Whirlwind!

Well, life has officially entered that crazy time period of transition and change that I have been anticipating for months now. After we both returned to our schools after Ocean City, we spent the week preparing for our respective graduations. Then, on May 22, while I did this:

He did this:

The next day, late at night after my parents and I finally managed to package up all my stuff, leave some of it with my aunt and uncle in MD so I had room to sit in the back seat, and drive home through varying amounts of traffic, we were reunited at my parents' house and we've been together ever since. It's pretty crazy and not quite real that for the time being, our long distance relationship of four years is over, and while there will be future separations (painful ones), it is going to be different from here on out. Also, leaving my school, I didn't really cry as much as I thought, but not from lack of missing it. In some ways I feel like I am just on break and I'm going back soon - but I know that's not true, and I think maybe it still hasn't quite sunk in. Also, most of my closest friends from school will be at the wedding, so I'm going to see them in two short weeks.

Speaking of which! The wedding is super super close, and there is still a lot to do, mainly because I/we were kind of busy graduating and all that... I have definitely had a couple breakdowns (sorry to my patient fiance for those) but I am trying to keep my perspective and realize that the most important things will get done and it will be a wonderful day. Of course we also have large amounts of stuff to go through, sort, organize, pack, unpack, repack, and generally get ready to move at the end of June (in a month! eek!) but again, I just have to trust that bit by bit it will get done.

Sidenote: I just realized that in four days the wedding will be on the 10-day weather forecast - this is seriously crazy!

Today is a graduation party at Dave's family's house for us both. It's nice to celebrate together, since we graduated on the same day and couldn't be there for each other. It was of course a bummer in many ways, but I just tried to enjoy my own graduation weekend without being too sad to miss his. I did catch a couple of moments on live streaming video while I was prepping for my own graduation ceremony, which was nice considering I couldn't physically be there.

I will try to update when I have the chance, but it may well be sparse during this period while everything is going on every which way. You can be sure though that I will try to update on everything eventually, complete with photos and all of that!

It's a crazy new time in life, and I'm feeling excited, somewhat nervous, and I really just don't know what to expect. It is nice to have my almost-husband by my side though, and know that we are in this together. Oh, and we even have our mailing address in our new future home! Little things like this make me happy. :-)

Post-Finals Fun!

So last Wednesday I successfully submitted my very last paper after having taken my very last test the day before. Though I have yet to check for my two last grades, all signs point to the fact that yes, I will be graduating on Saturday! In the meantime, my school has scheduled this lovely little set of events known as Senior Week, which is essentially a variety of ways to socialize and hang out with friends for one last week before we all go our separate ways. In addition to the scheduled events, I'm also making a point to spend time with my friends doing other more informal things, going to the restaurants I want to be sure to get in, and really just taking it all in.

Before all that started though, I went to Ocean City with David and his buddies from school, as they had also just finished finals, and it was so much fun! We were blessed with amazing weather for the beach and had a great time just hanging out and enjoying some well-earned leisure time. Of course I loved the chance to see Dave after more than a month apart, and it's always fun to be around his friends too. Here are some photos from the trip:

The view from our porch

Dave and some of the guys by the water

 Beautiful beach weather!

Right after he got out of the frigid water

Us and the beach!

We really couldn't have asked for a better weekend! It was the perfect time for a trip with everyone, especially since we can't be at each other's graduations (we both graduate Saturday). And yesterday afternoon I returned to school, to find all the underclassmen gone, and a stage in front of our main building - the very stage I will be graduating on! Talk about a strange feeling... 

And in other fun news - my bachelorette party is tomorrow evening! I know very few things about it, which is fabulous for me! After wedding planning and everything else, I have really come to appreciate just enjoying some experiences that I didn't plan myself. Of course, it helps that I trust my maid of honor so much to do a fabulous job and plan a lovely evening. We'll just have to see where the night (and my friends) take me! 

