Day 3: trip back

On Sunday morning, I met up with another good college friend who was actually one of my first friends at HPU. During the delicious southern-style breakfast (bring on the grits and sausage), we caught up on what has been going on in our lives, and I embarked on another iPod-less drive home. While listening to my favorite radio station from Greensboro, I noticed another new "North Carolina" thing: tons of police cars parked on the highway, but no policemen in the car...interesting way to get people to slow down. Upon getting some cheap gas in VA (YES!), I got back to my beloved DC.

Day 2: campus visit and more friends

Saturday morning started out with some more friends showing up at Ashley's and Brian's apartment and all of us cooking breakfast and hanging out. It was really fun and reminded me of our good ole times as Campus Crusade---these crazy kids definitely know how to have a good time.


We then headed off to the High Point University campus...I had heard that the new president had been on a major fundraising/building/renovating kick, so I was curious to see the campus. However, when I first drove into the campus, it looked sooo changed and different from when I was there, that it was emotionally difficult to be there since I couldn't recognize where the old buildings and paths were. There are definitely some positive changes (like wireless internet), but the school now looks a bit like a country club. I did like this new statue of a mean panther, our school symbol:

and this globe (with Gena doing her "wave my hands in the air like I don't care" act):

After saying good-byes to this group of friends, I headed to the usual stop on my visits to High Point: the Wal-mart (to stock up on cheap laundry detergent and the like). There, I spent a good chunk of time at the $5 DVD bin rummaging through it and at times almost diving in to find some good movies. The minute I approached the bin, about 5 other people surrounded the bin and began digging, which reminded me of a scene I remembered from a show on Animal Planet of lions feasting on a dead antilope:)
After about an hour, I headed to see another dear friend and her baby daughter. We had a blast catching up, reminiscing about our college days, and some of the fun/crazy things we did. Her and her husband have done a wonderful job with their daugther, who is not even a year, but is already walking, talking, and doing sign language.

Day 1: Trip and wedding

So, the trip started off on a dreadful note: Thursday night, the eve of my trip, my iPod died! Had it been a few days later, I would be happily walking into the Apple store and buying the new iPod classic (which I now proudly own). However, at that point I was facing a 5.5 hr trip with basic radio which fades out in the rural part of I-85. After about 2 hours of trying to resuscitate it without success, I prayerfully succumbed to driving without it.
The Lord blessed the trip by allowing me to zone out for most of the drive while going 80-85 mph almost the whole way. As always, my first stop in High Point was Chick-Fil-A, home of the best sweet tea in the world. There, I met my big sister with her son, who has grown like a weed since I last saw him, and her new baby daughter.

We had a few minutes to chat and catch up, and then I had to run off to help Ashley, the bride, to get ready. She is perhaps one of the quirkiest friends I have, so getting her ready for the wedding was hilarious (e.g. picking up her wedding dress from the cleaners on the way to the church:). We finally got her ready, and she looked truly luminous.

Right before the wedding, one of my closest friends arrived with her lumberjack-looking boyfriend. I haven't seen this girl in over a year while she was living her post-college life in Honduras. There were some other college friends at the wedding, so we had a lot of fun catching up.

Trip to my "hometown"

Tomorrow I leave to go on a long-overdue trip to my American "hometown" of High Point, NC. One of my friends from college and a summer roommie Ashley is getting married. It will be a small wedding, but Im excited to see this girl who is like my little sister get married. Another great part of the trip is that I get to see all my good friends from my 4.5 years in High Point. Even though it is a short trip, Im excited to be going "home".

These are some of the people Im going to see:

This world traveler hippie:


My big sister and my fave Lil' Booger:


This crazy girl and her little daughter: