Dear friends,

If you can believe it, it’s been a full two weeks since the day I was forced to take a final exam and leave my incredible English home all in the same day. If you think this is rude, you’re not alone—all 170 students of Harlaxton Spring 2018 feel the same. A lot of good things have happened since the coach bus hit me where it hurt by taking a second farewell lap around the front circle, though, and I am excited to sum it all up for you.

The last day at Harlaxton was a whirlwind. It honestly felt like a few days in one. One day within this actual day was spent taking the British Studies final. This was a test I actually felt pretty okay about, believe it or not, but I still could have thrown up at breakfast just from thinking about it. I don’t remember the meal we had that morning, but I do remember that I actually got up to eat it for probably only the third time all semester.

The exam went as expected, and I used most of the allowed time to write essays I felt mostly confident about. Afterwards we began day two within the actual day. I ate lunch and said goodbye to some friends who were leaving early. I finished packing and said goodbye to more friends who were leaving. I explored some hidden places one last time with my harLAXbros, and then I had to say goodbye some more.

Allie and I decided to play the Hamilton soundtrack at the exact same time, so we were able to jam together the entire way to London. I really value friendships that place a lot of emphasis on Hamilton. Unfortunately, we made it to London in record time and only made it 2/3 of the way through the soundtrack before having to hop out and get our lives together.

We had originally planned to run around London all night and wait for security to open up the next morning. It was all planned out—we would try to check our bags but inevitably have to pay to store them. Then we would go eat Nando’s one last time and meet the cast of Hamilton West End after the show ended. None of this happened. We discovered the tube does not run between midnight and 5 am on Wednesday nights. We were a little nervous because it was April 18th and we really didn’t want to have to find things to do until 5 am, so we decided to save some money and some stress and camp out in Heathrow. Cue day three within the actual day. I ended up staying awake all night so I could sleep on the plane the next morning and defeat jet lag ASAP. I got breakfast with Allie and we said our goodbyes, hugs and all, and I hopped on my plane to Chicago. I just seriously fast-forwarded through the 12 hours I spent in the airport, but really it went by pretty quickly so you didn’t miss much more than me watching The Danish Girl on Netflix and an American girl talking way too loudly on FaceTime.

When I landed in Chicago after my glorious flight filled with empty rows, sleep, and Moana, the first thing I heard was a British accent. Nice. I saw an American flag and nearly wept. Now I’m not typically one of your America frick yeah eagles flying kinda gals, but I sincerely began to miss the good ol’ Stars and Stripes by the end of my four months out of my homeland for the first time ever. I stood in the customs line, I told them I hadn’t touched any British farm animals lately (or had I?), and I got my passport stamped for the last time on my great European adventure. I saw and hugged my mom, and then we were off to get my great American cheeseburger.

The drive was filled with the new country music I’d missed while I was away. When I got home I was surprised by my bestie-friend and future roomie Emily. I screamed and tried to jump out of my mom’s car while it was still in drive, so needless to say I was not excited to see her at all. She spent the night and I showed her some of my hometown, then she headed home and I got to hang out with my grandma, mom, and dad for a few days.

The next few days I started to get super lonely and sad, and I couldn’t wait to get to Bowling Green to see my friends. But boy oh boy, I was not ready for Bowling Green. I got to WKU and reunited with my girl Aleah, then I was endearingly honked at by my friend Aiyana. I was able to hug my friend Lauren, and I made a new friend named Crosby. Aleah and I went to Azzip where I recreated the Big Red signature pizza from memory. Then I went to surprise my bible study.

I will forever love the story of surprising my bible study. First of all, I turned off my location on Find My Friends 5 days before the actual surprise so they wouldn’t be suspicious when they suddenly couldn’t track me anymore. Then when my leader Sarah texted me asking if they’d get to see me soon, I said, “So soon! I had an appointment in Jasper today, but I promise it’ll be soon!” Little did she know the appointment was a 30-minute haircut at 11:30 am and I was parked down the street when she texted me. I then got out of my car and walked down the street to the ChicaCrib where I was greeted with happy gasps and screams. We had a great time and three of us shared our testimonies, and then I went and had a sleepover with Aleah.

The next day was rough, but in an overwhelmingly great way. I woke up at 9am and went to bed at 3am and only had 30 minutes to myself when I sat in my car to avoid the entire human population for a second. Don’t get me wrong, I am so grateful to be so loved, but I am an introvert and I was so exhausted from all the human interaction by 3pm. I managed to stay up late to watch Amy Schumer’s new movie I Feel Pretty, and I really liked it. If you don’t think Amy Schumer is funny, you probably won’t like it. I think Amy Schumer is hilarious. So, like I said, I liked it. Go see it.

Thursday was one of those days where I slept until 11 and then only opted to hang out with people who don’t stress me out. I got lunch with my friend Dom, I ate a milkshake with my friend Emily (not the same one as before), then I got ready for Cru with my bible study. Cru shook me to my core from all the reuniting and talking to all the perfect senior talks and worship songs. I love Cru. I love Cru. I love Cru.

I spent most of Friday and Saturday in Louisville with friends, supporting Destiny in her half marathon and celebrating Taylor’s birthday. We were upgraded to an apartment for free in the Galt House, and we were not mad at all. I decided strawberry cheesecake is better from Walmart than from Cheesecake Factory. I ordered chicken tenders as an adult. Then I went home.

When I got home, I caught up on Grey’s Anatomy. Honestly I’m really sad about this, because I love the act of catching up on Grey’s Anatomy and I hate not having any new episodes to watch. In any event, I’m caught up now so catch me on that #TGIT #ABCbutnotfreeform #Shondaland #MeredithGreyIsLife grind. I started listening to a podcast for the first time in my life, and honestly I don’t know what I’ve been doing without podcasts all this time. If you’re bored, or probably even if you’re not, go do yourself a huge favor and find a fun podcast to listen to.

Now I’m back in Bowling Green for a hot second and I’m really excited about it. I love my people, April is back in America, and my bible study leader marries the love of her life Saturday. Maybe one day I’ll reach my goal of marrying the love of my life at 28, but until then I’m 21 bringing you my favorite life adventures in word form.

As something new and fun that you’re probably not actually interested in, I’m going to give you a super basic summary of what I’m up to in the media world at the end of every blog post, just to keep you updated and educated.

What I’m listening to: Probably still Hamilton. Can’t stop listening to Kiss Somebody by Morgan Evans. Obsessed with Molly McAleer’s podcast Plz Advise.

What I’m watching: Grey’s Anatomy. Who is down to fight about April and Arizona leaving the show? Also I know it’s terrible, but my guilty pleasure is Famous In Love. Please judge me. Then please watch the show so we can talk about how awful it is but still watch it together.

What I’m reading: Honestly nothing, but I’m still trying to get into a book I bought in London Stansted Airport called Whatever Happened to Margo? Allie really thinks we’ll never find out, but I promise one day I’ll let you all know whatever did happen to Margo.

Cool apps to try: HUJI. You’ve probably all tried this already, but I found out about it when I got back from Europe. It’s a cool camera app that takes photos and develops them as they would look on an old camera. I think it’s awesome, and I’m trying to take one picture a day just because I think it’s, you know, awesome.

Thank you all for reading the first American edition of notmariah of 2018! I’ll see you next Wednesday.