I went to a bar with my mom!

My 4th of July weekend was spent in Port Clinton, Ohio, with my mom (b/c my dad and brothers were fishing in Canada). Port Clinton is a little town near the Lake Erie islands, Sandusky, and the infamous Cedar Point. We visited Middle Bass Island, swam, sampled the better part of 30 popcorn flavors at the amazing Great Lakes Popcorn Co. and even sipped margaritas together one evening. It was a relaxing weekend, and the idea of coming home to work on Tuesday was a major bummer.

Monday night we were too tired to go see fireworks, but as I sat at the computer replying to an email I couldn't help but go outside: there were four loud firework displays near our house. The trees were blocking our view, so my mom and I went up to the high school (higher elevation) to check out the fireworks. It was amazing. We stood at the top of the football stadium and marvelled at the 20 different firework displays that surrounded us. We thought that Geauga Lake's were the best, but Solon and Twinsburg were also very good.

Last night was like the cherry on top of a good weekend. Jen Allison was in town for a long weekend (studying at Johns Hopkins for the summer), so Amy, Andrea, and I met at her house in Grove City and the four of us went out to dinner. We sat in Rachels (the restaurant) for three hours, talking, planning, and reminiscing. I always love spending time with the girls. :)

Brian, Joe, and I had a great time cruising around Bainbridge this evening. I love each of my brothers so much! I'm stoked for Sunday, when the three of us will spend the day playing golf together.

~Libbz

Song of the day: "Holy Is the Lord" - Andrew Peterson (City On a Hill)

The cops searched my closet

Last week I came home from work and found my closet doors open. I knew that I had left them shut, so I asked my mom who had been in my closet. She answered, "Libby, the police searched your closet today."

I looked at her to see whether she was serious. When I saw that she was, I laughed, knowing that I had nothing incriminating to find. (Except for my marijuana plants, but I guess they didn't see those :) Then she told me the story...

Apparently, my mom was home alone and heard a noise upstairs, so she called the police. In her words, "two young guys with guns" were looking all around my room. I found that a little strange, especially since my clothes were scattered all around. I wasn't exactly expecting company, if you know what I'm sayin'.

Yeah, I know that was a lame story, and I'm sorry you just wasted precious time reading it. I really just wanted an excuse to say "the police searched my closet." And just so it's clear with everyone...I neither smoke nor grow marijuana. Gotta be careful with sarcasm on the internet.

Hmm... What else has happened? I got a 2nd degree sunburn on my hands at the Indians game on Sunday. An antibiotic that I'm taking makes me "photosensitive," which really stinks b/c I never wear sunscreen and now I have to. Po po! (whiny phrase in Greek)

Well... My hands are covered in super glue right now (don't ask) and typing is a little weird, so I'm out like parachute pants. Lata gata.

~Libberoo

Song of the day: "Audience of One" - Big Daddy Weave

Cuh-razy weekend!

Ahh...finally a break from the insanity. It's been quite an exciting weekend in the Greene household. Brian's graduation party was yesterday. But, because my mama is a crazy-awesome planner, there were like 80 million decisions to make in the past week. Seriously. So I'm a little relieved that the party is over. (But don't get me wrong, it was really fun.) Around 7:00 last night, the people were gone and we were left with TONS of extra food. The 5 of us were tired out from the long day, so we rested up for the next celebration...Father's Day and Joe's birthday!

This morning my parents went to the early service at church to teach Sunday school while my brothers and I slept in (skippin' church...wu-oh). When they got home, the five of us left for the Jake to celebrate the double holiday. The Tribe game this afternoon was awesome. We had a solid win against the Diamondbacks, and the weather was perfect! After the game we went to the flats and walked around on the boardwalk. Then we drove to Mayfield and went out to dinner for Yo-G's birthday (I've called Joe that for a looong time). Joe chose Tony Roma's, which is typical for my brothers...they are both crazy about ribs.

After dinner, we drove straight home and prepared for the present-opening ritual. My mom had bought an ice cream cake for Joe, but more importantly...she also bought 5 cans of silly string, which were sitting out on the picnic table while my bros and I played frisbee. Without warning, Joe left and grabbed a can. He and my dad started going at it with the silly string, then the rest of us joined in. The silly string fight went on until all 5 bottles were empty. My dad was into the ear-shots, so after a couple minutes both of my ears were full of yellow foam. The lawn was decorated with green, blue, purple, yellow, and pink string. So was I. :)

Then came the ice cream cake and presents. Brian and I gave Joe some "gift certificates" redeemable for 2 rounds of golf. Last summer the 3 of us played a lot of golf together, so hopefully we will this summer too. Yay for new sports!

