Thankfulness

I am thankful for many things at this point in my life, but I think I'm going to focus on the things that I need to be more thankful for.

I have a car that runs and is reliable. I have a place to call home. I have people surrounding me everywhere who I know love me very much. I am never really alone when dealing with the stuggles of this life. I have a job that will help me get a start on paying off my student loans, and it's giving me experience in my field. I have hobbies that help me unwind and friends that let me blow off steam.

This year I am thankful for everything that I've been blessed with in the last 23 years.

Lily and me

So this is my housemate for now. Lily and I mostly just chill and go on the occasional walk, and Lil usually naps while I go to work in Waynedale. It's been pretty lonely around the house, but it's been nice to see friends from the Chet and hang out with church people who have been kind enough to have me over without my parents. It is definitely nice to have a job now, not only to have some income, but also to have social contact and to get me up and going in the morning. I miss being able to go down the hall or even down the road to chat with friends, but it has made me value the connections that I do have in my life. I'll be ready for Mom to get back, though. It's rough just cooking for one.

Leavin on a Jet Plane

Time for European Adventure number two!

Every new beginning...

...comes from some other beginning's end.

These are lyrics from "Closing Time" by the band Semisonic, 1998. I have had this song in my head a lot lately, and the last line just seems to be tugging at me a lot lately. I can't believe it, but I'm actually going to be graduating from Manchester College this Sunday. I really am having a hard time realizing that I have been in college for four years and now it's my time to leave this stage of my life. I'm doing it, though. I'm getting my psychology degree. I did what I came to do.

I studied abroad in England for a semester. I was an RA for five semesters. I was in choir for four years. I served on executive boards in different campus clubs. I lived in a different room every year. I made a lot of really great friends. I made the Deans List more than once. I was inducted into Alpha Psi Omega, the theatre honor society and Psi Chi, the psychology honor society. I managed to maintain a social life in addition to having a job and being a pretty good student. I kept in touch with close friends from home while building friendships at MC.

at Mont Juic during my tour of Europe, 2008

So where do I go from here? I think that's the scariest and most emotional part of the end of this process. I'm glad to be embarking on a new beginning, but it's difficult knowing that I won't ever be back in this stage of my life in quite the same way. I will miss so many people in so many different ways, and I am terrified about having to go into this next stage of my life nearly alone. Maybe I'll feel differently about this on Sunday, but it just seems incredibly strange to be moving on from this place. I hope I don't feel so alone when this is all said and done.

Talkin bout Chi-town

I've been in Chicago, Illinois since Saturday afternoon. I am staying with my brother and sister-in-law in their apartment in Flossmoor, and it's been a really good time so far. It's mostly been a lot of relaxing and sleeping in (which I have missed since I started my internship in January) but I've kept busy too. Sunday night we went to the Neo-futurists' "Too Much Light Makes The Baby Go Blind" which I enjoyed quite a bit, because it was, after-all, alternative theatre. Today Kyle and I went downtown and went to the art museum where I immediately ran into four girls that live in my dorm. After the museum Kyle appeased my wishes to take countless pictures at Millenium Park in "the bean" and parouse tacky, cheap souvenir shops on Michigan Avenue. Taking the train and being downtown made me remember my travels from last spring, and I always remember just how much I love big cities.

me and Kyle in the bean

Reflections

It's been over a year since I arrived in Europe for my five plus months abroad.
I've finished the fall semester of my final year as an undergraduate.
I'm just beginning my internship on campus that is giving me my first real-life job experience.
The time of opera season has begun and I have a real role in the full opera we are performing.
I was in three weddings last year.

Life is moving so fast, and all of the sudden I feel that I'm becoming an adult. It really doesn't feel like I should be anything but a student, because it's all I've known for the past 15 and a half years. So I really have no idea what my life is gonna look like a year from now, or even five months from now. All I know is that the time is now, and I'm trying to live with no regrets. Here's to 2009!

Wedding Bells are Ringing

Today, one of my best friends of all time is getting married. We've known each other since seventh grade, and now that she's graduated and is so obviously in love with the man who is about to become her husband, it's time for her to get married and start a life with Steve. I have realized that this doesn't mean that she's forgetting about the life she's had here, and that I will always be a part of her life, as she will forever be a part of mine; it's just that now I will have Steve as an extension of my friendship with her. Today, I am wishing them the very best!