Social Butterfly

Last night I had book club, which was a lot of fun despite my dislike of the book. And the food was amazing. I ate way to much! There was crack dip (aka.. buffalo chicken dip), and these amazing s'more bars.

Book club is just the start of a busy social calander for the week. Tonight a couple of friends are coming over to play Rock Band (and perhaps some Wii). Tomorrow a friend is coming over to help me sort through all the stuff brought from my parents house (though it needs my sister's touch... lol. And yes, LEK, I am getting more book shelves!!) And then, Thursday night people are coming over to watch Torchwood. The new season of Torchwood (or really, the mini series), starts July 20th, so we need to finish the DVDs by then. Then, Saturday is the fourth (I don't know what we are doing), and Sunday we are going to a BBQ in Cleveland with my mom's relatives.

Oh, and I almost forgot that I also had a coffee date yesterday with that friend I mentioned. It went well and was fun. She is a bit older and more experienced in the world than me, and had a lot of advice about my job hunt, which quite frankly isn't going well. I started this morning with two rejections from jobs I just applied for yesterday. There is some folgers in my cup...

Left Behind

I spent most of the last 48 hours with something ranging from a minor headache to a full out migraine. Sometimes I think my head must really hate me.

But, its mostly dissipated now. I spent the afternoon/evening today at my Grandma's house with Uncle Curt and Grandma. Grandma was in high spirits, even as she asked me how "Scott" was doing (instead of Aaron). Uncle Curt cooked his famous salmon casserole dish and I made a blueberry Cheesecake. It was a pleasant and peaceful evening. I read a large chunk of the book Midnighters. Unfortunately I left it there, and I won't be back there for two weeks, so I will have to wait and see what happens until then.

Tomorrow? A 10am coffee date with an acquaintance who seems eager to remain in contact since I left OSU, despite how little we know each other. I won't turn down an eager friend, and am only too glad to go and see her. Then, more job searching, more cleaning. In short, more real life.

The Third Wedding

So, I told you all I went to three weddings, but I only posted about two of them. The third was for my friend Miryam. This is the first Jewish wedding I have been to, so that was interesting, though not as disimilar as I expected. I suspect that has something to do with it being a liberal reform Jewish wedding rather than orthodox.

Anyways, the sanctuary was beautiful, lots of natural light. The music selection, played by a solo violinist, was very nice: lots of Vivaldi, and exiting to a theme from Lord of the Rings. The reception, at a country club up in Worthington, was pictureque. Beautifully arranged tables, again, lots of natural lighting, and good company. After several toasts, we enjoyed yummy food, and dancing.

Here are some pictures (and a video mixed in their too):

Back to Blogging

So my blog, while clearly not entirely neglected, has been somewhat random for the last month or so.

But who can blame me. In the last six weeks I have been out of town to four different locations, attended to graduations and three weddings, become officially unemployed, and many other chaotic things. It seems like ages since I have just been in Columbus living "normal", or should I say routine, life.

I just sent my last obligation to OSU Political Science off via email and now am officially and fully unemployed. My tasks for the coming weeks are clear: apply for lots of jobs, clean the house, get back into the habit of cooking and getting things done.

The first challenge I find in this is getting up in the morning. It was so easy to get up in the morning in Duluth, but here it is so hard, and I am not sure of the difference. I think the first thing is the natural lighting that came into the room I slept in there, which is easy enough to change here by opening some blinds before bed, since our windows face east. Second, I think, is having a relatively clear and peaceful place to sit, wake up, and eat breakfast. Third, which is the hard part, is having things I am looking forward to to get up for. I will have to work on that one.

Testing a New Widget...

I am trying to get this to show up in my sidebar, so people can see what I am reading/what I have just read. Its not working so well though, so I am playing around with it.

Crazy Eights

I have been tagged to play crazy eights by Meghan at http://taderbaby.blogspot.com/

The rules:

1. Mention the person who tagged me.
2. Complete the lists of 8.
3. Tag 8 more people and tell them they've been tagged.

The lists:

Eight things I am looking forward to.
1. Reading for the summer challenge
2. Harry Potter 6 movie
3. New Moon movie
4. the farmers market, i have not yet been this summer
5. a clean house (though not looking forward to the cleaning)
6. "the hunger games" sequel coming out in september
7. my sister coming to Ohio
8. trying some tasty recipes

Eight things I did yesterday.
1. drove
2. finished harry potter 6th on CD
3. drove more
4. started hunger games on CD
5. drove more
6. took pictures of a U.P. sunset over lake Michigan
7. got swarmed by mosquito that were not there two weeks ago
8. read around 200 pages of women in white

Eight things I wish I could do.
1. find a job!!!
2. know what kind of job I really want
3. write an award winning novel that would make us rich
4. be in two places -Columbus and Duluth - at once
5. build a house on Palisade Head
6. love running/working out
7. hire a maid
8. read faster

Eight shows I watch.
In all honesty, I have not been watching TV much at all as of late. So... allow me to change the tense.
Eight shows I have enjoyed watching.
1. X-Files
2. Bones
3. America's Next Top Model
4. Project Runway
5. Law & Order SVU
6. Intervention
7. Sober House
8. House

Eight favorite fruits.
1. Raspberries
2. Blueberries
3. Strawberries
4. Avocado (technically a fruit)
5. blackberries
6. kiwi
7. cucumber (also technically a fruit) - PS Sorry mom and dad I never ate that cucumber...
8. pummalo (similar to a grapefruit, but sweeter and easier to peal)

Eight places I'd like to travel.
1. Mongolia
2. China
3. Alaska
4. Ireland
5. Turkey
6. Bhutan
7. Antarctica
8. Iran

Eight places I've lived.
1. Duluth, MN (18 years)
2. Kirksville, MO (4 years, minus summers)
3. Campus Area, Columbus, OH (2 years)
4. North Side, Columbus, OH (1 year)
5. Salzburg, Austria (5 months)
6. St. Louis, MO (3 months)
7. Marcella, NJ (3 months)
8. Sigmaringan, Germany (3 weeks)

Tagging: (if you don't blog, you can answer in the comment section here, or on facebook)
1. Laurelyn
2. Simi
3. SarahDee
4. Mary Lou
5. Dad
6. Rachel
7. whoever else reads this and hasn't been tagged?

