my birthday last year was celebrated with a heavy heart as the most influential man in my life was close to the end of his life. my grandpa passed exactly 2 weeks after my birthday. his death was hard to deal with because it was the first death that i experienced in which i was old enough to understand that he wasn't coming back.
here's what 19 at school looked like for me:
i got 3 new, awesome jobs (currently working at ALL of them)
woke up literally 7 minutes before an important final exam, panicked, and accidentally but thankfully woke my roommates up. Got driven to the exam in what i slept in, flip flops (in December), and my teeth not brushed. it was a good day.
had friends turn into best friends at VT.
started a blog (ohhhhhhh heeeeyyyyyy)
ate more cookies in this year than all previous years combined.
learned how to cook! (and by cook i mean i learned how to grill chicken and buy vegetables that you can heat up in the microwave…that totally counts as cooking)
signed a lease for the most beautiful house with the most beautiful ladies.
lots and lots of eyedrops and eye ointments.
got snowed in, with snow up to our freaking knees, with my roomies and walked to 7/11.
went to a taylor swift concert with my absolute favorite person in the world 9so basically the best day ever).
got asked to be a bridesmaid, for the first time EVER (#dukesmarriesluke)
2 days before spring finals started, i got a call from my mom. she told me she wasn't sure our family dog of 16 years would make it until i came home from school. i was devastated. that sweet girl got me through breakups, fallouts with friends, deaths in the family, and so many more things. my mom reassured me that they would wait to put her down if they could, she just wanted to warn me. my gracie girl was such a fighter, and got so much better. i gave her plenty of kisses when i first got home, knowing i could have easily might not have been able to say bye to her. 2 days into summer on may 17th, our family went out of town. we got a call from our neighbor watching the dog and they found gracie passed away in the corner next to all my things (because i hadn't unpacked yet). we came home right away. that was hard to see. watching my dad pick her lifeless body up and put her in the back of my car is a vision that i would love to forget. i hate that she was alone, and i wonder if she was scared. but she had a long, grateful life and i miss her a lot.
so now i'm here. a month ago i took the praxis core, in which i needed to pass in order to get into the grad school i want to get in to. a couple of days ago, i found out I PASSED!
oh 19, you sneaky mom. there have been very high-highs, and very low-lows. but this year was full of life. and in the end, i wouldn't change a thing. thank you, 19, for being the year that i became closer with jesus than i ever thought would be possible. sad times make you realize how much you need to be reminded that you are so loved that you're worth dying on a cross for. it's been a great year, and i can't wait for 20.
if you took the time to read this, i applaud you. because it's really just me talking all about myself which is super annoying, but that's okay. i promise my next post will probably be more interesting than this…hopefully.
thanks for an awesome time, 19.
