day 236
Hello everyone! I am blogging to you live from Newberg, Oregon! My parents and I left Alaska at 12:55am and have been going nonstop ever since. Today has felt like the longest day ever, but one of the most amazing ones too. Right now I'm in my very own dorm room with my roommate Annette. There are girls unpacking from the 11pm Fred Meyers run and everyone is getting incredibly excited--at least I am. It's been so fun meeting new people, and I can say I've done a pretty okay job with it so far.
For those of you who are like me, you just have to be confident and know that everyone is wanting to make friends right now. No one will think you're awkward or weird because everyone is too worried about making a good first impression, ya know? Matt has helped me a lot--he always tells me to be confident and to not worry about what other people think; to just go out there and, as George Fox's motto says, "Be Known."
I have a bit more organizing to do. I ended up stuffing things in (neat) piles in the various drawers, but I want to do a more thorough cleaning once I have a spare moment. Those may be few and far between, however, as tomorrow's schedule is just as busy as today's. Oh and guess what, I have my first job interview tomorrow! It's with the costume department with the theater, so of course that would be the perfect job for me. Let's just hope I can find the place easily. Wish me luck!
Hope you guys have an awesome day.
day 235
This is my crazy, awesome family. They have had to live with me (aka insanity) for the past eighteen years, so hopefully they'll be okay without me. ;)
I had thought of a lot of things to write on my last day in Alaska. In less than an hour my parents and I will be driving to the airport. My boyfriend Matt and his sister said it a lot better than I ever could, and since I don't really have that much time to write, you guys can just read what they wrote.
My brother wrote this as his facebook status, and I just want to put it here for my own rememberings,
"Today my oldest sister goes off to college. Today she will leave home. With her she will take crazy awesome photos, loud obnoxious hiccups and amazing acting and painting skills away. In her absence I will assume the role of oldest child in the house. With it will come the responsibility of keeping my younger siblings alive for the next three days and...for that matter, until I leave. It is a heavy burden. But I will have God to aid me.
Lauren may God bless you on your travels. May He show His ways to you. That He will show you your purpose and place in life. May God bring times of joy on all your days. May you constantly be happy and healthy. And even when rain falls and the thunder rolls, just remember that God is there by your side.
Good luck Lauren and God be with you."
Alaska has held a lot of things for me, memories both happy and sad. But now my chapter in Alaska is about to close, and as my friend Wolfe wrote on a facebook status, "Ahead is a new chapter, I can't wait to read it."
day 234
Tomorrow the love of my life is going to hop on a plane on a grand ol' adventure. I am so so incredibly excited for you, Matt, and I am thankful we will be able to go through this new chapter in our life together, even if we will be just a couple hundred miles apart.
Thank you so much for being my best friend and my partner in crime. I would say we make a pretty good team. You are the most amazing, talented, genuine person I know and I'm so glad I am a part of your life. Thank you for being my biggest fan and my shoulder to cry on, my cab driver and my arcade buddy, my rock and my everything.
Words cannot express how much I adore you and love you, but you already know how much I do. I know these next four months (and four years) will be hard, but there is no one else in the entire world I would rather face them with than you. You are more than worth it, Matt, and I would do anything for you.
I am going to miss you so much, but I love you even more. My love for you grows every day, baby, and I am so excited to stand by you. Thank you for all you do for me. I love you.
(On our one and a half year anniversary (August 19th), we got each other these rings. Don't worry, they're not engagement rings, but they do show that we are committed to each other.(p.s. I made the dress! I'll do a full outfit post on it once I get to college for you guys.))
day 233
Today was the last day I had anything scheduled before moving, and man did we go out with a bang. My friend Becca had this concept of a water nymph in her head and asked me to model for her! Of course I had to snap my own photo (thank you Becca for pushing the button for me, haha), but I think I modeled better for her than for myself.
You can see her picture here!
I was super excited to actually do something absolutely insane for a photo. We gathered quite the crowd on the other side of the lake and I nearly died in the water (It was really marshy and there was no solid ground. From the pictures it doesn't look that deep, but man the drop off scared me to death, haha. Thankfully I was sitting on an underwater log, otherwise I probably would have died. Just kidding, but seriously). The water itself was really warm and I had a ton of fun doing it. That's one thing I'm excited about when I move to the lower forty eight--I'll actually be close to other photographers who are willing to do crazy things like this (with strangers thinking we're insane) and who want me to do crazy things. It was definitely an awesome day.
