Jovers

I can’t believe I’m writing this right now from my college dorm room, approximately 250 miles and four hours away from home. That thought makes me really sad since I miss all of my friends and family but I’m also really excited. Maybe I should rewind a little bit?

I didn’t start packing until the night before we were set to leave ~~like a pro~~ so I was scrambling around my room, trying to decide what to take and what not to take. It doesn’t help that I wasn’t sure how big the dorm room was (I figured small) or what type of furniture was in the dorm room. So I just winged it because I couldn’t remember from about a year ago when I originally checked the campus out. I packed most of my clothes and really just essentials… though I did bring all my pillows… I couldn’t resist! My mom, sister, and I went shopping for toiletries and school supplies, etc. It was so difficult, trying to pick out things that I thought I would need without knowing what I needed.

I stayed up until about 2:00 AM packing and was making a list as I went along of things that I didn’t have and still needed. So we had to go shopping again in the morning, LOL. It was terrible and lesson learned that I will not be procrastinating for so long college packing. My brother Steven wanted to take me out to lunch afterwards so that was really sweet of him. It was nice to eat with him and my mom and just talk about stuff before I left. Aw, I miss my family. :love:

We had to wait for my dad to get home from his chemo treatment. (And while I’m talking about him he’s doing fantastic! He’s just taking chemo as a precaution so that the cancer doesn’t come back. It’s been such a blessing that he hasn’t had any side effects except for the hiccups, which is pretty funny. :P)

It didn’t really hit me that I was leaving home until everything was packed up, my room was bare (and clean for once) and my parents were waiting for me to get in the car to go. Not going to lie, I started to cry when I had to say good bye to Tabor. I wanted to stop by Becky’s house before we left to drop off a few things and just to tell her good bye, too. I started to tear up then too. I mean, I’m leaving the girl that has known me better than I’ve known myself since the 2nd grade, and leaving the only place I’ve ever called home for my eighteen years of existence. Growing up sucks.

The drive was uneventful, which I am thankful for. Trying to get into the dorm was the most frustrating thing of the day – but that’s just because traffic was backed up from everyone trying to turn into the street the dorm was on. Once we were able to pull in, I checked in, got my keys and we unloaded. Within minutes, a pack (and I mean pack) of guys helped me carry my junk up to my dorm room. And like a loser, with all the guys watching, it took me a while to get the door open. x_x

Walking in my dorm for the first time, I was unimpressed, but now that I’m moved in and settled, I really, really like it. Me and my roommate, unintentionally, have the same exact teal and green comforters and sheets. We both had green lamps and I had a blue square ottoman while she had the same one in green. It was just really weird since we didn’t plan it at all. The rooms came with a mini-fridge and microwave unit which is

My roommate is really sweet and so far, we get along really well. She’s a Christian, which is an answered prayer for me and we’ve been doing a lot of the different activities together on campus.

The first night I was extremely homesick. It was kind of embarrassing. My mom called me on the phone and I was trying to give the shortest replies I could because just talking to her was making me tear up and I didn’t want to cry in front of my roommate. I’m just an emotional person. Which is actually why this post is a little over do because I couldn’t talk about home without tearing up…But today was a lot better! Andrew, my roommate, and I explored the campus so we knew where certain halls were located and which rooms our classes were in. Just staying out of the dorm really helped. Staying inside my dorm is just kind of… depressing, haha.

Tonight a group of people met up and we played capture the flag and zombie tag. If you haven’t played zombie tag, it is so much freaking fun. It’s just like regular tag, with one person starting it and they’re a zombie. When they tag other people, they turn into zombies as well. So we had all these students running around campus acting like zombies. It was a ton of fun and great to meet some new people! ;D

So while my start to college was a little rocky, I’m meeting a few more people and having a bit more fun. I’m a bit nervous about classes starting on Monday, but I’ll be fine. I’m probably going to go to bed soon because I’m so exhausted! I swear by the end of this semester I’m going to be super skinny with all the walking I’ll be doing on this campus!

The last week I spent on vacation with my family and my best friend, Becky. My parents own a time share down in Daytona Beach, Florida, and it’s really been a lovely, relaxing week. The weather’s been a bit crummy as it’s rained almost every days, but there’s been enough time for us to plop our butt’s in the sand and soak up some sun. But my favorite part of the week:

I went to Hogwarts.

Universal’s Islands of Adventures has the Wizarding World of Harry Potter which was literally everything I imagined from the books/movies right before me so that I could experience it. As you enter that area of the park, you step right into Hogsmeade and the Hogwarts Express is right before you, as are all of the shops and Hogwarts itself.

I mean, I ate at the Three Broomsticks and drank butterbeer (and took home a souvenir mug! :D). It really doesn’t get better than that! It was the first time I had butterbeer and it was delicious. It almost tastes like a cream soda, or at least that’s the only way I can think of to describe it. It has this really thick foam on top that I thought was a little weird, but Becky liked it so I guess I’m just picky. We also went to Honeydukes and I bought some of Bertie Bott’s Every Flavor Bean, though I haven’t tried them yet. We really wanted to go into Ollivander’s, but there was a line just to get into the wand shop so we passed on it.

Because it was so crowded, the lines for the rides were really long. They seemed to move really fast though because the lines wove through scenes from the books. For example, the line for the roller coaster Dragon Challenge wound through the fourth book, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. It showed the Goblet and the different champions from each school and then you went through the tent and through the dungeons to see the dragons. It was awesome.

My favorite was by far the Hogwarts ride (can’t be bothered to remember the name :P). That line was the longest – 90 minutes – but it was incredible. About half of the lines was outside so that was a little boring, but you had an amazing view of Hogwarts right in front of you so I took a ton of pictures. The inside took you right through Hogwarts and the characters in the portraits on the walls actually moved just like in the books! We went through Dumbledore’s office and he imparted some of his invaluable wisdom upon us -“We must choose between what is easy and what is right.” The ride itself was ridiculous. It was in 4D and I thought my dad was going to be sick, haha.

The rest of the park was kind of ehhh. I guess now that I’m getting older amusement parks aren’t as fun as they used to be when I was like ten. This fact saddens me! Growing up sucks!

The last few weeks I have been obsessed with the Olympics. Normally I’m not real into them, I’ll just happen to turn it on and watch it for a little bit, but this year I watched them every night that I was able to. I really loved watching beach volleyball, swimming, and gymnastics. Not gonna lie, during some of the performances of the athletes, seeing them so happy after their hard work and victories made me tear up a little bit! Ah, I’m such a loser.

As I’m writing this post, I’m watching the closing ceremony and eating a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. I’m not going to know what to do with my nights now that I don’t have the Olympics to watch! Though I’m leaving for college on Thursday – a fact both exciting and nervewracking, so I suppose that will be occupying a lot of my time just packing and getting ready.

I’m Being Shoved out of my Comfort Zone

I Went to Hogwarts!