Colorado

Here are some much anticipated photos from Lucas and my trip to Colorado this summer! :) Thanks again to Jaclyn and Andy for hosting and entertaining us while we were out there. It was fun to hang out again - it had been forever! We took over 800 photos... so, I will only be sharing a few of my favorites from the beginning of our trip, there will be more to come... Enjoy!

Below is our first picture together in Colorado; it was taken at a scenic pulloff alongside the highway on our way to Boulder.

The Tea Shop was at the Celestial Seasonings Tea Factory. If you have never had Celestial Seasonings Tea, you are missing out! This tour was free and super fun!! If you are even near Boulder, CO, I encourage to take the FREE tour... and don't skip out on the peppermint room! ;)
This one was taken on our hike in Boulder... honestly... none of these pictures compare to how beautiful it actually is!
One of Lucas' favorite things to do is golf... when we decided to fly out to Colorado rather than drive, he was a little bummed because that meant he wouldn't be bringing his clubs... So, when we ran into this AWESOME mini golf course... we couldn't pass it up! It was BEAUTIFULLY landscaped and the four of us had such a great time!
This picture was taken from the top of Pike's Peak... we took the Cog Railway both up and down - an absolutely breathtaking experience. One interesting fact about Pike's Peak: the song "America the Beautiful" was written at the top of and in regards to Pike's Peak.
I can clearly see why!
More to come soon!!

Busy? I think so!

Clearly, I have been out of the blog world for nearly 3 months! Reason being I am just too darn busy - then again, who isn't busy?!
So, what have I been up to?

• Working: My practicum experience is going well; it was a little rocky to begin with but is beginning to smooth itself out.
• Visiting Eau Claire: Every other weekend or as often as I can because I miss everyone out there so much!
• Planning: For my wedding!!! Lucas proposed to me on September 26. :) :)
  
• Uploading: So many pictures!! From Zeke being born (Teddy's new little brother) to Colorado to engagement ring to food for my other blog that I share with my sister: Mom Taught Us.
• Cooking/Baking: Again, for the other blog. Check it out! : http://momtaughtus.blogspot.com
• Working Out: My mom, sister, aunts and cousins are taking an exercise every Thursday called 20/20/20. 20 minutes of cardio. 20 minutes of Abs. 20 minutes of strengthening. I also try to walk as often as possible with my mom.
• Homework: Even though I'm working full time, I do have assignments/quizzes/projects for the classes I am enrolled in throughout my practicum. I suppose they figure if they keep us busy enough we'll stay out of trouble! ;)
  

So, you can look for updated blog posts of all the things I've listed above in the near future! :)

Happy Birthday to Me! :)

My birthday was on Saturday and I got lots of great gifts! :)

They include:

• Digital Camera ... for my love of picture-taking and just in time for Colorado!
  
• Luggage ... which will come in handy at the end of this week when we fly to Colorado!!
• Cute new clothes ... which will be nice for my practicum starting on August 24th!
  
• A gray/blue pin striped suit ... this will be nice for my practicum and also when I begin interviewing for jobs
• A scrapbook ... that will be used for pictures of our Colorado trip!
  
• Gift cards and money ... I have already put some of the gift cards to good use by purchasing... a cute camera case for my new camera, a nice lunch bag to take my lunch in for my practicum and luggage tags for the trip! The camera case is pictured below. :)
  

Thanks to everyone who helped to make my 22nd birthday so wonderful! :) Love you all!

Pike's Peak

I just reserved our train seats for the 3 hour and 10 minute ride through Pike's Peak in Colorado! :) I'm so excited! I also found a $5 off coupon so it will only cost us $28.50 each!

It's going to be one of the first things we do: Monday, August 17th.

Next week I plan to book our White Water Rafting Adventure... which I'm also very excited for!

Overall, this trip will be relatively cheap because we won't have any hotel costs and a lot of things to entertain ourselves can be done for free!

