Wisconsin State Fair

So the Wisconsin State fair is going on right now. It was pretty good considering the first night it open there were Flash Mob "gang events" that were happening.

-$9 just to get in and walk around might be kind of high

-The best drink station was the $0.25 flavor milk booth. That was freaking good

-There is a reason that Creamie the cream puff is their mascot. The cream puffs are delicious!!!

-My friend (Marilyn Morris - SHOUT OUT!!) had her little niece and nephew walking around with us for half the night. Those two kids made the fair fun. I've never seen a 5 year old so enthralled by chickens and bunny rabbits.

-On that same note, its kinda cute when a little 5 year old is too scared to go down the "BIG SLIDE" when his 3 year old sister loves it.

-I got squirted in the face with molten butter (Thanks Thomas :) )

-Deep Fried Butter Not as bad or as good as you might think it is.

-Fanny Pack count for the night - 31

-Mullet count - 2 (little disappointed Wisconsin I was expecting so much more from you)

-Some one had the job of Holding a bucket behind a cow while it was pooping... there is not enough money in the world for that to be my job.

-Someone actually asked (I'm hoping he was joking) if the 10 second rule still applied in the Cow/Goat/Swine Barns (ya there is just poop all over the floor)

Overall Not too shabby of an experience I'm just a cheap skate and don't like paying through the nose.

Week 14: The End of Summer (In Racine)

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Week 14: Pressures On!

Phew... This last week was kinda crazy and I am definitely feeling the pressure here at work. I'm now down to only 4 days left at work... YES 4.... holy crap where did my summer go?!?!? So this upcoming week I will be giving my final presentation on Wednesday and then I should find out Thursday (my last day) if they are going to offer me a position to start full time next summer ....So needless to say this is a big week coming up. This last week was full of fun times so without further adieu here's my 10!

1. Kickball....... Ok I am just going to get this out of the way right now.... So of course for the third week in a row I do not have enough players to field a full team despite people telling me they were coming. This week however we didn't have enough guys .... ya didn't see that coming. So its game time and I have 7 players there.... Luckily a friend who is on the Finance Kickball team was there and offered to be our 8th so we could play. I talk to the Score keeper and tell her we are using a sub but playing short and she says its ok. We play the game and we are winning the entire time until the last inning when we fell apart (like always...) But we held it to a tie and forced it to go extra innings. Now not to toot my own horn (but I'll do it anyways) I scored not only our first run but the winning run as well. So we win the game YAY!!! I go to sign the official score sheet after the game and at that point I am informed that we "technically forfeited the game" ....SAY WHAT!!!! Apparently there is some "implied" rule that says you must have a minimum of 8 of your own team members on the field to play... I check the rule book it says you need a minimum of 8 players and subs can be used.... So .... After all that the intern teams official regular season record is 1-9* (I put the asterisk there just to make myself feel good)

2.I apologize for the rant above... can you tell I get a little into sports sometimes... Luckily I was very calm and reserved when dealing with the situation as to not embarrass myself and risk not getting an offer over a stupid kickball game

3. (this is actually from last week but I forgot to put it there so its going this week) I had dinner with a bunch of executives last week.Well of course that would be the day that I snag my shirt on something and pop the middle button off the front of my shirt. Oh but of course the dinner is immediately after work so no time to go home and change... I like to think of myself as the ghetto Macgyver. If I need to get something done and don't have the proper tools... no worries I just improvise! Who needs a needle and thread when you can use a safety pin and a white paper clip and voila. No one is the wiser that your middle button is being held on by a paper clip....

4. All North America Finance Employees and all the interns were treated to a lovely baseball game this week. This is my second time going to see the Brewers and I have to say I had fun. One guy went freaking crazy and went 3-4 with 3 homers.... I mean who does that!?! The only negative part was that it was a day game and we were sitting directly under the sun for a solid 3 hours and I am too much of a cheapskate to pay 5 bucks for a stinking Gatorade.

