Fight for Preemies

So it has been a while blog-friends!  I apologize for that, it has busy, busy, busy here in Aberdeen!  Add in the Thanksgiving holiday, and where did November go?!

One important event in November that I have neglected to blog about occurred on November 17th.  November is Prematurity Awareness Month and November 17th was Prematurity Awareness Day, or Fight for Preemies Day, sponsored by the March of Dimes.  As part of this day, bloggers across the country signed up via Bloggers Unite to Fight for Preemies by posting about someone in their life that was born too soon, too small, or too sick.  It is these babies that March of Dimes fights for when they raise money for research into premature birth and birth defects.

I wanted to be sure to post this before the end of November, and I definitely let it go until the last minute, but to be honest, I was still a bit unsure about whether or not I wanted to post my story.  Although I've never been shy about telling this story, doing so on a public blog is a little different--of course assuming people actually still read this! :)  So here goes nothing!

The premature baby that I want to blog about is actually, well, me!  I was born at 36 weeks, so 4 weeks premature.  Not too early really, and weighing in at over 7 pounds and 21 inches long, not that small either!  But I was born with a condition known as Goldenhar Syndrome.  GS is part of a spectrum of diseases called the oculo-auriculo-vertebral syndromes or OAVS.  So as you can see from the spectrum, they primarily affect the eye, ear, and vertebrae. Goldenhar specifically affects one side of the face and/or body. For me, it is my left side and as a result I was born without my left eye, with a misshapen left ear which I cannot hear out of, and my top two vertebrae are partially fused.  I also had hydrocephalus, meaning excess fluid around my brain, which was drained my inserting a shunt that drained the fluid from my head to my stomach.  There are a few other issues I have had to deal with, but overall, nothing that continues to cause difficulty or will affect me too much in the future.

Even with all of those challenges, and seven surgeries under my belt to correct different things, I've managed to live a fairly normal life.  Some people with Goldenhar Syndrome and other OAVS conditions aren't so lucky.  Many have upwards of 40 or 50 surgeries and still face many physical and mental obstacles every day.  I consider myself very lucky to have only a mild case of GS and have only physical issues to cope with.

The last thing I would share with you about GS and OAVS, is that there is very little known about what causes these defects.  That is why organizations such as March of Dimes and events like Fight for Preemies are so important.  They support research into premature birth and birth defects in hopes of reducing the amount of babies born too soon.

I know everyone has a lot of demand on their finances during this time of year, but if you have even a little bit to spare, consider giving it to the March of Dimes in hopes that no parent will ever have to lose a child born too soon and no premature baby will ever have to face serious health challenges again.

Thanks for reading and for Fighting for Preemies!!

On with the show!

This weekend my mom came to stay with me over the OHS Fall Break.  Friday night I made a new recipe, Honey-Glazed Chicken, from my new favorite food blog Stephanie Cooks.  She is excellent and her recipes aren't impossible - definitely check her out! Then we went to the Aberdeen Community Theater production of "The Foreigner."  You may remember that I auditioned for this production a couple months ago.  Having the workload i've had for the last few weeks though, I'm kind of glad I didn't have to fit in extra time for rehearsal!

The ACT performs in the historic Capitol Theatre on Main Street here in Aberdeen. It is a really magnificent, restored old building that I managed to snap a few pics of!  I love the sign outside and the amazing fixtures in the lobby.  I wasn't brave enough to take any photos during the show, but let me tell you, you have never seen community theater this fantastic!!!!  I was so so impressed.  Everything was so well done and well rehearsed and the actors' comedic timing was perfection.  I don't know that I have laughed that hard in a long time!!  Bravo to the ACT and their amazing performance! 

Saturday we slept in and then I made Whole-wheat blueberry muffins, also from Stephanie Cooks!  They were also super yummy and very filling because of the whole wheat flour.  Then it was time for shopping at the mall and pedicures!  We found some good deals (great sales at Herbergers that day) and then had time to relax and be pampered.  We decided to grab a late sports bar lunch at Shenanigans and watch the first half of the NU vs. MU game at the restaurant.  It was really fun!  There were a few other fans that showed up so that was exciting.  At halftime we decided to head back and watched the rest of the game at my apartment.  That evening (AFTER the Big Red WIN!!) we had our traditional family movie night complete with popcorn and root beer floats.

