Hot and sticky

Ick. I don't like this weather.

So I spent most of the weekend in Elgin. It was a lot of fun and I'm so glad I went. It was a good excuse to visit Amanda and hang out with all the fun people in the Elgin yg. The wedding was good too. It was kind of weird though, brought back a lot of random memories. Like how when I was in kindergarten and I rode the bus to congerville with the triplets; they taught me different words to lots of Christmas carols. I don't know if mom has forgiven them yet for turning 'Joy to the World' into Joy to the world the teacher's dead.... :) Going to the Zoo with Jaclyn's family when I was in gradeschool. Band with Travis in High school. Visiting Kellenbergers in Elgin the Sunday Jaclyn started repenting. Time flies. :) And I got to see Warren- it's been a long time so that was good.

I should start out the year right and hit the books. But I just don't want too. Plus I went to the Eureka library booksale and got a bag of books for $2. I was pretty excited. And I borrowed the next WOT book. So I'll probably spend too much time reading that and not enough doing homework. :) So anyway.
Blessings.

Back to School

I like the first week of school, it's so relaxed. And I have no homework or tests so I got to do some hard core hanging out. I've done something every single night this week- it won't last, but it's been fun! I laughed so hard playing telephone pictionary...wow. Good times.

The guys next door are hosting a concert tonight....they were nailing speakers to their porch roof this afternoon. Definitely didn't want to be around for the craziness so I came home after class. I'm going to Elgin for Travis and Jaclyn's wedding tomorrow night...a little bit out of the way, but this way I can go to W-ton bible study tonight and debunk all claims that I have dropped off the face of the earth. :)

So far the year is off to a good start. Classes are good (most of them anyway) and the new roomies are fun. :) Matt's a shakerite and it's just plain weird. I actually got to talk to Dona at church. I have some good professors this year that are teaching and not just lecturing. My Astronomy prof has been at U of I for 40 yrs and is hilarious! The only thing that would make it better is a good book, but someone isn't on top of www.freewotnow.org requests and I'm still waiting. ;)

Anyway.
Blessings.

Summer time, and the livin is easy...

And it's over. School starts tomorrow. *sigh* Not very excited about the studying. But at least I had a really fun week! I finished my project at work, so I had almost nothing to do. I read books, including my favorite book of the summer, C.S. Lewis' The Great divorce.

Saturday I went shopping with my sister and got stuff. And then I packed up to move back to Chambana. Jakey didn't want to hang out with me so my entire evening was ruined. ;)

We got up early Sunday and went to Champaign church for the new student welcome. It was good...I've almost been in Champaign more times this summer than Washington. I got to show the fam the house...my new room...how filthy the kitchen was. The picnic was a whole lot less awkward this year, it's nice not to be new.

Gab and Meg and I left after supper for Oak Run. We got to hang out with Vinnie and Irene- good times. :) And I did something totally out of character....I actually shared a bed. With two girls. I barely survived.

We spent most of Monday, skiing (I actually got up!), jetskiing, and tubing (I claimed the prize for best wipe out of the year), and getting slightly sunburnt. I didn't drink enough water so I had a slightly unpleasant evening. :) Gab: you have to drink something. Me: I don't wanna! Gab: You have to! Drink it!

Finally spent the night in Champaign last night. Mom came down this morning to help clean the kitchen. It was horribly dirty. But since we had Ash and Chris and Amber helping it only took 3 hours. And it sparkles! We lysoled everything after we found the liquid onions and liquid potatoes. Ugh. Never again. At least we know why we had ants....

So I went and bought some books. And bought groceries because I had nothing to eat. And then I wasn't hungry for any of it so I just ate watermelon with the magazine salesmen. There was a singing at Mike, Josh, Cam, and Kyle's apartment in the ghetto. However, I was having a hard time not coveting their kitchen and humongous bathrooms. *sigh* It was good times.

I should go to bed tonight so I'm well rested for the first day of school. Or not. :)
Blessings.

I'm not jealous.

I'm really, really, really, really not.






O.K. maybe I am just a little.




Fine, I'm a lot jealous.




*sigh* maybe next summer.

Quality time with quality people :)

So I had another wonderful weekend. Friday after work I headed to Gab's house at Oak Run for food, singing and fun. It was a very random group of people, and it was great! We played "I have never" for a long time. I was the only person who had watched all three Lord of the Rings movies back to back (and they were the extended editions). :)

I got home pretty late so I slept in on Saturday, then packed up Matt's truck and took some stuff down to school. I got my new room cleaned and pretty well put together. I like it! Even though the floor definitely slants. And they just covered up the moldy wall with paneling. Woot.

