7/13/2016 11:01 pm

Wowza I just realized it’s almost been a whole month since I’ve blogged, no wonder y’all have been contacting me asking me to post something. My bad. Everything is still fantastic. I still love it as much as I did a month ago, if not more so. I’m beginning to realize these people and friends are going to be lifetime friends. I haven’t posted in such a long time because there aren’t many times that I’m actually alone here, which is surprising for me because y’all know I LOVE my alone time. Somehow, I feel like I don’t need it here.

Work is going well for me still. My friend Raheem is going to be working pantry with us now so that will be a lot of fun. We got a new cook, Jovorn, who is causing a lottt of drama in the kitchen. He’s a very ‘my way or the highway’ kind of guy. He has a bit of a temper too. (Aka one time a server said the guest said his salmon was too dry so he punched the salmon and threw the whole plate in the garbage….yeah.) He’s nice to me though, but he’s mean to one of my closest friends here, Randall, so I’m not a huge fan of his. He just causes a lot of unnecessary problems in the kitchen.

Yesterday I was off, so I borrowed my friend’s truck and drove down into Ashford to use wifi and get coffee. Then we decided we wanted Buffalo Wild Wings so we drove to Puyallup to get Bdubs. Totally worth it, I got to go to Target too. I’m off tomorrow too, and my friend is letting me borrow her truck again, but I haven’t decided if I want to stay and Eno or go to Tacoma and visit coffee shops (they have a lot of cool coffee shops and I love & miss cool coffee shops). So, as of now this will be a two-part post and I will continue with what I end up doing tomorrow.

7/14/2016 4:19 pm

Well, I didn’t go to Tacoma or Eno. But I did come to Puyallup, which is a little closer to the mountain than Tacoma, and I did find a cool coffee shop. I looked at the traffic for Tacoma and did not feel like dealing with interstate and traffic. I got the chance to talk to Mom and Dad on the phone once I got into signal on the drive down, that was really nice. So sad I’m missing Blue Angels Week, but I’m still loving it up here so it’s fine. Driving up and down the windy mountain was a little disconcerting at first, but I think I’m used to it now.

Who knows when I’ll post next, but I miss you all and love you all dearly.

6/18/2016 2:00 pm

So I go into work on Wednesday, and it’s supposed to be a relatively slow night so I’m expecting to get out around 10. Nick, the guy who normally works with me in pantry, was off that day, so I was working with Tyler. (Tyler goes to Alabama, ew. But don’t worry every time he says “Roll Tide” I make sure to respond with War Eagle) Tyler was only scheduled until 8 so I knew I would have to close pantry by myself, no big deal. However, about an hour into my shift, the head chef, Jack, comes by and says “Oh by the way we have another inspection tomorrow morning, so just take everything out and clean it all just like you did last time.” Of course I respond with “Okay, no problem!” But last time, I had Nick there to help me. Cleaning for inspection is incredibly time consuming. Dinner went well, and Tyler was kind enough to stay until 8:40, but the majority still needed to be done. Little did I know, cleaning all of pantry was going to be the least of my worries. I finished pantry around 10:40, and I assumed I would just help Kayla, Keneec, and Randall finish the back and be out around 11:30. Oh boy was I wrong. Apparently, everything was labeled incorrectly. Everything. When I went to the back, the tables were covered with trays of food, because they had to empty out every single cooler and walk-in to re-label everything. Honestly, it’s a really good thing that I like who I work with because even though we were there labeling and re-labeling things until 2 am, I was having fun. After we finally clocked out and everything was done Randall brought down some beer and Keneec made us sandwiches, and oh my goodness this sandwich was incredible. It had a lot of stuff I normally don’t eat on it but it was so good I didn’t even care. He took a mixture of peppers, onions, mushrooms, and tomatoes and put it in a pan with egg and cheese and then put it on toasted bread. It was SO good. I’m not sure if it was because we had just worked so much or because it was 2 am, or even a combination of both, but it was the best sandwich I’ve ever had. I was off the next day, thankfully, and I slept until noon then watched movies with my friend.

