Megula

Do you remember when we thought that was a good nickname for you, Meg?

I think I prefer Meg.

It’s always interesting to think how friendships start. Meg and I met in Richmond Hall in 2004. The first conversation we ever had was on the floor of my room, 503, talking about our upcoming RA interviews.

 

We then went on to be RAs on different sides of campus. We went through a bit of separation anxiety, so we had sleepovers often.

We would meet under the Lecture Hall so one of us didn’t have to walk the whole way alone – in the dark – on a sometimes creepy campus.

We celebrated our 21st birthdays.

We would go sledding at the Hampton Mansion. And if we didn’t have a sled, we borrowed a little kid’s who was there. No kidding.

Went to 63 different conferences.

We did yoga in the HRL office.

After we graduated, I was in Meg’s wedding. We now live 7 hours apart. We Skype every Tuesday. And now as Meg is ready to have her first baby, I’m getting excited about being Auntie Jenna.

Meg and I were reminiscing about our college days, and we laughed very hard. I’m talking deep belly laughs that lead to tears. I thought I’d include a few memories here.

Keeping in mind these are Facebook wall posts back and forth. Dating back to 2006ish.

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Meg: you're such an alcoholic jenna. is that your first selfish thought? i say "secret plan" and you say "alcohol"? why does it have to been about you and your addictions?

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Me: oh meg....do I ever NOT have stories? – still so very true

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Meg: EXCUSE ME! HELLO? WERE YOU NOT THERE LAST NIGHT WHEN I DANCED AROUND YOUR ROOM AND DECLARED WAR ON HER-who-does-not-deserved-to be-named!!!!!!!!!
how could you answer back? how could you!?! you are so in trouble. you're on PROBATION

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Meg: Jenna, if you don't talk to me soon i will photoshop your face onto milkcartons and put out an amber alert. i'm serious.

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Meg: it's okay jb, i would probably have sneezed, bit my tongue, started gushing blood, tripped and fallen on my way running to the bathroom, passed out (because we both know i would hit my head whilst falling), and been found unconscious, covered in blood. lol.

remember, you are never alone in the world of clumsy accidents. even in that respect you and i are bonded for life--like penguins.

Me: It's practically impossible to look at a penguin and feel angry.

In present day, we were trying to figure out what this conversation was about. Here is our exchange about it:

Me: I’m guessing that was when I feel down the Tower A hill.

Meg: Or when you broke your toe…one of those 3000 times.

Me: Where did we come up with these crazy conversations?

Meg: We were most likely overly tired, behind on sleep, slightly wine drunk, and too busy with all the jobs we used to have to think straight.

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Meg:  dear jenna:
i know your road has been a little rough lately. by "a little" i mean herculean task type road where boulders the size of small whales seem to crash down upon you whenever you make even the slightest centimeter of distance forward (i suppose technically every centimeter is the same size, but you get my point)...what I'm trying to say is that i noticed it was a full moon tonight, so do you want to uh...make out or something?

I should now tell the story of the full moon. Meg and I were walking on campus one night – it had to be sophomore year and it was a giant full moon. I said something like, “wow, that’s beautiful! I feel like we need to remember this.” To which Meg responded, “Yea, like, do you want to make out or something?”. We laughed, and no we did not make out, haha.

Marc Bell would probably have a different ending to this story, but in actuality, it’s something we joke about to this day, every time there is a full moon. It’s almost a race to see who texts who first about the moon. I even told Kail that even though he was married to Meg, he could never take the full moons away from me. True story.

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We loved The Hills. We used to watch it in my room in Scarborough.

Meg: I thought we could invite Bordy and Monica.

Bordy would be our wine of choice.

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Meg spent the summer in Seattle.

Me: so i miss you. a lot. Please come back. I will start baking garlic bread today and start wafting to smell towards Seattle. Maybe that will entice you to come back.
Haha, have you ever heard of a more evil plan? I bet not.

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So as we processed this trip down memory lane, I was telling Meg about the expected snowstorm this week.

Meg: I'll send Waffles up with a sled, some wine and a shovel should you need it

Me: You know me so well - alcohol, fun and a puppy. I think you just summarized my life's dream.

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Then Meg rounded out the conversation with this one:

PS: I read your blog and your new friends look very nice, but i just sorta need you to let them know that you were mine first and so they can like you and everything but Jaime, Monica, Jen, Lauren and about ten thousand other people plus me have called dibs already in the best friend category. Then again, of everyone I know, you could probably have  10,007 best friends, so carry on, lol.

Thanks for letting me blog about this Meg – I love you!

I just remembered something

So I know I'm preaching to the choir when I say I've been insanely stressed this week. Between my RAs making poor choices, to attending programs every night, stressing out about the holidays, surviving my first Erie snowstorm and trying to make a dent in my to-do list, I just haven't been myself.

Meredith, Bekah and I are in the midst of planning Jenkahdith day tomorrow and part of that includes church. I then remembered a story from last weekend that just brought a positive spin to my day.

Meredith and I were at church last weekend and the homily was about thinking positively, looking for the good in situations and people, and being thankful for what you have. While listening to this, I was thinking how I should not be stressing over the things mentioned above because I am lucky that I have an amazing job, a loving family, and great friends to get me through my first Erie winter.

When we stood up after the homily, Meredith leaned over and said, "Jenna, I think you've given me that homily before."

