Things I Learned my Senior Year of College.

I'm staring at this blank screen and I'm not sure where to begin.  This is the final installment in the "Things I Learned" series of posts, and one of the last posts I will make as a "college kid."  I almost don't want to start at all.  Yeah, as a matter of fact, I think I'll live in denial for the rest of my life.  I'll tell people I still go to Purdue and I'll flash my student ID at the bouncer at the bar and I'll never have to leave!  It's fool-proof!

Okay, who am I kidding?  It's not possible.  Just know that by the end of this post, I'll probably be sitting in a pool of my own tears.

I Can't Wait to be a Teacher.

So student teaching happened this year.  My question is, how can you sum up an experience like that?  It was difficult and stressful.  I cried...a lot.  But it was also hilarious and rewarding and humbling.  I learned so much this semester.  But mostly?  Mostly it assured me that yes, I do want to be a teacher.  If eating doughnuts all day every day isn't an option, then I can't imagine doing anything else for the rest of my life.  I'm so excited to begin a career in teaching!

You Can and You Will Make it Through the Tough Times.

Wow.  The past 5 months have been some of the most trying times in my life.  I lost both my grandpa and my grandma.  I student taught.  I found out that I did not get the Fulbright grant I had been working so hard for the past year.  My boyfriend moved to San Francisco.  It's things like this that make me not want to adult.  But guess what?  I'm still alive.  Life is tough, but you get through it.  And through it all, I learned that...

Your Support System is Everything.

There is no doubt about it: I would be nothing without the people that support me, especially this semester.  A HUGE thank you to my parents for always having my back, my sister for being available for impromptu phone calls when I needed her advice, extended family for being amazing, Lush for always staying positive when I'm falling apart, roommates for leaving me encouraging notes when I needed them, friends for telling me to get my ish together and make a plan for my life, and my incredible cooperating teacher who taught me everything I know about being a good teacher.  I wouldn't have made it through the semester/year without you.

Sometimes, You Just Have to Laugh.

Even though there were so many challenges this year, sometimes you just have to laugh.  For some comedic relief, here is a short list of hilarious things that my students said during student teaching:

-Greyson called me over; "Miss K, every time I stare off into space, my eyes are drawn to Emma W.  But  I like Phoebe!"
-Keyrsten: "I told him you can like both!"
-Me: "Guess you better give them both a valentine!"

*Ant crawling across the table*
-Me: "Ew, what is that?"
-Eron: *Squishes ant with his finger, drags his finger across the table, and says, "Shhhhhh."

-Me: "Where should I go for my birthday dinner?"
-Someone: "Get Chinese food!"
-Me: "I don't like Chinese food that much."
-Christian with wide, creepy eyes: "You should go to Everything OK (Chinese restaurant in Frankfort).  It's not Chinese food." *Laughs maniacally*

Emma W. wrote: "Tick tock, light 'em up" at the top of her math paper

-Me: "Your outfit is really cute today!"
-Isella, very sassy: "Are you jealous?"

-Christian: "You look like you're 30."

Jeremy on his pre-test: "Michelle Obama and Hilary Clinton both were in the program to be the first president."

This is the future of America, ya'll.

I'm Not Ready for the Real World, but it's Coming Anyway.

If I thought my quarter-life crisis was a struggle, then preparing myself for adulthood is a major struggle.  I don't know how to adult.  This past week, I've slept in until 11:30 every day, and it's been GREAT.  (Okay people, obviously I'm making up for the student teaching sleep debt when I woke up at 5:00 am every day).  I still feel like it's acceptable to call a box of mac n' cheese a meal.  My room looks like a tornado went through it. My bank account is gasping for air (or money).  So lowkey, how do you even adult?  But it's coming whether I like it or not, so LOOK OUT, WORLD!  READY OR NOT, HERE I COME!

