The new adventures of Ali P. have begun. The traveling seems to be over for the summer. And I loved the summer. There were more ups than downs, lots of laughs, relaxation, and not a whole lot of boredom. I was constantly surrounded by friends, family, and people I love. It all ends, but the memories don't disappear. The friendships are stronger, and I've learned a lot about people and especially about myself. It's like peeking into the lives of others, close to walking into their shoes but not quite (I like my own shoes!). My journey of next school year is on the horizon, and I'm ready to get it going! I know there are plenty of obstacles already (I've already begun to face a few of them, unfortunately), but my hope is that they will simply help me avoid a worse situation.
The summer's sunshine can stick around. As can the heat. I'd love for my frequent smile to remain a permanent fixture and for my friendships to expand, too. Thanks to my friends for giving me temporary places to call home and more permanance in the form of friendship. Hugs all around!
Friday, August 13, 2010
Friday, August 6, 2010
LAST POST?! Hopefully not...
What to do with this blog? Tonight is my last night this summer where I'm technically a 'traveling' Ali. Tomorrow night I'll be sleeping in the new house. I can't continue a blog titled 'Summer of the Traveling Ali' if I'm not TRAVELING! Sooo...I'll probably submit one more blog after this one. A finale blog. About how move-in went, etc. And to reflect on my travels. Ohhhhh travels...
Yesterday was pretty awesome because I didn't have to be at work til noon. I hung out in the morning here at Kat and Mara's apartment. Then walked to work. And worked at the Bash office. Then worked at the Writing Center. Fun times. I got keys from Rory to get my mattress out of his room for move-in tomorrow (complicated story, but I WILL get that mattress!) It was girls night back at the apartment with Kat and Katie Messner--SO much fun hanging out with those two, even though it was just for a little while before they headed out. I got some yummy Ben & Jerry's ice cream last night, too which was definitely a highlight of yesterday!
This morning I couldn't even sleep in until my alarm went off, despite the fact that I stayed up until 1:30 in the morning. Whatever, I headed in extra early to meet up with the SALP staff for our Friday retreat to Holland, MI! The van ride was one of my favorite parts, with Chris Sligh jammin out to Ke$ha, Nicole teaching us her new game, and PJ schooling us on how to handle cops if one happens to get pulled over! Haha!
We went to a park in Holland, played this game called bags (glorified bean bag toss--SO FUN!) and had a delicious cookout with burgers, hot dogs, and tons of other yummies! I climbed a hill of sand and felt very accomplished afterward and also pretty much burned my feet on the sand's hotness, but I survived so it was ok. We played Uno and other fun stuff before packing up and heading out to get some ice cream at this place that was called Captain's I think. WAY good ice cream, but I'm still full! Too much food!
I just kinda napped for a bit and now I'm being a bum. The sun really made me tired, but I'm starting to wake up a bit. I wonder if I'll actually do anything else today or just be a bum until bedtime. Only one way to find out!
Yesterday was pretty awesome because I didn't have to be at work til noon. I hung out in the morning here at Kat and Mara's apartment. Then walked to work. And worked at the Bash office. Then worked at the Writing Center. Fun times. I got keys from Rory to get my mattress out of his room for move-in tomorrow (complicated story, but I WILL get that mattress!) It was girls night back at the apartment with Kat and Katie Messner--SO much fun hanging out with those two, even though it was just for a little while before they headed out. I got some yummy Ben & Jerry's ice cream last night, too which was definitely a highlight of yesterday!
This morning I couldn't even sleep in until my alarm went off, despite the fact that I stayed up until 1:30 in the morning. Whatever, I headed in extra early to meet up with the SALP staff for our Friday retreat to Holland, MI! The van ride was one of my favorite parts, with Chris Sligh jammin out to Ke$ha, Nicole teaching us her new game, and PJ schooling us on how to handle cops if one happens to get pulled over! Haha!
