Places to Go, People to See...
So, I'm going to write a bit to explain myself. Because I am missing a lot of events this year while being in England ( weddings, parties, new babies), I have decided to send out a flat Marie. This is similar to what many school kids do with "Flat Stanley". I have also suggested this to my teacher at school and later this year we plan to do the same project with the kids. Flat Marie is in the mail! First stop- Hugoton, Kansas to my good friend Natalie. It will be a little late for her birthday, but I'm excited to see where Natalie lives because she has recently moved there! yay! I'm compiling a schedule for Flat Marie and you may already be on it, but if you are interested- let me know ! :)NatalieLemingsKristenMorgan- Phil & Sarahanne & new baby Unruh
- Liz
- Home
- Megan
11-8-10
I've just got word that Flat Marie has made a Monday morning appearance in Kansas!
Flat Marie with Nat in Hugoton!
In Hugoton, I got to experience just about everything the town has to offer:
-a tour of Derek & Nat's duplex. I love the orange kitchen countertops and blue vase collection.
-a calf fry sponsored by Pheasant Heaven charities (I didn't have any mountain oysters, but I did get to see lots of camo and hunter orange)
-working an open house with Nat and decorating Christmas trees. We walked down an alley to Yardmaster since it's so close. A lot of people have been saying my shirt is really ugly, so I looked for a K-State shirt at work, but they didn't have one in my size. :(-visiting the school construction site and watching the pre-cast being put in place for the FEMA shelter. I even got to pose with Bob the Builder (aka Derek) hehehe
-eating at the Chinese restaurant that's in an old gas station (the pumps are still there). High class.
-eating at Pigs 'R Us after church (the only day they are open)
-going on a walk with Derek and Nat and experiencing western KS wind (40 mph with 50 mph gusts) "Let Marie go in the wind and take a picture. I'll catch her." (Derek)-seeing the wide open space of western KS and the GORGEOUS sunsets out here
-posing by one of the 2 flower shops in town....a lot different than what Nat and Marie are used to....
-skyping with Marie - I miss that girl!!
-going to Guymon, OK - one of the 2 closest towns for anything close to entertainment. We ate at Caktus Jack's, saw the movie Morning Glory, and got ice cream at Braums. That's about all there is....
-pheasant hunting is very popular here - I thought about going with Derek while Nat was at work, but I decided not to since I didn't bring any orange from England
Next I got to travel to Belen, NM for Thanksgiving vacation. Derek's great aunt and uncle, Helen and Jim, live there. I had quite the adventure!-Thanksgiving Dinner - turkey AND ham
-Albuquerque
-a trip to Melba's (flower shop) to see what it is like and to chat with Barbie about Teleflora orders, but sadly they were closed
-Arts and Crafts Show
-visited two Mission Ruins-Quarai and Abo
-took a double decker train to Santa Fe. Favorite quote: "Risk it for a chocolate biscuit." quote from an annoying girl who sat by Derek's mom and sister on the train and then talked to them non-stop for 45 minutes about EVERY detail of her life---hilarious! The other 3 of us were on the other side of the aisle, some of us holding our laughter in better than others. :)
-Santa Fe!-saw the miraculous stairway at Loretto Chapel
-drove by the Santa Fe Farmers Market (no mock oreos there)
-took train back with a lot of Mennonites-Belen
-went to a Christmas light parade at night - I waved at all the kids in it and heard a lot of "What's that?!?" and got some looks
-saw hot air balloon glow before the parade
-ate at Mont'ano's - most delicious sopapillas and chips and salsa ever!
12-1-10
Second Stop- To the Leming family in Wichita, Kansas!