When I went into work yesterday, I knew I was going to be by myself in pantry because Nick and Tyler were both off. I was a little surprised they were both off on a Friday. I got in and asked the morning pantry guy if there was much prep to do for dinner, he said there wasn’t really much to do, but when I went back there I realized he was incorrect. I had to prep basically everything for dinner by myself, thankfully one of my friends, Raheem, wasn’t busy so he helped. But I was still a little nervous about working pantry alone on a Friday night, when apparently the occupancy of the Inn was about 80% full. The first 20-ish minutes were nice and slow. But after that I was constantly doing something. At one point I had about 10 tickets on my line and they weren’t just single items on each ticket. I was feeling a tad overwhelmed. I got everything out without any complaints though. And at the end of dinner service, the sous chef, Simon (he normally messes with me and says I mess things up even though I don’t), told me “hey, way to rock it tonight. seriously, good job.” So I’m pretty proud of myself for last night.

Tonight, Nick is back so things should go smoothly. I have Tuesday and Thursday off this week, and we hope to do a long hike on Tuesday, so I’ll keep y’all posted.

Oh, and it started snowing again today. So that's cool.

6/12/2016 1:54 pm

Aunt Lori, I remember when you said that I wasn’t allowed to move up here for a boy, to which I agreed. However, I’ve fallen in love. Not with a boy, but with a city. Portland was such a cool city to visit. I’m not saying that I’m going to peace out of Pensacola ASAP but the likeliness of me moving to the Northwest is much higher now, it's fantastic up here. I went to Portland on Monday with my friends Kellie and Sam. It’s only about a 2.5 hour drive from Mount Rainier. We walked around and found this famous donut shop called “Voodoo Donuts.” The donut I had was heavenly. It had chocolate icing, oreo crumbles, and peanut butter drizzle. From there we walked to Powell’s Bookstore, which is basically a book superstore. It was HUGE. Thankfully, Sam and Kellie love books as much as I do, so spending a significant amount of time there was no problem. They have used and new books, so finding good deals is not difficult. Surprisingly enough, I only walked away with 2 new books. From there we walked around a little more, then made our way down to the waterfront where we just sat and chatted. That was a very very good day.

I’m still working 3-11pm shifts, but I’m perfectly fine with that. Like I had said previously, I love the people I work with so that makes the job enjoyable. I work with this Jamaican guy, Nick, in pantry a lot. He is one of the funniest people I’ve met up here. Every now and then my friends Randall and Kayla will look over in pantry and both Nick and I will be dying laughing. I find myself not complaining about having to go into work because I enjoy my time there so much. I know I’ve talked about how much I love the people here, but I really really love the people here. I can’t walk anywhere without someone smiling and saying “Hey Kristen!” Someone I’ve never spoken to addressed me by name and asked how my day was going today while I was in the EDR.

Oh! I finally have a roommate! I was a little skeptical at first because I’ve grown accustomed to having my own room, but she’s really cool. Her name is Lindsay and she is from Connecticut. She works in the cafe with 3 of my other friends, so we all get along very well. We kind of have opposite schedules right now because she opens, but I think she’s trying to switch to mid shifts so she'll be able to hang out at nights with everyone.

It’s currently 65 degrees outside and sunny. I’m off today and I’m waiting for my friend Sam to get off at 3 so we can go hiking. Tonight, we are having our weekaversary party we have every Sunday (because we all got here on a Sunday). It should be fun, as usual, except this time we have a piñata! So that's exciting. Sorry this post is kind of short, I don’t really know what else to write. Just know that I am so so very happy.

6/2/2016 1:11 pm

So sorry for the lack of posting lately. I spend very little time in my room to sit and write posts. In a way, not posting is a good thing! The wifi is consistently unreliable. While it is annoying, I am somewhat thankful for that because I’m not on my phone and social media. It’s refreshing. I am officially in pantry now! I’m so much happier there. My shift is always 3-11 pm because I work dinner and then help close the kitchen. The shift itself could be better, but the people I work with make it enjoyable. One of my good friends, Kayla, works the dinner shift too. We started a thing in the kitchen that when it gets slow, we do yoga. Just tree pose though (standing on one leg—I’m doing tree pose in the most recent picture I posted on Facebook). Kayla and I will look at each other and say “tree pose!” and do it, at first the cooks were like ‘what is going on’, but now they join in. The sous chef, Simon, made his own pose. He calls it “teapot”. You don’t have to use too much imagination to figure out what his pose is. We all have a good time in the kitchen. There are some servers that are getting to be annoying already, but annoyance is expected with every job. A plus side of pantry is that I have the opportunity to get some tips from servers! Just a couple nights ago, a server had a very difficult table and I had to keep making and remaking salads for her, so she tipped me at the end of the night. She gave me a few dollars in cash and said she put more on my paycheck. So that’s a nice perk.

