3 Time Zones in 3 Days

Today we left San Diego at 6:27 am to head to Tempe, Arizona for the Mizzou bowl game. We were all very excited about the six hour road trip we had to Tempe. It has been a very interesting drive as we have seen many different types of agriculture in the desert of California and Arizona. We also got to see lots of sand dunes. People will pull campers into these flat desert areas and camp and ride their dune buggies all day. We are anxiously awaiting our arrival to Tempe to get to do some tailgating with all of the Tiger fans!
Yesterday Mom, Dad, and I went and toured the USS Midway. It was built and completed ten days after World War II ended. It was a self guided tour and you could spend as much time as you would like on board the ship. The three of us spent two and a half hours and probably could have spent another hour and a half because we never even went on the lowest level of the ship. After the ship tour we met back up with my favorite Aunt Jean and ate some fresh sea food. In the afternoon we walked around downtown San Diego and did a little shopping. The weather in San Diego was amazing yesterday. If I had brought shorts I would have been wearing them! I am envious of Aunt Jean and the weather she gets to encounter every day!

A Busy Holiday Season

Today I left for San Diego with my parents today. I am so blessed to be able to travel so much over the holiday season and to have people who want me to travel with them. We are going to San Diego to visit my mom's cousin Jean and while we are out West we will travel to Tempe, Arizona to watch the Mizzou tigers bowl game.


We are only in Las Vegas and I have one funny story. Mom, Dad and I were boarding the plane in St. Louis this morning and Mom was behind Dad and me. Dad and I went to the back so we could all sit together and Mom was no where to be found. Eventually she got up to go to the bathroom and we was in the front seat on the plane. I told Dad before we got off I bet she would be at a slot machine when we got off the plane and sure enough she was putting her dollar into a slot machine as we were walking off the plane!

Road Trip

This morning at 4:24 am I started out on my yearly skiing adventure with Abbie, David, and Peter, David’s brother. We rented a vehicle to get us to Colorado this year. We have tried flying and driving and we all decided that driving was the way to go. The car that we got from the rental place was a Mercedes GLX. It is very nice and pretty comfortable!


I feel like I am part of the Griswold family Christmas minus a tree strapped to the top of our car. Although we do have the vehicle loaded to the max. Two years ago when we drove we secured our skies to the top of the car we drove. This year we put them stretched from the back of the truck to them middle console. We have had many funny moments on our trip so far and we are only half way at this point. One of the funnier moments was when Abbie started to drive and was not used to the breaks and violently slammed them on when a gradual stop would have done. Then as she veered onto the highway she jerked the car into the lane on the highway and said “I’m not used to such a fancy car” and David’s response was “what a car with brakes and power steering?” We all got a good kick out of that.

Another comical story was as we were driving along the Kansas flats Abbie made the comment that she thought she could probably see for fifty miles out here. David then informed us that if you are standing up on flat ground the horizon is roughly 2.5 away. We have laughed the whole way to Breckenridge joking with Abbie asking if she could see the mountains when we were at least two hours away from them.

The last funny story I have is from when we stopped for lunch. We all decided that we would eat at Arby’s. Abbie ordered a sandwich and fries while David was contemplating what to order. After David ordered and got the total amount he noticed Abbie had gotten a $3.00 sandwich and shouted out in the restaurant “A $3.00 sandwich!” We all burst into laughter including the lady that was taking orders. David was shocked because he had ordered from the junior menu and he sandwich was only $1.18. We have had a lot of laughs along the way and we are really enjoying ourselves.

Roughly eleven hours after leaving Kansas City we arrived in Breckenridge. It was a successful road trip and our condo is in prime location. We are able to ski right into the back door of our condominium building which is great.



Friends

Being in college at Northwest has been some of the best days of my short life. One of the main reasons it has been such a great experience for me is because of the people I  have met. I really feel that I have met lifelong friends. In high school you are forced to be around people, some who you may not have wanted to be around, for eight hours a day. In college if you don't see eye to eye with someone you simply go on with you life and don't worry about it. The friends I have met at college would do a lot for me and I would do the same for them. I have a group of friends that have been there for me through thick and thin while at Northwest. I was thinking about all the friends I have made and we all come from similar backgrounds which fascinated me. Most of us come from small towns in Missouri, Nebraska and Iowa. We all have a lot of the same core values. I found it interesting that out of 7,000 students at Northwest that my group of friends are so similar. I have the best friends in the world and wouldn't trade them for anything!

Finals Week

Tomorrow marks the end to another semester at Northwest for me. After, tomorrow I will only have finals remaining for the semester. It is a huge relief to be done with classes for this semester. My classes have been challenging,  but yet fun this semester and I am getting deeper and deeper into my major classes. I will be doing a lot of studying the next week or so to prepare for my finals. I will be done with my finals on Tuesday of next week. It will be a great feeling to be done with all my tests for a while. This semester really seemed to fly by. It was a good semester for me overall. I will have some time to relax this weekend because Northwest is in the semi-finals of the division 2 football championships. They have been in the semi-finals the last six years now and have never lost in the semi's. They are matched up against the number one team in division 2 though so hopefully that record stands after this weekend. It is on TV so I will be able to watch it from the comfort of my home. I am looking forward to getting to come home again for a bit to spend some time the the family!

Turkey Trot and Stuffing Strut

Happy Thanksgiving to all! I made it back to Farber Tuesday evening for the first time since August 16th. It has been great being home and getting to relax some. One of the best things about being home is sleeping in my own bed!

This morning I woke up early to run the Mexico YMCA Turkey Trot and Stuffing Strut. I ran it with my mom, sister, and brother-in-law. It was only my second 5k ever and it was a huge success. Mom won her age division and her prize was a pumpkin pie. David won his age division and also got a pumpkin pie. I got third in my age division, which David won. My prize was a box of stuffing. It was funny that I won a prize because technically Abbie beat me and she did not place within her age group. We had a great time running the 5k and it felt awesome to run another race.

