Good Times

Before I begin, I would just like to dedicate this post to Brynne. She told me today that I haven’t blogged in 14 days. Anyone who knows a fact like that deserves some recognition, haha.

It has been 14 days, and that is basically because my life has been crazy. Crazy in a good way, of course. There is a lot I could write about, but at this point I would prefer not to, and I would rather talk about what the last two weeks has been like.

Just to get things started on the right note, please enjoy the following photograph for no other reason other than a good laugh:

Anyway, back to it. Let’s start with the Fourth of July. Four day weekend was, no doubt, amazing. We were up at the cottage where I did a whole lot of nothing. Nothing necessarily productive that is. I ate a lot, layed out a lot, went on the sea doos more than should be allowed, and read a lot of trashy magazines. Sounds great, doesn’t it? But, during that weekend, some noteworthy events occurred:
1. The entire weekend was disgustingly hot. You know when you fall asleep on the beach or on a boat when it is 90 degrees out and then you wake up totally disoriented? That happened to me about 12 times just on Saturday. After we had enough of the sun, Jessie and I decided to go to town and check things out. Somehow along our trip, the heat must have really hit both of us. I literally felt like I was burning from the inside out; okay, probably not really, but I was really hot and nothing was cooling me off. When we got back to the cottage, I remember lying down on the carpet between the dining room and the kitchen. As soon as I lied down, I heard shouts coming from outside. I ran out only to find one of our sea doos making its way to the middle of the lake. I am proud to say that instead of panicking, Jessie and I took immediate action and (fully clothed no less), ran out into the lake, jumped onto the other sea doo and went to rescue the runaway. Of course, while we were out in the middle of the lake, Jessie decides that she can’t get me closer to the sea doo and I would have to simply jump in the water and get on it myself. So, I did, and let me tell you, it felt wonderful. My roasting body finally was at a stable temperature, and I was the hero of the family. Moral of that story: water fixes any ailment, and, if you think too much before taking action, you may run out of time. Below is a picture just moments before the sea doo issue.

2. A family friend had this outdoor concert that we went to. The guy is basically like a Michael Buble. I decided that I want a small band like that to play at my wedding. Major decision taken care of right there. Also that night, I introduced my family to Jones Soda. On our second round to the shop where this pop is sold, Jess and I went in, bought 2 bottles and walked out. And, can you guess what happened? I dropped one of the bottles. Not sure how it happened, but it literally just fell from my fingers and shattered right there on the cement. Well, that’s just fine. I mean, if you know me, you know that I am used to this crap happening. Not a big deal. To Jessie, this was basically earth shattering. She’s not a fan of anything that could be a little embarrassing. Not to mention that the passer Byers were not exactly kind about my mysterious pop accident. In fact, as soon as it happened, a dad goes to his daughter, “Stand away. Someone just dropped a bottle and there is glass all over.” Yeah. Thanks. I went in the store (leaving Jessie behind with the broken glass, hah) and bought another bottle. When I got back out, Jessie told me that some middle schoolers were laughing about the situation and she informed me that she gave them a dirty look for me. Well, she left out the part about doing it for me, but I still think it was a nice gesture of her to stick up for me. Moral of that story: stick up for your family when they do dumb things, keep a steady hold on anything made out of glass, and if you are ever thirsty this summer buy this exact kind of Jones Soda:

3. Sunday, Jess and I went out for our 13th sea doo ride of the day. The lake was choppy, and that is putting it lightly. Of course, choppy waters equals greater fun, but throughout the ride, Jess kept turning back to me (she was driving) and yelling for me to quit hanging on to her life jacket. Okay, no big deal, I will just hang on with my legs. This was difficult considering the waves were literally tossing our sea doo up in the air. When we got to a particular curve in the lake, it was like I could see my destiny ahead, and it looked dangerous. And, keep in mind that I was not allowed to hang on to her. The last thing I remember was her screaming in a purely innocent and fun manner, “Here we go!!” Then it came. It was like one minute I was there, and the next minute I wasn’t. I don’t even think I screamed. It was like a silent bam. I fell off the sea doo and was left behind in the waves that tossed me off. And, the best part of the whole things was that Jessie didn’t even know I was gone! Since I hadn’t even been hanging on to her, she hadn’t noticed a weight difference so she just kept on going. Let me just say that falling sideways (thank goodness not backwards by the motor) off a sea doo while it is still moving is probably one of the strangest sensations ever. After I fell off and got my head out of the water I seriously was not sure if I was alive or not. Luckily Jessie realized I was not on, and came back for me. I will leave some of the details out, but I did appreciate her deep concern of my fate, and I did probably have one of the best laughs of the summer while floating in that water. Moral of that story: hang on when you are out on a sea doo.

