I can't even tell you

How much I really truly and deeply enjoy most aspects of my life right now. For instance, today:

I got up and went to dig potatoes for some people I'd never met before. I heard about Dot and Don from one of the professors here on campus, and they came highly recommended as wonderful people. Was she ever right! They have a massive garden, at least an acre, on land that Don has farmed his whole life. They feed themselves, their kids, their neighbors and their friends off of it, and it is a beautiful, gorgeous thing. This year they've had a little trouble getting the crops in (they are both 84-year-old farmers), especially the potatoes. Don has chronic bronchitis, and since he is usually the digger and Dot the sorter, they found themselves at a loss. Thankfully people have been coming by to help them out, and they aren't quite sure what to do with the extra hands, but I think they're getting used to it. Dot fed us oranges, peanut butter and cracker sandwiches, grapes, coffee, and Reeses, and Don told us all about farming in Iowa during the Great Depression.

Then at 1:00 (still dressed in farmer clothes, straight out of the car), Courtney and I went to a book binding workshop led by Peter and Donna Thomas. They are currently trekking around the country in their hand-built (by them) Gypsy wagon, spreading their book arts knowledge. I've gone to a book binding workshop before, and loved it, so this was icing on the cake. We made three different miniature books with three different binding/cover styles, and it was incredible! I believe the Cole Library Facebook page should be posting picture soon. For now, here's me with a book, taken by Jen:

Woo farming clothes!

They gave us a tour of their Gypsy wagon (see link. No really, go look at it), whereupon my eyes nearly fell out of my head, as it is a small house and we all know how I feel about those. Oh my. It was amazing. Peter got out a ukelele and played us a song about bookbinding (Bookbinding girls won't you come out tonight, and bookbind by the light of the moon. Not joking), and then revealed that the ukelele contained a handpainted book about ukeleles. I mean, come on.

And now I'm working at the library for a few hours, and then going home to watch a movie (let's be real, it'll probably be Midnight in Paris), or listen to A Prairie Home Companion, and then sleeping. What a perfect day. And reasonably representative of my life right now. Except for student teaching but that's another post for another time.

The Joys of Shopping for One

The local supermarket. I haven't met Gary yet.

I've done a lot of grocery shopping in my life, let me tell you. When I'm at home, it's a weekly ritual Mom and I go through, and it's great. But until this summer, it was always a rather passive thing. Mom made the list, Mom knew the deals, Mom chose the shops. Now, though, I shop to feed myself, not to buy into the familial pool of food as I have my whole life, which is very strange and sort of liberating. Not that Mom hasn't bought excellent food, but now I get exactly what I want in the quantities I'll eat it in. I know that sound incredibly normal, but right now it's still a novel idea.


For instance, the first week I bought chunky peanut butter. We've NEVER had chunky peanut butter at our house, ever, but I've discovered that I LOVE chunky peanut butter. So much so that I actually eat it with a spoon right out of the jar. I think for about three days mostly what I ate was open faced PBJ sandwiches with jelly from the Amish. A winning combination, my friends.

I also bought Tang. I am a huge fan of water and milk, but sometimes I'd like something with a different flavor. At school I drink juice or lemonade, but I don't have juice machines here that provide me with infinite juice (unfortunately), so I comprimised with Tang. So good, and I get to put as much in as I want.

My other shopping thing I do is I buy one luxury item a week. One week it was ginger snaps. Another it was chocolate milk. This week it was Fresca. I bought grape juice one time but I liked it so much that it's now a staple. I swear I could drink a jug of grape juice every two days, easy. I refrain from that particular excess, however ;).

I guess the whole point of this post is that 1. It is weird to buy straight up groceries for myself and 2. Little indulgences are nice.

World traveller?

http://www.emersonkent.com/images/world_map_1910.jpg

I've never been outside the U.S., sad as it may be. I've been all over INSIDE (approximately 32 states, both coasts, north and south), but never even made it to Canada. Recently I decided that this needs to change. I need to get out and go do things while I can! So, I think after I graduate next spring, I'm going to take off on a plane for somewhere that is not North America.
Current list of top places in no particular order:

1. Ireland
2. Nigeria
3. India
4. New Zeland
5. Japan
6. Paris
7. London
8. Italy
9. China
10. Amsterdam
11. Sweden

I have some limitations, however.

• I don't speak any language with any sort of proficiency outside of English
• I'd like to KNOW someone where I'm going, as then I will have someone to call if I'm in trouble, and they'll know the area instead of me just going and getting stuck in tourist traps, etc.
• Going alone may sound fun, but I hear it's more dangerous and probably less fun than having someone to share it with
• I don't have a fantastic amount of money to spend, but I think I'm willing to pay about $2000. 

So. Where should I go? London seems nice, as it takes away the language barrier, is a relatively cheap plane ticket, especially if bought in advance and I'm guessing it would be easier to find a travelling companion to London than other places. I don't know anyone there, however.

Nigeria would be great, as I know some wonderful people there, but Jos is kind of in an uproar so I'm not sure if it's the best choice right now.

