Nothing.

Tuesday. Well, Tuesday we did nothing. I'm seriously not exaggerating. Justin and I were lazy all day long. We thoroughly enjoyed being able to just relax together after the craziness that the previous week had been. We slept in, played some video games, watched a movie, didn't really DO anything.

I did make dinner, but that's it. A while after dinner, Justin, Dad and I watched a movie and had some ice cream then we went to bed.

I know the last couple blog posts have been incredibly boring, but that's the way life was. And I honestly can't tell you how much I enjoyed doing nothing.

Here are the pictures:

Day 156:

my ice cream and the movie.

Day 156:

fresh out of the shower at like 9 pm.

♥ Sara

Random Fact of the Day:

There are more collect calls on Father's Day than any other day of the year.

"Gravitation is not responsible for people falling in love."

-Albert Einstein

Indian River.

Monday we slept in again. When we got up we got ready (showered and packed our stuff) to go to my parents' house then we had lunch and left. Our trip was rather uneventful, thankfully! When we got to my parents' we hung out downstairs and played with the cats for a bit. I miss them so much when I am gone. Then we had dinner.

When we were done with dinner, I opened my new gear that had arrived while I was gone. I was so excited. So, of course, I tried it on. And took pictures in it! Justin and I had a mini photo-shoot with me in the gear and not in the gear. After that we went inside and played some Jeopardy and just relaxed. Then we went to bed.

Pictures:

Day 155:

a flower in the front yard.

Day 155:

me in my bunker pants.

&hearts Sara

Random Facts of the Day:

Some ribbon worms will eat themselves if they can't find any food.

"A good snapshot stops a moment from running away."

-Eudora Welty

Fairy Circle.

Sunday we were still in Grand Haven. We slept in. Then we ate lunch. After lunch we watched a movie and just hung out for a while. Justin's parents got home and we hung out with them for a bit, then I took a shower and got ready for the day (finally). Shortly after I got ready we had dinner. Lisa came over and had dinner and hung out with us for a while.

After dinner we went to Coldstone and got some ice cream. It was amazing, well for me it was. Justin's throat hurt too bad so he couldn't eat all of his and Lisa was too full to eat all of hers. Go me for being the piggy in the group. :P

When we were done with ice cream Lisa dropped us off a the house and we went to bed.

For some reason I feel like I am missing stuff, but I can't think of anything. Justin, if you do, tell me! :)

Pictures:

Day 154:

Justin's parents' front yard and the fairy circle in it.

Day 154:

on the porch.

♥ Sara

Random Fact of the Day:

The name of all the continents end with the same letter that they start with.

"Some people go to priests; others to poetry; I to my friends."
-Virginia Woolf

Hiding.

Saturday (August 22) I woke up to my favorite girl coming to tell me goodbye. She had to leave for work so I wouldn't have the opportunity to see her before I left. When she left for work Justin and I got up. I went downstairs to get my shower and get ready for the day. While I was down there I saw Melman (the giraffe) sitting out. Justin had a genius idea of a place to hide him, so I grabbed him and the hiding place and sprinted back upstairs to Justin so he could put his plan in action while I got my shower.

After my shower we hid Melman, packed our stuff and went to take care of my car. I had to sign the title over to the auto place that was buying it for scrap. Once the car was taken care of Justin and I went to visit Katie at work and get some lunch. She works at Big Boy and threatened to hate us forever if we came into her work. Turns out she was hoping we would show up and loves us after all. So we enjoyed our lunch and enjoyed bugging our waitress. Then we headed to Grand Haven.

When we get to GH we went to Justin's grandpa's house for a family get together. We stayed there for a bit before heading back to Justin's house. We hung out at his house for a bit waiting for Lisa (Justin's best friend) to call. When she called we went out to Applebee's with her, then back to his place to hang out. I really enjoy hanging out with her and getting to know her better.

She left to go home to bed and Justin and I watched a movie. When our movie was over we went to bed.

Here are the pictures:

Day 153:

Justin and Melman.

Day 153:

♥

♥ Sara

Random Fact of the Day:

Dolphins sleep with one eye open.

"Are we not like two volumes of one book?"

-Marceline Desbordes-Valmore

Loss.

I had made plans on Friday to go to lunch with the Katie and Krissi before I left. Dad was supposed to pick me up between one and two. But since Justin couldn't go on his trip we called Dad and told him he didn't have to come and that Justin would bring me home eventually. So, we got up and got ready for lunch. Since Justin was still there he went to lunch with us as did Dave and Dan.

The six of us went to Big Apple Bagel and had an amazing lunch. Oh and the food was good too. I absolutely love those people. We do such crazy and silly things when we are together. For example, we played MASH while at lunch. (Ya know, like you did in Elementary or Middle School). But, alas, all good things must come to an end. Krissi had to go home to her parents' house and the rest of us went back to the 409.

Justin was feeling shitty so he went to bed immediatly. I wanted a nap but he was breathing weird and I was worried about him so I stayed up and did random things waiting for him to wake up/making sure he stayed breathing. While he was sleeping I set up somewhere for my car to go and figured out all that stuff. When he woke up we ate dinner and then we both went back to sleep. We didn't actually get up until like 8ish. I know, we were crazy-lazy, but we deserved it after the crazy couple days we had before that.

I had a rough evening. I was exhausted, having a hard time handling everything and extremely bothered by the fact that I had lost one of my best friends. It had been over a week since I had last spoken to him and hadn't heard anything. Justin and I had a long talk about everything that was bothering me while on a walk.

Then we went back to the 409 and Katie, Dan and Andy were watching 101 Dalmations in the living room, but we weren't interested so we hung out with Dave and Blake in Justin and Dave's room and played stupid games.

After the movie was done I went down to Katie's and talked with her for a bit before going to bed.

Here are the pictures:

Day 152:

the tennis balls we were playing with.

Day 152:

so exhausted.

♥ Sara

Random Fact of the Day:

Women blink nearly twice as much as men.

