Lovely Weirdness

Hello all,

Now that it's Sunday I finally have a chance to slow down a little and update you guys in a little more detail. We don't have internet at our apartment yet (yes, I am losing my mind a little not being able to check my email every 10 seconds), so I'm camped out at this nifty local coffee shop called Thunderbird. It has organic, fairly traded tea which is served in these fun mugs and it also has wi-fi - so it's now my new best friend. Close runner up is my new roommate Jessica, who I am really liking. Actually, all my roommates seem pretty cool so far. Kevin and I probably have the most differences between us - at least in terms of the way we think - but he's a sweetheart so I think it'll just be a nice opportunity to grow.

I had to get up super early yesterday to take my mom and Mrs. Loftis to the airport, but it was kind of nice cause I got to take full advantage of my day. After I got back to my apartment, I went with Jess and her mom to go pick up this bed I found on craigslist. It ended up being like 30 minutes away and then we got lost so it took even long - but I finally ended up with a bed and then we found this garage sale where we managed to get a nice set of knives and a cool painting of giraffes. Yay.

Jessica and I spent the rest of the morning/afternoon shopping for various things at the target, bed bath and beyond, and walmart (which we finally found after much searching). I did all the driving which was nerve-wracking but also kind of nice because I finally started to learn my way around. It was also nice to have some one on one time with Jess because we realized all the things we have in common etc.

Last night all the roomies hung out in our room for a little while and just talked and Kevin and I finally got to explain how we knew each other and tell that whole story in detail. Then, Jess went out with her family and I went downtown with the boys to find a sports bar at which we could watch Phelps win his 8th gold medal (because we don't have cable yet) and we ended up walking all the way down 6th street in the rain and settling at this place called Woodrows - which had Blue Moon and is, therefore, my kind of place. I want to try local beers here but the one place I had the guts to ask at looked at me like I was crazy... so yeah I'll get to that.

Anywho, it was really nice talking to the boys and getting to know them better. We're definitely all different people but we have certain key things in common. Our family backgrounds - while different - are also strangely similar which is unusual for me. And I think we were all led to this place by similar desires/longings/needs to understand who we are as independent individuals. It's nice - in feeling like I'm on this journey of self-discovery - to have new friends that are journeying alongside me. And of course, we all love movies and 2.5 of us LOVE Harry Potter - which as most of you know - makes everything just wonderful!

I suppose that somewhere in my mind I was concerned about how it would be living with one girl and 2 guys , but I'm really liking how our dynamic is developing. It's already started to settle into a kind of family which I think we can all appreciate, being so far from home. It's nice having purely platonic guys friends to talk to. In fact, last night I mentioned at one point (after freaking out and deciding I have to return this pink chair that I bought and get a navy one) that I was trying to stop wearing jeans and t-shirts all the time and both John and Kevin go "well, that blue dress you wore on friday was really cute and looked great on you" - kind of out of nowhere and certainly without being prompted. SO maybe there is something to this idea of embracing my femininity.

Today I am running more errands, finally buying food, tracking down the Barnes and Noble (which, as it turns out, is nowhere near my house) and enjoying my last day of freedom before I really crack down on my budget.

Tomorrow I start my week of training and I'm far more excited than nervous. The truth is, as hard as I know this year is going to be, it feels so right to be here that it's hard to be anything but confident.

Other cool things:

We have almost completely furnished our apartment! We have this funky couch and loveseat set, a kick butt coffee table, and Jess and I found this really sweet dresser that I just love. Things are coming together!

Also, have I mentioned how much I love this town?? First of all, I feel so much like I fit in here - it's like this city was made for me. Downtown has all these cool hippie places but then it's big and has skyscrapers and big boulevards etc so that I don't feel claustrophobic. My part of town has brand new nice shopping centers right next to worn out strip malls with TONS of thrift stores (I consider this a good thing) and there are all these local businesses all around. And to top it all off, it's surprisingly beautiful. Not my area as much, but downtown has that kind of urban grace to it, like it just sort of fell together seamlessly, and south of downtown is just unreal. There are all these little rolling hills with TONS of trees that are a lighter shade of green than those in Georgia (less water?) and river, and there are these huge beautiful houses with this incredible southwestern (I'm assuming) architecture. Desert colors and stucco and stacked stone - just gorgeous.

I am very happy. More adventures tomorrow! I love you all~

T. Lew