Wednesday, August 31, 2005

Ok I am having issues with the pictures..I will try again tomorrow

Getting Settled

It hasn't been that long since I last posted, but I thought I would write another entry because I have some pictures to post so here I go again. We got our first stipend checks yesterday, opened new bank accounts, then made our first trip to the grocery store. I am never going grocery shopping with six people ever again. Anyways, we made a decision on how we are going to pay for food. At the beginning of the month we will put in $100 of our check in our "money pot" (a cheap bag we bought at Wal-mart). We will take turns going shopping and use that money. So we are all sharing food, which is the easiest. We came up with a staples list of things we should always have in the house. I helped cook tonight, imagine that. I am glad I am finally learning. Not that cooking is hard, it's just something I've never really had to do. Oh yeah, we don't have a dishwasher so we get to do dishes. Three of us chipped in for a wireless router last night so I now have my own internet which is convenient. Today we took a tour of our neighborhood and met everyone that works in our building. I learned some history of where I am living - it used to be a prominent all girl's Catholic high school which had to eventually shut down. Now the school houses the Americana community center and the offices for the South Louisville Community Ministries. Our part of the buliding is where the nuns who taught at the school stayed, hence the old convent. Due to the amount of people in and out of our building we get a lot of random, confused visitors. Today we also got library cards (how exciting!) and went to Iriquois Park, a really pretty park only a couple miles from our house. Kentucky is a much prettier state than Ohio. I know I've already said this, but Louisville is a really neat city. I had no idea! So everyone come visit. I know it's not as cool as living in Bangladesh or Europe..but it's Kentucky! come on. Ok I'm going to watch a movie with my housemates now.

Monday, August 29, 2005

From Louisville

Hello from Kentucky. The move went well. It's always a little stressful, especially with my family, but I'm all settled in now. I like my room a lot. It isn't as small as I remembered (although still small) and I already have it all decorated. All my roommates are really nice and I think we will get along well. I felt like I was on the "Real World" on Sunday. I was the third one to get there and when someone new came we were all like "new roommate!" and ran to meet them and help them carry up all their stuff. Of course this is a much tamer version of that horrible show. A couple of my roommates are Mennonite so of course we have played the Mennonite game already and found connections. One of my roommates has actually made out with my cousin..so that's fun. So far we have just done orientation stuff. We don't start working until next Tuesday. I don't really know what my hours are going to be yet. I know I will be doing some administrative tasks like scheduling and possibly writing their newsletter, and also helping with the after school program. And as I've mentioned, the community center I am working at is connected to our "apartment" so I don't have very far to go to work. Just so everyone knows, we have one spare bedroom and an abundance of couches and futons for visitors to sleep on, so feel free to visit anytime! I like the setup. We have a nice place to live for this type of thing. There are six of us living here in the program, and another guy Ben living with us who has a theatre internship here, but not part of the program. For future reference, my roommates' names are Katie, Andrea, Alysa, Emily, and Keith. We are learning that Louisville is actually a pretty neat city with lots to do, including lots of free stuff! This city is pretty big into the arts which is really neat. There are always free concerts and art festivals going on. So it sounds like I will have plenty of cheap stuff to do, plus I'll most likely be working two jobs. I don't think I will get bored. This promises to be a great experience. We discussed today how a program like this isn't just designed for us to help others. We are only going to be here a year, we can't accomplish that much..but we will gain a lot from the experience. I'm looking forward to a great year. Well I should go since one of my roommates wants the computer. I could go on longer, but I will stop.

Saturday, August 27, 2005

I Hate Moving!

Well I am pretty much done packing. I saved most of it for today. I am excited to move and for my new experience to begin, I just wish all my stuff would magically transport there and arrange itself nicely. I HATE the whole moving process. And in one year I will be doing it again. I hope I am not bringing too much stuff. My room is pretty small and does not have much storage at all (I am living in a renovated convent where nuns used to sleep). There is no way all my clothes will fit in the tiny closet. Everyone keeps asking me what exactly I will be doing in Louisville, and I still don't have an exact answer. All I know is I will be working at Americana Community Center with immigrants, and yes Louisville, KY has a number of immigrants from all over the world, which was a surprise to me. When I know what I am doing, I will fill you in. I will update when I am settled there. I just thought I would post one more entry from good old Hilliard. Not that I will never be coming back.