Arrowhead

This weekend Northwest played Pittsburg State at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City. A bunch of my friends and I went down for the day to tailgate and go to the game. We had a lot of fun. We grilled ribs, hot dogs, burgers and potatoes. Leftovers were plentiful because we had about five deserts as well. Northwest ended up winning the game. It was a lot closer than anyone thought the game would be because Pitt State was not very good this year. We now play Missouri Western next Saturday in the Division II playoffs.

The Rivalry

My girlfriend Kelli is from Omaha and is a true Nebraska fan. We watched the Mizzou Nebraska game together. We tried to keep the atmosphere friendly, but that was very difficult. It was a lot of fun watching the game with all of our friends because about half of my friends are Nebraska fans!

Northwest Homecoming

 This weekend was Homecoming at Northwest. It is a tradition at Northwest that there are no classes on the Friday of Homecoming week. It was really nice not to have class on Friday. I spent my day helping my roommate Dave strip shingles off of our sun room. Dave's dad is coming down this week to put on the new roof. Saturday morning I got up and went to the Homecoming parade with Kelli. After the parade I went home and started making some food because we had people over to watch the Mizzou vs Nebraska game. Unfortunately Mizzou did not put on a good showing. I will be wearing a Nebraska shirt Monday for placing a bet with Kelli. Saturday night we had a costume party at our house. It was a great weekend and now it is time to get back to school work.

Pictures of the semester

I have not posted much this semester and I definitely have not posted many pictures. I decided to do a posting of pictures from the semester.

The picture on the left is from family weekend. The Udelhoven's, my mom and dad and my roommates parents all came to our house for a large family dinner. We had a great time that weekend!




This picture is from the football game on family weekend. My friend Ethan who transferred to Mizzou came up on family weekend and visited all of us. It was great getting to see him!

As some of you might know I do have a girlfriend. Her name is Kelli and she is Omaha. At the beginning of October I went to her informal for her sorority. It was a great time!

The last picture I am going to post is of our house on a beautiful fall day in October. It has still been incredibly warm this fall in Maryville. Last year Maryville's first measurable snowfall was on October 10th. I do not think it has been below 32 degrees here yet.

Deactivated

Last night I deactivated my facebook account. I felt like I was spending waaaaay too much time on there. I have wanted to do this for a long time now and I finally just did it last night! It has been nice not having it, although it has only been a day. We will see how long this last because it is very easy to reactivate your account.

Homecoming!

I have not blogged in forever, but I have been incredibly busy with classes as well as work. My classes are going well this year so far. I am really enjoying my Intermediate Accounting 2 class. We have been talking about pension plans for the last week and I find that very interesting. I am also taking Tax Accounting and that class is very challenging. There is so much information that you need to know for that class.

This week is Homecoming week at Northwest. Everyone is always excited for Homecoming because we never have classes on the Friday of Homecoming. I will probably get up early Saturday morning and check out the parade this year since I have never experienced our Homecoming parade. Unfortunately, I will not be attending the football game this weekend since Mizzou will be playing Nebraska during that time.

Family Weekend!

This weekend is family weekend at Northwest. I am really excited about it this year as my mom and dad are coming up for the weekend! There will be a weekend full of fun in store for them once they get here. Friday night we don't have much planned. Saturday morning there is a pancake feed and then the big family weekend game starts at two. Our good family friends the Udelhoven's are coming up mid morning to experience a Northwest football games. It is a huge game because we are playing Missouri Western, our hated rival, this weekend. They have been selling standing room only tickets for at least two weeks now, good thing my mother loves a good standing room only ticket! After the game we are all going back to my house and are going to enjoy a big cookout. Also, my friend Ethan is coming to town from Columbia for the game Saturday. It should be a great weekend and I really am looking forward to seeing my parents this weekend!

Weekend Success!

This weekend was a huge success. My goals were to study for a test I had this morning, relax, and run a 5k. I achieved all of my goals this weekend. Friday night my roommates and I made homemade pizza. I was very excited about this as it was something my family did often while I was growing up. One of our friends turned twenty-one so all my roommates and I went and saw him then came home and just hung out. Saturday morning Brady, Hilary, his girlfriend, and I got up and we ran a 5k. None of us had ever ran one, but we did very well considering the circumstances. We then went to the library for most of the afternoon. Saturday night I went and hung out with some friends. It was a pretty uneventful night. Sunday was a day of watching football and studying. I am finally done studying though as I finished my first test of the year. I think I did okay, but I really shouldn't second guess myself as I know I changed some answers that I had right. I am looking forward to a pretty easy week. I am really looking forward to this weekend because my parents are coming up for family weekend!

5k Success!

This morning I got up with my roommate and his girlfriend and ran my first ever 5k race. We had very low expectations of ourselves as we had not trained a minute for the race. We jokily did some stretching before the race poking fun at the serious racers who obviously finished before us. As soon as the race started it started to rain and about a half mile into the race it started to pour the rest of the time we were running. It was also in the upper forties lower fifties while we were running so it was very cold.  Our only goal was to complete the race in under thirty minutes. We thought we could keep a good enough pace to run ten minute miles. We did achieve our goal and crossed the finish line at about the twenty eight minute mark. We felt great after we completed the race. It was much easier running a 5k than I expected. I had always been intimidated by the race. I finally found a great running partner in Brady and we had a great time. I would hope that anyone who wants to run a 5k would do so. You feel great after you get done running the race.

