Shows, Books, and Chapters

"Your dreams and desires are not subject to anyone else's approval."

I went home to Decatur this weekend. The volume of work the Senate had completed in the week was greater than anticipated, and the weekend session was canceled. Ok by me, and still no budget has been passed, but hey - that's alright if we're billions and debt and will continue to go further into it, right? Anyway, my parents had these tickets to a variety show - a little date night for them. They were going to go to dinner and then to the show, just the two of them, but then I decided to crash it. I didn't really want to sit at their house by myself while they were out, and to be fair, they invited me! So I went to this show with them, and some of it was funny, some of it I couldn't wait for it to be over, but it really made me start to think. When I was younger, I did theater, and as I sat there, I felt a strong desire to get back into it. I'm not the singing/dancing kind of theater person, but more of the drama and comedy stuff. I think I would really enjoy it. It would challenge me in many ways, I would meet new people, and it would force me to step out of my comfort zone. I'll have to think about it a little more, who knows if I'm any good and if I'd be cast, but I like the idea of it a lot as I picture it in my head. I can just see me now...

I've recently been bitten by the reading bug. I enjoy reading and said to myself that after college, I wanted to do a lot of it. Since then, I've probably read six or eight books. Not that many really. But I'm currently reading one, and I've got three others lined up behind that one. Let's see how long I can carry this on for.

I'd like to say for the record, and I'm sure this is on the record elsewhere, but I miss college. I've enjoyed moving on since and becoming a part of the "real world," but there's nothing like college. I was in Champaign last night to help out with a sorority ceremony, and each time I drive back into that area, nostalgia hits hard. The atmosphere and culture that was UIUC for me was a belonging that I appreciated then, but now it has taken on a whole new meaning. I'm still a part of it, but what happened then during those four years cannot happen again. The weirdest thing is that it's all a blur. One thing lapses into another and then that leads to another memory and another. I love it. I love looking back and remembering all these random times, and some of them not realizing how much fun they were at the time, but now thinking "wow, that was a blast" and cherishing them as my memories. I never took those years for granted, but it's almost like I'd like to get them back, so I can appreciate them even more than I did then and take way more pictures than I already did.

But that was then, and this is now. I cannot do my experience enough justice with words, but I am blessed and grateful for what I was allowed to experience there in C-U during my time. That was one chapter of my life that has been written, edited, and printed. And as it approaches my first anniversary of being a college graduate, I look forward to completing another chapter and anxiously await all the other unwritten chapters that are waiting to be penned in my book.