bean boots

And when I said I would try to remember to post my "birthday gift" tomorrow, I actually meant today. 

L.L. Bean boots!

It's not winter yet, but when it gets here I'll be ready.

spice rack

Our new spice rack, bought with an Etsy gift card from the wedding. We do love our spices.

My second day of class is complete.

This was the big one.

Two 3-hour classes. 

9 am-12 pm. 

1-4 pm.

Art Materials, Process & Application followed by Career Development (or Career Counseling). 

Despite kind of having a slight sinus headache most of the day, I really enjoyed both classes and the professors. 

Surprisingly, the classes really didn't feel that long. (At least not today.)

It was pretty overwhelming to hear about EVERYTHING we're doing throughout the semester in one class period, but I just had to remind myself that it didn't all have to be done tomorrow. 

I bought TEN books for my 4 classes. 

Some of them aren't that big, but yeesh, let the reading begin.

I also JUST received the "birthday gift" that I picked out for myself in the mail today. 

I'll try to remember to post a picture next time. 

Theories of Counseling/Art Psychotherapy tomorrow evening 6-9 pm and then I'm done for the week!

But like I said, the reading will be an animal of its own, not to mention some serious brainstorming for some projects ahead.

Definitely sounds, looks and feels like grad school. :)

birthday, round II

This post is very stream of thought, so hopefully you can follow.

Combination birthday/first day of grad school was a success!
I made my very favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe and took them to my one and only class for the day.
I felt really comfortable at school with my professor and classmates.
Not as nervous as the other ladies (yes, all ladies. no men) appeared to be.
Although I AM 26, and most of the others are fresh out of their bachelors degree so I kind of feel like the veteran in the class.
I felt like there was no reason to be nervous.
Dr. Moon was sooo nice.
And there were only 14 other students in my class, which is NOTHING compared to the oh-so-intimidating 200+ at FSU.
Dr. Moon also told us that we were the top 30 chosen out of 110 applications.
Nothing like a strong compliment to encourage you on your first day of grad school.

Also, Mount Mary has a Week of Welcome just like Bethel.
Part of that meant that they had free coffee available in the parking lot when I arrived.
I keep finding more and more reasons to love this school.

We really didn't do anything too epic to celebrate that afternoon because we were both exhausted
I don't think I've mentioned that we don't have air conditioning and it's been a little warm recently, leaving good, cool, restful sleeping to be desired.
It should improve soon.
I slept better last night already.
And I guess it's pretty exciting to have your first 3-hour-long grad school class, so I'm sure it took a little out of me.

Not just a random Frida painting. This is at BelAir Cantina. And I love Frida.

I'm so glad Ben didn't have to work on my birthday.
We watched Orange is the New Black on Netflix, ate cookies, played Scrabble and then went over to BelAir Cantina for tacos and margaritas.
We Skyped Tom & Paula that evening and it was nice to catch up with them and the puppies.
It wasn't the most exciting day, but Labor Day weekend is coming up so maybe we can do something a little more special to celebrate.

Last Saturday we didn't end up going to Lakefront Brewery, but we DID go to Milwaukee Brewing Co. for their 5-7 pm open house tasting.

AND we went to Purple Door Ice Cream.

I had chai ice cream. 

Ben had absinthe ice cream.

AMAZING!

AND we went for a fancy supper at The Noble. 

AND we RANDOMLY saw my second cousin Cathy Schmeichel AT the MKE Brewing open house.

AND she then she got engaged yesterday. 

On my birthday! 

(Forgot about that. So that kind of made it an exciting birthday.)

Not to mention my social security card came in the mail so I'm officially Susan Lynn Schmeichel Harder!
Harder being the last name, Schmeichel moving to middle name status (in case you forgot).
For the convenience of our future children, or pets.

(SIDE NOTE: Getting very annoying legal documents changed, filed, fixed, etc. is VERY exciting when you move because it is ONE MORE THING that you no longer have to worry about.)

