um, who stole the rest of my trip?

oh, boy. there are a couple of destinations still missing from here. whoops.

all tennessee places, interestingly enough. i didn't even know i had an affinity for the volunteer state.
i joined matt and his mom, peggy, for a trip to visit the firstborn vess, eric, and his wife, kellee. lacey would have been proud, as it was a well planned visit and there was much, much to be done. i can't believe that my novice picture-taking skills left us with no actual pictures from eric and kellee's place, but you can trust me that it was adorable - as were the host and hostess themselves. the first day, we went to the tennessee aquarium in chatanooga and saw more sea life than i can even begin to list off here. it was actually quite an impressive setup and the developmentalist in me was additionally impressed at the number of hands-on activities that they had for young visitors. for example, these setups where you were actually invited to touch the animals as they swam past you. it took me a good 20 minutes and some good natured teasing from the guy in charge, but i did touch a stingray. thankfully, i was with a very patient party of five. it kind of felt like a leathery pancake, which i did not expect. but now i know. that itself was probably well worth the price of admission, and i have a hard time deciding if that was, in fact my favorite part, or if it was the penguins. ooooh, or seahorses. both very cool. obviously, i'm not going to reach anything definitive on that any time soon.

from there we went to lookout mountain and toured ruby falls, complete with stalactites, stalagmites, limestone water-carved formations, and a super duper sweet indoor waterfall. there are more facts here that karen is going to like :) but i must say that one of the things that i was most excited about seeing was a 145 foot underground waterfall. and it didn't disappoint! (the purple lights made it a bit more dramatic, as well.)

the top of the mountain offered a beautiful view of tennessee as well, and i think that we were awfully close to the place where amy and kim took the kids where you can see out over 7 different states, although i'll have to verify that.

as an aside, i think that matt and i decided that by the time all of our driving over half the country locating vess family members :), we would have been through something along the lines of 13 states. seriously, no wonder my back still hurts! in all seriousness, though, it was well worth all of the fun.


the next day was one of miniature golf at old macdonald's place in gatlinburg :) it was pretty awesome, if i do say so myself. there was a lot of pride (and a meal) on the line as matt and i set out to determine who would be crowned the best golfer in the group. i had a rough spot around hole five but came back in the end - hitting hole in ones at 4 of the last 5 holes to come back and . . . tie. no kidding. it's kind of like ending in a stalemate, but in a really, really, dramatic fashion. though i think the other members of our party were a bit relieved, as we all feared that the excursion might become a bit more awkward and unpleasant if one of us actually ended up losing to the other. i can neither confirm nor deny that claim.

oh my goodness, i seem to have already gone through a lot of pictures, words, and blog space, so i'll have to postpone the memphis activities for another posting. i'd better pretend to do a bit more of work before heading to bed and starting yet another week (now that summer is half over!)

love - as always.

wichita, columbia, louisville, lower salem, STATE COLLEGE

i'm too nervous to see what atrocities the orlando magic are up to (lacey and i were just joking that they can blow a good lead almost as quickly as a nittany lion), so i've decided to get my blog up to date before heading out of town again.
okay, so after the louisvill + ohio trip, matt and i were back here in state college. we got in a couple of days of work and watching basketball and then it was matt's birthday!! yay! :) he and i went out for a birthday dinner on friday night to kelly's, a steakhouse in Boalsburg that up until now has been on my radar only because they have a HUGE COW on their roof. yup. i said cow. it was pretty good - and a treat that we probably wouldn't have allowed ourselves had it not been such a special occasion. unfortunately, despite an extremely valient attempt, we have no photos of dinner or of said cow. there was a "technical issue" with the batteries.