5. We had some really cool lightning this past week. None of it was actually hitting the ground but it was all just up in the clouds, It was just like fireworks the clouds were just on fire it was pretty awesome. (Imagine this picture constantly all around you for a solid half hour) (No I didn't take the picture (thank you google Images)

6. I have given myself the fun job of helping teach my nieces fun practical things. Such as shooting a basketball, telling time, Pumping your legs on a swing.... Well I am not sure how much of this knowledge they will actually keep but I can tell you that the 7 month old has mastered making elephant noises (and I wasn't actually trying to teach her that one :) )

7. My 4 year old niece one night at dinner looks out the window and says "WOW Look at that bird!" "It's beautiful" said in an almost dreamy voice, she turns to her sister and gives her a hug and says "This is the one we've been waiting for" If it doesn't sound that funny it was freaking hilarious to see it in person.

8. So I was holding the 7 month old niece early this week and "flying" her around the room. She came in to give her sister a kiss and proceed to puke on her... haha wow it was awesome... Needless to say they aren't as excited when she goes flying anymore :)

9. Like I said last week the company does a really good job at putting on these huge events for the employees. So this weekend was the Company Picnic. I'd say it is definitely a family friendly event. Lots of inflatables and little kid carnival games. Tons of free food, and then of course the adult (beer) tent. Overall it was fun, I think my nieces probably enjoyed it a lot more then I did.

10. In case you are interested I took some pictures this week of "The Great Work Room" and then my favorite Hallway... I know that sounds weird but just look at the pictures.

Week 13: Randomness...

Hi once again, so this week has been filled with a lot of randomness but I suppose that makes for an interesting week. Kind of scary/stressful that I have 8 days of work left..... holy mackerel where did this summer go??? Well my lunch break is quickly drawing to a close so I should finish writing this ... here's my 10.

1. Never thought I would actually get to a point where I could max out excel. In excel 2003 there is a limit of 65,536 rows and who would have thought that I would get to a point where I needed at least 100,000 rows... fun times :)

2. The great thing about working in the "Great Work Room" is that it is always under construction. Currently they are replacing windows and brick that go all the way around the building. This week was the time when they got right behind me and every morning I got an hour of saws cutting brick. Luckily in our contract we were smart enough to tell them that after 9am they aren't allowed to be loud, so I only had to deal with an hour of noise every morning.

3. I have reached a point in my life I never thought I would reach. I have turned into the crazy uncle that does stupid magic tricks... you all know you have a crazy uncle that does that...

4. Kickball update... think of the same scenario last week except it was raining not 100+... 3 girls decide to bail and I only find out 5 minutes before game time... well this week we weren't as lucky as the week before and got smoked pretty handily... grrrr please follow through on your commitments... yes I know its just kickball but its still annoying!

5. SC J does a really good job with parties and events. This week they had the "Great Lawn Kickball Tournament" (No I did not play I just watched) But they go all out with food, signs, bleachers etc for a one day event. I was pretty impressed.

6. Ok really who can say they have seen their President/CEO walk around with an enormous super soaker and spray executives...???? Oh ya I can!!! I love this place :)!

7. My 4 year old niece decided she wanted to update the old wet willy gag... just forget about the finger she just goes straight for the ear.... ( I told you this week was random)

8. Pretty awesome, I got to have dinner with the CFO this week. Its cool he is a very smart guy but loves to talk ... A LOT... hmm reminds me of someone...

9. So one night I walk into my room and find a freaking Praying Mantis sitting on my bag... A. I don't like bugs and B. how does a praying mantis get inside, I mean I can understand I fly, bee, ant or something else... but come on...

10. Last but certainly not least my nieces discovered a laser pointer this week and now that the youngest is crawling they are having fun letting her chase the laser.... This was cute until I got a hold of the laser pointer and then the 7 and 4 year old started chasing the laser... didn't know my nieces were part dog....

Week 12: Victory!

So this week has been filled with a bunch of little victories. Work has been progressing along nicely and I am really enjoying my time. So without further adieu here we go.

1. Biggest victory of the Week: Kickball. Yes we won in a beautiful 7-5 victory. It was the hottest day of the year and we played two people down but none the less we came out victorious in the end.

