grilled cheese

I'm totally having a Melisa moment on the road. I finished up a college fair a little bit ago, was too tired to be social with other college reps so came back to my hotel room and ordered room service. Trying to be a good steward of the college's money, I ordered a kid's grilled cheese ($9 instead of the quesadilla which was $19!).

By the time they delivered my grilled cheese I was starving! Too bad it was not only the most expensive grilled cheese I've ever ordered, it was also the worst tasting one! And with all the charges, the total was $15 ... for an awful sandwich!! I ate it anyway. What choice did I have?!

Wishing for a chocolate chip cookie,
Jill

Old Age

Have you ever had to call the non-emergency police line? Tonight I made use of that number to report a situation I encountered while out for an evening run.

I was near the end of my 3 mile run, waiting to cross the street when this car came down the hill- on the wrong side of the road. The car was not going fast, but was swerving in and out of their lane, eventually driving completely on the wrong side of the road. Another car came down the hill, passed the swerving car and stopped in the middle of his lane. The first car also stopped in the dead center of the road, behind car #2. A young guy got out of car #2, ran back to car #1 to see what was wrong with the driver and to figure out how to help. By now, Apache (the neighbor’s dog) and I went over to the car and found a confused elderly woman, Vicky, behind the wheel. Vicky said she was on her way home from her friend’s house but, because of the bright lights in the house, couldn’t see well. We asked her where she lived… over by Byerly’s, so the young man, Nate, offered to drive her home and I offered to follow them in order to give Nate a ride back to his car. (Yes, I do realize that probably wasn’t the smartest decision.) I ran Apache home, told my neighbors where I was going, grabbed my cell phone and drove back over to Nate and Vicky.

I followed the two of them on a windy path to Vicky’s house. It was obvious from the last minute and wrong turns that Vicky was confused about how to get to her house. I felt bad for Nate as he was getting directions from an 88 year old woman who was obviously disoriented and confused, wondered if we were ever going to find her house. After winding through neighborhoods, we finally made it to Vicky’s house.

While Vicky was getting out of her car, Nate and I asked her questions to get a better sense of her situation. She shared with us that she’s basically all alone, that her husband died 11 years ago and her son had also died several years ago. She was visiting her friend, who is also an 80-something year old widow. On the way to her house, I noticed that Vicky’s license tabs expired in September 2005 (!) and wondered if her license had been taken away from her at some point years ago. I commented on the expired tabs, to which Vicky replied, “Oh… don’t call the police on me.” Nate advised her not to drive as the police may give her a ticket for her expired tabs, I advised the same, but explained that not only could she get a ticket, her license could be taken away. Nate helped her into her house, which, from what I could see, seemed to be a mess. There were piles of junk in her garage, the light bulb in her entry way was burned out, there was more stuff piled inside her door. It seemed apparent that she’s been living there by herself for quite some time and probably isn’t able to take care of it herself.

As we left, Vicky thanked us and said she’d pray a rosary for each of us.

On the drive home, I learned that Nate works for a computer company, graduated from EPHS in ’98 and lives in St. Paul. When he asked what I do, I explained that I work in admissions, that it’s natural for me to ask a lot of questions and apologized if I came across as nosey. He was friendly and didn’t mind my questions.

When I got home, I explained the whole story to my neighbors, then to Sheila who encouraged me to call the police in order to prevent Vicky from hurting herself or others with her confusion and bad driving.

So I did. I reported the story to the person who answered the phone, gave him Vicky’s license plate number so they could follow up with her if necessary. An officer called me back to gather more information about the situation and from him I learned that Vicky hasn’t had a license for quite some time. He told me he was heading over to Vicky’s house tonight to check on her orientation and get information from her on tonight’s events, that someone from the county would also be following up with her during the day.

The whole thing made me sad. Vicky seems to have no one to look out for her well being, she’s lost a large part of her freedom and she’s about to lose even more considering the fact that she won’t be able to live alone for much longer without a license.

One positive piece- there are still trustworthy people and good samaritans out there. Had Nate continued driving to his friend’s place, Vicky may not have made it home tonight.

The Springs

It's working. Yesterday was another fantastic day!

Started off with my daily trip to Starbucks (sorry Peaberry, Starbucks is right next to my hotel) where I ordered a yogurt parfait, a cup of coffee and a bottle of water for the road. The drive to Colorado Springs was beautiful, the sun was rising in the east, shining on the snow capped mountains in the west.

My first high school visit was a bust, but the admin was friendly and we chatted about her frustrations with the online system for ordering Rockies tickets. (She tried for hours, as did thousands of other Rockies fans, to order tickets and never made it past the first screen.) I'm friends with the counselor at the next high school and she did a great job of recruiting students for my visit, so there were 4 great seniors who are interested in St. Olaf. While I was in that visit, I missed a call from the mom of a current first year student who was hoping to meet me at the previous high school. We never had a chance to meet throughout her daughter's admission process and she was hoping to connect with me while I was in town. Long story short, she met up with me just as I was finishing up an interview at Starbucks and took me out to lunch. Such a nice treat! Her daughter is loving St. Olaf, which is always good to hear.

After lunch, I had to boogie back to Denver for an interview with another student and her dad. This young woman is about the most unique person I've met! She's written a novel, has an online doll clothing company (she knits clothing for a certain type of doll), taught herself how to create websites, etc. On top of all that, she has a vibrant personality.

Brian Watters and I met at the Denver Aquarium for dinner, which was the perfect end to a great day.

I've gotta run.... off to my last high school visit and then heading home!
Jill

Roadkill

Earlier this month, I was driving down Hampden Ave (in south Denver) on my way to a high school visit when I noticed two large birds feasting on some roadkill in the middle of the road. As I approached the birds, I stepped on my brakes because they were greedily eating their breakfast rather than paying attention to approaching traffic. One of the birds flew out of my path just in time... the other wasn't so quick and decided to fly directly into my path. I slammed directly into the poor thing. Of course I felt terrible about hitting the bird! However, within a few miles, I'd forgotten about tragedy.

I continued driving for another 10 miles when I stopped for gas. After pumping the gas and washing my back window, I remembered the bird and thought I should check for feathers in the grill. Before I even got around to the front of the vehicle, I could see a large wing sticking out of the front of the car. As I came around to the front, I was greeted by a whole pigeon stuck in my grill... and he was still alive, blinking back at me!!

At first, I laughed, but I quickly realized that I would have to do something about this live bird, that I couldn't just leave him to die in the grill of my car. What was I going to do?! There was a nice man pumping gas next to me, so I frantically went over to him, told him I hit a bird that was still alive and stuck in my grill. As he came around to the front of the car, his eyes got huge and he admitted that he'd never seen anything like that before. He proceeded to grab a handfull of paper towels, which he used to protect his hands from the pigeon. The poor bird was so wedged into the spot, it took my new friend at least 5 minutes to loosen the pigeon from its spot. The bird was obviously hurt as bird seed started to fall out of his insides. Yuck, I know.

Eventually, the guy was able to completely remove the bird, which dropped to the ground and scurried under my car. I introduced myself to Brian, thanked him for helping me and drove away with tears rolling down my cheeks. Even though it was just a pigeon, I couldn't help but feel sad for the poor little guy.

Fall Travel... again

It's been awhile since I've taken the time to write. Before I went to bed last night, I looked back at my entries from last travel season and I'm amazed I found the time (or took the time) to write so much! Guess I've been a little lazier this travel season... either that or I've had less exciting things to write about. It's probably the former. I've learned over time that when I take the time to write, I pay attention to the great things that happen to me each day.

I'm in Boulder, CO where I visited two high schools this morning- the first one was quite possibly my worst visit, the second was my most fun visits, so I guess they balance each other out. The first was at a high school where we consistently have several applicants each year (one this year is applying Early Decision!). Normally, this is a fantastic hs visit, but for whatever reason, the group of 11 kids today was non responsive to my "presentation". One kind soul kept adding her two cents as the sibling of a current student. I appreciated her effort to get the group more interested and engaged, but sadly her efforts didn't help much. I spent 2 hours at the next high school, where it's rare for me to see even one solid student. The two students who met with me are girls I interviewed when I was here two weeks ago. They're good friends so had been looking forward to our visit this afternoon. Lucky for all of us, no one else was interested in learning more about St. Olaf so the three of us chatted about their lives for 2 hours! We had such a great time.

Now I'm sitting outside a restaurant called Mad Greens where I had a delicious salad called the Edgar Allen Poe. I believe it was my first salad of the fall (don't ask how my pants are fitting). The weather is gorgeous! Started off chilly on Sunday, but has warmed progressively throughout the week.

This afternoon I'm getting together with Elena, who is one of the few St. Olaf students who transfers away from Olaf. She decided to go to CU Boulder to study opera with a world renowned opera instructor. I'm excited to see her and to hear how she's liking Boulder!

I spent yesterday in Fort Collins, where I visited some high schools and had an interview with a student and her dad. After that, I headed to Greeley where I had dinner with Micah. You might remember Micah from this time last year... he is from Colorado Springs, family couldn't afford to send him to Olaf so he went to UNC. Since then, we've stayed in touch and try to get together when we're in each other's city. Micah is definitely my favorite student who did not enroll at St. Olaf. I appreciate the fact that he contacts me to get together! Makes it seem a little less strange to hang out with a 20 year old who's not at Olaf. We went to Red Robin for delicious 'shroom burgers and shakes.

