So long, July.

Maddie meets August.

I wish I could tell you I was on the right.

Pretty sure I heard life plans are overrated, anyways.

Life on L Street

 These are my roommates.

Yep, all of them.

Ok, minus the missionaries & professor+spouse. But they're around a lot too.

I love them.

It (unexpectedly) hit me tonight, during our very entertaining Barlow Center variety show,

that these bright people are my last fellow BYU adventurers.

They'll go on adventuring. I will too. But I'm guessing we won't all live together again.

I had a roommate once that told me she felt like she went through life collecting people.

Every stage/semester/day of life brings you people to meet,

and learn about, 

and love,

and usually miss.

But collecting them is always worth it. 

It's kind of a snowball effect -- you just roll through life getting a bigger heart,

 and a bigger list of people you love,

and a bigger list of people you want to catch up with,

and a bigger list of memories you laugh out loud about...

...I'd roll with these guys any day.

Clubbing.

This weekend the PR girls of the Barlow paid a visit to the National Press Club.

On the left, the club member that put the tour together for us.

Next, Cardell & his wife. He teaches the political science classes at the Barlow this semester.

Then Haley & Janet, my PR friends.

Next to me is Sister Sowby, half of the wonderful missionary couple assigned to the Barlow Center here in DC.

And the far right is Gill, a former president of the press club who gave us the tour.

This is the view from the upper floor of the press club. 

Recognize anything?

Two buildings away is the east side of the White House.

As Gill put it,

"The club is just a stone's throw from the White House. And we provide the stones."

I will forever love the love/hate relationship between media and, well, everything.

On the way home the Sowby's took us to the New York Ave Presbyterian Church,

and we saw an original draft of the Emancipation Proclamation.

It's hard for me to comprehend the reality of pieces of history.

But, you can't lie in church, so this is has to be the real deal.

Guess whose pew we are sitting in...

I'm just going to tell you. Abraham Lincoln's!

That's cool, right? He attended church here and sat on that very bench.

I'm glad Mormons aren't the only people that enjoy consistency in their meeting seating.

Pause.

I love summer adventures. 

D.C. has definitely been just that.

But this particular adventure has been a little tainted by my lack of post-summer plans.

When I packed up my all too familiar life in Provo, 

I didn't really know why I was leaving.

I left this...

and found this...

I guess the loss is written on the wall - confidence.

But you know, as the end of the summer gets closer,

I'm realizing that the only worry going on here is too much freedom.

And there are a lot of people in this world I wouldn't share that complaint with.

***

So in three weeks, my life isn't on a schedule of four-month homes anymore.

No classes, no campus, no clear-cut days.

It sounds like a potential rough patch.

But, it doesn't have to be.

You don't always have to read the writing on the wall.

Sometimes you can just make your own.

Zero to Sixty

I went HERE...

And rode THIS... 

And I'm still happy about it.

That right there is Superman. The people just about to race down that drop are SO happy.

Especially the lucky two sitting in the front row.

I know this, because I was in that seat four times on Saturday. 

Roller coasters and I have come a long way. I used to refuse to go on any ride with an incline past a 50-degree angle, and never even considered a ride that involved going upside down. 

When you turn something upside down, the stuff inside falls out. 

Basic gravity, right?

But then, one fateful day in 8th grade, we took a school trip to Lagoon (it's what fun is!).

I could go on an emotional tangent right now about how much I love Lagoon. 

Let's just remember to talk about that later.

Back to the fateful day.
All my friends headed straight for Colossus long before I was mentally prepared.

I was terrified. Not only does the ride go upside down, but it goes upside down TWICE. 

Who would build such a thing?

Well, whoever it was, they're a genius. 

Thanks to pride and peer pressure, I conquered Colossus that day. 

Then rode it again. And again. And again...

And now I have a constant roller coaster craving.

Six Flags America definitely satisfied it. For at least a week.