number 26?

number 26: spend time with a rat named ben. (yes ... a rat ... rodent ... yuck!)

if i were 26 and needed to add a 26th thing to my list this would be it. ben (the rat) and i have spent the past two weeks together. i love my house and have always wanted to live in an older house with "character" but i didn't really know this could possibly mean rats. our relationship started about two weeks ago when ben decided he wanted in the house ... scratching at the ceiling to the point i literally thought a hole would open up and he would fall through. i called the landlord and packed up and moved to mom's temporarily. over the past two weeks the landlord set numerous traps and i decided to NOT be chicken and move back in. since then ben has brought me many sleepless nights when he decides he wants to play with the traps at ... 3 AM!

well ... we FINALLY caught ben! i had a friend's husband come over to check the traps and the insulation that was coming from my vents and as he walked up the stairs to the attic there was ben ... caught in the trap! there was also insulation in the attic and a fist size hole in my duct work. AWESOME ... not! good thing i'm renting! long story short ... i hope ben is a loner and has NO friends and i hope the landlord solves this problem quick! the end.

back to things that matter. prior to the rat event i traveled north to spend some time with my dear friend wendy! i flew to philadelphia and stayed with wendy in princeton. we journeyed to nyc on saturday where we had lunch at a mexican resturant in hell's kitchen. of all the times i've been to nyc i've never heard of hell's kitchen. it's an area of the city full of resturants ... my kind of place! we joined some of her friends for lunch at a mexican resturant called el centro! it was so good! we then just walked around the city and eventually ended up at the met where we spent the afternoon! i really enjoyed it! we were also able to have dinner at another resturant in hell's kitchen with some sweet friends of mine from auburn ... lauren and daniel! they were in nyc for the weekend so we decided to meet up have dinner ... see a broadway show ... and of course eat some post-show cheesecake at juniors! even though we spent just a few hours together we had a great time! i'm truly blessed by their friendship!

wendy and i in central park

lauren and daniel at dinner in nyc!

and ... i was able to mark number 18 off my list!


number 18: see a broadway show/musical! check!

wendy and i at memphis! AMAZING show!

so glad lauren and daniel were there to help experience number 18! :)

while in nyc we were able to see the show memphis! it was amazing! to see as many broadway shows as possible is on my life list! maybe i should aim for one a year ... hmm ...

my trip up north was made complete with a visit to philadelphia to see my newly married cousins! wendy and i woke up sunday morning and drove to philly to have brunch with my cousins ... ciara and jt! it was a cold ... cold ... morning but i enjoyed the walk from their place to this cute cafe called the gold standard! it was delicious! ciara and jt were able to show us their little part of the city and i loved their apartment ... especially climbing the fire escape!

ciara and jt! love them!

best brunch ever! the gold standard in philly!

everyone going up the fire escape! HAH!

wendy and i concluded my trip with a nice trip to a church her professor planted followed by a nice dinner at the professors house with his family and other seminary students. i really enjoyed meeting and sharing a meal with some other seminarians (if that's a word)!

i'm seriously so thankful for wendy's friendship! not only is she one of my best friends ... but so much more. i'm word-less trying to describe what she means to me!

needless to say ... life has been eventful! i have more to updated about the list but i will save that for the next one! :) enjoy your saturday everyone!