Southern Charm: St. Patti's Day Weekend

The people I usually talk to every day live the furthest away from me.

That's what going away to college does to you.

College forces you to live really close to people; people that you don't know.

College forces you to share a 3-sink, 3-toilet, 3-shower bathroom with 27 other girls. College forces you sleep in room with someone whose sleep habits do not match your own.

Hope you didn't feel this way about your roommate!

College forces you to become close to people in the shortest amount of time ever. College forces you to make the friends that you've been looking for all your life.

Then college makes you graduate. College splits you up from the four (or five or six) years of people it's been forcing you to be with. At least that's how I feel.

After a long span of time with zero road trips due to my lack of car, I headed up to Caroline County on Friday to spend the weekend with Patti and Ben.

Patti is one of those people college forced on me! I met her freshman year after knowing nothing about her except what was visible on her Facebook and that she was going to be on of the girls living in my suite sophomore year in Chandler Hall.

I wonder what each of us would have said if you told us then that we'd spend the next 3 years living near or with each other and being nearly inseparable; that 5 years later we'd still be friends.

Patti and me!

When college introduced me to Patti, I'm not sure that it intended on introducing her family to me but I'm glad it happened. I absolutely adore them!

Anyway, Ben, Patti's boyfriend, was the one who actually invited me up to visit with them since I hadn't seen them since December! It just so happened that the weekend he invited me up for was the weekend that Patti's oldest brother, Eddie was home from Hawaii, where he is stationed in the Army.

It was a lucky (luck of the Irish, perhaps?) coincidence because a) I hadn't seen Eddie in ages, b) I got meet his girlfriend Jess, and c) there was cause to celebrate, which means PARTY!

Which means food.

Green Deviled Eggs! Patti's idea!

Pasta Salad!

Which means family.

Patti and her brothers!

Which means fun.

One of the many lawn games being played.

On Sunday after regaining our energy and attending Mass, I got to introduce Ben and Patti to the amazingness that is Sweet Frog! They were so excited even our trip to Sweet Frog included me getting rear-ended at a stop sign! No worries, everything and everyone was okay. Frozen yogurt made us feel better!