I am Ever Grateful for Purdue.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: I LOVE PURDUE UNIVERSITY!!!  Oh my goodness, my use of caps lock is off the charts today.  I really need to stop.  But forreal, this school...there are no words.  Really.  How do you describe a place that, for the past 4 years, has been your home?  A place where you learned so much, both academically and socially?  A place where you met people that will be life-long friends?  A place where you established yourself as a (mostly) independent human being?  I can't imagine what my life would be like if I hadn't been a Boilermaker.  So, there are a couple people I have to thank.  First, my parents, for letting me choose the school I wanted to attend.  They never pressured me to choose one or the other; they let me decide and allowed me to drag them along to the multiple college visits I went on.  Second, to the peeps in charge of scholarships at Purdue.  Without you, I wouldn't have been able to come here!  And third, to John Purdue.  Thanks for even making this school! Lolz.

Well guys, that's it.  That's the last of the "Things I Learned" series.  And contrary to popular belief, I'm not actually sitting in a pool of my own tears.  However, I very well might be soon, because guess what?  In 9 days, I will be a college graduate.  I will no longer be a college kid.  Stay tuned for the next adventure :).

The First of Many Lasts.

Wow Kasey, that title...how cryptic.  Is this a riddle?  What could it mean?  I'm having an existential crisis over here!

Well goodness!  I don't want to be the one to blame for any crises, existential or otherwise, so I guess I'll just jump right into the post.

Goodbye November, hello December!  Aka, the last month of the year and the last month of college classes before student teaching.  There have been a lot of 'lasts' recently, hence the title of the post.  Breathe easy, my friends.  Now you know.

This was expected, of course.  I've known since I started at Purdue that this would be my last official semester as a student, but I certainly didn't realize just how difficult it was going to be.  So, here are the latest happenings, including all the 'lasts.'

Hanging with da Prez
Because I applied for the Fulbright scholarship, I got to chill with the Purdue prez, Mitch Daniels.  Apparently, he has a bunch of professors come to Westwood, the Purdue president mansion, every now and then to listen to a speaker and network.  So, national/international scholarship applicants got to come too!  Let's just say, it was way out of my comfort zone.  We're talking dressing nice (tried on about 9 outfits), eating fancy little appetizers (how do you eat meatballs in a fancy way?), drinking wine (do you hold the glass by the stem when you're tryna be fancy?), and schmoozing (bye). I went with my friend Kelsey, so at least I knew someone, but it was awk.  So awk, in fact, that Mitch walked by and said hello and come to find out my name tag had been stuck in my hair.  Cute.  But we did get to talk to him a little (no, we didn't ask him about his recent run-in with the cops for speeding) and we even got a picture of ourselves in his coat closet, so all-in-all, I'd dub it a win.

In Mitch Daniels' coat closet, hehe

All the Single Ladies, but not Jess Anymore
Yep, Jess got married! Gahhh!  On November 4, we all got dressed up and headed to the courthouse.  Jess's parents, grandparents, and aunt all drove down too, plus Michael's sister and her husband.  I was somehow in charge of all the important things, aka the rings and the marriage licenses (I'm surprised the trusted me with them).  It was a very nice ceremony and the judge was really cool. Jess looked so beautiful and Michael was very handsome.  We went out for a drink right after, then went to dinner at Bistro 501, which was delicious!  It was a very good night and I'm so happy for the two of them!

Congratulations!

Hanging with Lush
I got to spend the weekend with Yashas a few weeks ago, and it was great!  Except for the 5 solid hours we spent sitting on our butts doing homework, but hey, it was worth it.  We went to a Diwali show with Yashas' friend, put on by the Indian Student Association at U of I, and it was really cool! 

The Last Dining Court Thanksgiving
Every year on the Thursday before the week of Thanksgiving break, Purdue dining courts has a Thanksgiving dinner, and they go all out.  I'm talking turkey, mashed potatoes, corn, stuffing, sweet potatoes, rolls, pie, and all sorts of other delicious foods.  So, Elaine and I said, "YOLO," dropped $12 (RIP meal swipes from freshman year), and stuffed our faces to the point where we got home and couldn't move.  It was delish.

The Last PSEA Meeting
I've been part of PSEA since my first semester freshman year, but this era came to a close in November when we had our final meeting of the semester and inducted new officers.  Wow.  Yeah, it was stressful sometimes (a lot of the time), but I have a lot of good memories from being involved in it and it helped me grow as a leader.  It was sad to have to give up my position to someone else, but I'm excited to see where they will take the club.

