Back in the swing of things

Wanna know what is, in my opinion, one of the worst feelings in the world?

Here it is: Having to fall back into your old, mundane, boring routine after a long break from reality. Especially when that break was as fabulously wonderful as mine was.

(Not that I typically regard my everyday life as "mundane" or "boring." It just seems that way after so many days off.)

I got to spent this year's Spring Break with one of my best friends, Kyle. We met here at USI in the fall of our freshman year and it didn't take long for the two of us to become inseparable. After being together literally 24/7 (minus the times we were in the classes we DIDN'T have together), I was crushed when Kyle made the decision to move back home for sophomore year. He loved USI and was sad about leaving, but he also knew that the nursing program at Ivy Tech back home suited him much better than the one here at USI. And he was really starting to miss home. So this past August I started back at USI, without my best friend. Not fun.

Although the four months following the end of freshman year were spent apart, Kyle and I continued to talk every day. When he came to visit one weekend in September, we were able to pick up right where we left off. He visited again in November. Both visits were fantastic, and I'm grateful that we got to spend that time together even while living two hours apart.

A few months ago, Kyle had this great idea: a visit during Spring Break! It seemed like a great idea, of course, but I wasn't so sure it would happen... Would my family be okay with me forfeiting a whole week at home to stay in Evansville? Well, they weren't SUPER pleased about it, but everything worked out. While nearly everyone else on campus cleared out for the week, Kyle and I stayed at my apartment and had a relaxing, fun, jam-packed week of catching up.

It would take entirely too long to give you all a play-by-play of the 8 days that Kyle was here, given how much we did and my tendency to ramble on and on and on... so here's a quick, bulleted recap of my Spring Break-

• Movies. We watched so many movies this past week and a half. Two in theaters (Red Riding Hood and I Am Number Four), five or six from Redbox, and tons of random ones on HBO and USI's movie channel. I'm not going to attempt to list them all for two reasons: First off, I can't remember them all. And second, if you knew how many movies we watched, you'd probably assume that we did nothing but sit on our butts in front of a TV screen for 8 days straight. Which is so not the case.

Most of the movies we rented from Redbox were scary ones, including Paranormal Activity 2. Before watching the first movie, Kyle and I decided to "safety proof" the apartment to keep all of the scary stuff out. This involved moving some furniture... For example, standing our dining room table in front of Amy and Amber's bedroom door, pushing the coffee table up against it, and placing two dining room chairs on top of that. It stayed that way for most of the week. Needless to say, I felt pretty dang safe.

• Friends. Although most everyone went home or on an actual vacation for Spring Break, a few of our friends were in and out of Evansville during the week. We got to hang out with Hannah and Ryan a few time, as well as our friend Yo and some of the guys from the apartment. Amy even came to stay with us Thursday night!

Amy's ready for the sleepover! Fun night :)

• Zoo. Mesker Park Zoo & Botanic Gardens is located right down the road from campus, only about 15 minutes away, and it costs $8 to get in. So why hadn't I been there before this past week? I have no idea. It's definitely not the Indianapolis Zoo that I know and love, but we were really impressed with Mesker! Kyle and I spent a few hours there one afternoon and had a blast. I took so many pictures that I'm considering devoting a whole blog post to my zoo photography. Look for that within the next couple of days!

• Tennis. Even though I suck at it, I absolutely adore playing tennis. Kyle does too, although I have to give him credit- he's way better than I am! (I played on my high school's team for two years and have absolutely nothing to show for it, aside from a love for the sport.) One night during break, a little before midnight, we were playing Wii Tennis with Hannah and Ryan when Hannah had this brilliant idea: "Let's go play at the USI courts!" It was dark, freezing, and sleeting outside. So, of course, we thought it was a great idea. I made a fool out of myself, as always, but sending the balls flying three courts down and having to run after them every 2 minutes made for a great workout.

• Cooking. I am absolutely worthless in the kitchen, so I don't know why Kyle thought it would be a good idea to try and cook a big ol' dinner one night, but I'm glad he did! Even though Kyle did most of the work, I had a lot of fun watching and helping every now and then... but mostly watching. We fixed rosemary chicken, garlic mashed potatoes, peas, and bread for dinner one night and it was delicious.

• Shopping. There is no such thing as a Kyle visit without going to the mall a few times. We spent an entire Saturday at Eastland Mall, spending way too much money, but having fun nonetheless. We even ran into Kyle's family in American Eagle! They had made a surprise day trip to Evansville so I got to meet his parents, sister, and sister's boyfriend, all for the first time. We ran into them a few different times while shopping, and then all of us got together for dinner at Outback Steakhouse that night. His family is great, and even though we'd never met before, his mom greeted me with a huge hug so I felt accepted and "liked" right away.

Some of the new purchases, courtesy of Old Navy, Charlotte Russe, and AE

• Apartment hunting. Not for me- for Kyle. Wanna know why? Because a certain somebody is transferring back to USI this fall! And that certain somebody is also moving down to Evansville not in August, but in May. That's less than two months away! This is the best news ever and something I've known about for a couple of months; I was just too afraid to talk about it much for fear of jinxing things. But by now, it looks as if things are set in stone pretty solidly, so I feel confident in announcing that my best friend will be back in my life on a more permanent basis within a matter of months. We spent all morning and afternoon one Monday looking at nearly every apartment complex within a 15-minute radius of campus, ending our outing with lunch at Fazoli's. It was fun getting to look around at all the different townhouses and apartments that are available, but more importantly, Kyle was able to find a great apartment that he really, really loves.

Random "memorabilia" from Spring Break

All in all, I had a pretty fantastic break. It's been somewhat difficult adjusting to the whole class/work/tutoring thing after a glorious eight days off, but I'm trying to distract myself by willing the next eight weeks to go by faster than humanly possible. With Spring Break out of the way, summer is right around the corner, and I am stoked for everything Summer 2011 has in store!