Last week, after returning from Spain, Luis and I had several days in Boston before I was to fly back to Missoula. On Wednesday we, along with Luis's mom and brother, visited a small barrier island just off the northeast coast of Massachusetts. We spent the cool, sunny afternoon with our pant legs rolled up, wading into the freezing ocean and playing in the sand. As the afternoon sun began to soften, Luis and I went for a walk down the beach. When we got to the end, he asked me to marry him.
A lovely, perfect day.
Monday, June 11, 2007
Sunday, June 10, 2007
Home, sweet home.
I arrived back in Missoula on Thursday. I love vacations, but it sure feels nice to sleep in my own bed again...
My blog left off several weeks ago, the day I was boarding a plane to Spain. We arrived in Madrid early on May 20th, and during our two weeks in Spain we spent time in Madrid and Cordoba, and we took day trips to Toledo and Castro del Rio. We stayed with Luis's family, who welcomed us into their homes with a genuine hospitality I have come to associate with Spanish culture. We ate tapas often, and drank beer in the middle of the afternoon. We wandered the crowded streets of Madrid and the narrow, winding streets in Cordoba and Toledo. Luis gave a two guitar performances, playing a scheduled concert at University of Carlos III in Madrid, and an impromptu recital in Cordoba for a gathering of friends and acquaintances. We hit the bars with Jonathan, and enjoyed some of Madrid's energetic night life. We visited breathtaking cathedrals and mosques, and several sites of Roman ruins. We marveled at the history preserved in the buildings and the cities. We had a wonderful time, and I hope to return someday.
I have slowly begun uploading trip photos to Flickr, so feel free to hop on over and have a look. I took a zillion, so it's taking a while to wade back through them all.
My blog left off several weeks ago, the day I was boarding a plane to Spain. We arrived in Madrid early on May 20th, and during our two weeks in Spain we spent time in Madrid and Cordoba, and we took day trips to Toledo and Castro del Rio. We stayed with Luis's family, who welcomed us into their homes with a genuine hospitality I have come to associate with Spanish culture. We ate tapas often, and drank beer in the middle of the afternoon. We wandered the crowded streets of Madrid and the narrow, winding streets in Cordoba and Toledo. Luis gave a two guitar performances, playing a scheduled concert at University of Carlos III in Madrid, and an impromptu recital in Cordoba for a gathering of friends and acquaintances. We hit the bars with Jonathan, and enjoyed some of Madrid's energetic night life. We visited breathtaking cathedrals and mosques, and several sites of Roman ruins. We marveled at the history preserved in the buildings and the cities. We had a wonderful time, and I hope to return someday.
I have slowly begun uploading trip photos to Flickr, so feel free to hop on over and have a look. I took a zillion, so it's taking a while to wade back through them all.
Saturday, May 19, 2007
Travels.
Luis and I traveled some 2800 miles across the country in five days. Turns out this is a big danged country. I kept a diary of landmark cities and times we went through them, but it's buried somewhere amid the mess of the car. Perhaps I'll chart it out when I get home to Montana...
On Monday morning we drove the four hours from Fargo, North Dakota to Minneapolis, Minnesota, where we met and stayed over with old friends. I got to spend the afternoon with one of my best friends from high school, Jeff. On Tuesday morning we set out for another long drive, this time landing in East Lansing, Michigan. We had drinks with friends, and the following morning we visited Michigan State to see some of Luis' old professors and colleagues. On Wednesday we headed North through Canada for a few hours, eventually crossing back into the United States at Niagara Falls. We stopped for a bit at the falls to enjoy the view. That night we stayed over in Buffalo, New York. Road worn and exhausted, we arrived in Stoneham, Massachusetts in the evening on Thursday.
We had an enjoyable drive, save the torrential rainfall we drove through on Tuesday and the staggering gas prices we paid along the way. We've had a couple of evening to recuperate, and this afternoon we begin the next leg of our trip - in a few hours we'll board a plane to Madrid, Spain.
