Lenz Montana Trip 2012

For the third August in a row, John and I made the drive out to Montana with his parents...the first year, John's sisters went along too and we went backpacking in Glacier National Park...but these last two years, it's just been John, me, and the parents-in-law.  We had a really good trip...but I was glad to be home at the end!

Salem Sue in New Salem ND, just east of our destination for the first night, Medora ND

After breakfast at the Cowboy Cafe in Medora ND

I got a lot of reading done in the car...many, many magazines...two books completed and started another.  I also watched 5 or 6 TV shows...it was great!  We spent the majority of our time in Fort Benton and Chester, Montana.  The whole reason for the trip was so John, his dad, and his uncles could check out the wheat farm they own and help with the harvest as needed.  They had a busy few days as the harvest was well underway.  My entertainment during those days was John's cousin's 5-year-old daughter, Journey...and the wheat farm operator's kids, Wrien and Lex.  My favorite moment was when Journey got hurt on the trampoline and I was checking her out to make sure she was OK...and Lex came over with his toy stethoscope to listen to her heart...adorable and hilarious!

The Fort Benton bridge

Lex, Journey, and Wrien

Journey and me

The last morning at the farm, John was disappointed that I wouldn't get to ride in the combine with him.  Everyone else had left by then and we only had one vehicle.  John's mom and I didn't want to spend the whole day on the farm so we were going to stay in Fort Benton...but instead, John's dad came to get us around lunchtime so we could spent a little bit of time on the farm too.  It was fun!

Riding in the combine with John...he was concentrating on keeping it straight!

Miles and miles of nothing but wheat...still beautiful in its way.

After leaving the farm, we went to Yellowstone National Park for a couple of days.  The landscape at Yellowstone is so much different than at Glacier National Park...but beautiful nonetheless.  It was cool to see Old Faithful again too.

Kathy and John on the balcony of our hotel in Gardiner MT.

 

 

Old Faithful

Old Faithful at sunset

The Yellowstone National Park post office.  I mailed my mom a postcard from here.

John at the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone

John and I during our hike

John and his dad on the suspension bridge we crossed during our hike.

John in Hellroaring Creek

John (father-in-law) and I hiking back

Antelope

A buffalo crossing the road!

Humongous herd of buffalo

John at the Northeast Ranger Station

Leaving Yellowstone

We took a "scenic byway" from Yellowstone back to Interstate 90.  It was a very interesting route...and a little scary as clouds and fog started to roll in as we got to the highest elevations.  I want to go back and see it when it's clear though!

Below the clouds again

All in all it was a good trip...though life has been crazy since we've been back!

Hmm...

Does this make any sense to anyone else?  It sure doesn't to me!  These are headlines from two posts on the exact same day on a nurse practitioner news feed that I follow.

  

10 years

On July 28th, the C-FC Class of 2012 celebrated our 10 year reunion.  10 years, really?  It hardly feels like it!  Almost 30 classmates made an appearance...out of about 60 who I tracked down and sent invitations.  It was a lot of fun to catch up with old friends again...it's amazing how much (and yet how little) has changed.

Unfortunately, we forgot to get the cameras out until well into the night...here's a small sample of the moments we captured.

I'm gonna be a godmother!

Jamine called me Friday night and asked me to be Blake's godmother.  I'm so honored!  Being a little boy's godmother...it makes me feel so grown up, so responsible, so happy.

My future godson:

 

We're heading up to Cochrane for my 10 year high school reunion this Friday and making a dinner stop in Columbus to see Jamine, Brandon, and the boys.  I can't wait to see this little guy and his brother again!

Jamaica!

Ahh, we had a fabulous time in Jamaica.  It was beautiful, relaxing, and fun...and great to spend time with good friends again.  We ate a LOT...and most of it was extremely delicious...including the interesting cocktails.

The lobby of our resort

John with his welcome drink, a yummy juice

Our resort from the beach

The view from our balcony

This is the life...reading in the sunshine before breakfast!

