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.

Weekend Review

Friday: Worked all day at my internship, then dropped by to briefly visit Allison. Came home to hang out and ended up watching the Disney Channel's Camp Rock with Sunni, which was pretty much a new version of High School Musical. I'm glad I was available to let Sunni know how ridiculous the whole thing was.

Saturday: Helped Grandpa and Aunt Judy go pick up my new mattress and bring it home so I don't have a lumpy bed anymore. Went out for a Chinese food lunch, then spent a billion stressful hours shopping at art supply stores for my latest mosaic project. Came home to have Grandpa inspect what I'd bought, and promptly went with him to Home Depot to get wood that would last much longer than the stupid stuff I had picked up. I then tried to help Grandpa as he cut, sanded, and sealed the wood. Then I decided more of the stuff I'd bought earlier wouldn't work either, so returned it to the store. Spent the evening working on my resume.

Sunday: Up to start my mosaic, took a break for lunch, mosaiced (?) more, went to church, and came home for more mosaicing. Made lots of progress and finally getting to bed.

I never liked P.E.

My brother Ryan is four years younger than I am, so we went to the same school at the same time for only two years, during elementary school. One day I went to P.E. and apparently did something wrong that got me in trouble. I can't remember what exactly I did, which is too bad. What I do remember is the P.E. teacher telling me my little brother had been in P.E. earlier that day and had also gotten in trouble. Ryan getting in trouble was, of course, no surprise. What shocked me, however, was that the P.E. teacher said "hmm, must run in the family."

Now unfortunately this is a terrible retelling of the story because I don't remember what I did or what Ryan did, I just remember how insanely mad I was at that teacher. And I wasn't mad for comparing me to Ryan. It was the opposite. I think I believed that what I had done wasn't all that bad and assumed what Ryan had done must not have been all that bad either, and instead a deep family pride bubbled up in me. And I regretted that I was such a good kid and didn't have the guts to kick that lady in the shins.

I survived, but with a sunburn.

Last Thursday when I arrived at the rented house on the bay I immediately started looking around for snakes. I didn't see any, and no one else looked stressed, so I just tried to relax. But then I decided I needed to use the restroom after sitting in the car for four hours, and as soon as I'd entered the bathroom and closed the door I saw a snake. I screamed and did a half-running half-jumping dash down the hall warning everyone in the house that "seriously, there's a snake in the bathroom."

Only it turns out the snake was a rubber cobra. My cousin Jay didn't think I'd fall for a cobra with the flared neck, but if you think I stopped long enough to examine the darned thing you can think again. So they got me. And then I made sure to hide the snake so I wouldn't have to deal with replays all weekend.

I did, however, see a few real snakes out in the water the first evening I was there. I was cool with it until I thought Jay was going to pick one up. That was when I made a running beeline for the house. He didn't pick it up.

Other than the snake scares, the weekend was great. Friday we all played in the water and floated around. I floated for several hours after forgetting to put sunscreen on my "porcelain" white legs and now my knees are still pink. My nose has lots of freckles, too. Friday night we played games.

Saturday I rode Josh's bike and towed him around while he rode roller blades. Then we went kayaking.




























Josh and I had a kayak and my cousin Leslie had a kayak with her boyfriend Alex. I had a good time, except for the part where we were practically in a swamp and we came upon a floating dead raccoon. Leslie and Alex did not have as good of a time because they flipped their boat and when that happened Alex lost his glasses and remained blind for the rest of the weekend. Big bummer. Saturday night we had a seafood dinner on the patio of a restaurant by the water.

Sunday we had to leave the rental house and everyone else headed back to Richmond (needed to get back in time to get a new pair of glasses made), but Josh and I hung out in St. Michaels. We had a breakfast sandwich and coffee, walked around the shops, then ate dessert at noon. Next we visited the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum which was also hosting the 21st Annual Classic and Antique Boat Festival. The boats were fun to look at and the museum is fun. It has stuff to climb on and play with. Look, I caught an oyster!

























After the museum we stuffed ourselves on an all-you-can-eat blue crab dinner, and then we headed home.

Oh dear.

This weekend I'm headed to the Eastern Shore in Maryland to hang out at a house on the bay my aunt has rented. I was thinking it would be pretty fun. Hang out by the water, eat, nap, play around outside, play games inside, maybe ride a bike, maybe catch a crab. You know, an all-around good time.

