Pumas and Pinafores

This evening Jules and Alex settled down in their cozy apartment for an evening of Christmas movies.  All week we have watched our favorite Christmas movies and tonight's selection was Little Women.  We had the normal Little Women arguments about why Laurie and Jo are supposed to end up together and how boring Prof. Bhaer is since he is into philosophy (and since Jo is marry Prof. Bhaer people will be forever spelling her last name wrong).  Jules and Alex tend to argue a lot while watching movies in an attempt to rile one another up. 
However, midway through the movie our interests were diverted to another topic altogether.  Jules turned to Alex and simply stated: Last weekend I watched YouTube clips of mountain lions in Nebraska.  Jules is forever surprising Alex with her comments out of the blue such as this one.  Alex's first question was what in the world possessed you to research the mountain lion population in Nebraska?  As it turns out mountain lions have been the subject conversations with co-workers, books we have been reading, and discussions at the family Thanksgiving gathering.  We proceeded to stop Little Women (after all mountain lions are more exciting than fine society) and watch a few videos about mountain lions including how to find mountain lion scat and analyze it. 
We also read about the confirmed sightings of mountain lions in Missouri over the past 20 years and what to do if you see a mountain lion.  Just FYI if you see a mountain lion: Back away slowly (don't run) and remain calm (yeah right). Make yourself look bigger and grab any small children so they don't get eaten as a quick appetizer.  If it is aggressive then throw rocks or sticks at it (without crouching down or turning your back so you still look big-- how does this work?  In my experience rocks and sticks are usually on the ground and I'm not sure how to get something off the ground without crouching unless I carry a supply of rocks and sticks in my pockets.) Fight back if it attacks-- it may back away once it has seen that you are armed with sticks, garden tools, or your bare hands.  If these tips fail you, don't worry.  Mountain lions are known to kill their prey quickly and efficiently so it won't be that bad...for long.  If you do happen to survive you are to contact the Mountain Lion Response Team.  (This sounds like something that would be cool to put on a resume... Essential member of mountain lion response team dealing with "reported" sightings or tracks that turn out to be Felis catus- aka the house cat). 
Now while this information may seem completely irrelevant to two city dwellers such as ourselves, mountain lions have actually made the newspaper recently in Alex's hometown--actually it has been some of the only news.  A few months ago video footage of a mountain lion was captured on a wildlife camera about three miles out of town.  There have been rumors about mountain lions in the area for years but this was some of the first video evidence that the Kansas Department of Wildlife has confirmed.  As Alex goes home for Christmas break it might actually come in handy knowing how to deal with mountain lion encounters.  
Needless to say, we will probably never watch Little Women again without thinking about mountain lions.

Mountain Lion Scat

Preschool meets Grad School

As I envisioned my final semester of grad school in the past, I always thought I would spend my time doing in-depth study, writing and presenting a capstone research paper, and searching for a job after graduation.  This is how most of my semester looked with an interesting twist-- I spent a lot of time at preschool.  One of my classes this semester was Pediatric physical therapy (I am actually sitting in a lecture for this class as I write this-- I have hit my peak as a multi-tasker in grad school).  For our lab in class we spent 2 hours a week helping at an early headstart program in KC's inner city.  I worked in a classroom for kids between the ages of 1 and 2.  From a physical therapy standpoint I worked with kids learning to walk and climb stairs, jumping, throwing, and kicking.  I also spent time wiping kids' noses, making sure they didn't eat woodchips on the playground, and comforting crying kids.  I almost needed to do PT on myself from kids running into my knees to hug me causing some knee hyper-extension and a sore back from lifting kids up so they could put a basketball in the hoop.  There was also the day we went after they had to evacuate the building the day before because of a bomb threat--that was interesting.  During the semester I acted like an elephant, tried to explain to 2 year olds during a water sensory play activity that if a cup has holes in it water will pour out the bottom (this explanation didn't go well), ate goldfish crackers, and blew bubbles.  Our kids were really cute and fun to play with and definitely a little different from working in a training room with college football athletes-- oh the places my career has taken me.
So after my classwork this semester has included making two collages from magazine pictures and using colored pipe cleaners and googly eyes on a project called "Harry the Hungry Monster", I think it is about time for me to be finished with grad school. So after my last class this week (hopefully forever after 7 years of school), I will be off to finish clinical internships and hopefully find a job.

A classic movie for fall

It’s officially fall which means it is time for another post about the best fall movies.  Last year we covered all the best football movies so this year I thought I would write about all the best fall romantic comedies.  At this point I have actually only thought of one but it is a classic—You’ve Got Mail.  Since Jules and I don’t have any high school football games to attend on Friday nights we are having fall movie nights instead and this week it was You’ve Got Mail which is a fav. 

            The movie came out in 1998 and I remember it being very modern and cutting edge at the time.  I suppose that was about 15 years ago and I was in the fourth grade.  It had technological phenomenon such as dial-up internet, chat rooms, and laptops that were 3” inches thick.  ( I think my mom actually got this movie because she thought it was a romantic comedy he might enjoy since it involved technology and computers).  It stars Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks—that is enough to make it a great movie.  As Jules put it during one scene in the movie—“Only Meg Ryan can make having a cold look adorable.”  As for Tom Hanks it is my opinion that he is one of the great American actors especially considering the wide range of parts he has played over the years.  We can thank him for classic movie lines such as “I’ve got a snake in my boot” (Toy Story), “Wilson!!!” (Castaway- who can spend an hour of dialogue talking to a volleyball?), “There’s no crying in baseball” (A League of Their Own), “Houston, we have a problem” (Apollo 13), and “Life is like a box of chocolates” (Forrest Gump).  Anyway, I digress. The premise of You’ve Got Mail is based off of The Shop Around the Corner- 1940s flick starring Jimmie Stewart.  (On some Friday night movie night several years ago Jules and I watched this and decided it was not one of the better movies Jimmie Stewart is in—the ending ruined it for us so this is not a movie we are recommending.)  In You’ve Got Mail the two main characters met over the internet and just exchange emails back and forth but don’t actually know who the other one is.  They met in a chat room—do these even exist anymore?  They send emails—really who does this now with Facebook posts and tweeting on Twitter?  They both run bookstores.  Meg Ryan owns a small children’s bookstore while Tom Hanks runs Fox Books, the mega bookstore that is going to take over everything.  Since the movie was made the downfall of the mega bookstore has taken place-- Borders no longer exists because of buying books online and the fact that books don’t even come on paper any more but electronically with a Kindle.  I think this movie also shaped my impressions on city life.  When I first moved to Kansas City 2 years ago I was under the impression that if you lived in a metro area you spent most of your time hanging out at bookstores or drinking coffee.  I attribute these views to the fact that I had no idea what Starbucks was (or cappuccino) until I saw this movie so it must be a city thing.

