honey bunches of oats

OMG Hil, I cried laughing so hard at that video -- with that cute dog.. and the flamboyant man singing in the background! hahahaha.. that was wonderful. Thanks girls for all your birthday wishes! I cannot wait to see you girls this weekend.. so exciting! It will be a fun-filled adventure no matter what we do, I'm sure.

I added that picture there a few days ago! You like? It was the only one I could find with the 4 of us. I like it :)

Okay well I'm at work and totally shouldn't be on here.. but I just wanted to say hey girls hey and wassaaap and I'll talk to you all SO soon!

Love and kisses
Joie

JOY!!!!!!!!!
You ARE a joy, however cliche it may be to say. A stellar lady, indeed. I'm so excited to see you this weekend! Are you prepared for the stuff dreams are made of? Of course, I'm talking about...
ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY!

On this day in history...besides YOUR BIRTH (awesome!), this stuff happened.
-My dad was born!!
-My friend Jule, from home, was born (same year, too!)
-1776-British troops occupied Philadelphia (now cheesesteaks do)
-1888-Poet T.S. Eliot was born in St. Louis, MO ("I shall wear white flannel trousers, and walk upon the beach")
-1898-Composer George Gershwin was born in Brooklyn, NY
-1969-The album "Abbey Road" was released by the Beatles!
-The lady who hosted "The Weakest Link" (goodbye!) was born
-Jim Caviezel (from "The Passion") was born

A poem about your name is ....HERE

A birthday video for you is ....THERE---------> (here)


Lovely Joy Ann!
Here's to a lovely birthday! I hope it was wonderful!!! Love you TONS!
:oD
hilree

P.S. I would've made you a great road cake if I'd been there!! hahaha

Alright, so I just noticed that there's a picture on our blog site now! I totally didn't see it before...has it been there for a while?? I like it :-)
So...I really like that idea about walking in that backyard trail of yours, Hil. Also, maybe after we do that we can go into the little cute town of Media :-) And I like your thoughts of reading Anatomy...lol definitely joking..... Oh...and about a devotional, our small group just read through the book "Crazy Love". It's written by Francis Chan...it's a great book- if you want a copy I can get you a copy for free from our youth pastor. Let me know! And that goes for any of you!!
And I almost forgot that we spent all that time reading anatomy and sex books... That was fun...lol is that weird for me to say??
That's awesome that you're in you're in a yoga class Joy! There's classes at Jefferson that look fun but I haven't had any time to go to them.... Maybe you can hold a session for us sometime ;-) Hey- and any new news about your grandmother??
So that girl that you babysit for (Amanda) sounds like she's interesting....lol Also, EVERY time I pass through the glenside train station I want to get off! But I dont' know where your house is lol...but one of these days I will get off and I can see you for a little hopefully!

Ok, quick story- so the other day I was walking to class (a couple blocks away still) and I was at the corner of the street with 2 other girls in my class waiting to cross the street- we were just minding our business, talking, whatever, and all of a sudden...BAM!!....we look across the street and see this guy literally flying in the air and slam into a bus stop waiting area (you know those like little 3-walled areas with a bench?) The guy was riding his bike and slammed into a taxi-cab door that was being opened by a girl inside the cab! The girl didn't even him and he apparently didn't see the door opening either!! I felt so bad.....especially because no one helped him! I wanted to but I was across the street waiting to cross.....
So anyway...I guess when you're in the city- anything's possible to happen lol I had definitely never seen that before!!
Alrighty well I hope all is doing well- Am I/we able to stay at your place during homecoming Joy? If not, it's totally fine!
YAY only 1 more week! :-)
LOVE YOUUUUU
Briana
ps- I was just thinking of Michelle...lol ohh Michelle....but when is her birthday? I was thinking we could maybe send her some coffee?....yea?.... ;-)

HIIIIIIIIIIIII
So, I really want to respond to everyone's posts..........but I have to get this dumb paper thing done for tomorrow's class..(so hopefully I can write a longer post tonight or tomorrow)....but I wanted to at least let you know that I'm free on Saturday (Oct 3?) like morning/afternoon or something to hang out!!!!!!!!!! Let me know when and where, whenever you figure it out. I'm gonna be a hermit for the rest of the week because I have 2 big exams coming up...K. I LOVE YOU SOO MUCH! And I can't wait to see you :-)
Bri

Ummm, I'm gonna have to second Amanda with the toenails, and YES Hil.. so much polish.. so many layers.. seriously I feel like I've just been covering the same chipped nails with the same pink polish for like... weeks.. months.. years? No.. that's grosssss. And Amanda, that is exactly why I do not use waterproof mascara. Except for the one bottle I keep hidden away in the event of a funeral or sad movie event. You GIRLS make me smile! Even over the internet.... So I'm working from home today, and finding out exactly how hard it is to stay concentrated, OYE... why did I do that?

