• Rented a House
• Received 1st place in 2D for my photo in Beadlemania
• Discovered I didn’t like alcohol, only the fruity stuff in mixed drinks
• I found out I like juice
• Became a Mary Kay independent beauty consultant
• Worked at my favorite place of employment
• Gained a sister-in-law
• Later gained a brother-in-law, three sisters-in-law, and parents-in-law
• Took a summer class – Zoology – and enjoyed it
• Finished Harry Potter
• Acted in a traveling children’s show
• Posed for many more photos than I ever want to for the rest of my life
• Visited Philly
• Modeled and animated a 3D character
• Wrote this letter to Andrew Wilson
• Began creating monthly wallpapers
• Was in the top two for a great job and didn’t get it, triggering the beginning of no graphic design openings in a 50 mile radius
• Gave one of two student speeches at graduation
• Graduated a semester early, summa cum laude
• Fell in love with Albie
• Started a “favorite songs” blog posting excursion and failed to complete it
• Cheered on my fiance as he applied for and obtained employment with a company I’ve wanted to be a part of
• Took a painting class and decided I mega-loathe it
• Spent Christmas away from home
• Got married
• Died a little
• I kid!
• Acted dead
  
• Began responding to a new last name
• Vacationed to the happiest place on earth with the only man on earth that makes me happiest
• Owned a TV bigger than 27″
• Thoroughly enjoyed the company of an 18 month old
• Gained a permanent roommate
• Was unemployed for over 2 months
• Detached from the MilesRausch.com blogs
• Watched an entire Season (and then some) of LOST in less than 48 hours

Wow, I guess I had a lot going on in the past year…!

We stayed at Miles’s aunt Karin’s place in Sioux Falls on Thursday night; since our flight was at 5:45am, we didn’t want to wake up an hour earlier to drive to the airport from Madison, and she was kind enough to let us stay in her unoccupied rooms. We got there late, and consequently got little sleep.

The next morning we flew to Philly, with a 90 minute layover in Minneapolis/St. Paul and arrived at 1:30pm. Twenty minutes before we landed, I got severe sinus pressure and could feel it in my jaws, like last August when I had a sinus infection. So I was hoping it would go away when I could get to some medicine in my luggage. We hadn’t eaten since our layover at 8:00am, but neither of us were really hungry. Lindsey picked us up and we were on our way. When Bryce got home, we went to pick up wings, and iced fruit drinks (kind of like Tropical Sno). I got carsick on the way back and threw up about 1/4 mile from the apartment. (I was able to not get any on the car. I’m awesome.) I felt much better.

The next day we went out on the town. We walked around Philly; went to the LOVE park and other sites like the Liberty Bell and Chinatown. It was a beautiful day. For lunch, we had real Philly Cheese Steaks. I couldn’t eat all of mine, too much sandwich for me. That night we went to the Franklin Institute of Science [I'm not entirely sure that's what it's called]. There, we saw a video on The Secrets of the Pharaohs in IMAX and the King Tut exhibit. I’m sad to report that King Tut’s remains were not there. However, using forensic science [Lindsey!] they created what he might have looked like. And to be honest, I thought he looked eerily like David. Which is awesome, because David was cast as the boy king in a short play Miles wrote for the Freshman Showcase. Maybe he’s Tut in an afterlife. How exciting! My only regret for the day is not walking up the Rocky steps…but we couldn’t get there because a stage was being set up in front of it and such.

Late that night we had Italian and some good laughs. Sunday morning we went to Church, had a sandwich at Wawa’s, and had ice cream at a place similar to Cold Stone. Bryce and Lindsey dropped us off at the airport. Our flight was delayed a little over an hour, and delayed in Minneapolis/St. Paul as well, making our arrival to Madison quite late [or early, this morning].

All in all, it was a great trip and it was good to see Bryce and Lindsey again. Thanks for letting us stay with you! See photos here.