2. While at the store with my sister we were on approach to the cashier when we notice this cute little old man in the aisle next to us take off. He starts racing towards to register trying to beat us there, which he did (while this is not a victory keeping this old guy from having a heart attack and dying on the spot was a victory) The best part of the whole experience was watching his wife give him the best look I have ever seen.

3. Apparently my car is a prime target for stupid drivers. But thanks to my awesome cat like reflexes I was able to avoid being side swiped at 70 mph on the highway.

4. I've recently discovered that Wisconsin drivers rival Utah drivers as some of the worst in the country.

5. I found I have an amazing skill of making music with random SCJ products but I also found out that my music history skills kinda suck...

6. Ice blocking is a very enjoyable activity, and it is hilarious to see how good little kids can be and how bad they can be and the same goes for adults... My brother in law even decided to show off his skills and ice block down a hill face first and then safely make his finale by going underneath a picnic table.

7. Went to my first Barn Party, it was a lot of fun after playing volleyball for 3 hours The dance kicked in and I proceeded to dance like a fool and show everyone my *cough cough* amazing dance moves.

8. Apparently based on my awesome dance skills this makes me qualified to teach my nieces ballet. Yes I was showing them my awesome moves, and No there is not enough money in the world for me to show them to anyone else.

9. Shout out of the week goes to my sister and her family. I survived a week of being alone in their house but oh how great it was to have them back!

10. Biggest failure of the week was writing this blog last night and after saving it the entire time I was writing it as soon as I hit publish it gave me an error and deleted the entire thing... stupid

Week 11: A week of me time

Hello again! So this week has seen another new adventure of my summer. My sister and her family went back to Ohio mid week to visit both sets of grandparents. So this means that I had the opportunity to "house sit" we'll call it. I do have to say its been pretty boring... nonetheless this is this weeks top 10.


1. The one day we were outside using the hose to water some plants and my niece decides she wants to start blowing into the hose for some reason. So of course my brother in law decides he will play a lovely trick on her and this is the result. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FN_RYdOGabc

2. Fun fact of the week. I discovered a new skill I possess, place and Oreo on your forehead and move it to your mouth with out touching it. You should try it... it's a lot harder then it might seem. The best part I discovered I had this talent at work! (In case you are worried that I just slack off at work, it was during a training meeting and they asked for 2 volunteers to attempt this feat) If you are wondering my time is 27 seconds forehead to mouth, I dare you to beat it.

3. I finally let the other interns in on my secret game plan. Lose every game intentionally so that the full timers will offer us all jobs. But the trick is still looking good and showing off your individual talent so that you get recruited for next year.

4. So needless to say we lost in kickball again!

5. I have found that swimming laps is kind of fun! And really really tiring!

6. Wanted: Eye donor... Strong pair of eyes that are capable of staring at an excel spreadsheet for at least 8 hours a day. I will swap you my current set they are getting a little tired...

7. Apparently my 4+ years of studying German are really paying off..... or something like that, because I can sit in my bosses office when she is talking to our Mexican coworker and I can understand over 50% of what they are saying

8. 2 hour staff meetings are not as fun as they might sound. Especially when most everything being discussed is stuff you have no clue about... But hey it was a good break from staring at my computer screen.

9. Our complex here at SCJ isn't huge, but I still get lost so its great that they give us these little maps to carry around with us. However, there is this intricate tunnel system that they have that connects every building (you know you are in the Frozen North (Wisconsin) if they have tunnels connecting everything). So I found it very interesting when employees who have been here for years still get lost (made me feel just a little bit better :) )

10. This weeks shout out goes to my pal Jason Taylor! So Ladies(if you are a flake you need not respond), Jason is a tall athletic confident guy that loves the outdoors and being awesome if you are interested just let me know and I'll hook it up for you!
(if you are interested in being next weeks shout out just call/skype me sometime this week and it could be you!)

Week 10: A new beginning... or something like that

So this week I began my second rotation of my internship. I am now working in Global Internal Audit and I get to look at countries in Latin America and do some lovely data analytics looking for trends and anomalies. So I'll cut to the chase here's this weeks 10.

1. So I'll just get this out of the way now. Intern Kickball team is 0 and 6 on the season. We have lost to every team once and my optimism for a turnaround is fading. We only had 11 players this week (usually 20ish) and we still couldn't pull it off.

