Living the Crazy Life

Awkward family photo. Please enjoy.

2006-06-26T11:17:00.000-04:00

my baby

2006-05-09T13:18:00.000-04:00

My senior research...weighing in at a whopping 76 pages! I think that's more than I weighed...

WE WENT TO SEE BEN FOLDS

2006-04-29T09:35:00.000-04:00

In case you hadn't figured that out yet.

Can you hear that sound? Oh, I think it's just BEN FOLDS

2006-04-29T09:33:00.000-04:00

What's that? Oh, it's just BEN FOLDS

2006-04-29T09:30:00.000-04:00

38 days or so

2006-04-13T00:46:00.000-04:00

Rachel and I are our rocking senior banquet...oh yeah!

Knee high to a rooster...or table

2006-03-30T14:31:00.000-05:00

SPRING BREAK!!!!!!!!!!!!

...avoiding homework... by rachel

2006-03-17T21:38:00.000-05:00

Soooooo... MY BROTHER GOT INTO BEREA! YAY!! Yep... watch out gentlemen, he'll be stealin' all the ladies.

Life in Berea is hectic. And my Dickens is bigger than your Dickens. 989 pages of sheer bleak-ness. (Take my advice - don't read Bleak House.)

I will be moving to Morgantown, WV in a matter of a a couple of months. Once there, I will try to take advantage of the 18 activities that Hannah found out about when she Googled Morgantown. I'm going to be teaching Freshman Comp. (I don't think that was one of the activities - at least i hope not). SCARY! (both for me and the freshmen)

Tonight, for St. Patty's a bunch of us girls went to Applebees. Hannah named her buffalo chicken pieces Bert and Ernie. And Heatherly and her counterpart tried (about 5 times) to take photos with double chins. Tina's crotch was safety pinned shut due to a broken zipper and I can't remember lyrics. What an evening.

This weekend (as in tomorrow [saturday] night at 8:00 in Gray Auditorium) is our choir concert. Just so you know...

See?

2006-03-14T20:10:00.000-05:00

He really was here!

2006-03-14T17:29:00.000-05:00

this is just so berea-appropriate

2006-02-20T23:23:00.000-05:00

this week's asofterworld post is just classic....

please, check it out.

Chuck

2006-02-13T10:24:00.000-05:00

Chuck Norris can speak braille.

-Hollee

Happy Birthday

2006-02-05T13:12:00.000-05:00

Happy Birthday Jonas!!! Even though it's probably not your birthday anymore in Australia. We miss you! Please don't die in a freak surfing accident.

The Adventures of Hollee

2006-02-02T19:51:00.000-05:00

Okay, so Batman lives down the street from Hollee. For serious. I have a picture of the batmobile somewhere on my computer... I'll find it soon. At least I know she is in good hands. At the other end of the street lives a bulldozer. The other night, I spent the night with her. I saw both the batmobile AND the bulldozer for myself. In the morning, the bulldozer was nowhere to be found. Bum bum bum....

Oh but wait - it gets better. So, friends of Hollee's are selling their house in TN. In the house is a bedroom suit with a mattress. Hollee's mattress sucks, so they switched mattresses. Now Hollee has a nice, comfortable one. So, the friends carefully tied the old mattress onto their vehicle and proceeded to make their way to TN. They didn't get very far. About 15 minutes after they got on the interstate leaving Lexington, they looked in the rearview mirror only to see the mattress wildly flying at cars behind them. Trucks and cars were swerving every-which-a-way (yes that IS a word) trying not to hit the amazing flying mattress. They pull over to fetch the mattress before something bad happens. They get out of the car, and look, but the mattress has disappeared! Then, Ashley (the wife) yells, "There it goes!" Sure enough, it was hiding underneath an 18 wheeler trying to escape detection. Unfortunately, all of the springs began to get tangled in the axel (and whatever else is under there) until the truck could no longer move. It pulled over (it had no other choice) and with the help of another responsible citizen (with wire clippers) what was left of Hollee's mattress was freed. Below is a photo of the mangled mattress' soul leaving. I think it deserves a moment of silence.

And this... this is my hero. Enough said.

louisiana by rachel

2006-01-27T17:56:00.000-05:00

in new orleans

and yet the hope runs deep.

no skinny dipping!

2006-01-24T14:14:00.000-05:00

Happy New Year from Tennessee

2006-01-02T17:11:00.000-05:00

Dork and Midgie take the GRE

2005-12-20T22:22:00.000-05:00

It is over for both of us as of today. YAY! And, of course, we are the geniuses we always suspected. "Advanced" as my brother calls it.

Merry Christmas from Tennessee

2005-12-19T22:45:00.000-05:00

Oh Johnny...

2005-12-13T10:20:00.000-05:00

berea

2005-12-10T18:47:00.000-05:00

According to Hannah, the majority of people from Berea are either hicks or hippies. Therefore they are hickies.

sophomoric

2005-12-10T14:48:00.000-05:00

I actually did encounter that word on the GRE. One of the few I actually knew - ironic (look it up if you don't know what it means, i'm not gonna do ALL the work for you). Too bad it was on the section that didn't count!! But yeah - it's OVER. Hallelujah!

This madness is almost finished. A little more stuff to do for grad school applications - oh, and finals - but most of the craziness is over and done with. And as for me and the GRE, we are through for good.

Oh, Han and I have a new book for our series: Dork and Midgie Take A Road Trip. You just wait - they will be best sellers one day. The combination of a Child and Family Studies major and an English major, both of whom are artsy equals good children's books. Or college student books. Or something.

Tomorrow, I carry the mace and lead graduates around Phelps-Stokes. The next graduation after that will be MINE.

Last day of class!

2005-12-08T19:59:00.000-05:00

Classes are OVER!

Pictures

2005-11-21T17:17:00.000-05:00

Go here to see pictures.

road trip?

2005-11-20T17:21:00.000-05:00

Booger called on Friday night to see if I wanted to go out. I excitedly ask "where are you?!" and he says "Owensboro, you know, where I live." Meanie. But we think we should all take a Berea to Owensboro to St. Louis road trip. Who's interested?

Media Star!

2005-11-17T19:42:00.000-05:00

I really do still exist! Promise! Sam called today and asked if this was just Hannah's website now. Oops. My semester has been crazy busy, but I think I finally have it all under control. I think.

So yeah... I'm a media star according to Suzi Kifer of the International Center. And Linda is by default. She took the picture. In this photo (which is on posters ALL over campus) I have not showered in three days. Just thought you ought to know.

Sooo... what has happened since I last posted. Hmmm. I am now 22. I am still short.

Ooooh, this past weekend was crazy awesome. On Saturday, my friend Lara came down from Louisville and ended up staying for my choir concert - get back to that in a second. Allie (and Nate) came down from Lexington, too. After the concert, we went to Steak and Shake where we met Linda. It was a Bregenz reunion! I told them, with all of us together again in a restaurant setting, I was classically conditioned to not understand the menu or the waitress. Oh German.

Sunday morning after church, Hollee treated me to the new Mexican Denny's. Yes, Berea has a Mexican Hardee's, now we have a Mexican Denny's. It was pretty good and it was awesome to hang out with her.

Sunday afternoon, Decker came down. More surreal Bregenz-ness going on.

So, the concert - Dr. B said his "goodbyes" to the seniors. Yeah. I cried. Through his speech and then all the way through my favorite song, Amor de Mi Alma. *sigh* So much is going to change next semester.

But I still have HANNAH!

Yellow birds

2005-11-16T00:06:00.000-05:00

Did you forget your yellow bird?
How could you forget your yellow bird?
- bright eyes

Amen

2005-11-10T10:33:00.000-05:00

Happy Birthday Booger!!

We love you!

This is what Homecoming looks like

2005-11-08T10:48:00.000-05:00

Hannah needs...

2005-11-07T13:20:00.000-05:00

According to google...(just take your name and type "needs" after it). This is the top..19?? 20 just seemed like too much. Actually I got bored.