Funny Story

This morning I was working for the grounds crew on campus. My assignment this morning was to go mow the alumni center, the President's house, and the recruitment house. While mowing at the recruitment center, a lady comes out and is waving a Northwest shirt at me. I was very excited as I am a sucker for the free T-shirt. She proceed to tell me that they couldn't stop laughing in her office because I was wearing a Mizzou T-shirt while mowing the recruitment house. She continued to inform me they thought it would be difficult to tell prospective students how much everyone loved working and going to Northwest when the grounds crew kid was wearing a Mizzou shirt. They jokingly gave me the free Northwest shirt and I put it on just for them. It was quite funny.

The end of another week

This week was a great week for me! I have had great classes including Tax Accounting where we are learning the tricks of completing our own taxes. It is crazy how many exemptions and tax credits there are that I had never heard of. Also my night class this week got out an hour and a half early. I am really glad I decided to take that night class as it seems to be much easier than going to class three days a week. Since we have been in school roughly a month tests are starting to pop up. I will have my first Intermediate Accounting 2 test next Friday. It is a two day test so Monday we will also be testing. Things are starting to get very busy in my classes, but I am really enjoying my classes so far this semester. This weekend I do not have any big plans. I have a lot of homework I need to get done so I doubt I do much. Tonight my roommates and I are going to have one of our family feasts!

The Weekend!

I can't believe the weekend is already over with. This weekend was pretty busy. Friday night Dave and I went to the Natalie and Angela's and barbecued hamburgers. Angela is a conversation partner for foreign exchange students and her two girls came over for dinner. It was fun trying to communicate different things with them.

Saturday morning Dave and I were both up before 8:30. We sat around and drank some coffee until 9:30 or so then decided to give the house a good deep cleaning. We started in on the kitchen and finished with the upstairs bathroom. We did not sit down until 5:00 p.m. We did things such as scrub the bathtub, mow the lawn, edge our sidewalks, and we capped off the day by cooking a casserole my father would have loved. It had anything and everything we could think of in it. Saturday night we had a few people over to the house and just relaxed.

Today I finally slept past 10:00 a.m. at the new house. Once I got up I laid around until lunch and then I ate and started in on homework. After I finished my homework I went to church with my friend Jordan. Dave and I ate leftovers for dinner and then we watched the VMA awards. It was a great weekend and I got to relax a lot!

No complaints!

Working at Student Support Services is sometimes the funnest part of my day. The people I work with and for are just awesome including our secretary.  Our secretary is like the mom of the office. She is always a voice of reason and you can talk to her about anything. During training she announced she had been diagnosed with breast cancer over the summer. She has started her treatment and she is still at work everyday that she can be. She never complains about anything. She likes to talk about her treatment with us and keeps us informed. Her big word she uses is that this is "doable." As I walked into work today my allergies were bothering me and I was feeling a little sorry for myself and then I saw our secretary sitting at her desk working away and I decided that I can have no complaints. I am a very lucky twenty-one year old. I am healthy as a horse and I have an amazing family that does a lot for me. With all of that being said I will not be complaining about a few allergies!

Getting in a groove

My first week of classes went pretty well last week. I think that my schedule will work out nicely for me. My Monday, Wednesday, Friday schedule includes Intermediate accounting at 8 a.m. and then I work from 9-1 and I then have class from 2-3. Then I get to go back to the house and relax. On Tuesday and Thursday I work on the grounds from 7-12 and then at my student support services job from 12-2. After working all morning I then have class from 2-3:30. On Tuesday's I have night class from 5:30-8 which makes for a long day. My classes are going to be very challenging this semester, but I am only taking twelve hours. I am glad this is a short week because I am already looking forward to the weekend!

Let another year begin!

Today was Northwest Missouri State's first day of classes. Campus was so busy today. It seemed like there was a lot more people on campus than I remember. This morning I had an 8 a.m. class that is going to be very challenging so I will have to be well rested for that class. My only other class was Intro to Literature at 2 p.m. Two of my roommates are randomly in the class with me. We didn't even realize it until we were talking about our classes Sunday evening. Tomorrow I work at noon and then I have Tax accounting at 2 p.m. Also, tomorrow night I  have a night class. I have mixed emotions on night classes. While I'm sitting in class I wonder why I signed up for the class, but it is so nice only going to a class once a week.

I still love living in the house so far. We have been cooking family meals together at night and everyone contributes something. Also, as I am typing this email I am sitting on the deck that is attached to my room. I love being able to sit outside on my computer and get fresh air while listening to the crickets chirp. I'm looking forward to this year and I hope everything goes well!

Big Blue!

Some of my readers are probably very curious about the house I am living in. We nicknamed our house Big Blue when we first figured out we would be living here. This was a big transition from the dorms, but I love living in the house so far. I have purchased a bike and have been riding back and forth from campus. So far, I have not driven to campus. I live with three other guys named Brady, Matt, and David. Brady was my roommate freshman year. We were randomly placed together and we have become best friends since that time. David was our neighbor freshman year in the dorms and we hung out with him all the time and we are now the three amigos. Matt transferred to Northwest his sophomore year. He is from Brady's home town and he fit right in with all of our friends. Here are some photos of Big Blue! Enjoy!

The Living Room

The Dining Room

Dave and I in front of Big Blue

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The Kitchen

Back to work

Today I have training for my student mentor job. Last year this training was extremely intense. The person who lead our training had people laughing, crying, and he united our group of mentors together as one. I didn't know any of the other mentors going into the training, but when I left the training I felt like I had really gotten to know a lot of the other mentors. I love working as a student mentor. One of my favorite things is just being in the mentor room with the other mentors and joking around. It is almost like a locker room type atmosphere. It will be great to be back in the swing of things starting next week.