Some other things we plan on doing are:
A tour of U.S. Mint which is where coins are made.
A brewery tour (Miller/Coors)
State Capitol
Parks
Denver Zoo

... and many others!...

Country Jam!

Jaci got free 3 day passes from her neighbor so she shared them with Lucas and me. :)
We had a great time! :)Blake Shelton

The three of us on Thursday night.

Tim McGraw!!!

Jaci and me on Saturday. :)

Concert in the Park

Every Thursday night at the beautiful Phoenix Park in Eau Claire there is a Concert in the Park. The past couple weeks, I have gone with some friends and last week we even had a delicious picnic. The following photos are from last week. :)

One Reason I Love the Farmer's Market!

I got this BEAUTIFUL bouquet of flowers from the farmer's market for only $3!! Other goodies I got at the market yesterday were raspberries, zucchinis (green and yellow) and 3 pounds of red and yellow potatoes. My entire purchase only cost $10. I like to make a trip there weekly - they have it three days a week at Phoenix Park. :)

I'm finally giving in...

All my friends as well as what seems practically the entire world have been talking about how great the Twilight book series is...

I thought vampires weren't really my thing so I avoided giving in to all they hype... but... one of my roommates loaned me the first one and I'm having a really difficult time putting it down! They really are THAT good.

So, by the end of summer I will have read the entire Twilight series. :) Yay for having extra time in the summer to read whatever I want and not textbooks!

The Year of Weddings!

So, next year apparently must be the year of weddings. So far, we have 3 to attend, 2 of which I will be a bridesmaid in! :)

The first one of the year is my cousin Amber's on June 25 I believe.

The next one is sometime in the summer (date is yet to be determined... but coming soon!) for my dear friend Lauren. I met Lauren here at school in Sutherland Hall and we became good friends, as we had quite a bit in common. Her fiance, Nate proposed to her when he went to visit her this Spring while she was studying abroad in Scotland. :) Nate and Lauren have been dating what seems like FOREVER... I believe ever since middle school. I am very honored to be able to share with them their special day. :)

The last of the year (thus far) on September 15 is my brother's. Jake and Morgan just recently celebrated their 4 year anniversary and Jake proposed to her around Christmas time. I was very excited (and of course honored) that Morgan asked me to be one of her bridesmaids on their big day. :) Morgan will fit into our family perfectly (however, she really has been part of it since day one!)

Slip n Slide

So, I finally broke down and got a Slip n Slide for me and Teddy to play with! :)

I went to Target with Jaci last night and they were on sale for only $8! But, that was the original, plain-jane Slip n Slide... I decided to go with the Double Lane Slip n Slide so we can have races! :) That one was on sale for $15 -- still not a bad price.

This morning it is raining -- imagine that! But I hope it clears up by 4pm so we can test it out. :) I'll post pictures when we do!

Circus: Fail (Kind of)

So, this past week, the circus came to Eau Claire. I told Kirby about it because I figured he and Sarah would want to take Teddy. Well, they decided to go on Tuesday night and on Monday, Kirby asked me if I wanted to come along. I have never been to a circus, so I was considering it, but leaning more towards a no. On Tuesday I had my mind made up and decided I wouldn't go.

Well, Teddy had other plans. After supper, we were cleaning everything up and everyone was asking Teddy about the circus, when I got ready to go, he asked, "Heidi come with to the circus world?" I told him that, no, I wasn't going to come this time, but he would have lots of fun. Well, he continued to ask me and simply would not take no for an answer. I just couldn't resist those big, begging brown eyes.

After I agreed to go, and got made fun of for my inability to say no from both Lucas and Kirby, Teddy asked Lucas to go to the circus too. Lucas replied, "No, Teddy, I'm not going to go, but you'll have fun with Heidi." He was content with that answer.

So, I went to the circus. Teddy was thrilled, when we all piled in the van, he pointed out that my seat was right next to him. Then he pointed out which one was his mommy's seat and his daddy's seat. He was so happy to have all of his favorite people in the whole world with him, going to the circus.

