the lucky one...

Wow I am so blessed. The whole family just came up to run AOII run for the roses and were such troopers! It was freezing but they drove up anyway and i love them for that. Lisa's been here all weekend so it's been fun to see athens through the eyes of someone so new to it all. I felt a little bit like a tour guide but i hope she got something out of it (besides the cute dresses)! I still can't believe she gets to start this whole college thing while i'm about to be a senior. sooo excited for her but definitely a bittersweet feeling for me.

I am so incredibly pumped for my london trip now after we had our meeting thursday. I think it will be an amazing opportunity for me to see if london is somewhere i would want to be long-term or not. It's always been this far off dream for me to be in england but now i really get to see if the culture and way of life over there is something i could get used to and maybe go back more permanently. scary thought but also really motivating for me to try to do and see as much as possible while i'm there this summer! i really hope i get as much out of this trip as i did from last year's. i don't know if i have ever grown up so much or learned so much about myself and other people as i did when i went to cadiz last summer. something about being put with a whole group of people you don't really know and who are all equally excited for this great chance makes it easy to bond and get to know each other and, out of that, learn about yourself. i know i became a lot more introspective but also more confident last summer and i attribute a lot of that to being in a foreign environment with a group of people i barely knew and just having to branch out and experience life on my own terms. it is all exremely liberating and made me have a lot better perspective of life overall and what things i value the most and that is why going again this summer is so important to me. i still have a lot of growing up to do before i can make decisions about my life so i hope maybe this summer will be another opportunity for me to do that and come back with some kind of clarity and maybe a plan?! ha doubtful... I used to be a planner but now i am kind of forced to just go with it and see what happens. my life should be pretty interesting i would think!