1. Hannah needs your support
2. Hannah needs a hug
3. Hannah needs a job
4. Hannah needs to get this shit happening again
5. Hannah needs a little sister from China
6. Hannah needs to go into the tunnel and face the prisoner
7. Hannah needs her vaccinations
8. Hannah needs to develop her personal example some more
9. Hannah needs the money
10. Hannah needs more than 10 hours to paint the room
11. Hannah needs to be as mobile as possible
12. Hannah needs her glove puppets
13. Hannah needs to apply lots of makeup
14. Hannah needs to be distracted
15. Hannah needs to grow the hell up
16. Hannah needs to stop whining over Sonny and find a new man
17. Hannah needs to do some analysis of her own
18. Hannah needs playmates
19. Hannah needs a home!

Berea's Middle Eastern Dancers?

2005-11-04T18:02:00.000-05:00

Me, Megan, and Kate before Berea Dances last night. Unfortunately, my eye make up was too much for Peter (Danish guy, my dance instructor) who told me I "should probably" lose the makeup for our dance, since I was in the front row. We all did really well- no one was too off for the raindance, and the belly dancers shook their butt jinglers like pros! And we'll never have to hear raindance again. YAY.

can i be that for halloween? by hannah

2005-11-01T16:14:00.000-05:00

I tried to post a picture of Rachel on her birthday but no luck. We went bowling. Zack brought the glow in the dark paint, and hilarity and nastiness ensued. I've slowly come to the realization that they really are just that weird. But I love them all. Except one. But that's okay.

You know how everybody says it rains all the time in England? It really rains more here, I swear to God. Or maybe the rain just sucks more here because it's Kentucky and not England. Anyway, it just makes everyday worse. And it needs to quit. Let's work on that.

We had a rocking halloween party (can we call it that? I'm not sure) out on the Cassetta's (I finally know how to spell their name! It's so exciting) property. It took waaayy too long to get there (and longer to get back. But I'm not complaining Jared!) but the good news is that no one attempted to ride a horse while drunk, and no one fell in the fire. There was an unfortunate accident involving chili the next day, according to the clean up crew, but that doesn't count! No one died. I was happy. I think.

Berea Dances is Thursday night...you should all come and see Rachel and I do the cheesiest dance EVER for aerobic dance. And then Kate and Megan and I will be shaking it Egyptian style with the belly dance troupe. It will be worth watching.

Last night I got to be dead in a haunted house! It was thrilling. I had so much else I could have been doing, but when you get an offer like that on the spot, what are you going to say? I was so there. I got really into the role of dead. I think I actually used the lid of my coffin to hit someone. I don't think anyone has lodged a complaint against me yet, but we'll see.

Texas

2005-10-03T20:00:00.000-04:00

Treloar and I in Texass!!!

salsa dancing!

2005-09-28T21:23:00.000-04:00

here we are... t-bone and bidget going salsa dancing. we had a rockin' good time. and bidget accidentally sent lulu into the gay bar. oops! aside from getting our latin groove on, (to mexican polka part of the time) han, kate, megan, and luke enjoyed the fountain alongside two little boys who threw wet socks at each other.

The scariest part of the night for Han: polka-ing with Keith
The scariest part of the night for Rach: using the port-o-potty!! UGH!

Once we got back from Fiesta Latina, we chilled in the gazebo with a very drunk boy who we did not (at that point) know very well (though now we have seen his lacy blue panties). Han walked him inside to use the restroom and on the way he caught sight of the full moon. "Look at the moon! It's gorgeous! Let's hug!" - yeah... he was a little happy. :) After a quick run to Taco Bell, we sat in the "intense" lighting of our lobby and laughed. A lot. Mostly at Kate. She doesn't like peanut butter too much anymore. Probably has something to do with the fact that Rowan sat on her and smeared it all over her face. Just a thought.

Better together (thank YOU Jack Johnson), by all both of us

2005-09-07T19:05:00.000-04:00

We don't even know where to start. Or you start. Back in the game, yeah we are! This is our first official joint post (no, not like your knuckles, or the illegal kind) since our seperate adventures, so...enjoy!

As of today, we have officially gone through one week of our senior year, and we already met the Legal Owner and King of the United States! No kids, not that funny cowboy W, but Berea's own Billy Anthony Jack Barnes. The two of us and some friends were sitting across the street from good ol' James Hall on Sunday night and this random good old boy came walking up to us with a paper in his hand. He pointed at Jessica and said "I choose you to bless with this knowledge. You bless the rest of 'em," handed her the paper and waddled off, chewing tobacco and all. This paper, entitled First Impressions and Looks can be Deceiving, but, it is up to "YOU" to discern Realization and Truth of a Man's Words. {Can "YOU" find a "Blessing within my Words" for "YOU"?}., is a list of claims Mr. Barnes is making about the US.
#9: Did you know that I am carrying a copy of a legal Document, which makes: I, Billy Anthony Jack Barnes the Legal Owner and King of the United States? Yes or no. If you desire to see it, you must stop me, and seek out the realization and truth of my words.
#11. Did you know I am willing to pay for a Sprinkler System over all of our United States National Forest to help stop forest fires, and lost of houses, animals and other things? Yes or no.
#12. Did you know I am willing to pay for the people of the United States to build a Hurricane Killer? Yes or no.
#26. Did you know that on September 20th, 2004 at 10:25 a.m., that the National Debt of the United States was paid in full, by this Judgment by Default, since everyone in the United States legally owed I, Billy Anthony Jack Barnes, but, as I, came to be the Legal Owner and King of the United States, now. I will pay everything that the United States owed at that set time, to the lenders, once my Staff, makes my own Currency.

We hope you enjoyed that as much as we did!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anyway, it's good to be back in Berea (uhhh) and together again! We're in the midst of 1000 pages of reading or so, plus all those life-changing (we think that's what they're called...) decisions about grad school, and, like that note on Hannah's desk that says "GRE." Check out an account of Hannah's weekend on Kate's new blog!

"Workmen" just doesn't mean what it used to, by Hannah

2005-08-30T17:27:00.000-04:00

I miss the boys.

"all both of us" by rachel

2005-08-22T23:12:00.000-04:00

...today was a day of beginnings...

Sam and I spent 2 hours recording at a friend's home studio this morning... it was so exciting! I got to use cool headphones and everything! Kris (the friend) really knows what he is doing - he laid down an awesome bass track after just hearing the song for the first time today. I was impressed.

Sam also began his first day of work at Turtle's Nest Toys. He learned how to work the cash register, and then fix the cash register. ;) He also learned to dust and straighten and chase little kids around the store. It was great fun.

This evening, T-bone and ReloKate gave me a ringy ringy. It was soooo good to talk to them. And to hear MastiKate's new laugh. As T-bone said, "It's horrible!!" Regardless I miss them loads, and in merely a week will be back at school with them.

What a summer.

If criticizing other people was a business...by Hannah

2005-08-18T11:01:00.000-04:00

In response to Rachel's plea on the phone "update our blog because the last 7 have been from me, " I have almost nothing to say.

Life is good. Life is boring, but gooood.

The most exciting thing that happened to me all week was hitting a speed bump I didn't see in the MTSU library parking lot. I had just spent 3 1/2 hours in the library doing research for my internship paper (and found almost nothing I needed) and I was unofficially zoned out. Anyway, it was one of those wide speed bumps, and when I hit it, driving my mom's bright red GMC Safari, I flew for about 6 feet. I was nearly inspired to be a pilot later in life, but the whole landing thing didn't go so smoothly. I wasn't too fussed about the van though, it's so old me taking it for a little flight didn't hurt it too much.

Last night I watched Sin City alone in my room with all the lights off and then I had nightmares that people tried to kidnap my sister and I and they were going to eat us. And there was no Mickey Rourke to save me, and no pretty Clive Owen saving all the hookers. And honestly, my life is so calm and drama free at the moment I woke up and thought "huh, that's odd. They were going to eat us."

Zoie's home in Perth now, after her European Adventure, and I'm going to Virginia this weekend with Kate and Megan (Otherwise known as my whore and Fluffy Applepants).

