Weekly Post: 7/31 - 8/6

Sunday, 7/31:

We took all three dogs to Kensington Park and walked around one of Michigan's many lakes. Really beautiful and fun!

Monday, 8/1:

We went on the slow roll with our friends, Harry, Sarah, baby Everett, and my friend, Kathryn.

Here's what Ben posted on social media: 

"Today we participated with some friends in the Detroit slow roll. This is a gathering of thousands of people, strangers and friends, who join together and bike through Detroit. It was... Amazing. Not just because we biked through some great parts of the city, or because we saw some amazingly tricked-out, lit up, and sweetly painted bikes, but because we saw people gather from every walk of life. We saw riders as diverse as the types of music being blasted from their different bikes. Everyone was friendly, kind, and there to enjoy themselves. We were all there to slow roll. I couldn't help but feel hopeful; this in a time where I feel often hopeless, where politics and issues divide us. But here we were, black, white, Hispanic, Muslim, Christian, Atheist, listening to hip hop, funk, Motown, and even some salsa. Here we were as varied in color, background, age, and style as you could be, and yet we rolled together. This is the America I know. This is the America I love. Also, this is the city I love. There's nothing quite like rolling through a historic Detroit neighborhood, being ushered by waving, cheering locals standing outside their doors... Listening to Motown blasting from some bike-mounted speakers. This is a city making its comeback, and I'm just happy to be here for the ride."

Tuesday, 8/2:

Kingsley had another vet appointment. He actually loves them because he loves attention. Each one has confirmed how well behaved he is and how good he is with other dogs. In this picture, Kingsley is playing with another puppy.

Wednesday, 8/3:

 John's wife, Chelsie, came to visit! Her first night here we went out to eat in Ann Arbor and walked around University of Michigan's law school. Then we stayed up too late playing cards, talking, and eating.

Thursday, 8/4:

On Monday of this week, my administration changed the dates so that we'd have school on Thursday instead of a few meetings. We rolled with the punches, and Chelsie came to school with me. Then, on Tuesday, they decided there would be a graduation ceremony for the summer graduates during the day. Again, we rolled with the punches and got coverage for my class. Five minutes before the ceremony they told us that the senior advisors would be speaking...and I am a senior advisor. The ceremony was rushed and my speech was little better than rambling, but the whole experience was so quintessential it made me laugh.

We went out to a middle eastern feast that night. 

Friday, 8/5:

We chatted and packed up. Chelsie mostly distracted me! Then we drove to the Toronto airport for our trip (cheaper airfare...possibly not worth the stress. There was a lot of traffic and we couldn't use our data since we were in Canada. For about an hour of the drive, I wasn't sure if we were going to make our flight).

Saturday, 8/6:

Saturday we arrived in Germany! We met up with my parents and drove up the Rhine, doing some sightseeing as we went. Sneak Peak!

Weekly Post: 7/24 - 7/30

Sunday, 7/24:

Kingsley sleeping under John's legs in the most adorable way while we watched one of the Bourne movies. We watched them all this week in preparation for the new one. 

Monday, 7/25:

Kenny is a freshman doing credit recovery for physics. He makes me laugh every day. Even seeing a shadow of his small stature makes me laugh. If you don't catch what he's doing in this video, here are the director's notes: He has the AC 'out' air going up his shirt. Then he accidentally drops the tube thing. When he notices Kathryn filming him, he quickly recovers, he pulls up his shirt to show us his 'abs'. 

This is what he was going for. So close. So close. 

Tuesday, 7/26:

First, Kathryn and I went on one of our regular dates to McDonalds to get free chicken mcnuggets. [We have an app that every time the Tigers score six runs, we get a free 6-piece]. We have done this so many times throughout the school year that we are regulars at the location near the school. It needed to be documented. 

I fear that if other people are like me, McDonalds is losing money on this promotion since I use it ~40% of the time it's available and never buy anything else. Hah!