I was out shopping for stuff for next year, and got a phone call to go mini-golfing with some people. Keith and Emily were around, and Bob, B.J., Brent, Mark, and Eric were all in town so I met them at the Shaker and the driveway and all the street parking was taken so I parked in the front yard. :) I like driving trucks. According to B.J. I won at mini-golf (since I did get the highest score...), and then we went to TGIF for supper. When we got back to the Saltshaker Meg joined us and we played Poker with somebody's change jar. When the groomsmen got back from the rehearsal dinner, we still were playing cards and they pulled out the songbooks and we sang for a while. It was pretty funny- poker and hymns just don't go together. :) I left around 12:30 and went to walmart- I was going to go earlier that afternoon, but my shopping was interrupted by mini-golf. So I got to bed pretty late.

The wedding Sunday was wonderful. Church was packed! Brent and J-nelle were so cute. And they both said yes so it was a success. Their reception was in the Illini Union- very cool- and the orange Shaker ties were awesome!

After the reception I loaded up my bed from last year, and had an awful time trying to strap it in. I couldn't get Matt's tailgate to stay shut, so I had to make sure that Gab and I weren't going to be picking up mattresses on the highway. Then Gab, being the genius she is, figured out how to keep it shut. :)

We went to Mike, Cameron, and Josh's new apartment for pizza. It was fun, but we left for home pretty early. So anyway. One more week til school. I like summer better I think.

When Life gets tough, use a bigger hammer

Hm...so anyway. My brothers are in Canada. I am soooooo jealous. Anybody want to go to the BWCA next summer??

I've been working on formulating a resin and it's finally at the point where we are testing strength, glass transition, etc. So I poured my lovely polymer into the mold and put it in the oven overnight. I must have put a little too much in, plus the mold isn't very tight, and it's sticky stuff. My mold was stuck to the tray so tight it took my boss and a hammer to separate them. We bent the tray. And I was scraping polymer off the mold with a razor blade. *sigh* The next batch I got smart and covered everything with tinfoil.

Today was my 'going away' party (with the other 2 students), even though I have one more week. FIO is a fun unit. :) We went to the Mongolian grill- different but good. And then somebody put too much sample in the DSC and it got all over and needs to be cleaned so I didn't have to do anything for the rest of the day. I read a book.

Then my boss smashed my reaction flask with a hammer....

Quote: White underwear do not match charcoal socks. White underwear coordinates with charcoal socks, but they don't match.

Food, Fellowship, and Family

The weekend went great! I spent most of it in the kitchen, but I enjoy that part so it was all good. Our food turned out very well; the porkchops were delectable and everything else tasted good too. And we didn't' set anything on fire! We did manage to burn a pan of garlic bread. Stupid broiler.

I got to keep my second cousin and her friend from Bloomfield. Matt had Ryan K-berger and another guy in the basement, so us girls went and showered in our new shop for kicks. :)

My cousins from California have been here the past week so they came over for supper Sunday night. I am very tired of cleaning up dishes and leftovers. We shot off my cousin's model rocket in the wheat field, and then it got lost in the corn field. Whoops. We did get some cool pictures of the whole family in front of the round bales though.

It was a wonderful weekend. Blessings.

Do you hear the people sing?

So I've been busy. Last week I was in Champaign, Chicago, and St. Louis.

Chicago was a shopping trip.... good times. I got curtains for my room at school at Ikea, so that was exciting. I got to drive, and it just happened to start pouring right when I needed to be able to see exit signs the most. It figures. But at least I was driving... :)

Les Miserables was incredible of course. :) It was interesting to note that I cried at different parts of the story than I did the last time I saw it. It's funny how things affect you differently at different points in your life. The Fox theater is cool too- I love old buildings. It has the most indescribable architecture/decorating style. I liked it in a weird sort of way. Austin has an internship in St. Louis this summer and he and his friend Laura met me for lunch at Union Station. Definitely well worth the money and the trip. I'm so glad it worked out since it was so last minute!

I'm back at work. *sigh* My boss is gone so I pretty much can't do anything. I have a report to write about my research and that's it. And the other guy that shares the lab is in China so I can't even be supervised by him. They said they could give me something to do downstairs if I got too bored, I might have to take them up on it. :)

Washington invite this weekend, anybody who wants to come is welcome!
Blessings.

Randomness

I spent the evening in Champaign yesterday. I had a few things to do at the house, but not much. It was hot. I am so glad I am not living there this summer.

Amy came with me so we ate at olive garden. Then we played euchre at the Shaker with Mike and Marcus. I hate that game. Mike and I lost by an unbelievably large amount. *sigh* But it was fun!