 In the movie they talk about how much they love New York in the fall and it reminds me of how much I enjoy fall descending on Kansas City this week.  If you can think of any other wonderful movies that need to make the list—or so we even have a list since only one doesn’t qualify as a legit list—please pass them along.

            

Sizzlin' Summertime

As the temperatures have risen in Kansas City, our social life has heated up as well. Over the past few weeks we have had several friends come and spend some time hanging out with us.  With having so many friends visiting us, the fun quotient around our apartment jumped drastically.  However, after everyone left, Jules and I (Alex) realized how exhausting it can be to have so much fun and we needed a few days to recuperate.  We also noticed that our living room seems huge without an air mattress on the floor, and it is easier to share a bathroom between the two of us instead of four females.   

Our friend Hillary stayed with us off and on over the course of several weeks when she made some other side trips.  She is taking online classes this summer and thought our apartment was a great place for some solitary confinement so she would actually get her homework done.  After a long week of work (3 ½ days) for Jules, and a week of classes and homework for myself and Hillary, we decided to go out on the town one Saturday evening.  Jules has wanted to eat at a place called the Chartreuse Caboose for a few months, so we finally checked it out.  We pulled into the parking lot at 6:00 on a Saturday night, and it was completely empty—maybe this isn’t the best sign.  The specialty was Philly cheese steaks and the décor was train themed which was pretty interesting.  After dinner we went shopping—this is a given when girls get together.  For dessert we got some frozen custard.  Nothing says summer like getting a cool treat after a hot day. 

For Jules, she was definitely questioning the food quality when she woke up Sunday with nausea and vomiting.  Nothing beats welcoming in a new week with the 24 hour flu.  Thankfully, her dad was wonderful and brought over an emergency supply of nausea meds she has not had to rely on since she was sick with the flu while in Seattle.  The upside to this is that she was able to take a sick day and have another shortened 3-day work week. 

Hillary and Alex have a tradition of going on a bike ride every summer.  We went out to Shawnee Mission Park to ride on one of my favorite trails.  It was an incredible summer evening, and we had an amazing ride.  The trail wasn’t too crowded, and it was a cooler evening.  We saw probably a dozen deer.  Johnson County deer are smaller than normal and don’t seem to mind people at all.  One of the highlights during this ride was seeing two dads out on the trail running with two kids on bikes and another in a stroller.  We thought these dads deserve some big bonus points.  The little girl asked for a drink so the dad squirted a water bottle in her mouth without stopping while she was biking and he was running—this is pretty hard core if you can’t even stop for a water break.  We overheard the dad telling the little girl “Hey, we got to keep rolling”—definitely a dad statement. 

Later on that week, our friend Deloris came while Hillary was staying with us.  To celebrate her arrival, Alex’s last day working at the indoor pool as a lifeguard, and summer in general we headed to Sonic for their summer special of half price shakes after 8pm.  Nothing is better than Sonic shakes and girl chat on a summer evening (it is also an added bonus that none of my friends like eating cherries which topped their shakes, so I got to enjoy multiple cherries on my shake.)

On Friday we attended A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Shakespeare in the Park to celebrate Jules’ birthday.  We packed a picnic of our favorite finger foods— pigs in a blanket, a veggie tray, and some fresh guacamole and chips.  We also felt very sophisticated as we pulled out our wine glasses- that’s right, we even packed some fine china for our picnic—and enjoyed some sparkling pink lemonade.  We took a small break in our picnic to do some people watching, which was pretty entertaining.  Our next course was mini fruit pizzas.  These looked incredible and tasted even better.  The ladies sitting next to us were pretty impressed and even asked for the recipe.  The play was a lot of fun—thankfully this year it was a comedy instead of a history or tragedy like it has been in the past.  During intermission we broke out our final surprise—caramel brownies.  (Side note: In the past the only time Hillary will make these brownies is for a treat after we run a half marathon.  It was very special to eat these brownies without having to go on a 13 mile run first.) 

The next morning we headed out to the Overland Park Arboretum.  We hiked the trails for awhile and tromped around the gardens.  The most threatening animal we saw in the wilderness of the arboretum was a rather large snapping turtle.  We never saw the body, but its head alone made it look menacing.  One parent we saw was cautioning his son about the large “piranhas” in the pond.  After this we couldn’t convince Hillary to stick her toes in the water—probably the large turtle was her reason for declining this invitation. For lunch we enjoyed picnic reruns which was great—there is just something special about eating outdoors, and all food tastes better—even leftovers.

That afternoon we decided to beat the heat with some shopping.  We went to the local thrift stores and set a $5 dollar budget with which everyone had to find an outfit for someone else to wear to dinner that evening.  We discovered the Jules has a real talent for picking out hideous dresses.  We found some great outfits and had several great laughs.  That evening we “dressed up” for our dinner (which happened to be take-out from the BBQ place down the street).  To top off the night, we had a girls’ movie night and watched New in Town and We Bought a Zoo—you have to love movies with guys in flannel and northern accents and anything with Matt Damon (this may be solely Alex’s opinion). 

