Living The Good Life

I can't help it, I am a complete sucker for the Oscar's. I haven't seen a movie in months and haven't seen any of the movies that were nominated. Expect for An Inconvenient Truth of course, but I saw that live so does it count? One of my guilty pleasures is Entertainment Weekly, so I at least know who is who. Despite my lack of knowledge of the Hollywood industry, I can't help but love the whole experience of the Oscar's. I can't wait for the cheesy pre-show with the uber cheesy "red-carpet" hosts, evaluating what everyone is wearing as if I actually know what I am talking about, and of course...the show itself. My fascination can be traced back to when my mother used to have all of us dress-up in our Sunday best, fix our favorite snacks, and decorate our home with the life-size cardboard cutouts of stars that my dad would bring home from work. We would all have our own Oscar ballots and make the best predictions we could for not having watched a

Spring has hit my town...in the middle of February. Call me crazy, but something just isn't right here. Not that I am complaining. I was able to go on my first road ride since my winter hiatus. Granted, that break has only been about a month--but it felt good to get back on the bike. The town was full of bikers taking advantage of the amazing weather and trying to get in as many rides as possible before the rain hit. D was able to go on a short ride himself yesterday but was planning on "the big one" today. Unfortunately, he waited too long and the rain hit about 10 minutes before he set out. He went anyway (such a trooper!) and as soon as he got back, the sky cleared and the sun came back out. Of all the luck... Oh well. I'm sure he enjoyed every minute of it anyway. We are both trying to use our road bikes, Ronnie and Venture, as much as possible before the big move south. Everything we have discovered about Ecuador leads us to believe that we will have t

Working in a middle school gives one a whole new perspective of holdiays like Valentine's Day. Or maybe it just reminds you of the intense emotions you used to feel when you were thirteen and the boy of your dreams slipped you a flower or box of chocolates. I watched countless teenagers shyly walk up to the crush of the moment and present their hearts via dyed carnations and heart-shaped balloons. Oh the memories it brought back... D and I decided not to make a big thing out of Valentine's day this year. We went to dinner at our favorite local hangout, The Falcon Tavern, and planned to get dessert afterwards but we were too full after our delicious dinner of grilled cheese and chorizo and lamb au jus sandwiches. Oh well, we are saving our bucks for an Ecuadorian celebration. I hope everyone enjoyed their own Love Day festivities!

Well, we broke the news to our family this weekend about the big move to Ecuador. The reactions were much better than I anticipated and D and I have the official and complete support of our loved ones to begin on this crazy and huge adventure. A few of my favorite quotes from the weekend: * With tears in her eyes and a forced smile, Kira responds to our exclamation of excitement with, "Oh, okay. Good." pause, "Why are we excited again?" *"Do they have guerilla's with guns?" -Mom (actually comment made last week, but I still love it.) *"Where is this? Africa?" -Grandma * "Oh! That will be so much fun! Good for you!" -Mammer * "Oh man! I was hoping you were going to tell us you were pregnant!" -Kira All in all it was great time being able to finally share our big news. We are so excited for the major change that is taking over our lives right now. I can hardly believe it is happening.

Well, the next two years for D and I will be filled with sandy beaches, exotic animals, a new language, and a whole lot of adventures. We survived the overseas fair (and the Iowa weather, negative 8 for the whole weekend)! The whole experience was absolutely amazing. I have never seen, met, or talked to so many wonderful, dedicated, and encouraging people before. All of us were in the same stressful state of mind that we seemed to emphasize with each other immediately. Instead of there being the atmosphere of competition, there was a feeling of "we are all in this together." It was incredible. The fair started on Friday morning. The first thing we had to do was check our mail folder for the ever-elusive interview request slips. Because of our special situation, where I am the only teacher in this marriage, there were no interview requests to be found in my mail folder. To say the least, we were discouraged but not all together surprised. We were then given a brief orientation