All the nights I’ve worked 3-11, I’ve never actually gotten off at 11. Most of the time it’s earlier than 11, like 10:30. But one night it was 11:50. Getting off late is unfortunate because some of my friends work mornings, so they are all in bed by the time I get off. But most of the time there are a few people hanging out in the common room in the basement that I join. It’s pretty cool when it’s a lot of my friends, because I’ll round the corner to the basement and everyone looks to see who it is, and I’m met with a chorus of “Kristen!!!!! You’re off!!!!!” As you can imagine, with my hours, I have a lot of late nights, so I sleep in a lot too. Some days I’ll eat lunch and then take my book to the second floor of the Inn and read for a while before I have to go to work. The second floor is a very pleasant place to sit and read.

Staying up late and sleeping in doesn’t mean that I’m not hiking though! I had off on Monday, so some of us hiked the Carter Falls trail. It was gorgeous (refer to most recent picture I posted). The temperature was in the high 60s or low 70s so it was a perfect day. After Carter Falls, we drove further down the mountain to Twin Firs trail, where there are giant trees up to 850 years old. That trail was very short, but incredibly pretty. (I took pictures, but they won’t load so if you’re curious about anything feel free to google them). After that hike we came back, ate dinner, then went to the basement to watch a movie with everyone. A few nights ago, a lot of my friends and I walked down the closed road behind the Inn, and stargazed. It is the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. We could see the Milky Way, and the International Space Station fly by every 15 minutes. There were so many stars. We stayed out there for a while until the wind picked up and we all got too cold, I can’t wait until summer when we can stay out there as long as possible. Just yesterday, I did another hike with 3 friends. Myrtle Falls is a relatively short hike, but it is up the mountain a bit and in the snow, so it’s not necessarily the easiest thing. Hiking uphill in snow kicked my butt a little bit. It was SO worth it though. Hiking up towards the mountain was unbelievably gorgeous. The waterfall itself was mostly covered in snow still, but there was a little bridge that crosses the waterfall, so we sat there and just soaked in the view for a bit before heading back down for lunch.

The job is fine, but the people are awesome. Some of my friends and I were saying that if we had met under different circumstances, we probably wouldn’t have become friends. Everyone is so different and everyone has their unique story as to why they came here, I love it. I expected it to be an interesting group of people, and I was worried about making friends. But it’s been so easy to talk to everyone here. I think it’s because we all have one thing in common, which is some sort of desire to escape and live and work in a beautiful place for a summer. So far, this has been an amazing experience and I am so happy.

5/25/2016 9:35 am

I am typing this hoping that the wifi will start working again soon. It has been out since we got back from Seattle. My past few days have been good though! Especially because 2 of my last 3 days I was off work.

On Sunday, I read a lot in the morning while I was waiting for Trevor and Sam to get off of work. Once they did, we took the shuttle down the mountain to a place called Longmire, where there are a lot of trailheads. There is also typically much better weather at Longmire than there is up here at Paradise. We went on a trail that is next to a waterfall at times. So whenever we were close to it, we would climb down and get right next to it, the higher up we got, the better the view. It was beautiful. Unfortunately, we didn’t make it to the top because we had to head back down to catch the shuttle.

We went to Seattle on Monday! That was fun. We left here around 8:45 and went to Walmart first. We picked up some things that we realized we needed/wanted before heading to the city. My friend Kellie drove Sam, Kayla, and myself. Kellie had recently been to Seattle with her mom, so she knew to park in Georgetown because it was free parking, and take the bus to downtown. It worked out well, we got off the bus a few blocks away from Pike’s Market. We walked around there for a bit, then found a place to eat lunch that overlooked the water. After lunch, we walked around a little more, then decided to go find the first Starbucks ever. The line was ridiculous. It was out the door and down the street, so we decided to take a picture and find another coffee place. Fueled with coffee, we started shopping. We shopped until we realized we needed to leave pretty soon, given that we had a ~2-2.5 hour drive ahead of us. We made our way back to the bus station, which is underground so that’s cool. Upon arriving back in Georgetown we looked for a place to eat (the finding a place wasn’t difficult, but deciding was. There were so many cute little restaurants.) We finally decided on an Italian place and it was a very good decision. Everything was delicious, we all got something different and passed around plates so we could try everyone’s food. We made our way back to Kellie’s car, and headed back up to Mount Rainier. We didn’t get back until 11:30-11:45, but it was worth it.

