Part 2 - Journey to Nationals

Where did I leave off... graduation... We left graduation and headed towards an airport in Dayton.  My flight left at 3:30 to go to Nationals.  We were having an awesome trip, but that apparently was meant to end when it dawned on me that I had forgotten my license in Bowling Green, an hour away.

This could be a problem.

Confession of a 22 year old... I forget everything. It's a really bad thing...

Theme of the month...

After trying to see if it had been packed somewhere we hadn't looked, we decided to accept the fate that I didn't have my license.  David called us to tell us that you can get through security without a license, so thus we should try it.  Turns out you can get through security, but you can't get your plane ticket without it.  Thus I missed my flight.

Not cool.

I called Chris, my coach  that was in North Carolina waiting for me, to update her on the situation and she just told me to relax and take a deep breath.  [[ Cue waterworks here. ]]  We then decided to continue driving to Grandma's to figure out what to do next.

Me reading on the first part of the journey

We arrived and after calling a million and half places, the cheapest quote we found on a rental car for 12 hours was over 500 dollars!!  [Did you know most rental places close between noon and 1 on Saturdays... totally annoying].  I looked at Mom and then I looked at Grandma and just said, "Can't we just take Grandma?"  (Much love to my grandmother... She was totally excited to go, throwing her bathing suit in her suitcase, planning her beach vacation in N.C.  How funny?)

So happy she could come

Needless to say, the three of us (my mom, grandma, and myself) headed out.  I know that it wasn't planned to happen that way, but I must say, I'm totally glad it did.  I love traveling with them --> the proof is in the Jamaica trip.   We had a blast going to N.C.  It was a 12 hour drive filled with a cute diner in Kentucky (where I called Sue, my other coach who couldn't go to tell her about the missed flight.  Her advice - "When all this bad stuff happens before a show, it means you'll have a GREAT ride!)  I love my coaches!

Isn't the moon gorgeous?  God made such cool things

Anyway, so the cute little diner, the magic tunnel, the moon - which was the closest it's ever been to the earth, and lots of fun conversations.  Oh and I got time to read Harry Potter again, always fun.

We arrived at the hotel at 5:30 am on Sunday.  I had to be at the arena at 6 am for schooling of horses.  I got there and went up to Chris' room, where she was walking down the hallway.  I'm pretty sure I just stood there with my arms out, ready to cry and said, "I'm here." She just came and gave me a big hug and said okay let's go.

Yay for HP 7!!!!

I ended up just changing into jeans and a polo after giving Lauren a hug (she was already down there, LOVE!)  After a quick bite and a stop by my room to say bye to Grandma and Mom (and goodnight, they were tired), we drove to the arena...

And that is where I leave this post... up next Part 3 - IHSA Nationals.

I feel like the journey itself deserves its own post.  I'm very blessed with my family.   I can't believe they drove all the way from BG to Raleigh. Thank you so much to Mom and Grandma for getting me there.  /the adventure was kind of totally worth it.  Sorry for the forgotten license, but I don't think I would have wanted it any other way truthfully...

Aren't they the coolest?

Lots of catching up to do... Part 1

It has now been way over a month since I've updated here... So much exciting stuff has happened, but I think I'm just going to put it up in parts.

Part 1: Graduation from BGSU

Finals week came and went.  A lot of things happened that week.  Tuesday was really super cool.  I had my last riding lesson with Sue.  It went so well!  I totally cried on my way home.  I'm so going to miss my lessons with her.  I'm really glad I made it as far as I did, just so I could continue riding with her.  Such a blessing.  

My parents and I all dressed up

I arrived home from my lesson to find a letter on the banister from the Hoovers... Oh how I love them.  It brightened my day.  I then received a phone call from Laura! She ended up passing through BG, so I got to have lunch with her at Pita Pit!  It was such a blessing to spend time catching up with her and how her stay in Cincinnati has gone. God has done so many amazing things through her and it's so cool to hear about them. 

My dad and I are now both Alumni of BGSU!!

Wednesday was full of exams, but Thursday meant I got a visit from Reata.  She came to BG to take my bed away.  Now she has a nice comfy mattress and I didn't have to haul it home, haha.  After Reata left, I headed to Toleda to pick up Lisa!  What a trip.  I hate driving in Toledo, but it was totally worth it.  Lisa has been in Austria all year, so I haven't really gotten to see her, and it means my programming buddy was totally worthless in my graphics class... aka, she was across the globe and not taking it with me.  But that's okay.  She's doing amazing things too.  We spent the evening with Elisabeth and Patrick, so it was all good.  So nice to catch up. 

Dr. Zimmerman - such a cool guy :)

Friday came and so did my parents and Corey.  It was wonderful spending time with them on Campus.  We kind of went everywhere.  We left Corey at the motel with my grandma and then my parents and I headed to a banquet for my Latin Honors... but the real reason we went was to see my super awesome professor.  He's been amazing throughout my college experience.  He's helped me get my job and has given some super awesome advice.   He also did a musical with me last year, which was so cool to do.  I am glad my parents got to sit down and chat with him. 

I so love my family.  I've definitely been blessed.

So the big event (other than graduation) was that I get back to the hotel and Mom goes to pick up Corey.  Nothing out of the ordinary, right?  WRONG!!!  She comes walking up the stairs with none other than DAVID!!! Yes that's right, DAVID!!  He lives in Texas and since I had Nationals, he wasn't supposed to make it to my graduation..  Yet there he was.  Oh how I cried.  It was so nice to see him again.  Luckily my friend Brandon had an extra ticket to graduation, so everyone got to come. 

Love

I got to celebrate graduation with my friend Tim, so that was good.   I could see my family in the crowd.  I finally got a picture with Freddie and Frieda.  I've officially got my Bachelor of Science in Mathematics and Computer Science, specialized in Business Systems.  Good stuff...  I think I'll miss BG, but not yet.  Too much excitement has happened since then for me to really miss it, but I'll tell you more about that in the next few parts... 

Oh siblings, how I love them :)

Up Next... Part 2: Nationals :)

(thus the excitement begins!)