October Happenings

Is it seriously October already?! Time seems to be just flying by lately. I feel like the days are just merging together and I can't even blink without seeing a week go by. It might have something to do with how busy I have been keeping myself lately.  

My family has settled down in Minot, North Dakota. It's a gorgeous city, about 42,000 people. I love it there and can't wait to be there over winter break. We are living in a brand new town house. It's a lot different than Wisconsin, but it's a good change. It's weird not going home to Spooner/Hayward but honestly, I'm 100% ok with it. There are few things there that I will miss and someday down the road, I will go back to visit. It does suck to not be able to go home when I want. I can't bring home laundry any weekend that I want or have a home-cooked meal when I want one either. Speaking of home-cooked meals, I just really want my dad's hot wings or my mom's tator-tot hotdish. Like, PLEASE, I just want some. But what's super exciting is that I get to see my family the weekend of the 25th... ONE WEEK!!!! :) Yeah, I'm excited. My cousin, Tabatha, is getting confirmed in Fargo, ND. My family is going to go there for that. Fargo is closer to me than Minot, so I'm going there that weekend to see everyone! It's still a 6 hour drive, but definitely worth it! This is also right after my birthday (Oct 24th), so we get to celebrate! Super exciting!

I'm well into my second year at UW-Stevens Point and I'm keeping very busy. This year, I'm still on our Hall Government which has been such a great experience. We have been putting on hall programs and making the Residence Hall a fun place to be. Recently, my friends and I put on a "Breaking Bad" Program. It was the series finale, so we wanted to have everyone get together and watch it. For those of you who watch the show, you know that Walt makes blue crystal meth to support his family while he has cancer. So, as college students, we thought it would be a great idea to impersonate the meth (in a non-drug-like way). We made blue rock candy!

I've also been doing some fun fall things! Apple orchard and Pumpkin Patch!!

Within our Hall Leadership Team, we recently did some "warm fuzzies" to give to each other. Every person got 10 names that they had to write a compliment about. I just wanted to share how sweet some of the compliments I got were. It makes me so happy to know that I'm surrounded by positive, loving people!

Like how can these kinds of things not make you feel GREAT?! I love that we did that. It was a definite confidence booster and made you feel so good about yourself!

Another thing I've recently done has made me feel really good. October is actually Down Syndrome Awareness Month! So I decided to inform my hall about this topic. I've taken time to hang up posters around the hall with some facts about Down syndrome on them. Some of them are just intended to make a person smile. I want people to be informed and educated on Down syndrome. More and more people with Down syndrome are out in the world with jobs, going to college, and changing the world. Here are a few pictures of the some of the things that I've posted around the building that I live in.

I think this is just amazing! People with Down syndrome are living 35 years longer than they did 30 years ago!

I can't help but smile every time I see this. Positivity is AMAZING!

I think this is something that's very important for people to read. It has some things that many people are unaware of that are crucial to a person with Down syndrome. 

This is a letter from a boy with Down syndrome who I went to high school with. I worked with him almost daily. He sent me this letter that he had been working on. He taught me so much more than I ever taught him. 

That's the end of my Down syndrome spat. I just love Special Ed :)

Speaking of Special Ed, I was recently admitted into the Univ. of Wisconsin- Stevens Point's School of Education! I didn't have many doubts, I'm in very good standing GPA wise and don't have a criminal background :)! So I'm in my last semester of Gen. Eds and then I have all Education courses next semester! I'm really looking forward to it. This semester, I feel like I'm drowning in homework. I have some time-intensive courses but I know that I can get through them. I have learned that it's all about how you balance your time. I've had a meltdown, or two. Ya know that feeling you get when everything piles up on you and you feel like you have no time to just sit around doing nothing? That's how I've felt this semester when it comes to my homework. It sucks, but my schooling is the reason I'm here and it helps me stay focused. 

Go make something happen. Life As I Know It. 

Thanks for reading!

A Little Bit of Life

Hi everyone! Sorry I haven't been on my blog much lately, I've been busy finishing up my freshman year at UWSP and getting settled in back home. Just thought I'd update you on what has been going on with the Roman fam lately! 

My dad is no longer working in North Dakota. He came home and decided to go to "Crane Operating School" down by Madison in Sun Prairie. It's a three week course that will certify him to operate a crane. He just finished week two, passing his first couple tests. One week and one test left! When we move out to North Dakota, my dad is going to try and find a crane job, which shouldn't be too difficult. The week of June 16th, my family (excluding me) is going out to Dickinson, ND to try and find a house for us to live in and a job for my dad! Dickinson is a bigger town (18,000) so we figured there would be more job opportunities for the entire family. The house we are currently living in just sold, and the new owners are closing on it July 5th, so we are shooting to be out of here by the end of June. 