K love you bye!
Joy

definitely-- except that mainly happens on my toes, because those nails are the ones that mainly get painted. also, as gross as seems sometime i find myself removing layer after layer of built up waterproof mascara. nasty right? that stuff can be absolutely impossible to get off after one day of use, so why not get more bang for your buck and leave it for a few more days..... i'm kidding-- mostly.

i babysat today and this one(and change) baby is a pretty huge as far as babies are concerned. she throws temper tantrums that have been known to literally flip the stroller. i'm not making it up--it happened the other day in barnes and noble. those poor shoppers got a screechy show and i had to walk away ashamed of my babysitting abilities. i turned around to put my keys in my purse and whoosh she was flipped like a pancake, howling at the top of her little lungs. mind you, she throws herself on the ground all the time, for no apparent reason, so this barely phased me, it did however, very much phase the shoppers and coffee shop goers all around me. she is my main motivation for finding a job at this point.

just thought i'd share my woes with you all this absolutely lovely afternoon. i have nothing more to complain about, so i think i'll go enjoy whats left of it before the next babysitting gig tonight!

i lessthanthree youall
amdirk

I just completed an archeological dig of my nails. Layer after laquered layer of pinkish tones. At one point, I'm pretty sure you could see all the way to China.

I wish I had taken a picture. It looked like a groovy 60s nail polish experiment.

Man, I really should have taken a picture.

There is a distinct possibility I suffered temporary(?) brain damage from the acetone fumes.

A distinct possibility.

Love you all, just wanted to share and see if anyone else ever feels this way about the removal of nail fancying things.
<3 hearts and hearts of love,
hil

Hil, that entry was so funny. I laughed so hard at all your witty-isms.. I miss living with you! (And Amanda and Bri of course..) Hil, I completely forgot to call you on Sunday. I'm such a bad friend. I'll call you before Friday.. which means of course either tonight or tomorrow night. And whether or not you pick up, I will leave an obnoxiously long voicemail in which any rendition of "Farmer in the Dell" may make an appearance.

First weekend in October... YESS!! Hil, I'm going to Amanda's house on Friday evening. I'm sure she would say YOU COME TOO so I'm gonna say it for her :) And then wherever Amanda leads me... I will go (where you lead... I will follow.. anywhere.. that you tell me to) okay, enough singing. MAN I am SO tired... working kicks you in the BUTT.. and I find myself needing so much sleep!

I wanna walk in that path behind your house HIL! And on that exercise note.. I just joined Gold's Gym.. like a total diva I am taking Yoga and Pilates classes daily to whip myself back into shape, as I find myself unfortunately with the upper body strength of a kitten, and the posture of a gargoyle.. is that how you spell gargoyle? Anyways... it should be fun, although I had a meeting with the guy who gave me a tour of the gym yesterday and I could not for the life of me figure out if he was 1. Gay or 2. Hitting on me or 3. just really nice. Any rendition of which I was not all that comfortable with.. but hey I tried my very hardest to see it as a compliment. He even got one of the machines to "show me how to use it".. then asked me if I wanted to try I was like... uhhh perhaps an excuse to watch me? no thank you LOL. So uncomfortable.

Like the googler that I am (and I know Hilary is too.. and you too Briana and Amanda) I looked up Lisa Scottline almost the second after I read the last post. She looks really cute! Her columns are on her website, and I thoroughly enjoyed the one that I read. On the reading note.. Human Anatomy sounds... interesting. Reminds me of that time we opened Bri's anatomy book up the the male section, and Amanda's sex class book up to the intercourse section. Oh my.. maybe a more wholesome book to counter that pair of readings I remember so well.

