Pittsburgh Trip

As I mentioned a couple of posts ago, one of our recent trips was to Pittsburgh, PA to connect with my Grandma and sister who were there with my Great Uncle Jim to visit Great Uncle Bill and Aunt Grace (and their family). Julie and Grandma started their adventure in New Jersey, to see my cousin Nikki graduate from high school. (If you read Julie's blog, she's already written about the trip there...incidentally, I forgot to pack my camera, so all the pics here are Julie's--thanks, sis!).

Mark and I were only there for two nights, but we packed in a few adventures in that time.

Before dinner at Uncle Bill and Aunt Grace's country club. 

After dinner, with more of Uncle Bill & Aunt Grace's family.

Overlooking downtown and the rivers. It was a beautiful day!

The street opposite that great view.

Uncle Bill, Aunt Grace, Uncle Jim, and Grandma. What a great pic!

The guys chatting on the river cruise--my first dinner cruise!

The ladies.

Another view from the cruise.

In addition to the meals and sight seeing, Julie, Mark, Grandma, and I did some shopping at the outlet mall, and various groups of us played Five Crowns to pass some time. It was a good opportunity for Mark and I to connect with part of the family that we don't get to see very often, and Pittsburgh was a beautiful city!

Summer Reading

One thing I have tried to do each summer for the last several years is read more (compared to what I find time for during the school year). Generally, I try to read a few books for professional development (and catch up to newsletters and such from TESOL, the professional organization I belong to). I also, of course, want to read for pleasure, which usually means fiction, though this summer I've read more non-fiction than in the past. I keep a list of books I'd like to read, and I request things regularly from the library. It seems that I often end up with piles of books under the coffee table--I have to be careful that I don't collect/request more than I can read! (I seem to enjoy the process of looking for and bringing home interesting books almost as much as I like reading them!). Lately, I've been wondering if I should also keep a list of books that I have finished reading, as one of my friends once mentioned doing. At least, I've decided to share here, in no particular order, a few that I've enjoyed so far this summer. I'm probably forgetting something interesting, so I may update the list if I think of something else to include.

Professional Development:

• Teaching Listening: Voices from the Field, Ed. Ashcraft & Tran 
• I have a couple of books about pronunciation checked out, but I haven't been reading them. Better pick up the slack before school starts!

Fiction:

• The Postmistress by Sarah Blake
• The Last Queen by C.W. Gortner
• An Equal Music by Vikram Seth
• Maya's Notebook by Isabel Allende
• Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend by Matthew Dicks
• The Silver Star by Jeannette Walls
• The Book of Summers by Emylia Hall
• Eat Cake by Jeannie Ray

Non-Fiction:

• The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin
• Mark and Damon also read the copy I checked out from the library! 
• Politics According to the Bible by Wayne Grudem 
• This one's hefty--I haven't finished it yet, but so far it's been very thought provoking, even when I don't agree with the author.
• VB6: Eat Vegan Before 6:00 to Lose Weight and Restore Your Health by Mark Bittman
• Although I don't really plan to follow the diet, I am intriegued by the idea of a middle ground between a carnivorous and a vegetarian/vegan diet. It seems important to focus also on less processed food and more fruits and veggies, as well as possibly less meat and dairy. Perhaps I'll share more ideas on this theme for another post. 
• Make the Bread, Buy the Butter: What You Should and Shouldn't Cook from Scratch by Jennifer Reese
• Another interesting book about food--with much more personality than a standard cookbook.

Now...time to get back to reading a book!

This and That

It seems that my desire to present the summer in chronological order is seriously slowing down my updating. So I've decided not to worry about the timeline anymore and just post some stuff! I do intend to post some summaries of our June travels--a family trip with Mark's side to Missouri and Arkansas (I'm still waiting on some photos of that trip), and a trip with my side to Pennsylvania. Stay tuned.

Partly because of how much time we've spent on the road, it seems that this summer is just flying by. I've also been teaching part-time for a language school on campus (separate from the program I teach in during the academic year). I started as a substitute, just filling in for a morning or afternoon here or there, but for the last week and a half, I've been on their schedule for an afternoon class. I'm teaching beginners, which I've never done before, so it's been a fun challenge so far. We've got two full weeks left in this session.

Otherwise, I've been spending a lot of time reading, watching TV/movies, and thinking about food (trying new recipes, working on eating healthier, etc.). Mark and I have also been exercising together. I hope to post a bit more about some of these topics, too. But, as often happens, the day has passed, and I'd better log off for tonight. More to come! (Really!)