Back to School BBQ!

Friday was the staff picnic. I took Daniel from our secretary Liz, so she could get food. He was very funny. He didn't quite know what to do with me. Eventually, he warmed up and actually tried to get my food. I fed him whipped cream which pretty much he wore. Cute pic though huh? It rained. Nice picnic!

This is a quick post because I am on the way out the door to Freshmen Orientation. Seriously, where has the summer gone. I took the sunset pics on my porch last night. It truly felt poetic. Like the sun was setting on my summer. Kinda sad.

Well, I better be off. Being late on the first day isn't the best idea! I hope this school year is survivable. I have Dish Network...it just might be! Too bad I will never see the light of day or ever leave my apartment. hehe!

I Made it Back to Utah!

Well, I am writing this from a familiar place, my dining room table. Of course, this won't be my dining room table for long but that is okay. Change is inevitable.

It has been a hard adjustment this time around. I do not want to be here and have a bad attitude about everything. My roommate, Mary Beth, told me not to worry too much about this because I seem to be like this the weeks before school every year and that after the first week of school I become normal again and like my life. So, I am banking that will happen again this year.

I spoke in church today. It was interesting because I always write the full talk out and usually read it word for word. Today that did not happen so I felt like I was very disorganized but sometimes it is good to say what you really feel in your heart. Talking in church isn't my favorite thing, but I am glad I was able to. Preparing the talk helped me in so many ways see how blessed my life is, and to have that realization right now is good for me!

It is nice to be around friends again. I really did miss all of them and forgot how wonderful and hilarious they truly are. Last night, I had Nicoitalia's pizza for the first time since being home and it was divine. My dad would have not liked it because it was deep dish. But boy, do I love my BBQ chicken pizza. Leftovers today were so very scrumchious! I bought rootbeer to go along with the pizza and it made me think of home and The Claridge. I already miss my little bar, bizarre! People around here kind think that is strange, but that is okay too! (the party my mom had for all the Claridge regulars was a fun way to say goodbye! Pat had on great glasses don't you think?)

While traveling through Kansas I was able to see Morgan and her new baby, Spencer. I pretty much held him just like in that picture the whole 24 hours I was there! :) I love babies. I also played with Henry and we were friends. In fact, he cried when I left. That made me feel special. He would attack me while mooing with his new cow puppet I bought him! Very good investment.

The Lasts of Summer!

Well, the summer is coming to a quick end. It is weird to have so many lasts as I get ready to leave on Monday. Tonight my mom and I went to The Claridge and had our last trivia fix. It was very fun because we didn't get there until late so we were there when it was kinda dead. We were able to talk to the bartender for a while and she is a very neat girl. I like the people of Rhinelander. We also played with Jim, who has been my biggest competitor this summer. It was good to be there again with him.

This week has been busy and fun. Today, I went and visited with Marla and Kim. Marla had a little picnic for us to all gather at. The pictures of Ty and Jesse come from that. I love that kid. Jesse tried not to get in the pictures but he just wasn't trying hard enough! It is always hard to say goodbye to all my friends here.

I took my nephew, Kristofer, to a Milwaukee Brewers game. Such a good time. I was reminded of how much I love live baseball. It was a good game even though the Brewers lost. It was pretty close up until the end. We had a major adventure after the game because we almost ran out of gas. Only .28 gallons were left in the tank. I was so worried we were going to run out in the middle of a bad part of Milwaukee. Kris took it well; I was freaking out! Glad we got some. I got to spend a little time with my sister in Madison when I took Kris back. I sure do love my family members...again it was hard to say goodbye!

Tuesday we had an awesome softball game. We were down by a lot 11-18 going into the last inning...but we came back to within one. Unfortunately, we still lost 17-18, but it was the best lost I have ever had. It actually felt like we had won. Amazing. Great way to finish the season. It was also hard to say goodbye to all my good teammates!

The wedding last week was an adventure. It was so good to see my family members at the party. My aunts and uncles are all so very fun to talk to. I enjoyed having a fancy dinner with them and their humor. My cousin Corey had a good time and it was a good wedding. Glad I was able to get to it. Seeing my Grandma Rita was a very good thing too. She is one of my favorite people on the planet. Good stuff.

I will be traveling to Des Moines, IA to see my brother on Monday. Tuesday, I will be in Kansas to see my friend, Morgan's, new baby. Then I will stay somewhere in Colorado on Wednesday and hit Provo on Thursday. Road trips rock! Okay, so this one is long when I am alone but it will be good to see people!

I hope everybody is great and that the state of Utah is ready to have me back...because even if it isn't....here I come!

Later,
Alice

Softball is so very fun!

