I hope this gets to her...

I saw this video today on my MSN homepage. It has quite an interesting story behind it-- check it out, it's called I Hope This Gets To You.

psalm 100

¹ Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth.   
² Worship the LORD with gladness;
   come before him with joyful songs.  
³ Know that the LORD is God.
   It is he who made us, and we are his people,
   the sheep of his pasture. 
⁴ Enter his gates with thanksgiving
   and his courts with praise;
   give thanks to him and praise his name.  
⁵ For the LORD is good and his love endures forever;
   his faithfulness continues through all generations.

I have this verse marked in my bible, it is one that I gave my little sister when she was confirmed, and I feel that it is quite fitting this time of year.

apple crisp

My Thanksgiving contribution...

 

I had a fabulous Thanksgiving back home with my family. I have so much to be thankful for this year, God has truly blessed me with so many amazing people in my life. I hope all of you have just as many wonderful things in your life, and that you take time to thank the Lord as we head into this Christmas season!

mangled mug

Last year I received an awesome Harley-Davidson travel coffee mug from my parents for Christmas. After using it nearly every morning and almost lasting a year, I had to say goodbye to my coffee companion. The other night I had my hands full, and as I attempted to set the mug on my counter, it fell off and cracked on my tile kitchen floor. It was a sad day, here was the end result...

However, my mother knows my obsession with coffee, so she lovingly replaced it with this one as a "Thanksgiving" present!

double chocolate mocha trifle

I made this along with a cornbread casserole for the "Friends Thanksgiving"!

pharynx & larynx on walls...oh my!

My parents were town a few weekends ago for the RMAC volleyball tournament so I had my dad help me hang my awesome new wall decor! I received this from my friend Mark who confiscated it from his speech path mom. Having this on my living room wall makes me so happy in the nerdiest way, but it's bound to strike up a few conversations!

Loper volleyball

The Loper volleyball team won the RMAC Tournament on November 13th in Kearney, which qualified them for the NCAA Tournament. They defeated Minnesota-Duluth and top seed SW Minnesota State in the NCAA Tourney before ending their season to no. 2 Concordia St. Paul. My cousin Cola, who has been their starting setter for the past four years, earned the Division II National Player of the Week title on November 9th. The girls had an amazing season and I'm going to miss watching them play.

Cola and I after the RMAC Championship game
and her last home game as a Loper

celebrating Chris

One of my good friends from UNL, Chris, took his own life on November 5th; needless to say the past few weeks have been filled by coping with the loss as well as celebrating his life. Chris was a second year doctoral student. He had received speech therapy for most of his life for stuttering and was working towards his Ph.D. to help others like him. Chris was an amazing person, his laugh, smile, and squeal of excitement could brighten anyone's day! During my senior year as an undergraduate, he became a great role model for me and loved offering advice. Chris had a sassy free spirit and loved to dance. My best memories of Chris are those which included Rock Band and chips & salsa. Chris will never be forgotten and I am so glad I was able to be a part of his life.

My speech path friends from UNL at my Ugly Christmas Sweater Party 2009--
Chris is front right

Chris came to watch me present my UCARE poster
Walking back from chips & salsa
He always reminded me that I was his favorite Loper

spaghetti supper

I made spaghetti, actually pasta shells with meat sauce, and white hominy for supper last night; it was nice to cook again, it had been a while! After I devoured my meal, my cousin Jackie asked me to play intramural volleyball last night-- we went 1-2 but it felt great to be back on the court again, and I'm surprisingly not sore today!

family football rivalries

My brother Blake and I with our cousin Chris and his wife Karla

My relatives from Missouri came to Lincoln this weekend for the big football game; they even crashed, I mean joined our tailgate! Despite their gold and black apparel, we enjoyed every minute of having them in town-- we enjoyed it even more when the Huskers beat the Tigers!

"Shootin' Blanks" lead singer, my cousin Tyler, and the other guitarist

My cousin Tyler and his band, “Shootin' Blanks” from Kansas City also happened to be in town this weekend and played at Uncle Ron’s both Friday and Saturday. They’re a great red dirt band and we all have an amazing time rockin' out when they come to town!

sorry punkin

My pumpkin masterpiece! HAHAHA.

fruit salad

A few weeks ago I made this delicious fruit salad for a potluck and I thought I would share the recipe with all of you-- it's simple and delicious, what more could you ask for?!

mmm...fruit!

beautiful apples

The finished product!