so, saturday was a day that was set aside for playing outside with lacey and ryan. i must say, we conquered this like troopers. there were all of the typical things, like cookie cake and bean bags (note to readers to check out matt's new sunnies, which look good, but apparently didn't help the bean bag game. . . don't worry, though. we still won:):

and also some other things that you might not have expected, like the pirate hats that were given out as prizes (because you have to have prizes when you get four very competitive people together to play games), but apparently very difficult to actually wear, to bubble blowing, to breakfast tacos, to watching the belmont cheering for horses that most of us had never heard of before. we had to end, of course, with an adventure at northland bowl, which has now become a staple place for fun and food (i.e., pizza) for both matt and lacey. and i can't say that i mind it myself, either ;) i'm not sure what had happened to cause all of the laughter happening in this picture, but i like it because it's pretty representative of the entire day being a mix of food, drinks, and smiles. we're a pretty easy group to get along with, too be sure, and an even easier group to entertain (and if you need proof of that, i can post the video of the bubble blowing, where seemingly nothing is happening, but there is lots of excitment and "good job"s being passed around. it kind of reminds me of when jeremy's nephew told him he had a nice head. you just have to appreciate all of the small stuff like that, i think. . .especially on matt's birthday weekend.

p.s. are you loving the videos that i just learned how to post on here? thanks, blogger.

the last stop was at one of the bars downtown, where a bunch of people we knew had gathered to meet up and hang out with a friend of rachel's that was in town. true to form, we were a social foursome, but not the type of crowd to sit still for long. since it's summer, we pretty much had the whole place to ourselves and it wasn't long before we were asking the dj for songs circa 1998 and dancing under the colored lights. i wonder sometimes how different we would be if any of us ever really got embarrassed. . . i bet my pictures would be way less fun, anyway. it's a toss up for me as to who took the best dancing photo, (but please don't miss the one of lacey playing a life-sized game of simon). they're all pretty darn good, aren't they? obviously in addition to being ridiculously smart pscyhology and law students, we have killer moves.

so, by and large, that sums up the weekend. after that, matt headed back to ohio for some well-deserved time at home, ryan to boston for his summer internship, and lace and i have attempted to be producted in the midst of a state college summer. i think we did okay. tonight is actually my last night here, though, before heading back to ohio to meet up with matt and peggy. saturday morning we'll all head down to tennessee for what promises to be fun and sunny times in chattanooga. i like it. and i'll do my best to get some good candids there as well.

and just a note for my mom here. . .as instructed, i made sure that lacey wasn't taking all of the photos on saturday :)

leg of trip #2

i realize that i'm still behind on the postings, and i am vowing to get caught up as quickly as possible. (admittedly, i should be vowing to do things like write a dissertation proposal, but whatever. . . ) the second leg of this great summer trip was a drive from CoMo to louisville, kentucky. i found myself excited about the trip, but slightly ambivalent about the bluegrass state in general, having little experience with it before. though i may admittedly have been influenced by matt's infectious positivity, it proved to be a trip worth taking. both the beauty of the countryside and the midwest-esque niceness of the locals were things we marveled at over the course of our 24-hour visit.

our first stop was the louisville zoo. it was a gorgeous day for walking around outside and we even found a few shaded areas perfect for taking pictures. i think we weren't really sure what to expect outside of a gorilla exhibit and a place where birds may or may not be allowed to land on your head -and both of these ended up being a part of the highlights, for sure - but we knew we were in for a good time when we weren't three animals inside of the gates and happened to stumble upon a baby african elephant being walked "home" from what appeared to be a midday shower. so cute. s/he just kin dof meandered along, barely guided by the trainers, and completely undeterred by about five of us just hanging around gawking. not to mention that s/he left little baby elephant footprints right in front of us in the passing. so sweet.

okay, so there was, indeed, a little hut where you might find yourself with a Lorikeet on the arm, head, etc. as you walk in, the worker informs you that this might happen and that she will get the bird off of you whenever you're ready. i (of course) informed her that, should this happen, i would be ready immediately. in fact, neither matt nor i befriended a Lorikeet that day. however, matt almost instantly compensated for this by making friends with a little wallaroo. the absence of a photo of matt petting this little guy is my one regret from the trip; it was absolutely adorable and i totally dropped the ball. i'm still learning about this "taking pictures" gig.

