26k internet equals:

Nikki won't be posting much. Slow dial-up internet pretty much decided that. That, and I found out that weekends are pretty much the only times that I'll be able to get on the internet. So, this is a rare occasion (a guess. i'll probably prove myself wrong...)

So, anyway, here I sit in my boss's office working on the internet. it's a weekend and that's how it goes, they say.

I came to camp on Monday for some lifeguard training. the first day of class, they tell us that we're going to do a swim test that's required for certification. 10 laps (a lap is "there and back") in an olympic sized pool. front crawl and breast stroke only. i get through two laps and discover there's no way that i'm going to be able to do this.

so another girl and I have been hanging out at camp without much of anything to do, since we can't be lifeguards. but, it's been a really good time to get to know the people that are here, to establish a relationship, and get a head-start on some of the basic rules for camp (music, attire, internet, cleaning, living, etc). We're also only 30-40 min away from Sioux Falls, so we've trekked out there a few times. Last night we went to SF to go to someone's house and Wal-Mart. Tonight we might go over there to watch a movie.

So, it's definitely been good so far. All of the summer staff will be here on Sunday night, when we have a picnic and begin orientation stuff. We have two weeks of orientation and our first week of campers starts on June 12th. I'm pretty excited to get started with all of this stuff!

So, you might not hear from me for a while - if anything, you'll hear from me on the weekend of June 17th, when I know I'm going home. Birthday celebration, baby!!

Hope you're all doing well.

this is it

hello friends, enemies, readers alike.

today i leave for camp. no idea if i'll be able to post or update or what. if anything, you'll hear from me on my weekends home.

buh bye now.

a small picture sampling...

here's a small sampling of the va-cay-shun. (in no particular order, include jack and jazz with herman, herman, and me at san juan capistrano..i have no idea what order they're actually in, but you can figure it out. I'm not the dog!)

world traveler.

my brother says he thinks i cut my hair so that i don't have to wash it as much now that i'll be traveling all over the place. that wasn't the purpose, but he's got a good point...

i leave for home today. i had a wonderful visit to pasadena. hiking on Sunday was spectacular. my legs hurt for a while, but it was definitely worth it. monday was another hang-out kind of day, but good. i got to cook supper on monday, so that was fun.

tuesday, jazz and i took herman along to the farmer's market. it was small but interesting. got some good cherries. then we went shopping for jack's b-day, which was quite successful. went out to lunch and then rented some movies and watched some movies.

yesterday, jazz and i went to the mall for shopping, that was fun also. we ate at california pizza kitchen, which is good stuff. then we got home and ate supper and gave jack a few b-day presents (early). then we watched movies again.

all in all, a wonderful vacation, i must say. and with that...i must stuff everything back into my suitcase and sit on it and zip it shut.

fun-filled funness

holas.

i'm hanging out in good 'ol Pasadena on a Sunday morning, drinkin' my coffee and feeling satisfied after some lovely french toast.

it's day 4 of my visit to jack and jazz. it's been a wonderful visit so far. went and ate greek food on the night i came, which was really nice. then on thursday just kind of hung out and went shopping a bit with jack and ate supper. and crashed. my jet lag hit kind of late.

on friday, hung out again while the kids worked. then jack and i took herman to the dog park and went grocery shopping. went to the barrio where jazz has been working. i have to say that i totally loved the barrio. it was really awesome. i felt transplanted into another country for most of the night. we went to a furniture store, where the guy spoke so-so english and was disappointed that jazz didn't speak any spanish. then, we tried to find a tiny mexican restaurant that a friend of jazz's owns. purely by accident, we finally found it. and the food? it was awesome. so good - i had tacos al pastor, very good. i would definitely go back there. yum. after supper, we went and saw the new movie "Goal!", which was also a splendid movie. You should go see it. it's good.

saturday, we lazed around for a while, slept in and whatnot. then we got ready for our excursion. decided to eat at in n out, which was harder than we first thought it would be - finding one on our way and then getting off the interstate and actually finding it was kind of hilarious. but we found it. then, we went to mission san juan capistrano. which was amazing. absolutely amazing. i don't think my words can describe how wonderful it was. there was a church there that used to be the biggest church in california, but suffered an earthquake in 1811. they excavated what they could and we got to see a bunch of the original walls. we saw a lot of other stuff, too. i'll post pictures of it when i get home, i'm sure. totally inspired me. i want to visit every mission in the US. eventually.

anyway, so after sjc, we went to the beach. we went to the laguna beach area and found a nice beach and took little naps on the beach. after that, we started our drive back home. we stopped and ate at applebee's, which was also excellent. then we came home, played a round of scene it, and then just kind of hung out and whatever and then went to bed.

which brings me to this morning, the "halfway" point through our trip. french toast this morning. herman woke me up. again. :) he's a funny dog. i'm sure i'll have lots of herman stories to tell. what a hilarious dog.

we're going hiking today, taking herman along. that's exciting. good plans for today.

so, a good vacation so far. i'll probably post pictures when i get home (i didn't take my camera cord along, so i can't take them off...silly me). Hope you're having a good day/week/summer or whatever you're having.

like a child on Christmas morning...

It's like it's Christmas Eve...and on Christmas morning, the good stuff comes.

Tomorrow I leave for California to visit Jack and Jazz. I'm there for a week. (You might hear from me while I'm there). Plans include San Juan Capistrano, the beach, hiking, some shopping, maybe a little Jay Leno, probably some other stuff. I get to see Herman, the three-legged wonder!!

Today is my last day of work with Hope Haven for a while. I'm excited to see my last kid for a while, maybe do some hammock fun, go to the park, just hang out a lot. I love this kid. I'm going to miss him. I won't see him until December probably. Sigh.

I got to translate for a head start program last night. It was really quite exciting. Parents came in for the parent meetings and I translated what the teacher say to update them on their child. I was excited to have some real-life Spanish action and they were excited to be able to communicate with the hispanic parents. Ah, how I love the Spanish language. And I love Hispanics, because they are usually nice and help me with my Spanish proficiency, as well. Top that off with a bunch of mom-translating in Spanish for her work, and I've been swamped in thoughts about California and Spanish. Hooray. Huzzah.

Being unlike Xanga (which is a good thing generally), Blogger doesn't have the "Currently Reading/Listening to" option. Which I don't mind, except right now I'm going to share with you.

Currently Reading: Wicked: The LIfe and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West
By: Gregory Maguire

Wow. Crazy book. It's all starting to come together. 80 pages out of 406 to go.

Hooray for summer reading. Hurray for summer vacations! Hurray for no homework, no tests, no papers, no exams! Hurray for visits to the public library! Hooray for sleeping until 8 in the morning. Hooray for spelling hurray differently!

gradumatation and other milestones

so, it's been somewhat of a whirlwind week over here in iowa. full of exams, there seemed to be a million other things going on as well.

as probably obvious from previous posts, my knee has been bothering me. after two doctor's appointments and an MRI, I received a cortisone shot for the pain this week and it seems that it just may be working. that's a happy news right there.

in other news, i found out my information about costa rica...when i have to fly and all that. that's good info. so if you're moving back to dordt on the monday, i'll be here...i leave on tuesday, registration day.

the final most recent event was graduation day. becca and i sat way up in the bleachers together and i managed to get some tiny pictures of a few important people...i don't know if they'll be useful, but they're good for posterity, i suppose. so, here are a few exciting pictures after the fact. #1: laura, me, and phil. #2 our coffee girls' group, me, sarah, and mel

the rumors are true...

well, in light of a crazy week and a half past, a not so upbeat me, and myself looking for some change, here is what resulted:

Hair Chopped!