Alas, all good things must come to an end, even this blog entry. 

Florida Fun (but not in the sun)

For the weekend of June 22^nd-25^th, four girls from Kansas decided to attend the Gospel Coalition Women’s Conference.  The speakers included Tim Keller, John Piper, Nancy Leigh DeMoss, and Carolyn Mahaney, among many other excellent individuals.  We also attended 3 workshops, although there were 19 different ones to choose from.  We were all very pleased to learn that the plenaries and workshops are available to listen to online.  You can even listen in Mandarin Chinese if you please.   

The information that we learned was very deep and instructive for our spiritual walks.  I was not able to attend the first 2 plenaries, so I have enjoyed catching up on those, as well as listening to some of the other workshops.  Keith and Kristyn Getty led us in worship with some rousing modern Celtic hymn arrangements.  Below is a link for one of my favorite songs we sang, which reminded us all what we will one day enjoy:  worshiping our Lord forever, face to face.

After our conference ended at noon on Sunday and some of us enjoyed naps, we decided to take the trolley to Sea World.  We had been enjoying our indoor surroundings while attending the conference since the tropical climate was blessing central Florida with an abundance of rainfall.  This meant we joined the other tourists in Orlando in using rain jackets, umbrellas, and ponchos.  I don’t think I have ever seen so many ponchos at one time.  However, there is only so much protection they can afford.  We discovered that after walking to the trolley stop and waiting in the rain for 20+ minutes, we were damp and cold.  The benefit of visiting Sea World in the rain is that we didn’t have to deal with very many other park attendees in rushing from show to show; we all got to see what we wanted to before  the park closed early due to inclement weather.  

After we got back to our hotel Sunday night, we were excited to enjoy our pizza delivered to the hotel.  No one wanted to venture back out in the pouring rain to get some dinner.  We watched some TV and decided to hit the sack.

Monday morning brought more rain and dashed our plans to see the beach, so we decided to take advantage of the concierge desk.  Note: if you ever need anything while staying in a hotel, the concierge is the best resource in getting directions, maps, discounted tickets, and advice on what to do when you have nothing else you can do b/c of the rain.  We took their advice and decided to take the trolley to an outlet mall.  After being drenched once again, we were relieved when the rain let up for a while so we could dart from store to store in search of bargains.

After our shopping expedition, we returned to the airport for our journey home.  We were excited to literally see some blue sky country, but we were not eagerly anticipating 100+ temps.  Despite experiencing lots of rain, the temps while we were in FL stayed in the 80s.  We never thought we would have to fly to “sunny” Florida to cool down. traveling to “sunny Florida,”

An All-American 4th of July

We enjoy celebrating holidays—even celebrating holidays that are obscure or making our own holidays up.  Basically we are always looking for any excuse to celebrate life.  This is maybe why we enjoy the 4^th of July—Jules likes it because she gets the day off from work and Alex is crazy about fireworks. 

And of course with any holiday there is delicious food involved.  To celebrate the birth of our nation we had an all-American smorgasbord of hot dogs, corn on the cob, baked beans, and root beer floats.  Having root beer floats means we can use the surplus of root beer stowed away in our pantry and pull out our beer stein mugs—after all, presentation is everything. 

Jules, however, deviated away from being patriotic by spending the afternoon watching a British TV series based on some of Charles Dickens work.  Alex was slightly appalled to listen to British accents all afternoon on such an American holiday—it almost seems sacrilegious.  When confronts Jules replied—well if it wasn’t for the British we wouldn’t be celebrating this country anyway.  Alex refrained from working on her quest to learn Spanish throughout the day because that just didn’t seem right. 

That evening we headed to watch the fireworks.  We parked on top of a parking garage so we could see the display.  The fireworks were pretty spectacular, and we even beat all the traffic afterwards due to some “gutsy” driving by Jules (some traffic signs may have been ignored for the sake of efficiency.  Really, why does a no u-turn sign exist when it is not an intersection where it could cause a problem to make a u-turn?  As Jules rambled earlier, “The people behind me probably think I’m driving like an idiot because I am.”  And people wonder why she is so quite; they don’t realize she is preventing all kinds of foolish comments from spilling out. ) We made it back just in time to see a little bit of A Capitol Fourth before heading to bed.  This is a yearly tradition and one of those things on our bucket list to go see in person sometime.  Going once would probably be enough, and then we would be content watching it on our TV sets at home without all the crowds.

How many KU grad students does it take to change a light bulb?

