the weekend

saturday ended up being a lot of fun (except for the getting up on time thing...) i was up and out of the house around 8:30. i headed up to michigan. it was a nice drive, it gave me time to listen to some of my new music a bit more. the latest brian vander ark is really growing on me. also i listened to the new andrew osenga stuff, which i just cannot get enough of! i got there a few minutes early, but soon after rex and jeffry lee were kind enough to meet up with me. we headed over to my moms new work place.
she didnt know i was coming, but it worked out perfectly! when we walked into the big work area she was with the rest of the family in the office up front. we were able to sneek in and surprise her. she was helping me little niece, she looked up and saw me and was totally blown away! it was funny, she actually started crying! after the hugs and stuff we were able to dig into the excellent grub they had for the open house. of course, they had to have the open house food standard: meatballs! (which are a personal favorite, so i was quite happy...) soon after aaron joined us (free lunch, can you blame him?) we hung out for about an hour and a half, then the guys had to get going. i headed out soon after. the trip home was a bit harder. i started to get really sleepy, so i poped in a little dane cook. that usually keeps me awake!
one of the coolest things about the day was just an appreciation of my friends. those guys came all the way out to my moms work just to hang out for a little while. how cool is that? i just felt really blessed that the guys are willing to give up a couple hours just to hang out. for rex and jeffry lee it was about a 40 minute drive just to hang out in the work area at my moms job. maybe im making something out of nothing, but i just totally appreciated them that day.

mom's big day

ive decided im going home this weekend. kind of strange, considering i was just home for five days this past weekend. but i have a good reason.
over the course of my life i have had many achievements to celebrate- graduations, being hired for a new job, etc. and through all those times my mom has been right there supporting me. but as i think about it, there have been very few achievements that mom has been able to celebrate. i dont mean that in a mean way, she is a very sucessful woman, she co-owns a business, she is still happily married to dad, she is strong and supportive of all her kids, and she is a super fun grandma to jills kids. on saturday she is having an open house for her shop. about a year ago her and the other co-owner decided it was time to stop renting their building, and instead build their own. so they did. they moved into it a couple weeks ago, and now get the chance to proudly show it off to the world.
i told her that i wouldnt be coming, having come down this past weekend and all. but the more i starting thinking about it, the more i realized that this is a truly special event for her. this is an achievement that she is truly proud of, how could i miss out on that?!? so, saturday morning i will be getting up bright and early, driving two hours to celebrate with her, and then driving two hours back home right after. its going to be a pain, but i guess thats what will make the event that much more meaningfull.

smells like teen spirit

ive always heard that the sense of smell is the strongest sense attached to memories. like, if you smell something it will trigger your memory quicker than a sight or a taste will. ive always kind of dismissed that because it sounds crazy, but a few days ago i became a believer!
i was walking out to my car and i caught a whiff of who-knows-what, but the instant i smelled it my mind went a million miles an hour and for some reason it reminded me of those nasty orange circus peanuts candies. i havent had one of thise in at least fifteen years! but immidiately my mind raced to a fond memory of going with my dad, uncle, and cousin to the gander mountain store when i was about 11. i distinctly remember walking through there and checking out all the random sportsmans stuff. jeff (my cousin) and i each grabbed a pair of binoculars and ran to seperate ends of the store and would try to mouth messages to each other and see if we could see each other that far away. my dad and uncle loved that place, they were busy checking out all the hunting stuff. after about the first hour there i got bored and jeff and i found a small row of snacks. we convinced our dads to buy us some. jeff got a big bag of jelly bellys and i got a pouch of circus peanuts. we enjoyed the treats as dad and uncle ted finished up there shopping.
wow. that was so wierd- up until i caught a whiff of that smell, i dont think ive thought of that memory in a dozen or more years, and it all came back as vivid as if it had happened last week!

a visit home

shoot, i go and buy a new computer and now have the chance to post more often, and i havent in almost a week! i blame the busy week, actually.
this was a very unusual week- we had our teacher convention in grand rapids thursday and friday. that meant we only had school monday, tuesday, and a short day wednesday (which is totally rad, by the way) so i had been a bit busy with all that. yesterday and today i have been busy with convention stuff, or hanging out with other teachers and friends, so i havent had too much time to spend in front of my computer.
everyone else is busy right now, so i figured now is the time to catch back up!
wednesday night matt, rachel, and i drove up to grand rapids and met my parents for dinner. rachel had met them briefly before, but matt hadnt. it was really cool. i have a great relationship with my parents, so i actually enjoy hanging out with them and introducing them to my friends. they were there normal cool selves, so matt and rachel felt really comfortable. we just ate and talked about how the year has been going so far. not much, but it was fun. afterward we dropped of rachel (she stayed in a downtown hotel) and then headed to my parents place (where matt and i stayed). we watched the ballgame and continued talking with my parents. eventually it was time for bed so we hit the hay.
thursday night i wanted to hang out with the guys and have matt meet them. so, matt and i headed to ruby tuesdays and jeffry lee and rex joined us soon after. we ate and talked and acted pretty stupid (what else are friends for, huh?). when we finished up we headed out to the poolhall. there, aaron and his fiancee jessica joined us. we played doubles and singles and the whole time i totally sucked! matt kept telling us all night before we got there that he really sucked, but once we started it was soon revealed how much of a hustler he really is! (ok, maybe not a hustler, but he was making some amazing shots!) at one point even i was able to pull out a decent shot or two, but rex certainly dominated the night. needless to say, a good time was had by all.
this afternoon matt and rachel headed back down to the ol' indiana homestead. im sticking around for a couple more days yet.

I'M BACK!!!

after a far-to-long absence, i have returned!!! i finally caved and saved enough money to buy myself a brand new shiny laptop computer! (the one in the picture isnt exactly what i got, but its as close a picture as i could find) needless to say, i am quite excited about this new purchase. its been alot of fun messing around with this thing the past couple days, but its very obvious ive been out of the technological circle for a while because this thing can be confusing at times...
i still havent gotten the internet at my house yet, but i dont think i will. i will just be spending alot of time at the local coffee shops mooching off their free wi fi.
anyway, i am very excited to reenter the world of blogging. i have missed it more than i thought i would!