Ho-Nasty is the Best Image.

Let me start by saying that my friends are so awesome!  They drove all night to see me.  Little Molly, way down south.  That would have been enough, but they brought all their awesomeness with them.  Their senses of humor, and attitude, and smiles, and hugs.  I miss that so much being so far away from them, and they brought that all down to me.  I am basically the luckiest girl alive.

I had two major goals for this week with my friends.  One, to finally get a picture with all of us in it.  And two, to watch the Lost finale.  We fulfilled both...Yay!  Here is proof of number one :)

Chad, Rachel, Me, Nic, and Hannah at Myrtle Beach!

Wednesday, we watched Lost and I took Nic, Chad, Hannah, and Rachel to meet my friends at the Lawson's.  It was nice to have most of my friends in the same room.  We also got to tour JD's helicopter and ask him questions about the Vietnam War and what he experienced.  It was an excellent way to spend the Fourth of July.

Thursday and Friday I worked during the day and so we just chilled at the house at night.  Thursday we went to see Brave.  It is SO good!  One of the best Pixar movies for sure, although Chad and Hannah beg to differ.  Friday, the guys went to a Magic tournament and Hannah, Rachel, and I had a girls night.  We went to Wal-Mart to pick up some things to paint our nails and make Pina Coladas and a "Rummermelon" (details to follow).  We had a blast.  We soaked our feet in lavender, put green mud on our faces, gave ourselves mani's and pedi's, and watched The Money Pit.  It gave us a chance to catch up with each other in a fun relaxing way...with no boys around.

Brave

I love this stuff!

Sitting on the tub drinking some pina coladas!

Odd faces :)

If you have never seen this movie, you should.

On Saturday we went to the beach.  Myrtle Beach, South Carolina to be exact.  It was wonderful.  I had been going through huge-natural-bodies-of-water withdrawal and it was nice to be back at something so powerful and huge as an ocean.  It could never compare to my dear Lake Michigan, but it was something. I got to experience the ocean with my buddies and this time I didn't have to go alone.  I feel like I do a lot of things alone these days, or I don't do them because I would have to do them alone.  I think that is a better way of putting it.  Anyway, we all got a little sunburned and tossed around by the waves.  It was good for my soul and I feel rejuvenated.  

Myrtle Beach

  Sunday we went to church and came home and had a cook out with corn on the cob (I can't get enough  of it these days) and had a  Lost marathon.  After more than two years I have finally seen the finale with the people I started watching the show with.  It was a fitting conclusion to our time together.  

LOST!

To sum up, I love these people.  I love that we can be apart for a year, go through major life events, and still come back to each other and know that we are still friends.  We might not talk as often or about the same topics as we used to, and we are definitely all a little different than we were at Judson, but that is okay.  These people love me for me and they do so even with all my flaws and quirks.  These are the people who are going to save up and buy a cabin on Lake Michigan with me so we can have an annual Balk, Griffis, Weber, Copeland family reunion.  These are the people that are praying for me and my life.  They brainstorm with me about my future spouse and they challenge me spiritually.  Our lives are intertwined and I believe they will continue to do so.  I am blessed to have friends like these.

Our future cabin :)

Glossary

Riniculous-  When something is beyond ridiculous.

Troptails-  Any alcoholic beverage that contains tropical fruit.

Rummermelon-  A watermelon that has been saturated in coconut rum.

Nothargic-  When a person is feeling both tired and nostalgic at the same time.

Yummy Baked Things.

These are a couple of things I have baked recently.  The first is Applesauce Bread.  I baked it in my pyrex (of course) bread pan and I think I ate all of it by myself!  The second is pie-in-a-jar.  I made them for a camping trip I took last weekend.  They turned out SO cute and delicious, especially after such a long hike!  Enjoy!

Before

After

Yummy!

Two Year Tribute to Europe!

