Journey to Space Camp

I am currently hanging out in the Atlanta airport on a 3.5 hr layover on my way to Huntsville, AL. My flight left from Sioux Falls at 6:15 AM--OUCH! Surprisingly I am feeling exceptionally alive and awake today, I'm sure it has nothing to do with my excitement/anxiety level. As I sit here I have so many different feelings flying through my body. I'm excited--I'm so close (just 1 day!) to fulfilling a childhood (and adulthood) dream, I'm anxious- I am not in control of the next few days and not knowing what is going to happen is freaking me out. Will the hotel have a shuttle at the airport when I get there? What will I do today before camp starts tomorrow? What if I get to camp and something went wrong with my registration (this is a completely irrational question to be asking myself, but there it is regardless). What if no one "likes" me? What if I have to crap really bad during some kind of group project and I can't get to the bathroom in time? All such important things to be thinking about certainly.

Bucket List- 100 Books in 1 year

So I've already posted on one of my bucket list items- Space Camp- I thought I would expand on another item on my list.

It all started when I purchased myself a Kindle Paperwhite. I have to say that this is by far one of the best gifts I have ever gotten for myself! (it is a close 2nd to when I went out and bought a Playstation 2 with Guitar Hero as a Valentine's Day gift for myself back in college- although the Kindle is probably more practical). I guess it took a fancy new gadget to get me excited about reading again. I went from reading maybe a couple books a year to reading 83 books last year!

I've enjoyed reading ever since I was a little kid. Some of my fondest childhood memories are of my mother reading to/with my brother, Jon, and I before we went to bed each night. I was even competitive with my reading, trying to fill up as many "book houses" as I could when I was in 1st grade. I filled up 5 when most of my classmates maybe filled up one by the end of the year. As I grew older I seemed to have less and less time to read--or at least I had much better things to do. I realize now that I always had time to read, it's just about finding books I like and am interested in, and then actually opening up the book! (or my Kindle). You would be surprised to find how many books you can read just by taking 30 minutes each night reading before you go to sleep. Plus, it can help to calm your brain down so you fall asleep faster and sleep better too!

One of the neat things I discovered after getting my Kindle is the website www.goodreads.com which can keep track of all the books you've read and ones you want to read in the future. It was from using this site that I realized I was actually capable of reading a large number of books and that I had a pretty good shot of getting to 100 in a year. So darn it that is my goal this year and I'm going to try. I'm certainly on my way!

Let me know if you have any book recommendations!

Pet Spotlight: Amos

Amos

Full name: Amos James Hasenpfeffer McCoy

Amos- picked from a list of popular names released by the department of social security for the 1890's
James- Chris's middle name & it just sounds right
Hausenpfeffer- technically it is a traditional German stew made of rabbit (or hare), but Chris's Grandpa used it as a term of endearment for his grandkids
McCoy- my stepdad Tom chose this, I'm guessing it has to do with John Wayne

Nicknames: Amos James Magoobydoo, baby kitten, Big Paw Long Tail

Birthday: July 5th, 2014

Favorite food: Dum Dum suckers, Hy-Vee brand soup packets, Blue-Buffalo dog food (and this is NOT made up, he will seriously sneak suckers and soup packets out of the pantry and play with them)

Hobbies:  "playing" with the other pets, greeting people using the bathroom, sleeping all alone on top of the cat tree, drinking out of the sink with Arthur, talking

Notable Achievements: First place (Feline Division) All City Pet Care East Halloween Costume Contest 2014

Space Camp- T-27 days

It seems surreal that Space Camp is now less than 1 month away. I'm excited, I'm nervous, I don't really know what to think. Some of you may be wondering what the heck Space Camp is and why the heck I am going to it, so let me do my best to explain...

What the heck is Space Camp???

"Always wanted to be an astronaut but were too old for Space Camp®? Adult Space Academy® is an adventurous, two-night experience allowing trainees to assume roles in hands-on, interactive space missions and learn what it’s like to train as an astronaut."

http://www.spacecamp.com/space/adult

Not to be confused with the 1986 movie, this camp was actually started from the idea of Wernher von Braun (aerospace engineer whose most famous accomplishment being the design of the Saturn V rocket which propelled us to the moon) that children (and adults too!) should have an experience to get excited about space. The camp was started in 1982 and now there are multiple different camps available- Space Camp, Robotics Camp, Aviation Camp.

The camp I will be participating in is a 3-day camp with registration on Friday and "graduation" on Sunday. From what I have found on internet searches, this appears to be the lodging arrangement.

Having lived in the dorms at SDSU for 2 years and in a sorority house for 1 year, I should be able to manage just fine.

Some of the activities I will participate in include:
-model rocket construction & launch
-training in astronaut simulators
-1/6th gravity chair

I'm actually a little hesitant on trying to find out more specifics because I think some of the excitement of it all is not knowing what to expect.

It's gonna be awesome!

Why the heck am I going to Space Camp???