And today I FINALLY dragged my sorry self down to the DMV and got a Wisconsin driver's license, registration and new plates for my car! 

It only took an hour.

Goodbye, silly Florida plates. 

one more thing

My mother just notified me that...

"Rachel Ries is also your 3rd cousin on Great Grandma Carrie’s side and 3rd cousin once removed on Great Grandma Lena’s side." 

So there you go. 

Related to fame. 

So distantly.

I also read on her website that Rachel was on tour with Anais Mitchell & the Young Man Band and got to open a tour for Bon Iver at the end of 2012/beginning of 2013.

Awesome.

But really, you should just check out her music because it's lovely. 

Her voice is like butter. 

Also, I forgot to mention that I officially joined the 

American Art Therapy Association and the 

Wisconsin Art Therapy Association yesterday.

It's fun when your future profession has a club for you to join. 

Ben and I are going to hit up the Lakefront Brewery tour this afternoon.

Going to be so much fun!

ma

important things!

Chazen Museum of Art, University of Wisconsin Madison

We have had SUCH a momentous last 48 hours!

WEDNESDAY:

1) Ben got a temporary job! He answered a Craigslist ad to help with a guy with construction work (installing windows), experience not required. Although it did say he should be able to measure and use power tools, which is can do. Ben even told him up front that he was actually looking for a music ed job and he didn't know exactly how long he would be around. The guy had no problem with it, so that's where Ben is today.

2) I had orientation. It was awesome, and it further confirmed my decision to pursue this particular career path. My professor and peers seem amazing. They talked a lot about self care because grad school (especially our schedule) will be intense. This semester shouldn't be too bad because we don't have any practicum until the spring, during which I will be interning for at least 18-20 hours a week plus regular school work. Yikes. But basically, I'm REALLY looking forward to it.

THURSDAY:

We drove to Madison to:
3) visit my old saxophone teacher's twin sister, who happens to be a music education professor at University of Wisconsin Madison.

I know that's sort of a weird reason to visit someone, but you have to understand that my old saxophone teacher is an amazing person AND she loves me (and Ben) enough to help us start networking and get Ben a teaching job. Teri was FABULOUS. We went out for lunch and it was adorable to see Ben and her connect through all of the music education banter. She told us she will give Ben a heads up if she has any teaching job leads.

We also couldn't help but think of Cousin Russell and Camille Adrian! Russell just finished a masters degree in choral conducting (I believe, right?) at UWM, so I'm pretty sure we were in his old music building.

4) Afterwards we checked out the Chazen Art Museum on campus (which is FREE!), grabbed a coffee at CoffeeBytes and then stopped by the record store, Strictly Discs....where this poster caught my eye. Rachel Ries is about 10 years older than me, grew up in Freeman, went to my church, and now lives in Brooklyn, NY. She's also a singer/songwriter and she's touring. You can read about her and check out her music HERE! I thought I would have to return to Madison to see her, but turns out she'll be in MKE on Sept. 20 too!

This was all followed by...

5) A visit with Ted & Taylor!

They gave us beer, made us supper and then we had a great time catching up, meeting their friends and having a brief Skype session with Austin and Alyssa!

6) I SET UP OUR INTERNET TODAY!

We actually received everything we needed from AT&T in the mail and it was supposed to be ready to go last night, but we ran into some glitches. 

Long story short, glitches fixed...even though I was ALL ready to go back to Rocket Baby Bakery (oh how I love their pastries). 

YAY FOR OUR WISCONSIN LIFE!

skyline

Yesterday we attended the Extra Crispy Brass Band (a local MKE band) concert in Kadish Park as part of the Skyline Music Series. Hundreds of folks from the Riverwest neighborhood and more came with their blankets, chairs, food, dogs, wine, beer and children to sit and listen to the music with this glorious backdrop. There's river at the bottom of the hill, which you can't really see in the picture. AND it was free! This was the last concert of the summer, but we'll make sure to look for this concert series again next summer.

insurance, check

Mom was asking for more pictures of the house. 