Hidee Ho Good Neighbor ~ by rachel

2005-08-12T23:35:00.000-04:00

My neighbors down the road (everyone within a 10 mile radius is considered a neighbor in these parts) had 3, count them 3, cop cars outside their little house last night. I didn't think too much about it - we are in the hills of TN - until Sam asked if I remembered the tractor trailer that used to be parked directly across the road from their house. There was a mess of extension cords that ran from the house to the truck. I just figured it was a gaggle of relatives that appeared, and since the house is so little, they lived in the truck. It's really not that unrealistic considering half a mile up the road, Lucille lived in a school bus for a long time, and just across from her is the family who painted a barn bright blue, cut some crooked holes for windows and moved in. Well, turns out that truck was really a meth lab. As Sam put it, "I just figured those cords were to plug in a microwave."

what pretty pelicans! by rachel

2005-08-09T22:42:00.000-04:00

My youth minister and his family went to the beach last week. As a "welcome home" / happy anniversary gesture, my fellow youth group members and I bedecked and bedazzled the Bader's home. It was complete with rented pink flamingos, a plywood stand-up preacher from nearby Love Chapel Church, bushes full of fake flowers, and a baby pool full of goldfish. Ahhh, the love we bestowed! As Sam and I were putting out the flamingos, an unnamed member of our church walked by. She was overheard commenting, "Oh, what pretty pelicans! They'll love them!"

Today, Sam and I ventured forth from our humble / boring abode to find the legendary Thai restaurant that is about the size of my bedroom. After pulling into the almost as small parking lot, I realized the open sign was off. Again. Every time I go this place is closed! Grrrr. On the door of the elusive Thai Am was a simple sign reading, "10 day, 8/9/05." Whatever THAT means.

So we went home and burned hot dogs instead. Man I wanted Thai.

uno, dros, tres.... by r

2005-08-03T23:17:00.000-04:00

if all else fails, be the banjo.

the shameless plug addendum by rachel

2005-08-02T10:46:00.000-04:00

sooooo, when Sam chose the 26th to sing in Bristol, we all failed to realize that was a nascar race weekend as well. meaning traffic will be hairy to get there. just a warning... it'll be an adventure! complete with beer and bad suntan lines :) in all seriousness, it is possible to go around bristol and bypass the speedway completely. that's what i'll be doing.

shameless plug, by rachel

2005-07-29T22:47:00.000-04:00

See my brother in concert at Java J's in Bristol TN/VA on August 26th at 9:00 pm.

It's only a 3 hour drive from Berea, right Kate?

Fly free my little chefs, by HANNAH

2005-07-29T20:47:00.000-04:00

Holla! Today was my last day of chef camp, and I released 12 little bad-spelling chefs into the wide, wide world of good and evil food. We had a reception, which was crowded, crowded, crowded, and kid-made food and signs for the food, including the one for the party punch which read: the gratest punch EVR." I tried to make it clear that it wasn't quite my job description to teach spelling, just how to measure and cut things and pre-heat any standard oven like a pro. Or to make peace between rivaling poster-making crews, oh my goodness. It's Friday and those kids were MOODY. We're talking hitting, name calling, insults, AND little crying boys. It was quite an adventure in children, let me tell ya. Good thing I'm so experienced and so darn professional. True story: After the reception was over today I took off my apron and realized to my serious chagrin that my skirt (otherwise known as a snarky, thanks Cassidy :) !) was swiveled almost all the way round so the lines (white on a blue skirt) were running sort of side ways down my leg. I tried to play it off to my two innocently stupid volunteers (And when I say stupid it doesn't mean I don't appreciate you): "It's what all the kids in England are doing these days." Probably didn't work, but they weren't listening anyway...

Anyway, it's over. I'm rocking out a Friday night at home, with purple popsicles and a movie and a wild trip to Kinko's in the mix! Treloar's coming on Sunday! Yay!

Also, in response to the Pricilla idea. Sorry Rach, but I'm saying no. She's Elvis, and that's all there is to it. I'm trying to transition her. She never comes when I call her anyway, so why not be calling Elvis?

what about pricilla? by rachel

2005-07-27T22:55:00.000-04:00

I think Pricilla is a good name for your dog, Hannah. Especially if she doesn't like Elvis.

Things in TN are cooking... besides Hannah, of course. It has been in the upper 90's for days and if you live in a house with no AC (like I do)... you just toast. Seriously. I asked Mom if I could sleep in the bathtub last night. She just looked at me like I was stupid. I thought it was brilliant. Ah well. I did go to Wetlands waterpark yesterday and my face got all crispified cause the sunscreen didn't work so well. I look like rudolph now. :-(

Ooooh, big news. Sorta. Sam and I were driving home from church Sunday, and I swear that Bruce Willis was in a gold truck behind us. Don't ask me what he was doing in the mountains of Tennessee or why he was in a gold truck, but it was him!!!! It had to be. It looked just like him. So it was. Really.

In other news, Josh now has joined the blogging world. Yay Josh! Though, since I seem to have a nack at renaming things, I think you should have called it "aromafanclub" hahaha, get it? Aroma? Yeah... I was homeschooled.

Elvis, by Hannah

2005-07-26T22:00:00.000-04:00

Hey howdy hey. Thanks for all the birthday love, my friends. 20 was a great year, hope 21 can live up to its expectations. Here is my life in a nutshell:

I get up too early and go to work, then I come home and fall asleep. Then I wake up and eat too much, then I go to bed and get up early and go to work...and so on. In my spare time I

torment my dog by trying to re-name her Elvis. I thought this was a brilliant idea (any of you who know my dog know why!) but my mom says "no" and I can't really re-name her all on my own, can I now? Someday though, that dog will be Elvis. Also there are other good ways to torment Elvis. I can just put a blanket over her head and watch her try to find her way out. I really am bored.

I'm teaching a cooking camp this week and thus far haven't caught anything or myself on fire. Keep your fingers crossed though.

Zoie's in Greece, that hussy.

And a big hiya to Jonas who should currently be in Ireland (unless I got my months mixed up again). Also check here for his blogging endeavors (a link for a link, eh?).

Big news for my weekend: Treloar's coming!!!! She'll be here Sunday, and everyone knows how happy that makes me.

So, until I have something more interesting to write about...

feliz cumpleanos a mi companera de cuarto - de raquel

2005-07-25T22:34:00.000-04:00

Today is Hannah's 21's birthday! Yay for Hannah for making it this long! Too bad I am not with her to make her a toilet paper banner like last year. :(

and to Booger - .oot looc era uoY

By the way, I am back from Kentucky. Audrey, I was in Campbellsville building houses... more on that later. I now know how to shingle, though. How cool is that?

i hate packing by rachel

2005-07-16T23:35:00.000-04:00

Tomorrow, Mom, Sam, and I leave for a week-long mission trip to the 3rd world country of Kentucky. it is all so ironic to me. last year we went to Mexico. Anyway, back to the packing. I hate it. With a passion. It's not just all the decision-making - though any of you who know me, know I can't stand making decisions either. It is the tension in the house. Everyone is on edge. Blah.

I hope this week can overcome the woes of packing as it has in previous years.

Aside from packing till almost midnight, I spent 10, yes ten, hours at work today. I love toy stores, but whoa. If Turtle's Nest was alchohol, I'd be plastered. Jessica and I found ways to entertain ourselves, though. Everytime someone was rung up, we turned their total into a year and tried to figure out what happened in that year. It all began when someone got $18.63. I said, "1863, what a good year." Then I stopped. "Except for the whole Civil War thing." Dumb Rachel. Next came $16.37.... Renaissance. It snowballed from there.

We also partook of some ancient "fresh-roasted whole espresso beans enclosed in robust dark chocolate." They were just a little dusty. I've been snacking on them every time I come in to work at the store since I graduated high school. They are always there! The box said, "With every flavorful bite, you'll experience half a century of passion!" I knew they were old, but sheesh.

So, have a nice life till I get back next Sunday!

And...

2005-07-16T20:03:00.000-04:00

AND, I almost forgot. JOHN you signed our guest book!!! Rachel and I were extremely excited about this, so can you email one or both of us and tell us how you are and how we can contact you? we miss you!!!! and I agree about Rachel's hot hair. She is such a sexy little midget.

