so this is it.

tomorrow senior year begins officially.

i cannot even begin to describe all of the emotions i am feeling right now.

like today, the picnic was a lot of fun (we missed you r4s, but i heard about the babysitting), but when i was driving home in the car i realized i'd rather have gone with kelly and katie and mommy and laura and austin.

i mean it has really hit me, that this year is going to go by so fast... and then i'll be gone forever.

so after dinner, well i was really tired, i think that was a big part of it, but i was giving mom a hug and burst into tears and was like "i'm not supposed to actually leave!" and then proceeded to cry for a good five minutes at least. i mean i've lived with mom for the past 17 years, and i must say during that time we've gotten quite close. i don't want to leave mommy. goodness we were talking about how we have to be detatched earlier today... but it's sooo hard!!! and austin and i have been through so much together, this is the first time he'll be without me, and i can't really remember being without him. and the babes are all still growing up, i'm going to miss it all. i can't imagine how you must be feeling mairead, though at least you're still really close.

but at the same time, i know i'm going, and i'm excited, it's this new stage in my life, and i am soooo thrilled to be a senior it is not even funny. i had way too much fun at orientation for the freshman this morning.

sigh.

anyways, yea...oceania??? we'll see how that goes...

Only 3 More Days Left!!!!!!

This is post is for attendant...I wanted to make sure that we had the same list of countries to memorize

ASIA
Afghanistan- Kabul
Armenia- Yerevan
Azerebaijan- Baku
Bahrain- Manama
Bangladesh- Dhaka
Bhutan- Thimphu
Brunei- Begawan
Burma (Myanmar)- Rangoon
Cambodia- Phnom Penh
China- Beijing
Cyprus- Nicosia
Georgia- Tbilisi
India- New Delhi
Indonesia- Jakarta
Iran- Tehran
Iraq- Baghdad
Israel- Jerusalem
Japan- Tokyo
Jordan- Amman
Kazakhstan- Astana
North Korea- P'yongyang
South Korea- Seoul
Kuwait- Kuwait
Kyrgyzstan- Bishkek
Laos- Viangohan
Lebanon- Beirut
Malaysia- Kuala Lumpur
Maldives- Male
Mongolia- Ulan Bator
Nepal- Kathmandu
Oman- Muscat
Pakistan- Islamabad
Philippines- Manila
Qatar- Doha
Russia- Moscow
Saudi Arabia- Riyadh
Singapore- Singapore
Sri Lanka- Colombo
Syria- Damascus
Taiwan- T'aipei
Tajikstan- Dushanbe
Thailand- Bangkok
Turkey- Ankara
Turkmenistan- Ashgabat
United Arab Emirates- Abu Dhabi
Vietnam- Ha Noi
Yemen- Sanaa

Australia & Oceania
Australia- Canberra
Fiji- Suva
Kiribati- Tarawa
Marshall Island- Majuro
Micronesia- Palikir
Nauru- Yaren
New Zealand- Wellington
Palau- Koror
Papua New Guinea- Port Moseby
Solomon Islands- Honiara
Somoa- Apia
Tonga- Nuku'alofa
Tuvalu- Funafuti
Vanuatu- Port Vila

Godincidences

OHMIGOODNESS GUYS... i cannot even describe what i am feeling right now. sooo i go to the doctor today for my yearly check-up or w/e, i really didn't want to go, but mom said i needed to and yada, yada, yada, so the doctor comes in and is asking me all the usual questions how's your summer been? are you excited about senior year? what do you want to do next? so i told her that i'm really liking william and mary, and she goes "oh, i went to William and Mary!" i was in shock! i mean!!! what in the world? it's one thing for laura's pt to have a sister and mom who went their, but the random doctor that mom happened to choose on the random day we happened to go? goosebumps! and so she was telling me how much she loved it, and what she loved were all the same things i love, and she did the early decision and was a tour guide once, and how whenever she asks this question she gets the "unc, duke, state" answer, but never william and mary and i told her how i'd gone to duke the other day, and just wasn't impressed. sooooo yay!!!! i am sooo excited. like God has just been giving me a million signs, and i'm just so peaceful about it all, so i've cancelled our trip to davidson tomorrow. honestly, i don't feel the need to go. even if i loved it as much as william and mary (which i don't foresee happening) it's about $10,000 more. and it doesn't have all the history and well...everything. so new plan: apply early decision but still start sending in applications to davidson, probably elon, etc. if i get in, huzzah! ...just like the people from that time said!!! remember the song in our history book... sorry i'm just sooo hyper right now. and if not, then it's not meant to be, and i'll go visit davidson and focus on my other applications.

