I'm a 17 year old girl in a hotel lobby on a Friday night. In one area here there's a bar and grill, and down the next hall is an Eagleville alumni party with tons of party music and drinks. There's probably a few hot young guys staying here, too. Someone I know is probably having a party off somewhere else.There's a lot going on in these halls. But when I came downstairs, I found a bookshelf, picked a book up, sat down on the couch with my blanket and started to read with my free cookie and ice tea at hand.

I guess some things in me will never change. 

The Conclusion of Junior year.

A year full of challenges, full of mountains and valleys. The year that I saw things unfold and transform into something Beautiful. The year of Beautiful things and becoming friends with Beautiful people.
Not to forget about the challenges and the questions. There were lots of mountains and valleys and I often questioned God and questioned myself. I feel like through this jumbled year, through the stillness and the craziness, through the trails and through the rain, snow, sleet and hail and through the mistakes and imperfections, I found that person again. That person that everyone wrote about when they signed my yearbook. They wrote about inspiration and love and Jesus. They wrote about Kenya and they wrote about sweetness and they told me to never loose my heart for God and people.
It's easy to forget who you are when you're constantly looking around you.
Sweet reminders always change things. I suppose it's sad to say that I often think the least of myself, so it's a change getting to hear from someone else's perspective.

After graduation I felt the sadness come on, but instead of a flow of tears came a flow of realizations and ideas. Every day in high school you don't think to yourself "I'm probably never going to see these people again in _ years." You really don't even think about the Aftermath until it's there. This year I never thought to myself,  "I'd better chill with these people because we don't have a lot of time here." Now I'm wondering if I should have. But I think everything fell into place for a purpose. We played our roles. We won our game. I took time to enjoy the last moments with these guys before they left. And when August hits, I'll be counting my list of lasts before the end.

Juniors, This life-changing summer will surely fly by, and Senior year will slap us in the face before we know it, and then we'll be walking through the tunnel in a cap and blue robe into the Next, (unless my life changes so much over the summer that I decide to graduate early and move to Africa. :)
So here's to the beginning of the end, right around the corner.
We can make it!

The Days are Dwindling

Just two more days of school and one exam next week. I can make it.