taking the inspiration and sprinting with it

thank you katie b :0) your blog has inspired me to continue to keep writing. yes, june was a seriously slackin month but i'm back in july and want to write it all out!!

i have been very lucky to have been able to spend so much time with family lately. nicole's graduation was ..... well, a graduation! bry was able to make it in from his three week trip to spend the time with us. he was VERY out of it as he'd only really been back in the country for a few days and had partied the days he was in town with slater traaen and thomas. and not only did he make it into town but he also brought gifts! all three of the sisters got harp necklaces from dublin (i wear mine most days as does nicole). nicole also got a man u scarf from one of the games (i think) that he got to attend while he was there - lucky!! the best part of graduations - or at least the last two - has been the post graduation ceremony dinner of the melting pot. if you haven't been, it's one of my recommendations on a GREAT night out. it is truly an event! but you must go when you're starving cause even though fondue doesn't sound like it'd fill you, trust me i am beyond stuffed every time i roll out of there! luckily i don't go there more than once a year otherwise i'd be seriously banned from pools (the inevitable whale terror). so, the weekend wasn't all filled with the banister clan. i got in a nice 60 miler with avery and chris p. it was AWESOME to spend the time with such a great pair of men! i haven't gotten to chat with either of them in too long. avery mentioned that lisa was a taaaad jealous that he got to spend some quality time with the danban without her. how sweet is that?! so we eventually made it back to the road that leads to the house and of COURSE i got a flat from some jerkwad who threw a zima bottle on the bike path. after much struggling on the phone to get jenn and bry to where we were, we hitched a ride back to the house and spent the rest of the evening at the open house for nicole. avery and lisa stayed for quite a while keeping me company. i miss those two terribly and wish they lived closer so i could see them more often. all in all the trip was TOO short and i wished i could have gotten some time to spend with the miller fam. it's always good to see the girls and dad. i am blessed to finally have some closeness with them in my life. i feel like they're as excited to see me as i am to see them.......at least that's what i've been telling myself :0)

as somewhat of a surprise to me, i was able to spend some more time in indy because of my job. i was sent to ft. wayne for requirements gathering and was able to sneak in a trip to indy to see the fam! as a bonus, i spent some time with the miller fam (minus nathan :0( sniff) and made it down to b-ton for a reunion with my college days. friday night and saturday morning i got in some serious quality time with patty which was much much needed. she is one of the best conversationalists and i thoroughly enjoy ALL of my conversations with her. i wish i could see her more often and wish she would visit katie more often so i could get qt with both of them at the same time!! saturday we dropped by matty's work and got to see what it is he really does and where he spends all of his on call time.....i was starting to wonder!! after picking up a car at dad's, i headed down to b-ton to spend some qt with lisa and avery again........YAY!! i feel seriously beyond blessed to have gotten to see them twice in two months! we did some shoppin around the art walk and then down to some funky little store where i bought the CUTEST shoes ever!! they were sweet enough to indulge me by going to Lenny's for the best salad ever. we eventually ended up back at their pad to play some euchre with elaine and mikey showed up with james and i instantly felt like i'd digressed back to college......definitely not in a bad way. it was nice to have that sense of familiarity. i wish katie had gotten to join us to make the evening absolutely perfect! we ended instead with some pizza express breadsticks with their yummy yummy cheeeeeeeze sauce :0) headed back up on sunday for hang out time with the fam and dinner before jenn drove me up to ft. wayne on her way to work. when she dropped me off, we ended up spending some quality time in the hot tub while my co-workers were in a meeting!! heheehehehe - yup, that's how i roll :0) after the work schtuff was done, i drove with a co-worker down to the house to spend wed night before flying out of indy on thurs. we had dinner with dad and lorinne then back to the house. jenn showed up eventually and we spent some more qt in the fam hot tub. i won't bore you with all the rest of the details of the trip but needless to say, it was awesome to have been able to spend so much time with family that i get to see once a year and friends who i get to see even less often. it was refreshing to be there and spend time with people who hold so much of my history in their memories. i love them all very much and hope to see them all again VERY soon......

so for this holiday weekend upcoming, yet more family adventures are on the horizon as my mom is in town. so far she's been helping bry with the yard and the re-creation of the front. i know she's enjoyed it emmensely and wishes i'd spend more time down there. it's very difficult to do with the time and $$ of driving ot bry's on such a consistent basis. tonight has been my ONE night home since returning from indy. in fact, i have yet to unpack!! i'm not sure yet what we'll do for the 4th but i'm sure it's going to be filled with lots and lots of stories as banister adventures typically are!!

the one event this month that i am dreading is on the 13th/14th. it's an anniversary i am saddened by and i'd like to say that i'm going to share everything that goes along with that but i'm not sure that i'm ready. it has yet to be a year and i'm still in shock. there are more tears as the days grow near and i'm sure the emotions will become more and more raw. i'm beyond grateful to katie b who has been a sounding board through a time where i should be more of her rock. i guess we're both leaning on each other......guess it's good we're both going in the same direction. all i will say for now is that i very much miss my friend........


that's all for now kids...........
~danban