blogging is cooler than statistics.

This weekend has been some combination of great and exhausting. But maybe those are the best kind of weekends.

The End of the Year Banquet (EOYB) for CCF was a little emotional but awesome overall. The Branch Barks rushed to the buffet line so we could serve one more time, and we got the chance to see and hear just how much it meant to Becky and Jesse that we do that each week. The meal was a CCF classic - Zook's Chicken, green beans, and brownies. Zook's is an amazing combination of chicken, cream of mushroom soup, butter, and Ritz crackers, and it's generally regarded as the best meal we make. Anyway, the great meal was followed by FIVE HOURS of senior speeches, Wickies (a tradition goofy awards that always takes a turn for the worst when the "write-in nominees" are listed), intern speeches, and a slide show of the year in review. After the banquet, most of us went to the official "after party," and I had the chance to laugh with a big group of friends, talk with a small group, and just soak up everything I love about CCF.

Yesterday was the Global Night Commute, and it was a pretty awesome experience. A group of us (CCF kids and my non-CCF friends) walked from campus to Piedmont Park (about 1.5 miles), checked in, and then got ready to walk BACK to campus (where the actual event was taking place). It was really cool, actually - there was a film crew for the feature-length documentary the Invisible Children group is working on there the whole time, and so we filmed some scenes for the movie. There might be some scenes of my friends and me walking in the actual movie. Pretty cool. Anyway, the rest of the night was spent hanging out, laughing, writing letters to officials, and attempting to sleep in a park on campus. It was pretty awesome - there were somewhere around 1000 people out there with us.

This weekend was just a great reminder of the friends I have been blessed with. That's something that's really hit me this semester, and especially in the last several weeks. I have been so blessed with different people. From the ones who have stuck with me from day one, even when they don't understand why I'm fighting for change in my life, to someone who has known me less than a year and was willing to tell me that she loved me even after I told her what I saw as all the things that made me un-lovable. And then there's the one who, if "day one" is the first day of college, has been with me since day -365, or something like that, has watched and helped me struggle, grow, change, laugh, cry, and everything in between. For God to let me have so many different people in my life to teach me about love... wow. I don't get it, but I wouldn't give it up for anything.

So, the next few (four is "a few," right?) days will be filled with errands, packing, studying, cleaning, etc. ... but I'm excited about all the people who will fill those days, too. I am looking forward to enjoying the company of so many great people for the last few times. I just hope that I can do it with a joyful mindset, rather than a sad one. I want to remember and hold onto everything about this place because that's why I'm going to Puebla. I'm going because I have found such a great community, and if I can share that love with one person in a place that doesn't have the same community... then it's worth the semester. I'm sure it will be.