Michigan

Tomorrow I am going to Jackson to shop and meet my brother's new girlfriend, Nikki. Then I am leaving for Michigan to visit my family on Friday. We go every summer. My grandparents live in Ann Arbor but also have a place on Lake Michigan. It's really pretty up there. I have a very interesting extended family, especially as far as religion is concerned. My grandparents and one of my aunts believe in a "higher power." Two of my aunts are Jewish and their husbands are atheists. I remember when I was in the sixth grade and my uncle tried to convince me that the whole Noah and the arc story was scientifically impossible because after the two animals mated there would have to be inbreeding and the offspring would be genetically flawed. I was so upset because I didn't know how to defend what I believe in at that age. My dad's side of the family also comes from all over the country: from Mississippi to North Carolina to Washington state to Michigan! Although we are a very diverse family and a lot of them drive me crazy, I do love my aunts and uncles and cousins and grandparents. I have a lot of good memories from family reunions in Michigan. Two years ago, I got to go see the 100th Michigan vs. Ohio State game. An Ohio State fan threw a water balloon at me (he was up in a tree) and it was freezing cold outside! I have never seen such competitive people. It was unbelievable. I know it's a stereotype, but people in the north really are so much more rude and unaccepting than southerners are. I enjoy visiting up north but I hope I always live in the South.

Back in Meridian

I just moved back to Meridian for the rest of the summer today:( It was sad to leave the beach and the memories that I have down there but I am glad to get home and see my family and friends. I am about to go see a movie with Madiha, Megan, and Coleen. On Friday I will be heading of to Michigan for about a week. Then senior portraits are the next week... and that's pretty much all that's left of my summer:'( Well that was a short post but I have to go pick Madiha up.

No Damage from Dennis!

Today was a pretty uneventful day. I went to the dentist, bought a new game for my gamecube, and am about to go out to eat with Megan and Jessi. I heard from my neighbor today that my beach house has no damage! Yay!

College

So it looks like Dennis isn't going to do too much damage to my beach house. I am so thankful. There's not much to do today because the weather is so blah so I've just been unpacking from the beach and cleaning up. I have also been printing applications to several colleges. Figured I might as well get ahead so I won't have such a stressful senior year. The colleges that I am looking into are Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, Vanderbilt, Washinton University in St. Louis, Rice University, Auburn, Stanford, Rhodes, Duke, Furman, University of Tampa, UCLA, and UC Berkley. It's so exciting trying to figure out where I want to go. I have no idea what I want to major in so I guess that won't affect where I end up.

My Summer

So... this is my first post and I guess I'll just start by giving an overview of my summer. It's been a lot of fun so far. I have been living @ my beach house and working as a hostess at Calypso's. I love my job because the atmosphere is laid back and I have met so many crazy people. There is a pirate guy who comes in regularly, Mark, and he took me and a lot of my friends from work out on this yacht for a day and took us to Pirate's Cove for lunch. It was a blast. He has this McCall (those exotic birds that can talk) that sits on his shoulder and travels with him everywhere. Another cool thing about my job is that I have seen a lot of people from Meridian who were @ the beach on vacation. I have been playing a lot of tennis this summer because Liz's (an awesome girl I work with) boyfriend Matt plays and we've been hitting at least once a week. It's been really fun. He's a good player. Madiha, Megan, and Coleen came down to see me a few weeks ago and we had so much fun. Ann Claire and Michael also came and I am now obsessed with Mario Tennis. I am so excited because my mom surprised me with a Gamecube today. Anyway, I have been blessed to have crossed paths with some of the people I have met this summer because I have learned a lot about myself and developed friendships along the way: Skip, Billy, Liz, Matt, Seth, Jessi, Rachel, Cammie, Thatcher, Brad (from St. Louis), Caleb, Glenn, etc. And just for the record, Caleb is the nicest guy I've ever met in my entire life. Well, that's the brief version of my summer so far. I am in Meridian right now praying that Dennis doesn't hit Orange Beach. I guess that's all for now... Oh wait I forgot to mention that I got a new wakeboard which I love but have not been able to use very much yet.