Our trip up to the mountain cabin back in November.
I love fall!
Me at Paris Mountain
Arevig, Demelza and me at the Thandroyen party
Vaughan wins the prize for the tackiest sweater.

Quick catch-up

Wow, so my last post was in October?! Here's the quick update:
School: I'm done with school and made a 4.0!! I actually had to say no to dancing for the last three weeks or so of school in order to get all of my work done, but it was worth it. I probably won't be a student for at least the next two-three years, so I'm glad I finished with good grades.
Job: I'm interviewing for positions right now, but in the meantime I've been working with Alice at a little boutique in town. We have so much fun wrapping gifts for people and listening to the constant Christmas music! I enjoy the job because it is constantly busy, unlike the last retail job I had where I had so much free time that I wrote down recipes out of books in the store because it was so slow.
Family: Grandpa is in town, and we had lunch together yesterday! And all my sisters are finally in town at the same time (this is the first time we've all been together since August) so we had a girls night the other night and had fondue. I just really enjoy every minute I get to spend with all of them, and it seems as if it will be more and more common that we only all get together twice a year or so. It just isn't probable that we will all live in the same city. Since Cate has been gone and Jess and Leah are busy with married life and their jobs, and since Anna is down in Columbia, Alice and I really have gotten to be great friends. We actually went to the movies last night with some of our friends. It's really cool to be able to consider my sister that good of a friend that we are sharing friends now.
Friends: My friends have been having nonstop Christmas parties lately, and I don't want to miss a single one! I don't know how much longer I'll be around here, so I'm soaking up my friend time.
I'm off to work, but I'll post pictures soon from the different parties in the last few weeks.

I love the fall

Last weekend, Jessica, Joel, Leah, Reagan, Alice and I went up to Sky Top Orchard to go apple picking. We had such a great time, even though there were no apples to pick (there was a bad frost last spring and most orchards in the southeast lost everything). It was a perfect fall day: chilly, blue skies, crisp! We wandered around the orchard taking pictures of the sheep and goats and just enjoyed being with each other. I know I say it all the time, but my sisters are my favorite people in the world! I only wish that Anna and Cate could have been there with us! Alice and I rode together because Jess and Joel had to meet up with a friend and Leah and Reagan were going to a bed and breakfast for Leah's birthday (go Reagan! good present!).
Al and I are pretty close lately I think because we are the only two single sisters here in Greenville (we miss you, Cate!). It is going to be strange in a couple of months if we both go away for school - everything will just be completely different. I had an aunt recently tell me that women live many lives, and I think that's true. I can tell that I'm on the brink of a different life right now. I can look back and see myself in high school or early college and feel like those were different lives than I'm living now. So Alice and I are going to be living different lives one year from now than we are right now, and it is exciting! I love not knowing what to expect from the future, but being able to rest that I have a heavenly father who loves me and wants the best for me.
I know I didn't write a whole lot about it, but my trip up to D.C. was a really important growing time for me. At times I felt empowered and stronger than ever, and at other times I felt like I have no idea who I am or where I'm going in life or what I want to do or be. I found myself succumbing to a very superficial mentality of worrying about what other people think of me and how good/bad my fashion is and how little/much I've traveled, etc. Then I came home and saw something that reminded me of everything I've been through in my life and brought me back to the reality that these little things that I want to try to impress people with (travel, education, how I look), while they have their place and I want them in my life, are not ever going to be what makes me me, or makes me important, or makes me special, or makes me a person who knows how to live and love other people. I want to be others-focused, and while on my trip I think I became very self-conscious and self-focused, worrying about whether I have what it takes to live in a city like this and find friends among the successful people around me.
I have two months left of being in this place in life. I want to enjoy the moments leading up to change!

This week in pictures

The waterfront in Alexandria. So beautiful!! I enjoyed my first afternoon in the D.C. area here just reading and watching people.

My afternoon at the Smithsonian.

I spent Tuesday at my Grandmas house in Maryland. I can remember seeing the front doors after a 10 hour drive with the family and feeling so relieved, knowing that a huge meal awaited us inside. I love this house.

It is so good to be back home with my girlfriends! Cyrus and his family were perfect hosts, and I am so glad I got to know him as well as I did, but there is nothing like spending time with girlfriends. Last night we all went out to a salsa Halloween party! Riina (the geisha) almost won $100 for the best costume!

The Last Two NIghts

Thursday night I stayed up till almost 2 having a great talk. And last night I was up 'till nearly 5. I love good conversations! There is no better reason to stay up late!