Taylor had her graduation party last weekend, June 1st. We had it out at McKenzie Landing and it was a blast! We got to see some family and friends, and the turnout was great. Taylor has decided on Minot State University for college. It's a smaller campus in Minot, about  3,000 students and she really liked it! Minot also has a Maurice's. For those of you who don't know, T currently works at the Maurice's in Hayward. Because there is a Maurice's in Minot, she is going to start training to become an Assistant Manager! She's really excited about it.

Ken just finished her freshman year in Spooner. When the family goes out to Dickinson, she's going to look at the high school to see what she thinks! If I were in Ken's shoes, I know I'd be complaining left and right about having to move to a different high school. You always see on those movies about the "new girl" getting picked on and everything. The cool thing? Ken never complains about it. She's pretty tough and she knows that this is in the best interest of our family.

As for me, well I finally decided that I am going to stay in Stevens Point for school next year. I just love it there, I'm comfortable and happy in Point. I'll be taking the Amtrak train from Williston, ND to Tomah, WI when I go home and back. It's about a 17 hour train ride but drives through the night. I have never been on a train before so it should be interesting! This summer I'm working at the Hayward Shirt Factory until we move at the end of June. I'm getting a lot of hours now since this is my second summer working there! It's a lot of fun and I feel more confident the longer I am there. For those of you who are wondering, yes I have a new boyfriend. His name is Blake and we met at school. We live in the same dorm and were only doors away from each other last year. He's from Winona, MN. We started dating at the end of April and I am very happy! :)

I'll try to update more again soon! Thanks for reading! :)

3 Universities, 1 Decision

Hey guys. I told you I would keep you up to date with my plans for next fall so here's a little update for you.

Last week, Thursday March 7th, I was sitting at lunch with my friends and got a call from my mama. She had just opened my acceptance letter to the University of North Dakota!! I was so excited! UND is a gorgeous campus and overall a very nice university. I received this email a few days later...

So they are offering me a $2,000 scholarship! For someone who is going for Special Education, $2,000 makes a difference when it comes to paying off loans in the long run! Ha! I'd be much closer to my family, which would be so awesome! UND also has a masters program for Special Ed. that I'm really looking into! Their tuition cost is very similar to Point's. Roughly $15,000 a year which isn't bad at all. I like the school a lot and Taylor and I will be touring over my spring break. I'll keep you posted on that :)

 

Point is still in the mix. Kind of hard to know for sure what I want to do because I've been accepted into two other amazing universities. I have friends here, I'm doing well academically, and I'm in with my hall's government association. I talked to my friend Kaitlin about all of this and she said this: "Kase, you have ALWAYS been the one who can break out of their comfort zone." Makes me rethink my options for sure. I want to go out and do something different. Not someone who "just went to another UW school". I do love it here and have made many lasting friendships that would be difficult to walk away from.

I applied to the University of Iowa before I knew my family was moving. It's been a dream school for me since... forever! I did it just to kind of go out on a limb... why not?! I'm only this young once right? So I applied and didn't hear back from them for a month! At this point, I'm thinking "whatever, it's not going to happen anyway". I didn't even tell my parents about this, and I tell my parents pretty much everything! The only people who knew were my cousin Jamie and my sisters Taylor and Ken. Today, March 14th, I checked my email and saw a "Congratulations from the University of Iowa" email. Just about pooped myself! Hahaha! Here is the email I received today.

Later, I received another email! This one was also exciting for me! Honors Eligible! YAY!

This is going to be a really hard decision that I'm going to have to make within the next couple weeks. There are pros and cons to every school that I am taking into consideration. I have three amazing universities and one huge decision...

Thanks everyone!

Catch up!

Yes, I'm still alive and kickin'. Sorry I haven't blogged in awhile, just been living the busy life of a college girl. I figured I would blog and give everyone a little update of what's been going on recently in my life since the semester began.

I was invited by my Hall Director to join my Residence Hall Government! My roommate and I have the position of Co Social Program Coordinators. We basically just have to get people to go to programs and help promote awareness of things that are happening in our dorm. The government group meets once a week and our job is to make the hall a better place to live. We discuss any issues that have been brought to our attention so we can fix any problems to help our residents! It's been a really great experience so far and I love being part of such a great Leadership Team! :)

My dad got a job out in western ND/eastern Montana in the fall. He works for an Oil Field Water Services company. He drives a saltwater truck. When they pump up the oil on the rigs, saltwater comes up with the oil. They have to pump out that saltwater and drive it away to pump it back into the earth.