The game was great, dinner was good, silly string was a blast, hanging out at night was a good time, but my favorite part about today was the car rides. My bros and I were having a blast quoting Napoleon Dynamite and laughing about random stuff. Days like today - when my family is together and having an amazing time - are precious. There were years of fighting in the back seat...kicking, whining, slapping, name-calling. But now the 5 of us are friends...it's suh-weet!

Aight y'all... Thanks for reading my boring blog once again. Shout out to Abby the Mexican and all of my GCC buds. I miss you guys, and I'm really looking forward to hanging out again. Ab, you'll be home soon. And Grovers, school will be here before we know it! Yay for GCC... I haven't been there since first semester, and I am STOKED to go back!! TTYL peeps.

~Lib Masta Rasta

Song of the day: "Erosion" - Switchfoot

Oh yeah, I'm in America now if you didn't already figure that out. :)

It's good to be home, but I miss warm weather and walking all the time. [Napoleon Dynamite voice] Stupid Cleveland's takin' my flippin' tan away! Gosh... [insert breathing noise here]

One day at a time...

Summer is kicking off. Bonfires, beach volleyball, graduation parties, and late nights...

Today was Abby's birthday, so a bunch of us girls surprized her by showing up at her house with a party (we asked her parents first). We brought fruit pizza, cookies, chips & dip, pop, a little alcohol, balloons, a movie, a dance party mix, birthday hats, you name it. It was a fun night with the girls, but recently stuff like that hasn't made me as excited as it usually does. I think part of the reason was that tonight we watched Napoleon Dynamite, which I saw last week for the first time. Before I saw it that day, I thought it'd be dumb...but after watching it with two guys who were really into it, I thought it was hilarious. It was my idea to rent that flick for Abby's party, and I didn't think that it would bring back memories from Wednesday, but it did. Maybe I should stop being vague... I watched the movie with Jason and my bro Brian last week. Jason and I broke up, and it has been a hard few days since then.

It's not like I lie around all day crying or anything... To the casual observer, I'm just the same old Libby. But a general feeling of sadness is draped over my life. I try to be normal by acting normal. I smile and laugh and play it cool, but the pain still lingers inside. Tonight when I got back from the par-tay I even blasted FIF in my car while shooting some hoops under the stars. Normally, that'd be an amazing ending to an amazing night... But even the fabulous combination of sports, FIF, and stars didn't succeed at boosting my spirits tonight.

But, man, there is hope. Jesus is all that I need, and He will use times like these to draw me nearer to Himself. So... May the name of the LORD be praised. Gotta' keep looking to Him for strength and comfort. Peace out y'all.

~me

Song of the day: "Prince of Peace (You are Holy)"

Addiction

Thefacebook.com is the most addicting thing on the face of the earth (no pun intended). If you don't have facebook and you want it...do yourself a favor and wait until you're finished with finals.

Five more days in Athens. I can't believe it! Kara and Jamie are taking off on Thursday, so it'll just be Kiki and me in the apartment for a few days. It hasn't hit me yet... Four months, tons of new people and places, "once in a lifetime" experiences...and it's all gonna be over soon. I have mixed feelings about that, but it's mostly good. I've learned so much in Athens (and other trips) and met all kinds of people. I miss lots of people at home, and it will be great to see them. I just can't believe that it's time to leave Greece. It's ridiculous how four months can fly by! I spent 18 months planning this trip, and now it's almost over. But God is with me wherever I am, and I know that I can trust Him with my life now and always. I knew that before I left for Greece, but it's been a theme during my time here. I can trust Him with my life...

Thanks for reading my blog, y'all. I'll cya in a week!! (Doesn't that sound weird?!?)

~Libby

Song of the day: "High Five" - Calibretto 13
1.5 weeks until I see my girls!!!

Spring has sprung...

Score!! The long-awaited Mediterranean weather has finally come, and it brought endless varieties of wildflowers, purple and white blossoms, and bright green leaves, which are popping out all over the place! I'm down with the new weather. But it reminds of Spring semester at Grove City College...

Frisbee, frisbee, frisbee
Bike rides
Walks along Wolf Creek (sometimes involving wet tennis shoes and skipping stones)
Running
Walking to Walmart w/ the girls ...*ahem* every night
IM sports (oh, the days of Mango Shenango)
Procrastinating
Cookouts on Lincoln Lawn
Inner-quad full of sunbathers
And much, much more...

While Athens is cool, I miss GCC! One more year, guys...we better make it a great one!!!

~Li-Li-Libby

Song of the day: "Playing for Keeps" - Switchfoot