"Sorrow you can hold, however desolating, if nobody speaks to you. If they speak, you break down."

-Bede Jarrett

Hospital.

Thursday, Justin and I slept in. Once we finally found the motivation to get out of bed, we got shower and started getting ready to go to the movie. Justin wasn't feeling good and was whining about his throat hurting. Well, he's been sick three times already in our relationship so that wasn't really shocking to me. But I was still slightly concerned. We were shooting for the movie at 2, but I wasn't ready. So we decided to wait til 4. The apartment cleaners came and I finished getting ready. When the cleaners left, we left for the movie.

We went to see District 9, I would definitely recommend it. I enjoyed it, the weapons in it were amazing. And there was a good story to it. (Typically people don't agree with my movie recommendations because I don't need a good story to be satisfied. There are multiple things that can make me happy with a movie, weapons, blood and speed are three of them. So a testosterone packed movie with little to no story will make me happy, and I've discovered most of my friends disagree.) But, I stop digressing. . . . District 9 = great.

After the movie we went to Meijer and picked up some stuff Justin needed for his trip as well as some groceries I needed/wanted. When we got home from Meijer, Dave was back! Dave has been in Austria for six weeks so we were excited to see him. (For those of you who don't know, he is Justin's roommate.)

So we spent the night hanging out with Dave and the rest the people in the 409. Justin went to bed at like 10 because he was feeling like shit and had to be up at 545 to leave for his whitewater rafting trip. I was going to go to bed with him, but he convinced me to stay up. (I'm happy now he did.) We hung out and talked for the evening and then people started dropping like flies. Dan went to bed. Then Dave and Katie, so I decided I would as well. Justin and I had bought ice cream earlier in the day to have together that night. So I went in to wake him up for ice cream (he wouldn't be mad at that, I promise). I grabbed his hand and it felt like I grabbed a pan on the stove. It was so hot! So I felt his forehead and he was hot there as well. He blamed it on the fact that I was outside, so I put his hand on my stomach (which is always on fire) and it burned there too. So I told him to zip it and got him a cold wet washcloth for his head and went in search of a thermometer. Krissi had one.

I took Justin's temperature and it was 103.2. So I told him he was going to the hospital. He argued with me, so I called my mom and went and told Blake and Krissi. All three of them agreed with me. So Blake drove the three of us (Justin, Krissi and I) to the hospital. We enjoyed discussing the fact that we were at the hospital. All summer long I was waiting for a hospital trip, ever since Marc hit me in the face with a stick when I would have been the only one sober to drive to the hospital had he poked my eye out. Well finally Dr. Hurt (yes, that was really his name) came in and took one look at Justin and said "Well, you have strep throat, Chief." Of course, Blake had a smartass comeback for that.

The nurse came in and gave Justin his first dose of antibiotics but we had to wait 10-15 minutes to make sure he wasn't allergic. Once we knew what it was we had even more fun with the fact that we were in the hospital. We took pain scale pictures. Told stories about the last time we were each in the hospital. Each stole a glove for a souvenir. When we were finally released we went to Walgreens to fill Justin's prescription. While we were in there Justin and I discussed his trip. He was supposed to be leaving in like three hours. So he decided he probably shouldn't go. As upset I was for him that he couldn't go I was happy he made that decision. I was so worried he would go and get worse.

When we got back to the 409 we almost had to make a run back to the hospital! I accidentally shut Krissi's hand in the door when I got out. :( I felt so bad, but she's ok, no worries. When we got back to Justin's apartment, we finally ate our ice cream. Then we went to bed. Exhausted.

Photos:

Day 151:

our souvenirs (Justin's bracelet and my glove)

Day 151:

at the hospital.

♥ Sara

Random Fact of the Day:

111,111,111 x 111,111,111 = 12,345,678,987,654,321

"If I had my way I'd make health catching instead of disease."

-Robert Ingersoll

Car Accident.

Wednesday was the beginning of my rough days. Well, see, we had decided that our lives were rather boring and wanted crazy shit to happen to us. Not really, not at all actually. But it seemed to be that way over the next few days.

We got up, got ready and packed our stuff up. My gear came, but it was all the wrong colors, so the only things I can keep are my hood and bag. After I tried that stuff on we headed toward Kalamazoo. On the way down I worked on my blog and uploading pictures. We stopped at Justin's parents' house to get some stuff he needed for his whitewater rafting trip. We ended up staying for dinner and spending some time with them. Then we headed on to Kalamazoo. After leaving his parents' house, we weren't even out of Grand Haven when I had to pee, but it wasn't bad enough that I wanted to stop. I just wanted to get back to Kalamazoo and spend some time with the girls. (This is important, kinda.) Around Grand Rapids we noticed we had less than a quarter of tank of gas and Justin said we could stop, get gas and I could pee, but nope, I decided not to.

So we continue on to Kalamazoo. I worked on my blog and/or played Peggle the majority of the way. Well we made it to Kalamazoo, on the road to the 409, when all of a sudden Justin yells something (I don't even remember what) and *CRASH*. We slammed into the back passenger's side of a van. The air bags went off and broke my windshield. But it didn't close my lap top that was on my lap. I was covered in glass, but aside from that there was nothing wrong with either of us. Oh and do you have any idea how bad it smells when airbags go off?AWFUL.

I immediately called my parents, Justin had already called 911. Of course, it was raining as well, so not only were we wet, but it definitely made my urge to pee even worse. Mind you this we a good hour and a half since I decided I had to pee. Ok, continuing. While waiting for the cops to come we talked to the guy that lived across the street, he brought us an umbrella, nice neighborhood. Then I called my other love to come help us. She came and picked up my stuff, turns out there was so much crap in my car that we couldn't fit in the car once we put my stuff in it. While she was there a fire truck, two ambulances, two tow trucks, two cops, and seven personal vehicles of emergancy responders came. One of the kids in the other car said their jaw hurt. Yes, all that for a sore jaw. I found it to be rather ridiculous. So anyhow, they all left, we talked to the cop. The dumb lady in the other car was at fault, obviously, and got a ticket, thankfully.