We went to a park in Holland, played this game called bags (glorified bean bag toss--SO FUN!) and had a delicious cookout with burgers, hot dogs, and tons of other yummies! I climbed a hill of sand and felt very accomplished afterward and also pretty much burned my feet on the sand's hotness, but I survived so it was ok. We played Uno and other fun stuff before packing up and heading out to get some ice cream at this place that was called Captain's I think. WAY good ice cream, but I'm still full! Too much food!
I just kinda napped for a bit and now I'm being a bum. The sun really made me tired, but I'm starting to wake up a bit. I wonder if I'll actually do anything else today or just be a bum until bedtime. Only one way to find out!
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Food...Issues?
So today was about me vs. food.
I got up this morning and realized that my food supply is getting low. That's ok, who needs fresh fruit for breakfast when there's raisins to mix in oatmeal? It was tasty.
I guess lunchtime was pretty uneventful with the food--the usual PB&J and the last of the carrots...
THEN I got hungry. I'm packing snacks for work tomorrow, but I held off my appetitie with a lollipop stashed in my bag. Luckily I hung out with Katie Ragan (who was visiting!) and Adam (who was visiting!) and Rory, and we all headed to Treat Street for ICE CREAM! The hardest part was deciding on a flavor. It was even free ice cream because I had a sticker coupon. But I finally decided on Birthday Cake. Basically ice cream-ified frosting and sprinkles. Very yummy.
Not a very eventful food story with dinner...leftover beans and rice and a new can of mixed veggies. BUT I finally got to the store with Rory, Drew, and Adam (who is still in Kzoo til tomorrow because of a strange addiction to Call of Duty...). I stocked up on fruits and veggies and got a few things to tide me over in meals until WE MOVE INTO THE HOUSE ON SATURDAY! I figured we'd go shopping this weekend, once we can fill up the fridge/cupboards. (Back to moving stuff later...)
But that wasn't the end of the adventure... The guys hadn't eaten dinner yet and they were FAMISHED. So after much discussion about where to go, we went to some Chinese restaurant. I chilled there with my glass of water while the guys ate. And ate. And ate. And then the dumb waiter decides to charge ME for a meal when he delivers the bill. WHAT?! I mean, sure, I ate Rory's baked mussel because he was too much of a chicken to eat it. But that is not worth ten bucks. No worries, after I got all worked up over it, I just approached the cashier, explained that I didn't eat, and she didn't charge me. All is good.
Get this--I get back to the apartment (where I'm staying for only three more nights!), and I have this weird craving for chips. So even though I don't typically eat chips, I just did. An individual bag of spicy nacho Doritos. Crazy, I know.
And that about sums up my battles with food for the day. Hopefully the battle is over. I would definitely say I won.
Moving on to more exciting things...SATURDAY IS MOVING DAY! Unfortunately, it's NOT tomorrow...or Friday...but Saturday around noon. It'll all work out because us Gorgons are amazing at logistical situations. But it's still extra stressful. Oh well, hopefully by Monday we'll be somewhat settled in. (Ready or not, I'm going to work on Monday, so I better be happy with my room to some extent!) I really hope Sunday is pretty chill too, because it's Allie's birthday! I love birthdays! It's just a great reason to celebrate!
Ummmmmmmm...Bronco Bash is pretty busy lately, getting ready for training next week for volunteers and zone captains and doing all kinds of random tasks. That's how it goes though, and I like busy. I don't start work until noon tomorrow, so maybe I'll sleep in...but probably not because I haven't been sleeping all that well lately. I've been waking up really early in the morning and then falling back asleep and sometimes waking up again. Maybe tonight I'll sleep nice and long--I know I'm tired because I fell asleep earlier for about 20 minutes! *Yawn!*
I got up this morning and realized that my food supply is getting low. That's ok, who needs fresh fruit for breakfast when there's raisins to mix in oatmeal? It was tasty.
I guess lunchtime was pretty uneventful with the food--the usual PB&J and the last of the carrots...
