HOME TO MIAMI UNIVERSITY: FOREVER & A DAY

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You are now leaving Oxford.

A map of home: from etsy

On May 5, 2012, I came upon a milestone. I crossed a stage, moved a tassel, threw my cap in the air and shook the dean's hand. Then I carried my diploma back to a folding chair and smiled to myself. I did it. We did it.

We did it: all four thousand and some of my graduating classmates.

We did it: I mark the half way point for my family's collective college career.

We did it: late nights, early mornings, thousands of pages of paper, hundreds of pens, two dorm rooms, two apartments, eighty odd credit hours, eight semesters, countless interviews, unbearable exams.. we did it.

And on May 8th I packed up, moved out and drove down 27 to home, no longer a Miami student- but an alum. I am starting a new chapter of my life. Oxford was good to me, it will always have my heart. But it is time to say goodbye.

Cheers to a new adventure.

Make new friends, but keep the old

When I was in daisies, about fifteen years ago, we learned this song:

Make new friends

but keep the old, 

One is silver and the other gold.

A circle is round, 

it never ends, 

And that's how long,

We will be friends. 

In all honesty, this and the girl scout code are the only two things that I remember from Troop 13249 (and, since that is all I remember- you should know that I just made up that troop name). 

Now at age six, all your friends are new- so I thought of course! We will be friends forever! Yes, a circle never does end! But now- at age 21- you might say I have realized the truth. Friends, are the world. My friends come in all ages, all genders, all forms. I still have friends from that ripe old age of six. And I have friends from now, that I met today. And I have friends from every stage in between. 

Today, I happened to run into an old friend. When I was a freshman at Miami- I may have even called him my best friend. We gradually lost touch over time- but like all true friends- he comes back into my life when I need him. He was there to nurse my broken heart to health. He was there to celebrate the beginning of this blog- and he might have even been the first non-familial follower. 

Long story short, friends are friends are friends. Who wouldv'e thought that the song I sang as a lanky, toe-headed six year old would ring true a decade and a half later. So raise a glass! Smile on a memory, here is to happy things. 

and counting.

how odd a feeling, as i drove the rainy route down 27 this evening it dawned on me- i will not be gracing this road much longer. yes, there is the literal "not much longer" since my ride to oxford was drawing a close, but more importantly in my eyes is the metaphorical "not much longer." three weeks until christmas, five months until i graduate? im not quite sure what to feel.
this place has offered me friends for a lifetime, an education to match, and most incredibly- growth. i arrived as a child, but im leaving as a young lady (who likes to color and dreams of being a disney princess, i admit). a little bit of thought for an oh so familiar drive.

fivecents pie.

megan pacitti and i are "power walkers." and on the weekend before i left for break, she wanted to make a pie. she brought eleven dollars on our walk. at check out we realized that it was not quite enough. we exchanged the name brand evaporated milk for kroger brand which brought us to $10.95. with tax? $11.05.

what are two girls to do?? i told her that surely i would find a nickel in the parking lot. i searched and searched. to no avail! i checked all the candy machines. no such luck! i came back empty handed and as we were about to leave.. megan chanced our last ray of hope. an exchange student was checking out next to us. we asked for a nickel. "im sorry, i dont have any cash." megan turned around, sorely disappointed. "wait.. is this one?" the girl had pulled two nickels from her purse. and in hesitant english saved our pie.

flash flood.

 

 i grew up in the midwest. and ive always been warned by the news about flash floods and severe storms. tonight, i found out why. 


its pouring in oxford. and when i heard rain dropping INSIDE the house.. i had to investigate. it took about two seconds for me to survey the situation.. look at all my wet belongings.. and realize that every single one of my windows and the ceiling were leaking. 


temporary solution: duct tape and kitchen rags. 
keeping it classy, always.

botany two.forty.four

 

rainy mondays.

i found the first fall leaf today while i walked to the library. it contrasted nicely with the drenched surrounding. its beauty didn't register until i was already three steps ahead, but it then required a turn around and quick documentation.

rainy days are not my favorite, but at least there was a bit of beauty on my walk.

happy monday, my loves!

vineyard ventures.

Before prohibition ceased all (public) wine production in the early 1900s, cincinnati was the largest grape growing city in the united states. Since then, production has certainly slowed in the region but picked up again in the 70s. my botany 244 class spent Saturday at valley vineyard on the most lovely fall day Cincinnati has seen. Located in morrow, ohio, we began the day early with a nine am bus call. An hour later we trekked up a mile long, two hundred foot hill to arrive at the vineyards where over 35 varieties of grapes have been grown for 3 generations. we ate grapes, toured the winery, tasted wines and purchased many! I left wishing to bacchus for my very own vineyard.

preheat the oven.

Back to Oxford, Ohio I have decided in my final year that it is time to learn to cook. So yesterday I tripped over to hamilton. though the initial purpose was for a few text books- a returned with two cookbooks instead.

anyway, documented is my first adventure into the land of good eats. its about time.

tinkering with tools.

i moved back in to oxford last week for my FINAL year of school. armed with an electric drill, an art savvy little sister and a knowledgeable mother, we took to the decorations ourselves.. as we have never done before. despite the odd pinging sounds (very similar to what a water pipe from the bathroom on the other side of this wall may sound like when hit by a drill), the eight hour day (thanks mom and coll), and the lack of experienced supervision, our finished product is something quite spectacular.

look out world.. i became mechanically savvy last week (: