Brief Installment

Hello!

This post is a little belated, but it's just a momentary coverage of the past couple of weeks and an update on current events:

I visited my family again this past weekend and spent some good time with them. At last I got to see them play basketball games in the Upward program and I was able to see all three of my little siblings make baskets. Maddie showed me her trophie from the half marathon that she ran a short while ago (placed 2nd in her age group!) and Dad made a specialty steak dinner in honor of my visit.

My parents took the opportunity of my presence to go out and see a movie together, so while they were away, the girls and I took out a toy that they had been putting off until I could see them again. Me being a mechanical engineering major, they felt like saving it until I could give them a hand.

That's right: a little robotic arm!

We broke it open on the dinner table and spent about two hours assembling it. In order to ensure that everything worked properly, I was in charge of most of it, but they were punching out pieces and inserting screws and putting things in places and having a good old time. By the end of the production, Maddie had gotten so proficient at it that I gave her the job of putting together the control box all on her own. I'm pleased to say she did it perfectly. We had fun playing with it and picking up small things and moving them around until it was bedtime.

Here we all are with the finished product! Yes, we are in a restaurant - the picture was taken after the fact.
Maddie is holding the control box that she assembled. Lily was in charge of parts inventory.

Of course, shortly after, we found that the apparently harmless little robot had grown sentient...control was now in its own hand...



AHHHH! It's taken control!

 Hehehe, just kidding =]

In other news, I've been helping working out kinks and plans regarding proms and formals coming up soon. I'm sure you all know by now that I am escort for a few friends to their prom this year. Oh, and  Elaine said yes, by the way. So, just so there's no confusion, let me outline everyone for you:

1. I am escorting a good old friend of mine named Jessica (who goes to a different college now) to her sorority formal on March 30. It is apparently something that only occurs once every four years and it is black tie. Jessica and I go way back, mostly because of our moms, but we are kind of kindred spirits. Besides, I was her date to her junior prom a few years ago. I just hope she remembers how to dance XD
2.  I am taking a dear friend named Rebecca who goes to my church in my hometown to her senior prom on March 31. She and I know one another primarily through her sister, but really I love their whole family.
3. I'm accompanying Elaine to her senior prom on April 14. You all already know that story!

This week I covered a lot of things with Rebecca and finally managed to get my tuxedo sorted. Rebecca is a really delightful person, and like many delightful people she is also humble and a little shy as well. I'm really excited about taking her, and I have her sister's and her mother's blessing. Among Rebecca, her mom, my mom, and me, we have been working out plans for the evening.

She has a beautiful dress, I am told, that has colors of blue and aqua (some of my favorites!) but I haven't seen it yet. She told me that she wanted it to be a surprise, so she and her mother are going to the formal wear store to pick out the colors and design of my vest and tie. Our mothers are also collaborating on the flowers: her corsage and my boutineer. I will be driving her and she has also left me in charge of surprising her with where we will have dinner. For fear of the slight possibility that she might read this, I can't reveal anything, but I think there are some really nice plans in the making... =]

As I said, I am excited, but I really hope that she is much more excited than me. I am sort of a big fan of prom, which is probably rare for a gentleman, but take that as you like. High school was great, and prom for me was a beautiful part of it. That's why I want to do everything I can to try to make sure that Rebecca and Elaine both have really good proms as well. I'd say that it's true that some things just come to some people, but for the most part things are what you make them.

I try to make my life an adventure. What do you make yours?

I'm Jonathon, and this is my life.






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Weekend Visit and Prom Again?

Hey Again!

Thought I should update you all about my weekend. I went home with one of the good friends that I've made in college - Ryan. He's an engineer as well, and from a town not too far north of where I live. In fact, I usually ride with him whenever I visit my family.

Anyway, he has a friend who was looking for a prom date and lamented to him who in turn passed the message to me. In an explanation to the larger "Why?" of why I went to visit Ryan, he introduced me via text message to his friend Elaine and this was the weekend we were actually supposed to meet. So we arranged a couple of things, got some friends together and got some plans, so when he and I went up to hang out for the weekend, there was already an entourage and a fun evening waiting on us.

