Family Time in Ohio

One of the many things I love about my school is the two week March break. I would rather have two weeks off in a row than 1 week in feb and 1 week in April like the other schools in our area. Why is that? Because you can go on vacation for a week then spend the next week at home recovering from your vacation! It is perfect. I was lucky that I had a week off from Grad school as well so that I could go home to Ohio and not miss class. It was inspired!

I went home last Saturday. My family picked me up from the airport and we went straight to my sister Katie's choir contest. When I was in choir in high school we use to compete in the same contest so it was pretty nostalgic to go back. I listened to my old choir sing a piece of music that I had sang before. I also got to see my former choir director who no longer directs at my high school so it was a coincidence to run into her. I really miss singing in a formal choir setting. After the contest we went to Olive Garden for lunch, so delicious! Then we headed to the mall for a little shopping. My poor dad was a trooper. With 4 girls he didn't really have a choice not to go shopping but he didn't complain... even when we took 2 to 3 times longer than what we said we would take. After I had scored a new outfit or two from the LOFT we headed to Lazar Quest for some Lazar tagging. Once again I did really bad but had a blast acting ridiculous with my sisters. We were slightly out of control chasing down small boys who were trying to shoot us and making fun of annoying high school girls. My dad was a little more stealth and got a decent score... but I guarantee we had more fun than he did :)

SUNDAY:

The typical church, lunch, sleep, relax, visit Sunday. My mom , KT and I stayed up till 1 am talking about the woes of teenage life and how to overcome the challenges that come along with it. I love my sister so much!

MONDAY:

My mom and I traveled down to Columbus for a surprise visit to my grandparents house. My grandpa had hip replacement surgery a few weeks ago so he wasn't able to drive up to see me as they normally would do. So I thought it was my turn to go see them. When they didn't answer the phone when we called to give them a heads up we were a little worried they were up to the same mischief as us driving to New Phila to surprise us. Luckily they were at physical therapy and arrived home shortly after we got there. While we waited for them to get there we got Rally's (my favorite fast food burger place) and ate it in the car. I wish we had on in CT! That afternoon I spent visiting with my grandparents. We went through the large file my grandma has for me. It is full of my random drawings, stories, pictures, ticket stubs, programs ect. that she has collected over the years. I really enjoyed the things I found in there and we all had some good laughs reading the stories I use to write. Glad she has kept such good tabs on me. It is special to see that stuff, but even more special that she cared enough about me to save it.

That night we meet up with my moms sister Becky and had dinner with her at Brio. It was a lovely evening catching up and celebrating my moms birthday (a few days early.) I really enjoyed myself.
TUESDAY:

We stayed the night at my grandparents house but had to leave bright and early to travel to my other grandparents home in Zanesville for a visit with them. Before I left though I made them take some pictures with me. You can never have enough, especially of grandparents. I am so lucky to have these two people in my life. I would say I am closer to my grandparents than the normal person is. They are more like a second set of parents to me. I call them at least once a week and stay up to date with them as much as I do my other family members. They are phenomenal people and I am lucky to have them as grandparents!







The rest of the morning and early afternoon we spent with my mom's parents, who unfortunately I didn't get a picture with. My grandma went with me to JoAnn Fabrics to help me pick out the fabric I planned to use to make my baby quilt that week. She also showed me the tools I would need to make things easier for myself (like a rotary cutter.) We grad Chipolte for lunch then went back to their house. While we were there grandma showed me how to cut all my squares out evenly. I was so lucky to have her help. She is an amazing semesters and crocheter. She gave me a beautiful white crotched blanket to bless my future children in. It will be a cherished gift for sure. We had to leave earlier than I would have liked to make it back to New Phila to take my sisters to piano. Then we had homemaking or "an additional meeting" at the church that night. It was fun to travel to see my grandparents but it was nice to be back in Phila to stay for the next few days.

WEDNESDAY: I spent all day and night working non- stop on my quilt. My friend Sheryl came over around 9 am and got me started showing me how to do everything. She was an excellent teacher. I did run out of thread so I took Elizabeth out on a date to get some more thread and fabric (for a boy quilt this time.) I also treated Liz to a blizzard so it wasn't that boring of a date for her, she was a good sport.

THURSDAY: I was proud of myself because I woke up and went to the gym on vacation. After I got back from the gym I got right to work and started to work on my second quilt. I spent most of the day working on my 2nd quilt. Although I did take a break for my daddy/daughter dinner to Texas Roadhouse. I really enjoyed myself. My dad told me about about his work, speaking engagements and health/fitness programs. He is a stud. He wrote a book and had someone publish it for him and they made 6,000 copies which sold like hotcakes and now they are printing I think 15,000 more. It is a medical book on ionized water and the health benefits behind it. It's not a book you would but in the book store but when you go to a conference that talk about ionized water. Pretty cool stuff. That night I finished my second quilt.

FRIDAY:

It was a girls day. Elizabeth skipped school and we picked KT up after her state testing was over at school. Then we headed to Massillon to see the movie "The Lorax." I don't remember reading the book and didn't really have much of a desire to see the movie but Lizzy really wanted to so we all went. I ended up LOVING the movie. I laughed nearly the whole time, when I wasn't laughing I was crying. lol. Such a good movie! My favorite part was when the bears were trying to get the Once-ler and his bed out of the tent at night and the humming fish were singing the Mission Impossible theme song. My mom got a kick out of us three girls because every time she looked over at us w were laughing harder than before. We really liked the movie. After the movie we went to my sisters favorite restaurant Stake and Shake. Then we headed home. That night my mom and I went out to dinner with some of the women in the ward then came back to our house for dessert and visiting. It was fun to catch up with the ladies in my ward. Most of which were at one point my Young Women's leaders and sunday school teachers.
SATURDAY:

My mom and I went to the gym and tried to work off the guilt we felt from the dessert we ate the night before. We also ran errands and I got even more fabric to work on more quilts. I love making them, who would have known I would love to sew so much! For lunch I made my family tostadas. They had never had them before and after one of my YW whose mother is from Latin America taught me how to make them ... I'm pretty sure they are flat out the best tostada around. After we ate lunch we had time for a mini photo shoot with my sisters and then it was off to the airport to head back to CT. I hate leaving home not knowing when I will get to go home next. I can't wait for the summer to get hear so I can go back and spend time with not just my sisters but my brothers too.

I love my family so much. I think I am one lucky girl to have parents and sisters/brothers who love me as much as I love them. That is something to never take for granted!