 Creamy Fruit Salad:

1 can (11 oz.) mandarin oranges, drained
1 can (20 oz.) pineapple chunks, drained
1 can (16 oz.) sliced peaches, drained, cut into bite-size pieces
3 bananas, sliced
2 unpeeled red apples, cut into bite-size pieces
Fruit Sauce:
1 pkg. (3.4 oz) instant vanilla pudding
1 c. cold milk
1/3 c. frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed
¾ c. sour cream

In a large bowl, combine all fruit. Mix together gently; set aside. For sauce, combine al ingredients in another large bowl. Beat with a wire whisk until smooth and mixture thickens. Gently fold into fruit. Cover and chill for 3-4 hours before serving.
Fresh fruit may be substituted when it’s in season. Fresh peaches or nectarines are delicious. I added grapes to mine!

time flies when you're having fun!

Lately it seems as though I have been swamped during the week and busy making memories on the weekends and I haven't had time to blog. Well, after spending 12 hours on campus yesterday, and 12 hours on campus today, I came home from night class, threw on some sweats, and cracked open a bottle of wine. Despite all of the papers, projects, and presentations I could work on, I am going to blog my little heart out instead. I've had a few friends and relatives inform me that they do in fact read my blog to stay updated on my life, so here's to all of you, cheers!

better late then never.

I had an amazing time at home last weekend and although it's the start of a new weekend, I still wanted to write about my adventures from a week ago. Friday night I went to Tekamah's homecoming football game where they beat Fort Calhoun 14-0 and then I helped my little sister get ready for the dance.

My sister and her boyfriend ready for the dance

!

floral friday

To get in the spirit of the season, here is a Halloween foam design made on October 27, 2009. I'm currently in Lincoln and more than ready to cheer the Huskers on to victory over the Texas Longhorns tomorrow, go big red!

floral friday

Vase arrangement made on October 6, 2009

Happy Friday everyone! I'm headed HOME for the first time in almost 3 months! I can't wait to go to the high school's homecoming football game tonight, help my sister get ready for the dance, and just spend some quality family time! Have a wonderful weekend!

"silly band" craze!

Growing up as a child in the 90s, there are several fads and trends that come to mind when I think back on the glory days...pogs, giga pets/nano pets/tomogotchis, gel pens, butterfly hair clips, and last but not least...beanie babies! In order to be one of the cool kids in school it was required that you had the biggest stack of pogs and the slammers to go with them, the largest variety of giga pets, any color of gel pen possible including neon and metallic, not just butterflies, but also flower and dragonfly hair clips, and every beanie baby ever created, even the retired ones.

Well friends, one of today's latest trends, silly bands, might just top them all. Silly bands are literally different shaped rubber bands that keep their form even after they have been worn for hours on end. they essentially serve no purpose, but can be found half way up the forearms of most elementary school children. However, just like most fads of the past, they are beginning to cause problems in the classrooms and are being confiscated by teachers across the nation. As some of my fellow classmates and I were trading silly bands in class the other day, one of my teachers said, and I quote, "you guys, I thought it was bad when my undergrads were trading silly bands, but now my grad students?!" Yes, that is right, I too have silly bands, and I am guilty of trading them as well. Not only have I traded with classmates but also with my younger sister and my little five year old client.

My silly bands!

I currently have 5 silly bands...a softball glove and pig from my sister, a four leaf clover from an eight year old, a deer/Loper from a classmate, and a "blue dragon" from my five year old client! What will they think of next?!

long time NO blog!

Hello friends, wow, have I been busy and as a result of that, I haven't blogged in weeks-- yikes! Well, in an attempt to get you caught up on my life again, I'll give you a brief run down on what I've been up to lately...two Fridays ago (September 17), I went to the UNK volleyball game, my mom and grandparents were in town and the following day we did a little shopping! I also had the honor of doing my cousin Sami's hair for Kearney High's homecoming before heading to UNK's second volleyball match of the weekend.

My cousin Sami and I

Sunday morning my cousin Cola and I met up with my mom and grandparents for a nice little breakfast at "The Egg and I". after that, I went to the St. James Catholic church here in town and absolutely loved the service! My wonderful weekend was followed by a super busy week of school which included two exams and writing my initial report for clinic-- hence the reason I haven't been up to date on my blogging.

Wednesday evening was the start of the NSLHA (Nebraska Speech Language and Hearing Association) convention here in Kearney. That night, many of the 1st and 2nd years went to a bar in town, several of the UNL grad students were also there, we had a great time and even sang a little karaoke! It was so great to see so many of my friends and old professors from UNL at the convention, can't wait for next year!

Future speech-language pathologists, Jenna, Mikki, Joey, and I
singing "Summer Loving" from Grease

It seems as though my homework is calling my name, so I better wrap this up-- I promise to be a more avid blogger during the month of October! Have a terrific week!

floral friday x 2

Homecoming football corsage made on September 22, 2009
(300 for the Husker's 300th sellout game)

European hand tied bouquet made on September 29, 2009

Due to my lack of posting lately, I am making up for it by posting two floral design photos for "floral friday" on this fine SUNDAY evening!

floral friday

Matching corsage and boutonniere made on September 8, 2009-- happy weekend!

food frenzy!

