August 26th marked the start of a new semester for me. My second year as a graduate student. These last three weeks have, as always in a new semester, been an adjustment to the new schedule and to new professors. I am taking 12 credits (9 is full time for a graduate student) so it should be a busy one. Number one goal: re-finding my time management skills and avoid wasting time.
We have also officially transitioned to become the leaders for the 20-somethings ministry at our church. It really means that we are in charge of facilitating the small group specifically for our age group. It seems strange considering we are the youngest members. This will be a great opportunity for us to grow in our relationship with Christ and with those around us. It also makes me feel more obligated to be social. We'll see how this goes.
Beyond school and church, here are a couple other things that we have been up to.
Labor Day weekend we had the opportunity to spend time camping with our friends Ben and Sami. Our plans were to take our bikes up to southern Minnesota to ride one of the state trails. This meant we were traveling with bikes and camping gear for four people, and we fit everything into their Honda Fit. It was quite a feat. The weekend was filled with sitting around the fire, taking slow-exposure photos, biking, ice cream, four square, and relaxing. We also traveled to Mystery Cave nearby and took a tour.
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| We're ready!! |
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| We fit! |
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| Saturday night dinner |
Speaking of biking. Tony has found a love for his bike. We bought one for him before we took our trip out to Oregon, however, it had the worst brakes known to mankind. We got them replaced the other day and he loves it. Unfortunately, the recent rain has put a damper on two of our recent planned trips. I have also been biking to and from campus/work for the entire summer. One problem that comes with biking is known as sweaty back. I had been wanting panniers (bags that hang over the back tire) for my bike and Tony surprised me one night by buying some. I was very excited!!
The weekend following Labor Day we had the chance to go apple picking at Wilson's Orchard. It was extremely hot outside, but that didn't stop us from walking all over the orchard to grab some of our favorite apples. The adventure ended with some fresh apple cider and nice warm turnovers. Next step, making some delicious apple pie.
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| Ready to pick those apples |
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| Tony went a little crazy |
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| Honeycrisps!!! |
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| We're all done |
Lastly, this last Saturday we traveled up to Dodgeville, WI to meet up with our friends the Harris's. They live in Oshkosh, WI so we decided to meet up halfway. We were supposed to camp for the night, but the Sunday morning rain cut our trip short. The trip was not ruined, rather we spent the day hiking, playing bocce ball, playing Settlers of Catan and some fine dining at a local barbecue. Days like that make us wish we lived a little close to our friends and family in Wisconsin.
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| Typical Tash and Pat |
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Hiking on a random trail
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| Bocce ball |
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| Settlers |
