so long, sweet summer...

Here we are, at the end of the summertime posts and updates - six weeks really did fly by! So many great memories of my last summer before med school with so many wonderful people. It is impossible to fit it all in to one little blog, but I'll leave you with a few final highlights...

1. Roommate reunion in good old Athens, Georgia! Three of us from my old college apartment got together for a short but oh so sweet 24-ish hour reunion. I had a few things on my Athens bucket list to knock off, and it was so much fun being with some of my favorite girls.

trip to Terrapin...

lunch with the bride-to-be at Last Resort... [Natasha is getting' hitched to Sam next May! Can't wait to be part of her special day.]

stocked up on Georgia gear at the bookstore...

...and finally walked under the Arch!

2. Last Saturday my parents and I made a trip up to Dahlonega to visit Hilary at Glisson for Family Day. It was SO great to see her and spend some time all together before my big move! Plus Hil and I had some great sister time that night (Wal-Mart, Chick-Fil-A and downtown Dahlonega make for a great evening.) So proud of all her amazing work this summer!

sisters :-)

family fun on the ropes course

3. Last but certainly not least, I finally SAW HARRY POTTER!! I couldn't go the night it came out, and I was dying to make it to the movies all week! Wendy and I made a day of it in Atlanta, and Harry (of course) did not disappoint.

Besides all of these fun adventures (and many more that I am probably forgetting), I was frantically preparing for my move to Virginia. Mattress shopping. Bedspread shopping (don't even get me started on that one...) More-professional-wardrobe shopping. Oh-yeah-I-forgot-I-need-that shopping. Packing. Organizing. More packing.

But the good news is...

I have arrived!

Say hello to Charlottesville's newest resident.

Updates on the move, new apartment and new city next time.

Lots of love, Lauren

Beach Trip x3

Since coming home from DC, I have been lucky enough to visit not one... not two... but three different beaches. Plus some of my favorite people were in each place, which means I have had quite a few awesome beach days.

First stop: St. Simons Island!! My home away from home after working on SSI at Epworth by the Sea for the past four summers (read all about why I love it so much here). I got to stay with my dear sweet friend Mary - one of my closest friends that I only get to see a few times each year. So when we are together, we make it count!

[me and Mare at Jack and Teresa's wedding last December]

We kicked off our week together with an awesome night out with Teresa, another wonderful friend I hardly ever get to see! The three of us ate a delicious, fancy dinner at Bonefish, walked around the village, made a visit to the infamous Rafters :-) and even got an invite to a huge outdoor wedding rehearsal party from the bride. Yeah. Incredible night.

why yes, those are wedding favors we are holding... and a glowstick...

The next day we slept in, had a Sweet Mama's breakfast and a lazy beach day followed by a trip to TCBY (wouldn't be a complete weekend for the three of us without it!). Sweet T had to hit the road :-( but Mary and I still enjoyed another night out and about on SSI. Later that week we got to have dinner with the Ricker crew (my old camp boss and his fam). So much fun to catch up, see their new house and see how those cute kiddos are growing up way too fast! The rest of the week was just the summertime relaxation I was looking for - sleeping in, trips to the beach, afternoons at the pool and time with Mary and the rest of the Epworth team. So, so good.

Next stop: Savannah beach weekend with my UGA girls! Don't know how I got so lucky to have all these amazing friends. Even though this trip was only a few days long, we had lots of quality time together and in the sun.

the crew on day one

from DC to Tybee Island!

Our second day, we spent twelve hours at the beach. For real. 1-2 hours. Half a day. Impressive, no? The day began with watching the sunrise...

beautiful. even though it was painfully early.

After a leisurely four mile walk down the beach to a fun breakfast place in town, we returned to our prime spot and promptly took a nap. Ah, it was glorious. One of my favorite places (the beach), some of my favorite people, a good book and good sleep. Bliss.

Last stop: Pensacola! My parents and I headed south for a long weekend with my aunt and uncle on the P-cola beach. Perfect vacation with pool time, walks on the beach, a tour in the sailboat and great time spent together. A beautiful beach with my awesome family? Yes please.

More summertime updates coming your way soon...

Lots of love, Lauren

Welcome to Atlanta

As promised, the whirlwind summertime updates continue...

