every weekend a new adventure

this semester has been different for me so far in a lot of ways, and now that it's been about a month since i moved back up to atlanta and began a new chapter of my life in grad school, i feel like now's a good time to take a nice, objective look at it...awesome :)

so what have i been up to, exactly? well, for starters, this year has been a lot different because for the first time in 4 years, i'm not living on campus in some capacity or another. i can no longer walk to class (which makes me a little sad), but i can also no longer walk home during the day to waste time in my room, which is good. i plan my days ahead to include bringing my lunch from home (elementary school style, ha ha), bringing workout clothes for the gym, extra clothes to change into after the gym, extra books to do work during the day, anything extra i may need for meetings after class, etc. it's like a mental checklist in a way, and i really like it. i feel like staying at school all day (to avoid wasting gas by driving back and forth a couple of times a day) makes me think of everything i need to do and make sure it gets done...yay for productivity :)

i've been cooking more this year. having a real kitchen with all my stuff in it helps, but yeah...when i feel lazy it's not always the best thing, but it saves money, the food is good (well, most of the time, ha ha :D), and it's nice to have that kind of control over at least one aspect of your life :) i also haven't been able to see my boyfriend every day this year, which is a first during the school year for me (i've been spoiled, i know, ha ha)...the weekends, however, are a vast improvement from the 3 month span without seeing eachother this summer, so this is bearable. it actually motivates me to do more work during the week so that we can spend time together on the weekends...so far, so good :)

i haven't been doing as much work as i expected, and even with the intention of not becoming too involved in extracurriculars, i've still managed to get myself leadership (in some capacity) in 3 organizations...i just can't stay away, ha ha :) part of this, though, i think has always been a result of me not being completely a school-driven, sciencey, mathey person...i had a hard time picking a major for this reason, switching from marketing to journalism to engineering...wtf? truth is, i think i'd be happy in any of them, as long as i make room for the others in my life in some way or another. i'm trying to stay in touch with my adopted culture (yay brazil!), keep up with my portuguese and spanish, and meet kids from around the world in all of these organizations, and i love it :) i hope that i never have to give up that part of my life.

every weekend i've done something different and hung out with a big variety of friends that come from different circles. i've been taking more advantage of living in atlanta (not nyc, but a big city in it's own right), which has proven to be awesome and exciting...this is my 5th year living in the city, and never before had i gone to see improv, much less 2 times (one in piedmont park). i raced in a dragonboat last weekend (a little reminiscent of my crew days, ha ha). i went to a german beer fest a couple of weeks ago. i've triend new restaurants, new clubs, and have just enjoyed parking the car and walking around a little, or even taking marta (gasp! i know, ha ha). i couldn't ask for a better semester so far, really :) i still miss everyone in brazil dearly, but i'm working on my master plan of returning one day, and bringing some ppl in tow...it's going to be a party :)

every day i realize, though, how far i've come from being the scared freshman in a tiny dorm 4 years ago. i drive to school (reminds me of driving/riding the bus to work), i cook, i "keep house" for the first time in my college career, and yeah...things that i never thought i'd like, i do. i'm one of those ppl that wakes up and reads the newspaper now, and not even the living section (which used to be the only thing that i'd touch). where, along the way, did this happen? i like it, but at the same time it's weird to realize that i'm slowly approaching a level of equality with my parents (well, besides the whole being married and having kids thing, ha ha). i don't feel old, exactly, just more aware.

when i was a teenager, i was really in to art and stuff...i used to cut up my clothes, re-sew them as different things, paint them, etc. i loved it. i still love that stuff, just don't have much time for it anymore. in doing that, though, i felt i was expressing myself as it could be expressed no other way, and that the way i saw the world was how it was. now, still love all those things, but when i express myself through words or art, it comes out a little differently, with a little different spin. there are some things you just can't understand until you've been through them, and of course i haven't been through everything. i feel like now, though, when i look at the world (and now that i've seen a little more of it), i just see...more. when i was 16 i didn't care much who was president, what was going on in countries across the world...and most of all, i just didn't see the world for it's people. i've met so many people since i left fayetteville for school, and it's just been incredible.

your knowledge is nothing without people. and all of those emotions and perspectives you experience are all inspired (in part) by lots of people too. i guess i've rediscovered the value of people, all in different ways, in all different people :)

well, i guess this is growing up.