A faithful friend is a sturdy
shelter, he who finds one finds a treasure.
Sirach 6:14
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On the 10th day of Christmas break, my trip
home to Pennsylvania gave to me…
a visit to Reading to see my lovely friend, Lisa, and her
baby boy, Liam. On the way to meeting at
a bookstore, I made a quick stop at one of my favorite shops at home.
Pennsylvania Country Crafts is an adorable
store with Americana décor that I love.
I found this cute bag (for $ 1 ) when I purchased
the star hook and the birdhouse sprig. I
love the inspiring words and can't wait to decorate my new home with my old
decorations from storage in under 2 years!
It just dawned on me that I will be done with NC in 16 months and 1
week!!!
I also got a kick out of the
fact that my car was the only one with snow on it in Reading as I drove from snowy Frackville to completely dry Reading!
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| Notice the ground has no snow!! |
Anyhow, Lisa and I met
at the same Barnes & Noble back in March so it was fun to think about how
during our last visit, Lisa was still pregnant with Liam while today he was an
active bouncing 3 month old baby boy I couldn’t put down…hehe.
Our visit went entirely too fast, as my visits with Lisa
tend to do, and I was so thankful she made the trek over to Reading to meet
with me. Her words of wisdom always
inspire me to not lose hope or to look at things in a different way, whether
they be about our beautiful Catholic faith, love, or just life in general.
Here is a picture of us from the Haiti Benefit Dance she
organized and put on back in April 2010 since we forgot to snap a photo of us 2
during our visit at the bookstore.
Little Liam was a cute baby I so enjoyed holding. It was wonderful to see how happy Lisa is and
to see Michael’s (her husband) features reflected in Liam’s face. I wonder what Liam will be like during his
mom’s and my next visit!
Lisa was one of the first new friends I made when I
started attending Young Adult Catholic events in the Lancaster and Harrisburg
areas since there were none in York in December 2009. Through our friendship, I grew in faith and
was inspired by her story. She also
helped to guide me toward helping to facilitate a Young Adults group in NC and
to eventually begin this blog (a few years in the making). ;) It
is SO refreshing to have a fellow actively practicing Catholic female
friend! Prior to my involvement in the
Young Adults group, I was practically the only one I knew. The other Catholic girlfriends I had were
married, with children, older, or not actively practicing our faith. So Lisa holds a memorable place in my heart
as one of the first Pennsylvania female friends! Of course I love ALL of my friends dearly,
regardless of religion, political affiliation, ethnicity, race, beliefs, etc.
but there is something special about a friendship with a fellow sister in
Christ. Now, it’s funny to think that in
NC, the majority of my female friends are Catholic! I wonder what kind of people I will meet in
the next phase of my journey once I graduate from UNCG!
As if visiting with Lisa weren’t enough fun for today, I
got to end the day with dinner at Black Diamond with Patrick and my friend,
Melanie, who made the drive up from Harrisburg in spite of the snow! We feasted on yummy cheese balls and Absolut
Mistletoe drinks. Melanie and I met in
2003 or 2004 when she trained me at the Learning Source, a teacher supply and toy
store.
Over the years, Melanie and I have vacationed at the
beach, attended Strawberry Balls, flash mobbed at a Revs game, Uncorked York,
sipped hubcap margaritas in Fells Point, gambled at Hollywood, enjoyed Nissley
Winery, gone on retreat at the camp I worked at in the Poconos, eaten chocolate
in Hershey, almost got caught in a thunderstorm in NC, and gone out in downtown
Harrisburg too many times to count.
She is a loyal friend who is always up for adventure and
getting together, even if only for an hour or two, especially since I’ve moved
to NC. Thanks for the memories Mel and I
look forward to many more in 2013 and beyond!!
On the 11th day of Christmas Break, my
Pennsylvania trip gave to me…
an unexpected visit with Thomas Mark, my sister-in-law, her
parents, and her sister in Harrisburg as well as a visit from family in
Texas!! I hadn’t seen them in about 10
years or so..?! We spent the morning in
Harrisburg at Liz’s parents’ home enjoying a delicious lunch and play time with
Thomas.
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| I liked this ornament that was hanging on Liz's parents' Christmas tree! |
When Nancy, my cousin, lived in PA, I used to spend the night
at her place with friends in elementary school.
When we were younger than that, I can recall Nancy coming to visit and
babysit us in Delaware and when we first moved to Frackville. Later, when Nancy had children, we used to
babysit Ethan and Aidan. This is one of the reasons why I love having family live nearby...we can share in the memories of everyday life and I hope that when it's time for me to have a family, if I'm blessed to have one, that I can be near my brothers to provide those same opportunities for my children and their cousins!