My car was totaled, and we had to have it towed. Katie took all my shit. And Ben, Krissi and Blake came to pick Justin and I up. When we got back to the 409 I finally got to pee (nearly 4 hours later!). Then we moved all my stuff from Katie's car to Justin's car. Then Katie, Justin and I hung out for the night. Oh and we gave her the present we bought her. Toilet Seat Covers. lol. She hates public bathrooms and is crazy about it so we thought we would help her out.

For pictures of the accident see facebook. Here are the pictures of the day:

Day 150:

my gear bag.

Day 150:

so happy I don't have a car.

♥ Sara

Random Fact of the Day:

Owls are the only birds who can see the color blue.

“There is no such thing as accident; it is fate misnamed.”

-Napolean Bonaparte

Photoshoot.

Tuesday, Justin and I got up and went upstairs and ate breakfast. But we were both so tired so we decided to go back downstairs and relax for a while. Well that turned into us sleeping most of the day. I think it was like 3 or 4 when we finally got up. I took a shower and got ready to take some pictures and we took the camera outside. Once we were out there Justin decided that he didn't look good enough to be in pictures and took my camera from me. So we pretty much had a Sara photoshoot. (For some of the pictures see facebook.)

After that we uploaded some pictures to facebook and just hung out. When my parents got home, Dad went with us down to the fire station. He taught me how to run the air station (maintenance that needs to be done once a week). Then I showed Justin the trucks/got a quiz on what was where in them. Dad made me annouce what was behind each door before opening it.

When we were done at the station we went back to my parents' house and picked up Mom then we went to Big Boy for dinner. I was dying for chocolate and/or ice cream so I could get my wish there. After dinner we went back home and Justin and I did some laundry and played Jeopardy until we decided to go to bed.

Day 149:

Justin through the thermo-camera (Dad if I spelled that wrong tell me)

Day 149:

me.

♥ Sara

Random Fact of the Day:

A house in Baghdad worth $15,000 before the Iraq war now sells for $120,000 to $150,000.

"The camera can photograph thought."

-Dirk Bogarde

Searching.

Monday Justin and I got up and had breakfast at camp. It was rather cold, so we decided not to stick around camp too long. After breakfast we packed up our tent and other stuff and headed to my parents' house.

When we got back we talked to my mom for a bit then we went to my room and spent some time with our computers. lol. We are both internet addicts. Then we decided that we were going to play some video games. So we went looking for them. See, I'm still living out of boxes, so when I want something it's a rather ridiculous ordeal to find it. We looked through all the boxes (or so we thought) and decided they must be in Gaylord, so we drove there. Went through all the boxes. No video games. No DVD player. UGH! So we got groceries and Chinese for dinner and came back and had dinner with my parents.

After dinner we tore apart all the boxes and found the games. By this time we had decided to clean my computer up so it would work right. So we went looking for my flashdrive so I could make sure I wouldn't lose my pictures. We couldn't find it so we went to Cheboygan and bought one. I backed up all my stuff and Justin cleaned up my computer. While he was doing that I played Peggle and fell asleep waiting. He woke me up and reminded me to take my photo of the day. I literally took 4 pictures. Two of me, and two others. None were spectacular, but I'll post my faves, lol. Then we went to bed for real.

Day 148:

sam.

Day 148:

me sleeping. lol.

♥ Sara

Random Fact of the Day:

Crayons were invented in New York in 1903.

"Never mind searching for who you are. Search for the person you aspire to be."
-Robert Brault

Ice Cream.

Sunday Justin and I got up and made breakfast over the fire. Bacon and eggs. Yum. Then we laid out in the sun until we got hot and went swimming. After swimming we sat around camp and played cards for a few hours. Then my neighbors had a cookout (which we knew was going to happen and they told us we could stick around), so we left.

We got back to my parents' place and showered. Then I made dinner with a little help from Justin. We ate with my parents and decided to watch Taken. Well about a half hour into the movie Dad and I got called out for a line down. We took off to take care of that. Turned out to be nothing so we were only there a short while before heading back to the station. We spent a bit of time there talking to the other guys who had responded to the call. Then we went back home. When we got there the movie was just ending. And Justin and I needed to leave shortly. So I got ready and we took off.

We went out to the bowling alley. It was a lot of fun. We played six games and I think I won two. I get excited when I win any because I'm not very good at bowling at all. On our way out of town we stopped to get milk for my parents and got ice cream for us as a late night snack.

We dropped the milk off at my parents' house and went back to our campsite. We ate ice cream and sat up and talked for a bit before hitting the hay.

Photos:

Day 147:

breakfast. yum.

Day 147:

in the tent.

♥ Sara

Random Fact of the Day:

Men get hiccups more often than women.

"Ice cream is happiness condensed."

-Jessi Lane Adams

Camping.

Saturday we got up at my parents' house and showered and packed the car for camping. We took the tent down off the trampoline, loaded wood in the truck, ran to the store to get ice and headed to Jerry's. We camped on my neighbor's lakefront property. (For a pictoral description of where we were, see facebook in the next day or so.) No one else was down there, just the two of us. He has a pavillion that he built there with a fire pit for cooking and a well for a cooler/refridgerator.

So, we put up our tent and unpacked the car. Once that was done we ate lunch. By this time we decided it was too freaking hot and that we needed to go swimming, so we did. Around the time that we were done swimming our neighbors and her daughter had shown up for a cookout. So I called my parents and told them to come join us, that Justin and I had plenty of food. We ate dinner together then Justin and I went off on a photography adventure (for the pictures see facebook, again). After we got back everyone went home, aside from us obviously.

We built a fire and played cards.While we were cooking marshmallows Ben was texting me about going to the bar. Well, it was like 10 and the two of us were ready to do something more exciting than watch the fire, so we decided to go. But before we could leave I decided to burn my hand. lol. Not really decided to, just wasn't paying full attention because I was texting, my hot marshmallow fork slipped from my hand and I didn't want it to hit Justin so I caught it.