THEN I got hungry. I'm packing snacks for work tomorrow, but I held off my appetitie with a lollipop stashed in my bag. Luckily I hung out with Katie Ragan (who was visiting!) and Adam (who was visiting!) and Rory, and we all headed to Treat Street for ICE CREAM! The hardest part was deciding on a flavor. It was even free ice cream because I had a sticker coupon. But I finally decided on Birthday Cake. Basically ice cream-ified frosting and sprinkles. Very yummy.
Not a very eventful food story with dinner...leftover beans and rice and a new can of mixed veggies. BUT I finally got to the store with Rory, Drew, and Adam (who is still in Kzoo til tomorrow because of a strange addiction to Call of Duty...). I stocked up on fruits and veggies and got a few things to tide me over in meals until WE MOVE INTO THE HOUSE ON SATURDAY! I figured we'd go shopping this weekend, once we can fill up the fridge/cupboards. (Back to moving stuff later...)
But that wasn't the end of the adventure... The guys hadn't eaten dinner yet and they were FAMISHED. So after much discussion about where to go, we went to some Chinese restaurant. I chilled there with my glass of water while the guys ate. And ate. And ate. And then the dumb waiter decides to charge ME for a meal when he delivers the bill. WHAT?! I mean, sure, I ate Rory's baked mussel because he was too much of a chicken to eat it. But that is not worth ten bucks. No worries, after I got all worked up over it, I just approached the cashier, explained that I didn't eat, and she didn't charge me. All is good.
Get this--I get back to the apartment (where I'm staying for only three more nights!), and I have this weird craving for chips. So even though I don't typically eat chips, I just did. An individual bag of spicy nacho Doritos. Crazy, I know.
And that about sums up my battles with food for the day. Hopefully the battle is over. I would definitely say I won.
Moving on to more exciting things...SATURDAY IS MOVING DAY! Unfortunately, it's NOT tomorrow...or Friday...but Saturday around noon. It'll all work out because us Gorgons are amazing at logistical situations. But it's still extra stressful. Oh well, hopefully by Monday we'll be somewhat settled in. (Ready or not, I'm going to work on Monday, so I better be happy with my room to some extent!) I really hope Sunday is pretty chill too, because it's Allie's birthday! I love birthdays! It's just a great reason to celebrate!
Ummmmmmmm...Bronco Bash is pretty busy lately, getting ready for training next week for volunteers and zone captains and doing all kinds of random tasks. That's how it goes though, and I like busy. I don't start work until noon tomorrow, so maybe I'll sleep in...but probably not because I haven't been sleeping all that well lately. I've been waking up really early in the morning and then falling back asleep and sometimes waking up again. Maybe tonight I'll sleep nice and long--I know I'm tired because I fell asleep earlier for about 20 minutes! *Yawn!*
Monday, August 2, 2010
100% Content
The title rhymes! Totally unintentional and totally irrelevant! Haha!
So I'm back! From an epic weekend road trip of a LIFETIME! With some of my favorite people EVER! Lots of pics on Facebook, if you're curious...most of which are from my amazing photographer friend, Kristina Reese!
I feel like there's just too much to blog about from this weekend...we left right away after I got out of work on Thursday. And by 'we,' I mean Kristina, Allie, and me. We stopped for food and headed to Allie's great aunt and uncle's house, where we ate MORE food--delicious fresh sweet corn and freshly baked cookies! We had the whole upstairs to sleep, where there were three beds (all different sizes). We even had our own bathroom! It was like a bed and breakfast! In the morning we had quite the breakfast spread of cereals, donuts, and fruit! YUM!
We jammed out the rest of the way to Mackinaw and set up camp. Apparently it was a high-class campground...the beach was amazing! And our tent looked pretty badass, if I do say so myself! Us girls explored downtown Mackinaw a bit and then met up with Tara Bell for some DELICIOUS chicken fajitas. We hurried to get ready and into our gorgeous dancing dresses because we had to catch the 6:30 ferry. We explored the island for awhile, walking around and such. Then it was ice cream time and time for a bit of shopping. OH! And we got old-time pictures taken! That was pretty fun! We were all scandalous bar maids ;)
Next we headed to the Grand Hotel for some fancy dancing in our fancy attire. And then we were all Cinderellas, heading to catch our ferry back to the mainland. We were pretty tired, and once we were all cozied in the tent, we chatted for a bit and then fell asleep. But boy did it RAIN that night! No worries, our tent kept us dry!
