Long Overdue!!

Instead of making separate posts for all of the topics/pictures/events I want to write about, I figured I'd just do one big post. So here goes! Basically the last month in a "nutshell"!

Our friends Grant and Stacey (Grant went to ONU with Grant) were married in Columbus on July 11th, so we made the drive up there to celebrate with them! We got in late Friday night and met up with Grant's parents who drove down to spend some time with us for the next morning. We went to Max & Erma's for lunch on Saturday, then had to get back to the hotel to get ready for the wedding. Unfortunately, it was raining most of the day, but that didn't stop anyone from celebrating! They had a shuttle bus to take us from the hotel to the reception, where we had delicious food and fun times! Dustin & Dannielle (another one of Grant's ONU friends) shared the hotel room with us for the night. We took off Sunday morning to drive back to NC.

The guys didn't have class on Friday, July 24, so we decided to take off to Atlantic Beach in Morehead City with some friends. We had a good time playing football, splashing around, and making a sandcastle! Then a storm blew in and our beach umbrella was blowing down the beach. Thanks to Justin for his speedy skills catching it! Luckily, no one got hit!!

On Saturday, the 25th, I flew from Raleigh to Cincinnati for my friend Jenny's wedding. I went to undergrad at Miami with Jenny (which is also where she met Chad, her new husband!), so I was excited to catch up with old friends. My flight was an hour late arriving because a storm cell was right over Cinci. So, we circled in the air for an hour! Needless to say, it was so nice to finally land and get off the plane. Here is my rental car for the weekend:

They smashed cake!

I got to catch up with Amy!

Congratulations to the beautiful couple!!

FANTASTIC candy buffet!!! Loved it. :)

Always a good time catching up with these crazy girls!

Whew, that was July. I think I'll do another post for August. :)

Back in the O-H-I-O

...first let me just say that I can't believe I actually titled this post with something somewhat related to Ohio State University...gag. ;)

I thought I'd post a few thoughts and photos from my trip back "home" to Ohio. I left Wednesday June 24 around 10:45am and drove with Wizzo as my passenger straight through, arriving at my mom's around 11:00pm. Wizzo did really well in the car...he slept most of the time, and we only stopped a few times. It was interesting to see him interact with the cat...well, try anyway. She hissed and ran away, like the mean cat she is! I think Wizzo would have loved to just play with her!

Thursday morning I slept in and then hung out with Wizzo. I visited with my grandma that afternoon, and I think she enjoyed having Wizzo around. He loves ice cubes, and Grandma and Mom loved giving them to him so they could watch him play with them. Anyway, we tried to go for a walk that evening, but were rained out.

Friday I headed over to my Dad's to visit with him and Sheryl. Wizzo met Maddie, their 2 year old St. Bernard! Unfortunately, Maddie has bad hips and can't run around much, because Wizzo wanted her to chase him!! It was cute. They mostly just layed around in the shade since it was pretty warm. I left there and headed to Findlay to get my eyebrows waxed. Mom, Grandma, and I headed back into town Friday night to do some shopping at Kohl's, where I got my throw pillows and a couple other things, (oh how I miss that store!) and then picked up Bellacino's for dinner...yum!

Saturday morning, we got ready and headed up to Brighton, Michigan (Wizzo too!) for the Margraf family reunion, which is one of the reasons I made the trip back to Ohio. We got there around 12:30 or so, had lunch and hung out for a bit. My cousin Jodi hosted the reunion at her house, which is right on the river. It was such a cute place! It was good to see everyone, and I would have liked to stick around and take part in the water fun later that afternoon (Wizzo got to go out on a pontoon boat for a ride...he liked it!!), but I actually had plans to head over near Detroit for a wedding! My friend Anja, from grad school, was getting married about 45 minutes away, so I thought it was perfect to be able to go to both events. It was great to see some of my friends from grad school, whom I hadn't seen since my wedding in September and some since graduation in May 2008! The wedding was beautiful and I wish I could have stayed longer, but I couldn't! I headed back to the reunion so Mom, Grandma, my brother, and I could head back home that night. Wizzo was passed out when I got back...I think he had had a fun, but tiring, day! My cousin's daughter kept him busy, I'm sure.

Sunday, I met up with some of my girlfriends from high school at Panera (yum!). We didn't have a Panera in Mississippi and we don't have one here in North Carolina, so I was excited to get a cinnamon crunch bagel! It was fun to meet up with them and share stories and happenings in our lives. Hopefully we can all get together again sometime soon!

After we left, I headed over to the mall to look at a few things and then headed back home. I also made it over to visit with my grandpa and grandma at their house for a little while too. That evening, I stopped by Grant's parents' house to say hello and pick up a few things. I took Wizzo along too and ended up staying for dinner. Grant's sister, Karli, has a cat there, so he and Wizzo "met" through the screen door. This cat was nice and I think it would have been funny to watch them play together. They were both very inquisitive!

Monday morning I packed up, and Wizzo and I left around 10:30am. We didn't stop as often this time and made it back to North Carolina around 9:30-10:00pm.

It was really nice to be able to make the trip back home, especially since I hadn't been back or seen my family since Christmas time!! At the same time, though, it was weird being back "home." For the first time, I didn't really feel like I was home. My stuff was no longer there, and I was just "visiting." It is hard to explain, but I guess I just felt that now my home is with Grant in North Carolina. I'm sure I'll always refer to it as going back "home", but now it's different. I am glad to be back in North Carolina!

Happy Gradu-anniversary!

I graduated with my Masters degree a year ago today. Holy cow, I can't believe it's been a year already! Unfortunately I'm not exactly where I thought I might be at this point, but oh well. Congrats to my friends who have great jobs and are certified SLPs!!

Here are a few pictures from graduation and some memorable grad school moments!

Out to Celebrate! Last Week of School - Katie's Birthday! Last Week - Mud Hen's Game Steph's Bachelorette Party - November or December 2007 Geta's (secretary) Going Away Party - May 2007 4th of July Party - 2007 Beginning of Grad School - Fall 2006