Guess What??

It's Kelly's birthday!!!!! 

Who is Kelly? Goodness gracious..what kind of question is that?  Kelly is the girl I met in Mrs. Gordon's second grade class, she is the girl I kept in touch with even though our lives were so crazy, she is the girl who I can call all hours of the day with any emotion..and vice versa, she is the girl who I am blessed to call my roommate, my best friend, my sister.  Kelly is the one who I get to spend endless amounts with when we are snowed in and watching the squalls outside.  This cabin fever resorted to coloring ornaments and feverishly decorating our room in celebration of the greatest season (Christmas..wahoo!!) with lights, a few trees, and our respective advent calendars.  We may or may not have watched an entire season of 24 in a week.  We love each other regardless of the day, time, and place.  Kelly is the person I can count on to have spontaneous dance parties with at midnight when studying has become too much of a burden.  We sing and we dance to our hearts' content (no matter how loud or obnoxious we can be).  

pre-ASU days. as in...YEARS before.

It's only the end of May and I am already looking forward to the year ahead when our room will be decorated ten times better than it was this year (although it was adorable).  We also may have some surprises in store for our friends....hmmm.  Kelly would kill me if I said a word, so I am sworn to roommate secrecy.  There is one thing I will say: she is one of the funniest people on this planet and the best part is that she doesn't know it.  She just says things that are so quotable.  Sometimes I look at her and laugh...in a good way!

Sometimes we decide to look nice. We even put on spiffy gold nametags (just incase we forget each other).

Words can't even begin to describe the greatness that is our friendship.  So Kelly, I leave you with this.... Happy Birthday to my sweet angel of a roommate and life long friend.  We will always and forever be WINNING and bi-WINNING as long as we have each other.

Yep, our friendship. We climb mountains together.  Sometimes I even let her borrow my shirt!

Discover

Who in their right mind would put 44 complete strangers on a charter bus and tell them to travel across the state?  Well...someone did just that and created a family.  The Bus 5 family as we call it.  Everyone came from literally all over the state, different colleges, different families.  The funny thing is that it took this trip for some of us to realize we live ten minutes away from each other.  In just six short days, all 500 of the North Carolina Teaching Fellows traveled from the middle of the state, to the coast, to the mountains, and then back home in 11 different buses.  We visited schools, ooh-ed and ahh-ed over the students and teachers, and some of us even found potential job locations.  Every day, each bus had a chance to do something 'fun.'  On day one, my bus 5 family and I traveled to a Waterfowl Park.  Yes, we ran with the birds.  Later that evening, every person possible piled into the nearest Krispy Kreme where we consumed and unnatural amount of doughnuts and burned off the calories with a flash mob in the parking lot.  We even went to a wellness center.  I wonder how awkward the sweaty individuals felt about having a bunch of college students walking around in business attire watching them....

This was by far one of the best weeks and I could not have asked for a better experience.  We truly did become a family and miss each other so much.  I'm already counting down the days until we are reunited.  Not only did we all have a chance to bond with our bus families, but many of us had a chance to get to know other fellows really well.  We will always and forever be known as LIVE LIVE! FIVE FIVE! and I am forever grateful.

I see you, 5!

Hey there, Gramps!

To take a little break from studying, a few of my sweet friends and I decided to visit the Grandfather.

I love being able to say that I go to school here.

Grandfather Mountain....what else would it be? We had the best time just being friends, talking, laughing, and occasionally singing (on my part, atleast).  Although there were a few near death experiences.  Just kidding! It was a wonderful day and the perfect break from all-day library sessions.

Next time you're in Boone, take a trip to visit Grandfather...maybe even a swing on the Mile High Swinging Bridge!

Happy hiking! But please, don't fall off the mountain.