Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Back in the Nutmeg State

We just spent over two weeks in Ohio, if anyone missed that.  I think we saw just about everyone that we still talk to while we were there, so yay!  My summer class was cancelled due to low enrollment, so we decided to take a trip back before the school year started.  I started our trip back by going to Chrissy's bachelorette party, which was super fun!  Dan got to end the trip by going to Luke's bachelor party and we arrived home to find the invitation to Chrissy and Luke's wedding in the mail!  Yay!  (The wedding isn't until October, but Chrissy's a teacher and therefore has way more time for parties in the summer). 

Dan's sister Ally is moving to Houston, TX for grad school in Psychology.  She even has classes during the summer so she will be living in Texas for 5 years and only back about twice a year for visits.  We're all extremely proud of her however, and were so glad to get to see her a bit more before she left. 

We also got to spend time with my family for my birthday, which was very fun!  Dad took us to Olive Garden where he had the most amazing potato-encrusted tilapia.  He let me take home the leftovers!  It was so much better than food from the OG should be!  (Not that I don't love Olive Garden, but it's pretty standard middle of the road chain restaurant Italian food.  This fish was amazing - like something you would order at a pricy seafood place).  It was wonderful to get to see everyone!

We got to see Shannon and Dan, who took us out for Sushi and Mini Golf for my birthday (which was totally awesome, thanks guys!!!!).  There is now a sushi restaurant in Grove City!  What is the world coming to?!?  It was pretty good and I enjoyed the "Grove City Roll" that the sushi chef created!  We also got to see several of Dan's friends from high school.  Noah and Heather hosted a barbecue that a bunch of people came to, and then we went to the Feast of the Assumption in Little Italy with Noah and Heather and Ken and Kari!  I had gnocchi and Dan got ravioli and then we had gelato (because it was in the 90s).  Then we got eggplant parm and cassata cake to go since it was super hot outside.  YUM!  One of my favorite August in Parma activities! 

I got to hang out some extra time with my family.  Mom took us to the Dublin Irish Festival, which was awesome!  Free admission if you come before 11am on Sunday.  We went to the Episcopal U2charist which was interesting (not a huge fan of using U2 music in place of liturgical music) but at least we could take communion!  I'm thinking about buying an Irish Flute and got the websites of a couple vendors.  Grandma and Rachel got tired, so Grandma and I went over to Aunt Carol's to take a nap, and Mom took Rachel and her friend Marissa home.  Then mom came back and she and I went to watch the Columbus Police and Fire Pipes and Drums, Irish Step Dancing, and my favorite Irish band - Vinegar Hill!  Totally awesome day!  It was nice to get to spend extra time with Grandma and Rachel during the day, and even though Emily is working full time now, we got to hang out a little bit and we got to go to the gym together! 

We also got to visit with Mandy and Curtis, two of our friends from BG.  We wanted to try to actually make it up to BG but most of the people we would visit were busy or out of town that week, so no dice.  Maybe in January.

As wonderful as it was to see everyone, our schedule was jam packed!  It's nice to be home in our own space with a little more time to take it easy.  Except now we are busy trying to plan our classes for the Fall!  We just got back yesterday and we've been pretty busy running around picking up our held mail, going to the bank and the grocery store and doing laundry and unpacking.  And August is the lean month for us.  We took out all our money for the trip in cash, which helped because we still have a little left.  And we were able to stay under budget at the grocery store!  My goal was to get enough food to feed us until the end of August for under $100 and with sales and coupons we succeeded!  Yay coupons! 

I think it's probably bed time now.  I just took the last of the pumpkin muffins out of the oven (we're visiting Sarah and baby Anna tomorrow and pumpkin muffins are Sarah's favorite) so time to wash up and go to bed. 

Corinne