Shane came home with me for several days over spring break, and we had a wonderful time. We were both nervous about him meeting my family (naturally, he was more nervous about that than I was), but it was all for naught as my family took to him, as I knew they would. We had a great time playing games and just chilling with my family, and I took him around town and the capital some. We even stopped by my old office and he got to meet my former co-worker, which was a lot of fun. :-) After he left, the female members of my family came to me separately and both commented how well Shane fit into our family, and the male members of the family also had nice things to say about him.
The spring quarter, and my last quarter as an undergraduate, started off with some surprises as I discovered Jennifer and Ryan were now "together" (as it were) although they had both previously sworn to me they didn't care for each other that way. I was delighted for them, of course, and Lisa and I had to re-formulate our plans for Jennifer's "surprise" birthday party/present (her birthday isn't until July). The quarter was full of fun and laughter as well as a lot of stress, anxiety, illness, depression and everything else that goes along with life as a graduating senior.
Graduation commenced May 20, and I received my B.A. That same day, I moved out of my apartment and said goodbye to many of my very closest friends. The next morning, Shane helped me load the very last things into my car, and we said goodbye in the parking lot of the hotel where my family stayed. Then, my family and I got on the freeway and I moved away from Houston for the second time of my life. -- If all of this seems "matter of fact" and like I don't care, please understand that I have to talk about life this way sometimes, because it's too hard to say how I really feel/felt.
Since I've been home I've spent a lot of time cleaning (my room - which somehow became a major mess in my absence) and researching the possibility of attending graduate school this summer. I've already been accepted into Indiana's MLS program, and needed to find a place to stay and find out if the first course I needed was still open. I registered for class yesterday (Friday) and thought I had found a place to live, only to discover that I needed to keep looking. I'm getting really nervous about going to Indiana, so if you could, I would appreciate your prayers. This is something I really want to do, and I really want to be a librarian - I can't think of any other job I'd rather have - and so of course I'm going to do it. I'm just scared because I don't know anybody in Bloomington. I mean, apparently, I have a great aunt and a second cousin that live there, but I don't know them. I have family in Akron, Ohio, but that's roughly a 6-hour drive from Indiana, so... It just makes me really nervous.
I think I'd like to close by spending some time talking about the things I learned while I was in college. And no, I don't mean in the class room. ;-) Although I certainly did learn a lot there. I learned about God's trustworthiness in deeper ways. Before college I knew God knew everything, but I still wanted to know specific things about my own life and future. In college I learned that it's nice to not have to know everything and to be able to trust Someone Else to take care of me and provide answers as I needed them (as opposed to when I wanted them). I learned that people aren't always who you think they are - even when you think you know them really well - and that it really is important to separate your work life from your social life. I learned that although Christian "bubbles" do exist, they don't extend as far as I thought they did, and that temptation can strike when and where you least expect it (which taught me the truth of "if you think you are standing firm, beware lest you fall"). I learned a little bit of what the world looks like without my rose-colored glasses. I learned the meaning of true friendship and that unconditional love does exist for me from both God, my parents, and my best friends. I learned that only God can be my bestest best friend and that I can get through anything as long as He's with me (which will be forever).
My time in college was hard and my life wasn't always a cake walk, but I learned a lot. There are several things I'd like to have done differently, but at the same time, it was because of my mistakes and the tought times that I was able to grow. These things helped shape and strengthen my relationship with God into what it is today and I wouldn't trade that for anything in the world.