Weekend Refresh

This weekend goes back to Thursday, which really wasn't a part of my weekend, but I do remember promising SUP pictures to my readers. 

Group photo before we started. 

Hey, there's me! 

Paddleboarding in action 

Jon and I being SUP loners

All of these photos are courtesy of the wonderful Cari Draft who put on this event. This was so much fun that I found it hard to give up my board when it was time to head back. I did struggle at standing up at first because it was so wobbly. I also did manage to fall off of my board once due to a boat creating some big waves that I just couldn't handle! At least the water was warm, but the seaweed wasn't too fun.

It was nice to do something new and fun with Jon and we also got to enjoy some goodies in Grand Haven.

Cheap and tasty corn dogs!

So many delicious corn dogs.  

We were pretty excited!

I did manage to fit in some other fun festivities in my weekend. No weekend would be complete without a trip to the local farmer's market. 

Awesome produce and even better Amish cookies.

And sister time.

An unsuccessful trip to the mall ended in a salty pretzel date with my sister.

Now to begin my last week of Summer I classes and to spend my Sunday being productive by finishing homework, cleaning, going for a run, and watching my latest guilty pleasure: Pretty Little Liars. 

Hope you all had a nice weekend :)

Trying Something New

Have you ever found yourself wanting to try something new? Whether it be food, an exercise, a new style of clothing, etc? Well I'm usually one to stick to a regular routine, but for some reason I couldn't let this opportunity pass by. And what opportunity you may be asking yourself... SUP (Stand-up paddle boarding).

SUP is where you stand on your longboard and use a paddle to move around. This is apparently a really great core workout and is very easy to learn. Cari Draft from EcoTrekFitness is offering a class in Grand Haven this Thursday to try out SUP and Jon and I are going to try it out. I'm nervous/excited because I am not the greatest at keeping my balance, but I am hoping to have a lot of fun in the process and become a SUP pro... haha maybe not, but I can try.



If you live in Michigan, you should really look into trying out an EcoTrek class. So fun!



I will make sure to post some pictures of Jon and I SUP'in it up. 

Weekend Refresh

This weekend was full of good times and plenty of good food, courtesy of restaurant week in Ann Arbor. Jon and I got to spend a couple of days with one of my very best friends. 

Beware: lots of pictures

This is Emma. She is pretty cray.

Since it was restaurant week, we took advantage of a few of the deals that were going on at the restaurants in town

Cracklin' Chicken at Blue Tractor

Breakfast at Sava's

My first time at The Melting Pot enjoying some hot cheese and chocolate

We also had to make a stop at one of my favorite places ever: Zingerman's. They have the best bread and cheese selection and some very pretty treats to look at.

They also have one of the best fountain pop machines: Boylan's! My favorite is the Creamy Red Birch Beer.

We also spent our first night in town at Heidelberg. We figured we should get acquainted with the place that I will be spending a few months at.

We played an intense few rounds of darts

This is Jon, my main squeeze and I hanging outside of Heidelberg

After eating way too much in Ann Arbor, Jon and I headed back to Kalamazoo for some quality family time and relaxing.

Roxie nomin' on some grass at the park

Family beach day in South Haven

All in all, it was a pretty fantastic weekend. We also got some delicious goodies at our local farmer's market. Now we are spending the rest of our last day of the weekend watching Community, battling the high pile of laundry, and getting some homework done.

Hope you all enjoyed your weekend as well :) 

Who, What, When, Where, and Why?

Now for some of you that may just be stumbling across this blog, you may have a few questions in mind such as:
-Why is this chick going to Germany?
-Where is she living?
-What will she be doing in her free time?
-How will she be able to spend money?
-Etc!

I'm here to answer some of these questions as an introductory post as to what this blog will be about! My professor emailed us a list of questions/answers that a parent had asked, so I thought that I would keep any of my close loved ones in the loop in case they had the same questions.

So moving along...

Name: Stephanie Young but prefer to be called Sky
Occupation: Student in her final year of college at Western Michigan University
Purpose of trip: I will be spending my last fall semester as an undergrad in Heidelberg, Germany for student teaching.
Date of trip: August 19th, 2012 through December 14th, 2012
Where I'll be staying and cost: I will be staying on an American Army Base in Heidelberg, Germany. The apartments I will be staying in are the same apartments that our military family members are living in and we will have cleaning responsibilities for keeping the stairwell clean and not being too loud. The cost of living is $5 per day, coming to a grand total of $150 per month which will be collected at the end of our 15 week period there.
How will she have access to money: There is banking on the base, and I am still able to use an ATM to get cash. I will convert money before I leave and then convert as I go.
What will be going on in your free time? When I am not student teaching, I plan on traveling mostly every weekend. Something that I really liked was that they offer free tours through New Europe Tours in some really great places such as:
-Berlin
-Munich
-Prague
-London
-Amsterdam
-Paris
-Dublin
-Jerusalem
-Brussels
-Madrid
-Tel Aviv
-Hambur
How to keep in contact: I will not have use of my American cell phone, but I believe I can still use iMessage through my iPhone over a wifi connection. There is always Facebook, Skype, and emailing to contact me! I am also able to purchase a phone over there that I can buy minutes for.

This is all of the basic information that I have for  now at the moment. When I receive more useful/important information, you will be kept in the loop!

Auf Wiedersehen

Acceptance.

After much confusion these past couple weeks, I am finally writing with some good news...

I am officially placed at Heidelberg Middle School.

It may not be the exact grade-level placement I was hoping for, but I am going to make the best out of this experience and learn as much as I can from my teacher and also from my student's. I look forward to this summer ending and a new chapter of my life beginning.

Until next time....
Go Panthers!