The next morning we packed up and headed back to downtown Mackinaw to shop. Then we crossed the beautiful Mackinaw bridge to eat at Clyde's drive in, where I got a delicious burger (we ALL did!) Then we drove along the coast for awhile so that we could meander along the beach. Pretty soon Allie, Kristina, and I had to be heading out, so we said good bye and headed to Interlochen. I swear, the GPS took us the CRAZIEST route! ALL back roads, basically! Oh well, more adventurous that way! We finally got to Interlochen and found my bro, who looked really happy to see us! We got a grand tour of the music camp and went to his concert (VERY impressive, lil bro!) We hung out more with Zach that night playing cards and whatnot. Then Zach had curfew and us girls were tired, so we split. The girls and I stayed in my friends Sarah and Lauren's suite, since their staffers at Interlochen (shhh! It's a secret!) I joined zach for breakfast in the morning and then we all walked around his camp and hung out a bit more. Then we had a picnic lunch and headed out on the road again to head back to Kzoo. I was pretty tired yesterday. And I felt pretty gross and grungy. (I spent the rest of the evening flossing, clipping my nails, tweezing my eye brows, et. I'm such a girly girl!)
Then work today. Plotting day for Bronco Bash! It was pretty eventful but not as bad as I thought. And from this point forward, I know that things are just going to get crazy with Bash stuff. But the momentum will be a lot of fun, I know it!
And now I'm being a bum and using up all of my spare time on the computer, since I barely was on the computer at work today. I know, it's lame, but I have lots of catching up to do with stuff! Maybe tomorrow evening will be more eventful....maybe....but probably not!
So I'm back! From an epic weekend road trip of a LIFETIME! With some of my favorite people EVER! Lots of pics on Facebook, if you're curious...most of which are from my amazing photographer friend, Kristina Reese!
I feel like there's just too much to blog about from this weekend...we left right away after I got out of work on Thursday. And by 'we,' I mean Kristina, Allie, and me. We stopped for food and headed to Allie's great aunt and uncle's house, where we ate MORE food--delicious fresh sweet corn and freshly baked cookies! We had the whole upstairs to sleep, where there were three beds (all different sizes). We even had our own bathroom! It was like a bed and breakfast! In the morning we had quite the breakfast spread of cereals, donuts, and fruit! YUM!
We jammed out the rest of the way to Mackinaw and set up camp. Apparently it was a high-class campground...the beach was amazing! And our tent looked pretty badass, if I do say so myself! Us girls explored downtown Mackinaw a bit and then met up with Tara Bell for some DELICIOUS chicken fajitas. We hurried to get ready and into our gorgeous dancing dresses because we had to catch the 6:30 ferry. We explored the island for awhile, walking around and such. Then it was ice cream time and time for a bit of shopping. OH! And we got old-time pictures taken! That was pretty fun! We were all scandalous bar maids ;)
Next we headed to the Grand Hotel for some fancy dancing in our fancy attire. And then we were all Cinderellas, heading to catch our ferry back to the mainland. We were pretty tired, and once we were all cozied in the tent, we chatted for a bit and then fell asleep. But boy did it RAIN that night! No worries, our tent kept us dry!
