I have been thinking about how college is finally ending for me. 

There are so many moments I will never get back.

Like this one:

These were the classy girls I rolled with during my Freshman year at WMU.  Thank you U Club Apartments for providing us with good clean underage fun.  :)

Local... the best flavor of all!

March 16: 64 degrees in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Nothing but sunshine and blue skies today.

In case you aren't familiar with March in West Michigan, the average temps are usually in the upper 30's to lower 40's. It is not bizarre for us to have snow right up through Easter.

Fortunately, that was not the case today. I spent the afternoon happily roaming the East Hills neighborhood of Grand Rapids with A. We lunched at the Electric Cheetah where they have the best chicken salad in all of America (I'm quite the connoisseur of chicken salad, so take my word for it).

(I did not take this picture)

We criss-crossed Cherry, Wealthy, and Fulton, stopping to peruse the locally owned shops, run by the friendly folks of Grand Rapids.

(UrbanExchange)

(Lamb...duh)

The more we wandered, the more I thought about how much I truly love this city.  Grand Rapids is truly ingrained deep down inside of me.  There is so much happening in this city.  SO much.  Soon summer time in Grand Rapids will be upon us.  Summer festival, ArtPrize, Celebration on the Grand, the State Games, and countless other fabulous events will take place. 

This Friday will be Google Flash Mob day.  GR is a strong contender in becoming the first test city for Google fiber.  This will be such a great opportunity for my city full of artists and entrepreneurs.  

Can I really leave the story of Grand Rapids just as I am getting to the good part?  I don't think I could forgive myself...

Naturally A and I concluded our afternoon by splitting a Monster Cookie from Marie Catrib's:

(Ms. Catrib herself, "We love you, pass it on.)

I love this place.  Le sigh...

Ladies is pimps too.

I was running a smidgen late for church yesterday. It wasn't daylight-savings related, just poor morning time management. I arrived at Mars Hill just after 11 AM and found a seat next to my brother in law. Worship had already started, and so I jumped right in to the singing.

We were singing a traditional hymn with a Mars Hill twist when the worship leader stopped and made everyone sit down. As I took my seat in the shiny grey plastic chair, I noticed a familiar back-of-the-head sitting two rows ahead of me.

Yes, Mr. Dreamboat was present at Mars Hill.

Needless to say, my focus was not so much on the impromptu prayer that the worship leader was giving, but more-so on the blond boy with the stunning torso who just happened to be planted two seats directly in front of me.

An amen, another song, and an entire congregation on its feet later, I finally got the poor boy's attention.

As a woman, I naturally have an allure comparable to... I don't know. Who is really alluring? Snooki?

Might as well be. What did I do after saying his name, yelling "hey", and awkwardly laughing?

A thumbs up.

I gave Mr. Dreamboat a thumbs up.

This is me. This is who I am.

Slow dancing in a burning room.

In recent weeks, months, I have been trying desperately to distract myself from the awful train-wreck that was last summer.

I had been doing pretty well with it. When you're focused on writing feature stories and press releases or designing tacky web sites, you don't think about the first one to truly break your heart (eeesh, that's far too maudlin).

But I have been on Spring break (SPRING BREAK!!!) for the past week. Those distractions have not really been at my disposal. Sometimes the worst thing is to be alone with your thoughts. They can take you to some dangerous territory. These are the places that every part of my body sirens for me to avoid, but that one tiny, yet very persuasive voice nags on with "what if".

This is really quite ridiculous, if you ask me. I mean, really. I should be so completely over this whole ordeal by now.

Roll on, oh little train.

I met up with an old friend tonight at one of my favorite places in the city.

I haven't really seen Lydia in over a year. We used to work at the Manor together, I got her the job there (so sorry, Lydge). We began to catch up over spicy tuna and california rolls.

Lydia was one of my best friends from seventh grade all the way up through our senior year. We used to OD on ghirardelli chocolates and kettle-corn while watching Hugh Grant movies together.

We didn't have the seamless reunion that I've experienced with other friends, but it was still so good to see her. I'm always so happy to see my friends' lives coming together.

"Did you know, in high school, that I was the way I am?" she asked me, dancing around the "L" word. I studied her face, trying to figure out what she wanted me to say.

"No. I mean- I wasn't really surprised when you came out, but I never thought you were..." my voice trailing off.

She's got a good job, doing rehab therapy with the Elderly at Holland Home. Her girlfriend is an accountant for Celebration Cinemas, and they are looking for a new house. They attend St. Marks Episcopal together, and the girl is so happy.


(Jamie (l) and Lydia (r))

We spent much of our dinner lamenting our super conservative upbringings and wondering why we weren't socially defunct or meth addicts.

Love this girl. Missed this girl.