if that wasn't my favorite moment, i would have to choose the sumatran tiger for its beauty or the meerkats for their inexplicable cuteness. though he isn't currently here to speak for himself, i would venture to say that matt's favorite animals were the gorillas.
we actually happened upon an extended mini-battle between a dominant male and a more tenatious youth. people just kept walking by saying, "i've never seen that before. . ." whatever the odds of the occurrence, we did get a brief video of it to remember the experience by. and, favorite or not, the "size yourself up" activities in the gorillas exhibit did provide us with some memorable photo ops.

from the zoo we headed to our "priceline special" hotel. i must say, we were a bit nervous that for such a great price, we might end up somewhere a bit sketchy. we were very pleasantly suprised to instead find ourselves with a beautiful room and a fabulous view of the ohio river at the galt house hotel. we did dinner just down the street from the hotel in the 4th street live area and then watched a storm roll in over post-dinner drinks. aside from keeping up with e-mails and whatnot, i pretty much did no work that day. it was awesome and actually ended up being both an eventful and relaxing stay. . . if that's not too much of an oxymoron. as a post scriptum, we are also pretty sure that we ended up on the 6:00 news, though we didn't get to a television quickly enough to confirm.

from Louisville, we continued on to Lower Salem, OH, where Peggy was a welcoming and gracious host for the evening. there was dinner (home cooked!) and a movie and just generally wonderful company as i now so often find myself just appreciative to be around families. it wasn't an experience that could've been captured on film, but it was no less appreciated than any of the above visuals, and likely a great deal more heartfelt.

thus ends this chapter in the traveling saga. as i have so often typed here, i cannot believe how quickly time is passing. i thought perhaps the sheer number of events taking place in these weeks would make it seem less like it was passing us by, but i think that it may simply be that there is no way to slow down the course of a good time.

so be it, then, and we will have to just continue to savor the moments for however long we have them.

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.

someone just say "go"

it's been a pretty good weekend, though i can't say that i have too much to show for it. i did get some work done here at the apartment on saturday, but couldn't bring myself to actually go all the way into the office (just to clarify: all the way = 3.28 miles). there's still a lot, a lot, a lot that needs to get done, but i think that i've started to mentally check out a little bit as i build pre-wedding excitement. um, by the way, is everyone aware of the totally awesome place that josh and becca are getting married at? it may be the outdoor wedding to end all outdoor weddings. i'll keep you posted.

which reminds me. . . chuck is back!!! yay. it's like winter really is over here now!!
the major trauma of the weekend was finding out that i've been inadverdently poisoning the hummingbirds that visit my apartment. apparently if you leave nectar in the feeder while it is stored all winter long, it corrodes the metal from the inside. so. . .basically i was presenting all of my hummingbird friends with rust-poisoned nectar.

dude. i'm a jerk.

so, i tried to clean out the inside and actually may have gotten it to the point that it would've worked, but ended up buying a new feeder. honestly, the liquid sits right up against the metal and i can't just continue to knowingly poison the pennsylvania wildlife. that's not right.

i don't think i recounted on here yet that last weekend i drove to d.c. and got to spend time with robby, nick, and skew. falls church, va. differs from pella, ia in a lot of ways, but there were moments that i could've sworn that i was right back at central college, just being able to be me and bask in the glory of being present along with a lot of really, really great friends. poor nick had a sinus infection, but still kept up with the rest of us in beanbags, grilling, poker, and some strange word game that was similar to balderdash. actually nick and i represent the #1 and #2 poker players (i'll let you what number is attached to what name). this was our victory shot:nick really does have a top to his head. he's just still perfecting the one-handed shots with his new camera and i think the rest of the group was pouting about getting beat. unsurprising to those who know him will be the fact that robby was probably the most upset - both about losing to me and about losting to me in my second time ever playing. no worries, though. we're still friends. actually, we're all hoping to get together at least one more time before skew is redeployed next summer.
jeremy actually volunteered to come down with me to keep me company, split the driving, and just generally add strength to the liberal team. it was an excellent weekend. i wish i could see them all more often. plus, doesn't that pic of all four of us look like an advertisement for a '90s sitcom? i think if you'd just add mayim bailik or tony danza, i think we'd have a pretty good group for a pilot.

