Perfect Sunday

Howdy! I had a wonderful and relaxing weekend hanging out with friends. Two friends were here Saturday and then Sunday one of them was still around. After being in school for the past 3 years, I have a much greater appreciation for days like Sunday. We went to church, came home and decided it was much too hot to do anything other than swim. So we ate at the beach, then after looking at and smelling the water there, we decided we definitely needed another beach to actually swim at. The next one was much better. The water was wonderful - cool enough to be shocking at first but nice and refreshing. And I have to add that I did not, I repeat, NOT burn at the beach. (I trust a couple of my faithful readers are proud of me?) We of course worked up an appetite with all the swimming so we came home and ate a lovely supper (exhibit D - The stawberries were amazlingly tasty). And THEN we played a game of Settlers (which incidentally, I won). For you settlers players, we played a 3 person game with the expansion and no robber in an attempt to have a more friendly atmosphere. Then we just relaxed and visited into the morning hours. All the while I was thinking, "this sure is nice, but I would so much rather be writing a 20 page research paper!" Yes well, I have less than a week in this country. Can't even believe it!

the scenery

Okay Jenni, I hear ya. I'll try to update good and proper here... Let's see, here's some pictures of the beautiful surroundings. Awhile ago my roommie and I went for a walk and took some pictures, so here you go!

hanging out

I guess it's about that time to say something. Let's see, I've mostly been getting ready to go, trying to get my life in order, socializing with friends, and finding new and creative ways of hurting myself. The main categories of stuff to get done include getting all my loans in order before I leave (consolidation and such things), job hunting (once again figuring out where I've worked when, all the addresses and phone numbers - it takes forever and drives me nuts), trying to return all the unnecessary stuff the camera guy sold me (big pain in the neck!), shopping and packing for the trip, and of course, randomly flying through the air and slamming my body into hard, immovable objects. I am blessed.
I've been doing more socializing than I have in awhile. Saturday night some friends invited my roommate and I over for supper. We had a great time with them. (but that's not interesting to you because you don't know them and didn't hear the humorous conversation) On Sunday I spent the day with a great friend that I made in REACH training. Okay, I didn't make her, per se, that sounded really dumb. Shall I say, the friendship was formed in REACH training. Anyway, she lives mostly in Russia and has been in the States for a couple months and we finally were able to meet up - had lots of fun. Yesterday a friend from around here who's living in CA right now was home for a visit, so she and her friend came over and we hung out. Tonight my cousin Laura is coming over and this weekend some wonderful friends from home are going to be here and I can't wait. Okay, so that's what filling up my time lately. This month I've also been babysitting a lot for a family with 2 little squirts - a handy way to make some cash and hopefully I'll find a real job soon after I'm home.

More grad pics

The profs and social work students


1) my friend from Ohio who came to help celebrate
2) my dad, sister, brother-in-law, and nephew
3) nephew hanging out and being cute.

So, I finally figured out how to resize my pictures so I thought I'd post a few more. Side note - I got a nasty sunburn today - some people never learn!

Redneck bike ride

Just a couple of helmet heads cruising through Indiana farm land.
You start in the "city" and in just a few minutes... viola! I've finally been putting some miles on my bike. A friend of mine just got a new bike and we went for a lovely ride today. When I started taking pictures of these cows, they came over to say hello. I rode almost 18 miles today, then came home and mowed the ample yard. Now I just want to sleep. Last night some friends came over and we had a cookout. It was more of a cookin though because of the nasty weather we've been having. It was fun to hang out with friends and play with the new camera.

nothing exciting...

So, I thought I should say something since it's been a few days, but now that school is over, well, my mind is taking a break from deep thoughts I think... anyway, one exciting thing did happen in my small life today --- drum roll please... I got a digital camera. For real, finally entering the 21st century (now all I need is a cell phone and laptop). I'm a bit peeved though because I bought it online and then got a message to call the place. Thinking I actually needed to call because of something important, I did as I was told. I continued to do as I was told, as a pushy salesman proceeded to tell me various things I had to purchase in order for my happiness to be complete. All the stuff arrived today and most notably, these screen protector things that he seemed to think I needed (2 for the low price of bla bla bla...) actually cover 12 screens so I now have screen protectors for my next 24 cameras! Which is great considering the average lifespan IS 3000 years. I was highly unimpressed. And the battery charger that is supposed to be beyond speedy (2 hours) has been plugged in for hours and the light has yet to turn green... I could go on about the ghastly camera case, but I'll spare you, because I realize that none of this is very interesting and I'm only writing about it for lack of truly interesting things to write about. All of the annoyances aside, it was quite fun to get the camera.

Grad pics

Here's some grad pics -- The first one is my roomie and I, the second is my fellow social work grad - there were only 2 of us. I tried posting more but my computer won't cooperate, so I guess I'll try again later.

getting started

So, I'm sitting in my very quiet house, recently graduated from school, all the excitement and the action of the last week (lots of company, etc.) has died down, got the house cleaned, no paper to write (this would be a terrible sentence if I was writing a paper), going a bit stir crazy already and not a clue what to do with this new found freedom. So then I thought, hey, let's start a blog. So that's what I did. Because I want to be cool like all my friends. I'm new to this, but I like reading the sites of my friends and family, so we'll give it a shot.

What to say... well, a bit about life recently. The last few months have been very busy with finishing up school, but that has joyously ended and I'm thinking about bigger and better things now, mainly a trip to Madagascar and then the Netherlands in June. I can't wait!

Last Saturday was graduation. My dad and sister and her family a friend from Ohio were here for the weekend for that. It was great to see them. Then I was babysitting my sister's 2 boys until yesterday, Friday I guess it was. We had a lot of fun, but it was "busy" to say the least, and I have a greater respect and admiration for all mothers of young children out there.

In the midst of the day care going on here, my brother, his son, and a friend seem to be of the mind that biking 2200 miles across the country is fun and desirable. I was one of their stops along the way. It was great to see them. (It was also fun watching them eat - they had biked over 100 miles without much food, then we went to a buffet and they ate for about an hour and a half) Thursday morning I decided to be a nice person and go to the bakery and buy some pleasing things for them to eat. Well, being the bright one that I am, I parked in a place that I should not have. I was barely in the bakery 30 seconds when a cop came in and asked if that was my car. It was raining outside, it was slippery, and as he leads me out of the building (and down slippery steps), lecturing me on appropriate parking practices, I suddenly went flying through the air, landing on my posterior, and sat rather stunned for a moment. He immediately ceased the parking lecture and began inquiring as to my physical well-being. Yes, well, the whole ordeal was rather embarrassing. I had to move my car, go back into the bakery, where the cop and lady behind the counter were discussing my misfortune and the treacherous steps. good times.