Relaxation

Last weekend I came home from St. Louis. I miss St. Louis a lot and being able to see my family so much. I didn't stay home long though. I got home Sunday night and was heading to Kansas City to see my sister on Tuesday. Tuesday night Abbie, David and I went to the Royals game. We had great seats compliments of Cindy Norton! Thanks Cindy! We then went back to there house and hung out before going to bed. I woke up Wednesday morning and met Uncle Craig for breakfast. We had a great visit and got to catch up on our busy lives. After meeting with Uncle Craig I then drove to Maryville! I unpacked a little and then enjoyed a night the house I will be living in next year. Thursday I went to Brady's with my friend Elliot. We had a great trip to Brady's house. Friday we all came back to Maryville. Since being back in Maryville I have done a lot of relaxing. I have had some meetings with different people, but for the most part I have simply been hanging out and catching up with friends. I have not been this relaxed all summer! It feels great to not have anything to do.

Experience and Connections

Tomorrow is my last day at my internship this summer. I have had great experiences there. Personally, I feel like I have learned more in the last two months than I have my first two years of college. Obviously I wouldn't be in the position I am today without those two years of schooling, but I have learned a lot over the summer. Not only have I learned a lot about accounting, but also how to interact in an office setting. Within our office we have many different personalities and they all mess together nicely to form a very strong team. It is going to be hard to say goodbye to everyone in the office because I have made a great connection with everyone in the accounting department. My internship this summer was an incredible experience and I wouldn't trade it for anything.

The final week....

This week is my final week in St. Louis. I thought I would be much more anxious to be leaving to see my friends, but I am really going to miss St. Louis. My internship was so much fun and I learned a lot. The people in the office were so nice to me. Today I was thinking about my summer and all the activities I had done.

The month of May I spent substitute teaching. This was quite the experience. I remember my classes, never me though, giving substitute teachers an incredibly hard time. Now, I have a new appreciation for substitute teachers. Overall I thoroughly enjoyed it though. I love being around kids and interacting with them. One day I got to substitute for my kindergarten teacher. It was weird, but very fun because she was one of my favorite teachers in grade school.

June was a busy month for me because I started two new jobs and also had friends come visit. On June first I started my internship. I had no idea what to expect really and I ended up loving it. The next weekend I started working on the golf course. That was interesting and I enjoyed having an outside job after being indoors during the week. Both jobs ended up being huge successes. Also during June my roommate Brady, his girlfriend Hilary, and my good friend Rosalind came to visit. We had a great time. We went to a Cardinals game, toured Busch Stadium and of course went to Ted Drews.

July was also very crazy. I started the month out by traveling to Washington D.C. to visit Angela, another great friend of mine. It was an amazing trip. I got to see a lot of D.C. and also experience D.C. on the fourth of July. Being in D.C. is something I would suggest to anyone! It was incredible. The next couple weeks I got to enjoy some downtime. Toward the end of July my friend Ethan came to visit. We had a great time in St. Louis. We got to see Nelly in concert, go to our first casino, and also go to a Cardinals game.

One of my favorite things about this summer was how much time I got to spend with my parents. I got to see them almost once a week. Going to school so far away I don't get to see them much and it has been very nice getting to spend so much time with them. I also really enjoyed getting to play golf so much this summer. For a while I was getting to play almost twice a week. I got to play with Dad and Cindy a lot on Friday's and I loved it.  Looking back I am extremely lucky to have such good friends and family. I had a blast with them all summer long. I am going to really miss St. Louis, but I am looking forward to the school year and getting back to all my friends in Maryville.

Cardinals games

I want to apologize for neglecting to post lately. I have been very busy this week. Monday I worked at my internship and then met my friend Tanner and his family at Busch Stadium. It was my second Cardinals game in three days. It was great getting to watch another game and to see Tanner. The weather was beautiful, unfortunately the Cardinals blew a lead and lost the game.

Tuesday I had the day off. I worked for our family friend Victor in the morning and then my friend Kayla came to town that afternoon. We did a little shopping and grabbed some lunch at a Mexican restaurant in Kirkwood. That evening we went to the Cardinals game for my third game in four days. It was incredibly hot that night. It was still over 100 degrees when we got to the game that night. The Cardinals suffered their worst lost of the year that night. I believe the final score was 18-4.

Wednesday I worked at my internship. I am starting to get sad to be leaving my internship. I have finally started getting to know some of the workers well and we have a great couple of weeks. Also, I will miss learning about accounting. I  have learned more than I ever thought I would in the last two and a half months. Personally, I feel like my internship has gone very well. I hope that my employer feels the same.

Today I worked again at my internship. After work, I headed home to Vandalia. I came home to play golf with Dad, Kelly Anderson, and Coach Allen tomorrow in Jefferson City. This should be a fun round of golf. It is great to be home for a night!

Bittersweet weekend!

This weekend was one of the best weekends I have had in St. Louis. My good friend Ethan came to town on Thursday afternoon. The weekend was bittersweet because Ethan will be going to Mizzou next year and we had such a good time this weekend and did a lot of firsts together. I will really miss getting to hang out with Ethan whenever I want to.  Thursday night, we went downtown to a free concert and got to see Nelly. Seeing a rapper in concert was a first for both of us and we really enjoyed it. Once we got back to Aunt Carol's we wanted to go out, but couldn't decide where to go. We decided to go to a casino. Neither of us had been and we really wanted to go and try it out. We had no clue what was going on when we went into the casino, but eventually found our way to the penny slots! Once we sat down we simply started pushing buttons and losing money. I bounced back a little bit and came out twelve dollars ahead! We definitely enjoyed the casino.  Friday, we played a little golf and then we did some shopping. After shopping we went and relaxed a little at Aunt Carol's. We then went out to dinner with my Aunt Claudia, Aunt Carol, Uncle Chris, Emily, my mom, and Colleen. It was wonderful getting together with everyone. Ethan and I then hung out with my mom and Colleen and got Ted Drews. Saturday I had to go into work and mow greens at the golf course. After work I took Ethan to a donut shop that my grandma Klos used to love. We enjoyed some donuts and then got ready for the day. Mom came by and picked us up a little later and we then went to Gus's pretzels in St. Louis. It is a very well known attraction in St. Louis. I got a bratwurst that was wrapped in a pretzel. It was delicious! Next, we went and took a tour of the Anheuser Bush factory. At the end of the tour Ethan and I got to sample a beer of our choice. I chose a beer called Michelob Golden Draft. It is only sold in eight states. Michelob Golden Draft is the best selling beer in Minnesota. After the tour Mom dropped Ethan and I off downtown and we hung out downtown until the gates opened for the Cardinals game. The game was great we got to see two homeruns. Also at the game they retires Whitey Herzog's number. It was great seeing those festivities. This morning I got up for work and Ethan started out for Princeton. It was an incredible weekend and I will really miss Ethan next year.

