Catching up is hard to do - Part 3
Posted by Gypsy on Aug 30, 2010
I had really hoped to keep this to two parts so I could get right to sharing about my trip to Japan, but it’s hard to cover six months in a few posts. However, I think I can finish the catch up with this post. Unfortunately, I have very few photos of the events that took place after I returned from The Bahamas, but I am getting better about remembering to bring my camera places. It’s high time I get back into keeping my writing and photography skills sharp as you never know when they will come in handy (that may or may not be a little foreshadowing *wink*).
After returning from The Bahamas, I chilled in Charleston a little longer before heading back up to Maryland. I had promised my mom I’d come home for Easter weekend and figured I’d spend some time with Kevin and Maria before hopping on a flight up to Rochester. Not too much exciting happened while I was home for the long weekend, and that was exactly what I was looking for. Most of the trip was spent hanging out with my parents or spending time with Jason and Amanda.
After enjoying the Easter holiday with my family, I flew back down to Maryland, where I relaxed a few more days before returning to Charleston. I’ve said many times before that Charleston is one of my favorite cities and somewhere I’ve always wanted to live. So I kept traveling back and forth while I wanted to hear from a potential job opportunity in the D.C. area. While back in Charleston I was informed I didn’t get the position. That, along with an offer from Joe and Nicole to let me stay with them while I searched for work, led to a final trip back up to D.C. to handle any loose ends before heading south. Nicole traveled up with me to help me take care of things and to join me (and some other friends) at a Q&A Kevin Smith was going to do in the city. Nicole and I also took some time to check out the Air and Space Museum (my favorite of all the Smithsonian Museums) and the National Zoo.
With bad weather rolling in, we ended up having to leave a day early, but it wasn’t so bad as it gave Nicole a day to relax before going back to work. Going with the theme of never actually staying in one place for very long, a few weeks later we ended up leaving Charleston again. This time it was all three of us and our destination was Asheville, North Carolina, a cute little city way up in the mountains where a locally owned book store was hosting a reading by Chuck Palahniuk, an author Joe and I both love. I honestly don’t know what was better: seeing Palahniuk read an original story and chat with the crown or explore the amazing little city. Had I discovered Asheville a decade ago, I would’ve loaded up my beater of a car and gone straight there and never left. Even now I check every once in a while to see if there are any jobs I’m qualified for there. It’s definitely at the top of the list of places I want to retire to. Joe and Nicole also fell in love with it, opting to spend their anniversary there a couple months later.
And that brings us to my trip home for Jason and Amanda’s wedding, which I’ve already written about. Next up: my long awaited reunion with that guy I’ve been missing.
Catching up is hard to do - part 2
Posted by Gypsy on Aug 25, 2010
Clearly I’m horrible at catching up as it’s taken me another two months to get to part, but I think I can keep up once I’m caught up so here is the rest of the story. Plus, I really want to get on to talking about my trip to visit Andy and I can’t do that until I walk about everything else I’ve been up to since Andy left.
So after Andy left for Japan, I head down the coast to Charleston. The goal was to hit up Joe and Nicole’s and chill for a few days before heading all the way down to Florida. While I was a last minute addition, they, along with a ton of other people we know, had been planning this trip for months. When they found out Andy was going to be gone and I would be on the east coast, they invited me along and Andy insisted I go as so I wouldn’t be sitting around bummed and missing him. The first part of the trip started in Orlando, where some of our group were spending the weekend at MegaCon and the rest of us were hitting the amusement parks. This was a million kinds of awesome for me. For one, I got to see a ton of people I hadn’t seen in awhile, including the lovely Drena, and meet some people I had been looking forward to meeting for awhile, such as Carrie and Garth (and a ton more who I would list but it’s been months and I don’t want to forget anyone). Since this was my first time in Orlando, and I’d never been to any of the parks there, I opted to go that route with Joe, Nicole, et al. This included two days at Universal Studios (though, unfortunately, before the Harry Potter section opened) and a day at Disney World. While the two days at Universal were amazing, the day at Disney was pretty lacking as it was packed and half the rides were broken.
