no boats in the desert

I like to ride in boats. Paddle boats, row boats, canoes, kayaks, sail boats, ferries. They're all exciting to me. Growing up in New Mexico I didn't get to ride on many boats. Some of my favorite boating memories, however, are from youth group trips in junior high and early high school to a lake. The couple who led our youth group at church had a lake house and a boat, so they would take us out there for the weekend. I distinctly remember how much I loved sitting at the front of the speed boat with the wind fluttering my eye lashes. We jumped off cliffs and swam, occasionally went water skiing, and flopped around on inner tubes shaped like rockets.

Ever since those trips I have missed riding on a speed boat. (I bet boats have better names and classifications that "speed boats" but I don't know what they are and I trust you get the picture.)

I went to college right next to the Puget Sound in Washington. For orientation all the freshmen had to go camping for two nights, and my special activity was sailing. Turns out that just meant some boy scouts sailed us around while all the girls stripped off their clothing as a last ditch effort to catch a tan before the ubiquitous Washington clouds settled in for the school year. I also went out in a row boat during orientation to catch crabs.

Judging by all the outdoor and boating activities experienced during orientation one would think I had an exciting four years ahead of me on the water. But alas.

Aside from the occasional ferry trip, I don't recall ever being on another boat while I was in the Pacific Northwest. (Wait, I think there were one or two canoe rides during church retreats.) I frequently took walks down by the water and I envied everyone I saw on a boat, whether it was a speed boat, sail boat, kayak, or whatever. I even loved hearing fog horns in the morning. I used to tell myself that I really needed to make friends with people who own boats. But it didn't happen.

Well this summer I think I have done pretty well when it comes to boats. I kayaked in the Chesapeake Bay, canoed down the Shenandoah River, and just yesterday sped down the Piankatank River to the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay. It was great. They all were.

I need to keep this up.

show and tell

Today there was a history lecture where I work, so Grandpa came to listen to it with me. Then I took him upstairs to see where the magic happens, or at least to see my big table and my many boxes of papers. He also got to meet my boss and the second-in-command lady. And after all that excitement he sat outside with me while we ate the brown bag lunches I had made. I'm pretty sure he just came and did all of that for me, and not because he was excited about the lecture or missing a real cooked meal at home followed by a nap by 12:30. But I'm sure glad he came.

weekend review: another short summer vacation

Thursday night: Drove to Delaware after work to visit Josh.

Friday: Drove to the beach, where we swam, relaxed, walked, ate, built a sand lobster, and got pummeled by scary waves. Only I was the only one pummeled. Drove to Bethany Beach for dinner with Josh's grandparents, then walked around and flew awesome dinosaur kites. Drove back to his house.

Saturday: Drove to Philadelphia for some exciting history attractions. Heard fifes and drums, visited the Ben Franklin museum and printing office, ate a delicious lunch, visited the Seaport Museum, saw the Liberty Bell, and visited Independence Hall. I understand much of it isn't authentic and it hasn't looked the same way inside since 1776 and it's all very touristy, but seeing Independence Hall sort of seemed like the cathedral of American history to me. However, I fear much of my love for it stems from 1776 the Musical rather than the actual events of declaring independence and signing the Constitution. Drove back to Josh's place and went out to eat for sushi, followed by ice cream.

Sunday: Slept until after 1pm, ate lunch, and finally drove back to Richmond (with a stop at Ikea, just for fun).

weekend review

Friday: Worked until 3, came home to take a nap, and went to a party at my cousin's apartment where I played poker with chips and everything for the first time. Home late.

Saturday: Slept in, then went to the Forest Hill farmers market with the grandparents before Mexican lunch. Came home to get some things done and then drove to Fredericksburg to hang out with the video store gang from Raleigh. Hung out, ate, and played games until super late.

Sunday: Lazed about and slept all day, then finally got up and went to a choir concert, followed by a milkshake. Now heading to bed soon.

Don't worry, it all worked out in the end.

Aunt Judy: Andi, for dinner would you please cook the fish in the fridge so Grandma has a good meal when she gets back into town.

Me: Ok, sure. Uh, how do I cook fish?

Aunt Judy: How do you usually cook fish?

Me: I don't. I cooked it once and I had to call Grandma to ask her how.

Amy got hitched.

