Would you always, maybe sometimes, make it easy

These past few weeks have been a beautiful whirlwind. 
Filled with work, class, family, friends, and smile-inducing love which fills my everyday. 

I have hardly a complaint.

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School is going well.  Tedious, but less time-consuming this semester as I have been skipping several classes each week (and don't have classes on Fridays).  My weeks practically fly by!  This, I know, is partially (mostly) due to the fact that my partner in crime is once again present in my life and makes each day/night a fun little adventure.  Few people can make Mondays tolerable and, dare I say, incredibly enjoyable.  But, you know, I found one of those people.  So all days are fairly spontaneous and very fun.

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I will be volunteering at an Eco-Park this semester.  I am very much looking forward to this.  I will be committing a few hours every week to this NPO as part of a semester long project for my Environmental Studies capstone course.  But, truthfully, it has been something I have wanted to do for nearly two years now but just failed to follow through with.  I will be helping out in the offices of the Eco-Park building (excited to learn the ins-and-outs of a successful NPO), as well as leading group tours through the forest and marsh land surrounding the park.  However, the main part of my "job" will be taking children on mini-adventures through the forest/marsh and teaching them about conversation, preservation, and local wildlife.  I am pretty excited for this to get started.  Stayed tuned for Eco-Park updates.

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Thursday:

This weekend has been such a success thus far.  As I mentioned previously, I have zero classes on Friday so I consider my weekends to start on Thursday (love this).  Thursday night was spent karaoke-ing at one of our favorite bars, The Cavalier.  This is a Thursday night tradition of sorts which I look forward to all week!  Thursday nights spent with (good and) bad karaoke, lovely friends, pitchers of Spotted Cow, my flask of cheap whiskey, dorky dancing (okay, I really am the only one of the group who deserves that adjective), and American Spirits is nothing short of an ideal evening for me.  I am so lucky to be surrounded by such a hilariously beautiful group of people each week.

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Friday:

Yesterday was spent with R.M.'s family (also in Central WI).  Which was fabulous, of course.  Each member of his family is absolutely hysterical and such a pleasure to spend time with --- a bunch of crazy free-spirits that I will truly never be able to get enough of.  I am giggling just thinking about him and his ridiculous brothers.

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Saturday:

Now, tonight, I am at my parents' place.  Just went to a movie and picked up dinner with my mother and sister.  And for now I am relaxing while my sister and mother click away at their laptops (and I click away at their desktop computer) and my dad intently watches the Olympics (he just cannot get enough --- I think he is secretly jealous of the competing cross-country skiiers as he has always loved skiing, and had high hopes for my younger sister and me to become great skiiers after buying us our first pair of CC skiis when I was barely 5 years-old and Kim was only 3, ha). 

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An embarrassing entertaining bit of my past:

Many of my dad's athletic dreams for me were lost and forgotten about when I was still very young.  First, after I ran to the wrong bases at a softball game (I'm serious) and quit immediately after the game.
Second, after my ponytail got caught in the goalie net at a soccer game --- so badly, in fact, the refs were forced to stop the game and both coaches (as well as a couple of sweet/sympathetic mothers) rushed to the net to help set me free (I believe I also quit after this game).
Third, when I cried at every single basketball practice and game due to the fact that my coaches were "mean" and "yelled all of the time" (turns out each of these post-coaches' daughters are now two of my very best friends).
Once again, after I didn't make the volleyball team (quite possibly the only sport I had the possibility of excelling at).
And finally (yes, finally), after I made the silly (and downright dangerous) mistake of attempting gymnastics.  Yes, gymnastics.  Running, leotards, and coordination required.  What the hell was I thinking?  It was all very embarrassing.

Oh well.  At least I'm alright at pilates and yoga.

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Track/Video du Moment: "Two Weeks" by Grizzly Bear