Better Late than Never?

I know, its been nearly 2 months since I wrote a blog. It's terrible, but to be fair, I've been super busy living - which means I have a TON of stuff that I want to write about and just haven't had the time or desire to write it all done.
So what all have I been doing since graduation in May? Well, I had a week at home where I was unpacking and organizing all my stuff and packing to get ready for Chris and my road trip. Then Chris and I left for our road trip. We traveled from Batavia to South Dakota and hit up the badlands and Mt. Rushmore. Then we headed into Wyoming and stopped at Devils Tower and then headed into Yellowstone. We were in Yellowstone for 4 nights and 3 days before we drove south into Grand Teton National Park. We were there for 3 nights and about 4 days before we drove south to Denver and did a quick brewery tour (New Belgium, Left Hand, and Avery) and the next day drove back home. Great very long trip with lots of details to come.

We got home on Sunday at like 1am and my mother and I left for the Amazon on Tuesday morning. We were in Ecuador for 9 days and spent 4 days in the jungle - observing the amazing wildlife and learning about a lot of the issues that the native people are facing as they try to make a living without destroying the rainforest.

When we got back we took a short 2 day trip up to Michigan for my cousin's high school graduation open house and also got to see my grandfather who has been very weak for awhile. We saw him saturday evening and he could barely keep his eyes open, it was very sad. Sunday morning he was doing better and was able to have a conversation with us and even made a couple jokes.

After we got back, I headed down to Lexington to help Chris move into his condo and help him decorate it. It was a great trip and nice to explore Lexington a little more. It also meant I got to see dear little Daisy.
Came back from Lexington on July 2nd in time to hang out with our Australian friend, James, who has been traveling around the US for the last couple months. We had a lovely 4th (although it was a little tamer than the celebrations I have had the last few years).

Then, on July 5th, we learned that my grandfather passed away. It was of course sad, but I know that he was so unhappy in the nursing home, and it is nice to know that he is in a much happier place. We were able to rush and get everything together and were able to have the funeral this weekend, which allowed us to race back home Sunday evening so I could start my first day of orientation of the new job bright and early on Monday morning.

A little bit of a crazy month and half isn't it?

So here are the blogs that I want to write over the next few weeks - I'll link them here once I actually write them all down.

• Badlands and Mt. Rushmore
• Yellowstone
• Grand Tetons
• Ecuador 
• Starting the job

On to the next one

Returned from the last vacation tired and a little dirty, but with lots of wonderful photos like these ones

I'd share more about the trip but I've been busy unpacking and re-packing for the next trip to Ecuador and the Amazon. So updates will come a plenty when I return. Until then, hope everyone is enjoying their summers!

Graduation and post-grad vacation plans

Last weekend was graduation! It was a great time to spend with family, and I'm sooo happy to officially have both degrees now. YAY for no longer having to explain to people how I'm a graduate student, but don't technically have my bachelors degree yet!!

I posted photos of the day on facebook, but I had to include this one of me and Ms. Daisy, after all 90% of this blog is about her...

I'm now back home, and actually unpacked at home for the first time in years! (I haven't been at home for longer than a week or so in sooo long it is ridiculous)

But even though school is over and my apartment has been packed up, driven up to Batavia, and then unpacked here... I still am super busy because I'm busy planning this...

In case you can't tell, that is a 3000 mile roundtrip plan from Chicago to the Badlands to Mt. Rushmore to Yellowstone Natl Park to Grand Teton Natl Park to Denver back to Chicago. 

Chris and I leave on our roadtrip and camping extravaganza on Monday and I have discovered that trips taken without your parents require a lot of planning. I have also discovered that I really really like planning all these trips. Heck - I might even write a blog about all the planning - although I doubt I'll have time.

On a positive note, Daisy is staying at home with my and my parents and our elderdog, Sydney, until Chris and I get back from the trip and Chris takes Daisy home with him. Daisy and Sydney are doing great together! Daisy is actually showing submissive behavior towards Syd - something I didn't know if I would ever see. So proud of her. I know that all of this is confusing for her, but I know that my parents will take good care of her while we are gone. And I think she will love the backyard of Chris' new home. 

