Benny is getting old.

Two Mondays in a row! 

Ok. So.  Last week I left you right before I headed over to St. Ambrose to hang out with the other interns.  I got to meet even more interns, which seems like a never ending process.  I decided that I really miss being around so many people, and decided I was going to look into changing that later (mwah haha cliff hanger).

So last week at work I did more comparisons to get ready for the model year 13 build and then also met with my manager's boss.  I got a little more direction on my project and scheduled some meetings to continue plowing through figuring everything out to get the factory to where it needs to be in efficiency and such.  (I know that's vague... I can't really describe in detail what I'm doing). So that's work... I'm getting a lot done, even though it doesn't sound like I am. 

Wednesday I had a volleyball game in the Intern Volleyball League (we play every Wednesday night) and we won 2 out of the 3!  Team name: Our couches pull out, but we don't. Funny, right? All of the other teams have inappropriate team names as well but they're volleyball related... ours is just straight up inappropriate.  We had fun, even with a little argument considering there were some competitive people on both teams. Not me of course... no way. I'm not competitive.  Or sarcastic.  

ALSO, Cara came up to the quad cities that evening and I went to dinner with her and Avalon (another RA from last year).  We also hung out with Avalon's friends after the volleyball game and got to catch up and such.  Cara spent the night and was my first (and probably only) guest in my apartment.  I say only, because I am moving! I will be moving into St. Ambrose in the next couple of days (hopefully) and will get to live with a bunch of interns and not be all by myself anymore (thank goodness). I'll keep you updated on that too!

Friday I had to go back to school to complete my one weekend duty for the summer.  I went out to dinner with Mackie (RA friend) and then did rounds of campus.  I was exhausted and right after office hours went to bed.  Saturday I had lunch with Katie (RA, Hall Director, friend) and then got a hair cut.  I sat out on the quad with Katie afterward doing homework (which turned into me taking a nap) before I had to do rounds again! Woohoo weekend duty!  Katie brought me Ice Cream Shack which pretty much made my weekend duty! 

Sunday I spent the day doing laundry before packing up and driving back to the quad cities.  I have been procrastinating homework that I have so that's what I've done since I've gotten back.  The intern conference starts tomorrow and goes the next two days.  It doesn't start until 10 tomorrow, so it looks like I might be going out tonight (on a monday?! yeah...).  I'll let you know all about the intern conference next week!

So I titled this one what I did because I looked at Benny's odometer today and he's almost 170,000 miles old.  That being said, I am only 400 miles away from 3,000 miles since my last oil change... which was during finals week.  Benny and I have done a lot of driving this summer already and we're like 4 weeks in.  

Stay tuned throughout the summer for: skydiving, pontoon boating, more Ptown adventures, trip to Michigan, and MORE!

Until next week,

Rachel and Benny

Big adventures: Peoria, Chicago, downtown Davenport

Hello all!

Sorry I suck at doing this weekly – maybe I can get everything together and get a little better!

I forgot to mention in my last post - this fall I will be back in Geisert Hall on G3!! I'M. SO. EXCITED.  

So I just started my fourth week at the good ol’ green and yellow.  I have been keeping myself busy at work learning more about my project as well as continuing the assessment spreadsheet that I had started last week.  I am working over in the manufacturing department on a project for a little while getting ready for the next build season.  I am getting to know more people at work and there’s a large group of us that eat lunch together (like enough of us that we have to pull over extra tables). 

Okay, so two weekends ago, Benny and I were all over the place.  That Friday during work, I decided that I was going to go to Chicago to surprise my mom and sister who were also going to be up there (turns out it wasn’t a surprise, but I’ll get to that).  After work, I went home, threw all my laundry into my laundry bag, grabbed some other essential traveling items, and Benny and I were on the road.  That night we went to Peoria and hung out with Cara.  Cara and I went to Markin and then to dinner at One World (so that was 2 times in that week, for those keeping track).  After dinner, a resident from Cara’s floor last year, and a new RA on ResLife staff this year, came by.  It was fun to hang out and just chill. 

