big girl decisions

This past Wednesday, I awoke with the thought that I should have been preparing to board a plane to Hawaii. You see my childhood best friend April, who I don't see nearly enough and love spending time with, had a work conference there and had invited me to come along. We would stay at the Hilton Hawaiian Village, and I would read by the pool while she was in her meetings. I was so excited about the promise of a Hawaiian vacation, and the only thing that was standing between me and paradise was a mere $600 plane ticket. But then reality set in...April would spend most of her days and nights working, and the travel time to Hawaii is quite extensive. Not to mention that I would have to take three days off of work during the first full week of classes. And there was the small notion of the cost of the plane ticket.

Over the past months, I have needed to purchase a new sofa and love seat, a new set of mattresses, and today, a new vacuum cleaner. I really love the new furniture, which I picked out

the new sofa and love seat

by myself, and am thrilled to no longer have the back pain that I think was associated with sleeping on mattresses that had been in my grandmother's guest room for probably 30 years before I inherited them. But those purchases have left my bank account less than plush, which, with the other contributing factors, led me to decide that the Hawaiian vacation was probably not the best decision. Aloha, white sand and blue lagoons.

As much as I would have loved time in Hawaii though, there were plenty of blessings this week in Columbia.

• A surprise visit Wednesday night from my dear friend Jill, who lives in Winston-Salem with her husband, an internal medicine resident. Jill understands the effect of residency on relationships better than anyone else, and it is always beneficial to just be able to vent for undisclosed periods of time about the horrendous schedule and lack of sleep that sometimes makes residents not so pleasant honestly chat with her about our guys.
• Lovely time at the pool with Rebecca, Terra and Leslie and the cutest almost 6 m.o. baby girl I know. Holding that sweet baby was a huge highlight of the weekend!
• Mom and Dad's Sunday visit to Columbia. We enjoyed Five Guys, and they helped me pick up the aforementioned vacuum cleaner. Dad even put it together for me and explained all of it's features. I couldn't ask for better parents!

I'm a little less tan than I would have been but perfectly content and a bit better off financially. Here's to growing up!