So we went into the bar. But on the way we stopped at Glen's to get something for my hand. Do you know they now make Neosporin + Pain Relief? OMG. It is amazing. We stayed at the bar for a couple of hours and decided it was time to go to bed. So we went back to the tent and stayed the night. The chances of rain were slim to none so we left the rainflap off, which was awesome because we could see the stars from our bed. :)

Pictures anyone?:

Day 146:

Justin on the dock as the sun was setting.

Day 146:

laying on the dock.

♥ Sara

Random Fact of the Day:

Most boat owners name their boats. The most popular boat name requested is Obsession.

"I got into an argument with a girlfriend inside of a tent. That's a bad place for an argument, because then I tried to walk out and slammed the flap. How are you supposed to express your anger in this situation? Zipper it up really quick?"
-Mitch Hedberg

Painting: Done.

Friday. Wow, Friday was a much better day. lol. I got up and started working on my room right away. I finished my fourth wall. Once it was dry I moved the furniture that is in the room already to it's correct position. Then I started working on cleaning up my mess from painting and general mess in my bedroom. Once that was done I made No-Bakes. I had promised Justin them, plus they sounded damn good to me as well.

Once that was taken care of I got a shower and called Justin and Katie to see where they were. They had gotten stuck in traffic in Grand Rapids and were going to be a while. So I ate a bit and watched some Cash Cab with Mom. Then I picked up some more of my stuff in the house and by the time I was done with that Justin called to say they were getting close to Houghton Lake.

So I left to go meet them! We met in Houghton Lake and stood and talked for a while. Justin was going home with me but Katie was not so I wanted to get a chance to talk to her for a bit. After we were done talking Justin and I headed home. We made a stop in Gaylord and got the groceries and miscellaneous "stuff" we needed for our camping trip. And we got dinner as well.

When we got to my parents' house it was raining and so we decided to delay our camping trip by one day and ate dinner with my parents then just hung out for the night.

Here are the photos:

Day 145:

the fourth wall. inspired by Katie.

Day 145:

in front of the finished wall! :)

♥ Sara

Random Fact of the Day:

Bats always turn left when exiting a cave.

"The obvious and fair solution to the housework problem is to let men do the housework for, say, the next six thousand years, to even things up. The trouble is that men, over the years, have developed an inflated notion of the importance of everything they do, so that before long they would turn housework into just as much of a charade as business is now. They would hire secretaries and buy computers and fly off to housework conferences in Bermuda, but they'd never clean anything."
-Dave Barry

Too Late.

Thursday was just an awful day for me. There was only one thing that actually went wrong, but it's not something I feel comfortable putting on here as it involves another person who I know wouldn't want it on here. I will say that I think I may have lost one of my best friends. (And as you can see I'm writing this almost a week later and still haven't heard from him, so I'm having a rough time handling that.) But back to my day.

I got up and got ready to go to town as I needed some stuff to make dinner, a clothesline, and some stuff for painting. I had to wait for mom to get ready because she needed to go in and pick up her car. While I was waiting, Grandpa dropped off Jeremiah, so we took him to town with us. I dropped Mom and Jeremiah off at the car place. They went home and I went to the store.

When I got home I strung the clothesline and hung up the clothes. I don't mind hanging clothes but by the time I got around to doing it there were three loads waiting for me! Once the clothes were on the line I started dinner. I made a veggie pizza and pistachio salad. While I was working on that was my day went to hell. I have edited and re-edited this post in an attempt to try to decide what I want to say and how I want to word it. No I'm not going into details, no I'm not mentioning names. But I am going to say a few things about it.

1. If someone tells you they are interested in a relationship with you and you tell her that you aren't interested and don't see yourself being interested, tell her to move on, and can list off a good 10 excuses as to why. Don't expect said person to wait around for your dumb ass forever.

2. When said person gets into a relationship and it is obvious that she is head over heels for her significant other, now is not the time to tell her you want to be with her.

3. Once she tells you she doesn't want any more than a friendship with you, don't keep bringing it up. Your excuses are no longer necessary. They just don't matter anymore, your time has passed. You are too late. Beating a dead horse will do nothing but piss her off.

4. Saying "I don't want to ruin our friendship but. . . " simply means that you don't want to lose that person as a friend yet you want to make things completely impossible for her. Sorry, but you can't have your cake and eat it too.

5. If you really have feelings for said person you would respect her wishes and be happy that she is happy rather than continuing to beat said dead horse. Oh and saying that you don't want to cause problems, and that you are happy she is happy, yet continuing to do what you have been doing doesn't make it all better. And I've always said actions speak louder than words, or in this case the most words win.

6. It's hard to believe you really have feelings for someone when you don't care to learn anything about what is going on in her life. Referring to her significant other as "the boyfriend" only, just pisses her off. She has a boyfriend yes, but he has a name, use it now and then. And finding out a little bit about the guy might be a good idea if you want her to think that you are actually interested in her life.

Ah, can you tell I'm irritated? Mind you I am writing this 6 days later and I have even more to say than I said here, but this is plenty. Oh well, there's nothing more that I am willing to do, so I guess what's done is done and life will go on. Oh, and you know who you are. . . I hope you read this, since my thought and feelings don't seem to actually matter to you. And I can honestly say that because all I have heard for the past three weeks plus is what you think, what you thought, why you did what you did, why you are doing this to me now, etc. You know little to nothing about what has happened in my life in the last month or so. It would be nice if you at least pretended to care.

In many ways I hope we move past this and can be friends again, but I don't see that happening due to what you have put me through in the past three weeks. And in some ways I don't want it to happen because I don't want to subject myself to this continual emotional rollercoaster with you. There is no chance I would give up Justin for the world, but having you bring this up repeatedly does upset me. It's unnecessary drama and I have had it. Plus, I'm not convinced this isn't simply an "I want what I can't have" issue. Oh and don't worry, very few people would be able to figure out who you are.