After Orlando came part two of the trip: spending the rest of the week in the Bahamas. This part of the trip consisted of just Joe, Nicole, Dave, Cheryl, and me and had only one goal: laziness. Unfortunately, the universe had other plans. Most of the trip was spent dealing with planes flying overhead and construction on a new set of condos right next door. However, we all made the best of it and some relaxing was had. Since this trip coincided with my week off of school, I was able to finally do a little reading for fun as well as swim a little in the ocean, eat a ton of food (both Bahamian and stuff we cooked at the condo), and finally recharge a little from all the stress of the previous Month.
The first night of the trip it became clear very quickly that we might need to rent a car. We walked down the road to the nearest restaurant (an overpriced tourist trap), but walking turned out to be quite treacherous due to the completely lack of sidewalks or even shoulders on the road. There are also very few lights on the road and since it was after dark by the time we finished eating the walk home was going to be quite dangerous. In a failed effort to get a bottle of rum for the condo, after dinner the guys walked off in one direction to search for a liquor store while Nicole, Cheryl, and I set off for the condo. Luckily, a nice older couple saw us and offered us a ride back so we didn’t have to walk back in the dark. This made us realize we were in definite need of a rental car to drive, which was an interesting experience as they drive on the left in the Bahamas.
With a car, we were able to explore the island a little. This led to a couple trips into Nassau for exploring, shopping, and eating. We were also able to hit up the grocer for food for the house (at a ridiculous markup, I might add), and even a trip to Arawak Cay, where a strip of various buildings offer some of the freshest fish fry around. Throughout our wanderings around the island, we discovered a daiquiri stand on the side of the road and in an impulsive move we decided to stop and have a drink. Since someone had to stay sober, I opted for a virgin daiquiri while the others went for the rum. It was only after we were drinking that we noticed some interesting caves behind the stand and decided to explore a little. Because I’m a bit claustrophobic, I stayed towards the entrance and outside, but this turned out to be not so bad as at one point I got to see Joe looking like a human whack-a-mole.
I have to admit my favorite part of the trip was just how relaxed The Bahamas are. I can see why people opt to retire to this little cluster of islands. The constant sound of waves lapping on the beach and birds flying just makes it impossible to feel any sense of urgency about anything. Even drivers are relaxed, something that is a very stark contrast to the States. I rarely saw speed limits posted because many roads were so thin and curvy that it was impossible to reach any real speed. Even in the straighter parts people didn’t really drive that fast. If someone was trying to pull into traffic and it wasn’t going so well, other drivers would just stop and hold up traffic to let that person in. The same went for people crossing the street. It was really amazing to both see and experience. Especially as someone adjusting to driving on the left. Even with some unfortunate issues with our condo, it was still very very difficult to leave when the trip was over. But the real world always has to rear its ugly head and before we knew it we were back in the States to get back to work, school, job hunting, and all the other trials of regular life.
Flicker sets from this post: Orlando/Bahamas March 2010.
Catching up is hard to do - part 1
Posted by Gypsy on Jun 23, 2010
I think it’s becoming abundantly clear that I will not be catching up on all the blog posts I meant to write at the beginning of the year. Honestly, things were insane with the big move, crazy while I was still in upheaval, and a few degrees past normal now that I am temporarily settled. So this is an overview of what happened from the time Andy and I left California in February through last month, right before the wedding. Anyone who knows me knows I have a list of things I was supposed to blog about through that time, so I’m just going to go right down the list. This will likely take me a few posts to complete. Once I’m through catching up, I’ll post something about where things are for me right now.