These are just the few left on my phone. 

I will use the SLR when the house looks a little more put together AND we have Internet. 

We ordered our Fiestaware dishes. 

At least 8. 

We'll order more when we have more space and money.

And then below is Great Grandma Lena's quilt that was a wedding gift from Grandma Rita. 

Ben and I just returned from getting renter's insurance and getting a quote for auto insurance. I can't get my Wisconsin driver's license until I have a new social security card, so I'm waiting on that. But logistics like insurance are the thing I dread most about moving because I don't know who I should be going to for insurance and I don't know what's going on for the most part. I AM learning more and more each time we do this, so hopefully I'm sounding more and more intelligent. Insurance is also something that has never given me a lot in return for my money. Usually just more confusion and headaches. BUT we did find a really nice insurance company nearby with kind people that were extremely friendly and helpful, and that is all I ask for.

Orientation is TOMORROW evening! Time to get my school paperwork together!

brewers

Fun things we've been up to:

BASEBALL - We went to another Brewers game last night because they have special $9 seats on Mondays. The Brewers lost again, but I just love going to Miller Park and it's kind of fun to be losers along with the rest of the locals. Used our $10 Ryan Braun vouchers to buy myself a Brewers t-shirt. For those of you who don't know, Ryan Braun is a Brewer who was suspended from the league because he took performance enhancing drugs. He was basically the Brewers' best player, so now they're really bad.

COOKING - We just went to this AWESOME little spice shop called The Spice House. There are several in MKE. We love to make curry and use a lot of spices in our cooking, so this place is a dream. Ben is making lamb curry this evening. 

SCRABBLE - We just bought a Scrabble board because we have no internet, meaning no ability to watch Netflix. I know I could "read books" in my spare time, and dabble in a few other hobbies I have, but this is a good activity that we love to do together. It's also easier for me to be doing hands on activities rather than sit down and read a book. Don't know why. I need to get a good book going, because I can definitely sit down and read when it's GOOD reading. 

BIKING - Another fabulous activity we love. Ben just got his bike back from the shop and there are BIKE LANES on a few prime streets in MKE, which is also a huge improvement from Tallahassee and every other place we've lived. It also isn't blazing hot outside with HUGE hills to conquer, so we've been biking a lot these past 3 days. Last night we even biked to McBob's (Irish pub with the MOST AMAZING rueben sandwich in the city) and then took their shuttle to the game. 

I think that's all for now.

Going to figure out some insurance stuff today.

I know you're jealous. 

Try not to be. 

We'll hopefully have Internet tomorrow, but I'll believe it when I see it. 

saturday

Friday afternoon. The kitchen is FINALLY put together. Still working on the rest of the house.

I forgot to mention that we made our very first ham salad with our new KitchenAid grinder attachment this last week.

I know that sounds lame, but it was tasty and amazing.

We also made this particular ham salad with Wisconsin ham, pickles and minced cheese curds.

I love new kitchen appliances!

Currently I'm gathering hummus recipes from my Facebook friends because our food processor came in the mail. 

We've moderately addicted to hummus, and store-bought hummus gets expensive when it's on your shopping list almost every week. 

My friends have provided some real winners that I can't wait to try. 

Not a lot to update from yesterday.

Last night we went to the movies 3 miles away at the Mayfair Mall to see Kickass 2.

I keep looking up part-time jobs over at Mayfair because I feel like having a fun part-time college job at Crate and Barrel or BareMinerals, but I'm reminding myself to hold off because I'm pretty sure grad school will keep me WAY too busy to be able to handle even 15-20 hours a week. 

Sigh.

I will leave the job searching up to Ben. 

And even though I would love to keep exploring MKE today I think we need to keep putting the house together. 

Work first. Play later.

P.S. An extra week without Internet feels like an eternity. 

exploring MKE

We've been MKE residents for one whole week now!

It's been an awesome experience. 

We're in love with this place so far. 

