Well, life has …

Well, life has been pretty good lately. I celebrated my 20th birthday over the weekend, and last weekend I celebrated my two year anniversary with John. For our anniversary, I got him a record player, which he had been wanting for a while, and this has sparked a new hobby for both of us. We have now been collecting vinyls both old and new, and so far it has been a lot of fun. We’ve already been able to meet some pretty cool people through it. When I was in Tuscaloosa a few weeks ago we went to a record sale and the guy who owned all of the records was very nice and helpful. We’ve also been to a couple of really cool record stores. On Sunday, we ventured downtown and went into Charlemagne’s Records at Five Points. The guy there was very nice and he had so much stuff that we were there for about an hour and didn’t even begin to scratch the surface. We each picked up a few cheap records to add to our slowly growing collection.

So far it’s just been really cool to have something that we both enjoy doing together. We didn’t really have anything like that before, and I think it’s helping us grow closer (which I didn’t even really know was possible). Next month we’re going to be super nerds and go to the Birmingham Record Show. It’s supposed to be the biggest record show in the southeast, and there will be collectors from all over the US and Europe. Needless to say, we’re both really excited about that. 

I’m kind of shocked about how quickly the summer is passing. I was really dreading summer, to be honest. I was not very thrilled about coming home and spending the summer working at Chick Fil A. But since I transferred to the Trussville location things have been a lot better. I no longer abhor my job, and that is definitely something to be thankful for. Two weeks from tomorrow will be my last day, and I’m actually going to miss it a little. But I’m beyond excited about what the next school year holds for me and I can’t wait to get started. 

And that’s my life in a nutshell. Because I know you were all dying to know 🙂

 

I’m such an ol…

I’m such an old lady. I remember when the most exciting thing about summer was staying up late and sleeping in. But this year, ever since I got out of school, I’ve been in bed around 10 and up in the morning by 8. It’s nice, actually. I have time to get things done and I don’t feel lethargic all day. Today was different, though. It was storming all morning and my room was so dark that when I finally got out of bed around 10 am, I was nearly positive it couldn’t be any later than one in the morning.

For my last couple of hours of sleep I drifted in between dreams and angry claps of thunder. But it was nice, actually.  It was a feeling reminiscent of summer days when I was young and summer was my absolute favorite time of the year. But I swear, it thunder stormed every day and I hated that. Back then, I spent all of my time outside riding my bike, playing hide-and-go-seek, and jumping on trampolines with all the neighborhood kids. At some point during each day, we knew it was going to rain. So when the sky turned gray and we saw distant flash of lightening, we would all run inside before the storm hit. Except for the times we didn’t. We would run around the streets, dancing in the rain. Not a care in the world. Until, of course, it was over and we got lectured by our parents about how we ruined our clothes and could have been struck by lightening. Those were the days. 

It’s crazy how certain sounds, smells, tastes, feelings, etc can remind you of a specific time or place in your life. A few days ago, for example, I was walking to my car around 7 am to go to work and there was something about the smell of the air that made me feel like I was going to Camp Coleman, the Girl Scout Camp I went to every summer when I was little. The smell of Herbal Essences Blue Coconut shampoo and the taste of Nutella instantly makes me feel like I’m back in South Africa. The smell of cinnamon reminds me of Christmas time. It’s funny how the mind works because I could make a lot of these connections.

But today that early morning thunderstorm brought me back to a time in my life that I’ve always cherished, and it’s sad that at that time I wanted so badly to grow up. Now, sometimes I think I’d do anything to go to it. No work, all play. This morning gave me a glimpse of what it felt like at that time. When a thunder storm that didn’t allow me to go outside was my biggest problem. That gave me peace today. Even though I’m about to get ready to go to work and back to reality, it was nice to feel that way even if for only a brief moment. I guess it really is the little things that make life worth living.