After dinner was done we ate, and I went back to work on my fourth wall. I got most of it done, needing just one more coat on part of it. And I talked to Justin. :) You have no idea how necessary that was after the evening I had. His reassurance calmed me down. I talked to him and worked on my walls until I went to bed.

Here are the pictures:

Day 144:

my underwear were hanging out for the world to see so I figured I would put it on here for the world to REALLY see. haha.

Day 144:

outside.

♥ Sara

Random Fact of the Day:

Banging your head against a wall uses 150 calories an hour.

"One day you are going to wake up and realize how much you truly love her and when that day comes you will be too late, she will be waking up next to the guy who already knows. . . ."

-Author Unknown

(I know, I hate anonymous quotes, but this one couldn't be more perfect.)

Fair.

Wednesday I slept in. I was so tired from the past few days of not sleeping much. Then I hung out upstairs with my parents for a bit. I started my laundry so I would have the clothes I wanted for the fair done. Well, much to my surprise the dryer crapped out on me. Ahh! So I worked on my room some more. Then I had to start the search for some clean clothes. No worries, I found some.

So, I got my shower and got ready to go to the fair. Dad and I went down to the station and got the truck and headed to Cheboygan. We were part of some open exhibit. All but one or two of the fire departments in Cheboygan County brought trucks and were represented there. Really, all I did was follow Dad around and talk to other firefighters. For a while I felt really out of place. No one knew who I was, but thankfully Dad started introducing me to people. When doing firefighting stuff I am obviously a woman in a man's world and I stick out like a sore thumb. Luckily I haven't caught any shit for it yet. I'm sure I will, and I will be ready for it when it happens. Overall, it was an enjoyable day. I showed a couple kids the trucks, but nothing too exciting there.

After the fair we went back to the station and put the truck away and then went home. I did a bit of painting, then I went out and watched the stars for a bit. But it was cold and I couldn't see much because I had forgotten to put my glasses in so I went back inside. I talked to Justin for a bit and worked on my room a bit more then I went to bed.

Here are the pictures:

Day 143:

Dad on the way to the fair.

Day 143:

me on the way to the fair.

♥ Sara

Random Fact of the Day:

If you have three quarters, four dimes, and four pennies, you have $1.19. You also have the largest amount of money in coins without being able to make change for a dollar.

"My theory is that men are no more liberated than women."

-Indira Gandhi

Meteor Shower.

Tuesday I slept until just after eleven. Thank goodness! Since I didn't go to bed until well after 5, sleeping until 11 wasn't exactly getting a whole lot of sleep, but enough to function, which was all I needed. When I woke up I went upstairs and Dad told me he was going to the fire station to wash trucks for the fair and do some other stuff he needed to do down there. So he asked me if I wanted to go along. I told him absolutely!

So we went down and I washed the tanker (the truck that we had decided to take to the fair). When I was done washing it I washed the Chief's truck to suck up. (Or because he gave me a dirty look when I said no, lol.) When I was done washing and drying the trucks I swept out the foam truck bay and sprayed for bugs. I think that's all I did, maybe. I don't really remember, maybe I did some other odds and ends.

When we were done at the station, we went back home and I did a little bit of work on my fourth wall. Then I took a shower and went outside to watch the meteor shower. I was lucky enough to watch it with my favorite people (Katie, Krissi and Justin) on the phone. I was lying in my parents' front yard and they were lying in the park in Kalamazoo watching it. But it was still fun being able to talk to them. :)

Once I had to pee, I gave up on the meteor shower. I was talking to Justin on the phone and Katie online and I decided to make a grilled cheese, which I burned to a crisp. (You can, or will soon be able to, see a picture of it on facebook. Justin requested I take a picture.) Then I made a good one, ate it and went to bed.

Here are the pictures:

Day 142:

the clean truck. (look at the reflections!!)

Day 142:

fresh out of the shower.

♥ Sara

Random Fact of the Day:

There are more chickens than people in the world.

"Oft in the tranquil hour of night,
When stars illume the sky,
I gaze upon each orb of light,
And wish that thou wert by."
-George Linley

First Fire.

Monday I got up and started working on this. I had so much catching up to do.(And I do again, you will see why as I catch you up on my life!) I spent most of the morning and part of the afternoon writing blogs and uploading pictures to facebook. After I was content with what I accomplished I decided to work on my bedroom.

I got the third wall completed! :) I just had to put on the second coat on some of the circles and a third on a few others. FYI: Painting with red paint SUCKS! When the third wall was complete I had Dad help me move the furniture around so I could start the fourth wall. I drew the beginning of the design, and then decided I wanted a break.

I ate dinner with mom and dad and then spent some more time working on pictures and the blog. Mom and Dad went to bed. I was talking to Justin when our fire monitor went off that Dad needed to call Forest-Waverly's Chief. Turns out they had a fire and wanted our foam truck for some assistance. So I went with Dad. Luckily this one wasn't a super emergency so I sent J-love a message and told him I was on my way to a fire and that I loved him and would talk to him later, took my paint pants off and threw jeans on, and found a shirt to put on.

So, Dad, Randy and I went to the fire. It was dump that was caught on fire. They had plastic/fiberglass pallets that just wouldn't go out. I'll be honest, I didn't do a whole lot, but then again I don't even have gear yet! But it was an interesting experience. I got out of the truck and I'm pretty sure I became the focus instead of the fire. There were probably ten guys under the age of thirty that spent more time looking at or talking about me than they did doing anything productive. Yet none of them said a word to me, it was rather irritating (and I know, I could have talked to them. . .). I guess they talked to Randy and Dad about me. Randy told them that I was "Sir-Master-Chief's daughter" and to "not even think about it." I did learn a bit more about the foam truck. I turned some valves and held a flashlight and even drug a bit of hose. But nothing too interesting.

After we cleared the scene we went to Onaway and filled our truck (the fire was out that way) at a hydrant. It was kinda funny because we don't have hydrants anywhere near us, so I got an experience out of the night that Randy said he hadn't had in the six or seven years he has been on the department. lol.