However. My grandparents are currently at the house and I just heard the report that last night there was a SNAKE wrapped around the bed post next to my Grandma's head. A snake. On the bed. Inside the house. I am freaked out.

Remember a few weeks ago when I went to the mountains in North Carolina with my friend Elizabeth and we climbed around Chimney Rock Park? I spent about 45% of my walking time there looking for snakes. I tripped and almost fell down stairs because I was looking for snakes instead of looking where I was going on the side of a cliff. If I hear snakes are around me I can think of little else besides snakes.

That means this will be a long and red-eyed weekend as I sleep little but fear a lot. I'll be sure to update you when I return. That is, if I return...

The Weekend Review, comin' back atcha.

Friday: Worked at my internship. Normally I wouldn't work on Fridays but I'm already making up for the days I'll miss when I go back to Montana for Amy's wedding. After work I came home for Sunni's 11th birthday party. My favorite part was dancing the "Macarena" with all the kids- they were much better than I. After the party I hung out with the "big kids" (i.e. older cousins and their spouses/significant others) for a while, then watched Charlie Wilson's War with Aunt Judy.

Saturday: Slept in a little and went for a run. Ran a birthday present errand before going out for my cousin Jay's birthday lunch at the Richbrau Brewing Co. Came home and took a three hour nap, waking up just in time to watch the Belmont race with the grandparents. Went by the mall and picked up some pants I can wear to work, then came home to waste time on the internet and practice the ukulele.

Sunday: Set my alarm for 10 but woke up at 7:30. Read a little, and eventually went for a run. In the 90+ weather I need to run earlier. Enjoyed a delicious dinner with the grandparents and Uncle Richard. Went to church, helped go on a Rook cards hunt in Carytown, got milkshakes at Bev's, and came home to play Hearts (the game store was closed so we couldn't find Rook) with the grandparents and Uncle Richard. Now I'll be going to bed very soon.

Broadcasting from RVA...

I'm back in Richmond. And I've already been to work at my internship for three days. It's a little creepy how things haven't changed much over there. Same people in the same places, some of them working on the same projects (like me, working on a different section of the same project). I'm back to packing lunches and taking walks every day during my break. So far I have noticed only two differences. The first is that they moved me to the other side of the huge table, and another intern has my old spot. The second is that the construction work done at the Powhite toll plaza means I pretty much have to take my life in my hands every evening when I want to cross lots of lanes of traffic very quickly to get to the Chippenham exit. I guess that has nothing to do with where I'm working, but I'm using my return to the same commute as the connection. In case you missed it.

Empty. Well, almost.

I'm sitting on the floor because all of the furniture is out of my apartment. I still have to tackle my closet and bathroom, but other than that most things are outa here. And tomorrow I will say goodbye to my first solo apartment and to Raleigh as I head back to Richmond for the summer.

Big Sky Country

Growing up in the West I didn't appreciate it nearly enough. And now that I've been to Montana I heart the West even more.

First things first. My dear friend Amy from college is getting married in July. As the maid of honor I figured it would be a good idea to visit her and actually meet the lucky man before the big day. So that explains why I went to Missoula. It was great to see her and hang out, and as relationships like this usually go, it was just like old times and you wouldn't really guess we hadn't seen each other in almost two years.

I won't give you the play by play of my six days, just the highlights and some pictures.

I drank lots of delicious local beer. The Big Sky Brewing Company is in Missoula, so not only did we drink their beer in local restaurants, but we visited the brewery where they have free tasting. I also bought a Moose Drool pint glass.

We walked through three markets on Saturday morning, full of vegetables and crafts and flowers.

I looked around a lot just to enjoy the big sky and the surrounding mountains. One section of mountains reminded me of home.














Look at those mountains! Amazing.

Saturday night there was a surprise bridal shower, so I spent the day listening to Amy talk about what she wanted to do later that night- rent a movie? drink more beer? listen to music? She had no idea the "barbecue" we were scheduled to attend was really a party in her honor with chocolate fondue and a make-a-wedding-gown-out-of-toilet-paper activity.














There is a giant "M" on the side of the mountain next to the University of Montana, so we climbed up to that Sunday. We rewarded ourselves with ice cream when we got back down. (See the M?)


At the top!











Monday was my favorite. First we bought some buffalo jerky on the side of the road. Then we visited the National Bison Range and Wildlife Refuge, just like I had planned.