Sunday brought church and then breakfast at the Millstone before Mom had to take off.  It was so much fun having her here! I spent the afternoon finishing a book (to be blogged about shortly-stay tuned) and baked cookies for my office.  If you're looking for a simple yet interesting recipe, look up Brown Butter Sour Cream cookies on the aforementioned Ah-mazing food blog.  They are delish and went over really well!

Hope you all had a great weekend too!!

Jack Frost nipping at your nose....

I think that song left out the part about the 50 mph winds knocking you over!  Just a quick post to alert the world that thanks to that ridiculous storm system that affected the ENTIRE country practically, we had our first snow yesterday!  Granted it didn't stick for too long, but there it was when I got out of bed yesterday.  Not so sure that I'm ready for this!  I'm pretty sure the amount of snow that was on the ground yesterday morning was equal to the total amount of snow I saw all winter last year in Missouri.  Not that I'm complaining - after all, I do have new snow boots to wear! I'm sure I'll survive but I did ring in the first snow of the year last night by curling up on my couch with some hot chocolate (with marshmallows of course) and turning on the heat in my apartment.  Yes, I caved.

On a much different note, but in my mind, still equally thrilling, as I am getting ready this morning I turned my TV on to one of my Cable Music channels, the "Adult Contemporary" station.  Typically a lot of Jack Johnson, Rob Thomas, Daughtry, etc.  Imagine my surprise and utter excitement when the Spice Girls "Say You'll Be There" came on this morning!!  Pretty sure I haven't heard that song since about 7th grade when a bunch of us girls were going to form our own singing girl group.  Those were the days....thanks for the flashback NVC Cable.  

Happy Thursday Friends!!  

Run Forrest....

Two weekends ago I took a little adventure outside of Aberdeen.  A three hour drive to Sioux Falls, a 45 minute flight to Minneapolis, and another hour flight to Midway Airport and I got to spend some time in one of my favorite cities with some of my favorite people!  I spent that weekend in Chicago staying with my very best friend from grad school Michelle, who now works there, and my sister Kristin and her husband Will who were there to run the Bank of America Chicago Marathon.

Michelle and I spent Friday night when I arrived catching up, and laughing our heads off.  Saturday we met Kristin and Will in the city for lunch at Xoco (which was AH-mazing and worth the 45 minute wait in line to order) and did some shopping on Michigan (again AH-mazing).  Then after some R&R at Kristin and Will's hotel, we headed to Carmine's for fantastic Italian and so the runners could carb-load for the marathon the next morning.   It was packed with people doing the exact same thing but it was so good!!

The next day the runners took off at 7:30am and Michelle and I were able to see them about halfway through and then again at the finish from the Bank of America customer bleachers.  When we met them at the reunite area they were exhausted and hot (it was an unusual 85 degrees in Chicago by the time they finished).  But they did an awesome job and we couldn't be more proud of them!  It was Will's first and they ran it together at the same pace so it was pretty impressive for them to run the whole thing together!  Congrats you guys!  

Silly Will....you can't be THAT hungry after the marathon! 

So proud of them! 

Back to the gypsy that I was

A couple weekends ago (yes, I'm a bit behind), Northern State University held their homecoming festivities culminating in 95th Annual Gypsy Day on Saturday, September 18.  NSU's homecoming originated as a single-day event  back on November 18, 1916.  Three individual convinced the NSU President and Aberdeen businessmen that turning the campus into "one big Gypsy camp" for the homecoming game with Madison Normal would be a great way to promote the college and community. Thus, Gypsy Day was born!

This year's theme was "Fifties Fever."  I attended the Gypsy Day parade, which I expected to be much like the St. Patrick's Day Parade in O'Neill, but I was a little off.  There was the expected marching bands, farm machinery, fire engines, and of course, political candidates, but the sheer amount of parade entries was incredible!!  There were many marching bands, lots of floats from different companies (including ours!), and some pretty different entries as well.  Here a few photos from the day!  The weather was gorgeous and the bright blue sky provided a fantastic back drop for the morning!

The Avera St. Luke's float, complete with "Lukey" the Lion!

One of the many marching bands.  Made me miss color guard!! 

The Twist Cone's float, I think the Fifties theme came pretty easily to them! 

Firemen, playing bagpipes, wearing kilts....enough said.  

Like I said, farm machinery (don't worry, there were John Deeres as well!) 

I got the biggest kick out of this little girl who was having a great time waving in her costume, but of course the adults had to make sure she wasn't going tumble off!!  

