wandering

What you make of it

Steph — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 00:33:36 +0000

There is a new commercial running on Hulu right now for Google Offers (beta), which from the spot, seems to be the same thing as Groupon and Living Social. So who really cares, right?

But what I can’t get out of my head from this spot is the opening line.

“A city is what you make of it.”

It hits me every time I hear it. Because I know I complain about Omaha more than I should. There really is a lot to do in Omaha, you just have to put a little effort into finding it. And I had grand plans to do so this summer, which I have not followed through on. Why? Life happened, I guess. I got a cat, I had mono, work is tiring, I was traveling, I’m broke…the excuses are endless. But that’s not really fair to Omaha. It’s not Omaha’s fault I’m bored. It’s my own for not doing anything about it.

I have followed through on a few of my summer resolutions. I joined a dance studio and I’m taking ballet again. I also started taking zumba classes, which are kicking my ass but so so fun. I’ve been making tons of cookies and cheesecake with my mixer. I got my hair cut, I went and got a Nebraska driver’s license AND registered to vote.

I’m trying to remember that this is a good place, it’s just going to take time before I know all it’s secrets and cool things the way I do about Cleveland.

Oh, and props to the writer of that spot. What a line – it captures your imagination and makes you think of all the possibilities. The music is perfect with it, too. Upbeat – it carries with it the thrill of excitement. It makes you want to go out and create your own city experience.

Belated travel documentation

Steph — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 23:27:57 +0000

I’ve been slacking. This blog is supposed to be about my trips, the trials and tribulations of figuring out where I want to end up, and life in general. Instead…well, I just haven’t posted. So here’s a little catch-up post.

August – I visited Erin in Colorado. It was awesome.

September – Becca and I went to see Betsy at the South Dakota State fair. It was awesome.

Okay, done!

Just kidding.

When I visited in August, Erin and Matt took me on a lovely hike (see photo above). The weather was gorgeous – sunny but not too hot, and the mountains were rocky, as mountains should be. It felt to me like it had been forever since Erin and I had hung out (a mere two months, in actuality), so seeing her was a high point. Erin came to visit me in Omaha this month (she drew the short straw in destinations, right?), and it was just like old times.

We found an O! that we hadn’t found last summer on our quest and some refrigerator art from the Omaha Public Power District (OPPD). It’s part of their refrigerator recycling program and designed to promote energy efficiency awareness.

While at the South Dakota State Fair, Becca and I were lucky enough to taste the culinary delicacy that is…deep-fat-fried Nutter Butter.

Try to contain your jealousy. Actually, it was pretty delicious. I would rank it above the deep-fat-fried s’mores and milky ways.

What a like most about the fair (besides seeing Betsy and her family), is what a complete break from reality it is. For the weekend I barely check my phone, I don’t check my email, or Facebook, or Twitter and I just focus on the moment. You can be anyone at the fair, because no one knows you (last year we convinced some guy my name was Payton), and you can eat whatever you want, do whatever you want. Plus, there are tons of baby animals to “oooooh” over.

Folded up in Nature

Steph — Mon, 04 Jul 2011 23:25:50 +0000

It’s 85 degrees, sunny, and humid in Omaha today. So I thought, “Hey, today would be a great day for a hike!”

My brilliance amazes even me sometimes. But I was bored and had no plans for July 4th. I haven’t really been working out (thanks to a busy schedule + mono), but I figured I could handle a “nature trail.” Erin and I had talked about going to Schramm Park last summer, but never made it there. Today I decided I would make it there. And I did (thanks Google Maps!).

The very nice park worker at the Aksarben Aquarium gave me a map of the trails and suggested a route for me. It took me through the woods, up and down a little bit, and across three bridges over a creek. I love woods, bridges, and creeks, so it was basically awesome. In the shade of the trees the sun wasn’t so hot and I remembered to wear bug spray today, so that worked out well for me. It wasn’t a very long hike, maybe 2.5 miles, but it was peaceful and refreshing.

I love that moment when you’re deep enough into the trail that you can’t hear traffic anymore, when there’s no one else on the path and you just feel folded up in nature…absolutely enveloped by it.

I discovered this on the trail. Almost every state park trail has benches sprinkled along the way for people to rest, but meditation shelters? That’s a new one. I thought it was pretty cool.

Sneaky-pants

Steph — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 01:28:20 +0000

It was her big green eyes that drew me in at first. She was trembling and folding her body into a compact little bundle, shrinking away from me. Her eyes were huge and round in contrast to the small shape she’d scrunched herself into. I had expected her to be scared – it was an overwhelming situation after all – but I hadn’t expected to be so inexplicably taken with her the way I was.

There were plenty of cute cats at the humane society that day, after all, but there was something about her. She was small (I could picture her curled up in my lap) and her green eyes stood out in a black face bisected by a diagonal white streak. Finally, she had white socks on her back legs, and white paws in the front.

I’ve always been a sucker for black cats with white paws. My grandparents had a rather fabulous one named Kitty that we all referred to as Junior for no apparent reason. His tags said Kitty and he responded to the call “Here kitty, kitty, kitty.” But we all called him Junior.

