I'm starting to feel like I am so behind on my blog that I will never be able to catch up! Right when I thought I was getting into a groove, I had to create two curriculum lessons for an overnight seventh grade school group who came to Merry Lea. It was like after that, things just got really crazy and I did not have time to write posts! As soon as the dust settled, I began the physical part of my master's project, which required a lot of work in a small amount of time. I am actually nose-deep in my project right now (and will be until the end of November), which I hope to blog about soon so everyone will have a better idea about what exactly it is I am doing here at Merry Lea.
Even though it is very late, I wanted to blog and share pictures from my wonderful 24th birthday! The actual day of my birthday this year fell on a Wednesday, and I was on the schedule to teach. I'm not complaining, because I actually taught in the morning and got to leave at lunch instead of teaching for an entire day like how we usually do programs.
Even though my birthday didn't include the usual adorable first graders and Farmcraft, I had a feeling trudging around with bratty seventh graders wouldn't be too bad, and it really wasn't. My morning started out with a power point presentation, handling the water snake, and then taking the students on a Biodiversity Hike to the lake where they were to put on hip waders and catch and identify aquatic macroinvertebrates. Everything went pretty well, but I was very anxious and excited to head home so I could change and head off to Fort Wayne!
When I got to Fort Wayne, I still had some time to waste before my massage. I was so excited about this massage, and had been thinking about it since I got here to Merry Lea. There is a massage therapy clinic that was offering a pretty nice special to people who had never been there before. But-- before I went to my appointment, I found this swanky chocolate shop and decided to take a risk and order their sundae. I was not expecting a huge plate, but this is the deliciousness that I received! Vanilla ice cream, hot fudge, roasted almonds, and the most delicious peanut butter I've ever tasted! Birthdays are delicious.
When I got to Fort Wayne, I still had some time to waste before my massage. I was so excited about this massage, and had been thinking about it since I got here to Merry Lea. There is a massage therapy clinic that was offering a pretty nice special to people who had never been there before. But-- before I went to my appointment, I found this swanky chocolate shop and decided to take a risk and order their sundae. I was not expecting a huge plate, but this is the deliciousness that I received! Vanilla ice cream, hot fudge, roasted almonds, and the most delicious peanut butter I've ever tasted! Birthdays are delicious.
Unfortunately, I had to devour this amazing treat in a hurry because I did not want to be late for my much needed massage! This place was awesome because all I had to do was go online and make an appointment. When I walked in, they gave me the royal treatment and were very, very nice! The woman who gave my hour and a half massage (that's right, happy birthday to me!) was amazing. I'm pretty sure that was the fastest hour and a half of my entire life. I did not want it to be over! Except... my stomach was grumbling since all I had eaten that day was a granola bar and my sundae. Time to get some delicious dinner!
I drove over to Baan Thai Elephant, which is a favorite restaurant of quite a few Merry Lea staff when it comes to Thai food. Honestly, I will find any excuse to eat there because it's the best Thai food I've found in Indiana! I walked in, sat down, and they take really good care of you. I ordered -- you guessed it -- chicken Pad Thai! It's my favorite, if you couldn't tell. This picture doesn't do this dish justice! For some reason, they had some mood lighting going on, so I had to use flash. YUM!
After my delicious meal, I headed home because the next morning, I was going to have my very first teaching evaluation! It was going to be done during Farmcraft by the professor who actually sent me my acceptance letter last November. I was pretty nervous about this!
Needless to say, the day went well, and I received really high reviews. He told me that I am a natural born leader and teacher, and that he really enjoyed getting to watch me do something that I obviously enjoy and am passionate about.
Once the day was over, I headed over to my friend David's house to have dinner with him, his sister, and my other friend Aaron. David lives at Rieth Village and works as the Agroecology Intern. Aaron is currently working at Merry Lea helping with the educational programs. He completed the master's program last year. I've started hanging out with them pretty frequently.
Once the day was over, I headed over to my friend David's house to have dinner with him, his sister, and my other friend Aaron. David lives at Rieth Village and works as the Agroecology Intern. Aaron is currently working at Merry Lea helping with the educational programs. He completed the master's program last year. I've started hanging out with them pretty frequently.
David made homemade lasagna from things he had grown himself in the greenhouse, like eggplant, kale, onions, tomatoes, green bell peppers, zucchini, and anything else that would taste delicious in the mix. I helped make the ricotta cheese and layer the lasagna. Let me tell you-- this was probably the best lasagna I've ever eaten! The strangest thing was that it was vegetarian and you would've never known. It was SO yummy! To top the night off, and to celebrate the fact that my birthday was Wednesday and David's birthday was on Friday, David had made homemade pumpkin pie to share. Birthdays are so yummy!