I should be able to update regularly. We will have one computer with internet access for the six of us to share. I orginally thought I was not going to bring my own computer since there won't be internet access in my room (and since my computer has been at my dad's work all summer being "fixed" a.k.a. more messed up), but when I awoke this morning I discovered that my dad bought me a new laptop . I did not expect this at all and am very grateful. My dad has always been random with this kind of stuff and yes I realize I am spoiled. It's a very nice computer. I like it a lot. So when I don't feel like sharing I can be cool and hang out at a coffee shop with wireless internet .

This summer has flown by, like usual. Looking back, it was a very good summer, and not dreading work every morning was a plus. I'll miss my friends and family, but it's not like I am going that far. I feel like I am just moving back to school.

So when I was standing in line at New York and Company yesterday my friend Erin noticed that I had a gray hair and pulled it out for me. It was completely white. This is the second time this has happened, the first being when I was getting my hair done for Abby's wedding and the hairdresser said "Did you know you have gray hair?" I don't like this at all. I'm only 22!!! I feel old.

I had another picture crisis, but I won't go off on it again because it could go on forever. Let me just say I really hate technology sometimes and it makes things more complicated. But if any computer expert out there knows how all my digital pictures went from over 2000X2000 resolution to a 320X540 when I transferred them to my computer, that would be nice. I no longer have them on my memory card and they won't print at that low resolution, so it is pretty disappointing..especially since I had lots of nice pictures from my grandparents 60th wedding anniversary that I was going to make lots of prints with...but now I can't. Sorry..I did go off. I will stop now. Tomorrow is going to be a long day....

Thursday, August 25, 2005

Maybe I should start packing sometime soon...

My last day at Starbucks was yesterday, well at that store anyways. The last few days of work were pretty hectic due to our broken espresso grinder, low coverage, and being extremely busy. So the time flew by. I have to admit this was the first time I have been sad to leave a job. I'll miss everyone. I would have gotten more money and more predictable hours working somewhere like Ashland again this summer, but I also would have wanted to jump off a cliff, so I think I got the better end of the deal. I spent last summer sitting in a cubicle from 8-5 doing mindless work talking to no one and on my last day nobody even said goodbye. I spent this summer making coffee and talking to lots of people and I have to admit it was a million times better. And I now know what a half caf quad venti three pump nonfat no whip extra hot white mocha is. Do you? Last night I had a going away celebration with my coworkers at a pub across the street from our store. Almost everyone came which is awesome, even the store manager. It was a lot of fun. I'm sad I only got to know them for two and a half months. My last day working with Will was Tuesday. I almost cried on the way home. I am going to miss him.

I move to Louisville this Sunday. That is in three days! What have I done to prepare? Absolutely nothing. The only productive things I have done today are take a shower and spend a half an hour on the phone with stupid car insurance people. Oh well I always wait until the last minute. I just hate moving. I put a lot of effort into cleaning out and reorganizing my room at the beginning of the summer and now I have to undo all of it! I can't wait until I have a permanent home. But I am excited about the experience I am about to have. What I am most nervous about is making barely any money, but I know it will teach me some valuable lessons. Oh..I recently found out there will be six of us in the house..five girls and one guy. I am looking forward to meeting my roommates. And I also found out it is ok for me to have another job. I already talked to a Starbucks five miles away from where I will be living and it looks like I can easily transfer there. So that's good. I don't plan on working there much though.

Ok I need to get some stuff done now so I will shut up! First I will post some pictures.


And this is me and Megan.  Posted by Picasa


I wish I had a picture of the whole Starbucks crew together, but instead I have several pictures of me with one coworker. So I will post the ones of my two favorite shift supervisors. This is Jon and me.  Posted by Picasa


This past Friday night I had a going away dinner with some of my friends at Carrabbas (a very yummy Italian restaurant).  Posted by Picasa

Friday, August 19, 2005

The Pictures Have Been Found!

