Camping has been a summer tradition in my family since my earliest memories. With my dad being a high school math teacher our summers were always wide open to explore the great outdoors. Its been years since I’ve been able to camp with my parents so we decided we should meet up at the easiest half-way point: Des Moines, IA. My husband, Bill, and I jumped on a Megabus for $4 round trip and my parents drove from Minnesota with all the camping gear.

Now lets just say some pretty terrible things have happened to me while camping as a child including getting poison ivy all over my hands and getting cut up pretty bad from rolling down asphalt after tripping on my rollerblades. This trip’s disasters were all prompted by rain. Lots of rain. Instead of roasting marshmallows over the campfire we were stuck under the overhang by the bathrooms for a good majority of the trip. One of the nights the storm was so terrible I thought a tree was going to fall on Bill and I in our little 2 person tent.

We survived! No trees fell on us, not even a branch. And our tiny little tent stayed completely dry. During the calm in between the storms where we were able to play some games, go on a hike where we took a lot of pictures (especially of spider webs), and make a few campfires (one of which almost ended with my dad engulfed in flames, but that’s another story). Hiking boots were laced, marshmallows were roasted, and all-in-all we enjoyed our time spent together in nature.

This month I was called for the dreaded jury duty.  I was not excited about missing a day of work but being a good American, I trudged across town to 26^th & California with a smile on my face and a sack lunch in hand.   Despite ridiculous traffic I ended up arriving just on time to get my number and take a seat in the holding pen with the rest of the potential jurors. Let the lottery begin.

The view of the city from the courthouse was an interesting perspective from my normal Northside view.

 I tried my best to occupy myself for what ended up being a five hour wait. 

 Luckily I was not picked and left just a little bit richer than when I came.

I recently attended the Annual Optimus Block party with some fellow industry professionals. Now I like a good block party, but one with industry people and beer, well that is bordering on utopia.

We rounded the corner to the sound of thumping music and a packed street full of creative people. We grabbed beer and let the fun (networking) begin.  There was a lot going on: a stage was packed with dancers, people were putting on their branded Optimus rub-on tattoos, and what’s a block party without hot dogs?  I caught up with several of my friends and also had some good conversations with some new people.  We then got adventurous and explored the Optimus office to see where the magic happens.   After my female friends skipped the long Women’s bathroom line and ambushed the Men’s and I ate a bowl of salted nuts we headed back outside.

We came back outside just in time to hear the announcer roaring that the special guest had arrived.  I had heard stories of past guests like the Old Spice guy, so I was pretty excited.  Who is it? Who is it? Guitars pumping and…  NORDIC THUNDER the US Air Guitar champion!  Nice. We rocked out a little, I ate another bowl of nuts, and then when I thought the night could not get any better, oh man, there was a Photobooth.  Overall the party was a pretty great time. It definitely gets my two thumbs up!

Pictures by Miloš Mihajlović