Ice Cream Salf-wich

I had the pleasure today of catching up with my friend Nicole who spent last semester studying abroad in South Africa! (You can read about it here.) She is one of the most positive and bubbly people I have ever met. I really wanted to hear all about her time in Cape Town but she kept asking me questions. Goodness! I met her near her house at Freddy Hill Farms for ice cream. They make their own waffle cones and ice cream there and it was delicious. I'm a big fan of ice cream and the S'mores in the waffle cone was great. While we were only there two hours or so, I enjoyed the time spent hearing about her adventures and I can't wait to see her next week!

The Mountains We Conquer

So it's been a month since graduation and a month since we left for Atlanta to work with Habitat for Humanity. I've been trying to think of how to describe the week and how I felt and how I grew, but I kept putting it off and kept lacking the words. Even now I'm not sure if I'd do it justice. The week had its highs and lows and even the lows had their high points--literally and figuratively. The one afternoon we headed to Stone Mountain and took the explorer's path to the top, aka we made our own path to the top. I was a worried mess and everyone kept calling me "Mom" because I was anxious and wearing these huge pair of jorts. But when we finally made it to the top, the view was worth it. You could see downtown Atlanta and everyone made it to the top, with many laughs and adventures. 

To quote myself from last year (who quoted Edmund Hillary), "It is not the mountain we conquer but ourselves." I think that is even more applicable this year than last. Who would have thought that we made it the whole week in one piece, making substantial progress on someone's home, nineteen people together? Who would have thought I'd even make it to this week in one piece (thank you Elise)? We tried, which I think is good enough in itself. We tried to make a difference. We tried to stand on the highest rung of scaffolding. We tried being open. We tried to forget and remember and learn. Yeah, sometimes trying isn't good enough but it teaches you a lot about yourself and about others. So I guess I learned to keep trying, even at the lowest of lows, and I hope we exposed everyone to the idea of trying when you get back home, to keep trying to improve your life and the lives of others.

Movies in Tucson

So I just found out that my Ambler membership gets me reduced movie tickets at the Loft Cinema in Tucson. Both theaters are part of Art House Visiting Members Program. So naturally I'm very excited. I found my own little Ambler in Tucson for the next five years.

Far From the Madding Crowd

So Dan and I went to Ambler again, this time to see Far From the Madding Crowd. The movie was set in the English countryside. It's based off of the Thomas Hardy novel of the same name. Carey Mulligan (major girl crush) is an independent young woman who, over the course of the film, has her choice of 3 suitors. I was rooting for the shepherd the whole time. Some crazy things happened like a whole flock of sheep running off a cliff and some gun violence near the end. I really enjoyed the movie. After, we went to Sweet Briar for some ice cream (salted caramel for me). Absolutely delicious and I only had one drip of ice cream fall on me!

Daytripping to the Beach

So Cody is starting her big girl job next week and I needed to see her off properly by spending the day at the beach. After a bit of an adventure getting there (traffic so my sister and I took the scenic route through University City), we made it. After running to get salt water taffy because our meter was up, I dropped my sister off with her friends that ditched her and headed a handful of blocks up to meet Cody. 

First, the weather was gorgeous. The water was cold at first dip but it felt great once I was adjusted to it. Anyway, any day with Cody is great, especially in the summer. Best friends since freshman year. And Cody's friend Andrew was there as well, who I've met before. We just spent the afternoon hanging out in the sun. I heard many stories about Cody's wild antics before college and all about their grade school teachers. Andrew also asked me a question that I don't usually ever get but probably should: what should he call me? Cody calls me KB and he had been calling me Katie all day so which one was better? It's actually a curious question and all my nicknames are something I take pride in. People call me Katie, Kate, KB, Kibs, Kibbles, Katie B. I tried getting people to call me Kath in high school but that didn't stick. So I guess the short answer would be any of them. 

Towards the end of the afternoon, Cody started listing off all the food she could eat right then and naturally I was getting very hungry listening to her describe all these places nearby. So we went to Prep's for pizza (recently re-done, I heard) and we devoured a pie. Very good. But then we had to leave because Cody wouldn't let me sleep over but maybe I can sleep over when she gets a place in DC? Okay thanks for being my friend and letting me use you for the beach. Kisses.

Afternoons at the Library

Spent my last two afternoons at the library, forcing myself to do work. Walking the two miles one way forced me to actually stay there and get stuff done. And I couldn't get internet so I locked myself in the quiet room and read through 200 pages of an economic plan. A little dry to say the least. But I enjoyed the walk and being out of the house, even for a few hours. I might make this a weekly thing--walking to the library and staying all afternoon. I just have to actually wake up at a normal time and not sleep in too late...

HBD

Big shout-out to my dad on his birthday. He's clearly enjoying the chocolate cake we made for him.

Also, side question, but why is "Happy Birthday" shortened to "HBD"? Happy birthday is one word so it should be "HB," right? I guess I could understand because you shorten it to Happy B-day and then you shorten that to HBD. I don't know. It really doesn't make sense to me but that's what the cool kids do.