My grand plan to learn some conversational Spanish was thwarted by the necessity to write several papers, followed by finals week. Pretty much I can say "Hi, my name is Mandi," "Nice to meet you," "I work at a hospital," (which of course, I don't - but it's as close as my limited vocabulary can get to the truth), and "How are you?" I can also count, for good measure. Just in case someone urgently needs an American to count as many as twenty of something. Ah, well. Luis can translate relatively well, so at least I have some way of communicating. His nephew Jonathan (pronounced yo-na-TAHN, so I'm told), whom we're staying with in Madrid, doesn't speak any English.
And according to Luis, I will be called MAHN-dee. I guess Spanish doesn't include "'a' as in cat."
Stories, photos, etcetera to follow upon my return to the states.
(Unrelated to travel but exciting nonetheless, I got a 4.0 this semester. I rule.)
On Monday morning we drove the four hours from Fargo, North Dakota to Minneapolis, Minnesota, where we met and stayed over with old friends. I got to spend the afternoon with one of my best friends from high school, Jeff. On Tuesday morning we set out for another long drive, this time landing in East Lansing, Michigan. We had drinks with friends, and the following morning we visited Michigan State to see some of Luis' old professors and colleagues. On Wednesday we headed North through Canada for a few hours, eventually crossing back into the United States at Niagara Falls. We stopped for a bit at the falls to enjoy the view. That night we stayed over in Buffalo, New York. Road worn and exhausted, we arrived in Stoneham, Massachusetts in the evening on Thursday.
We had an enjoyable drive, save the torrential rainfall we drove through on Tuesday and the staggering gas prices we paid along the way. We've had a couple of evening to recuperate, and this afternoon we begin the next leg of our trip - in a few hours we'll board a plane to Madrid, Spain.
My grand plan to learn some conversational Spanish was thwarted by the necessity to write several papers, followed by finals week. Pretty much I can say "Hi, my name is Mandi," "Nice to meet you," "I work at a hospital," (which of course, I don't - but it's as close as my limited vocabulary can get to the truth), and "How are you?" I can also count, for good measure. Just in case someone urgently needs an American to count as many as twenty of something. Ah, well. Luis can translate relatively well, so at least I have some way of communicating. His nephew Jonathan (pronounced yo-na-TAHN, so I'm told), whom we're staying with in Madrid, doesn't speak any English.
And according to Luis, I will be called MAHN-dee. I guess Spanish doesn't include "'a' as in cat."
Stories, photos, etcetera to follow upon my return to the states.
(Unrelated to travel but exciting nonetheless, I got a 4.0 this semester. I rule.)
Sunday, May 13, 2007
Nearly 1000 miles,
...fourteen hours, four Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince CD's, several diplomatic rotations of ipod play time, a couple of car naps and many diet sodas later - and we've arrived in Fargo, North Dakota. We found a total dive of a motel to crash in for the night. It's straight up ghetto, but it has a bed and a shower, and we're able to mooch on to a nearby wireless source, so all is well.
During the drive we moved from jagged, majestic, snow-capped mountain scenery to clusters of stocky, clay and bronze-colored buttes, then into soft, green fields, rolling far into the distance. The thick swarm of bugs splattered the windshield with the gentle sound of rainfall. The air grew muggy and warm.
We're in the midwest now, baby.
During the drive we moved from jagged, majestic, snow-capped mountain scenery to clusters of stocky, clay and bronze-colored buttes, then into soft, green fields, rolling far into the distance. The thick swarm of bugs splattered the windshield with the gentle sound of rainfall. The air grew muggy and warm.
We're in the midwest now, baby.
Let the adventures begin...
Luis and I are leaving this morning for vacation. We're driving to Boston this week, and on Saturday we'll catch a flight to Madrid. We'll spend two weeks in Spain, and then it's back to Boston to spend time with friends and family.
Our road trip will be several legs - today we'll make it to Fargo, ND. Tomorrow we'll drive the few hours into Minneapolis, and spend the day catching up with old friends. Tuesday we'll leave and drive to East Lansing, where we'll see more friends. On Wednesday we'll stop and visit Niagara Falls. Thursday we'll make it into Boston. I started tracing our route out in Google Maps, but didn't get all the way through it.