And in her own word, "Wahoo!"

I'll start where I left off. Thursday Amy had to work half the day so I had breakfast with Katie and Andrew, and then we went for a walk around the university. After meeting back up with Amy all four of us headed to the Big Sky Brewery for free beer tastings, then I went with Amy to get her nails done.



After that her family started to arrive, so we went to the hotel where everyone would be staying and hung out with them at the hotel bar. Then we were hungry so we headed out to dinner, and after all the chatting and drink ordering and appetizer eating and dinner eating we finally left three hours later. Everyone was pretty tired so we just hung out at the hotel a little and went to bed.

Friday I went with Amy and another bridesmaid to meet the groom Andy at the Historical Museum at Fort Missoula for a Fourth of July pancake breakfast. We ate the last of the pancakes and bacon and visited the booth of the Montana Surveying Reenactment Corps where the men were dressed like the olden days and displayed old surveying tools. They had some old odometers for wagons, and guess who already knew about those? That's right, I did. From there we headed to Amy and Andy's new house so they could show it off to her family. She also showed off the mosaic I made her, which matches her blue house perfectly.



After hanging out at the hotel again it was time to head to the wedding rehearsal at the church. We bridesmaids made a stop for ice cream on the way. The rehearsal went fine, except that her mom couldn't figure out how the lighting of the unity candle was supposed to work, which became the running joke for the rest of the weekend. From the rehearsal everyone went to dinner, which was extra exciting for me because my friend (and sophomore roommate) Melissa met us there. We haven't seen her since Katie's wedding two years ago. The dinner was good and fun, and the fun only continued when everyone (guys, girls, family, etc.) all headed out to the bar. Finally poor Amy got tired and ready for bed, so we headed back to the hotel to sleep.


Here we have Katie, Me, Amy, and Melissa. I already miss those girls.

Saturday was the big day. I woke up a little earlier than planned and headed out for a walk to a couple of the Saturday markets downtown. Then we were supposed to start getting our hair and makeup done at 9:30. That went on for a few hours in our hotel suite, until we were finally all beautiful and ready to head to the church. There we got Amy into her dress and shoes and proceeded to wait longer than expected for the photographer to show up. Finally she did so we took lots of pictures (well, I didn't take any, but I was in several) before whisking Amy away so arriving guests wouldn't see her.

The ceremony was perfect. Everyone immediately became teary-eyed when Amy's dad led her down the aisle. I didn't forget Andy's ring. The unity candle part went smoothly. It was all very nice. Afterwards a Mustang convertible met them outside as we all blew bubbles and cheered loudly.

The reception was SO MUCH FUN. It was at a park next to the river, and there was good food, lots of local beer, and an amazingly fun band. Everyone danced the night away and had a great time.

As you can see I don't actually have any pictures of my own from the wedding or reception, so if I get those any time soon maybe I'll share them. But I will leave you with this photo of Andrew, because when it comes to Amy and Andy's wedding in Missoula, we all felt like this:

Look at me, actually posting.

Sorry I've become terrible at posting on this here blog. During the work weeks I can never think of anything to say but then I have exciting weekends and no time to post about them because I have to go to bed early to get ready for the work week. Vicious cycle.

For now let me tell you that I am back in Montana, for Amy's wedding. First I flew to Tacoma and stayed with my friends Katie and Andrew for a night. I got to visit the farm where Andrew works and Katie made homemade pizza and we took a walk in the nice neighborhood I used to walk in where you can see the water. It was great.

Yesterday the three of us made the drive here to Missoula, and boy is that a beautiful drive. Mountains and rivers and lakes and flat farmland and greens and yellows and browns and more greens. Very nice. Last night we had dinner with Amy and her soon-to-be husband Andy and we got to sit outside on the patio and drink delicious beer. Then we played shuffle board, which we used to play in Tacoma. Ah, the memories.

I guess I should clarify: Katie and Amy were my two best friends in college. The last time we were all together was two years ago for Katie's wedding. I told them last night that if someone else doesn't get married soon we'll have to make sure to plan somewhat regular trips so we can all hang out. Because I love those girls.

So there you have it. I'm on vacation, hanging out with great friends, in a great place. If I don't post more while I'm here I'll definitely have pictures and stories to post once I get back.