We catch ourselves saying, "This is so much better than Tallahassee," a lot. 

The Midwest is the best.

Our house is coming together. 

We really can't wait for recycling day because we've gotten so much stuff in the mail lately. 

Tons of brown boxes just sitting around.

Either they'll go in the basement or we'll just go to the recycling center. (Not sure where that is yet.)

We're still taking care of a lot of logistics, but the list IS getting shorter.

Ben sent in his teaching license application, but continues to fill out questionnaires on teaching applications and subbing lists.

I've got a little Mount Mary paperwork to fill out (including health insurance) and I FINALLY sent my name change info to the Social Security Administration today. Totally regret not taking care of that IMMEDIATELY after we got married so that I could have left SD with it complete. I tried going into the SSA office yesterday and the line was HUGE. I decided to just mail my documents and application in rather than waiting in line to talk to crabby SSA employees. 

Ever notice how some government employees can be dry and uncaring?

I have. 

Not for me. 

I will eventually get a Wisconsin driver's license, health insurance and renter's insurance. 

Before checking out the SSA office Ben and I drove over to Lake Michigan to take in the beautiful cityscape of MKE.

After lunch at home we went on the Miller Brewery Tour.

I think it was a good one to start with because Miller beer is NOT as good as craft beer, but it was still really impressive.

We made friends with a school teacher that looked close to our age.

She was alone visiting all the Midwest ballparks from D.C. and doesn't even drink beer.

Thought that was pretty funny, but it was fun to talk with her. 

We need to work our way up the brewery tour chain.

Sprecher Brewing Co., Milwaukee Brewing Co., and Lakefront Brewing Co. are all craft brews that await us. 

We hear Lakefront has the best tour.

The best way to follow-up a Miller Brewery tour is a Brewers game at Miller Park! 

They lost, but we had great seats, and a really great time. 

The game was part of Ben's birthday gift. 

Jacob, our maintenance guy, told us that a great way to go to a game is to have supper at a bar beforehand and then ride their shuttle to and from the game. There are quite a few bars in the area that do this.

Traffic/parking is INSANE before and after a game.

Way easier to let someone else do the driving. 

Graduate student orientation is this Wednesday evening! (August 21)

I really cannot wait.

I think I've mentioned this even several times now.

We also just received an invitation to visit Kansas friends (friends of the Harder family that go to Bethel College Mennonite Church) up at their cabin in Michigan.

Ben has been there before and says it really it quite amazing, so hopefully it works out to visit in early September. 

We've touched base with our Madison friends, Ted and Taylor. 

We hope to visit Madison this coming week and get a chance to spend with them. 

Also planning on checking out the Mennonite Church this weekend. 

We need more socialization than just ourselves. 

The weather continues to be just gorgeous.

We've tasted amazing Wisconsin cheese curds, ice cream, meat, pickles, and beer.

We'll continue to add to the list. 

YAY WISCONSIN WE LOVE YOU!

ins and outs

The super bizarre bar in our basement/laundry room. Didn't know it existed.

Things are going well!

I'm back on the running train and it is a JOY to run in our neighborhood with this kind of weather. 

Cool weather makes Ben happy (and not crabby, like with hot weather), in return, making me happy.

I'm not doing more than 1-2 miles at a time because my knees are still feeling it a little.

I'm just easing in and trying to get my form back. 

We ate at Bel Air Cantina for Ben's birthday last night.

BEST Mexican place and food (within a 4 block radius).

I had a watermelon basil margarita and a pineapple ginger margarita. 

UH-mazing.

This morning we're checking out Rocket Baby Bakery.

A 3-block-walk, great coffee and baked goods. 

And I even bought a huge loaf of sourdough.

My dad's Cousin Don Schmeichel from Washington Facebooked me that my second cousin Cathy Schmeichel will be in the area pretty soon. 

She's around my age, so I really hope to make a connection at some point. 

We haven't seen those cousins in ages. 

