Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Fall PA Visit





Last week I took a mini-vacation home (to York) to see my family. I like going home for a few days in the fall because, well, we don't get to experience much of a fall out here. This trip coincided with me being off school for Columbus Day on Monday and my friend from high school getting married on Sunday afternoon in Spring Grove.

I left school at lunchtime on Thursday and was so glad to get out of there. Last week was Homecoming Spirit Week and Thursday morning was the dreaded (for teachers) pep rally. I was more than glad to be getting the heck out of there pretty soon after that ended. I took a personal day on Friday so I flew out of Phoenix on Thursday afternoon and arrived in Baltimore late Thursday night.

Friday morning I got a short run in....amazing how it was
supposed to be my "easy" day and considering there are no flat runs by my parents' house....it wasn't that easy for me. Jen and Blake arrived and then Jill came over. Jen, Jill, and I headed out to lunch and then a bridal shop for Jen and I to try on bridesmaid dresses. We found one we all liked (it is gorgeous) and then stopped by my grandparents house for a visit. We sampled some homemade apple cider, some homemade green tomato pie, and played a few hands of canasta with my Grandma, Pap, and Grandma's sister. Then Mom brought Blake up and we played with him for awhile, then went home to have dinner with Dad, Joy, and Andrew.

Saturday, I got a 12 mile run in on the rail trail while mom biked with me. After a shower and lunch, Mom, Jen, and I headed down to the outlets in Gettysburg to do some tax-free clothes shopping and grab dinner. On Sunday morning, we took Blake to the nursery at church because one of my oldest childhood friends was on nursery-duty and we wanted to see her and have Blake play with her son. We made it out to "real" church in time for communion. After lunch and a nap, Jen (who was my date for the wedding) and I got ready and then left for the wedding.

The wedding was at a church in the town where our old high school was. This is a town that is home to a large papermill. Which smells. Really badly. It was a gorgeous fall day and a nice wedding, but....the paper mill smelled especially bad on Sunday. Or maybe I'm not used to anymore (I can't believe it, but I actually once was). Anyway, it smelled. My friend looked beautiful and the ceremony was nice. After the ceremony we had 2 hours to kill before the reception so we headed back home and let Blake play with the bubbles (see picture above). Then we drove into York (Heritage Hills Resort) and went to the reception. Jen and I were at a table with 2 other girls I graduated with and their husbands. We also saw one of my old soccer coaches (from senior year in high school) and few other people I went to high school with. The reception was nice but I was definitely missing my usual wedding partner (no offense, Jen). There was no one forcing me on the dance floor with his usual "Oooh, The Twist! We HAVE to dance! I'm really good at doing The Twist"...


Monday morning came too soon, as the Tillinghammers packed up and left for their home, aka, The Meeting Place of the Bear, and Joy and Dad headed back to work. Mom and I decided to shop in Hunt Valley before lunch with my other Grandmother. I didn't buy anything, as my suitcase was already jammed with stuff I had bought on Saturday at the outlets. We had a nice visit with Grandmom and then Mom took me to the airport.

I was happy to get back to Keeper and Onyx but sad about leaving my family (as usual). Good fall trip and I can't wait to go back again at Christmas time :)

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