HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!
When we were up in Richmond at the cabin on September 20, 2008 Chris & I walked down to the (shaky) dock and I took a seat. It was calming and beautiful even there there was a lot of wind that particular Saturday.
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…just be sure to VOTE. November 4, 2008…do it. If you don’t know where your voting station is, they say this site on Google Maps can help you.
Why vote? This quote from an old UofM article is a start…
Why vote? First and foremost, voting is a civil right, hard-won for women, African Americans, and other citizens, and the foundation of our democracy. Secondly, millions of people around the world have no say in who governs them, so don’t squander your own power. And thirdly, every single vote really does count.
Thanks to PerezHilton.com for posting this great video sequel on his site.
If you missed the first video, go to this channel on YouTube.
I was searching Chicago news to see the latest on the Jennifer Hudson family story and came across this link listing “08 reasons Barack Obama might lose next Tuesday.” That led me to THIS LINK (The Obama/McCain counterfactual) which I think is interesting and wanted to share.
I look forward to what Eric Zorn has to say on his Thursday “08 Reasons Obama Will Win” post.
Seems like high time to volunteer for this election, huh?!?!
Image from www.barackobama.com downloads page.
Who doesn’t love a free taco? I guess those who don’t eat meat would have to answer Me, but everyone else…listen up! Starting in 10 minutes we all have 4 hours to stop by our local Taco Bell for a FREE Crunchy Seasoned Beef Taco. Ready, set…GO!
Why do we all get free tacos? Well…you can thank former Twins player Jason Bartlett for his stolen base in Game 1 of the 2008 World Series!
I wonder how much money Taco Bell makes off of people turning this promotion into dinner?
Way back in February Chris & I started talking about taking a trip to Europe (actually…it was more like August of 2007 but then he had to travel for work so it got delayed). Sunday March 2 our plane tickets were purchased! We were set to fly from Minneapolis to Amsterdam on Friday October 3. Yikes. What the heck was I supposed to do with myself for 7 months! Well, somehow I survived and during those 7 months we planned an amazing trip!!
Northwest Airlines flies direct from Minneapolis to Amsterdam and I think that is the main factor in why we decided to start our trip there. That and the fact that Chris had visited there before which meant we wouldn’t be starting out completely lost.
We landed in Amsterdam and found our B&B, Jordaan. We got the garden room and it was wonderful! Our host gave us some ideas of places to eat and sites to see and provided a yummy breakfast to our room each morning. I have decided that B&B is the way to go when traveling to an unfamiliar city. It is so nice to be informed about local restaurants and receive other tips before setting out into the city.
First stop…lunch. Of course I had to have an Amstel because we were in Amsterdam! Then we decided to walk around town so I could get a feel for the city.
On Sunday we first went to the Anne Frank House…bright & early in the morning. We were glad to be there when we were because as we left there was a line out the door and around the building…with everyone standing in the rain! After that somber visit we walked some more and ended up at the Amsterdam Historical Museum and based on our hosts recommendation we went inside. There was a cool screen that showed how the city had grown and a weird one where the paintings were of anatomy lessons.
From there we walked to an outdoor market that is on the water. It happened to rain ALL day on Sunday so we were thankful for our rain jackets! The market sold flowers (although it’s not tulip season), tons of tulip bulbs and other touristy stuff but we managed to just look & not buy.
Chris & I shared some delicious Fries in the rain. I had heard all about how I had to have some fries w/mayo while we were there…I think we found the best ones! You get a cone of fries with the sauce all on top and then you eat it with a mini pitch fork. One weird thing about Europe…sauces cost extra! Even at McDonald’s…you have to pay for ketchup!
Ever since we had arrived in Amsterdam Chris had wanted to go to a Belgian Bar. I put my foot down and said “No Way! We’re going to be IN Belgium in 2 days.” Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to hold my ground…but fortunately we really enjoyed ourselves (and the beer) there.
The next day we got all packed up and headed back to Central Station to catch a train to Bruges! However, once we got there I saw a sign that led me to believe we might not actually make it to Belgium. Belgium rail strike! Boo.
Well, after we talked to a less than helpful person at the train station we decided to try to find a car to drive ourselves rather than take a bus that would only get us to Brussels. Amazingly we found an Avis…and I think I was speechless when I heard the total to get a car for one day, one way to Bruges. Ready for it? $600! That is not even including gas! Yikes. Needless to say we declined. Next it was off to the Bus station where we found out that all buses were full for the day so we made the difficult decision to buy tickets for the next morning and go try to find a hotel.
