My last few adventures of the summer...

Three things I've missed immensely:

1. Friends
2. Tennessee
3. Mountains

I was reunited with all of the above this past week, and it was awesome. (Also, I've noticed that "adventure" in any form is becoming my new favorite word...)

Darren's baseball team won state, so it was off to Lewisburg, TN, for the regional tournament. Lewisburg happens to be close to where Audrey and Mike are working camp for the summer. I was really excited because they're two of my best friends, and I was going to get to see them, right? Um, yeah, apparently, they decided that the one weekend I was going to be within 15 minutes of them would be an opportune time to go to Ohio. Thanks, guys.

Unfortunately, Darren's team didn't win their games, but they did play pretty awesomely, so I was still proud. Kristi came to see him play, too, so it was great to see her and to have someone to brave the heat with me! (For real, it should never be 100 degrees at 10:00 in the morning. Let's not try that again.) Her friend, Jeff, got bored in Murfreesboro, so being a flight instructor, he flew over to hang out with us for awhile. That evening, he took Kristi, Darren, and me up in his plane, which was pretty awesome! I had never been up in a small plane like that before, so it was cool to get to do that.

On Sunday, Kristi came to pick me up and I went to her house for a few days. Being us, we managed to have plenty of adventures crammed into a couple of days, and most of them involved the outdoors. Always a plus.

We went hiking, of course. We went to Abram's Creek, but it was super hot, so we didn't make it very far. We attempted to go down a side trail to see one of the Appalachian Trail shelters (just because), but it turned out you basically had to hike up the mountain to do so. We went about half a mile before deciding that it was entirely too hot to attempt anything more, so we turned around and went back towards the creek. Maybe in the fall. Anyway, we just waded in the creek for awhile, took a few pictures, then drove around for a little while. Typical us.

Later that evening, we dressed up a little more (the only time I looked halfway decent all week, I think) and we, along with Kristi's brother David, went to Pigeon Forge to see Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat! We got free tickets (typically $40) from Kristi's church, and even though none of us are particularly into that sort of thing, we didn't really have anything else to do, so we decided to go. Besides, my roommate has told me about a billion times how awesome it is, so I kind of wanted to see what the big deal was anyway. :) It ended up being a lot of fun (albeit slightly long towards the end...), so I was glad we decided to go.

On Tuesday, Kristi, David, and I went jet skiing with their friends Russell, Amy, and Kate. That was definitely fun, even though we only had one jet ski and weren't there all that long. It was just nice to be on the water, especially since I haven't even had the chance to go swimming this summer!

After finishing up at the lake, we went back to Kristi's house to pack up for a quick camping trip. We loaded up the truck and finally started making our way towards Cades Cove where our campsite was. (Kristi, of course, stayed true to form and packed 2 floats--never mind that our campsite was not near water.) It was around 10:30pm when we got there, so obviously, it was dark. However, Kristi, David, and I managed to set up our tent without a problem. As soon as we finished, David's friend Aaron got there. Perfect timing, I'm sure. The four of us played cards for awhile and then got ready for bed, since we were planning to get up before the sun.

We woke up at 5-something the next morning. Kristi and I ate Lucky Charms (very nutritious, of course) and finally managed to drag the guys out of bed and got them to eat, too. Then, around 6:30am, we got on our bikes and headed off to bike the 11-mile loop at Cades Cove! It was a perfect day to do something like that. It was early, so it wasn't hot, plus it was pretty cloudy. That made for some pretty awesome pictures. I've decided that, if I can't live in Colorado in the middle of the Rockies, I think I'll be happy to settle for the Smokies. Seriously, so gorgeous:

Is there any question as to why they're called the Great Smoky Mountains? Pictures totally don't do it justice. It was beautiful. When I see stuff like that, I can't help but be like, "Holy crap, God, You're amazing!!"

We did a few more random things during the week, and then yesterday, we decided to drive through Cleveland and hang out with Jon for a little while before heading to meet my parents. After driving around campus to see the random changes and sitting in the PCSU waiting for Jon to get off work, the three of us headed to Chick-fil-A for peach milkshakes (sooo good). Jon mentioned something about Will being back in town, so I texted him and he invited us to come over. We did, and after being there for about 5 minutes, Tuna* came down the stairs! We all thought he was at work, so that was definitely a nice surprise! I wasn't expecting to get to see either Will or Tuna, but I am so glad that I got to. I love those guys so much. It was sooo good to see them and hang out with them for awhile. It made me really glad that we'll all be reunited a little more long-term in just 2 weeks. YESSSS.

