Thursday, May 12, 2016

Summer is Suddenly Upon Us

Although I have a few more stops to make before I get home (Scotland, Ireland, Wales, and England), summer is basically here at long last. This semester flew by. And yet, as I think back to January, it seems more like a year ago than a few months. January 18th was the day we all got back from Christmas break ... and the night I had dinner with M.F., S.M., and J.S. at Doc's. That's significant because M.F. later asked J.S. to take us to Wal-mart the next day, and that set off a chain of events that eventually led to J.S. and I beginning a dating relationship. But you didn't come here to read about how I met my boyfriend, so back on topic! 
       This semester has been unique among my many months spent up here in the rainy mountains of Lynchburg. First of all, it was one of the easiest semesters, academically. I took three writing classes (Screenwriting, Transmedia, and Fiction), so I did lots of writing assignments, and that was fantastic. I wish every semester could be like that. My other classes were okay; fairly easy, in general. 
       Which was helpful, because I had time to spend with two of my best friends in the world. I will now divide the post into two sections talking about how amazing these friends are :)


MARIJKE



My friendship with M.F. has an interesting start. While browsing the Liberty Class of 2018 Facebook page, I noticed an eloquently written response to one of the posted questions. As in, really well-written. Cue Facebook stalking. After discovering that M.F. shared many of my interests (i.e. Doctor Who, Loki, Once Upon A Time, Marvel, etc.), I sent her a Facebook message. She actually replied, and we spent the summer messaging back and forth ... mostly about Loki, Bucky Barnes, and Natasha Romanoff, if memory serves. When freshman year began, we met up (in person) for the first time. Although we didn't get to see each other much that first year, we kept in touch. Last year, I was able to get a room in M.F.'s dorm, and I lived a mere floor above her -- after spending the first year of our friendship across campus from each other, this move was great. I spent countless hours in her dorm (probably annoying her quaddies with my constant presence) and got to know all of them pretty well. M.F. and I ate breakfast together on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays (sometimes lunch, too), and had brunch on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Before J.S. came along, we ate dinner together pretty frequently too. We've had more philosophical conversations than I can count. We've also had more conversations about Bucky, Steve Rogers, and various other Marvel superheroes than I can count. 
           
I have some pretty great memories involving M.F.: the first time we met and I got stuck in the bus doors; the time we watched The Winter Soldier with the entire quad; the time we road-tripped to Boston and listened to "Geronimo" way, way too many times; the time we hiked all the way to Camp Hydaway from East Campus; the time we went home with S.M. and saw otters at the aquarium; the time we sat in my room for four hours and wrote fanfictions stories about Bucky and Steve because Civil War didn't give us the feels we needed (oh, wait, that was yesterday ...) M.F. is one of the kindest, most thoughtful, intellectual, caring, quirky, and fun people I know. Even though we disagree on some all the things, we're still great friends. She keeps me grounded and makes sure I remember to express my feelings aloud (a struggle of mine). She challenges me to think outside my conservative box and helps me see the humorous side of life. 
          It's been a wonderful two years knowing her, and I am pumped to be her roommate next year. Keep on being you, M.F.! 

#sevenyears #beefybucky #redsoxmygoodman #captainswann #bittercagedbird 


JAKE


I've been acquainted with this guy for about seven months, since I first met him last November at the writing club. However, I didn't actually become close to him until January of this year. After the dinner I mentioned earlier, I ended up having dinner with him alone the next night, and things kind of went from there. I had a class with him (although I had two with him last semester, too), and we started getting dinner together afterwards. On average, we'd spend three or four hours talking every time we got together. If you know me, I don't do that much -- as an extreme introvert, it says a lot about him that I kept agreeing to eat with him when I knew I was going to spend hours with him. Needless to say, he soon asked me out, and I said yes. 


By now, we've gone on 11 dates and still spend several hours a day together. I have very few friends I never get tired of seeing, and he is (thankfully) one of them. J.S. never fails to lift my spirits and put a smile on my face. We've made countless Wal-mart runs, countless late-night Cookout runs, spent approximately 45 hours working together at the observatory, written stories for fiction class and the writing club, worked out together, chilled on the roof of DeMoss, and eaten more Subco sandwiches than I could ever count. We've driven along Skyline Drive, hiked Sharp Top, hiked to Camp Hydaway (in the snow), and sampled some of Lynchburg's finest cuisine. We've come up with stories about various faculty members and bosses. We've called LUPD to make sure somebody wasn't about to murder us at the observatory. We're taught people the difference between Jupiter and the moon. And we've laughed ... a lot. J.S. encourages me, looks out for me, makes me laugh, and teaches me new things every day. It's been a fantastic three months of dating this incredible, godly young man, and I look forward to many more! You're best, Jake!

#astronautfarmer #drlong #mattdamon #theregoesjerry #john #gandhi #allrightallrightallright #murph #dasisttoll #francischan 

It's been a wonderful semester. Even though I still miss my friends from home, these guys have my life in Lynchburg nothing short of incredible. God has really blessed me with friends like these, and I wouldn't trade them for the world. I'm going to miss both of them so much over the summer but (praise God), they're going to try and come visit me in Texas later on! I've already got a list of places I want to take them when they come :) I can't wait for next year. It's gonna be great!  

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