Then I went to my last night of MTLT (model teacher lead teacher) training. We ate food and said goodbye. I joined the program very reluctantly in February and have enjoyed it immensely. Hands down, the most effective training I've received in teaching. It has involved meeting four times a month for several hours as well as submitting videos of my teaching and my lesson plans. Lots of time, but time well spent. (From left to right: Amiri*, Mersedes, Voletta*,  Kyra, LaToya, Julia*, Jess*, (me), Tina*, Jessica, Ashley*, Caitlin*, Daniel*, and Quincy)

Tina is a master teacher who has been very supportive of me this year. She has come to observe my class several times, and she consistently insists that she learns from me instead of the other way around. (Not true). One of the most enthusiastic, optimistic people I've ever met. EAA students are lucky to have her. 

Jess is the main reason I've loved the MTLT program so much. If she was a principal at one of our schools, I would have considered teaching next year 10x more. She is intelligent, thoughtful, and humble (a trio of traits I haven't found in every admin I've worked with). 

Wednesday, 7/27:

We watched Alex for Davy and Nena for a few days. Kingsley was obsessed and followed Alex everywhere. Their best friendship is very one-sided. It alternated between being adorable and being infuriatingly annoying (especially for Alex). I hope that Kingsley can be as patient and well-behaved as Alex someday. [These pictures are from all different days Wednesday - Monday]

To give Alex some space, we put Kingsley on the bed and Alex on the ground for an hour or so. They were mostly good, but for a few minutes they both whined. Alex wanted to get on the bed, and Kingsley wanted Alex.

We took them both to the park and John and Ben ran them around the park. Kingsley has rarely been so motivated. Alex chased squirrels. Kingsley chased Alex.

Thursday, 7/28:

We went to a hipster ice cream shop in Ann Arbor. We sampled flavors like fresh basil, vietnamese cinnamon, blueberry pancake, and balsamic strawberry...and then we ordered stuff like cookies and cream and chocolate peanut butter. Our taste buds are conservative apparently. But it was fun! 

Friday, 7/29:

Embarrassing pictures from my optometry appointment. I've decided it's worth it to have glasses for law school so I can see the board. I sent 18 pictures to people I felt very comfortable annoying.

Saturday, 7/30:

This picture is not from this Saturday...I didn't take a picture of this Saturday. But this is a really old picture that I've never saved anywhere. This is Sarah, Harry, me, and Ben on our hike down to Havasupai 3 years ago. It was our first extended time with them, and it was the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

On Saturday, John, Ben and I went to a matinee for the fifth Bourne movie (enjoyable). Then we drove up to Harry and Sarah's for a night of games with lots of potential new friends (they invited people who were newish to Ford and Michigan). Very fun!

Weekly Post: 7/17 - 7/23

Sunday, 7/17:

We returned to our old stomping grounds - our townhouse we lived in between July 2014 - July 2015. We never took a picture of the outside. So, I forced Ben to stop by to snap a picture for record's sake.

The actual purpose of our visit was a game night with Brian and Katie where they spoiled us with snacks, a cute baby, fun times, and, most importantly, cookies. We forgot to take a picture until we got home; naturally, we texted Brian and Katie for pictures too. They responded with these! Hahah. 

Monday, 7/18:

Kathryn and I went on the slow roll! It's an organized bike ride where hundreds of people meet up and bike various scenic routes through Detroit. These kind of city events make me happy. This one rode along the riverfront for a bit. 

Notice: my hair looking super wet and shiny. I tried the whole lemon juice in the hair thing during the bikeride. My hair is getting darker and darker, but I'm too cheap to dye it.  The results are inconclusive. Sometimes I think I catch a hint of a lighter strand, but then a moment later, I can't find it.

Tuesday, 7/19:

I told myself that with all the stuff that I had to do, I wouldn't be social again on Tuesday. But my friends from work both had really stressful days, so...of course, I ended up inviting them over. We chatted and laughed. And then the neighbors came over to play with Kingsley. I laughed at how we teachers naturally resorted to our chaperoning mode. I had to take a picture.

Wednesday, 7/20:

Ben finished the fence! It is so nice to be able to leave Kingsley outside without watching him! And it really matches our house well.

This morning I took a picture of the view from our house. Ben finds it funny, but I love the view. It's quintessential suburbia. And I love it.

Thursday, 7/21:

One of my favorite students, Terrance, finished summer school. Cutting half of himself out of the picture was intentional. I know, because I asked. 

Kingsley's favorite new food: my slippers. 

Kingsley's FOMO (fear of missing out) is intense. Here he is jumping into Ben's lap while he is taping up a package. 

