You are looking at what I am considering the prettiest prison I've ever seen. To be honest, I haven't seen that many prisons, but I highly doubt any are as majestic as the Anamosa State Penitentiary. The inmates even worked on the construction of this massive stone building themselves. Some on the construction team tried to escape in 1879; four were shot, one was killed. I actually have a second cousin who works there and have heard him talk about it. I had no idea this is what it looked like. I'm sure the inside ain't so pretty, but I'm not too anxious to check it out first hand.
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Oh, Cedar Rapids. I had three great tour guides this weekend to show me around you. From the west to the east, I saw downtown, Czech Village, the NewBo City Market, a harbor full of houseboats, and much of what's left from the 2008 flood. I learned many interesting facts, including that the landfill known as Mount Trashmore is the tallest point in town, in the 1950's the city's synchronized swimming team was inducted into the Swimming Hall of Fame in Florida, and the first black man elected to the Iowa legislature in the 1960s was from Cedar Rapids. Unfortunately, your motto of "The city of five seasons" is so often affectionately changed to "The city of five smells" for a reason. While I enjoyed my tour and spending less than 24 hours with you, I could never see myself living there. Sorry, CR.
Celine is our new 2012 Hyundai Sonata. Her shimmering navy blue exterior, long lines, and sharp black and camel interior make for one sleek ride. Unfortunately, the two vehicles Lucas and I have been driving are older and repairs keep coming up. Instead of continuing to dump money into them we decided to trade one in to buy something new. It's amazing how little vehicles are worth once they get older than five years. We picked the Sonata based on safety, affordability, style, and fuel efficiency. Her estimated mileage is 28 mpg city and 35 mpg highway. That is more than double what Lucas could get on his truck. So while the monthly payment is a little higher, the gas bills will be cut in half - saving us money overall. Happy birthday America! I know our country is far from perfect, but I can say I am proud to be an American. There are few other countries in the world that offer the freedom, opportunity and quality of life we often take for granted. Thank you to all the men and women in uniform who protect and serve our country. Thank you to all those who still believe in our country and in their own little ways (volunteering, teaching, recycling, paying taxes) make our country the great place it is. Thank you to all those who believe our country can still be better and strive to do that through political activism, serving on boards and commissions, and calling for change. Lucas and I spent the Fourth of JUly with his family in southwest Iowa. We first hit up the parade in Creston. Seeing that I was born in Creston and lived there for a fulfilling nine months, it is possible that I have been to one before. However, since I clearly can't recall that and neither can my parents, will say this was my first time. The parade was pretty standard with the exception of a ton of old-school tractors. Those were pretty cool to see. After the parade, we headed farther southwest to the 500-person town of New Market. This was for sure my first time at its parade, as well as the tractor pull. It was my first time to New Market ever. To all my city slicker friends, yes, a tractor pull sounds like the ultimate hick event, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't have fun. Those little tractors were pretty impressive and got moving pretty good. We finished the night with fireworks. For a town of 500, it was an amazing 25-minute show that really lit up the sky. None of that one-firecracker-every-two-minutes stuff here. There was a constant stream of low-flying fireworks combined with the massive circle/weeping willow type high-flying fireworks. Overall, it was a great day celebrating all things American. Lucas and I road-tripped it to Wisconsin this weekend. My cousins were having a high school graduation party. Turns out Lucas, the biggest Packers fan I know, had never been to Wisconsin before. How is that possible? Every 30 or so minutes he'd say, "I could live here," or "I could retire here." Who knows where life will take us, maybe even to Wisconsin.
The party was a great chance to introduce Lucas to some of my cousins. It was nice to see them and see my dad hanging with his brothers. While we were there, we also stopped by my mom's cousins' house who happen to have their own vineyard and make award-winning wine in their basement. Shakin' Rock will be available to the public in a few years, but for now you gotta know someone who know's someone to get your hands on a bottle. It only sounds cool that you make your own wine if it's good... and it was great. Glad they sent us home with a few bottles. Thanks guys! I know, I know, airports aren't the sexiest place ever, and I've been in my fair share. On our way back to Des Moines from Hartford, Conn. we had a nearly three-hour layover in Detroit. I wasn't expecting much. In fact, I didn't even have thoughts about the airport. Once we landed though, I quickly noticed the tram above our heads. Yes, a tram runs up and down Terminal A like a model train runs on an elevated track around a bedroom. Well, we had to get to Terminal B so no tram ride for us but that's OK. Instead we got to go through this trippy, color-changing underground tunnel. I caught a picture of it while it was blue, but it turns every shade of color with some coordinating background music. If you weren't smiling before entering the tunnel, by the time you exit, you will be. I literally went from annoyed, busy traveler, to a little
Believe it or not, I've never been to a party with a pig roasting on a spit. When you're expecting about 100 people for a graduation/confirmation party this is a really great way to feed all your guests (assuming most are meat-eaters). It was kind of gross, but that didn't stop me from enjoying Luther the Pig (as he was named). Quite a few other guests in attendance held the same sentiment. I'm thankful we had two capable men handling the roast because that would be a challenge to make sure he cooks evening and stays juicy and tastes good - not to mention, you gotta cut him up. You're gonna need one sharp knife and lots of napkins.
Learning to play Rummikub, watching a whole pig get put on ice in a bathtub, and enjoying great company and food (and a cigar for some).
I like to think I'm a decently well-traveled person. I know I have a lot more to do, but slowly and surely I am getting around the U.S. and eventually the world. This weekend I visited an exotic place called Connecticut. We were visiting Lucas' family in the Brookfield/New Milford/Newtown area for a confirmation and graduation party for two of his cousins. It is beautiful here! They have big rolling hills with massive trees and windy little roads with 200-year-old homes tucked in between more massive trees. I decided I could definitely become a lake/boat person. Know I just need a lake and some money to buy a boat...
Deciding to get married is a big decision. Planning a wedding requires a lot of big (and some little) decisions. Choosing a honeymoon destination is the last big decision in this process.
We decided to postpone the honeymoon since I knew I'd be starting a new job (or unemployed) the week after the wedding. So the last two months I've been researching and researching. Early on I narrowed our search to the Caribbean and Mexico because I didn't want to deal with the jet lag that comes with Hawaii or Asia when we will only have one day to recuperate. The next factor I used in narrowing down destinations was input I received from many friends. Neither Lucas or I have been to this part of the world and needed some first hand experiences to go off. The other two factors were that I wanted to honeymoon in the fall (too excited to put it off any longer) and we were going to use my parents' timeshare. All of that gave us a manageable amount of destinations to consider including St. Martin, St. Kitt's, Jamaica, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, and the Riviera Maya in Mexico. Today we booked a week of bliss at the El Dorado Royale in the Riviera Maya, Mexico! This place is legit. Who doesn't want to live it up at an all-inclusive, adult-only tropical oasis? We might even squeeze in some culture and sightseeing while there... |