It’s been a while since I posted a weekend recap- mainly because my weekends are typically laid back and slow- but this past weekend we crammed a lot into those beautiful three days of freedom!
F R I D A Y
If you’re new here you might not know that I gave all four years of my high school life to my school’s band program. I lived, breathed, ate, and slept band (or drumline). My town still has a strong band program and part of the reason for that is the healthy support of alumni. At the end of my high school career a new tradition was started for alumni band members to come back and march in the 4th of July parade with the current band. This alumni parade happens every four years and this year happened to be it.
In this video the very first person you see conducting (in red) is K’s friend. (He’s a band director is central OH who we don’t get to see very often.) The next person you see conducting- the wonderful older woman in black- is Mrs. Graham. She’s the saint who keeps music alive in our area and beyond. She is the most dedicated, hard working, kind, selfless person you will ever meet. She’s smart and sassy and everything in between. She’s the one who heads up this crazy event every 4 years. The current students are in white, the alumni are in red. There are over 200 alumni.
K and I were both band nerds percussionist in school, but we didn’t sign up to march in the parade this year. Instead, we cheered from the sidelines and attended the alumni banquet/reunion afterward. It was nice to see friends from my school years, K’s high school years, and even my dad’s years in band. (K was four years ahead of me in school so we have a wide mix of friends. My dad is a band alumni, too, but he’s a little rusty when it comes to playing an instrument now.)
S A T U R D A Y
On Saturday morning my doll of a husband headed off to a “man’s breakfast” without me. (Turd.) I spent the morning picking up the house and weeding the driveway and cuddling the dogs. When he finished breakfast he stopped at home quick before jetting off to another boys-only event. This time, a bachelor party for my brother in Columbus, Ohio.
I spent the afternoon cooking some food, cleaning some nooks, and getting ready for evening festivities. I put together some Turkey Salad Skewers, left the pups at home, and joined my parents at family-friends’ pool party. This was one of three parties I was invited to, but I only made it to this one. After some pool time I drove my little introverted booty back home and snuggled into bed with the dogs to watch the NASCAR race 🙂
I came home to be with Lylee for the fireworks. We live close to the city park where they set them off and we don’t like to leave her on the 4th of July. Enzo, of course, couldn’t possibly care less. We can actually see the high fireworks from the backyard and he sat on the patio furniture and watched them. Ha.
S U N D A Y
K returned to me around 5 am which disturbed my slumber and ruined my plans to attend church. We ended up getting a late start and I had just enough time to run to the grocery store & whip up a Berry Cheesecake Salad for an afternoon cookout at K’s aunt and uncle’s house. We spent some time sipping adult beverages with his family before popping out to my parents for a second and then heading to my grandparents’ house for an evening dinner. (We typically get together on Sunday nights with my family at my grandparents’ house, but this Sunday my grandparents also had guests in town which made dinner even more eventful.)
A some point in the evening one of my four cousins made a comment about going to see Finding Dory at the drive-ins. After much debate and discussion (and a few sparklers) we decided that I should take my four cousins to the movies. (Cousins’ ages range between 8 and 17.) K opted to go home and take advantage of the empty house so I loaded up my car and we went to the first feature at the drive-ins. The movie was cute- more humor and less sadness than Nemo.
M O N D A Y
On flag holidays (Memorial/4th/Labor) my family all meets bright and early in Amish County for some breakfast. K and I opted for a productively lazy day after that. He hardwired the new garage door opener into the garage (so glad I married a handyman!) and I left town for a bit to shop for vacation! (There are lots of stores about a half hour north of us.) I snagged a dress shirt, a t-shirt, some sunglasses, and a pair of flip-flops at NY&Co for $25 🙂 I also got some goodies at Target.
Since I’m a total psycho I started packing for vacation as soon as I got home. (We don’t leave for another few days… ha.) I realized I needed my big suitcase from my parents’ house so we hopped in the car and headed out there. On our way back into town we stopped at First Town Days- which is the city’s 4th of July festival at the park- and got some deliciously bad food for dinner: two sausages on a bun, fair fries, and sugary lemonade. We ended the night/weekend on the front porch in the chairs K put together.
This week mirrors the craziness that was my weekend… We have dinners and vet appointments and last minute chores and get-togethers and a wedding. (Yes, I am counting down the days to vacation. Ha.) But what’s life without a little excitement, right?
Linking up today/tomorrow with Kristen & Gretch for What’s New With You?
Life as Louise 
Man, you stuffed a lot of productive things in a few days time.
Good for you for packing early so you knew you needed a bigger suitcase.
I love you all meet up for breakfast in Amish Country – I bet that’s the best breakfast!!!
I LOVE LOVE LOVE your new chairs. I love pops of red on front porches anyways.
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It drives K nuts that I pack so early but just this morning he was like, “Ugh. I need to figure out what I still need to buy and what laundry I need done.” I just smirked at him 😀 Hahaha!
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Love those chairs. It sounds like a fun weekend for you guys! I miss having family holidays! We were in Nashville so we sort of did vacation stuff. And it rained on the 4th. : / Those turkey salad skewers look awesome. On our last night in Savannah (2nd to last trip lol) we saw Finding Dory (hello! Exhausted!) and it was really sweet. Glad you got to see it too! Hope you have a good week and a good trip! Can’t wait to read about it! 🙂 XO – Alexandra
Simply Alexandra: My Favorite Things
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We have all our family within 10 square miles. 85% of the time it’s enjoyable 😉 Haha!
