Behind.

Packing and preparing to leave Kalamazoo does not help me stay on track with my blog writing. I am sorry guys. Please be patient with me, I don't want to lose my loyal readers, I love you guys! In fact, as I am writing this Justin is packing stuff in my room. I told him I really needed to write my blog because if I missed today then I would be three days behind. That would be the most I have been behind since I have started this! He told me to go ahead and write my blog and he would pack while I did so. I don't think I need to say it again, but he really is the best.

Ok, so, Wednesday. Justin was really sick on Wednesday. I felt so bad for him. Katie and I went back to my place (I stayed at the 409 Tuesday night.) so I could get medication for that sick boy of mine. (I have plenty and he needed some and the more he takes the less I have to pack!) I took DayQuil, Vicks and some chicken and vegetable soup over to him. When we got there he was playing video games. I don't think he's really sick, I think he was just looking for a way to sit at home and play video games! ;) (I'm just messing with him because I know he reads this.)

After I gave him his stuff, Katie and I went to Hobby Lobby. We got some chalkboard paint for my room up north! I'm so excited about that. During our trip Katie was telling me about all the ways our tattoos could possibly bring us together when we are 90. lol. It was hilarious. I love her. We hung out for a few hours, ate lunch, talked, and packed until she had to leave to go to work. Then I spent some more time packing.

Justin came over later in the day and then I got ready to go out. Katie, Krissi, Sara, Justin and I went to Wild Bull. Of course, it was necessary to go to the Bull on my last official Wednesday in Kalamazoo. After the Bull, we went to Shakespeare's to celebrate Brett's birthday. He turned 23 on Wednesday. It was so much fun hanging out with everyone. We closed out the bar then came home and went to bed. I was pleasantly surprised that Justin was able to stay out that late considering how he was feeling. (I told him we could go at any time, but he was having a good time with the guys I think.)

Here are the pictures:

Day 108:
Krissi's phone showing the text I sent to Blake.
it took forever to get a picture of this and I'm not even sure why Krissi told me to do it.

Day 108:
at Shakespeare's.

Yesterday Justin was at his place because he had to help his roommate move some stuff out, then he had lunch with the guys and had to work on a paper. Katie had to work. And I was in a funk. I had no motivation to do ANYTHING even though I had a dinner party planned for last night. I was tired and moody and just wanted to be with someone, anyone. Obviously I had two top choices but I would have taken a bum off the street at that point. I really think my way of handling my sadness is to ignore it by being with people.

I finally made myself get out of the funk like three hours before the dinner was scheduled to be served. I spent two hours cleaning and getting myself ready then an hour cooking. Justin came over about an hour and a half before dinner was supposed to be served. Krissi, Tony, Carolyn, Ben and Jake joined us for dinner. After dinner we played a game of Imaginiff, then everyone but Jake and Justin left and Katie came over. We played a couple games of Catchphrase, then a couple games of Mad Gab, then a game of Euchure. At that point Justin and I decided we were done for the night. We were both so tired.

Sorry the posts weren't all that interesting, I'm in a hurry to get them done so I can help Justin for a bit then get to bed. I'm so tired.

Here are the pictures:

Day 109:
the light up spoon in Pepsi.

Day 109:
not a fan.

♥ Sara

"If it were not for guests all houses would be graves."
-Kahlil Gibran

Help.

Yesterday was fabulous. I got up, showered and started cleaning my kitchen. It always seems to be in need of a cleaning. While I was working on that, Katie called and said she was on her way over. Justin had gotten up and told me he wasn't feeling well. I immediately drank an emergen-c. I don't need to get sick right now. So I started breakfast and Justin took over dishes duty, without me requesting it and actually telling him not to because I felt bad that he has done my dishes the last two times. ( :) ) Katie cooked the hash browns and I took care of the pancakes and bacons. (We had to make veggie bacon for that girl of mine. lol. I love you Katie!) Justin took over the bacon (the good kind) when he was done with the dishes. We had a lovely breakfast. And veggie bacon isn't all that bad, unless you compare it with the real stuff, then it's awful!

