Long time, no post!

Well, hello there. I'm glad you're still following and haven't completely given up on me. I have a lot to update you on!


Friday
Friday I woke up nice and early to get the last of my packing done and then head to the gym for training with Emily at 10:00 a.m. It was my last training session with her and she kicked my butt, per usual. I didn't do much cardio beforehand or afterwards, but that was okay with me because I had Chi Running training with Ken Andrews, We spent a little over two hours together, during which I learned the very basics of chi running. We spent a lot of time going through the proper form and then we did a tiny bit of running. I learned a lot and I'm really excited to actually go out and do some running.


After running, I got some lunch for Alicia and myself and then headed home to take a look at the packing situation.

After we finished up packing, Alicia took me to the UHaul place where I spent a half hour hassling with the reservation people and then came home to shower before running over to Jenna's house to see her, her husband/my husband Tyler, and her parents.

And they fed me! Mrs. Brown made some awesome chicken, a great pork roast, and a bunch of delicious veggies! Here's a photo that doesn't allow you to see pretty much anything...

After enjoying an awesome meal and great company, I headed back to my apartment to pack all of my belongings in the UHaul with the help of Alicia, Mark, and my mom. It took us about two hours, but I'm glad we didn't have to pack and unpack all in the same day. After packing, I headed to my mom's house for the night.


Saturday
I woke up nice and early to get on the road at 9:00 a.m. with Mark, Alicia, and my mom. Mark drove the UHaul with me and my mom drove Alicia in her van. We got to Grand Rapids around 11:30 a.m. where Matt was waiting for us. We got everything unloaded in about an hour and then had some Jimmy John's for lunch. Yum! And while we were relaxing, I snapped some photos of everyone who helped me move!

My mom and Alicia (who is constructing my bookcase) 

Matt who got to help Mark move all the big stuff

Me and Mark looking oh so enthused

After my internet was set up by the Comcast guy, we headed back to Midland and both Mark and Alicia headed home while I returned the UHaul. Then I did more packing up of my apartment and headed to my mom's house for one last night of no unpacking. 


Sunday
Once again, I headed back to my apartment in Midland to grab more stuff and then I drove to Grand Rapids. Once there, I made my bed and napped. I woke up and headed to Matt's house so he could feed me.

We had chicken salad with beans and potatoes. Yum! We also made a trip to Wayland for ice cream and to visit with Matt's friend Kylee. Then we headed back to his house so I could bully him into finally signing up for his GRE. I'm pretty sure he hated me for that. Whoops! But I left before he could do me any real harm and went straight to bed.


Monday
This was the first day I started truly unpacking. My friend Curt came over and lined my kitchen shelves (which was freaking awesome because I hate doing that) and helped me move some of my big stuff. We also went to lunch at Marie Catrib's and then it was back to unpacking. Curt headed back to work (he worked a split) and then I went to my orthodontist appointment. 


I saw two orthodontists who were both impressed by my completely open bite. But the good news is that they recommended Invisalign rather than conventional braces. They asked if I was okay with that. Uh, making my braces less obvious? Sure!


After my appointment, I headed to the mall where Matt's sister Heather gave me an awesome haircut. I did a tiny bit of shopping for my white coat ceremony and then finally headed home to finish up unpacking my kitchen and bathroom. Then it was time for bed!


Tuesday
I decided to get up early and head to a new gym. I met with Scott at MVP Metro Club in downtown Grand Rapids. He was a great help in setting up my membership and took me on a quick tour of the facilities. The gym was really nice and decently-equipped. However, I was the only person there. Anyway, let me tell you a bit more about it. On the first floor they had their group fitness rooms. On the second floor was all their cardio equipment including treadmills, ellipticals, and bikes. On the third floor was their weight room.


I decided I would stick with some cardio and headed to the second floor. All of the machines were touch screen with extended cable, and, though I thought this would be awesome, it was actually kind of crappy because you couldn't do any preset programs and it didn't track your stats - the screens just went back to television show you were watching. I tried programming the treadmill, elliptical, and stationary bike and they all only let you do quick start programming. There was no staff around to ask so I gave up and headed up to the third floor and did about 45 minutes of weights. I was a tad disappointed by their lack of machines and left upset that I signed up for a membership.


I came home to shower and then headed to Ann Arbor for lunch with Stephen and Noel before heading to IKEA where I met up with Anthony and bought a desk. I don't have any pictures from the day because I left my camera. Womp, womp.


On my way back to Grand Rapids, I did a major grocery shopping trip at Trader Joe's and Whole Foods in Ann Arbor. I spent quite a bit of money, but hopefully I'll have lots of really good quality food for a while. Then I finally headed home. However, I realized that I could stop and see my sister's apartment in East Lansing so I didn't home until a little after 11:00 p.m.


Once home, I unpacked the cooler and headed to bed.


Wednesday
Today I woke up around 9:00 a.m., showered, and signed up for some med school stuff. Then I talked to the people at the skydiving company who told me that the weather may not hold until 6:00 p.m. when Allyson and I were scheduled to jump. So, we pulled some strings and met in Mount Pleasant at 2:15 so we could jump out of a perfectly good airplane for fun. Allyson brought my mom and both her parents with her. So, here are some pics from my adventures today!

The baby plane we jumped from 

Getting suited up

I thought this picture was so funny 

Ready to jump! Well, maybe we should have a parachute...

Allyson and Jake (we did a tandem jump)

Me and Scott, the man I was attached to

Dancing because I was so excited

Making Allyson dance with me

Me and my mom before I risked my life

Allyson and I demonstrating how to arch properly when you jump out of the plane 

Me!

Coming in for the landing 

Woo! Allyson coming in for her landing

The first time we saw each other after falling 11,000 feet 

Hugging because we were still alive and able to!

Celebrating our jump

After our jump, we went out to dinner with our respective parents and had a drink to celebrate. So how was it? It was pretty awesome! The free falling part of it isn't anything like a roller coaster - your stomach never drops. But it's definitely fast (and loud)! You cover about 5,000 feet in 35 seconds. Then you pull the 'chute and it's super quiet. Scott did a few fun spins with me and he videotaped the whole thing. So, in about 5-7 days, you can look forward to a video of me jumping from an airplane.


After dinner, my mom and I went to meijer (the meijer here is so much less confusing than the ones in Grand Rapids!) and then shortly after getting home, Allyson and I decided to hit up the Midland County Fair. However, we were less than impressed and left after Allyson bought an elephant ear.

We headed back to her house and hung out for a bit before I headed home to do a huge update for you all! I'll be heading back to Grand Rapids tomorrow and doing yet more moving, so hopefully I won't be too tired to update you guys again!