About Me

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I'm Kassandra an Oregon girl at heart. Attorney at Law. My parents are both U.S. army veterans and continue to serve in the military in other capacities. I have four brothers (two older, two younger) and three sisters (all younger). I love each of them for all of their individualities and their commitments to the examples set by our parents. Aside from my family, I have several friends who mean a great deal to me. Notable are my best friend from high school and my best friend from college, I'm strong in analytical thinking. I am able to process things from several viewpoints simultaneously. I'm open and honest. Note: I'm interested in receiving feedback on this blog, but I request that the comments pertain to the actual blog itself, and I do not approve anonymous comments.

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

des moines, lunch with grandma, heading west

you know, this really has been the vacation of my lifetime. in just under two weeks, i feel like i've lived a summer's worth of adventures. i've seen probably 85 percent of my extended family, encompassing both sides!

there's no way i can recapture all this in one blog, but i can say it would make one hell of a 'what i did on my summer vacation' report!

mississippi river and des moines

when we last left off, my grandparents, aunt and cousin were off to des moines, with a detour to the mississippi river and the state of illinois. it was a great day, even though much of it was in the car.

from lincoln we went through southern iowa and northern missouri to burlington, illinois. my impression from this part of the trip: the mississippi river is friggin huge! i mean, i knew it was big and the current was strong, but i don't think i was prepared for the sure size and awesomeness of it.

monday night in des moines was wonderful. my cousin, Stacey, lives there and showed us some midwestern hospitality that would make a southerner jealous (not sure about the validity of that; it just sounded good!). after my grandparents and aunt decided to crash out, Stacey, Rebecca, Stacey's roommate Candice went to a club in des moines. i just have to say, as i may blog about this later, the iowan guys are something very special!

last day in nebraska

i had wanted to drop into kansas, so on wednesday before leaving, my grandmother and i had a girls day out. we drove past some of the larger farms in the area, then took a little drive across the kansas border into marysville where we had a nice little lunch and did some shopping.

shopping was a major activity in all these places, but there were also some other souvenirs from the trip ... how about a little summary:

sixteen state-named t-shirts; 12 pieces of jewelry, over 25 little trinkets, about five special mementos, samples of dirt from nine states (10 if i can get some during my layover in minneapolis/st. paul!) and, get this, samples of river water from two of the country's largest rivers (mississippi and rio grande).

how's that for a summer?!

brother and school

from here, i go to san francisco to stay with my brother for a couple of days. i have my first face-to-face meeting with my college counselor friday and that's only a 40 minute drive from my brother's apartment.

i should arrive at the airport there early morning of the 12th.

he already told me that he and his fiance, Carla, have a surprise for me when i show up there ... i have no idea what it might be!

but i do love surprises!

~ Kassandra

6 comments:

  1. ya that's one heck of a summer vacation. lol. wish i could have just traveled and seen all the places and things you did. but it's something you'll remember for a lifetime. that's special. as always, have fun in San Fran. And your meeting tomorrow, hopefully it goes well :)

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  2. well, i think it was a once in a lifetime thing. i'm definitely not going to be able to do that every summer. this was special because it came after graduation and all. i realized yesterday when i was just resting that it was the first day i wasn't really on the go. it was nice to just relax. Brian and Carla really surprised me with something when i got here yesterday. i'm still nearly in shock from it (how's that for a tease). well, gotta hit the shower so i can look all nice and presentable for my counselor; meeting is at 10 am.

    ~ Kassndra

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  3. That tease was awful. lol. Or good because it made me want to know what the surprise was lol. Looking nice and presentable is overrated :) let me know how the meeting went.

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  4. i had to be presentable enough to make a first impression. this all extremely important to me. sorry about the tease, but i have some things to mention about thje meeting so yes, another blog will shortly be in the works regardng both topics! lol

    ~ Kassandra

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  5. you are the most loyal blogger lol. everything that happens goes into a blog. i like that though. i just don't have that interesting of a life so i blog only when i have something to say or something actually does happen lol

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  6. i just have a lot going on right now with the vacation and college starting next month. sometimes i have very little in mind for a blog, but i have several in my mind right now. i had a great meeting today. i didn't leave the university until a little after 2 pm!

    ~ Kassandra

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