Life In The Land Of Oz

So here it is, October 25, and Halloween is less than a week away. Leah has had the house decorated for a month now, and we're preparing to greet all the trick-or-treaters again this year. Only one problem- it's 80 degrees outside, and it still looks more like summer than fall. We had a few colder nights that slowed down the growth of the grass, but half our trees still have green leaves on them, and other than the maple trees I don't think we'll even have foliage this season. I've included a few pics below to show how non-autumnal it is out here in Kansas. Note the geraniums are still in bloom, and most of our summer ground flowers are still going. Heck, our morning glory just starting blooming about 2 weeks ago. What a weird place.

As far as the rest of life goes, we are both neck-deep in schoolwork. I have 7 major projects due before thanksgiving break, and Leah and I are both appreciative of the few moments we get together right now. Leah is getting her classes ready for their presentations, and walks around on Tuesday nights practicing her songs for Wednesday morning toddler-times. I find myself singing the songs while I'm working in the office, and it's rather embarrassing.  That's about it for now. We hope the fall season finds you all well and in good spirits. Enjoy the weather, before winter sets in and we start counting the days until spring comes again.

Pictures of the house and flowers at the end of October:

So it is really, truly fall (even though the temps here are still in the 80's!)  Instead of writing about our summer, here's a picture-overview of our adventures:


We started out with a trip to Lawrence, where the University of Kansas is located.

A pretty incredible stick sculpture on the UK campus.

We walked around Lawrence a found an "England" store - John tried some odd ginger-elderberry soda.

I am so excited to have found a Bounty bar - it's like a Mounds bar, but better.

We then enjoyed a very rainy Fourth of July.  Despite the rain, much of the town (including us) pulled out their umbrellas and watched the 45 min parade down main street.

The rain stopped in time for fireworks.  Wamego puts on one of the best shows in Kansas - seriously!

Next up, we (FINALLY) found the Konza Prairie where we went for an awesome hike. Konza is the largest remaining unplowed tallgrass prairie in North America.

It was so incredibly windy at the top of this hill; it felt like I could fly :)

We spent one day driving around, just taking in the beauty of the Kansas landscape.  We also took a trip to the Beecher Bible and Rifle church, a church located close to us that is on the National Register of Historical Places.  We drove around for several hours looking for this church - we actually drove right by it but decided that it looked too nice to be what we were looking for - before we actually found it!

"The Beecher Bible and Rifle Church in tiny Wabaunsee, Kansas, represents one of the more interesting and unusual stories of Kansas' early days of statehood.  The fledgling abolitionist community of Wabaunsee was in desperate need of rifles and ammunition to protect themselves from terrorizing pro-slavery Missourians. In response, their sponsoring church in New Haven, Connecticut, took up a collection to purchase 27 Sharp rifles.  These rifles, along with 25 Bibles, were shipped to Wabaunsee, by way of Missouri on the Missouri River, in crates marked Bibles. From that day to the present, the church has been known as the Beecher Bible and Rifle Church.  A congregation of approximately fifteen continues to worship weekly in this historic church building."




































The next pictures aren't from a trip - they were taken in town right before a crazy storm.






Finally, John and I took a quick weekend trip to Florida to visit my grandparents.

We were able to snag a few hours at the beach while we were there.

Summer seemed to fly by, but we feel like we were able to see a little bit more of Kansas, and were able to check a few things off of our "want to do" list.  I'm sure I'm missing some things in these pictures.  I know we stumbled upon an old prairie town one day and enjoyed a "brown cow" at an old fashioned soda fountain.  And we tried out Bobo's Drive-In in Topeka (it was featured on 'Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives'); an old fashioned drive-in that hasn't changed much in the last 50 years. I think that our most enjoyable times ended up being those sunny, weekend days we spent driving around -  when we were able to see nothing but the expanse of green fields and blue skies in every direction. 

