A month of updates

For many of these posts, I tend to talk in riddles about thoughts and feelings. I don't always explain myself fully. Nor do I really tell you what's actually been going on in our lives. And as I was thinking about this the other day, I thought, "You know, that's not really fair Liz - to leave all those poor people and your many followers of your incredible blog feeling empty." (Okay, so I really didn't talk to myself those exact words, but you get the point) So this blog entry will be used to update you on the current life of Liz and AJ. Enjoy! :) 

The last time I did any sort of "update" blog was a while ago. I actually have my calendar in front of me so I can figure out what all I need to tell you! So let's go back to the beginning of February.... 

Work was definitely starting to pick up for me at UNO in February. I went on my first high school visit with a co-worker so I could see how they are done. I also worked my first Saturday event. It was an early morning, but I was done by noon which was nice. That same day, AJ and I went to see the Broadway musical 'Mary Poppins' in downtown Omaha at the Orpheum Theater. Although our seats were pretty far back, it was a great show and the theater is absolutely gorgeous!

A little bit of a funny story to go along with that... after the show was done, we were walking out of the theater with the huge mass of people. About halfway down I realized my gloves weren't in my coat pockets. AJ kindly went back up to see if they had fallen out under our seats - which meant he had to fight the crowd coming down on his way back up - bless his heart! But, there were no gloves and the staff told him they hadn't picked any up. I could have sworn I had brought them along and was sad to learn that I would have to go buy some new gloves. As we walked back to our car, it had started to snow again. As we reached our car I suddenly cried out, "My gloves!" I must have put them on my lap and they had fallen out when I got out of the car. AJ was impressed that no one had taken them while we were at the show. I was impressed by the glove outlines left on the ground. haha Obviously we're easily entertained. 

After the show we went to this very cute little Italian restaurant in the Old Market area called Vincenzo's. And I kid you not, they have the best garlic cheese bread I've ever had. We ordered two appetizers of it. OMG - LOVED IT! haha 

That Sunday was Super Bowl Sunday and we spend the day laying around being lazy, eating food and watching football and commercials. Nothing too exciting. :)

The next week at work wasn't too busy. I did have one evening event that I worked but other than that, a pretty normal week. I also did my first Information Session that week. UNO schedules two visits a day and at each visit the counselors take turns giving a 45 minute presentation (aka Information Session). I think my first one went very well and it was nice to finally have one under my belt. I'm still learning more about UNO every day but I think I've got the basics down. That weekend AJ and I ventured up to Minnesota. We were able to stop in Estherville on our way up and see my BFF while she was still pregnant. :) We spent the rest of the weekend seeing other friends and hanging out with my family. I also learned how to cross-stitch from my mom - something I'm quickly becoming addicted to!

The next week was Valentine's Day. AJ and I were fortunate enough to be able to have lunch together that day. We ate at Jones Bros Cupcakes - which has amazing food and even more amazing cupcakes. :) He even surprised me with flowers at work. That night however, AJ had parent-teacher conferences. He also had conferences on Wednesday night. But on both night, AJ heard only good things from parents and he also learned how he especially has touched the life of one of his students. And it makes you realize how amazing his job and profession actually is and how much he can make a difference. Right now AJ is busy working with his choir and students for solo and large group contest. It's a lot of work but I'm sure that the kids and him are going to do great.


The last full week in February was a very busy one. But believe me, I'm not complaining. I'm honestly loving every minute of my job! I am so blessed to have this opportunity! On Monday of that week, we had an Open House on campus - it was another early start and a long day but a lot of fun. It's great when you get a lot of perspective students on campus and allow them to ask current students questions without their parents around. :) I also started my own high school visits in the MAP Iowa counties. Again, I can't even explain why I love this so much but it's just great. I remember that time in my life when I was deciding on college and how much fun and exciting it was. And I just want to make sure that these kids have those same opportunities. I also had my first college fair - although it was a transfer fair which I've been told is different from other college fairs. But still, a good experience. 

Saturday was another work day for me. We had a housing showcase on campus where students could come visit all five resident halls. And immediately after that we had a hockey event for dual enrollment students and students from the MAP schools. It was a great time - we had a tailgate before the game with free gifts, food and had different departments there for students to ask questions and then free tickets to the hockey game! It was a long long day but AJ and I had a lot of fun at our first UNO hockey game! Hopefully we'll be able to go to many more! 


And on Sunday... Sunday was a great day. A very special day. On Sunday, my best friend and former college roommate had her first baby! This is the first baby from any of my close circles of friends, so it was an exciting day! AJ and I were lucky enough to be able to drive up to Spirit Lake to see Amanda & Taylor and their baby son, Thor. This was the first time for us seeing a baby that was less than 12 hours old - unless, for me, you count seeing my new baby brother when he was  born, but I was too young to really remember that. It was just amazing to have been able to watch Amanda through her pregnancy and now seeing the end result. And let me tell you - that baby is the cutest baby! :) We had a great time visiting them and we're really looking forward to the next time we get to see them so we can get some more one-on-one baby time! 

All in all, February was a good and fairly busy month. Now it is March and, at least for me, things are only going to get busier. I'll be up in Minnesota for a couple of weeks at some college fairs and I'm looking forward to being back in my homeland but also very sad that it'll take me away from AJ for a while. However, we have discussed that since we were apart for so long last year, these shorter times apart will be a piece of cake! So it's a good thing we had that practice!