Well, it's been a while and a bit too much has happened. Clearly though I am about to catch you (that's right all of you) up to speed on what's been a'happenin in the Grant Household. We shall begin at the Carly/Harper wedding. Back in May Zach and I drove all the way down to Tampa for my dear (all the way back from elementary school) friend Carly Chastain's wedding. The ceremony was held at a church right on our street so Zach and I were able to walk to the ceremony and then to Beef O' Bradys--on the other side of the street-- for the reception. Zach and I made it through the vows of the ceremony but then we had to run home because my zipper split pretty much right when I sat down and turned to have Zach look at the back of my arm. Awesome. It was such a cute dress too! So so disappointing. Anywho, we went home and changed into a different dress and then continued to Beefs. I love attending weddings of people I went high school (and below) with. It's always so great to see everyone and laugh and dance and play. We definitely had a grand ol' time.
After the wedding Zach drove back to New Jersey all by his lonesome. Yes, he's amazing and I love him. He had to be at school Monday morning. I stayed in Tampa and hung out with Cathy and then headed to Saint Augustine to be with my loves. Cally, Dani, and J-9 were at work during the day so I mainly went to the beach and wandered around town. I got tan again for the first time in way too long and it was absolutely wonderful. I felt like myself again. On Wednesday I drove to the farmhouse to spend some time with my Pop. On Thursday we drove down to Lakeland for a retirement function. It was fun seeing people I haven't seen since I was like 6 but I definitely got tired of hearing, "Man, I haven't seen you since you were this (holds hand to knee height) tall. yaddayaddayadda" But that's ok, I liked spending time with Dad and the drive was pretty. Dad and I fixed up the soaking tub so the girls and I could use it as a pool for our weekend o' fun.
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| Europe |
Then came the best weekend ever. So picture this, there's the farmhouse. Sitting all wonderful and quiet in the middle of nowhere. Random cats occasionally asking to be fed, birds chirping, NPR in the background. Baling Baling Baling *incoming text noise* Nicole: "Be there in 15 minutes." Me: "Really? Where are you?!" Nicole: "Oh just on 90." Me: "OK see you in atleast 45 minutes." Nicole: "Nah---My GPS says I'll be there so soon!"
~45 minutes later~
Nicole arrives and we laugh about how wrong her GPS was and how many times she passed by the house, then HALIE gets there! We immediately each grab a beer and try and settle into the coziness of the front porch. The mosquitoes didn't want to be bothered so they shooed us back inside. Slowly Jenni, Cally, Dani, and J-9 join us and we all laugh and hug and squeal with excitement for the weekend to come.
That weekend was absolutely amazing. These girls make me feel like I am home. They are my best friends (plus the few that were unable to make it :( ) and I love them dearly. They are my sisters and I cannot imagine life without them. Sometimes I feel like I can be myself more around these girls than I can around my own family. And yes, Samantha Jones (from Sex and the City) these girls are my soul mates.
After returning back to good ol' New Jersey I had work and some doctor's appointments to look forward to. --I lose insurance in about 2 months so obviously. . . -- but then we got to celebrate our dear friend Kevin's birthday! YAY Kevin! So we went into NYC and visited the MOMI --Museum of Moving Image-- It was pretty awesome. We all walked around the museum for a bit, ate lunch at 5 Napkin Burger--delicious--and then walked around the museum a bit more. The guys went to see some 2 hour karate movie so Rae and I got manicures and headed back to the restaurant for some dranks. So fun. So necessary.
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| All of the following pictures are courtesy Mrs. Rae McNeal. Sup playa. |
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| This was actually a miniature set! |
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| Playing old school Mario and Sonic! |
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| nomnomnomnomnomnom |
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| Dubbing over movie lines. Hysterical. |
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| Just. . ..ya know. . . |
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| This was some type of art display. . . but also hand puppets! |
Afterwards we went back to the McNeals for a bit of singing and piano playing and then we headed home for the night. Then it was time for Easter! I love the church we go to right now. Kingston United Methodist is such a sweet church. At the end of every service we all circle the pews and say the Lords Prayer and sing a hymn. It's wonderful and I love it. This Easter the McNeals, Shanti, and the Heinemans joined us for Easter Linner. It was delicious and amazing and I love my friends.
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| Making Zach his Strawberry Rhubarb Pie |
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| Kevin loves Scooby. |
And that was our lovely Easter. It's really something amazing when we are able to feel like we are surrounded by family even when ours is hundreds of miles away.
This past Monday night Zach and I were supposed to go to a Trenton Thunder baseball games. Unfortunately Zach was unable to attend because he had his first dress rehearsal for his play that night! Fortunately though my lovely friend Ruth was able to join me! We had so much fun asking ridiculous questions and eating delicious food.
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| Ruth was saying something along the lines of, "Baseball!!" |
Wednesday night we had Zach Senior Banquet. That's right. It was actually quite nice. The dinner was held in the campus dining hall and the professors along with the president of the Seminary served the meal. Zach is graduating so sooooon. For a more sentimental post on this event, see Rae's blog.
Thursday night the McNeals and I went to see Zach perform in his play! Zach had been wanting to take part in the play at the Seminary since he began school up here. It's for class credit so Senior year is when it happened. He did so well!
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| Waiting for the play to begin! |
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| So fancy. |
Also, at some point during that week, Katie and I managed to make state string art things! One of my co-workers, Kelly, is getting married so and we had a shower for her at work. I was excited to make a state-string-art-thing for her. Here she is with it:
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| Joysee! |
So there's that! Kinda busy lately, but it's been great. Today and last night I took care of some homework and relaxed.
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| So cozy and wonderful. |
Who knows what next week will bring! Miss you and love you all!
