Backlogged blogging

I'm glad that I did not set a goal on how many times I would update my blog because I'm sure I would have let myself down by now. My goal was to blog when the mood struck... well, the mood has struck but I haven't had the chance to sit down and write. I'm home all weekend and I will catch up on blog posts I have saved in my head.

Purely by accident, I got to front load my "summer" travel this year containing most airline travel to May. (Fingers crossed, I may not be on a plane again until August or even November! I know the friendly skies will miss me.) My first trip of the summer included heading to St. Louis for my friend Erika's wedding.

This is obviously not a picture of us at her wedding, but lo and behold, my friend Kate is the only one who has a picture of me and the bride on her camera. But Erika is also a fellow two-time Mizzou alum (same graduate program!) and this is us at one of our favorite holidays: Homecoming!

Erika and I have known each other since my junior year, her senior year at Mizzou. I am pretty sure we were introduced while she was wearing a pink toga for Greek Week Royalty 2005 (I then followed in her footsteps and was on Greek Week Royalty 2006). At that first official meeting (we probably crossed paths before that), we decided we were awesome and should be friends. While we met in college, Erika and I stayed friends through graduate school (she was a few semesters ahead of me) but I feel our friendship really took hold when she joined the staff at Pi Beta Phi Headquarters while I was working at William Woods University. That was yet another connection we shared (a passion for fraternities and sororities) and a beautiful professional friendship was born. Erika has since changed jobs but is still in higher ed, but is still an excellent life coach for me!

An added bonus of her wedding weekend was getting to travel with our friend Kate (you're welcome for introducing you both!) and to show Kate my hometown of Waterloo, IL.

It is always fun showing my friends where I grew up and my parents served as excellent hosts and tour guides. Lunch at a local tavern that has been in Waterloo for years, an afternoon at the winery and then dinner at a bar and grill where I used to work. And let's not forget the pitstop by urgent care on the way to the wedding for my spider bite. Awesome. (In and out in 45 minutes with a creme and meds. All good!)

Erika's wedding was an awesome affair in Tower Grove Park in the city. While it was hotter than the hinges on the gates of hell in St. Louis that weekend, we did not let it spoil our fun. We had a table full of Mizzou people/connections and of course we danced the night away. Obviously, I decided to capitialize on the seeing friends I hadn't seen in awhile and continue the fun after the wedding. Kate made the responsible decision to go back to the hotel and sleep for a few hours before our 7 a.m. flight the next morning, but of course, I roll in at 3 a.m. Excellent choices. Fortunately, we were able to hop an earlier flight from ATL-RIC (I swear the Delta Assist lady took pity on us) but this was only after I asked Kate to drag me through the airport with my good arm.

Backlogged blogging continues soon with "Always a Bridesman..." and "The Best Job Ever" soon to come!