Living the boring life? by hannah

2005-07-16T18:12:00.000-04:00

I'm sitting at our kitchen bar watching my mom make dinner. This is pretty much how things go around here since I've been home (and since the circus rolled out of our back yard! Circus=family reunion.): During the week, I go to work for half of the day, come home and take a nap on the couch in the living room (not on purpose. Just because me waking up before 8 am is difficult and when I get time to sit down I can't keep my eyes open!). Then I wake up and try to do something constructive. This week it has been everything from reading a book to cleaning out my closet (all I can say is OH MY GOODNESS. apparantly I haven't thrown away a SINGLE THING away since the end of my senior year of highschool....) to going over the plans for the kid's summer camp I'm leading next week. Sometimes these attempts at being active work out, sometimes they don't. I also have been abusing my cell phone- the whole "free after 9" thing just blows me away after living the pre-paid way for 6 months! So that's my life in an itty bitty nutshell. It is itty bitty, and non-exciting, but proving to be strenuous enough for me, after my 6 month break from life and the real world!

So I'm sitting here with my tea listening to the Counting Crows and pretty much loving my life. I miss England though! Zoie's off in Prague with Ben, hopefully both having fun and being safe. Have to say I'm proud of her to be brave and travel- wish I was there with yas! Take lots of pictures.

I'm teaching this camp at the museum this week, it's basically an extended tour of the place. We get to "explore" a different part everyday, including the wetlands (basically the swamp of Tennessee, which I live right in the middle of), where beavers used to live. Somehow I never knew we had beavers here! I was so excited. Then I found out that the wildlife people had to rid the wetlands of beavers, and they told the general public (and all museum goers!) that they were "relocated" when actuality...they were killed. It's a conspiracy, I tell ya. So I get to take 10 3-5 year olds out in the swamp with nothing but boots to keep them from running amok. Should be interesting. I'm kind of excited to see just HOW superior my kid skills are. Wish me luck!

Hope everything is well with everyone who might be reading this!

Bodensee by Rachel

2005-07-13T22:36:00.000-04:00

Where my heart is....

Italia... by Rachel

2005-07-07T23:43:00.000-04:00

So, I just watched Under the Tuscan Sun which was filmed in Cortona, Italy. My all time favorite place in Europe (outside of Bregenz). I miss that place... the pasta, the wine, the swallows, the random cats, the view, the kids beating each other with plastic bottles, the cute streets, the hostel man singing my last name (it sounds so much better when an Italian says it... better yet, sings it). AH, I think I'm in love. With Cortona. Not the hostel guy. He was like 40. Though he did have a nice voice.....

ps ~ to comment without making a blog, sign our guestbook... what do you guys think about my hair cut??

hair cut!!! by rach

2005-07-07T10:29:00.000-04:00

i heart dollar general by rachel

2005-07-07T10:22:00.000-04:00

This is the so-cool snack Sam and I found. Screaming Yellow Zonkers. One four thousandth four hundred and nine of a metric ton. You heard the Zonkers... EAT!

for the love of blogging... by Rachel

2005-07-06T22:57:00.000-04:00

You know you are bored (and a dork) when you drive around thinking of things to do, only followed by, "that would be a good blog post." Yeah... Sam and I hit rock bottom today, but we did have fun.

For the majority of the morning, we joined our youth minister, Ryan (aka Meatloaf) and a couple other youth group members at a community member's house to do some fixin' up. Sometimes, it is so discouraging to work so hard and not even make a dent. But like Ryan said, it is those times that we are needed the most. And the woman we were helping felt a little better about her house too.

Picture this though... 1 hammer, 5 people. We were "nailing" shingling felt on TOP of the shingles as a preventative measure against rain leaking in the house. We used what she had and what we had, and hopefully will find a way to actually FIX it all soon. But in the meantime, she will not have leaks. But yeah... there was one hammer. We were like a bunch of cavemen on the roof, banging in the little shingling tacks with big rocks. We also weed-eated, trimmed some trees, put up a trellis, and fixed some other stuff. Honestly, the house should have just been torn down and started over.... maybe one day. Until then - orar sin cesar.

So... boredom land with Sam and I. After eating a hearty meal at Sonic with the youth group, Sam and I traversed to the wild land of Johnson City where I got 10 inches or so cut off of my hair. Photos will be appearing soon - patience is a virtue. :)

Later, we chilled in Dollar General where we picked up a new snack - a photo of that will also appear shortly.

THEN, we learned Italian in the police department parking lot. Old MacDonald in Italian is just so much more fun... ia, ia, ooooooooo!

arriva derci, amicci

London baby 2012! by hannah

2005-07-06T10:20:00.000-04:00

yay London!

some of my luvahs... by rach

2005-07-04T22:35:00.000-04:00

this is at the top of a MOUNTAIN and a HALF known to locals as the pfander... doesn't it make you want to skip through some field singing, "the hills are alive..."

now that that is stuck in your head... I'll add more pics later.

looking at this pic... I don't think I got the blue memo. dang it.

the leaning tower...

2005-07-04T22:22:00.000-04:00

a REAL fine piece of Austria - by Rach

2005-07-04T22:15:00.000-04:00

mmmmhmmmmmmmm

"Don't blow your head off" by rachel

2005-07-04T22:08:00.000-04:00

That is the phrase I have heard most today. Maybe it is because I am flat broke, so all my bro and I did was blow up a few fortune cookies and an apple with some old bottle rockets. It was actually quite entertaining. The apple, though Sam left it out for a month to soften, took a few times to blow, and then it only split in half. Last year was so much cooler - apple pieces flying everywhere. Ahhhh. The fortune cookes were awesome, though. They shot up on top of the bottle rocket then exploded to bits, the little fortune fluttering down to the ground. Explosives are entirely too much fun. :)

What else did I do today? Nothing, really... I read, rode a stationary bike for 10 miles (didn't get very far), wrote, sorted clothes, listened to Sam play his gee-tar.... not too exciting. Oh, Kelly (and the rest of the Bregenz people for that matter), I laughed so hard I cried again at dinner. I don't even remember what it was about, but I ended up spitting perfectly good Jones Soda back into my cup. Don't worry, I drank it again. Not as fizzy the second time round, but it was still Jones. :)

So now that you are all disgusted with me...
Happy 4th!

"A fine piece of Austria" by RACHEL

2005-07-01T08:23:00.000-04:00

I AM SO TOTALLY BACK!!! After 24 hours of transit, I am finally sitting in my own bedroom at my own computer where the keys are in the correct places... none of that crazy Austrian keyboard stuff.

While it is a relief to be home, I already miss everyone. I'm telling you guys - I'm getting ready to write a book called Location Check about our misadventures. I'm not kidding! You will all be immortalized. Muhahahaha.

So the first order of business was to eat barbecue and drink all the refills I wanted and not have to pay to pee. God Bless the USA.

Actually, being in Europe for the past 5 weeks has really given me an interesting view of America and American politics. We won't go into that though.

I will be sure to update all about the amazing things I did soon - right now, I am gonna go lay on the couch and be lazy. Cause I can!

To all you faux Austrians - I heart you guys. And Kim? SHUT IT. ;)

ps ~ my brother (who is the coolest brother in the whole wide world - FOR AN ANT) now has an accidental blog. Check it out.

I'm home (and Rachel will be soon) by Hannah

2005-06-29T08:27:00.000-04:00

My feet are on US soil, baby! I got home on Sunday night, around 6 pm, and I was met by my mom, dad, brother, sister, and aunt with big colorful signs, balloons, and a bottle of champagne. It couldn't have been any better. After that we went straight to...the Camino Real, the best mexican resteraunt in Nashville, and it was fantastic, as always.

My travelling went pretty well, it was a long day but no big problems, except for some witchy BMI workers in Manchester who were just jerky about carry on baggage limits. But Zoie helped me put all my stuff back in my carry on after we walked past the desk pretending she was taking a bunch of stuff back to Lancaster for me. It was smooth. But I had a minor freak out everytime I saw one of those dorky BMI hats for the rest of the day!