Once we were filled up we were heading back for our station when Randy decided he needed to stop and go pee. So we stopped at FW's station so he could go. Well Dad and him went to the back of the station and I stayed out in the truck bays. While I was standing there looking at their trucks and gear and totally in my own world (after all none of the boys had had enough balls to talk to me up to that point I figured none of them would now) one of the guys said "bet you are ready to get back to bed." (It was nearly 3 am by this point.) And I told him no, I hadn't made it to bed yet and wasn't tired yet, but that it would be much quicker getting there if I didn't have two girls with me. And surprisingly half the guys in the bay burst out laughing. It made me feel more comfortable.

When the guys were comfortable again we went back to our station. We had to fill out some paperwork and then we came home and went to bed. Well, dad came home and went to bed. I was far too awake to go to sleep. I got back on my computer and saw that Justin seemed irritated that I left so quickly so I sent him a (rather long) facebook wall post explaining my night. Turns out he thought I ran off to a bonfire. Silly boy. Oh well, he said he will understand what "imgoingtoafireloveyoubye" means from now on. I've grown up with dad being a firefighter and running off all the time for fires so I didn't even think about it like that, mom had to explain it to me Tuesday when I was saying that I didn't understand why Justin seemed upset. lol.

Oh well, I finally made it to bed sometime between 4:30 and 5.

Here are the pictures:

Day 141:

the view from my parents' front yard.

Day 141:

in front of my parents' house.

♥ Sara
Random Fact of the Day:
Donald Duck comics were banned in Finland because he doesn't wear pants.

"I wanted a perfect ending. Now I've learned, the hard way, that some poems don't rhyme, and some stories don't have a clear beginning, middle, and end. Life is about not knowing, having to change, taking the moment and making the best of it, without knowing what's going to happen next. Delicious Ambiguity."
-Gilda Radner

CPR Training.

Sunday I got up and said goodbye to my love. I hate leaving. HATE HATE HATE it. But I had to make the 4.5 hour trip back to my parents' house in time for the fire meeting. My first official day as a fire fighter! The meeting was actually our annual CPR and First Aid training. Now, had I not been attending said trainings for the past probably five or more years, this may have been intimidating. But I know all the guys and have been around the station my entire life. So, I did the training, and passed. Once again I would have been nervous prior to the training and grateful post-training had I not already done it so many times.

After the training was over Dad and I talked to the guys for a while. Once they left Dad gave me yet another tour of the firetrucks and station. I think he forgets that I have been around it forever, but I will admit I haven't always paid close attention because I never really thought I would end up serving on the department. So I paid closer attention this time. Then Dad had me try on his gear so we could have something to use as a reference when ordering my gear. His, of course, was way too big for me, but we took pictures of it anyhow (see Facebook for said photos).

Once we were done at the hall we went back home and hung out there. By the time we got home it was dinner time. So we ate then I worked on uploading pictures and just really didn't do much. I finally took a shower at like 9ish. Then Ben texted me and asked what I was up to. We talked for a bit then decided to go bowling. I suck at bowling if you didn't know that, but I still thoroughly enjoy it. AND I did win one of the six or seven games we played! lol.

After bowling I went home and went to bed!

Here are the pictures:

Day 140:
a shot of the score of our last game. :)

Day 140:
in Dad's gear.

♥ Sara
Random Fact of the Day:
A shark can detect one part of blood in 100 million parts of water.

"Take some time to learn first aid and CPR. It saves lives, and it works."
-Bobby Sherman

Hodge-Podgian.

Saturday was supposed to be my last day in Kalamazoo. So we had decided we were going to IHOP for breakfast/lunch because I LOVE IHOP and we don't have one anywhere up here. We got up and got ready (we = Justin, Katie and I). While I was in the shower I came up with the genius idea of having a Hodge-Podgian meal for dinner before I left. So Katie and I were planning that menu while we got ready. We finally made it to IHOP at like 23o.

I really shouldn't allow those two in public. They got into a water wad (spit wads but using water instead of spit) fight in the restaurant. The food was delicious. I love their crepes. So much. After we got done eating we went to Meijer and got the stuff we needed for the Hodge-Podgian meal.

When we got home we all made our different dishes for dinner. I know you are thinking "what the hell is a Hodge-Podgian meal?" Well, see, it's a meal from the land of Hodge-Podgia. It follows no pattern and generally is made up of foods you wouldn't typically put together. While Justin and Katie were working on their stuff I snuck off and did a photoshoot for my picture of the day. Then Justin and I made cookies together. :)

After our cookies were done we packed up all my stuff, got most of it in the car. Just generally prepping me to leave. Then we had dinner. Katie made her salsa and a veggie pizza, Justin made cucumber dip and I made cookies. I really didn't want to go and we didn't eat dinner until like 830 because we were all so full from the other meal we ate. So I called my parents and talked to them and decided I would just stay the night so I wouldn't be driving home super late and after dark. We watched Finding Nemo and they argued about what order the Disney Pixar movies should be ranked (in order of greatness). Katie and I braided each other's hair while Justin was on the phone. Then we had a very long, very Hodge-Podgian conversation. After that was over, Katie went to bed and Justin and I finished packing my car so leaving in the morning wouldn't take long since I had to leave early.

Then we went to bed.

Want to see the pictures?:

Day 139:
the 409

Day 139:
me.

♥ Sara
Random Fact of the Day:
The first product to have a bar code was Wrigleys gum.

"Cookies are made of butter and love."
-Norwegian Proverb

Laughing.

Friday, seriously it took Justin and I forever to remember what we did Friday. Turns out that's because we did NOTHING. It was raining so we didn't really do anything. We hung out at the apartment and watched the end of the Bucket List. We played some Wii.

