Oh Shenandoah...

Oh hey there. Remember me? I kind of forgot I had this little guy honestly. But I decided I should probably get back on top of this since I have such an exciting life! Okay, that's not entirely true, but it is kind of a major time in my life, so it should probably be documented. I feel like there's probably a lot that I could write right now, but let's start with a quick rundown of what has happened since we talked last.

I finished up my summer classes at BYU. And....I passed them all!! I even got A's (well, A-'s). I was super impressed with myself considering what a slacker I was this summer. It's super hard to focus during the time of year that you have been programmed to spend playing all your life. Somehow I got through it (with a lot less boating than I would have liked).

After my summer semester was over, I had about a week before I had to leave for Virginia. I spent most of that time just catching my breath and having a ridiculously short summer vacation. It was nice to just stay at home with my family without any worries for a minute. I just love that place and those people.

On August 21st, Kenzy and I hopped in her big, white truck to begin our long trek across the country. Somehow I got roped into driving all the way across the country to get back to school, rather than taking a quick plane ride. I'm still not sure how that happened.  I wasn't thrilled about doing a 30+ hour car drive instead of a 5 hour plane ride, but I was doing it with one of my best friends which makes just about any situation soooo much better. And we did have a good time. It was a long drive and I got restless, but it was fun at the same time. It's crazy that I'm old and responsible enough (in theory) to take a road trip across the country with my best friend and no adults. We are the adults. Except I'm really not at all. We made it in one piece though and made really good time. And let me tell you, I have never been so happy to see this cute little town.

Getting back to Buena Vista, Virginia honestly felt like coming home. It's confusing to have two homes, but so nice at the same time. I leave one and go to the other, and am so happy either direction I'm headed. The first two years I was a little apprehensive and less than excited to get here, but I was so ready this year. By the time we got to West Virginia, the landscape was starting to look like my beautiful state of Virginia, and I honestly almost cried a little. It's weird how a place can grab your heart so quickly. It didn't take Virginia very long to grab me and for me to lay claim on it as a place I will call home for the rest of my life (even if I only spend 3 years here total). Sorry if that was cheesy, but I really just love this place so much!

Once we got back here, we started training to be orientation leaders for the new students coming in this fall.  This week has been crazy and exhausting with training and check-in and orientation, but it has been sooo good. I love when I get the opportunity to share my love for this university with other people. I have met some wonderful new people and have gotten to know some of my fellow classmates a lot better. I don't want to go into all the details of this week (they would probably be boring to you), but it has been a great one! I'm so happy to be back here.

Sidenotes:

The heat and humidity here are absolutely ridiculous here right now! I cannot even describe it to you. It's bad. We are supposed to get some of hurricane in the next 24-48 hours and then hopefully the humidity will die down a little bit.

The fireflies are out in full force. The early evenings are magical! I love them sooo much!

Imari and I each bought a $3 cactus at walmart the other day. Mine's name is Carlos.

When my bishop and his wife found out I was still in their ward, they were both so genuinely excited that it made me want to cry. They are the sweetest people and I know they are sincere when they tell the members of the ward that they love them. They really do. And we love them back.

Elder and Sister Crowther not being here is mostly the worst thing ever. Getting done with sacrament meeting today and not getting to walk to the back of the chapel and talk to them for a while almost made me cry (man I'm an emotional kid these days!). It's going to be hard not having my best friends here. We did get to go have one last game night with them at their house in Logan before we left. That was sooo much fun! And I won every game of Scum that we played! Whooo!

For anyone who is wondering, Willard is still alive. Love that little guy.

Okay, that's enough useless information for now. I will try to keep up with this better than I have been from now on. Have a nice day. 

Home Sweet Home!