I laughed and shrugged it off, but it quite possibly was the nicest and most genuine compliment I've ever received.

Oh, the game last night…

For Bri’s birthday, she wanted to watch the Ravens/Steelers game. Meredith did a wonderful job at planning the party. I was appointed Streamer Queen. It was a job I could handle.

Meredith went to Bri’s house while Bri and her family were out to dinner. We decorated and watched the rest of the Colts game. It was really a great time. Yes, I know the Ravens didn’t pick up a win. However today was Jersey Monday at work, so I was able to show my hometown pride :)

Here are the Res Life girls with Bri.

Make a wish!

Most of the party guests.

    Madison.

Meredith.

Typical me.

Bekah and Eric. 

Bekah, me and Meredith.   

Happy Birthday, Bri!

Back in Erie

I think a lot happened this week.

Let me try to remember.

Tuesday was Skype night! Meg, Jaime and I skyped for a while and it was AMAZING. It was the first time we all had talked since June! We also realized this was the first time we were all living in different states…so weird.

Wednesday I started physical therapy for my knee. I’m so glad I finally went. The doc said that my knee was grinding because there was literally no muscle on the inside of my knee. After the first time I tore my MCL, my inside muscle basically “gave up” and decided not to work for me anymore – thus making the outside muscle, quad and glut do all the work. It makes so much sense!! So we will be working on retraining my brain to use my inside muscle as well as doing exercises to build the muscle since it hasn’t been worked or used in over 10 years. I will be going twice a week for a while. But I’m actually ok with that. With the ice here, I need that muscle to be in tip top shape or I know I will tear my MCL again.

I also went to the dentist. Meredith gave me the name of her dentist to go to. I’m so glad she did. You may know that I do not…I repeat..do not like the dentist. Sometimes there are tears. So it was great to go to a dentist on a recommendation rather than luck. The hygienist and dentist were very nice. And no cavities! I think I will be getting my wisdom teeth taken out soon. More on that plan if it actually happens. The hygienist also persuaded me to keep my permanent retainer in forever. Oh joy.

It snowed this week!

 

I decorated for Christmas.

I had a minor catastrophe while doing laundry. Thank goodness for dustbusters.

 

And on Friday, Bekah, Meredith and I went to the Hanging of the Greens – the longest Behrend tradition since 1948. It marks the beginning of the Christmas season as well as remembering the Behrend family. It was a touching ceremony. Everyone squeezed into the Behrend Chapel at the Wintergreen Gorge Cemetery and sang songs of the season and listened to passages. No pictures this year. I’ll remember next year.

Today Meredith and I went to Claytopia to paint! It was a great way to spend a snowy Saturday. Tomorrow is Bri’s birthday party! And the biggest game of the season! So very excited :)

Wrapping up a crazy Thanksgiving week

This week went by so damn fast. I can’t believe I’ve been in Baltimore for a whole week.

Friday and Saturday went by as one giant day. We went to the playground a few time, cooked and baked with the kids, slept a little bit, and just enjoyed being together as a family – which only happens once every few years.

I’ll wrap up this post with a collection of unposted pictures from the trip.

 

And that concludes Thanksgiving 2010. Bring on Christmas.

Thanksgiving!

It was a crazy morning.

Two kids wanting to ride their new scooters in the house – which Mom somehow agreed to. Three dogs under foot who were not getting along. Two adults who didn’t know where anything was in the house, but trying so hard to help make breakfast. And me and my mom which is a show in itself.

I staked my claim on the couch to watch the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade – which if you didn’t know, is one of my top 5 favorite things in the world. Right behind daisies and snowflakes.

Mom had made our traditional breakfast of sausage and sauerkraut and joined us in the living room. After watching the parade together (which was Serra and Paul Frederick’s first time ever seeing the parade), we all started getting ready for the feast!

Mom and I took over in the kitchen and the family started getting ready. Making dinner this year was really seamless. In the middle of setting the table, Paul Frederick came running into the kitchen. Here was our conversation. Keeping in mind, Paul Frederick is 4 years old.

Paul: Jenna! Jenna! I broke it!

Me: Paul, honey, what did you break?

Paul: Your phone!

Me: Where did you get my phone? I thought it was upstairs in my room in my purse…

Paul: It was! I heard it singing, so I ran upstairs to get it. I had it in my hands and it stopped singing, and I said “Oh, shit!”

Me: ……………..

Paul: Shit, I broke it, Jenna.

Me: Paul Frederick, you did not break it. Do you know you said a bad word?

Paul: What, broke?

Then Aunt Carol explained to him not to talk like that. She was the guilty party who unintentionally taught him the word, so it was her responsibility to explain it to him. Phew.

So then Serra walks into the kitchen and I asked her if she brushed her teeth. She said she did it as soon as she woke up this morning. I asked her what bathroom she used. She said mine. I didn’t remember her toothbrush being in my bathroom, so I asked her what toothbrush she used. She said the pink one in the basket. Oh joy. That would be my toothbrush. And I definitely used it after her. Oh, family.

So finally dinner was starting to come together!

Here Mom is wrestling with the turkey.

 

The table before.

 

And filled with family and food after. The wine in front of mine and Serra’s plates is a Pink Catawba from the Northeast Wine Festival! Everyone loved it. Even Serra and Paul Frederick gave it a try.

My plate. Yum.

And after dinner, we had a photo session.

 

   

And that’s my family.

Happy Thanksgiving!