We're just trying to take one thing at a time, but I can't wait until routine has been established. 

Really looking forward to the Brewers game and going to one million concerts (because there are SOOOO many good musicians that come through MKE). 

26 years, round I

Wearing sweaters and drinking Wisconsin beer in August.

Benjamin is 26 years old today.
The older you get the "harder" it is to remember how old you actually are.
(People love whenever we say harder...because it's our last name.)
We're back at Colectivo.
A coffee drink is a small price to pay for the luxury of Internet usage.
Just bought ourselves a spice rack on Etsy with a wedding gift card and some of our remaining REI registry gifts with REI gift cards.
As Ben just said, we feel like we're "hemorrhaging" money at the moment.
Which is what happens when you get married and move to a new place.
Just realized I left my birth certificate at home, so I can't apply to change my name until I get that.
Oops.
Ben is working on his Wisconsin licensure.
We're hoping to meet up with our music education "connection" over in Madison soon, not to mention Taylor and Ted!
Not sure how we'll be celebrating Ben's birthday yet, but I'll let you know.

Drinking our wedding wine gift (which was THE BEST MOST PERFECT wine I've had in a long time) from Cousin Jordan (who's manages a restaurant in Minneapolis so he would know what good wine is) and writing thank you's. 

settling

We're settling in, slowly but surely. 

There are fewer and fewer boxes sitting around. 

Ben and I are currently sitting in Colectivo Coffee (again for the internet). 

Between yesterday and today I have ordered:

- a stainless steel kitchen work table (so excited for this kind of counter space). 

- a food processor from Target

- books for Art Therapy Theory & History class and

- Fiestaware dishes, mugs and bowls

It's raining now (12:17 pm), but I woke up this morning and went for a run.

The first run in, hmmm, quite awhile.

The sun was shining and it was quite lovely before the rain came in.

We're heading to Menard's, REI and Target after this.

Not sure if we'll go check out the Mennonite Church this afternoon (Sunday worship is at 4 pm because they're a small, small congregation that meets at a Lutheran Church). 

Might wait until next Sunday when we're hopefully more settled in. 

Oh, and we're going to the Brewers game on Thursday. 

wisconsinites

I drove over to Colectivo Coffee to use the internet for "business", but I couldn't help but blog and briefly update you all.
We should have our own internet by Wednesday.
Fingers crossed.
Colectivo Coffee is the place that I raved about when I visited back in October, except it was called Alterra.
They changed the name because they sold their old one, so when I refer to "Colectivo" I mean "the old Alterra where they have amazing tea, coffee and food".
I hope to be spending not too much time and money here, but it wouldn't be the worst thing either.
Above is a picture of Miller Park (where the Brewers play).
We are only about a 10 minute drive from here, and on the way to Target.
I'm in awe every time we pass.
We're already talking about going to a game.
So as far as the house goes...we're still unpacking, but things are coming together nicely.
I'll take pictures when everything has its place.
The weather has been gorgeous (in the last 48 hours) and we've already enjoyed porch sitting and a cool evening walk.
I have grad student orientation on August 21st.
Looking forward to meeting some new folks and getting back into the swing of things.
I think there's more to say, but you'll have to wait for now.

the next move

Ben and my birthday supper date with Austin & Alyssa.
Went to Monk's House of Ale Repute in Sioux Falls.
A perfect place for a celebration with friends.

Here we go again.

We're all packed up.

Everything's in the trailer.

We're picking up our new mattress in Sioux Falls tomorrow morning on the way to Milwaukee.

And then off we go.

I think we've greatly improved our moving skills.

We were kind of flying by the seat of our pants when we moved TO Florida and also when we moved BACK, randomly shoving items in boxes without much organization.

Instead, we've been sorting, purging and re-packing for the past several days.

We also decided to leave all of our books at home.

That's right.

All of them.

(I guess a few are coming with us, but not many.)

We rarely read our old books when we were in FL.

We stuck to school textbooks and new ones that interested us from the library.