All that stated, I love and miss all of you so much! And I can't wait to see one or all of you and hear all about your lives in person on that not-so-far-away-first-weekend-in OCTOBER!.. and I'm very glad we got this blog going again, sorry for the little hiccup on my end.

love love love,
Joyous

Hi women!
There's a trail that goes through the woods in my backyard (well, a series of trails-my backyard is connected to an arboretum) and goes across streams and through grassy areas, and under trees. It is really pretty. It was a big part of my, and my brother's and my neighbors' childhoods. I lost it for awhile. Nick and I went through it this weekend, which is good, considering the most exercise-like thing I'd done in awhile involved trying to find my cell phone which was hidden in the last place you'd think to look (my purse...). Needless to say, the workout was good, the beauty was exciting! I think it would be great if we could all walk along that trail sometime together and just have a fun little time. Perhaps later in the fall? Should be pretty with the leaves changing.

THAT was just a sidenote.

MORE IMPORTANTLY:
It's so great to hear from everyone! I love you ladies! Joy, thanks for all of your encouragment! I can't wait to hear about your job! I hope it is super and full of ways for you to put your skills to work! Amanda and Joy: Book club idea sounds awesome! I think a great first book would be the study of Human Anatomy, volume 6. Just some light reading, you know? ... Okay, NO... but I think this is an awesome idea. OH! Speaking of text-related things...there is this really funny author named Lisa Scottoline who writes a column called Chick Wit in the Philadelphia Inquirer every week. There is some funny stuff there, my friends. Her columns are posted online weekly. Just in case you are bored, they are fun to read sometimes. Okay, now that that sidenote is over... I am free the first weekend in October. Is it like a Fri-Sat. kind of thing? Or just Sat? I wasn't quite sure. Whatever it is, it sounds awesome. Bri-hope your classes are going well still, and that the train isn't giving you any trouble. Do you have pepper spray? I think you should have pepper spray. Or something that looks like pepper spray. Like spray butter, which is less potent, yet still intimidating. Haha, okay, kidding about the pepper spray, unless you're doing your whole "hang out alone in dark city alleys" thing again. I hope you're done with that stage, though...um, joking. Alright, well it seems I can't be serious right now. I feel silly.

I am spending my days looking for a job and doing a little bit of babysitting (not simultaneously). I am also looking for good devotional, because, as the case may be, I don't have any clue about the exegesis of the passages I'm reading. I also am not sure if that was the correct usage of that word. Maybe I meant hermeneutics. Who paid attention in Bible? Any of you? I tried, but my professor seemed to be more interested in having us get more confused by reenacting her reenactment book about Paul and the Roman House Churches. It was called, "Paul and the Roman House Churches." Needless to say, I didn't learn a heck of a lot about exegesis or hermeneutics, except that they are words. SO...if any of you know of a good devotional, let me know.

Welp, if you're still with me (and even if you're not), I love you all and can't wait to see you (hopefully!) soon!


Love you tons!

Hil

Oh yes the book club idea!

How cute would we be if we all got together and had saturday brunch and talked about life and books and stuff?? KOP is a good central meeting location--for everyone except joy but, as long as she's willing to come down this way once a month, I think this could work! Also, maybe we could make a trip further up her way one time too---like lancaster and the outlets perhaps?? I know breedom is in school and probs can't do serious outside reading all the time but maybe we could choose a few light books to get started....I mean if people are interested, I think I'm getting carried away haha what else is new?

I think there has been a sort of time warp where I have temporarily been sucked into a black hole and have recently emerged only to find that I have to become a real person. I have sporadically with and without cellphone access since I returned because my old one got fried by the wierd voltage conversion situation over there. I have missed you guys a whole ton and would love to hear all about summer and whats going on with love and people in your lives, as well as jobs and classes. It was fun to hear about your first day breedom, at Jefferson--I can just picture you spinning around and around looking for street signs school banners. I wish I coulda been there to see you off on your first day again haha!

As for me--I once again find myself without a significant other. We are still together! buuuuut-- countries separate us at this point, so that's kinda hard. However, things are not hopeless nor are they particularly gray in hue (unlike the skirt i'm wearing currently). I feel positive about the future and if my travels have taught me anything its how to take mammoth events and break them down into small and manageable steps. In that way, I feel like this summer has been all that I needed it to be before starting this phase of life. I'd love to talk to you ladies more about my trip and about the whirlwind of greg afterwards but, I figure all that will happen in due time, I find that when I dwell on it, I feel stalled from moving forward. Again, little pieces and movement in the fuhwuhds (or "forward" as said by the New Yorkian among us) direction. The jobfront is looking up as well, we shall see how that pans out but ya know I'm not in an entirely desperate frame of mind yet so again, doin well. My days are filled with very random things unplanned and planned alike so I feel busy which is helpful also.