We drove slowly up a mountain and along a ridge and through a valley, constantly peering our eyes for exciting wildlife. We saw birds, and deer, and antelope, and squirrels, and even turtles. The best part, of course, was the bison. The herd was hanging out toward the end of the long loop, and they were super close and big and exciting.

















After the drive we stopped by a pond with loud birds and ate sandwiches at a picnic table. It had rained or drizzled the entire weekend I was there, but Monday we didn't get a drop of rain and it was relatively warm and I was so happy to be out in the sun in the mountains. Looking at real live buffalo.

Teaser

Keep your eyes on the tail.

I head off for Missoula tomorrow, so I'm using the ol' internet to quickly learn about the place and see what there is to do there. Other than hang out with Amy, of course. And you know what they have less than one hour away from Missoula? Can you guess?

The National Bison Range Wildlife Refuge! A whole range for bison! I'm already planning to talk Amy into taking me there. It sounds sweet.

Have you figured out by now that I like buffalo? (Bison is the correct term but nowadays they're pretty much interchangeable; and let's be honest, "buffalo" sounds awesomer. Yes, awesomer.) I have pictures of them hanging in my apartment and a buffalo-head magnet on my fridge. There's a little bison farm or something in Virginia off of highway 15 and when I told some friends I saw buffalo there they thought I was crazy and didn't know a buffalo from a fat horse. But I do. Also, there is this great little joint in Tacoma, Washington, that serves buffalo food- burgers, burritos, steaks, you name it. I miss that place.

Bison trivia: How do you know if a bison isn't feeling so amused and is about to charge? If its tale is sticking straight up. I'll look out for that.

Joke: What did the daddy buffalo say to his kid when he left for work? "Bison." Hahahaha.

The Change Train is coming through again...

I'm currently moping around my apartment attempting to organize things in preparation to move out. It's not very fun. I like my apartment. I don't want to take it apart. Right now I'm filling a large box with papers to take to the recycling center. I don't want to lug all these articles and things around that I read for classes, but I also worry I will wish I had them someday when I'm maybe back in school or remembering something pertinent to a project. You should have seen how nervous I was taking all my billions of colored tabs out of the thirty library books I returned after I finished my thesis. What if I work on this again? What if I've just lost a lot of information by tearing out the tabs? Honestly I probably won't look at any of this stuff again. But I like to be prepared.

So I'm going to get back to fretting over whether or not I should throw out the spiral notebook with notes I took from the classes I TA'd. Then maybe I'll move on to finally getting rid of a bunch of clothes I've moved around since college but never wear.

P.S. This cartoon accurately depicts every discussion I ever led in Harrelson Hall.

Do I see a fire? No, wrong again.

To celebrate the end of the semester Elizabeth and I headed west to Lake Lure for four nights. Our first night there we ate at a restaurant right by the lake and I pointed out some smoke to Elizabeth, thinking there was a fire. She looked where I pointed but then laughed. "That's not a fire, Andi. There's a reason these are called the Smokey Mountains." I felt sheepish.

Wednesday we visited the Biltmore in Asheville.

After touring the ginormous house we went to the farm and pet lambs and a calf and watched a blind chicken eat some egg yolk, which freaked me out. Then we visited the winery for a wine tasting. After leaving we headed toward Asheville and walked around a little before eating dinner and heading back to our condo at the lake.

Thursday it was cloudy and rainy all day, so we stayed in reading and napping. We were going to eat out but we realized we'd miss The Office, so we bought some groceries at the store and made dinner instead.

Friday we went to Chimney Rock Park and climbed a billion stairs and hiked all over the side of a mountain and saw some amazing views.

This was where Last of the Mohicans was filmed. Speaking of film sites, parts of Dirty Dancing were filmed at our resort. After leaving the park we headed back to the condo, where I took a nap. Then we went down to the lake and I wandered around while Elizabeth read. We ate dinner at another restaurant by the water but a cold front came through so I shivered through most of the meal since we were outside on the patio.

Today we checked out of the resort and went horseback riding. It was fun but not super exciting.

Once I went horseback riding in Red River, New Mexico, with my dad and brother, and our guide let us gallop and jump over rivers and do pretty much whatever we wanted, which was awesome. Now when I go on tours where the horses just follow each other and you don't have to do anything (they even park themselves back at the barn) I always feel disappointed. Anyway, after that we hopped in the car and drove back to Raleigh.

Now I have a few days to kill before I head off for another adventure in Missoula, Montana.

Graduation

Here I am, still wearing my cap, with Jenny and Elizabeth.


















And with Leslie and Alex.