My last night and day in Lancaster were lovely--on Friday night there was a killer bonfire out on County Field, despite the rain. Zoie and I had last drinks in the bar and played darts with my kitchen people. I don't think I actually WON, but I pretty much kicked butt. It was the cheeky vimto! that did it! Then we went to the bonfire. Then after THAT Zoie and Ben and I got up on top of the spine outside my window and walked almost all the way to Alexandra Square! That had been my dream since January, and thanks to Ben it was finally fulfilled! When I got back to my room my kitchen mates had all 3 ovens and grills running for our "feast" of everything frozen left in the freezers! We had (all on lettuce beds, it was very posh) onion rings, 3 different kinds of chicken, chicken kievs with cheese, and chips. The dipping sauces were cleverly put into shot glasses. It was out of control, and the perfect goodbye. And on Saturday Ben drove Zoie and I to the train station. It was perfect!

So I'm home. Today I have to go check out the children's museum to see about my hours and such, but hopefully I won't have to do much actual work! It's been way over 6 months since I've done ANYthing constructive, and I'm really going to have to ease into it!

We're having a family reunion here starting officially tonight for the 4th of July. Aunts, uncles, cousins, cousins I've never met before...should be exciting!

Rachel flies home TODAY, I'm not sure what time she actually gets in, but I'm sure she's flying right now.

It's good to be home!

Something else intriguing, by Hannah

2005-06-24T14:27:00.000-04:00

Another cool comic from Whispered Apologies.

Ben and I at the end of Extrav

2005-06-24T06:14:00.000-04:00

Zoie and I at extrav

2005-06-24T06:13:00.000-04:00

the County College Tree

2005-06-22T07:44:00.000-04:00

the County College Tree
Originally uploaded by mccblink.

The County College tree in the midst of being decorated.

President Dan leading "County Wonderland"

2005-06-22T07:43:00.000-04:00

President Dan leading "County Wonderland"
Originally uploaded by mccblink.

Kim and I, with the tree outside

2005-06-22T07:42:00.000-04:00

Kim and I, with the tree outside
Originally uploaded by mccblink.

Here's Kimberly and I in Zoie's room- you can see the County College Tree outside the window all decorated for the festivities.

County Till I die, by Hannah

2005-06-22T04:02:00.000-04:00

County Extrav 2005 is officially over, and I'm trying to stay awake just a little longer, because if I don't go to sleep, it will feel like another day hasn't really passed. I can't believe there are only 4 short days standing in between me and home! I'm so excited to go home, but reality is starting to sink in: I don't want to leave here either.

The Extrav festivities started officially at 7 pm, but I started way earlier, by watching the setup through Zoie's courtyard window and hitting up the 5-a-sides tournament on the mail uni field this afternoon. We headed down to the courtyard (via my newly blocked off side door- I felt like I was in prison) and got our free buttons (mine says something like "Up with the Jive Talk, Down with the County Kids." Much cooler ones read "County Girls: Drinking your beer since 1969" and my personal favorite, simply "County Till I die.") and started enjoying the well formed atmosphere. The night ended with a song called "Never Forget" and people formed large (muddy) circles in the courtyard. After that a group of stood on the benches around the County Tree singing one of the County Fight songs, touching the tree, and randomly yelling "I'm County till I die!!!!!" I think all the first years felt very tragic. It was like highschool graduation all over again, except this time with live bands and a bar! I think everyone should try it. JCR President Daniel led us in a few rounds of the County song as well- while it isn't terribly original, it IS catchy, and 500 drunk people singing/yelling it makes quite an impression:
There's only one County College
There's only one County College
Walking along, singing a song
Walking in a County Wonderland.

Monkey: Day 3

2005-06-21T23:02:00.000-04:00

Monkey: Day 3
Originally uploaded by mccblink.

Sorry about the low quality picture kids, but here she is, day 3. All grown up and such. I'm getting ready to take her out of her recent watery habitat so she can "dry out" (the package says she will, anyway) for our journey home on Sunday.

Happy Hank, by Hannah

2005-06-21T12:13:00.000-04:00

Check out pictures of the people I live with here.

Extrav setup is in full swing...I woke up this morning to the sound of a stage being assembled in the courtyard, and now there's a fence outside my door to get outside. And my monkey's still growing! Notice (on one of the later pages of "grow" stuff) that the male counterpart to my Happy Hannah Banana Monkey is Happy Hank the Monkey--I couldn't stop laughing. Partly just because the whole concept is so weirdly entertaining. Partly because am I the ONLY one who remembers Hank the missing manatee who went MIA from Booger's laudry to Jesse's car and was never seen again?

Gotta love that British "humour," by Hannah

2005-06-21T02:23:00.000-04:00

Check THIS out. And laugh. A lot.

Monkey: day 2

2005-06-20T17:15:00.000-04:00

Monkey day 2
Originally uploaded by mccblink.

Yes kids, she's grown that much. In 24 short hours. I took her out for some fresh air this afternoon, and she got poked by many interested fingers ("eew, it's SLIMY"). I think it helped.

Monkey: Day 1

2005-06-20T13:52:00.000-04:00

Monkey: Day 1
Originally uploaded by mccblink.

So, my sister sent me this monkey in the mail a few months ago, and I just got it last week. It's supposed to expand to 600% (not 600 times...) its original size. It's name is Happy Hannah Banana Monkey, so it makes sense that she would send it to me, but what doesn't make sense is the strange attachment I've got to it (it's been suggested this weird partiality is due to the fact that I didn't ever have a Tamagachi? when I was little). I plan to take pictures of it each day so you can get an idea of just how much 600% is. Enjoy!

Sunburned and loving it, by Hannah

2005-06-19T17:18:00.000-04:00

I'm sitting in my room, which is looking more and more empty. I've mostly packed one suitcase, and taken all of the stuff off my walls. It's starting to look like it did when I first moved in. I can't believe my 6 months are nearly done- a week from today I'll be on a plane somewhere over the Atlantic. More people leave everyday.

Last night was officially my last night out, except for County's extrav, on Tuesday. I decided at about 10 that I really DID want to go out to the Sugarhouse one last time, and I rounded up Zoie and Ben and we headed off to a very crowded and hot night. It was high up on my list of nights out- a really good ending to my clubbing memories. There were a few key moments of the night, of course, the first being the gigantic (in a tall way) guy who was standing in front of me at the bar. He kept leaning back and bumping me, pretty much because he couldn't see me. He was that tall. While I was annoyed with the bumping, I was enthralled with his tallness! Way to go tall guy! Then there was the whole bumping theme- I got pretty much shoulder slammed about every 3 minutes for the rest of the night, and everytime it happened I got a little more pissed off. I guess it's all part of the fun though! And last, there was the guy on the bus. He tapped Zoie and I on the shoulders and told us he liked our hair. Then he asked me how my night was, and where was I from in America. I told him Tennessee, and he was like "ohhhhh. Like the tennis player." I started laughing and turned around to my seat again. About 7 minutes later he tapped me again, and he was like (slurring) "I'm SO sorry. I got TENNESSEE Williams and VENUS Williams confused AGAIN." I laughed all the way home.

Before the going out of last night, I had a pretty full day of doing nothing. Due to two very late (or early...) nights, I slept late, then Kimberly (who I LOVE b to the w) and I went to a real English football game. For those of you who don't know (I hope that is a very small number), football = soccer. The game was between the present County team (one of my kitchen mates is on the team) and past county teams. It seemed like a good game, but the "old guy's" team won. The best part of this whole experience is that it was both hot and sunny. Zoie and I laid outside for the rest of the day and I got sunburned. Yes kids, I got sunburned IN England. I think it might be illegal.

So the rest of my week looks like this: I'm taking a little day trip to Scotland tomorrow, Tuesday is Extrav, starting at 7 pm, officially ending at 3 am, but unofficially continuing on for much, much longer. Wednesday is recovery from Extrav (don't you love how I planned for recovery?), Thursday and Friday are packing days, and Saturday Zoie and I head to Manchester. I fly out of Manchester at 8:45 on Sunday morning, to London, to Washington DC, to Nashville!

Hannah and Rachel on the train

2005-06-15T15:00:00.000-04:00

Me and Rach
Originally uploaded by mccblink.

Here we are on the train to Germany, looking a little tired. Way to go Rach for living through her first hostel experience!

Ronaldo in Vienna

2005-06-15T14:59:00.001-04:00

Ronaldo in Vienna
Originally uploaded by mccblink.