Then we watched Death Race. Katie couldn't resist it and came up and watched it with us. After the movie was over we just spent the evening together. Katie and Justin are complete and total dorks and really we did nothing interesting or exciting. Yet I spent most of the night laughing at the two of them.They had a ping pong fight (see second video), then they drew on each others toes (see third video), then Katie ate a raspberry fed to her by Justin's foot (see fourth video). Katie hates feet so this was rather interesting. If you actually watch all three of those videos please please comment. And if you do you will get a little glimpse into the absolutely pointless, stupid things we do together.

When they were done being idiots and we were done doing nothing really, we went to bed. End of story. :)

Here are the pictures:

Day 138:
nut thins are seriously my favorite crackers ever.

Day 138:

outside Justin's apartment.

Videos:

Number 1:
me solving the Rubik's cube.
not interesting, but requested.

Number 2:
the ping pong ball fight and Katie getting her chair tipped over.

Number 3:
drawing on each other's toes. or drawling if you are Katie.

Number 4:
Katie being fed a raspberry by Justin's foot. weirdos.

♥ Sara
Random Fact of the Day:
The average human eats 8 spiders in their lifetime at night.

"You can't deny laughter; when it comes, it plops down in your favorite chair and stays as long as it wants." -Stephen King, Hearts in Atlantis

Sick.

Thursday I was supposed to come back to my parents' but I woke up feeling like shit. Bad. I felt like dying would be the best option. So I decided there was no way I would be making that trip. Justin went to play tennis with Blake so I went down to the girls' and got a shower and got ready for going back to bed. lol. Katie went back upstairs with me and I worked on writing my blog and uploading pictures and she decided she wanted to learn the Rubik's cube. (*gasp! excitement!*) I got her started but Justin came home just in time to take over. I didn't feel up to teaching anyone anything and was having trouble even describing it to her. While they worked on the cube I worked on the blog and then laid down.

Krissi came up to see what we were doing for lunch. We had already decided that we were going to have Chinese and she was down for that as well. So we walked to Spice Rice (which Katie thought was a Mexican restaurant, lol) and got our food then went back to the 409 and had a picnic. We sat outside and talked for a bit. Then I went in and took a nap, and by a nap I mean five hours of sleep.

When I was done with my nap we decided to have a game night. Well Katie, Justin and I did. No one else was really interested. I ended up twisting Dan's arm and convincing him and his friend to play.

After the game we went to bed. I didn't really do much exciting Thursday since I felt like crud all day. Oh well.

Pictures:

Day 137:
Justin teaching Katie the cube.

Day 137:
in bed. yep this decribes how I felt pretty well except Justin made me smile.

♥ Sara
Random Fact of the Day:
A snail can have about 25,000 teeth.

"The power of love to change bodies is legendary, built into folklore, common sense, and everyday experience. Love moves the flesh, it pushes matter around.... Throughout history, "tender loving care" has uniformly been recognized as a valuable element in healing."
-Larry Dossey

Lazy Day.

Wednesday was a lazy day for us. I say us because Katie and Justin didn't do any more than I did. Justin went to class, but aside from that the three of us just sat around. We watched Boy in the Striped Pajamas with Krissi and Carolyn. If you haven't seen it I would totally recommend it, but warning it isn't the happiest of movies. Then again, you can tell that by the cover.

After the movie we went up stairs. We played some Wii. I worked on catching this up, I WILL get this all caught up soon, I promise!

We didn't even go to Wild Bull for Wild Bull Wednesdays! I know, please don't die of shock. None of us felt up to it, we were all so tired and just plain exhausted from the days before. Instead of going out we decided to have a movie night. We watched Changling. Another movie I would recommend if you haven't seen it before! After the movie we went to bed. I know, we were so lame, but we all need to be lame once in a while. And I can't think of any one else I would rather be lame with. lol.

Here are the pictures:

Day 137:
the lamp.

Day 137:

so tired, and lazy.

♥ Sara

Random Fact of the Day:

If you are right handed, you will tend to chew your food on your right side. If you are left handed, you will tend to chew your food on your left side.

"I like the word "idolance." It makes my laziness seem classy."
-Bern Williams

1000 Photos.

Tuesday, what can I say about Tuesday? It was the day of 1000 pictures. See, Justin told me he had a new card for me for my camera. He said that it would take over 1200 pictures without having to clean it off and I jokingly said that I could fill it in one day and he said that was nearly impossible. Well ya'll know that I would take that as a challenge so I decided that I would pick a day and take a minimum of 1000 pictures. Tuesday was that day. I bought extra batteries in preparation and when I woke up I grabbed my camera and started.

I took pictures of EVERYTHING. Justin and Katie and their rooms got it in the morning. Then we went to Krissi's work to pick her up for lunch. We went to Big Apple Bagel for lunch. Justin had to leave right after lunch for a and we went to Krissi's work for a tour.

After the tour, Katie and I went to East Campus. There were some amazing photo opportunities there including climbing on the building, the graffiti, the archives and just the building in general. Then we went downtown. Halfway through our downtown tour, my batteries died! So we went back to 409 only to find that the Justin's apartment was locked and my extra batteries were inside. AHH! Katie wanted to do her laundry so I left her at the apartment and went to Walgreens to grab camera batteries. Meanwhile I locked my car with my purse which contained my remote battery inside. Ah, so I had to run back in and grab another battery. Then I finished the downtown tour alone.

When I was satisfied with my downtown tour (putting me over 500 pictures) I went to Kalamazoo College and got some pictures on the campus. After that I came back to the apartment and ended up taking a 2 hour break to talk with Justin, which was ok because I was already ahead.

After my break, Katie and I went on a favorite places tour. I took pictures of Menna's, Sweetwaters, The Wild Bull, Wayside, Shakespeares and more. Then we had a railroad photo shoot. By the time we were done there Justin was done with his paper, so we picked him up. I wanted to go back to my old apartment for some pictures, so I did. My neighbors happened to be home so I got to visit with them for a while, which was nice.

Then we went to the cemetery for another photo shoot. Honestly, the cemetery pictures are my favorites! We finished at the cemetery then went to the park. The same park I always talk about. We had another photo shoot there. The fact that the two of them were such good sports about having their picture taken hundreds of times makes me love them even more. After the park we came back to the 409 and hung out for a bit.

