Life is what happens to you while you're making other plans

Well, life's been pretty busy this month, but it's also been really good. Here's a recap.

- May 3-7 I did Level 1 of something called Beyond Your Best. I've promised not to blog much about it until after I do Level 2 (which is June 14), but what I will say is that it was great. I learned a lot about myself and a lot about life. I've never really been a depressed person or anything like that, but after doing Level 1, life somehow looks a lot brighter than ever before. One good way to sum it up would be a quote from my pastor - "show up for your life". BYB really helps you do that.

- I finally finished the online class I was teaching. Thank God the semester is now over. I really was a horrible teacher. I think my downslide started when I got sick (3 times!) earlier in the semester. It was all downhill from there, and I really just couldn't get caught up. But it's now over, finally. No more grading to worry about! And don't worry, I won't be teaching again anytime soon...

- Last weekend was the bomb. It started with Stacy's bachelorette party, the first time I've ever really been drunk in my life. It was a blast, though. Getting a drunk guy to pay for my tequila shots, dancing my ass off, being hit on by several random hot guys, holding up my friends because they were plastered before I was... doesn't get much better than that. ;) Seriously though, it was a ton of fun and a good way to kick off the weekend - despite the dull headache the next day.

- And then... I GRADUATED! Yeah, I know - I was finished with my degree in December, but commencement wasn't until this month, so I waited until then to have the party. I of course participated in commencement as well. I almost didn't participate in the all-school ceremony, because I didn't really have any family or anything going to see me walk. But Seren talked me into doing it anyway (since I was the one that talked her into doing it in the first place). And I'm glad I did. I actually liked the all-school ceremony better than the post-commencement ceremony for the School of Engineering & Technology. You don't walk across the stage, and they don't call your name, but it felt more official - walking in to Pomp & Circumstance, getting inducted into the alumni association, and the conferring of degrees and such, where they tell you to move your tassel to the other side. I was really glad I participated, too. I realized that when I was sitting there... I mean, I didn't go to college for anyone else but me, honestly. My parents didn't even really want me to go, didn't think I needed to. So for me the ceremony was more about getting an opportunity to feel recognized for my accomplishment. MY accomplishment. Not that I didn't have a lot of moral support through school, of course, because I did - but I'm the one that did it, and I feel a sense of pride in that.

So where does that leave me now? Well, as I've told a few - I'm kind of just resting. Specifically I'm trying to catch up right now from all the chaos (which is still sort of happening - things will really settle down after Stacy's wedding this weekend). But in general, in life, I'm resting too. Honestly - graduating from college and getting a job has kinda been the big goal since I finished high school. The goal, obviously, has sorta been to be able to stand on my own. I think I've gotten there. School's done, I've got the job... what next? Well, rest first. And just enjoy the fact that I've gotten there. And of course - do some soul searching to figure out what I want the next goal to be. I've got a few smaller ones that I'm currently working on. But by no means is this the end. I'm really learning lately that there are a lot of opportunities out there - life is extraordinarily fun. If you make it that way, that is. But only you can do that...

I am unwritten,
Can't read my mind
I'm undefined
I'm just beginning
The pen's in my hand
Ending unplanned

Staring at the blank page before you
Open up the dirty window
Let the sun illuminate the words
That you could not find
Reaching for something in the distance
So close you can almost taste it
Release your inhibitions

Feel the rain on your skin
No one else can feel it for you
Only you can let it in
No one else, no one else
Can speak the words on your lips
drench yourself in words unspoken
Live your life with arms wide open
Today is where your book begins
The rest is still unwritten

Unwritten - Natasha Bedingfield (my new theme song...)