The journey/arrival

It’s Saturday night and I’m writing this on a word document so that I can paste it tomorrow to my blog. I’m not connected to the internet right now but want to write it all down so I don’t forget anything. I’ll start with yesterday. I woke up early around 6:30 and started getting ready for the trip. Of course the cat puked all over the house and I had to clean that up but by 8:30 I was ready to go. Leaving Dallas went smoothly except for like 5 minutes of traffic. After that it was smooth sailing through East Texas. In Sulphur Springs, Texas the thought “did I pack my laptop?” crossed my mind. I remember that I had decided to pack it last so it could charge but then I didn’t remember actually packing it. I called my Dad and he was NOT happy and couldn’t believe I could forget such an important thing. Well I was feeling very stupid, but then I thought really hard and thought I may have just maybe packed it. So I stopped at this super sketchy redneck rest stop and checked the trunk. Sure enough it was right there. I called my Dad back, he was happy that his daughter wasn’t a complete idiot. I had also called my Mom but the signal was bad that she couldn’t here. Consequently she started calling/texting and was convinced that something very bad was happening to me (this was only one hour into my twenty hour drive). So things weren’t looking so good for me. However, I bounced back and made it all the way to Little Rock with no issues. I stopped at a Subway and got some lunch, the cashier was just about the most flamboyant man I’ve ever seen in my life and it made my day. While driving through Arkansas, one thing I noticed was that literally two in three stations are Jesus music. I thought I had heard Jesus music, but no- you don’t know Jesus music until you’ve listened to it in Arkansas. I was used to the rock and country variety but nothing could have prepared me for what I heard. I landed on this screamo Jesus song and immediately changed the station to the next one that was rapping “Yo imma jesus freak, jesus freak…got the holy spirit from my heads to my toes…Imma jesus freak”. It was culturally enlightening to say the least. Then I crossed the Mississippi and entered beautiful Tennessee. Now I have to say, Tennessee does not get enough credit, IT IS GORGEOUS! I had an absolutely lovely time driving through it. The landscape is breathtaking, the people are charming and the drivers are courteous. I stopped in Jackson, Tennessee for some Panera and the people there were just so cute-exactly the stereotype of people in Tennessee..hmmm Tennesseans, is that what they’re called? Haha My hotel was in Nashville and I got a bit lost exiting the highway. So as I’m trying to find the hotel, I notice there are literally twenty people just standing in the street. My first thought was “This place is either really sketchy or ghetto or perhaps both…how on earth could my father think this is a good place for me to be staying?” And then right when I pass the group, I notice there is a body on the street that everyone is huddled around. There are also dozens of people  looking from afar at the body. My mind takes quite a bit to register everything (I’ve been driving for ten hours) and then my jaw drops. Someone had just been hit. Next, I’m thinking “Where on earth is the ambulance?” So I keep on driving and sure enough, a minute later an ambulance, fire truck and police car pass by. I am still in such belief that I saw such a scene. I don’t remember seeing any blood so I really hope whoever that was is okay and the injuries were minor. It just really made me that about the delicacy of life and how it could be over in just one second. Why do we spend so much time being unhappy? We have so much to be thankful for, life to begin with. Sure life isn’t perfect but it doesn’t have to be perfect, to be wonderful. Until this last semester, I waited around for something to change that would suddenly transform my life into perfection. Luckily, I had a reality check and realized life is NEVER GOING TO BE PERFECT. NEVER EVER. But that doesn’t mean it can’t be absolutely fantastic. You just have to make the best out of what you’ve got. Stop being so hard on yourself- guess what: you’re never gonna be perfect also. You just have to try to be the best human being you can be and that will be enough. Not everyone is going to like you but as long as you are true to yourself-that is what matters. This is one of the reasons, I’m starting this blog. I want to begin reflecting on my life and all the memories that come with it.

Ok sorry about that tangent-just had to put it out there! Alright so back to Nashville. The hotel was awesome! I went swimming right away because I needed some exercise after being cramped in that car. After I got back from the pool, I looked for my phone charger in my overnight bag and once again felt like a complete idiot. I had put my charger into one of the bags in my trunk. So it’s ten o’clock at night and I have to go down to my car and look through all my bags. However, I still can’t find it. I haul myself back up to my room and look through my overnight bag once again and of course its right there. So basically I feel like a complete idiot for making myself believe that I’m a complete idiot- oh lord! I have some major self-doubt issues, especially when it comes to my organizational skills. This is the first official trip where I haven’t forgotten anything…woohoo!  I sleep well and wake up at 6:45. I’m on the road by eight and listen to country music all through the rest of Tennessee. There is nothing sweeter than listening to country music in Tennessee, you should try it sometime J I started to fade around ten and needed some caffeine so I stopped at a gas station. There was the cutest security guard there. It was the kind of town where everyone knows eachother. The cashier was talking with him about his plans. He was saying how he had just graduated college (and he looked so proud-it was so sweet!) and he was on the first day of his new job. I don’t know what struck me about him, he just seemed so sincere that was refreshing. I hit some standstill traffic somewhere in Tennessee and there ended up being a truck whose cab was completely smashed because it had hit a tree. Once again, I pray that the truck driver only had minor injuries. I finally made it to Virginia and nothing eventful happened there. I stopped at a Sheetz (my sister’s favorite gas station) and ordered some food. I have to say, Virginians are thoroughly less charming than Tennesseans, the friendly level dropped astronomically the second I crossed the border I swear!  But I made it to my Aunt and Uncle’s house in one piece! I actually lived in the same town when I was in the fourth grade and it’s weird to be living back here. I have a lovely room and my own bathroom and it’s just perfect. I am so thankful to them for letting me stay here the summer. I met my cousins au pair who is twenty one and from Vienna. I can already tell we’re going to be great friends. I am so excited to have a friend here to be completely honest. Even at home, I would get so bored because I am such a home body but now I have a friend that’s in the same house so it’s pretty much perfect.

I have had an absolutely lovely day. It started with my alarm clock going off at eight but I was so exhausted from the drive that I didn’t get up until 9:30ish when my cousin insisted that I get up. We spent the morning chatting on their back porch in the beautiful sunshine. We had chocolate chip muffins for breakfast. Then for lunch we had salad and an assortment of sides. I relaxed for the rest of the day. Then at six, one of my cousin’s old au pair came over for dinner with her parents and husband. There nine of us in total (me, my aunt & uncle, cousin, the Russian au pair, her parents, husband, and then their current Austrian au pair).  The most interesting aspect of the dinner was the fact that the Russian parents didn’t speak any English- which made for a lot of smiling and nodding J It was actually so much fun and they were just about the sweetest people I’ve ever met in my entire life. They were from southern Russia and I was so surprised when I learned that it took 20 hours by train to reach Moscow! I knew Russia was large but oh my goodness, when I looked at the map that was only a small distance in Russia. I thought I was pretty awesome for my drive, but in Russia that would be a short leisure trip! The world is just such an enormous place and you can really never run out of places to go- I just want to travel for the rest of my life. My best memories are from trips and even the big things that happen make awesome stories! Therefore I need to find a job that pays me to travel haha. I am very nervous to start my internship tomorrow but so so excited at the same time! I better get some sleep though J