The beautiful Cristiano Ronaldo...

The bookstore!

2005-06-15T14:59:00.000-04:00

The bookstore!
Originally uploaded by mccblink.

Go on and laugh, you know you want to!

Salzburg from the other end of the river

2005-06-15T14:58:00.001-04:00

Salzburg from the other end of the river
Originally uploaded by mccblink.

Salzburg

2005-06-15T14:58:00.000-04:00

Salzburg
Originally uploaded by mccblink.

The river Salzach in Salzburg

Salzburg

2005-06-15T14:57:00.000-04:00

Salzburg
Originally uploaded by mccblink.

The beautiful city of Salzburg as seen from the top of the Schloss Mirabell gardens.

Update 2005 baby! by Hannah

2005-06-15T11:12:00.000-04:00

Hey howdy hey strangers, long time no update. As it is, officially, (my time anyway) 11:15 am GMT I will, officially, be home in approximately 11 days and 12 hours and 40 minutes. Am I excited? Maybe just a little bit.

I just got back from my fantastic Austrian adventure on Monday night, and since I was requested by Rachel herself to please update the blog with our new stories, I will proceed to do so:

I left here on Wednesday morning (After saying the first of many "for good" goodbyes to some friends here) and after a backpack adventure literally walked down the stairs to my platform at the rail station and right onto my London bound train. I arrived in London 3 hours later and went to the Underground so I could get to the airport--which I discovered isn't really IN London, but 45 miles north east of it. So that was fun, of course. I got to the airport pretty early for my flight and checked in, which gave me the thrill of being seating 12th out of 129 people or something, so I got a window seat and the views were amazing. I got into Salzburg at about 8:30 and followed some nice British boys to the bus station, then got to my hostel and discovered to my dismay that my toothpaste had exploded in Zoie's backpack that she let me borrow. So, yes kids, I spent my first night in Salzburg cleaning toothpaste out of a bag and mistaking German girls for Americans because they were singing "Hot Stuff" REALLY loudly in the bathroom. And then later some R Kelly. They can sing that stuff perfectly but apparantly didn't understand a word I said. The next morning I got up early and went out to explore the city, which was absolutely beautiful. I walked all the way into the pedestrian market, then to the cathedral and the katacombs and to the Schloss Mirabell (where parts of "the Sound of Music" were filmed. And incidentally, doesn't "schloss" sound like a name you would call someone? Like "oh wow, you are SUCH a schloss" or "gosh, would you stop being a schloss"?). I went back to the hostel around 7 and prepared to go meet Rachel and her friends at the train station (just because I thought it'd be romantic). But FIRST I enjoyed the first half of "the Sound of Music" because our hostel played it every night at 8.

Rachel's train pulled in right as I walked to her platform and I saw her standing in the window and I couldn't stop smiling! She jumped off the train and as I was hugging her, there were two main thoughts going through my mind: 1. It's so good to see you! and 2. I forgot how short you were! both of which I verbally expressed shortly. I got a punch in the arm for that one ;) The friends Rach brought are both from her program so they go to school in Kentucky, one at EKU and the other at Murray State. The EKU girl, Linda, has a mutual friend of mine and Rachel's from Berea, and happens to have a Relient H shirt with my picture on it, so that was a little crazy! We went back to the hostel with no problems and got the other three girls checked into the same room as me, then we proceeded to stay awake too long talking and eating paprika pringles, and it was lovely.

The next morning I woke up early and took a shower then woke the other girls, and I was standing there almost completely naked, and our door opens. This little old man sticks his head it and says "Maria? No, no." and walks out. That was the beginning of a day of randomness! After breakfast we headed to the train station again so we could go to Berchesgaden, a little town in Germany where the salt mines were. For the record, my 3 hours in Germany made my country count 10, which excites me simply because of it's well-roundedness. While the other girls went to the salt mines (and very much enjoyed it) I headed for a walk around the town, which was lovely. We ended up not getting back to Salzburg until 4 but good travellers that we were managed to see almost all of the city that we wanted to (I had the advantage here) before getting on our 8:00 train to Vienna.

In Vienna we went our seperated ways from the Westbahnhoff to hostels that we hoped were still open. Rach and I checked into ours, which was open, and went to sleep, since it was about 12:30 by this point. The next morning we walked around Vienna until our feet were sore looking for the opera house, which apparantly is really big and easy to find but took us ages! On the walk though, I did see a poster of Manchester Utd's Cristiano Ronaldo and started semi-screaming (it was the most girly thing I've done in quite sometime kids) and the other girls started semi-pretending-they-didn't-know-me, but I just had to tell them that if they'd been living in northwest England for the past 5 1/2 months they'd understand too, and took a picture. Eventually we found the Opera House, but it wasn't open because there actually was an opera that night. But this was where the fun began: We discovered that in this particular region of Austria, much capital gain is made off of the name of Mozart, since he was born in Salzburg and died in Vienna and all. This past weekend the city of Vienna was holding a few "Mozart" concerts aimed at tourists, and in a really bad move to sell tickest TO tourists, they put out people, both men and women (who were SCARY, let me just tell ya) dressed AS Mozart, to pretty much annoy tourists into buying tickets. The first lady was annoying, and the second two men were downright pushy (they actually asked me "why not?" when I said I didn't want tickets. My head almost exploded. Apparantly when faced with pushy sales people I get angry. They had to tell me what happened later). So we started the Mozart game, which pretty much meant Mozart dodging at all the major sights we visited. It never got old, because they were always there! And as soon as you let your guard down one of them pops up and starts chasing you across the square, white pony tail and all. We learned to not make eye contact and not to go within 3 feet, whether they were already engaged with another customer or not!

While developing our Mozart skills we headed to the Schloss Belvedere to see Gustav Klimt's "the Kiss." I'm a big fan of that museum. It's set up inside the Belvedere Palace which is just cool. The bottom floor is just a mix of paintings, some Reniors, Monets, Manets, Van Goghs, and some Austrian painters, and the current exhibit upstairs is Austrian history during and since WW2. The red and white Austrian flag was draped through the whole exhibit. It was history muesum meets modern art exhibit and really well put together, and "the Kiss" was everything I had hoped it would be, and bigger. After the museum we were faced with another pushy salesman, this time in the form of a Greek resteraunt owner whose brother lived in Seattle. Even though we made it clear that none of us were from anywhere near Seattle, he insisted that we come inside for some free apple juice. Why he though apple juice would entice us in I have no idea, but we left pretty quickly. My head was about to explode again.

After this we went all around the city seeing the sites, and ended up standing over a canal of the Danube wondering why the famous river wasn't as big as we thought it would be, only to discover (using the infamous and much mourned Mappy) that it wasn't in fact a canal and the river was about 5 miles away. We gave up and headed back to the hostel where my cell phone, which I left plugged in accidentally in my room, was no longer waiting for me. Yes, that's right kids, in all my hostel travelling I've never had one thing stolen, but no more phone for me. I was pretty angry at first, then I realized that it's a pre-paid phone so after about 5 minutes of talking the credit would be gone and they don't have my top-up card so they can't ever make it work again. And the handset is locked. So it's of no use to the girls who took it now, and it never will be. And I won't need it after the next 11 days! Anyway, that was just another adventure.

The next morning we got up way too early, took our stuff to a locker in the station and headed to the Hofberg palace, home of the chapel where the famous Vienna choir boys sing every Sunday morning, and we heard them there. They were amazing, of course. The catholic mass in German was NOT as amazing though, and we headed out after 5 songs. This time we really DID make it to the Danube, which was beautiful but not as blue as I had anticipated. I'm sure it's a lot prettier outside of the city though.

On a side note here, just to give your immature side a moment of consideration, the German name for Vienna is Wien. And everything that is OF Vienna, or Viennese, is Weiner. Which means that the word Wiener is printed ALL OVER the city, and it never stopped being funny to me. There was the Wiener Plaza hotel. Wiener, the newspaper. Wienerwald, some sort of store (which unfortuantly had a rooster perched on it). The Wiener Akademie. The Wiener Choir boys. The list goes on, and on, and on, and I laughed for the whole time I was there. Also, there was a bookstore chain called Frick, which never ceased to make me giggle as well.