I may pop in and say hi, if I happen upon an internet connection and some free time... otherwise, I'll be back and blogging sometime after June 7th, when I return to Missoula.
Our road trip will be several legs - today we'll make it to Fargo, ND. Tomorrow we'll drive the few hours into Minneapolis, and spend the day catching up with old friends. Tuesday we'll leave and drive to East Lansing, where we'll see more friends. On Wednesday we'll stop and visit Niagara Falls. Thursday we'll make it into Boston. I started tracing our route out in Google Maps, but didn't get all the way through it.
I may pop in and say hi, if I happen upon an internet connection and some free time... otherwise, I'll be back and blogging sometime after June 7th, when I return to Missoula.
Sunday, May 06, 2007
News flash.
Cumulative finals are for the birds.
I have two finals tomorrow, one Tuesday, and one Wednesday. After that I only have packing and vacation-getting-readiness. Woo!
I developed a monster sore throat last night. I think the sick people from my work are trying to bring me down with their germs, but I'm fighting back with truckloads of vitamin C, zinc, fluids, and fresh fruits and veggies. I will not get sick - not if I can help it.
A few days ago it snowed, and now all of the mountains around town look as though someone dusted them with powdered sugar. It got pretty chilly again there for a few days, but we're supposed to be hanging out in the 60's to 70's this next week.
A week from today Luis and I will be hitting the highway for a cross-country road trip. (We're trying to ignore the fact that gas is now well over $3.00/gallon nationwide.) Once we reach Boston, we'll catch our flight to Madrid. But - I mustn't think about vacation now, not for a couple more days. Focus, Mandi.
My two finals tomorrow are in classes where I have a borderline A/B, and they both have extra credit assignments available, also due tomorrow. I hadn't planned on doing the extra work, but I feel like I really should make an effort for the better grade.
I'm one of those people who, while studying for finals, takes little breaks to do the points math and figure out exactly what I need to get on the final to get such-and-such grade. For example, in med/surg I have an A- right now, so on the final (which is 35% of our course grade), if I get an 85% to a 96.4% I will hold my A-. If I can somehow eek out a 96.5% or above, I'll have an A. For the record, I think plus/minus grading systems are lame. But mostly that's because I've always put in just enough work to make sure I stay above 90 and called it good. They've challenged my slacker ways, and I must fight back.
Okay, off to get ready for work. Hopefully the beautiful weather will keep the sickies away so I can get some studying done.
I have two finals tomorrow, one Tuesday, and one Wednesday. After that I only have packing and vacation-getting-readiness. Woo!
I developed a monster sore throat last night. I think the sick people from my work are trying to bring me down with their germs, but I'm fighting back with truckloads of vitamin C, zinc, fluids, and fresh fruits and veggies. I will not get sick - not if I can help it.
A few days ago it snowed, and now all of the mountains around town look as though someone dusted them with powdered sugar. It got pretty chilly again there for a few days, but we're supposed to be hanging out in the 60's to 70's this next week.
A week from today Luis and I will be hitting the highway for a cross-country road trip. (We're trying to ignore the fact that gas is now well over $3.00/gallon nationwide.) Once we reach Boston, we'll catch our flight to Madrid. But - I mustn't think about vacation now, not for a couple more days. Focus, Mandi.
My two finals tomorrow are in classes where I have a borderline A/B, and they both have extra credit assignments available, also due tomorrow. I hadn't planned on doing the extra work, but I feel like I really should make an effort for the better grade.
I'm one of those people who, while studying for finals, takes little breaks to do the points math and figure out exactly what I need to get on the final to get such-and-such grade. For example, in med/surg I have an A- right now, so on the final (which is 35% of our course grade), if I get an 85% to a 96.4% I will hold my A-. If I can somehow eek out a 96.5% or above, I'll have an A. For the record, I think plus/minus grading systems are lame. But mostly that's because I've always put in just enough work to make sure I stay above 90 and called it good. They've challenged my slacker ways, and I must fight back.