In the middle of September, we'd still play out in the rain

Hey all!  I've been a little MIA lately but work has been super busy!!  The last couple weekends I've been out of town visiting friends.  Two weekends ago in Minnesota for Labor Day and a fabulous trip to the Minnesota Renaissance Festival with my good friend Brittany.  Of course, I didn't remember to get my camera out!  And this past weekend I was in Omaha with a bunch of the girls to hit up the Farmer's Market, picnic in the Midtown Crossing park and go out on the town....again sans camera, but I think plenty of photos were taken so don't you worry!

This past week I also had quite the adventure here in Aberdeen!  A week ago today I auditioned for the Aberdeen Community Theatre.  I didn't end up getting a part in this production but got some great feedback from the director and absolutely LOVED the audition process and hanging out with all of the other theatre hopefuls.  Check out the theatre webpage, it is pretty awesome and has some incredible backing here in Aberdeen.  I'm definitely planning on auditioning for the next show and may have caught the acting bug again!

Hopefully back with more adventures in the coming days as Fall has arrived here in Northeast South Dakota!  My favorite season!  In celebration of that fact, a new fall facelift for the blog care of The Cutest Blog on The Block!

Ain't nothing I know of can make you fall in love, like a night at the county fair

Well maybe there was no falling in love (maybe with the funnel cakes) but I did spend a good portion of my non-work devoted time this week at the Brown County Fair.  Now I know what some of you are thinking, especially those from O'Neill, how could that much time be spent at the fair?  Well, there is an incredible amount of support in Aberdeen and the surrounding areas for their county fair. Not only do they have the typical fair things like the 4H exhibits and the rodeo, but they also have food vendors as far as the eye can see, carnival rides, constant entertainment in different tents, musical acts all weekend and many other things.  I was lucky enough to use one of my supervisors fair tickets to see Love & Theft and Jake Owen on Friday night so below are some photos from that as well as the rest of my time spent at the fair.  One of the coolest things at the fairgrounds is Centennial Village which is this old fashioned village that hosts smaller musical acts and other performers.  A lot of time was spent down there, especially for the State Chilli Cook-off on Saturday, which featured one of our VPs cooking for the Chamber of Commerce.

Petticoat Junction at Centennial Village (anyone else remember watching that on TV Land?)

Centennial Village

Barber Shop at Centennial

Some of the rides at the fair!

Walleye On-A-Stick and Deep-Fried Pickles....this is why I love the fair

Love and Theft!!  

Mr. Jake Owen :)  

Call you later?  Ok!  Haha....

In the end, if you ever have the chance, check out the Brown County Fair.  It was tons of fun, great food, and a good opportunity for me to meet some new and interesting people!

Wizards & Weddings

Hey there blogosphere!  I realize it has been far too long since my last post and to be honest the weeks fly by so fast that I was shocked when I realized how much I had to post about.  So I will try and get you all caught up and then I have a special post of what I've been up to this week.

So about three weekends ago now my dad came to visit for the first time!!  It was a super hot weekend but we headed out to Wylie Park which is a big recreation area here with a lake, campgrounds, mini golf, and Storybook Land, which I blogged about earlier. The nice part about the park and Storybook Land is that there are lots and lots of trails.  One of which is of course designed to be the Yellow Brick Road.  Dad and I walked there for a while, checked out some of the famous statues and then headed over to a round of mini golf.  I couldn't tell you who won, we lost track of our scores after the first hard hole, but it was fun!!  We then had a lasagna night (had to prove to my Dad that I actually CAN cook since he claims we always eat out when he visits).  It was a great weekend and I can't wait for him to visit again this fall.

As for the second part of the post title, just as many people my age, I've been going to a lot of weddings as of late.  (7 so far this year to be exact).  And two weekends ago, I had the honor of reading at my friend Allison's wedding to her now husband Bennett.  It was a beautiful wedding and very much represented them.  As evidence of that, the photo here is of the Bride and Groom dancing to Thriller -- which they both know completely.  

I then traveled on to Lincoln from Omaha for my friend Holli's wedding to Brandon.  It was equally gorgeous, and although very different from Allison's, again it was perfect for them.  And what a beautiful weekend weather wise for both of them!  Unfortunately I neglected to get my camera out too much at Holli & Brandon's but was able to catch up with a lot of good friends from high school that I hadn't seen in a while!

