldn't see them. There was probably less than 2 feet visibility. I was glad to rinse off. The rest of the gun shooting group came and joined us and swam too. Then we went to a place called Merle's in Emerald, just outside of Lincoln for dinner. We had a good time and everyone ate very well - the food was very good. After Merles, we went to Chris and Mary's place to go swimming. It was nice to be in a chlorinated pool. Saturday I did some baking for a party we had that night. That was about it during the day. Then we went to Brenda and Chris' house for a wedding/birthdays/summer party. It was fun to hang out in the backyard and everyone brought really good food too. Sunday I caught up on sleep and we went to the farmers' market and made pizza and then Kimpy and I fell asleep watching Whale Rider. It was a good afternoon. Chris and Mary invited us over for dinner. We gave them a waffle maker for a wedding present. They got married up in Nova Scotia in July. It was fun and Mary is a wonderful cook. This week it has been busy. I've been working on my thesis (this will be a common phrase for the next 4 months). :) And that is really about it. Erik and I went to HuHot last night for dinner - we didn't want to cook. It was very good. Okay, back to work. :)
Our first full day in Washington we went and got lost in Seattle... I mean we saw more of Seattle than we expected. :) We went to Pikes Place Market. It was quite fun but this is my favorite pic from the time in Seattle.
We are back from here...
...more to come later!
I also finished up these three whales for Erik's cousin's little girls. Aren't they cute! 
