Birmingham to Nashville to Virginia Beach

The last few days have been a whirlwind. From graduating from undergrad, to packing up a house I've lived in for the past year, to visiting home for only one day, to riding hours in a car with my parents toward the East. I write today from Virginia Beach with anticipation, fear & excitement, and a full heart. Why? You'll never know. (Kidding) 

Anticipation

For some reason, my folks and I thought it would be fun to spend a day in VA before heading off for the summer. We drove up yesterday, spent today on the beach, an tomorrow they'll drop me off for leader orientation. Yes, we've had plenty of fun (see picture of parentals bein' cute),

but the whole trip has been overshadowed by this sense of anticipation - all I can think about is Friday at 2 when we start leader orientation, or Monday morning when our team is together for the first time, or Wednesday morning when we dip our tires and head west. 

Sometimes at Christmas, my family will go to Midnight Mass, but, as most Catholics know, this isn't something that starts at Midnight. You show up at 10:30, or even earlier, to claim your pew, enjoy some music, look at the decorations, and mostly just wait. The hour and a half anticipating Christmas feels like decades. And now, this trip feels like the hour and a half before Christmas. Just waiting. Anticipating. 

Fear & Excitement

Just a few days ago, I graduated from college, and packed all my belongings (including my bike) into and onto my tiny Ford Escape. Somewhere in the process I messed up my back derailleur.  When I got home and noticed an issue, I tried to fix a nonexistent problem with the front derailleur. I even sent a co-leader a picture of it asking how to fix it.

 Eventually I had done more harm than good and had to take it in to a local bike shop so that they could explain to me all that I was doing wrong. It dawned on me that I know about 5% of what I should know before this trip.  I haven't really been scared about this trip in any way until now, and it's a silly fear that I won't know the solution to every problem I'm presented with. Luckily, I'm partnered with 3 awesome co-leaders who have strengths that I don't, and then we'll be joined by 28ish teammates who also have more knowledge to offer. It's a silly thing to be afraid of. It's a matter of pride. And I'm sure it will disappear in these next few days.

Clear Eyes, Full Heart, Can't Lose

This time last week, I was afraid that this whole fundraising thing was going to hold me back. I wrote all te letters, held all the events, and made some direct contact with a bunch of folks, but I was still short a few hundred dollars. Finally, I went to my last resort of social media and e-mail begging, and as of this afternoon, I'm fully funded. I didn't know what I was going to do if I didn't make the final goal, but I am so grateful for the opportunity to see this final outpouring of support from professors, family members, and friends.  

I cannot thank each of you enough. 

I hope to update this frequently, at least to let you know we made it somewhere. Our first ride is less than a week away!