2. I came into work one morning and I had an email that read:

Hi All

I brought Donuts today

Have a happy Friday

-Jesus

Yes Jesus brought me Donuts!

3. So I started in my new group this week, and unfortunately technology has decided to revolt against this move and has thus stopped working for me. The system I need for my project decided I do not have sufficient access, another program wouldn't let me log in, and my Outlook decided it just wanted to wig out for a few hours.... yup Love Technology some days!

4. So my 7 month old niece has been ... we'll call it scooting (almost crawling) around the house. YAY! Well anyways, one night she's on the floor taking a break so I got down and this was the result of my encounter: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_EaYyXx9MEw

5. Cute moment of the week: A few weeks ago my 4 year old niece told me I wasn't part of the family. Yesterday she told me she was talking about me during church. So I asked her why and she responded that they were talking about families. So I decide to ask if I was part of the family and she said YES and then gave me a big hug. :)

6. I wish I could keep track of everyones responses at work when I tell them I go to school at BYU. A lot of them end up being "How the heck did you get here???" Many start conversations about Jimmer. Every once in a while I get a comment about the church. But it's pretty much all of those in one form or another. On the same note I get different looks when I tell people at church that I work for SCJ but those are more looks than words... not sure why most of the looks are followed by " A family company" or "It's a good company"

7. So a about a month ago I went swimming with the Fam and my nieces were showing me their swimming ability... you might be amazed at what two weeks of swim lessons will do for them. The 7 year old is pretty solid, shes in and out of the deep end, and can go down the water slide all by herself and doesn't need as much help. However, the 4 year old while she has improved still needs constant supervision, this doesn't stop her from just leaping off the wall when you aren't looking and trying her best to reach you 6feet away before needing to be rescued.

8. I am a little surprised to find out that most of my Audit coworkers are extremely social and fun people. Yes I might be insinuating that accountants are usually dull and boring... but not this group.

9. My boss from my first half took me to lunch at ... Chipotle!!! Some of you might not know but I love Chipotle and unfortunately for the last 2 1/2 years I have gone without because the closest Chipotle is 40+ minutes away in SLC. Well as a good job / going away gift my boss gave me a gift card for Chipotle which will basically be enough for me to eat there once a week for the rest of the summer!!! I am very happy!!!!

10. I just have to let everyone know that Brooke Showalter is AWESOME.

Week 9: End of the first half!!!

Hiya all once again. Another week has come and passed. This week was filled with fun and excitement. I also finished my first half project and next week I'll be moving to a new area of the company and start working on another fun project. So like always here's this weeks 10.

1. I have really missed fireflies. When driving at night I can just see them flying through the fields all around and they are beautiful!!

(PS no I didn't take this picture)

2. So last week I mentioned that my work had given me a pair of tickets to Summerfest (which is a week+ long music fest that has 700 different bands that come and play throughout the 11 days) While I enjoyed the concerts (Neon Trees and Owl City) I've realized I'm not much of a concert person.

3. Milwaukee is affectionately referred to as Brew City. I've realize that they could also be called Fest City. They literally have a different fest ever week. They also love their beer, so that is why they even have a fest called brewfest... oh ya that is exactly what it sounds like

4. I've finally got back to what I am good at and that is baking. This week I have created a masterpiece and that is making mini cheesecakes! Yum!!

5. I bought a lovely pack of sparklers that my nieces enjoyed playing with. This is a picture of my 4 year old niece!

6. My youngest niece has started rolling all over the place. She is just about to the point where she will start crawling and is really enjoying her freedom. One night she was rolling around and the dog decided it wanted to join in the fun. So for a few minutes both baby and dog practiced rolling in sync.

7. Weekly kickball update: Lost again :( we took a 3-1 lead into the last inning and still lost the game.... sooo close

8. So I have spent the last 6 (really 4) weeks working on a project in my Business Planning and Analysis role. I was nervous to give an hour long presentation but the presentation went well. After some great feedback I spent 8 hours whittling down over 80 graphs on 50 slides down to 5 slides.... 6 weeks for a handful of slides....

