We were in sunny/warm San Diego on our honeymoon. We would walk to the ocean, with flip-flips and shorts... ahh it was divine!
This year? We are in Iowa, with the wind chill tonight expected to be 20 below. We are trudging through what's left of the 18 inches of snow that fell over Christmas, still trying to see around corners piled high while we drive, and today? More snow. Four-six inches. Winds up to 40 mph.
Anyway, I haven't posted for a while! Thought I'd update a little bit. Hmm it was November when I posted last. Well, since then...
-I have wrapped up my first travel season. Overall it went well, it was definitely a first season, but I learned from everything and am glad to be back in the office for a while. I'll probably start traveling again in late February (weather permitting) and will make another trip out to the Pacific NW in March.
-Ross has started student teaching at Rock Valley HS. He is enjoying it I think, but today was his 3rd day and they had early dismissal because of the weather. I am excited to see him grow through this experience, and learn tons about teaching. He is in charge of one piece for their concert in February, and he will conduct that piece at the concert.
-We surprised my mom and drove out to Washington for thanksgiving, along with Michelle and Josh, a family friend of ours who also surprised his family. My dad knew the whole time so that he could coordinate everything on that end, and it worked out so well! That was really a fun trip.
-We stayed here for Christmas this year, and celebrated with the De Wit's, which also was fun. We stayed at Larry & Ellen's house for a few days due to the weather (that 18 inches I mentioned...), so we were sure to bring our Wii along, which kept us all entertained, along with movies, board games, and TV specials. Oh and food and snacks. Lots of food and snacks :)
-Ross and I took it easy over break, but wrapped up with a trip up to Minneapolis to celebrate our first anniversary. It was a lot of fun, we went to a Minnesota Wild game, saw a movie and played mini-golf at Mall of America, ate at Bubba Gump Shrimp and Texas Roadhouse among other restaurants, and went to a dinner theater showing of Oklahoma, which was my favorite part. Ross had the idea of the dinner theater and he was right on... it was really a lot of fun. We really enjoyed getting out of this area and exploring the city together :) We are suckers for getaways to the city!
-We became youth group leaders in an effort to become more involved at Bridge of Hope. We have been going there every Sunday for the past 4 months or so, and it fits us well I think. We love the kids at youth group, and it has been fun to get to know them.
-We got cable. I am addicted to HGTV, we love FoodNetwork. Anyone seen the show "The Worst Cooks in America"? It's great. Watch it.
-The Avalon has started to get old. Like probably 80 in human years. We had a few times where it wouldn't start, but we got 'er running! It has close to 202,000 miles on it. We cross railroad tracks to get to our house, and I'm not sure how many times over the railroad tracks it has left in it! Ross and I switched cars for the semester since he now has further to drive, so I get the beater car for a while. At least I live on the same street as one of my coworkers! We are hoping to get an SUV once Ross gets a job. Oh and a puppy... hopefully our landlord doesn't mind!
-I started to pay off my student loans. It sucks. The end.
We did also get to see some really good friends over break. We love having people over. But give us advance warning so we can clean, because our house is never clean. It's pretty much always messy :)
Overall I am enjoying my job, hating the snow, missing my friends, missing my family, proud of Ross, and hoping he'll find a job soon after grad. We have so much to be thankful for!
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
halloween and jips
here i am again - it looks like i CAN do this! :) This is extremely lame, but I think my facebook status is keeping me accountable to keep this updated, haha.
I am in Pella tonight, I'm pretty sure Orange City stole their idea for how to make a fake Dutch town, haha. Three more sleeps until I'm home. I enjoy meeting with students, I really do - but I have a husband and a cozy home waiting for me (not to mention a pile of office work) and I am antsy :)
I'm pretty sure that Halloween this year was the absolute lamest halloween i have ever experienced!! We had NO trick or treaters! I turned the front porch light on, made a little sign telling the kiddos to knock loud because our doorbell is broken, and was all ready for the kids to swing by. Our bowl only had like 3 or 4 pieces of candy gone by the end of the night - just because Ross and I got hungry!! haha so lame. But Ross and I played Tiger Woods on the Wii like all night so that was still fun :) I sort of dominate golf video games, but for some reason I just can't do it in real life - I just don't have the muscle!
