oo1. all my bags are packed and i'm ready to go...

Alright. I have one large suitcase (which I'm afraid will fall apart halfway to London - note to self, never buy cheap luggage again! Lesson well learned.), one carryon and my purse. I feel like I've got 8 million things strewn around the apartment here and somehow, somewhere, I'm going to forget something incredibly important even though I have everything I need. But doesn't everyone have those feelings?

So for a first post, this is somewhat lame, but I'm not sure what else to talk about! I've been wanting to go to London ever since I was little. I vividly remember telling Chuck... something or other, I can't remember his last name, from church during a confirmation retreat, that one thing I wanted to do when I "grew up" was that I wanted to go to London. And now here I am, 23 years old and I'm on my way. Well, not yet, but in a few hours, absolutely. I'm excited and scared and nervous and ecstatic and about 70 other feelings mixed in there. I can't wait to see Sam, Taryn, Ben and everyone else because I know that we're going to have a freaking blast, for sure. But that doesn't silence the nagging voice in the back of my head, telling me that somewhere I might have forgotten something. I'm sure it'll go away the second that I actually get to the airport and fly away.

All this week, I've been saying goodbye to everyone that I can. Saturday was my last day at work and although there weren't as many people as I thought would be there, I still saw everyone throughout the week and said goodbyes that were needed to be said. I'm going to miss everyone there more than I thought I would since this summer's really been a blast. Not at all what I expected, really! Monday, I went down to Winona for the theatre major/minor picnic, which was really fun. God, I love the freshmen and the British students already. I can't wait to spend more time with them in January and second semester because they're all really fun. Adventures in Wisconsin will never be forgotten and must be repeated, for sure! And then I have to say that one of the best times was just hanging out in the Green Room with the usual crew from last year. It was like old times, except not - it's kind of amazing that everyone has grown up over the summer. It's funny, Joanna, Tom, Bryan, Jake, Danielle, Rick, Amalia... everyone is completely different and it's interesting to see how they've all grown up. And I still can't believe that I'm a junior. How did that happen?! It seems like just yesterday that I was applying to Mary's. Good Lord. Tuesday, I got my hair did and whatnot, then said goodbye to my favorite boy, Grant. Man, I'm going to miss movie dates with him like crazy. We saw The Hangover - seriously hilarious - and saw previews for movies that we made notes that either I'll be around to see, or I won't be. Can I just say... Sherlock Holmes looks amazing and I can't wait to see it with him. Holy wow. Wednesday, I saw George and Doris, my great aunt and uncle, along with mom and grandma and we went to lunch. It was great to see them all and they looked wonderful. To say that things will be different for Thanksgiving this year is an understatement, but still. Great seeing them! And now I've just been packing, packing and packing away. It never ends, I swear.

So my flight leaves in nine hours. Yikes! As I'm talking to my aunt here, I'm thinking that's enough for now. I'll see you in London!