Time with Friends and Family

Friday morning I rolled out of bed around 8:30am. Been a while since that has happened. Ate a little breakfast, and then headed to the zoo with Sarah and a few kids she nannies - Sam and Ariel. The zoo didn't seem to have changed a whole lot since the last time I visited, which was last summer with my Boschen cousins. We had a fun time. Spent about 3 hours walking around, learning about things, and having fun. We also had a little lunch Sarah and I packed. Some sandwiches, fruit, and chips for those who eat chips. ;-)

This is Sarah with Ariel and Sam. Sam was asking different questions about the animals (like the difference between a turtle and a tortoise), and I had fun sharing some of the stuff I knew. Reminded me of my days working at the Blank Park Zoo in Des Moines, IA.

Sam wasn't too fond of being in a nice picture with Sarah, but I convinced him to take one of us girls. Rocking my new Husker t-shirt I picked up off Target clearance and my black jeans from Plato's Closet. I was feeling rather jet lagged as we walked around the zoo. No real reason to be tired, but I was tired.

Ate a few more banana bars than necessary in the afternoon and decided to go on a little run while dinner was a cooking. Jogged for about 12 minutes around the neighborhood without walking any. Last stretch is uphill, but it is no CanCo Hill. The steep one I would jog up from time to time in Pava'ia'i. Nice little run that got me sweating a bit, and I did a set of bicycle crunches, push-ups, and knee lifts when I made it back to the house. Felt good to get out for a bit before showering for dinner.

Nice family dinner on the deck Friday night including some grilled cauliflower, a boca burger, some pistachio salad, and green beans. Quite delicious was the grilled cauliflower. I plan to live with my Omaha family, the Eagens, when I move to Omaha in a few weeks. Working on the job part, but I'm open to anything. Not quite sure what my next big move in life is yet, but moving to Omaha for now seems like the right thing to do.

Stayed up for a while chatting with my good friend Kyle about what it was like being a teacher even though I hadn't trained to become one. Nancy also made a few adjustments to some of my dresses I had brought back from the island. Fun chatting with her as she sewed away. Then, Saturday morning rolled out of bed about 8am. Worked on a few things and chatted some more with my great friends, dropped off my Nikon camera to be cleaned, and then it was time for more friends to arrive.

Karena had set up this little get together a while ago, and Sarah helped execute it. A group of us headed to Dave and Buster's for lunch together. Most of the gang again, minus a few people. Had a nice lunch. I enjoyed some veggie tacos, and the plate was humungo!

Dave and Buster's is like a Chuck E. Cheese for adults. With the meal, we obtained some credits and tickets to go play in the arcade portion. I rounded up 423 points for prize shopping. haha

All the girls got into one car for the trek back to the Omaha house. Here is me with my roomie from college and her sister Jackie - both great friends.

Then, we just spent some more time hanging out like it was yesterday. This was exactly what I was hoping for. No real alien Jessica, just the friends together enjoying each other's company and having a good time. Played soem Just Dance, ping pong, pool, chatted, and took some photos. :-) Some of my friends joke that now they're lives will be documented again now that I'm back. haha Here's a cute photo idea I had, and it turned out pretty well. Set the camera on the floor and set a timer.

My parents made it to Omaha mid-afternoon. They hung out with Joe and Nancy, then all of us sat down for a nice dinner. Most of us "kids" sat down on the small table toward the bottom of this photo. I am so thankful for my awesome friends and family.

Then, it was time to say fare well to Omaha for a few weeks. Newman Grove bound. Great ride with Mom and Dad in the Ford Escape they acquired this past year. On the way home I decided a good ole gas station cappuccino would be nice when we reached Klub 81. We were stopping at Granny B's when we pulled into NG, and I needed a little inside warmer upper. Not too shabby, and it hit the spot.

Popped into Granny B's house about 9pm to say hello, and then my brother Sheldon stopped by before heading to the Newman Grove Q125 street dance. Great to see some more family.

Slept in again Sunday morning, although I did stay up a little later than necessary, too. Had some fruit and oatmeal for breakfast and started sorting through some of my stuff. It's overwhelming looking at my boxes of stuff that were sort of still packed from returning home from college, sort of ready to move to Minneapolis, and then just shoved up agains the wall more or less when I moved to American Samoa.

I have a bunch of clothes I want to sort through, as most will be passed on or donated. I have no intentions of going back to those slightly bigger sizes any time soon. ;-) I asked Mom to go on a walk, but then Sheldon suggested we go on a run together. Sibling run around the short circuit of Boomin Newman it was. My legs felt good, but my lungs weren't super fond of the brisk air we were jogging in before lunch. Been slightly cool around here lately. Felt good, though. Last time I ran the short circuit was probably freshmen year of high school when I was on the track team. I am definitely in better shape these days. haha We even had color coordinated outfits for the run. haha. I love my brother :-)

I helped Mom make pancakes for a little late lunch with a side of fruit. Mmm mmm. Brother wanted to take me for a ride in his 2005 Mustang GT after that. Just made a quick trip out to Aunt Paula and Uncle Chuck's house.

Just riding along in a Mustang GT with my brother on a country road in small town Nebraska :-)

Sheldon let me drive home. It's a nice car, for sure. Made it back home to find Grandpa and Grandma Wingert had arrived for our little get together. Added a few touches of Samoa, and we grabbed a photo together. :-)

Then, I got to work on the little fun and healthy dessert I had been mighty excited to put together for the family on this particular day. Watermelon (pie base) covered in vanilla Greek yogurt with toasted almonds and granola as the "crust" on the edge, topped with strawberries and blueberries. Yummy.

Aunt Paula, Uncle Chuck, Kyle, and Rebecca all joined us for lunch too. It was nice to see some more family and spend some time together. Grandma told me how they saved every single blog post I wrote. Granny B also mentioned how much she enjoyed reading it while I was away. Oh the blog :-) Jessica started feeling tired again around 7:30pm as we were wrapping up dinner. These days are just coming and going. Didn't really feel like I had done that much that should have drained me so much. Perhaps I'm still a bit jet lagged. Sitting in my bed now, finishing up this journal, and then maybe I'll try to fall asleep a bit earlier. 

I will be in Newman Grove for the next few days. Hope to get some of my clothes organized and make my piles of stuff not look so overwhelming. haha I shall also be paying some visits to some of my great Newman Grove people. Hope everyone has a great week!