I think we have more missionary friends in China/Hong Kong, so that would be fun. The ticket price is a little prohibitive though.

There is always the option of North American travel, however.
In relative order:

1. New York
2. San Francisco
3. Prince Edward Island
4. Toronto
5. Washington DC
6. Boston
7. Seattle
8. Portland
9. Asheville

 Cheaper, even easier to get someone to go with me, probably more likely that I'd know someone wherever I go, language not a problem...

But the point is that I'm stretching myself and getting OUT there and doing things I wouldn't normally do. 

So I guess what I'm saying is if any of you want to go somewhere with me next May, let me know. 

Summer

Since this weather is so incredibly nice, I thought I'd post about my summer plans!

This summer I have been presented with three incredible opportunities.
1. Work in a garden
2. House sit all summer in a house with 5 cats, rent free except for cat maintenance
3. Work in a library

I know what you're thinking: Those are Ellen's three favorite things: Gardens, cats, libraries! Add in Sharpies, bluegrass music, and a healthy dose of bread making and you've got yourself my perfect life.

The garden I have the privileged to work in is the Cornell Community SIFE garden. SIFE stands for Students in Free Enterprise, and is a national club where students start businesses and go to competitions with them and do all sorts of interesting and wonderful things. This garden project is three years old, and this is the second year in this particular location. My good friend Henry was the gardener last year, but he is going off to do bigger and better things (an internship in a museum, I think), and so I am taking over! The garden is about 8500 square feet, so it's going to be quite an undertaking. I ordered all my seeds, and realised that I am tentatively planning on growing about 45 different items. Wow! For more updates on this, please see my Garden Blog.

As for the house, a professor on campus has had me cat-sit for him several times over the past year, and this fall he asked if I would be interested in living in his house and taking care of them full time this summer. This was right about the time that I was starting to consider the garden plan, so it was incredibly serendipitous! There are five cats: Mahogany and Ruth are both blind, Claire and Cubby are both missing one leg, and Polly has nothing wrong outside of a poor thyroid. They are quite the bunch, let me tell you!

I wrote a few days ago about my new job at the library. I'm given to believe that I will still have a job come summer, but that it will be different. My supervisor mentioned quite a few possibilities, or perhaps all of the available possibilities being rolled into one, so it will be very exciting!

I would LOVE for any and all of you to come visit. Come for a day, come for three days, come for a week, I don't care. We'll have fun, make a lot of good food, do some gardening, and play with some kitties. If cats aren't your cup of tea, I also know a good many dogs in town, so I can hook you up!

Long time catch-up!

Hello everyone.
I've been gone for a while, mostly because my life has been pretty boring.
Or has it.
I think I am predisposed to think my life blog-worthy boring, but that might just be that the beauty is not in the eye of this particular beholder. So, here is a life catch-up, bullet-point style (my favorite).

• Right now I am in a class called Children's Literature. Last block I was in Methods of Teaching Elementary Language Arts, so this is basically just a continuation of that. 
• I have a practicum component to both of these classes. Practicum means that it's kind of half-way between student teaching and just observing. I only teach every once in a while, I do a lot of grading/paperwork for the teacher, and I'm mostly there to just absorb knowledge and classroom atmosphere! For these two blocks I have a 5th grade class in Iowa City. They are wonderful, though VERY different from the 1st grade one I had last semester. I am learning a lot from them:). Unfortunately it has not helped me make up my mind about which grade I want to teach in the long run. Both ends of the spectrum are so much fun, but for wildly different reasons. I guess we'll just let God handle this one!
• I got a job! About a week ago the librarian who did my library internship with me emailed and asked if I'd be interested in a reference desk job a few nights a week. Of course I said yes! When all the details were hammered out and the dust settled, I became (as of... A hour and a half ago!) a Reference Peer Consultant. That means that I am on the reference desk from 7-9, Monday-Thursday, for the rest of the school year. So far it's been very fun, and the librarians have been great at training me and answering all my questions. 
• The garden is slowly getting started! As some of you might know, I am spending the summer here at Cornell, tending the community garden. This topic will have its own post in the future. Suffice to say for now, my back hurts, my hands are getting callouses (more slowly than I would like), and things are moving! It's been super unseasonably warm out (I think it was 70 degrees today), so I've been doing a little pre-planting work.
• I got a new roommate! Sarah took a leave of absence, so I found myself with an extra bed. Thankfully my friend Amanda was willing to move in! We've had a really great time talking late at night and getting up early in the morning.

I think that's all for now. I'll try to keep it up :)

Milk and Milk

Today I went ROGUE and replaced the water in my breadmachine bread recipe with MILK. The results were fantastic. Very soft bread, with a crackle-y, very dark crust. I hereby reccomend this to everyone.

Also I've gone through a lot of peppermint essential oil since Christmas... Who knew you could add it to so many things? My favorites have been bathwater (4drops/bath), which made the whole bathroom smell incredible, peppermint tea, and cocoa. Just add one drop/glass, though, because it's mighty strong.