To A land Far Far Away

The move is coming up quickly. It's really hard to believe that it's been seven months since I decided to move to Grand Rapids. I feel as if I've had no time to do anything and yet that it has all gotten done. I'm just packing up the last few boxes (I'm still dumbfounded at how much stuff I have!), saying goodbye to everyone, and trying to stay stress free! Everything is going pretty well and I truly am excited. But at the same time I'm scared. Mostly just of leaving what has been so familiar to me my whole life. But I know what is ahead of me is a wonderful experience. And for that I cannot wait! As of right now I don't have a computer so I most likely won't be blogging right away. Although I do plan on getting into the library soon after I arrive to check email and all those fun things. I'll try to keep everyone posted as much as I can!

Beach

Stephen and I finally made it down to the beach. It was only for an overnight stay but it was well worth it. Stephen's sister, Sarah (yes it does get confusing both having sisters named Sarah), and her boyfriend, Chris, invited us to stay at Chris's parents beach house. We eargerly accepted and went down on Wednesday night. We had a nice time playing games (we invented a great one which we played for hours), eating, and laughing alot. It was supposed to storm all day on Thursday but it turned out to be a beautiful day! I was so happy to just sit on the beach and stare at the ocean. We left around 5 and found a cute little diner that was straight out of a movie to eat at and got home with bad sunburn. Poor Stephen can barely walk. It was a good time though.

Brat Pack

I love music. I am a big fan of lyrics. It's usually what makes me love certain bands or certain songs. Every since I heard the song "Brat Pack" by The Rocket Summer I've been hooked. I guess it's about 4 years old now and I still listen to it and sing along with zeal. And altough I loved it from the start, only now does it really apply to my life. I just love when that happens. When there is a song that just encompasses so much of what you feel. It a song that talks about growing up and moving away and hating everything about where you live but never wanting to leave and loving everything about it all at the same time.

For about four years I’ve hated this town
Yeah, so much I just wanna get out
Since graduation was long ago
Please somebody get me out of this hole
Cause I don’t want to get stuck in here
When I am thirty-four just talkin' 'bout high school years
No I don’t wanna be there, and feel so stuck right here
Back and forth, side to side, oh my dear

My foot to the floor I will drive to the place
Where I can kick it with friends through the night
A place we'll talk about now and the past what the future holds
Hanging out with not much to do
Just aimless with each other - is what we do

...Cause' we were singing along to Peter Gabriel's "sledgehammer" song
You know it’s clear that tonight we belong in this place
So I step back to reflect in this town I hate
And at least just for a second I think I might stay...

Collecting

I love to collect things in my mind. Yes, that sounds completely crazy. But I really do it. When my sister first told me she was pregnant I told everyone with whom I was remotely acquainted and would listen. I heard alot of strange reactions. Some people were thrilled and some were confused as to why I was so excited. So I started "collecting" peoples reactions. Don't ask me why exactly. But I remember the one that was the strangest to me. I told this girl I knew who was about 21 at the time and after a slight pause she says "Oh. That's cute" Weird response. I also like peoples reactions to my moving to Michigan for Stephen. Most people at church look confused and afraid and ask, sometimes tactfully sometimes not, if we will be living together. I reply that we are not and they always look so relieved. I find it tremendously amusing. And, yes, I am completely crazy.

Summer of Alex Update

So my summer is about halfway over I guess and I feel pretty good about it. I haven't seen very many friends or done any late night coffee drinking yet but I know it'll come in time. So far I've been to see my sister, gone on a great road trip with friends, camped for a week, learned how to love a little better, watched SO many movies, and I am currently learning to play basketball (kinda). I have to say I'm really enjoying basketball! My friend Mitch has always wanted to be a NBA star, and since he played in high school he has some great pointers. Now anyone who knows me well knows that I am terrible at most sports but I really want to try something new and since I can walk down to the park where they have a nicely lit courts I can play whenever. So Stephen and I had our first lesson with Coach Mitch and he gave us some good tips. Stephen and I even played one on one the other day and it was a great work out! Although I know I'll never be a star I'm trying to expand the things that I do. That's what I've done so far and as far as what I still have/want to do seems overwhelming. I still have to pack, go on about four double dates, see a ton of people, go to the beach a few times, and so much more. But I do know that tomorrow night I'm going to see "The Dark Knight" with friends. I can't wait!

Cornerstone

I've been back from Illinois for a week now and had time to recover and think over everything that happened. I had a great time and came back feeling very edified and excited. Although the week ended well it started a little rough. We left on a rainy Sunday morning and the first thing was that we couldn't fit everything in the 3 vehicles which meant we had to leave behind the big fire pit, the boom box, and a cooler. I was most bummed about the boom box which meant very little music at the camp site for the week. Everyone else was upset about the fire pit cause you can't have fires on the ground at c-stone. But we took off and drove through the night with none of us really sleeping. I think I got about 5 minutes in about 36 hours. We arrived at about 5:30am and waited in a 2 mile long line until about 9am (the guys in the band got in early and set us the camp site!). Once at the site, which looked great thanks to our churches 10x20ft circus tent, I realized our roof rack had locked on itself. My dad instructed me to "jam something in there until it pops open", so I asked Scott, the bands drummer, to help me. He grabbed a pocket knife, bad idea, and jammed away. Then he sliced his finger open, almost passed out, had to be taken to the emergency room to get four stitches, and then play 3 shows that week. I'm not sure how he managed it but he did! It was such a bad way to start things off. The week only went up from there though. We enjoyed a slew of great bands, I heard a fantastic seminar on living in community, and just had some great laughs. Even though by the end of the week we were all more than happy to say good bye to one another I believe it was worth feeling completely wiped out for almost a week for it. I suggest going to Cornerstone with friends and enjoying the challenge of living among other people with no plumbing, canned food, and loud music. It really changed me.

Here are some pics. There is a great one of Scott's finger after about 4 days.

Here you go, Grandpa

One of my favorite beverages has to be Ale-8-One (A Late One). It is a delicious soda only sold in the Lexington, KY area and I always enjoy it while visiting Sarah and Alan. I remember after they had first moved down there to Kentucky I was in Nashville, TN for the summer and they came to visit me one weekend. And they brought my some Ale-8! I was very skeptical at first since I'm not a huge soda fan but after trying it I was hooked. It has a ginger ale type flavor but slightly more fruity and since it often comes in glass bottles (it's so old timey!) it isn't too fizzy. I would recommend trying it next time you are at the Wilmore IGA in Kentucky. At least that's where I always buy mine! :-p

Pictures

Here are pictures of Lucy (they are mixed in with older pics so go to page 3 for the most recent). I will post about Illinois soon. I feel a little out of it still as far as computers and phones go so bear with me.