Hard to believe this is my last week of fall travel. Only having Colorado as an out of state territory makes for limited travel, which has advantages and disadvantages. Of course, I'm focusing on the advantages.

Lookin' for the good in each day,
Jilli

Nashville, TN

Our weekend in Tennessee is already coming to an end. We’re en route back to Minneapolis- Dad’s sitting by the window reading his book, Andy’s in the middle listening to my iPOD and I’m the nerdy one on the aisle with my laptop, alternating between free cell and Microsoft word.

Right away when we got to Nashville, we checked into the hotel and walked about half a mile to the center of downtown- Music Row. Andy has been to Nashville before and suggested that we have lunch at Jack’s, which is a well known bbq restaurant. Much more simple than I’d expected, sort of a hole-in-the-wall restaurant (which we quickly learned are the best, most authentic places to visit) right in the center of Music Row. When we asked about the beef brisket, the guy behind the counter showed us the tender, pull apart meat and Andy and I were sold. From there we wandered through several hole-in-the-wall bars and souvenir shops. We spent some time at a bar called Robert’s Western World, where we listened to a country band with an unusual looking guitarist who had a clear, strong voice.

We pretty much spent the rest of the day/evening downtown, wandering through several different bars, Printer’s Alley, Coyote Ugly (don’t worry, we didn’t stay), Hard Rock Café, the Bluegrass Inn and back to Robert’s. My two favorites that night were the Bluegrass Inn and Robert’s. There was another unusual looking band performing at the Bluegrass Inn, but man they could play/sing. Dad quickly warmed up to the band at Robert’s – the Don Kelley Band. Two of the members have played with very well known bands- the bass player played with Dwight Yokum, a few others, and with Johnny Cash for 10 years. Apparently he’s one of the original Tennessee Three (whoever they are… still have to google them to learn more). The lead guitar player used to play with Allison Kraus and is now playing with Patty Loveless… he’s an amazing guitarist! It’s hard to believe his fingers could move so fast, let alone get all the right notes and sound so good.

Since we had two more full days in Nashville, we decided to drive down to Memphis Friday morning (about a 3 ½ hour drive). The drive was fine- probably would have been better if the sun was shining, but the highway was smooth and the scenery was great… lots of trees and rolling hills. We considered driving through Graceland, but since none of us are die-hard Elvis fans, we decided not to take the time. We got lost, I mean turned around on the way to downtown Memphis so spent more time than necessary in the car. I ended up getting the giggles about the whole thing… all three of us are very capable with maps and directions so it was sort of crazy that we were so mixed up. We blamed it on the maps, which were not nearly detailed enough, and bad signage.

In Memphis, we walked along Beale Street, had lunch at BB King’s and then went through the Rock & Soul Museum where we learned about the history of country/rock/soul music and the roll of music in Memphis during the mid 1900s. So interesting! On the way out of town, we drove through Rhodes College, which has a beautiful campus.

By the time we got back to Nashville, it was after 9pm so we parked the car and pretty much headed right for Music Row again. Being a Friday night, the bars were much more crowded than the night before, but we wandered through a few, stopping where we could find an empty table. One of the places was a karaoke bar- we went there in the hopes of hearing some people belting out some good country music, but it was like any other karaoke bar with some good and some not-so-great singers singing the typical songs. Andy was hit on (big surprise) by a woman from Wisconsin who claimed to have had a conversation with him before, but apparently she was confused, or just had a good pick-up line. After that, we wandered back to Robert’s- this time after 10pm so there was a different band (the Don Kelley Band only played until 10pm). Would you believe we sat there until after 2am?! We met the president of the AHL LA King’s, Andy had his picture taken with the waitress (who used to spend her summers in Delano with family), he also made a new friend with a guy from Nashville who bought him a beer, a shot and put $20 in the tip jug for the band. Somehow they bonded over their shared annoyance with some drunk guy hanging out by our table. No complaints from Andy.

Needless to say, all three of us slept well that night.

Saturday we hit the road again, this time heading straight south for Lynchburg, TN. We stopped at the Cracker Barrel for a heavy breakfast including biscuits & gravy, grits and eggs. The scenery on this drive was breath-taking! More rolling hills, cows grazing and large houses on the hillside.

Lynchburg itself is a teeny little town with a surprisingly cute and historic downtown. After wandering through a few souvenir shops, we headed over to the Jack Daniel’s Distillery for a tour. Our tour guide, Marge, had the thickest southern accent and wasn’t about to take any guff from any of us. She was entertaining, to say the least. When Jack Daniel was 13 he bought the distillery from his family friend who decided to devote his time to being a preacher. Interestingly enough, the distillery is in a dry county, so even though they can sell whiskey at the distillery (the only place alcohol can be sold in the county) we couldn’t have a sample of the whiskey at the end of the tour.

On the way home, we got lost again trying to find Opryland, drove through Opryland and stopped for dinner at the Santa Fe Cattle Company. Once back in Nashville, we parked closer to downtown and went for one more round of Music Row. This time we stopped at a place called the Second Fiddle where dad quickly made friends with a young guy from Huntsville and we listened to a woman sing country music. And guess where we ended the night. Robert’s. It was the perfect place to end our weekend, as Dad was lovin’ the old country music.

The lifestyle of the musician is hard to imagine- they perform at least 4 nights a week, playing the same music for different crowds, passing the same tip bucket around. It was interesting to see musicians from different bars interacting with one another… I’m sure there’s a little sub-culture of Music Row musicians.

There are hundreds of cities we could have traveled to this weekend, but we made the right decision choosing Nashville. All three of us love the toe-tappin’ country music, but I think Dad got the biggest kick out of it, which was the ultimate goal of the weekend. The city itself is nothing special, but the fact that you can walk into any hole-in-the-wall bar and hear amazing live music is pretty great.

Ho Ho Ho

Merry Christmas!

It's been so long since I've written in this, I forgot how to log into my account! Whoops.

I had a very fulfilling Christmas, full of family, traditions and more family. Hopefully I'll be adding some friends to that mixture soon.

Christmas Eve we went to church in the early evening, then back to Mom's for her delicious steak dinner. It's sort of funny how we have the exact same thing every year, but isn't that what traditions are all about? After filling our tummies, we (Mom, Curt, Andy and I) gathered 'round the tree for annual pictures and gift opening. My friends make fun of me for having a Christmas much like the one we had when we were kids (gifts coming out of our ears). It's probably true. I'm assuming Mom enjoys this as she was done with her gift shopping about a month before Christmas. The evening was great- everyone liked their gifts. Even though it felt like we were moving quickly, I didn't roll into my driveway until midnight!

Christmas Day I swung over to Andy's and we headed to Northfield for Christmas with Dad, Monica, etc. This year, rather than give us several gifts, Dad and Monica decided to plan a weekend up north for all of us. After they presented us with that gift, we hopped on the internet, chose a place and booked it for a weekend in January. All 11 of us will head up to Grand Superior Lodge in Two Harbors for a mini family vacation. It's been at least 10 years since all of us have gone away together, so it should be a fun time.

Eventually, Andy and I zipped over to the farm, making it there just in time for Christmas caroling- one of Grandma's favorite Christmas activities. Shortly after that, the whole bunch of us gathered in the living room for gift opening. There's a scientific process of gift opening at the Korum Farm. First, we pass out all of the gifts (everyone has at least 2 gifts- one from Grandma and Grandpa, the other from whoever drew our name). Then, the youngest grandchild starts the gift opening and we make our way up through the grandchildren, aunts/uncles and eventually Grandma and Grandpa. With 34 people to open gifts, this process takes over 3 hours.

When we were kids, we'd open our gifts and shortly thereafter head down to the basement to play with whatever toys we'd received. Now, I actually enjoy watching each person open their presents, so I found a spot right in front of the tree, sat back and observed. In doing so, I heard most questions and answers at least twice- "who's turn is it after Teresa?" "who had Anita's name?" etc. There was just enough constant noise in the room, I'm pretty sure I could have fallen asleep to the sounds of gift opening, laughter and conversation.

After all the presents were opened, out came the second round of food - salami and crackers, chicken salad, chips and cookies. If we weren't full before that, we certainly left with a full tummy. Andy and I left shortly before 9pm.

For the first time, as we drove past Loretta Stanton's farm (Monica's mom), Andy and I decided to stop by to wish her a Merry Christmas. Her health has been slowly deteriorating over the years, and has picked up speed in the past several months. I'm so glad we stopped. There were a few people still there, including Dad and Monica. If you think the Korum family is large, you should see the Stantons. They don't have one big gathering for Christmas as there would not be room for everyone in the little farm house. Instead, there's more of an open house throughout the day, people stopping in for an hour or two. I've thought about stopping every single year, but for whatever reason have never done it. Even though she may not remember tomorrow that we were there, it was so good to see Loretta on Christmas.

Overall, a wonderful Christmas. This year I'm particularly thankful for my grandparents and their health and for my family. Each day/year/holiday season spent with family is a blessing.