STL DNC 2012

Earlier this week I had read something about a free concert that Chuck Berry was putting on. I didn't really know what it was for, but I went ahead and got tickets from my friend Ethan and I for something to do. That was the best decision I could have made. It turned out to be an amazing night. The concert was put on to show that St. Louis has a lot of support behind it. The reason for this is because St. Louis is trying to become the host city for the 2012 Democratic national convention. Chuck Berry was absolutely awesome and then our tickets said there would be a special guest. The special guest turned out to be Nelly! It was so fun getting to see Nelly. After the concert we came back home and then decided that we both needed to try out the casino. So we went to the casino and then called it a night. More pictures, videos, and posts to come from my weekend.

City Buses

This week I worked at my internship Monday and today. I always take the same route everyday and see a lot of the same cars everyday. Also, I see a lot of the same city buses. The buses can be very annoying. They are very large and know they can do what they want. They simply stick their nose out in the road right in front of you. I get more annoyed by city buses than I do other drivers.

Tomorrow my friend Ethan is coming to town. It is going to be a lot of fun seeing him. I met Ethan last summer working on the grounds crew at Northwest and it turns out he is also an accounting major and we had a lot of classes together last year. We worked on a lot of projects together in classes and hung out out together outside of school. He is now one of my very good friends. Tomorrow night, we plan on attending a concert that Chuck Berry is putting on downtown to support St. Louis becoming the host city of the 2012 Democratic National convention. We also plan on playing golf and attending a Cardinals game. We are going to the Cards game on Saturday and they are retiring Whitey Herzog's number that night to celebrate his recent induction into the Hall of Fame. I am very excited for the weekend and getting to see one of my good friends.

FOUR!!!

Today I worked twelve hours at the golf course. I worked the long hours because my boss came to me yesterday and told me if I would like extra hours I could start plugging a green that is mostly dead. When you take a plug you take grass from a healthy green, that is not in use, and replace the grass that is dead on the dead green. I spent five hours working on one green and sixty plugs later I didn't even feel like I had made a dent. While sitting on the green replacing the plugs I had many golf balls hit my way. Most were not aimed my way, some people just didn't have great control of their shots. One man did seem to aim right at me though. He was an older man and the ball plopped down about two feet from me. I was very angry, but I simply walked away and did something else for a few moments. So for all of you golfers out there please use good etiquette and always yell FOUR!! if there is any chance you might hit someone. Now for my funny story of the afternoon. There was a dad and son playing and the son was probably five years old. He was an adorable kid and a pretty good golfer as well. His dad had his back turned and the kid went ahead and tried to hit his ball. The boy muffed the shot and it only went about three feet. He then proceed to run after the ball and stand there as if nothing had happened just as his father turned around. Next, the boy hit the ball and chipped in from probably ten yards off the green without his father ever knowing he had messed up. It was definitely a great thing to watch. I am getting excited for the week to start because one of my very close friend Ethan is coming to St. Louis Thursday for the weekend. He is transferring from Northwest to Mizzou so it well be great to spend some time with him.

Wonderful Day!

Today I woke up and ran some errands around St. Louis. Then I met Mom and Dad in Forest Park by the Missouri History Museum. We then proceed to walk around Forest Park until the History museum opened up. We then ventured into the museum and walked through Vatican Splendors. It was a very neat exhibit and I am glad we went. There was a lot more art work in it then I thought there would be, but some of it was very interesting. At the end we walked through the gift shops and Dad got a little out of hand and made me put on a pirates hat.

After the History museum we met our good family friend Roro in Kirkwood at a very good Mexican restaurant called Amigas Cantina. It was great food and it was wonderful to sit down and talk to Roro. I then took Mom and Dad to St. Louis Bread Co. and showed them how to use wireless internet. They are excited to learn how to use it. I then went and walked 18 holes at a golf course called Riverside. It was a decent course, but I did shoot my low score of the year so far. I shot an 89. This is a great score for me at this time in my golf game. The course was not very long and that really plays into my game. I had a wonderful Friday and loved getting to spend time with my parents. I'm off to work at the golf course the next two days.

Happy Birthday Mom!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!! Today is my mom's birthday! I hope she had a great day today. I get to spend the day with her tomorrow and I am looking forward to it. We are going to go to the Missouri History museum in forest park. There is an exhibit at the museum called Vatican Splendors that we wanted to see. We will also do whatever else mom wants to do in St. Louis. I have a hunch that she will want to do some walking in forest park.
My internship this week was very busy. I had to do some analysis, which I love doing, of different expenses the company has. I also have become a master in the fields of filing and shredding. I cannot believe the I only have three weeks left at my internship. This summer has flown by.

