Just Another Day

Somewhere along the way I decided that I needed to paint something purple. This weekend I accomplished that. Our bathroom is now “Sassy Lilac”, and let me tell you, it is SASSY. It dried a little “pinker” than I would’ve guessed, but I like it, for now. I think it will help bring a little spring happiness into our house during the winter. I doubt, though, that it is a color that will stick around longer than perhaps a year… It’s awfully feminine. Bill says he doesn’t hate it, but I know that when it comes to things I like, he’s generally a good sport. ANYWAY – here it is.

In other happenings of the weekend, I got to help my cousin Tawnya celebrate her 21st birthday. Her family pulled out all the stops including a limo to shauffer the 12 of us around. (Did anyone else realize that 12 is 21 backwards?… is it too late to be blogging?) Anyway, it was a nice evening. We stopped at one of the local restaraunts before heading to a restaraunt in Eveleth called The Whistling Bird. I’d only been there one other time, and again I think I need to bring Bill there. It’s a Jamaican restaraunt with tasty food and a great atmosphere.

I happened to wake up just after 6:00 this morning. I glanced out our bedroom window that faces the lake and saw that the sky was filled with orange. It didn’t take long before the sun came all the way up, and the sky changed dramatically.

I took a ride up to Nett Lake today so I could see my classroom and move my totes in. It’s amazing to be unpacking all of my school stuff again. When I was cleaning up at Forestview, I was so uncertain as to what I’d be doing this school year. I knew we’d be okay, whatever route life ended up taking, but it really was tough to walk out of the middle school for the last  time in June. So today, as I worked to move desks, look through materials, and start making this classroom my own, I thought about how lucky I’ve been in the six years since college – so much of which was never a part of “my plan”. It makes me excited to see what this job holds for me!

These are pictures of the work I did in my classroom today. The views in each are opposite the other.

After a good day in Nett, I came home to plans for a cook out at the Black Bay campsite. Ape and Jesse brought the food, and Dad, Bill and I joined them for a quick jaunt up the bay. It was a beautiful night!

I hear that Lo has plans for coming up this weekend. I imagine that means we’ll play a little Mario Kart – yahoo!

Bill, Dad, and I headed off to Knife Lake early Monday morning. It’s about an hour and a half drive to get to the entry point, and then it took another 7 1/2 hours of paddling and portaging to get to our campsite. Camping in the BWCA is unlike any other activity. Certainly, you must go on your own will, or it  won’t be enjoyable. It’s hard work to get there, full of mosquitoes, and carries the possibility of sunburn or cold rain. There are no motors, no extra conveniences. But it’s wonderful. Part of what I love about camping in the Boundary Waters is being reminded to appreciate what I have and to continue working at simplifying my life.

This trip was as nice as the others have been. I swam quite a few times, read my book, and just relaxed.

I took great pride in having worn these same pants every day of the trip. How many places can you get away with that?

Tomorrow morning we’ll wake up bright and early for our final camping trip of the summer. We’re crossing our fingers that the weather is better than the forecast projects! Pictures and stories to come. 🙂

Our friend, Jeremy, is nearing the end of his time in Minnesota and gearing up to drive back to Oregon. We enjoyed seeing Jeremy and meeting his wife, Nikiya, at their wedding last month. We are extra happy, however, that they decided to take a side trip up to Cook and stay with us for the weekend. We spent a lot of time out on the lake swimming and tubing, took a couple of boat trips to Moosebirds for ice cream, grilled, played the Wii, and just caught up. It was so nice to get to know Nikiya and Rowan, and of course it was fun to have a baby (Scout) around to play with.

Welcome, HughesNet. We’re glad you’re here.

for not keeping the site up the past few weeks. Dial up is seriously doing a number on my electronic communication. Tomorrow, however, we should be the proud owners (renters?) of a Hugh’s Net dish with 1.2 M download speeds. Woohoo.

So – here’s a recap of the past 3 weeks as concisely as I can manage:

1) I left Alaska a few days early (Mon. July 14) to come home and interview for a teaching position. I was offered, and accepted, a 5th grade job at Nett Lake Elementary.

2) Wednesday the 16th, I drove to Brainerd to clean up the apartment. I also got to meet up with Sara and Emily at Prarie Bay.

3) Thursday I left Brainerd at 4:00 in the morning to pick Bill up from MSP by 6:00. We then headed back to the apartment, finished hauling stuff out and cleaning it up, and officially got checked out.

4) We headed to Bemidji that Saturday for our good friend Jeremy’s wedding. (It was one of the most beautiful services I’ve ever been at.) We also got to stop in and see Bill’s grandma – she’s doing great!

5) The following week we took a camping trip into Lac La Croix with Dad and my cousin Matt. It was a great trip.

6) I spent all of last week in Math training up at Fortune Bay. I got a chance to meet the staff I’ll be working with. It’s going to be a good year.

There have been quick visits to see both sets of my grandparents, lunch with my mom, time with our friend Amy S., hanging out w/ Ape and Jesse, a movie w/ Trisha, another movie at the Comet… Our time has been full in the best of ways!

This weekend was my 10-year reunion. I enjoyed catching up with old classmates and hearing about what everyone has been up to.

Late into Saturday evening I remembered to get the camera out and get some pictures. Enjoy.