With this story the more appropriate question is how long does it take a grad student to change a light bulb.  The answer is longer than you would think.  One morning Alex and Jules woke up to find the light in the bathroom was burnt out.  (It seems like everything is going wrong with our bathroom lately.)  We had guests coming that evening so thought we should try and get it replaced.  That should be an easy enough task for Alex who had the afternoon off.  We even keep light bulbs on hand.  Of course the burnt out bulb was one of those new compact fluorescent bulbs (my question is why did it burn out if they are suppose to last up to 15 years).  It also didn’t screw into the fixture like normal light bulbs but had two prongs sticking out of the bottom.  (Please notice the complexity of this lighting situation as this story unfolds.)  I headed to the store in search of this unique light bulb.  After searching up and down the light bulb aisle numerous times I had no luck in finding a bulb with the prongy things sticking out.  Next I walked down to the local hardware store to ask professionals about the bulb.  The first guy looked at the bulb in puzzlement and stated that he had never seen anything like that before and then asked one of his co-workers about it.  The co-worker recognized it and knew they had two bulbs of this type in stock.  One of the cool things about these light bulbs (probably the only cool thing in my opinion) is it doesn’t matter if you match the wattages so I chose the higher wattage so our bathroom would be brighter.  I got back to the apartment and balanced precariously on the edge of the sink as I tried to replace the bulb.  The two prongs fit into the holes on the fixture and the bulb would light up but it wasn’t a secure fit so any movement would cause the light to flicker or go off.  I thought about using a rubber band or the handy woman’s secret weapon- duct tape- to get a more secure fit.  Anytime I tried to replace the light fixture cover it would turn off completely and the bulb was actually too big for the cover to fit back on correctly.  This meant another trek out to the hardware store to see if the other light bulb in stock would be the correct fit.  It was smaller but I still couldn’t get a constant connection- I tried putting this bulb in a number of different ways and was feeling very baffled that I couldn’t replace a light bulb by this time.  So I then turned to Google and YouTube.  I felt pretty stupid searching the phrase “how to replace a light bulb”.  I then noticed on the box that the model number of the bulb was listed.  (Sometimes I feel directions printed on boxes are just silly- hopefully you know to remove the pop tart from the wrapper before putting it in the toaster- but directions of how to replace this type of bulb would have been useful.  Instead they just give directions on how to throw the bulb away—I didn’t even know I needed a special technique to throw it away but since it contains mercury you do—just so you know.)  I googled the model number and actually found out more than I ever wanted to know about light bulbs and – drum roll please—how to replace them.  I jumped back up on the sink counter, twisted the bulb in the manner which the instructions gave, and wha-la there was light!  I felt almost as proud as if I had created light from darkness like God did during Creation.  So finally after over an hour and a half and lots of blood, sweat, and tears (literally sweat and blood and tears on the inside) I had finally replaced a light bulb.  Earlier in the week I had shelled out money for tuition and almost wanted a refund because apparently I’m not getting my money’s worth if I am struggling with light bulbs. I guess one thing I have learned to do in grad school is write pages and pages about nothing which means I can write an entire post about basic subject material like changing a light bulb.

Bringing Alaska to Kansas

The past week it has been hot-- really hot.  Triple digits about every day.  I can't tell you how many times this week alone I found myself daydreaming about spending my summer in a cooler locale-- such as Alaska.  I feel in love with Alaskan summers last year when I worked at a Bible camp just north of Juneau for 3 months.  This year I couldn't return to the land of the midnight sun because I have to take summer classes.  However, this past weekend I beat the heat with some really cool gals as we tried to recreate Echo Ranch Bible Camp in Kansas.  Two of my fellow counselors from camp last year happen to be from Kansas.  Since none of us were able to travel back to Alaska, Brittany, Kimberly, and I met up for a mini camp reunion weekend.  Last year throughout the summer we would talk about some of the things we were missing from Kansas-- sunsets and wheat fields-- but this weekend all we talked about was Alaska and camp.

We met up in Lawrence for the weekend (Brittany and Kimberly are both KU fans and I still love them despite of this-- even enough to go to Lawrence which I usually avoid like the plague).  We kicked off the weekend with s'mores.  Kim and I had a trial run with the s'mores before Britt arrived just to make sure they were up to par.  Nothing says camp like eating s'mores and having melted chocolate and marshmallow ooze out all over the place.  We then started watching the highlight videos from each week of camp-- there were 12 videos in all so we paced ourselves and watched a few at a time throughout the weekend.  It was so fun to relive these memories with these girls and also see our campers on the videos who we spent so much time with during the summer.  Throughout the weekend we switched back and forth between Alaskan time and Central time-- Kimberly even still has her watch set to Alaskan time.  So while it was really midnight we pretended it was only 9pm which is the time all the counselors can get on the internet at camp.  We were able to chat online with a few of the counselors we worked with last year and we tried to make everyone jealous that we were having a glorious weekend in Kansas-- it think they were especially jealous of the Kansas part. 

The next morning we got up and Kimberly whipped up some baked oatmeal for breakfast.  I think her sisters thought we were a little strange that we carried on about how excited we were during the hour we waited for it to bake.  Baked oatmeal was a treat a camp-- if you saw it on the menu you counted down the days until it was served all week.  Kimberly nailed it with this batch.  I have made it a couple of times in the past year and it has been good but maybe it is just 10 times better when eating it in the company of fellow Echo Ranchers.  Of course one of my favorite weekend activities in Alaska was hiking so next we headed off into the wilds on a hike.  We headed out to Clinton Lake for our trek.  The first bit of the trail was paved sidewalk but it progressively got more wildernessy until we found ourselves somewhere in the middle of the woods without a trail surrounded by what appeared to be a large amount of poison ivy.  At this point we were wishing we had on hiking pants and knee high boots instead of shorts.  However all of us escaped unscathed.  We meandered down to the water to walk along the beach.  I found a piece of drift wood which made my day-- one of my favorite past times at camp was sitting on some drift wood along the beach.  We also found some dead fish-- just like Alaska.  I will say the dead fish didn't stink to high heaven like they did at camp but there was probably only 5 instead of thousands washed up along the beach.  We found our way back to the trail and continued our leisurely hike.  At camp the guys usually insisted at hiking double time but since there were no guys with us we got to set a much more enjoyable pace which allowed for more chatting and enjoying the surroundings.  We eventually emerged from the woods and walked on the road down to the marina.  Sitting at a picnic table on the edge of the water we watched a few kayakers float by-- we were pretty jealous of them.  Instead of seals, eagles, and whales there was a blue heron. 

Later that afternoon we spent some time just floating around the pool.  The water was warmer than the frigid 40F that the ocean at camp was and we actually got to work on our tans.  As we were floating in the water relaxing it hit me that while it has been a year since we had all been together yet we were able to jump right back in to sharing life together-- this is always a sign of an incredible friendship if you can pick up right where you left off even though you haven't seen each other in ages.  At camp we were a family-- we spent three months living together in close quarters, working together, playing together, and serving together.  Christian community builds this type of strong bond because we are held together in our love for Him.  This summer we are also all sharing the experience of wanting to be in Alaska serving at camp.  Each day a piece of our hearts are at camp-- we are checking Facebook for any updates about activities at camp, if our campers from last year came back for another week of camp, how the staff is doing, thinking about the campers hiking around the cove or if pizza bagels are on the menu for lunch.  My friends and family have heard story after story about Alaska but it is wonderful to share these stories and memories with the people I made them with. 