It would probably be the same case in WI.

And I must say that it is REALLY nice not having to box up and carry all of these books. 

Soooooo....

I'll update when I can, but we might not have internet for awhile.

We'll get to a coffee shop for free WiFi if possible.

So come visit us before I get too busy with school and don't want any of you to come.

(kidding just a little)

Packed up a bottle of wine that was a wedding gift from Cousin Jordan.
Looking forward to christening our new place with it.

final wedding hurrahs

Right before Sam & Keila's wedding at Faith Mennonite Church in Newton.

We're back from our 10 day trip to Kansas. 

Thursday and Friday were spent hanging out in the pool with our friends.

Saturday was our huge wedding extravaganza.

Sam & Keila in the morning at 11:00 am.

Lindsey & Austin in the evening at 6:30 pm.

We battled through the heat and humidity (both indoor church weddings, but outdoor receptions), but it was worth it to see some great friends get married and see others that we hadn't seen in a long while.

And we have now officially completed our summer wedding schedule.

We do have ONE MORE WEDDING to attend this FALL!

I'm super excited to say we'll be attending a wedding in West Olive, Michigan this October for one of my beloved modmates and my junior year roommate, Laurie.

We're planning on taking the ferry across Lake Michigan. 

How lovely it will be to already be so close up north.

Speaking of which, we're moving soon!

Thursday to be exact. 

While it was nice to hang out by the pool in the steamy weather we're pretty happy to be back in the slightly cooler South Dakota territory, and then on to the even cooler MKE. 

This week will be spent sorting, packing and purging unwanted items. 

Not always fun, but I'm actually feeling ready to take care of business and start getting ready for school!

Alyssa & I at Sam & Keila's outdoor reception at the Bethel College president's house lawn.

Lindsey & Austin's reception at the Unruh family farm after their Alexanderwohl Mennonite Church wedding just outside of Goessel.

salted caramel

I drove to Hesston for my haircut yesterday.

It was lovely.

My hair is still long but MUCH more thinned out and layered, making it MUCH more manageable. 

It is sooooooooo thick if it's all one length. 

The hair salon was located right next to the Lincoln Perk (Hesston's coffee shop), which is now owned by my friend, Holly. 

Holly used to own the coffee shop in Newton, Pages. 

She sold it, started an ice cream business with a friend (the Salted Creamery) and was then approached about buying the Perk by the old owner back in January.

She now has a great place to make and sell her ice cream. 

She also has this great little venture she's asked me to add some drawings to called "The Artist's Circus", which is basically a smaller version of a gallery for smaller versions of local artists' wares.

There are small ceramic bowls, tiny sculptures, embroidered hand towels, soaps and lotions, etc. 

So instead of selling a huge, framed painting or drawing I'll be taking her some 4x6 sketches. 

She said that she sells everything pretty quickly because they're small and priced pretty low in comparison to larger works of art.

So back to the ice cream...

I actually bought strawberry sorbet and not salted caramel, but that was the kind I WANTED to try.

The sorbet came in pint size and the caramel came in quart. 

I was not ready to make that kind of commitment to so much ice cream, so I went with the sorbet.

It turns out my friends are having Salted Creamery ice cream at their wedding this Saturday, so I'm banking on some salted caramel.

I also bought a dark, smoky iced coffee.

Ben and I then proceeded to lay around the pool alllllllllll afternoon.

The sun was quite lethal yesterday so we're definitely tanned/burned. 

Last night a bunch of Harders and a few Stuckys came over for supper.

Today I'm meeting a good old Bethel friend for lunch in Newton.

Then we're meeting another good old Bethel friend for drinks in Newton this evening. 

Between all of that I'll be drawing and swimming with buddies. 

P.S. Just found out from my wonderful friend Taylor, who's starting her 2nd year of MVS in Madison, WI, that the Milwaukee Mennonite Church and the Madison Mennonite Church are having a joint potluck/gathering in a few weeks. Neighbors!