Leap!

White House State Dining Room on February 27, 2016

Hello, all! Things have been moving quickly for me lately.

Friends!

Just this past weekend, my dear friend Melissa came to visit me here in DC. She arrived Friday afternoon and left this morning, and in those two and a half days, we visited the White House, the Kennedy Center, the Folger Shakespeare Library, The Hamilton (a restaurant on 14th Street), the Georgetown Neighborhood Public Library, Good Stuff Eatery, and Pie Sisters. We walked at least 15 miles in two days and got relatively little sleep. It was absolutely wonderful to see her, and I'm so grateful that she came.

RA

Last Thursday, I received an email notifying me that I am going to be an RA! I'll be staying another year in this dorm, Village C West (VCW)! I'm thrilled to have the chance to help new freshmen adjust to Georgetown and to college life in general. Mom is particularly pleased that RA financial benefits include housing and a meal plan. Next year is thus far looking good!

Moving

Since I was a small child, my parents have talked about wanting to move "back home" to be closer to family. I didn't understand the complicated nature of moving at the time, so I went to school often saying, "We're moving to Nebraska!" One year, a couple of girls asked me, "Why are you still going to school here? I thought you were moving to Nebraska."

Well, finally we are moving to Nebraska—or rather, my family is. My mother just signed the paperwork for a new job and announced it to her coworkers and friends, so the news is public. My family will be moving to Omaha this summer, hopefully at the end of June. Until then, my father will rapidly paint, renovate, and otherwise pretty-up my childhood home. My mother will start her new job in April, commuting occasionally but mostly working long-distance, and my sisters will finish their last school year at Ocee Elementary and their last few months of being Georgia girls.

As for me, I will return home after finals and help pack up the house. I will help my family move into the house in Omaha, and in mid-August I will return to DC. At that point DC will be my home. I will of course visit my parents in Omaha and my friends in Atlanta, but I will live in DC.

Midterms

Academics are currently stressful! I have a hundred things to do before I go home to Georgia this Friday, and over my spring break I will spend time with my family, my friends, and my textbooks, getting ready for Round Two after the break. Once I make it through this week, I can sleep, at least a little bit more than I have been lately.

To Sum Up:

I am tired. I'm feeling more at home here in DC. I'm excited about some things and happy about some things and anxious about some things, and overall I'm just ready for the nap I'm going to take an hour from now.

I hope everyone is doing well!

P.S.: I'm pleased I get to make a post on February 29. Cheers!

19

Happy fall from the Hilltop! These pictures are from around Georgetown and around campus, and all but one were taken on my birthday.

Having a birthday somewhere other than Johns Creek, Georgia, was weird, but it was still a really great birthday. I've always loved my birthday because it's the one day a year where everyone tries to tell me how much they love me. Everyone is always really sweet and I'm always very happy. 19 was no exception! I was a little late to my first class since I overslept a little, but classes went fairly well. I went to Good Stuff Eatery for lunch with Isaac, Michael, and Ellen; on your birthday you can get a free milkshake from Good Stuff, and it was a good milkshake.

 After that I dragged Isaac and Michael around M St with me. I got a free cupcake from Sprinkles (the chai latte flavor is pretty dang good), and then I browsed Paper Source since I love stationery shops. Once the boys were about to melt from boredom and I'd had my fill of cute stationery, we went to Baked & Wired where the boys got sweets. We walked down to the waterfront and ate our cupcakes overlooking the Potomac.

Then we went exploring a little bit, and during our adventures I took most of the fall photos at the beginning of this post. Once we got back to campus, there were dogs all over Healy Lawn! I got to pet three of them, and it was a great birthday treat. I love love love animals.

Is this not one of the cutest photos ever? Look at that pug in a costume!

After our explorations, it was "nap time"—I intended to nap but I watched the new episode of How to Get Away With Murder instead. After nap time, most of the gang got together to go to dinner at Mai Thai, a Thai restaurant that is popular around Georgetown. On your birthday you can get a free entree from Mai Thai as long as you have your ID and someone to eat with (it's pretty much a BOGO free deal). It was such a nice meal, and the kids surprised me with mango ice cream at the end.

When we got back to campus, somehow they convinced me to complete the Georgetown tradition of sitting on John Carroll's lap. Right in front of Healy Hall (the big castle building, for anyone who doesn't know) is a large statue of John Carroll, the founder of our fine university. One of the many Georgetown traditions is to get a picture of you sitting on his lap. I discovered that this simple task is much harder than it looks because John is quite tall, at least twice my height. After a few embarrassing attempts, I finally made it.

Michael tried his best to take a good picture in the pitch-dark of 7:30PM in DC fall.

After some more exploring, we finally returned to Isaac's dorm room where we continued the squad movie night tradition. Every week we have squad movie night, meaning our group of friends piles into Isaac's room and someone chooses a movie to share with the group. The general movie theme is each person's favorite movie, but on this night we obviously changed our theme to Halloween movies. We watched Hocus Pocus, one of my favorite movies and one that I watch almost every year on my birthday. We drank apple cider and had a lovely time. Although she couldn't stay for the movie, Ellen made a quick stop in Isaac's room to drop off her gift for me—a bouquet of flowers! The flowers currently sit on my desk in a water bottle since I don't have a vase, and they brighten up my days. I made such good friends here.

Ellen is THE BEST!

I got cards from various people from home, and my roommate got me a Georgetown cupcake (pumpkin cheesecake mmmmmmm). My birthday was absolutely wonderful. I have a good life here, good friends and good people and a good job and good circumstances. I'm always blessed, and I think on my birthday God likes to remind me of that fact a little bit more.