Getting Ready

My brain is fried. I went shopping today with Mom. Seriously, got such a great value on all of these amazing items in Nordies. $400 for like a gazillion things that I will wear forever. All high quality stuff that will be amazing in D.C. for both work and play! Mostly tops though, so soon I need to tackle the pants and the shoes. My least favorite things to shop for. Pants are annoying and I have ultra wide feet with fat toes and skinny ankles. It’s a lovely combination. And now that I have pointed it out to you my attractive-meter has probably gone down a good 10 points. At least I can recognize my flaws, right?

After my retail therapy of happiness and joy, I had to slave away at internship stuff. You know those awful nightmares where you need to run but you go in slow motion, that is how I feel about this D.C. preparation experience.

I am more than excited about this opportunity. I mean how often do you get to do something like this? Once in a lifetime. A huge city with new people and an opportunity that could change the direction of my life.

However, the getting ready process has been like that horrible nightmare feeling I mentioned above. But, not like you are escaping from a scary monster, more like you are going to be late for the magic school bus at your nearby bus stop. It would be very disappointing if you didn’t get to experience one of Mrs. Frizz’s magical field trips for yourself. Yep, its kind of like that. An awesome opportunity awaiting, but getting to the bus stop is going to be a bit of a push.

I still am waiting on an emotional breakdown. The floodgates are going to let loose any day now. We may need buckets, tissues, and some humorous and mindless youtube videos to get through it.

I know I am 21 and should be all independent and adult like now, but the truth is the thought of leaving Oregon, my family, my friends, everything familiar for 4 months is horrifying. Change is hard for me. I get nervous, shy, confused, frustrated, lonely. So basically I am human. Does this affect my attractive-meter? Would it be better if I was an alien or mermaid? (I do have wings though, but I am still human.)

Enough with the yuck-yuck blick-blick of this message. I would like to take this time to tell you the ways I do feel prepared.

First of all, my family has given me everything I need to be who I am. They are my balance. It’s going to be hard not to have them there for me to vent to. My parents tolerate everything about me, including my sassy attitude I get when I am cranky. They also encourage me. Their encouragement is what led me to the decision to go to D.C.. They told me to never give up and follow my dreams. This has helped me chase what I want. There love has always given me strength.

Second of all, my friends are the best. Each one of them is different and has helped me in one way or another. I started to write little blurbs about each of you and got to the fifth person and realized I would be up all night. So, I will do a bigger blurb that includes everyone I care about (and there are many of you).

No matter when we met whether at Elementary School, Junior High, High School, Genesis, College, beach trips, newspaper, coffee shop, or through a friend of a friend I am so glad we met. The time I have spent with you all, I love. We have laughed, cried, talked much about nothing and nothing about much, caused classroom disruptions, gone on random adventures, had awkward moments, maybe even had a rough patch (or two…or three), have some classic photos together, or facebook videos (your going to check facebook now, aren’t you?), drank coffee amongst other beverages, and have had some classic moments we will probably talk about until we are 120 years-old.

You have taught me caring doesn’t care about distance. And that we can all do anything and we will all likely end up doing a little bit of everything before we settle on a something. This has made it easier for me. I have come to the realization that no matter where and what, if we are indeed friends, we will always be.

Thirdly, I have learned a lot at school. Go figure! My education has done me some good and I don’t even have my degree, yet. Last week was the worst. I mean the worst. It was my last week at Fox for a long time and instead of saying goodbye to my friends, I was burning brain cells trying to remember the importance of Jesus for Life of Christ, the purpose of Universal Declaration of Human Rights, how to spell words correctly, and do HTML coding. THE WORST.

But I have learned. Maybe I need one or two more lessons on why I shouldn’t procrastinate though. I did learn how to apply my education, how to write better (this blog may not be a good example, I am going to blame it on just getting over finals week), how to do HTML coding (nerdy and cool), the importance of politics, history, ethics, religion, and the meaning of life. I am kidding with the meaning of life, I don’t know that one yet. I learned that the more questions I ask and absorb all the information, the more I understand the world around me. And I am prepared to learn more. Learn things I want to learn, or maybe not, and how to apply those to my life, education, and work. Also, my professors pushed me and encouraged me, again this was helpful in my decision to go to D.C..

Finally, in God making things work out for me. I have a place to stay my first night in D.C. I am so grateful for that and people’s immense generosity. I have help from someone with some past experience, who has been so kind to take the time to ease my nerves and explain the process. When strangers reach out, its just more of an affirmation that this it the right move. People are willing to help, and things will fall into place.

That was a lot more ushy-gushy than I intended. Writing is good therapy I guess. I am so excited for this journey. I appreciate all your support, love, and prayers. I hope that during this Christmas Holiday, you are not stressed and can all get rest. We all need it! Also, I leave in three weeks, so Oregonian area people I better see your faces before I depart. Goodnight all!