Last weekend I decided to head home to O'Neill to spend the weekend before my birthday with my family.  Believe it or not I turned 25 this past week!  I know I'm having a hard time remembering that when asked now!  Mom and I went to dinner at The Blarney Stone with my best friend Angie who was home and Sunday I had brunch with my Dad and Barb so it was a great time to relax and see everyone.  

As you can see I've been keeping pretty busy.  More to come!  

Let the music play

This week's adventure came in the form of volunteering.  The marketing & PR department at work provided free ice cream at a concert in Melgard Park in Aberdeen.  The concert featured the municipal band playing the big band hits of yesterday and the musical stylings of our Director of Marketing, Patty, and her brother Bob.  The concert was really great and we had a good turnout!  It was an awesome night, the weather was perfect and I got to know a few more people from work and from the community.  Below are a few pics of the evening!

The bandshell at Melgard

The Municipal Band

Patty belting it out

Patty's brother Bob singing "Come Fly With Me"

The crowd enjoying the show....and the ice cream!  

Aberdeen Fun Fact #2

Remember when I said "There's no place like home?" well I figured it was about time that explained why that was so appropriate!

Aberdeen Fun Fact #2....L. Frank Baum, author of "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" once lived in Aberdeen!

Lyman Frank Baum was an American author of children's books, best known of course for writing The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Although born in New York State, after marrying Maud Gage in 1882, L. Frank Baum and his wife moved to Aberdeen in July, 1888.

Baum opened a store, "Baum's Bazaar."  His habit of giving out wares on credit led to the eventual bankrupting of the store, so Baum tuned to editing a local newspaper, "The Aberdeen Saturday Pioneer," where he wrote a column, "Our Laundry."  Baum's description of Kansas in "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" is based on his experience in drought-ridden South Dakota.

While in South Dakota, Baum sang in a quartet that included a man who would become one of the first Populist Senators in the U.S., James Kyle.

Also during this time, Maud's mother, Matilda Joslyn Gage was living in the Baum household. Gage was one of the first and most outspoken suffragists, a Native American activist, an abolitionist (she grew up in a house that served the Underground Railroad), a freethinker and a prolific author.

Baum's legacy lives on in one of Aberdeen's many nicknames (The Land of Oz) as well as in Storybook Land, a theme park located in Wylie Park which features its newest addition, The Land of Oz, in honor of the time Baum spent in Aberdeen.  The ten-acre park features a farmstead area with Dorothy's house, children's petting zoo, Munchkin Land, Scarecrow's house, Tin Man's house, Wicked Witch Castle, and the Emerald City.

Hopefully someday soon I will visit Wylie Park and Storybook Land and provide you with some photos of this awesome Aberdeen landmark.  So far everything is going well here in SD and at work, unfortunately readjusting to working 40+ hours a week has me pretty exhausted and so I don't find myself doing too much once I'm off work each week!  This weekend will be the first weekend I'm actually staying in Aberdeen though so hopefully I will have some adventures to share!!

There's No Place Like Home....

Well I was finally able to get into my apartment to stay and unpack all of my stuff!  I have it all pretty well where it needs to be aside from my desk/school/office things which I'm not really sure yet what I need to keep and what I need to toss or give away and I'm awaiting the purchase of a new bookshelf before diving in too deep with that mess.  

I am however infatuated my apartment and do think it will be difficult to force myself out the door come Monday morning and my first day of work (yikes!!).  It is really great and I love the decorating I've done so far with my mom's help.  I have a few photos share - nothing too exciting for anyone other than me I'm sure!!  

Here's the kitchen from one angle....

...and from the other.

The bathroom, with a great shower curtain I found on sale at Kohl's to replace my "college-y" polka dotted one and that matched a lot of the towels and accessories I already have.  

The bedroom, which basically is just the massive bed!!  And as you can see a dresser and the closet on the opposite wall with a small nook on the other side of the dresser where a bookshelf will go.  

Finally, the living space, (apologies for the laundry already drying), it's a little cramped with the dining table and desk but it is functional and cozy for now!  

There's also a great laundry room and a coat closet which I have made double as a pantry since I went from many many cupboards in my old apartment to just a few in this one.  But I love the space and so far Aberdeen has been great!!  I am anxious to start my first day on Monday and think this will be a great space to come home to each night! This week will be sure to bring many new adventures for me to share I'm sure!!  