After breakfast both Justin and Katie cracked the whip (as one of you girls referred to it earlier). lol. We packed, and packed, and packed. We got quite a bit done but Justin was feeling like crap and I had a terrible headache. So we took a nap and Katie finished packing the buffet then did whatever on the computer. After the nap/break packing ceased to exist. The three of us had a weird photoshoot. They really are the best. lol. Then we decided we were starving.

So we went back to the 409 so they could shower and get ready to go out to dinner. We went to Olive Garden. By the time we got home sickly boy went upstairs to get ready for bed, then I hung out with Katie for a bit before heading to bed myself.

Here are the pictures:

Day 107:
the tower Justin built.

Day 107

♥ Sara

"Friends are relatives you make for yourself."
-Eustache Deschamps

Dinner.

Today, that's right, I'm writing about today today! Craziness right? But I know I won't post it til tomorrow because I'm too tired to edit pictures. And that's where my writing yesterday ended. I was laying in bed, Justin already sleeping, determined to get some done, and I literally wrote about how excited I was to start it the night of and crashed. Haha, I'm such a dork.

So, yesterday I came home and was determined that I was going to get some cleaning and packing done. Yeah, determination doesn't equal motivation. I started and ended up on the couch staring at my computer through tears. Then Krissi called to see if she and Katie could come over and raid my movies for one of her classes. Of course I said yes, so I hopped in the shower and got dressed quick then I talked to them for a bit. That put me in a better mood. After they left I decided I should really go grocery shopping so I had the stuff I needed for breakfast this morning. So I called Justin to let him know what my plans were so he didn't come over while I was gone. While I was making my list for breakfast and dinner Thursday I remembered that I had chicken and broccoli in the freezer so I decided to get the stuff I needed beyond that to make Justin dinner. I hadn't cooked for him yet, and it was beyond time.

On my way home from the store I called him to let him know I was home and that he could come over whenever. So he did. And I made dinner and dessert (double-decker brownies). And I was thinking he would crack the whip and make me actually pack, but he didn't. We just hung out and had a nice evening together but it was discussed that I would be packing today. :-S I hate packing. I hate the reason I am packing. Ugh. Not a fan. But back to happiness. It was great spending the evening together and having that time. I'm so much more aware of every second I spend with people.

Ok, pictures:

Day 106:
my two favorite pair of laced shoes.

Day 106:
.

♥ Sara

“Cooking is like love. It should be entered into with abandon or not at all.”
-Harriet van Horne

Happy.

Yesterday, I got up at like 8, napped on the couch for a couple hours and then was awake completely at 11. Katie and I went back to bed for a couple hours at like noon. Still, no where near enough sleep considering we were up til almost six. Brett called at like 2 to see if we wanted to play tennis. I begrudgingly said yes. Katie really wanted to and was giving me puppy dog eyes. I just wanted to sleep. So I got ready and Katie ate breakfast/did whatever on the computer then we went to 409 so she could get ready and we could meet Brett. (He lives downstairs.) Well he texted us and said he couldn't play because he had a migraine. Now, I'm not happy Brett had a migraine but I'm happy I didn't have to play tennis. Katie went for a run and I started trying to catch up on this.

When she got back we decided to watch a movie. I think it was her way of trying to make me less jumpy every time I heard a car in the drive (I was waiting for Justin to come home.), it worked. We were watching Toy Story and all of a sudden I heard Justin's voice in the kitchen. I didn't even hear a car or see him drive in. Toy Story was great, but having him back in town was better. So I hung out with him and the girls at 4. Then he went and ate and Krissi and I talked and watched Family Guy. When Justin was done eating we went for a walk around the neighborhood. After our walk we decided to watch Good Will Hunting, then Krissi and Katie came back from Brett's and we talked with them for a bit then went to bed. I can't remember the last time (if there ever was a time) that I felt this happy, secure, content. And I'm leaving....

Here are the pictures:

Day 105:
I forgot to take my picture of the day and they were happy to help.