3 hours later I was back in Salzburg on my own the other girls had 5 more hours of train ride to get back to Bregenz by 9. I said goodbye to Rachel in a hurried fashion and it was not nearly as sad as the last time we said goodbye-- since we're sure to see each other before too long! Since I was lacking a clock at this time (watch battery died, phone got stolen...) I started trying to make my way to the airport and ended up there about 4 hours before it left, which makes it about 2 1/2 hours before I even needed to be there. So that was fun. I just love airports. I read for a few hours, checked in, then went through the duty free store and sprayed mens cologne on those little strips of paper to decide which one I liked the best. I got bored with this pretty early on but essentially landed on Lacoste for men. I sat back down, got bored some more, and tried on 7 different expensive lipglosses. By the time the flight was boarding I was trying to scrape it off my lips, somewhat unsuccessfully.

I got back to London at 9:55 and made the 10:45 train into London from the airport. I literally also made the last train in the underground headed for my stop by 3 minutes. Otherwise I would have been stranded at the Liverpool Street station all night, baby. Thank God my flight was early! I checked into my hostel and tried to not wake up the others who were in there while checking my toothpaste (no problems this time). I spent Monday morning in London seeing the rest of the things I wanted to--Notting Hill, Charing Cross road (for my mom), and the National Gallery, which was free and full of good things. I headed out from the London Paddington station at 12:30 to see Oxford, and said my goodbyes to London, currently my favorite city in the world. Oxford was lovely, despite the fact that I was carrying the weight of a 6 year old child on my back all day. I walked through the university and went to Magdalen College, where CS Lewis and Oscar Wilde lived. It was beautiful, as expected.

After a long train ride home I got back to the lovely weather of 10 degrees celsius and rain in Lancaster and stayed up late watching Sex and the City on DVD with Zoie! The trip was overall a great success, and now Rachel and I can reminice about "that time we were in Vienna together."

Today I'm working on cleaning my room so I can start packing-- my room inspection is in a week. Last night out with Kim and Zoie is happening tomorrow, and I'm going to the Lake District on Saturday and hopefully Edinburgh for the day on Monday.

I miss you Rach, can't wait to update with you again---our SENIOR year, baby!

Safe travels (not my frog) by Hannah

2005-05-26T21:14:00.000-04:00

As I type this, Rachel is flying high over the Atlantic, or over central Europe! Or maybe she's laid over at some horrible little German airport or something, there's no telling. In any case, she's on her way to Austria for her summer European Adventure! While I'm extremely happy that she has this opportunity, I am thrilled for myself. Yes, I am that selfish. BUT I haven't seen her since December, and for two people who among Bereans are generally known to be joined at the hip, that's a LONG time. But the next 13 days are going to fly by for me, and for her too, I'm sure. I'm leaving tomorrow to go to Dublin for 3 days with Kimberly and her sister Stephanie who is visiting from lovely Venice, Florida. We'll be back on Monday and leave again Wednesday for London (hopefully with enough time and energy to go see Star Wars. Because I really am a nerd, if you didn't know that.) for two nights. Then I'll be back here for 5 days, with an exam on the 6th and head back to London for my flight to Salzburg on the 8th. I'm so happy I could scream.

Monday the girls and I went shopping in the big city of Manchester and we had a rockin' good time. We went to the gigantic Trafford Centre and pretty much went wild for about 4 hours. It was awesome. I spent the night with Kimberly so we could "collect" her sister from the airport, then we came back here with just enough time for me to shower and not smell like the nasty hostel we didn't really sleep in and head off to the train station with Jackie and Kerri since they were leaving us for good. The only thing that stopped the goodbye from being really sad was the promise we all made back in February: that no matter where we are we'll get together for the 2012 Olympics, no matter where they are. We reached this decision because one of the leading bids is from London, and that would be pretty cool. Also, when Kim and I travelled we hit almost every spot that's bidding for that year's Olympics! London, Paris, Madrid. And New York. Our vote is still for London.

I talked to my mom on the phone for a long time today, and I think I might be reaching the "homesickness" level. I guess that's appropriate since I've been here nearly 5 months and everything has wound down to the point where I'm pretty bored. But starting tomorrow I'll be travelling on and off until a week before I leave, so hopefully that will be remedied.

Congratulations to Richard who graduated from Berea!!!!! Wish I could have been there dude.

Vienna

2005-05-18T21:55:00.000-04:00

Slow down you crazy child
Take the phone off the hook and disappear for a while
It's alright you can afford to lose a day or two
When will you realize...
Vienna waits for you.

-Billy Joel

Vienna June 10th-12th 2005!

Happy Birthday to Living the Crazy Life, by Hannah

2005-05-14T15:44:00.000-04:00

I'm sure the whole world joins me (and Rachel) in wishing our blog it's happy 1st birthday. Our site counter is now reading at nearly 5000, and angels are singing on this the day that we decided to do a joint blog. Yay!

oops

2005-05-14T12:58:00.000-04:00

So, for my away message I had a link that said "happy birthday blog" - apparently I mistyped it though... it was to www.biglots.blogpot.com instead of this site... check it out - it's an adventure waiting to happen. :)

SO, HAPPY FIRST BIRTHDAY BLOG!!!!!

I tried to find one that said Happy Birthday Roscoe, but to no avail....

Really? A piegon, Hannah? by rachel

2005-05-12T22:50:00.000-04:00

Hehehe. I can't help it. I love her! And I get to see her next month when we rendevous in Austria. Isn't rendevous a great word?

Guess who is in town?? My gay boyfriend Sir Thomas Booger Wayne Goober Evans himself. I've missed him. He is now tan and fluent en espanol. I guess that is what happens when you live in Guatamala for 3 months.

Today was a beautiful day. Not only cause it was 85 and sunny, but also because I saw Booger, because I got a freakin' 98 on my Startzman paper on John Donne's poetry, and a 105 on my Tooley presentation. Another great thing about today is that it is the very last day of classes. *sigh of relief* This semester has been killer. But I am still alive!

This evening was the huge final presentation for my service-learning project for the people of Estill County. Hunter and I entertained ourselves by taking bets on how many times Muggins would run his hands through his hair while up there. And then Krack wrote obsenities on his hand, waved at me, and made me almost embarrass myself laughing. At least I didn't pull a "crackerbarrel" and pee in my pants. Ask Bayla about that one. Or her mom.

Now I have finals to contend with, and Ashley's wedding, and packing, and to Austria I go. I hope I have all of my ducks in a row...

Speaking of ducks, my favorite duck started a blog. It is technically in existence, but not really up and running yet. Startzman would call it "limbo." And no, he doesn't know who kirby is either. But he says hi.

Spain pictures by Hannah

2005-05-12T12:54:00.000-04:00

Spain pictures are up on the other website....here. They're also GIGANTIC. And that was my piegon, thanks to Emma for the picture.

My pigeon

2005-05-12T07:41:00.000-04:00

No pigeon picture...by Hannah

2005-05-09T23:30:00.000-04:00

Looks like no luck with the pigeon picture. I'll try to find another way for it to work!

my pigeon adventure, by Hannah

2005-05-09T23:28:00.000-04:00

In the past 3 years I have had many experiences with windows, open, closed, or invisibly screened, but today tops them all. I have thrown my own shoes out a window, been assualted by "squirrels" (who turned out to be Steve O throwing acorns it), and let us not forget the horrifying larger than life bumblebee problem (or, if you have forgotten, it was freshman year when Rachel lived next door to me. I screamed from sheer terror, plus I was having a realllllly bad day, and she came over and smashed it dead), but my current window has provided the adventure of...a lifetime. Or at least it's provided a unique study abroad experience. Let me set up the scene for you:

First of all, I'm sick and on alllll kinds of cold medicines and drugs, so that means really really zoned out. I walked in my room, having only been gone about 3 minutes, to discover a HUGE fat pigeon sitting on my window seat. Just chilling. At first I didn't even see it, because it wasn't moving! Then I went down the hall and grabbed a bunch of my flat mates, who came to see for themselves, cameras and all. Eventually Tim got his pool queue and Kerri poked the bird into leave. Simon says they always come back though, so my window is currently closed. I'm not sure if this will work, but try to click here for a picture of the illustrious bird, thanks to Emma. I didn't want to get close enough to the bird to take a picture!