P.S. Later this week I hope to fill you in on just exactly why the title of this post is so appropriate..... ;) 

30, Flirty, and Fabulous!

Well 30 and Fabulous at least! Happy Birthday to my one and only big sister Kristin today!! I'm sad to not be able to spend this special day with you but am confident Will and your friends will make sure it is one to remember!! I love and miss you so much!!

On a different note, the apartment (read: parking lot) is finally done! I'm headed up tomorrow to finally unpack and get things settled before starting work on Monday (with a slight detour back to O'Neill in between for a baby shower being thrown for one of my best high school girlfriends).

I hope to have lots of updates for you as I work on getting things where I want them and everything organized!

...and gettin' there can be half the fun

It has been an unbelievably long couple of days that is for sure, but for the most part everything went well! Although I supposed I didn't see it that way at the time.  Wednesday found us making the 14 hour drive from Columbia, MO to Aberdeen, SD.  After many stops along the way, including a detour in Omaha to pick up new furniture that BARELY fit in the moving truck, we made it to the original Super 8 in Aberdeen (yes, we actually stayed there!).

After a good night's rest, we got up and met my apartment manager at my building and found out that we could move all of my things into my apartment, but unfortunately we couldn't inhabit them just yet.  Hopefully we will be able to live there starting on Tuesday though, which is good news, and I can take the rest of the week to settle in and unpack before starting work on the 12th.  Which leads me to my explanation of no photos of the new place, because everything was quite literally thrown into my apartment and left that way, not to mention some of my appliances weren't even installed yet.  But I can assure you, it is beautiful!!  I am in love with my kitchen (big surprise) and the floors, fixtures, etc. are very pretty.  Once everything is in its place, I promise I will share!

Moving in went pretty well, but I have to admit, I am definitely not as strong as I'd like to think I am.  My mother however, and thank goodness, is.  I was continuously impressed with her resourcefulness in how to move certain items (big thanks to Duane Vosler for telling my mom an easier way to move a mattress - I never knew it could be that easy!!) I also have to praise my mother for very patiently explaining to me how to lift/carry/move many things as my brain does NOT work that way.  I'm not saying it all went smoothly, but there weren't too many bumps in the road.  One particularly funny exchange came when we attempted to move the couch very near the end of the day and were thankfully rescued by my neighbor and his friend who took over for us.  It went a little like this....

(after trying to explain to me how to lift this darn couch...and me muttering something under my breath)
Mom:  "What?  If you'e worried about your face just take your sunglasses off!  what are you worried about your face for??"
Me:  "I'm not worried about MY face, I'm worried about YOURS!!"
Mom:  "What?! Why are you worried about my face?!"
Me:  "Because I'm about to punch you in it!!!:
(uncontrollable laughter ensues, ending with me in tears from laughing so hard and my mother unable to pick the couch back up -- enter very helpful neighbors).

With that I'll leave you with a sampling of some of the songs that were on my Move to Aberdeen playlist for the drive up (there's over 10 hours of music on the actual list).  Unfortunately some of the songs won't play the whole thing or might not show up (one area of blogging I'm still learning), but let me tell you about those.  "End of the Road" by Matt Goss is a great song one of my college roommates introduced me to via the TV show So You Think You Can Dance? It is one of my favorites so please if you get the chance, check it out!  Rascal Flatts' "No Reins" is a little known song from a couple albums back that I have always liked but particularly embraced this go around, and "Ride of Your Life" by John Gregory is absolutely a great song about being ready for a new adventure and for life to take turns you never expected.  Enjoy!!

(p.s. bonus points to anyone who can identify the song from which the title of this post was taken!!)

Amazing Race Aberdeen: Roadblock!!

U-Haul picked up & packed, apartment cleaned, utilities and mail stopped, and then.....Roadblock!

For those of you that know me pretty well, it's no secret that I'm a big fan of the CBS show Amazing Race.   Sometimes on the show to make the race more interesting, contestants will be challenged with a Roadblock which is a task or obstacle they must overcome before they can proceed.  Well, I'm afraid to say, our team (Mom and I) ran into a significant roadblock today.  The construction on my apartment was delayed again, forcing our move-in date to July 8 or 9 and my start day for work to July 12.  I'm pretty bummed to have to put off work again, but we will still move all of my stuff up to Aberdeen tomorrow and put it in a storage area of some sort and I'll return to O'Neill for a few days until we are given the go ahead to move stuff in.   Although I may not have handled it as gracefully as I would have liked, I think we will overcome this Roadblock in one way or another.  Thankfully everyone at my job has been very understanding and so helpful throughout this process too!