Then, we got to the circus, there was no tent, it was drizzling and was canceled after 20 minutes in. :( Teddy was such a trooper. We were soaking wet and he got to see very little of what he was promised (his main hope was to see an elephant). He sat all nice on my lap for 20 minutes in the rain. It was so worth it to see that little boy so happy. Not to mention, when I was carrying him into the circus when we first got there he looked and me and said, "I like you." I think that made my week. :)

Booked

We officially booked our flight to Colorado! I've got our flight itinerary all printed off and everything. :) We'll leave August 15 and return August 22. Gone for a whole week! :) We've already planned some of the things we plan to do. I'm waiting to officially register for those things until I get some Colorado brochures in the mail as well as check with Jaclyn to see which days she will have to work. :)

Before the Rain

Last week before all the rain, me and my two sets of babysitting kids were able to head to the park. There are lots of parks in Eau Claire, but parks that have playgrounds are always an adventure to get to from campus.

This picture was taken at Owen Park when Teddy and I found a duck. The difficulty about getting to this park from campus is the BIG hill. Usually, we have the van, but when we don't, we have to trek down the big hill with a stroller, but the real issue is when it comes to trekking UP the big hill with a stroller!

This picture is of Julia and Jackson at Bollinger Park. We brought a picnic lunch to enjoy. This park wasn't that bad to get to from campus, except for the fact that on the way there, Julia threw out her nuk in the middle of the busy street and I refused to go back and get it. This meant Jackson and I had to listen to her cry for about 15 minutes.

Closer to Colorado!

Yesterday I had the opportunity to catch up with a friend of mine (Jaclyn) who is living in Colorado! Before she moved out there she had invited Lucas and I to go out and visit anytime. So... we are going! I may have mentioned this before but we are heading out there the third week or so of August and planning to stay the whole WEEK! It's our first "long" trip together and after over four and a half years I think it's about time! :) I'm very excited to make the trip out there and back with Lucas and will enjoy every minute of it! Jaclyn's boyfriend's name is Andy, and he also lives out there so Lucas will have a golfing buddy for the week. :)

Currently, we are debating between flying and driving. Originally we were going to drive because we couldn't find plane tickets cheaper than $300 but now that we are looking a little deeper (or, my mom is! :) ) we may have found a reasonable deal. Lucas and I have decided that if we find tickets for anything $200 or under we will fly. It will be Lucas' first flight and my second! If we have to drive though, we will do that and have just as much fun. :)

Getting Fit

These are three of my tools for getting fit this summer.

• My green and blue asics. :) I like them a lot.
• My resistance tube. I just got this the other day and have been enjoying it. It's main purpose is for toning.
  
• My pedometer. My roommate and friend and I have been walking often and were never too sure how far we were going, so the other day Lucas and I went to Shopko and I got this nice little pedometer for $7.99. It was the cheapest one but is working very well and I like that it is so little (the littlest one available).

Finally

Summer is finally here!

Studying for final exams last week kept me away from my blog unfortunately, but I got my grades the other day and the studying most definitely paid off!

So, what's on the agenda for the summer you ask?

The more appropriate question seems to be what isn't on the summer agenda?!

I'm working quite a bit... sorting mail in Towers Tuesday-Thursday, working the Chancellors Front Desk on Thursdays, Towers Front Desk on Fridays and every other Saturday, and watching Teddy Monday - Friday and Julia and Jackson Tuesdays and Wednesdays. In the middle of June through the beginning of August I'll also be working 20 hours a week in the Housing Office on campus.

Babysitting has been a lot of fun so far... I've been to the park 4 times in the last three days and am getting a good suntan! :)

Other summer plans include

• Getting fit with one of my roommates (Emily) - so far we have managed to work out everyday this week!
• Go on a canoe trip with my practicum group - this is a two day trip and is scheduled at the end of July
• Float down the river -- we all are equipped with our floating devices and are ready to go now we just need the weather to stay nice so it can heat up the water!
• Go to Colorado with Lucas to visit Jaclyn! :) We are doing this the middle of August and are very excited!
  