Anyways, that was a lot of rambling, guess I haven't posted in awhile huh? Regardless I would love to see all of your pretty faces ASAP! so yea, have a lovely day tomorrow and the next and the day after that and with any luck I will see you on the 3rd of October~!

love love love love love
amdirk

Hey all, I miss you like crazy.

Briananana, I'm so glad you like the stuff you're learning! Your anatomy teacher sounds funny with the long boring lectures, I would like to see the peoples faces with that boring lecture!!!! lol.

Hil-train, how's the job hunt? I've been thinking of you a lot lately. Have you gotten any leads? I've heard that the job unemployment rate has leveled out at the same, regardless of the fact that the economy has gotten better.. but good news, by the end of this year it is supposed to get significantly better! I will keep praying for you for certain. You will find something, and God has hand picked a job for you already -- he's holding it off for some reason, and though you might not be sure why, it's for a reason.

Amanda! It was SO good to see you tonight. Nice seeing you and getting to talk with you and stuff :) It's always good catching up with you.

So we have an idea.....

We want to start a book club!! And we can meet like... every 1st, 2nd OR 3rd Saturday morning of every month.. and those can vary, in just breakfast, day events, or full weekend events (depending on availability). Soooooo here's the deal, I'm heading to Amanda's on the first weekend of October (the weekend of the 3rd) and if either one of you or both of you can make it, we'd love you to be there toooooooo ORRRR if you can't make it for the nightish whatever than just lunch at King of Prussia???? Just a thought. Either way, are you girls free the first weekend of October? We wanna read books with you!!! :)


I love you all a lot, and I hope to talk to you soon.

PEACE!

I MISS YOU ALL!! How is everyone doing??? How's everyone's job situations and homes?! It's really weird not being at Messiah this September...I miss it....and you....
So, I think that we should all try to get together at least once a month (I think we talked about this before)...but it would be sweet to come up with like "every 3rd Saturday morning" or something like that so that way we can plan around it :-) Anyone have any preferences or ideas or anything?? I'm pretty much open to whatever for the weekends....weekdays may be a different story.

And so I started school this week :-) Tuesday was orientation (meet the profs, docs, etc...) Mom and I were gonna take the train so I could get kinda used to it and know where I"m going...welp, turns out that we missed the train lol. Sooo, we had to drive. But it turned out ok anyway. So Wednesday morning rolls around and I have to get the train at like 7:06 so I can figure out where I'm going to get to my class on time (class starts at 9am). I get off the train and ask this lady cleaning windows which way is Chestnut street and Jefferson hospitals and stuff...she doesn't respond...I'm like, excuse me, do you know where blah blah......she's looks at me and says, "do you need to take the R2 or R5 train??" Lol i'm like, "um...no but do you know how to get.....blah blah..." She says, "do you need to get the R2 train??" lol I'm like, "nope, but nevermind, I actually see where I need to go..." I saw JEfferson stuff and head that way....needless to say, I get to class about 40 min early... ....Day 1 was successful but a little boring cause it was all preliminary stuff....
Day 2 rolls around and I walk into my anatomy class and this doctor guy with the big white coat walks in and says.."ok, this is advanced anatomy..here's the syllabus...different profs teach different stuff (what they specialize in...) and ok, so here we go- today's lecture is on the vertebral column" LOL i'm like, is this guy serious?? He like totally reads off the powerpoint, and keeps going, whether we've written everything down or not....there's like moans and sighs every time we start a new sheet of paper...lol then this one girl asks if it'll be online, and he's like.."oh yea, definitely" haha WHAT?! He could have told us that before so that we all don't have crampy hands..lol. oh well....Day 2 was good...but TONS of work...
And Day 3 is just a 3 hour class in the morning and then I'm done...so it's not bad yet, just lots of reading and stuff....
But I love the stuff I'm learning :-)

Anyway, I"m sorry I just blabbed on and on about school, but I wanna hear about your lives and days, so do tell :-)
I LOVE YOU I LOVE YOU