Minnesota-eh!

who doWell, yes, I am in Minneapolis! That's in Minnesota for those of you who don't get out much. So far I have done two FANTASTIC college visits. The high schools here are a new kind of huge. The last high school had a map of ALL FOUR FLOORS posted in front of the door. I took a picture of the building but it doesn't do it justice. I will try to post some pictures of my journey sometime later this week.

I was hunting for wireless and found a coffee shop. You know it's not going to be a good coffee experience when you order a traditional cappuccino and the guy says, "so what do you mean by traditional?" Oh no. I should have run then. But I didn't. I asked what he would recommend for food. The kid's response "Well, it's lunch time so I would order a sandwich." Mind you, ALL THEY HAVE FOR LUNCH IS SANDWICHES. Wow. Dense? I think so. So I ordered. They microwaved somthing and came out with my coffee in a styrofoam cup. Styrofoam! At least I have wireless. The other plus is that it is absolutely gorgeous here. I think I will head off in search of better food however, because after ten bucks, I am still hungry. Oh well. Not all coffee shops are created equal.

Here's to my Southern (ha!) accent and the Minnesotans who love it.

Maryville is... Maryville

I am currently in Maryville, MO. What is in Maryville, you ask? A nice Italian restaurant, a hotel room in the Comfort Inn that is the largest I have ever seen, a TV that has weird green and blue disruptions in the picture, a high school, about a dozen other college reps, and ME! So, nothing. I am on the road once again. I had a college fair today in St. Joe, did a little shopping, and now I am in the room. There is nothing on TV. I believe I will be going to online TV soon. On a side note, I got some GREAT deals at Old Navy. Eric, I am certain you do not read this. However, you have a new shirt waiting for you. So cute!

So, it was my birthday this week. I had the best birthday. Possibly the best ever. I had my presentation group unexpectedly sing me happy birthday on the actual day. Ashley also made me some great cupcakes. I left at one and went on a winery picnic with Eric. I always forget how beautiful that view is. Then Mom and Dad got to Columbia, and Mom and I had pedicures. I have adorable pink polish on my toes. Eric got me a completely unexpected gift. It is awesome! I got a framed replica of the Missourian cover when Mizzou was ranked #1. Eric said he chose that specific one because, not only was Missouri #1, but it was our first year married and our first year in Columbia. He is so cute! Pete also went in on it, and it will be hanging in our home soon. Eric also got me a diploma frame. My diploma has been hiding in a closet for too long. The frame has a picture of Jesse Hall at night, completely appropriate for me. He was just so thoughtful!
Mom and Dad took us all out to Olive Garden (well, not Pete; he went to hunt) and we just had the best time. They also gave me my gift: a new camera! So I will officially have photo blogs now! Hooray!

Thanks to everyone who wrote me messages, sent me emails, and called. It really was the best birthday!

Here's a picture of me and Eric at dinner at Olive Garden!

Here's my mom and dad showing how cool they are at Olive Garden. Yes, they are simultaneously talking on their matching phones. Cool guys, really cool.

Here's my darling husband with the adorable (and TASTY!) cupcake he baked especially for my bithday!

And finally, Here is a pic from the gorgeous game on Saturday. It was after the win! We are going to call a win a win on this one, pretty or not. No surprise that we were bumped down one this week in the poll--but I have high hopes for two weeks from now. We just love being tiger fans!

Tune in soon, as I have a whole blog worth of pet photos. I know you wish I was kidding, but alas, I am not!

Here's to birthdays and family!

Latte Land!

Although it feels like my whole life is a land of lattes, today I am literally in a coffeeshop in KC called LatteLand! It is the only place where I will drink a chai latte, because they BREW their chai. No kidding. It's incredible. So, since I had a half hour before I could check into my hotel, I am sipping a chai latte and updating work emails here in LatteLand. It's fun to be here. Speaking of coffee, I haven't checked it out yet, but I am supposedly on the Kaldi's official blog. So, if you want to check it out, you can go to www.kaldiscoffee.com and click on the blog link. Wahoo!

My first taste of the counselor luncheons was today. It was a long but good time in St. Joe. I have one more tomorrow before heading home. It's interesting to hear statistics from the other campuses. Probably the most interesting part is hanging out with the reps and seeing their personalities. I also got to meet some of my counselors from my new area. They seem to be great people. I know that I am "from" the lake, but I definitely feel more at home in the small towns of Northwest Missouri. The people are just so kind. I had to drive past the Dearborn exit twice and twice I almost stopped. Maybe one of these days.

I am unloading for the luncheon in 45 minutes so I best get going.

Here's to REAL chai!

On the Road Again

So it's been a while with the blog. I would say it's because I have been busy. And I have been busy. But the real truth is that I am just not always sure what to blog about. Here's a sampling of the activities in the last three weeks.

*Our lovely cousin moved into town to go to school. I have seen her several times, and she seems to be doing well. She promises to cook for the boys while I am on the road.

*We had a family reunion. The newest addition to the family, a ten month old, was there for her first reunion and it was soooo fun to watch her. Maybe "family reunion" is not an accurate title for the weekend. It maybe should have just been called "The Molly Show." Yeah, we all just watched her. And football.

*Speaking of football, MU is 2 for 2. And we are 2 for 2 watching. The IL game was stressful, the SEMO game, not so much. The funniest thing--our score both games was 52. Weird.

*I am finally on the road again! I am writing from a hotel room in my territory. After watching 5 episodes of Notes from the Underbelly, it occured to me that I am officially not busy and that I had time to write.

I am enjoying my first night on the road, even if it did include a Mexican dinner that did NOT automatically come with chips and salsa. Yeah, have you ever even heard of such a thing? Me neither. So I paid 5 bucks for my chips and salsa, making my total order 18 bucks without tip. NUTS I tell you! I barely got to eat any of it since I was so full from chips and salsa. UGH!

Other than that, I am enjoying the road. The boys had poker night tonight so I didn't miss much at home. I will be out two nights this week as opposed to my normal 5 so it's kind of a nice start. I know I will be ready to come home by Thursday.

Not a profound post but a post nonetheless.

Here's to fall!