In response to my previous entry from last night, I would just like to say that I solved the mystery. I called my dad at work this morning and turns out Denise had logged on the computer on a different name instead of the one my dad usually uses. When I changed the log in all my pictures were there! So I don't have to worry about that anymore. So here are some pictures of the park we went to by Vicki's house. Oh..and she has made a decision on bridesmaid dresses. We are all going to get a black dress in a similar style. We get to pick it out ourselves. This is the model that Vicki gave us for all those interested in that stuff.
http://www.jcrew.com/catalog/product.jhtml?id=prod62983711&catId=cat73889
The dress shows up in white, but you can make it black. I absolutely love this dress, however it is $200. So in the next two years my goal is to find a similar one for much cheaper. We have been looking, but so far no success. It is hard to find a dress that fits me correctly. Think Rebekah would custom make me another dress while in Bangladesh??? Hey Reba - it would give you something to do! :)


The Bridge Posted by Picasa


who knew Toledo was so pretty? Posted by Picasa


the pretty park Posted by Picasa

Where are all my pictures???

Kim and I drove up to Toledo to visit Vicki Sunday morning and stayed until Monday night. It was so nice to just hang out with two of my best friends for two days. We went out to eat four times in a row since Vicki had no food. We kept it pretty cheap, the most expensive being Olive Garden. We went to this nice park near her house on Monday and walked around. It was so pretty and a perfect day for it. I was going to post some pictures, but after I loaded them on to my computer and went to save them in a folder I discovered that all my pictures from this summer are gone!!!!! (and there are a lot of them). I had them all organized, named, and saved into folders and I edited a lot of them. And they are nowhere to be found. At first I was really upset because I have no prints of most of them and they are no longer on my camera. But then I realized they are all still in my photo loader program, but it will take a long time to organize and edit them again. But at least they are not gone for good or I would probably be very upset right now (you know I am am such a picture person). I was about to wake up my dad and ask him why they are gone, but I decided against it. It was either him or Denise that made them disappear. Ugh, I am so frustrated. I also had a bunch that I took on my camera phone and if I don't find these folders, those are lost forever. When I find out what happened and reorganize my pictures, I will post some. Anyways, my trip to Toledo was fun. Oh yeah, I ran into Dave Schwartz (I think that is his last name..) from Bluffton at the Toledo mall, in the dress section at JC Penny. That was random.

Yesterday I began my eight day stretch of working, and several of those days I am working both with Will and at Starbucks. My last day at both is this coming Wednesday and then I move Sunday. Hopefully that is enough time to get everything organized and ready. Perhaps I should have given myself more time..oh well. I realized today how much I will miss working with Will. I started when he was 4, and now he is 7. Today was a really good day with him. He was being so cute and in a great mood. Denise came with me and for like an hour all we did was dance to the Music Choice channels, everything from salsa to techno to heavy metal. Will found us quite amusing. I felt like I was a little kid again. It was fun. Working with him has been quite challenging, but very rewarding at the same time. And I have learned a lot from the experience, especially having patience.

I have a somewhat interesting Starbucks story. Yesterday I worked at a store in German Village (downtown) because they needed some shifts covered. First of all it was weird because one of the managers from my store ended up being there too, which I wasn't expecting. Anyways, this particular Starbucks opened three years ago right across from a Cuppa Joes (not sure how to spell that) and near another local coffee shop. I guess a lot of people were upset being that Starbucks is a giant, global corporation. The guy I worked with said the first year was pretty rough. People through bricks into the windows and shot at the store and other things like that. The windows are now bullet and brick proof. The local coffee shop ended up going out of business but Cuppa Joes is still there and they both do well. I found this story interesting. I have always felt a little guilty working at Starbucks after having classes my last two semesters with Perry Bush. I can't help but wonder, "what would Perry think?" So I am working for an evil, global corporation who move in and close small businesses...but at least they recycle. And they take good care of their employees. I actually think they are a pretty good company after all I have learned(and I had to learn a lot...their training was extensive). But I will always think of global corporations as "evil" thanks to my Bluffton education.