The whole company - some fluctuating half  dozen or so of us - went out bowling on Friday night, then went out to eat at Red Robin, a restaurant I am clearly too 'sheltered' (cough cough) to have never eat at before. I'll admit that the food was good though! We went walking about together afterward, talked and went on until it was time for us to go home.
After we left, Ryan took me and his girlfriend back to his place to watch Gran Torino, a film I've been meaning to see for a long time. The language was coarse, but appropriate, and the story was riveting. One of the best movies I've gotten to see in quite a while. Ryan and his girlfriend also enjoyed it, and enjoyed their time together next to their un-phased third wheel. After the movie, Ryan took her home and we got ready for bed.

I like Ryan's place. Like most of friend's homes, it has that delightful sort of disorderly hospitality where you know the guest bed will be big enough to support three people and among the comfiest and warmest things you've been subject to in the past few months, and you know that you will be the most exciting thing that has happened in their pets' lives ever. I admit that I sort of wonder if I still smell like his dogs or not, but am not worried.

Photos of Bridge Street

Sorry, not my original work this time! But still a good photo representation

So, Bridge Street is a delightful, new, European-styled town centre that came to the area a few years back. It's essentially a kind of outdoor shopping mall, and they've built a lake around it with bridges in the Venetian style and cobbled the streets. It's on the new money end of town, I admit, which I have always liked for its great sense of light and fun. On Bridge Street, there are all kinds of fancy to simple restaurants, a yogurt bar, a chocolate shop, clothing stores, a couple vanity shops, some fun interest and peculiarity shops, an Apple Store, an outfitter, and a Barnes and Noble, as well as three different fountains, all kinds of trees and plants and flowers, a huge Westin hotel, and a handful of gondolas imported from Venice, Italy herself (as well as genuine Venetian gondoliers, rumor has it) (because frankly, I don't believe the State of Italy would acquiesce to anyone else guiding these boats) (and I can admit to knowing at least a thing or two about Italians XD).

It's really quite impressive, has it's own nice little ambiance to it that I kind of like, and it's consequentially the best sort of place for a nice friendly outing, which I took Elaine on Saturday.

I won't bore you with too many details, but we chatted and had lunch before going there, then spent the day about checking out stores and the little world of Bridge Street. We daringly invaded the Westin hotel in our day clothes and checked out all its finer points, then had frozen yogurt at the Peach Tree. We listened to the street performers play songs we knew and just talked, finishing off by heading over to stick our noses in books for a few hours at Barnes and Noble and then met my family at the dollar cinema that we like. We saw the new Muppets movie (rather adorable film, by the way - I recommend it for anyone) and then parted ways. I went back to my house with my family and spent the rest of the weekend there.

I had a really enjoyable time and Elaine said that she did as well. After talking to Ryan, he assured me that I'm going to have to be the one to ask her to her prom if I do finally decide that I would be available and able to be her date. Considering the fact that it's not my prom, it is one of the few times when I feel as though it's not exactly my right to ask her (even though I generally always have the opinion that it is better for the guy to ask), but according to him, she'll be too shy otherwise. I think I'll wait until tomorrow, so that she can get into the swing of things again. Whatever happens, I hope that she has a really good prom.

That's all for now, I suppose. Stay tuned this week for more exciting adventures of my life!

PS: I know it's a little late, but I'm starting tonight to read the Bible in a year. I did it once when I was younger and couldn't appreciate the finer points, so I want to do it again and study into it better this time. I'll have to double up to catch up, but it shouldn't be too much of an issue =] I love reading God's Word anyway

I'm Jonathon, and this is my life.





Photos: http://www.spacecamp.com/vacationplanner/node/54
http://cathylwood.wordpress.com/2009/05/23/shopping-3/bridge-street-004/
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