Consol Energy Center

This past Saturday, we went down to the open Penguins practice at the new Consol Energy Center with our friend Matt Dodd and had a great time! The new arena is awesome and we got to watch the scrimmage from seats we would probably never be able to afford! I was interviewed by a news anchor and made it on Channel 4 News Saturday night and Sunday morning, which means I am pretty much famous now!

DC and Annapolis!

We took a short getaway to Annapolis this past week and it was a great trip! We stayed over in DC with Abbie for the first night and got to see her new apartment and American University campus. Then we headed to Annapolis and met up with the McCubrey's for dinner and Connor's game that night. We enjoyed breakfast with them and then said goodbye. Nolan and I explored the city a little and took a narrated boat cruise, which was informative and fun! Abbie came back and spent the night with us. We enjoyed some delicious seafood! Here are some pictures from our trip:

Our hotel had an incredible view--right on the water! We ordered a huge seafood platter for dinner to share!

Lunch on the water

Downtown Annapolis

We all went to see Connor's game. The field was right on the water and it was a gorgeous night. Navy won the game which was exciting!

Boat tour of Annapolis

We were able to take Connor out to lunch before we left.

Miss this girl so much!

Summer Reading

Today is the first day of September, which means summer is pretty much over (although it's still in the nineties so it feels like summer!) I did a lot of reading this summer, and read some very good books! Here are the books I read, and would recommend!

This is a quick, but extremely powerful book about the holocaust, told from the perspective of a young child. The contrast of a child's perspective of incredibly serious things is very interesting and thought provoking. I highly recommend this book (and the movie based on it).

One of the best books I have ever read is by the same author as The Kite Runner so I finally decided to check out this book too. It was a very interesting look into the struggles of life in modern day Afghanistan. This book brings out a variety of emotions for readers: joy, laughter, sorrow, sadness. I highly recommend this one!

Think No Evil is a look inside the Amish community, and particularly the recent school house shootings, and the aftermath of this tragedy. I was very convicted as I read this book about forgiveness and I think that a look into Amish culture really helps us to understand what true forgiveness looks like.

There has been a lot of hype around this series of books, so I had to dive in and see what it was all about. I have to admit I had a hard time getting into it, but powered through and finished. I eventually got into the story and really enjoyed getting acquianted with the characters. I look forward to seeing what happens in this mystery series.

I already blogged about this book, and thought that it was excellent. It was written from the perspective of two sisters, one in captivity in North Korea, and one at home trying to get her out. My favorite part of this book was how current it was and the fact that I actually got to hear the real story behind what little information the media was able to give.