Friday, 7/22:

In the morning I went to get my haircut. I went to a local hair school where it was cheap. The whole process took 3 hours, and I left looking with a 2000's version of 'The Rachel'. This picture was after about 20 minutes of my drive and my trying to comb through my curled ends. 

Lake day with Harry, Sarah, and Everett! We used their paddle board and swam around with our puppy and baby. We were quite the spectacle. Then we ate tons of food at Harry and Sarah's. Rhett continued to prove what a fearless baby he is, as he repeatedly approached our ferocious puppy.

Saturday, 7/23:

John arrived! He is one of our best friends from our days at BYU who is now finishing up medical school (finally! the slacker...and by that I mean: sarcasm). John is staying with us for a month while he does one of his fourth year rotations. This first night we walked along the riverfront and ate ice cream. So great to have him here!

Weekly Post: 7/10 - 7/16

Sunday, 7/10:

After church on Sunday, Kathryn came over and we went on a long, hot pokemon hunt (7 miles...seriously). Kathryn is a pokemaster. I have caught 6, so I'd say I'm a pokenovice. We took many would-be shortcuts that then forced us to jump a graveyard fence, push our way through heavy bushes/trees in what turned out not to be a public park, and come up through the back of someone's yard. None of this was planned, but it was all funny. Kingsley enjoyed many admirers, devoured the free water the nice Starbucks employee gave him and only protested by lying flat on the ground ~10 times.

Monday, 7/11:

On national slurpee day we went and got some free slurpees. Then, we promptly drank 5% of them and let the rest melt in the garbage can. Apparently, being free doesn't make slurpees taste that much better. 

Tuesday, 7/12:

Summer school had begun the day before. Kathryn and I discovered that our classroom had an emergency exit to the roof. Of course, we went out and took pictures with my friend from across the hall, Mr. Gehringer.

We took a food tour of Linwood hitting all the major stops, namely, McDonalds and Burger King Kathryn let me taste her Mac&Cheetos which were as good as they sound: mac and cheese rolled in crushed cheetos and deep-fried. It was a new culinary experience for both of us. 

Wednesday, 7/13:

Almost every night this week we took Kingsley on a walk/run around the local park. We sprinted around the park multiple times (one time we made him run over a mile!) He is already faster than me...that didn't take long. On the way home one night we met Kingsley's "mega me". This dog was so well-behaved and is everything I hope Kingsley is in one year (except maybe Kingsley could be slightly smaller).

We do this because when we get home, Kingsley acts like this...dead tired cuddling with Graham Cracker.

Thursday, 7/14:

Kathryn and I went and picked strawberries and made a ton of strawberry jam! Fresh produce is so plentiful here in Michigan, and I have discovered that I love homemade jelly. Maybe a semiannual tradition (hopefully?). Only thing we didn't anticipate was that tons of jam, means tons of pot space. We had three pots of jam and they were all boiling over. In case you didn't already know, I'm not a good person to have around in a crisis. Ben had to run in from the other room to save us. A good note for next time!

Friday, 7/15:

Ben and I went on an impromptu date night. Aka, we went to Costco and then decided to get a redbox. But since we remembered from our 7-11 trip that each Big Gulp came with a free redbox code, we stopped by 7-11 first. The joy of getting a huge Diet Coke and a redbox for less than the normal price of a redbox cast a romantic light over the whole evening. 

Saturday, 7/16:

Davy, Nena, and Alex came over all day! Ben and Davy built our fence; they did some pretty intense stuff like cut metal and pour concrete and drill stuff [these are the technical terms]. Engineers save the day. Meanwhile, I made Nena help me with fun tasks like breaking down our chair boxes, making lunch, and taking care of Alex and Kingsley. Our friends are the best!

Kingsley loved playing with and annoying Alex. In this picture, he is licking Alex. His energy levels never dropped that day, but he seemed to sleep for two days afterward. 

Nena took this picture of King. He really is this cute, and while I take tons of pictures of him, this one shot Nena took is so much better. It just reminds me that there is so much skill involved in photography. Just like when Mary-lu Nelson said her cookies were only good because of the chocolate chips, Nena told me it was just getting on Kingsley's level that makes this picture so good. I've tried multiple times since...I'll tell you, it's not just getting on his level. I don't have this skill.