I Dreamed a Dream

The Civic Center announced their 2012-2013 season line up, which includes the musical I've been wanting to see for YEARS - Les Miserables!! It runs October 2-7 and I cannot wait!!!!!!! You can see the full lineup here.

Everything is Great, Everything is Grand

I received "The Muppets" from Netflix and watched it last night. You cannot help but feel happy after watching a movie like that. It's so cheerful and fun. Loved all the cameos, the clever jokes, and the music, my favorite song being "Life's a Happy Song". I couldn't find the full video but here's a fun sneak peak:

April Fools

Temps in the mid 80's on the first day of April was no April Fool's joke and I've got a sunburn on my back to prove it! Jake and I took advantage of the nice day by visiting several parks. We started out in the A.M. going to Walnut Woods to walk on a nature trail and do some birding. Even though I am afraid of birds, I'm okay with looking at them through binoculars and can appreciate all the different kinds of birds there are out there. Some have such vibrant colors. I can only remember a few that we saw - a mallard duck, cardinal, robin, yellow-throated warbler, woodpecker, and a black-capped chickadee, I think. (Jake had to identify all of them besides the robin and cardinal :) ) Next stop was the Maffitt Reservoir and then onto Lake Ahquabi for another nature trail (hardly any birds to be spotted there) and we ended the day with a picnic, consisting of grilled chicken, chips & guacamole, strawberries and blackberries, and oreos. And before heading back to Des Moines, I requested a tour of Simpson College and Jake obliged. I'd never been there before so it was fun to see where he and some of my good friends spent their college years. Definitely a fun day!

OP, Welcome to WDM

Thanks to a text from Stacy the other night, I learned that one of my favorite establishments from college, the Other Place, is opening a location in West Des Moines!! I spent many Thursday evenings, FAC afternoons, weekends, and summer nights at the OP on "the Hill" in Cedar Falls during my college years.

This past fall, Jake and I went to a UNI football game, and I made sure that stopping at the OP for a drink and some pizza was on the itinerary. It was my first time there in about 4 years and brought back a lot of good memories. It's not only a nostalgia thing, they have great pizza too! Can't wait!

Green With Envy

One of my good friends from college recently moved to Germany for a year for her job. In an email to her today, I was telling her how I was trying to figure out plans for a trip somewhere in the next few months. Her reply to me included this:

"Our next 3 week line up is Switzerland this weekend, Budapest next weekend, Greece the weekend after (For Easter!) Should be fun and busy!

Planning on taking a week off in May as [her husband] has to use up his remaining vacation days and going to Italy (Venice and Florence) and then a couple days in the UK"

This, of course, comes one day after I was viewing her newest Facebook photo album that includes pictures of her in Paris, Zurich, Greece, and several places in the U.S. How lucky is this girl?!

I will always be indebted to her for giving me the opportunity to take my first international vacation, when I went with her to Greece in the summer of 2008. Maybe I can be indebted to her even more if I add Germany to my list...after all, she did end her email with this:

"Well, you are most certainly welcome to come visit here!! Or Greece!!!!!"

The Power of Women

After reading, "Mighty Be Our Powers", the story of how Leymah Gbowee brought women together to fight for peace in Liberia, I learned of the documentary that was made, based on this story, "Pray the Devil Back to Hell", and immediately put it in my Netflix queue.

If you want to read/see a truly inspiring story of just how strong, resilient, and powerful women can be, I highly recommend reading "Might Be Our Powers" and/or watching "Pray the Devil Back to Hell".

Cheers

What better way to appreciate 79 degree weather in mid-March than grilling out with your roomie and enjoying a Summer Shandy...cheers!