A good portion of my 6 week summer extravaganza has been spent at home in Atlanta. The festivities started the first day I was home with a family trip to see the Texas Rangers play the Atlanta Braves. We even suited up in Rangers jerseys for the occasion!

Despite a 2+ hour rain delay (before the game went into extra innings) we had a great time!

The next day was Father's Day...

...and mom's birthday!!

Had a delicious dinner reunion with Gillian and Sydney, two of my college sorority sisters...

yumm. SO great to catch up with them!!

On the 4th of July, the 'rents and I left home at 5:45 in the morning (yeah. I know.) to get into Atlanta for the Peachtree Road Race! 6.2 miles along Peachtree Road through downtown Atlanta in the July heat with 59,997 of our closest friends. It was awesome. Due to a cold/sprained ankle I wasn't able to run like I originally wanted to (booo) but we still finished the race and got the all-important t-shirt to prove it!

[picture at the start line, when we were still clean and dry.]

Last but not least, I had an awesome reunion with my high school girlfriends! We graduated and went our separate ways to five different colleges five years ago - one of us is married - one of us lives in Australia - two of us are in grad school - but we were still able to get together this year and catch up. We're just that cool. Plus, most of us got to "shoot the hooch" one weekend (aka float down the Chattahoochee river) - tons of fun, and now I feel like a true Atlanta native.

recreating last year's picture...

so fun to have this group of girls stay so close!

In between all of this fun at home, I've been doing many, many get-ready-for-med-school things, like: mattress shopping. cleaning out my closest/desk/room at home. unpacking. repacking. buying a new laptop (yay!!). getting a new email account. filling out student health forms. requesting transcripts. and all that jazz.

Summer is flying by - hard to believe that I leave for Virginia in ONE WEEK!! So, so excited.

Next up: Beach trip x 3.

Lots of love, Lauren.

I'm glad we were here together

Time for massive, long-overdue updates (split into multiple posts, for your reading pleasure. thank me later.)

Let's begin with the high points of my final two weeks in DC, after that crazy weekend of no sleep oh so long ago.

Highlight #1: MUMFORD AND SONS!!
Went with a few other Fellows and friends to see Mumford and Sons perform at Merriweather Post Pavilion. Took us 3 hours to travel 30 miles on our way there... got caught in a torrential downpour... and it was all worth it. Standing on the lawn, eating our picnic dinner and listening to some of our favorite songs made it feel like summer had officially arrived!!

[side note: if you don't know Mumford and Sons, you probably should. Watch this or this for a small taste.]

Highlight #2: Family Reunion Weekend
Picked up my Mom in Baltimore one Friday and we took a mini road trip to her extended (and I do mean extended) family's annual reunion! First stop was near Philadelphia for a night's stay with my aunt and cousin, followed by yet another mini road trip the next day to Long Island. I haven't been able to make it to the reunion over the past few summers, so it was lots of fun to see all of the family I've been missing lately. One fun fact (of many) learned at the reunion: my great-great-aunt was actually at the Gettysburg Address. So legit. Mom and I stopped in the Inner Harbor of Baltimore on our way back to the airport for some genuine crab cakes, and they did not disappoint!

Surprise! UVa School of Medicine shirt from my awesome cousin Katie.

Beautiful lunchtime view in Baltimore.

Highlight #3: Final shifts in the ER

Now, this is sort of misleading. I was actually pretty bummed to be leaving my job in the ER. I had a fantastic time working there over the past nine months, and made some great friends along the way. But, all good things must come to an end (especially when I was in need of a pre-med school summer break!). So, I gradually said all my goodbyes and thank yous over my last few shifts. It was a bittersweet ending to an incredible learning experience. So long, scribbling!

Highlight #4: Quality time with friends

One of the best parts of my year in DC was the amazing friends I made along the way; so, of course my last few days in the District were spent seeing those friends. Whether it was a Mexican group dinner (with a fake happy birthday sung to David), happy hour, lunch date or movie night, I did my best to see everyone that I could. Dropped by the church office. Had one of the best meals of my life (seriously) at The Capital Grille with my awesome host family. One last fro-yo trip with my amazing mentor. Another delicious "last-time-in-DC" dinner with Wendy. (Basically, the theme of "good friends, good food, good times" continued.) Saying goodbye to all of the people I had come to love over my Fellows year made me realize what a community I was blessed with in DC. I am so grateful to all of the people who made my time there possible and made it fun - and I will miss them more than I can say.