Merry Christmas,
Jill

Gobble Gobble

Today is the last day of the Thanksgiving break... tomorrow it's back to work. Surprisingly enough it feels like a long time since I was last at work, so I suppose that means it was a successful long weekend. That doesn't mean it'll be any easier to go into work tomorrow though. Although, after a long weekend of doing just about nothing, it'll be good to have some routine again.

Thanksgiving day was very enjoyable. Went out to the Farm for the day, ate just enough (until the cookies were brought out... then I overate), went for a walk, visited with fam, etc. The day itself was absolutely gorgeous! When I got home, I called Julie and Jason to wish them a happy turkey day and ended up watching Grey's Anatomy with them.

Friday I avoided shopping... actually I didn't avoid it so much as I just didn't leave my house until 4pm when I picked up Papa Murphy's pizza. There are some days when sitting at home would be annoying, but Friday wasn't one of those days. I finished my book- The History of Love by Nicole Krauss- such a great book! Took me a little while to get into it, but in the end I didn't want to put it down. I finally got off my butt and went for a run that afternoon. Again, the weather was so wonderful when I first got out there I felt like I could run forever. Of course, that only lasted about 2 miles... I kept going for 3.5 though. Should have gone again yesterday, but it just didn't happen. My motivation was lacking.

That evening the neighbors and I got together for pizza and games over at Julie and Jason's. I had a good time... but woke up in the middle of the night either from too much food or too many drinks (although I did not feel like I'd had too much to drink when I went to bed). Could have been my stomach rebeling against the fact that I overdosed on the caramel corn I'd made earlier in the day.

Saturday was another low key day- I cleaned and cleaned my house. Ended up pulling out my fridge and stove which made the cleaning feel a little deeper than normal. Sort of got sucked into tv- watched parts of Little House on the Prairie, Animal Planet (a story on elephants), the Perfect Murder, Love Actually and the Titanic. I shouldn't admit that I watched so much tv... makes me seem really lame, but I didn't mind not having plans. I was in some sort of a mood though... Love Actually affected me, made me super tearful... as did the Titanic. All these great love stories. I want to feel like the characters in those movies. So fully and completely that nothing else matters. What holds me back? That's the question of the day/year/decade.

I rented the first disk of Six Feet Under, but never watched it. Maybe this afternoon. According to Jenny, Dave, Mary and Brad I'll probably get hooked on the series and will want to join NetFlix again. Bad idea considering all the money I threw away to watch the Sex and the City series.

One thing I haven't done in a loong time is go to church. It's obviously been a long time- I thought church was at 9:30 and 11:00 at All Saints, so I got out of bed in plenty of time to make the 9:30 service. Even had time for my daily dose of coffee and a little egg and cheese omelette. I knew something was up when there were no other cars turning into the church at 9:22, the parking lot was already full and there were no people walking into the building. Hmm. Apparently it starts at 9:00, not 9:30. Either they changed it since I last went, or it's been so long I don't even remember the correct time. I'd been planning on sitting at Caribou after church, so I just flip-flopped the two and here we are.

I trying not to be, but I'm self-conscious about what I'm writing, which completely defeats the purpose of a blog or journal. I guess I'm not using this so much as a journal of my feelings as a way to keep track of my life. Maybe I need to have a separate blog where I dive deep into my feelings, which I've never been great at and is an area of my life I could certainly improve upon. Something to think about while I'm sitting in the 11:00 service at All Saints.

Searching for my spirit,
Jilli

Coffee High

I think I must be on a coffee high because after 3 cups of coffee everything seems really great and my body can't move quite fast enough for my brain right now- how's that for profound?

It's been a relatively uneventful week and a half since I last wrote, which is probably why I haven't felt inspired to write anything. Travel season is great for the blog, I'm not sure how I'll maintain it now that travel season is over. Hmm.... Guess I'll have to seek out interesting activities.

I was recently reminded that the title of my blog implies that I enjoy running, but that in all 18 posts I've only written about running once. What a shame. Had something to do with the fact that I hadn't been running at all, an even greater shame. (here come the excuses...) Started with a busy two week period of time when I was in PA, then CO where I my siniusitus and busy schedule prevented me from doing any sort of physical activity. Followed by two weeks where I could have easily walked down to Tostrud for a lunch-time run, but had zero motivation to do so.

It's been a tough fall since two of my running-mates (Mary and Jess) have both left Olaf. Sort of forgot how necessary it is to have someone in the office who regularly works out, encouraging me to do the same. Luckily, I've found a new running pal in JennyP! She's speedy, which has been challenging, but good in that she pushes me to be faster. It definitely has not been easy to get back into the routine after 5 weeks of no exercise, eating poorly and being relatively lazy. Thanks to Jenny, we're back on track (ha ha!).

Something I love about this time of the year- burning candles. I love coming home, putting on comfy clothes and lighting candles. The cold temps and darkness make it incredibly difficult to leave home. I used to make fun of my mom for not wanting to leave her house after dark, and I hate to admit that I've become the same way. Maybe I should join Netflix again for the winter months. Wait a minute, last time I joined was to save money on movie rentals by watching the whole Sex and the City series. In the end, because I wanted to prolong the series, I found myself savoring each episode, watching only one episode at a time. Which in turn meant that I was a member of Netflix for over a year- spending more money on my membership than if I'd have bought the whole series of Sex and the City. Talk about a stupid financial decision.

Why do we turn our clocks back for daylight savings? Indiana has decided to buck the system and not turn their clocks back. Wouldn't that get a little confusing? Sometimes they're on Eastern Time, sometimes Central... if anything, they confuse travelers, forcing them to rely on their cell phones for the most accurate time.

This morning I woke up around 7:30, made my pot o' coffee and finished the book Stupid and Contagious (thanks Melisa!). I was so sad it had to come to an end! It's one of the funnier books I've read... I found myself laughing out loud at the crazy characters and story. So good. Great Christmas gift for one who loves to read.

Tonight I'm the phoning supervisor extraordinaire, which means that I don't have to be to work until noon-ish. Actually I won't go in today until after my run, rationalizing this by telling myself that I won't take the hour-long dinner break before the phoners show up for the night. Is that right? I dunno, but that's my plan.

Is it bad to use Caribou for their free wireless? I haven't bought anything yet, and since I'm about to meet Jenny for a run, I'm not going to consume any more caffeine. Should I buy a cookie? Or maybe a juice. Seems a little ridiculous to come to a coffee shop and buy juice. I think I'll sneak out without anything... we all know I've spent enough money at Caribou to take advantage of them at least once.

Ramble on,
Jilli

I Heart Alaska

Fall travel season is officially over for me. There are still some people who are out and about, like Jenny with her crazy week of college fairs, interviews and high school visits in the Pacific Northwest, but I'm officially done.

I love ending the season with the Johnsons! Staying with them is always relaxing and enjoyable, something to look forward to throughout the early part of the fall. Thursday night we went out for dinner at a place called Two Rivers and I tried halibut for the first time (well, close to the first time- I had some at the Anchorage college fair buffet but it was more of a fish 'n' chips variety). This halibut was deeelicious.

Thursday afternoon I met up with Ellen from St. John's/St. Ben's... we went to the Great Alaskan Bowl Company, didn't buy any bowls because they were incredibly expensive, but saw how they're made. After that we drove up to North Pole, AK where we saw Santa's house and reindeer. Unfortunately, Santa wasn't there but I did sit in his chair.

Had an early morning yesterday- set 3 alarms to wake me at 4am in order to make it to my 6am flight out of Fairbanks. I even asked Dad to call me at 4:40 to make sure I was on the way to the airport. He's still enthralled with the fact that he can be talking to me in Fairbanks, a world away from the Cities. Cell phone service was surprisingly strong in Fairbanks. I had better service at the Johnson's house than I do in my own townhome!

All flights went well and I made it home safe and sound. When I finally went to bed, I slept soundly until 9:00! Almost 9 hours of sleep and it felt wonderful. Sheba's purring and kneading of my neck didn't even bother me. He's just as happy for me to be home as I am.

Overall, another great trip to Alaska. I feel incredibly fortunate to have friends in AK who treat me like family and I look forward to visiting them again... maybe during the summer months!

I heart AK,
Jill

It's Cold Up Here

Monday afternoon, on the way back to the Cappy (otherwise known as the Captn Cook Hotel), Hilary and I stopped to snap a picture of the snow covered park across the street from the Egan Center. It snowed about 5 inches on Sunday, just in time for my arrival to Anchorage! The streets weren't plowed, so the drive from the airport to the hotel was a little precarious and nerve-wracking, especially since I was cutting it close for my 4:30 interview with a student interested in St. Olaf.

The long flight to Anchorage went well, I met a nice man who works in Valdez for the pipeline (Sheila- I bet you would have had a lot to talk about with him!), slept a little, read and wrote a little and was very glad to land late in the afternoon. The flight was a little late and, due to some airport emergency, our luggage took about an hour to arrive at baggage claim (if you knew how small the Anchorage airport is, you'd be just as surprised as all the passengers were that it could possibly take that long). By the time the luggage arrived, I was nervous about making it to the Whale's Tail for my interview, but luckily the timing worked out just perfectly. Except for my lack of professionalism (the cab dropped me off at the hotel right at 4:30 which was the time of the interview so I didn't have time to change into something more well-suited for the meeting with the student) the visit went well. Despite my frumpy, faded, black St. Olaf hooded sweatshirt and jeans, I think the student is still interested in Olaf. Luckily I'd met her a few years ago on campus and also have seen her at the college fairs over the years.