Mark and John playing chess

John observing as Mark plays goalie

We went to Dunn's River Falls on Sunday.  The falls were beautiful and we had fun climbing up them.  Our newly purchased water shoes were great...though not as stylishly Jamaican as Mark and KJ's.  We were able to see a little bit of the countryside between our resort and the falls.  Most of the areas we saw were pretty poor with some really nice developments in between.

 

 

 

We made it!

The view from the main resort bar...gorgeous!

Relaxing on the beach...so great!

On Tuesday we went tubing in the White River.  It was so much fun!  Our bus ride was much longer this day.  We went through the city of Ocho Rios which was pretty much what I expected of a Caribbean city.  We passed by a bunch of schools on our way up the mountain and saw a lot more people out than we had previously.  It was beautiful!  Unfortunately, I didn't take my camera tubing as I was afraid it would get wet (though I did manage to stay in my tube the whole time so it may have been fine).  These pictures are from the end point.

Our last night at the resort...definitely could have stayed for a few more days!

New year, new resolutions: Revisited

Now that we're just over halfway through 2012 (Crazy!) I thought I'd revisit my resolutions.  On January 22, 2012 I blogged about three resolutions for this year:

1. Keep exercising.
2. Eat more vegetables.
3. Enjoy the moment.

So, how am I doing?  Pretty well, actually!  Exercising has been going quite well...especially since I have races to train for.  As I've mentioned in previous posts, I'm running the Brewers Mini Marathon on September 22, the Hot Chocolate 15K on November 4, and the Goofy's Race and a Half Challenge on January 12-13.  The real test will be what happens after I'm done with all my races!  However, I think I've gotten into a good routine...and taking public transportation to work has helped since I get an extra 20 minutes (1.76 miles) of walking in each day.

I blogged about our eating habits recently as well.  We're doing a good job of eating more veggies.  My favorite new meal is sweet potato tacos...mmm!  The first time I made them for my hubby I made them with ground beef...but he also likes them with just the veggies!

I think I'm doing a great job of enjoying the moment as well.  Sure, I still think about the future...but not nearly as much as I used to...I guess I'm too busy enjoying the here and now.  Of course, it's good to think about the future some...long-term goals are a good thing...as long as you enjoy the present as well (well, that's my two cents anyway).

Now it's time to get ready for the first week of the next session at work...the students will be back in full force after a two week summer break.  It will only be a four day week for me as we're off to Jamaica on Friday...enjoying the moment!

Don't feel entitled to anything you didn't sweat and struggle for.

~Marian Wright Edelman, African-American activist

Me, a runner?!?

I never really thought I'd be a runner.  Maybe I'd tolerate it, maybe I'd even like it every now and then.  But for me to actually be a runner?  Nah!  A few events this last week have had me wondering though...

Last Saturday, Mom and I went to both yoga and Zumba in Millennium Park for 45 minutes each.  It was a great workout.  Then, we went to the Cubs game, walked around the neighborhood a little bit.  But, I was still missing something.  So, when we got home, I went for my 6.5 mile run, figuring I'd stick to about a 10-10:30 minute/mile pace...nice and easy.  I ended up going quite a bit faster than that (averaging around 9:45 minute/mile) and felt amazing!  Apparently a run was just what I needed.

Then, on Tuesday, after spending a couple of days with the new Kurth twins, I went for a 30 minute run in crazy heat.  I even overheard someone I passed by say "It's way too hot for running" in that "she's crazy" voice.  Hmm...

On Thursday I got up at 5:20 in the morning just to get my run in before it got too hot.  That's what really got me thinking about this.

But, of course, I am training for something...two somethings...the Brewers Mini Marathon on September 22nd and the Disney World Half Marathon and Marathon (Goofy's Race and a Half Challenge) on January 12-13th.  The real test will be whether I run while I'm on vacation in Jamaica next week...and then when I'm on vacation in Montana in August.  We shall see!