My office for the Center for Teaching Excellence is right across the hall from the Dean of Graduate Studies. Today was her birthday, so to celebrate, everyone brought goodies and we had a pleasant morning of food and enjoying each others company. My contribution was these caramel rolls.

For supper tonight, I made shrimp fettuccine alfredo with garlic toast and milk.

making memories

I had another awesome weekend! I went to my sister's softball tournament in Valparasio, and I'm so glad I did, I hadn't seen her in a long time, and I think we both missed each other more than we realized. Her team struggled that day, but the Huskers pulled off another win, and the UNK volleyball team went 3-1 this weekend. I went downtown Saturday night with some of my Lincoln friends, I love it when we get together, we always find a way to make plenty of memories. My cousin Kristin and her boyfriend were kind enough to let me crash at their place for the weekend, so it was great seeing them as well!

Teriyaki chicken over brown rice, green beans, applesauce with cinnamon, and milk.

I got back to Kearney early this afternoon. After taking a nap and doing some school and clinic work, I made this meal for myself tonight!

floral friday (on sunday)

A year ago at the this time, I was in enrolled in introduction to floral design at UNL. I loved it so much that I took advanced floral design this past spring, and I also helped with the floral arranging for two different weddings this summer. One of the weddings that I did the floral work for was my friend Samantha's wedding. Samantha, like me, did her undergrad at UNL but is now in graduate school at UNO for school psychology. Samantha has also started a blog called Love Like Crazy and it focuses on her life as a newlywed grad student. She creates a post every week titled "Wedding Wednesday" and shares a photo and a memory from their wedding. I have been trying to think of a fun way to share my floral design photos with all of you and then I came up with the idea of "Floral Friday"and I'll post a different arrangement every week. I may not have the actual arrangements sitting on my kitchen table like I did a year ago at this time, but it sure is fun to reminisce.

Although it's a Sunday night, I'm going to pretend I posted this last Friday : )
These were the first three boutonniere's I made on September 1, 2009

workin for the weekend!

I'm sitting here at work anxiously awaiting for 4:00 to get here; I have a dinner and movie date in Lincoln tonight which I am very nervous/excited for! This week has been the longest 4 days ever--grad school is definitely in full swing! Yesterday I had to work in the morning, attend the Senior Vice Chancellor's luncheon, which I helped coordinate for work (thank goodness it went smoothly), I had my 3rd session with my client, and then the first Graduate Council meeting of the year. Needless to say after all of that, I literally crashed when I got home and took a much needed 30 minute nap! I suppose I better get back to work, have a great weekend-- GO HUSKERS, LOPERS, and TEKAMAH-HERMAN TIGERS!

weekend traveler

Hello there, long time no post! Well, I took full advantage of the three day weekend and put somewhere around 450 miles on my car!
I started off my Friday night by going back to my old stomping grounds in Lincoln and paying a visit to Joyce and her gang at "The Sidetrack Tavern". If you've never been, I highly recommend it. It is THE place to be the night before a Nebraska home football game. Although slightly vulgar at times, it is the epitome of Husker Nation.
Saturday morning I met up with some friends to enjoyed a drink at embassy suites; I was sporting my Loper blue t-shirt and could easily be found in the sea of red downtown. That afternoon, I made the trek to Omaha where I tailgated with a few Maverick friends before the UNK @ UNO football game, once again I stood out in a sea of red. UNK won 32-29, Nebraska beat Western Kentucky, and the UNK volleyball team went 3-1 in tourney action down in Florida with their only loss going to the #3 team in the nation! It was a great day to be a Husker and a Loper-- lucky for me, I'm both!

3 blond Maverick fans and 1 brunette Loper!

Sunday I made my way back to Kearney and found my "Netter's ATLAS of ANATOMY for SPEECH, SWALLOWING, and HEARING" book that I ordered waiting for my in my mailbox. Nerd alert, but I cannot even explain to you how excited I am to have this book! Later that evening I went for an awesome run and witnessed the most beautiful sunset. I also made this delicious meal for myself and watched one of my all time favorite movies, "First Wives Club!"

Asian Sesame Chicken with Teriyaki sauce, vegetables, salad with Asian Toasted Sesame dressing, and milk!

Today I ventured over to Grand Island to watch my cousin show her breeding heifer at the Nebraska State Fair. Although I spent most of my time in the beef barn and show arena, I must say, from what I saw, the new fair grounds are fabulous! The livestock buildings are absolutely phenomenal, it definitely made me wish I was still able to show, oh to be young again!

U.S. Women Golden at World Grand Prix, Defeat Japan

Jordan Larson attacks versus Japan as the U.S. won in straight sets and capture the FIVB World Grand Prix gold medal.

