Southern Wonder...here we come!

Mike has already left Erie. I would assume that he's been on the turnpike for a little bit already. I think a lot of us know the joy of that drive. I've been running around trying to get everything together for the trip. i still have things to go out and do. oh well...we have this whole agenda of "low-brow" fun to accomplish on this trip. this is a small sample:
Hueco Tanks
Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby
World Market
the Whoopee Bowl
Luby's breakfast buffet
Chico's

just a taste. i hope to keep up on our adventures. the move into his new apartment; our destinations- Raleigh, Nashville, Dallas, and El Paso; our "low-brow" fun; and everything else that's thrown our way- like yummy rolls.

who uses the word abraded anyway?

I got this card for my brother, and it uses the word abraded. seriously, who does that?!

i wrote a bunch of cards- which made me sincerely miss all of my friends. it hurts sometimes so much that i actually ache. hopefully i will have some lovely mail soon! speaking of lovely mail, i recieved my first and possibly only engagement poster from the darling Meghan Short. what a delight and thrill it was opening the mailer to find a one of a kind grove city type engagement poster! attention friend: I LOVE YOU!

tonight i did a little shopping with mum. some underroos and some home accessories for the apartment. i bought T-fal ya'll. i even did a sad little dance in my excitement. things are shaping up nicely for my apartment. i even bought a large white casserole dish. mmm...domesticity!

class is another word for bland

to make up for my lapse over the last, oh, almost 8 months, i have been struck by the "blog-bug" again. mmm...delizioso!

this summer has been crazy, just a whirlwind of activity. There have been a few weeks that have flown by quickly like a snail to beer and then others that drag slower then that ill-fated snail. I've been all over the east coast and am preparing for another memorable journey.


to start, i endured the worst, yet most fulfilling, semester of my college career. i thought i was going to pull my hair out. how i ended up my college life wanting to bolt and never turn back, i'll never know. after several weeks to decompress i now see that i will miss Grove City despite my abundant hatred for those hallowed grounds while i lived there. i graduated on saturday, came home sunday, got to work on monday. i subbed again for a month. most of my weeks were taken up by ESOL classes and special needs classes. this is when two, not just on, but two moroccan boys hit on me within five hours of each other on the same day. man did i feel special! this was just one of the few examples that tipified my weeks as a teacher. my brother graduated mid-june. he had a week and a half for vacation so we went to Cedar Point for two days of sun, fun, and homosexuals. but i'll just let that alone because this is one time where i'll keep my opinions to myself. i left that sunday to drive eight hours to greensboro to take care of class schedules and such. i am very excited to leave and start my new life down in north carolina where i belong.


i drove home the next day and we took Jeff to the Naval Academy the next day. of course, me being the older sister who missed the maturing of her only sibling, cried more than the mum. his head was shaved further and he looked so handsome. i miss him a lot. it's weird not having to compete with the sound of his television in the evenings. we've talked twice and he sounds like he's doing well. he writes a lot and i have the best card to send him. it will be hysterical and fab.



so Jeff was gone that Wednesday and i left for Pittsburgh the next afternoon. before i left i was sucked into the appeal that is tanning, thus i am lovely and golden. i took mum to get a pedicure before i left. if my toes could hug, they would have given me a great bear hug. i went up for Bill and Becky's July 1st wedding. it was so wonderful getting to see all of our friends. there was a band, aptly named the Chris Aitken orcehstra, there were friends and family, and there was a fun rehearsal dinner including a surprise appearance by master bocce players: Brian Gurley and yours truly. [check out photos on facebook] the wedding was lovely and it went pretty smoothly. i think our only complaint was the sweat dripping down our backs and legs. overall it was a good time.

after the wedding on saturday, Mike and I went back to my grandmother's house to get some rest before we drove up to Erie the next afternoon. we attended church with grandma and then went to lunch before we left. our friend, John Stranahan, lives on the highest point around Canadota Lake. every sunday before the 4th the lake area sets off their fireworks in his backyard. literally, 40 yards from the back door of his house. the Stranahan's throw a huge party and people just show up from the area to watch the fireworks. we set up tents for the night, ate lots of food, and just hung out with all the behrend kids. when it got close to 10 they started the fireworks. it was sprinkling a little but everything stayed relatively dry. the fireworks exploded right over our heads, it was spectacular being that close. after the fireworks everyone cleared out. it was amazing how people were squished into the backyard. only the hardcore were left. that meant a few family members, the behrend kids, us, and those too drunk to go anywhere. this smaller group of people signified the start of "great bonfire" [insert grunt] and "mischief with bottlerockets" [insert two additional grunts] this bonfire was mad. there were old christmas trees, boxes, backpacks, and little things that burn quickly and easily. the bonus after the monstrous fire, burning black santa and his little reindeer friend.

well, the santa burned...boy did he burn. the next morning all we found was a little charred hand and a seared face where all you could make out was the ear and a bit of beard. man was that funny.

finally, exhausted, i went to bed while everyone else stayed up way too long for me. in the morning we made breakfast and shot skeet. i did poorly, but better than the stranahan's [that's Johnny with the black santa and a glass of LaBatt] we went home and took naps. i don't remember everything we did that monday, but tuesday is far more important.

tuesday we hung out and did some things around the house before we went to Wegmans to get our picnic lunch. we drove about two hours up to Lake Chautauqua in New York for a pops concert. It was here that Michael got down on one knee and proposed. It was simple and lovely. We're ENGAGED! it's so wonderful to finally say it...engaged! we're getting married. yay! engaged!

and that's all for now.