so, friday officially starts approximately four consecutive weeks of mayhem and traveling as matt and i bounce back and forth between the midwest and the east coast. it will obviously be a lot of time in the car, but i can't even process any negativity about that right now, because i'm so excited for us just to get to be together for that much time all at once. i find myself more and more in admiration of couples that get to do simple things together like make dinner, do some work, or just lay around and watch tv - you know, things that are still doable when there is a couple of cell phones and a thousand miles between you. i think i grew up saying that it was the simple things that matter - and really, honestly believing that that was true, but as time and opportunity also add to distance, i begin to see how such a statement becomes more and more applicable to life.

anyway. . . that was not where that paragraph was originally going. what i was going to say is that i have made a vow to myself that i would try, to the best of my ability, to document the shennanigans of said escapade. because only kara jo loves stopping to eat at diners and truck stops as much as we do.yep, those shades will not be coming on the trip with us. they were my other prize for winnings at the bbq (just me - no trish that time). yay summer!

let the post comps period begin

wow, it's been an eternity since i've posted on here. in fact, i'm just getting back into the swing of things. this is what it would feel like if i could ever have described something as "getting back on track," i'm certain of it. last friday was my oral defense for my comprehensive exams and i'm just starting to settle into the idea of being done with the whole process. not sure yet if that means i'm going to get sick. i've been fighting a cold or something all week and given that josh and becca's wedding is only about two weeks away, if i'm going to get sick, i'd like to just do it and get it overwith. no worries, though, it's not the swine flu.
today is the first nice day in quite a while. although i spent most of it inside, it's still nice to be able to walk out into a fresh, sunny, crisp summer day (i know it's not summer yet. whatever. stick with me.) it was fairly nice this weekend, although notice that both rach and i are wearing jackets. lacey is somehow better at the cold than i am, which remains a complete mystery to me given her texas roots. either way, that's why she's living on the bottom floor next year and i'm living on the top. we're so practical. by the way, that's a jalepeno (lots of trouble with the tilde on blogspot.com-sorry) flavored chicken sausage that i'm eating in the photo. sounds absolutely ridiculous, doesn't it? trust me, your taste buds wouldn't think so. i will say it was one of my proudest moments watching trish sink two beanbags in a row to give us the win against lacey and her texas partner. i don't think anyone pegged trish for a beanbag titlist. . . i must say, she's coming along quite nicely :) (that's her in the photo below. we won a grab bag prize for our victory.)this weekend should be a fun one as well. nick and skew have been in dc visiting robby since wednesday and so i'm going to head down/over to play on saturday. i think the plan is just to have an afternoon of leisurely grilling and fun, which is certainly okay by me. i've had enough eventfulness to last me for a while, and i think my trajectory of infinite travel over the summer will keep me duly occupied. although no complaints from this girl. i am as ready to be outside of state college as i have ever been.

i have to post this some-ecard just to get it out of my system before i spend all day on saturday with robby :) i can only assume that i won't be allowed to say such things if i want to have a place to stay saturday night.

it's so nice to be able to say something more than, "been working on comps. that's it." yay for summer.

"summer."

almost there. . .

i'm pretty sure that anyone who knows me knows that i am not at all a messy person and, if anything, tend toward the other extreme of that spectrum. however, as i hit the t minus three days mark of comps writing, i must admit that the living conditions are pretty bleak here in casa de brooker. the sad mess of papers, books, and journal articles have reached almost every inch of the apartment. nice. and sad.

but there have been pick-me-up types of moments, including thoughtful e-mails, phone calls, and text messages, and even some surprise gifts from home, like this fun partylite hurricane display. thanks mom and dy. and thanks, partylite. it's all a countdown to monday right now. and then it will be a flurry to finish up the necessities that i've been putting off since the beginning of the month. and then it is what i can only assume will be a blissful escape to CoMo. blissful not only because of the environment of love that exists there, but also because of the fact that there are no comps there, there will likely be no talk about emotion regulation or threat related-attention biases, there is a wonderful concert scheduled friday night at mojo's, and there is a beautiful forcast of bright spring days.

yes, compared to the mess that exists here, that really does sound like bliss.