Publication Number 2

Heck yes.

Page 3 of this weeks Collegian.

This story was amazing to research because it involved a docent-led tour of the museum and then, dinner with Holocaust survivors.

It was beyond words.

You can read the full article here.

And here is last weeks, since I just found The Collegian online.

Snow!

So much to blog, so little time!

So we'll start with the fun stuff.

It snowed yesterday! I have no idea what time it started, early and went until at least after 11pm. I believe about 2 inches fell but I honestly have no idea.

This was the first time I have lived somewhere where it snows and it was awesome. For Bible Study this morning the kids and I had a snowball fight as well as made snow angels and a snowman. Of course, because I'm "in charge" I had to be tackled.

Several times...

Let's just say I couldn't feel my legs and I dumped an entire snowman out of my hood when we were done.

Good times.

And now you get to enjoy in the funess as well.

I'm Back in Virginia Again

Yep. My flight came in at about 11:20pm last night.

It is good to be back. I do miss everyone at home though... Such is the life of a traveler!

This morning Grandmama and I had our Christmas in January. It was pretty awesome. Grandmama got a new coffee maker because her old one is broken. I got warm flannel pj's, a scarf and head band, a crazy Dr. Seuss-looking tea kettle and best of all... a Hello Kitty lamp!

It was good times.

Hello Kitty Lamp made of awesome!

Dr. Seuss-looking tea kettle with a spiffy whirly-gig on the spout that spins...


Then we took down all the Christmas stuff and I unpacked my suitcase. Later we'll pick up Curry at the bus stop and then glue my dresser drawers back together so I can put my clothes away.

Nice and exciting times. I love vacation. I think I've said that before...

Thanksgiving

It was a good one. There were thirteen of us for dinner yesterday: my parents and sister, grandmama, aunt and uncle with three cousins, and my Aunt Lynn and two cousins. It was quite a feast with turkey and ham, stuffing, cranberries, mashed potatoes, gravy, butter beans and corn, rolls (about 90 of them...) and pie! There was a pumpkin pie, chocolate chess pie, cherry pie and a Kahlua pie. Seriously good times people, seriously good times.

It was great seeing my Aunt Lynn and two cousins, Andrew and Carly. I haven't seen Aunt Lynn since I was christened at 6 months old and I've never met Andrew and Carly, who are twins and my age. They live relatively close too so I can go and visit them and they me.

Of course there has been a lot of shopping, first at Kohl's and then today Melissa bought a new cell phone so I now have her old one which is an Envy or something like that. Whatever, it has a full keyboard which is pretty spiffy. We also saw Bee Movie today and it was cute. It was a lot like Toy Story in the sense that it was enjoyable for both kids and adults and that it was completely void of reality. Good times.

Tomorrow is the big Berry (mothers side) Bash at a country club in Richmond to celebrate Thanksgiving and Christmas. I'll be seeing A LOT of people there I haven't seen in a long time or have never met. More good times.

Then Sunday and Monday will be spent in Washington D.C. seeing the sights and Tuesday the family goes home.

What a week this has been! Be ready for more pictures and details of all the funness to come!

Pictures!
Daddy and Aunt Lynn

Andrew and Curry playing golf in the front yard

Front left to right: Grandmama, Uncle Alex, Aunt Marjorie, me, Daddy, Andrew, Mommy, Aunt Lynn, Carly. The other three cousins and my sister are missing but such is life.

The Sounds of Charles City

I put together a video of some of the music at different events I've been to here in Charles City, Virginia.

The first is a calliope at the County Fair and then Curry's elementary school singing Swing Low, then a blue grass band singing Swing Low as well. The last is the Grand Opening Dance of the Chickahominy Indian Pow Wow. All of it great.

She Works Hard for Her Money

Okay, maybe not hard but hard enough...

I do have four jobs.

Wasn't that some great shock value? I do have four jobs but a few are pretty easy. I'll start on Sunday.

Sunday: Guitar lessons for two kids from church - $40
Monday: Babysitting 1 little boy for 2 hours then he and his two brothers for another 1 hour - $30
Tuesday: Pick up a girl from school and take her home (takes about 15 minutes) - $15
Wednesday: Hostess/waitress at the Blue Heron Restaurant from 3pm - 9pm ish - $ varies, about $30 in tips alone
Thursday: More waitressing
Friday: More babysitting - $40
Saturday: More waitressing

Trying to manage your time and getting sleep when you're dead - priceless.

At least I'm making enough!

First Day

Today I did my first day of waitressing at the Blue Heron restaurant here in Charles City. It was pretty good, a lot harder than I thought but good. I only dropped one plate, some blue cheese dressing and put in one wrong item. And I got a 20% tip on the tables so it couldn't have been that bad. Or they just felt sorry for me...

Now I am exhausted. At least I don't have school until 10am tomorrow so I don't have to wake up until 7:30am...

