Time for an update!

Well, I'm sitting in the office and really not in the mood to do anything related to work so I decided I should probably update this so here goes:

Two weekends ago on the 8th, I drove down to Mount Vernon, picked up Zach, and headed up to Waterloo. We made a short stop at Austin's house to talk to her mom (Carla), then went over to my grandma's where we spent the night. Early the next morning, we all loaded up the car, picked up my dad, and drove to Minnesota for my grandma's family reunion. Let me just give you an idea of how my grandma's family works. They are all Catholic and they all live on farms (well, pretty much). Basically, they believe in reproducing more than bunnies so in all there were about 260 people present. We have to wear color-coded tshirts so people know what branch of the family we belong to. Luckily Zach and I were able to snag a blanket and wander around the 4 whole blocks that make up the town of St. Killian to find a shady spot where we took several naps. It was quite relaxing! I did meet an interesting guy who kept trying to offer me the bones from his porkchops but whatever. Other than that, we just ate a potluck lunch, hung around, had some pics taken (with Zach included in the family pictures :) ), visited the farm my grandma grew up on, and went to church. All in all, a fairly easy day. After we finally left, us and some of my closer relatives (cousins, uncles, etc.) went to Perkins for dinner in Wilmont which was delicious. Then we went back to the hotel, took a dip in the hot tub and sauna, and then Zach and I went for a walk. It was really nice to get away and just spend some time with him, plus we had a great talk so I was very happy. Sunday morning my dad, grandma, Zach, and I went to Wilmington (between Wilmont and St. Killian) to meet up with some of my grandma's siblings for brunch and then we headed back home. When Zach and I got back to his house, we just relaxed for the evening until I had to go back home.

Over the week I put in 42 hours between the Chamber, Vanity, and babysitting in 4 days. Let's just say it was a long 4 days! On Thursday I was taken out to eat by my cousin, Robin, and Aunt Betsy at the Shot Tower which was nice. Also, I knew Zach was coming on Thursday night so I had something to look forward to and it got me through. He even surprised me by showing up early without notice like I had done for him holding 3 roses. He said the 2 red ones were for our 2 month anniversary and the peach one was just because he loved me so much! Definitely an awesome end to the work week for me!!!

Friday we visited Tasha and m other co-workers at the Chamber so I could introduce him to the people I work with in hell, then we went for a nice swim at Loras under the supervision of one Miss Amy lifeguard. We also stopped by the CEL office so I could say hi to Andrea, got some Dairy Queen for lunch, and then trekked out to Wal-Mart to do a little grocery shopping. When we made it back to the apartment, Angeline called and asked me to meet her at Old Navy (we were sharing a gift certificate there) so I let Zach relax while me and Ang did a little shopping ourselves. After coming back, Zach and I got ready and then he took me out to eat at Bricktown. The service kinda sucked which made me a little frustrated, but when we got back to the apartment we had some ice cream and it was all better! Saturday I got my hair done at Capri and then Zach and I got ready to head off to Wisconsin for Robin's wedding. His expression when he saw me all ready (I made him wait!) definitely made me feel quite lovely! Anyways, I had been asked to do the readings for the wedding and was a little nervous because this was the first time I had actually been in a wedding. It went really well though and when we were done we went to the Best Western here in Dubuque for the reception. It was a fairly small crowd but not too bad. I liked getting waited on (we were at one of the family tables), the people we sat with were quite entertaining, and the food was awesome so it was a great dinner. We visited with some of my relatives (ps this is my mom's side so Zach has now officially met most of both sides of my family), danced to a couple songs, and just talked for most of the night. I was quite proud of myself when I asked my mom to dance to some of the faster songs because I noticed she didn't really have anyone else to dance with. Her gratefulness really made me happy I was able to get over my embarrassment of dancing with just my mom, especially when it was just us up there for awhile. Anyways, after a round of rum and cokes for Zach and I from my dad and a talk with my very drunk Uncle Bob, Zach and I decided to call it a night and headed back to the apartment for some Friends-watching. Sunday we met up with my parents for brunch at the hotel and then we went shopping at Target so I could get MY NEW DIGITAL CAMERA!!! I really wanted one, especially for South Africa, and was able to convince them to buy me one instead of a new mattress and box springs. I am super excited to have it and will now be able to get some good pics of Zach and my friends. After that, Zach and I just crashed at the apartment for awhile and eventually I made a pizza (literally, it was a pizza kit so I made the crust and stuff) for dinner. I have to say, it was quite delicious and VERY filling. After that, we just sat and talked about things that had bugging us (mostly about spring semester when we'll both be abroad) and then he had to leave because it was getting late. It seems to get harder every weekend when we have to say goodbye. Luckily it's only a week at a time instead of 5 months like it will be in January.

I guess that brings me to now. This week I'll be putting in 56 hours in 5 days so I'm not really excited. Zach is coming up on Friday which will be awesome though because Angeline is leaving for Colorado that day so we'll have the place to ourselves again. That's part of the reason I'm working so much at the Chamber; Angeline is going with a friend who babysits for a family 8-5 every weekday. I'm going to be filling in next week while they're gone so I had to make up my hours at the Chamber. At least I was smart enough to spread them out so I only put in 30 hours for 2 weeks instead of 40 in one week. Plus I'll be making $250, which is more than I've probably made all summer. I just gotta get through this week and I'll be fine. Although, Vanity lost one of its employees which means I'll be getting more hours until we hire someone else. This can be good and bad. Good because more hours means more money. Bad because I'll be working more hours. However, hopefully Brendan will let me take an hour lunch today so I can go apply for a job at Flowerama. If the pay is better there, I may end up quitting at Vanity even though I love it there because I need to be making as much money as I can for South Africa. Andrea told me housing costs are going to be about twice what they normally thought it would be so I'll be paying more per month than I am here. :( Boo to that!

Alright, now that I have rambled on for quite a long time, I suppose I should go do some work. Thanks to anyone who actually read all of this, and I hope you all are having a great summer!