"I'd Rather Be in the Hunger Games Than Play Kickball": End of Summer/Beginning of School Thoughts

Okay, so I'll explain that quote in a minute.  But first, summer is coming to an end.  My first (and most likely last) summer in Bloomington is over.  My first summer school experience is finished!  Can I get an Amen?  And by the way -- I totally rocked it -- straight A+s.  Like kindergarten, but way more stressful.  I got the best tan of my life without really trying.  I grew my hair out and my mom called me a hippie...my life is now complete.

I got to spend two glorious weeks at home with my family in Illinois.  I was completely swept up by Olympic fever.  And I formally apologize to all my Facebook friends for my seemingly hourly updates on the U.S. Women's Soccer Team.  Okay, I'm not that sorry.  I spent a weekend back in my old Monmouth stomping grounds with old friends while making some new ones too.  Another weekend was spent in Chicago -- taking in the city that I am growing to love and enjoying the history and atmosphere of the Friendly Confines.  The Cubs lost (of course), but I absolutely love spending an afternoon at Wrigley. 

I don't think our seats could get any higher, but at least we were in the shade and had a nice breeze!

 Then, last weekend we were off to Cincinnati for the Western and Southern Open.  I won't lie to you, I'm not a huge tennis fan.  I watch Wimbledon (mainly as an excuse to eat strawberries and cream), I'll go out to the courts to play a few sets if I can find someone to go with me, and I am a pro at Wii tennis, but that's about it.  I was a little nervous to spend an entire day watching the semi-finals.  I mean matches can go for hours!  But it was awesome!  We got to see some of the players at the practice courts that morning.  Novak Djokovic was literally less than 10 feet away from me...and Roger Federer too!  And then we got to see two great semi-final matches.  Not to mention I had my first Skyline Chili experience.

Center Court baby!

Now it's back to work in the Archives and I've been in class for a week.  It's my last fall semester ever! It's been great to meet up with my friends again and catch up after our summer "breaks."  And that means going back to our crazy conversations about how our professor was 30 minutes late to our first class and arrived wearing swim trunks.  Or where I end up saying things like "I would rather be in the Hunger Games than play kickball."  I think I'll stand by that quote. 

It looks like it's going to be a great semester!