Work and Play

Today I was off work from my two jobs. I did however help out a family friend named Victor. Victor is my mom's friend Karen's father.  A little confusing. I helped him do some odd jobs around his house and then he took me to lunch on The Hill. Victor is a very interesting person. He grew up on The Hill and knows all of the best restaurants. He also grew up very close to Yogi Berra and Joe Garagiola. Also, Jack Buck owned a house on the same street when he first started his family in St. Louis. It is great to listen to all of the stories he has to tell.
After helping Victor, I went and played golf. It was a successful day on the golf course. I had my clubs regripped and was itching to get out and play. It was a great day off and I love getting to play golf!

Rainy Day

This morning I got up to go to work and there were some fierce looking clouds outside. I went ahead and cut all of the greens. As I was finishing my last green we started getting major winds and lightning. The clouds  then opened up and started dumping rain on the course after sitting around for thirty minutes they let me leave. I had told my cousin Brian that I would be willing to help him with his house after work so I went to his house after I left the golf course. We spent the afternoon blowing insulation into his attic. If you have yet to experience  this task don't do it. Pay a professional to do it!  After much sweat and some funny moments with Brian and Uncle Chris we got it done. At the end of the day it saved him a lot of money having us do it. When we got home we had a great meal with barbecued chicken, cheesy potatoes, and corn on the cob! It was wonderful. Tomorrow I am off to work at my internship!

Another Saturday

Today I worked at the golf course. I had to be there by 6 a.m. It was extremely hot already at that time. I mowed all the greens when I first got to work and then immediately had to start cooling greens because of the heat. To cool a green you simply take an extremely large hose and quickly water it down. We do this to keep the greens from burning up and dying. After work I took a quick nap and then went to church at St. Dominic which is where Aunt Claudia's kids went to grade school. It was overall a great day even though it was so hot at work.

Forest Park

Tonight, I had a great dinner with my Aunt Carol, Uncle Chris, and Brian. We had a lot of laughs and got to visit. After that I went and rode bikes with my Aunt Claudia in Forest Park. I really enjoy seeing all the huge homes around Forest Park and also being outdoors. It was a pleasant ride and it was great to chat with Aunt Claudia. Tomorrow morning I have to be at the golf course by 6 a.m. It is supposed to be very hot so I'm sure I will be busy cooling greens all day.

Family Time

Last night I got to go to the Cardinals game with my mom, dad and Cindy. It was a wonderful game and we got to see the Cardinals win! It was very humid out, but we had a nice breeze at our seats. We had seats in the Casino Queen area of the park and also in the Redbird club. Both seats were great and some of the best seats I have sat in at the new Busch Stadium. Then we went and stayed at the Marriott at Union Station. We were in a great room. This morning Cindy, Dad and I went and played golf at Sunset Lakes golf course. I did not play well the front nine, but bounced back and was the low person on the back nine. I really had a great time playing with them today. It was a pretty nice course. After golf, I took Mom, Dad, and Cindy to eat at a place called five guys burgers and fries. My friend Angela took me their in D.C. and I fell in love with it. They really enjoyed it and we had a great time. I love spending my day off with family and friends. I am loving my time here in St. Louis

Home sweet home

Tonight I came home after work because I have an eye doctor appointment tomorrow morning. It is great to get home for a short time. Tonight I had a great meal prepared by my father. We had roast beef, mashed potatoes, and green beans. Today I had great day at work. It was very busy so that made the day go by quickly. Also, I had my first evaluation for my internship and my boss said very nice things and he gave me a great review. The reason I had this evaluation is because I am taking my internship for college credit through Northwest and that is part of my grade in the class. To earn credit I also fill out a weekly report explaining all the jobs I had given to me that week. My internship is going great. I have really been enjoying the work as well as the people I work with.

My weekend

This weekend was a great weekend. I worked Saturday and Sunday at the golf course and things went well. My cousin Brian had a BBQ Saturday evening with all of his friends. My cousin Sam came down from Kansas City and I got to hang out with the two of them and that was a blast. After work tonight I went to my first company picnic. It was wonderful and I had a great time. Most of the accounting staff from my internship came with their spouses. They had a bean bag toss game and we had a tournament. My teammate and I took second place. We got demolished by the boss and another accountant. It was great to see my boss in a different atmosphere and see the competitiveness come out in him. On Friday I got to meet up with Dad and Cindy and play a round of golf. It was great to see them and to also play some golf. Although, I started out playing well my golf game dissappeared after three holes. I had a great weekend and am looking forward to the week. I only have five weeks left in St. Louis....which makes me sad and also very happy!

Day Off

Tomorrow I get a day off! I am very excited because I get to pick my mom up from the airport. She has been on vacation in Alaska the past ten days. It will be great getting to see her and to hear her stories of her trip. Tomorrow I will also get to spend time with Dad and Cindy. We are playing golf at Sun Valley in Elsberry. I love getting to spend time with all of my family and am excited for tomorrow.

ASB

I know this is a little late, but I am going to write about the spring break trip I went on this last year. Twenty two students and one faculty member from Northwest traveled to the Dominican Republic over spring break to take part in a program called Orphanage Outreach. Orphanage Outreach has a couple orphanages in the Dominican Republic and they help the orphans to become great young people. Our job while staying in Jaibon, Dominican Republic was to go into a school near the orphanage and to teach simple English words to the students there. I taught first and sixth grade. Some of the sixth graders were closer to my age than a sixth grader, but they were still eager to learn. Most of the students paid attention and wanted to learn more than anything. One of the counselors, who has been there for three years, said they want to learn English because it is the children's way out of the small towns and they can get a good paying job in a touristy city. Alternative Spring Break was a life changing experience for me and everyone who went on the trip. It made me appreciate all the little things that I have because everyone in the DR is very poor. People build their homes out of things we would throw away. I can't wait to go on Alternative Spring Break again this year. I got to know a lot of new people and got to know people I already knew even better. My friend Angela made an amazing video the summarizes our trip. Just click the link below to watch it!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=taOoe36OMPQ&feature=related

Back to work...