Home Again -- Again

Once again I find myself about to embark on a journey away from one place I consider home and towards another I consider home. I leave in about 45 minutes to head back to St Ignace, MI. Tomorrow I will drive from their, back to Columbus.

It has been a good trip, not to short like so many of them are. I have been here two weeks and it feels like it, yet I still do not want to leave in many regards. I will miss my family, of course, but also Duluth itself - the beauty that is Northern Minnesota. I have talked about it on this blog before. Ohio has its own beauty, in the words of my sister, a pastoral beauty - rolling hills and green pastures. Minnesota has a rugged beauty - crashing blue waves of Lake Superior, jagged rocks and cliffs on the Lake Shore, pine tree covered vistas. I will miss it when I cannot drive through it everyday. I always miss it.

Anyways, I will talk to you again in two days.

Country Roots

The Day after the wedding, Laurelyn and Josh got dressed up again and hopped on Joey Pony to get some of Laurelyn's "dream shots". I took around 100 pictures of it, and this video. Its not worth having the sound on - just wind and people talking in the background. But, its definitely worth seeing in my opinion.

Congratulations Josh and Laurelyn!!

Laurelyn and Josh, June 12th 2009


My toast to the happy couple, as given at the wedding:

Sometimes love is shy
Two blushing teenagers in a barn,
Together with friends on the farm,
Feeling an attraction unspoken,
From friendship, a romance awoken


Sometimes love is quiet,
A mischievous grin as plots are made,
Coming to each others aid,
A second drive by when one is required
Chatting on the phone, even when tired

Sometimes love is loyal
Whether it be moving out of state
Laughing at My Dog Skip on the first date
Putting up with dogs and horses
Or trying the food your S.O. endorses

Sometimes love is adventure
Driving to Santa Fe and back
Or Living in some run down shack
Going canoeing on your honeymoon
Come rain, high water or full out monsoon

Sometimes love is freedom
Learning to let go of control
Moving apart to pursue life's goals
Seperation makes the heart grow fonder
Knowing your be loved wherever you wander.

Sometimes love is celebration
A party together on the lake shore
Wild Thyme filling up the dance floor
Smiling together to see two lives wed
Remembering the past and looking ahead

Sometimes love is obvious
Laurelyn and Josh,
Its been obvious from the start
Though of two bodies, you share one heart
Wherever you go, whatever you do,
May life bring laughter and love to you two.

Cheers!

~ Written by Amanda

More Duluth Pictures

My brother Max and his GF Kelsey - looking to adventure out into the pastures.

My parents Newfoundland, Hope

Little Sister Michi grooms Margalo

Mich's BF Jake has been corrupted into doing horse stuff, of course. He grooms Squire.Max does a Wolverine impression... luckily he has finally gotten his hair cut since this picture was taken.

Dad

A different day of horses - Mom on Apollo and Mich on Margalo

I spent some quality time with the hammock.

After two beautiful weather days, in classic Duluth fashion, the temperature plummeted, rain started, and the win picked up. Big white caps roll in at Brighton Beach.

Snapped this picture of Mich in the back seat on our shopping trip.

The Drive

On the road with Grim.

We stayed in St. Ignace at a little locally owned hotel, of course right on the water because all of the St Ignace hotels are on the water. Here is Grim enjoying the view.



Day two. Look at those puppy dog eyes!!


A rest stop on the shore of Lake Superior.


Did I mention its a beautiful drive? I have a lot of pictures of the road and the view from the road, but this about sums it up as an average moment in the drive.

Home Again Home Again

Home to Duluth.. Home to Columbus. Looks like any direction I turn there is some form of home. That is both a good thing and a bad thing.

The drive from Columbus to Duluth with Grim went very well. She is a traveling super star. The motel in St Ignace was nice and the UP is gorgeous this time of year... ok. It is always gorgeous.

So now I am chillaxing in Duluth. There already is some wedding craziness going on, set down on top of the normal craziness that already exists. My brother, Max, is running around looking like Wolvering (serious hair cut is in order), and Michi (little sister) is busy with soccer and her boyfriend, who the whole family approves of at the moment, so that is good at least! Grim likes it here with her cousins (or would they be aunts and uncles?) - Hope and Daunte (my parent's dogs). She likes the horses. She likes being of leash. She likes more people around to pet her.

I have been horseback riding twice so far. Both times on Joey Pony. Horses can be fun, when not too much work is involved. LEK likes it when I ride with her so she does the work part. Joey has got to be one of the cutest horses on the planet. We also had an adventure yesterday with a "test run" of seeng if LEK could sit on a horse in her wedding dress. I have some great pictures of that that will be posted after the wedding.

Life is good here, as usual. DH is holding the fort down in Columbus, he comes in on Wednesday night.

TNBBC Spring Challenge

I mentioned before I was doing a reading challenge. It ended yesterday. I read 22 books for a total of 245 points. Completing the challenge would have been 550 points... so I did not quite make it to that but I reached my goal of 200. Here is my official participation certificate!


Onward to the summer challenge. Completely it would require something like 60 books.. I don't think I will make it but I will have fun trying!