Our friends Chris and Blake played at an open mic night at the Strutt so we went there to watch them. They did an amazing job. Then we came back to the 409 and played some games. Katie didn't have the best night and went to bed. I went for a walk down to the church and sat watching the moon and Justin joined me. That's where I finished my challenge. I actually ended up taking 1010 pictures! I am so happy I did it! Then we went to bed.

Here are the pictures:

Day 135:
I had to do a collage. I absolutely love these two to death, and I thought these pictures were great.
(I seriously recommend clicking on this picture to see it in large view so you can see the individual pictures in detail! :) )

Day 135:
at K College.

Bonus:
the 1000th picture!

♥ Sara
Random Fact of the Day:
Human thigh bones are stronger than concrete.

"A great photograph is a full expression of what one feels about what is being photographed in the deepest sense, and is, thereby, a true expression of what one feels about life in its entirety."
-Ansel Adams

"We are all a little weird and life's a little weird, and when we find someone whose weirdness is compatible with ours, we join up with them and fall in mutual weirdness and call it love. "
-Author Unknown

Picnic.

Monday (August 3) Justin had class so I got up and went to Katie's and got ready. We decided a picnic was necessary so we went to the store and got some stuff for said picnic. Unfortunately, when we got out of the store it was raining, so our picnic was moved inside. Krissi, Pat, Dan, Katie, Justin and I ate our picnic lunch in Justin's new room. It was before we put any furniture or anything in it so it was perfect for the picnic.

After the picnic, Krissi and Pat left and the rest of us moved all of Justin and Dave's stuff into their new room. I think we had a bit too much fun doing it at times (well at least Katie and I did). We may or may not have had a slacker photo shoot. And Katie played with Dave's stallion on a stick. Oh and we found Justin's raccoon vest, he could totally get on What Not To Wear with that vest alone. lol!!

Then Katie went to work and Justin and I just hung out at home. When Katie got home we had a game night with various people in the 409. Last Word is definitely a hit. Even those of us who suck at it have fun. Then again, we played until EVERYONE crossed the finished line.

When everyone went to bed Justin and I went to the park for some star gazing. I surprised him with some Cohen and Greenfield's Half Baked. We enjoyed our ice cream in the park along with some gorgeous stars.

Photos:

Day 134:
this is Justin's "my girlfriend rocks because she surprised me with ice cream" face

Day 134:
in front of Justin's new desk (aka my old desk).

♥ Sara
Random Fact of the Day:
Dentists have recommended that a toothbrush be kept at least 6 feet away from a toilet to avoid airborne particles resulting from the flush.

"Without ice cream, there would be darkness and chaos."
-Don Kardong

Last Word.

Sunday (August 2) Justin and I got up and had breakfast. Then we went to the beach. His grandpa lives on Lake Michigan so we had our own private area, his cousin and his girlfriend went with us. The weather was perfect and we had so much fun playing in the water. The best part was when Justin realized I had the Rubik's cube in my bag. I'm pretty sure I surpassed him in cube nerdiness when I did that.

After the beach we went to Toys R Us so we could get cubes. Justin didn't actually have his own, he was using Blake's so we were both in need of them. And yes I said in need. We found them there and I also got a new board game. I was rather excited to try the new game out! :)

When we got back to his parents' house we hung out with them and his aunt. They are rather entertaining and a lot of fun. When his cousin and girlfriend got back we had dinner. It was another all new experience for me, we grilled out, but not like I had ever grilled out before. It was rather interesting, and the food was delicious. Oh and we had cow tongue, which was also a new experience for me. Surprisingly, it was pretty good. I love the taste, but not the texture so much. Oh and I had tofu for the first time. Interesting.

After dinner we hung out with the family for a bit longer before heading back to Kalamazoo. When we got back here we had a game night with Katie, Krissi and Pat. Krissi and Pat went to bed before too late. But Katie, Justin and I played for a while. The new game, Last Word, is fun for sure and it is becoming a new favorite of ours.

Photos:

Day 133:
Justin with the cube on the beach.

Day 133:
at the beach.

♥ Sara
Random Fact of the Day:
Peanuts are one of the ingredients of dynamite.

"Red meat is not bad for you. Now blue-green meat, that’s bad for you!"
-Tommy Smothers

The Cube.

Saturday (August 1) Justin and I slept in. We were both so exhausted. When he went to shower I fell back asleep and slept for a nother hour or so. I hadn't been feeling well so the sleep was much needed and appreciated. We pretty much just bummed around his house for most of the afternoon. Then we went to his aunt's house to help her put a boat hoist thing in. Well I should say Justin and his dad helped her put a boat hoist thing in, I worked on my Rubik's cube skills. I solved it for the first time without help at her place. I learned it in less than 24 hours with many interruptions for dinner, going out, sleeping, showering, etc. I was rather impressed with myself.

After his aunt's house we went to the driving range. Justin and his dad hit a bucket of balls while I played with the cube some more. When they were done hitting golf balls, Justin and I went to the mall and got some golf stuff for him. Then we drove around looking for a cube for me, but do you think we could find one? Nope. I was so disappointed, but oh well.

When we got home his mom had made a fabulous dinner. I couldn't tell you what it was but it was amazing. After dinner we went downtown to the Coast Guard Festival again. The amount of people there was pure insanity. They had fireworks, which were amazing. It took us over a half hour just to get out of the parking lot that we had parked in. So crazy. Then we went back to Justin's parents' house and played Apples to Apples with his dad and his cousin's girlfriend. It was so much fun. Then we went to bed.

Here are the pictures:

Day 132:
the cube.

Day 132:
right after I solved it for the first time.

♥ Sara
Random Fact of the Day:
Like fingerprints, everyone's tongue print is different.

"The Cube can seem alive as it heats up in your hand. The fact that each face of the Cube is made of three layers of three blocks has an important meaning."
-Erno Rubik