I forgot that gas stations in Champaign are scary after dark. We stopped at one a little too far away from 74 for comfort. whoops. It's not like that in Urbana. :)

I'm tired of living out of my duffel bag

Saturday night I went to the Tremont invite. It was very hot, but enjoyable. (For all of you who think I don't do anything with Washington anymore- Washington was invited, it was on the calendar, therefore it was a W-ton thing. And only 7 of us showed up- I want to know where every one else was!)

I left a little early because Gab and I were planning on leaving for Cissna at 10 pm. We didn't actually leave Morton until after 10:30 because the dog got out, and we had to wait for her to come home. So we showed up at Bek's a little before 1 am.

Church was very full! Gretchen was gorgeous, of course, and her bridesmaid's dresses were very cool. I can now say I have been to a 4 hour wedding reception, and worked for most of it. Definitely better than standing in line! The best part was getting to see everybody again, specially Karen. And I got the privilege to work with and talk to Joanna for a long time. :)

I forgot that I had left my bag in the car in the heat all day, so I had a mess to clean up when I got home. My deodorant and my perfume both exploded, thankfully just inside my toiletry bag and not on my clothes. But my hair stuff and favorite headcovering all had a thin film of deodorant and denatured alcohol all over them. Ick. I also have a very warped perfume bottle.

I did have to laugh when he asked Gretch to promise to submit....

the 20th annual Wyss Family Vacation

Every year since 1987, Grandma and Grandpa have taken the whole family on vacation for a week. We've been a lot of places. Missouri, Michigan, Indiana, Colorado, Kentucky. Some nice resorts, some dives. We've had years where we had plenty of room, and years when the resort overbooked and the boys got to stay in the manager's apartment. Years where we had a lake a boat and jetskis and a pool. It has rained, and stormed, and been beautiful. There was the year Clayton broke his leg. The year that Austin and Neal got mug shots by Junior the cop in Podunk Missouri. And the year there was a car accident right up the rode that half the family responded too. We have a doctor, 3 nurses, and 2 EMT's on staff. Grandma and Pearline make a huge breakfast every morning (if you get up before 10). No one cares if you stay up until 3 am playing Rook, drinking way too much pop, eating junk, and watching movies. But if you try to wake us up before 10- watch out. And almost every year everyone has been there. This year we were missing 7 out of a possible 48 people. Some people need to get their priorities in order. :)

This year was fun as usual. Most of the adults and the little kids were in two nice condos. The guys were in a very 'vintage' cabin right next to the cabin us girls stayed in. They were clean, but definitely circa 1960's. It was great. We were also far enough away from everyone else that we didn't get woken up at crazy early hours of the morning, i.e. before 10. We played rook and watched movies and somehow Abby and I spent an hour lost in Michigan. We were going to go rent the long version of Pride and Prejudice but didn't get directions to town, so we drove around for a while and then realized that neither of us had any ID to rent a movie with anyway. So we went back and played more Rook.

Neal, Austin and I on the very first vacation in 1987. Aren't we sooo cute? And check out Neal's stylin hair cut. :)





1989- we could all fit around 1 table!







1990- The first of many group shots.








1992- Indiana Beach
Hm...Dad isn't in any of these pictures because he had the camera.



2000- the Ozarks











2004- the last time everyone was there for the picture. Someplace in Missouri.

So that's vacation. Blessings.

Leaving...

For Michigan! My fam is already there, but I had to at least stay for Bob's testimony. They all were good. And there were a ton of people at Rassi's afterwards. :) Good times!

I got to bed kind of late.....

Blessings.

Things I've learned in the last few days

• Being at your sibling's testimonies is really weird.
• 5 baptisms means TONS of people will show up!
  (and the Kaebs will turn out- not quite like the Weigands, but still)
• It's a good thing I don't sit by Jakey every Sunday.
• I can sing tenor, bass, and soprano better than him.
• His shoes do not match his tie.
• God is bigger than the boogie man.
• And Matt's farmer tan didn't show.
• No one comes to work on the day before a holiday.
• Getting paid for not going to work is great!
• Spending the afternoon of the 4th laying in the sun by a pool is glorious, but rather painful the next day.
• To much sun makes me sleepy, and not very conducive to a large 4th of July Bash.
• Eureka fireworks....at Aunt Madelyn's....good times.
• Is an up to code septic system too much to ask for?
  
• I might actually have to use Young's modulus at work- I think I might die of shock!

Anyway, next week is the Wyss vacation!! Woot!
Blessings.