Love,
Leah and John

Summer flew by so quickly that we didn't even get a chance to update the blog!  Now John and I are both "back to school" - John has been at KState all week gearing up for the students to return (today is move-in day) and I have started teaching at the Tech College in Manhattan again.  We are preparing for a very busy semester - we are both involved in much more than last fall.  John's tutoring with the Pilot's Program at KState, taking 3 courses, and teaching 2 courses.  I'm working pretty much full-time at the library, doing the toddler program every week, and teaching developmental psych at 2 different community colleges (one in Manhattan and one here in Wamego.) 

John finished his job teaching computer classes at the library last week, but he of course made such a wonderful impression on the patrons that they couldn't bear to have him leave.  One such couple, Georgie and Bud, promised John a fried chicken dinner in exchange for computer help - obviously something that John could not refuse.  So last night we went out to Georgie and Bud's house for a home-cooked fried chicken dinner.  Yum!  They are very kind and entertaining people, and plus they have a very cool dog, so all-in-all it was a good evening. 

I'll add posts and pictures from our summer adventures soon, but here are some pictures from our first anniversary.  :)

We started the day with a yummy breakfast.

Mini-Golf!

He actually made this shot...show-off.

I was sad that I didn't win.

All dressed up for a fancy dinner.

So it's been over 2 months since our last post, which I've decided is Leah's fault. She's currently out of town, so I can get away with saying that. Since operation Baby Squirrel, we've had several operation Baby Birds, including an operation Baby Owl, which the town stepped up to and got him back up in the treetops.

Aside from that, late April and early May was super busy for both of us, as I cranked out a few final writing projects, gave my first public reading of my work, and we both got buried underneath a massive amount of grading/reading papers and entering final grades for our respective teaching loads. It's safe to say that the end of the semester was extremely welcome. All in all, things went well. My grades were pretty solid and my TEVALS came back pretty positive, and MATC liked Leah so much that they asked her to teach this summer and again in the fall.

Summer reading at the library just kicked off a couple of weeks ago, and Leah is doing a couple of programs a week with the kids, so she has been kept very busy getting ready for and doing that, in addition to her teaching responsibilities. Once again, I am employed by a library; teaching computer classes no less, and am busy putting my classes together to start teaching them in July and early August. I am also taking on a pretty intensive independent study this summer, so there isn't too much rest for us during the summer months.

Having said that, we have been/ will be traveling a little, with Leah finally getting back to Delaware for Emily and Rafa's wedding and some quality time with the fam. I also got to see some Pennsylvania friends and familly, and wish that I could have gotten down to Delaware/Maryland, but time didn't permit it. We also plan on a few day trips around Kansas/Nebraska, and will hopefully have some posts covering those adventures.

As a final aside, I think I saw the girl that wore the camo prom dress (see previous blog) the other day, and she was pregnant. I guess the camo didn't work very well. ;-)

We hope everyone is having a great summer so far! Thanks for reading, and always feel free to comment. It lets us know someone's out there (yes, even you Kristin!). - John & Leah

Yesterday we found a little baby squirrel curled up in a ball in our front yard.  John had heard something crying earlier and thought it was a baby bird.  We think it probably fell out of it's nest in the big tree in our yard.  We left it outside, hoping that it's momma would come back and get him.  We put hot water bottles next to it to keep him warm, but the poor little thing looked so very cold.  So once it got dark, we took him inside for the night.  He slept in a cardboard box, nestled into a towel, in our office.  Isn't he so cute???
 
So I started making phone calls this morning, trying to figure out what to do with him. Our vet offered to euthanize him.  It seems that not too many places rescue squirrels.  But he was just a defenseless little orphan!  I finally ended up taking him to the vet at KState.  They said they would get him some liquids and food and make sure he wasn't hurt, and then give him to a wildlife rescue center that they work with.  It was an emotional morning, but I'm glad that he finally got medical treatment. 

 
On a completely different note.....................

Last weekend was prom, and John and I were sitting on our porch watching all of the high school students take their prom pictures in the park across the street.  Most were in typical prom attire (apparently white tuxes were very in this season), but here's something we didn't expect to see. Ever. 