Okay, off to get ready for work. Hopefully the beautiful weather will keep the sickies away so I can get some studying done.
Wednesday, May 02, 2007
Engrish.
If you have a look to the right side of your screen, you'll see a collection of links to some of my favorite websites. Hands down, the best site for a good laugh is engrish.com. It's a compilation of photos from Asian countries (often Japan) featuring products or signs with butchered English text. The site is in no way meant to be malicious - apparently the cool kids over there are into wearing shirts and things printed with English phrases (much like we here in the States are into getting Oriental characters tattooed on our bodies). However, the translations aren't really checked for accuracy. It's not so much about what it says, but rather that it says (or tries to say) it in English. It's great stuff...
Some of my favorites:
Sunday, April 29, 2007
More race and running news:
Here is a link to the article in today's Missoulian about the race. There were over 3,000 participants this year. That's not too shabby in a town of less than 60,000. It's great to live in a place that has so many fit, active people.
I was number 128 out of the 208 female 10k finishers. I'm really proud of that. Not in the top 50%, but close enough to that I will be next year. :)
I run 30 to 45 minutes a few times a week, (or as often as my school schedule allows), but I've never done any actual "training". But, this week Luis is going to help me personalize a training schedule, so that I can be injury-free and prepared for the half marathon in July. I've started reading Jeff Galloway's "Marathon," and the schedules he suggests aren't that much more than what I'm doing - I just need to start increasing the distance on one of my runs each week to start preparing for a longer distance race. Time to recalibrate my nike + ipod kit! (I haven't had time to get to a track to recalibrate it since I got new running shoes a while back, but it's going to make my training so much easier to track and record...) Since I have plenty of spare time this summer (no summer classes - woohoo!), I'm going to go all out - speed work, hills, all of it.
I'm psyched.
I was number 128 out of the 208 female 10k finishers. I'm really proud of that. Not in the top 50%, but close enough to that I will be next year. :)
I run 30 to 45 minutes a few times a week, (or as often as my school schedule allows), but I've never done any actual "training". But, this week Luis is going to help me personalize a training schedule, so that I can be injury-free and prepared for the half marathon in July. I've started reading Jeff Galloway's "Marathon," and the schedules he suggests aren't that much more than what I'm doing - I just need to start increasing the distance on one of my runs each week to start preparing for a longer distance race. Time to recalibrate my nike + ipod kit! (I haven't had time to get to a track to recalibrate it since I got new running shoes a while back, but it's going to make my training so much easier to track and record...) Since I have plenty of spare time this summer (no summer classes - woohoo!), I'm going to go all out - speed work, hills, all of it.
I'm psyched.
Saturday, April 28, 2007
Booyah!
I ran my first 10k today.
I finished in 1:02.
I rule.
I finished in 1:02.
I rule.
______________________________
I figured on twelve minute miles plus some cushion for walking and water, which I estimated would put me at the finish in just under 1:20. Instead I averaged ten minute miles. And I did the first one in :09:15. Pretty respectable numbers for my first race. I'm not breaking any records, but I'm not last either. :) I'll post a link to the times when they're available.
I was waiting until after this race to decide for sure, but now it's official. I'm going to run the Missoula half marathon in July!
Friday, April 27, 2007
Feeling the crunch.
I'm in the throes of end-of-semester madness. This is without a doubt the most pressure I've felt ever at the end of a semester. I have several projects and papers that came due at the same time, and poor planning on my part has me scrambling to finish some independent clinical hours that I need for a class. Ick. Time management has never been my strong suit, but I'm working on it. Better luck next semester, I guess...
On a much more exciting note, tomorrow is my first ever road race! I'm running 10k in the Riverbank Run. I'm not fast, but I'm enthusiastic. The weather is supposed to be sunny and 75°. It's going to be a great day. :)
On a much more exciting note, tomorrow is my first ever road race! I'm running 10k in the Riverbank Run. I'm not fast, but I'm enthusiastic. The weather is supposed to be sunny and 75°. It's going to be a great day. :)
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