Check out the view from my 15th floor room at the Cappy! Beautiful. Hard to see a whole lot- on a clear day it's possible to see Mt. McKinley.

The Anchorage fairs were incredibly slow during the day... they're the longest non-national fair ever (11.5 hours over two days!) and in the end we see a decent number of students, but while we're all standing there it doesn't feel like a good use of time. Hopefully they'll take my suggestion (actually, it's Jim from Beloit's suggestion but I put it on my eval too) and change the fair to a Sunday afternoon. I think we'd have greater attendance and it would be a much better use of our time. My time in Anchorage was relatively uneventful, met some great counselors and students, but didn't get to see Kathy or John. Talked to both of them on the phone but our schedules didn't work out... and with the snow that fell on Sunday it would have been tough for John to get downtown to see me Monday.

Tuesday evening I flew to Fairbanks, rented a car and drove out to the Johnson's house. They've made incredible progress on their house in the last year and it's fun to see the changes. I haven't downloaded my most recent pictures to my computer so you'll have to check back later to see more pics. Some might think it strange that I stay with the parents of a current St. Olaf student, but I wouldn't want to do it any other way. Ted and Becca treat me like family, are incredibly accommodating and so easy to get along with... it's the trip I most look forward to each fall. Last night was the 3rd Annual Jill Lynch Bonfire. We roasted hot dogs and marshmallows and rotated around the fire to stay warm on all sides. My new Sorel boots kept my toes warm, and the cuddleduds, jeans, three layers of tops, winter coat, hat, mittens, scarf and neck warmer helped keep the rest of me toasty. Unfortunately, it was a cloudy night so there were no stars sparkling or satellites moving across the sky. That's ok though, it would have been more difficult to go inside if we were counting satellites and watching stars.

Right now there are 7 hours 43 minutes of sunlight in Fairbanks, tomorrow will be 6 minutes shorter (weatherunderground.com). Becca pointed out that it never gets quite as pitch black dark up here as it does in rural MN or IA. It's also never quite as bright during the day in the winter months. The sun isn't directly overhead, so it's not as strong. Another fun fact I just learned about Fairbanks- it has the widest temperature spread of any city on earth from -66 to 99 degrees. They've had some decent snowfall in the past few weeks, so the ground and trees are covered with snow. That also means that the roads are slightly treacherous, so I drive like an old woman in my Honda Element. You'd think being a Minnesotan would help my winter driving skills, but the slick roads bring out the caution in me.

Dinner out with Ted and Becca tonight, then I head home early early tomorrow morning (my flight from Fairbanks to Anchorage is at 6am).

Keeping warm in AK,

Jill

Two Weddings

The two-wedding day has come and gone and, contrary to what Mom and I had discussed about just ‘getting through’ events, I enjoyed just about every minute of the day!

Saturday started with an early morning of wedding prep and eventually coffee with Jenny. She had spent the night on Friday and I’m so happy that she did! Getting ready Saturday morning was so much more enjoyable with her there, painting our nails, drinking coffee and sharing excitement about the day/weddings ahead. I was lucky enough to be the first to hear her maid-of-honor toast as she wrote and practiced it that morning. Apparently, my friends are expert toast-givers… Jenny’s was equally as personal, thoughtful and emotional as Sara’s was last weekend. This one even brought tears to my eyes. We went our separate ways around 10am- I drove to Northfield, Jenny to St. Paul.

I arrived at St. Dominic’s before most of the wedding party, so I had a few moments with Jill before the busy-ness of the day started. Jill looked absolutely stunning, her hair was perfect and Jennifer had just completed her make-up. As personal attendant, I put together a basket of goodies (sewing kit, gum, Kleenex, bobby pins, toothbrush and toothpaste, shout wipes, etc) which were immediately put to use! Turns out Jill had been calling friends to bring bobby pins to the church… and a few minutes later one of the groomsmen came in missing a button, so the basket of wedding necessities was a success. (The gum was gone before the service, most of the Kleenex were gone, the clear polish had been used, the sewing kit was used three times – I’m not trying to brag here but it was such a relief to feel useful throughout the day!)

Eventually the photographer (Christi) arrived and Jill, BJ, Christi and I went up to St. Olaf to take pictures. The day was absolutely gorgeous- temp was a little chilly when there was a breeze, but the sun was shining bright for the morning. Campus was the perfect place to take pictures and Jill and BJ are incredibly photogenic, so I’m sure their pictures will turn out wonderfully. I told Christi to make a mental note of all the places because when I get married I want the same ones! The rest of the wedding party joined us after awhile and once those pictures were taken, it was time for the wedding ceremony.

The ceremony went very well. Father Denny was great at making the service personal and interesting. I didn’t get too emotional, although I did tear up right before it started.

After the service and receiving line (Jill and BJ dismissed each of the rows from the church) the wedding party loaded the bus and headed to the Rueb where we had a few drinks before the reception. The Nlfd Ballroom (which is now the American Legion) was comfortably full and beautifully decorated. We had a tasty dinner of chicken, roast beef, mashed potatoes, green beans, corn, salad and bread and the beer was free-flowing until the first two kegs were gone. It was great to see the Lynch family and so many of Monica’s family who we only see at events like weddings. Once the dance started and I felt I had mingled as much as necessary, Gary and Susie, Ken and Jackie, Mike and Sara, and Andy and I hung out in the back by the bar. When I first got back there, Susie bought me a tequila shot (I fully admit to giving in to peer pressure) and then Gary proceeded to buy beer for most of us back there. At this point it was only about 6:30pm and, knowing that I wanted to drive up to St. Paul for Jane and Jeff’s dance, I didn’t consume too much alcohol… just enough to have a good time.
I love wedding dances with a huge dance floor for the sole purpose of flying around with Dad leading me in a polka. Lucky for me, they played two polkas in a row and I’d like to think that the people who lined the edges of the dance floor as spectators were watching Dad and I as we swept in and out of the other dancers. I was exhausted after those two songs! Throughout the night I also danced with Ken and Andy a few times.

For a moment, I had a new best friend! Christi, the photographer, and I stood in the back chatting away. She’s convinced we’d have fun hanging out sometime, so we exchanged numbers (sounds like a date). We’ll see if anything ever comes of it. She and her husband are good friends with my cousin Brian and his wife.

I had planned on leaving Northfield by 9:00pm so as not to miss too much of Jane and Jeff’s dance, but when 9:00 rolled around I was having too much fun to leave! It was 10:15 before I finally left the dance. Andy had a Halloween party at Christy’s house in Bloomington he had debated attending, so when I left he came with me in the hopes that I’d drop him off at the party. Once we got on the road, he changed his mind and said he’d come to St. Paul with me and go to Christy’s on my way home. Thank goodness because I never would have made it to the dance by midnight if I had to make a pit stop in Bloomington.

We arrived at 317 on Rice Park (downtown St. Paul right next to the Ordway) at 11:00pm, just in time to enjoy several dances and for Andy to consume a couple more beers. Jane and Jeff were so incredibly happy, Jane was radiant and breath-taking in her wedding dress, Jeff was handsome in his tux and they were both lovin’ the night. So many fun people were there! Several people from work, Laurie Brill from LECNA, Jeff’s college friends who I haven’t seen in awhile, Milyon, Jim and Diane, Annie, Mary and Brad, Jen and Jeff, Jenny, Dave, Brian Lodemeier, etc. Such a good time. Midnight came and we had to say goodbye and head for home (or Elko as the case was for Andy and I – that’s where Christy’s party ended up). By this point in the evening, I was exhausted and dreading getting up in the morning for the long flight to Alaska.

About 10 minutes into our drive home, Andy decided he wanted to go home rather than to the bar (thank goodness). Here comes the only not-so-perfect event of the day – apparently the beer Andy had consumed didn’t sit well with our long drive home, so somewhere along Cedar Ave. in Apple Valley we pulled off to the side of the road where Andy lost his dinner. I guess he felt better after that, caught a second wind, so I dropped him off in Elko where he met up with his friends. Kidding! We drove through the car wash at 1:00am, I dropped him off at home by 1:30am and my head hit my pillow by 2:00am.

If I had been thinking ahead I would have changed my clocks back before setting my alarm, but I was way too tired to remember daylight savings. I woke up this morning at 7:30am, took a shower and when I was downloading my pictures onto my computer I noticed that the clock on the computer said 7:15. How could that be? The clock on my wall said 8:15. Arg! I could have had another hour of sleep, which was greatly needed after the long and exhausting week I just completed. Instead, with my extra hour I went to Caribou for coffee, picked up two copies of Outdoor News (the newspaper with Andy on the front page) and went to Mom’s where I printed off my boarding pass for my flight to Anchorage. Not the same as sleeping another hour, but it’ll have to do.

