Meet Steph

This is one of my dearest friends, Stephanie Edwards. I met Steph briefly my freshman year on a Sunday. About two years later, I walked into apartment b22 in the Elms after having been homeless for six days and announced to the strangers (except for Jill Fitzgibbons Mohlman, who I knew from home in Las Vegas) that I was moving in. Steph was one of those strangers. I knew she looked familiar though, and after a few minutes we made the connection of when we had met freshman year.

Steph and I quickly became friends, which is funny, because we are very different in many ways. For example:

1) Steph likes to wear bright colors and sparkly things and dance and sing and scrapbook and all sorts of jazz. My favorite color to wear is black. And I play the beastly sport of rugby and don't dance. Or sing. Or scrapbook. I do enjoy looking at her scrapbooks, though. I'm pretty good at that.

2) Steph has on several occasions thought of setting me up with a theater friend. I have to tell her, "Steph, I want the guy I date to be manlier than me." ***

3) Steph's married. I'm not.

4) Steph's an open book with everyone. It takes time and trust for me to open up to someone. I'm one of those diaries that has a lock on it. And the key is lost somewhere in the ocean.

5) Steph loves all things country. I.........................don't.

Yes, there are some major differences, but I love those things about Steph. I think she is exciting and funny and brimming with personality and open to new ideas and blunt and sparkly and so on. I truly appreciate the fact that she is different from me in so many ways. And she appreciates my differences. And that's how we are the same. That's the similarity. We love each other. I can say that confidently. Which means that when we get together we can talk like it's nobody's business. I trust her. I tell her pretty much everything. And she does the same to me. And she always has wicked good stories for me.

All in all, I'm so lucky to have her in my life. Life won't be the same when she moves up to Seattle and she starts her bomb job at Apple and her husband starts law school. We won't have our frequent get-togethers. But you better believe that she will always be one of my best friends and that we'll keep in touch.

Steph, I'm excited for this huge step in life. I love you. Save a couch for me up there in Seattle, will ya?

*** Not all theater dudes are effeminate. No offense meant by this statement.

My Trip to the East Coast

Some things I did while I was in the East Coast:

1. Charley's graduation at University of Connecticut. Manchester, CT

2. Indian food with Charley, Kat, mom, and dad. Manchester, CT

3. Saw the Old North Bridge, Walden Pond, and other historic sites. Concord, MA

4. Stayed in the Onyx Hotel. Boston, MA

5. Ate at The Paramount restaurant where Allison Mitton and Melissa Parkinson joined me, mom, Charley, and Kat. Boston, MA

6. Ate at Marliave with mom, Charley and Kat. Boston, MA

7. Walked around Boston, MA.

8. Walked around on a rocky beach. Rockport, MA

9. Explored shops in Rockport, MA.

10. Ate fresh lobster and fresh clam chowder in Rockport, MA.

11. Hit up some H & M. Manchester, CT and NYC, NY

12. Went to Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. NYC, NY

13. Saw the Milling family in Manhattan, NY.

14. Went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC, NY.

15. Watched Tangled and Michael Clayton and ate delicious Dominoes pizza. Manchester, CT

Bomb diggity trip, I'd say.

Mad

Jeannette Walls's parents will surely burn in hell.

Sarah

My oldest sister, a quantum physicist, writer, marathon runner, mother of three, and wife of one (THANKfully) is one of the coolest people I know.

She has this mind that is unmatched, which makes for great conversation. Her brain is filled with interesting information on any given topic. Like dissonance and black holes and antimatter.

Recently Sarah moved to Mapleton. What a blessing having her just 15 minutes away. I feel like I have grown even closer to her.

Sarah and I recently drove to Vegas and back. We listened to about 8 hours of music during that drive. From Beyonce to Simon and Garfunkle to Geographer to Ghostland Observatory to Adele to Bonethugz N' Harmony to so much more, we belted those songs. And I don't know about her, but I thoroughly enjoyed it.

I just want her to know that she is one of my best friends and I love her.

Arby-Q

For Laura and Seth, who eternally torment me about this.

We were flying to Boston in the middle of the night. Mom, Dad, Sarah, Ann, Scotty, Laura, Seth and I. All of a sudden flight attendants were running up and down the plane. Are we crashing?! What's happening?! Then I looked over and there's a man laying in the aisle with blood all over him. The pilot announced an emergency landing in Pittsburg would take place. The man had some sort of disease and had started throwing up blood (sorry for the disturbing details). We landed in Pittsburg at around one in the morning, and the man was taken to the hospital. He survived (I actually don't know that detail, but let's just say that he did because I'm trying to get away from the morbidity of this post). It looked like we were going to be at the airport for a while. Laura, Seth, and I were hungry, and the only food place that was open was Arby's. All the times I had been to Arby's in Vegas I had gotten a trusty Arby-Q. So I ordered first. I said to the young girl who looked like she hated her life at that moment, "Um. Can I have an Arby-Q?" She then said (in a voice that sounded ultra bratty teenagerish to me) "an ARBY-Q?" Mom had to explain to me that apparently Pittsburg Arby's don't serve Arby-Qs, so I ordered something else.

The end.

Seriously. That's the end of the story. So here's the eternal torment part.

Laura and Seth bring that up ALL THE BLOODY TIME. And they laugh and laugh because bratty Britney behind the counter said "ARBY-Q?" and there I was, looking sheepish. They find it even funnier because THEY WERE GOING TO ORDER THE SAME THING, but thankfully their innocent, angel of a sister ordered first.

Them bringing that up used to unleash my 10-year-old wrath. But now I just roll my eyes and laugh because they are still trying to extract any bit of humor from the story, 12 years later.

:)

W, NW, E, and a little bit of S

I'm proud of myself. In the last year I have been to:

Las Vegas, NV-home

Provo, UT-school

Palo Alto, CA-rugby tournament at Stanford

Coeur d'Alene, ID-roadtrip

Florence, OR-visit Ann, Brian and kids

Harrisonburg, VA-visit Laura and John

Washington D.C.- vacation with some of the fam

Miami, FL-for a night on the way back from Haiti, and

Port au Prince, Haiti-humanitarian trip for FFCIN

and will soon be going to these places (May 6-12):

Manchester, CT-Charley's graduation

NYC, NY-PARTAAAY, vacation with Mom, Charley, and Kat

Boston, MA- vacation with Mom, Charley, and Kat

Not bad for one year, eh?

Suggestions for places to visit in Boston and NYC?

Febrero

I have another blog. This one is for everyone to see. I would prefer this blog stays somewhat private, but I don't care who sees my other one. If you want to check it out, click here.

Peace