The Last Ambassadors Meeting
The night after the last PSEA meeting was the last ambassadors meeting at Bruno's.  We stuffed our faces with pizza and Bruno dough (read: artery clogging deliciousness) and then we had to say goodbye to Karen, the adviser who has been in charge of the ambassadors for the past several years.  She will be moving at the end of the semester (back to her hometown of...Normal!), so this was actually her last semester of ambassadors as well.  We got her flowers and a gift card and a book of letters from all of us to thank her for everything, and she cried when we gave it to her.  We love her, and I will miss her and the ambassadors!

Thanksgiving Break
Wednesday: I worked from 7:00 am-1:00 pm, then drove to pick up Lush, then headed home.  We went to the Pub II with Katie and Natalie (so good to see them!) and then also to Maggie Miley's where it was basically a high school reunion.

Thursday:  We headed to my aunt's house for Thanksgiving lunch, and it was delicious!  So much good food.  It was great to see the family (shoutout to Aunt Cathy for hosting!), but we had to leave pretty early so we could go work.  We got to Mrs. Fields around 4:45 to prepare for the crazy Black Friday shoppers that would arrive at 6.  We worked until midnight, and despite the fact that we couldn't have a relaxing Thanksgiving, it was still fun and we had a good time as a family.

Friday: This was a pretty chill and lazy day.  We didn't do much, but I did get to see Katie and Natalie again, and also Caileigh, so that was fantastic!

Saturday: Kourt, Lush, and I visited our grandma and grandpa in the morning, and then: Hannah O'Neil's wedding!  She was a beautiful bride and the ceremony was perfect.  But the reception...all I can say is "wow."  It was incredible.  Hannah's mom had been preparing since that Wednesday with all the flowers and decorations.  It looked like a winter wonderland!!  There were evergreen tree branches in the ceiling and lights and candles, and it was gorgeous.  I had a good time with Lush, Katie, Chloe (who looked phenomenal in her maid of honor dress), and Chloe's cousins Jack and Brittany eating and dancing.

Sunday: Back to Purdue I go.

The Last Day of Work
Wow.  What an emotional day.  When I started at Dayspring back in March, I knew it would be short-lived considering I'd be student teaching the following year and wouldn't be able to have a job during that time.  Little did I know that it would be so difficult to say goodbye!  The past 9 months working there have been the absolute best!  My coworkers were phenomenal and it was such a positive environment to work in.  Plus, my kiddos, especially those in my Kindergarten Readiness class, were amazing!  I couldn't have asked for a better class.  On my last day, I cried way too many times.  Each time a parent came to pick up his/her kid, I started tearing up.  It got to the point where a parent would come and the kids would ask, "Miss Kasey, are you going to start crying again?"  Yes kids, yes I am.  One boy even said, "Can you not cry anymore?  It's annoying."  I have some great memories from that place and will miss it a lot!  

Flo' Fo' Ho Reunion Dinner
Last night, a bunch of girls who lived on the fourth floor in Shreve freshman year got together for a reunion dinner!  It was incredible getting to see these ladies again.  Even our RA, Leigh, got to come, despite being in med school.  They were the best floor family EVER.

Bonus Pics:

Garfield the Pilgrim

Buddy, our Elf on the Shelf, has been causing a ruckus in our apartment

Shoutout Corner:
Tyler and Kyleigh: Congrats on playing in the NCAA tourney!  You girls rock and I'm so proud of you!
Syd: We made it!  No more work until we get our real jobs!
Annie: Thanks for making our apartment jingle bell ROCK for the holidays.
Buddy the elf: Shout out to you for the holiday cheer you bring each day!

Oct-Dope-er

*Disclaimer: The title for this post is a reference to the fact that October was a pretty dope month, not because Kasey is now doing drugs.

You know that phrase, "Bye, Felicia!"?  Well, I hereby petition to change that to, "Bye, October!" because, well... WHERE THE HECK DID OCTOBER GO?!  Here I was, super pumped for October and all that comes with it, aka pumpkin spice lattes and pumpkin bread, but now I'm sitting here and it's November and the sunlight has disappeared and it's only 5:45 pm, thanks a lot Daylight Savings.

Okay, rant over.  But forreals, there are SO many things that happened in October, and in typical Kasey fashion, I will share them all with you.  Prepare yourselves.

