summer "really" starts

So I had been home from Elon for about a week and I didn't do anything that I would really call "exciting" till last Friday.

4 of my girlfriends and I got together and had LOADS of fun!

 - pool

 - tanning

 - St. Michael's

 - Justine's ice cream

 - bonfire

 - Chesapeake bay

 - beach

 - s'mores

 - horseshoe crabs

 - italian opera singing

 - Justin Beiber

 - matching anchor dresses

 - sunburn

 - laughing

 - sunset

LOVE THEM TO PLUTO AND BACK

celebration

Monday, March 1, 2010 was one of the hardest and worst days of my life.

That night I received a text message from my dad telling me that he needed me to call him. I texted him back saying that I was in a friend's room watching Grey's Anatomy and that it wouldn't end until late and that I would call him tomorrow after my morning classes. He texted back saying very sternly that he needed to talk to me tonight.

This scared me. He never usually acts like that. Usually when I tell him that I will call him tomorrow he responds with a nice "Okay. Good night. I love you." But with that response I could tell something was really wrong. I quickly left my friend's room and called him as soon as I got back to mine. I would have called him on the way, but was too nervous about what my reaction would be to whatever he was going to say and wanted to be in the safety and privacy of my own room. (Luckily my roommate was no where to be found)

I dialed my dad's cell number and my heart was pounding as the phone rang. I had no idea what he was going to say. Truthfully, I don't remember what the first couple of lines said to each other were. I was too focused on what was so urgent.

He then said it: Aunt Suzy has a brain tumor.

WHAT?!

I couldn't believe him. I didn't want to believe him.

I started crying instantly. And my dad held it together for a while, but then soon we were both sobbing to each other over the phone. I kept thinking to myself there is no way this could be true. There is no way this could be happening to me; not even to me, but to her and my family.

Well that is the sad part of the story. And now onto the more encouraging part! (You always need one of those)

From the very mouth of my amazing Uncle Barry on the
family blog about Aunt Suzy's recovery journey,

Tomorrow [which is actually today for this post] is a very important day. 

30 days of radiation - completed. 

42 days of chemotherapy - completed.

 6 weeks over! 

Time for a giant party!!

So today was the day! The first milestone! Woohoo! Certainly a time for celebration!

Aunt Suzy has been one of the greatest people in my life that God has ever blessed me with. I'm not sure if she know's this, but I give her (and God, of course!) the credit for me coming to know and love Jesus. And I know for a fact that I am not the only one who has this claim to fame. She has shared her faith with people like no one else I have ever seen. For goodness sake, she was even sharing God's love to the doctors and nurses that are treating her right now.

Ever since I was little I was able to see God's love shine through her in everything that she did. She is truly an amazing women of God.

This is Aunt Suzy and me punting down the Cherwell River in England last summer!

I love you Aunt Suzy and the whole Gaeddert clan over there in England. Can't wait to see you all soon!

ultimate with the guys

Starting about a month and a half ago, about once a week (and sometimes twice if we are lucky) I go out to the intramural fields with about 6 of my guy friends and we play ultimate frisbee in the dark.

And you are probably thinking...How in the world do you play in the dark?

Good question.


Answer:

Yes. A light up frisbee. AND it changes colors!

So, yeah, we go out at about 10pm and play for about an hour and a half and we have a blast. I have so much fun playing with all the guys and believe it or not, I can actually keep up with most of them! :)

Tonight we had our last late night frisbee get together of the school year. We had so much fun. I even met someone new! (Something that I have come to love since being at Elon. You meet some wonderful people everyday here!) And he was REALLY good at frisbee. He had the honor of being asked to play on the ultimate team here at Elon as a freshman this year.

Anyway, he was on my team and I just have to say that yes, we did win. A whopping 7-2!

Looking back at my year at Elon and what I am going to miss the most, these nights with those awesome guys are definitely one of the top things on my list. There is just enough competition to make it fun, but not enough that we get mad at each other. We all jump on each other and push each other around. Sometimes it's nice to just be "one of the guys."

I am really going to miss these guys and these fun nights during the summer. I am sure we will have many more of them to come in the years to follow.

freshman no more

I wish I had started this blog when I was just entering college so that I would have something to keep track of my whole experience, but I guess that will have to begin now.

My freshman year of college is over:

INSANE

Coming into college, I had no idea what to expect. I mean, I had heard a mind boggling number of "entering college" stories, but it was always hard for me to ever imagine that I would actually be put into some of those situations that I heard about. Looking over the past year, I have grown so much as a person mentally, emotionally and spiritually. I have encountered things that I never thought I would accomplish, been put in situations that were the text book definition of awkward, and made some life long friendships that I would have never have made if not for coming here.

I felt ready to leave home and to move on with the next chapter in my life. College is great! Elon is great! Your friends are around 24/7, literally. You meet new spectacular people daily. You get the joys of a B-E-A-UTIFUL campus every single day. And I get to come back next year and the next and the next!

Here are some of my favorite moments from this year:

Two for Tea :)

DC with Annelise, Chrissy and Alex

Winter Break HS Reunion

Elon Luminaries

Phoenix Phind Scavenger Hunt

YL Windy Gap Work Crew Weekend

Halloween on Franklin Street

Carving Pumpkins