first fourteen hours of driving are accounted for

so, the short trip to iowa is over already, which feels weird to say despite the fact that one wouldn't expect a two-day trip to feel like any sort of expedition. i dare say that, much like the wedding, things went just as perfectly as anticipated.the wedding itself was phenomenal. i haven't been to that many secular ceremonies and was pretty awed by the amount of love that pervaded every action and spoken word. i thought it was obvious that it was a ceremony and celebration planned around josh and becca, both the couple and the individuals, their love for each other, and their friends' and families' love for them. kind of what you should see at such an event, i think, but that sometimes gets tucked away behind the nerves and worry and such. matt obliged both lacey and i to join us in what became the trifecta of wedding dates. we had a blast and - if i do say so myself - looked darn good doing it ;) that's just how we roll, i guess.so, then it was a work-filled week in columbia that included some side tracks to show lacey flatbranch and some of the sites, meet liz and aaron (now dr. luebbe) following a successful dissertation defense, and matt doing a lot of grilling - bless his heart. i think we both find it silly to not take advantage of this optimal grilling weather, knowing all too soon how quickly winter eventually creeps up.

then, on friday, we headed up to des moines. believe it or not, our first stop was this fancy place:the davis county courthouse in bloomfield, iowa. i had a nearly unusable iowa license and still can't bear the thought of trading it in for a PA equivalent. we thought bloomfield would be our best bet for a short stop with no lines. (we were right, too, the whole process took about 6 minutes). we've also noted the "courthouse cafe," from the frontside of which this picture was taken, as a probable stopping point for any future columbia to iowa trips.
then it was on to altoon to stop for a bite and a visit with kara jo. i can't believe that we haven't seen each other since Christmas and it was nice for the three of us to be able to just hang out and chat, not needing any extra time to compensate for living so many miles apart in the day-to-day.

on saturday, i got to spend a few hours eating and playing with my family (sans dad, who unfortunately had to work:/) for kassi's 15th birthday. i don't have any of those pictures yet, although i know there were plenty being snapped. i think the kids officially approved of matt's willingness and ability to take an active role in two-hand touch and a strangely modified, short-lived game of freeze tag. it was perfect weather for both, and all in all a fun day.

then some time for play, with laura and dj with a bonus visit by my jilly bean, who happened to be in town for the hershey track meet. we did some outdoor games with them (read: bean bags), too, and spent some time downtown playing pool at raccoon river brewery (that's where DJ and matt are pictured above), playing the jukebox at the red monk, and never quite being fast enough to play the basketball game at johnny's. that's all five of us in the picture below at the red monk (L->R: me, matt, jill, dj, laura). it feels so great to be back in a town you once called home, just as would be expected, i suppose. but it feels even greater, i think, to get to share those kinds of places with people you love and care about and to be able to watch them smile and play and have just as much fun as you would've hoped that you would. i think there was a strange moment, though, when i realized that my life in des moines really was like a million years ago in some ways. although jill has been a part of my life for some time now, the rest of this group wasn't even a glint in my eye during that life, and given the way that the past few years have shown that small periods of time can be catalysts for big change, it isn't unfathomable that the four of us might have gone on leading parallel lives, unaware of how much we might mean to each other if we ever just ended up in the same place at the same time. it's strange to think about, isn't it?

so, anyway, now we're back in columbia for about 24-hours before heading out to ohio. that drive will be broken up by a stay tomorrow night in louisville and also followed up by a trek to state college so that i can make a thursday afternoon meeting. crazy world. . . wonderful world :) will keep you posted.