Paddle-boating in Forest Park

I'm quickly checking things off the St. Louis bucket list, but I keep forgetting to bring my camera to document these experiences. However, I did take photos of paddle-boating. I've wanted to do this for awhile, and it was a lot of fun, if only it wasn't so super hot the day we did it. It was probably at least 87 which, if you ask me, is waaaay too hot for the first weekend of May.

Going under these bridges provided a way too short break from the sun

But art hill, was as usual, beautiful.

And if you went close enough to the fountains you got a nice little misting - which was more pleasant if you didn't think about how nasty the water was

Then a little duck came and followed us for awhile. She was a pretty thing, but I think she was hoping we had some food to give her. Sorry to disappoint Ms. Ducky.

In other news, the boyfriend officially adopted Daisy. So they are both just thrilled about that. And it looks like Daisy will be getting a lovely home with a nice backyard for her in Lexington. I'll put up some photos of it, once all the details are set. I'll be sure to visit her there plenty. (Maybe, while I'm in Lexington I'll go visit the boy too, we'll see)

Graduation is on Thursday/Friday and then its a whirlwind of family and packing. I'm hoping to head out of STL (sad!) on Sunday and spend a week un-packing and re-packing for the road trip which I haven't been very busy planning. (My mother gave me a sickness- I plan with way too much detail...)

So excited for the road trip and then my trip to Ecuador! June will be very busy and I'll likely be very MIA from here. But - considering the number of views I got from the blog post about Thurtene was more than all the page views before combined.... I don't think there will be too many people broken-hearted about my blogging absence.

Kansas City! Home of BBQ and Boulevard

So awhile ago I was thinking that I would love to go do a Boulevard Brewery tour in Kansas City. Kansas City is an easy drive away from St. Louis and I've never been, but at the same time it's not like KC has enough to offer that it would be worth taking a trip there from farther away. So KC and especially the Boulevard Brewery tour came a priority. This was way back in January
I figured it shouldn't be too hard, we could go any friday/weekend of pretty much the entire semester. Then I went to Boulevard's website. Did you know it is nearly impossible to book a tour with them? There wasn't a single tour slot that had space for 2 people for the next 3 months. And they only allow you to book a tour three months in advance. So we quickly figured that if we wait for them to post tour slots for the very last weekend in April and by checking on a daily basis were able to book a tour slot for April 28th way back at the end of January.

We decided to just do a quick 30 some hours in KC because we didn't want to pay for two nights of hotel and I had to get home to write a paper (woot!)

Friday night we went to get barbecue at Jack Stack which  is a nice sit down bbq restaurant. It seemed weird to me, BBQ shouldn't be served in a dimly light restaurant. After that we hung out at the hotel for awhile until it was late enough and then went down to the power & light district. This was kind of weird too, it was like a giant outdoor dance party surrounded by different bars. The bar we went to was called flying saucers (apparently it's a chain) and they had a ton of different beers on tap. It was a cool place.

Saturday we first went to KC city market. Its a lot like the Soulard Farmer's Market in STL, but less crowded and claustrophobic. It was cool. They were selling a lot of plants and it seemed like a lot of the farmers were small farms instead of the large distributors that sell at Soulard.

So many spices! And they were so cheap!

Next it was time for the main attraction! Boulevard! It's a pretty cool brewery. They have grown a lot in the last 20 odd years, quite impressive! They are now the 10th largest craft brewery and the 17th largest brewery in the country. 

The most exciting thing was that their bottling line was running while we were there. They said it is quite unusual that they bottle on Saturday and they must be behind somehow! Impressive considering I've done the STL Anheuser-Busch Brewery tour 3x and they are supposed to be bottling 24/7 and yet it has never ACTUALLY been running when I'm there. = LAME!

After the tour you get to sample 4 of their different beers. Most of the ones they had available I had already tried which was a little disappointing. But, it was fun and I'm glad I went!

After the tour, Chris and I went and explored the various parks throughout KC. They were very nice and have sooo many fountains. Fountains always make things look prettier!

For lunch we tried another BBQ joint - more our expected hole in the wall type place. Turned out to be even more hole in the wall than I expected. It was in a gas station! With a line of at least 120 people stretching out the door. And it was good! The meat was delicious! Especially the ribs. I'm always going to compare every BBQ place to Pappy's, but I'd say that the meat was just as good but the sides and the atmosphere completely lose out to pappys. 