That evening Kimberly's mom made us supper which was delicious and we sat around the table with several of Kimberly's sisters.  I don't have any sisters so it is always fun to watch how sisters interact with one another.  I can't imagine ever asking one of my brothers if my shoes went with my outfit.  Also we babysat that evening-- after all how could this weekend be complete without us taking care of at least one kid.  Luckily at camp the youngest campers were at least 7 year old while this little girls was 18 months.  I do better with older kids but she was so cute and a lot of fun.  To finish off our weekend we watched the DVD made for all of the counselors which recapped the entire summer-- have I mentioned that there were so many wonderful memories.  We headed out to watch a Kansas sunset since that's something we really missed in Alaska.  However, the sunset was not one of Kansas' best but actually looked like an Alaskan sunset.  We also went out to get some frozen yogurt-- a perfect treat for a summer evening. 

Sunday morning we had baked oatmeal again-- it is one of those foods that is just as good as leftovers as it is the first time around.  We then attended church with Kimberly's family.  To end the weekend by worshiping together was special.  We reminisced about attending church each Sunday in a barn at camp.  I love the fact that no matter where I am in this world or who I am with if two or three are gathered in His name His presences is there.  Kimberly introduced us as her Alaskan friends even though Brittany and I are both native Kansans.  While at times I would love to go back to Alaska for another summer at Echo Ranch I am so thankful that God blessed me with the opportunity last summer to serve Him in a beautiful place with some wonderful people and that I made amazing friendships with these Sisters in Christ. 

A month in pictures- part 3

For the last part of my so-called summer break I (Alex) headed back to my hometown which I always look forward to-- who doesn't love going home?

1. Something in the kitchen

Don't these look good enough to eat?  Nothing beats the bright reds of a bowl full of strawberries.  Many of you probably know how I feel about things in the kitchen in general.  The best part about strawberries is that most of the work is done outside where I enjoy being much more.  I have grown up picking strawberries every May since I was knee high to a grasshopper.  It is just family tradition to pick berries together during the last couple weeks of May.  This year I about missed it though.  Due to the very warm spring my mom started picking strawberries in late April-- this is unheard of.  Luckily I made it home in time to pick the last few berries of the season.  Beyond the experience of picking the berries (I usually eat at least one for every three or four that end up in my bucket), it is also a great opportunity to spend time connecting with others.  I invited one of my friends who just happens to be my neighbor over for the evening and enlisted her to help me pick (that's right I invite people over and put them to work-- maybe I should work on my hostess skills).  We had a great time chatting as we were picking.  Later that evening my mom and I convened around the kitchen to stem and freeze the strawberries.  I have many great memories of the family gathering around with strawberry juice running down our arms as we stay up late into the night to put up our harvest.  Of course in addition to picking strawberries there is the pleasure of eating strawberries.  One of my favorite breakfasts is waffles covered in fresh strawberries and whipped cream-- amazing. 

2. A number

I guess I could say 4 is my favorite number and it is also my favorite lane on the track.  In high school if you had the fastest time coming into the race then you usually started in lane 4.  This probably wasn't my start lane for many races but I remember in grade school when I would go down to the track run I would always pick lane 4-  at the time I didn't realize I was running farther each lap around the track but that didn't matter.

3. Nature

There is just something about a golden field of wheat.  While I was home wheat harvest started-- Memorial day weekend.  Yet again this is unheard but due to the warm spring it ripened up early.  I didn't grow up on a farm or have ever been directly involved in harvest there is still an excitement and anticipation that runs throughout the entire community during wheat harvest.

4. Something historic

I already wrote a blog about my adventure through southeast Kansas but here is a picture from watching the presidential motorcade when President Obama visited Joplin, Mo.

5. Adventure

As usual, I'm always on the lookout for my next adventure.

6. Noon

Throughout this picture challenge I really had no idea how to take a picture to capture "noon".  I just happened to be across the street from this courthouse then the clock struck 12pm.  For some reason this picture reminds me of the movie "Back to the Future".

A month in pictures-- Part 2

Once I finished finals the fun factor in my life increased greatly as I tried to get the most out of my time off for my summer vacation.

1. What I am reading

 

My favorite genre of books is adventure and survival.  I tend to really enjoy books about climbing Mount Everest or getting stranded in the wilderness.  This book happened to be about the dog sled teams that got the serum to Nome, Alaska during a diphtheria epidemic in 1925.  I thoroughly enjoyed it although some may argue that these books aren't very relaxing reads.

2. Something that is inspiring

This year the Big 12 track meet was in Manhattan and I got to go.  I was super excited about this.  I have always enjoyed going to track meets (and I enjoy them even more now that I don't have to compete in them).  Also while I was in college I worked as a student athletic trainer for the K-State track team one season.  Some of the athletes I worked with are still at K-State and it was great getting to watch them compete again.  How can watching athletes of this caliber not be inspiring?  How thrilling is it to watch races that come down to thousandths of a second, a gutsy finish, guys high jumping over 7 and a half feet, or athletes throwing heavy objects insane distances!  Track meets are also fun because you find yourself cheering for everyone.  I will admit I was clapping and cheering for a girl who had an outstanding performance in the steeplechase-- and she just happened to run for KU.  At a track meet I can overlook that.  Any other sporting event I would never find myself cheering for a jayhawk.  While I will never compete at this level or even run as fast as I did during high school being at the track meet reminded me how fun running is and gave me a boost of motivation to continue my plodding runs along the pavement of my neighborhood streets. 

3. Favorite words

This might be a little mushy for our blog but I have a boyfriend who is a sweet guy.