Wow this entry is long. Congratulations to all who read the whole thing. I apologize about my picture rant, but I am still mad about that. I really want to wake up my dad, but it is 12:40 a.m. I guess it can wait until morning.

Oh yeah one more thing. I got the stitches removed from my mouth on Tuesday. So I am now in the "syringe phase" of the wisdom teeth removal. All I have to say is....SICK.

Sunday, August 14, 2005

Past the Point of No Return

Well the title of this post really has nothing to do with this entry, but that song is running through my head right now. Maybe because I saw Phantom of the Opera last night at the Ohio Theatre. And it was awesome as I expected. It seems like I just ordered the tickets the other day (which was in April). How time flies. It has now been over three months since we all graduated. Craziness. And two weeks from right now I will be spending my first night in Louisville. I am excited and nervous about moving. I have done absolutely nothing to prepare so far, but there is still time. It's weird becasue I want to move on from here, but another part of me does not want to leave all my friends and family and the comfortableness of home. However Louisville is only four hours away. It's not like I'm moving to Bangladesh. I know I will have a very valuable experience there. Hopefully my entries will become more interesting after I move.

I am so tired. Maybe because I have done more in the past two days then I did all week due to the removal of my widsom teeth. Yesterday I worked all day and the power went out for two hours which made it interesting. We kept the store open for like a half an hour, but there were a very limited amount of drinks we could make with no electricity. And anyone who did want one of these drinks got it for free because we couldn't ring it up. Some rude people took advantage of this and didn't even put any money in the tip jar! I also loved the people who marched right up to the counter and ordered their drink like everything was normal. They seemed completely unaware that all the lights were off and the store was eerily quiet due to the absence of music playing and the noise of us making drinks. When I explained to one lady that I could not make her double tall extra hot no foam latte or whatever due to the power being out she said "oh, is that why the lights are off?" People amuse me. After work I went to see Phantom with my mom, Denise, Celeste, Kim, and Derian. Our seats weren't as good as I hoped for the $65 we paid per ticket, but definitely much better than when I saw Chicago last year. I've decided that you pay $35 to barely see, $65 to kind of see, $95 to see pretty well, and who knows how much to see everything. But it was a great show and reignited my obsession with that musical. I had only seen the movie so it was neat to see how they did it on stage. My favorite part was the boat, and the chandelier in the beginning. But I must say the Phantom was not as hot as in the movie. But he played the part very well and he made me cry at the end.

Today I worked with Will and at Starbucks and that took all my energy. I need to go to bed now. I must remember to take some advil. Last night I forgot and woke up at 4 a.m. to very sharp pain in my mouth. I am wondering how long it will be before I can stop taking medicine every four hours for the pain.

Wednesday, August 10, 2005

No More Wisdom Teeth

I am so sick of being at home! I guess getting my wisdom teeth out wasn't too bad. But not the most pleasant experience either. I have had two mouth surgeries before, but this was the first time I was knocked completely out and had to breathe laughing gas before hand. What a weird experience. I remember them asking me questions after I started breathing in the laughing gas and I couldn't think of the right words to answer them. They just laughed and told me never mind. Next thing I knew I was in my dad's car and everything was really blurry. I guess I now know what it's like to be on drugs. I was pretty swollen when I got home. It's better now, but one of my cheeks is still swollen so my face looks lopsided. All I have been doing the last couple days is laying around, reading, and watching TV and I am going crazy! I guess I am one of those people who likes to be busy. It is nice to relax, but not for this long! I am still not feeling my best, but I think I have enough energy today to actually go out and do something. However these pain killers are really strong and make me pretty tired. I think I won't take any more today and just deal with the pain. It isn't as hard to eat as I thought which is good. The worst thing is all this medication makes me sick to my stomach (I have to take antibiotics too). I threw up a few times on Monday which was not fun. However one good thing came out of it. When I went into the bathroom for the third time my dad left and didn't tell anyone where he was going. He returned from Best Buy with the 4th season of Buffy for me. How sweet. I guess he felt sorry for me. So that has kept me entertained, but I am tired of just sitting around. However if I do more than just sit around, I feel like I am going to pass out. So that's the dilemma. And Denise has two friends over here right now (without asking me) and it is driving me crazy! Peace and quiet please!!! Ok I think I need to eat something now. I hope I feel better tomorrow because I start working again.