Yesterday, I woke up and read a little bit. Oh yeah, I finished that other book I’m reading and I borrowed “The Shining” from Sam so I’m currently reading that. After a couple chapters, I got ready and Sam and I headed to the cafe to visit Trevor and Natalie. We ate lunch, then walked along the road behind the Inn so we could try to see marmots. We saw three! They are about the size of a raccoon, but kind of look like a giant squirrel. They’re pretty cute. I came back to my room and took a nap. The nap was not a decision, it just kind of happened. I woke up and went to work. When I walked in the office to put up my jacket, the head chef, Jack, (aka my boss) was sitting at the computer. He said hello then continued with “oh yeah I wanted to talk to you about something, how do you like dishwashing?” I responded with sugarcoated honesty, expressing my dislike but not excessively so. He then said “would you want to do something else? You seem sharp, and you’re a good hard worker. I don’t want to say it’s a waste…but it’s kind of a waste having you in dishwashing.” Obviously I was thrilled with this conversation. I asked what else I could do and he gave me my options: food prep, expo, or pantry. I chose pantry, the responsibilities of pantry are to make salads and desserts. There are pictures of how they should look, but there is some creative freedom. OH, the best part is that it comes with a pay raise. He wanted me to start pantry then and there. One small thing that made me a little nervous, was that I was the only one working pantry for Tuesday night. Jack assured me that it would be slow and I could do it. The person working pantry for lunch was still there, so he showed me how to set up and the basics and whatnot, then he clocked out. Because Israel helped me set up, I needed to wait for dinner to start. I helped with food prep until I had to go report to pantry. I think it went well, especially because it was my first time working pantry and I was alone. During dinner time, Jack came over and asked if I could make the fruit platter for breakfast, he showed me the picture of this elaborate and beautifully laid out fruit platter and I said I would certainly try. He brought over all the fruit I needed because I was busy with making salads. I followed the picture, and chopped up some cantaloupe and pineapple and honeydew and strawberries. When I was done, Jack and some other kitchen workers gave the approval and some nice comments. Dinner was over so I cleaned everything up, then had to head over to finish all the dishes. I didn’t clock out until 11:10, but I did get to bring home a to go box of steak and mashed potatoes. I work at 3 again today, and I’ll let Jack know that I definitely want to continue with pantry.

Sad thing also happened…the silly band I have had on my wrist since sophomore year of high school is gone. I realized it once I was home last night. I’m guessing it came off when I was taking off some gloves. My wrist feels naked.

5/21/2016 1:36 pm Today has already been a good day and it’s not even 2 pm. Although I do go into work from 3-11 so that could change things. It started just like any other, except with the added uncertainty of when I go into work because the schedule was not posted last night. This led me to waking up, getting dressed for work, and going to breakfast with plenty of time to clock in before 9 am just in case (a common time to begin a shift). When I got into the EDR (Employee Dining Room), I went straight to where the schedule is posted to determine my plans for the day. Turns out, I don’t work until 3pm today, I have the next two days off, and then 3-11pm for the rest of the week. (Not a super great shift but whatever, I get to sleep in or hike in the mornings.) It’s not exactly a pretty day up here today, it’s foggy and misty and cold, so hiking was out of the question for me. This cleared up my day for plenty of reading! My friends and I eat breakfast, and chat about how Trevor feels ill prepared to be making lattes and knows nothing about them. I shared the little bit I do know about espresso based drinks, and they joked about wanting me to work in the cafe. Although, apparently it wasn’t all joking.