Brooke's Engagement
Guess what?  Okay, you already know what because I just titled this section as "Brooke's Engagement," but in case you couldn't figure it out because of that subtle hint: my best friend is engaged!  Ethan took Brooke on a surprise adventure out east and popped the question to her while there!  She is so excited and happy, and I can't help but be excited and happy for her.  They make a great couple and I wish them the best.

October Break
October Break was pretty great.  As if not having class wasn't enough, I also got to do a bajilion other things.  On Friday, I drove up to Jess's house near Chicago because her mom was having a craft/scrapbook weekend at her house!  It was a blast!  We ate lots of good food and snacks and did some scrapbooking and coloring.  On Saturday evening, I drove home (after stopping at Woodfield Mall to get dad some popcorn and mom some cheesecake) and my parents and I went to Los Potrillos for dinner.  On Sunday, we drove to Utica, Illinois for the Burgoo Stew Festival.  What's that, you say?  Glad you asked!  It is a festival celebrating burgoo stew.  If you're not sure what that is, you can Wikipedia it.  But it was some delicious stew.  There were a zillion craft booths set up so we walked around looking at stuff and sampling the wares.  I went to Champain on Monday to visit Lush and get kicked out of one of his classes because there "wasn't enough room."  Liars.  But we took a nice walk around Crystal Lake Park and ate pizza and I also got to see Katie, so all in all a great weekend.

PSEA Conference
For the fourth year running, I attended the ISEA Fall Conference with my organization, PSEA.  Of all 4 years, this was the year we had the most members attend!  Let me tell you, it was a struggle organizing 19 people going to Indy for the conference and making sure everyone had a hotel room and all that jazz, but it was so worth it!  We had a lot of fun listening to speakers, participating in the lip sync contest, taking pictures in the photo booth, dancing, and learning more about becoming a teacher. It was such a great time and I am so thankful for the opportunity!

PSEA Conference Attendees

I touched Glenda Ritz, omg

Hannah's Bachelorette Party
As soon as conference was over, I drove home to Normal for Chloe's sister's bachelorette party!  We ate dinner at Medici and then rode around in a party bus before heading to the bars in downtown Bloomington!  It was a blast getting to celebrate Hannah and spend time with Katie, Chloe, and her cousin, Jack.  I can't wait for her wedding in less than a month!

Tanner's Orchard
On Sunday of that weekend, my mom, sister, grandma, and I went to Tanner's Orchard, which is one of our traditions!  We walked around tasting all the delicious food and then proceeded to purchase said food.  This included, but was not limited to, pumpkin apple cider doughnuts, pies, apples, caramel, kettle corn, caramel apples, and who knows what else.  (Good stuff, that's what).  I love spending time with da fam.

Hoodie Allen Concert
Wanna know what else was fun?  Hoodie Allen came to Purdue and put on a concert with Cappa and Natalie LaRose (if you didn't read that in her special sing-song voice, I don't even know who you are).  I went with my main girl, Syd, and had so much fun!  Hoodie was such a great performer and it was hilarious watching him hate on IU and rap about Purdue and pull people on stage for a twerking contest.

King's Island
You know what was pretty dope?  Elaine and I took Jess to King's Island to celebrate her bachelorette party!  We drove up Sunday morning and it was a perfect day!  It was only a slightly chilly day and there weren't a ton of people there, so we got to ride all the rides we wanted to, and the longest line we waited in was only 45 minutes!  All of us got pretty motion sick at one point or another, but there was no puke to be seen, thank goodness.

Posing in front of the one ride we didn't get on...

Halloweekend
This weekend was also pretty dope!  Lush came up on Friday, and we proceeded to wake up at 5:00 am the next morning to get ready for Halloween Breakfast Club!  Jess came over and we put on our Harry Potter costumes, then trekked to the Cactus with squirrel Annie and her squirrely friend.  Wanna take a guess as to how long we waited in line? Well, I'll just tell you. Three. Hours.  That's right, we are that dedicated.  We got in, danced for a little, and then left to get Taco Bell, because, priorities.  We then met my parents, sister, grandparents, uncle, cousin, and aunt and uncle at the stadium for the Purdue vs. Nebraska game, where we kicked butt!  It was so great spending time with my family and watching Purdue win (for once).  We then tailgated for a solid 30 minutes before it started raining on us...wah wah. But still lots of fun and as always, great to see the fam.

