Live Laugh Lynch: October 2010

When looking for churches here in PA for John and I to start getting involved with, I came across a very familiar name.......Saints Simon and Jude in West Chester, PA! I wondered how it would compare to my own Saints Simon and Jude in Phoenix that I attended grades 1-8 and had such a fantastic experience. So we decided to give it a try a few weeks ago and guess what...its like a little piece of home! Pulling up, the school looks exactly the same..red one story brick buildings. The church is huge and has a large family following. The people are all very welcoming, and THEY SING THE SAME SONGS! lol. So we have been three times since. John thought at first all the 'sitting, standing, kneeling, and constant signs of the cross with repeating words after the priest' was interesting but since he has now attended quite a few masses with me he is really liking the services. Who knows, maybe my kids will be Saints Simon and Jude graduates one day too! ; )

John and I are just blessed to be able to attend two weddings on back to back weekends of such great friends (as most of you know..I love weddings and wedding planning!). This time we took a road trip through northern Pennsylvania on our way to Turning Stone Resort and Casino near Syracuse, NY for Sarah Hanover's wedding- a great college friend of mine that I played soccer with at StonyBrook University. Again, most of you know, if John and I have any excuse for a road trip..we jump on it! I love love to take random drives- hence my 4 times across country, random Sunday drives with Ash in college, and driving to Kansas City for Lauren's wedding. I think I definitely inherited that from my mom...when I tore my knee in the middle of Phoenix's hottest summer and didn't want to leave the house with my GIGANTIC hot brace on, she would either lay with me in bed and we would watch sports/reality tv or she would take me on drives all around the outskirts of town. I guess its the little things we remember most. (Not like when she was crying when dropping me off at rehab because it was the first time I was able to walk in without crutches..you would think I was walking into Kindergarten!). Lol.
So back to the wedding weekend...On our way up it was beautiful since the fall foliage was just changing and the colors were picturesque. We stopped for lunch in Jim Thorpe, PA and ate at The Inn at Jim Thorpe. Very cute and amazing food! The town is an old railroad town that you can take train rides to and from and they have a river that runs near the track. Lots of shops, antiques..reminded me of a cross between Prescott and Flagstaff.
We then made it to the resort and met up for dinner with one of my great college friends from the team, Krisha and her husband Rob! We decided to eat at their Brazilian steakhouse, little did we know we would be leaving there three hours later having ate 12 ROUNDS of different MEATS! haha I thought you would chose two but they just kept coming. By the end it was comical and we were all laughing that we just ate about 5 years worth of meat! But it was definitely an experience and would do it again..just less rounds!
We then tried our hand at a few 1 cent slots- I think I won 15 dollars!
Wedding day was sunny and beautiful! The ceremony was in a stunning old brick Catholic church in Syracuse, NY and then back to the resort for the reception!
Reception was a ton of fun and after...gambling! John tried his hand at black jack and only lost 5 dollars so we were proud of him!
It was a great weekend, loved seeing old friends and how happy Sarah is with Andy and wish them a beautiful life together!
On our way home, we stopped over for a few minutes in the Pocono Mountain area of PA and ate at Jubilee restaurant that has been family owned and running for over 40 years- know for their wings!
We wish we could see all our old friends on a regular basis- its great to catch up but times flies! Hopefully more weddings are in the near future!

JIM THORPE, PA