Julie was kind enough to drive me to the airport this morning. Michael gave me a complimentary pass for the World Perks Club, so I sat in luxury for 45 minutes before my flight. Ate yogurt and a bagel, drank hot chocolate and sat in comfort before my 5hr 45min flight to Anchorage. I fell asleep before the plane ever took off! We’ve only got about 50 minutes left- never did watch a movie because I couldn’t find the plug for my headphones. Apparently I was still asleep when I looked for it because hours later when I mentioned it to the guy next to me, he took the computer and pointed to the headphone plug on the front of the computer. Too bad. How I missed it is beyond me! At least I know where to find it for the flight home on Friday.

This week in Alaska should be a good combination of work and play. I’m only staying in Anchorage for two nights, hopefully will see Kathy and John at some point. From there I’ll head to Fairbanks for three nights where I’ll stay with the Johnson family. They always have fun events planned for my visit- so far the planned activities include the third annual Jill Lynch bonfire Tuesday night (where we’ll roast marshmallows and watch for satellites) and out to dinner Wednesday night. I’m sure I’ll have lots to write about by the end of my visit!

I still appreciate and love my life.

Yesterday was another wonderful, memorable day in the life of Jilli. The whole day went so smoothly, it’s pretty remarkable. I’m so happy to have stayed at the Benson/Carel wedding as long as I did, and I’m equally thrilled to have danced and celebrated at the Allen/Nordhorn wedding, even if it was a short amount of time. Days like that remind me of how fortunate I am to be surrounded by such amazing people- a loving, supportive, fun and enjoyable family and group of friends.

National Fair

Here we are at the Mpls National Fair earlier this week. What a good looking group of counselors! It's quite an exhausting day- left home at 6:45am and didn't return until 9:30pm. At least we had a small break in the middle of the day, during which time I visited Sheila, shopped at Target and sipped on a chai tea latte with Jenny and Dave at Starbucks.

I'm almost through this busy week, but as I realized when talking with Mom- it's sad that there are so many things going on right now, I just 'get through' each day/event so I can move on to the next event. I do appreciate each activity while I'm in it, but sort of dread each one at the same time. Work isn't all that bad, this fall it's my social life that's kickin' my butt. Actually, it's the combination of work and social life that makes it tough- neither one is bad on its own.

Today we had our 5th visit day of the month. I'm exhausted and I wasn't even on campus for the first 2! Our carpool was kind of humorous this morning. I left my house at 6:10am to pick the others up at their houses and arrive at work by 7am. No one said a word the whole way to Northfield. Four of us, silent in the car. It was way too early and we're all getting burned out.

The kicker of the day- I received an invitation in the mail yesterday, waited until this morning to open it.... so at 6am I learned that my step-sister's bridal shower is the one day in November that I have something planned with my girlfriends. Out of frustration, feeling overwhelmed and being tired, tears came to my eyes. In an effort to spend more time together, my girlfriends and I have committed to getting together at minimum once a month. We set this date late August, early September ... Sheila picked the date for her Fall Harvest Bake Off and of course there's a conflict. Such a bummer. Maybe they'll be willing to get together in the afternoon instead of morning...? Pretty please, ladies? I really don't want to miss the Bake Off (even though I haven't figured out what I'm making).

Tomorrow is Jill's wedding. Should probably get to bed soon, but Jenny's on her way over. Since she was at Jane and Jeff's rehearsal dinner tonight and going to the wedding tomorrow (both in St. Paul) she didn't want to drive all the way to Nfld. So I'll have an overnight guest. Fun that we'll both be getting ready for weddings in the morning. :)

Good night,
Jilli

Sunday

My busy weekend has turned out to be very pleasant. Both nights I was in bed before 11pm, which sounds incredibly lame, but was exactly what I needed after being away from home for almost two weeks. Both mornings I woke up to a purring Sheba kneeding my neck, made myself some coffee and had a slow start to the day. This morning I finished the book I was reading - The Memory Keeper's Daughter - so at some point I'll have to figure out what to read next. Any suggestions?

Annie and Jorge's wedding was beautiful! The priest was 82 years old, he's a family friend of Annie's so the church wasn't his home church and he was incredibly forgetful. He forgot to do his part of the Lord's prayer, he interrupted Annie during her vowes and he presented them as a couple long before he was supposed to. Even with all that, it was a lovely service and definitely a memorable one.

The reception was held at a country club in Mendota Heights- country clubs are always beautiful, but this one was particularly gorgeous. The reception room was a perfect size with three walls of windows overlooking the golf course. And it was warm, which was important to me since I wasn't wearing nylons with my dress. Sara looked ravishing and her toast to Annie and Jorge was creative and pretty much perfect. She remembered back to when they were little girls playing with Barbies dreaming about their future lives. In the end, she said those little girls would be proud of the lives they've lived, their husbands are better than Ken, their homes are better than the Barbie dream mansion, etc. It was very touching.

Kelly, Andy, Sheila and I left soon after the dance started which I'm sure was disappointing more for Sara than for Annie, but personally I just wanted to be home. The people there were incredibly friendly and I'm sure we could have blended in well dancing the night away, but the amount of time we were there felt perfect.

Today is my date with Anita (coffee at Caribou) and then Andy (dinner and shopping for Jill's wedding gift). Do you ever get the bug to clean and organize? I have that today, so I think I'll go through at least one closet and try to throw things away (I already went through my mug cupboard and as minute as that seems it felt good to throw away old travel mugs and tea). Too bad I'm not a football fan, today would be the perfect curl-up-on-the-couch-and-watch-hours-of-football day.

Jilli

Pumpkins!

Guess what I did this week.... carved a pumpkin! My secret buddy gave me a pumpkin and pumpkin carving kit, including some patterns, knives and scooper. Peter, one of our new admissions counselors, mentioned that he'd never carved a pumpkin before so he came over the other night and we carved away.

Our pumpkins are so great!! The pumpkin on the left is mine, on the right is Peter's. That's definitely the best pumpkin I've ever carved. Of course I could never carve that free-hand, I'm not ashamed to admit that I traced a pattern.

Whew... thank goodness this week is finally over. Not that it was a bad week, just an exhausting one. Fall Visit Days were Thursday and Friday, we had over 550 students visit over the two days. Of course, the days are energizing, people are happy to be there, students fall in love with the campus, etc... they're just especially long since we get there at 7am and usually don't leave before 5pm, we're on our feet and do our best to be "on" the whole time. It's all worth it, though, when a great student tells you they love the campus and are planning to apply Early Decision! One of my first year students (a homeschool girl from Georgia) gave me a yellow rose (Friday Flowers)! So sweet.

Maybe what's making me more tired is thinking ahead to the upcoming two weeks. Tomorrow is Annie Mleziva's wedding, which starts at 2pm. I have errands to run in the morning (I feel a little like Sheels with her weekly errands) and then the wedding in the afternoon/evening. Sunday Anita and I are getting together for coffee at Caribou and Andy and I are going shopping for Jill and BJ's wedding gift.

Next week won't be too bad, busy but good activities including the Mpls National Fair and Jenny's birthday party. Friday is Jill and BJ's wedding rehearsal and dinner and the wedding Saturday. I will get to Jane and Jeff's wedding, which is the same day. The next day (next Sunday) I fly out to Anchorage for the week.

Are you tired yet? You're probably bored reading about my upcoming weeks, but it helps me to list everything out.

I realize I never gave an update on the movie producer. Instead of going up to Boulder to meet with the guy from Shark Productions, I spent the rest of my time in Colorado going to urgent care, a bookstore for interviews and out with counselor friends. Sorry to disappoint, but I figured that nothing would ever come of my acting career so rather than meet with some strange man I spent time hanging out in Denver.

So... no acting for me.

jill

Home Sweet Home

I'm officially home after traveling for 12 straight days and so thankful to have my own home to return to. Seems like I missed much of the bad weather from last week as it's a beautiful day in Burnsville!

What a great trip! The two weeks were filled with so many wonderful people and places, it wasn't as painfully long as I thought it might be. Having had such a great week in Colorado, I was sad to say goodbye when I packed up my "home away from home" this morning. At the same time, I'm looking forward to having a more regular routine for a couple weeks, until I go north to Alaska at the end of the month.

Last night turned out to be such a great night! Jess and I met up with Brian Watters, Lisa Suomi, Jess' friend Zack and Brian's friend Meg (also known as Bernice) for supergood mexican food at the Morrison Inn, which is located in a semi-mountain town just west of Golden, CO. We had lots of laughs (are you surprised when Brian's involved?), drank margaritas and made fun of each other.

Brian, Lisa and Meg had gone hiking earlier in the day so tired out earlier than the rest of us so after they left, Jess, Zack and I went to a local Morrison bar and played darts and pool.

We quickly learned that I am much better at darts than pool...I won at Cricket, but lost at Cut Throat. After playing for awhile, we left Morrison and headed for Zack's condo to play more games with a few of his friends. We had such a fun time! It was so good to spend time with Jess! She's always up for hanging out with groups and meeting new people... and her friends were welcoming of new folks as well.

The flight home was uneventful today, only thing of interest is that I slept the whole flight. But I'm still tired and plan on turning in early tonight.

