Engagement!

"Love does not consist of gazing at each other, but in looking together in the same direction." - Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

My sister is engaged! 

I'm making brownies - spatula in hand - when my sister calls to tell me. I almost dropped the phone and threw the spatula and brownie mix all over the kitchen, but managed to compose myself long enough to get to my computer to video chat.

Her ring is beautiful, and everyone is so thrilled (I'll upload pictures as soon as I get them). My mom looked like a train hit her - a euphoric train, of course. Dad was simply speechless. Chris, the lucky guy, just looked sheepish and excited to have landed the best woman in the world. 

I know they will be so happy together - I've never seen a pair more thrilled to do everything and anything together (including shopping on eBay, going to Tractor Supply, or collecting useless antique items that no one including them knows what to do with).

Congratulations to my beautiful sister and my new brother!

Charlie

Update: I have pictures!

Accepted!

Finally. 

This gives me t-minus 62 days - 8 weeks - to obtain a visa, an international student ID, acquire transfer credit approval, complete the Duke travel registry form, verify travel and health insurance, and pack all my crap conscientiously.

Not to mention all the things my mother will insist I accomplish ("I think you should pack four sets of sheets. Just in case. You never know. How many pairs of underwear are you taking?").

Let the games begin!

Charlie

Home, finally.

It's 10:20 pm. My parents have been asleep for a half an hour. Welcome home! 

That being said, it is good to be home. I ate a homemade dinner with the whole family, the fridge is stocked with non-microwaveable products, the floors are free of ground-in cheerios, and the walls are adorned with more than command-taped posters and white space. Oh, the dogs welcomed me home with body-slams, while the cat ignored my presence.Although I did enjoy a half-hour rest stop at a redneck Subway off interstate 85. Apparently, the sluggish pace of Subway employees is not limited to Duke alone. 

I already miss Edens (who woulda guessed?) and the block. It's sad to think I'll never make another 15-minute walk to Blue Zone again, or a 5pm (sharp) dinner at the Loop with all the girls.

In memory of a great year (and the future jobs to be lost by these pictures), here are some of my favorite highlights of a year spent living in a brothel: