cleaning up

I've been on this cleaning up kick for about a week now. I think it's b/c I'm about to move- probably into a small apartment, so I'm trying to get rid of A LOT of my stuff. Last week I gave away 5 trash bags of clothes. Today, I got to the hall closet- it hasn't been used in 4 years b/c we've been putting all of the stuff we don't know what to do with in that closet. Anyway, I found a huge box of my high school stuff. Some of it was hard to look at (pictures of me with blonde hair [ew], letters from family and from friends that aren't really around anymore), but most of it was fun to find. I found all of my elementary school yearbooks, my pointe shoes, and all of my middle and high school journals (there are like 10 of them).

richie's graduation

Richie graduated this weekend! so our whole family was in town and the house was PACKED. I'm really glad I got to see my family though. Central's graduation was kindof a shock to them though- I mean central has a little different culture to it than my family has ever seen. The only kids they know that go there are my brother and a few of his friends... not really a fair representation of the school. He's part of the school and all, but a small part of a huge collection of all types of people. Anyway, it's hard to explain, but in short- CHS was the best high school experience I could have asked for, graduation just freaked out my family a little.

We also finished painting our mural for the REEF. This picture is pretty much what it looks like finished. We had a lot of fun making it... s'mores, paint spills, and a performance by the backstreet boys. The people I work with are amazing. Everyone is crazy, but we like it that way.












Julie and Oscar's wedding was last night. It was beautiful and so great to see them finally married. It was so weird to have everyone together in the same place again and hanging out!

pirates vs. ninjas

So this is our summer staff! I mean, our job is really tough... we hang out with kids, eat, take naps, and do a few other random things.

Basically, we're amazing.

I think I'm going to learn a lot from these guys this summer. We're all really different, but definately bring a lot to the table. We've decided that any conflicts will be decided in mortal combat. This should be good because the girls have all chosen to be Pirates for the summer (b/c pirates are HOTT!) and the boys all chose to be ninjas (LAME).

We did Sunday school last weekend and ate lunch at Tatnall today, but other than that, we haven't really spent much time with the kids yet. Things will probably be a lot more interesting when that happens.

I'm Home

I'm finished with Athens. It's weird to say, but fun b/c I get to spend the summer at home at an awesome job and it's 2.5 months til Denver! I started interning at Martha Bowman with the children's ministry on tuesday. I'm working with four of the most fun new friends I could have asked for! We get to play a lot and hang out with kids. Our first project is to make the kids area look like an underwater coral reef, so today while the boys went to buy 200 hot dogs at the grocery store, the girls used a circular saw and drill to build part of the entrance. Tons of fun! Another plus of the summer is that I get to live at home and hang out with my family. Hannah (one of the girls I work with) is also living with us! It's so nice to have a job, but not be busy all the time and get to play so much... maybe a nice break before grad school starts.

my job

My new favorite website? www.wikihow.com
They have instructions for everything! I mean, yesterday I learned how to survive in a rap battle. There were lots of good tips so if I ever find myself in that situation, I think I could win.

Being a waitress has made me really thankful for a college degree. Most days aren't bad, they're good even. But seriously, I cut a million vegetables a day, walk about 4 miles around a restraunt, serve people everything they need, handle complaints, and leave smelling like cajun food. And usually I don't even mind because my job has given me something to do in the daytime this semester and most people are nice. Days like today make me 1) never want to be a waitress again and 2) make me ALWAYS want to tip well.

A lady came in with her 10ish year old daughter, bought an appetizer and two meals. Their bill came to about $25. And they left me an 84 cent tip. Really? 84 cents? Her daughter threw half of her food on the floor (that I have to clean up). I didn't do a bad job, I got everything they needed, their food came out fast and as ordered. It makes me feel like crap. Maybe the food was more expensive than expected, but the prices are on the menu and really, maybe if you can't afford to tip well, you can't really afford to be eating out anyway. It makes me wonder if people realize that Waiters make $2.15 an hour. Everything else comes from tips. So on days like today, I work for 4 hours leave with $15 and I'll get a check for $7 next friday. Total that's $4.50 an hour! Bottom line: make it easier for someone to pay their rent and tip well (and 10% is NOT a good tip).

lots and lots of change

So I'm moving, first to Macon for the summer and then to Denver in August and I want to keep up with everyone. Plus my friends are scattering- some to different countries- and I can't call them:( So here we are. I'm blogging. Weird.

The past few months have been such a transition time for me. Basically I know everything is about to be really different and I haven't known what to expect. A few things have come together and I AM EXCITED! but there is a lot that's still up in the air. For a long time, I felt like it was all floating around up there and I couldn't pull anything back to earth. So grad school is decided and summer plans are decided, but wow, those two decisions brought a lot more questions! I'm pretty much in a moving phase for three months starting next week. It feels strange to pack up my life in Athens- friends, stuff, favorite places. I get to spend a few months in Macon and spend time with friends and the kids at MB, but mostly I get to hang out with my family who I won't get to see much in the fall. So there's the intro. Enough catching up, moving on...