The Year that Summer Died

Growing up is weird and I wanna know why no one talks about that? Why does no one warn you and prepare you for all the unexpected changes? Why isn’t there some sort of halfway house between college and the real world? Do people really successfully make this transition and keep their sanity?

You see, it comes in waves. Some of the growing up process seems gradual and natural. For instance, I don’t have the urge to change my AIM screen name every other day, or lick just the middle out of the Oreo and put the cookies back in the box. I would say that is just a natural change that happened when I matured and grew up. However, some things are very sudden and seem to come out of no where. Take summer vacation for example. I can’t think of a time when summer break wasn’t the most exciting time of the whole year. Until now. Until now, summer was a time when me and my friends were all out of school for a little while, and when we all flocked back to our hometowns. It was sad to say goodbye to college friends from different states, but it was always good to go home, knowing it wasn’t permanent. Summers were spent with silly summer jobs, laying out by the pool, and catching up with friends. For 22 years of my life, this is what summer was about. Well, newsflash, ladies and gentlemen. Apparently this isn’t a forever kinda thing. Apparently when you grow up and graduate college, people move away and get real jobs, where they don’t even get summer break! Luckily I picked a dead end major in college and have to go back to more school before I can get a job so I have no real job in my near future, so I still get a summer break. And boy was I excited to come home and hang out by the pool with my friends! But wait…where are my friends? That’s right. They grew up. They have real jobs where they have to work all day, and go to the gym, and make lesson plans, and plan their weddings. Honestly, it sounds silly, but nothing could have prepared me for the death of my usual summer plans. I’ve been home exactly a week and I feel like I might explode. I have no friends,  no social life whatsoever, no job, no schedule, and nothing to do. I feel slightly pathetic and useless. I feel like I shouldn’t be in my own house. I feel like my house was a place to come home for the summer. But this…this is not summer. My mom works from home, which is usually not a problem because I’m out with friends or doing things during the summer. But this year, I wake up, and she’s working. I go downstairs and eat, and she’s working. I watch TV, shower, and go to the grocery, and she’s working. I take a nap, and she’s working. And the whole dang time she’s working, I feel like I should be doing something productive or like I’m intruding in my own house, or just like I shouldn’t be there. So folks, enjoy your summers while you still have them. Cause although the summer season might always be around, the typical summer break doesn’t last forever, apparently.

RIP Summer break (1989-2012)



The end of one stage, the beginning of another...

I want to start this post with an apology. If I ramble or don’t make sense it is because I am exhausted and haven’t made sense all day (see previous post for proof). But I’m gonna go for it anyways:

Summer is coming to an end. In the next few weeks, one of my best friends will be moving back to school and I will be making the move to Charlotte. This summer has been weird. It’s strange moving back home after college. It was strange traveling so much. And it’s strange to be moving and starting new school. I wasn’t quite sure about how I felt about the end of summer until recently. But I have decided that I’m sad and slightly scared. It’s the end of a lot of things. After middle school, most of your friends stay in the same district and go to high school with you. After high school, things start to change. Most of your friends go off to different colleges but we all come home to the same place. Now that college is over, we are all moving on. Spreading out. Yes, there will always be Wilmington to come back to, but will this place stay “home” for all of us? The future is uncertain for a lot of us. I trust my friendships and I know that they’re strong, but it’s still scary to think that we are splitting up and moving on in different directions. The end of this summer signifies the end of childhood (yes, I’m aware that I’m 22 and ‘childhood’ probably ended a while ago, but for the sake of my point just go along with it). So am I excited to move and start nursing school? Yes, of course! But am I sad to be leaving my best friends? Am I anxious to see where we all end up? Yes. So here's to bittersweet endings and new beginnings.

One Month

Wooohooo! Classes are over yall! And graduation is in 3 days! It has all happened incredibly quickly and I am so excited to walk across that stage. Sorry I haven’t been blogging much lately. I have been busy with finals and packing and senior week activities! And unfortunately my blogging frequency probably won’t get much better. In 6 days I will be packing up (again) and moving to Myrtle Beach for a month. I’m going with my campus ministry to a summer program called Summer Beach Project. I went as a student in the summer of 2008 and learned so much! Now this summer, I will be going for a month as a nanny to take care of the project director’s baby boy. He is 3 months old and absolutely precious. I can’t wait to spend time with the little guy, plus get to see some friends and learn even more! I don’t really know what my schedule is going to look like during this next month. I know I have a baby to take care of 7 days a week, 2 weddings to go to, and apartment hunting and lease signing…all within the next month. So excuse me if I am a little bit absent. I promise I will try to update with pictures and little stories! And if you really wanna keep in touch, let me know and I can give you an e-mail address, which I will be able to check more frequently. Until then…

xoxo