Even better! by Hannah

2005-05-07T19:48:00.000-04:00

Ah, this is even better! Up to date Roses scores, straight from York. See if you can guess what the funny sounding games actually are!

Roses 2005! Wooot go Lancaster by Hannah

2005-05-07T19:39:00.000-04:00

Click here for a veritable explosion of usesless Roses history, for all you USA people just dying to see it for yourselves!

Spain...by Hannah

2005-05-07T01:04:00.000-04:00

Still working on the Spain pictures. Did I already say that Hello just stopped working for some reason? I uninstalled it and tried again, still no luck. I posted the other travelling pictures with a new program called Flickr, but unfortunately I can only upload a certain amount of pictures per month, and I already used all of that up for this month. Audrey, I have loads of pictures from Spain! Do you have my email address? I know I have yours somewhere but I don't know where...I'll see if I can get it from Rachel and I'll email you so you can see my Spain pictures on Shutterfly!

I really don't know where I'm going with this...by Hannah

2005-05-06T19:44:00.000-04:00

Hello from sunny old England. It's currently, but not surprisingly, not sunny. And something I've discovered is that even when it IS sunny, the sun isn't necessarily WARM. I'm not sure how to explain that scientifically, but there must be some reason other than "well, it's England." I am just very unsure about the legitimacy of that claim. Anyway...

I'm pretty much living the most easy, non-stressed life ever, and I'm pretty much bored stupid. All of my classes are over, so I all have left before I fly home on June 26th (!!!) are 3 exams, spread out over an entire month. If you guys know me, and I'm going to take a wild guess that you do, you know that I don't study. I just don't. I have pretty much flown through college by...really, I don't know how. I am as shocked as the rest of you to find myself here, on the brink of my senior year, with a decent GPA and no serious professional enemies. Anyway, since all I have to do right now is study, I'm pretty much not doing anything. Pick any day from last week and I most likely will NOT be able to tell you anything specific or important that happened on that day. Now I know this sounds gorgeous to all you over worked Bereans (and anyone else who lives in America, for that matter. Everything is just FASTER there!), but I'm bored! So sometime tonight I'm going to plan some travels. Just to pass the time here in this lovely country which I am being forced to spend a lot of free time in...no feeling sorry, guys.

Here's some exciting news! I'm meeting up with Rachel in beautiful Salzburg for a night and then we're going to Vienna! Austria will never be the same...(to get the full effect right now please hum "The hills are alive with the sound of music..." very loudly to yourself). I am more than excited to see someone from home...and not just someone...RACHEL!!!!

Oh wait, I can tell some specific details from my week. On Monday, I walked into town with Tory! It was beautiful, Lancaster at its finest. It takes about 40 minutes to walk the way we did, but it was totally worth it. Then I got the new Ryan Adams CD (a day before anyone in the States could, and with one of those "UK Bonus Tracks" I'm always so jealous of!) and some cookies, so it was a good day. Me and Ryan have been chilling since then, but the cookies didn't make it.

Tonight the girls and I are having a quiet one, and ordering chinese food. This is for a variety of reasons. #1 being that this is Roses weekend. Remember the War of the Roses, between Lancaster and York? Well Lancaster Uni and York Uni re-enact it through athleticism every spring, and it's that time. I mistakenly referred to it as "The Rose Bowl" and was duly reprimanded. I didn't know that it had a historical reference in it, but then I felt stupid. So anyway, everyone is gone to York for Roses. Zoie just asked me "OHHH where have all the cute boys gone this weekend?" and the answer is, of course, to York. The #2 reason for having a quiet one is that we did NOT have a quiet one last night, and we all need some recovery time!

We went to the Lounge last night (I'm allowing myself one night a week out, but I'm thinking I really might even make it less than that. I'm getting old...) and danced the night away...it was glorious. We went to the Sugarhouse last Friday and it was a little bit disappointing. It WAS however, James Bond themed, and we're in England so it was for real. The music was disappointing, but the free drinks never fail to create happiness, simply because they're FREE. Also, you could gamble. This pretty much meant that the normal female to male ratio of 5:1 was made even more extreme, like 14:1. I met some really sweet girls in the bathroom though. I always end up meeting girls in the bathroom, I have no idea why. The first was a a birthday girl- she was 19. I told her happy birthday, and she was (drunken slurring to be added at your own enjoyment) kind enough to reply with "happy birthday to you toooooooo" and then hugged me. It was quite a sweet moment. The second girl was bleeding from a random slice on her knee. She was wearing little teeny tiny shorts and a big blue men's button up shirt and a tie. That was her realllllly wanting that free drink for being a Bond girl. In any case, somebody had sliced her with a ring on the dance floor. She was highly perturbed, and kept almost-dropping her bottle of Lambrini. It was also a charming incident.

I'm off to order Chinese. Be good!

Yay for Pictures, by Hannah

2005-05-04T02:12:00.000-04:00

so, i'm sorry I haven't been updating. I'm kind of bored with this whole blog thing. I miss Rachel! Anyway, I finally found another picture posting program, and I am currently putting a bunch of travel pictures on here for your viewing pleasure. Let me know what you think!

The Crazy Life indeed... by Rachel

2005-05-03T21:50:00.000-04:00

So, yesterday was pretty much the best day of the semester. I know, I know... "How could anybody ever know that, Napoleon?" I walked into it.

It began with a beautiful cup of VERY caffeinated hazelnut coffee. My friends can attest to the caffeinated part. I felt like I had a buzz all day long. Maybe I shouldn't drink that stuff on an empty stomach... Hmmmm. Anyway, the phone rang, and being the semi-normal person I am, I answered it. It was my Hannah! We booked the hostels we will be staying in TOGETHER in Austria next month! WOOT! Just for a snippet of her day... here is the away message she had up the last night...

A few smart things I did today:
-Dipped my black paint-covered paintbrush into my half drunk cup of really good tea instead of my cup of painty water-Punched my shelf while trying to cheer
-Accidentally ran water all over 4 washcloths in my sink. I still don't know how that happened
-Walked into my kitchen with blue pastels all over my face and arms and honestly didn't get why people stared
-Googled Snuffleupagus, because I was really that bored. For future reference, that is how he was spelled.

She's special, I know.

I soon went to lunch where, as is custom now, when Rowan went to get more food, Diehl grabbed his Nalgene to pour salt into. I rolled my eyes at him and said, "Isn't that getting old?" Big mistake. He looked at me mischievously and plunked the whole salt shaker down in there. I died laughing. As did Rowan when he came back with his Lucky Charms. Rowan then poured out enough of his ice water out so that just the holes of the salt shaker were above water level. "So it can breathe," I said.

At the CPO I got my paycheck which was more than I expected. That's always nice.

Then, the climax of the day is owed to Beki. Ah, what a girl. A big thank you to her for making sure that apron was rescued.

Confused? Good :)

quickly! by Hannah

2005-04-27T04:01:00.000-04:00

I am so not busy that I can't seem to find time to post. Will update soon...working on Hello still (to post pictures from Spain, Audrey!) but it's being ridiculous. It's finally getting warm here! And I am paler than I've ever been in my life! I'll have some serious catching up to do when I get back to sunny Tennessee in the middle of the hot summer- I can't wait! Miss you all!

Bible study? by Hannah

2005-04-18T16:50:00.000-04:00

Hey kids, I'm in Spain. I've been singing that Counting Crows song for a week now...sing a long...
I just wanted to tell you all that A) Spain is beautiful and B) When I just tried to get to this website it sent me to awesomebiblestudies.com. I have no idea. Is God trying to tell me something?

Looking forward to joint-posting, by Hannah

2005-04-15T00:44:00.000-04:00

No kids, not that kind of joint. Not that kind either. You sick, sick people. I just wanted to say that I can't wait till I'm back in Berea next fall and Rachel and I can update about our experiences together! I MISS that. And I pretty much have no motivation to finish my updates about my travels. But I will. Someday.

Until then, just remember that
We are so pretty ponies.

And check this guy out: Ray LaMontagne