This little cat came with the name Sneakers. I’ve had her for about a month now, and I will admit, I often refer to her more as Sneaky, Sneaks, or Sneaky-pants than Sneakers. Despite her tendency to jump on counters and hide in cabinets (hence the nicknames), she charms me every day.

I’m not going to list all the adorable things she does, because then this post would make me look like a crazy cat lady. Suffice to say, I love my new companion.

Still want a dog, too, though. See? Not a crazy cat lady.

spontaneous road trips

Steph — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 01:15:32 +0000

In this last month of school, we’ve started trying to cram everything in that we always said we’d do during college. I’m pretty sure we’ll never achieve everything, but we’re sure gonna try to make the most of the time we have left. So last weekend, we took a spontaneous road trip to Colorado. (Not entirely spontaneous, the planning started on a Sunday and we left Friday afternoon. So, we did put SOME thought into this).

I’m not going to regurgitate the trip itinerary, but I want to mention a couple things. Erin and I had done a road trip to Colorado once this summer, but two of my roommates came along this time, too. It was really great to have a chance to spend the whole weekend with them, because I feel like I’m hardly ever in our apartment and we’re all so busy that we don’t get enough time to hang out.

We put an emphasis on “doing CO on the cheap” on this trip, which I think forced us to really explore the area and check out the things that make Colorado unique, instead of just shopping or doing something we could have done in Omaha. Downtown Boulder was an adorable area to mosey around, the scenic drive was gorgeous (even though it made me car sick), and the self-guided tour of the Coors Brewery was really fun. Downtown Denver is always fabulous, albeit the most expensive part of our day!

Even though we spent 16 hours driving to and from, and really only one day in Colorado, it was a great trip. I love traveling and hopefully will continue to have many more blog posts about road trips

as things come to an end

Steph — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 04:48:23 +0000

I started packing boxes today. It’s strange to think that in a little over a month, my college career will be over and I’ll be moving out of this apartment that I’ve lived in for the past two years. I don’t want to sit here and type cliche things like, “it feels like yesterday that I was moving into Gallagher Hall at the beginning of Freshman year” and “time has flown by,” but those statements ARE true. Everyone tells you to enjoy it, that it’ll be over before you know it, but you don’t believe that. And then it is over before you know it.

Not every memory has been happy, but the overall experience has been amazing. Every now and then I wondered, “What would my life be like if I’d gone to a different college? If I’d stayed in Cleveland closer to all my friends from home?” But I don’t regret my decision and I would make the same choice if I went back in time and got to choose again.

Side note: A song just came on my iTunes called “Rockin’ that shit.” How do these things end up in my music library?

Anyway…dang it, I’ve completely lost my train of thought due to this ridiculous song playing. Sample lyric: Oooh she’s rockin’ that shit like (oooh oooh uh uh). That’s pretty much all there is to it.

The point is, it’s been a great four years and I’m excited/terrified to see what happens next.

Side note #2: Just to show you how random my iTunes is, the next song that came up in shuffle was George Strait, All My Exes Live in Texas.

life is sweet (literally)–baking post

Steph — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 03:51:57 +0000

After a week of so of yearning, I have finally gained possession of…Girl Scout Cookies.

Hallelujah.

This is thanks to Erin, who found them for sale while she was grocery shopping and texted me to see if I wanted her to buy me some. I’m pretty sure she knew the answer would be yes.

There is simply so much joy (and calories) in a box of Girl Scout cookies. And now I have thin mints and tagalongs (or peanut butter patties for those who live in certain regions). Delicious. I’m totally hiding them in my room so now one else eats them.

In addition to Girl Scout cookies, I now have a pan of bread pudding, indirectly courtesy of Jimmy Johns. I ordered a sandwich for lunch today and got a loaf of day-old French bread free with my sandwich. Being the baking whiz that I am, I was all “Oh, I’m just gonna whip up some bread pudding with that. No biggie.”

Okay, that’s not really how it happened. But I looked up some bread pudding recipes, picked one, and went to town. Aaaaaand, I have successfully impressed my roommate who declared “You are a woman to marry,” she was so impressed by my baking. True story.

Billy

Steph — Sat, 19 Mar 2011 01:00:10 +0000

While in Orlando, I got to hold an alligator. His name is Billy and he belongs to a group that does research on alligators and crocodiles and tries to educate the general public about these animals.

spring break reflection

Steph — Sat, 19 Mar 2011 00:57:44 +0000

The cons:

having to spend half of spring break working on the yearbook
getting strep throat and not knowing it was strep throat, therefore suffering more than necessary

The pros:

seeing my dad
exploring Orlando
ziplining
holding an alligator
seeing baby alligators
being able to wear flip flops
sunshine
sleeping

I’d say the pros far outweigh the cons! It was a wonderful trip and I’m glad that I got to take it with my dad.

Unexpected directions

Steph — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 23:59:06 +0000

Today threw me for a loop. I’m not going to go into specifics, suffice to say I was not expecting how today turned out. But, I like to consider myself an adventurous person, willing to try new things. So I think, when life gives you an unexpected direction you have to take it. Just to see where you will end up. I think I would regret not taking this opportunity.