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Reconnecting part 3 the after party

After the reunion was over we went back up to the mountains to a place called 'The Pit Stop'
Its just a small country bar. It was fun, until it wasn't..........

What would an after party be without dancing.

This is my 'I'm Hot and Your Not' (I look stupid so I will not be doing this ever again)

Chris thinks he's a cowboy.

Canya loved the hat

P.J. was tired, and Angie said she had a pillow. Hee Hee

I love to sing Karaoke. I am singing 'Hit Me With Your Best Shot'

This is Treasa. I have been friends with her for years.

This is Treasa's Daughter Amber. I haven't seen them for years. There was a time in my life when I thought we would've been family. Oh well. Miss you girls.


After this was when I decided to try to take some self portraits. Now remember I am not really good at this.

This is Dianna Rhoades, and me.


Me and Casey Martin.

Angie Kasouff, and me.

Mindy Anderson, and Me.

Me and Ashely.

The night was going pretty well until this cowboy. (Chris)



And this guy. (Mark)


got into an almost fight. Things went bad really fast. Chris and I found ourselves in a place filled with people who were close, and we were outsiders. It didn't matter that I had lived there and knew most of them. It also didn't matter that Mark was saying some pretty bad stuff about me to Chris. Chris and I left. Then I went back inside and yelled at everyone, and said some really awful, and unforgiveable things to my sister. So, now we are not talking. It was a sad night. It has been a sad week.

When we got back to the hotel it was like 2 in the morning. We packed.

We got up early and left Nemicoln. We ate at Bob Evans on the way to my Mother's.

We got back to the house after 10:30pm.

All in all I think the trip was pretty good. We got to leave the drama behind, but we found new drama when we got there. I hate that.

Yesterday was Thanksgiving. I had hoped it would be a good day, but it wasn't. We woke up and realized that Christopher had pink eye. So Chris took Bethany, and Noah to Pat's for dinner. I stayed home with Christopher. I finally talked to Harmony in the morning, but we got into a giant fight. I ate, took a nap, and played PSP2 with Christopher. Happy Thanksgiving.

Reconnecting with the class of 1993 (part 2)

**reminder if at any time you want to see the picture enlarged just double click on it**

My back never did feel better. I did walk outside in the freezing cold and across the property in just my robe. No one saw me naked. (thank goodness) Chris did love the spa. He wants to go to the spa again asap. (I still think is very manly) Yes we went to the reunion.

We clean up pretty good don't we. We were on our way to the Uniontown High School class of 1993 reunion at the Holiday Inn. Go RED RAIDERS. Hee hee

So they gave me a name tag that said Echo Uphold Kirkland and they gave my husband a tag that said Chris Kirkland. I kept teasing him saying it should say Echo's husband. Hee hee or maybe Urban Cowboy. Hee Hee.

This is a picture of Amanda and John Marrietta, and me. I went to school with John. I think he was the one who had changed the most. I mean I remember a boy who was tall thin and had blonde hair. He looks really great, and he couldn't have been nicer to me. I would love to have more time to talk to him, and I hope we can keep in touch.

This is me Karen Miller's husband Ed, Moreen, and Lisa. I remember Mo and Lisa from high school. I remember thinking that they were really cute, and always seemed to have themselves together. They have turned out to be very nice women. (I am only looking at Ed like this because he wasn't there a second ago.)

This is Carrie Lawson, me, Bobby Jo Snyder, and Holly Murphy's husband Phil. I hadn't seen Carrie Lawson for over 10 years. The last time I saw her she was working at the Doctor's office. She now lives out of state, and I think she said she is still a nurse. When I saw Bobby Jo come in it took everything I had not to start yelling her name. We used to do that all the time walking up and down the hallways. The memory came flooding back like it was yesterday. It seems like I remember Phil from school as well. I think he was an upperclassmen, but I don't remember? anyone else remember?