9. It was great to finish my project and then my boss said hey take Friday off so you get a 4 day weekend. So when attempting to sleep in so far this weekend I failed pretty bad still waking up at 7 am .... lame when your biological clock decides you are going to wake up when you really don't want to.

10. So note to self, when shopping at 1 am and buying something in a poppin' fresh can, make sure it doesn't roll out of your grocery bag and sit idly in the trunk of your car for a day and a half at 90+ degree temperatures.... apparently when the can says keep at a certain temperature there is a reason for that... or it might go boom :(

Week 8: The first half home stretch

Hey again, its time for this weeks update of my life. So this week was week 5 of work meaning just 1 more week until I switch to a different division and begin work on a brand new project, Hooray!! This week was extremely action packed so here is my Top 10.

1. SCJ really wants to make a good impression on all of the interns so they plan tons of events that allow for networking and taking a break from all the hard work. This week they took the finance guys to a Milwaukee Brewers game. Apparently though this is Milwaukee and you tail gate for everything. So it was kind of nice getting out of work an hour early to sit in traffic, to then stand in a parking lot watching everyone else drink, and thoroughly enjoying watching one of the full time employees get WASTED... Kind of ironic seeing as they make the interns sign an agreement that we will keep our alcohol consumption in check.

2. I usually have a rule that I will never leave a sporting event early because my team is losing. Well I realized I didn't really have a horse in that race so I did not feel the slightest bit bad leaving after the seventh inning stretch after losing a bet picking the Bratwurst in the Sausage race (who would have thought that the Chorizo(mexican sausage) would have won that race...

3. I finally finished reading Catch-22. It is a great book by Joseph Heller. However this is the second time that I have listened to a girl when they told me to read a book. This one turned out a lot better then the first but man it took me... 3 months to read this book. If you give me something I love it'll be done in a week or two usually. So note to self DO NOT try to impress a girl by reading a book she suggests, 1. the book might suck or 2. by the time you finish reading it she has found herself another man... lame

4. I have found recently when holding the 7-month old she likes to slap me in the face and then slime me. I mean who would have known that my niece played a cameo role in Ghost Buster as 'Slimer'. She also likes to eat her food and by eat I mean smear it all over her face...

5. My sister is really working hard to find me a woman. So single ladies give my sister a break and just call me!

6. I opened up a piece of mail at work this week and found a pair of tickets to Summer Fest which just so happens to be a week long love fest of rock and roll! (well and other music too)

7. I present my project in a few days so my stress level is at about a trillion. So of course I am taking my lunch break to write this blog.

8. I have gotten so spoiled living in Utah for the last 2+ years and now have to deal with driving over an hour just to go to a church activity... Anyways I woke up Sunday morning and was extremely sore, this can be attributed to a few hours of Volleyball followed by an hour of ultimate frisbee than an hour and a half in the car the day before.

9. Weekly kickball update: Lost Again. 8-5. I think as team captain I should institute a no drinking policy because we seem to get worse as the game progresses and people become more intoxicated... However, I think the team would stage a coup and overthrow me as team captain. So here's to an 0 and 10 season!

10. I have found that more people than I thought read this blog so to all of you that read my blog, I am sorry that facebook was that boring and you had to click on this link to try and find some bit of entertainment.

Ps. For those that really wanted a picture of my car here it is in all it's glory.

Week 7: What do Trains, Rain, Golf, Parties and Mulch have in Common?

It has been four weeks since I started my internship with SCJ. It is crazy to think that in a week and a half I will be presenting my first half project to a group of upper level management and then moving on to another project. So needless to say the pressure is on and its go time, but here is this weeks 10!

1. This week I got a chance again to get a glimpse of the life of a parent. My niece went to camp this last week so almost everyday before and after work we got to pick her up and drop her off. This made me realize kids take up a lot of time. So needless to say, I am kind of glad that I yet do not have children and will not have children in the near future.

2. Going along with #1, we found that one 4 year old - one 7 year old = a sleeping 4 year old.

3. I managed to get stuck at the exact same train track twice in one day 5 hours apart. The first train had to be huge I watched at least 30 cars go by and it was already running when I pulled up, oh and the second train was just straight up stopped on the tracks for a few solid minutes...