And of course the actual graduation festivities, along with the arrival of my parents, is ever closer and closer, along with my need to get things like packing and laundry done - but it will just have to happen! Exams are done (awesome) and I'm just focusing on enjoying these moments before they're gone!

Finals World

I really haven't had very much exciting stuff to post about lately - I've just been living in a place called Finals World. There are worse places, there are better places too, and I am looking forward to being done living there. There's the requisite amount of stress, but so far it's manageable, due to planning and trying to stay on top of my daily goals. In case you're curious, here is how it breaks down:

Tomorrow, May 7, 2010: History final at 4:00 pm - one class will be over, yay!

Sunday, May 9: Artificial due date for my first paper for Contemporary Islamic Activist-Intellectuals. It's actually due the 11th, but I want to get it done earlier for reasons that involve the item you will see listed on May 12.

Tuesday, May 11: Final Arabic exam at 12:30 pm. I will study for Arabic, but honestly, not a ton. I have so many grades in the class already and generally I retain a lot of the info!

Wednesday, May 12: Final Paper for Genocide, Justice, and Reconciliation is due at 5 pm. I need some time to work on it because I've done very little research so far... oops. Things just seem to keep getting in the way. Like all that stuff up above. Oh well. The redeeming thing is that once I research and outline, I tend to write papers quickly. I'm hoping those skills pull me through!

So, after May 12 at 5 pm, I will be done! With undergrad! Forever! It's going to feel great, I know. I'm really looking forward to it. Theeennn it's off to here with Dave and some of his friends:

Ocean City, Maryland!

They also have the weekend off after their exams, and they decided to come down to MD to celebrate. I will take a train to Wilmington and they'll drive me the rest of the way. I'm so excited to have a post-finals mini-vacation and to see Dave. I haven't seen him since Easter, which really isn't that long, but it feels like it's been so long - especially maybe because we're so close to getting married. I'm also glad to get to spend time with him and some of his buddies, because we all graduate the same day, so I can't go to their graduation, and Dave can't come to mine. :-/ I'll have to make the most of the weekend with them! 

I'll be back here at school Monday, May 17 to make the most of the very last week here before we graduate. My parents will show up on Friday, we'll do all the festivities, and then I'll be moving out... this is a fact that makes me feel very mixed emotions and doesn't quite feel totally real yet. Ah well. Then, a very busy three weeks pre-wedding, but I don't even want to get into that right now! 

So that's where I am in life. Just trying to keep on keeping on and do my best on finals, while staying well-rested and generally happy. I just have to stay focused now and the rewards and fun times will come soon!

Risotto and other news

Sorry to keep you all waiting (I'm sure you were holding your breath, haha) but I figured I'd go ahead and say that my risotto the other night was definitely successful! I made red wine risotto with peas based on a recipe by Giada di Laurentiis. It definitely does require a lot of attention since you have to stir it almost constantly and keep adding chicken stock, but beyond that it's relatively easy, and the payoff is a delicious meal! It's nice to have added another thing to my repertoire for the future. I shared the risotto with Molly and Kristin and I think they both enjoyed it!

As for the other news... I have two more days of classes, but finals are rapidly approaching. My first one is on May 7, and I definitely need to do some studying for that, yet in the meantime I really need to be doing research for my two final papers! I think though if I just make sure to block off large chunks of time to study, I should be alright... I mean, I always have been in the other 5 semesters I did this! (My two semesters in Italy definitely were not the same.) In order to help keep stress levels as low as possible, I've declared a hiatus on figuring out nit-picky wedding logistics, even though the wedding is only 40-some-odd days away. The way I see it though, the wedding will still be there after finals, and finals will be over in a mere 10-11 days when I hand in my last paper. I think my dear fiance agrees about waiting a bit on wedding logistics so that's good. :-)

In the past couple days, I have been enjoying the company of my roommates and friends, so that's good. For the next 10-11 days though, I definitely need to shift the balance toward school. For better or for worse, I'll be done soon, then get to relax and have fun until graduation!