The Journey.

Day 1 (Bismarck to Omaha, Nebraska)
- After a 10 hour drive my mother and I arrived in Omaha, Nebraska. After ditching my mom at a sketchy truck stop hotel (no joke) I had some romantic "alone timeeee" with my newly-wed friendsie, Amanda!
Omaha is HUGE, but the part of town Amanda and Kyle live is full of quirky shops, college students, and cutesie neighborhoods (not to mention MORMONS!). With Amanda's hubby out of town us gals wandered to the Old Market, ate delicious salads, drank delicious drinks, and had delicious conversation. Yum, all around. Amanda and Kyle's casa is adorable, full of wonderful paint colors, a cute floor plan, and a nice and mostly Mormon neighborhood. With little to no furniture in their house, Amanda and I utilized the living room floor chatting until 2am. Just like old times, like olden times, before furniture was invented. It was perfect. I'm sorry I missed Mr. Engelhardt but am thrilled I got so much time to spend with the missus.

Day 2 (Omaha to Bloomington, Indiana)
- I Love Bloomington. I'm happy there. My mom and I rolled into town at like 11 at night. Not willing to let work in the morning or a Sunday dampen our style, Sandra D. agreed to accompany me downtown. Here I met Kelly's boyfriend who lived in the EXACT SAME apartment as Ryan in Milan!? And unfortunately, not the EXACT same bed. My mom and I spent all day on Monday enjoying Bloomington. We cruised Kirkwood, explored campus, bought some tees, winked at Jewish students, and got a hair cut. That night Sandra D. and Khristina and I slurped Hairy Bears while chatting and playing Never Have I Ever. I also got to meet Sandra D.'s puppy, Brody! He's still a baby, and looks an awful lot like a fox or coyote. So cute!

Bloomington is just... it's just good. It's not the town that's extraordinary. It's everything. The people, my friends, the town, the campus, the way I feel when I'm there. It's cheesy, but when I'm in Bloomington I feel liberated and light hearted. On Sunday night I drove around alone at like 2am. I listened to a CD an IU friend made me sophomore year and just thought about things, explored campus at night. I drove through campus, past my old dorm, down Jordan, past the MAC, past the library, past all the Greeks houses, past the stadium. *la sigh. I'll be back this semester.

Day 4 (Bloomington to Pottstown, Pennsylvania)
- Today was the LONGEST. We drove and drove and drove and FINALLY arrived at Ryan's in time for a nice BIG family supper. Fede (Ryan's Italian friend) made delicious rissoto Milanese while Ryan and Tyler nearly blew up the house grilling steaks. Everything was awesome and my mom and I were in bed early.
I'm so glad everyone got to meet my mom. I feel like I know Ryan's family so well, and no one has met my family. It was good. I'm happy.

Day 5 (Pottstown to DC)
- A Story to save for later.

This post has gotten long and boring. I'm done for now.

Also, the electricity has gone out in our hotel. Ooops.

Peace.