12-3-10 to 12-10-10
I arrived at the Leming Family safe and sound! (It was a lot cleaner than real life Marie had told me it would be...Strangely, their dog Hana, was a lot nicer than I expected from her description as well!) I had heard the sky is usually clear and bright in Kansas- for the most part it was. The days in the Leming house go by extremely quickly though and with all of the hustle and bustle they tend to all run together. I'll never forget how excited the kids were to see me on the first day! (Even the big gloomy one- Alexa, was delighted to see me. I rode everywhere with the littlest one, Abby.) By the end of my stay she called me, "That nice fat Marie." I took the slip of the tongue in stride- it was so much fun to ride in the shopping cart with her and make her smile so much! She loved my shirt! 
One of the first things we did upon my arrival was to go on the yearly Leming Family shopping trip for a new ornament. I was happy to be a part of their tradition. Then we went on a horse drawn carriage ride! While waiting in line Alexa was good about keeping me safe and warm. Though after awhile I couldn't resist and I jumped from her arms and scaled the giant Christmas tree! Sarah made me get down (buy not without snapping a pic!) My days were filled with fun activities. 
Another tradition I was introduced to was the daily skipbo game at lunch. Try as I might I just couldn't win! Ben and Zach wouldn't even let me play their wii- it looked interesting. They did however introduce me to their friends they got from school- Flat Ben and Flat Zach! One day it was so nice I was able to play Frisbee outside with my new dimensionally challenged buds! I was also included in decorating the house for Christmas and putting up real Marie's stockings. Sarah took me to Hobby Lobby to help her make decisions like Marie used to! (Boy, she's an indecisive one!!!) Other activities included visiting where Marie went to college and seeing some sights downtown. While I'm sad to leave, I hear that Flat Ben & Flat Zach are going to be sent to England as a surprise for Marie and I know more adventures await...12-15-10
I'm in Utah with my cuz Kristen (joined by Morgan)!
12-18-10
Well Kristen was a little crazier than usual, trying to pack and say bye to all of her new friends out in Utah...as she won't see them till August because of South Africa. But I got to meet a lot of cute Mormon boys and girls I guess out there. Her roommates are spectacular and amazing young women! So fun to be around. We of course had to go to Cafe Rio (Morgan's first time) and we got the pork salad 'the best salad on the face of the Earth for sure' and then also the pork burrito. Of course we had leftovers which came in handy while we were stuck in Wyoming on our way home to Iowa on the 21st!
Location: Donnellson, IA
Finally back in Iowa after driving through Utah, Wyoming, Nebraska- (yuck), then all the way through Iowa.
Iowa was filled with lots and lots of family time and opening presents. Christmas camp was great! A lot of the usuals were absent, but great times none the less! :)
1-18-11
Location: Evanston with my other cuz Morgan!
Flat Marie has really enjoyed her (extended) stay in Evanston. She's spent some serious quality time in Morgan's living room, watching daytime television while Morgan is at class. She made it out of the apartment quite a bit though, and discovered that Evanston is a lovely (albeit frigid) place to live. Last weekend Flat Marie (or Flarie, as she is known here) rode the train downtown to Morgan's professor's exhibition opening. She got to see some awesome art and chill with a bunch of hipsters, so obviously it was a great time. Morgan kept Flarie away from the wine though, as her insanely low body weight probably couldn't have handled more than a drop or two. Flaire and the gang ended up at some hole-in-the-wall diner at 10pm, and Flarie watched while everyone else ate delicious waffle fries and discussed art (like a bunch of hipsters). 
Tonight Flarie went to the newspaper with Morgan and helped her create some relevant and informative graphics. After being there for four hours (around midnight) Morgan was still working but she could tell that Flarie was getting sleepy, so they called it a night. Morgan's attempts to get Flarie a byline in the paper were repeatedly foiled by the editor, but she promises to keep trying. After getting home at 1 am Flarie went to sleep in her comfy plastic pouch and Morgan gMore later....
1-24-11
Bon voyage!
February 8, 2011
Flat Marie is back in Bradford visiting her friends at school! Gosh she has really missed all of those crazy kids. Tomorrow she is flattening all of the kids and teaching them how to travel like her to 5 different continents! So exciting!!!