24 days and counting

Well... I have less than a month to go and I couldn't be more excited about going to school. This summer has been different than I expected for a lot of reasons, but it's been a good one none the less, and certainly full of learning opportunities. Mentally, emotionally and spiritually I feel ready to get on that plane tomorrow, but I'm thankful for the extra time because I am no where near ready physically. The downside of having two rooms is that I have, over the last ten years, collected an amazing amount of crap, and always found a place to store it. I'm moving into an 11x13 box that I get to share with someone else, and there certainly isn't enough room for a lot of crap. So, I've been spending the last week, and will continue to spend the next two weeks sorting through it all, finding a gold mine of "lost" items, and deciding what will and will not make the 2000 mile trek with me. I've pretty much decided that any sweatshirt or "winter clothing" item that I own will come, because I'm going to freeze my bum off and will need as many layers as I can find. That also led to me buying a new down comforter, that I absolutely love. It's black, and very, very soft. Why black? Well, I've decided that my "colors" for this year will be black and bright torquoise (much like the colors of my prom dress). I have all sorts of ideas on how I will decorate my new home, but I have to worry about emptying the old ones before I start with the fun stuff. My roommate's name is Sam, and she lives in Valpo. She works at the local Wal*Mart and is pretty much the epitome of what we college kids refer to as "townies." From what I can tell, she is a very nice girl, but all I really know about her is that she has a long term boyfriend who will also be attending Valpo. I figure I'll end up with either no roommate, or two. We'll have to see how that works. I'm in the same dorm Lizzy was in her freshman year- in fact right next door. I got my schedule for my classes and I can tell you right now I already love college life and I haven't been on campus in two years. I still need to find one more class because one of the ones I signed up for was full, but as of right now I spend a grand total of 7.5 hours weekly in the classroom. It averages out to about 2 hours a day. When I've spent the last twelve years of my life in school for six hours a day.. I am very excited to see that number go down. Plus, my earliest class is at 9:45, so I get to sleep in as well.

I anticipate the next three and a half weeks to be very busy between packing and saying goodbye, but mom and I have scheduled our annual "A's-Mariners" game and I'll be a leader at Junior High camp for church again this summer. Needless to say I am very excited about what the future holds for me and I can't wait to get there. Right now, I'm just trying to enjoy the last few weeks in the place I've grown up.

Graduation

so this week is graduation. I feel really old. Sometimes. The problem is that I really don't feel old enough to be graduating from high school. Maybe that is the curse of having siblings that are so much older than me, I feel like I'll never be as old as they were, even when I am. We had Baccalaureate on Sunday, so I had to wear my cap and gown, and that was the first time I've felt like I really am graduating. Wearing that thing is almost surreal, and all it is is a big, green, well-insulated smock. (I now understand why Liz wore her swimsuit, it's freaking hot in that thing.) As I was sitting next to Lacy on Sunday, I suddenly realized how sad I'm going to be that it is all over. I've been excited about it ending for so long that I haven't stopped to think about what it is exactly. Growing up in West Linn means that I've gone to school with the same people for my entire life. Odds are that I won't really see them ever again, especially the people I'm not friends with. That makes me a little sad becuase we have such a rich history, I have a lot of memories with a lot of the same people. Taking time over the last week to remember elementary and middle school has made me sad, happy, and just thankful that I've had such a wide range of events and consequent memories.

Part of the reason I've been thinking back on my childhood is because of a very unfortunate event that occured this last week. My friend Jamie (the singer) lost her little brother in a car accident last Tuesday night. Douglas was seven, and over the last week, I've done a lot of reflection on my own life, including when I was his age. He was such a lively, bright, innocent and pure child, and he touched so many lives in his short time on Earth. Perhaps the most amazing thing is how strong his family is. They know Douglas is dancing with Jesus, and trust that His way is the best way, even if it means life without this precious little boy. I attended his memorial this morning and it's amazing how much influence a seven year old can have. There were so many people there, that the overflow rooms were full. He was very well loved, and I really enjoyed celebrating his life this morning.

That's about all that I have for you right now, but I'll be seeing most of you pretty soon and I can't wait!

since everyone else is doing it-

i figured i might as well too. although i'm not going to claim to be a better writer than either nate or liz, i spend way too much time on Instant Messenger for that. dad though- we'll see. so, i officially have seven days of high school left, and i honestly haven't ever been this stir crazy. i literally cannot focus at school. it really doesn't help that we're pretty much having "work time" for presentations that take all of five minutes to put together because my teachers are tired of teaching. it just makes me really wish that i was back at home in my warm bed, especially during statistics.
we started dissecting our cats the other day in biology and it's pretty darn cool. we named ours Octavius. he was a cute little kitty once upon a time, but being that i'm not really a huge fan of cats, i'm more interested in what his aortic valve looks like. it's pretty sweet by the way. i'm surprised at how many people are planning on going into the medical field later on in life, and yet can't stand to look at the insides of a cat. come on people, how are you going to handle human heart surgery if you can't go at a feline first? we get to crack open the skull on thursday, and i'm super excited about that. nothing like the brain to get me going.
we had our senior graduation dessert for church on sunday night, and it just reinstated the fact that i'm going to miss all of my friends like crazy when i get on the plane on Aug. 17 at 10:10am. ok maybe not then, but soon after that. my friends are my family. we've been best friends forever, and almost all of them are going to Seattle Pacific next year. i love them to death, but i couldn't handle that. i'm really excited to get away, and experience something new. i just hope that they won't forget all about me when i'm gone. i already know this summer is going to be amazing- if i'm not working the whole time.
i got my first pay check today, and let me tell you- it's a nice thing to have money again. and, to know that in two more weeks i'll have even more money. not only does scooping ice cream at good ole Cold Stone earn me money, but i'm working so much (31 hours this week alone) that i hardly have time to spend it, which is a very good thing. i really like my co-workers, so i hardly see it as work. and i'm excited to be seriving people on a regular basis. i always have been the little waitress girl.
well- that's all for now. i have to go finish some english homework, and plan for bible study. i can't wait to see all of you for Graduation- it's going to be a real party.