One last goodbye

Because we're just saying goodbye to somebody every single day, we got to say goodbye to our friend Jenny one last time. Ian has already gone, but Jenny celebrated with friends for one last time. Leigh and I didn't stay for supper because Mia was having - how should we say this? - a little bit of a rough day. We will miss you, Petersons.

Goodbye, Petersons

Yet another set of friends - another! - moved out of town. This time, we said goodbye to our pals Ian and Jenny Peterson. It was a sad day. But the goodbye party was pretty darn fun. There was a moon bounce. It was amazing/dangerous. Highlights: our friend getting karate kicked flat and our friend Stacy telling me, "Keep bouncing!" when I was screaming in fear. The night was capped off by Jenny giving a goodbye speech.

Toga! Toga! Toga!

My friends Kristen and Kay (first picture) turned 30, so what better way to celebrate than a toga party? It was so, so, so much fun.


And, of course, we had to go to IHOP. The best part: all these college kids asked us what school we went to! YES! Take that, 30!

Rebecca and AJ get married!

We had the best, best, BEST time last night at Rebecca and AJ's wedding! Best time. Seriously. We danced until 2 in the morning and celebrated a really special couple. It was wonderful.

Leigh with the lovely bride:

Stacy photo-bombing our picture:

The Stacy-free picture:

Ian and James after obviously doing something mischievous:

Elizabeth and me being awesome:

Leigh doing his usual "take-the-picture-before-anyone-is-ready" gig:

The real picture:

Me sweating like an animal after shaking it on the dance floor for literally hours:

Proof that the Rines can dance:

Amazing ladies, from left, me, Toni, Rebecca, Jenny and Traci:

Ian snapped this photo of me being indecisive:

This video is dark, but it's so great. Turns out, AJ's and James's milkshakes bring all the boys to the yard.

The Jacobs on Ice

It's a rare occasion when I can do something better than a one Leigh Jacobs. That's why I was so, so, so excited to go ice skating. You see, Africans don't often go ice skating. I've only been maybe five times in my life, and this was still four times more than Leigh had been. It was a small victory for me. I've been waiting for payback since the first time Leigh and I went to the batting cages when we were very first dating. Leigh hit line-drive after line-drive, while I struck out repeatedly. I'd been playing softball since I was 5 years old. Leigh had been playing softball since that very minute. Jerk. So, really, this ice skating trip saved our marriage.

We went with our friends Ian and Jenny. They're from Michigan, so of course they are super amazing at ice skating and then claim that they're "not that good" before doing synchronized double axles. They were so nice and helpful. They had much better manners than I did. But by the end of the night, Leigh had the hang of it. I was still faster. Take that, husband!

The P+D Pub Crawl

We had the BEST TIME last night with our friends at the Second Annual Pump and Dump Pub Crawl. The name wasn't exactly accurate this year, but it was too good to get rid of.

Harry Potter and friends

Last night Leigh and I nerded it up at the premier of the seventh Harry Potter movie. (I wrote a column about the whole extravaganza.) Mia celebrated the opening of the movie by hanging out at home with my mom. Some day she'll love Harry Potter, but not just yet.


We went with friends Jenny Peterson and Megan Elliot. As if we weren't awesome enough, we had shirts. And let me just say this: people thought they were really cool. I don't know if being the coolest dork in the room means much, but it was still nice that people appreciated them.