This is me, Karen Miller's husband Ed, and Jennifer Havonic. Jen married her High School Sweetheart Ben Kern. (he is in a later photo) She was pretty much running the show. She had alot of help of course, but in the end she was the go to gal. Thanks Jen.

This is Bobby Delansky, me and Heather Spa. Bobby was real nice he came over and we talked for a few minutes. He still looks the same, but he was so different. Thanks Bobby. Heather is married to Rob. Rob was an upperclassmen. She still looks just as pretty as she did in high school.

This is Keith Jefferies, and me. I was standing next to him and he said 'hey Echo do you remember me', and I must say my mind just went totally blank. I mean the face I knew the name I couldn't remember. I said 'yes but you lost alot of weight since high school'. (i'm a jerk) but in my defense he has lost the weight and he looks really good. Anyway after finding out that he is a teacher at our old school I understood. You see I never do well when teachers put me on the spot. Hee hee Seriously, I did talk to Keith about his programs at the High School. Anyway, Keith married an upper classwomen. She was a Senior when we were fresheman. The name as escaped me, and I blame it all on Keith being a teacher. Hee Hee

This is Marsha Gotez, and me. Marsha is now in the Airforce. She believes that it is her true calling in life, and she loves it. I am happy for her. She really looks alot like she did in school. She looks really good.

This is me, and Bruce Kern (Jennifer Havonic's husband). He works for Verizon now. He and Jen have recently vacationed at Disney in Fl. I was really glad to see him and spend a few minutes with him. I hope to keep in touch with both of them.

This is Lisa Shiffbauer, and Ed (Karen Miller's husband). (lisa I know I butchered your name I am sorry. I hope I don't butcher the rest) Anyway, Lisa used to take karate classes from Ed. Lisa is married to a man named Greg, and they live out of state.

This is me, Rachel Lyndsey, Holly Murphy, Karen Miller, and Bobby Jo Snyder.

This is Jennifer Hager, and Karen Miller. Jennifer is married to Michael Glisan. Michael was an upperclassmen. Jennifer has a son and a set of twins. I got to know more of Jenn after high school. I really enjoy her when I have the chance to hang out with her.

On to the dancing. We loved dancing to songs like:

Pour Some Sugar On Me, Bust A Move, End of the Road, actually anything from high school.

This is Stephanie Petrucci and Jessica Speden (sorry if I messed the spelling up girls) Anyway except for Jessica having short hair now they look almost the same. Now they are beautiful women instead of pretty girls.

I am not sure who the first two women are (sorry), but I know who the blonde is. That is Jen she is married to Mike Shiffbauer (sorry if I butchered the name.) I only meet her briefly but I thought she totally fit in and was really fun.

Me, Karen Miller, Holly Murphy, and Bobby Jo Snyder

This is Bobbi Anderson, and Karen Miller

This is Bernice Middleton(Carl Middleton's wife) Bobbi Anderson, I am not sure, Jen Shiffbauer (Mike Shiffbauer's wife), I am not sure, Holly Murphy, Karen Miller, Me, and Bobby Jo Snyder

Carl Middleton and his wife Bernice sat at my table. Carl is a doctor and lives in Texas. Bobbi Anderson sat at our table as well. She is a teacher and lives in Virginia.

We took a class photo. (in advance, I didn't know all the names. I really did know all the faces I just couldn't remember all the names. Sorry. Also, I know that some of the spelling is bad, but I really did my best.)

First Row all men: Not Sure, Ben Caldwell, Butchie Teets, Bobby Delansky, Will something, not sure, Brian Thomas, Michael VanSickle, Scott Lambie, John Marietta, not sure, not sure, Carl Middleton

Second row all women: Jennifer Havanic, Nonny Price, Stephanie Petrucci, not sure, Jessica Speden, not sure, Jennifer Freestone, not sure, Bobbi Anderson, Me, Sharon Dugan, Beth something, not sure, not sure, not sure

Third row all women: Lisa Shiffbauer, Karen Miller, Carrie Lawson, Marsha Gotez, Holly Murphy, Jennifer Hager, Heather Spa, Rachel Lyndsey, Bobbi Jo Snyder, Kathryn Risha

Fourth row men sitting on floor: Bruce Kern, Larry Swagger, Brad White, Michael Shiffbauer, not sure, not sure

Now for what I remember of everyone else.

