let's talk about the elephant in the room...

he looks so happy.

Note... My dad I have probably only sent once text message in our lives...

You may recall from a previous post that my dad is a very special Packers fan.... a very supersitious one (stand while watching the entire game, moves to different televisions around the house, stops watching the game if he feels it is necessary...). Well let's be honest this weekend was a pretty big deal for Packer Fans.

 

Naturally, green and gold nails were in order. 

Thankfully my boss of a bears fan owns a cheese head (what?) which I was able to wear to Coaches to watch the game...


Ok but now back what was that about text messages?

Here is how the conversation went:

Me (Packers: 14, Bears 7... right after the bears scored their first touchdown): How bout dem Packers?

(note I was getting nervous about dem Packers).

Dad: Yes!
(note: he didn't really answer the question)

Me (Packers: 21, Bears 14... I was getting REALLY nervous): What's going on dad!

Dad: No problem.



He is a wise man.

I peel a tangerine all in one piece. Today = Success

Isn't that just the greatest when that happens.


On another note... we just got back from ReO (a.k.a. Re- Orientation) a time for all the JVs in the southern region to come together and hang out.

It was grand (sans all the lecturing) but really a great time to come together with a bunch of great like minded people who are doing similar things!

Things I did/learned...

• I got to jump in a river/lake
• We got to drive in a river/lake
• I guess I do probably have a caffeine (DC or DDP) addiction
• I got to MC the talent show
• I still LOVE "that's what she said" jokes
• The Mobile house got a flat tire
• Emily cut off her hair
• Leakey TX is beautiful
• Playgrounds are still fun when you are 22
• The 90s station on satallite radio is pretty RAD
• Having no cell reception can be nice
• THE PACKERS WON
• I will always love the Screaming Eagles Marching Band
• Sonic tastes great... and is even better on community money!
• The bears SUCK. 

Well... for some reason my creative juices aren't flowing in a way that I would like... so  I'll leave the rest of the weekend up for your imagination.


More to come on why my JV house is the MOST SUCCESSFUL JESUIT VOLUNTEER HOUSE ever.

Images that show up on my camera...

So now it is time for another round of.... the weird pictures that show up on my camera/phone.. (also known as "this is what ____________ looks like."

This is what a JVC Christmas Party Looks like/The Houston Ladies (sans Tess [you were missed]) in Mobile, AL.  The Jesuit Volunteers in Mobile had it's annual Christmas party (I believe they have hosted for 11 years).  The weekend was full of reunions, merriment, friendship and leveled gingerbread houses. Cara also drank a 2 liter bottle of orange soda prior to our return trip to Houston which resulted in an early morning break. And some strange man surprised Alex and Emily in the morning.  Uninvited.

 

Alex did some great research for our road trip... this lead us to this road trip gem/ must-have... a visit to the worlds larges rocking chair (it doesn't really rock)... we naturally had to climb on it. 

This next image is a little "X" rated..... but only my Godfather would create such inappropriate Christmas Sugar cookies.  I guess all in an effort to alleviate gender identity issues?

 

This is PART ONE of a what I like to call "My dad let's me do dangerous stuff"... 

So the Niemer Family House had the chimney redone (bricks taken out and replaced etc).  So for a while there was a three story scaffolding around our chimney... the work that was being done on it needed to be done in a warm environment so the scaffolding was surrounded by a plastic tarp and then there was a fire/heat source at the base of the chimney.  So one day when I was home my dad asked if I wanted to climb up it... OBVI!! This is a picture of me at the top (It's hard to see that I am up high but I am over three stories up)!

This is a nice shot of the man, the myth, the legend, JOHN NIEMER, himself on the top level of the scaffolding. Total Stud.

OK so how high really were we up.... I tried to take a picture to give you a visual guesstimate of height... but this is the best I could come up with.  Let's just say my mom was mad that my dad let us do this (also note, I told our chimney worker friends that I climbed up and they responded "You? Really? You probably shouldn't have been climbing up there!" I think they were impressed!)... Also as I am climbing up my dad comments, "Now Katie, this isn't a time to be goofing around. If you fall, you die." Well isn't that encouraging!

This is a terrible picture.... but this is the beautiful city I am from.... where it's always "Miller Time" (this was taken in Miller Valley!

On our way to Christmas in Detroit to pick up my brother (the more successful Niemer).  While we were in the windy city Richie and I gallivanted around Wicker Park and came across this awesome knitting store (believe it or not, but I am NOT the Niemer who knits). They had this school sculpture! Wowsers... the people at the store were UBER friendly although they told me NOT to get a dog.