Expelliarmus!

Da fam

Hehehe, Nebraska won 2 years ago, but not this time!

Student Teaching Visits
I've been visiting Suncrest Elementary to get to know my mentor teacher and my students, and it's been great!  I thoroughly admire my mentor teacher and my kiddos are super great.  I can't wait to teach next semester!

American Horror Story
My fave show started up at the beginning of the month, buttttt it is a complete disappointment.  So yeah.

Volleyball
I was on an intramural sand volleyball team with Syd, her roomies, and some of their friends, and we made it all the way to semi-finals before losing.  But now we are trying to redeem ourselves with an indoor volleyball league, so wish us luck on that one!

Bonus pics:

On a neature hike with Elaine in Hort Park

Happy 22nd to this chick!

October was great, but November should be pretty neat too.

WARNING: SAPPY POST.

I'm just going to warn you right now: this is going to be a very sappy post about my wonderful boyfriend.  If that in any way repulses, offends, or annoys you, DO NOT READ ANY FURTHER.  I repeat: DO NOT READ ANY FURTHER.  Unless, of course, you want to know the other things that have been going on in my life, in which case, you can close your eyes and scroll to the very bottom of this post.  So either close your eyes and do that, suck it up and read the whole thing, or quickly click HERE to watch a cute video about kittens.

Alright, so if you're continuing to read, you're doing it at your own risk.  Just so you know.  Let's start with a cute photo of us, lol:

So, if you follow Yashas or I on any form of social media, you will know that we just celebrated our one year anniversary on September 21st.

Wow.  One year flew by extremely quickly.  I can still vividly remember some of our first Tinder conversations, our first awkward Skype session, the nerves of our first date, and my anxiety over dating "for real."  Yet here we are, one year later, and so much has happened!

I think people were skeptical about us from the beginning, and rightly so.  You met on Tinder?  Isn't that a hookup app?  You know, for a lot of people, it is.  He and I weren't using the app for that purpose, but at the beginning, I was very uncomfortable telling people that's how we met.  I was worried about how it would be perceived.  But after awhile, it didn't seem to matter.  It was if it was love at first swipe (lol, not really, but still).  Yashas and I clicked right away, from that very first Tinder message.  We had some amazing conversations from the beginning that were interesting and funny and witty, and we couldn't seem to get enough of talking to one another.  Then after a month, we finally Skyped.  Eventually we decided to meet in person, which almost didn't happen.  The fiasco went something like this:

I asked mom if I could go meet a guy in Champaign who I'd been talking to on Tinder.

Mom was worried (rightly so), said no, and told me that he'd chop me into a million pieces.

I (shamelessly) begged.

Mom reluctantly agreed but set several ground rules about our first date, including a curfew.

I proceeded to break all those rules (sorry mom).

We talked every day after that, met up a couple more times, and started officially dating September 21.  The rest is history.

Cue the sappy part of the post.  I can't even begin to explain how much I love and care for Yashas.  He is such an incredible man.  We can, and do, talk about anything, and that's something I am truly grateful for.  He is an amazing listener and doesn't complain when I vent about school or work or whatever.  I admire how hard he works toward his goals and love the positive outlook he has on life.  He has taught me so much about having an open mind, being thankful, and appreciating the things we have in our lives.  I know my outlook on life has changed since meeting him.  I love that we can share our dreams about the future with each other and that we are supportive of each other.  We bring out each other's adventurous sides and dream of the day when we have the means to travel to different parts of the world.  Yet, there's nothing we love more than spending a weekend on the couch watching Game of Thrones and eating an entire tub of ice cream.  Yes, that has happened.  On multiple occasions. 

And yes, long distance is hard, even if we are only 88.4 miles away from each other.  It seriously sucks only getting to see each other every few weeks.  I cry pretty much every time we have to part ways!  But even though it's difficult, we both agree that there are some great aspects to it as well.  It honestly makes the times we do get to spend together that much more meaningful.  Plus, we are both able to be independent and develop ourselves without being defined as a couple.  But we make the most of it with a few texts here and there during the day and nightly phone calls or Skype sessions.  It really is a special type of relationship to be in, but we make it work.

