I'm goin' home, to the place where I belong.

I finished up my 14^th week at Outdoor Adventures today, meaning that next week is my 15^th and final one. Umm, excuse me. Could someone please tell me where the time has gone? These three months have flown by quicker than any other time in my whole life. Everyone said it would, but everyone has also agreed that this has been the fastest three months ever too. And out of these three months, today ranks as one of the best days. Not only was it Anne’s birthday (she looks INCREDIBLE for her age, seriously), but it was also my last day in the office. BOY, was it a busy one! Don’t you just love it when everyone waits until the LAST SECOND to register for something, leaving you stuck with all the chaos of it? Well, I sure do. (Just so you know, that was a LOT of sarcasm). Patience is one of my strongest assets, and that did me a whole lot of good today. Thank you, Jesus!

the surprise waiting for me on my desk this morning. :)

 A whole bunch of neat things happened today. Walking into the office with beautiful pink Gerber daisies sitting on my desk. Anne’s birthday extravaganza. Lunch at a super yummy Japanese steakhouse. Darrell surprising me with peach cobbler and his famous salsa. Praying with Anne and Jen. Will giving me a pink Life is Good t-shirt and a card that brought me to tears for graduation. Being reminded of how blessed I am. Perfecting my use of the word “No.” Anticipating how much sweet tea I’m going to drink this weekend. Wishing I was in Wilmington with P. Sawyer and B. Davis, yet super excited that two of the world’s greatest friends had the best week ever. Spending most of my time today thinking about how absolutely STOKED I am to see everyone back home over the next few days and how crazy it is that I am about to graduate from Clemson University.

my "mommies" for the summer. I love me some Anne and Jen!

 The list goes on and on and on. You know, it really is amazing how the world looks when you believe that it is good. When you have faith that things will always work out, even when they don’t necessarily go your way. When you hope for the best, even though most people tell you that it’s never going to happen. And when you love, despite all the hundreds reasons not to. Life is good. But only if you want it to be.

It’s 11 o’clock on the west coast, and I have to be up in six hours to get ready for my flight back to the good ol’ south. I need to go to bed, but there’s just one problem…I am too excited to even THINK about sleeping! I feel like I’m a little kid on Christmas Eve all over again, and it is AWESOME. A weekend filled to the brim with all my favorite people. Ummmmmm, HECK YES! Daddy, Shannon, Melly, Dustin, Freeman, Will, and Michal are picking me up from the airport, Teeesh and Emilie Carol are meeting us at the house to hang out for a while, and then we’re heading to Clemson to celebrate with some fellow graduates. YAY! I can’t wait to see P. Sawyer, B. Davis, Kerbear, Mal-o, Squid, Emily, Courtney, Craig, and SO many more tomorrow night. The last time we’re all together again as Clemson students. Weird and sad and kind of depressing, yet so exciting at the same time. A whole new chapter for all of us to pursue. I’m too excited to be fearful of the future. “Greater things have yet to come and greater things are still to be done.” That’s definitely my motto. And I can’t wait to see how it all unravels!

After graduation, I am going to spend the day with my family (ALL of them—Mommy, Daddy, Shannon, Melanie, Dustin, Freeman, Will, Nana, Papa, Grandpa, Sandra, Uncle, Bubba, Troy, Angie, Savannah, Andy, Candie, Trent…and probably more that I can’t even think of. I LOVE having such a big family!). Whitney, Caitlin, Emilie Carol, Michal and Teeeesh will also be among my graduation crew, which definitely guarantees a day of greatness. Best friend not bestie, Cait Cait, Mellywhack, and I are going to have a sleepover on Saturday night, too. Two sleepovers in one weekend? I wish I graduated at least twice a month…then I would be the slumber party queen! I don’t think there’s anything else in the whole world that compares to a bunch of giggly girls staying up all night in their pjs and eating all the junk food their bodies can hold. That’s what my kind of sleepovers look like, at least. And I love them! I still remember having slumber parties in elementary school and daddy having to tell us to be quiet every five minutes. Hey girls, whatcha say we make him shush us a few times this weekend? I’m in! In fact, it just became an official slumber party rule. YAY!

So I really need to go to bed. Heck, I haven’t even folded my laundry...whoooops! I’ll be up and at ‘em by 4 a.m., out the door with Catherine (my woooooonderful roomie who graciously offered to take me to the airport at the crack of dawn because she’s the best) by 5:15 a.m., hanging out at the airport until my flight takes off, leave from Ontario at 6:40 a.m., switch planes in Houston, and then arrive (hopefully safe and sound) in Greenville at 4 p.m. YIPPEEEEEEEE!

See you VERY soon, South Carolina! I only have one request for you, Mother Nature: please POUR DOWN RAIN tomorrow. I’m deprived. And I’m also interested to see my reaction to humidity. That oughta’ be fun! :o)