The 4th

This year was the best fourth of July ever. It was lots of fun! I ended up going to Bremen, where Ben lives, on Thursday night because we both had the day off on Friday. I didn't get there until 11pm because I had to work, but it was still nice getting to come a night early. When I got to Ben's he had a special surprise for me. It was FLOWERS! They were so beautiful. And to make them even more special, he had hand picked all of them from around town and even went out and bought a pretty vase and purple ribbon for them. It was so special...extra special since he did it himself! So that made my week. On Friday we slept in and finally got up and moving around noon. We were going to a party the next day so we thought it would be a good idea to bring something. Well, we came up with the idea to make a "watermelon keg". This is where you carve out a watermelon insert a faucet into the side and fill it with a drink of your choice and to get the drink out you just use the little faucet. So we spent most of Friday afternoon making this keg creation. After all of our hard work we decided to go on a dinner date to Red Lobster and then head home and watch a movie (since it's cheaper than going to one).

On Saturday, the fourth, we went to a cookout at Ben's aunt's house. I got to meet more of the family here. Everyone was very nice and friendly and made me feel welcome. We stayed there for a good portion of the day and then headed to church around 6. I'm amazed at how much I actually like going to Ben's church. I've never really been the type that ever desired to go and when I did I never wanted to pay attention. But I like going there because they have good music and a good message...and I think it helps that Ben is there too haha. So after church we headed to Abby's, Ben's sister, little get-together at her apartment. That was a nice evening. We enjoyed fireworks, good company, and of course, the watermelon keg. All of us girls ended up falling asleep after the fireworks while the boys played some golfing video game. I think we ended up getting home around 12:30. I was BEAT!

Sunday was probably one of the most fun days that I've had with Ben. We were bored so we decided to take both of our cameras and head to the playground to get some fun photos. It was great because we got lots of good shots and we got to play on all of the equipment. We ended up going to two different parks and some little pond area. We had lots of good laughs together. I think we spent about five hours wandering around taking pictures. It's really nice that we have some of the same interests. Then of course Sunday evening came and I had to say good-bye and head home. That's always the hardest part :( But all in all, the weekend was fantastic. I love going to Bremen to see Ben because it's a nice cozy town and we get to be around his family.                                                    

Logan College and things

A few weeks ago I signed up to participate in a "day on campus" sort of thing at Logan College of Chiropractics in St. Louis.  I was scheduled to go this past Saturday and the college offered to pay for a one night's stay in a hotel. So of course I had to take them up on this offer. I thought it would be fun to invite Ben to go with me and we could make a little road trip out of it. Well it just so happened that his grandpa lives about two hours away from St. Louis in the little rural town of Pittsfield, IL.  So we came up with the idea that we could drive in to Missouri on Friday night and then do the day on campus on Saturday and then head to his grandpa's that afternoon, stay the night and head back home on Sunday.  Well to add another part to our trip, I talked to my friend Melissa, who I met on my adventure in Greece, about meeting up with her and her boyfriend when we drove through Illinois, which is where she lives.

So on Friday when Ben got to my apartment around 3pm, our adventure began. We were both super excited because my mom let us borrow her jeep for the weekend and one of Ben's friends let us borrow his GPS, so this made us feel extra special. Anyways, we made it to Effingham, IL where we met up with Melissa and Derek at TGIFriday's and had dinner and got to chat for a little bit. It was so nice seeing her again but we couldn't stay long because it was already getting dark and Ben and I still had a two hour drive to St. Louis.

Finally after a tiring stretch of driving we made it to St. Louis. It was so gorgeous entering the city at night. We could see all of the beautiful city lights and the arch was lit up, and it was just amazing. I felt bad because Ben couldn't really look at it since he was driving....oh well, maybe next time ha. But anyways, to make a long story short we got lost in St. Louis and ended up in what Ben called the "Ghetto". We were perfectly fine so I didn't have any problems getting out and asking for directions. Well, these directions weren't the greatest, so we ended up just back tracking and then finally finding our way to our hotel.  We got there probably around 12:30am and were exhausted. I was somewhat disappointed that we didn't get to spend too much time in the hotel because it was so pretty and our room was very nice. We even had a king size bed, but we probably took up only two square feet of it because we were FREEZING all night long!

After that exciting night, it was time to wake up and go visit Logan! I really enjoyed seeing the campus and the speeches we got to hear. I am very interested in attending Logan after I graduate from Purdue. They have so much to offer compared to other chiropractic schools and they were very friendly and supportive. One very exciting part of our day on campus, for me and Ben both, was visiting the cadaver lab! Yes, we actually got to go look at dead bodies and watch the instructor dig around in their muscles. At first it made me uncomfortable because my grandfather had donated his body to science when he passed away so I initially though of him. But that thought subsided and then actually enjoyed being in the lab. So overall, I thought the day was great, but I know Ben found it a little boring considering he fell asleep in one of the seminars haha.

Our day on campus ended at two and then we headed up to Grandpa Tom's. I love this man to death! He is so much fun and always has something hilarious to say...now I know where Ben gets it from :)  When we got there Grandpa Tom decided to take us to dinner at his favorite hang out in town, the Cardinal Inn. Of course we got introduced to nearly everyone in Pittsfield. Then after dinner he took us to the bus derby in a nearby town. This was so much fun. All it was, was a bunch of buses crashing in to each other and catching on fire, but it was great! After the excitement of the bus derby we headed home and went to bed. I actually slept really well considering I had no fan running and was in a bed that my feet hung off of.  