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Aug. 29, 2010) – Jordan Larson (Hooper, Neb.) scored a team-high 15 points to lead the U.S. Women’s National Volleyball Team to a 26-24, 25-20, 25-23 victory over Japan Sunday afternoon to secure the gold medal at the 18th FIVB World Grand Prix Final Round being played at Ningbo, China. The FIVB World Grand Prix is the premier annual international women’s volleyball event.

Reading this just gives me chills! I'm so proud to be able to say that I have shared the same side of the court with her, not to mention the same house when we lived together in college. Go here to read more!

catalog living

Urning the right…

The only things Elaine treasures more than her prized blue and white urn collection are the framed drawings of her blue and white urn collection.

My mother and my Aunt Melinda have both shared this hilarious blog with me. The author of the site makes her own captions from photos out of catalogs, this happens to be one of my favorites! View more here!

wise words

"Better than a thousand days of diligent study is one day with a great teacher." --Japanese Proverb

This quote is on our brochures for the Center for Teaching Excellence (CTE, the department I work for as a graduate assistant,) and I have really become quite fond of it. Perhaps it is because I myself will be a teacher of sorts someday, and I think these are great words for me to live by.

three down, many more to go!

Well, I have officially finished day 3 of my first week of graduate school, and things couldn’t be better (minus the parking ticket I received yesterday).  My classes are going well so far; I found my 3 hour Aphasia Rehabilitation night class particularly interesting on Monday, and today we were assigned our clients for this semester. I will be providing articulation therapy for a 5 year old boy and I can’t wait to meet him! The weather here has been amazing the past couple days. I went for a run last night and found an awesome bike trail that I’m sure I will be visiting quite frequently. While on my run, a cute little old man in a minivan honked at me, I couldn’t help but laugh--everyone is SO friendly here! After my run, I went over to my cousin Jackie’s house for taco Tuesday with her roommates and our other cousin Cola. We enjoyed ourselves and already have plans to do it again…waffle Wednesday, spaghetti Sunday, AND Jersey Shore Thursday…who knows what else we'll come up with!

creations & fun finds

-My best friends from high school, Kilie & Karisa, have this quote, “The higher the hair the closer to God” on a sign in their bathroom, I fell in love with theirs, so I decided to make my own! I finally got it hung in my bathroom; it matches my zebra shower curtain and purple rugs perfectly!

-I purchased this shelf on a garage sale here in town for $4, unfortunately I didn’t take before pictures, but the shelf was bare wood with a black metal frame. I painted it to match my room, here are the during and after pictures!
-This is the adorable little green table I found at Dime Store Days in Fremont. My printer fits on it perfectly and there’s room for extra reams of paper underneath. (Notice the TEACHERS Highland Cream Whiskey wooden crate my mother brought me to put my books in!)
-Last but not least, this is the fantastic bookshelf my mom and I also picked up at Dime Store Days in Fremont. it is home to ALL of my binders from years past, picture frames, my diploma, my Mexico pitcher, and yes those are childrens games, books, and puzzles on the third shelf for all of my little friends!

little boys.

Layton Lee, 6 mo

What a cutie!

Yesterday, after working in the morning, I had the pleasure of babysitting for not one, but two different families here in Kearney. First I got to watch Layton Lee who was absolutely adorable! He was sleeping when I arrived and I probably checked on him about every 10 minutes just waiting for him to wake up so we could play! Later that evening I babysat my distant cousins, Josiah and Titus. Titus was a little fussy at first, but eventually calmed down, and Josiah amazed me with his ability to keep himself busy along with his lack of interest to smile for my camera! (Maybe that has a little something to do with his parents being photographers! Ha!)

Titus Jonathan, 4 mo

Josiah Dewaine, 2 yrs

loving loper life!

So far I LOVE everything about life as a Loper here in Kearney and I'm hoping that doesn't change too much once classes and clinic get going this upcoming week. The friendly small town people here are such a joy and the fact that it takes 10 minutes or less to get anywhere is absolutely fabulous.However, there are a few things that Kearney doesn't have and I was spoiled with while living in Lincoln for 4 years; I am missing...
SUPER Target
Hy-Vee
Express
Juice Stop
DRIVE THRU Starbucks
and last but not least...Memorial Stadium.
on the other hand, Lincoln can keep their crazy drivers and busy traffic : )

photo shoot.

My brown eyed friend, Dalena and I at her brothers wedding in July

My lovely friend, Dalena, asked me to help her with her hair for her senior photos last week and I also got the privilege of tagging along for her photo shoot. The photographer, Becky Novacek from Fremont, did a phenomenal job! She has the best eye for finding a unique background in an alleyway and was a complete joy to work with; it made me want to take college senior pictures! Becky has posted a few pictures from the shoot on her website, you'll have to scroll down about halfway, enjoy!