A Tale of Two Weekends

Last Friday was Philips rite of passage ceremony. As a part of his 15th birthday, much of the extended family was in town to celebrate and attend a ceremony designed to indicate his transition into manhood. It was great to have so much family in town and to get to hang out with family friends that I hadn't seen in awhile, and in some cases that Erin hadn't even met yet.

On Saturday, everyone that was still in town went up on the mountain for a picnic. It was a wonderful way to usher in Spring! The weather was spectacular, and it was nice to spend some time outdoors. After eating lunch, most of the family went on a hike around the lake. Erin and I stayed behind and I occupied myself feeding a very brazen and curious squirrel cheetos.

Saturday evening we did presents for mine and Philip's birthday's, had delicious dessert, and watched "The Hurt Locker".

All in all a very nice weekend...

This past weekend was a completely different story.

As you already know, I’m interning as an accountant for the semester. I don’t have any desire to be an accountant, but the job paid well, was in Starkville, and fulfilled my graduation requirement. This past weekend marked the end of the first quarter, meaning all of the accountants had to work in overdrive in order to make sure all the I’s were dotted and all the T’s were crossed. Unfortunately, this meant we had to work all weekend.

Though it wasn’t exactly the way I’d hoped to spend my weekend, I will certainly enjoy the overtime check when it comes in. Until then, I’ll remain exhausted, and my biological clock will continue to make me think it’s Friday.

At least I have this upcoming weekend and Erin’s visit to Starkville to look forward to :)

EDIT: no... you're not going crazy... I accidentally posted this as "Draft" and didn't realize it hadn't published until today (4/5). I

An Update From Erin

To our friends and family who regularly read our blog--I'm so sorry it has been so long since we have updated! Things were pretty crazy with fall semester ending, a busy Christmas break, and then Gerrit and I both starting our internships.

We had a great Christmas break in Huntsville and really enjoyed spending time with our families. It was a somewhat sentimental break since we know that our lives will be entirely different this time next year. We definitely made the most of our time with our families and also enjoyed getting to spend an extended period of time with each other.

We also traveled to Charleston with Gerrit's family to visit his grandparents. It was really a wonderful visit. We went to downtown Charleston and toured around (I had never been before), we went shopping, went to the movies, and spent time playing games. I really enjoyed getting to know Gerrit's grandparents better and learning more about that side of his family.

Now it is the new year and it is very exciting be able to say that we are getting married this year. It was really kind of amazing how once it was January, the wedding all of a sudden seemed so much closer!

Speaking of which, checking things off the wedding planning list also kept us busy over the break! We ordered invitations, save-the-dates, registered for gifts, did some planning for the rehearsal dinner, and started planning the ceremony.

And now, even though we had a great break, it is kind of nice to be back at school and in a routine. We are both settling in to our internships (mine at Auburn Public Library and Gerrit's at Garan), and it's kind of nice not to be taking classes. It's different to settle back into our lives away from home after such a long break, but it's crazy and so exciting to think that this is our last full semester!