And I'm Proud to be an American

So proud, actually, that I celebrated the 4th the only way it should be celebrated and headed back to the states!!

Okay no, I'm not THAT patriotic.  But I did go back to the USofA this weekend because I was lucky enough to be a part of one of my best friends' getting married.

Hi everyone, meet Emily!! 

 Before I got to see her, however, I got the chance to spend some time at home.  It was SO good to be home and get some quality time with my parents and my sister.  AND, my mom and I got to run the PEACHTREE!! It's by far my favorite race in the world, and I got to run it with my favorite running partner (sorry fab 4, you can't beat my mom).  The peachtree is great because it's a supa chill race (as long as you go in a non-ranked heat), you get lots of free stuff, and people cheer for you the whole way! (especially if you wear a bacon shirt. Then they REALLY cheer).  This guy was passing out free bacon at the beginning of the last mile, and I felt very obligated to carry it until I could take a picture in honor of it matching my shirt.  Note to self: never run with a piece of greasy bacon. It's really gross (don't worry, I actually didn't eat it).

I run so I can eat

The world's greatest running partner

Plus the best way to end a race. 4th of July, mission accomplished. 

Frayuns!!! 

 After the race, I got ready and headed to Auburn to start the wedding festivities.  The weekend turned out to be incredible. You know those friends that you haven't seen in forever so you forget how much they mean to you? That's the epitome of this weekend.  Emily was my roommate on beach project 2 summer's ago, and this was the first weekend in a long time that I'd gotten to spend a good amount of quality time with her.  And this is my chance to brag on her a bit - she is AMAZING.  She teaches me so much about selfless love, whether it's showing her friends how much she appreciates them, being an amazing sister, or finding ways to encourage her fiance (now HUSBAND) so that he knows how important she is.  She constantly amazes me with her ability to serve even when the rest of the world is telling her that she should be focusing on herself (after all, it was her wedding day).  She was a BEAUTIFUL bride, not only because she looked stunning, but because she literally radiated joy.  Her wedding was a reminder of how God redeems relationships and how He blesses people who submit to him.

On top of all that, I got to hang out with KIRSTIN, one of my good friends from high school.  It's crazy how connected the world is.  I also got to bond with some of the coolest bridesmaids - it's one of those things where when people are friends with people you like, you tend to click with them just as well.

Reason #234 why she's the coolest bride.  Because who
else does push-ups in her wedding dress? 

Despite the fact that I hadn't gotten much sleep and my body was SUPER confused as to what time it was, I left the weekend overwhelmed with joy and thankfulness and feeling extremely refreshed.  It was weird because when I first got back to Atlanta it felt like the wrong place to be - I felt like I was leaving my trip early and Ireland wasn't supposed to be over yet.  Nevertheless, by Sunday I was left questioning why I hadn't pushed my plane ticket back a couple more days.

I got back on Monday morning just in time for class (it was epic. I walked into class with my suitcase).  It's definitely good to be back, but I also feel this burden of the fact that there are only three weekends left.  Even though it's a month of the program, when I think about how quickly the weeks have flown by, I know that my parents are going to be here before I know it (BECAUSE THEY'RE COMING TO IRELAND IN 3 WEEKS!!!)  I want to make sure I take advantage of everything, but that also comes with having to focus on school - blah. Test week here we come!!