So yeah--definitely a good week! I can't believe I'll be going back to Lee just 2 weeks from today. I can't say I'm looking forward to classes and homework and such, but I am definitely excited to be with everyone again! This semester kind of has to be awesome. There is no way that junior year is allowed to be as lame as last year! The fact that I'll have an apartment, my brother will be there, and pretty much all of my friends will actually be on the same side of campus for once makes me really happy and excited and yeah, I pretty much can't wait. Okay, I'm done. Maybe I'll actually have a short post one of these days?
* Every now and then, it occurs to me what a ridiculous nickname Tuna is and what people who don't know him must think when I call him that. Oh well. It's pretty much impossible for me to look at him and think "Michael." It just doesn't work. He doesn't respond to it anyway.

Best week ever!

The power cord for my laptop decided to completely stop working the other day, so I've been pretty limited in my computer use lately in an effort to save battery power. Luckily, my dad was smart enough to get an extended warranty for it, so I don't have to pay $90 or something equally ridiculous for a new one. Unfortunately, it's supposed to take another two weeks for the new one to get here. Awesome.

I do have to say, though, that it has been a little bit of a blessing in disguise, if you will. I've actually been able to (gasp) read for the fun of it! I don't even know how long it's been since I've done that at college. So that's been pretty nice. Actually, this week has been kind of awesome in general. The highlights:

1. Basketball Game!
Monday night's game = definitely a good one! It was really close the entire time. The other team (don't remember who it was) was barely ahead, but Lee scored a three-pointer in the last few seconds and won. Any game that involves everyone in the stands rushing onto the court as soon as the game ends is pretty awesome to me. Yesss!

2. Taco Tuesday and Free Pancakes!
I love going to Tres Hermanos on Tuesday nights. I mean, really, 75 cent tacos? How much better can you get? I went with Christy and Luke, and was later joined by Ward and James. While I was there, Kristi texted me. Turns out it was also Free Pancake Day, so as soon as I got done with Taco Tuesday, it was off to IHOP with Kristi, Mike, Jon, and Tuna (some of my favorite people ever!). Good times. :)

3. No More Searcy!
My Ethics professor is apparently really sick and isn't going to be able to teach for the rest of the semester. While this is kinda sad, it also means that I don't have to listen to her ramble about snake handling churches anymore. I was initially a little nervous about who they were going to stick my class with for a substitute. These worries promptly ceased when Alan McClung walked in the room. Best. Day. Ever.

4. No Homework!
I have had no homework this week whatsoever. I hardly know what to do with myself. I haven't had a week like this all semester long. The past several weeks have been super stressful, so it has DEFINITELY been nice to have a break!

5. Cancelled Class!
My 9:10am class was cancelled today. I don't have another class until 2:35pm, so guess what? I got to sleep until 12:30pm on a Thursday and it was totally okay. That was probably the best thing that has ever happened to me, ever (or at least close enough). It's strange not feeling exhausted...

6. McDonald's & Spanish Soap Operas!
Last night, Kristi, Jon, and I went to Hughes' Open Dorm and hung out with Michael. We had nothing to do afterwards, so we decided to go somewhere to get something to eat (for me, because I have apparently have chronic hunger issues) and drink (for Kristi, who was actually thirsty for once in her life). After an interesting drive-thru experience at McDonald's...

"Do you have milkshakes?"
"Yes."
Long pause.
"Do you have Hi-C?"
"...Hi-C milkshakes?"

...we went to Jon's so I could get a doughnut (or two. I'm telling you, I think I have a problem). We ended up watching some intense Spanish soap opera that none of us could understand (minus a couple of phrases that I could make out when they weren't yelling at 150mph). Basically, all I got out of it was #1, pink envelopes make awesome fans, and #2, if you want men to fight over you, wear fuzzy pink and orange hair clips (to accentuate the pink and orange curls in your hair) and earrings that are shaped like pink baby bottles. Valuable life lessons, I'm sure.