Day 105:
at 409-4

♥ Sara

"Happiness is excitement that has found a settling down place. But there is always a little corner that keeps flapping around."
-E.L. Konigsburg

Independence Day.

Happy Fourth of July!

I'm going to start this post out by letting you all know that no one died or was injured in the making of our crazy night last night. At least no one we know.

Yesterday I started off the day by going down to the fire hall to be my dad's model to show off the new ice rescue suit. I got to meet some of the people who live on Mullett Lake, ya know the ones who don't actually live there but instead spend their summers in their "cottages" which are bigger than any normal person's house. So I dressed up in the suit and walked in during dad's talk so he could show off the new equipment. He also announced to them that I would be joining the department. =) Afterward, quite a few people came up and talked to me about it and then one lady brought her daughter and grandchildren down to see the fire trucks. The kids were so cute. The cutest thing ever was when the little one (probably 3 or 4) grabbed my coat and said "Mrs. Firefighter Lady, can I get in this truck?" It was so adorable. And of course I said yes.

After the kids left, Dad started packing stuff up and said he didn't need my help so I went back to the house to finish my laundry and painting before I left to go home. When dad got back from the station he started helping me paint. Then we ran out of paint so I went into town, in my painting clothes, well I put a shirt on, and got more. While I was there Katie called me to make sure that I was coming back for the BBQ and of course, I was. And when I was talking to her I was making fun of her for eating veggie hot dogs and the paint guy started making fun of it too. He said "what is it, grass wrapped in edible plastic?" It made me laugh so hard.

When I got home Dad had most of the ceiling painted, he finished that and I did the second coat on the walls. It looks really good, I was so sore though. I have calluses on my hands from it. But I'm rather proud that I got it all done in less than 24 hours. I finished my laundry and packed up for my last trip to my apartment. Ever. =( It makes me so sad...

The drive back was rather uneventful. I narrowly escaped being stopped by the cops. I was driving a little over the speed limit, and I came up on a guy in the passing lane going like 65 because there was a guy in the other lane going like 64. UGH. And while I'm bitching about this in my head I see a cop and I think ok, maybe this is a good thing that I got stuck behind slow and slower. And then the cop whips around in the median and pulls over the guy that I had just passed. If he would have been 2 minutes faster I would have received a nice Independence Day ticket. And yes, I slowed down after that.

I pull into 409 , that's where our barbecue, and I get ambushed in my car with water balloons. The girls didn't realize the point of water balloons is to get people, not their cars, wet. Silly girls. We ate, talked and threw water balloons at more people. Then we waited FOREVER for Jake to get there to go get our spots for fireworks. We changed our location for firework watching three times but finally ended up at East Hall (the same spot we went to watch the sun rise a week or so ago).

We hang out and watch the fireworks and listen to the music that people were playing there. Then most of our group left and Ben, Anja, Katie and I stuck around because there were still fireworks going off along the horizon. We enjoyed watching the crazy people up there. One guy was lighting fire crackers and throwing them, and he had one go off in his hand. Another guy was twirling fire sticks (which was rather amazing and he didn't do anything stupid). And one guy who seriously does have mental issues came up with bottle rockets and was lighting them off in his hand and letting them go, well for those of you who don't know, bottle rockets backfire. These ones happened to backfire right into the crowd. Ah, crazies. Then he tried lighting a mortar but it didn't go off. So he left. Then he came back with more bottle rockets but was throwing them off the hill this time, worked better. Less scary. Then he decided to light another mortar. And he doesn't have a tube. So this blew up all over the crowd, luckily we were sitting at the opposite end of the steps. But that was about the end of our time at East Hall. As Anja put it "the longer we stay here the closer we get to death."

On our way back Katie was telling us that Burger King now has veggie burgers. So we decided to go to BK. Then we went back to 409 and ate them outside and Krissi and Tony joined us. We were watching the stars and eating and we got the brilliant idea to go to the park and lay out and watch the stars. Krissi, Tony, Katie and I went then Jake joined us later. Krissi and Tony left and the three of us laid out and watched them until like 4. Then we came back to my place and went to bed. What a long and exciting day to come back home!