My boss and I decided today that people who don't do chemistry for a living might be happy...but it isn't very likely.

*grin*

Guess who just got her FOID card???

*grin*

I miss Champaign more than I thought. It was so good to be there this weekend and hang out with so many good friends. I met Gab and Bob and Nic in Goodfield Saturday evening; it was an enjoyable drive down to Chambana. Although I don't know if the guys appreciated our music selection since half of the songs we played have inside jokes or stories between Gab and I attached to them. O well, they wouldn't pick anything.

We met up with Mike and Joanna and spent an hour or so wandering around downtown Champaign taking in the sights and window 'shopping'. There was a really cool Book shop that I want to go check out sometime... Then we went to Perkins and Naz and EZ and Mogs showed up.

I miss Naz! Even though he knows too much about everything and comes over at random hours, he's fun to have around. :) So I'm glad he'll still be next door next year and I'm sure he'll come over to visit Ash a lot.

Erin and Dusty's wedding was great. It was fun to be in Champaign church again! And Erin's dress and her bridesmaids dresses were so cool! So another successful wedding.

After the reception a bunch of us went to Dos Reales for supper (I like DR, but I think somebody needs a new favorite restaurant-either that or someone else should pick ;) ). Kat, Heidi, Gab, and I got there before the guys did and we sat every other seat...it's kind of sad that we have to make a conscious effort to desegregate. :) O well, it was good times and there was a cool rainbow out the window.

And then we came back home and I was very tired and went to bed.
Blessings.

It's Friday!!

I love Friday!

It was a good week. I spent the night with Heidi and got too little sleep. And we didn't even finish the Notebook. We had fun though.

I made some fluffy white polymer in the lab today!!! I was excited. And sorry, since we're still in the developing stages, it will not be possible to process your orders at this time. Plus I would charge you a mint for it so unless you feel like financing my college education, (all you taxpayers are already paying most of my salary) I would advise you check out one of the fine furniture stores in your area.

I'm camping out tonight in Congerville. And tomorrow evening I'm going to Champaign for Erin's wedding. :) My boss was extremely surprised at the number of weddings that I am invited to.

Blessings.

Weddings and Things

This week has been so good. I really, really, really, like my job. :) All I do is watch reactions cook for six hours, and take viscosity measurements every 2 hours, and read a book in between. The annual lab picnic was on Friday. Free lunch and lots of good food. I made apple pie and my boss's little girl loved it. :)

I went to Morton's bible school with Gab Tuesday and Friday night. Friday I dragged my brother along because Bob and Nic and Tim were going to be there. We went to Taryn's afterwards but we didn't stay very late cause I was pretty tired. I miss Gab. I even miss her laughing at me.... hehe.

Mindy got married today. It was a little weird...but fun. Her dress was gorgeous, the food was good, and they're married so I guess it was a success. Most of my memories of Mindy involve father's day at Uncle Roy's pond with her and sometimes AJ and Caleb. And Christmas at the Christian church going every where we weren't supposed to go. :)

I also heard today that Alan Banwart's dad passed away...if you all could keep him and his family in your prayers I'm sure it would be appreciated.

Abs is here for Katelyn and Jordan's wedding tomorrow. :) I think I will be tired of weddings by the end of the summer.

Oooo...and I finally got my hair trimmed. Woot. It's all about the little things..... :)
Blessings.

Bushes and Kansas and Labs, oh my!

I didn't think I was busy this summer, but I kind of am! Although last week my biggest accomplishment was trimming the bushes....and I bribed my cousins with Bible School money to help me. (I gave them money to give at Bible School....I didn't steal it and then bribe them- just to clarify)

And I went to Bern/Sabetha with the Bible Class, it was a good time! Kansas girls are definitely hostesses with the mostesses. :) And they're pretty cool too! So thanks Lindsay, and Maggie, and Anna it was great! The ride home got a little long with so many high schoolers, but I survived.

Monday morning I started my summer job at the National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research. Or NCAUR, the USDA Lab, the Ag lab, etc. It has been so much fun so far! I have an office....and a desk...crazyness. It's kind of scary because Dr. Ken keeps giving me jobs and leaving me. And I have to keep a real lab notebook. Yesterday I uninhibited a bottle of Glycidyl Methacrylate.....it says "harmful" right on the bottle. Tomorrow I start running reactions (by myself) trying to turn soybean oil into office chairs. Good stuff. They had a safety fair today and I got a free NCAUR laptop case for playing 'safety poker'. I like my job. :) Still not used to the early mornings though....sigh.

Blessings.

You know you're a chem major...

...when fireflies don't blink, they fluoresce.