I’ll be at Northwestern in about four months. Less than that, actually. It’s unreal, indescribable, and many other adjectives that don’t do the anticipation justice.

When I was accepted back in December, I wanted these months to pass quickly and I didn’t want to even think about trying to enjoy my remaining time here.  I was ready to leave.  But now that I’ve finished school (minus a few irrelevant exams, one of which I totally ditched this morning), I’m realizing that I have a lot more to miss than I had initially thought.

First of all, I have a best friend that I’ll miss terribly.  We talk every day and I can’t imagine leaving her at Chase next year.  I’m positive that I’ll make plenty of good friends next year at Northwestern and I’m already planning a trip with my future roommate, whom I officially adore beyond belief.  But my point is that I don’t want to lose touch with the friends like these that I have now. 

And now, I’ve got a boy that I really care about.  Yesterday, he took me on a hike that lead to this beautiful waterfall.  I’m fairly certain that I’ve never seen anything that incredible before.  I didn’t even know how to react.  At first, we jumped off a low ledge, but then, he led me to the top and leaped.  I hesitated for a second, closed my eyes, reflected on ALL of the awful experiences I’ve had since my last relationship two years ago (between an eating disorder, immersing myself in weight-loss, broken friendships, and just all of the unhappiness that I’ve brought upon myself), and jumped. It was the best few seconds in the air.  I’m so glad that we ended up going. Afterward, we got lunch in town, watched a documentary about street artists, and then ended up having the perfect night together.  I can’t even believe it happened.

But just talking about all of my plans this summer gets me way too excited.  My bucket list is slowly dwindling down and I love it.  I crossed off two things yesterday, actually.  And next will be my tattoo on Saturday, followed by “graduate high school” next Friday.  But I just don’t want to think about the end of summer.  I can’t. I want to focus on taking it day-by-day and enjoying my last few months with people that I truly care about and want to spend time with.  I can’t think of a better best friend or boyfriend to spend time with, and I adore them both and can’t imagine what August/September will bring.  I’m just ready to have the time of my life.  I’m quitting one of my jobs next week, and surprisingly, my dad is completely okay with it.  He’s right - this is the last chance I’ll get to be a carefree teenager. And I’m going to do whatever it takes to make this the most memorable time of my life. 

Hell, it already is.

Tomorrow, Chris and I are going to a local ravine near Salisbury that’s apparently really beautiful.  There’s a giant waterfall (actually, two) and we’re going to cliff-jump from the top into the pool below.  And then the plan is to go back to his dorm and watch a documentary about an anonymous artist in NYC who goes to the MOMA regularly and places pieces of his artwork there, along with traveling the world and painting controversial and incredible wall murals.  He told me about this guy last week during our day-after-prom breakfast together and it was just really nice being able to have a conversation about stuff like that.  I can’t remember the last time I was able to randomly talk about art with someone for hours on end.  I’ve been looking forward to this day all week and I’m praying that the weather holds up since apparently, there are supposed to be thunder storms all day tomorrow. But it doesn’t even matter; I honestly just want to go to bed now so I can wake up sooner, but I have to go out again tonight and I won’t be able to sleep anyways, so there’s no point at all.

My workout was insanely difficult to get through today.  My asthma has come back and it was so strenuous to lift what I used to.  My body has become weaker in so many ways.  But I guess things can only go up from here.  I feel a lot better after eating only health food today and I can feel my energy level returning.  I don’t feel like sleeping the day away anymore, and I’m really glad that I pushed myself through two hours of hell.  This is just the first day of a long, long summer.