Smile!

In case you need something to smile about... smile at this cutie! :) He makes me smile every single day. This is Teddy, a 2 year-old I babysit. He is one of the brightest two-year-old's you will meet. He knows and can identify all the ABCs, colors and numbers. He can also sing along to almost every Beatles song there is. He is just precious. :)

This picture was taken last week on a beautiful 80 degree day. Teddy demanded we take his coat, hat and mittens outside. I managed to keep the coat and mittens off of him but he wore the hat most of the time. :) Two-year-old's are so much fun because they are starting to become their own little person. This two-year-old has me wrapped around his little fingers!

Little Sibs Weekend

Well, the troop headed out this afternoon and I think it's safe to say they had a good time. :) I forgot how busy 3 "kids" can be though... I think Holly did as well. On the first day of the trip, early on she was requesting a "stiff drink". :)

But, a good time was definitely had by all. We had fun menu planning, went for a walk around campus and made Ky experience the "hill". We also did some shopping and went bowling (which we even managed to get Josh to come out!!), watched a movie and even did a little scrapbooking.

Pictured above are three of the four attendees: Ky, Leah and Hannah. Missing from the picture is Holly. :( I wanted to get a group shot of all five of us but ended up forgetting.

Thanks for coming out to visit me ladies!!! :)

Anticipation

For what you ask?

• Little Sibs Weekend @ UWEC this weekend. :) Holly, Hannah, Leah and Ky are coming on Saturday to spend the weekend with me.
  
• Beautiful weather. Today is supposed to be really nice, but this weekend is supposed to be rainy and stormy so I'm excited for having a stretch of really nice days in the near future!
• This semester to be over! This is my fourth year at the University and although it doesn't really seem like it's been that long, I'm getting sick of going to class! I'm very much looking forward to starting my practicum in late August where I will still have course work but it will be a lot lighter and more focused on getting into the field and being put to work!
  

My Mosaic

Here is my picture mosaic. :) I thought it was kind of fun. The questions and my answers are as follows:
Name: Heidi
Favorite Food: Chocolate
Favorite Color: Blue
Favorite Drink: Sweet Tea
Dream Vacation: Alaska
Favorite Hobby: Cooking
What do you want to be when you grow up: A Mother
What do you love most: Lucas
One word to describe you: Push-over

If you would like to try it yourself, here are the instructions:

a. Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search(http://www.flickr.com/)b. Using only the first page, pick an image.

c. Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into fd’s Mosaic Maker (http://bighugelabs.com/flickr/mosaic.php)

d. Save the image and post it on this note!

(Almost) Success!

Well, I accomplished most of the items on my To-Do List yesterday... I failed to accomplish two of them: cleaning off my desk (which I just finished this morning!) and begin research on my project (I'll get to this another day...). I did manage to bake some good looking cookies and the verdict was that they were a success and very delicious! The end result is pictured to the left.

My sister and I also began a joint venture yesterday... a new blog about cooking, baking and entertaining. You should check it out: http://momtaughtus.blogspot.com/
You will find the delicious recipe to these cookies there... :)

Enjoy your day... although it's a bit dreary here in Eau Claire...

Procrastination at it's finest!

I have unofficially named today (Sunday) to be the Day of Reverse Procrastination. On this day my plans are:

• unpack from last weekend -- I've been meaning to do since last Sunday!
• wash/fold/put away clothes from this week -- I'm doing good... they are currently in the dryer!
  
• wash my sheets -- also in the dryer and my second pair sheets are already on my bed... just waiting for the comforter!
  
• "deep clean" my room -- this has been needing to be done for probably the entire semester!
  
• organize my desk -- an ongoing thing...
  
• clean the apartment -- also ongoing...
  
• stock pop in Sutherland -- I probably should have done this yesterday but I was just too, plain busy and it was too beautiful outside!!
  