We finish breakfast and everyone heads to their jobs, but Kelly and I head to our dorms so I can change, then we walked over to visit the cafe. I ordered a latte and sat and read for a bit, it was nice. While I was there, I observed the dynamic between the managers and the cafe workers (although they do not have a cafe manager because she quit on the second day of work). The managers really seem to respect my friend Natalie’s input when it comes to running the cafe and whatnot. One funny thing I noticed, was when Trevor clocked in, the GM came into the cafe and saw that there were 3 people working and sent this kid Jacob home. Come to find out, the GM and Food and Beverage managers do not like him. They want him to be transferred to another work assignment, but then they would be short staffed in the cafe. I jokingly, but not really jokingly, suggested that they tell the managers to switch Jacob and me, because he wouldn’t have to talk to any guests (he’s not the best at customer service apparently). Natalie and Trevor loved that idea and adamantly said they would talk to the managers about it. Please keep your fingers and toes crossed that the managers go for that idea, because I would LOVE to get switched and work in the cafe with my friends.

After I had spent about an hour or so reading in the cafe, I wandered over to the gift shop where my friend Sam works. We chatted, and I bought a sticker for my laptop. I wanted to wait for her to get her lunch break before I headed to lunch myself, so I made my way to the upstairs of the lobby of the Inn to read some more. The second floor is beautiful. You get a better view of the structure of the inn, as well as the gorgeous hand painted lanterns that are suspended from the ceiling. Not only could I see the lanterns and architectural magnificence from the second floor, I also spotted a guy wearing a UCF sweatshirt. Yes, University of Central Florida. I honestly never expected to see that up here. I knew Sam was about to go on her lunch break, so when I went downstairs to meet her I made sure to give him a “Go knights”. Of course, this led to a conversation. He’s up here for work, in case you were curious. Sam and I went to lunch and discussed plans for the next couple of days. She and Trevor both get off at 3 tomorrow, so we are planning on hiking a trail that starts a little down the mountain once they get off. One of my fellow dishwashers recommended some good trails for us. Then on Monday, Sam, Kelly, and I all have the day off, so we are going to go explore Seattle. I’m very very excited.

After lunch, I helped Trevor carry some supplies back to the cafe, then came back to my room to read some more before work. I came across a passage in my book where a girl is talking about supernovas and how brilliant and powerful and bright they are for such a brief moment, then they’re gone. And honestly, that made me think about how every moment in life is fleeting, and any given moment could be a supernova of life: just a brilliant, powerful moment that can be brighter and happier than any other moment you’ve experienced thus far. The difference (beside the fact that our lives do not consist of exploding stars, duh) is that life supernovas don’t just happen, we have to make them happen. And I really think, and hope, that this summer is going to hold a lot of life supernovas for me.

5/17/16 First thing’s first: Happy birthday dad!! Sorry I didn’t have service to text you all day (and I’m probably going to post this tomorrow morning if I have wifi before I go to work). The wifi here is pretttty terrible. Although I am beginning to appreciate not feeling the need to constantly have my phone or constantly check my phone because I know I won’t have anything. It’s refreshing. However, there are downsides. It is quite difficult to make plans with friends when phones don’t work. We learned that the hard way today.

Today was the first day I could actually see the mountain. There was not a cloud in the sky on my walk to work in the morning. The temperature was perfect, the sun was out, the snow is melting, all in all a perfect day. I was lucky enough to have an 8 hour shift at work on this perfect day, and meanwhile I have friends who went snowshoeing and hiking. BUT I did still have time to take the shuttle down to Longmire with my friends Trevor, Kayla, and Kelly to do some trails down there. We were supposed to meet our friend Natalie down there too, but she wasn’t down there when we arrived so we don’t know what she did. (Reason why phones would’ve come in handy). Nonetheless, we had a great time. We hiked probably around 4.5 ish miles. It is SO nice having people around who appreciate nature and scenery just like I do. I love all my friends back home/Orlando dearly, but it’s lovely to have my comments about nature or the beauty of the sky or trees validated rather than shrugged off. This may be premature, but I really do believe these are friends I’ll keep for quite a while.

I'm going to try to upload some pictures but if they don't work I apologize.

View from my room on a clear day ^ and hiking pictures below:

I helped catch a mouse today.

5/15/16 The day had finally come. And although I was eager to get the trip to Mt. Rainier started, the person above me in the hotel was especially eager for their day, because their pacing or walking or running in their room woke me up around 6 am. I went back to sleep in 30 minute increments until 9, when I finally decided to watch Netflix, for what would most likely be the last time this summer. I realized it was time to get up and moving, so I proceeded to take a shower, call my parents, get packed up and head downstairs. When I arrived to the shuttle, I realized I was one of the last ones there even though I got there 10 minutes before the designated pickup time. Oops, I guess 15 minutes earlier is always a safer bet. Oh well. The driver and I found room in the trailer for my giant suitcase, (although I was relieved when I saw equally giant suitcases already packed) climbed in and sat in the back. I unknowingly climbed in to this shuttle with 5 other people who would become my first friends on this trip.