Butchie is married and has a son. His wife's family calls him Charlie. Yes I asked him 'when did you grow up.' (I'm always going to be the same.)

I got a hug from Scott Lambie but I didn't get to talk to him really. He had a pretty women with him, but I don't know who she is?

Michael VanSickle had a pretty women with him as well. I think they are married.

Larry Swagger had a women with him and I think they are married and have a child.

Brad White brought his wife. He and his brothers have a company that deals with gas of some kind.

Jennifer Freestone lives in Uniontown and just bought a house. She traveled alot before she finally settled here.

They had some triva about some people and here is what I learned.

Nonny Price was on the Price is Right and won a car and some cash.

Lisa Shiffbauer has been in 6 car accidents and she says none of them are her fault.

Brian Thomas just got married to his girlfriend after dating for 9 years.

Other than that there wasn't any really good gossip. It was just really great to see everyone.

One last thing. If you look in the picture at me look right behind me. That is Brian Thomas. He was my High School sweetheart. Isn't it funny that he was right behind me. After the picture I told him that. He said yeah it is funny. However, I don't think he thought it was as funny or as ironic as I thought it was. Chris (my husband) thought it was really funny.

P.S. my husband Chris couldn't have been greater. He was wonderful. I could never thank him enough.

Reconnecting (part 1)

This whole weekend has been about reconnecting for me. I reconnected with my husband. I reconnected with old and dear friends. I also reconnected with myself.

The weekend started off with us flying from Jacksonville, Fl to Pittsburg, Pa. When we landed in Pittsburg it was snowing. Ah the snow. It is really a beautiful thing. I haven’t seen snow in at least 6 years. I finally got what people say that the snow is so pretty. Then we had to drive in it. Yuck. I quickly remembered how cold it can be and how hard and scary it is to drive in it.

We checked into the hotel around 1 am. It was so strange walking in to the hotel again after all these years. It is beautiful, but the same. I actually knew the person that checked us in. Thanks Scott.

On to the room. We stayed in room 1228. It was beautiful. We even had a really nice view of the back of the hotel. It was covered like a winter wonderland. The hotel sent a card and a bottle of wine for our anniversary.

The bathroom was huge. The tub was the biggest I had ever seen. The bed was already turned down for us. We unpacked and went to bed. We were tired. I closed the drapes before going to bed because the windows were floor to ceiling and I just knew I didn’t want up at the crack of dawn.

In the morning. Chris says ‘Echo I think we should get up it is 1:30p.m.’ I jumped out of bed and said ‘Crap we wasted the whole day’. Then I looked at the clock it was only 8:00a.m. Sometimes I hate him.
(the view from our room)

So I took my time and ordered room service for breakfast and decided to take a bubble bath in the giant tub.

They had a phone in the bathroom, but not an exhaust fan. Which leads me to believe that rich people talk on the phone while going to the bathroom, and their poop doesn't stink. Hee Hee.

Chris went and spent the day hanging out with my Dad in Confluence. They had a little male bonding to do.

After breakfast Harmony, Angie, Lacey, Becky, and Rainey came for a visit. We sat around and talked awhile. Then we went down to the lobby and sat around in the fireplace and talked. That’s when Amber brought us some rice crispy treats, pumpkin bread, and chocolate covered strawberries from the bakery. They were no a silver tray. Thanks Amber. We walked all over the property. I forgot how big that place was. I am really sorry to say that I didn’t take any pictures of the art and stuff. I really wanted to wait so I could go on the art tour, but I didn’t ever get to go on the tour. (my back) I have learned a great lesson. Just take the pictures.