First Fight.... this is my mom and my dad at my Grandma's house.  I believe my dad is annoying my mom.  Don't worry Peggy isn't an abusive person (even though it looks like she is clockin' him in the head)!

Santa came!!! To my Grandma's house! Wow we are so spoiled and lucky.  Every year he makes his stuff post Niemer family Christmas Eve dinner at Grandma's house.  This is Lydia and Molly.. Clearly they too were excited to see Santa and sit on his lap!

This is my mom organizing the Niemer family Christmas gift exchange! Note that she is a Niemer by marriage, yet still uses her organizational and leadership skills even on Christmas break!

This is my Grandma with one of the newest Niemers! Woo Hooo. Zachary is a GREAT addition to our huge, great, beautiful family! Christmas's are always more fun with young ones around!

This year was the NINTH annual New Year's Day "Mexican Fiesta"... every year my mom cooks, prepares and labors the week before New Year's Day  for our big party (It all started, years back, when my parents didn't want to go out for NYE and my mom stayed in and made enchiladas). This year was bigger and better than ever because it was the debut of our NEW kitchen (thanks general contractor, John Niemer... we love it) AND we were celebrating the Rose Bowl.... go Badgers... (we still love you despite the loss). I made this little do-hickey (gotta love the power of photoshop) for our invitations! We'll get 'em next year Bucky!

And NOW it is time for PART TWO of "My dad let's me do dangerous things".... He took me to the junk yard (because I love those kinds of things) and because he needed some scrap metal for a project he was working on...

The junkyard is NO place for a lady!

 This is my dad carrying said piece of scrap metal.... note how long it is... welp, this is where the danger comes in.. so this long piece of metal didn't really fit in our mini-van (the marshmallow).  So we jimmied it in all the way that we could BUT we couldn't close the trunk of the van. SO I had to sit in the trunk of the van and hold onto the door so that it wouldn't fly open while we were driving back to my house (my mom wasn't too pleased about this one either).

da blog (you can put this on your resume). Well, he sent me this image on NYE... because he found MY CUP... well this isn't my actual cup... but I have this cup that I use all the time in my house... and Scott who was in Ohio with Alex (one of my roommates) for new years has the same one! Happy New Year's, Scott! See you in February for Emily's birthday!

Now I know I don't really write about anything of substance in this blog (and don't worry I am not ready to start... I mean it's only January of my year of service)... but I thought you might like a glimpse of "community living."  This is a action shot of just that.  I believe Cara is asking Maggie about what it would be like to hang out with Kelly Ripa and Maggie is simply ignoring her. 

But don't you worry... living in community you learn that problems have a way of dissipating when there is a photo opportunity.

This is a real cowboy/ our friend Tomás.

The Invitation

By Oriah Mountain Dreamer

(this one has always been one of my favorites... I recently wrote it on the door of my room!)

It doesn't interest me what you do for a living. I want to know what you ache for, and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart's longing.

It doesn't interest me how old you are. I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool for love, for your dream, for the adventure of being alive.
It doesn't interest me what planets are squaring your moon. I want to know if you have touched the center of your own sorrow, if you have been opened by life's betrayals or have become shriveled and closed from fear of further pain!I want to know if you can sit with pain, mine or your own, without moving to hide it or fade it, or fix it.
I want to know if you can be with joy, mine or your own, if you can dance with wildness and let the ecstasy fill you to the tips of your fingers and toes without cautioning us to be careful, to be realistic, to remember the limitations of being human.
It doesn't interest me if the story you are telling me is true. I want to know if you can disappoint another to be true to yourself; if you can bear the accusation of betrayal and not betray your own soul; if you can be faithlessand therefore trustworthy.
I want to know if you can see beauty even when it's not pretty, every day,and if you can source your own life from its presence.
I want to know if you can live with failure, yours and mine, and still stand on the edge of the lake and shout to the silver of the full moon, “Yes!”
It doesn't interest me to know where you live or how much money you have. I want to know if you can get up, after the night of grief and despair, weary and bruised to the bone, and do what needs to be done to feed the children.
It doesn't interest me who you know or how you came to be here. I want to know if you will stand in the center of the fire with me and not shrink back.
It doesn't interest me where or what or with whom you have studied. I want to know what sustains you, from the inside, when all else falls away.
I want to know if you can be alone with yourself and if you truly like the company you keep in the empty moments.

it's not space we need... it's balance

  

this video blows my mind. 

(thanks for sending the link my way, william daley). 

every second 5 people are born and 2 people die.

(now I just need to get my hands on this months copy of National Geographic)