4. This week my Kickball team lost again. Sad I know, but apparently they will not cancel Kickball for rain, so needless to say Kickball is not as much fun when its a little cold and rainy.

5. One might think that hitting a bucket of golf balls one night (and doing pretty well) would translate well into the next day... I submit that for some reason it is easier to hit golf balls when at the driving range then at the golf course...

6. In conjunction with # 5, I verified that in fact I am taking a Golf Class in the fall... and for good measure!

7. It was my sister's birthday this week (Happy Birthday Jenn) and my nieces decide that they want to throw a surprise party for their mom. I had to stop my 7 year old niece from trying to tape up a blank banner and then trying to write Happy Birthday on it while it was magically floating in the air with nothing to support it...

8. Along with # 7, the 4 year old niece goes up to her mom and says "Hey mom we have a surprise for you later, but I can't tell you about it, cause its a surprise" .... Hmm yep I think she missed the concept of a surprise.... :)

9. Here is an Algebra problem for you: 20 yards of Mulch + 5 hours on a Saturday afternoon + X = 1 Happy Brother In Law. (X = ME!)

10. Apparently 20 yards of Mulch wasn't enough.... So I have a feeling my services will be utilized more throughout the summer before I leave. But on the bright side, I am working on a tan and perfecting my Landscaping/craftsmanship skills the longer I stay here.

Week 6: A quarter of the summer gone

This week marks the half way point of the first half of my Internship. For anyone that doesn't know, I am doing two 6 week projects with two separate divisions at SC Johnson. So now I am at the point where all of the work I have done I know have to get ready to present. As always I'll give you my 10 from the week. (sorry no pictures this week)

1. I have discovered that I am the arch nemesis of my four year old niece. Not that I do anything mean to her, but she can go from giggles to screaming at me in about 2.5 seconds. This has been evidenced numerous time in the last 6 weeks I am just now convinced there is nothing I can do.

2. Upon arrival at my kickball game this week I find 2 things. The first that I have 2 more people that want to join, the problem with this is that I already have 27 people on the team when only 10 can play at a time. The second thing is that the league keeps changing things on me and makes me extremely stressed during the entire game. Interestingly enough my average is 2-2 and have scored 2 of the 4 total runs our team has scored in both of our games...

3. After a few beautiful days of 90+ degree weather an enormous thunderstorm comes rolling through the area and drops the temperature 40 degrees so that now it is in the 50s... Man how I have missed the midwest weather craziness.

4. I bought a car. Buying car insurance is a pain in the butt.

5. The great thing about this area is the beautiful back roads that you can just cruise through. Oh how I have missed driving.

6. At work I get out of a meeting with my boss to look at how my project is progressing. After talking for a while I walk out of the meeting and realize that I now have to repeat all the work I have done up until that point and I have to look at other things effectively doubling the amount of work I have to do.

7. I attended a party this weekend that was very informative. I learned a few things, met a few people and found out that some old geezers can shred hardcore on the guitar and have some face melting guitar solos. It was pretty cool.

8. When trying to teach my 7 year old niece how to throw a frisbee I found that she has a mean side to her. She also then understood very quickly that I wasn't going to take her being mean and she very quickly apologized and felt bad about it.

9. In the process of doing my work I pulled numbers from two different sources that should have matched. I brought it to the system administrator's attention and they began trying to fix the error. This is the system the entire finance part of the company uses. After witnessing the system crashing for a few hours I receive a phone call telling me that them trying to fix the error is causing the crash and that they will get around to fixing the problem when not everyone is at work trying to use it.

10. It is funny, when I am thinking about something and an hour later the Lord sees fit to make sure I know that he is paying attention. OK Lord, you got me.

Week 5: Spring has finally Sprung!

This last week the weather finally turned warm, which is AMAZING! It was also my second week at work (Short week thanks to Memorial Day. Like always here's my 10.

1. A 4 year old is fascinated with super soakers until her sister sprays her with one and then comes screaming that she is freezing (despite the fact that it is 85 outside). This lasts long enough for her to realize that she is holding a super soaker and can return fire.

