ever after

The title of the post is in honor of...

a) the movie I am currently watching (it's a classic!)
b) the blast from the past day I had (AIM is pretty much amazing since it keeps me in touch with former supervisors and friends that are abroad- shout out to Danielle who is in Namibia!)
c) the wedding pictures I am about to post (congratulations to my married-for-almost-a-month friend Ashton!)

Reunited at last! (me,
Ashton- freshman year roommate,
French- freshman year suitemate)

The happy couple at the

Rehearsal Dinner!

The beautiful country

church where they
were married. What a
perfect October day!

Bridesmaids having fun
with the bride at
the reception!!!

I loved being in North Carolina and would love to take another trip soon, but I know that I cannot have a life here in DC if I'm always traveling to NC. I don't know how to compose my thoughts on current feelings about work so I'll leave that for another day.

I'll leave you with this fun fact- UNC football is bowl eligible. And basketball season starts soon. Go heels!

falling into autumn

Well my friends, it's the 1st day of October (or it will be when this is posted in 20 minutes). I've been living in DC for 1 quarter of a year. I've had a job at American University for 2 months. And in 3 days by roommate from freshman year is getting married! I have been waiting for her wedding since the day I met her. :) I'm flying down to North Carolina tomorrow. I'll spend a day in Chapel Hill and then head to Ahoskie with my friend/freshman year suitemate/elementary school classmate French. We'll be wearing bright red dresses in this eastern North Carolina wedding. If the wedding were going to be outdoors, I may have pushed for cowboy boots to replace our silver shoes.

I'm excited to spend time with two of the women who I met on my first day at Carolina. We watched each other change majors, change living situations, and change ourselves as we progressed through four years in blue heaven. People say you take pieces of your friends wherever you go. I think the people you actually live with get extra big pieces. I'm so happy they are still a part of my life. Call it a blessing or call it lucky, but my "potluck" roommates worked out better than most planned roommates.

I'll be sure to post some pictures when I get back next week. Oh and did I mention I'm going to spend some quality time with Sam and Georgia, the prettiest girls in North Carolina, during my mini-vacay. Just wait till you see pics of those cuties. :)

Peace, love, and joy!

home (chapel hill) sick

I miss you. This past month has been full of long hours, lots of questions, and an overwhelming number of new people.

Let's start with the good- I love the people I work with. I'm never bored. There's a Starbucks and a Whole Foods at the AU metro station.

Now for the not so good- I don't really know what it is I do. I feel like I'm seriously lacking in purpose. I haven't found a core group of friends. I work too much.. I'm never around kids.

Elaboration- Today I volunteered with DC's Convoy of Hope. I got to sit outside in the sunshine (the days after tropical storms are the best days to be outside). I colored and did crafty projects with children of all ages. At one point I was running around a parking lot with a 2nd grader on my back. That is the sort of thing that would leave most people drained, but it fills me with energy- an energy I've been lacking these past couple weeks. I'm not sure what to take away from this experience. At this point I'm just questioning my decision to work at AU. It is definitely a good place to be in transition and I'm gaining invaluable experience, but there are no kids. Sadness.

On top of this, I miss Chapel Hill more every day. When I start thinking of my dear friends who are still there I start tearing up (and this usually happens on the metro... ha). I miss the deep conversations, words of encouragement, and hours of laughter. And I definitely miss Yogurt Pump!

I'm hoping this is just the two month slump and that things will brighten up here soon. They should at least be cooling off. Doesn't mother nature know that I moved here for the cooler temperatures?

long hours

So I never thought I would let myself be consumed by work. I don't know why I didn't think this, considering that I'm a perfectionist and pretty much completely pour myself into whatever projects I take on. Nevertheless, it is what it is.

The past week I've been going into work early and coming home late. This is partly because I've been training students for most of the day and then have work tasky things to get done afterwards. For the record, I have no idea how/why I've been training students when I have so many questions of my own. But training has definitely been fun. Putting together powerpoints the night before was not so fun, but meeting and interacting with the students makes up for it. :)

I'm really starting to miss the friendships I had in NC. This hit me yesterday when I was going home from work and feeling great and wanting to celebrate. But I had no one to call to go get dinner or Starbucks or ice cream. I'm wondering if I'll ever have friendships like those I had in college again. College was a special time for me because it was socially-centered. I spent alot of my time investing in relationships. When am I going to have time to do that again?

I want to leave on a positive note. So I'll just say that I love the whirlwind that accompanies going back to school. If anyone wants to send me a bouquet of sharpened pencils, feel free.

homecoming

After my first (half) week of work, I was happy to take off to North Carolina

Friday was the first time I'd flown since high school. I had a window seat on the way to Charlotte and was so excited when I looked out and could see Lake Norman!

On Saturday I ventured up to Blowing Rock with a car full of wonderful ladies. I volunteered to drive since I hadn't driven since June. It was great to be in the car with the windows down breathing in the North Carolina air and blaring the radio.

Meredith and Joel's wedding was beautiful. I know they spent hours planning the details and it sure paid off. As far as I could tell, things could not have gone more smoothly. It rained a bit during the ceremony which meant it was nice and cool when we arrived to the reception site.

It's always good to visit old friends. I got to see people I had not seen since May. We got to share summer stories and laugh and reminisce about our Carolina years. I think we all feel ridiculously old now that we've graduated college. I don't think I'll ever be able to wrap my head around the concept of time. Why did summer go by so slow in 3rd grade and now it's over in the blink of an eye?

So I've come to the realization that I have a very hard time with saying goodbye. Well, I don't think it's actually saying goodbye as much as the transition that accompanies the word. I tried to prepare myself before I even left for NC for what was going to come on Sunday. I was fine all weekend when I was hanging out with friends. I was even fine when I had to say goodbye to them after the wedding. But as soon as I got to the airport terminal on Sunday, an uncontrollable rush of sadness consumed me. Maybe it was because security took away $40 worth of toiletries. But I have a feeling that it was my body's natural reaction to transition.

As much as I try to fight the sadness, tears usually win. And after the tears and a couple days of getting back into the groove, I'm completely fine. And with work being super busy, there is no time for the transition blues. I've been busy working on re-formatting and fine-tuning training manuals for the year. Training starts on Thursday!

Thinking of you all.