Busy busy busy

I thought that after I graduated I would have all sorts of free time to sleep in and do fun things, but it turns out that's not real life. I sort of forgot that all of my friends and family have jobs, which means they're not available to entertain me all day. Darn. I still have tons and tons of stuff to do when I'm not spending time with family and friends, and for the most part it's way more fun than my previous thesis-busyness. Here are some things currently on my never ending to do list. 

1.  Unpack all of the stuff I brought home. 

2.  Buy the stuff I don't already own that I need to take to Zambia. 

3.  Watch a lot of Food Network and HGTV shows. 

4.  Organize all of the files on my computer and external hard drive. 

5.  Eat my favorite home-foods and visit my favorite Schaumburg restaurants. 

6.  Cuddle with my adorable cats. 

7.  Work on getting my thesis published. 

8.  Pack and organize everything I own. 

9.  Go on bike rides. 

10.  Mentally prepare myself to leave for Zambia in two weeks... eek. 

Goodbyes

Saying goodbye to friends is hard.  I graduated from Emory on May 12th.  The diploma ceremony ended at around 3:00, and by 6:00 we were on the road back to Chicagoland.  It was a very rushed goodbye with all of my Rollins friends, and I missed seeing a lot of people during the hectic running-around/diploma-getting/picture-taking time right after the ceremony.  It was not an ideal way to say goodbye to the wonderful people who I spent two very stressful and fun years having potlucks, late nights in GCR, fighting with SAS, drinking tea, and exploring Atlanta with.  But thanks to facebook/skype I'll still be able to keep up with everyone to some extent.  I'm looking forward to hearing about the impressive things you all accomplish in your public health careers.  The day of graduation was also the last time I'll see my awesome parents-in-law before I leave.  They came to Atlanta for the weekend, which was great because we got to celebrate Mother's Day in addition to graduation.  I am so so lucky to have such a great, supportive family-- even if they all think I'm a little crazy.  :)

Looking disheveled but happy after spending multiple hours outside sweating in our graduation gowns.

The weekend after graduation I went to Ohio for Brandon and Claire's wedding. I stopped in Bloomington to see Julie on the way there, which was great. On Saturday I had some time to kill before the wedding so I wandered around the union for a bit and ate Cane's. The wedding was lovely and tons of fun, and it was really great to see all the Bradley people again. On Sunday morning we had brunch at Hang Over Easy, and I parked a ways away on purpose so that I would have to walk through campus to get there. It's really weird to be back at Ohio State; I feel like nothing has changed and I could be on my way to lab or to an HvZ or Camp Kesem meeting, but I also feel like everything is different and I don't belong there anymore. As I was driving away after brunch "Road Outside Columbus" came up on shuffle and it made me extra super nostalgic and sad. It's a good song no matter what, but it was rough to hear when I was actually on a road outside Columbus, Ohio after saying goodbye to a place and people I love so much. 

That High Street never looked so good.

Memorial Day weekend was Grace's graduation party/my going away party, and I got to see a lot of family I haven't seen very often lately, so that was nice. I said goodbye to a lot of aunts, uncles, cousins, and neighbors and explained at least ten times what it is I'll be up to in Zambia. It's kind of interesting to hear what other people's questions and concerns are about me leaving because occasionally it brings up things I haven't thought to worry about yet.  I'll just add them to the long list of things I have to be nervous about. Luckily the list of things I'm excited about is way longer. :)

The adorable Ohio State/Peace Corps cake

One Month

I just got the staging email that I've been waiting forever for!  I'm leaving for Philadelphia in one month, bright and early in the morning on June 10th. Staging stuff happens the afternoon and evening of the 10th and then we get on a bus to JFK at 2am for our flight the morning of the 11th. 

It's hard to believe I'm leaving in one month. I've been waiting for this for six years, since I went to a study abroad fair at OSU freshman year. I had been thinking about the Peace Corps even then, but I didn't think there would ever be a time when I could take two years off from school and work to do it. But the person at the Peace Corps table at the study abroad fair told me about Master's International, and ever since then that's been what I've been working towards. The more I learned about PC the more I realized my fear that I'd be unable to take two years off from school and careers was sort of silly, but I'm still really happy with the decision to do MI. 

Ever since I got my invitation, people have been asking me if I'm excited. Of course I was, but I kept saying yes, but mostly I just want to finish my classes and my thesis and then I can put more energy into being excited. So now that all my school stuff is over, it's time for FULL TIME EXCITEMENT MODE! Packing, moving, seeing family and friends, more packing, visiting Luke, hanging out with my cats, stressing about packing, Brandon and Claire's wedding, packing stress again, trying to get three papers ready for publication, and more packing. Hooray!