Here are the pictures:

Day 104:
all of the people that I went to East Hall with.

Day 104:
the ice rescue outfit.

♥ Sara

There are so many excellent Independece Day quotes out there, but after the night we had I found this one to be most appropriate:

"A statistician made a few calculations and discovered that since the birth of our nation more lives had been lost in celebrating independence than in winning it."
-Curtis Billings

Firefighter.

I am combining two days into one post because, quite frankly, nothing too exciting happened on either day. And I was rather busy so I know this won't actually get posted til the 5th but I want to get it started today.

Thursday I had to be in Petoskey by 8 am to go to the doctor's office. Ugh. I certainly didn't miss everything being an hour from the house. Anyhow, the doctors. I didn't find out anything (duh.) but she has some ideas and she sent me for blood work. They took a TON of blood from me and sent me on my way. I went to Wal-Mart to get some stuff that my parents needed at the house, then I stopped at Big Apple Bagel for two reasons. 1) I was starving and it was after noon by this point. And 2) BAB reminds me of home.

I got home and Dad and I worked on cleaning out the basement bedroom. We stopped for dinner, then went back to the cleaning. There was so much stuff in that bedroom (as those of you who have read the blog from the beginning know from this post.) We finally gave up around 10 and I was in bed by 1030. I was so tired!

Here are the pictures:

Day 102:
my mom's flowers.

Day 102:
I was in bed, ready to sleep when I realized that I forgot to take my picture of the day. It was a close one.

Yesterday I didn't get up until 10. That's right eleven and a half hours sleep for me! YES! As I was sitting in my chair waking up (I totally could have stayed in bed but I wanted to finish cleaning that room and get it painted before I went back home.) my mom announces she has to go back to the hospital. Well I figured we were just dropping her off and she was going to be admitted (because she had just gotten off the phone with her doctor.) so I went with her and dad. Well I figured wrong. She had to go through the ER. We were there until 330. I was starving! So we went out to eat. At lunch, I brought up firefighting with Dad. I have been thinking about it for a while and since I am moving up there now, I decided that I should talk to him about the possibility of me joining the department. He thought it was a great idea, so I am joining and I will be starting my fire school in late fall. I'm so excited about it. After lunch, Dad and I went and got the paint to paint my room. By the time we got home it was almost 6. We finished cleaning out the basement room, then I started painting it.

I was determined to get the first coat on at least. So with some helpful distractions (phone calls) from the four most important people in my life (aside from my parents) I painted. And painted. And painted. I got all of the walls done with their first coat and about 1/5 of the ceiling done when I called it a night at 3 am. I was so exhausted.

See I told you those two days weren't all that interesting!

Here are the pictures:

Day 103:
the walls that I was painting.
yeah I know it's not a good picture, but seriously, it was the only one I took! oops.

Day 103:
painting. I love that hat.

♥ Sara

"I have no ambition in this world but one, and that is to be a fireman. The position may, in the eyes of some, appear to be a lowly one; but we who know the work which the fireman has to do believe that his is a noble calling. Our proudest moment is to save lives."
-Edward F. Croker

Talk.

Yesterday I spent the morning with Justin, told Dave goodbye and left 409 for home. I needed to get home and get my stuff packed up because Justin was going to stop by after class to help me change my headlight and then we were both headed to our parents' houses.

Well I got home, showered and when I got out of the shower Katie called to see if it would be ok if she came over to talk to me about the stuff that had went down the night before. I said yes, and knew that no matter how angry/upset I was she wasn't going to get the majority of my anger. But I told her that it might not be a good idea because I was pissed. She wasn't scared of me and came over anyhow. I let her explain her side of the story first and the fact that she started out with "we were wrong" really made being mad at her hard. But we discussed what happened, the situation, and how I felt about it. And we are ok. =) Thank goodness, I would be lost without her.