Labor Day Funness

Sorry about the lack of posting for a while. School has been INSANE from day one. I have a lot of reading but its been fun and interesting. Anyway, here's Labor Day!

Grandmama and I went across the road (1 mile) to Aunt Marjorie and Uncle Alex's for a Labor Day Cook Out. Uncle Alex used to own a restaurant so he's a good chef. We had steak, chicken, pork, beans, vegetables, all kinds of good stuff. It was fun watching the kids try to kill each other too. Oh to be a teenager again. NOT! Haha...

First things first, the dogs. Uncle Alex hunts and raises beagles so they have a lot of dogs. LouLou, Moonie and Spidey are the main house dogs right now. Soon all the beagles will be running around the yard. At least they're cute.
LouLou scratching her back.

Spidey

Moonie. He's so cute!

And there's always Buster, Grandmama's dog. He's a cranky old fart but I love him.

The front of the house.

The side where everyone actually goes in.

Curry and his pickle. We (mostly Leslie) ate an entire jar of pickles. Then Curry proceeded to throw the pickle at the girls which led to the next picture.

Charlotte putting Curry in a head lock. Sibling love.

Everybody

Aunt Marjorie, Leslie and their friend Allison

Leslie, Allison and Curry

Allison on Charlotte's shoulders. Those kids are nuts.

We had a great time with great food. I had to go to school earlier in the day but it wasn't so bad and I was home in time for food. I love living close to family. Being able to have them around makes life a lot less stressful and a lot more fun.

To Grandmother's House We Go: Part 7

We're here!

Winchester, VA to Grandmama's

We made it! Sorry it's taken me a while to post but we were busy, busy getting my room all set up today.

First things first, Winchester.

Mommy graduated from Shenandoah College and Conservatory of Music which is in Winchester so we went and visited the school. There is a lot of new stuff but the old buildings are still there. The dorm Mommy lived in for a few years was still there so we had to take a picture in front of the sign. Luckily there was a new girl moving in so she offered to take it for us.

I took some pictures of the ponds they have that used to be really dirty and filled with grossness but now have pretty fountains. Although they still have some grossness in them...

Including crabs. We know this because we found a "nice" little dried up crab claw on the walkway.

The conservatory

Mommy next to the "SU" because the school is now Shenandoah University instead of college.

The schools chapel. It is a Methodist school after all.

After the school we started the four hour drive to Grandmama's. It was a very nice drive and we enjoyed it. We stopped in Gum Springs where Mommy went to high school.

This is the church my Granddaddy was a preacher at for a long time.

And this is the parish, so it was the house my mom and the family lived in.

Behind the house, as with most parishes of Methodist churches in Virginia, was a cemetery. Which my grandfather liked because it kept the boys away! Mommy has some good stories about that too.

While we were driving on the 64 freeway we saw a sign for University of Richmond so we decided to get off and check it out. Neither of us had been so we had some trouble finding it but we did and it was awesome. The buildings are gorgeous old brick buildings and there are trees all around. There is a lake with a building standing on stilts above the water. We went in that building and it is the commons. The place students go to eat lunch or study. So soon I'll be sitting in a lush over-stuffed chair sipping my latte while reading a book.



Ahhh... the college life!

I am so excited about starting and completely freaked out all at the same time. I'm not worried about my classes or anything, those should be fine, it's the paying for them that makes me queasy... Keep me in your prayers please and keep readin'! There will be many more blogs where this came from!

(And don' cha forget to read these in a Virginia southern accent ya'll! I think I'm already picking one up and I've only been here for a day and a half! Hahahaha...)

To Grandmother's House We Go: Part 6

Kentucky to Virginia

You would think we'd be at Grandmama's by now but tis not the case. We stopped in Winchester, Virginia today to go and see Mommy's college, Shenandoah College (now Shenandoah University). Winchester is a beautiful little town and the university is pretty massive. We only made it to the theatre today, where we watched "Tuesday's with Morrie" performed by one of Mommy's old professors who was teaching at the school for twenty years before Mommy even got there, thirty years ago. He, and the play, were excellent. I cried.

Okay, Kentucky is a very... interesting state. They have a town called Salt Lick. That's all I have to say.

And then we were in West Virginia. Some day, if you even get a chance to meet with my mom, ask her about her EMT days and her experiences in West Virginia. They are both scary and amusing.

It is a beautiful state with rolling hills and thick forests.

We ended up in Maryland because there is a little section that is on the west side of West Virginia, etc. Anyway, it came up so fast there wasn't a picture of the sign but here's a picture of Maryland, at least the ten miles we drove through.

And then we were in Virginia! We took the 50 highway to Winchester which is a windy road that goes through a lot of small towns. A nice scenic drive.

Tomorrow we will be at Grandmama's! I can't wait!

Tune in tomorrow for our last episode (of this series, the beginning for another). Same bat time, same bat channel!

I do love those Virginia sunsets. Looking forward to seeing a whooooole lot more.