2-month update

I've been back in Texas for almost two months and I've missed my blog. The drive from Washington was very, very long. It felt like mom and I were driving forever, especially through Texas. I can remember how I felt driving into the neighborhood for the first time perfectly, and how anxious I was to get home. The second mom put the car in park I opened my door and ran inside where my brother was the first one to catch me. He picked me up and hugged me and I instantly started crying. Marcy hugged me next and to my surprise, started crying too. I felt completely whole when the three of us hugged together. I hugged dad next and then all of my best friends, who came over to wait for me. Seeing everyone after so long felt surreal. It was the best welcoming I could have had. We all stayed up talking about what I'd been doing and everything I'd missed. Tina's mom took all of us (Tina, Emily, Jordan, Marcy & I) to Taco Cabana and we talked and laughed and enjoyed every second of being together. That night was also the last night we'd all be together for a while. Marcy and I left for school the next day and the day after that, Jordan moved to Oregon! Life in Corpus felt like I picked up exactly where I left off. In the next few days I hugged my friends, unpacked my apartment and started classes. Since then, things have been non-stop. My days have been filled with interesting classes and working on the Island Waves and the occasional adventure. The semester is almost halfway over and it's blown my mind how quickly time has passed. Since I've been back, I've witnessed the impact being away this summer has had on me. Aside from my writing and the changes made in the newspaper, I've felt my independence increase and my hesitations disappear. Washington gave me a small taste of what I want to do with my life and I'm excited to figure out the future. I'm already looking at internships for next summer. I'm ready for another adventure.

adios

I am officially out of Washington. This morning I woke up early to go to the paper and write my last story and put together my last video. My mom came to the office to have lunch with all of the staff and they gave me a sweet card and a bag full of Kitsap Sun stuff. I definitely choked back tears saying goodbye to the staff. I'll miss them so much. Mom and I went home and packed up all of my stuff. Unfortunately, my summer family was at a bbq, so I didn't get to say bye to them. I was really bummed about that, but I told them that I was saying, "See ya later" instead, because I definitely want to visit. Mom and I hit the road and drove through Washington. We're staying the night in Oregon and in the morning we'll drive more of the 2,000 mile trip.

last night

This was my last full day in Washington. My mom went to check out Samudra this morning while I went to one of my last interviews. It was a 19-year-old who is leaving on Saturday to spend a year long boarding across the country! He'll travel 6,000 miles with a tent, sleeping bag, small stove, water purifier, a change of clothes and his board. It's his "push for peace" and he'll be stopping along the way to speak to politicians and at college campuses. I told him to let me know if he needed a place to stay in Texas, which he'll be in around December. He was so fun to talk to and it was cool to watch him ride carrying all of his gear in a backpack. I had lunch with mom and took her to the ferry terminal. She went to check out Seattle while I went to watch a 90-year-old woman play the piano with her band in a nursing home. She thought my name was Roberta for the longest time, but she was sweet. I joked with Meegan that we saw both ends of the spectrum of life today. I wrote the article about the piano player and put the video together. I picked mom up and we had dinner and came home to pack. I'm almost done! The picture I'm posting with this blog is an awesome view that Mark, the long boarder took me to. I was kind of bummed to find this view with so little time left to enjoy it, but I'm still glad I got to see it. I'll miss the beauty of the Pacific Northwest.

mom!

I was so distracted all day long knowing that my mom was on her way to Washington. In between interviewing and writing my article about rain gardens, I would log onto the Southwest Airlines website and check on my mom's flight, to see when she departed and arrived, how long until her layover took off, etc. I got to the airport around 8 p.m. and finally saw my mom a little before 9 p.m. I got out of the car to run and greet her and I cried when I hugged her, I was so happy to see her. We stopped at I-HOP for some breakfast for dinner and drove to Bremerton. I gave her a mini-tour in the dark of the newspaper office, downtown and ferry terminal and we just got back to the house. I gave a tour of that too and now we're going to sleep. She jet-lagged and I'm just tired. Tomorrow I'll work on my last few assignments and my mom will be hanging out in Seattle.

countdown

I spent the first part of the day continuing to research my last assignments and interviewing people over the phone. I got to leave early and got my tires checked and went to my last yoga class in Washington. I went straight back to the paper after yoga to work on election night results. I left around 10 p.m. and came home to start packing. I think I'm maybe halfway done, which is really nice! I definitely don't want to be in a rush to pack and leave on Friday, and I know I won't be able to pack much tomorrow night, so I thought I'd get a head start. Tomorrow morning I'm interviewing a woman for one of my articles and then I'm meeting with my supervisor to talk about the last half of my internship. And the most exciting part about tomorrow is that my mom will finally be here! This time next week will be the night before the fall semester starts, how crazy.

monday funday

My last Monday was pretty quiet. I researched my next two assignments and sent emails and made phone calls to the people I need to talk to. My editor said she would pass along more stories to cram into my last week, so that'll be exciting! I also cleaned out my Sun email and got to go to the "morgue," which is what they jokingly call the hallway filled with newspaper archives. I went home with a giant pile of papers with my stories. Today was also my mom's birthday and my sister sent me a cute picture of her from dinner. I was sad to not be with her today, but she'll be here soon and we can celebrate her birthday in Washington! And, here's Molly's story.

last weekend

It definitely boggles my mind that this was my last weekend in Washington. This time next week I will hopefully be blogging from Texas! A recap of my weekend would include, sleeping really late on Saturday, looking for birthday gifts for my mom, dad and brother, who all happen to have birthdays within a few days of each other, spending a lot of time with my summer family and getting the car "road ready." That included dad walking me through how to check all the engine fluids and texting him a picture of the oil, washing it and cleaning the inside, because it's gotten a little messy. Tomorrow starts the last week of the internship and on Wednesday my mom lands in Washington! I could not be more excited to see her!