For now, I'm shuffling my training schedule just a bit so I'll have a shorter run for Jamaica and a longer run (8 miles) tomorrow.  I'm so excited to run in cooler weather...yay!

Cade and Blake Kurth

Earlier this week I was able to visit Jamine, Brandon, Cade, and Blake.  Ooh, those two little boys just stole my heart!  It worked out perfectly that I had Monday and Tuesday off of work...the boys came home from the hospital Friday and Saturday...my mom was visiting us in Chicago so she could drop me off in Columbus on her back home...and Jamine's mom wasn't going to be able to visit until later in the week...perfect!

Sunday afternoon, Monday, and Tuesday morning consisted of feeding, changing, and holding two adorable little boys.  I was extremely impressed with their parents too!  They already had a schedule made and adhered to and were a really great team...which was especially evident when they gave the boys their first baths at home.  I'm so proud of them...already champs at parenting twins!

Tummy time with Cade

Brandon wondered aloud why I wanted to come...and whether or not I would still want to have babies soon by the time I left.  The answer to that is a resounding yes!  Sure, it's overwhelming to think these little ones rely solely on you for their care...but it's also pretty awesome.  I can't wait to have one (or two) of my own!  I am so glad I was able to spend those couple of days with the four of you...and can't wait to visit again!

Cade and Blake

Cade being held by the giant owl pillow

Holding both boys, Blake and Cade

I have to admit though...I was a little exhausted and slept for the first hour or so on the train ride home.  It was a good exhaustion though...a very happy, content one!

Miller Park from the Amtrak

Chicago Scholars

I don't think I've blogged about Chicago Scholars yet...weird!  Chicago Scholars is an organization that provides a structured program for students who will be seniors in high school in the fall.  It's a 5 year program, designed to get them into college and through college.  My role will be during this first year...from now until next May when each scholar announces where he or she will attend college.  After that, scholars are assigned peer mentors and continue to work with the Chicago Scholars staff.

I can't even remember where I heard about Chicago Scholars...I know I got an email (possibly from my UIC account) about different mentoring opportunities in Chicago and I thought Chicago Scholars sounded like a good fit for me.  I applied to be a mentor quite awhile ago...and then found out I was chosen to be a mentor in April, I think.  We had a couple of mentor orientations in May where I got to meet one of my fellow mentors of Cohort E (there are 3 mentors and 7 scholars in Cohort E).

The next step was meeting the scholars at the Scholar-Mentor Breakfast.  It was a very informal and fun event.  Two of our scholars and one of our mentors were unable to attend, but those of us who were there had a great time getting to know each other a little better.

The following week there was a Scholar-Mentor-Parent Orientation.  I finally met the third mentor in our group then as well as the two scholars who were unable to attend the breakfast.  The scholars received a lot of additional information about the program and what is expected of them.  The parents also received an orientation in a separate room.  When this was over, we all met together over lemonade and brownies.  It was so good to meet the scholars' parents.  At that point, I really felt like I was making a difference already!

The Green Line going through the McCormick Tribune Campus Center at the Illinois Institute of Technology.

View of downtown from the train platform at IIT.

There has been one workshop for the students so far but I wasn't able to attend.  There's another one coming up next weekend but I'll be in Jamaica so I won't be able to be there then either.  Our cohort is planning to get together in a couple of weeks to hang out outside of official events.  We've tried this once before but only one scholar was able to attend.  It was good though...she was one who had missed the Scholar-Mentor Breakfast so it was great to get to know her a little bit better.

So far, the majority of my contact with the scholars has been through email and text...checking in on how their individual counseling sessions with the Chicago Scholars staff are going...figuring out which colleges they're going to apply to...reading over an essay.  It's been fun...and I look forward to getting to know them better and helping them through the college application and decision-making process.

Another great thing about Chicago Scholars is that it gets me out to other places in the city that I may not have visited otherwise.  The photos above from IIT are a great example...it was a beautiful campus and I don't think I would have ever gone there if not for that event!