Today I headed back to work at my internship. The day seemed to drag on and on after such a fun weekend. I didn't want to do any work because all I could think about was my trip. Hopefully tomorrow goes by a little quicker.

Also today, I realized that I have six short weeks left in St. Louis. I can't believe that it is almost over. Living in St. Louis has been a lot of fun, but I am excited to head back to the Northwest part of the state.

My Trip!

I will start off telling you about Mary Poppins! Mary Poppins was simply amazing! Angela and I went early to get our tickets from will call and to also check out the Kennedy Center. The Kennedy Center was huge. It was a great place to see a play. Saturday we got up and went to eastern market. It was fun to walk through all of the street vendors and check out all of the things they had to offer. Before we walked around we grabbed brunch at a bar close to the market. It was neat because the World Cup was on and a lot of people were in the bar watching the games. I had a farmer's omelet which was a bacon omelet with mashed potatoes in it. I also got a side order of corned beef hash which was amazing.

After walking around eastern market we went to the Basilica-The National Shire on the campus of Catholic University. It was gorgeous. We got to go to mass there Saturday evening. After mass we met Angela's roommates at Union Station for dinner. After dinner we went and watched the rehearsal for the fourth of July celebration on the Capitol lawn. We got to see people such as David Archuleta, JimmySpence, and Reba.

Sunday we got up early and went down to Constitution Ave. to watch the parade. We left Angela's house at 9:00 a.m. for the parade so that we could get a good spot. We ended up getting a great spot and we had a great time at the parade.

After the parade we went and ate at a restaurant called Old Ebbit. We ate with all of Angela's roommates. It is very close to the White House and it was delicious. Angela and I then went to the Old Post Office and got a little desert at a cookie place there. Next we met up with some of Angela's other friends to get a spot to watch the fireworks from. We watched the fireworks from the Iwo Jima memorial along with thousands of other people.

 

Today we got up and walked around the Bethesda area of D.C. and just hung out until I had to head to the airport. Angela was such a good host. She took me to the airport today and we said goodbye at security. It made both of us miss all of our Maryville friends. It was great getting to see one of my close friends for an extended period of time. We had a blast walking and using the metro all over D.C. It was a phenomenal trip!

DC cont.

This morning Angela and I got up and went to Arlington. It is so massive and a little overwhelming thinking about how many people are buried there. We got to see JFK's grave site as well as Ted Kennedy's. My favorite part of Arlington was the tomb of the unknown solider and also the changing of the guard ceremony. Here is a picture from the changing of the guard.  We then went and met Angela's friend Jordan in Rosslyn. The three of us then went and ate at a restaurant called 5 guys burgers and it was amazing. The Obama family loves the restaurant. After that we spent the afternoon walking around Georgetown. It would be amazing to go to school there, but also very expensive! After walking around all afternoon we stopped and got a cupcake from Georgetown Cupcake. There was a huge line but it moved very quickly. They were delicious! The icing was something I have never tasted before I would love to bring some home, but I would have them eaten before I left the airport. Tonight Angela and I are going to see Mary Poppins at the Kennedy Theatre!

D.C.

I made it to D.C. safe and sound today! Everything worked out getting to the airport, long term parking, and my flight was on time. Angela was going to meet me at the airport, but when I landed we sat on the runway for a good 17 minutes. Angela was supposed to give a night tour of D.C. to a group and couldn't wait any longer so she had to leave. Luckily, she had brought along a friend to the airport that was able to wait for me and take me to Angela. It was such a bonus getting to see her in action giving a tour of the monuments. Also, I got to see them myself which was very neat. Tomorrow we are planning on going to Arlington in the morning and then to Georgetown in the afternoon for lunch and to walk around. Tomorrow night we are going to see Mary Poppins at the Kennedy theatre.

Work was very interesting this week since it was the end of the month and also the quarter. It was neat seeing the process of how all of the accountant's work came together at the end of the month.  This internship has been great and I am really enjoying it.

Vacation!

Tomorrow I leave to go to Washington D.C. for the fourth of July! I am going to visit my friend Angela who is doing an internship there. I need to keep my post short because I have yet to start packing! Tonight I went with my Aunt Carol and cousin Brian in search of bedding for Brian because he is getting ready to move into his house. I had a great time with them.One more quick note. I want to wish Abbie and David a happy three year anniversary. I look up to them a lot and I hope one day that I am as happily married as they are! My next post will be from D.C!!!

My wonderful Mother!

I would like to give a quick shout out to my mom who retired from public education today. She has devoted her career to helping students.  I feel like I have obtained my mom's work ethic as she puts 100% into everything she does. There is nothing that I can write to sum up my mom's career. Congratulations Mom! Enjoy retirement because you deserve it!

My Monday

Today I had the day off from all of my jobs. I was very excited to have the day off after a long weekend at the golf center. My day started out great because I got to sleep until 11. I had gone to bed by midnight so I got a great nights sleep. After I got up and showered I did a couple loads of laundry and got my clothes put away. The rest of the afternoon I ran errands around south county. I had to go to the bank, Wal-Mart, and to Best Buy. I went to Best Buy in search of my first digital camera. One of the workers in the camera section was a huge help and walked me through several different cameras and helped me choose the one that was best for me. Here is my first picture ever taken with my camera. It is of my Aunt Carol and Uncle Chris's dog Margi. Today was a great day!