Sunday, August 07, 2005

The 60th Anniversary Celebration

Well Saturday was the big day and everything went perfect. My grandparents had no idea that everyone was going to be there. They said we are all good liars. The party was at the Findlay Inn. When my grandparents arrived my five cousins and their families were hidden in a back room. We all sat down and my uncle welcomed everyone. He told my grandparents he had cards from all their grandchildren who couldn't be there and started reading them out loud. They all said something like "Happy Anniversary, we love you and hope to see you soon." Then the last one said soemthing like "oh heck, why don't we just come to the party?" After this was read, my grandpa immediately started to get out of his chair expecting something and his eyes were all teared up (I was sitting right across from them). Then they all came out and my grandparents rushed toward them crying. It was seriously the cutest thing I have ever seen. It made me cry too. They were so surprised and so happy. They never expected everyone to be there. They had their two kids, seven grandchildren, and six great-grandchildren all in one room which never happens since we are so spread out. (Most of them live in Idaho, however one of my cousins and her family just moved to Pennsylvania which is much closer to us). This weekend I got a small taste of what it is like to have a big family and it was so much fun. There were six kids all under the age of six and they were all so cute. Denise got along with them really well. Can anyone tell me what you call your cousin's kids? I've heard second cousin, but I always thought a second cousin was your parent's cousin's kids. So if anyone knows, please fill me in! Anyways it was a great weekend. I'm so used to it being just my mom, dad, me and Denise at my grandparents house in Findlay. The house was much more crowded this weekend. We had dinner Saturday night at a nice park. However the mosquitos were out and I got bit up pretty bad. So last Sunday night I was itching like crazy with hives, and tonight it's mosquito bites. So I took some more Benadryl;) Oh yeah, I spent last night in Bluffton with my other grandma. It is always so weird to be back there. We went to First Mennonite this morning. I was expecting to see a lot of Bluffton faculty but they must have been on vacation. The only person I said hi to was Lee Snider. No Sue, Gerald, or Perry. How sad. Oh well.

I get my wisdom teeth taken out tomorrow morning at 11 a.m. Wish me luck! I am really not looking forward to it. And I can't eat or drink anything after midnight tonight (which is in like ten minutes). Not eating won't be too bad, although I know I'll be hungry in the morning like always. But it's not going to be fun having this cough and not being able to drink anything! I think I will down a bottle of water real quick.


The surprise  Posted by Picasa


Hilaree and Denise Posted by Picasa


Three of the four little boys...Cameron, Michael, and Scott Posted by Picasa


My grandpa and grandma Weist Posted by Picasa


The whole family. (not the best picture, but it was impossible to get everyone looking at the same camera) Posted by Picasa

Thursday, August 04, 2005

*Cough Cough*

Guess what? I'm still sick! I can't seem to get rid of this thing. I am now in the coughing fit stage. And I'm still itchy, but no hives thanks to Benadryl. However the bottle is almost gone. Anyways, I had a nice visit at Laura's on Tuesday. Abby Mo and I both made the trip to Troy, OH to see Laura's new apartment. It took me about an hour and 15 minutes to get there, not a bad drive. We went out to lunch where I had some delicious hunka chunka icecream and then hung out the rest of the afternoon. Then I headed back to Columbus for Kim's birthday dinner. However, due to some horrible traffic it took me much longer to get back. I basically sat in my car without moving for around a half an hour. How fun! By the time I got downtown to the restaurant it was 8:00 (and I left Troy around 5:45). We ate at Haiku, a Japanese restaurant I had never been to. It was really good. Oh yeah..when I stopped at a gas station on the way back two guys of Hispanic descent sitting in a truck nearby took a picture of me on their phone. I know they took a picture because I was facing them and it was my exact same camera phone. They aimed it at me, pushed the side button, and then started smiling at me. My Spanish teacher in high school always told us that it was part of their culture to stare and whistle at girls, however I think taking a picture of an innocent stranger at a gas station is crossing the line.