• bake cookies -- I've been meaning to do this for a good week or two!
  
• begin researching for a group project --this was supposed to happen on Thursday...

I'll let you know how it all goes tomorrow morning!! :)

WHCA Conference

Yesterday I had the opportunity to go to Wisconsin Dells for the WHCA (Wisconsin Health Care Association) Spring Conference. The keynote speaker was Matt Thornhill, founder and president of The Boomer Project. He was an excellent presenter and talked about the "Baby Boomers" and the effect they currently have and will continue to have on health care and the overall economy.

There was an vendor expo there also, where we got all sorts of free stuff which is always nice... I was running low on pens anyway!! :)

The most comical vendor I saw was a bariatric supplies company -- they were giving away hotdogs with all the fixings... I suppose to keep themselves in business! :) Don't worry... sadly, I don't think obesity is going anywhere anytime soon...

Golden Living was there too and I was able to talk with more people in the organization that I will come in contact with. I also was told of some news... Bridget, the Executive Director at Three Oaks (my practicum site) just got promoted to a Regional Operations Director down south and will no longer be my preceptor! I was a little sad, because last summer I got to know Bridget quite well and was excited for the opportunity to work with her, but I am excited for her and her promotion. As of right now, my placement will still be Three Oaks -- they will obviously be replacing Bridget, but in the event that Bridget's replacement isn't as strong as they would like, Golden Living will send me to Abbotsford to work with Jennifer. I'm anticipating finding out who the new Executive Director will be and looking forward to meeting them, but am also a little disappointed that I won't get to work with Bridget.

Sometimes I lack ideas of what exactly to blog about... which is one reason I struggle and have not-so-frequent blogs. Another reason I struggle is because when I'm working I find other distractions. Some distractions include, but most certainly are not limited to:
* Playing with Teddy. :) This used to be a much bigger distraction... but now that he goes to school, so I don't get to hang out with him as much and cherish the "distraction time". :)
* www.freetetris.org -- I would honestly suggest now even going here if you are a tetris addict... and if you aren't... and you go here, you will become one!
* Going on Itunes and finding music to purchase/download... it's dangerous for me that they simply just take from my bank whenever I choose a song! I'm being smart though... only bought one "CD" this week and one song. The "CD" was Lady Antebellum who I am really enjoying and the song was "Upside Down" by Jack Johnson... it's on the Curious George movie soundtrack
* Homework... this isn't really a distraction and is probably what I should be doing... which happens every once in a while! :)

And, now... why the photo you ask? Well, I just love him... a lot. And was looking through my pictures (yet, another distraction) and decided I need to start taking more pictures. I've been slacking this year...

Until next time... Have a great week!

As of Late...

According to my sister, I need to blog more. I do not necessarily disagree... I just plain don't get around to it (as is quite apparent!). So, as of lately, here is what has been going on with me.

Last week was Spring Break. The week before that was **HELL** week for me here at school: 2 midterms, 1 exam, 1 project and lots and lots of other busy things! So, Spring Break was much-needed and very well-deserved!! This week I found out how I did on 2 out of the 3 exams, and it turned out not too shabby! :) B's on both! Senioritis has definitely kicked in though, I really have no motivation to study for much of anything and in turn, usually don't study as much as I should... but, apparently, that's okay because I still have pull off 2 B's (on exams that were on the same day!)

Spring Break:
Unlike many other people... I did not have the pleasure of going anywhere ridiculously warm and sunny, but rather ventured home and enjoyed some R & R. I worked a couple days, enjoyed some time with my family (including multiple nights at Holly and Gary's with ice cream -- not so good for the weight loss plan!!), Friday Night Fish Fries at my church and a Birthday celebration for my soon-to-be-sister-in-law and dad! :) I was also asked by Morgan to be one of her bridesmaids for their wedding next Fall! :)

Valentine's Day

This past weekend was the silliest holiday ever - Valentine's Day.
Most people seem to hate it, others absolutely love it. Where do I stand? Right in the middle, I guess.