The next morning, Cara and I woke up to go to the Farmer’s market at the Metro Center in Ptown.  We left with fruits and veggies as well as a couple of plants (the rosemary plant gives Cara’s room a little more life).  On our way to the Farmer’s Market, we saw a bunch of garage sale signs and knew that we had to make some stops on the way home.  We stopped at 3 or 4 garage sales on the way home and found some cool things.  So we were on our way back to campus and getting hungry… so where did we go?  You guessed it… One World.  But it was breakfast, so it was totally different than the night before! I usually wouldn’t go into what we got, but it was SO. FREAKING. GOOD.  We ordered one of the vegetarian skillet breakfast things, but it’s what we got on the side that made it to die for.  If you get the Florentine eggs at One World, they put their wonderful spinach and artichoke dip in it… so that’s what we got on the side and then mixed it in.  It was like heaven.  You should try it next time you’re in Ptown.  And invite me, because I obviously can’t get enough of that restaurant. 

I left Peoria in the afternoon and headed up to the burbs.  So a little background – There were 3 families that met in Lamaze class when they were pregnant with their oldest children: the Taerbaum’s, the Carmichael’s, and the Briskey’s.  All three of our families have stayed close since then (and all of them actually had a second round of kids around the same time too).  Saturday night I went to stay with the Carmichael’s.  Aunt Lisa, Uncle Elvin and I watched The Longest Yard and ate Lou Malnati’s pizza (mmmmmmm).  Joey (their son who is my age) and I went running the next morning and Aunt Lisa and I did a little bit of shopping.  The big barbecue (and one of the reasons my mom and sister were going to be in Chicago) was on Sunday at the Taerbaum’s.  My mom decided that she was going to go to the Carmichael’s before the bbq so that was when I was going to surprise her.  She wasn’t surprised.  She was glad I was there, but apparently when I ask specific details of what her and Robin were doing in Chicago, they kind of caught on.  But anywho… we all headed over to the Taerbaum’s for the bbq and seeing old friends.  I mentioned that all of our families have kids that are the same age.  We’ve done pictures like the one below since we were born.  The oldest kids all took them and then once the younger ones got there, they sat in our laps (but now they’re too big for that…) and we’ve continued the tradition ever since.

Sunday night I got to see some friends from school and then Monday we all hung out at the Taerbaum’s in the morning before I had to head out and back to Iowa.  I made a stop to have coffee with another friend from school before driving back.  Davenport is really only 3 hours away from Chicago at the farthest part that I drove to, so it isn’t that bad at all. 

Then there was a week of work which I talked about in the beginning.  Basically during the week I go to work, go to the gym and then come home, eat dinner and go to bed.  (ALTHOUGH, tonight I think I’m hanging out with some interns). OH! And on Thursday I went to AT&T to upgrade my phone... TO AN IPHONE. Gaskdfjasljdflosofdiuosf.  I have a smart phone!  Okay, done freaking out now.  Good app recommendations anyone? 

This weekend was the first weekend I spent here.  Its hard being in my own apartment because none of the other interns are here, but I went to hang out with the other interns in the St. Ambrose dorms.  We went out both Friday and Saturday nights.  Because I don’t live close, people let me crash in their dorm apartments so I didn’t have to drive home that night.  The guys here are honestly THE NICEST GUYS. EVER.  There were a few girls that live in apartments but were crashing in the dorms and guys gave up their beds and slept on their couches instead.  So. Sweet.  I had a lot of fun and I really got close with some of the other interns that I went out with.  Yesterday, there was a group of interns that came over to my apartment complex and we swam in the pool (one of the perks of my apartment) and then went to the park and played volleyball. 

Today was just another day at Deere, although I found a couple more funny connections today.  I found 2 more Bradley connections – one is one of the manufacturing engineers I’m working with and another is a retired Deere employee (who came back to work) and has 2 daughters that graduated from Bradley, 1 of whom, is going back to work there.  Weird, right?

Well, next on my plate is a shower (because I went to the gym) and then I’m heading over to St. Ambrose to hang out with interns. 

Until next time (hopefully this weekend)! 

Rachel

(Speaking of this weekend, I'll be in Peoria for weekend duty, so stop on by!)