Crazy Corrie's Chronicles

I cannot fathom that it has been above a month since my pilgrimage to California! Crazier still, it's been over a year since I left the quiet town of Rice Lake, Wisconsin, for the excitement of Chicago, Illinois. This time last year, I'd completed my ACTS training trip and was immersed in my TEFL class - winning $25 for my awesome Lord of the Rings Halloween costume. What a year it has been! It's curious to look back at one's self and hardly recognize the person there! I do believe, if ever there were a year that changed me the most, this would perhaps take the prize (or at least tie with my freshman year of college)! Anyways, we'll save all that sentimental, retrospecting schmuck for the New Year... This past month has been busy - not the kind of busy which demands running about helter-skelter like a mad person with little regard for life or person, but rather the busy which engulfs a person so quietly that one hardly notices the minutes slipping by. The days ha...

  Let me begin by saying that this past week has been a dream come true! Last October during my ACTS training in Washington D.C., I met a crazy awesome girl named Holly from southern California - she and another fellow ACTS guide were my first favorable impressions of the residents from "the land of fruits & nuts." Ever since then I've had a yearning to visit the distant and unfamiliar western land of California! Additionally, throughout the tour season, I had several schools from various parts of Cali, and my impression of the state grew ever more favorable with each group of 8th graders (and teachers, parents, etc). And with each query about my having ever been to the west coast, my response became ever more resolute "never been there, but plan on going this summer!" Well, if you've been keeping up with my posts, you'll know that my summer has been BUSY, and before I knew it, I'd booked my whole summer with adventure - leaving no room for my m...

I have found it! My lost love for arts & crafts has been recovered!After over a year as Art Director at the Boys & Girls Club of Barron County - "teaching" K-4th EVERYDAY - I was burnt out! There was a time when I thought I never wanted to see another glue stick or Crayola marker again! However, I've returned to my true self. After a sabbatical year of almost no art whatsoever (aside from the doodles on my sermon notes), I've rediscovered the joy of creating! And, boy, have I been busy! Last month the fair came to town, and with a little persuasion from my mother, I entered a few items: Fair Entries 2013 Hobbit Hole Etch-A-Sketch British Authors & their respective birthplaces - ink & watercolor Crossword-mosaic table - Mod Podge & spray paint Beauty and the Beast - Sharpie  "Peace" decoupage I made for Hannah last Christmas - tissue paper, acrylic paint, & buttons "Joyful Noise" decoupage I made...