I have several pictures to post from our trip to Michigan. I'm actually a bit disappointed with most of the pictures I took. I've noticed that there are several people I didn't even get decent pictures of. I'll have to make sure I do better next time.

Well, of course I have many pictures of Mike's new baby brother, Dylan, since meeting him was one of the biggest reasons we chose to visit when we did. He is incredibly beautiful.


I got to hold him and feed him... it was pretty cool.


I think one of the best things about the vacation was getting to spend time with Mike's little sister, Mandy. She's very cool. I've always been a bit intimidated by her. She's extremely smart and athletic and beautiful. And she's great with Dylan. We'd never really talked much before and to be honest, I thought she didn't like me very much. You know, she and Mike are fairly far apart in age and Mike grew up and moved away so when she does get to see him she wants all of his attention and I used to think she would probably prefer that I weren't there.


Visiting Onsted was awesome. It's so peaceful and relaxing there. The first night we took Mandy to see a movie and then laid on a blanket in the front yard watching for shooting stars. It was one of the best nights of my life.


Two days before we left to come back we went to Cedar Pointe (an amusement park in Ohio). This picture was taken in this huge suburban, Nick's friend Travis, drove. It seats, like ten, I think. We had a lot of fun in the car and the whole day there. Mike's friend, Tim (from cross-country, who went on his first bike trip with him) came with us. I know Mike was really happy to spend time with him. I tried to get some cool shots of the roller coasters and lights at night but they didn't turn out so good.

Our second day there, Mike drove me out to Ypsi to drop me off. While we were there we took a drive over to see our old house. My mom and Ray are still trying to sell it so they gave us a key so we could look around. It was strange to be there.

Anyway, on our way back we passed Mark Maynard's studio and noticed that there was some crazy artwork going on, on the outside of the building, so we pulled in to take a closer look.

I think it's pretty cool.

And by the way, if you haven't already, you should go to Mark's website and read about his night out with Chuck last week. It's really funny. I laughed... I almost cried.

Being in Ypsi was not quite as relaxing as being in Onsted. Especially the two days I spent with my friend Crystal and her three year old daughter. We ran around like crazy the whole time. I met her new boyfriend and got to sit in on all of the Ypsi drama that is her life. Drama, drama, drama. It made me thankful I got out of that place.

But I still miss her. She took me to get my hair cut (nine inches! One more and I could have donated it to locks for love, Darn.) and she took me out dancing and got me drunk. Just like old times. It was fun.

My Sister, Emily, left on Sunday, while we were there, to head out to Miami. She's starting grad school there this fall. I got to spend the night with her and help her pack... actually I didn't help much, but I did keep her company while she packed. We stayed up all night talking and slept in the same bed... it was nice. I miss those bonding moments.

Mike came to Ann Arbor on Friday to meet my Dad, step-mom, all the step-sibs, Emily and I for dinner. It was the first time We've all been together in a very long time.

Although it was cool to see everyone it would have been great to get some one-on-one time with my dad. Unfortunately this was the only time I saw him the entire trip.

This is Eva. She is innocent and sweet and amazingly perfect in every way.

Eva is my bestfriend, Jenny's youngest daughter. When I moved she was just beginning to walk and now at 18 mos. She's starting to talk. She's amazing. My day with Jenny was one of the best of the whole trip. We went shopping and it poured rain outside while she helped me pick out cool hippie shirts at Ethnic Creations, then we talked while I watched her make and amazing dinner, and we ended the night with some really strange movie her husband picked out. It was completely relaxing and everything I've been missing and needing so much since I've been here. Just to have a woman that I really connect with and can share anything with and who really understands everything about me is so important; there's just no substitute for that kind of friendship. When she first pulled up in my mother's drive way to pick me up she looked like and Angel. She'd been holding on to a tiny bit of pregnancy weight for a while but when she got out of the car she was so slim and hip in her hippie top and bell-bottom jeans, her hair had gotten really long again and was all wavy and blowing in the wind. I was so happy to see her. And instantly reminded of how gorgeous she is. I wish we could've spent more time together but she was out of town most of the week when I was there. I miss her already. I really wanted to just bring her home with me.

Another great highlight of the trip was going blueberry picking with my mom and grandmother; something we've been doing every August for a few years now. I know my mom was pretty disappointed that she didn't get to spend more time with me. Yes, yet again, another person I didn't get to spend enough time with. I have a feeling no matter how long we visit for, it will never be long enough.

Poor moms... they never get what they deserve.


All in all, visiting Michigan and then coming home to California really made me realize how much California actually feels like home to me now. It's strange since I really haven't been here that long. I guess I just imagined going back to Michigan to be much different. I had visions of bumping into people I hadn't seen in a while and them saying "hey! How are you? I heard you moved to L.A., how is it?" but nothing like that happened at all. I didn't bump into anyone, and nothing from Michigan has really changed, just me... I've changed. None of them will really understand what it's like for me to live here.