JULY-DECEMBER 2005
Various activities, didn't keep a record at the time. My bad! :(
JUNE 2005
Went up to Ft Wayne the first weekend of the month to spend time with family and friends. I stuck around a little and was able to go to fencing practice on Monday night. So, it was fun to see those guys and hang out with them a little! Also got together with Andrea and Amy (separately), which is always nice! It was at this point that I started to seriously consider moving from Indy back to Ft Wayne. The feeling is that there will be more of a support system around me, and I also hope to have more luck at finding a job to keep me afloat.
Went back up a couple weeks later to celebrate Father's Day. I got Dad a tie with crosses patterned on it; bought it at the archabbey when I visited Jeremy a couple months beforehand. Brian got him a book, and we all chipped in for a new electric razor. Also stuck around for fencing again, so it was a nice extended weekend! During June 26-28, I drove down to St. Louis with Dad for some activities at the seminary. I got to meet a couple profs and the president, and it was all on the seminary's tab. Sweet...
Finally did a walking tour of the neighborhood, which includes the Benjamin Harrison house and the Morris-Butler house. Andrew, Katie, Becky, and I had fun walking around and having lunch downtown at Yats. It was very hot, but we survived and finished the afternoon by having an enjoyable round of Mario Party 3 at my apartment! That's always a good time, I guarantee. The night before the walking tour, Andrew came down to spend the night and we got to hang out with Matt and Michaela! They had plans to get together with my friend Jared up north at BW3, so we all went! It was so nice to see them, meet Jared's new girlfriend, and have a few beers.
MAY 2005
Kept applying for jobs, both locally in Indy and library jobs across the country. No luck, unfortunately! I did make it into the final round of candidates for Calvin College, and heard from several other places. I also interviewed in person at Concordia Mequon, and stopped by Concordia River Forest on my way home.
Went to Heidi's game night on May 8, I held my own get-together on May 21. Also went to Katie's birthday party on May 17, which was held at the South Bend Chocolate Cafe down on the Circle. Very fun, plus I got to see some people I hadn't seen in a while! Speaking of which, Jeremy was home from the seminary for a couple weeks and I saw him on May 19, when we went to check out Revenge of the Sith together!
APRIL 2005
Along with spending time with my family in Ft Wayne, I spent the first weekend in April hanging out with friends. I got to meet up with Amy for some mini-golf -- we met on LJ, and I had only seen her in person one other time so it was nice to be able to get to know her a little better. I got together with my friend Amanda, whom I hadn't seen in three years! She's a beautiful young woman now, both inside and out. I was still thinking of the girl I met when she took fencing class five or six years ago, and she's definitely grown up! Good for her. Also saw Sin City with folks from the fencing club, and had lunch with Andrea before I left town. Good times, indeed.
I had people over for another get-together on Sat, April 9. This worked out well because Andrew's birthday is on April 10! So, we all got to celebrate his birthday and have some fun together. We played poker, Taboo, Barbarossa, and had a great time just hanging out and talking. Andrew, Ruth, her boyfriend David, Heidi, Katie, her friend Dan, and Daniell all showed up -- yay! The highlight of the evening was probably the very beginning, when Andrew and I went over to the Herron lawn to play Frisbee and people eventually joined us. It was fun running around and hollering at each other while dodging sculptures, potholes, and dog doo!
MARCH 2005
Got together with Ruth for dinner at the Elbow Room downtown the first week of the month, we had fun walking around and catching up. Another time, she came over to help me hang up pictures on the wall. She's a good friend! I also had a grand old time with Daniell on St. Patrick's Day -- we went to a bar in Broad Ripple, drank green beer, and played some pool. Awesome.
People came over for game night on Sat, March 12. It was a pretty low-key affair -- only Daniell, Becky, and Andrew were able to make it. We still had fun, though! The next day, Andrew and I drove to Columbus to see Emilie and her boy Johannes. We went to church, and had lunch with her friend Alex at Fazoli's. Very fun! Since I hadn't been feeling well on Saturday and stayed up late with Andrew the night before, I wanted to close my eyes for a couple minutes at one point and try to "rejuvenate." Johannes came upstairs and ran around playing with toys, and eventually got up on the bed with me. He snuggled down on my "roly poly" tummy for a few mintues, which was very sweet. We both were resting for about five minutes when Emile came upstairs and cracked up at the sight! She denied us any "cute points" and put Johannes in the crib, though I was pleased to see he turned around and made a grab for his "nap buddy" before getting pulled away by his Mami. Always nice to feel appreciated, even as a human pillow! Ha, ha!