soooo anyways. that's it for now!!!! love you all!!!!!!


ohohoh!!! and i just went back and read your comments for duke!!!! I LOVE YOU BOTH SOOOO MUCH!!!!! i'm glad you liked UNC r4s!!!!!!! this is all sooo exciting! i think it's finally starting to hit me...we're going to college!

heartbroken

soooooo today was duke, and i must say, this whole college searching stuff completely wears me out. so i'm copying and pasting the letter i wrote to dr. k:

Hey Dr. K,

Just wanted to let you know that I went to Duke today with my brother Austin, and... I left feeling indifferent, and that made me feel disappointed. The info. session was also informative, but it lacked a certain... well ya know how Katie had this sparkle and bounce when she talked about STMA? Everyone at William and Mary had that, whether they were talking about class size, cost, or extra curriculars. My tour guide, absolutely adored her school.

Today, it felt like everyone was just kind of going through a script. We watched this one video and, I'm sure the students in the video sincerely felt whatever they said, but it was rehearsed and too, perfect almost. I realize they're trying to sell their college, but... I can't really explain it. Then the tour guide today was really nice and smart, but he was just there talking, and he wasn't telling me anything.

So Duke's now off my list and I'm glad and relived, but at the same time really let down. I'd always thought Duke was just the greatest school and it's not.

Mom and I will be going to Davidson on Thursday, so hopefully by Thursday night I should know if I want to do Early Decision for W&M and start focusing on that.

Thanks for listening!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

the end. so i'm exhausted. good thing breyers was on sale!!!!! two for one. oh yes.

I heart Will... and Mary

this is the wren building, the oldest academic building in america. and students of William and Mary still take classes in it. hopefully i will be one of them...

guys i went to my interview and info. session and tour on wed. and ohmigosh. i am sooo in love with this school it is not even funny. i can't really even describe it, but it just fits me. the campus is so beautiful, it's small enough to have a sense of community and about a million funny and fun traditions, it's soooo historical- washington, jefferson, monroe, tyler, yea, all these guys went there. their catholic campus ministry looks AMAZING, eucharistic adoration every monday evening, they have a n active pro-life club, i can take the TrAiN, and oh yea, their academics are superb. they're called a "public ivy" and so even though i am from out of state, it's about $10,000 less than Duke or Davidson. and speaking of which, mom and i will be going to both next week (duke mon. davidson thrus.) for the tours, so i can hopefully cross them off my list and turn in an early decision application for W&M. so if all goes well, i'll be able to know where i'm going by january and can spend the rest of senior year worrying about a dress for graduation, instead of which school is best for me, focusing on classes instead of SAT subject tests, and can be searching for financial aid instead wasting money on applications for schools i don't need to apply to.

sooo yea. and then this morning one of laura's physical therapists was here along with her boss, because they wanted to take pictures to put on their companies website and so she was asking what school i was interested in and i said william and mary and laura's pt goes"oh my sister went there and my mom went there for grad school." now caitlin is from va, but still, i was ready to fall over. like, everything seems to be falling into place, and at first when i got back from W&M i wasn't really sure if i was ready to close the door on duke, because that had been my dream for so long, and what if i'm just excited because this is the first college i've seen? but i am sooo at peace with it all, i can't even begin to describe it...now i just have to get in...