After my stomach was completely full of delicious food, I went home and started to clean my entire house to get ready for my birthday visitors who were scheduled to arrive the next day! I couldn't wait, but I also had to attend a conference that weekend in Indianapolis.
On Friday, Paul and I left Merry Lea around 1:30 PM to drive to the Fort Wayne airport to drop off my car before leaving for Indianapolis. Once I parked my car and sent pictures to my dad so he could find it once they landed, it was off to Indianapolis we went! It was a cold and rainy day, which is the weather I am getting used to here. The drive to Indianapolis was about 2 and a half hours.
Once we arrived at Jameson Camp, I got to explore a little bit before we did our introductory activities. The Camp is beautiful! The buildings were phenomenal with the woodwork. I think the history of the camp is pretty interesting. If you want to read more about the history of the camp, you can read more here: http://jamesoncamp.org/history.php 
The purpose of this journey was to participate in Indiana's annual EEAI Conference (Environmental Education Association of Indiana). This year's topic was Environmental Literacy in America. We played some fun games to get to know each other, but honestly, I was very distracted by the fact that I had to wait until Erin and my dad drove to Indianapolis to pick me up! After the activities, we all went to the Hospitality Room for the song competition. I have not laughed that hard in a long time! A lot of these teachers had created songs that were parodies, and they were quite comical. After the song contest, we all just mingled and played games. I had to wait until close to 2 am before Dad and Erin got to Indy! I couldn't wait to leave the camp and spend time with them.
I had to be back at the conference early on Saturday morning, which I wasn't too happy about, since Erin and Dad ditched me to go to the Indianapolis Zoo and Aquarium! I did get to meet a lot of important people, and I learned quite a bit during my time at the Conference even though I was bummed that I didn't get to spend the day with my guests. Later that night, I was able to go get ice cream with Dad and Erin. We drove forever trying to find a place for ice cream!
After we had our fill, we decided to drive around downtown Indianapolis. I am not sure what we found, but there were police EVERYWHERE. Police on bikes, on horses, on foot, and I mean they were everywhere! We kept trying to see what was going on, but other than the grand opening of an In-and-Out Burger, we had no clue. We also found IUPUI (Indiana University - Purdue University Indianapolis) and some really cool monuments.
Once we had finished our exploring, we headed back to the hotel because I had to be back at Jameson Camp at 6 am for a morning hike with Paul. Even though it was bitter cold and wet, the hike was a lot of fun! After the hike and a yummy breakfast, my dad and I left the conference to have some car maintenance done. We got the oil changed and the car washed, and once we realized how close we were to an REI, we just had to go! I had been looking everywhere for decent snow boots, and was yet to find any that I liked. EVERYONE at Merry Lea keeps reminding me that I need snow boots, and that they will be important to have in order for me to have a comfortable winter.
Needless to say, the Indy REI had what I was looking for! Happy birthday to me! After that, we went back to the hotel to grab our things and check out. We were all ready for the next adventure!
Off we went to Nappanee, IN to Amish Acres for my birthday dinner! Ever since I visited Amish Acres for their annual Arts and Crafts Festival, I had heard about this famous "Threshers Dinner" that they have in a restaurant on the farm. I had been waiting for this day for quite a long time and could not wait! Even though our waitress was completely over us before we even sat down, and gave off a negative vibe, the meal was amazing! It was buffet style, so when you wanted more of something, you would ask and the waitress (one of the few times she came back to our table) would bring you more. For my birthday dinner, we had a white bean and ham soup for an appetizer, then homemade bread, homemade cinnamon apple butter, fried chicken, roast beef, mashed potatoes, green beans, stuffing, beef noodles, stuffing, and gravy.
Once we were stuffed, it was time for dessert! I kept hearing about this famous Amish dessert called "Shoo-Fly Pie", so naturally, we had to get it! We decided to each get a different dessert and then share. I got peanut butter pie, Erin got an apple dumpling, and Dad got the Shoo-Fly Pie. The Shoo-Fly Pie was interesting, and it tasted just like pecan pie but without the pecans. Below is a picture of the Shoo-Fly Pie and the peanut butter pie!
Once we were done with dessert, it was time to open presents! I got a pair of comfy house shoes, an awesome shirt, two amazing Year of the Bear books, and a breathtaking James Avery charm bracelet! When I was done opening presents, our waitress brought me a complimentary loaf of Amish bread. Yum!
On the beautiful charm bracelet, there is a butterfly heart charm for my love of butterflies from Brian and Vicky, a four seasons charm for my love of nature and the outdoors from my Grammy and Paw, an "I love you" charm also from them, a dachshund charm from my Dad for my puppy Micah, and a BU charm from everyone since I'll always be a Baylor Bear!