In the morning Tom took us back to the Cardinal Inn for some breakfast and more meeting and greeting of the townsfolk. And then my favorite part...he let Ben and I take one of his motorcycles for a ride with him and some of his old riding buddies. We drove all over the countryside for a couple of hours. It was so beautiful and so much fun and I can't wait to do it again. After our ride we had to pack up and head back home. This part wasn't so much fun because Ben slept most of the way while he was driving...just kidding...I was driving, but he did sleep most of the way, so I was SUPER bored. And on top of that, I was dreading the typical "Sunday good-byes" that I knew I would be saying once we got back to my apartment. So we eventually made it back around 7:30pm.

The weekend was absolutely wonderful and I am glad that I got to spend it with Ben. We had lots of fun and were always laughing...well almost always. I just hate having to end such a great time with a good-bye.

Try, try, try again

So I decided, since I have some free time at night, that I will give this blogging thing another shot. I think it's a nice way to be able to put down some of my thoughts and feelings and be able to stay in touch with some family members.

First of all, I obviously made it home from Greece...even though it took an extra day to get back :( So now that I have been thrown back into reality, my days and weekends have been packed! I'm enrolled in a summer poetry class to take up one of my english electives. I wanted to take it during the summer so it would lighten my work load for my senior year. After class I then have to go into work at the pharmacy usually until 8 or 9 at night. So yeah, my days are pretty full but it makes the week go by quickly so I can enjoy my weekends! 

 And speaking of weekends, the past few have been the best I have had in a loooong time! I think this is mainly due to my wonderful new boyfriend, Ben. We've been dating for about three months now. He's so amazing. I love being around him because he always has something to say that will make me laugh. Last weekend I finally got to meet both sides of his family. They were all so very nice to me and made me feel like I'd known them forever. And of course he's met my parents too and they all like him and he likes them so that's just peachy!  So now I'm just waiting for this week to come to an end so Ben and I can go on our adventure to see my friend Melissa in Illinois, loop down to visit Logan College of Chiropractics in St. Louis, and then head back to Illinois to stay a night with his grandpa, and then head home. Can't wait!!! :)

Almost home!

So I owe an apology to everyone...I haven't been keeping up with this blog thing because I hate it haha. It's just too hard for me to keep up and I just don't want to. Sorry! I know most of you have been able to look at my photos and see my comments on facebook. For Grandma, I will just bring my computer to your house and show you all of my pictures. For everyone else...just send me an e-mail if you want to see some lovely photos.  Oh...and I will be home this Tuesday. Yay!!!! :)

Love you!

Britney

Island of Aegina

      The island we got to venture to was BEAUTIFUL! It took about 20 minutes on the metro plus 1 hour on the ferry to get there. We were able to rent 4-wheelers and ride them on the road that wraps around the edge of the island. The actual buildings and houses were not that glamorous but the crystal clear water made up for that! The beaches weren't the greatest either because they mainly consisted of huge rocks but once you maneuvered past them and reached the water, it was great.  We stayed for most of the day and then headed back around sunset. It was such an enjoyable day! 

      This upcoming Sunday we are leaving on a five day trip to visit Corinth, Nauplion, Sparta, and Olympia. I'm sure it will be a ton of fun and I will have lots to write about when I get back!

Love,

Britney

ps. Once again, sorry about not being able to load pictures! I will try again once I get back home to Lafayette.

1st week here

Hi everyone!

      This week has been amazing! It is so beautiful here. I have been very busy traveling around seeing all of the sites. Earlier in the week we climbed the Acropolis to see the Parthenon and climbed back down to the Agora. It's amazing to think that they could make huge buildings like that such a long time ago! We also hiked up another mountain to St. George's Cathedral which had a breathtaking view of the city of Athens, including the Acropolis. And we got to watch the sun set from the top.

      Today I got back from visiting Delphi. If you ever get a chance to come to Greece I highly recommend going to Delphi. I think it is the most serene/beautiful place that I have ever seen. This small town is nestled on the side of huge mountains which lead to a beautiful view of the harbor. SO PRETTY!!! When we were there we got to see the Temples of Apollo and Athena and hike past the amphitheater and the original gymnasium. The architecture is one of a kind!  We also got to stop by Thermopylae which is the site of the battle with 300 Spartans lead by King Leonidas (this is where the idea for the movie "300" came from). I was kind of disappointed when I saw this battlefield because the movie made it look way cooler. But it was still really amazing to be standing in the same place where the Spartans fought the Persians.

     Tomorrow we have a free day so we are taking a ferry to one of the Greek islands to spend a day at the beach. Can't wait! I will tell you all about it :)

First Day

Our flights went well, even though we almost missed the one to Athens! But it all worked our in the end.  We arrived in Athens at 9am today and had to wait there until one for Arcadia to pick us up, then we finally got to go to our apartment.  It is very nice! Each of us get our own room and it has 1 & 1/2 bathes, but a very tiny kitchen and no dryer. We are living in the heart of the city so there are lots of markets, shops, and cafes all around us. It's a very crowded town but seems very upbeat and lively. Tonight at 8 we have our first orientation meeting and then another one at 10am tomorrow and then our program begins! And I'm trying to download some photos I've taken but it's not letting me so I will have to figure out how to work out that glitch.

Love,

Brit