Is it possible for summer to be flying by, but moving slowly at the same time?!

In one sense, I can't believe it's already June 17th. But I'm also over here thinking... is it really ONLY June 17th?! June is almost over, which is really exciting, but I still have to get through July. This is going to be difficult for me, because I'm so anxious and excited to begin nursing school! Lately, all I've been doing, beyond working, running, and online shopping (a bad addiction I can't seem to kick... thanks, Ruelala!) is preparing for nursing school. Applying for loans took up lots of time and energy (both physical AND mental energy), and after that, I had to take care of things for the apartment. Today, I officially got the electricity taken care of. Thankfully, there is no deposit to be made (THANKS PAPA!) which saves my roommate and I some money! I'm all about saving money ;)

I also had an advising appointment with a financial aid counselor at Duke this morning. I am amazed by how much personalized attention we all receive, and I absolutely love it. I'm not used to it, coming from a huge public university, and a fairly large public high school before that... but it's really nice that they take an interest in their students. It's a pretty big change from what I've experienced in the past! The financial aid counselor spent over 30 minutes on the phone with me, and catered the advising session to ME - it wasn't generic at all. You could tell she had spent a lot of time going over my record and my finances. She was so helpful in guiding me towards a personalized budget. Afterwards, I thought of a few more questions that I wanted to email her, and she responded to me almost immediately afterwards. I am so appreciative of their hard work and dedication. Figuring out finances is one of the most difficult parts of preparing to enroll at Duke, and she made everything so painless and easy for me, along with explaining everything to me in an easy-to-understand way :)

This week, I am off, besides babysitting Friday night. It's really nice to have the week off, especially since I had to stay with the boys Thursday night AND Friday night, and some of Saturday morning last week! My best friend Stef came to visit Saturday, and we spent Saturday afternoon and most of Sunday at the beach. Last night, I purchased my parking pass for school, which was incredibly exciting. It made everything seem a bit more real!

As for this week, I don't have any particular plans, other than going to Gainesville on Thursday to take care of some paperwork, as well as bring up some stuff that we will be moving to Durham.

I'm really excited to not have anywhere to be at a certain time this week. It's going to be WONDERFUL!

I feel like I have to apologize for some of the grammar mistakes in my blog, as my mom called attention to this last night. Sorry for the bad grammar y'all! And mom, if you're reading this, don't worry... I plan on making more of an effort to use proper grammar even though this is a casual thing ;)

Here are pictures from some of the important things that have happened the past few months :)

Pictures from my Duke interview! The first collage is of the chapel. They showed us

the chapel during our interview and let us go inside and take pictures. The second picture

is at a restaurant in Downtown Durham called Dame's Chicken and Waffles.

It was really good!

Not only did I receive admission to Johns Hopkins, but I was offered the Fuld Leadership Scholarship at Johns Hopkins University!

The day I was admitted to Duke :) I'll never forget it! I was on the 5th floor at Shands, and I was waiting for an elevator. I had been making copies in nursing education, and afterwards, I had to go all the way to the ground floor and take the tunnel to the hospital across the street (to the building we call the "South Tower"). I  was so anxious to find out if I got in, and as I was making copies in nursing education, I started to get this feeling that I would get the email while I was in the tunnel, and I wouldn't have service to check my application status! As I was walking to the elevator with my copies, I decided to check my email before I lost service. THE EMAIL HAD ARRIVED! I put my papers down on an empty bed in the hallway, logged in to check my status, and waited with bated breath. I remember shaking as I typed in my log in info. When the page pulled up, I thought I was going to pass out. CONGRATULATIONS! was written across the top of the page, with a letter to welcome me into the program. I had gotten in! I was so excited and so were all of the people around me waiting for the elevator as well, hence the silly picture above. It was one of the best days of my life :) 

A night out at Balls with my best friend Stef!

Stef and I visiting our friend Vicki at UF's Dance Marathon in April

Emily and Kelsey and I at my last Techno Tuesday as an undergrad :( love these girls so much! We've had so many fun times together and made so many memories the past three years. I'm not sure what I'm going to do without them, especially during football season! "SportsCenter on SportsCenter on SportsCenter"!

ESG 12-13 Exec Board at the 2013 Spring Banquet! Loved working with these ladies. I'm going to miss this lots.

Stef and I at Balls... AGAIN! This time for AYCD from 6-8! It was our favorite bar this year :)

Graduation pictures with 2 of my best friends, Amanda and Stef :) thanks to my wonderful friend and roommate Ashley for taking them for us!

My good friend Sarah and I at a going away party for some of our teachers :)

Stef and I waiting in line for our LAST all you can drink at Balls as undergrads! It was a fun night!

My friend Ashley and I waiting to graduate!

Right before walking across the stage :)

Sarah came to watch me graduate! I love her. I'm going to miss her so much :(

Amanda stayed in town for 2 extra days to watch Stef and I walk! Love her lots :)

My sweet friends and roommates, Ashley and Melissa, made me this :) they were amazing roommates and are such good friends to me. I'm so sad we won't be living together anymore, but I'm happy because I know we will stay close friends forever! I'm also lucky to know that their hometown is only 30 minutes away from mine, so I can visit them whenever we are all back in town :)

Kelsey turns 21! And her sign reveal :D

We went to Univeral/IOA/Harry Potter World and City Walk for Kelsey's 21st!

Stef, Emily, Kels & I before dinner and going out

Memorial Day!

Back home in Melbourne for the summer, drinking by the river with my friend Sandy and her boyfriend Taylor