I went to Emilie's game night in Columbus on Friday, March 19. I also got to see Dorothy again, which was very cool. We actually ended up not playing any games, everyone was busy talking and watching the myriad children running around. On Sat, Dorothy, Emilie, and I went with their kids to the Easton Town Center to shop and hang out. I treated the ladies to lunch, and we checked out different shops. I think the highlight was going into Relax the Back and seeing Emilie hanging upside down in a contraption that's supposed to stretch out the natural compression of the spine! I tried it too, it was fun. On Sunday, I celebrated Palm Sunday with her and Johannes, and I even got to read the part of Jesus out loud when we did the Passion reading. Busting out the Aramaic, oh yeah! We had brunch afterward with Keith and Melanie, and Dorothy came over for a while as well. I headed back to Indy that evening, after a very nice weekend.
I was sick for Easter, but made it up to Ft Wayne the next week (on the evening of Thursday, March 31). Had fun with my family, we had a belated Easter dinner and I even got an Easter basket. Yay! Also had a couple phone interviews during March, but nothing has solidified on the job front yet. Please keep me in your thoughts and prayers!
FEBRUARY 2005
My friend Andrea was recently offered a job up in Ft Wayne at her old workplace, and she took it to be closer to her now-fiancé. So, I helped her and her dad move furniture out of her apartment, and wished her well on her last day in Indy. Kinda sad, but I'm sure we'll be able to get together in FW.
David and his girlfriend Lindsay came over to watch the Super Bowl with me, which was fun. Also got together for lunch with various people, which is always nice. Heidi and her roommate hosted a game night at their apartment, which I was cordially invited to. I also had Katie, Ruth, and Jessica M. over one evening to watch Ray. Game night was also very cool, eight people showed up! That's a bigger total than I've had for a while, and I got to meet Dorothy in person (another LJ user I had become acquainted with). Matt, Michaela, and Andrew all spent the night and we went to service at Our Savior Lutheran Church in the morning. We got in a few rounds of Mario Party 3 on the old N64, and had a great time. It was neat to be able to hang out with everybody, and spend that extra time with the three of them. (More pictures coming in the near future, have to finish the roll!) Jessica T. also came by to help me move my game table, and we spent an hour or chatting. Good times.
The big event for the month was going down to St. Meinrad with Ruth on February 12 to see Jeremy in his new environment. He is studying to become a Roman Catholic priest, and he showed us around campus. It was a gorgeous day, and we did a lot of walking around. We got to see Jeremy's room, classrooms, chapels, and even got the key to get into the highly ornate Chapter Room that the monks use. (The second-to-last photo below was taken by me lying on the floor to get a decent shot of the ceiling.) It was great to see him and what he's up to, and it was also nice to be able to hang out with Ruth and have some good conversations with her.
JANUARY 2005
Rang the new year in at my apartment in Indianapolis because I wanted to make sure everything was cleaned up by the start of 2005. Ruth and and her boyfriend Lew came by shortly after, and he spent the night on my couch. The next day, Ruth and Heidi came over to watch Willow, which was a lot of fun! I also ordered a new printer at the start of the year because my old one was giving me problems, and decided to go all out and get a Dell Photo All-In-One Printer 962. It's pretty sweet -- it is a fast inkjet printer, a scanner with an automatic document feeder, a photocopier, and a fax machine! Neat, huh?
Among other things, I had friends over for the Colts playoff game. David, his friend Kali, Ruth, her friend Jackie, and her boyfriend Lew all came over to watch! Before that, I had gone over to David's with people to watch The Lord of the Rings extended DVDs, and to play LOTR Trivial Pursuit. Very fun, I assure you. I also assisted Ruth in helping to "rescue" Jessica when she needed to get out of town for a while, so she came to hang out in Indy. Game night on Jan 14 was fun, as it always is, and I got to meet Becky and Jackie that evening. The other noteworthy event I can think of was going out with Ruth on Jan 31 to help her pick out a new car. We had a lot of fun test-driving stuff, and she eventually settled on a 2004 Chevy Cavalier.
I did have some bad days, depression and anxiety are slowly getting better but they are still problems that I need to contend with. Didn't make it up to Ft Wayne for Mom's birthday because I wasn't feeling well, which was sad. Also missed getting together with friends a couple times, and didn't get as much progress done on the job hunt as I would have liked. Still, I am optimistic overall. 2005 is my year, baby!