4. Something fun

 

After finals one of my friends from class and I decided to celebrate by going on a 30 mile bike ride.  It was such a great time.  It was a beautiful morning.  We had a wonderful time chatting about classes and life.  We got to see some wildlife-- the deer along the trail were not to concerned about us at all.  And I got to take my bike out for a spin which is always a blast.  

5. Something sweet

My friend and I tried to time finishing up our bike ride with the beginning of Happy Hour at Sonic but we rode too fast.  We decided to hit Sonic anyway.  (Happy Hour at Sonic has become a tradition for us when we get together for study session especially since it is conveniently located about three blocks from our apartments.) Nothing hits the spot more than a cool cherry limeade after a long bike ride (or anything other activities).  Plus the deal is even sweeter with half price drinks during Happy Hour.

A month in pictures -- Part 1

I'm not much of a photographer. I (Alex) have attempted to learn about camera settings and photo composition, lighting and shutter speeds.  I have flipped through books and browsed websites.  I'm still not much of a photographer.  One problem is that I never have a camera with me and when I do have it I don't like to stop what I'm doing an actually take a photo.  Some advice I have gotten is just to take more pictures-- try to take a picture of something every day.  So during the past month that's what I tried to do.  I found some suggestions for a photo scavenger hunt and set off with my camera in hand.  (Actually I still didn't carry my camera with me but my iPod can take pictures which is handy.)

1. Something I do every day

 

Being in school I tend to do quite a bit of studying-- more than I would like most of the time.  During finals week it seems like I spent entire days sitting at my desk with notebooks and textbooks scattered about.  Of course I might not have had to spend the whole day chained to my desk if I hadn't waited to start studying for my comprehensive cardiopulmonology test until the day before.

2. Something peaceful

  It might be ironic but what I chose for something peaceful is actually along my commute to school.  I never have pictured commutes in rush hour as peaceful but I really enjoy driving to school especially in the spring.  The neighborhood I drive through has statues at each intersection (side note: Kansas City has more statues and fountains than any other city besides Rome, Italy). 

3. Snacks

One day during finals week I found a box at my door.  First of all I really like getting mail.  Secondly I get super excited for packages even if they are textbooks from Amazon.  Thirdly when the box is full of goodies for finals week I can hardly stand it.  The past couple of years my church back home has sent all the college students a care package full of snacks.  I will admit for a brief moment I wondered if staying in school to get yet another degree wouldn't be such a bad idea if it meant that I continued to get boxes of snacks.  However it didn't take long to realize that several more years of school wouldn't be worth getting more care packages.  All college students love getting food but it also means so much to know that there is a group of people back home who continue to care about you , support and encourage you-- thanks!

4. Something pink

This rose bush is planted on the corner in front of the apartment Jules and I live in.  It was beautiful this spring.  

5. Something unusual

This picture may not seem unusual but take note that the faucet isn't running- this is what makes this unusual.  For about three weeks this faucet had been running constantly.  It started as a simple drip.  We contacted the maintenance man to fix the drip.  He came and worked on it a while.  That evening I took a shower and I couldn't turn on the cold water so I had to jump in and out of the shower to keep from getting scalded and suffering burns.  The next day Jules informed me that the cold water does work but you have to turn the knob three times as far as you use to turn it.  A few days later we came home and the water was running constantly even though the faucet was off.  While the sound of a babbling brook may be soothing the sound of water from a faucet that runs constantly is less that relaxing.  Several days later the maintenance man came back and tried to change a few parts.  He was able to slow it down to a small trickle and also showed me where the cold water shut off valve was.  Within a few days the trickle gradually increased into constant running again.  But this time we knew where the shut off valve was since the maintenance guy showed us which knob it was.  This was handy but then also slightly inconvenient since we had to turn on the water at the shut off valve to take a shower, flush the towel, run the dishwasher, and anytime we needed cold water in the sink.  After about a week of this we finally got a plumber to come and "fix" it.  The faucet still drips like it did to start with but after all of this we were happy to have the drip back.      

6. Something I made

This past year I have taken up sketching and drawing.  I didn't start this because I needed a hobby but to prevent me from going crazy listening to lectures for my online class.  My online class had 1-2 hour lectures each week about ethics, leadership principles, risk management, conflict resolution, and health insurance reimbursement-- riveting stuff.  I had to find something to keep me busy so I could sit and listen without being bored out of my gourd so I began drawing.  I suppose I learned something in my class but I also came away with about 10 new pieces of art work. 

Outhouses to Cathedrals (and everything in between)

Since I (Alex) am not a full blown adult with a real job yet I still get summer vacation.  However since I am a grad student the powers at be decided we didn’t need three months of summer vacation but that three weeks would suffice.  Therefore my summer break has come and gone already.  When we started classes again this past week we all wanted to hear about the adventures of our classmates over break.  One went backpacking in Europe, another spent time in Alaska, someone else got married and spent her honeymoon in Costa Rica.  The traveling I did in my three weeks off wasn’t quite as exciting but still entertaining never the less—and I could just tell that my classmates were jealous of my great stories. 