So yeah.  I could go on, but you probably don't want to hear any more of the sap.  But basically, he's the best, and I'm so happy with him.  Here's to many more years!!

Anyway, here are some other things that have been happening lately:

1. After about forever of our dishwasher not cleaning our dishes and contacting maintenance a zillion times, WE GOT A NEW DISHWASHER. Swag.

2. Elaine turned 21!  We celebrated at our apartment with a pizza party and then introduced her to the best place ever, aka the Cactus.  Good times.

Cactus with the girls

Found some Flo' Fo' Hoes from freshman year in Shreve!

3. Katie visited for a weekend and it was great!  Her brother plays football for Indiana State, so she came up and we went to my first Breakfast Club Saturday morning.  (For those who don't know, Breakfast Club is a tradition at Purdue where everyone dresses in costumes and goes to the bars at 7:00 am before home football games.  Why?  Who knows.)  We made our costumes to be robber Sims, and they looked great!  We went to the game and went to dinner with her parents after.  It was so much fun!

Robber Sims

My lovely roomie

4. This past weekend, Yashas and I went to an apple orchard and did a (lame) corn maze.  We also got dressed up and went to a fancy dinner.  It was so great to spend time with him.  (Hah, and just when you thought the sap was over). 

Me walking through the corn maze pretending to be a queen with a scepter ("So saggy.")

5.  The other day, a girl randomly walked into our apartment thinking it was hers because she lives in the same one a floor up.  It was so funny because she then left us a page-long apology note saying how sorry she was.

There is a lot more that will be going on in the next few weeks.  Stay tuned!

Back on that School Grind.

Hello, people of cyberspace, and welcome to this week's edition of What is Kasey up to these days?

You might guess things like ridding the world of hunger, rescuing children from burning buildings, and saving cats from trees, but alas, I regret to inform you that this is not the case. Rather, I have been thrown back into that all too familiar routine of, yep, you guessed it: school. Ugh.

"But Kasey," you say, "This is your last semester at Purdue before you student teach!  You should be living it up!"

"Hah," I say in return. "Good one."

Because am busy and am cryin'.

No, buy I actually do like the semester so far.  Let me tell you, 12 credit hours is pretty great.  Here's a rundown of my classes:

Music for Elementary Teachers
Am I musically inclined? Not in the slightest. But this class is pretty neat. We get to play the recorder and keyboard, and we sing a lot.  It's kind of challenging considering we move at such a rapid pace, but there's always something new going on, and it's pretty fun! My instructor is pretty great too because she used to teach elementary school music, so she really knows her stuff.

Art for Elementary Teachers
Again, am I artistic? Nope. But that's okay, because we can't all be Picasso, and I like my ears too much to chop them off, thank you very much. So far we've done drawing and collage making in this class, but we'll get to painting and sculpture too, so that should be a good time.

Health for Elementary Teachers
Most things in this class so far have been pretty common sense, but it's important stuff to know because as a teacher, I need to make sure I'm teaching my students to be healthy.

Intro to Sociology
Lolz. This class is super boring, but my instructor is grandpa-adorable and Jess is in my class. We're 2 of 3 seniors in the entire class too, hahaha.

In other news:

1. I'm still working in the daycare and am in the Kindergarten Readiness (Pre-K) class. It's been a lot of fun working with these kids and feel very fortunate that I get to be their teacher! They are great kids.
2. This past weekend was Labor Day and I got to spend it with the one and only Lush! All we did was watch Game of Thrones and eat ice cream, and I wouldn't have it any other way :)
3. Elaine is a dope roommate (no, she doesn't do drugs). We are very happy to have her here!
4. Syd and I are seeing some pretty legit gainz while lifting. Brace yourselves for a future #TransformationTuesday, lol.

Roomies

Recreating our first date

The #KaiserCation2K15 Chronicles.

What. A. Week.

People, if you've never been on vacation with the Kaisershots, put it at the top of your bucket list. It is a blast and a half, I tell ya. I don't care how biased I am, ya gotta do it. It will change your life.

So for those of you who have not noticed from my frequent Facebook postings, my family and I went on a New England road trip this past week as a last hurrah before the summer ended. Our stops consisted of Niagara Falls on the Canada side; Portland, Maine; and Salem and Boston, Massachusetts. The whole trip was amazing.