She helped me get my stuff packed up and ready to put in the car. Then my neighbor Mike came and harassed her for a bit. They get into arguements about everything, mainly SNL. And we packed up my car. While Mike was there harassing Katie and getting caught up on my life, Justin came. Mike left because he knew I had to get going and Katie left because she is still a little scared of Justin. lol.

Justin helped me change my headlight. (I read the book and handed him stuff and he did the work.) In the rain. (I told you he's a keeper.) And then we said a long goodbye and he helped me get the last of my stuff into the car. He complains about his drive home which is an hour and a half long. Wait til he comes to visit me! lol.

I got home and didn't do much of anything, I was so tired. And I had a doctors appointment early the next morning so I turned in early.

Pictures:

Day 101:
berries from grandpa.

Day 101:
another car picture, sorry Mom.

♥ Sara

"You can always tell a real friend: when you've made a fool of yourself he doesn't feel you've done a permanent job."
-Laurence J. Peter

Late Post.

I know this is late posting, but I needed some time to cool off, otherwise the entire blog would have been bitching people out.

Day before yesterday I spent all of the morning sleeping. Then I spent my afternoon with Justin. We ate breakfast and watched Identity. And that's about it. He left to go play tennis with Dave and I was going to work on packing up some more stuff. I don't think I actually got anything done. I moped around the house and killed some time online. Then Katie called and asked if I had went to the store yet and I hadn't. So I got ready and she came and picked me up to go with her.

After shopping we went back to 409 and put our groceries away. I went upstairs to see if the boys were ready, of course they weren't so I went back to 4 to wait for them. Then Dave, Katie, Ben, Justin and I went to the Roadhouse to kick-off Dave's going away party. The Roadhouse was a blast. We picked up Marc and the new roommate Dan there. Unfortunately, that's where the fun ended.

When we got back to 409 I went into 4 and hung out for a bit waiting for the girls, then the guys came down to get us so I went up. Well I'm not going to spend a page bitching about how awful the night was, but Dave's going away party involved Justin and I (and the new roommate Dan, who didn't seem to know when things weren't going well and he wasn't welcome) hanging out with Dave and everyone else locked in 4. Needless to say I wasn't happy, initially because I thought I was singled out, but then because they upset Dave. I don't think I have been that angry with a group of people since high school, and my best girl friend was part of it. We made the best of the night to the best of our ability, which wasn't very good. Then we went to bed early. I'm seriously debating whether I want to have my going away party or not. I don't want mine to end like Dave's and I know I can see the people I really want to see without having a party. Remember a few days ago when I said that I have never been close friends with girls? This is why. Close girl friends in high school used to pull this shit all the time, and most of the time it wasn't even on me. I think I get more pissed off about actions toward others than I do about actions toward me.

It was day 100 for my pictures, and I had an amazing idea for it. But since there weren't any people there (Justin and Dave couldn't do it alone), I couldn't do it. =( So my day 100 picture is nothing like I wanted. (I took it late, because we kept thinking they would change their ways.)

But here they are:

Day 100:
the ingredients necessary for powersphere (but you need more than one beer).

Day 100:
in the boys' kitchen.
and I love that hat.

♥ Sara
"I've had a wonderful evening - but this wasn't it."
-Groucho Marx

Emotions.

Yesterday, wow I have major mixed feelings about yesterday. It started out with me waking up and being overly anxious. I was thinking about not feeling well and my doctors appointment coming up, the job situation (or lack there of), the living situation (and uncertainty) and I just had the feeling that I am in my last days in Kalamazoo. I was anxious to the point of tears and had I not been with Justin most likely a full on anxiety attack. But he consoled me told me it would be ok, that we would be ok, that the doctor would figure it out, etc. Well on my way home to take care of Bridget I called my dad. We had the discussion about me moving out and decided that it would be Monday July 13th. This was an awful discussion, I think I kept my tears in most of the time, but I know once I hung up the phone I was a sobbing mess. Then I sent out an email to all of my friends in Kalamazoo that I thought might be available and willing to come help me move out that day. Then I sent Katie a message to call me when she got up, I needed company and I knew she would be there for me. She asked me to call Dave for her and tell her we wouldn't be disc golfing today. So I did and he asked me if I wanted more help and I told him he was more than welcome to join as long as he doesn't mind my crying. While waiting for them I looked at the pictures from the day before and sobbed. Ugh, yes I am admitting that I have been an emotional mess. I'm not usually and I rarely admit it, but this has been bad.