Chris is my first husband. I always tease that Michael Buble will be my second. While I was at Nemicoln I found my thrid. You guessed it. It's Mark Twain. He said he would wait for me. Hee Hee.

The girls left around 2. I had lunch alone in my room, and had the computer people come to my room and take a look at my laptop. Then I went to the spa for a mani and a pedi. (which Chris was a little jealous about the pedi) Then it the snow was so bad I decided to stay at the hotel. Harmony and I ordered a pizza from the tavern while the kids swam. Then Chris came back and Harmony left. Chris and I went and looked around a bit. We ended up in the Cigar Bar. It was really cool. It is like a giant living room with a fireplace. They had really great nuts, and really great wasabi peas. The best part was when Chris looked at the lady and said ‘Do yall have cuban’s here.’ She of course said ‘No I’m sorry sir’ then Chris says ‘Yall suck’. He is so unrefined. Hee Hee. Like he would even know or could appreciate a Cuban cigar. I do have to say I was glad that no one was actually smoking a cigar. I was not in the mood, and sometimes they really stink. We had a chance to talk and that was nice.

(before Harm and the kids left Brandin, and Johnny decided to try the buble bath too.)

Saturday I woke up and had to call Harmony and tell her I couldn’t go shopping. I could barely walk. My back went out. Ouch! I don’t know what happened. It just hurt really bad. Harmony and the kids came to the hotel and had breakfast with Chris and I. Then she went shopping and Chris and I went to the spa.

At the spa we used the sauna, hot tubs, and pools. The spa is very very impressive. They have everything you need. When you get there they give you a locker, robe, and slipper. Then everywhere you go they have towels. The saunas, and hot tubs are separate. I guess in case you want to be naked in them. I wore my suit and I didn’t see any naked people.
Then Chris and I went to the Element Café in our robes and ate lunch. Because the Café is in the Spa it is all healthy stuff. Chris was not excited about the menu. It was salads, wraps, fresh squeezed drinks, smoothies, granola, ect. Hee Hee. Anyway they don’t have mayo and they only had 3 dressings: Raspberry vinaigrette, no fat citrus vinaigrette, and ceasar. Hee Hee. He had fresh squeezed orange juice some kind of wrap and a side salad. I had a pineapple, banana smoothie and a blue cheese baby spinach grilled chicken salad with raspberry vinaigrette. It was really good. Then we went to have a couples massage. I had the Swedish massage, and Chris had the deep tissue massage. It was wonderful. When making the reservation the lady at the front desk says ‘would your husband prefer a man or a woman’ Hee Hee. I wanted to say an man, but I knew that would be wrong. However, I told my husband that I told them a man. Hee Hee.

The massage was really wonderful. The ladies took us to a room that had two tables set up. It was dimly lit. Very calming. Anyway, they say ‘we will step out so you can get undressed, and get under the sheet’ Alrighty then. They leave. I say to Chris ‘My back hurts and I can’t cover myself will you cover me?’ He says okay and just throws the sheet on me and runs over to his table. He was totally scared about getting caught naked. Hee Hee. He didn’t really cover me up very well, so Martha helped me when she came back. It was a wonderful relaxing 50 min. then when they were done they say ‘We are going to step out so you can get up and get dressed.’ Well as soon as they left and I moved my head I knew I could not get up. My back was hurting so bad that I could barely move. It was like a nightmare. Chris tried to help me up. He tried to pull me off the table. It hurt so bad I almost fell to the ground. Instead I fell onto his table. There I am naked hurt and embarrassed. Oh the humanity. The girls knock on the door. I yell just a minute. Then I yell Chris help me. So he helps me put my robe on. Then the ladies come in and help me to the locker room.

To be continued........

Tune in next time and find out

Did Echo's back ever feel better?

She wouldn't have walked across the property in only her robe?

Nobody ever saw her naked did they?

Did Chris love the spa or was he to manly to like it?

Did they ever go to the reunion?