I got these 100 calorie packs of chips ahoy and sun chips from the hotel I'm at because I'm a priority club member (because I'm here all the flipping time! haha) and I decided 100 calorie packs are the biggest jip ever. Of COURSE they are 100 calories!! They are like, communion wafers with little painted chocolate dots and TIIIINY sun chips!! like the little ones you get in "munchies"!!! haha. and that is my revelation of the day. Don't spend money on 100 calorie snack packs. Spend your money on the real thing. Life is too short!!
While I'm talking about jips, time to tell my story from the airport in Seattle flying back to Sioux Falls about a week and a half ago: If you have been to the Sioux Falls airport, you know they are pretty laid back with stuff. Well, my bags were: 2 checked bags, my laptop bag, a big purse/bag thing, and a short skinny bag with my display for college fairs. The lady at the check-in desk let me carry on the display for free as a 3rd carry-on, and was really nice about it. Seattle was an entirely different story:
The guy basically said "well we should make YOU pay for the mistake that Sioux Falls made" - in such a matter-of-fact way. He said it's "not my problem" and that I need to fork over $150 to pay for a third carry on - literally a 2' by 4" bag that hides behind all of the other carry-ons in the storage bins. I was close to tears - I had difficulty finding where to return my car because it was off the airport site, so I was stressed and just wanted to be home. I hate flying to top all of it off! So I put my credit card up on the counter to pay the stinkin fee, and then he goes, "well I mean you could probably figure something out with those 3." I was thinking okay - that's awesome but is the jerky attitude really necessary then?? That was not fun. Next time I am definitely going to keep my carry-ons to 2 bags.
So that's my story, but here is why flying is a jip: You pay like $20 a day to park your car at the airport. At least, that is at MSP and SEA. Or, you could frantically find a cheaper parking lot to charge $10 a day - so right there you're looking at at LEAST $30-$50 for parking, if you find a great deal. Then, you pay at LEAST $25 for a checked bag, depending on the airline. I want to stay loyal to Delta because I have their credit card and I have a lot of miles built up with them. Plus they fly into Sioux Falls. I usually check 2, so that is $40. Then, you have to be there early and you can't bring food or drink through the security checkpoint - oh, not to mention that you can't bring your regular size shampoo or anything so you have to buy the smaller sizes, just to make it through security. So, you buy lunch or if you're like me, a coffee and a muffin for breakfast = $5-$8. Then, you land and have to pay for a rental car - $200/week plus $25/day because I'm only 22. Apparantly being 22 means they can't really trust me with a rental car and paying them $25 a day will prove to them that I am.
But what if you didn't park at the airport and you need someone to pick you up? They just have to pay $4 an hour because they'd rather give you a hug the minute they see you and help you with your bags than swing through a drive-thru to pick you up so that the people behind you can move on with their lives.
But - flying is so much faster! I vote that we invent a car that goes 500 mph and a special road for it to go on - like one big bridge. That would just solve everything wouldn't it :)
Well, enough ranting. I have supper tonight with a couple of homeschool families which I hope goes well. I'm always kinda nervous for those kinds of things, but I think it will be good.
Tomorrow night I will be in Coralville, and Ross has informed me that there is a nice mall there - so posting tomorrow may become optional ;)
I am in Pella tonight, I'm pretty sure Orange City stole their idea for how to make a fake Dutch town, haha. Three more sleeps until I'm home. I enjoy meeting with students, I really do - but I have a husband and a cozy home waiting for me (not to mention a pile of office work) and I am antsy :)
I'm pretty sure that Halloween this year was the absolute lamest halloween i have ever experienced!! We had NO trick or treaters! I turned the front porch light on, made a little sign telling the kiddos to knock loud because our doorbell is broken, and was all ready for the kids to swing by. Our bowl only had like 3 or 4 pieces of candy gone by the end of the night - just because Ross and I got hungry!! haha so lame. But Ross and I played Tiger Woods on the Wii like all night so that was still fun :) I sort of dominate golf video games, but for some reason I just can't do it in real life - I just don't have the muscle!
I got these 100 calorie packs of chips ahoy and sun chips from the hotel I'm at because I'm a priority club member (because I'm here all the flipping time! haha) and I decided 100 calorie packs are the biggest jip ever. Of COURSE they are 100 calories!! They are like, communion wafers with little painted chocolate dots and TIIIINY sun chips!! like the little ones you get in "munchies"!!! haha. and that is my revelation of the day. Don't spend money on 100 calorie snack packs. Spend your money on the real thing. Life is too short!!
