Cleats and Clover

With all the soccer (playing and refereeing) I've been involved with this Spring, I've been able to brush-up on one of my other hobbies as well...4-leaf clover hunting. Both my grandmother and I have a particular knack for finding these. The other day, while I was lacing up my cleats before a game, I found about 10 of them...all within a 2 yard radius!!!! The clover pictured below was from a field in Richmond, VA. It's kinda hard to tell, but there are 6 leaves on it--no joking!

Clip, clip...chop, chop!!!

My friend, Jennifer, and I decided to get hair cuts together this week.

The BEFORE:


The DURING:


The AFTER:


Because we each cut off 8-12 inches of hair, were planning to donate it. Locks of Love requires donations be over 10 inches long, where as Pantene allows for shorter lengths (still must be over 8 inches). Both of these organizations will then make wigs for women or children with cancer. This was actually be my fourth hair donation...in another 2-3 years I'll get to make my fifth.

Sweet Home Minnesota

I made my annual pilgrimage to Minnesota at the end of April. This year I decided to fly in on Wednesday evening and return on Monday morning, giving me four full days to visit friends. Tessa and Mo again let me crash at their place (in the room I used for the five, or so, months I lived with them back in 2006). Mo was also kind enough to let me borrow his new car (a sunburst orange pearl caliber) for much of the time I was there...

On Thursday morning, Mo and I took the kids into school, where I was introduced by Graeson to one of his teachers as "my Jenn." After that I dropped Mo off at IBM and headed over the Christina's house. She, her two boys, and I then drove over to Whitewater State Park. Somehow in the 6+ years of living in Rochester, I never made it out there. Unfortunately, the flooding of last summer had really done a number on much of the park (or so I'm told), so many of the roadways were still washed out. Despite the rainy weather, we still enjoyed walking around outside for a while and then retreated to the visitor center to check out the stuffed cougar, etc., and have a light snack.

After lunch (a very yummy egg bake), I went to visit the lab on Gugg. 13, while it's still there. I had a great visit with many members of the Ames lab, including lengthly conversations with Mary and Judy. In many ways, it really felt like old-times. That evening I attended Beyond Eden (the Christian Medical and Dental Society's weekly Bible study). As a mostly student population, I ran into a few of the people that I used to know there, but many were new to me. I was especially glad to see Setty and Barbara there and have a little time to talk to them. Yvette came by after the meeting at took me to Perkins, where we met up with Susan and had a little dessert (or salad). This was a great time catch up on each others' lives and talk about our future plans! An added bonus was the fact that our waitress was the mother/mother-in-law of some friends of ours that no longer live in Rochester either.

When I returned home last that night, I realized that Tessa was already asleep and I still hadn't "seen" her. Mo had picked me up from the airport the night before and she had left for work before I got up that morning. I wrote her a quick note and promised to see her in the late morning.

Friday morning began with a filling breakfast at Pannekoeken with Becca and her boyfriend--couldn't have asked for better conversation or food! Afterwards, I finally made it over to Tessa's lab, from were we walked over to the new and improved Dan Abraham Healthy Living Center. This is quite the facility!!! I was only there for about and hour and was limited to just using a treadmill due to time constraints and lunch plans, but was impressed with all of the new options: lap pool, hot tubs, water massages, etc. While we were there, we also visited the newly-opened credit union branch and received free pedometers. I also signed up for the raffle, from which I later learned that I won a folding chair. Following our workout, I was finally willing to eat again, so we headed over to one of my favorite pizza placed in the world--Nick and Willy's. While we awaited our personal pizzas, we entertained ourselves with Trivial Pursuit questions. After lunch, I dropped Tessa back off at work and did a little shopping at this great consignment store downtown, Refashion. I ended up spending a significant amount of money here, but got so many "new" clothes!!!