May 5 will mark TWO YEARS since I ( and my class and two favorite profs.) went to Europe!  I can hardly believe it.  I keep rechecking the dates in my head, and it is correct.  How come time goes so much faster when you are an adult?  This trip represents the start of life as I know it now.  Life as an independent woman making her own way.  That might sound a bit dramatic, but you learn a lot about yourself when you are halfway across the world.  The people in this picture all helped me when I needed it, even if they didn't realize it.  They bought me gelato when I was sad, and they didn't get mad when I laughed about that pop bottle exploding on them because they knew I needed a good laugh, and they formed security triangles around me in Barcelona to make sure I wasn't kidnapped, and they explored with me, and ate unidentifiable meat chunks with me, and assured me that it was okay to laugh and cry and try new things, and gave me good advice on dealing with problems I was going to face once I got off that plane in Chicago.  They showed me that I really like the smell of pipes, they haggled with street vendors with me, they worshipped with me on the tops of mountains and in extremely old and awesome churches.  They drank wine with me and hugged forbidden columns with me.  They played Dutch Blitz with me while the sun set over Mt. Vesuvius, they gave me gift ideas for family members, they climbed more stairs than I can even remember with me (even though we all counted).  Most of all, they became my family.  

Pete, Pickett, Prof. Lindsey, Becca, Me, Hilary, Amelia, Dr. Amundson, Cody, Travis, Kyle, Josiah, Richard, Steve, Mike, Wyatt, Drew, Jon, Alex, and Roger on the roof of Gaudi's Casa Mila in sunny Spain!

Here are some of my favorite pictures from the trip with some of my favorite people!

The view from my balcony in Rome.  The hotel was attached to an old monastery.

The light cast from the oculus in the Pantheon.  Rome. 

A corinthian column capital at the Pantheon.  Rome.

My first gelato in the Piazza Navona.  Rome

My first Pizza.  Somewhere near the ATM we all used.  Rome.

Sant. Ivo by Francesco Borromini.  Rome.

Hilary at the Arch of Constantine.  Rome.

Hilary and me and the coliseum.  Rome.

The Coliseum.  Rome.

The guys (Jon, Steve, Drew, and Mike) at the Coliseum.  Rome.

A seagull in Trajan's Market.  Rome.

Becca and me being caryatids.  Trajan's Market.  Rome.

Josiah sitting on a ledge in Trajan's Market.  Rome.

Richard in Trajan's Market.  Rome.  Apparently I took a lot of pictures of people at Trajan's Market :)

The Ecstasy of St. Theresa by Bernini in Santa Maria della Vittoria.  Rome.

San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane.  Borromini.  Rome.

Twisty columns in the courtyard of the Basilica of San Paolo.  Rome

Interior view of the colonnades at St. Peter's.  Vatican City, Rome.

The Cupola of the dome at St. Peter's Basilica.  Vatican City, Rome.

St Peter's Basilica.  Vatican City, Rome.

Piazza del San Pietro.  Vatican City, Rome.

The Baldachin in St. Peter's Basilica.  Rome.

Me jumping in front of St. Peter's.  Rome.

Mike and Drew climbing the dome at St. Peter's Basilica.  Rome.

Exploring!  With Alex, Roger, Hilary, Pete, Becca, Me, and Pickett.  Rome.

Happy Mother's Day!  Many breasted siren.  Villa D'Este.  Tivoli

Me at the Villa D'Este.  Tivoli

Santa Maria del Fiore as seen from the Campanile.  Florence.

Detail of the cupola on the dome of the cathedral.  Florence

Best food of the trip!  Cody, Josiah, Amelia, Kyle, Me, and Hilary.  Florence.

Hilary working at the Piazza del Campo.  Sienna.

My shadow on some mosaics in Pompeii.

Richard, Justin, Cody, and Becca walking the ruins in Paestum.

Me, Cody, Justin, Richard, and Becca.  Paestum

Temple of Hera II.  Paestum.

Gotta love those columns!  I felt like a little kid climbing those stairs!  Paestum.

Justin and Cody hugging a column.  Paestum.

Super Richard!  Paestum.

Casa Mila.  Barcelona.

Santa Maria del Mar.  Barcelona.

Casa Mila.  Gaudi.  Barcelona

The German Pavilion.  Mies van der Rohe.  Barcelona

Montserrat

Hil and Me at Montserrat.

Steve at Montserrat.

Wyatt and Becca...before they were Wyatt and Becca (just barely though).  Montserrat.

Tapas!  Barcelona.

Palau de la Musica Catalana.  Barcelona.

Song of the Catalans.  Palau de la Musica Catalana.  Barcelona.

The Alhambra.  Granada

Tiles at the Alhambra.  Granada.

The Alhambra.  Granada.

The Alhambra.  Granada

The Alhambra.  Granada

The girls at our last group dinner.  Becca, Hilary, Dr. Amundson, Amelia, and Me.  Granada

The mosque at Cordoba