OBX

how is it that one place can make me so happy?

it probably stems from the fact that my family would take a week-long vacation to the outer banks nearly every summer for most of my childhood. i have great memories from those vacations: whole days at the beach, bobbing and diving through waves, playing "bong" with my brother (was that what we called it, eric?), digging holes, catching critters, demolishing my brother in a fishing competition off the pier (they were practically jumping out of the water to bite my hook), being "rescued" by gus (also known as gus-swimming-furiously-towards-you-with-his-nails-fully-extended-and-eventually-you-get-out-of-the-water-just-to-avoid-being-scratched-anymore), chair surfing, sunset walks, big spaghetti dinners on the deck overlooking the ocean, rich breaking my dad's whole arm, reading books while sprawling on a towel in the sun, and just in general loving every minute of it...

well, this past weekend i went to the outer banks with granger. we left shortly after 11pm on fiday night (when granger got out of work) and drove down. we got there around 3:30 or so, and after snarfing some pb&js we passed out. then, after only 2 HOURS OF SLEEPING, i was awakened by my lovely boyfriend who was up and ready to get the day started. ummm... what?!?!?! i couldn't even wrap my mind around how impossible it was that he was already up for good, although i managed to fanagle another hour of sleep before i joined granger in a state of, albeit grudging, awakeness. sigh...

we got the grocery shopping out of the way that morning and managed to be on the beach by about 9:30, however, so the early morning rise did have its benefits. we brough some mike's hard lemonade and some chips and dip down to the water and stayed well into the afternoon. the only downside of the day was me getting sunburned. but otherwise, granger and i had a great time in the water, tossing a frisbee, and just generally goofing around. granger had a pretty spectacularly graceless moment with the frisbee that caused the lifeguard who was driving by on her ATV to stop and compliment him. she later asked for a repeat performance. he and i both did eventually have some pretty great catches though; i think my favorite of his was when he launched off the ground like a goalkeeper would to barely catch the frisbee between his fingers. my best catch was from behind my back. yeah, i know, i'm awesome!

unfortunately sunday dawned cloudy and windy, so we didn't spend too much time on the beach. we tooled around the house we were staying in and made a smorgasbord for dinner, cleaned and packed up, and drove back to DC. all in all, it was a great trip, and the only reason that i wasn't super sad about leaving was because granger reminded me that, in a week, we'd be lounging on the shores of mexico making one of the toughest decisions of our lives: do i want a margarita or a pina colada? i think i'm going to choose both...

this one's for my dad

i recently got admonished by my dad for not updating this blog enough. apparantly he was sick of reading about my economics class over and over again. its true... i have been post-less since ~ GASP ~ april! to all my avid readers, all three of you, i sincerely apologize.

a few things have happened since the last time i wrote anything here that are actually worthy of mention. the first, and biggest, is that i moved out from my lovely parents' house and into an apartment with my friend caroline, who i lived with for pretty much all four years at northwestern. that, while super fun and exciting, has left me pretty gosh-darn broke. so no starbucks for a while... sigh...

another noteworthy event was the brief visit by my uncle and grandma. they came for a weekend, and they got to meet granger (and granger got to meet them), which was awesome. less awesome was the fact that my lovely boyfriend did not come to my rescue when my uncle, in his usual dreaded style, attacked my neck with kisses. it makes me want to cover my neck just thinking about it!

my dad also turned 61 last week and we were all treated to a surprise birthday visit from lindsay and jack, who recently turned 3. it was great to see both of them, especially because i also got to meet my future niece (who is due in october).

otherwise, life continues on in fairly regular fashion... i am starting to think seriously about starting to apply to some grad schools. so far, my list contains AU, GW, Georgetown, Johns Hopkins, GMU, Montgomery Institute of International Studies (which may lose out merely because of the length of its name - i already went to one long-named school!), and the University for Peace in Costa Rica. Tufts in boston is another consideration. i'll update you on how all this goes, though...

my family (and granger *fingers crossed*) and i are going to mexico in a week and a half. i probably don't have to mention that I AM REALLY FRIGGIN EXCITED ABOUT THIS!!!!!!!! if you know me, you probably already knew that. this weekend granger and i are going to the outer banks in north carolina for a few days. and a few weeks after mexico i am headed out to anchorage to visit eric and beth! phew! busy busy!