That evening I visited with one of my old labmates who I had missed on Thursday due to maternity leave, or something. I drove over to Sarah and Ben's new house and got to visit with then and the TWO kids for a while. Little Gabi kept offering "Charissa" (i.e. me) ice cream cones from her play kitchen. I was happy to get to take Sarah out of the house for dinner at Famous Dave's :

We were so engrossed in conversation that I think that our waiter came over at least three times to take our order before we were ready:)

That night I got home relatively early and got to see the kids before they went to bed--they were very eager to finally show me their Lego Star Wars game on the Wii! Mo and I watched the most recent episode of "Lost" that night and had a little discussion on the plot of the show before I fell asleep.

On Saturday morning, Tessa and I took off early for Minneapolis to run in the Get-in-Gear 10K (the reason I choose late April for my visits). This was actually my ninth consecutive running; I'm hoping to make it an even ten next year. We were greeted this morning with a little surprise:


That's right, snow in late April, gotta love Minnesota!!! In addition to the dusting on the ground, we were pelted with more of the white stuff during the race. Between this and Tessa's drive, I finished with my best time in four years, just over an hour:) I had hoped that some friends from college were also going to be at the race. Unfortunately, the weather kept Liza at home (she didn't want to drag her kids out in the cold). Matt and Kelly also decided against running this year, but since they live so close to the park, we were able to drop in on them for a short visit (and a change into warm clothes):

BTW, their red arm chair (barely visible on the right side of the picture above) is SOOOO VERRRRY comfortable. Kelly and Tessa spent quite a bit of time looking for it on the internet in case we needed to find one for ourselves. Also, Kelly was so proud of the flowers her (high school) students got for her. Teachers at that level are really under-appreciated.

While in the Cities, we made three more stops. First, food:


Followed by a little aperitif:


Second, IKEA. Tessa bought some storage units and a see-saw for the boys!

Third, Walgreens!!! We got lucky and got to do rebates for the months of April and May:)

Back in Rochester, I called around to some of the soccer gang to make plans for dinner. I then had a shower and played a little Legos with Parker and Graeson.

We ended up with four for dinner at this new tapas bar called Sontes, three more joined us for drinks later. The food was excellent and exotic! Here's an example of what you might order:


We ordered about eight different dishes to share for the meal and had dessert, too. A bit pricey, but not too bad, and I know that I was satisfied with everything, including the service.

On Sunday morning I decided to visit another friend before church. I drove out to Byron to see Steph and Chad and their two boys. It was a nice relaxing time to catch up and just chat about life. However, when I got to church that morning I realized that I had remembered the wrong service time (11:15 vs the now 10:30), oops! I missed all of the worship time and came in halfway through the sermon...very sad:( I did run into a few people from my old Sunday school class and got to say hi. Afterwards, Rachel and new hubby (and PSU-grad), Bill, invited me and Yvette over for pizza (Nick and Willy's--YEA!!!) at their new house.


We got to see all the renovations that have been going on and had such great conversation that time really got away from us. After a couple of quick shopping stops (Cost Plus--for German chocolate and British digestives, Barnes & Noble's--for a gift certificate for hot cocoa for Tessa's B-day, and HyVee--for MN wild rice), I finally got back in time to take the family out to dinner to celebrate the April birthdays of Tessa and Mo. We went to another new place for me, The Green Mill. I had a light salad (too much socializing around food these past few days), while Tessa ordered this AMAZING garlic cheese bread for an appetizer. Back at home the boys finally cornered me into playing the Wii with them for a few minutes--I got to be Lego Queen Amadala:)

While Mo was putting the boys in bed, Tessa had me go through a pile of clothes she was going to donate to the Good-will to see if I could use anything. Taking a pile downstairs with me, I began the daunting task of fitting all of my new acquisitions into my suitcases. Once most everything was packed, Mo and I watched "Juno" and then I tried to get a little sleep before the super-early (5:30am) trip to the airport with Tessa.

