Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Hace mucho calor

Once again, I haven't blogged in awhile, but come on..it's summer!  I don't want to be cooped up inside writing a blog.  I want to be cooped up inside watching television shows like the Bachelorette, So You Think You Can Dance, and a new ABC family series called Bunheads.  Okay, so that's only half true.  I obviously do want to watch all of those shows, but I get time outside, too!!  I've been biking a little bit lately and I found a really cool bike path that leads to Racine and then around Racine.  I haven't been able to explore the paths in Racine, but I have ridden to Racine and back which is about 12 miles!!  That path is quickly becoming my favorite one to ride, even though it's not the one on the lake.  I'm really excited to keep exploring all of the bike paths around because there are sooo many!  Also, my dad provided me with a very subtly vibrant large orange vest that I've been wearing around on my bike so that cars see me....not really!!  I feel like if I wore it, cars would DEFINITELY see me and they would be so attracted to the orangeness of the vest that they would swerve into me and hit me!
You get the point, right?...
Other than biking and watching T.V. shows, I have also been working, obviously-that's the whole reason that I stayed in Kenosha for the summer.  It's still going great, I love all the people I'm working with and the days go by pretty fast!  The only semi-negative thing is that I get very cold in the office, but that's okay by me because it's SOOOO hot everywhere else, which brings me to the title of this post - Hace mucho calor meaning It's very hot!  It's summer!  Of course it's hot and humid and muggy and sunny and hot!  And the dorm rooms..with no air conditioning...are hot!!  However, while every other person on this campus is non-stop complaining about the heat of the rooms, I'm taking the positivity route and saying "It's not as hot as the Amazon!"  Haha, which is sooo true!  I guess it's true that miserable things can make you appreciate the things you have!  It was unbearably hot in the Amazon, but I'm so thankful for the lake breeze and my two fans that I have now! :)  Anyway, moving back to the subject of work...I've been hanging out with my coworkers a lot so far this summer outside of work.  Last night, I went to a bonfire with them, I've been out to dinner with them, and to the beach!  It's really great!  We also have a summer checklist of things to do.  For example, "Go to Scoops" (supposedly the best ice cream place in Kenosha), which we will check off our list after tomorrow! :)

Also, I've got to see my family a couple of times.  I was grateful to have my sister take me to the ILS closing ceremony this year and shopping.  As a reminder to those of you who have been reading my blog since the beginning, you know that the title of this blog came from a speaker at ILS (Illinois Leadership Seminar), which I attended as a sophomore in high school and returned two years after to be on the staff.  You also should know, after I begged you countless times to vote for ILS in this years Pepsi Refresh Challenge that ILS (and the people involved) is something that I hold close to my heart!  So when the opportunity arose for me to go to this year's seminar closing ceremony (and to see my sister), I took it!!  I was so glad I did, too, because it reminded me of all of the great times I always had with my ILS family!  I was soo happy also to see that many of the people from my original group back in 2007 are still involved with ILS today!  It's such a great non-profit organization and if you want to learn more about it go to their website:   http://www.illinoisleadershipseminar.org/ 
Me with my senior coach and 4 other leaders from my 2007 ILS group
Anyway, I was also able to see my family on Father's Day weekend.  We had a big family reunion and, to be honest, I didn't know a lot of the people because a lot of them were cousins, aunts, and uncles of my dad, but I was able to meet some of them and I did get to see my family that I'm closer to.  It was great, however, a storm did roll in pretty quickly, but it was SO cool to watch it.  As we quickly took a picture outside right before it came, the storm passed over us and then started to rain.  It was the coolest thing I had ever seen.  It was raining about 10 feet from us, but then in the other direction (where the storm was still coming from) there was no rain.  And then it started to pour!  So, we finished the reunion out inside, but that's okay because we got to watch a cool video of old pictures that my uncle put together and I was able to look at the family tree (also from my uncle).  Overall, it was a great weekend, I got to see my family, go to my church, and I also got the chance to see my boyfriend's family. :)

Although it's been an awesome summer, unfortunately, I haven't done anything yet that I planned to do this summer: choreograph, work on my education portfolio, and apply for the Fulbright scholarship.  Summer is going by fast, it's already been a month since graduation, so I need to start working on all of these things soon!  So wish me luck!  Thanks again for sticking with this blog and I hope you have a wonderful week!!!



Sunday, June 3, 2012

Trabajo

Okay, so it's been a little over two weeks since classes have finished and so far I'm having a great/busy summer!

Workwise, I have been working full-time in the Alumni Office on campus.  I've had this job since freshman year, but this is my first summer staying here.  It has been great so far and I'm excited to be here in the summer.  Kenosha is already turning into a great summer city! :)  The big events that we have had so far are commencement weekend and a reunion called the Illinois campus reunion.  Commencement weekend was great as always and it was extra special because Carthage's president and his wife "graduated" this year as well.  After 25 years President Campbell is retiring.  He's been a great president to the college and has improve the college immensely throughout the past 25 years.  Speaking of President Campbell and his wife, Barbara...my boyfriend Tim and I got a picture with them at the annual alumni convocation and senior dinner. :)
Unfortunately, it's not actually them, it's a cardboard cut-out and the picture quality is bad because it's a picture of a picture.  Although we didn't get a picture with the real life Campbell's, we still had a great night at the dinner!  It was a blast and I probably ate more food than I should have.  This past weekend, my office hosted the Illinois campus reunion meaning that we had alumni on campus that attend Carthage when it was still in Carthage, Illinois.  Carthage College moved to Kenosha in 1964, so let's just say that there were many elderly people on campus this weekend that shared fabulous stories!!  I got to hear many stories about Carthage.  For example, the girls had "late minutes" when they returned after curfew to their dorms.  The boys had a contest to see who could drive the fastest to Macomb and back for pizza so that it would still be warm.  And I got to hear many "I met my spouse at Carthage and we kissed at the kissing rock" stories. :)  Not only were the stories and people wonderful, but I also made an amazing connection!  I was almost always asked, "What are you studying?" and when I answered Spanish education I usually got a "That's nice."  However, I said this to one man and he immediately started talking to me in Spanish.  Come to find out he lived in Peru for two years while he was in the Peace Corps and he is now a professor at a college.  He sends students to South America all the time to study and to teach English, so I was VERY excited to make that connection!!!

Milwaukee boat cruise
Other great things that I have done this summer so far have been visiting home for Memorial Day, watching the show So You Think You Can Dance (my favorite!), watching the movie Fracture which is a really GOOD movie!  In Kenosha, so far I have gone on a few bike rides (it will soon be many bike rides), had a picnic on the beach, hung out on the beach, gone to Big Star (a drive-in food place), and witnessed a kite festival in downtown Kenosha! :)  I also got to go on a boat cruise for work in Milwaukee. :)  I'm loving the weather and the summer-y atmosphere of Kenosha!  I hope you are enjoying your summer so far too!
Lake Michigan :)
Kenosha's Kite Festival