the bop's replacement

one concern that elizabeth and i had moving to pittsburgh was where we were going to get a delicious frozen treat. we had been avid bop's customers in starkville - to the point that the employees knew our names and what we wanted! we didn't think that anything would compare to the exquisite tastes that bop's conjured. to our excitement, we discovered that a homemade ice cream shop called dave and andy's was directly across the street from elizabeth's building at pitt. moreover, there were fragrant scents of freshly made waffle cones coming from this establishment. i remember the first time we visited dave and andy's. they make their own ice cream right there in the store, so there were flavors that i had only dreamed of. i settled on a flavor that had a cookies and cream base with marshmallows and caramel mixed in. of course, i got it in a waffle cone. it tasted like a party in my mouth - a perfect combination of sweet and creamy and a little chewy. at the bottom of the cone, i discovered a little surprise. elizabeth had the same surprise in the bottom of her cone, as well (i won't tell what it is in case some of you have the great honor of ever getting to experience it). elizabeth and i began visiting dave and andy's about once a week to enjoy a different flavor of freshly made ice cream (they rarely have the same flavors). by the second or third time, one of the employees recognized us as "regulars." hooray! i never thought a big city shop, which sees thousands of customers a day, would even notice that we were patronizing their store often. this employee talks to us every time we go in now. so, i have to say that our fears have been relieved. bop's, you still hold a special place in our hearts, though. we look forward to enjoying you when we are back in da ville.


elizabeth and i in front of dave and andy's!


stirling, who is here at pts doing the summer youth institute, was lucky enough to get to enjoy a little dave and andy's. he almost didn't get to experience this pittsburgh pleasure, as we went the first night he was here but couldn't get in due to the block long line coming from the shop. when we went back an hour later, they had just closed. we were determined to get some, though. the next day, while still full from lunch, we went down to find a more available dave and andy's. score!

cheers,
jw

careful what you text and the hotel wagner...

we haven't done a quote of the day in a while. actually, we haven't done much blogging at all in the past week and a half. this is due to a greek 2 midterm that i took today and an anatomy exam that elizabeth has on monday. i am going to try to catch up on the blogging the next day or so while i have a break before the final two weeks of greek.

anyhow, we have had some funny quotes the past few days as our brains are fried from studying. this afternoon elizabeth commented, "next time this week we will be in mississippi." think about that for a while!

also, tonight while she was texting a friend that she was inviting up to pittsburgh she wrote, "the cushi is ready for you." this was supposed to say, "the burgh is ready for you." dang predicative text. we got a good laugh out of it. hilary, you probably did too. i want to take this opportunity to say be careful what you text. who knows what kind of mixed messages you are sending. one of your friends might end up in cushi - wherever the heck that is!?!

speaking of inviting folks to stay. hotel wagner in pittsburgh is now accepting reservations for the fall. ask about our fun 'stay and play' package.

cheers,
jw

floating on the fourth!

i hope all of you had a great fourth. elizabeth and i were pumped to get to spend the fourth with a friend from home, erin goguts. we wanted to do something that was unique to the burgh, so naturally, we headed downtown. our destination was the allegheny river (one of the three rivers in pittsburgh) to rent kayaks. we got to kayak for an hour through downtown right next to pnc park, where the pirates played later that day (btw, the pirates won another against the brewers, who are ranked first in the division. we are only 9 or 10 games behind a .500 season and about 11 games out of first. go bucs!). it was a blast. here are some pics:


for some reason, our kayaks were attracted to one another. we were in this huge river and kept running into one another. then, when we wanted to take a picture, we could not get ourselves near one another. typical. any way, check out downtown in the background!


erin and elizabeth having some fun.

later that evening we had a great american dinner - grilled hamburgers, baked beans, freedom fries (known to some as french fries), and for dessert, an amazing fruit pizza. we spent the rest of the evening catching up, relaxing, and listening to fireworks outside. overall, a superb fourth of july.

erin, we hope to see you again real soon!

cheers in the land of liberty,
jw

quote of the day (actually of saturday) and robbie seay

a little background info... this occurred while we were singing songs about california. don't ask.

elizabeth - "i'm gone to california in my mind..."
me - "um, i think james taylor was singing about carolina in that one."

speaking of songs, you all need to go to www.myspace.com/robbieseayband to hear one of robbie's new songs, "rise." what an amazing song. they will be featuring a new song each week for the next few weeks. their new cd comes out august 28th. you are going to want to pick this one up!

cheers,
jw

quote of the day...

"they should have a human exhibit. it would be like, 'hey, look at the humans.'" - guy walking behind us at the zoo as we passed by a section that had been roped off for construction. there were construction workers hard at work as we walked by. in retrospect, it actually did look a little like a human exhibit.

maybe this is how God always feels.

jw

another fun-filled day...

well, today was quite an adventure. it started out with a two and a half hour greek 1 final while elizabeh slept in. she didn't have class today. lucky her! can you believe i am done with greek 1? what happened to the month of june?

the real fun started after my exam. today was zoo day. elizabeth and i decided it was a great day to go. i have been waiting for this moment for the past two weeks. plus, i needed a treat for completing greek 1. again, it was packed, but we didn't care. it was great; although, i must say it wasn't as good as the dc zoo. here are some pics:


me and the ostrich... what an odd animal. these were in the same area as the elephants - another strange animal. i tried to imagine what life would be like if i used my nose as an arm and a hand. crazy.


check out this king (and queen) of the jungle... or cage? he was eating grass??? what is he... a vegetarian? she looked like she wanted to pounce on him.


hey, yogi!


peacock. these things were just walking all over the place. and the kids just chase them around.


and the polar bears. yes, it is right above us. the exhibit was really nice, and the bears were actually quite entertaining. they were actually playing... as opposed to the other animals, which all seemed really bored and lazy.


another p bear shot. these were only 600 lbs, 2-year old bears. the full grown bears are 1800 lbs.

as i walked around the zoo today, i found it harder to believe there are people who don't believe in a Creator. all of the diverse, beautiful animals. all the colors (some that didn't even seem natural). all the uniqueness (seahorses????). it is certainly easy to see that our God is extraordinarily creative and has blessed us with some amazing things here that give praise to Him simply in their existence.

so those are some of the highlights from the zoo. we hope you enjoyed. we sure did. later that day we went to a pirates - nationals game. see the next blog for details and pictures.

cheers (from the wild side),
jw

take me out to the ballgame...

here are some pictures from the pirates game at pnc park:


who cares that the pirates are terrible? look at this view!


left field.


you have to eat a footlong hotdog while watching baseball.


the pirates come back in the eighth. tie game in the bottom of the ninth. one out. bases loaded. full count. fly ball hit to left. left-fielder makes the catch. runner tags up. pirates win!!!!


the 45-minute fireworks show after the game. it was unreal. by far the best fireworks display i have ever seen. even better than starkville on the fourth!

cheers (and go bucs),
jw