Tag Archives: Friends

Not a Trivial Night

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December 9th I spent most of my day at the hospital for tests. I’ve been getting bronchitis around six times a year for a while now with the occasional pneumonia thrown in for good measure.

My general practitioner, finally having enough of it, sent me to a pulmonary specialist for a proper diagnosis. After a PFT (pulmonary function test), X-Ray, a CT-Scan, a few stress tests/O2 measures and a meeting with two pulmonary specialists, I had my diagnosis.

The news wasn’t good but also not the end of the world. It isn’t life ending but it is something I will live with for the rest of my life. It’s progressive, chronic and not a fun diagnosis. But not something that I will let get me down. I have too many wonderful people in my life, Ryan being at the very top of that list, that make life more glorious. More fantastic than any bad diagnosis could defeat.

That night I was given evidence of these awesome people. I got a call from Corey asking me to join him and Sam (@coreyschmidt and @samuelaveryhunt) at Harpo’s for trivia night.

You might say that the night itself was “trivial”, har har… This was my first foray in to trivia and, what a remarkable performance by all! We were just one question away from winning it all! Unfortunately, Phoebe (@fotofobe) was there…

Being the smarty pants she is, her team, the Never Nudes, swept up the win.

Never mind, that. The evening was a wicked fun, ending with a few more drinks with Chase (@clettenberg) at their place and my first taste of Wise Guys Pizza.

It wasn’t long before my unfortunate doctor visit was just a distant memory.

Thanks guys, I love you.

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The Story of How It Went Down

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So glad @coreyschmidt and @clettenberg moved back to Columbia.  Though, it seems that whenever the four of us get together, Ryan gets tipsy :-P

Me and My Guys!

Brotasticness

They say a picture is worth one thousand words, so instead of using my memory, which is probably a little flakey after the night, to recall the evening, I’ll just post the pictures with captions.  These pictures were taken totally out of context.  It’s kinda hilarious, to me, how they worked out, considering they were totally random, slightly, drunken photos.

Corey is Swept Off His Feet

Corey is Swept Off His Feet

And Then it Got Interesting...

Then it Got Interesting...

And Then it Got Interesting...

And Then it Got Out of Focus

And Corey Got Pissed!

Ryan wanted to Join in On the Fun but Corey Wouldn't Have It!

So Corey Decided to Mark His Territory, Chase.

So Corey Decided to Mark His Territory. Chase Attempts to Block Corey's Advances, unsuccessfully I Might Add.

Then, Corey Has an Epiphany!

And then Corey Had an Epiphany!

Then Ryan Tried to Join In

Maybe They Really Can All Be "Friends!"

And So It Was, Two Became Three!

And So It Was, Two Became Three, and They Drank, Happily, Ever, After.

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Touching Down in Memphis

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So I’ve finally made it home, after a month and a half out of the state and away from my home and friends, I’m back.

And it feels great!  Last night I went out with some friends for dinner (including tweeps @Chadd65203, @akikooda and @beauaero), bumped into even more friends (@coreyschmidt, @alexandrabrant) at the restaurant and had just a wonderful time.  It’s funny, how much Ryan and I complain about Columbia only for me to ultimately miss it when I leave town for a bit.

I might have been breaking FAA rules by keeping my phone on (in airplane mode!) while we took our final decent into Memphis International Airport.  The view as we touched down reminded me of one of my favorite We Are Voices songs…

So I turned it into a video using my iPhone 3GS, iMovie and their amazing album, What Makes Us So Alive? which you can get by clicking that link to iTunes.  They play some great concerts too, in fact I’ll be at their August 23 show at the Cherry Street Artisan, right here in Columbia Missouri.

Without any further ado…

Goodbye Houston…

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Downtown Houston Sunset

Downtown Houston Texas

It’s pretty crazy to think how long I’ve been away from Columbia and Ryan and the rest of my friends.  While I’ve had a great to amazing time here in Texas, it is time for me to go home and get ready for the upcoming semester, as well as act on all the job opportunities I’ve been given, before I’m totally overwhelmed and don’t complete any of them…… rutroh.

I drove to Rockport Texas in a last minute effort to squeeze a little more out of my time here.  There I visited with my cousins, David, Susan and Katie.  David has got to be one of my best friends in the world.  The only person who I’ve ever gotten along with so well that we’ve never had a disagreement or argument.  We grew up as best friends, moved to California together and have continued to maintain a great, though sadly quite distant, relationship.  It was so wonderful to see the three of them, though I really do wish Stephanie, the fourth in this cluster of cousins, could have been there.

We made dinner, I baked a cake and we had a totally random, Cake and a Movie Night.  It was just such a wonderful, relaxing and emotionally fulfilling time together.

Tomorrow morning… well, in 9 hours, I’ll be heading to the airport to fly into Columbia.  I should probably get myself to sleep but the anxiety of the day ahead of me is nearly too much for me to handle!  An ambien would be wonderful right about now.

It isn’t just the stress of so much work to get done when I get home, it’s also the excitement of seeing Ryan, Chadd, Karen, Laura, Eric, Josh, Pheobe, Max Brittany… (@kaleb1983, @chadd65203, @ok2baprincess, @bigred77, @ericcox, @brooding_soul, @fotofobe, @madmax69 @aurablush) and the news that Chase, Corey (@clettenberg, @coreyschmidt) and Sam will be (fingers crossed) moving back to Columbia.

I’ll just have to take it all head on… starting in 8 or so hours.  Until then, goodnight!

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Feeling a Little Homesick

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I’ve been here in Texas or in California for a month now.  While I absolutely love traveling and working here in Texas, being away from my home, my friends and Ryan is really starting to grate on me.

Apartment Living Room

Apartment Living Room

The time spent away from home this summer is the longest I’ve been away from Columbia since I moved to California.  While it’s not unusual for me to spend my summers traveling around the country and then some; I typically make trips back home to recharge between trips.  So far this summer I’ve slept in nine beds, I’ve driven thousands of miles, I’ve flown three flights and I’ve eaten out at around 50 different restaurants.

It’s been a great trip.  With still a few days left working at the office here, I’ve accomplished most of my goals.  I’ve visited several professional photographers and even got to sit in on a few photo shoots.  I’ve made fantastic contacts and have been offered four jobs!  I also accomplished conquering 12 hours of university courses, which is like 3-5 credits more than the university would normally allow!

My Capstone is complete.  My internship is complete.

But all of these accomplishments don’t compare to missing the ones you love.  I’m counting down the days until my flight back to Columbia where I’ll meet @Chadd65203 for a ride to Ryan’s.  Then I’ll hop in my car and drive to see Ryan at work.  Wow, 38 days apart?  It’s insanity, it’s never happened before.  A week apart is one thing, but to not see him for nearly the length of Lent?!  Never would have anticipated that.

Pretty soon though, we’ll all be back to together, I say, let’s hit up Cooper’s Landing, what do you think @kaleb1983 @ok2baprincess @bigred77 @ericcox?

Dinner at Coopers Landing

Dinner at Cooper's Landing

Tomorrow will be yet another work-packed day.  We’ve still got a lot to accomplish before I head back to Houston on Saturday.  August 2nd is my birthday, third year in a row that I’ve missed celebrating it with Ryan!

Alright friends, it’s time to close my eyes for a bit.  Catch you guys on the flip-side!

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