After packing the house, shipping my car, and getting Andy’s car packed, fluids changed/topped off and decked out with new tires, we set off on our road trip across the country. The first leg of our journey took us from San Diego to Brainerd, Minnesota. The first day of driving took us through much of southern California (including a stopover in Barstow to visit an old friend and revisit memories of the time we were dating) and Arizona, where we stopped in Flagstaff for the night. Somewhere towards the end of the night we realized that it wasn’t sand dunes we were seeing in the darkness but rather snow banks. Imagine our surprise considering it was quite warm we we left Miramar earlier that morning. It was this unexpected freeze that led to a slight snag in our little adventure. Growing up in states that get very very cold, Andy and I had never experienced frozen fluids before as everything sold there is made to withstand freezing temperatures. So imagine our surprise the next morning when we discovered our windshield washer fluid was completely frozen. It never occurred to us that in San Diego freezing temperatures isn’t an issue and that would be reflected in the washer fluid used. Unfortunately, frozen fluid would plague us for much of the rest of the trip. After that rocky start, day two took us further east though the rest of Arizona, New Mexico, Texas (the small part), and ending in Oklahoma for the night. Day three saw us driving north through Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, Iowa, and finally into Minnesota. Unfortunately we hit a horrible show storm that took us completely through Iowa and into Minnesota. Our goal for the day was Minneapolis, which would leave us with only three hours to drive on the last day. We did arrive in Minneapolis, just a few hours later than we’d hoped.
After three full days of travel, Andy and I were in desperate need of a good night’s sleep and we definitely got that after arriving in Minneapolis. With no deadline and only three hours of driving to go, we opted to relax rather than rush to Brainerd. Even so, we arrived by mid-afternoon, giving us the chance to be completely tackled by all the daycare kids. The rest of the week is a bit of a blur. Andy was able to spend a day ice fishing with Mike, which was great because it meant we all got to enjoy some fresh fish the next night for dinner. Sue, Mike, Lacey, Andy and I all ended up at the bowling alley one night, where I showed off my completely lack of skills. Otherwise the week was just spent hanging out and enjoying spending time together. And freezing our butts off as it was February in Minnesota. One day I’ll get to visit in summer. I hope.
After a week in Minnesota it was time to start on the next leg of our journey, which would end in West Point, New York, at my little brother’s house. The first day we drove through Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, and Indiana. Day two was a little different. We still drove and drove and drove, this time through Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York, but instead of driving straight through we decided to take a little break in Ohio. It just so happened that we would be driving near Cleveland, where my friend (and Charles’ niece) Vicki lives. So Vicki, her mom and her brother decided they would meet us for a nice relaxing lunch. Not only was it really nice to break up such a long day with a nice lunch, but it was also just wonderful to spend some time with Vicki and relax. Unfortunately, lunch ended too soon as we had to get back on the road. There was still quite a ways to go. Sometime around 9 p.m. we finally made it to Jason and Amanda’s house, again exhausted and in desperate need of a good night’s sleep.
Since Jason and Amanda both had to work for most of our time there, Andy and I used it as a chance to just relax and spend some time together. I also took Andy on his first trip to New York City, taking the train in to spend a couple hours just bumming around. This was just a preview, though, as on Saturday all four of us ended up going in together. Since we had all day Saturday to do stuff in the city, we started off by meeting up with Robb to hit up S’Mac for lunch. S’Mac is now on my list of places I must visit anytime I’m in the city as it was amazing. We also hit up Toy Tokyo, another “must visit” and bummed around Forbidden Planet and Union Square before heading towards Times Square for dinner. After dinner, as it had been quite the long day, we head back to Grand Central station to take the train home, stopping at the Junior’s at the station for some of the best dessert in New York.
After a couple more days of relaxing at West Point it was time to head on Maryland, where our road trip together would be concluding at Kevin and Maria’s house. A couple days later Andy boarded a plane to start his long journey to Japan and shortly after that I head off on the last leg of my road trip: Charleston.
Flickr sets from this post: Cross country road trip 2010, Minnesota February 2010, and NYC Spring 2010.
