VS.

We live in Alumni Manor now.

Pros
a doorbell
stove from this century
takes 1:o5 minutes for the toilet to fill back up with water after being flushed
(instead of 6:15 minutes at Broadhurst)
overhead fan for the stove
broken smoke detector
refreshingly clean, bright bathroom
more storage space
fan in bathroom works
(without making us consider the probability of an explosion)
cheaper rent

Cons
no one uses the doorbell cuz we're used to just knockin'
no full lengh mirror on the bathroom door
(so I have no idea what I look like when I leave each morning)
more isolated from society
waiverin' internet connection
hotter
(heat rises, people!)
across the little driveway from family housing W/ CHILDREN
train inches from the window
(little to no exaggeration on that)
jammed doors
choice neighbors
(not the Shambachs, y'all are great: thanks for eating that fudge pop btw)
utilities NOT included

I saved the best til last.
CON: IT'S SMALLER.
(who would have ever freakin' imagined that we would move to something freakin' smaller than freakin' Broadhurst! WHO?!)

Hopie Help

"Sigmund Freud...called dreams 'a royal road' into the unconscious, made up of all the forbidden wishes you had and wished you didn't" (Picoult, 22).
Something that boggled my mind when it comes to certain dreams.
You understand, Hope, yes?

a mess of lunatics

If you didn't know already, I went home this past weekend/Monday and Tuesday.

It was fun mostly. ...eeeee...

So we drove all the way through friday night. Looong drive, especially at night.

We drove through on friday because we had to get up super duper early Saturday morning so we could go to North Carolina State Zoo.

I become such a kid at the zoo, super hyper, running ahead of everyone. Not so much this time though, it was set up a little weird to where it was harder to determine where all the animals were. There were other types of things that were distracting detours, like pavilions and I can't remember what else. It made it a lot harder to find the animals- AND I guess the animals were all tranquilized because all of them were laying around sleeping. Not so much fun. Darius, my bruda, was whistling really loud at most of them trying to wake them up; he made the polar bear twitch pretty good, but not so much stay awake. BORING! But it was fun running around with the 'rents and singin the zoo song! Yeah, I sang that pretty loud that day. And daddy added a couple lines at the end. Check it:

Version #1
We're going to the zoo

It's gonna smell like poo

But there's nothing I'd rather do

Because I'll be spending time with you.

Version #2

We're going to the zoo

It's gonna smell like poo

I bet we see a monkey

That looks exactly like you.

Yeah, he sang that last version while looking at and leaning towards me.

Well that was the highlight of the weekend. Wait, not the insulting version but the zoo as a whole. Everyone was together that day and everyone was having a good time laughing at and with each other. Good times.
Here's one of the best pictures from the road trip:

My sister and bruda everybody, dancing (mainly Dana) to the Hamster Song on my MP3 player.

Seriously, check out that face. Darius is lookin at her like, "I'm gonna just smile awkwardly because I'm not sure if you're funny or just plain crazy." And I'm not sure what he's doing with my mama's head. Wow. Yeah, that's my family, pretty much acting crazy 24/7. The more of us together, the more crazy it gets. Most of you wouldn't survive.

patience...

...is a freakin virtue. i don't have it when it comes to stupid people.
With that said, we got the title to cowboy (the rodeo's name).
Hopefully tomorrow, Corey will get out of class early enough to do what you have to do with a title to make it official.
Lord knows, we've waited FOR EVER! to have this car.

in freakin' celebration!

in the tune of a song from "little rascals":

WE'RE GOIN' TO THE ZOO,
IT'S GONNA' SMELL LIKE POO,
BUT THERE'S NUTTIN' I'D RATHER DOooOO!

history of "ring around the rosie"

Corey taught something to me today from one of the books he is reading for a summer class he has on play therapy. I found this completely mind-boggling and undescribably creepy.

"In play, children learn games that are culturally and historically specific. These games may convey a great deal about society's values. Although "Ring Around the Rosie" has lost a lot of meaning over time, it once conveyed a powerful message to children.
Originally, the game was "Ring, a Ring, a Rosey", first played during the Black Plaque of the Middle Ages. It went as follows:

'Ring, A Ring A Rosey; A pocket full of posies; Achoo, Achoo; We all fall down.'

The poem describes the round red blotches that first appeared on those stricken with the plaque. Then the practice of stuffing the victims pockets with flowers to cover the smell of both the illness and death because quick burial was not possible, and finally the respiratory complications that caused the victim to fall down and die.
One can imagine a group of children surrounded by the certainty of death, playing a game, that if only in some bizzare way, helped to make death less frightening. "
the play therapy primer by kevin j. o'connor pg. 10

SUCCESS!