Today is my grandparents 60th wedding anniversary. Amazing huh? We are having a big celebration for them this Saturday in Findlay. They have no idea that my whole family from Idaho is flying in for the party (which consists of my mom's brother and his wife, their five kids, and their families...three of my cousins are married and two of them have three kids each). My aunt and uncle and the two unmarried cousins flew into Columbus last night. My aunt and uncle went on to Findlay and Steve and Katie are staying here until Saturday since we are hiding them from my grandparents. I haven't seen much of them though because I was at work last night and now they are at the Ohio State Fair with my family. I decided not to go because I am still sick and I have to work tonight. It would have been fun...oh well. I have only met my family in Idaho a couple times, so I don't know them that well. I guess I'll get to know them this weekend. It's weird that I know my family in France so well and they are even farther away than Idaho. But I guess I see them way more often, which is lucky. Well it's off to work. I was banished to the back last night for awhile because of my severe coughing. Hopefully it is better tonight.


Laura, me, and Abby Posted by Picasa

Monday, August 01, 2005

Nightlife, Weddings, Hives, and a Random Visit

Well I guess I had somewhat of an eventful weekend. Friday night I went out with Kim. We met up with a couple of her friends from work and had another random night out. We went to three bars - the first two were not crowded and more of a relaxed atmosphere. I didn't mind those. Then the third bar (which was on OSU campus) was extremely packed and loud. We saw at least 10 people from our high school there which was just weird. Hadn't seen any of them for over four years now. I love it when some guy who I never spoke to in high school acts like they are so happy to see me four years later (sarcasm). Since I did not have much to drink I did some thinking. Can someone please explain to me why going to a place so crowded you can barely move, you have to shout to talk to you friends, and you have to wait 15 minutes just to get a drink is fun? I really don't understand. Maybe I would have if I was wasted. Actually, I still think I would have thought it sucks. And pretty much every single girl in there was dressed skanky and looked so fake. I just felt like I didn't belong. Not that they are better than me or I am better than them, just that I am different than all of them. Alright, enough with the ranting. I still had a fun night, I just don't have a desire to go back to a place like that anytime soon.

Saturday I went to a wedding of a family friend in Orrville, OH. It was my dad's friend's daughter who is my age. When we were younger our families always got together but I hadn't seen her for seven or eight years. The reception was really nice with a delicious served dinner. It was nice to see everyone again. The bride's older sister (who graduated from Bluffton five years ago) pointed out that if it weren't for my dad keeping in touch with his college friends, I wouldn't have been at the wedding. (we were discussing the difficulties of keeping track of everyone after you graduate). I am glad we have started these blogs to keep in touch and I hope it contiunes so I can be at all your children's weddings some day!

So it was probably a good thing Abby's party didn't happen on Sunday. I started feeling sick on Friday (sore throat, bad cold, etc). On Sunday I was feeling a little better so I went mini-golfing and to a dollar movie with Adam in the afternoon. Later that evening the inside of my hands started itching like crazy and my face felt funny. So I look in the mirror and my upper lip, chin, and actual lips are swollen! I looked so weird (kind of like in the movie Hitch, but not that bad). And then I noticed bumps all over my body. I have no idea what caused it, but I broke out in hives. I'm not sure if this was related to my cold or not. I have only had hives one other time in my life (in fifth grade, and the nurse said they were the worst she had every seen). Luckily, these were not that bad. After drinking lots of Benadryl and taking a couple oatmeal baths, I was able to sleep well and when I woke up they were gone. Amazing. But I still did not feel my best today.

And to the final part of my entry. I got a call from Chad (VanBuskirk) this morning. He was in Columbus dropping a friend off at the airport. So he stopped by for a random visit. We were going to get something to eat, but due to my sickness I didn't have much of an appetite. So we just hung out for a little bit. I was pretty drugged up on cold and allergy medicine when he stopped by, so I don't think I was the best hostess. Oh well, I hope he forgives me. I had to work 6-10:45 tonight, which was about all I could handle. I am now going to get some rest so I will be all better for my visit to Laura's tomorrow!