summer memories. :)

Wow, it's hard to believe what an amazing week I've had. Granted, my sleep schedule is a little wacky at the moment, and my room is an absolute wreck, but I don't mind. It's been worth it. I'm just thankful that my family is understanding, because most of the boxes, baskets, mirrors, and shelving units from my dorm room are still cluttering the floor behind the couches in the living room. I did finally move all of my clothes from my suitcases into my closet this weekend, though, which (surprise, surprise) makes it easier to get dressed in the morning. :P The "other side of my bed" is my next project, although I haven't conjured up the courage to tackle it yet. There's so much junk in the floor over there that has accumulated over the course of my two years of college, and I'm pretty sure I could throw most of it away and never miss it. I think I even stepped on an old soap mold earlier... :P (Remember those crazy huge American flags, Lindsey?) At this point, I just want to get rid of the clutter so I have a place for the stuff I actually need. It's a daunting task.

Anyway, I spent the majority of my week away from home, or at least out of my room. Stephen came to Cabot Monday afternoon, and we enjoyed the gorgeous weather hanging out at the park, drinking slushes, playing old-school Super Smash Bros. on the N64 (as usual), and watching Star Wars: The Phantom Menace (finally!). Tuesday was spent playing with Justin's crossbow and hunting bow, rocking out with the top down in Justin's Jeep, and pulling off Stephen's surprise birthday party -- which we did flawlessly, I might add. He was clueless up until he walked through the door, thanks to his awesome mom and some quick thinking on the part of his best friend. Justin, Britany, and I had to concoct a plan to keep him occupied for 45 minutes after he got his work schedule from the theater. We tossed around some ideas on the way to pick him up, but we didn't know what was actually going to come out of Justin's mouth when he got in. Stephen jumped into the Jeep and Justin promptly informed him that Britany and I needed some "feminine products" at Wal-Mart. :P (great.) So, Britany and I wandered around for a while, smelling random body washes and finding the cheapest "products" we could find to keep it believable. It was all worth it for the surprise, though, and we had a great time eating, watching American Idol (and wondering how "No Boundaries" made it to the stage), and sharing funny stories and memories. Most of us crashed his house afterwards for some Rock Band (which I'm kind of addicted to now). I didn't head home 'til about 2 in the morning. Fun times! Thank goodness for being able to sleep in.

Wednesday was Stephen's actual birthday, so I hung out at his house for the afternoon and went out to dinner with his family at Bonefish Grill. We made sure we were back at his house for the end of the American Idol finale, though, and we all screamed when Ryan announced that the 2009 American Idol was Kris Allen. For a while, I couldn't think of anything to say but, "My gosh, are you kidding? I can't believe it!" and I still think it's beyond crazy. Our very own Kris Allen, the worship leader at Chi Alpha that I admired so much from my freshman year -- is *the* American Idol. I can't wait for his albums to come out. God's given him so much talent and is obviously doing something amazing with him. (I'm looking forward to Adam Lambert's music, too -- he's definitely got an awesome voice and a lot of creativity.) Anyway...now that Idol is over for the year, I guess we'll have to come up with new conversation topics. No more talk about last night's biggest argument between the judges, discussions over the best and worst song choices, or defending the favorite contestant who got slighted. *sniff* Goodbye Idol mania - at least for a few months. :'( It's back to real life.

So...Thursday afternoon, I watched Stephen for a while as he slaughtered his enemies as Wolverine, all the while lamenting the damage to Hugh Jackman's 3D body. Such a shame. ;) Anyway, Stephen took me rock climbing at the climbing center later, and then we joined the rest of his family, Cassie, Caleb, and some other friends for Liz's going-away-to-Africa dinner at the Macaroni Grill before watching 300 at his house. Kick-awesome movie!! (minus the few scenes we skipped)

Sometime during the last couple of weeks, I also discovered that my fingers still remember how to play my violin. I thought for sure that I'd lost everything I'd ever learned, having not touched it for nearly a year, but Stephen convinced me to pick it up and give it a try, and happily, I was wrong. :) Now I think I'll pick it up every now and then just for fun.

So yes...I've loved the first two weeks of summer. There's nothing like fun friends, loud music, good movies, late nights and lazy mornings, Happy Hour Sonic slushes, or starry nights and fireflies to kick off a great summer break. I'd still like to find a job, but we'll see how that turns out. It would be nice if the opportunity at Pier 1 came through. If nothing works out, though, I'll just work on Mary Kay and spend some time volunteering. That will make it easier to go out to Virginia to visit Lindsey for her graduation in June. :) :) :) I'm trying so hard not to get my hopes up too high, but I want to go so badly! I can take care of the airfare to get there -- I just have to make sure I'm not working. (It would be doubly awesome if Stephen could go with me...but that would be more difficult to work out because of his job, so I'm not counting on it.) Anyway. Next on the agenda is planning my trip to France -- which I'm also trying to be realistic about. I need to find a price tag somewhere...

I guess I've written about enough for one evening. Kudos to you if you actually read all of my ramblings! I think I'm going to either tackle some of the junk in my room or plan out my week now...