Countdown

So I know this is a little late, but here are my top 10 favorites from Easter break.

10. Four day weekend.

9. Fingers that smell like citrus after eating an orange.

8. ”Dr. Strangelove or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb”  A fantastic black and white cold war era satire. It is a delightful film that I watched for the first time over break.

7. Train Rides. I wish the train was a more common (and cheaper) mode of transportation. I would definitely take advantage of it.

6. Cheesecake Factory. Oh yeah. Bang-Bang Chicken and Shrimp and Dulce de Leche cheesecake. So Good.

5. Spending hours at Borders being surrounded by books and reading the play “Rabbit Hole” by David Lindsay-Abaire while I’m there.

4. Spending two days in the beautiful city of Chicago: with friends, family, and the girlfriend.

3. Seeing “Rent” at the Ford Oriental featuring Adam Pascal and Anthony Rapp. Incredible.

2. He is risen.

1. He is risen indeed.

(You had to know it would end that way.  How else could it?)

Thinking about a college major?  Why not English?  Why not become a teacher?  No, it won’t be easy.  No, you won’t become a millionaire.  But yes, there will always be a job available, and yes you will have the opportunity to mold, shape, and transform young lives. 

See the article below–a wave of teacher retirements will likely occur in the next several years.  Why not invest your life in the future?

http://www.southbendtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090412/News01/904120257/-1/XML

Beijing

    On Wednesday, or two days from now, our journey abroad will be over. We will step onto a plane heading east, land to be greeted by family and friends, and return to our homes and routine. But what will not be over are the memories and experiences that we have had and shared with each other. Although we will go our seperate ways and probably not return to these places any time soon, we will never forget what we have seen and learned.

    So with this last post, I would like to display what our last few weeks in China were like. We traveled, shopped, ate, and yes, even learned. The main goal of our last stretch was to “soak it all up” and I truly do believe that we did!

Last dinner at the restraunt we nicknamed "Heaven on Earth"
Our Chinese class took a trip to the Beijing Zoo
A group of us pausing for a photo at the Forbidden City

In front of the Bird's Nest
For my 21st, we all celebrated at a local Italian Restraunt. (Picture: Rob, Me, Brent)
Me in front of the Teracotta Warriors

Amber, Me, Laura, and Amanda at the Summer Palace
A group of us went to help paint the interior of a house
Evidence that we actually did some studying on this trip (Picture: Me, Amber, Jan)


    Thank you to everyone who kept up with my journey by reading my posts and leaving me bits of encouragement along the way. I appreciate all the love and support that made this trip possible. In particular I would like to thank my parents, who without them, I would not be here on this trip today.

So that’s it folks, I’m going home…

 Today is a day of hope for Cub fans everywhere—thinking this, at last, is the year.
Of course it may not be, but you can’t tell us that today. All we cling to this day is the dream that what lies ahead are the one hundred sixty-two opportunities, one hundred sixty-two days of hope—of hope that one hundred years of failure can be redeemed, day by day, inning by inning.

Best of all, for me, it starts six (and I hope seven) months of singing these words–”so it’s root, root, root for the CUBBIES. If they don’t win it’s a shame”—every day, with the sweetest little blond Cub fan that ever graced the earth.

One day last fall, after the season had ended, as we lay in bed flipping channels, she said, “Papa, I wanna watch baseball.” I almost cried, and thought to myself, “next year, baby; next year.”