End of June already?

I can't believe that it is the end of June already!

This past week was not overly busy, but it was a good week nonetheless. I finally cashed in my birthday gift from Chad--a tour of CyRide! I don't know why I have such a fascination with public transportation, but I was not disappointed by the behind-the-scenes tour! And Chad was a great tour guide. I still have the crazy fascination and learned a lot!

We also had an unusual but pleasant reunion of sorts this week. When I was born, my parents lived in southwestern Minnesota and had good friends there who had 4 kids. Their youngest child is about a year older than me. Anyway, the youngest of the family friends got married yesterday in Ames. I don't remember seeing anyone in the family since my high school graduation, but we hear about their family all the time. Allyson and I were unable to go to the wedding (our parents went), but we were invited to the post-rehearsal party. It's funny--I hadn't seen any of them for years, but we knew each other instantly and had a good time catching up. It's funny how time and distance can separate people but when reunited, none of it matters. The parents stopped by my parent's house on the way back up to MN, and I know my parents loved catching up with them again. We'll probably be seeing them at Allyson and my receptions, so maybe they won't be long lost family friends for long...

Saturday, with the help of my RFL co-captain Anne, I threw a baby shower for my good friend Kim. Anne taught Rick and I how to decorate sugar cookies with professional bags and tips--we had a lot of fun! Our menu was a little unusual: sugar cookies, pickle wraps, queso and chips, and punch. We went for Kim's favorites and she was happy! Anyway, it was nice. Different than the bachelorette party for sure, but very nice. And I think Kim had fun too. I'm so excited to meet her little baby girl! I've probably had the most contact with Kim through her pregnancy than any other of my friends, and I'm loving watching her grow! She's due in 3 weeks, but she's beautifully round now! It's getting to the point that I don't know if the baby will be in our out the next time I see Kim, so I had to take a picture just in case.
Saturday evening I met little Anna, my college roommate's new baby. She's a little over a month old and she was perfectly behaved the whole time we were together. She also slept the entire time, but it's all in how you look at it. As we pulled up to see the family they were standing in front of the house, sleeping baby in Scarlett's arms, Brian's arm around Scarlett...it was the perfect little family. I wish I would have taken a picture--just thinking about the scene makes me smile. We went to Dairy Queen together and caught up a little. It was very nice, and I was very happy to meet beautiful little Anna.

And Sunday is for breathing, relaxing, cleaning up Saturday's messes. I've narrowed my potential car choices down to the Toyota Prius and the new Volkswagen Jetta TDI. Now comes the hard part--one's better mpg, one's better safety. They're about the same price. One is clean-burning diesel, one is a hybrid. It seems they're neck and neck in my book. Anyone have any suggestions/input? I think I need to drive both to really figure this out...

If you have any spare fuzzy thoughts, please send them to St. Louis. My great aunt Jill is back for another round of chemo. She has had a rough go of it lately, but she is still in good spirits. She and her family went to Disney just before her last admittance--she's been in for 3 weeks and has 1-3 weeks to go, pending on how her numbers look. So if you get the chance, she could use a warm thought.


Lastly, for a smile, I'll share a video my grandma forwarded me. This guy did a pretty good job, but I'm not sure it beats my Disney proposal!