While I'm talking about jips, time to tell my story from the airport in Seattle flying back to Sioux Falls about a week and a half ago: If you have been to the Sioux Falls airport, you know they are pretty laid back with stuff. Well, my bags were: 2 checked bags, my laptop bag, a big purse/bag thing, and a short skinny bag with my display for college fairs. The lady at the check-in desk let me carry on the display for free as a 3rd carry-on, and was really nice about it. Seattle was an entirely different story:
The guy basically said "well we should make YOU pay for the mistake that Sioux Falls made" - in such a matter-of-fact way. He said it's "not my problem" and that I need to fork over $150 to pay for a third carry on - literally a 2' by 4" bag that hides behind all of the other carry-ons in the storage bins. I was close to tears - I had difficulty finding where to return my car because it was off the airport site, so I was stressed and just wanted to be home. I hate flying to top all of it off! So I put my credit card up on the counter to pay the stinkin fee, and then he goes, "well I mean you could probably figure something out with those 3." I was thinking okay - that's awesome but is the jerky attitude really necessary then?? That was not fun. Next time I am definitely going to keep my carry-ons to 2 bags.
So that's my story, but here is why flying is a jip: You pay like $20 a day to park your car at the airport. At least, that is at MSP and SEA. Or, you could frantically find a cheaper parking lot to charge $10 a day - so right there you're looking at at LEAST $30-$50 for parking, if you find a great deal. Then, you pay at LEAST $25 for a checked bag, depending on the airline. I want to stay loyal to Delta because I have their credit card and I have a lot of miles built up with them. Plus they fly into Sioux Falls. I usually check 2, so that is $40. Then, you have to be there early and you can't bring food or drink through the security checkpoint - oh, not to mention that you can't bring your regular size shampoo or anything so you have to buy the smaller sizes, just to make it through security. So, you buy lunch or if you're like me, a coffee and a muffin for breakfast = $5-$8. Then, you land and have to pay for a rental car - $200/week plus $25/day because I'm only 22. Apparantly being 22 means they can't really trust me with a rental car and paying them $25 a day will prove to them that I am.
But what if you didn't park at the airport and you need someone to pick you up? They just have to pay $4 an hour because they'd rather give you a hug the minute they see you and help you with your bags than swing through a drive-thru to pick you up so that the people behind you can move on with their lives.
But - flying is so much faster! I vote that we invent a car that goes 500 mph and a special road for it to go on - like one big bridge. That would just solve everything wouldn't it :)
Well, enough ranting. I have supper tonight with a couple of homeschool families which I hope goes well. I'm always kinda nervous for those kinds of things, but I think it will be good.
Tomorrow night I will be in Coralville, and Ross has informed me that there is a nice mall there - so posting tomorrow may become optional ;)
Monday, November 2, 2009
who knows?
The De Wit household is quite busy this time of year! I have been traveling about every other week, Ross has been busy with schoolwork and his workstudy job as a sound tech at Dordt, not to mention his involvement with music and his education classes.
We moved to Sioux Center about 2 months ago, and we love being in town. The four minute commute is wonderful. Our gas bill is low, but I guess we make up for that in rent :S but it is so worth it! Our apartment in Orange City was honestly putting a huge damper on our mood, at least I know I was just not happy there. Sioux Center is better, and we are able to hang out with our friends who still go to Dordt, which is nice.
I am done with traveling after this week, and we are really happy about that. At first it wasn't so bad, but after a while, we just want to be home with each other. I miss being able to be home with Ross in the evenings after work, so thankfully I'll be home for a few months straight after this week. It's hard, but it's just a part of my job that we have had to adjust to - not get used to, because we aren't :)
Well, I am pretty tired, and need to make a few phonecalls so I will cut it off here - who knows if i'll post again ;)
We moved to Sioux Center about 2 months ago, and we love being in town. The four minute commute is wonderful. Our gas bill is low, but I guess we make up for that in rent :S but it is so worth it! Our apartment in Orange City was honestly putting a huge damper on our mood, at least I know I was just not happy there. Sioux Center is better, and we are able to hang out with our friends who still go to Dordt, which is nice.
I am done with traveling after this week, and we are really happy about that. At first it wasn't so bad, but after a while, we just want to be home with each other. I miss being able to be home with Ross in the evenings after work, so thankfully I'll be home for a few months straight after this week. It's hard, but it's just a part of my job that we have had to adjust to - not get used to, because we aren't :)
Well, I am pretty tired, and need to make a few phonecalls so I will cut it off here - who knows if i'll post again ;)
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