My dad was able to come home for a week at the beginning of February! So I went home for a weekend so I could spend time with him. Every time my dad walks through that door and I see the way my mom reacts, it makes me extremely thankful for how much they love each other!! It's been very difficult on my family to see my dad so far away, but my dad will do anything for my sisters, mom, and I. I've always admired that about him. As long as I can remember, he's told me: "it's easy from the cheap seats". For those of you who don't quite understand that quote, it means that it is soooo easy to complain about someone or something when you aren't the one that's actually doing it. (coaching is a perfect example... parents complain about the coaching all the time but do you see them devoting time to make the athletes better? NO.) So incredibly thankful my dad has taught me that because it makes you see life from a different perspective. Three things my dad has told me since day one: "Never quit, play hard, and it's easy from the cheap seats." I've been realizing more and more how important these things are as I grow up. Right now, he's 13 hours away from my mom and sisters refusing to quit, going hard (working 12/13 hour days), and doing something about financial trouble instead of sitting around complaining about it.

While my dad was home, he came into my room and woke me up. He asked if I'd be willing to move out to North Dakota after my sister Taylor graduates in May. Of course I would. It's my family. We are pretty used to moving all the time anyway ;-). I'm pretty excited to live there this summer, the starting pay at Walmart is like $18, just to give you an idea of how good the pay is for most jobs out there so I will hopefully be making decent money!

I'm not worried about moving this summer, I'm worried about what I'm going to do next fall. I'm currently in Point, which would be like 16 hours from home, give or take depending on where we officially end up in ND.  I wouldn't be able to just go home for a weekend like I'm able to do now. I have applied to the University of North Dakota and have yet to hear back from them. Taylor applied to the same school and just recently go accepted! YAY! Before I found out we were moving, I also applied to the University of Iowa, just because it's my dream school and I went out on a limb and to say I did it.

I'll keep you guys up to date on where/if I'm accepted. I've developed many close relationships with so many people here. It's going to be an extremely difficult decision. Do I move to be closer to my family or do I stay in Point where I've already started school? Or do I just go the opposite way and attend my dream university? Whichever path I choose, I know everything will work out and it all happens for a reason. I've been given this life because I'm strong enough to live it. That's my life as I know it.



I'll write again soon. Thanks everyone!

Boy, oh Boy!

For those of you who do not know, my friend Keisha is having a baby boy! Her (current) due date is February 21st, but he could come at anytime now. As of right now, Keisha and her boyfriend Dana are leaning toward the name Brayden Jeffery. How cute is that?!

 Keisha and I have been friends forever and over winter break we threw her a baby shower. It was a difficult process considering I have never been part of planning a baby shower and hadn't attended one for many years.

Hanson and I (and Trish, Keisha's mom) began planning the shower on Monday, January 7th, and the shower was held on Thursday, January 10th. We immediately went to Pinterest for ideas. We found some game ideas and other ideas to help us out. We decided to go with a blue theme and everything we got was BLUE! It was fun! :)

Yes, EVERYTHING!

The night before we spent a few hours decorating the Hanson's house where the shower was going to be held. We had balloons, streamers, and ribbon. For center pieces on the table, we used Blue Raspberry Frooties and Dove Milk Chocolates. We put them in flower vases and tied ribbon around them. Cheap and easy to do ;)

Then we decorated the living room full of balloons, streamers, and ribbon!

The day of the shower we had all of the food put out on the island. We made a Blue Raspberry Hawaiian Punch/Sierra Mist punch that tasted great. We asked everyone to bring a dish to pass and the food was soooooo good!

 

The day of the shower, Trish brought Keisha over to Hanson's and when they walked in they both were in tears! It was so great! :) 

We started the day by playing games. The first was everyone got a name tag with a "baby item" on it (i.e. Diaper, Rattle, Booties, etc) and three clothespins. The rule: you have to call the person you are talking to by their "baby item" name. No real names allowed! If you said the person's name you gave her your clothes pin. It was fun and I lost in the first five minutes :) I think Karlee ended up winning that one.

The next game we played was with diapers and chocolate candy bars. We put a little bit of chocolate in each diaper and melted them in the microwave. (Yes, it looked exactly like poop!) We passed the diapers around and you had to guess the kind of chocolate in the diaper. I think Hanson won that game!

The final game played was one where we all cut ribbon that we thought would fit perfectly around the baby belly. Most of us were way off ;) but it was fun anyway!

The winners of each game got to pick out a prize. Yes we are broke college kids so the presents were cheap (and blue, of course). 

After we finished the games, we ate! The food was delicious and I'm very thankful that the girls were able to bring a dish to pass!

HAHA sorry Keisha ;)

Then it was time for GIFTS! 

We finished the day with some stories and cupcakes (thanks to Trish). So cute!!

Congratulations Keisha! We all cannot wait to meet your absolutely handsome baby boy. We all know that you are going to be a great mom and you have all the support in the world surrounding you. 

I love you baby mama!