have you ever met someone and just instantly knew that this person was put in your life by God's will? well, that's kind of how my relationship with sir Austyn began. it helped a lot that we met at Rock Mountain Bible Camp in the summer of 2004 for the very first time. we saw each other for a week every summer until we actually talked in 2007. that summer was the kick off of a lot of God given friendships. even then, if you told me that i would spend four days at his house in Pennsylvania, i would have laughed in your face at the impossibility of it, even after the other encounters we've had since then.well you know what, it happened. and it was awesome.
as mentioned previously, Julie and i returned to Pittsburgh to visit our camp friends, but this time, instead of spending the majority of our time with Danielle, we stayed with Raffi at the Nixon's house. i couldn't believe it was happening, up until the first night we spent there.
on Sunday, December 27th, 2009 the three of us boarded an airplane leaving JFK International Airport destined to land in Pittsburgh, PA. ordinarily, Aaron would be there with Danielle to pick us up, but instead, it was Don and Austyn. we drove back to their house when we landed around
10:30am. after settling in and getting our bags into the house, the four of us walked up to Eric's house, who at this point still had no idea that we were visiting. his reaction was priceless, right before he went to get dressed to join us. our little group walked to Farmhouse Coffee (best place on earth) and chilled in there for a while, seeing various people we've met on different Campus Life trips. upon returning to our home for the week, the other members of We Are Merely Moving Shadows showed up for a band practice. Raffi joined them, so Julie, Eric and i walked down to Arby's (we walked everywhere) and just hung out for a while. we got a phone call saying to meet up with the boys on the hill, Eric will know what they're talking about. we finished up and walked to the most spectacular place i've been to in a long time. it's this open hill that overlooks the city of Pittsburgh. they're turning it into a residental area so apparently it was a lot nicer than it was. in the freezing cold, we all voyaged back to Austyn's house for the night.... and Julie and i thought this would be the highlight of our trip.
as expected, Julie woke me up at 9 on the dot on Monday, December 28th, 2009 to get ready for our first full day in Pittsburgh. not only that, but we were going to see Danielle for the first time since arriving 24 hours previously. we got ready, and went down to see if Raffi and
Austyn were awake, which they were. after we're all ready, the four of us walked to Bob Evans, a diner restaurant thing that Austyn works in. Eric met up with us for breakfast and we chilled there for a little while. i think those were the best eggs i've ever had in my whole life, and the potato things were awesome. when Eric got picked up to ditch us, we walked back to Austyn's house where Julie and i were waiting for Danielle to come get us. while waiting, Justin and Sam of In The Wake Of Giants came with their tour bus to fix a few things before getting ready to go on mini-tour. eventually, Danielle and her sister Brittany came to get us, and we were off to spend some time with her. after settling into her house, where we've spent two trips at, we went to the mall with the intention of going into Pittsburgh, but it got too rainy and cold. plus, Danielle was getting sick. so instead, we went back to her house and chilled for the night, put on PS I Love You, and fell asleep in her living room.Tuesday, December 29th, 2009 was the battle of the bands that we were dying to see. as always, Julie was already awake and just sitting there, waiting for someone to wake up. we were both awake for about 15 minutes
before Danielle came to find us. for breakfast, we had the SuperPretzel SoftStix which we've been DYING for since... last January. it was a really chill afternoon, we just hung out, went with Brittany to the mall again for a little while, then when 6 o'clock came around, we were out the door, heading to the Bethel Park Community Center to see the Campus Life Battle of the Bands Finals. we said our goodbyes to Aaron and Shelly Horney (go ahead and laugh, i know you want to) and headed inside. we met up with Raffi as soon as we got inside and chilled around the band's table until it was their turn to play. i made a friend named Jessica over my camera (go figure) and we walked around a bit until it was time. we saw quite a few people we know, such as my friend Gage that i haven't seen since July. then, Dave went on stage to announce the next band
- We Are Merely Moving Shadows, Austyn, Matty, Jordan, and Bobby's band. their show couldn't get better if it wanted to. their performance and music was phenominal, a lot better than i expected. since it was a battle, after everyone was done playing, the audience got to vote. we stood in anticipation as the fifth, fourth, and third place winners were called. the boys' band still wasn't called so we were all nervously waiting for Dave to announced what we already knew - first place was We Are Merely Moving Shadows. personally, i wasn't surprised - they earned it and deserved it. after the show, a fairly large group of us went to EatnPark to get food, but we showed up about 20 minutes before closing. the woman let us stay and eat our food and even though i didn't get anything, it smelled so good haha. then we all went back to our homes, and for Julie, Raffi and i, that was Austyn's house. the four of us got to hang out and talk for a while before going to sleep at 1am. this week was by far the most restless week i can remember.although our plane wasn't until the day after, Wednesday, December 30th, 2009 was our last day there, so with that, we decided to wake up at 8am. Austyn, Raffi, Julie and i walked to Farmhouse and met up with Danny and Eric. we took over this little room and were just talking and laughing in there. eventually, Becca, Liz, Jordan and Jason came to chill with us, all in pieces.
we were there for a little while haha (: and this girl Hannah who works there came up also, i got to talk to her for a while it was really cool. we decided to go somewhere, so most of us split up but the three of us, Austyn, Danny and Eric went walking in the freezing cold on this trail away from the Nixon house, trying to figure out what to do. we ended at this community center where we warmed up for alittle then got picked up by Mr. Briggs and brought back to Austyn's house. Bobby was there when we arrived so he stayed and chilled with us. we played Super Smash Bros for the N64 (which apparently i'm beast at?) for a while until we got hungry again. we walked to a Subway/Dairy Queen place and got food. on the way there, Eric left us to go home for a while so it was just Raffi, Julie, Austyn, Bobby, Danny and 
i going there. i promise, i've never heard such insightful things come out of a teenager's mouth before in my life. Bobby was just throwing all these deep, metaphorical life things at us left and right. no wonder he's graduating high school at the end of next week. i also noticed i've never met people more modest than those who i got to know this week. we returned to Austyn's house to go to Don's home church. some older people came but a bunch of students came too. Bobby stayed with us then Scott, Cathy, Michael, Jordan, Brad and Matty showed up also. "I will separate your sins as far as the east is from the west" sums up the church service that night, which was such a good way to bring in the new year. after church, we all chilled, playing Super Smash Bros (surprise) while Austyn discovered the beauty of a Nikon d40. people started leaving, so we said our goodbyes, since we were leaving in the morning. in the end, it was Austyn, Bobby, Jordan and Matty still staying awake to wait for us to leave at 4 in the 
morning. "how good would it be if your flight was canceled?!" at 3:30am, the delta website had posted that our flight wasn't flying. i think my heart skipped three beats out of excitement for a longer stay. turned out the flight was in fact canceled, but rescheduled for ten minutes later. we said our goodbyes to Bobby, Matty and Jordan and headed for the airport. when we got there, tears were almost shed when leaving Austyn and Don to head back to New York. the five hardest goodbyes i've ever had to experience. the plane ride home took my mind off of it for a while, you know, flying first class to Atlanta, GA then back here.so i'll say this once, and probably a zillion and sixty-three more times, but to Austyn, Jordan, Matthew, Bobby, Julie and Raffi, thankyou for the most amazing week that i can remember. i love you all sooo so much.
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