I don't understand why people make a big deal out of one day of the year for which you are supposed to show your love for others. First of all, you should do that every single day; second of all, prices for flowers and gifts are so overpriced!

Nevertheless, Lucas got me flowers, got up SUPER early (for him! :) to make me breakfast in bed and did most of my laundry this weekend! What a sweetie! I love him lots! We went out for Chinese also.

We ventured home this past weekend to babysit Ana and Garret and just visit. It was a nice weekend at home. On Friday night Holly and Gary hosted a Belated B-Day Party for Lucas (Thanks Holl!!), Saturday was Party # 2 for Lucas at his Mom's house and Valentine's Day festivities above and Sunday was church and time at home with Mom and Dad for me! :)

Tonight some friends and I are going out to a local Mexican restaurant - Cancuns! I'm quite excited!!

Slowing Down

So, last night was the end of the RA Selection Committee (one volunteer experience that took up A LOT of my time the past two weeks!!). Last night the committee deliberated and picked our candidates! It was a great experience, and surprisingly, quite fun. I'm excited for those who were selected, they'll find out who they are on Friday! Hopefully not that this process is over I can slow down a little bit. I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

This past weekend Lucas celebrated his 22nd Birthday!! (And, it was my 1/2 Birthday :)) In celebration of both Lucas' and Randy's (Lucas' friend/roommate), we went out for supper at Milwaukee Burger Co., a new restaurant in EC. It was pretty good and the boys got free drinks for their Birthdays. :) I also made some more chocolate caramel bars and one of Lucas' favorites - Pineapple Upside Down cake. I haven't had a piece of the cake and really don't plan to, so I can't tell you if it was any good. Lucas says it is, so it must be!

Tonight Lucas is coming over for dinner and I am going to make supper: pork chops, asparagus, potatoes and some jello with fruit. I love being in Chancellors and being able to cook a decent meal! :)

One Week In

Well, I have successfully completed the first week of my last semester on campus. :) I am keeping myself busy as ever but did very little this weekend so it was a nice change of pace. I am absolutely loving not making the drive every other weekend to work (but, I most certainly do miss my wonderful family! :))

Classes shouldn't be too bad at all this semester and I am only taking 12 credits because that's all I really need to take. I'm working lots of hours at the front desk of course and watching Teddy. :) I'm also still VP for Circle K, so there is lots of community service projects to do there. The Hall Director of Chancellor's asked me to be on the RA Selection Committee, so for this week I will be SUPER busy with that.

This weekend Lucas and I prepared a roast in my crockpot that I got for Christmas. It was delicious! :) I did lots of baking too. Banana Bread with chocolate chips... one of Lucas' favorites and some chocolate caramel bars (everyone's favorite!!)

Winter Vacation

My Winter Vacation is sadly, soon ending. What have I done?

In the beginning of break I worked -- A LOT.

I enjoyed 5 separate Christmases with my family and Lucas' family.

The rest of break I also worked.

I got together with String and Jaci for coffee and lunch.

Got together with Jessica several times to reminisce and make scrapbook pages for her Andy Scrapbook. :)

Visited Lucas' mom many times.

Enjoyed a visit from Teddy Bear (more on that another day).

Read a book (Yay- a book read for enjoyment and not out of necessity for school!)

After this week, I'll have one week remaining. You can bet I'll be making the most of it!! :)

Welcome 2009!!

Happy New Year everyone!!

I hope you all had a fun New Year's Eve! Mine was spent at Holly and Gary's with Holly and Gary (obviously), Jake and Morgan, my Lucas, Hannah, Korey, Chris Wirsbinski and a visit from Josh and Jason Wilebski.

I think it would be safe to say a good time was had by all! For some, maybe too good of a time.

So, how did I spend my New Year's Day?

Not really as I would have wanted to... I spent the entire day working... 7am-7pm. So, now I am ready for bed after staying up late last night to ring in the new year.