Friday 8/7:
We left that evening to start the trip off strong, so we made it all the way to good ol' Fort Wayne, Indiana before we stopped for the night to rest up at a hotel.

Saturday 8/8:
Up and at 'em! We continued our (long) drive to CANADA, Y'ALL. That's right, we crossed that border, what what.  We got to our hotel, ate dinner at a restaurant called The Keg, and then walked down to the falls and OH MY GOODNESS, WHAT A BEAUTIFUL SIGHT.  It was so amazing to see!  Although I do not recommend going to see it if you have to pee.  Just sayin'. We took a bunch of pics and stayed long enough that the colored spotlights lit up the water. It was really neat. We also sat out on this patio at a restaurant and had a drink.

After that, Kourt and I went to da clubbbb!  It was pretty fun with some good music and a fog machine, but my goodness, there were so many dads there.

Sunday 8/9:
Breakfast at Denny's and then we headed back down to the falls during the day to get some more pictures.  The mist was so high and was raining down on us; it was awesome.  We tried some maple suckers (real Canadian maple syrup, eh) and then drove to a park to walk the trails a little.  Canada is so beautiful! On our way back, we stopped for doughnuts. Here's the deal: the unofficial KaiserCation goal is to eat doughnuts in every place we stop. So, we made our first stop at a doughnut shop that also sold won-ton soup, lol. Then for dinner that night, we sat out on a patio at a Jimmy Buffet Margaritaville.  It was lovely outside! We made our way back down to the falls (because really, they never get old) so we could see the fireworks they shoot off. They were huge I'm telling you! What an incredible experience.

Monday 8/10:
Here we go, off to Maine!  Only an 8 hour drive!

...Which turned into about 11 hours with the number of times my mom and I had to stop for bathroom breaks, lol. We made it to Maine late in the evening and went to a neat little hipster restaurant and brewery called Liquid Riot. We ate some spectacular lobster rolls out on a deck overlooking some water and just enjoyed each others' company. Afterwards, we walked around the cute little downtown area (the sidewalks are brick!) and headed back to the hotel to gear up for a full day the next day.

Tuesday 8/11:
Original plan: visit a lighthouse and take a ferry to Peaks Island and rent some bikes to ride around.
Actual plan: everything but that. The weather just wouldn't cooperate (rain, rain, go away), so we had to improvise a little. We started out the day with a visit to a Victorian mansion for a tour. It was actually very interesting to walk around and see all the ornate decor and furniture!  We were then heading in the direction of the National Cryptozoology museum to learn more about Big Foot, the Loch Ness Monster, mermaids, and more, but then we found out it was closed...on a Tuesday. K.  So then we made doughnut stop #3 at Holy Donut, recommended by the one and only Chloe O'Neil.  We got an assortment there and ate them en route to the lighthouse. And by assortment, I mean assortment. We're talking pomegranate, chocolate sea salt, ginger-glazed sweet potato, lemon, and triple berry doughnuts. #doughnutswag. 

Upon arrival at the lighthouse, we turned right back around because it was still raining. We headed to the Maine Mall after that and perused the stores (how unique to Maine! We definitely couldn't do that at home! she said sarcastically). Then we tried to find something else to do to pass the time and found a market place thingy online. We drove around town trying to find it.

...But then we found out it was just a grocery store.

...But then we found out it actually wasn't a grocery store and was just little food shops.  Which normally would have sparked our interest, except for the fact that we were still stuffed from doughnuts. Sigh.

For dinner we hit up the Portland Lobster Company where I feasted on lobster mac 'n cheese, then we ate some delicious ice cream (Drunk Monkey, made with Malibu, oh yeah) from Captain Sam's. We also stopped at a little touristy gift shop to purchase some souvenirs, hehe.  Then, because we felt so fat, the whole fam hit up the work out room in the hotel. Aw yeah.