Although, I had figured my trip was pretty much done, I had a unexpected visit with another soccer/running buddy, Maile, who was on the same connection to Minneapolis. Between waiting to board and the 30min puddle-jump flight, we had a good chance to chat. Once at MSP, we parted ways, and I found a new "friend" to keep me company...


Yummy mocha from Caribou!

I would be remiss if I failed to thank Shauna (and little Leah) for the rides to and from the airport and for taking care of the kitties while I was gone:)

Busy Day

Today was Earth Day...I've been enjoying the free bus service provided this week to the university faculty and staff.

It was also the PA Primary...I voted for this guy:


Then the circus came to town...I waited for over an hour to see this:


On the way home, I hit a major milestone...100K on the Civic!!!


Busy day, I'm tired, need to sleep:)

Winter Wrap-Up, Part III: Unsung Heros Tour

A few people from the Christian Grad Chapter here at Penn State decided to take a Spring break vacation together. They dubbed the road trip "The Unsung Heros Tour," with the general premise being to visit off-the-beaten-path touristy sites. We even signed a Manifesto stating as such. The plan was to head east towards Philly and then south to North Carolina. As I am no longer a student and don't get off for spring break, I was only able to join them for the first weekend (i.e. the trek to Philly). Another student (Daniel) also opted for the weekend-only version, giving me someone to drive back with on Sunday.

Our first stop on The Tour was the Crayola Factory Museum in Easton, PA. This is a perfect place for kids of any age...with lots of stations for coloring with markers, crayons, chalk, etc. We even got to put labels on our own red crayons. Tracy wanted to take home this blue one:



Just upstairs from the Crayola Museum was a Canal Museum, complete with an interactive locks and dams system. Still embracing our childish sides, we enjoyed playing in the water for a while:)


After lunch in a nice little sandwich shop and a stop for candy/carmelcorn, we continued east.


En route to our next destination, I made the group stop in a Walgreens for a little rebating.


In Allentown, PA, we enjoyed the opportunity to ring a replicate of the Liberty Bell at the Shrine. Apparently, 13 bells (including the one that would later be known as the Liberty Bell) were hidden in this church during the Revolutionary War to keep them from being stolen by the British.

Ashley's parents (who live just outside Philly) were kind enough to put us up for the night on Saturday. After dropping off our bags there we headed out for dinner. The wait at Bahama Breeze was over an hour, so after putting our name in, we took a 45-minute tour of the King of Prussia Mall. While not as big as the Mega Mall (a.k.a. Mall of America) in Minneapolis--no indoor theme park either--there were plenty of stores to keep us occupied for the required time. Dinner was amazingly good and filling. This was important for the drive home, as a torrential downpour had closed a couple of streets we had driven just a couple of hours earlier, which resulted in a MAJOR detour. Despite having two different sat-nav/GPS systems (i.e. Heidi and Angus) with us for the trip, neither made it in the car that night...DOH! Ashley stayed remarkably calm throughout the ordeal and eventually got us back to her parents' place--way to go!


On Sunday we visited a local "mega church"...Calvary Church in Souderton, PA. The service reminded me a lot of my church back in Rochester and made me really miss Autumn Ridge and all the great people there. On the way back from church, Heidi directed us to Ringing Rocks State Park. Armed with a hammer, Daniel really made these rocks sing...

For lunch we were denied sushi (they didn't open until 4pm) and found a little diner that had just opened a few weeks before--nothing spectacular, but nice and quaint. At this point we were finally on our way to the City of Brotherly Love. With the late start and a little traffic delay, we didn't end up getting downtown until 4:30pm. Unfortunately, entrance into Independence Hall was no longer an option, but we did get to see the real Liberty Bell...they didn't let us ring it though, much to Kerrie's disappointment :)


While in Philly were also able to walk through the Reading Terminal Market (which was only open late because of the Flower Show) and enjoy some cheese steaks. We opted for Geno's (probably lured by the lights), but were told by our local expert that she preferred Pat's. Of course, I only tried a bite of the sandwich and enjoyed my "Freedom Fries" with cheeze-wiz!