We begin the ride with small talk and get-to-know you banter, but our first stop at McDonald’s was what really began these friendships. The 6 of us sat together, and as we began feeling more comfortable with one another, the jokes started flowing, and genuine laughter quickly followed. Soon after, we had inside jokes with each other. The next stop was Walmart. And shoutout to fun kid watches for being the source of a great bonding experience with my friend Sam. We raved over the options that they had, and she shared my sadness in the lack of a Captain America watch. Ultimately, I got a Spider-Man watch, and Sam got a Star Wars one. They were the hit of the shuttle on the ride to the next stop, I assure you.

Next, we were driven an hour to a small town Ashford to fill out, like, 20 pages of paperwork. That was really fun. But we also received our uniforms and drug tested. At this point we are all cold (but sometimes really hot because the shuttle had no in between temperature), tired, and hungry. Yes, my sass was very evident at this point. Up until then I was able to keep my sarcasm somewhat in check…that was no longer. It was well received though, thankfully I didn’t lose the 5 friends I made in that tiny little shuttle. From Ashford it was an hour drive to Mount Rainier, we all got out and enter into the employee dining room where we are welcomed by a salad bar and spaghetti. Thankfully, it was delicious.

Today was a lot of hurry up and wait. After we finished eating we met our housing coordinator (who is from Orlando by the way, so that’s cool). It took a while to get everything situated, so we were stuck in the employee dining room for about 2 hours. It’s a good thing we all (from what I can tell and hope) enjoy each others’ company. We joked about how the two dorms were rivals, and we could no longer associate with them. Finally, we went to our dorms. Unfortunately, none of us were placed in a room together, but we are on the same hall. Third floor of Guide House to be exact. There is no elevator, and the stairs are quite steep. Lugging my giant suitcase up the stairs was a fun experience. As of 9:54 pm tonight, I do not have a roommate. I’m all moved in, and the room is still pretty empty. I’m realizing some things I wish I had brought already, and want mailed up (sorry mom and dad). This will be my first experience with community bathrooms yipppeeee!

OH how could I forget. The scenery is absolutely beautiful. It was rainy and foggy and overcast so we couldn’t see everything, but what we could see was incredible. There are mounds of snow lining the sidewalk to my dorm. The trees are HUGE. It’s cold, but good cold. I cannot wait until we have a clear day and will be able to see everything.

Yes, I have only been here for one day but I can honestly say that I have laughed harder than I have in quite a while, I have left my comfort zone behind, and I am loving it. (ps. it took me a while to post this because I couldn't get the wifi to work last night)

Airports and Shuttles and People, Oh my!

Today, I made the journey across the country and am currently typing this in my hotel room in Seattle. The trip here was not too eventful, which is a good thing because eventful travels usually mean something went wrong. So for that, I am thankful. Although the baggage claim was running behind so I had to wait 30 minutes for my bag, and then 20 for the hotel shuttle...but that helps build patience, right? I was reading my book on the flight from Pensacola to Dallas, and the main character was discussing travel:

"I wondered at the connection I felt with airports. Fighting through long security lines and hordes of rushing travelers certainly caused me unease, but, once inside the terminal with time to spare, I was seduced by the magic subtleties of a place that not only seemed to expose the rawest and more emotional sides of people, but cultivated camaraderie among them as well...Most people, forced into the predicament of waiting, seemed to embrace the short-lasting, casual nature of the friendships they forged while passing through an airport." (-Nick Miller)

That passage really explains why, while travel and airports can be stressful, I sincerely love to travel. And today I realized that traveling pulls me out of my shell. I had so many conversations today with a wide variety of people. And I appreciate the brief friendships I made today. Every single conversation led to asking where I was heading, and when I told them about my summer plans, the responses were always positive. Recently, I have been second-guessing my decision to do this. However, when I heard everyones' overwhelmingly excited and positive responses, my worries subsided. Granted, I'll definitely have some butterflies inhabiting my stomach for the next few days, but I no longer question my decision.

So, tomorrow I embark on my bus ride to my future home of 3 months, and I am nervous...but I am pumped.