 

Whoa, I am on a blogging roll here.   Well, this one's all about our town - Wamego, KS - and the Wamego Public Library.  Oh by the way, have I mentioned that I'm now in charge of all of the InterLibrary Loans?  Quite a learning experience.  I rather like it.  I think I would like it more if I didn't have to do ILL while simultaneously working the circulation desk.  I'm capable of multi-tasking, but my computer resists having that many screens open at once and often just shuts-down on me.  He just an old and overworked computer, poor thing.  But I digress.

I wanted to share a few shorts videos that I have made.  They were assignments for 23 things Kansas. (I'm sure all of you library folks are already familiar with 23 things.)  Basically, it's an online learning program for anyone who works in libraries in the state of Kansas.  Each week we cover a new topic/online learning tool and complete an assignment, which we then post to a blog.  Yes, that is why I have not been blogging here as often - it seems that I'm only capable of handling one blog at a time. ....so much for multi-tasking.

With no further ado, here's the first video.  It's a short slideshow made up of pictures I took at the library today.  I have posted it on the library's website in order to promote National Library Week - see it here.
 



Next is a video of our town.  John drove the car very slowly and I held our camera out the window.  Sorry it's a little bumpy.  I wanted to go slower, but we had quite the line of cars following us down main street.  :)

What a week!  Tuesday - John's birthday.  Thursday - my birthday.  Weekend - Good Friday and Easter. We have been celebrating all week (i.e. eating lots of food and cake!)

Unfortunately our schedules didn't work out so that we could spend much time together on our birthdays, but we made the best of it.  I worked late on John's birthday and he was at school until 10:30 pm on my birthday.  We still managed to have a couple of candlelit dinners prepared by chef John and I baked us each a cake.


Today we celebrated Easter Sunday with a lovely, outdoor sunrise service.  We managed to wake up while it was still dark, get dressed up, and travel to the very small town of Emmett to meet up with my incredibly sweet (and spry!) 92-year-old coworker at her church.  The small gathering of people were kind and welcoming, the singing was off-key but heartfelt, and the sermon was thoughtful and intelligent.  It was a simple and very real celebration of Christ's resurrection.  And afterward we all sat down to chat over cinnamon rolls, muffins, orange juice and coffee.



After taking a nap,  John and I prepared ourselves a special Easter dinner.



It was a beautiful day here, so after dinner we took a stroll through the park and down main street, and ended up back on our front porch swing.  What a wonderful day.


 Happy Easter everyone.

or as we say in our family........

Christos voskrese! Christ is risen     Voistinu voskrese!  He is risen indeed

One of our greatest frustrations about Kansas has been finding good food.  We expected - living in America's heartland - that we would have access to ample fresh foods.  No such luck - almost all of our food comes from the grocery store, where is it trucked in from who knows where. (We are still holding out hope that we'll be able to find some farmer's markets this summer...and maybe plant a small garden of our own.  There's also been mention of a community garden, but I haven't been able to find out any details yet.)

We also desperately miss good restaurants!  We know we were spoiled living on the east coast near so many big cities and shouldn't expect to have the same access here.....but sometimes it is hard (and I really miss Thai food.  And have learned, after multiple failed attempts, that I absolutely cannot cook edible Thai food myself.)  Regardless, we have found a few restaurant gems after much trial and error.

Now one thing that Kansas is supposed to be known for is fried chicken.  After doing a little research and getting advice from locals, it seems that the best restaurants around here are ones that serve fried chicken.  We decided to take a short road trip to test out one such place - The Chicken House.

I figured it was about time I wrote about the newest adventure in my life (especially since John said that I would be writing soon in his last post.....and that was a few weeks ago.)  So, sometime after the new year I received an email saying that Manhattan Area Technical College was in need of a developmental psychology instructor for the current semester.  Next thing I know, I go in for an interview, they hire me, and - and here's the kicker - class starts the following day.  (Yes, they were very desperate, and I was a warm body.)  But hey, I figured that it was a great opportunity for me and it would be steady work for the next few months.