4. Kayaking. Greatest thing invented. I hate to brag, but I am a damn good kayaker if I do say so myself. Moral of that story: try kayaking. Try it early in the morning when the loons are still out. It will be worth getting up for.

On Monday, I was able to spend the day with my friends just hanging out. That night we went to the Grandville fireworks, like usual, where we had a good time, like usual. Fireworks weren’t exactly amazing, but not a big deal, I go for moments like these:

Also, as embarrassing as this is for me to say on here, I think I need to share it. I cried at the end of a movie. Yep, it happened. And what’s worse is that I was so emotionally entangled in this movie that I couldn’t sleep. Haha. The movie that got me so caught up you ask? Gone With the Wind. Embarrassing? Maybe, but I can’t deny that it happened. One of my friends, who happens to be from Atlanta would not shut up about this movie. I had seen it before when I was younger, but it didn’t ever really get to me. Probably because of my limited life experiences. Anyway, I watched the movie in segments throughout the week usually while I was waiting for someone to pick me up, or waiting for dinner, or unable to sleep. Then, on that particular night, I had about an hour and a half left and I just wanted to use the movie to fall asleep. That obviously did not happen. I was getting to the good stuff, and my emotions just let loose when Scarlett finally realizes that she does love Rhett but at that point Rhett is sick of her fickle attitude and leaves her crying on the stairs. Gah! Like, seriously?? How can a movie leave you like that? I sat there with tears wanting to go and get Rhett and make him feel better and tell him that she really does love you and then I wanted to run to Scarlett and tell her that she needs to get it together and chase after him. Dang. It was like I knew how both characters felt and then I sat there analyzing the movie until it was so late my mind started to get fuzzy. Anyway, I have given up movie watching by myself for that very reason. When I am with someone watching a movie, I am able to control myself. That’s enough of that.

Last weekend was great as well. Friday was just wonderful at work, and right after work, Kelly and I drove up to the cottage together where my mom and the rest of the family (as in the cousins too) were all up waiting with dinner. We ate outside, then made coffee and us children played with this shaggy dog you see below.

She is the newest addition to the family, 2 years old, and is probably the sweetest thing ever. She will let you do anything to her. I have even seen her French kissing (yes, I know, disgusting) my youngest cousin, and then hearing my cousin come back and say, “Chance and I love touching tongues.” Gotta love kids and curly haired dogs.

When it got dark, Amy, Rachel and I took the dogs for a walk. Somehow we got on the subject of scary stories, so I told them this “ghost story” about a cabin we always pass on our walks. Not going to lie, my story was so good it even freaked me out a little. None-the-less, a good time.

Saturday was spent with the usual; tubing, swimming, eating, boating, eating some more, and taking spooky walks. We did grill hamburgers on the boat, which is always more exciting than just grilling them on land.

At about 5 o’clock, everyone started going off on their own and working on their talent for our Family Talent Show. Yes, among the many other strange traits of my family we do have a talent show. It’s intense too. We aren’t talking just thrown together stuff just to entertain each other. I am talking about hidden secrets, spying on each other, coming up with the best type of talent, talent show. If you know my family at all, you will know that we are competitive. This evening was no different. We do it outside against the garage, and everyone participates. We had everything from cooking shows, dancing, athletic races, fishing lessons, to how to save someone’s life show. All were very good. I created a power point slideshow of all of the noteworthy pictures I have taken with select quotes and music. It was pretty good, I have to say. Here are some highlights from the night:

There have been some good stories that have happened since last weekend, and I promise this time I will actually update this week so I don't fall too far behind :) Until then, yay for another week!