Back to work tomorrow. I'm behind on Grey's Anatomy and hopefully I'll be able to watch the old episodes online before this week's show!

Glad to be home,
Jill

Sinusitis

It's official. I have Sinusitis, which is an "inflammation of the paranasal sinuses due to a virus, bacteria, fungus, or allergic reaction." As of yesterday, the glands in my neck felt incredibly large so during some down time today I went to Urgent Care. I usually hesitate to go to urgent care because when I've gone in the past the waiting room is always packed. Then again, I rarely get sick so I hardly ever go to the doctor.

My experience at the urgent care in Cherry Creek North was very pleasant. I was in and out of the office in about 45 minutes (or less). When the doctor looked in my ears and nose, he said "Wow... you are really blocked in there." He prescribed a nasal spray (three together, actually), which is supposed to drain all the congestion in my head. You might be asking why he didn't prescribe antibiotics.... He went in to this long explanation where he compared sinus infections to boils. He said that if I had come in with a boil on my leg, he wouldn't prescribe antibiotics for it and hope that it clears itself up, but that they would drain the boil which would then help in the healing process. Apparently, that's much like a sinus infection (who knew?), so he wants all the crap to drain from my head in order for it to heal.

Hope it works.

The rest of the week has been going well. Had coffee with Annie Piper yesterday- haven't seen her for at least a year and a half. We have an interesting relationship... we became good friends through her daughter Lizza's admission process and kept in touch once Lizza was at St. Olaf. When I came to Denver, we tried to get together for lunch and coffee a few times. Even when Lizza decided to transfer away from St. Olaf, we remained close. But for the past year my schedule has been too busy when I'm out here, we haven't seen each other and eventually we lost touch. Finally, I had some extra time so we met at Starbucks for a maple macchiato, which I highly recommend.

Attended a slow college fair last night, but afterwards had a great time going out to the Purple Martini with some other counselors, Jessica and her friend, Zach. I had a few tasty martinis (my first official martinis other than the appletini I had on the 4th of July) and, with some encouragement from Jess, Joe and the martinis, I even danced.

Tradition has it that on the Friday of the Denver fairs many counselors get together for dinner downtown Denver and then out to Sing Sing, a dualing piano bar. In the previous 4 years I haven't participated, but again with some encouragement I've committed to going out tonight.

Don't worry, I won't go crazy because the Faith Based Education presentation is tomorrow morning at 10:00 during the 4 hour Cherry Creek Fair and I don't want to be tired in front of a group... or my colleagues from the other colleges on the panel.

Only 2 more days until I head home.
TGIF,
Jill

Actress?

Here I sit, at a Border's outside of Denver, checking my email while drinking a chocolate peppermint blended drink. An older man came into the cafe, looked at me a couple times and finally came over to me, said he didn't mean to stare at me but that I look just like one of his actresses! He's a movie producer- has produced 4 movies. He said he didn't mean to interrupt me, but the person he thought I was is supposed to be in California and he was wondering what they'd be doing here.

We got to talking and he said the movie is a religious drama coming out in March. Watch for it, it's called The Shroud.

OH MY GOODNESS - he just came back over to me and asked if I'm interested in being in a movie!!!! He wants to meet later this week to tell me more about it. I told him I'm not an actress and he assured me that was fine, that about half of the people in the movies are professional actors. When he asked how many times I get to Colorado, I told him just a few times a year... he said, "So we'd have to pay to fly you out here."

I'm dying... wish I could call someone but that would be too obvious as he's sitting about 7 yards away from me.

Dramatically yours,
Jill

Signs

Today is one of those days when I love my life.

My first work-related activity was a high school visit in Fort Collins. I followed the same schedule as Monday, woke up at 6:3oam (which seemed to come a lot faster than it did the day before), stopped at Peaberry for a large cup of joe and hit the road. At my first visit, I saw three seniors who are interested in St. Olaf for the music program. One of the students mentioned to me that their history teacher is a St. Olaf alum.... Scott VanTatenhove. Did I know him? Um... yes. I knew he was a teacher at this high school, but never thought of it in advance of my visit. After meeting with the students for a while, I asked the one guy to walk me to Mr. VanTatenhove's classroom so I could say hello. Of course, Mr. T. was teaching a class and it was probably highly inappropriate of me to knock on the door, but I did it anyway. He came to the door, seemed incredibly confused. I introduced myself... he didn't seem to have much recognition, and also seemed really flighty. Whether or not he remembers me, I don't really care. At least I followed my gut and said hello. I'd regret it otherwise.

It was an awkward exchange, but I'll get over it.

From there I went to another high school where I met with a sophomore boy whose dad went to Olaf. The student was really great- working on becoming an Eagle Scout, passionate about missions and service, tae kwon do, etc.

After that, I called Micah. Micah graduated from a Colorado Springs HS last spring and is one of my all time favorite students I've worked with over the years. Through his college search, he fell in love with St. Olaf. Both parents are alumni, he has family in Northfield and the Twin Cities, so he's been exposed to Olaf for his whole life. He's an amazing musician (received our top music scholarship for trumpet), has strong faith, a good sense of humor, a commitment to academics (IB program in his HS), is sincere and good hearted. Truly a great fit for Olaf... the type of student who thrives in our environment and is a positive addition to the community.

Sadly, because he didn't receive enough financial aid, Micah couldn't come to Olaf. He chose to attend UNC (in Greeley, CO) instead.

At the beginning of the school year, I looked him up on Facebook and he filled me in on his fall. He said that if I was ever in Fort Collins or Greeley that I should let him know and we could get together. Earlier this week, I got in touch with him to let him know I'd be in his area on Tuesday, would it work to meet for lunch. Lucky for me, he was free!

I realize it may seem odd that I wanted to get together with him since he didn't come to Olaf, but I really liked him and didn't want to lose touch just because he's at a different school. Hopefully he didn't think it was weird.

So I drove over to Greeley, picked up Micah and we went to a pizza place for lunch. It wasn't weird at all and I'm so glad it worked out to meet up with him. He's loving UNC but still wishes he was at Olaf, has made good friends, is taking tons of classes in their music program which apparently is pretty good, and seems to be well adjusted to college life. One kind of crazy thing since school started is that two weeks ago he was diagnosed with diabetes He's adjusting to checking his blood sugar levels several times a day and giving himself insulin shots after eating. Very similar situation to (cousin) Annie where he was continually thirsty and lost about 10 pounds in a week. He has such a positive outlook on his situation, said that he's just had to accept it and move on since there's nothing he can do about it.

I dropped him off at his dorm and left Greeley in such a great mood.

Cruised back to Fort Collins where I had two interviews and then the college fair. Interviews were great, both girls have visited campus within the past few months. I pretty much talked non-stop throughout the fair, so the two hours went incredibly fast.

On my way home, I realized that I love my life. So often I find myself thinking about what else I want to be doing, how I can be consistently happy and content with where I am in this world. I've asked God to give me a sign that I'm in the right place ... and if I'm not, I've asked for some guidance and direction toward a different path. Today I believe I was given a sign that I'm right where I'm supposed to be. Maybe somehow Micah was that sign, as he was the one who made me realize how happy I am that I get to travel for my job, that I get to build long-lasting and meaningful relationships with amazing people throughout the country that start with St. Olaf, but are based on so much more.

Today was a great day.
Jill

Crabby Moms and Snow

Today was an incredibly long day. I left my hotel at 7:30am (granted, I probably wouldn't have needed to leave that early if it wasn't imperative that I go out of my way for a cup of Peaberry coffee) and didn't return until 9:15pm. Luckily, I chose comfortable pants.

The day started off on the right foot with that large cup of french vanilla Peaberry coffee. I just love that stuff. They closed the shop closest to my hotel, but luckily there's another one about a mile away... and I think it's well worth going out of my way to start the day off right. From there I drove about an hour to Monument (just north of Colorado Springs) for a couple high school visits. No one wanted to hear about St. Olaf at the first school, but I had 8 students interested at the second school. Not a big surprise since one of our recent alums is a music director at the school.

After the high school visits, I had 5 senior interviews scheduled at the local Barnes and Noble Bookstore. The first student didn't show up, so after a few minutes I logged into email to make sure she didn't email me a change in times. When there was no message, I got nervous that I was at the wrong location so I asked one of the employees the address and she confirmed that I was in the right store. Finally, after 15 minutes, I heard my cellphone ring letting me know I had a message. Sure enough, it was an overly annoyed mother letting me know they were at the B&N, they had looked all over for me and couldn't find me so they were standing in the lobby of the bookstore. I went right over to them and apologized for the misunderstanding and you would have thought I had just insulted her daughter, the mother was so irritated. The daughter was nice enough, but the mom never really warmed up to me after that. I thought I had made it clear that I would meet students in the cafe section of the bookstore, but apparently I wasn't as clear as I thought. Maybe we just missed each other while I was up at the counter getting a bottle of water, but there were St. Olaf materials on the table so I'm not convinced they looked very hard. And why didn't they look again instead of just standing in the lobby of the store???