After our wonderful dinner, we decided to go explore some of the massive property around the Amish Farm. Needless to say, we made some new friends!
After we decided it was too cold outside, we got in the car and headed to my house. When we finally got home and got everything inside the house, we decided to go meet the animals and go on a nature hike around the wetland before the sun decided to set. You cannot come all the way to Indiana and not experience the beauty that is in my backyard! I taught them about the Pawpaw tree, the Spicebush, Goldenrod, Daisy Fleabane, and the New England Aster, just to name a few!
On Monday, we woke up really early and got in the car for Chicago! On our way, we stopped in Goshen at mine and my dad's favorite breakfast spot called Dutch Maid Bakery. What a great start to the morning!
Once we made it to Chicago and parked the car, we were off to meet my good friend Jennifer, who attends DePaul in Chicago, at the Art Institute of Chicago! Luckily, that Monday, she was off work and did not have class until the evening so she was able to join us! While we were there, we saw everyone from Picasso, Polluck, Kandinsky, Monet, Van Gogh, and my ultimate favorite: Dali! We also saw the painting titled American Gothic, and were really original when we tried to recreate the painting. Take a look at the pictures from our trip! You'll see a lot of famous paintings!
Once we made it to Chicago and parked the car, we were off to meet my good friend Jennifer, who attends DePaul in Chicago, at the Art Institute of Chicago! Luckily, that Monday, she was off work and did not have class until the evening so she was able to join us! While we were there, we saw everyone from Picasso, Polluck, Kandinsky, Monet, Van Gogh, and my ultimate favorite: Dali! We also saw the painting titled American Gothic, and were really original when we tried to recreate the painting. Take a look at the pictures from our trip! You'll see a lot of famous paintings!
Frank Lloyd Wright window (famous architect)
James McNeill Whistler (painter of Whistler's Mother)
Tiffany & Co. lamp
Do you think we pulled it off? We couldn't keep a straight face!
American Gothic, Grant Wood
Dali
Dali
Dali
Picasso
Dali
Close-up of the flaming giraffe
Dali
Picasso
Picasso
Picasso
Monet
Van Gogh
After we finished our speed walk through the Art Institute and saw all the famous names, we were off to find the famous silver jelly bean in Millennium Park!
Lunch time rolled around, and we all wanted to eat lunch in Chinatown. After hearing some advice from Jenny, our little Chicagoan, we decided not to go there because we value our safety! We decided to go to a Thai restaurant in South Chicago. We took a taxi and arrived at this cute little restaurant that had excellent reviews on Google! It was called Opart Thai House Restaurant. I had the Pad Thai with chicken -- which is my favorite -- and it was delicious! It was a cute little place with a lot of neat decorations.
Jennifer had to leave us to go to class that evening, so then we were off to ride the L Train and get around by ourselves! We took the train to the Sears (Willis) Tower to go up to the famous Skydeck! 1,353 feet up in the air in a plexiglass box is not terrifying at all! Here are some pictures of us on the L Train and in the Sears Tower.
This is a picture of me in the box in August, when I was terrified!
Chase and me standing in the box looking down!
I had to lay down because I was so scared! It's funny to compare these pictures from August to the pictures in October where I wasn't scared at all.
Once we had our high in the tower, it was time to refill our stomachs with some famous delicious deep dish pizza! I took us to the famous pizza place that Chase and I had found last time we were exploring in Chicago. It's called Giordano's, and it's delicious. Yum!
You can't leave Chicago (as in, Lee can't leave Chicago) without walking the Magnificent Mile to have some treats from the Hershey's shop! I got a hot chocolate (it was literally 400°) and some Reese's fudge, and Erin and my dad got milkshakes. We sat down and took a break while we people-watched and took some hilarious pictures. I'm pretty sure they thought we wanted to move in!
On Tuesday morning, I had to get up early to tend to the animals. That's what happens when you live on a farm! Once I was done with that, we were headed off to Fort Wayne to eat a delicious breakfast before heading to the airport. I must say, I am getting pretty good at finding great places to eat! We went to a "mom & pop" restaurant called Spyro's. I had amazing angel food cake french toast and chocolate milk! Who said you can't have cake for breakfast when it's your birthday weekend?
I had a fantastic birthday week and weekend! I'd like to thank everyone who sent me a birthday card, gave me a shout out on Facebook, left me a voicemail singing 'happy birthday to you', or sent me a 'happy birthday' email. I felt so loved!
Also, I'd like to give a shout out to Erin for letting me use her pictures. I wasn't able to post them all, because Blogger doesn't like to cooperate much with pictures (as in, when I upload them, it chooses to put them wildly out of order) so if it weren't for that, I would have added more.
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