Finishing my third full day of laying in bed, can you tell?
On Thursday, November 20th, a wonderful bundle of joy came into my life and blessed me more than I knew possible. Parotitis, also known as the mumps decided to join my life and make all of my loved ones afraid to interact with me so here I am in the dark on my computer which I'm sure looks just as creepy as it sounds. I drove home at 6:30 am thirsty for some loving from my mom like any college kid desires while under the weather, but instead was sent away. Sent away lovingly though, I will add. Basically I feel like the kid no one wants to hang out with because they have bad BO or dandruff or something so I figured instead of going on episode 22 of One Tree Hill I would write a post. Let this be a PSA though, get your dang mumps booster.
Let's talk about Friendsgiving, baby. Okay sorry gotta take a second here to be really proud of myself because I made a whole, real dang turkey all by myself. I screamed, I hyperventilated, I stuck my hand literally inside of it and felt like I pulled out a little bit of my soul with it, but I did it. I also made gravy, green beans, rolls, and stuffing, all with the help of my friends! We left the mashed potatoes to my friend Mary and the pumpkin bars to Joe, both of them killed it with family recipes! Actually, come to think of it, I am pretty sure we left the pumpkin bars in the fridge and they'll be there the rest of the break. Oh well, more when we get home! (I swear I'm kidding) If you haven't seen the picture on Facebook, here's all of us. We couldn't wait long enough to eat to actually take pictures of the food because we were so hungry. Also, there might have been wine involved to influence that decision...
I'm not quite in the mood yet to make my post about what I'm thankful for because, honestly, my miserable mumps are oozing all over my personality lately. Instead, here's something I've been thinking about recently:
On Friday night I volunteered at an Assisted Living Home in Iowa City. I won't pretend to be a saint and say things like I was driven and unbelievably excited for my volunteer hours and nothing life altering came from my time spent with the lovely elderly people in the home. But as it almost always does, my conversation left me with something that hasn't been able to leave my mind. Sure, after the third time of repeating my major I was a little tired, but it was when I started really listening to what a very wonderful lady kept saying that I realized just how important it was to her. She kept asserting how much she wished she would have traveled.
I feel like almost everyone has a desire to travel, but sometimes I truly believe I have the landlocked blues. Constantly stricken with wanderlust, ideas of places to see are probably my favorite things to pin and research. I've been lucky enough to go out of country twice in my life; once in Spain and once in Ireland. Talking with this lady and hearing of her strong desire to be able to see the world hit me because I know that now is my time to do that. Now, when I'm young and able to, with nothing tying me down. And isn't that a blessing?
I mean, just look at this! The most grounded I've ever felt in my life was standing there. I think traveling has generally made me a more open and curious human. I want to know why and how countries and people do things differently, I want to see the world and Americans from the perspective of a foreign country. The past two times I've traveled, I have questioned everything in my life. It's hard to explain if you've never been but you genuinely cannot come back the same if you truly absorb your time abroad.
I have so many plans for the future and most of them involve some sort of traveling. And yes, money does not grow on trees and it is a priority in decision making but I also think it has helped me prioritize what is important in my life. Traveling has taught me that there's no price tag that goes on the feeling of dipping your toes in the ocean in Barcelona or singing drinking songs in an old Irish pub while the rain pours down. It is the most hands-on and refreshing way of learning, with lessons that truly matter (not saying education doesn't matter, go to school kids). I've learned how to flamenco, how to pour the perfect pint of Guinness, and how to navigate the heart of Madrid at night. Those are the lessons I'm going to remember, those are the ones that matter to me.
Viva España and long live all the Galway Girls, I cannot wait for my next adventure.
P.S. your next adventure should be to the doctor for your mumps shot, I heard it's great. I think I'm going crazy.
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