I'm One Lucky Girl

Although I'm pretty terrible at keeping in touch while I've been living in Korea (i.e. skyping, phone calls, emails, etc don't really happen) the best part of going home was being able to see so many friends that i'd gone far too long without.  After buying my ticket the excitement only continued to build as I found out more and more of my friends would actually be in Wisconsin, some coincidentally and some because well, they just love me that much :) 

If it were possible I'd marry this boy 

I'm going to use facebook, instagram, twitter and all those other stupid social media outlets as my [lame] excuse for not making a bigger effort to stay in contact with my friends.  As much as I don't really want to admit it, being able to receive updates from my friends, on the other side of the world, through these outlets makes them seem a lot closer than they really are.  Aside from that, like I mentioned in my last post, I'm a natural chameleon and try to focus on my current life here in Korea, rather than missing the one I left back home.  That being said, when I do connect with my friends we're able to pick up right where we left off which i'm grateful for.  

Immediately after buying my ticket, knowing I would have limited time in town, I started making plans so that I could see as many people as possible.  That's when I started to realize these people have lives and jobs, which might make doing so more difficult than I had imagined.  Couple that with the fact that my friends are spread all over the US and I had a challenge to complete.  Although I didn't see everyone I would have liked to, I'm pretty happy with the outcome.   

Even if it was only for lunch, glad I got to see this fool
~all the way from Florida~

One of the only things I made a [successful] effort to plan was a Brewers tailgate with some of my favorite boys, ever. I really hope at least one of you reads this so that you can see how much I really love you, otherwise this is a complete waste of my time. I probably couldn't have had a more unconventional way of coming to be friends with these boys, but I'm sure thankful to the series of events that led me to them.  They were there to entertain me throughout high school, and most of college (when I came home from that shithole La Crosse [their words not mine]) and i'm glad I can still call them friends today (again despite the fact that I ran halfway around the world).  Although our memories are a bit fuzzy and filled with verbal [and yeah, some physical] abuse I have them to thank for lots of laughs, firsts and wtf moments. Thanks boys. 

Well this pretty much sums up our relationship 

Not too long ago my brother and his girlfriend moved into their first apartment together, conveniently located downtown Milwaukee.  This worked out wonderfully for me as my mom and I sharing living quarters isn't really either of our ideas of a good time.  For some reason that combination just does not work, so spending a few nights on his couch was more than helpful.  Not to mention the perfect location to allow for downtown fun and exploration.

Enjoying the weather and having fun on long pier

Okay on to the bread and butter of my friendships ~~ high school.  I don't know how I did it but I think I scored myself some of the best high school friendships a girl could ask for.  Unfortunately some of my friends had to be big shots and move out to New York, Chicago, and Nashville (to name a few) but I was still lucky enough to see most of them during my short stint home.

My students are convinced Shane is my boyfriend.
I don't understand why ~ it's not like we'd make a gorgeous couple or anything ;) 

Can this count as our 5 year reunion? 

Had to make a side trip to DC to see this one, but it was well worth it! 

Oh the second event I successfully planned - the color run.  I remember being jealous of friends pictures from the even last year and I was just lucky enough to have the Milwaukee race occur during my time home, so I made my best efforts to put a team together.  I was kind of successful,  I had 8 people register for the event, but only 5 showed for the race....slackers. 

I hope we grow old together

Let me introduce you to my [favorite] cousin, Jake,
People have also asked if we're dating, um sorry but no, I'm not from Alabama

At this point there's only one more thing missing to round out my friendships, and that's all the crazy people I was lucky enough to meet in La Crosse, oh college how i'd love to go back and do you all over again.  It's funny I joke about how my time at La Crosse is being put to real good use right now; Finance and Economics, did I really major in that? Although, if I hadn't picked that as my course of study I would've missed out on being friends with another awesome group of people.  First there's the crazy boys (one of which I was lucky enough to make my boyfriend) from Laux hall to 9th and pine and beyond, I wouldn't trade the memories made with these boys for the world.  Again, they've spread themselves across the country, making it difficult for me, but I was lucky enough to see a few. Thanks in part to my side trip to Minnesota.  Speaking of Minnesota that's where I was also able to meet up with some old DSP friends (yes, I was also in a business fraternity in College).  Even if it was just lunch, and I failed to take any pictures, I was happy to be able to see them. 

Being a tourist in Minnesota

In a final attempt to see any friends I may have missed I threw a party at my house the night before heading to the airport.  I kind of hate planning parties so I made minimal efforts in doing so, basically put out a facebook event and reminded those that I really cared to see.  Thankfully my mom loves to be organized and entertain (even if she complains while doing it) so everything came together quite nicely.  Only problem is I completely failed at taking pictures of the people who attended, oops.  Anyway, thanks to those that came and to those I wasn't able to see - well hopefully i'll be back again soon, but if not my floor here is always welcome for visitors! 

Although this blog was an ode to my friends back home I couldn't finish it off without a quick note and shout out to two of my friends here in Korea. Both of which were there for me hours within my being back in the country.  First thanks to Jaewon for meeting me at the airport and putting me up for the night (thus having to avoid an additional 4 hours bus ride after 20 hours of travel). Also to Joonwoo for picking me up from the bus terminal and taking me home (saving me taxi fare and time). I'm a lucky girl to have such wonderful friends on both sides of the world. 

Good work boys, you carry that heavy luggage. 

Literally the airline even put a **HEAVY** tag on it, oops at least it wasn't over-weight ;)