A whirl of a weekend.

This was my last weekend in Western PA, and what a whirl it was. 

It all started with my final nightshift in the NICU.  

We had such a fun night.  There was food, there was singing, there was laughing, there were bath parties, and oh yeah... we kept some people alive too.

It was hard to say goodbye. Everyone there has been so wonderful to work with.  I really loved my job, which I know not many people can say.  What a blessing to work with such great people.

Then after a few hours sleep, Emily Holuta came over and we dip dyed our hair blue.  Dip dye is a trend in which you dye the bottom of your hair.  Emily's showed up a lot more blue than mine. Mine looks a bit darker..or dirtier..not sure which.






After spending time with Emily, Jocelyn and I drove to Pittsburgh to join some friends on the Gateway Clipper, for a Blues Cruise. It was cold and there was some misty rain, but we still had a blast dancing, catching up with friends, and floating by the city. It's a really beautiful view.

Luckily, Jocelyn drove to PGH and back.  After nightshift and minimal sleep, I'm not sure how successful I would have been behind the wheel.  I certainly wasn't a good riding buddy to Jocelyn.  I think I fell asleep about 5 secs after we got on the parkway, and woke up twice to mumble something incoherently about the temperature of the car.

Then Saturday came.

The morning started with a lovely visit from my cousin Matt's wife, Cyndi.  It was nice to see her and catch up.  Matt and Cyndi will be living on the West Coast as well in a couple of months.  They will be stationed in Washington, so we are hoping to get to see each other and have comfort in the fact that we'll have some family on that side of the country.

Despite the cold and the rain, Andrea, Luke, Teagan, and I went to Marion Center's Celtic Festival, which is a celebration of the Irish and Scottish in the area.  

I'm going to miss them.

..the Reeger's I mean.. not the Irish and the Scottish..

After a stop at the Holuta's in Indiana to say goodbye and have a delicious dinner, I drove to Pittsburgh again, to an Oktoberfest party my friend Natalie hosted. 

Natalie had her apt all done up and sounding like..Oktoberfest. And there was so much good food and tastey beer.  Seasonal foods and drinks are so enjoyable, because it's like, "Oh, I only have a short while to enjoy this, so I better have two!"

shotskis ^

Always so much fun with the NICU crew.  I keep saying this...I hope people in California are as funny as my coworkers in Pittsburgh.  Their dry wit and jokes always, always makes me laugh.  What would our job be like if we couldn't balance the emotional heaviness of the ICU with some humor, eh?










Then Sunday happened, and is almost over.  I woke up late, to the sound of my dad at more door asking if I was going to be ready soon.. Nope.

Turns out it was a little joke. I had slept in, but not too late. There was still time to make it to just after worship started.  This past month of going to Sovereign Grace in Indiana, has been great. I loved hearing messages from my old pastors, and seeing people that I grew up with, as they are starting their own families. It was also neat to go with my grandpa, and sit next to him through church, then discuss the message after. He left me with some advice today, "grandfatherly advice" he called it.  He advised me to stick with the choices I made, trusting God would be with me. He encouraged me to not look back, but to do it until I was sure that opportunity was done.  He also gave me finacially-type wisdom..which I always need.

The McKelvy's, Reegers, and Jocelyn came over for the game today, like old times. And just like always, I think we talked more than watched...


Well that's it for this crazy weekend.  Did you read the whole thing?  Good for you! Take a nap! And if you were a part of making this weekend so memorable, thank you :)