Highlight #5: Monuments at night

I was determined to make it into the city at night to see the monuments - my final DC bucket list item to be crossed off. It was the perfect way to spend my last night in the District.

Since I was driving back the next day, I had to show some love for the peach state...

...but don't worry, Virginia. I'll be back soon!

So, after many, many highlights and many goodbyes, I finally loaded up my car and drove back to dear old Georgia to begin my summer vacation. It is hard to believe I moved to DC only nine months ago without knowing anyone - I learned so much more than I can explain during my short time there. It really did come to feel like home. And in the end, I couldn't sum it up any better than Forrest Gump...

"You know what? I'm glad we were here together in our nation's capital."

Lauren

Vacation

I haven't updated in forever.

I apologize.

The quick version:

1. I'm back in Georgia.

2. I'm soaking up every second of summer vacation that I can.

Love from a relaxed and sunburned Lauren.

You can sleep when you're dead

This past weekend = craziness. Seriously. Complete and total insanity.

Thursday night was the Fellows last night at the beach and our last time all together as a Fellows class (I'm still in denial, so this doesn't make me sad yet). We, of course, celebrated with lots of funny, cheesy beach pictures, which I have to share because they are just too great...

We look like we belong in a frame...

Don't we make a cute family?

This picture/these people just make me laugh.

The ladies (aka Fellowettes)

The gents.

The youth group Fellows (looove this crew. we had a lot of fun this year.)

Friday we woke up bright and early to road trip home (insert 4 hours of sleep here). One Chick-Fil-A lunch pit stop and lots of car dancing later, we were back in Nova. Friday night was our Fellows Year-End Banquet. My parents drove all the way up from Atlanta to be there, and it was such a great way to end our Fellows year. We had our families, host families, mentors, church staff - everyone involved with the program this year - there with us to celebrate the past nine months. It was amazing to see the "village" it really does take to make Fellows happen, and to see everyone who has supported me through this experience in the same room. We, of course, sang "I'll Fly Away" to close out the year, and just like that, I was done with my time as a Capital Fellow.

I didn't have a lot of time to think about it, though, because life kept going full speed ahead. After a few celebrations Friday night (insert 3 hours of sleep here), it was time to start packing up my room in Great Falls. My parents loaded most of my stuff Saturday morning, and after a lunch with my host parents that afternoon they were off again to Atlanta! (They are rockstars and made it all the way back on Saturday. woah.)

Saturday night I got to have a mini UGA-in-DC reunion while Cleveland was in town! Four of us had a yummy homemade fajita meal before heading out for the evening.

Sunday morning (insert 3 hours of sleep here) was my last Sunday at McLean Pres. The youth group Fellows helped coordinate our last monthly breakfast for the youth and had the chance to say a thank-you to the students. It was a great way to wrap up our year of ministry!

Add in brunch with Cleveland and Wendy, fro-yo with Caryne and a movie night, and you have one busy, wonderful weekend. With only 10 hours of sleep to get me through the whole thing. Impressive, no?

Love from a very sleepy, very happy Lauren.

To you nine...

[This is part of the thank you I gave to the Fellows at our end of year banquet last night. I have no better way to sum up what the year and these people have meant to me.]

The biggest lessons of my Fellows year came from that which was not planned, scheduled or scripted. I have learned from conversations and jokes shared around the dinner table. I have learned from the prayer requests shared, prayed over, and answered. I’ve learned from the prayer requests that were not answered, or at least not in the way we expected. I’ve learned from discussions of the books everyone was currently reading, or the music everyone was listening to (which in our group, was an incredibly diverse and passionate list). I’ve learned the most from my fellow Fellows. So, while a thank you to our leaders, teachers and volunteers is absolutely warranted and much-deserved, I have to offer the greatest thanks to you nine who have challenged me, encouraged me, pushed me, prayed for me, cried with me, celebrated with me, and walked alongside me these past nine months. Thank you for the memories, the hugs, the words of affirmation and, of course, the quote board. Thank you for showing me the body of Christ. My experience would not be the same without your friendship and faithful presence throughout this Fellows program.. You all made my Fellows experience what it is. I love you all – thank you for everything!

Lauren