I see Oregon people.

When I got off my plane in Denver, I saw people with Oregon sweatshirts on. I nearly attacked them with questions about my home state. I'm quite partial to these folk as they can pronounce "Oregon" properly.

But anyway, there were lots of them. It was like Oregon overload!

I can't even explain how happy it made me feel to see mountains as we flew in to Denver. I'm not sure I'll ever want to go back to the Missouri flatness ever again. And as I'm stuck in this airport that hates Facebook (it won't load Farmville. This is a travesty.) So I'm going to blog. It might be fantastic. Which means that it will take up a half hour of my time here in Denver.

I've always loved airports because they are full of stories. Some people are flying off to far away places while others are returning home from long trips away from their loved ones.

For instance, as I was drinking my morning coffee in the Kansas City Airport's Starbucks, I saw a couple reunite. The girl got off of her plane and was walking past Starbucks with her bags when he caught sight of her. He yelled her name down the concourse and started running toward her. She dropped her bags and ran toward him.

It was so movie-esque, but it was so sweet, I couldn't help but smile.

And be slightly jealous.

But my time will come.

Eventually.

Hopefully.

Someday.

But anyway, everyone has a story and I would love to just muse about them, but that is more than a little creepy.

And plus I can't focus because I've been sleep deprived all week. Seriously. 20 hours of sleep in the last week. Ugh. Not good for focussing. Which is why I'm saying adieu from Gate B89: the farthest place from everything (including a power outlet) at the Denver airport.

Sophomoric Lessons

For this week’s blog, I thought that I would share with you some of the incredibly insightful and useful (ish) things I have discovered thus far in the semester:

• Wool sweater + windbreaker = winter jacket

• Black leggings + Uggs + over sized v-neck t-shirt = absolute most comfortable outfit one could possibly wear. The only downside to this outfit is that only sorority girls wear this and we get nasty judging glares from non-Greeks while wearing this outfit. The wonderfully comfortableness of this outfit makes it easy to ignore the glares.

• Once you tease your hair, you will never go out in public without it poofed ever again. Expect to add 10 minutes to your morning routine.

• It is necessary to consume caffeine at several points during the day. I recommend started out the day with a cup (or two) of black coffee, having a latte with lunch (or as an afternoon snack) and then having a diet coke with dinner. This will ensure your ability to wake up at 7 a.m. and continue studying and functioning until 1 a.m.

• Do not try to go two days with out caffeine, as it will only result in severe headaches and shakiness.

• Downy Wrinkle Release + Febreeze = not having to do laundry every week.

• An increase in the amount of homework you’ve been assigned over the weekend is proportionate to the increase in one’s desire to go for a run or blog.

• Sunday is the greatest day of the week for news. It should be celebrated with Meet the Press in the morning, Time in the afternoon and 60 Minutes in the evening. CNN.com should be checked regularly throughout the day.

• Naps are absolutely necessary for survival.

Tintern Abbey

For Brit Lit today, we read Wordsworth’s Tintern Abbey. I haven’t been affected by literature in this way since I was struck by McCarthy’s exceptional poetic prose in All The Pretty Horses.
What struck me about this poem was how it describing communing with nature and being one with the world.

Although I would love to tell you that otherwise, I’ve always had an inner hippie deep, deep inside of me. But to my defense, I am from Oregon, so I never really had a choice in the matter. And today, Tintern Abbey made me actually confront it.

Never before have I read something that so accurately and poetically captured that feeling you experience when you’re standing atop Sentinel Dome in Yosemite or hiking through the Tetons. It’s a sense that you are part of something so much bigger than yourself. It’s that feeling when you feel completely whole and in balance with the world. I imagine that enlightenment would constantly feel that way.

The poem also went on to discuss our relationship with the world at certain points in our lives. When we are young, we are naive and we don’t use logic to confront the world because we haven’t developed it yet. We are blissfully oblivious to bad and scary things. But then we progress to post-adolescence where we realize our logic. This new way to view the world scares us. My professor described it as being terrified by something you love. But then you come to terms with the world and your logic. You can finally experience the world that you love with out being scared. You can fully live your life. And that sounds so incredible.

But being as I am only 19, I still fit into the obligatory post-adolescent category. I first experienced this when I went off to college in a completely new part of the country. I saw the world from a brand new and no longer naive viewpoint. It was scary. I was taken completely off guard by its differences from the West Coast. But I’ve learned so much about the Mid West. I’m inching away toward the final category where I can experience the world from a non-scary logical viewpoint.

Goodness gracious, I love reading all of the romantic era poets for Brit Lit. I can’t wait to take the 3000 level Brit Lit course next semester!

237 hours.

I haven't been home in nearly 8 months.

And it's not because my parents don't love me.

It's because they love/trust me enough to let me make my own decisions.

It's also because I made the decision when I was 17 and fed up with Bend/high school/life that I wanted to go 2000 miles away from home for school. At the time, it was the perfect distance. I relished the idea of being independent and away from home. I couldn't wait to start living my own life. And at the time, hearing that I would have to be away from Bend for 8 months was just the icing on the cake.

And now here I am. I'll be back home in roughly 237 hours. I've learned a lot about myself. And now I'm ready to go home.

I think something that I have realized the most since I left home is that even though you hate it sometimes, home is home.

After senior year, I was so fed up with Bend. Events happened that summer that just made me want to leave even more. I never wanted to go back.

But that was over a year ago.

I've realized that I'm not a mid-west kind of girl. I miss mountains and oceans. I'm also not a city girl. Believe it or not, I got sick of staring at a brick wall for nearly a year. I can't wait to go home and see some beautiful pine trees, breathe in fresh air and drive 10 miles without seeing a single cornfield.

I can't wait to see my family and friends. And my ponies and kitties. And my replacement.

I've been waiting for this time for so long - I can't even begin to describe how surreal it is to know that I will be home in just over a week. 11 days left so serve of my self inflicted 238 day sentence.

If I had the choice, I really don't think that I would do it again. But I am glad that I have had this experience.

Everything that I've been working for is finally paying off. I found myself a job, moved to one of the biggest cities in the country by myself, I survived summer in St. Louis, I moved back to Columbia, I was granted Missouri residency, I was accepted in to my journalism sequence, I've found a great charity to volunteer with and I'll be moving in to the sorority next semester.

I am just so excited to be almost home. Which I'm sure you can tell by now.

Only 237 more hours!!!!