After getting married, the discussion eventually comes up about if/when to start a family. Chris and I certainly want to have children, but we also recognize that it will be a huge life change. One of the questions that came up was, "What do we want to do before we start a family?". It was then that I decided I wanted to fulfill a childhood dream of going to Space Camp.

Since I was a young child I have been fascinated with space. My Dad was the one who helped me to get interested in science and space. I loved to read as a kid and I remember wanting to read a "big" book. My Dad recommended "Lost Moon" by Jim Lovell and since then I have read numerous others. Apollo 13 was (and still is) one of my favorite movies. Going to see it with my Dad and brothers is a special memory for me. I haven't done a very good job on keeping up with current happenings with NASA (I've read mostly about the early US space program from the start of Mercury through Apollo), but I'm really looking forward to learning more about the space shuttle, the International Space Station, satellites, and just general aeronautics.

As camp approaches, I will continue to keep you all posted on my thoughts as well as any new developments or exciting information. Be sure to subscribe so you don't miss anything!

Rave of Thrones!

So this last Friday I had my first experience of a live techno show. (I have no idea what the proper terminology for this genre of music is so please don't be offended if I don't use the right words, that is not my intent)
 

With this being my first live DJ experience I had no idea what to expect. Also, hearing about what kind of venue The Cabooze was (apparently not the most high class destination for Minneapolis socialites), I was even more hesitant to try and predict what kind of adventure this would be. We ended up getting to Minneapolis at about 7pm on Friday night so we decided to go out to eat at a place called Sober Fish. Adding to the theme of "firsts", I tried pad thai for the first time and it was AMAZING! I couldn't finish it all before the show, but certainly enjoyed it after we got back to Caroline's :)

After eating, we headed over to the venue a little after 9pm, shortly after the doors opened. The show was scheduled to start at 10pm so my husband, Chris, was anxious to get there ASAP to ensure we would get the best spot possible. When we walked in, it was pretty empty and the people that were there were an interesting mix. There were some "normal" looking people (people I would compare to looking like myself), some dressed up in Game of Thrones costumes, and even a guy by himself in a shirt saying "Sorry Ladies, I'm in the Night's Watch" that we decided to name "Jeffrey". There was also a guy in an orange, too tight silk shirt, ill-fitting green pants, and a sweat headband we decided to name "Ryan".

There were raised seating areas on both sides of the main floor area that were all full, but there was a balcony area that was completely empty so I assumed this was some kind of VIP area. My friend Caroline and I checked our coats, we all got some drinks (me with my energy drink) and proceeded to find a "spot". Chris's friend, Matt, and I walked over towards the balcony and made the brave walk up the stairs with me assuming we would get yelled at, tasered, and ultimately thrown out of the club. Of course none of those things happened, it was not a VIP area and we found a sweet spot sitting up by the railing with a view of stage left.

(left to right- Matt, Me, Caroline)

The sparsely populated club eventually became packed and the excitement exponentially grew awaiting the appearance of our beloved Hodor. When he came out everybody went nuts! He was casually dressed in jeans and  black shirt and had a sweet grey/white beard to boot. He said a few words that I don't remember, paused, said "Hodor" and then got on with his set.

Caroline and I then proceeded to dance like no one was watching. Those who were watching probably thought we were experiencing the effects of a toxic mix of acid & ecstacy, but we were just doing what we do. From what Chris and Matt said (our techno experts), Kristian was an excellent DJ- but all I know is that I danced almost the entire show, screamed out "Hodor" repeatedly, and sweat like a steam engine worker in the Amazon so I think he did an excellent job as well.

We ended the night watching Adventure Time and Silicon Valley at Caroline and her man Jesse's beautiful home, eating pizza (and my leftover pad thai), and Chris passing out on the couch. The next day we had brunch, went outlet mall shopping (where I got a sweet new Fossil purse--eehhhrrmegerrd!) and Chris and I headed home around 5pm.

I got to hang out with my buddy Caroline, have fun at a DJ show, eat good food, and go shopping. It was pretty much the best weekend ever.

New blog for new adventures!

Quite a lot has happened since my last blog post. The biggest change--my name! It didn't seem right to keep posting on "JKayC" since my last name is Koehn now, so I decided it was time to start a new blog.

It's been almost 9 months now that I've been married. "So how is married life?"--the question I get asked constantly. My usual smart ass answer is, "Well, I'm still married", but the honest answer is married life is great. Not too much has changed since before we were married, but some things have. On the positive side, I feel like I'm really part of a team now. When life happens as it often does, we can approach it together. It is sometimes a challenge for me since I like to be in control and feel I always need to do everything by myself, but it's been nice to be able to have another person that I love who is always there to help me. I can't say that there are any real negatives, but being married has definitely forced me to look toward the future--growing the family in particular. The idea of having a child is pretty scary and although we aren't trying right now, having it out in the near future is still pretty daunting. We are having to take a closer look at our finances (ugh) and also our motivations for wanting children. Do we want to have kids because it is what we think we are supposed to do? Or because it is what we want to do. Some pretty deep thinking for someone who can almost pee her pants laughing at a fart.

That's all I got for now, but I figured that at least it's a start!