The strike was only one day long so it ended up that we used our rail tickets anyway and our extra day in Amsterdam was relaxing & enjoyable so I guess it turned out okay. I would have preferred to have the day in Bruges but since this was the worst thing that happened to us…I’ll take it. We enjoyed the nice day for a while and then found a bar to sit and play some cards before calling it an early night so we could get on the first train to Bruges.
For more photos of our time in Amsterdam, click here.
Other cities on our 2008 Amazing European Adventure include:
Bruges
Brussels
Munich
Vienna
Prague
Saturday September 20, 2008 Chris & I joined my Parents and my Grandma Dodo up in Richmond, MN for an afternoon at a family friend’s cabin. The weather was a bit cool but we had good company, good food and some delicious s’mores! Chris, my Dad and I played a game of Sequence which was won by Chris!
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Chris & I returned from our amazing 2 week adventure in Europe yesterday afternoon. To put it short & sweet…it was AMAZING! The biggest snag we had was that the Belgium rail people decided to have a one day strike on the day we were supposed to take the train from Amsterdam to Bruges. It sucked because we wasted a lot of time trying to figure out a way to get there anyway (and ended up just waiting for the strike to be over) but we survived and the weather in Amsterdam was gorgeous that day. Overall the weather was nice, we lucked out with our lodging choices because they ended up being in good locations, and the people were nice (at least to our faces).
We did a lot of walking and saw a lot of cool things…I’m working on getting photos ready to be uploaded and will start a summary here when I’m done with that. It felt good to sleep in our own bed last night, although it’s 4:34AM right now & I’m awake so I definitely didn’t sleep long enough. Oh well. A couple rough days transition are definitely worth the trip we had!
On Saturday September 13, 2008 Chris & I took in a neighborhood parade from our front yard! Yep…Autumn Daze every year has a parade and it travels directly in front of our house which is AWESOME!
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I would like to start out with quote from The Working Poor: Invisible in America by David K. Shipler:
On the surface it seems odd that an interest rate can be determined by the condition of an apartment, which in turn can generate illness and medical bills, which may then translate into a poor credit rating, which limits the quality of an automobile that can be purchased, which jeopardizes a worker’s reliability in getting to work, which limits promotions and restricts the wage, which confines a family to the dilapidated apartment.
Yikes. Isn’t it crazy how everything affects something else?! I haven’t finished this book yet but the stories about working people in the United States who are living in poverty make me very sad.
Third Way Network
I am so happy to be able to volunteer for an organization in Minneapolis that is working to help working families in poverty pull themselves out. Third Way Network has created a program that takes 3-7 years to complete. The first part of the program, Circle to Success, is an 8 week course where seven families get together once a week to talk about and learn skills that will help them become good citizens in the community along with becoming more financially stable. After graduation from Circle to Success the families move into discounted housing which remains available to each family for as long as they are active participants in the program.
After moving in, each family continues on to Foundation to Stability. Foundation to Stability is a continuation of the skills learned in Circle to Success and this part of the program is where the variability comes into play. Each family attends one session a month which provides continuing education and support while they are working towards home ownership. There are specific requirements to get up to home ownership including having a month’s worth of income saved up (tough!), getting a credit score to the level necessary to get a good interest rate and staying out of trouble (no arrests, no drug charges, etc). Foundation to Stability leads these families to home ownership which is also supported by Third Way Network. There are ways that this program helps by providing the opportunity to get into lower cost houses (think foreclosed or hud houses that are fixed up) and also assisting with a down payment. I really think this is the real deal…it’s so amazing to think that by providing skill training and some (minimal in the whole scheme of things) financial help, Third Way Network can assist working families to move out of poverty.
Bridging
Another local organization that I believe is helping move people out of poverty is Bridging. Chris & I were lucky enough to be able to volunteer at the Bridging warehouse in Bloomington in August 2008 and we are looking forward to going back. What does Bridging do? They work with other community organizations (churches, shelters, groups like Third Way Network, etc) and select families who have recently moved into housing. These families are granted a one hour shopping spree of a lifetime. They go through the warehouse and select beds, a dresser, a couch, chair, dining room table, dishes, wall furnishings, lamps, and other household items. To read more about our first experience there please click this link.
I am happy that Chris & I both have a passion to give back to our community and that we have been fortunate enough to be introduced to these two groups, but most days I wonder…what else can I do to help?
In early September Chris & I attended a surprise birthday party for his friend Dar. As a lover of all things Birthday of course I was in for the party but everything was kicked up a notch when I found out it was a Golden Birthday! This was revealed when Dar’s Mother-In-Law & Sister-In-Law presented him with the most amazing treasure chest. Check it out below…it all started with 28 golden dollar coins and no way to present them. I say A+ to the design!
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