The last time I
saw Nancy's youngest, Weston, he was just a baby!!
It’s funny how others get older as you stay the same age (ha!). I also remember fun family picnics and celebrations
at Aunt Ollie’s house in Port Carbon when all three of her kids and their
families would visit with us. Now, Nancy
is in Texas, Bobby is in Montana, and Keith lives in the Philly area so it is
rare for all of us to get together let alone have individual visits so it was a
great and welcome treat to see Nancy and her three boys!
Today also provided me a visit with one of my oldest and
dearest friends! Heather and I met when
we were 16 and 17 years old when we worked at Subway together. In spite of attending differing high schools,
we became close friends and remain so even with her now living in Allentown and
my going to school in NC. Heather is one
of those friends where even if we go for weeks or months with not talking, we
are still able to quickly update one another on where we are in our lives and
still be good friends. Of all my
friends, Heather is probably the one who thinks the most like I do….hmm, I’m
not sure if that’s good or bad given hers and my overanalytical minds. I know that I will never face judgment or
disapproval from Heather as she really understands me since we are so
alike. I’ve always seen Heather as kind
of my “big sister” of sorts since she was a whole year older than I. ;)
There are so many fun stories that come to mind when I think
of our friendship from our endless talks about boys in high school, college,
and well, now (haha) to freaking out when the lines at Subway were out the door
due to being so busy as the 2 of us busily prepared hoagies (I mean subs) for the
hungry customers to the Dunkin Donut runs, to hanging out at Bloomsburg
University one summer afternoon, to flying to Florida (for the first time) with
her, to cruising Pottsville while listening to Ani DiFranco and Jimmy Buffett,
to visiting Aunt Ollie randomly while out and about on Saturday nights, to
standing up as maid of honor watching Heather marry one of my older brother’s
best friends from childhood.
I was sooo appreciative of Heather driving to Frackville to
do dinner after a long day at work while her hubby tended to their 2 small
children an hour away in Allentown. I
couldn’t help but think as Heather drove away from my parents’ home tonight,
how fortunate I am to have her presence, acceptance, and advice in my
life.
On the 12th day of Christmas Break, my Pennsylvania trip
gave to me..
some time spent with Monika in spite of the snow!!! Monika, a friend I’ve known since 1998, when
we lived across the hall from each other in Shafer Hall at IUP, braved the
elements and drove from Bath to St. Clair where we met at a nail salon.
We pampered ourselves with much needed manicures/pedicures and then
proceeded to drive up snowy 61 in style.
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| This was an interesting experience since the Dad carried on multiple phone conversations (via earbuds) the whole time and the little boy pretty much stayed by his Dad's side during most of our appointment. |
Later that afternoon, we took in “This is 40” and “Les Mis”. The first movie was so-so but I LOVED “Les
Mis”. I could relate to the character,
Eponine, on so many levels…especially when she sang, “On My Own”. I have a feeling I will be watching this
movie again and again!
Due to the snowy weather, Monika spent the night. It was great getting to spend so much bonus
time with one of my closest friends from college. It’s hard to believe that it’s been 14 years
since we first met as freshman and sophomore in college!!
On the 13th
day of Christmas break, my trip to Pennsylvania gave to me..
a relaxing day with the
family after attending mass at my childhood church of St. Joseph’s in
Frackville. It has been years since I
attended mass there. It was nice being
in a small church again. There is something
special about being so close to the main altar as the priest celebrates mass
and feeling up close and personal to what is happening during mass, which
should happen at every mass but is more easily obtained in such a small cozy
church.
This is the same church that I
spent countless nights in the social hall in the basement at Boy Scout meetings
for my brothers, the building where I hobbled up the 3 flights of stairs as a 5th
grader when I was on crutches when attending school on the top floor, the place
where I held the door for the folks who attended daily mass while we were
outside for recess, the church where I watched my twin serve masses as an altar
server, and where I received my First Communion. Such happy memories of my favorite grade,
teacher, and school (aka 5th grade at St. Joe’s!) are housed in this
little mountain church. :)
The day ended with my
little brother and his puppy, Otto, departing for Delaware (boohoo) but I will
see him shortly in NC when he comes to do Christmas down there!!
The last surprise of the
evening was when Nick, a fantastic family friend, swung by the house for a
minute. He is like a 4th
brother to me and it’s always wonderful to see him.
After Nick left, my
parents and I also continued our “sort of” Christmas/New Year's tradition of eating
Chinese food tonight as we watched “Sparkle” from the Redbox. I wonder if Whitney Houston sensed any
parallels to her own life as she worked on this final movie of her career &
life.