My first trip was a tour of southeast Kansas.  My mom and I were on our way to visit my grandmother in the Joplin, Missouri area and we decided to take a different route than we usually do.  This route took us through Medicine Lodge, home of Carrie Nation who was against the use of alcohol and spent her free time taking a hatchet to bars.  Next we drove through Sharon, KS home of Martina Mc Bride.  In Wellington I got the chance to see where my mom grew up during her childhood.  The next town was Elk Falls—probably the highlight of the trip.  Elk Falls has a population of 107 and is the self-proclaimed World’s Largest Living Ghost Town.  If that isn’t enough of a claim to fame, it is also the outhouse capitol of Kansas.  We drove down Main Street (or what is left of it with all the potholes) and saw at least 4 outhouses.  There is an outhouse tour as well—the sign says that “the tour is a gas” but we passed up on that.  Speaking of gas, we were in need of some—the automotive kind that is.  The gas gauge said we had 65 miles of fuel left and the next decent size town was 68 miles away.  Elk Falls didn’t have a gas station so we drove on.  The next town was Longton—no gas here either but it is supposedly the white-tail deer capital of Kansas.  We then cruised into Moline which had a gas station—much to my mother’s relief and is also home to the oldest swinging bridge in Kansas.  This was another quick stop so I could walk across it although I was slightly disappointed in its swinginess- which apparently isn’t a word.  For the next few miles in the Flint Hills I had to keep Mom from jumping out of the car to steal rocks from pastures and fence lines for a Bible school craft project.  (Bible school craft teachers will stop at nothing to get their supplies—through the years I have been dumpster diving for pop bottles and eating large amounts of oatmeal and peanut butter so she could use the empty containers.  I knew the idea of getting arrested for trespassing and stealing probably wasn’t going to keep her from those rocks.)  The next point of interest was Columbus which was where Mom went to high school so I got to see the track where she had an unfortunate run-in with a hurdle during PE class and the street where all the cool kids dragged Main in the summer. 

This trip had been plenty of excitement for me and I didn’t think it would be possible to top the excitement of the Elk Falls outhouses but as we turned the corner to my grandma’s that changed.  People were lining the road, police were everywhere, and there was a gigantic cargo plane at the airport.  We stopped at pickup something for dinner and found out that President Obama was coming to town to speak at the Joplin High School graduation since it had been 1 year since the tornado.  While we were there Air Force One flew over and we couldn’t cross the street since it was blocked off so we stood around and watched the presidential motorcade drive past which was pretty cool.  (It was less cool and more of an inconvenience later that evening when we wanted to go somewhere but had to wait since the motorcade was headed back to the airport and the roads were blocked off again.)

The other half of my tour of Kansas was to the northwest part of the state.  My boyfriend grew up in that part of the state so we were headed to his hometown for the weekend.  Our original plans were to stop and see the Garden of Eden in Lucas, KS which consists of a collection of concrete statues a Civil War veteran made.  However, it was raining so we opted for something indoors instead.  We stopped in Victoria at the Cathedral of the Plains.  This is one of the 8 Wonders of Kansas (and yes there are more than 8 wonders in Kansas for those of you who may be wondering that).  It is a gorgeous limestone church built by the families of the parish in the early 1900s.  The size is impressive and inside there are numerous stain glass windows, wood cravings, and a large altar.  We then traveled on to Hays to visit the Sternberg Museum which is full of fossils that were discovered in the region.  Other highlights of the trip included seeing my first rattlesnake in the wild at a state park and participating in the Philipsburg Riverless River Festival Run (a spoof off of Wichita’s River Festival).  I did find it ironic that while running in the Riverless Run I crossed a creek three times.  Philipsburg is also home to the largest rodeo in Kansas.  While it wasn’t rodeo weekend, the PBR (professional bull riders) was in town so we watched some bull riding as well.  In traveling from northwest portion of the state back to Kansas City—you can see a lot of Kansas in 6 hours of driving—I got to see one of my favorite Kansas tourist sights—the world’s largest ball of twine in Cawker City. 

So there you have it—my tour of Kansas and many of its superlatives. 

Lifeguarding

Over the past few months, Alex has taken the plunge to become “somewhat more professional” by taking a job as an aquatics safety supervisor—aka a lifeguard. 

I haven’t applied for many part time jobs before but it took over 6 months for me to land a job as a lifeguard.  It was a pretty intense interview process.  Actually I wasn’t interviewed at all but I showed up and that was apparently enough to get the position.  Between trying to fit in training, waiting on paperwork, and being out of town for a few months it turned into an extended process.  I finally got to start in the middle of March—the week of mid-terms which maybe wasn’t the brightest idea. 

My job is a far cry from being a lifeguard on Baywatch.  I spend a good deal of my time scrubbing the scum line on the side of the pool on my hands and knees sporting my yellow guard shirt and a fanny pack.  I have also developed mad skills for cleaning windows, disinfection railings, and numerous other cleaning jobs—the Red Cross fails to mention all of the cleaning tasks in the job description of a lifeguard in the training manual. 

After a few weeks on the job I worked a Family Fun Night which is usually mass chaos since families can swim for a few hours for free.  In the midst of the chaos I had several opportunities to whistle at people not following the rules.  I got the feeling that everyone was ignoring my whistling.  The next day a fellow lifeguard and I were having a slow day so she had me practice blowing my whistle (yes, this was part of the on the job training that was overlooked on my first day).  She was slightly appalled not only by my technique but the performance of my whistle—it wasn’t loud enough.  This then lead into a conversation about the inferiority of metal whistles (which I was using) compared to plastic whistles.  I also learned that the Fox 40 model is top of the line (I was unaware there were brands or models of whistles) and it is the highest decibel range allowed by whistles.  She had ordered hers online since there was a better selection of colors.  The standard issue whistle at the pool is the Fox 40 Mini—a step below the Fox 40 original but still worlds better than my metal whistle.  There was one left in stock in the standard black which I am now the proud owner of.  I was also instructed in the appropriate tongue placement for the most forceful blast to get the attention of rowdy children.  There was discussion the other day at work about assigning whistle colors to correspond with years of service as a lifeguard—kind of like a black belt system in martial arts.

I often work in the afternoons as the lifeguard during swimming lessons.  This has also been very educational to learn about parenting.  It seems like 90% of the parents at swimming lessons are helicopter parents.  One parent expressed concerns because she felt the instructor wasn’t supporting her daughter’s back enough while they were practicing the back float.  The aquatics director calmly tried to explain that to pass this level the child needs to be able to float independently—generally this means that they float without any support from the instructor and since it there were only a few classes left the instructor was decreasing the support.  This parent was still pretty concerned about the situation but I think the girl was finally able to float by herself.  I have also had several moms come up to me to let me know that they need to step into the locker room to use the restroom and if I could watch their kids swimming and make sure they are safe.  The sarcastic side of me always wants to reply the sure I would be happy to watch their kids while they step out even though as a lifeguard I usually watch all the swimmers all the time to ensure their safety and I will probably continue to do that if they are sitting at the edge of the pool or if they leave for a moment. 