My grandparents used to have a house with a pool near the park and we could swim and watch the fireworks. I miss THOSE days 😉
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Ahhh I wish we had a front porch! So jealous. Also jealous you’re going on vacation soon! I need another one already. $25 for all that stuff?! Super good deal! That’s my favorite thing to do when Michael is away–stay home and watch whatever I want. Ha. 🙂
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A front porch was one of my house requirements 🙂 I wish the opening was a little smaller, though. It’s tough to block the dogs on the porch…
I was SO happy to find all those deals! My mom actually went back this week and bought me a rain coat, too! Yay!! 😀
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wow how amazing that 200 alum joined in – i love that! ahhh your front porch is too cute – love the red adirondack! i hope to have those in a yard someday. and hot dang – good shopping find! ohhh the week leading up to vacation is always fun (though stressful) enjoy!
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This week is deeeefinitely stressful 🙂 Oh well.. Soon I’ll be on a beach and it won’t matter!
The alumni parade is very impressive. A lot of our friends participated so it was fun to watch them!!
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You packed a lot of good stuff in!
I love the chairs out front.
Enzo sounds like Gus!
MFD was a bando too.
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We’ve had those chairs for over a year and K FINALLY built them for me 🙂 I was pretty excited to come home and see them!
Enzo cares about NOTHING. It’s so nice since Lylee cares about EVERYTHING. Hahaha!
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Breakfast in Amish country sounds amazing!
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I love it 🙂 The donuts and the pancakes are my favorite!
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How fun that they have alumni come back and march! I would love to do that with my old high school band.
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I think I’ll probably do it in 4 years. I did it that first year, then skipped last time and this one. Honestly, I’m not close with most of the people I graduated with, but I still have friends from other years so it could be fun.. ha!
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I love your porch! So cute. The alumni band tradition sounds so fun! I didn’t realize you live so close to both of your families-that’s so great. 🙂
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Thank you! I think we need a side table to hold my wine glass while I read 😉 Maybe a rug, too. Definitely some pillows.
Living near family is usually great- although it makes holidays hectic! We can get to either of our parents or to any of our grandparents in 10 minutes or less.
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Yes for vacation and counting down the days!!!! I’m counting down too! We have 2 days! Lol! It looks like your 4th weekend was like ours! Jam packed! Ha!
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Yay!! Have fun on your vacation, Faith!!
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Look at all that delicious food! And I love your sweet porch! Those chairs are great!
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Thank you! It took a while to convince K to build them but I’m so happy they’re done and out!
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Sounds like a good weekend, even if it was so packed and busy! Yay for vacation coming up soon!!
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It was a great weekend 🙂 So excited for vaca!
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Wow… You’ve been uber productive! I’m tired just reading about your activities! JK… 😉
I’ve read several blogs this morning and one of the common themes has been about fireworks and dogs. My dog was an absolute nervous wreck all weekend long.
I like your pretty red adirondack chairs. Are they comfy? I have the resin/plastic types
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I don’t enjoy the 4th of July as much as I used to because of the dog’s anxiety now. But she actually surprised me this time and was pretty calm (except during a potty break outside, haha). I find adirondack chairs to be really comfy, although I think I’ll be splurging on some pillows 🙂
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those Turkey Salad Skewers look SO good and your bad dinner sounds amazing. i love to pack well before a vacation too, if i don’t, i end up throwing things in at the last minute and packing way too much. thanks for linking up with us 🙂
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Thanks for hosting the link-up! I’m a super early packer and shopper- that makes it easy to find deals well ahead of time! 😀 Or so I tell myself…
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i always start packing for a trip a week in advance. i have a system to make sure that i don’t forget anything and i hate that feeling that i’m forgetting something so i do this to avoid that!
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Amen! I pack everything I want to wear that’s clean so I don’t accidentally wear it! And anything in the laundry goes on a list so I can put it right in the suitcase once it’s clean.
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I am also counting down the days til vacation too. I’m so excited. 😀
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Yay yay yay!! Have fun!!
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Those eggs and peppers look so good. I think I may have eggs for breakfast tomorrow :). I still haven’t seen Finding Dory, yet! I need to catch up.
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I’m thinking I might make myself some eggs today, too 🙂 I didn’t really have plans to see Dory because Nemo wasn’t my favorite, but when the opportunity arose I took it!
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I don’t necessarily start packing really early, but I always pick out and try on every outfit I want to take beforehand. If I’m traveling alone or with friends, I’ll usually go ahead and pack. If I’m traveling with Eric, though, I really can’t. He’s a last minute packer. We usually try to share a single suitcase (unless we’ll be gone for a week or longer), and I don’t trust that my things won’t get wrinkled and messed up once he starts haphazardly tossing his crap in. (And that’s seriously how he packs. It’s awful.)
I was also a band geek back in the day. 🙂 I was a member of the flag corps during marching season, but I also played flute. I doubt I could remember how to play now, though.
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We tried to pack together for a Jamaica trip once… It didn’t go well. Haha! We do much better when we stick to our own systems of organization 🙂 K also throws everything together at the last minute *eye roll* Haha!
I played the marimba and vibraphone in the front ensemble. I stopped playing in 2010. I think I could still pick ’em up… ha!
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Yay for band nerds! That’s actually how Phillip and I met. We were neighbors but probably never would have gotten to know each other if it weren’t for good ole band.
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That’s how my husband and I met, too 🙂 I attribute band with teaching me a lot of excellent life lessons- and it equipped me with a few great friends!
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Another fellow band nerd checking in! I played the violin growing up, but my high school didn’t have a string program so I switched to sax. I ended up auditioning for and making it in the Blue Band at Penn State and that’s where I met my husband! Funny how things work out 🙂
Thanks for linking up!
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I wish I knew how to play the violin! I started off playing saxophone. I did that from 5th grade to 8th grade, then switched to percussion for high school. If I hadn’t switched I wouldn’t have gotten to know my hubby! 🙂 Thanks for hosting!
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