{working title}: Nebraska: The Good Life: week 6

Thursday, July 30, 2015

Nebraska: The Good Life: week 6

ice cream at work to help us get through meetings...?
Okay, twist my arm!
Youth Gathering prep requires ice cream!

It's really been too long since I was in Nebraska, but the past 3 weeks have been astonishingly busy, so I haven't written anything yet. Week 6 of my internship entailed many final preparations of for the ELCA Youth Gathering as well as the normal daily tasks. I even was seen around Chicago carrying a 3 ft by 4 ft wooden photo frame while I was trying to paint it (photos of the finished frame in the next blog!). I would like to think that me carrying the frame on the train wasn't the weirdest thing to see on the trains--weird things happen on public transit--but it's entirely possible that I became one of "those people" being odd on the train.

On Monday evening, the folks in the Young Adult Cohort had our quarterly call. These are the men and women I spent time with at the UN Commission on the Status of Women (yes, I will eventually write about this...) and it was so wonderful to catch up with them. We also decided to start a book club of sorts, which excites me to no end. The perspectives and experiences of people in this group are so powerful. I'm so excited to call them friends.

Less than $5 for all of this yumminess!

I discovered a Mexican bakery right outside my train/bus stop which I decided to explore one day while I was waiting for the bus. Turns out you can get entirely too many baked good for under $5. I will definitely frequent that place again! I also treated myself to sushi and ice cream from a wonderfully delicious shoppe named "Jeni's." They just nearly missed on getting the name right, but they DEFINITELY got the ice cream right! Each sundae also comes with a waffle cone fortune cookie with you're very own conversation starter question inside. I read "If I Stay" (Gayle Forman) this week and tried reading Diane Keaton's "Let's Just Say It Wasn't Pretty," but I couldn't get into it. I did make it to a dance class, but much of the rest of the week was doing boring adult things like doing laundry, paying bills, and packing for (2!!!) upcoming trips.

Enso Sushi: Shrimp Shumai dumplings

Enso sushi: spicy scallop & crunchy lobster roll

Jeni's Splendid Ice Cream: Gooey Butter Sundae

Upstream Brewery: pretzels and Gouda beer cheese soup

And finally, Friday arrived. I was heading HOME! I got a ridiculous amount of stuff accomplished in Nebraska while I was home. Dinner with Dad at Upstream Brewery in Omaha, breakfast at Back Alley Bakery with Laura, Dally's Deli for lunch, Kathleen and Chris Smolik's wedding (with amazing conversation with the Koopman/Benson clan), Fab Four reunion, breakfast with my parents at the Goldenrod Cafe, the Hastings Public Library's "Friends of the Library" Book Sale (shout out to my Mom for a VERY successful event as President of the Friends board), gelato with Dad, and wonderful quality time with Grandma on the way back to Omaha to fly back to Chicago. I got to drive my car (Ms. Annabelle) for the first time in 6 weeks. She's just the best car ever. I also checked my storage units and I'm so happy to report there were no dead rodents in sight--although probably not the most legitimate fear, it was still one I had. My biggest hope for a gorgeous Nebraska sunset did not come to fruition because it was overcast each evening around sunset.

Back Alley Bakery: Blueberry stuffed French Toast

Congratulations Chris and Kathleen! I'm so excited to have been able to celebrate your wedding day with you. I have so many memories tied to growing up with the two of you...the letters you wrote to each other in the notebook in middle school before and up to starting to date, Kathleen sneaking down to the Blue Moon during dance class breaks to see Chris, color guard, dance classes and so many more. Congrats again! :)