After lots of weeks of CSA, we finally had our first success!

Tonight we had stir-fry with ribeye, eggplant, baby red onions, and patty squash all on top of white rice. Then we had boiled new potatoes (the little ones) on the side. Oh man, it was so good.

It was my first time trying egg plant and patty squash. Oh, I'll show you a picture-it may be new to you too:

Funny lookin' huh? It's like a cross between a UFO and a flower. Supposedly it's an heirloom vegetable, whatever that means.

Congrats to the Barkers for a freakin awesome stir-fry!

sldkj*fl oiuert*!

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!
I'M SO ANGRY!
We paid money about two months ago for this Rodeo that was for sale by a fellow Seminary student.
He did NOT tell us about the riggin' of wires underneath the hood. He did NOT tell us that we would be spending time in the shop a week after we got it. He did NOT tell us he didn't have the title. He did not tell us that the Bill of Sale would not be able to get us new tags/temporary tags when the former tags ran out.
So for about a month and a half (out of the two months we've "owned" it, mind you) the car has been sitting in our parking lot.
There's nothing we can do: I email them every week asking where the title is. That's about all we can do. We talked to a police officer asking what our legal rights were in this case- that was a dead end too. All we can do is sit and wait for those stupid slackers to do something about it. And since it's been two months already, we don't have much hope in that happening either.
I'm done. I'm not buying a used car from anyone again. We are buying our next car from a dealership, a car that no one has ever used/owned, a car that has not been rigged with duck tape to make things work. This is ridiculous and so dishonest.
Screw freakin' dishonest seminary students.

fireworks and root beer

For the fourth of July, me and Barker went to Cinci. It was good to be with a family during the long weekend AND the people who put on the fireworks display for Sharonville are world renowned for their firework shows so they're pretty much AWESOME. The Pollards know- they came to Cinci two years ago and got to watch them.
Here's some of the prettiest ones:

They don't look hardly as cool as they did in real life, even on the camera. But they were so pretty. I eventually just cut the camera off so I could take it all in.
Corey also took me to the

It was really awesome too. The best root beer and a hotdog with everything- mustard, chili, onions and coleslaw- it tasted just like the ones from The Dairy House at home. Mmmmm!

We also went and saw Iron Man again. This will be Corey's third time seeing it, my second time, the rest of the Barker's first time. And again, it was really good. Definately a buy.

The rest of the weekend was just chillin' and relaxin' which was so so nice. It's what we go to Cinci for, just resting up.

My weekend was so good, I hope yours was too.

My favorite song

I pray You'll be our eyes
And watch us where we go
And help us to be wise
In times when we don't know
Let this be our prayer
When we lose our way
Lead us to a place
Guide us with Your grace
To a place where we'll be safe.

I pray we'll find Your light
And hold it in our hearts
When stars go out each night
Remind us where You are
Let this be our prayer
When shadows fill our day
Lead us to a place
Guide us with your grace
To a place where we'll be safe

A world where pain and
sorrow will be ended
And every heart that's broken
will be mended
And we'll remember we are
all God's children
Reaching out to touch You
Reaching to the sky

We ask that life be kind
Watch us from above
We hope each soul will find
Another soul to love
Let this be our prayer
just like every child
Who needs to find a place
Guide us with Your grace
Give us faith so we'll be safe

The Prayer, Lauren Tally: played at our wedding
(it is so more moving to hear her and David Phelps sing it)

the untold story

I saw a ghost in our apartment.

It sounds like I'm lying but I promise on my life I'm not. This really happened to me.
When you get to the end of my story, come back up and read the previous sentence because I know you're gonna doubt me.

I saw him last spring. It was early morning, when it's still dark outside and no one's awake.
I woke up suddenly, knowing something was wrong. I turned to Corey's side of the bed and he wasn't there. So I look on up the wall, away from the bed onto the bathroom door where I see him in his white undershirt and shorts and I watch him slowly shut the bathroom door behind him.
I think "Oh no, Corey's up sick."
I roll back over on my side and try to go back to sleep to no avail; I'm too worried about Corey.
A few minutes later, I feel his side of the bed go down and I know he's came back to bed. So I turn over and ask "Are you okay?" He takes a second and says, "...Yeah, why?" "I saw you go in the bathroom and I thought you might be sick."
"I didn't go to the bathroom, I've been here sleeping."

I couldn't sleep the remainder of the night.

Who was that walking into the bathroom? And who did I feel crawl back into bed?