Thought of the Day

Today I was watching a television show and one of the characters talked about how she couldn't wait to leave her hometown and never look back. When it came time for her to leave she said that she was realizing how much her town and where she grew up made her the person she is today. Don't get me wrong I loved high school and all the extra curricular activities I was involved in, but there were times that I felt like I was ready to leave and never come back. Looking back growing up in a small town like Vandalia is something I wouldn't want to change. One of the biggest things that I feel like growing up in a small town taught me was respect for my elders. Also, I really enjoyed knowing so many of my classmates and getting to go to school with many of the same kids my entire time at Van-Far/

Working on the golf course I get to listen to my Ipod a lot. The past two weekends I catch myself listening to Jet and The Red Hot Chili Peppers a lot.  Which bands do you find yourself playing over and over again?

Home

Last week I got to go home on Thursday and Friday. It was a great trip home and a pleasant break from the rush of St. Louis. Getting to be at home is always a treat for me. Going to school in Maryville I do not make it home too often. I really enjoy getting to see all my family and friends that I do not see much.  Thursday morning I got to play golf with our family friend Cindy and we had beautiful weather and a great visit. After that I got to go spend time with my grandparents.  Grandma always has a great meal for me when I come out for lunch. Friday I spent the day running errands with my mom. It was nice having mom home on Friday and getting to spend the day with her.  Before I left town to drive back to St. Louis mom asked if I would stay for dinner. Of course I couldn't refuse a good BBQ. For the BBQ I made my first ever dump cake. My friend Jenny has made them  multiple times and I just rave about them. She always told me that they are extremely simple and that I could make one myself. She was right! That was one of the easiest desserts I have ever made. My dump cake was a success. It came out great. 

Missing Maryville and Loving St. Louis

Last summer I stayed in Maryville and met some great people that have became good friends of mine. This summer I have really missed being in Maryville with all of my friends. The biggest reason is that quite a few people that I knew were staying over the summer and it would have been a lot of fun to get to play slow pitch and sand volleyball with them. I talk to them and they tell me about the great BBQ's they are having and I envy them. On the opposite end of the spectrum I am loving my time in St. Louis. It is great to be able to go out after dinner and go to a driving range or grab some ice cream. One of my favorite things is the adventure of trying to find a place that my mom has taken me a thousand times without her help. Although, she has received many calls from me asking for directions. Thanks mom! Also, I am able to see a lot more of my family that lives in St. Louis. I got to spend a lot of time with my cousin, Michael, before he left for Los Angeles. We had a lot of great laughs together and I want to wish him all the best out in LA. It is a weird feeling missing one place and enjoying myself so much in another place. I am lucky to have the opportunity in St. Louis, but I can't wait to get back to my friends in Maryville!

Blog name and Friends Visit

Some of you might be asking why I have named my blog My Box of Chocolates. The answer comes from a famous quote in the movie Forrest Gump. The quote reads "My momma always said life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what your going to get." My blog will take somewhat of the same approach. There is no certain topic that I plan on blogging about day after day. I will simply blog about what is on my mind or certain adventures in my life.

Last week I had three friends from college visit me in St. Louis. My roommate Brady, his girlfriend Hilary, and one of my good friends Rosalind came down Thursday evening. Thursday night when they got into town we ventured down to the Loop in University City. We ate dinner at Fitz's Soda Bar & Grill. The food was good and it was a great environment. On our way home we stopped at Ted Drewes for some frozen custard. I got my usual, The Dutchman concrete. The Dutchman includes chocolate, butterscotch, and pecans mixed into a blizzard! It is delicious! Friday morning we went on a tour of Busch Stadium. The tour was great. We got to go out onto the field and sit in the dugout. We also got to go into the box that Mike Shannon announces from. Later that night we got to enjoy the game and the Cardinals won! It was great to see my friends from college. I really appreciate that my friends took time out of their busy summers to drive all the way to St. Louis. 

Happy Father's Day Dad!

As many of you might know today is Father's Day. My sister and I were blessed to get such a great father. There are many memories that I cherish with my dad from when I was a kid. Some of my fondest memories are working around the family farm when I was a kid. I always enjoyed riding on the tractor with dad or helping him feed the pigs. Another reason my dad is so great is because I do not think he has ever said no to me when I have asked him to play any game in the back yard. There were many evenings when he would be sitting down to watch his shows for the night and he would come out to play with me. Dad, along with Mom,  taught me many great life lessons throughout the years and as I am maturing I am understanding how important these lessons are. Thanks Dad for everything. Love You!!

Also, I need to mention my grandpa. My grandpa has been a big part of my life and has always been supportive of me in everything I have done. Throughout high school I got to spend a lot of Saturday's with he and my Uncle Chris at Mizzou football games. I always loved going to the games and talking to grandpa about my game the night before. He always had good words of advice. Grandpa has also taught me a lot of life lessons. One time he gave me a newspaper cut out titled The Man in the Mirror. It was a poem about being responsible for your actions and your words. I have kept that cut out and read it often to keep myself in check. Thank you Grandpa for everything you have done!

My first post

Many of my friends have started blogging and I have really enjoyed reading their posts so, I decided I would start my own blog. Also, I think it will be a great way to keep family and friends informed of some of the festivities I am partaking in.

This summer I have an internship with a company called in St. Louis. The company I am working for has many different entities under its name. I would describe the company as an office design company. They do everything from installation of walls and floors to supplying the furniture for office buildings. My internship is with the companies accounting department. I have learned a lot from my internship and look forward to becoming an accountant.

I work three days a week at my internship which is great. My mother informed me that I would need to find a second job while living in St. Louis. She sent me to St. Louis one day and told me not to come home unless I had found a second job. Shortly after arriving home I got a call from a golf center. The golf center is a family oriented golf center. They have a driving range, miniature golf, and a par three course. I got hired as the weekend grounds member. On Saturdays and Sundays, I go in at 6 a.m. and mow the greens and then complete any other tasks my boss may have for me.

Overall, I am having a wonderful summer and I am thoroughly enjoying living in St. Louis!