Wednesday 8/12:
Everything we wanted to do on Tuesday that we couldn't because of the rain? We packed them all in today.  First on the agenda was to take a ferry over to Peaks Island so we could rent bikes and ride around for awhile.  We were blessed with a beautiful day, thank goodness!  When we got to the island, we rented our bikes and began our ride.  The island was gorgeous!  There were so many cute beach houses there!  We rode along the coast and stopped for pictures here and there.  There was also an old war fort we climbed around on which was pretty neat.  After the ride, we were ferried back and stopped for lunch.  Next we made our way over to the lighthouse we tried to visit the day before.  We spent about an hour taking pictures, climbing on the rocks, perusing another old fort and run down mansion thingy, and taking in the beautiful scenery.  It was so cool!

Before long, it was time to say goodbye to Maine.  We drove about 2 hours down to Salem, MA where we took a walking tour around the city to learn about some of the history and the witch trials.  It was really informative and interesting!  We then left for Boston.  It was definitely not what I was expecting.  When we drove in, I was so surprised to see all the lights and tall buildings.  I don't know why, but I had always thought it was very old-timey and not modern at all.  I was pleasantly surprised that I was wrong.  We checked into our hotel and hit the sack in preparation for a busy day the next day.

Part of the Salem Witch Trial memorial

Thursday 8/13:
So basically, I am in love.  Boston is the coolest and I kinda wanna live there.  I love the feel of it!  You've got your history, you've got a quaint atmosphere, you've got your modern city feel, and you've got water.  What more could you want?

Our first item on the agenda was to take a tour at the Samuel Adams brewery.  It was really neat!  First of all, they don't charge admission but instead take donations for local charities.  So awesome!  We got to see what they used to make the beer, see the area where it was actually brewed, and then we got to taste it.  We even got a souvenir glass!  It was a really neat experience, and our tour guide was really funny.

Then, since we were in Boston, of course we had to walk part of the Freedom Trail.  We saw Paul Revere's house, the North Church, and the USS Constitution monument along the way.  We also made a stop at Mike's Pastry for canolis and other pastry items at Jess's suggestion.  So good!  We went to Dick's Last Resort for dinner (the servers are supposed to be really mean to you and mess with you, but I wasn't impressed) and walked around this really neat marketplace, called Fanueil Hall marketplace, at night.  It was so neat to see all the shops and the cobblestone streets and the pretty lights.  I loved it.

One if by land, two if by sea...

Holy canoli!

Friday 8/14:
We woke up to an absolutely beautiful day!  We began our day with breakfast in the aforementioned market area (aka my new favorite place on earth) and walked down by the water to look at the big, beautiful yachts (and also wait for Ben and Jerry's to open).  After that, we headed to the Museum of Science via the T!  I was so stoked for this.  They had exhibits on optical illusions and light and animal habitats and models and mapping and all sorts of stuff.  We watched a presentation about lightning too.  The best part?  The Hall of Human Life. Each person got an ID bracelet and there were different computer stations where you had to participate in activities (such as, how big do your pupils dilate when you see images of animals, or how many calories do you burn based on the way you walk, or how distracted are you).  After you answered these questions, they compared your data with other museum visitors based on your age, gender, etc.  It was so cool and interactive!

From the museum, we took the train over to Fenway park for the Mariners vs. Red Sox game!  We ate dinner first, then walked over to the park and found our seats.  You wouldn't believe how many comments we heard about us since we were all wearing our Mariners gear.  Some were good (Oh! I'm from Seattle!) and others not so much (We've got some Mariners fans over here...they look confused).  While the game was fun, the Mariners got crushed, 15-1. Sad face.

Saturday 8/15:
Am cryin'.  Today we had to leave my new favorite city behind.  We woke up, packed up, and made our last doughnut stop of the trip: Kane's Doughnuts.  These were huge. I got blueberry and Snickers, and they were both very tasty.  Then we hit the road.  We drove.
And drove.
And drove.
And drove some more.

A total of 18 hours later and we finally made it home around 2:30 am.  What an incredible trip.  I had such a blast and getting to spend that much time with my family was amazing.  I am so blessed to have such cool people who I share blood with :)

All our donut stops:

Niagara

New York

Portland, Maine

Boston

Shout outs!
Dad- Way to drive that 18 hour stretch! You killed it! Plus also, thank you for planning and paying for this trip. It was the best!
Chloe- Thanks for giving us ideas of things to do in Maine!
Dylan- Thanks for the trip hashtag. You rock!