Dancing The Night Away

This past weekend was Josh's Law Prom.  I honestly haven't really been excited about dressing up for a party since I was in college, so I was a little surprised about how much I looked forward to Saturday.  The whole weekend was amazing.  Josh and I met up with his sister and her husband for dinner on Friday night.  Saturday we had lunch with one of our groomsmen.  And Saturday night was Law Prom.  We started the night off with dinner at Graze, then hopped on a party bus to pass the time before the party.  The night was a blast.  We ate, danced, and mingled.  I'm so glad we had a wonderful weekend and I look forward to more wonderful weekends.

Married to almost lawyers...

There's No Place Like Ames

I love Ames.  I love Iowa State.  I love Kappa at Iowa State.  Ames has a very special place in my heart.  Today, I read that Ames was voted the number two Best College Town in America (read the full article here).  Ithaca College in New York came in first; The University of Iowa in Iowa City came in fourth.  I'm proud to say I'm part of the proud group of Iowa State alumni.  And I'm happy to learn Iowa City isn't as trashy of a town as I once thought (it is still the current #2 party school according to Princeton Review)...until about six months ago...

(source)

And here are some fun facts about Ames (taken directly from here):
Population: 89,575
Student concentration: 285.4 (per 1,000 people)
2-bedroom apartment: $740/month

Earning Potential: $35,426

Colleges: Iowa State University

Read more here.

Football Weekend

I drove over to Iowa City again to spend the weekend with Josh.  Friday night, we relaxed at Josh's apartment because the football game on Saturday started at 11 AM.  We met up with Josh's cousin, Brittany, who was in town from Chicago (she attended Iowa for undergrad), and caught up on our lives.  Iowa beat Minnesota 31-13.  Also, it turns out yesterday was Homecoming for Iowa; I got it confused with Iowa State's Homecoming (which is the end of October).  After spending time at two Iowa football games, I'm looking forward to attending an ISU football game.

My finds for the day: Romney stickers, Waldo, ice cream cone, and Chow from Chow's Gymnastics!

The Big Football Game: Iowa v. Iowa State

This past weekend was a legendary Iowa weekend:  the Iowa v. Iowa State football game (read more about the Iowa Corn Cy-Hawk Series here).  The state of Iowa is divided between the two universities.  Obviously, Josh and I always side with Iowa State (all the smart kids do, really).  Since Josh is a student at Iowa, he purchased season football tickets, and we managed (read: Josh negotiated like crazy) to purchase a ticket for me to attend the game with him.  During undergrad, I never went to Iowa City because I was afraid I'd get arrested or something crazy (I've heard lots of horror stories about Iowa City).  This was my first home Iowa football game, and it ended up pretty well.

We started the morning off at a law school fraternity tailgate.  Then, we wandered over to the tailgates near the stadium to meet up with some of Josh's high school friends.  It was fun catching up with them, playing flippy cup, and snapping a few pictures.

The football game was a lot of fun.  Kinnick Stadium was quite impressive.  The Iowa State win (9-6) was more impressive.  It's a Cyclone State for the next year.

Iowa City Weekends

This past weekend, Josh and I had originally planned to go to the drive-in movie theater in Newton. However, after he asked if I would come to a party in Iowa City after the movie, I opted to skip the movie and just drive over to Iowa City for Saturday night (I hate driving at night and like to avoid it if possible). It was a nice Saturday evening. We went grocery shopping together (apparently Josh thinks I can shop well - mom, you'd be proud!), and then made dinner together. After dinner, I took a little nap, and then we went out to a law school house party with his roommate, Alec. While walking over to the party, it felt a bit (read: A LOT) like going to an undergrad party at Iowa State (except we had to bring our own alcohol). I met a lot of Josh's classmates, and then randomly ran in to a cousin of Heather's husband. I love finding crazy connections with people! Anyway, it was wonderful to spend a low-key evening with Josh. On Sunday, I got on the road by noon, cleaned the house, cleaned out my car, and did a few loads of laundry before Jessica and I went to the fair. It was a great weekend.

I miss having a personal cook...

Newton, we'll be there at some point for a drive-in movie experience. I've got to get at least one under my belt!

Back to School

Josh is officially back at school.  Orientation started on Sunday, and he's been busy all week with his intro to law school class, random activities for school, and reading.  Before orientation started on Sunday, we bought his books.  I forgot how expensive books are.  When I was in graduate school at Drake, I had two to three classes a semester, and books were typically $300 or less a semester.  Josh's books were more than that.  I had to take a picture of the total amount on the register.  Seriously, I don't know why books cost this much.

