Today, I returned from a wonderful weekend in Winona. I left Friday night, two hours earlier than I was expecting so I could be the huge storm coming our way. Instead, I drove right IN to the storm and ended up in a tornado warning and rain so hard I had to pull over on I90 to wait out some of the crazy rain. Once I got to Winona and was there for an hour, the rain finally stopped. It was nuts.
I went to surprise AJ, Janelle and Sammi for their 21st birthdays as I will not be able to visit until September due to wedding festivities. I told Tyler and Emily (who then enlisted Stosch) and managed to keep the whole thing a secret for like 3 weeks. Boy were they surprised when they all came to Emily's room and I was there! We had tasty cake, hung out for a while, then went to find Mark the GMW to bring him some cake. After walking through Maria and Tau, we finally just called his cell phone and had him meet us. It was so nice to hang out with everyone and to see Mark- it felt just like last year and like I'd never left.
Friday night was spent with the girl Heidi nannies at her house up in the bluffs. They have a hugenormous Newfoundland named Thor and a German Shepard named Izzy (see pictures below. Thor is the size of a BEAR). I pet the dogs for like an hour (Thor loved me), then we watched a hilarious episode of George Lopez (probably the only funny episode in existence) before going to bed. Hannah (the girl Heidi nannies) woke us up at 8:30 Saturday morning. We went out in the living room and ended up falling asleep on the couches. A few hours later, we made tasty treat pancakes with sprinkles, Reese's Pieces, and chocolate chip cookie dough (each their own pancake). They were good but OH MY were they full of sugar. I watched TV for the rest of the day then we went to the stables to see Hannah's horses. There were lots of flies and mud so I was not a fan of that little adventure. After that, I went over to Carissa's and we chatted before going out to dinner then meeting some people downtown. We stayed out til bar close, ordered a pizza then went to bed.
This morning, I woke up and watched "My Fair Wedding" on WE, a channel I sadly realized tonight that we DON'T have here at home, then picked Ashley up at Lourdes for lunch. We had a nice time then I went back with her to the building and wandered around for a while. I went upstairs to Alyssa's apartment and played with Baby Belijah for a bit- its so crazy to see him walking and talking! It was nice to catch up with Alyssa, Elijah and Esteban. Then I hung out at the front desk with the RAs, felt very sad, then went for coffee with Sammi before heading home.
All in all, it was weird to be back. I've considered Winona my home for 4 years and for the first time, I had no place to just BE. It was kind of depressing, realizing that Winona is no longer home and it is just a place to visit and see friends now. I guess that's a good thing but it was still strange. It was also weird being around the res lifers because I really didn't fit in there. While I was standing at the desk, they asked me a few questions and I told them I didn't want to answer anything because I wasn't their AD anymore. I really didn't want to step on anyone's toes. I'm happy to see them all bonding and getting close but it still was upsetting because I wasn't a part of it. I guess I have really mixed feelings about the whole thing, but I am very glad I went!
That's the only exciting part of life right now, besides the wedding stuff. Next weekend = bridal shower. The weekend after that = bachelorette party and working the WCCO booth at the State Fair. The weekend after THAT = WEDDING! And more WCCO booth. :) It should be a fun upcoming three months.
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I'm reading: Nothing. Not surprising. Very disappointing.
Picture of the week:IZZY AND THOR!
Also, this is what happened when I left a bag of gummy worms in my hot car for a day- gummy gooey tie-dye mess!
