The Great B5 Reunion

I think Emily summed it all up the best Saturday night as we all stood around the campfire. "I guess I'll be the one to get a little sappy," she said, "even though I'm being anti-social right now, smoking over here away from you all." We all laughed. She continued with, "...But I'm really glad we did this." Wendy, Angie, Tauna, Staci and I, on the other side of the fire, chimed in in agreement.

"And you know how sometimes when you reunite with someone after a long time and it's weird and awkward and definitely not the same?" Emily continued. "Well, that hasn't happened here. I was genuinely interested in hearing what each of you are up to. I haven't just been asking these questions to be nice."

And again we agreed that we could almost walk back into our old apartment on Monday as though no time had passed. Last weekend was the first organized "reunion" we've had in three years, if you don't count Wendy's wedding last fall. We made a vow to not let three more years pass before we do this again.

What originally started as a plan to go visit Bill Huff in Boston, the trip was scaled down to camping in Clear Lake, Iowa. Much more affordable, much less time away from work, etc. Yes, we're getting old and responsibilities are increasing. But the simplicity of the weekend was its charm. It was good to be together on our little camp site, then on our little pontoon boat, and then huddled around the cooler... er, I mean, the fire, swapping stories and playing Apples to Apples. Our conversation carried the weight of three years' time: retirement plans, mortgages for some, weddings for others, student loans, politics, religion. There wasn't as much drinking as there would've been three years ago, and we all went to bed much earlier.

Yet the core of our friendship was still there, the history of two + years of cohabitation on a college campus. We are all really different, yet the bond of that B5 apartment has somehow managed to last in a way that many other relationships and experiences haven't. And it's odd, really, because we are so different. Staci was friends with me who was friends with Christina and Angie who were friends with Wendy who was friends with Emily and Tauna. And out of that, our quirky little entity, for lack of a better word, was born.

I wish I had some outrageous story from the weekend to share, but it was relatively drama-free: simple, relaxing, and, best of all, familiar.

Tauna and I aren't the best of swimmers.

Me and Angie.

Emily, Angie, Wendy, me, and Staci Mae in the (not very)Clear Lake.

These are the Days of My Life...

It's been awhile since I've written a real live actual post. There's a really good reason for that.

All eloquence aside, here's what I've been up to: At the end of June my parents and Nancy came to visit. Within one weekend we went to two art museums, an art fair, a play, a movie, and ate some cheesecake.

Then of course there was the 4th of July, which I spent in Lincoln with Jonelle. Lincoln has a very impressive fireworks show. Tim, Jonelle's fiance, performed with the Lincoln Symphony Orchestra, and it was all good summer fun.

Then Ann Pleiss Morris came to visit so we could have a theater weekend of sorts. We went to Shakespeare on the Green and had a picnic Friday night, went to Lincoln to see my favorite little-known musical The Last Five Years, ate some yummy ice cream, and talked a lot about twentysomething angst. She says that experts say that 27 is supposedly the year that you figure things out, and so far she says that's been true in her life. That's encouraging!

This past weekend, I was totally sunwhipped (Beth's word for being out in the heat too long) at the Luis Palau Heartland Festival down by the Qwest Center. But it was a refreshing kind of sunwhip. Though physically it was tiring, spiritually it was extremely invigorating. It was great to serve and to dance and to celebrate God's goodness with the crowds of thousands.

Annie, Tom, Jenn and me at the festival.

Natalie, Kevin and their dog Izzy came Saturday night for a quick visit. I really only got to spend time with them Monday night, but it was exciting because that afternoon Kevin found out he got accepted into medical school in Kirksville, Missouri. So we went to Cheeseburger in Paradise and toasted Kevin's success. I was excited that the timing allowed for us all to celebrate together.

And that pretty much brings us to today. I'm all packed and ready to join Staci Mae, Tauna, Angie, Wendy and Emily for our B5 camping trip in Clear Lake. I'm sure there will be all sorts of antics to share when I return. Let the games begin.

Get Smart!

Okay, I promise I'll actually write something soon instead of just posting videos, but I couldn't resist on this one. I'm so excited about this movie, even though it's a year away! Get Smart was my favorite Nick at Nite show growing up... And I think if anyone can do Max justice, Steve Carell can.

Spidermen At Jamba Juice On David Letterman

Following Tauna's lead, I thought I'd experiment with putting a YouTube clip on my blog. Above is a clip to the funniest part of my week, a Letterman rerun on which they played "How Many Guys in Spiderman Suits Can We Fit in a Jamba Juice?" I don't know why, but this cracks me up to no end. It's worth watching until the end. I laughed and laughed, both times I watched it- in May when it was first on and again this week. I love the Dave.