Weekend in WV

We had the blessing of being back home in WV last weekend, and it was so fun! We were able to leave on Thursday afternoon and return Monday, so it was a little more of an extended stay than we're used to. I have to say, I was especially thankful for an extra day to break up all the driving.

We made the trip because a good friend, Gretchen Egbert Sprouse!, got married last Saturday in Morgantown. I love weddings, and it was sweet to witness Gretchen and Ryan's big day. But my favorite part of being in Morgantown is, was, and always will be the random places I see friends in that town. It never ceases to amaze me. And I suppose that will change as college friends graduate and leave town, but even two years after graduating summa cum laude (a lame bragging point, I know, but let me have my fun -- I worked hard, but no one in the real world knows or cares!), I still run into friends at the most random times and places in Morgantown.

Case in point: When we arrived on Friday afternoon (we stayed with Wes's parents in Charleston on Thursday evening), we had lunch with my mom, which is always fun. Then we visited with Grammy for a while, and afterward went over to Lindsey and Arian's apartment to meet up with them (thanks, Hakims, for letting us stay with you!). Neither of them were home when we arrived, so I parallel parked (a necessity for life in Morgantown!) and shut off the car. It was a nice day, so Wes and I just rolled down the windows and prepared to wait for them. He pulled out a book; I pulled out my phone and prepared to master Tetris (I haven't been able to get past level 10 yet -- those small buttons make it tricky!). It wasn't long before I noticed, out of the corner of my eye, a guy walked down the road. Pretty normal. Then the guy was walking close to my car. Weird, but whatever. Then he was looking into my car window. I was starting to feel awkward. THEN he said, "UMMM... CROUSERS?!!" and I went from feeling awkward straight to being amazed. Brian Barnett, an old friend (past Crusade president and present staffer!), was right outside my car! It turns out that we were parked in front of the house of two of our other college friends, Ben and Tyler. Brian had come to see if they were home. They weren't home... but we were! We hopped out of the car and the three of us made ourselves comfortable on Ben and Tyler's porch. We had fun catching up on one another's lives, and it only got better when Brian's much better half (and I know he'd agree with me on that), Brooke, came by, soon followed by Lindsey and Arian. It was a party on Ben and Tyler's porch (sadly, without Ben and Tyler)! Luckily, a random (and very nice) girl who was walking down the street agreed to take a picture of our random gathering of friends. Check it out:














Some more shots:







































I absolutely loved it.

And even though we didn't get to catch up with Tyler on his porch that day, he was at Gretchen's wedding! Here's a shot of my nerdy husband, looking extra nerdy next to the super fly Ty guy:


















(Yes... Wesley is wearing a bow tie. And no, it's not a clip on! He's very proud of it. He looks like a young Bradley Crouser in this photo, if I do say so myself.)

And I also ran into my old discipler, Amanda, at the wedding. I don't know if you'll read this or not, Amanda, but it was great to see you!














Aside from seeing old friends, the best part of the weekend was, as always, spending time with Grammy. I miss her oh-so-much and wish I didn't live so far away. Here are some pictures of our time together. (As a side note, I love the first picture of us!):







































She's the best and brightest person in my life. I love you, Grammy!

A final highlight of the trip was the opportunity I had to have lunch with my soul mate (literally, people -- soul. mate.), Chelsy. I miss you, Chels, and I loooveeeddd catching up over yummy Panera!














I'm already wondering when we will make the 6-hour drive back to Morgantown... it's always so much fun!