Back to the land of sunshine and palm trees.

I’m currently sitting in the Minneapolis airport, waiting to board my flight. I’ve spent some time simply looking around at the other people. I wish I had the time to talk to everyone here, but for now I’ll have to be satisfied with observing.

This morning, I got at 5 am, and my whole family headed out the door just after 6:15 am. It’s about a two and a half hour drive to the Twin Cities. Despite the small amount of sleep I’d gotten during the night, I had trouble falling asleep. Anxiety always plagues me when I travel. It’s not fun. I’m already closer to my destination, though, so I’m feeling slightly better.

I hardly know how to explain how I’m feeling right now. It’s strange what happens in six weeks. I cannot believe that it’s already gone. I’m incredibly excited to get back to Biola, but Minnesota is such a part of who I am, it feels funny to be leaving again. I thought it would be easier since I’ve already done so once before. What’s weirdest for me is that we’re in the dead of winter right now, but once I’m back again it will nearly be summer. What a change.

|| LATER ||

I apologize for the break in writing, but they called for me to board before I finished, and things have been a whirlwind since then.

My flight from Minneapolis to Phoenix was not quite three hours long. I was pretty low on energy, so when they served drinks and snacks, I watched an episode of a TV show on my ipod.

My lovely tray table.

I read a little bit, but sleep deprivation was starting to set-in. Exhaustion began to overtake me, and I let it. I took out my computer for a little bit toward the end of the flight, and I edited pictures from the Father Daughter Ball from the night before. But I’ll get to that story in my next post.

Once in Phoenix, I made my way to my new gate, purchasing gatorade and trail mix along the way. I found a seat next to an outlet, and finished editing my photos. Soon enough, I boarded my plane to Ontario. I spent the hour in the air resting and listening to music. And I mean really listening to it.

Usually I’m doing something else while I’m listening to music, but this time I just listened. I soaked in every word, the rises and falls, and absorbed each note. I thoroughly enjoyed it. I was listening to Laura Marling, who has recently become a favorite of mine. I’m really selective about female singers, but I have become sucked into her music. She plays with Mumford & Sons a lot—who just so happen to be my favorite band.

Once I was in California, I was relieved. Traveling stresses me out. I headed to the baggage claim, and waited for my two ridiculously packed bags. I basically just had to look for the bags that looked like they were about to burst at the seams.

I called my friend Andrew, who was picking me up, to see where he was. When he pulled up, we loaded my bags in his car and headed for campus. Andrew is from Minnesota, too, so it was really fun to talk with him about being back there.

When we finally got back to campus, I made my way to my room, and lost my luggage. The first person I went to see was Sarah. We hugged for a solid minute or so. I was so happy to see her. After we chatted, I went back to my room and started unpacking right away. I knew that if I didn’t tackle the task, I wouldn’t want to do it anytime soon. I spent the rest of the evening have all kinds of wonderful reunions, and there were plenty of hugs to go around. It was wonderful.

Today was the first day of classes, though. I had two classes, and they went pretty smoothly. I experienced more beautiful reunions, which brought me so much joy. The sun was shining and campus was buzzing with people. I couldn’t help but grin from ear to ear. Despite my exhaustion, I am thrilled to be back.