The next morning we packed up and headed back to downtown Mackinaw to shop. Then we crossed the beautiful Mackinaw bridge to eat at Clyde's drive in, where I got a delicious burger (we ALL did!) Then we drove along the coast for awhile so that we could meander along the beach. Pretty soon Allie, Kristina, and I had to be heading out, so we said good bye and headed to Interlochen. I swear, the GPS took us the CRAZIEST route! ALL back roads, basically! Oh well, more adventurous that way! We finally got to Interlochen and found my bro, who looked really happy to see us! We got a grand tour of the music camp and went to his concert (VERY impressive, lil bro!) We hung out more with Zach that night playing cards and whatnot. Then Zach had curfew and us girls were tired, so we split. The girls and I stayed in my friends Sarah and Lauren's suite, since their staffers at Interlochen (shhh! It's a secret!) I joined zach for breakfast in the morning and then we all walked around his camp and hung out a bit more. Then we had a picnic lunch and headed out on the road again to head back to Kzoo. I was pretty tired yesterday. And I felt pretty gross and grungy. (I spent the rest of the evening flossing, clipping my nails, tweezing my eye brows, et. I'm such a girly girl!)
Then work today. Plotting day for Bronco Bash! It was pretty eventful but not as bad as I thought. And from this point forward, I know that things are just going to get crazy with Bash stuff. But the momentum will be a lot of fun, I know it!
And now I'm being a bum and using up all of my spare time on the computer, since I barely was on the computer at work today. I know, it's lame, but I have lots of catching up to do with stuff! Maybe tomorrow evening will be more eventful....maybe....but probably not!
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Last-Minute Excitement
Funny how when I'm sitting here at work, hours before I leave on my awesome weekend trip with some of my favorite people on Earth, I get soooo pumped! Honestly, I hadn't felt legitamate excitement for the trip, probably because of other distractions and so much prepping for it. But NOW, right this minute, I am ready to go. I'm ready to drive the vehicle, if needed. I'm ready to roll down the windows and go. THREE HOURS TIL DEPARTURE! This means that I won't respond again until probably Sunday. A kind-of mini vacation.
Tuesday evening was a Writing Center reunion at Roadhouse. I saw lots of friendly and familiar faces, which was wonderful. I got a ride home from the lovely April, and then spent the rest of the evening working on packing for the trip.
Yesterday was average again for Bronco Bash, and at the Writing Center, I learned quite a bit about aviation resumes, since I had a special client who I helped for quite awhile. And THEN Aunt Cheri picked me up for a glorious trip to the fabric store to pick out material for the PILLOW she will be making me! I"m SOOO excited for this--it is going to kinda sorta go with my bedspread as a decorative pillow for my lovely bed! It will look perfect in my new bedroom, which I officially move into next Friday! (Yeah, kind of a date change, but that's a long story...and then Friday I'm also going on a trip with SALP, so my room will be FAR from finished and set up for awhile...oh well.)
The rest of yesterday was boring. I studied for the GRE for a bit. Finished packing. Then started watching Little Orphan Annie on Netflix Instant Download. I got halfway through and realized that I had fallen asleep. Midnight was bedtime haha. I got up early for some reason this morning, but I got to chat and kinda have breakfast with Kat. She's such a good hostess/roommate!
Now I'm finishing up Bash office hours and prepping to head to the Writing Center for two hours as a consultant...AND THEN I'M HOMEFREE TO HEAD NORTH WITH ALLIE AND KRISTINA! This weekend will be epic. Beware.
Tuesday evening was a Writing Center reunion at Roadhouse. I saw lots of friendly and familiar faces, which was wonderful. I got a ride home from the lovely April, and then spent the rest of the evening working on packing for the trip.
Yesterday was average again for Bronco Bash, and at the Writing Center, I learned quite a bit about aviation resumes, since I had a special client who I helped for quite awhile. And THEN Aunt Cheri picked me up for a glorious trip to the fabric store to pick out material for the PILLOW she will be making me! I"m SOOO excited for this--it is going to kinda sorta go with my bedspread as a decorative pillow for my lovely bed! It will look perfect in my new bedroom, which I officially move into next Friday! (Yeah, kind of a date change, but that's a long story...and then Friday I'm also going on a trip with SALP, so my room will be FAR from finished and set up for awhile...oh well.)
