Southern Diaries - 3/15-18

Wednesday, March 15, 2006:

My journey began on this afternoon when I finally got out of my last final. I was lucky enough to catch a ride with Danelle and Chris to Spokane. Chris goes there to buy cars every Thursday so he stays in a hotel on Wednesday night. On this particular occasion, Danelle went with him. Another lucky me because he had to get two hotel rooms. As you can see from the picture, we had a jolly old time while Chris was out saving the world one car at a time! And since the big butt-bumpers debute on Devan's blog, we had to rekindle the experience.





Thursday, March 16, 2006:

Arrival!

I had a fun experience at the airport in Nashville. Sorry Emily, you've already heard this one. I actually copied and pasted from your e-mail to save redundant typing.

So, I was waiting for Aaron to pick me up in Nashville when a really old lady came and sat beside me. She was holding a bunch of balloons and accompanied by a middle-aged woman. I was on the computer watching a movie so I didn't pay them much attention until she asked me to use their cell phone to take a picture of the two of them. Neither one could work it. Then we began talking. Both ladies had super thick southern accents (by the way, I just figured out over break why the SAU paper is called that, "Southern Accent". I know, blonde moment for Tori. I now think it's a very clever name).

So Aaron calls me and says he's about 20 minutes away and he has run out of gas. Luckily he pulled into a gas station. Not to worry you think? Well, in his rush to get out the door, he forgot his wallet. Now he's penniless. We weren't sure if he should try to make it on the fumes of gas he had or try his hand at begging.

I explained our dilema to the nice ladies and they offered me a ride to where Aaron was. How sweet is that? They didn't even know me at all except for a brief conversation and they were willing to give me a ride. This 88 year-old woman (it was her birthday, hence the balloons) was so bright and cheery! She really insired me...

The end to the run-out-of-gas story is that Aaron managed to find two willing souls to give him a total of $2.50 to buy a gallon of gas. So I didn't need the ride after all. But just the gesture of these woman being willing to give me a ride meant so much!

More on this wonderful lady named Nila. While we were talking she was stroking my hair like she had known me for years. It was totally not weird at all either. It was like she was my long lost great grandmother. The kicker though was when they got up to leave, she kissed me on the forehead and told me to write her. She said in her shaky, southern voice, "My name's Nila Morgan from Morgansville, Kentucky. Everyone in town knows who I am, so you just send the letter to Morgansville, Kentucky and I'll get it." It was too cute!

I definitly had an I-know-what-Emily-will-be-like-in-68-years moment. Maybe without the kissing though. It made my day!

Friday, March 17, 2006:

Soccer with the gals!

My old teammate, Heather, invited me to a scrimmage. It was so exciting to see Kandace (who was visiting from Southwestern) and Rachel (Tina's roommate this year).

Saturday, March 18, 2006:

Today Aaron, Rachel and Liz Randall, Christina H., Amber M. and I were on 3ABN while sitting in church. Funny stuff. Mark Finley spoke for SAU's Friday night vespers and church. What can I say, the camera loves me!

Southern Diaries - 3/21

Tuesday, March 21, 2006:

The Walla Walla Steel Drums has arrived today along with the Brass Quintet. The auditorium was absolutely packed! Katie and I had to sit on the floor in the aisle. We had a fantastic time snapping our fingers to the beat. Phil and Brent are quite the characters when jamming…You can also see Sara N. in front. If you want to see a short video clip of them, just let me know and I can e-mail it to you.

A few of us went to Dairy Queen to celebrate Phil’s birthday! Yah! Ryan, being Ryan, put mustard on Monica’s blizzard. She was courageous and ate it! EW! Mustard is a condiment that should never be eaten!

I do recommend the Strawberry Cheesecake blizzard next time your in the DQ.

I did get to witness my boyfriend score three goals for his soccer team. Yah for Aaron! These boys all rocked the field! Notice Brendon’s sweet hat.

Southern Diaries - 3/22

Wednesday, March 22, 2006:

I always say I want to bake over extended breaks and I actually got to do it this time! This is my little cousin Olivia helping me bake an apple pie. It didn’t look the greatest, but it sure tasted yummy!

Southern Diaries - 3/24

Friday, March 24, 2006:

Aaron FINALLY got done with all his tests and classes, so we hit the courts. Steve, my cousin, was a shaft and didn’t join us. Ryan stopped by to say adios because he left for Chicago that day.

I did have a weird feeling walking through the guy’s dorm to Aaron’s room. Don’t worry; I didn’t sneak my way in. I have connections. Danny (a highly distinguished RA) got permission to escort me to “thee room.” Pretty cool stuff…

Highlight for today was definitely seeing Sophia Robbins! AH! Can you believe that? She has a different last name! I was totally pleasantly surprised to see her at vespers. I was mingling around in the church and I spotted a guy that looked SO familiar! I couldn’t put my finger on it where I had seen this guy. Then, the crowd parted, and I saw her…like the sun shining in on a dim, dark alley. I ran, we embraced. Ok, enough drama talk. The guy turned out to be her husband. I had never met him, but I downloaded their wedding pictures from Leah when she was here so I recognized him from there. Anyway, we had a great catch up chat! She wanted me to say hi to EVERYONE so here it is...Sophie says hi!

Southern Diaries - 2/25

Saturday, March 25, 2006:

My last day (*tear)…
Kessia Bennett gave the sermon for church today. It inspired me more than I can tell! Wow! God knows just what we need, when we need it. You can read at the top of my blog a quote from her sermon. Katie, Danny, Aaron, and I went over to her and Josh’s house for lunch. We had to cook fast because us four were going to FLAG camp that afternoon.

For those of you who don’t know what FLAG camp is, a brief explanation…
It’s an outreach ministry for the children who live in government housing. They are poor and often don’t get much attention from their parents or guardians. So, we go and knock on their doors to see if there are any kids who want to come out to the playground and play. They basically climb all over you like a mule. There is also a craft and singing after they’ve wore us out completely.
My boy's name was Teto. He didn't say anything to me the entire time, probably becuase he's so tiny, but everytime I put him down, he ran around behind me with his hands in the air wanting to mount the horsie once again.

Southern Diaries - The Journey Home

Saturday night, March 25, 2006:

Driving to Nashville the night before my departure Aaron sprung pretty much the coolest surprise ever! He kept it under wraps SO well! I didn't know what we were going to do until 10 minutes before we got there. Aaron gave me one hint to guess: "We are going to keep tradition alive." It took me a little bit, but I guessed it and squealed with delight finding it to be true! It was by far the best Switchfoot concert I've been to. Thanks honey bun! ;)

To finish off my vacation we stayed with some family friends (Kevin and Karen) that night and Aaron bused me off to the airport at 5 o'clock the next morning. Safe and sound here I am. Back in the town so beautiful they named it twice )yeah right).

Southern pictures to keep you occupied

One Acts

Pirates putting on makeup...how cute.









And here's the Semi-Superheros complete with their own male secretary.







These are the rats. Boris (left) is a sick rat in a maze and Andrew (the healthy rat on the right) joins him. You kinda had to be there...

My name is Cissy, isn 't that great?