Happy Independence Day America

Otsego Lake

apple pie

fishing spot

full moon out my barrack

Cider Mill, 'Merica

Happy 4th everyone!!! Today I got up after having an overnight (if there are any girl players we take turns, as interns, sleeping in the barracks with them and get paid to sleep :) ) and I had the morning off.  I worked out, I still hate people looking at me and I miss the gym dearly but you do what you've got to do.  It's really humid here but I'm also getting used to that too.  After a workout Frankie and I took a trip to Fly Creek Cider Mill.  Pops (his name is Ron and he's an older guy that works with us) let us take his car so we drove there.  They have dozens of samples of lots of goodies like fudge, apple butter, syrup and other stuff from New York.  We ate there too and I have a spinach salad with grilled chicken, first time I've seen spinach since May.  It was yummy!!! We stopped at TOPS market so I good grab some berries and nuts and came back before I worked an afternoon shift engraving bats. I'm getting the hang of that too and have gotten to be pretty fast at engraving those and baseballs.  It was weird not doing anything special for the 4th.  All of your texts, calls, and pictures about the 4th were all so cute.  Wish I were with any of you to enjoy it but that's okay, I got to celebrate by living in a country that allows me the opportunity to have a job of my choosing!

Trevor and his Southern food on his birthday

just fishin'

    So this past weekend I went to the Farmers Market on Saturday. Frankie and I bought a whole wheat apple pie to split because it looked really good, we still have some too.  And a guy gave me a free, delicious peach.  Too bad I can't buy the produce and cook with it.  On Sunday I went fishing in the morning with Richie.  We just went behind one of the fields by the railroad tracks and listened to country music and fished.  My first cast of the season I caught a fish followed by 2 more fish that day.  Richie didn't catch anything.  Thanks dad for teaching me how to fish.  The whole morning the lyrics "she can't even bait a hook" were going through my head as a was cutting worms and baiting the hook.  That afternoon we hung out with Trevor and went to Cooley's, a pub in Cooperstown for lunch.  Of course I had french fries (half sweet potato and half regular).  We then ended up taking an unplanned trip across the Pennsylvania border and had Waffle House; I'd never been there before.  It was Trevor's birthday too so that's what we did while listening to more country music.

Richie's massive Waffle House dinner

       Yesterday I work I met the cousins of family friends of ours from Mississippi.  When I work the register in the souvenir shop I have to check IDs when people use credit cards and this lady had the last name of "Artigues" so I told her about the family I knew and she was like "those are our cousins."  Matthew Artigues came and stayed at our house 3 years ago for a baseball tournament that was in Salt Lake for the week.  He became another brother for the week and his parents were out too.  It's such a small world.  I also met a few boys from Denver, one of whom plays hockey for a 12U team for DU.  his goal is to play D1 hockey for the pioneers one day.  How crazy that he and I skate on the same ice? Being out here has really made me realize how connected we all are.  You might as well live a happy, peaceful life with no enemies because you never know who you're aggravating.
    Christian Bennett leaves tomorrow on his mission.  I'll miss my best friend.  I've known him since sophomore year when we did HOBY together and then MUN and then continued to be friends and were Coke scholars together senior year and throughout this past year when I visited him at Harvard.  He's always been someone to talk to and navigate this crazy thing called life.  I'll never forget talking on the phone till 3 in the morning on May 1, 2011 both trying to decide where we wanted to go to college.  He was choosing between 2 schools just like me and we eventually both decided our schools and couldn't have been happier.  Bye Christian!
     New things I've tried:  grits, had my first lottery ticket (didn't win), and Carolina BBQ pork.  

my trip to the grocery store

I continue to learn a lot about life being out here.  I have friends here who have never traveled out of the timezone.  That astonishes me.  I feel like traveling has played a major contribution in my life.  I'm so grateful to have traveled since I was little.  I know, I know mom "most people haven't been near the places I've been in their whole lives and they're your grandparents ages and you're only 19"; well I'm a very fortunate 19 year old and I wouldn't trade it for the world.  I also know one guy here who's dad can't read or write.  That's something I never thought I'd know personally.  Just daily I'm continually amazed by the people I meet. Some little 12 year olds how have never seen a cassette tape or a portable CD player (I didn't think I was THAT old, ha.)
    Life is incredible.  I've definitely adapted to being out here more. Once you realize this is how it's going to be and you can't change it, you learn to embrace it.  Why not right?  It's such a learning experience for myself and others. Every day is like a case study learning new things.

Taryn's gluten free care package she sent

    God bless America.  I'm so thankful to live in this great country.  I'm so thankful for the men and women who are fighting for our country day after day in big ways and small ways.  Take the time to make new friends because you'll never know how much you can learn from them. Take time to give people hugs because you might not know how long it's been since a person has experienced one.  Take time to laugh, and snort :)   Thanks again for all the letters, gluten free good packages (Taryn), texts, calls and snapchats.  I really love hearing from you.  Life is beautiful!