Anyways, so Katie came over and we got some boxes up here and went through my cupboards and she took home some food stuff that I won't be using in the next two weeks and don't want to haul home. I found some crazy stuff in those cupboards, like a can of cream of broccoli soup that is old as dirt and sounded like it was full of water. Crazy. Justin called and said he was on his way over to spend time with me and help me pack. He was here for an hour or so, did my dishes for me (I know, he's a keeper.) and hung with Katie and I while I went through stuff and she planned my going away party. Then she had to take off to get to work and Dave came shortly after that. He provided some comedic relief then decided he should go pack his own stuff up. (He is going to Austria for six weeks, leaving Saturday.) So he left and Justin and I packed up some more stuff. We have six boxes packed, taped and labeled and two or three more started. Decent for only one day and the amount of breaks we took.

We decided we needed a break and went to Coldstone and got some ice cream. It was great. Then he had to run to Walgreens so I called Dennis since I haven't talked to him in a while and I needed to tell him about me moving and all that fun stuff. Then we went back to the 409 because Justin needed some stuff and I needed to get the ice packs for my hip. We hung out there for a bit talking to the roommates in 4 and 5.

We came back to my place with all intentions of watching a movie before our before midnigt bedtime, but decided that neither of us would make it through the movie without falling asleep. So we edited some pictures and I blogged and we just talked about random stuff. We made it to bed before our bedtime. We were both so exhausted, having an emotional day takes so much out of me, much more than a day filled with physical activity. Oh well.

I am so happy Justin was here with me and helped me out so much. Really I couldn't have asked him to be any better about it. He's amazingly good at dealing with me crying. (He's far better at dealing with it than I am.) And he kept me on track with packing even though it is the last thing in the world either of us want to happen. Plus, we all know ice cream when I am upset is the way to my heart. (Well he didn't know that, but it's true.)

Here are the pictures:

Day 99:
Justin's face when he saw the date on the can.

Day 99:
he was making funny faces, sometimes I wonder about him. lol.

♥ Sara

"How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard."
-From the movie Annie

Bangs.

Yesterday Katie and I woke up in Sterling Heights. We got our showers and Dan cooked us breakfast. Yes, those of you related to me, you can pick your jaws up off the floor. =) After breakfast we headed back to Kalamazoo. The traffic was awful, then we almost ran out of gas, and for what seemed to be the first time ever Katie was genuinely pissed off at me. It was rather scary, but she is over it now. =)

When we got back we went disc golfing with Carolyn and Dave. Katie and I both really suck at it, but it's still fun. I quit around hole 10 because my hip was hurting too bad so I just walked the course with them. After disc golf, we went back to 409 to drop Katie off and so Carolyn could buy a plane ticket. As we were leaving to go to Qudoba for dinner, Krissi pulled in so she went with us.

After dinner I decided to make my hair presentable for the first time in like a month. And I realized my bangs were super long. So I asked Krissi if she felt brave enough to cut them for me, and surprisingly she said yes! I was so nervous, I get nervous trusting my hair stylist with my bangs, but I can't cut in a straight line so I can't do it myself. She did an awesome job on them! Justin got home shortly after that and came downstairs to see me, then Katie got home from church and we all went up to the guys apartment to hang out. More powersphere was played and just general fun was had. Ooh and we ordered Menna's at 2 am. And the delivery guy was a guy I used to hang out with a lot like 2 years ago, but haven't seen him since then, craziness.

Anyhow, here are the pictures:

Day 98:
only Justin would stop mid party and solve a rubiks cube.

Day 98:
i don't remember the last time my hair was all down.

♥ Sara

"Once I completed the Cube and demonstrated it to my students, I realized it was nearly impossible to put down."
-Erno Rubik