We actually won our softball game this week. Okay, so that isn't too surprising, we do win on occasion. It was a fun game. The team we played is always fun to play against because they are nice. Next Tuesday will not be as fun because they are not as nice and they slaughter us. Oh well! It will be my last game and that makes me really sad! *SIGH*

You should thank my dad for taking the wonderful pictures of me and my teammates playing softball. He did not want to take them but was a good sport about it in the end.

Ever since I have been blogging, I have not been writing in my journal as much. That is a sad thing. I guess I am just going to have to take all the blogs from the summer, print them, and paste them in my journal. Weird.

This week has been a good one and has gone way too fast. I only have one full week here at home before I head back to Utah. This is all very sad to me. But I do miss my friends out there too...I just don't miss my job enough to come back just yet!

I bowled twice this week. Four games Wednesday and five Thursday. It only costs one dollar to go on Wednesdays and 50 cents on Thursdays. A very good deal! I feel like I am not getting any better at bowling, I am just staying the same. Is it really possible to only get so good at something, even if you practice a lot? I hope not, one day I want to be on the professional tour.

I have also read a lot this week. I finished the third book of The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants series. It is very good. I am taking a break before reading the fourth one to finish Harry Potter. I am over half way through right now and that is good. My friend, Janette, will be very happy when I am done because then we can discuss it. She is funny. I called her last week and she was so quiet as we talked....I could sense something was up so I asked her what she was doing and she said that she was only 100 pages from the end and that I had interrupted her. I let her go...it was funny though how I was totally bothering her by calling...she did not have to answer!

Tonight, my parents and I are heading to Green Bay to visit family one last time before I leave. The big reason we are going is because my cousin, Corey, is getting married. I am not so excited about the wedding stuff, but I am excited to see all my family. I will get to go to dinner with my 81 year old grandma tonight...which quite possibly could be the highlight of the weekend. Sure do love Grandma Huven!

Well, you all have a fabulous weekend....and email me for Pete's sake!
Word Homies!(Tricia I hope one day you read my blog and see this!)

Summer Winding Down and Still Having Fun!

Well, I would like to just say thank you to everybody who is reading my blog these days. I actually have a good size fan base now(haha). I almost feel like a rock star! It is weird because I sometimes read famous people's blogs. It is like I am friends with them but I am not. I really need to get myself a life, don't I? I think I have spent about 20 hours this week watching various videos on Youtube. I have almost watched all of the Kelly Clarkson ones. I am really on a KC kick. I listen to her new album all the time. IT is awesome! I do not know why I am so addicted to her right now. I just think that she is awesome and her new music really hits a great cord with me right now. I bet one day I will be so sick of the album that I will throw it away. Okay maybe not!

We are done with Rebecca patrol. It is kinda quiet around here now. I picked her up from camp earlier this week and had a plan to go for a short walk and then do beads(see pictures). She told me she didn't want to bead and that she didn't know how....which was very funny to me because she has hundreds of them at her house that she has made! I told her that she then would have to come up with a plan for the hour we had between being done with camp and when grandma came home. She couldn't come up with anything so we beaded anyway. I really am a teacher...my teacher vocab always comes out when dealing with any kid!

I went to the Merrill Fair with a bunch of my Wausau friends on Friday. It was fun. I think the food was definitely the highlight(besides the company, of course). I ate fried cheese curds, corn and an Elephant Ear. (Not a real elephant's ear of course...fried scone-like bread with cinnamon-sugar on top....mmmm mmmmm good!) We basically just ate and saw a few of the animals. Kim's little boy Ty liked the tractors the best and the geese that were about as tall as he is! My friend, Marla had to work the night shift that night and I need to be to the Harry Potter Party in Rhinelander so we left before everybody else.

The Harry Potter Party was awesome as always. It was kinda sad to think it would be the last Harry Potter Party, but it was good. My cousin, Shannon and my Aunt Linda came for the special night. We ate some cookies and made hats as we waited for midnight when we could get the books. Luckily, we didn't have to wait too long because we got there after eleven. It was cool to see all the people dressed up and having fun! My mom and Shannon stood in a long line to get our three books just after midnight. I looked at the books on a shelf through the window and was in awe at how many new Harry Potter books there were there. I have read the first two chapters so far and it looks like it is going to be a good read so far! I am so slow at reading the Harry Potter books, I may not be done before Thanksgiving seeing it is over 700 pages long. It is also going to be difficult for me because I am addicted to The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants series right now. I guess I will just read them all at the same time. That is a weird thing for me!

It is fun to have family here at the house right now. My cousin brought all of her family which consists of her husband, Paul, daughter, Gabby, and son, Thomas. Gabby is two and Thomas is one. Thomas is so very cute and funny. I like to teach him new things...like pound it...he will pound your fist if you put it out for him. I taught him that last month and he remembers. I love it. My Uncle Tom and Aunt Linda are also here. I love seeing all of my family.

Summer is going too fast. I will have to enjoy my last few weeks to the fullest, as all of you should! ;)