The rest of the interviews were great. Good kids, some very kind parents, lots of genuine interest in the college. On to the Phil Long Expo Center for the college night. The place was packed. Tons of families which meant that some of them had to wait in line to talk with reps. I was deep in conversation with a family, who I will admit was sort of annoying to me because the girl was so soft-spoken I could hardly hear her, the mom kept feeding questions to the daughter who would practically whisper them to me (maybe my lack of hearing had something to do with my congestion ... or could have been the hundreds of people all talking at the same time) and they did seem to stand there for a looong time asking me questions. But it would have been hard for me to move away from them on to the other family that had been waiting. The other family (family #2) finally lost their patience and left in a huff to go to another table.... only to return in a few minutes to interrupt my conversation with family #1 to say they'd been waiting for a long time and wanted to have their questions answered.

I was appalled! This mother was so incredibly rude, it was unbelievable. She basically told me that they had been waiting for a long time and had to have their questions answered. Luckily, family #1 was gracious enough to thank me and move on to another table, while Mom #2 went on to tell me that they couldn't find any information on our music scholarships in our materials and seemed to hold it against me that she couldn't keep all the colleges straight with the deadlines and application/scholarship requirements. ARG! What makes her think her time is more valuable than anyone else's and she shouldn't wait in line like everyone else?

You know what I did? I killed her with kindness. Even though on the inside I wanted to dish it right back at her, I was patient, explained our process in great detail and put on my happy college fair face.

What is with people???

Needless to say, I was happy to pack up my materials when the fair was over. When I walked outside, I was greeted by slushy crap falling from the sky. The weather was better in Minnesota than it was here! It was a cautious drive back to Denver, but I made it safe and sound.

It was a successful day despite the fact that two moms were irritated by me. More of the same tomorrow... only this time in Fort Collins.

Jilli

Aspen, CO

What a beautiful city! It's a shame I won't have any time to see the sights around Aspen, but the little bit I've seen (this year and last) is beautiful! The trees are starting to change colors... they don't get the reds so much but yellow and orange.

Tonight I bit the bullet and attended one of the receptions hosted by families in the Aspen area. I was so tired when I got to my hotel, but I remember people talking about how amazing some of the homes were last year and figured it was either that or wander around the city window shopping and eventually eating by myself. Since I can do that any day this upcoming week, I put on my black pants and headed for the reception.

The home was beautiful! Mountains surrounded three sides of the house, which was only a few blocks from the high school. I met several other admissions reps- Purdue, U of ND, Coe College, Hamilton, etc. That'll make the rest of the week a little more exciting as I'll see people I recognize at the rest of the fairs.

This fair is incredibly well organized- they host all sorts of activities the day before the fair (hiking, biking, rafting, etc), the receptions in the evening, brunch the day of the fair and finally the college fair on Sunday. The way my schedule worked I wasn't able to get in here early enough to take advantage of the outdoor activities, but it's definitely something worth doing next year if timing allows for it.

What a loooong travel day. Started this morning at 6:15am in Pittsburgh (eastern) ended in Aspen at 4:15pm (mountain). All flights went well, I even slept from Pittsburgh to Minneapolis and again from Minneapolis to Denver. Had a great lunch at Axel Bonfire in the Mpls airport- house salad and a super good bowl of chicken tortilla soup. I highly recommend it!

From MSP to DEN I was sitting next to an older couple who was on their way to visit their daughter and granddaughter in Fort Collins. We had a very When-Harry-Met-Sally moment... the man started telling me about their relationship. They were high school and junior high sweethearts, went their separate ways after high school, both married other people. Eventually, "Sally's" husband died and "Harry" and his wife got a divorce. Sally was looking up some old friends and eventually left a message for Harry at home, neither knowing that the other was no longer married. Well, they reunited, got married and are living happily ever after. It was very sweet... especially the way he was telling the story. It was apparent he really loves her. Reminded me of the relationship stories on When Harry Met Sally.

In the Denver airport I witnessed an older woman lose her balance on one of those moving walkways, she fell down, knocked her head on the side rail and all of her belongings fell from her hands. There were plenty of people around who were able to stop the walkway and make sure she was ok, which she was after awhile but she sat there for a long time catching her breath waiting for the wheelchair.

Tomorrow after the fair I'll ride from Aspen to Denver with Tom from Gustavus, which we did last year. He's a very calm and laid-back guy, making the 4 hour drive much more interesting than if I were to do it alone. No plans tomorrow night, but Monday I'll head to Colorado Springs for a couple high school visits, interviews and a college fair. It'll work out to see Brian Watters at the end of the week, so that's something to look forward to.

Hope the Pittsburgh crew had a good time at the Social! Jenny and Jen- are you having quality laptop time tonight? :) I'm excited to hear if you enjoyed the rest of the conference.

I always sign off saying I'm tired and tonight's no different. It's been a long day and I still need to iron my clothes for tomorrow and pack my travel bag for the fair.

Sleep well,
Jilli

Pillow-Talk

I really should put this darn laptop away... but for some reason I'm drawn to writing in my blog. Maybe because the novelty of it hasn't worn off and 'creating' a website makes me feel technologically capable. Maybe it's the thought of having an easily accessible journal that makes me want to write something every day. Whatever the case, I'm documenting my life, which makes me feel good. It may not be that interesting, but I like to think I have a little something to share.

The conference is fine- more fun and interesting are the people. Jenny, Jen and I are sharing a room, so we have good talk-time. Apparently, we're not the only ones having pillow-talk. Bryan and Luke seem to be hitting it off as roommates... they shared with us that they talked for a good hour and a half after the lights were out last night! We were wondering if they were having pillow-talk and for some reason it makes me laugh thinking about them chatting away the hours.

Actually, the three of us (Jen, Jenny and I) don't even have that much time to talk because when we get back to the room, we each pull out our laptops and jump onto wireless and click-clack away on our computers. Lame-oh.

Today we spent time at a meeting on the common application, which was short. We went to lunch with Laurie from LECNA where the service was terrible. Spent quality time at the LECNA booth (and snuck away for some popcorn and M&Ms) and the MN acac meeting where we were called out by Lynn Redmond for being late (he made us stand and introduce ourselves after we walked into the room- all in good fun, not as punishment). The Hardwick-Day/Lawlor Group social was held at an Irish pub so took advantage of the free drinks, appetizers and desserts... and actually met a few new people too. Talked to Matt from St. John's/St. Ben's about our Faith Based Education workshop we'll be doing next weekend at the Cherry Creek Fair in Denver. We decided we'll talk for a bit and then open it up for questions. Maybe that's taking the easy way out, but neither of us has lots of time to prepare a presentation. Although, Laurie Brill has offered her presentation to me which includes research on just this topic, so I think we'll be well-prepared in the end.

So far I like what I've seen of Pittsburgh. There really are a lot of bridges (I believe 3 rivers come together near downtown) and the areas we've seen so far are decent for a big city. The pub tonight is located in and area of town called the Strip District, which is also where we're planning on having dinner tomorrow night. Unlike in Tampa, there are several restaurants within walking distance of the Convention Center... and it's not so humid so it's a reasonable walking distance between the hotel and Convention Center.

Ok. My clock says 11:30pm, but that means it's actually 12:30am. We have a light morning (nothing scheduled until after 10:30am) but I still should get some sleep. Night night.

Jill

Pittsburgh, PA

After a painful and muffled flight (due to sinus pressure and congestion), we made it to Pittsburgh- the city of many bridges. Jenny, Jen and I are sharing a corner room at the Hilton with a fantastic view of the city.

In one night we've already had a late lunch, attended two college fairs and went out for dinner. I'm excited for the rest of our time here as we'll get to spend more quality time with great people and see a little more of the city. The conference is secondary to good people and tasty food. :)

Even though I said goodbye to Sheba for 12 days, I'm not dreading this long trip. The only thing I'm not excited about is the long travel day on Saturday, especially if my head is as clogged as it was today. From here, I fly through Minneapolis, through Denver ending in Aspen.

Jenny's almost asleep and I think it's about time for me to do the same.

Happy birthday, Dad! I love you lots and hope you had a wonderful day.
Jilli

TC 10 Mile

What a perfect day for a run!

I was fortunate enough to know people who had an extra race packet for the TC 10 mile (the Shortcut to the Capitol). Even though I knew I wanted to run the race, it took me a long time to commit to taking the extra packet. I had a hard time justifying spending money to run right now and with a long trip ahead later this week and an already busy weekend, I was hesitant to schedule one more activity for myself. In the end, I decided I just didn't want to miss the opportunity, so.... this morning I ran the 10 miles in 1hr and 30min (almost exactly 9 minute miles!).

The race started this morning at 7:10am, so I got up at 5:30 to meet at Mary and Brad's at 6:15. A little early considering I didn't get home from Annie and Keith's wedding dance until 11:45 lat night. Luckily, I slept well Friday night and they say it's most important to get a good night's rest two nights before the race. I was also careful about what I drank last night, not wanting to make myself miserable during the race, and it must have paid off because I felt great throughout the 10 miles.

Mary's sister-in-law, Amy, and I ended up running the whole race together. I was thankful to have someone along side of me the whole way and someone who was a little faster than I would have run by myself.

If you want to see my official race time, you'll have to look under Cari Lindberg since that's whose race packet I used.