The rest of yesterday was boring. I studied for the GRE for a bit. Finished packing. Then started watching Little Orphan Annie on Netflix Instant Download. I got halfway through and realized that I had fallen asleep. Midnight was bedtime haha. I got up early for some reason this morning, but I got to chat and kinda have breakfast with Kat. She's such a good hostess/roommate!
Now I'm finishing up Bash office hours and prepping to head to the Writing Center for two hours as a consultant...AND THEN I'M HOMEFREE TO HEAD NORTH WITH ALLIE AND KRISTINA! This weekend will be epic. Beware.
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Sunshine, Freckles, and Summer
I love the sun. Seriously, anyone who knows me well enough knows that I worship that giant fireball in the sky. It makes me smile. It makes me warm and happy. It literally brightens my day. Regardless of my love for the sun, I also love sunscreen. I want to live my whole life without skin cancer, so I wear sunscreen. Easy enough.
So I wear sunscreen. And I typically don't burn (I must have missed the backs of both my legs wear my board shorts ended--awkwardly right under my butt, so sitting kinda really hurts...). No other harsh sunburns for me, though! I do have quite a few new freckles on my face...and a darker shade of brown on my skin everywhere...but I guess that can't be helped. I have to balance my love of the sun with my love of having no skin cancer. It's a pretty happy medium.
But yeah, Sunday was a glorious beach day. Warm sun, warm sand, and even warmish water when I stuck my toes in for a little bit. The move to Kat's and Mara's was pretty painless, except I was soooo tired from the beach all day that I went to bed pretty early. (I love Mara's comfy bed with all the pillows!!!)
Yesterday was a whirlwind of a day. I walked to campus from the landing and found my way without getting lost. A little bit of office hours time was followed by the last Bash t-shirt delivery. Then it was just about time for this interview luncheon...then it was time for two meetings at Miller. Then I had to stop by res. life and THEN head back to the Bernhard Center. THEN it was time to work at the Writing Center til 6...and luckily afterward I got a ride back to the Landing from lovely Miz April Bryan! I hung out at Josh and Dan's place last night, which was fun and went to bed pretty late to have to then wake up early this morning and start my day over with Bronco Bash stuff...but less of it today, luckily.
I'm looking forward to this week being purely awesome. I'll let ya know how it goes. YAY FOR SUMMER!
So I wear sunscreen. And I typically don't burn (I must have missed the backs of both my legs wear my board shorts ended--awkwardly right under my butt, so sitting kinda really hurts...). No other harsh sunburns for me, though! I do have quite a few new freckles on my face...and a darker shade of brown on my skin everywhere...but I guess that can't be helped. I have to balance my love of the sun with my love of having no skin cancer. It's a pretty happy medium.
But yeah, Sunday was a glorious beach day. Warm sun, warm sand, and even warmish water when I stuck my toes in for a little bit. The move to Kat's and Mara's was pretty painless, except I was soooo tired from the beach all day that I went to bed pretty early. (I love Mara's comfy bed with all the pillows!!!)
Yesterday was a whirlwind of a day. I walked to campus from the landing and found my way without getting lost. A little bit of office hours time was followed by the last Bash t-shirt delivery. Then it was just about time for this interview luncheon...then it was time for two meetings at Miller. Then I had to stop by res. life and THEN head back to the Bernhard Center. THEN it was time to work at the Writing Center til 6...and luckily afterward I got a ride back to the Landing from lovely Miz April Bryan! I hung out at Josh and Dan's place last night, which was fun and went to bed pretty late to have to then wake up early this morning and start my day over with Bronco Bash stuff...but less of it today, luckily.
I'm looking forward to this week being purely awesome. I'll let ya know how it goes. YAY FOR SUMMER!
Sunday, July 25, 2010
The Day Of The Last Move--GASP!
Yes. That's right. Today I move to my last 'location' before I depart to my long-term residence. It's bittersweet. I've had a pretty fantastic summer moving around so much. I mean, the actual act of moving is just starting to get old, but seeing and hanging out with so many awesome people couldn't have been better!