At this point Daniel and I said our goodbyes to the girls and we headed our separate ways...

Note: To best document this trip photographically, I have used pictures taken by myself, Tracy, Ashley, and Kerrie (and a waitress at Bahama Breeze)!

Winter Wrap-Up, Part II: California Girls

This winter I was able to go on two mini-vacations: one to visit my friend, Janet, in Northern California; the other headed East to Philly with a group of grad students at the beginning of their spring break.

The following describes the highlights from my trip to the West coast:

Janet had been living in California (taking a break from Indiana) for about seven months before I had a chance to fly out for a visit. I decided to take a couple of days off work to have a 4-day weekend. Unfortunately, flying across the country ate up almost two days and my visit ended up being much shorter than I had thought. It was almost A LOT shorter, as I nearly missed my connecting flight in Minneapolis. This had nothing to do with the airline, but rather my loss of time as I was talking on the phone to Tessa down in Rochester! I glanced at my watch to realize that the flight was scheduled to take off in 5 MINUTES!!! Running to the gate, I was greeted by name and ushered onto the plane. "I don't think they've closed the hatch yet." That was close!!!

Once in San Jose, Janet met me at the airport and then we headed out for dinner--yummy hot wings. This was only the beginning of my gastronomical tour of the area. The rest of the evening was pretty low-key. I was pretty tired after all the traveling, etc., but that didn't keep us from lying awake in the the dark and talking for over an hour before falling asleep.

After church on Sunday we enjoyed a nice Ethiopian meal and a relaxing walk around the neighborhood. We picked up some movies at Blockbuster and visited a great used book store.

(Note: All pictures from this trip are courtesy of Janet, as I hadn't gotten back into the picture taking spirit yet.)


For dinner that night Janet and I were joined by two of her housemates, Rob and Robin, for gyros...it was so nice to have such variety of food available and great people to share it with. Afterwards we went back to the house and watched the movie, "Once," with Rob. As Janet was making the popcorn, I played with the refrigerator magnates.

If you haven't seen (or even heard about) "Once," it's an independent movie about these two musicians in Dublin...a pianist and a guitarist. A good movie and an even better soundtrack! After the movie, Rob pulled out his guitar and we all got to sing along to some songs, including a valiant attempt at "Balasiri Bye Bye."


On Monday, we had a great breakfast at this coffee shop down the street. Have you ever tried figs, honey, and goat cheese on French bread? It's SO GOOD!!! We then decided to drive to Santa Clara to hang out on the beach and have a retreat of silence, something I really needed. Despite being a beach in California, it was cool/cold and not exactly what we were hoping for. It was still a nice time to reflect on God and admire His creation.


We also enjoyed the drive there and back again in...the BENZ!!! (The manager gave us a great deal: for an extra $15 I was able to upgrade from the Taurus. Who among you wouldn't have done the same???)


As of Monday night I still had one more culinary request to fulfill...dim sum. Although, as I learned on this trip, it is traditionally an early meal (like breakfast or lunch) we found a place that would still serve it at night, except that we had to order everything from the kitchen (i.e. no carts on the floor). This only became a problem when all the food was served and we realized that we had ordered WAY TOO MUCH for just the two of us. Everything tasted great, so I'm sure Janet enjoyed the leftovers. Returning to the house, we watched another movie with Rob. This time it was his choice--"Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels."

My flight back on Tuesday was scheduled for noon, so Janet and I visited one of her favorite haunts for coffee and pastries before I had to head out. I loved the last picture she took of my visit...I'll miss you, too, Janet!

Happy Spring/Sweater Day

So we're already 12 hours into Spring and I haven't finished up my "Winter Wrap-up"...oh well.

I thought that I should at least take some time today to make everyone aware of "Won't you wear a sweater?" day, which celebrates what would have been Mr. Roger's 80th birthday. I wore one of my favorite zip-up sweaters today...won't you???