Afterwards, we met up for bruch at Jensen's Cafe in celebration of Dad's birthday, which is Wednesday. Great way to spend the day after completing the run... with family and eating lots of delicious food.

Yay for the TC10 Mile!

Madeline

The Home Interiors Party was a smashing success! I wasn't expecting to earn much in hostess credit, but in the end people purchased several dollars worth of product. As it turns out, Madeline will be moving in with me soon. (Madeline is a lovely, colorful, framed piece of art who I sort of fell in love with. She'll fit in perfectly above my fireplace.)

I better get going... busy day ahead. Why is FreeCell so addicting?

Pictures

I figured out how to post a picture! Now to find better pictures to post..... :)

This weekend is sure to be a busy one. Tonight I'm hosting a Home Interiors party for my neighbor, Jill. Can't wait to see her in action selling candles, pictures and other necessities for the home. Tomorrow I'll be last-minute wedding gift shopping for Annie and Keith, then attending the wedding in the evening. Sunday I've sort of committed to running the Twin Cities 10 mile! What am I thinking? Not sure. It would be nice to sleep in, but the opportunity has come up to run the TC10 for free and I'm not sure I can pass that up. After that, we'll celebrate Dad's birthday! Think I can fit anything else in to the weekend? I might try. Jill's bachelorette party is tonight so if the Home Interiors party ends early, I may try to catch up with the girls for a drink or two.

TGIF,
Jilli

I-29 Tour

Sioux Falls, SD
Tuesday, September 26, 2006

Three, count ‘em, three people complimented me on my presentation tonight! One mother recruits for a master’s program at SDSU- a student affaires program, another father is in sales and travels around the country giving presentations, the third was the mother and sister (Stephanie) of St. Olaf alum, Matt Abbas, who I recruited from Canton, SD. I appreciated their comments so much.

Five presentations down, zero to go! Hard to believe this event that I’ve been thinking about for a few months is finally coming to an end. And guess what, I had a great time. I was thinking back to many years ago when Jen was planning her I-29 tour, the thought crossed my mind back then that I would never want to be part of that tour, mostly of course due to my fear of presentations. I don’t so much dread them anymore, I mostly just get a little anxious and then do just fine. And look at the end result, I had a great time.

Since I planned the Sioux Falls event, I was also the person to introduce the evening and to facilitate the transition from topic to topic. I truly don’t have any concerns about welcoming families and introducing the evening. In fact, I sort of enjoy it. And I finally became pretty comfortable with the actual presentation part. I’ve come a long way since I started this job. Only took 8 travel seasons. :)

Last year there were only about 10 people total at the Sioux Falls event so before this one started we bet on how many families would be in attendance. Rod guessed 8, Anne 12 and I guessed 15. 16 families showed up so I won the bet and got a free drink from the other two.

Anne is great. She’s very easy to talk to and we seem to have a fair amount in common. I can tell she gets nervous before her presentations, she uses note cards and was visibly more relaxed when her counselor breakfast was done this morning. She cracks me up! Always throws some humor in her talks and seems like a natural up there.

I suppose I should hit the hay. We’re making our way to Northfield tomorrow morning. I think I’ll be driving my Saturn home from work!


I-29 Tour
Kansas City, KS
Sunday, September 24, 2006

The trip I was dreading is finally here. Dreading may be too strong of a word, but I was only looking forward to this trip so it would be over.

Andy dropped me off at the airport with plenty of time to spare, so I bought my cup of Caribou coffee and a blueberry muffin and headed for the gate. Eventually, both Rod and Anne arrived as well. We chatted for a bit and soon after she got there, Anne asked me what I decided about the projector… if I ended up bringing one or not. Projector? I vaguely remember some small part of a conversation about a projector for the power point presentation, but I certainly hadn’t brought a projector. She claimed responsibility, saying that she should have checked in with me again, but of course I realized it was my fault as the “tech person” on this trip.

Not only had I forgotten about the projector, I was wearing jeans and a long-sleeved t-shirt while the other two were dressed in their professional clothes. Arg. Here I wanted to make such a great first impression, making sure they knew I was qualified to be on this trip with them and I felt underdressed and forgot a main part of my responsibility.

Fortunately, those two mishaps were the only two (so far…). After visiting with them before boarding the plane, in the rental car on the way to the hotel and while setting up for our presentation I feel very comfortable with them.

I felt the presentation went relatively well. Of course I was nervous, but after listening to Rod speak, I was less nervous. He’s an intelligent man who I assume is comfortable in front of groups, but he wasn’t the most interesting to listen to. For some reason that made me feel better. Anne followed him, and I went third. With the power point presentation to use as an outline and as a distraction for the audience, I felt comfortable standing in front of the group.

Afterwards, I had a student (Scott Hanson) tell me he was going to ask me a question I’d never heard before. We’ll see I told him, after attending college fairs for 7+ years I figured I’d heard all types of questions. He wanted to know if he could store his shotgun anywhere on campus. He’s a trap-shooter, you see, so he would need to bring his shotgun to campus. He was right, I’d never had that question before. I explained that we “ban guns on these premises” so he wouldn’t be able to have it at St. Olaf, but that there were probably people in town who would be willing to help him out. Apparently, he’s pretty good.

Anne, Rod and I went to Jack Stack BBQ for dinner and had comfortable conversation over bbq chicken and ribs. They’re a funny pair. I could see having great conversations with Anne, digging a little deeper into her family history and divulging the sordid details of my relationship history. With Rod there, the environment is a little less conducive for that type of conversation. Although, I was surprised at how up front he was when we did start talking briefly about my relationship past. It sounds like the three of them (including Jen) had some meaningful discussions about Jen’s work path the last time they were on this tour, so maybe I shouldn’t have been so surprised with his soft sided comments.

My tummy is full and my eyes are sleepy. Night night.


Ok, Maybe Not the First
Flight from Denver to Mpls
Thursday, September 14, 2006

I realized after I’d written my last journal entry that the encounter with Carl Rasmussen wasn’t actually the first small world experience I’d had this fall. The first took place last month on my trip home from the Denver Send Off Picnic.

The flight I took was extremely early in the morning- something like a 7:00 flight, which meant that I had to be at the airport around 5:00. I dropped off my rental car at the airport, made my way through security and eventually got on the plane (without my water bottle and lotion, of course).

Uneventful, the flight went relatively well. I didn’t sleep, but felt very tired … was ready to go home and take a little nap.

As I de-planed, I walked to the front of the craft where the pilot was standing outside of the cockpit thanking the passengers for flying Northwest. I don’t normally pay too much attention to them, but I do tend to thank them for the flight as well. That day, I looked at the pilot and realized it was Tim VanWyk (Ryan VanWyk’s dad). We were both very surprised to see each other. Of course, I was wishing the flight had been later in the day… or that I didn’t feel quite so tired, but such is life.

After giving each other hugs, we stood in the first row of the plane and visited while the rest of the passengers got off the plane. Tim said, “It’s rare that I know one of the passengers on the plane.” I laughed and told him, “It’s rare that I know the pilot of my flight!”

It was fun to catch up with him, to hear about Ryan and the rest of the family. I’ve had much interaction with that family over the years. From the time that Ryan was interested in St. Olaf, we’ve kept in contact. Ryan invited me to his high school graduation party, his St. Olaf graduation party and his wedding. I think there was a strong connection to the VanWyks because Ryan was part of the first group of students I’d worked with and also because we’re both from Lakeville. His mom was always good about including me in their events.

So I guess I’ve already had two small world experiences this fall. :)


First Small World of the Fall
Caribou Coffee, MSP Airport
Tuesday, September 12, 2006

Today is my first official trip of the fall. It’s a quick one, CTCL tonight (hopefully Jess will help me out with the fair) and 10 student interviews tomorrow afternoon/evening. Because of some city-wide convention, there are no hotels available in any sections of the city that I like to stay. And of course I forgot to make reservations with the CTCL hotel so couldn’t even stay in the host hotel. In the end, it’s not so bad because I’ll be staying at the Golden Hotel where Brian Watters works nights.

Mom dropped me off at the airport this morning and I followed my usual path from check in, through security, straight to Caribou Coffee. As I’m fixing up my light roast coffee, adding cream and sugar, I look up and catch the eye of a young man walking toward Caribou. As he walks past the large pole, we’re still looking at each other.

I smiled and said, “Are you Carl?”

He smiled back and said, “Yeah, are you Jill?”

Carl Rasmussen. Started at St. Olaf 4 years ago (fall of ’02) and decided that it wasn’t the best fit for him, so mid way through his first year he transferred to Augustana College in Sioux Falls. Made some sense to him considering he was from Sioux Falls. It was the same year that Christy Hallenbeck made the same decision… they’re from the same high school and followed similar paths.

Carl is on his way to Nicaragua, where he will spend three months learning Spanish one-on-one with an instructor. After that, he’ll be heading to Hondurous where he will volunteer in a hospital. The program he’ll be part of was started by someone who used to work with Doctors Without Borders.

My first small world experience of the fall travel season. Interestingly enough, a few of these experiences have been while I’m getting coffee at Caribou… seems to me good reason to continue drinking Caribou. :)