2. This week I can report I survived my first wine and dine at work without incident, despite the fact that I was the only intern sitting at a table full of full timers.

3. When talking with a few of the big wigs in my division and asking all of them what is important about my project, they all tell me that something different from what the others have told me. Moral of the story EVERYTHING IS IMPORTANT.

4. I unfortunately made the decision to become the Intern Kickball Team Captain. Normally I would think this is a good idea, however when 27 interns are signed up when only 10 can play at a time it makes life a little hectic.

5. SCJ has this beautiful thing called Summer Hours, it means you don't have to work after noon on Friday, and that means the weekend starts nice and early!

6. I got to see my sister Susan for the first time in about 6 years. Her and her family decided to drive across a few states to come visit family in Ohio, Indiana, and Wisconsin. It was really good to catch up with her.

7. I got to meet Sean, Susan's 11 month old son. He's a fun little kid that sure loves screaming.

8. This is a message to all the single girls out there. In my gene pool exist Cute genes. If you looked at all of my nieces and nephews they are all so freaking adorably cute. So Ladies if you want cute kids... ;)

9. During one of the beautiful days here me and the fam decided to take a trip to a beautiful beach here in Racine. Yes I said that correctly, there is a nice beach here in Racine.

10. While walking in the sand the 4 year old exclaims "I'm sinking" because the sand was slowly shifting underneath her feet.

Week 4: The Real World

This week I started my first "grown up" job. Granted this job is temporary and I'll be out of it in 3 months, but its a great opportunity to get to know what being an adult will really be like. So to keep with my top 10 list here goes:

1. Had to tell myself, being an intern getting a corner office on the "penthouse" / executive level while the other interns are sitting at desks in a huge wide open floor doesn't mean you are anything special... It just means you got lucky for the summer :)

2. I have realized I really enjoy sleeping in... I do not get to do that anymore...

3. Referring to the one above... I will not wake up early to work out unless someone else goes with me

4. People have awesome words or phrases that they always use. My boss will use the word "Frame/framing" in every conversation I have had with him. One of my coworkers uses the words typical and atypical in EVERY conversation... I laugh because I do it too

5. Even when the company has instituted half day fridays none of the executives leave at noon... which makes it awkward when you work on the same floor with all the executives and you just pack up and leave at noon on friday.

6. I do not know how many different ways I have heard "THIS INFORMATION IS CONFIDENTIAL, DO NOT SHARE IT WITH ANYONE"... my favorite is when subtle threats are sprinkled in with it.

7. Trying to play racquetball when there are small children in the court makes it a little dangerous, surprisingly not to the children, but to my brother-in-law who got a point blank range racquetball to the face.... sorry Kevin

8. When the windows in your office are made of glass tubes (thanks Frank Lloyd Wright) They howl like the dickens when it is super windy outside and you get sunlight but can't actually look out the windows.

9. Cute girls in a singles ward in Wisconsin get circled like hawks on the hunt. Which makes it a little hard for the not so aggressive birds so they are left to just fly circles by themselves.

10. For a girl who isn't afraid of anything and is the most energetic girl ever (shes 4) when she gets scared of a water slide at the pool its kinda funny, just a little bit. In conjunction, while trying to teach a 7 year old how to swim, As soon as you let go she puts her feet onto the bottom of the pool. When discussing the matter with her father (my brother-in-law) his response is "just teach her in the deep end"

Week 3 - 2 Lighthouses 2 Lakes and lots of fun!

This week was very different from the last few I have spent in Wisconsin. Tomorrow is the start of my internship with SC Johnson (yes, a family company) and boy am I ready to get started. Like last week here is this weeks Top 10 with some pictures and videos.

1. I have recently become a magnet to baby puke. In the last week I have been the target of random vomits that come silently and hit with all its gross glory. And the response of the vomiter is just a little smile and giggle.

2. My brother-in-laws sister was in town for a few days and we had the opportunity to tour SC Johnson (see below) and took a drive around Racine looking at the city in all its glory this led to the first stop at a lake and lighthouseat Wind Point on Lake Michigan, I have to say I never thought anything with the name Michigan in it could be so beautiful, but it was.

