Spring Break (Part One)

Spring Break feels like a long time ago, but I'm still going to post about some of my...I mean our...adventures. Mom and I flew down to Florida to visit Maria and her family. The first day we arrived it was really late, so we just said hi to Maria and found our hotel and went to bed. The second day mom and I had time to kill before meeting Maria for lunch, so I drove her around while she took some photos.

This was my favorite one. We were driving down the road with inlets--looked like little creeks or rivers on both sides--and it was just so pretty and peaceful. Every place had a boat of their own and their own little redneck character.

Everywhere we went had these tall trees planted in long rows. You can't get the full effect but I wanted a good one of these but we never had the opportunity.

After driving around in the morning, mom and I met up with Maria for lunch in Trenton. We ate at a mom and pop's little diner and it was delicious. It was good to catch up with Maria before heading out to her house later that day to see the kids and Michael.

After lunch, it was nap time (since we were on vacation and both mom and I love nap time) then off to visit the farm. Here is mom and I looking very white in the Florida state!

Growing up mom loved to play with my hair and I hated it. Little Seanna LOVED having her hair combed and loving up on her Aunt Terry. We visited and check out Maria and Michael's place then had dinner with them before heading back to the hotel.

Here is the crew. My Aunt Maria, her husband Michael, and my cousins Wyatt and Seanna. What a blast visiting their place and seeing what their life in Florida is like. Check back to see about the rest of my Spring Break! (I promise you won't have to wait another month for a post like you did this time.)

School Project

I teach an Investigative Geometry class that is geared towards students who need their other math credit but can't do higher levels of Algebra. I try to not always just take notes and do homework, but I try to incorporate projects when I can.

I had just finished teaching about scale drawings so I had an idea to do a scale drawing in class of a candy/gum wrapper. The students would take a wrapper and had to increase the scale by at least double. To make sure this was practical, I thought I needed to do it first.

Zach also volunteered to do a practice one as well so that was our Saturday afternoon project. Below are the pictures of our work with the originals.

After a trip to the Dollar Tree, I did this Chiclets one because I didn't think it was too complicated for a non-artistic type.

And this is Zach's...I know amazing right?!? He is way more talented than me and I'm thankful the students got to see a good example.

It took way longer than expected to do these during class but I think the students enjoyed the project as did Zach and I.

Randomness

This is a picture I took on Friday while driving on State Road 9 of my speedometer...yes I love

numbers and am a nerd! Can't believe my car is this old already!

Leaving our apartment at 7:30 for our "traditional" Cracker Barrel breakfast we took a "gander" at the geese! Never seen geese on a roof of a house before...but I also leave before daylight most mornings.

I just threw this in there for fun! A few weeks ago when we had the ice storm and Zach was home he was playing with the camera so I "posed" for him...haha!

All is well with the Greenfield gang and right now things are busy with Zach about to graduate and interviewing for jobs! Please be praying for us the next few weeks that we can make the right decision for what God has planned for us. Love you all!

New Orleans Part 3: CSM

CSM stands for the "Combined Sections Meeting" but is essentially the national conference. It seems like everyone in physical therapy is at CSM, some 3,000 people and 400 exhibitors meet to discuss the newest and greatest information in the field. There are job recruiters, vending booths, product demos, and sale pitches...I must say a little overwhelming.
This is a picture of a product demo for a medical harness system. They really have everything at this convention. I was amazed at how large the conference was and how many people attended. It was a serious nerdfest, but I loved it. Every vendor was giving away free pens (I collected 37) and asking you to sign-up to win an iPad. Of course all they really want is to get your information and contact you to use their product/service. Since I have been home from New Orleans, I have received 17 emails from vendors who were "glad to have met you at CSM".

This was the real reason I went to the conference...to present our research poster. And it didn't hurt anything having half of the trip paid for by the school.

And of course the below picture is something I bought at the convention. It was my one product I bought. I thought Kamaron would appreciate it being a personal muscle massager. It is the newest product design. And yes, it works pretty well.

New Orleans Part 2: Bird's Eye View

We stayed at a huge hotel in downtown New Orleans, right outside of the French Quarter (not my best hotel experience, but that is a whole different story). We were staying in prime real estate. The hotel was 18 stories high and we were on the 17th floor. We had an amazing view of downtown and a small restaurant named Mother's.

From our room we could watch the lines forming outside of Mother's. It is apparently one of the best dirty spoons in all of New Orleans, and the lines show it. It was funny to come back to the hotel and see a line of 50 people. We never did go eat there because they were always busy when we went for lunch and dinner.
The restaurant had one entrance and one exit, and an old fashioned sign. Mother's was established in 1938 and is home of the "world's best baked ham". I think if I ever go back, I will have to try it out.
I loved watching the city streets at night with all the lights and traffic. Below is a picture of the lights, as we faced into the French Quarter.

New Orleans Part 1: A Streetcar Named Desire

The city of New Orleans is so full of history and character, especially the French Quarter. That is why I was so excited to visit. The busy life and the bustling city, makes for an amazing place to visit, but never a place I could call home. Traffic is simply horrible, just ask Emily... she had a bad experience. The roads are confusing, most of them one ways that join with other streets. Divided intersections are everywhere downtown which makes it a nightmare for out-of-towners. Below is a picture of an intersection and a streetcar, something we don't have to worry about here in Indiana.

The streetcars were my favorite part of the city. I thought they were quite interesting and not something you see everyday. Did you know that the screenplay "A Streetcar Named Desire" by Tennessee Williams was inspired and written in New Orleans? In fact, the next picture is the hotel in which he stayed and wrote the play.

From the outside it is very ordinary, very old, and not all that inspiring. We did not stay here, but I can only assume it is a very nice hotel...after all it did have a Ferrari parked out front.

This was my favorite picture of the trip and the reason I started my New Orleans series talking about streetcars. I just love how it looks "old world" and represents the character of a city.

An Inch of Ice + Closed Work = Cabin Fever and Few Cool Pictures

I never was much for ice skating, even after our parking lot became an ice rink this week. It was bad enough out that my clinical actually closed for Wednesday. I am not one to just sit around the house and not do anything, so I am getting a serious case of cabin fever after just 2 days. Emily and I did go out and clean off our cars, for a total of 2 hours.

And of course I had to take some pictures of the cool ice. These are a couple pictures in tribute of Terry Gray. I tried to channel her nature photography with these two.