Weddings and babies
Posted by Gypsy on Jun 9, 2010
Ok, one wedding and one baby, but that just sounded ridiculous. I’m horribly behind on blogging but rather than just keep getting further and further behind I’ve decided to just start from now and get to the past stuff when I can. I’ll try and remember to put a note on those posts so they can be in the right order, though I can’t make any guarantees.
Living in Charleston has one big negative: it’s insanely expensive to fly anywhere from here. Luckily, most of my family and friends are on the east coast, so I have the option of driving to most of the places I want to go. The added bonus is it means I’ll also have my own transportation wherever I go. So it was with excitement that I set off for home a couple weeks ago to join in the various preparation festivities for my brother’s wedding. I arrived late the night before the day before the wedding, which was perfect timing to help with the last minute stuff on Friday, including finishing the bouquets and favors, and having the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner.
It’s amazing to me how relaxed Saturday was compared to how crazy Friday was. Especially since Saturday was the actual wedding day. I got up early that day, but only to get a run in. The rest of the day was spent relaxing until it was time to get ready. We arrived at the church about an hour before the ceremony and this is when what was probably my favorite part of the whole trip happened. Since there was nothing for me to do, I went back to say hi to Jason and see how he was doing. I actually got a good 30 minutes of just chilling back there with my little brother, which was just awesome. Most visits we are all just so busy and with so many people that there is no time for that. So it was really nice to have that little bit of time before the ceremony to just chat.
The ceremony was absolutely lovely and very classy. I should’ve known our families could only hold it together for so long. The reception was a whole different ball game. I think it was pretty clear the tone of the evening when we arrived to see that rather than number the tables they were named after various Transformers. This theme continued when Jake, the Best Man, decided to do his speech in a Bumblebee helmet complete with a voice altering feature.
The rest of the evening was pretty much normal for a wedding. Thanks to free beer on tap both dad’s ended up pretty drunk, there was a lot of dancing going on (even I danced, though in my defense I was guilted into it by a drunk friend of Amanda’s), and a great time was had by all. Though I have to admit to being very happy to go home and crash after such an exciting day.
And seriously, how adorable are the new Mr. and Mrs. Frost:
The rest of my time home was spent just hanging out with my family. The day after the wedding included a cook-out at Amanda’s parents’ house before the newlyweds head back home on Monday. Mom and I went to the local Racino for some slots (where we didn’t really win anything) and to the Amish market (where I got my usual, though smaller, pecan pie and fried dough). We also had some fun times with friends and mostly just relaxed and enjoyed the nice weather.
The laziness didn’t stop when I left New York, though. Since it was quite the drive back to Charleston, and Joe and Nicole had some family visiting, I decided to prolong my vacation and stop in Virginia to see Wendy. Way back in January, just two days before my birthday, Wendy gave birth to the most adorable baby girl on the planet. As it had been two years since I last saw Wendy, I had obviously never met little Zoe or Wendy’s husband Jamy. It was time to remedy that. It should be noted that Wendy and Jamy have six other children (in addition to Zoe) between the two of them. Thankfully, only the oldest, Jarret, was around for the weekend. While I’m sure all their children are absolutely lovely, that is still a lot of kids.
This blog would probably be a whole lot more interesting if I had tons of tales to tell of crazy adventures while I was there, but honestly last weekend was probably the laziest I’ve had in a long time and I wouldn’t trade that for anything. I spent most of the weekend catching up with Wendy, making faces at Zoe, and teaching her how to stick her tongue out at people. (It’s my favorite thing to teach children, as my own mother will attest to.) Oh, and taking bunches of photos. Between Jamy and me, we took well over 100 photos on my camera. Then again, with a baby you have to take a ton of photos just to ensure a few good ones come out.
Unfortunately, all vacations eventually have to end and come Monday I was back on the road to Charleston. A great time was definitely had by me. I’m very much looking forward to my next visit home in September. And I can also be sure that I will not be going another two years before seeing Wendy again. Especially since I have to drive right by her house in September anyway.