Hopefully the next time I post I will have GOOD news!!  :)

Aberdeen Fun Fact #1

So for something fun I figured I would throw out an Aberdeen Fun Fact every once and a while, and this is the first one!!  Although it would probably be more appropriate if it were #8......

Aberdeen, South Dakota is the birthplace of hotel franchise Super 8!  
Super 8 was founded in 1972 by Dennis Brown and Ron Rivett as a hotel referral system, which was later replaced by a franchise in 1973.  The original room rate was $8.88 - giving the franchise its famous name.  The first motel was opened in 1974 in Aberdeen, South Dakota and boasts 60 rooms.  This motel still operates today as the Aberdeen Super 8 East (one of many in Aberdeen alone).  Super 8 was acquired by Wyndham Hotel Group in 1993 and has expanded to more than 2,000 properties across the world.

Why you may ask is this of any interest??  Well, with moving day right around the corner and a full day's drive between Columbia and Aberdeen, there is a good chance my mom and I will be staying at the original Super 8 when we arrive since it will likely be too late to get into my apartment.

The plan is to pack up Monday and Tuesday, drive the almost 12-hour drive on Wednesday and move everything in on Thursday, July 1 barring any complications!!  Say your prayers that everything goes smoothly and I will be sure to keep you posted as to the shenanigans that will inevitably ensue.

Home Sweet (Almost) Home

After a wonderful Spring Break and visit to Aberdeen, I'm back in Columbia to finish out the last few weeks of school!  It seems unreal that my two-year program is almost over!  Right now I am looking forward to the end, but am trying to be grateful for the time I have as a student as I know I will miss it once I start working in the real world.

The trip north was a success!  As this post implies, I found an apartment, however, it is still under construction!  So although I will have a brand new apartment when I move in, it also means that I have zero photos to share with you.  It is going to be a great place though and it will be very close to work and to the Y (so hopefully I will actually USE the gym...maybe?) I was able to meet with a lot of people at work and even pick out my office so that made the trip even better.

The rest of my very last Spring Break was spent with family celebrating Easter and the amazing sacrifice that was made for each and every one of us.  I hope you all had a blessed holiday and are enjoying some nice Spring weather wherever you are!

It's a beautiful day

Well it was a beautiful day in Aberdeen today!  Yes, I am in Aberdeen for a few days searching for an apartment and finishing up a few pre-employment things.  It's a little surreal since the next time I am in Aberdeen, I won't be leaving!

The housing search has been going well, hopefully I will have an update for you all soon!!  I have discovered however that I really dislike eating out alone.  :( But I suppose that is just something I will get used to until I meet a few people.  Otherwise I have had a great visit.  I wish I had more to report but hopefully tomorrow!!

"Who invited Boss-Lady?"

In anticipation of my big move up north, I think you all should do your homework!  One of my favorite movies is "New in Town" featuring Renee Zellweger and Harry Connick, Jr. along with a host of other fantastic actors!  If you haven't seen it, it's about a woman from Miami who has to move up to Minnesota to run a factory.  Obviously it is a change of pace for her and she has a lot of new experiences ahead of her.  


Scrapbooking, ice fishing, and learning to cope with the frigid temperatures!  Little did she know what remarkable people she would find when she arrived.  I have begun to think that my experience could be something like this movie - both from the crazy hi-jinx to the unexpected people I will meet!  Granted I'm not moving to Minnesota, but I think the idea still applies. :)


If you haven't seen this movie, go rent it!  You won't regret it!  

A New Adventure is About to Begin!

Welcome everyone!  As many of you have probably heard by now, I got a job!  I am very excited about the opportunity and look forward to all of the challenges it will bring.  What is even more exciting though is the prospect of moving somewhere new--without the purpose of going to school!  I cannot wait to make my first "big kid" move to Aberdeen, South Dakota this summer.


I decided in order to keep my family and friends updated on the experience that I would start this blog, not to mention, it will give me something to do once I no longer have homework to keep me busy!  I won't move until this summer, so until then I will have to keep you entertained with tales of apartment hunting and packing blunders and everything in between!!  For a while my time will be preoccupied with studying and making sure graduation happens, but I promise to keep you updated as best I can along the way!!