Day 1 in D.C.

Yesterday was so cool. I flew in to Baltimore and felt so nervous/excited about my interview that I had to make it to by 1:30. I picked up my car and started driving and didn't stop moving/driving/walking/taking the metro until literally 1:25. I made it to the building that the interview was in just in time to wash my hands and walk upstairs. I had looked great at 5am, but after flying/driving/riding/walking I looked a little desheveled. I came in and met the woman interviewing me and began filling out a standard application when the fire alarm went off and everyone started leaving the building. So I filed down the stairs with everyone else who works in the building. It was actually pretty funny! Just completely unexpected!
After the interveiw, I had about four hours to kill before I could go back to the house that I am staying in (everyone was working until 7:30). So my friend Cyrus told me of an awesome place to go and hang out near to the metro that I had parked at. It was in the middle of Arlington, and it was so charming! King street leads down to this great harbor with a dock and a really cool little restaurant called the Chart House (I want to go there sometime!). I got a caramel apple cider (my current favorite drink! I love fall!) and went by the waterfront and sat on a bench and read a bit of "Ender's Game" (thank you, Ryan F.) and also read some Billy Collins. I thoroughly enjoyed my day. While sitting there on the dock, I thought about my future self coming to this same spot with people I love like family and friends. I don't know what the future holds, but I have the feeling that I'll frequent that spot many times in the coming years if I move here.

I made a 99

on my first statistics test!! Yay!

I know the heart of life is good

Tim and Ali had one of the most awesome receptions I've been to! Check out the beautiful couple!
This is a picture of Keeron, me, Christina and Curtis at the wedding reception.
I love the way the night pictures looked from this night!
Vanessa, Ellen, Ryan, Travis and me at the top of Turtleback.
No, this is not the waterfall that I slid over!! This is Rainbow Falls, which is maybe 1/4 mile hike down from Turtleback.
September so far has been incredible. The last few days have felt like the first days of fall, which usually doesn't happen until late October! I actually wore my hoodie last night when I went over to the outdoor basketball courts to cheer on my friends at their pick up game. Really, though, the weather has been so cool and crisp and the kind of weather that inspires me to wear a light sweater and want to drink my latte outside.
I didn't write much about it before, but Ali and Tim's wedding was beautiful! The weather was perfect, not too hot but not cold, and the sky up on the rooftop was perfect, and dusk is by far the best time to begin a wedding reception. I loved the night. It was an evening of good friends listening to music and laughing on a rooftop with white lights all around.
A few days ago, my friend Ellen and I decided to get a little group together to go up to turtleback falls and rainbow falls. These falls are about a hour and a half away from Greenville, and the drive there is always almost as fun as actually being there. Our friend Vanessa came along, as well as my new neighbor Ryan (Cate, you'd love Ryan. He just moved here after getting his masters in Amsterdam. While in Amsterdam, he went for two months to South Africa to do his thesis and help a tribe with environmental conservation, etc. He's a really cool guy). We drove up on Tuesday morning and met up with this guy named Travis when we got to the falls.
Turtleback is a waterfall that I've been to millions of times, but I've always been too chicken to slide down it. I know that at least once when I was there I saw an ambulance come because someone got hurt, so maybe that has always freaked me out. Or maybe I'm just chicken. But this time, I at least sat on the edge for a while and contemplated sliding down. After watching Travis easily and quickly slide over, then seeing Vanessa slide down (unintentionally; she was yelling for us to help her stop sliding but we couldn't reach her), I really wanted to go down. I mean, if neither of them got hurt, what were the chances that I'd knock my head against some rock or get pulled under some strange current or something? Probably not too high, right? But I kept sitting there next to Ryan, trying to psyche myself up to go over. Finally, Travis came back up to the top of the falls to go over again. I told him I wanted to go over but was too scared, so he grabbed my hand and we went over! Going over a waterfall is one of the most exhilarating and terrifying feelings that i've known. Once you do that final push off and your'e sliding and then in the air rushing along with the water you know that you cannot go back and change your mind. And when you finally go under the water in the pool below you feel so brave and like you can take on anything. At least that's how I felt.
Since our adventure at Turtleback, I've just been trying to keep ahead in school and I've been having a lot of fun with friends. I've spent a lot of time dancing and cooking dinner for friends (Anna: remember that curry chicken with the cheese sauce and rice? I made that last Thursday for some people. I know that was always something you liked a lot). Even though this month has delivered some major disapointments so far, life has also been very rich with great times with friends and family.