Catching up on the past few days, I did go with Kyle and Rachel to the Taste of Kalamazoo on Friday. I had a delicious lunch from the booth by the Strutt. It was a Cuban sandwich (one of my favorites!). Then we went to the Kalamazoo Valley Museum, which was actually a lot more fun than I had thought! Lots of hands-on 'kids' stuff (don't fool yourself, we were just big kids at that point!). We made random stops to the amazing candy store downtown and then to Petco (don't ask...) And then I was back to my temp home at the Butler household.
Allie had all kinds of visitors that evening, including her friend Jessie from North Carolina, Kayla, and Jon. Us girls made brownies and watched some girlie tv. Aunt Cheri came home later and brought some gourmet pizza from Eribelli's. It's called spicy napoleon, and I LOVED the spices, especially on the crust! It was a wonderful treat, and after the girls left I even discovered some leftover green-dyed frosting in the fridge, which I put on my Gevalia brownie--YUM!
Yesterday I was up really early because I volunteered at a triathlon. It was one of my favorite volunteer experiences--runners/bikers really seemed to appreciate the work put into the event, and cheering them on was so much fun! Unfortunately, it began to storm with thunder and lightning, so they had to cancel it halfway through. Three racers finished the race (amazing!), but it was pretty heartbreaking to keep directing the bikers who were to continue to the transition station and then find out the race was over.
Later, I found out that my phone got some water damage, but luckily, after a LONG time of trying to help me out, Uncle Brian got it working again! I was SO glad because I had been texting AMILLION people. I was texting T-Holls a lot because we were making plans with some of the Ackley crew, since T-Holls was in town. We all hung out and went to Inception. I had a lot of fun catching up and goofing off with those guys.
I got back last night and just chilled out by myself for awhile. It was pretty peaceful. This morning I am doing my laundry and will eventually be on my way to the beach with Beth! I'm so excited because we've been wanting a beach day for a loooong time! And today is THE day! Fingers crossed for beautiful weather and lots of heat!
Catching up on the past few days, I did go with Kyle and Rachel to the Taste of Kalamazoo on Friday. I had a delicious lunch from the booth by the Strutt. It was a Cuban sandwich (one of my favorites!). Then we went to the Kalamazoo Valley Museum, which was actually a lot more fun than I had thought! Lots of hands-on 'kids' stuff (don't fool yourself, we were just big kids at that point!). We made random stops to the amazing candy store downtown and then to Petco (don't ask...) And then I was back to my temp home at the Butler household.
Allie had all kinds of visitors that evening, including her friend Jessie from North Carolina, Kayla, and Jon. Us girls made brownies and watched some girlie tv. Aunt Cheri came home later and brought some gourmet pizza from Eribelli's. It's called spicy napoleon, and I LOVED the spices, especially on the crust! It was a wonderful treat, and after the girls left I even discovered some leftover green-dyed frosting in the fridge, which I put on my Gevalia brownie--YUM!
Yesterday I was up really early because I volunteered at a triathlon. It was one of my favorite volunteer experiences--runners/bikers really seemed to appreciate the work put into the event, and cheering them on was so much fun! Unfortunately, it began to storm with thunder and lightning, so they had to cancel it halfway through. Three racers finished the race (amazing!), but it was pretty heartbreaking to keep directing the bikers who were to continue to the transition station and then find out the race was over.
Later, I found out that my phone got some water damage, but luckily, after a LONG time of trying to help me out, Uncle Brian got it working again! I was SO glad because I had been texting AMILLION people. I was texting T-Holls a lot because we were making plans with some of the Ackley crew, since T-Holls was in town. We all hung out and went to Inception. I had a lot of fun catching up and goofing off with those guys.
I got back last night and just chilled out by myself for awhile. It was pretty peaceful. This morning I am doing my laundry and will eventually be on my way to the beach with Beth! I'm so excited because we've been wanting a beach day for a loooong time! And today is THE day! Fingers crossed for beautiful weather and lots of heat!
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