Stifled Tears

When I was a freshman in college, I had all pot-luck roommates. We were all incredibly different and learning to live with new people was a serious adjustment for me. One day, one of my roommates, Amanda, was upset about something - what, I don't remember. But, what I do remember is that she was about to start crying. I hate crying. I hate it when I cry and I hate it when other people cry. So, when Amanda looked like she was ready to burst into tears, I did what came naturally and cracked a joke. This made her laugh and her tears quickly went away. As soon as I realized how easy it was to keep her from crying, stifling her tears quickly became my go-to coping mechanism. Months later, Jenny, one of my other roommates, came and talked to me telling me that not letting Amanda cry was actually quite bad for her. Apparently, crying is a thing. And sometimes people need to do it. Who knew?

On Monday, as I was getting ready to leave Mobile and my mother was reduced to a puddle, all of this came flashing back. Sometimes, you just need to cry. And that is okay.

Leaving home for this new adventure was hard. It is hard to say goodbye to people you love. It is hard to know that you won't be there for big moments (Milla!). It is hard to know that life goes on even when you're not there anymore.

I had to bribe her with peanut butter M&Ms to take pictures

Everyone act sad! It was easier for some of us than others. See: MM being half asleep and grumpy, mom's puffy eyes and dad's picture below...

I swear my father isn't a serial killer..

But in all of that, there is so much excitement! Excitement of a new place, new people, new things. There is even excitement in the journey that will take me to my new home. Yesterday, I picked one of my best friends, Jessica, up and we hit the road. We drove to Saint Louis where we picked up another one of my best friends, Amanda.

This morning we took our time leaving Saint Louis, taking time to go get some really great coffee and breakfast - if you're ever there, go to Russell's. Then we hit the road and drove through allll of Missouri, a smidge of Iowa and stopped in Nebraska. Tomorrow, we will leave a bit earlier in order to make it to South Dakota where we will spend the afternoon exploring Badlands National Park.

Stay tuned for pictures of Badlands, because I got a selfie stick!