Summer Vacation, pt. 4: Different name, still the same

You noticed I skipped Summer Vacation Part 3, did you? Our part 3 was going home to Kansas, but I'm trying to remember where I saved all of our pictures ... :) I'm sure I'll be able to find them - the computer's not that big. :)

So instead you'll get to meet my cousin Andy and his girlfriend Leigh. Andy is my dad's little sister's oldest son, and he's a year younger than me, a year older than Kristen. Growing up we always had the BEST time with our cousins. There are over 15 of us on my dad's side, and we're all pretty close in age, so we really enjoyed being together. But after high school, I moved to Utah to go to BYU, then went to Japan for a mission, Andy enlisted in the Navy, I came home and got married, Andy was stationed in Hawaii for 4 years ... we haven't seen each other very often. Imagine my excitement (nay, giddiness) to learn in July that he was moving to Jacksonville an hour away from my house! Luckily for me, Andy is well-accustomed to my giddiness, and was all too happy to oblige hanging out with me and Joel quite a lot. He's only been here a couple of months, but we've seen each other almost every week since he moved here. I can't tell you how much fun it is having family close by.

The coolest thing is that even though things have changed about us - I'm a Karpowitz now, not a Buhler (legally), and he has grown up and only goes by Andy to the family (it's "Andrew" to the rest of you), I'm still me, and he's still him, and we really get along. So, here's a picture:


Andy is a Navy airplane engineer. He took me on base near Jacksonville, and the plane behind us is the same kind my granddad used to fly during WWII (also a Navy man). Pretty cool, huh? Would you like to see a closer picture so you can see if there's any resemblance (remember, we're Buhlers - there's bound to be resemblance)?

Who's the third person with the great ability to take self shots? That would be Leigh, Andy's girlfriend. I love Leigh. She is fun, spunky, hilarious, outgoing, exciteable, and likes to live on the edge. They tried (unsuccessfully) to convince me to go sky diving ... "it's only scary the first time you go," they say, as if that's supposed to give me comfort??? No thanks. But, honestly, sky diving wouldn't seem all that scary if you're used to flying this:


That little thing with the skinny arms raised on either side is Leigh. She's a pilot in the Navy, and this is a plane that she has flown. Andy could tell me all about the hydraulics in this plane, and I just made little hydraulic noises with my mouth. I'm not really on the same level as the two of them when it comes to talking shop. I tried explaining that my job was about training, and facilitating training classes, helping people write training documents, and upholding hospitality standards ... and bored myself before I finished the sentence. But they were really nice anyway, and we had a great time at dinner:


Where was Joel during all of this you might ask? He was hanging out with friends from freshman year in Indianapolis. To read more about Joel in Indy, click here. When he got back in town, we headed straight back to Jacksonville for dinner and games with Andy and Leigh. Leigh made an incredible ham - it truly looked like a work of art before we ate it, and Andy made some amazing bread with nuts and fruit. So good!! We played Cranium and laughed so hard we cried several times. It was great to be together. Don't we look like we had fun?


We're happy Andy's here, and hope Leigh will be transferred from Hawaii soon. We're definitely looking forward to a Cranium re-match!