So, after a whirlwind few
days, I guess there is always tomorrow for getting back to work on schoolwork
right? ;)
On the 14th day
of Christmas Break, my Pennsylvania trip gave to me…
A strange night of dreams
that kept me from being well rested for New Year’s Eve Eve. Yes, I awoke 4 times as I had dream after
dream after dream after dream the night before New Year’s Eve. One involved eating at a fancy restaurant in
Harrisburg with Ashley where we tried to avoid two grandfather type men who
kept trying to ask us out…not sure where THAT came from at all! In another dream, Monika and I were on a
college campus walking around in the rain until we got to a dorm where her boyfriend
lived. As we took shortcuts through
campus buildings to avoid the rain, we saw some college students reenacting the
story of Adam and Eve outside a dorm called, Malvern. I guess subconsciously, I had Malvern on my
brain last night??!!
When morning came, I gave
up on trying to get any sleep so was up bright and early to work on making
revisions to my Portfolio Defense Powerpoint and my Introduction of the rough
draft of my dissertation paper.
I didn’t mind doing
schoolwork the majority of the morning/early afternoon because I knew that tonight I would
be attending Stars on Ice, the ice skating show my parents (and various
friends/family members) and I attended for 12 years, in Hershey! How did this come to be you ask? Well, allow me to share the story with you!
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| The one and only time we had on-ice seats at our 12th and last show in April 2010. |
On the way home to PA from
NC 2 weeks ago today, after many false starts (you can read more about that
here), I happened to drive through Harrisburg right when WINK 104 FM was
finishing up a commercial about a contest for winning Stars on Ice tickets the
next morning. I proceeded to text my
brothers and many friends who live in the Lancaster, York, Hershey, and
Harrisburg areas to see if they could help me win tickets by calling into the
radio station at 8:10am the next morning.
In spite of all the
gathering of the troops and setting my alarm Wed. morning, it was 8:12am when I
called the station. I wasn’t able to get
it on the radio since my parents’ home is a little over an hour from
Harrisburg. Since I was late in calling
in, I didn’t even have time to turn on my laptop to try to listen to the
station online via the website. The
phone rang several times before a woman answered, “Hello”. This surprised me as I was expecting a
different sort of greeting and I thought I might have dialed the wrong
number. I asked if this was WINK 104 to
which the woman said yes. I asked if
they had already given away the Stars on Ice tickets to which the woman said
that they would make the announcement in the next 90 seconds after the commercial
break had ended. I asked if I could
access the station online since I was in Schuylkill County. The woman offered to put me on hold and to
pipe the station through the phone so I could hear the announcement that
way. She then said that when I did hear
the announcement that I would need to hang up and call back to try to be the 10th
caller and win the tickets. I repeated, “Ok,
so when I hear the announcement you want me to hang up and call again right?” She said, “Yes, ok, let’s make sure that you
can hear the commercial” and she tested the call. When I told her that it worked, she said, “Ok,
remember hang up when we make the announcement and call back and be the 10th
caller!” I eagerly listened to the
commercials on my phone. Just as the
announcement for the contest came on, she took me off hold and said
"Don't hang up" but I did because she had told me to hang up and call
back as soon as I heard the commercial (through the phone).
Turns out that my brother in NC was caller # 1 and # 4, I was caller # 2, and my brother in DE was unable to get through as well as my friend, Nick, in Harrisburg. Persistence pays off though because 2 days after Christmas, I got the call from the station that they had FOUR tickets for me! Ironically, this was on the same day that my friend, Melanie, who lives in the Harrisburg area, and I had rescheduled our visit. She was able to quickly swing by the station, pick up the tickets, and be on her way to my parents’ home. Honestly, we couldn’t have planned it better if we tried!!!
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| We heard Joe Cocker's "You Are So Beautiful" on the way home so I pulled out the picture of Dusty in an effort to reenact the ASPCA commercials that have been playing non-stop! Hehe. |
Stars on Ice was terrific, even if I only knew of 9 of the 12 skaters! It was awesome seeing Dorothy Hamill for the first time and seeing Kurt Browning again! The last time I saw Ryan Bradley was when he won the US Figure Skating Championships in 2011 in Greensboro when I volunteered there.
The highlights for me were when the 2 couples skated together, any time Ekaterina Gordeyevea skated, and of course the last number by Kurt Browning that involved making it rain inside the Giant Center and skating to “Singing in the Rain”. Seeing Kurt skate some of the moves Gene Kelly incorporated into the dance scene in the movie was awesome! Another neat twist was that the first year I saw Stars on Ice was in 1998 which was also the same year that I was in “Singing in the Rain” in high school…how neat to be reminded of that senior year play tonight!
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