Another exciting part of my job has been working with some of the other guards who are high school students.  Sometimes I feel really old.  One guard who is 16 was mentioning the other day how sometimes it is hard to grow up and she wishes she could just be 12 again.  She is going to be a junior next year and has to worry about where to go to college, what she wants to study, getting her driver’s license, etc.  I realized that age 12 was half my lifetime ago and sometimes I just wish I was 16.  I then found myself say, “Back when I was a kid we got our permits at 14 and licenses at age 16.”  Anytime you start a sentence with the phrase “back when I was a kid” you are getting old.

Now that summer is starting I will probably start working at the outdoor pool some which means I might actually get to benefit from one of the best reasons to be a lifeguard—a great tan. 

New Friends, New Faces

** This is the conclusion of Alex's adventures in Southwest Kansas.  These adventures actually ended about a month ago but I already had this post started. However returning to the grind of school and studying has really cut in to my blogging so I just finished it.

Since starting my clinical internship a few weeks ago I have met a lot of new people.  This is good and bad.  I enjoy meeting new people and hearing their stories and about their lives but the downside is that then I have to remember more names and recognize more faces which I struggle with.  Also being a new person in a small town has been interesting since people know that I’m not from around here and are curious about why in the world I would be here.  This has made for some interesting stories.  My first Sunday here I attended church with my friend who I am staying with and her roommate Kara.  Kara and I were talking after church and someone came up to Kara and asked, “Kara, who is your friend?” Kara replied, “Well, she’s not my friend. Well, she is but she was Jessica’s friend first.  She’s just living in our basement.”  (I’m proud to say that Kara and I now really real friends—it even became Facebook official after I lived in her house for about 3 weeks.) 

Many times people who didn’t know who I was would just try to guess.  After all it is a small town so everyone prides themselves on knowing everything about everybody even the strangers they have never met before.  One lady tried to figure out who I was in what seemed to be a game of 20 questions.  “Didn’t you grow up in Coldwater?” No.  “Well, then you must be from Indiana.”  No.  “What are you teaching at the high school?” Nothing.  She then finally got around to asking me who I was and what I was doing instead of trying to guess.

As stranger in a small town people often wonder what could have brought you to their little town.  And since no one knew who I was it was very tempting to make up stories about whoever I wanted to be.  The best story I came up with was that I was a graduate student from K-State majoring in prairie biology with and emphasis in tumble weed migration.  After all, where would be a better place to study tumble weeds than southwest Kansas.  I was working on my thesis and needed to collect some data so I was spending most of my time putting electronic trackers on tumble weeds.  Alas, I never actually used this story but I thought it was pretty good and even somewhat believable.

During my time on my clinical I had quite a bit of fun with my old friends and new friends.  This included going to Zumba class at 6am on Friday mornings and then moaning and groaning about how sore we were the rest of the weekend, having a brunch with cheesecake and bacon, watching movies and then quoting these movies for weeks, making adventure books—now we just have to go on adventures, and laughing—a lot.

The Best Thing about Kansas

Happy Kansas Day!  I was driving through Western Kansas this evening and was reminded why Kansas is so great.

A picture is worth a thousand words so I think this says enough.

The Wild West

I (Alex) may not be at the edge of the world but you sure can see it from here-- just beyond the barbed wire fence and the tumble weeds blowing by.  I have temporarily relocated to a small town in southwest Kansas for 6 weeks.  I am doing a clinical internship in the physical therapy department at the county hospital. Compared to the hustle and bustle of Kansas City, I have enjoyed a more “laid back” life out here.  Actually, during my first three weeks the adventures never stopped and I am not foreseeing a decrease in excitement in the rest of my time here.

            When people in Kansas City heard I was headed to southwest Kansas for my internship, they expressed their sympathy that I had been assigned to what they considered the middle of nowhere.  I then had to explain that this was actually my first choice and I was excited for the experience. 

My clinical has gone well.  The highlight has been getting the chance to remove 37 staples from a patient’s leg.  Sometimes I wonder about how trusting patients should be if they are willing to let a student with no previous staple removal experience use a tool that looks like pliers to take out embedded metal from their leg.  On this clinical I have also heard more hunting stories than you can shake a stick out as well as watching hours of hunting shows on the Outdoor channel.  One day I assisted with an in-service at the nursing home and one of the men in attendance had on a ten gallon hat, a handle bar mustache, boots, and a vest (I could have sworn he had a badge pinned on his vest as well and was the spitting image of Wyatt Earp). 

            In a small town people often notice a stranger, especially if they hang around a while, so they begin to ask questions.  My friend and her roommate often get asked about who is with them so we have had some good jokes about me being the stranger who is staying in their basement. We thought it would be rather entertaining to start telling people I was a graduate student in prairie biology doing field research about tumble week migration so I am in the area putting electronic tracking devices on tumble weeds.

            This weekend has been full of entertainment and adventure.  On Friday night we drove out to a family’s home so we could practice target shooting—or instead of practice I should say learn how to shoot a gun.  I learned more than I ever thought I needed to know about guns, ammunition, and shooting.  I am certainly not a great shot but now I can say I have done it.  I also might understand the difference between a rifle, hand gun, and revolver as well as what different caliber of bullets are--- maybe.  We also enjoyed some s’mores and staring up into a sky full of stars.  Today we went to the Dalton Gang Hideout.  The Daltons were originally from Kansas City as well and decided to come out here for a change of pace just like I did- or maybe it was easier to rob banks and trains out here (This is not my motive) .  We didn’t go inside to see the two-headed calf in the museum or the escape tunnel but took some pictures outside.  With these activities I have been able to cross a few more things off my bucket list for my time here in Western Kansas.