The More Things Change...

the more they stay the same. At least that's what the songs tell us. And funnily enough, I've found it to be true. In the past 12 months, I have seen more changes in my life and my friends' lives than I ever have before. After graduating last June, my class all went their own ways. Some of us were off to four year colleges in the fall, some to two years. Some of us went right to work, and others started looking for jobs. Still others joined some branch of the military, and a whole nother group went out and found places to live, far away from Princeton. I have made a huge new group of friends, and grown up a little bit. I have big plans for my future, ones that include France for a few months and an internship in another state (hopefully) after my junior year of college. Who knows if they will work out or not, but at least I'm planning. This week I've gotten lunch with a number of my high school friends, and it's been great catching up with them. However.... everyone's DIFFERENT now. They have their own plans for life, their own new friends, their own frustrations and joys. They're still my friends, and I'm excited for them as they each start "the rest of their lives" as they have them planned now, but it makes me a bit nostalgic for the good ole days of grade school, middle school, and high school. Yes, I know that as I continue to get older, those "good ole days" will consist of what is my current present, but for now, they're school before college.

Even as I've been noticing all of these changes, I've become more attentive to the things that haven't changed. One of my favorite memories of childhood is Thursday garage saleing in the summertime. We never had that many garage sales ourselves, but I can remember walking around the block with my mom and checking out the other ones that were going on. As I drove into town today to meet two of my friends for lunch, I saw a bunch of signs for various garage sales. Sure enough, a little ways down the road, there were yards full of people and things for sale. I haven't been out garage saleing in many years, but it's kind of fun to realize that it's not a thing of the past. I guess I'll just have to keep on keepin' on and see what kind of changes I find in the next couple of years while continuing to come back to the familiar. Love y'all!