3. We stopped into '5 guys' this week and I come to find out that my 4 year old niece is more happy just sitting there eating the free peanuts then actually eating her hamburger or fries.

4. My youngest niece has a great affinity for a piece of equipment called a 'jumperoo' she just sits on it and jumps and thinks it is the greatest thing in the world (Click the Link below).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQpeREj9l8A

5. So before I even start working at SC Johnson I got a chance to partake in one of the perks of the job and that is the "Lighthouse Resort" a beautiful resort owned by the company with cabins that are situated on Fence Lake. This was a great opportunity to relax and enjoy a few days with family out on the water and just having some fun.

6. We got to spend an afternoon with some family and I got to see my grandparents I haven't seen in about 5 years. It was great to see them. If you want to know a pearl of wisdom from my grandpa here it is. "If I knew anything I'd be rich and famous"

7. My niece decided she wanted to try out boxing, until she realized once she hit the punching bag it swung back and hit her. She quickly moved on and decided she wanted to try something else out

8. Back to the little niece, she decides she likes to sing so I decided I'd share her beautiful musical talents.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VxVLAcdl2fw

9. My sister is straight up freaked out by water flies or whatever you call them. Now that is a video I wish I got :).

10. Have you ever seen a garage disguised as a pig??? Well I have!!!

Week Two, Same as the first a little bit different and a lot a bit ,,, well not worse!

Week two in Wisconsin has come and gone and I still have one week to go before I start my biggest adventure of the summer and that would be my internship. A few more fun things have happened this week.

1. It is great to talk to (Richard) and see (some relatives) people that I haven't seen or talked to in a few years!

2. Despite the belief that Wisconsin is an Icy Tundra it can get really warm here... too bad it was for only a day and then dropped 40ish

degrees the next day. :(

3. Apparently staying with family for free for a month means helping with lots of little projects around the house. But its ok cause it gives me something to do during the day.

4. I guess I actually learned something from my BIO 100 (aka Bird watching) class that I took 2 years ago, when I accurately identified a Killdeer that was feeding on the back patio.

5. Who would have guessed that you aren't actually supposed to be mean/scary when you are the evil guy/monster when playing make believe with your nieces, because you actually scare them and they think you are mean...

6. I guess stone washed jeans are supposed to come with small stones sewn into the inside of the pants, or at least thats what the customer service lady tried to tell me when I went to exchange a pair I had just purchased.

7. I made my first Gluten free dinner, which the children promptly decided they didn't want to eat so the adults got to eat it all.

8. I need to work out because I about died when my 4 and 7 year old nieces decide they both want me to hold them at the exact same time and carry them around a store and my arms about fall off.

9. I hold the awesome power of lulling an extremely energetic 4 year old to sleep.

10. Apparently I make a good pillow (see picture below)

My First Week in Wisconsin

I have been in Wisconsin for 7 days now. I have learned a few things over these last few days.

1. Don't fly through Chicago's O'Hare airport, apparently they have the power to cancel flights, delay them 6 hours, or give you the option of taking a 3 hour bus ride instead.

2. It is totally acceptable for a grown man to take showers while using pink princess shower curtains (as long as it is his nieces that pick out said shower curtains)

3. Reverting back to a slower Internet speed and no ESPN takes some getting used to.

4. 5 years of experimenting with gluten free food can make Gluten free Pizza taste a whole lot better!

5. I LOVE sleeping in, yet it gets hard when a 7 and 4 year old like making lots of noise because they have been up for 4 hours.

6. From now on I will try and make it a point to go out of my way to say hello to someone I do not recognize, because it sucks being on the other end of that.

7. Luckily there are cute girls in Wisconsin! :)

8. Expect tears when your 4 year old niece wants to play but you tell her "maybe later".

9. If dinner is served and you aren't home when everyone else starts eating, and the missionaries were invited over to eat (5 missionaries to be exact), you better be prepared to make your own dinner cause there won't be any left.

10. It's good to have a nice break from school and work, but I am glad I have something to look forward to in a few weeks cause I don't know how I could last 4 months of sitting around not doing anything.