$729.75 for a semester worth of books

Josh enjoyed using the free Internet at the law building before orientation

First day of law school orientation

On Saturday, we spent the day moving Josh's things, and then went out to dinner at Stella.  The restaurant is less than five minutes from Josh's apartment, and offers sufficient g-free options for me.  The ambiance was amazing out on the patio - the weather was in the high 80s with a light breeze.  I had jambalaya with a Sutliff hard cider (made in Iowa!).  Josh  had the Italian pizza.  I have a feeling we'll be going back to Stella to eat again.

Jambalaya and Sutliff hard cider

 
Then, after dinner, we had a chance to relax and watch the Olympics.  By 10 o'clock, we were exhausted...and went to bed.  Only to be woken up at 2 AM by his neighbors.  Oh, the joy of apartment living in a college town...

We're turning into Bev and Gene Haugo (and enjoying their old recliners!)

Black and Gold

As of August, Josh will be sporting black and gold instead of cardinal and gold.  Last week, we went to Iowa City and toured apartments for Josh.  We found lots of gross options, and a few great ones.  In the process, we also met a potential roommate, Alec, while eating lunch.  Josh's cousin, Brittany, met us for lunch, and then again before we left for drinks.  We also had a lovely dinner with Kai, Josh's BFF.  Brittany just finished her undergrad at Iowa in journalism and Spanish;  Kai just finished his PhD in math.  They're both pretty smart.  Anyway, we're happy with the progress we made, and it was really nice to spend a day in the town in which Josh will live for the next three to four years.

The sculpture of Jean de Fiennes by Auguste Rodin.

Josh in front of the Boyd Law Building.

Brittany and Josh - cousins at Iowa!

Kai and Josh

Josh and I in front of the old Iowa Capitol building.

New Chapters

The month week has been filled with a lot of activity.  Josh was in St. Louis for work because he accepted a promotion.  Mom was in the hospital for a weekend.  I went to Chicago for KBIS.  I had a bunch of photo shoots for work.  My older sister got engaged to a guy she's dated for about three months and is planning a September 4 wedding in Las Vegas.  My 14-year-old sister thinks she should go to Warp Tour this summer.  My dad decided he isn't going to bring his Canadian girlfriend back to America this summer.  And in all the craziness, Josh received a full academic scholarship to attend the University of Iowa Law School starting this fall.  Sorry if I'm on repeat.  It's been a crazy week.  We plan to move Josh into an apartment in Iowa City where he'll spend the next three years earning his JD.  I'm so proud of him!  I have always believed in him and knew something good would come his way; it just took a little longer than Josh originally thought.  Five days after Josh received the good news about his scholarship, he received another job offer.  I guess it's true that things come in threes.

We decided since I have such a great job and we want Josh to focus full-time on law school, that I'll stay living in our townhouse while Josh is in Iowa City.  Michaun said it best when she said it's like Josh is gone full-time for work (say, traveling like her husband used to do) except Josh gets holidays and summers off.  This weekend, Josh and I plan to look at apartments.  We know he wants to live close to campus, and preferably on the West side of the river.  After looking online, we realize there are lots of options, however the good options are pretty few.  We've never looked at apartments before, so this will be a first for us.  Wish us luck.  It's a jungle out there, and from what I know, they don't love Iowa State fans...which is kind of too bad for us.  I wonder if I should take my Iowa State license plate cover off my car for the next three years...

Boyd Law Building at the University of Iowa

Things that make me smile

This past week was hectic.  I don't really remember why.  Probably because I haven't had a weekend home without any major events in about a month, and the build-up of not having clean laundry and a clean house in addition to the stress of a photo shoot in the studio this past Friday, and prepping for a photo shoot at my house this upcoming week...ok, now I remember why it was hectic.  My garage, kitchen, and dining room are still looking very patriotic from the items I shot on Friday.  Today, I should probably clean out the garage and hem the curtains we're using for the photo shoot in my dining room this coming Wednesday.

Anyway, one major highlight of my week was making this purchase at Costco.  I love Sharpies, and colorful Sharpies make everything happier!

24 colorful options!

This past Wednesday, we found out Josh received a full academic scholarship to the University of Iowa's Law School.  I'm really proud of him.  In the next few months, things will certainly be changing a lot around here.  We had to cancel our Florida vacation (that I had just reserved on Tuesday) since it was scheduled August 16-23 and classes begin on August 20.  However, his aunt was sweet as always and offered the condo to us whenever we could fit it into Josh's new academic schedule.  In an attempt to process all the life-changing news on Wednesday, we took Sophie on a little walk.  She was very happy about it (she loves walks!), yet confused as we went a different route than we usually go.  I can't get enough of her sweet smile and trust it will help make the transition into next chapter in our life a bit more manageable.

Sweetest Mini Schnauzer ever!