Kansas City was a great trip! Worth the gas and one night of hotel!

Before I leave St. Louis

My St. Louis Bucket List

1. Go to City Museum
2. Visit Perennial Ales
3. Eat at Pappys
4. Go to the Soulard Farmer's Market
5. Eat at the Creperie
6. Go paddle boating in Forest Park
7. Go to a Cardinals Game
8. Go to Ted Drews

Anything else I should add on there? Its a combination of things I love about STL (Pappys) and things that I've always wanted to do and never done (Paddle boating)

Speaking of bucket lists, I ran across the cutest, saddest, and most inspirational website. 

This blog is about a little girl named Avery, she is 5 months old and has been diagnosed with a fatal genetic disorder called SMA. Her parent's started a bucket list of everything they want her to accomplish and experience. Read the bucket list and then pray for this sweet little girl and her family.
*Sad update, Avery passed away on 4/30/12*

http://averycan.blogspot.com/2012/04/my-bucket-list.html

#WINNING

This is the last Thurtene post. At least for a year, because who knows, maybe I'll get back to St. Louis next year to see the Thurtene facades. Let's recap, shall we?

On Friday, April 13th the facade looked like this:

7 days later, on Friday April 20th, the facade looked like this:

That's the same front wall, just taken from a different angle.

Sometimes, I browse through these DIY blogs were people do incredible things to their living rooms or kitchens, but it takes them like 2-3 months. Granted, slightly different scenario, because I have my doubts on rather or not these facades could remain standing for 2-3 months. Plus there are nearly 200 people working on this facade compared to like 4 tops on those blogs. BUT STILL! Jeez-Louise! Pretty fricking awesome! 

On Sunday night, Thurtene honorary gives out the awards. There are a bunch of small awards for the other booths (best food, best activity, spirit for a non-facade etc.) But the big ones (The ones I care about) are given out for the facade.

They are announced in order of least exciting to most exciting. And USUALLY the same group doesn't win more than one award (sometimes they'll give spirit and another award to the same group)

The awards are:

1. Spirit: for participation in Thurtene's activities and have a large presence and excitement down on the lot
2. Best Production: for the play being the best
3. Best Construction: for overall facade construction being the best
4. The Burmeister Award: for overall excellence (basically its a combination of all three of the lesser awards

By sunday night there was a lot of discussion if the Burmeister just might be ours. But you don't want to jinx yourself, so there was also a lot of mentioning the word Burmeister - then quickly going to knock on wood. Luckily Thurtene = lots of wood (hahaha) (laughing at my own joke about wood = evidence not yet a real person)

We felt like we had just missed out on the burmeister the year before because of the lack of spirit, so the ChiO/Beta team put a lot of effort into showing our spirit this year. So when they announced spirit, and we didn't win the reaction was this:

I tried to compare it to Toddlers & Tiaras to somebody that night, and got made fun of. WHATEVER I <3 TRASHY TELEVISION. But it's like if you get passed over for a lower award, then you feel like you are probably winning a higher award. But there is always that little chance that you win nothing...

So next they announced best production. We had heard that the overall quality of the productions wasn't quite as good as usual this year. But we really liked ours soo....when a different group won spirit, the reaction was this:

Then they moved onto best construction. We knew that our construction rocked, but wasn't all that elaborate, so I actually didn't think we had much of a chance at construction either way. Anyway, we didn't win. Instead the group that had the other facade that I really liked (the Retro Gas Station) won and our overall's reaction was like this:

I think they knew what was coming next. Because next they announced the winner of the Burmeister award for overall excellence. This is like that moment of truth, because you are either walking home with no prize at all, when you thought you had a shot at the big one OR you are walking home with the big one. When the announced the winner, the board's reaction was like this:

WE WON!!!!

Celebration and pandemonium ensued.

Congratulations Chi Omega and Beta Theta Pi, on a wonderful Thurtene! There has been a major upswing in the result of our Thurtene success since I've joined ChiO

year 1: Winners of the spirit award

year 2: Winners of best production award

year 3: Winners of best construction award

year 4: Winners of the BURMEISTER

Awesome, now don't fall back down to winning nothing okay? I have expectations of a repeat next year =)