Since then, I've been teaching developmental psych to 20 pre-nursing students at the tech college two afternoons a week.  The library has been flexible with my schedule  and I have even been able to pick up some more hours at the there as well. (It's been a new experience at the library - instead of children's, I'm now working adult circulation/reference and managing their interlibrary loans....and doing a storytime every once in a while.)  I did have to give up substitute teaching, which for the most part, I am quite happy about.  I do miss seeing some of the kids though - particularly my one special kindergarten class.  But it is so lovely to no longer receive 6 am wake-up calls asking if I want to take a sub position.  And it seems like such a luxury knowing when or if I will be working each week!

That being said, I had no idea what exactly I was getting into teaching this class.  I never gave teachers enough credit.  Coming up with lesson plans is hard work and extremely time consuming.  Most of the time, I am getting things together the night before...staying up until all hours trying to make a powerpoint (not to mention trying to learn the material myself!)  I think John feels a bit vindicated, because now I realize how much work he has to do preparing to teach his classes. And plus, now he doesn't have to feel so guilty about doing work and not spending time with me.  (Now we just argue about who gets to use the computer.)

I'm putting in tons of time and energy, but most of the time I'm not really sure if I am connecting with my students or not, or if I'm a good teacher.  And I never quite know what is too much for them, or if I am pushing them too hard.  John has to keep reminding me that this is not a four-year college.  I definitely feel like I am in unknown territory here.  Tomorrow I give their first exam - and I'm not sure who is more anxious about it - me or my students.  I'm terrified that they are all going to fail.  Especially since I found out that the other instructors make all of their tests take-home or open-book.  Apparently, I am the very mean and cruel instructor who is giving them an in-class exam that has an essay question on it.

(Prayers and good thoughts are greatly appreciated.)

-Leah

P.S. Thanks to Erica for leaving us our very first comment on our blog!  :)

  So yesterday marked our 6 month anniversary, and though Leah always tells me she feels like we've been married a lot longer (I'm never sure how to take that) I still feel very much like a newlywed. While school (it's been awhile since I've last written- I did in fact make it through the first semester mostly intact and mostly successful) and our respective jobs (look for a blog about Leah's latest challenge) have placed time at quite a premium for us, the best part about each day for me is getting to come home to her beautiful face (and also the dogs, but their faces aren't as beautiful).

  Married life, even at its stressful points, is still better than my life was when I was single. And I was never someone that minded being alone. Moving halfway across the country to attend a grad program that just really isn't what I expected it to be has been difficult to deal with. Leah has made the worst of those days infinitely more bearable, and having someone that you know you can count on - and that counts on you - makes life so much more enjoyable. Starting off a marriage with the stress of moving and school and finding new jobs in a strange place will either make your relationship stronger or tear it apart. For us it has been a blessing, even though everything hasn't gone smoothly, it has solidified our love for one another. Who knows what will happen with grad school, jobs or where we reside? Quite honestly, it really doesn't matter, because none of those things come close to being as important in life as the person you choose as your partner, and will choose every day for the rest of your life.

FYI- Make sure you remind me I said all of this when we celebrate a year, in case I forgot. Just kidding Leah.


- John

Happy New Year!

We celebrated New Year's Eve in the "Little Apple" (Manhattan, KS) last night. We braved the 7 degree cold weather (for a short time at least) to watch the ball drop. Oh wait - that's what they do in times square - here in Kansas they drop an apple (see above picture).

This "apple drop" draws quite a crowd. I read on their website that in past years 10,000 people lined the streets for this New Year's celebration. There were bands playing, a laser show, and fireworks. It was fun, despite the cold (and the hoards of crazy college students). John and I were wearing our smart wool socks, duofolds, our warm winter coats, hat and gloves - and we were still freezing. Most of the girls we saw were wearing skirts and high heels; we even saw a few girls wearing open toed shoes! Insanity.

Happy 2010 :)

I stole the two pictures below from the Manhattan New Year's website. I didn't get many good pictures - it was too cold to take my hands out of my gloves to snap pictures!