OK, so after looking at my friend Leslie's blog I decided I needed one. Although, this is just one more website for me to check, I figure this is the best way for people to see what all is going on in my Tennessee life. Now, my facebookless friends will also be in the know. Moving on, so much is changing in my life. My mom is getting into Memphis today. Hooray! I love it when she comes to visit. Call me selfish, but I love having her all to myself. She and I are leaving Sunday to go back to Colorado. She was nice enough to come down here to help me drive back. I know you're all thinking why drive? Gas prices and the long trip don't seem worth it, right? Well, this way I can take back some stuff to keep at their house and some stuff I don't want to move again. Yes, I said the m word. I have been accepted to the University of Tennessee at Knoxville for graduate school. For those of you who have known me for awhile, you all know I have always wanted to go to UT. So, half-way through this semester (at U of M) I decided why not go there now? I have nothing in my life holding me back, so I went for it. I got the letter a lot quicker than I expected, so when I saw it in the mailbox I was pretty excited. I was even more excited when I read that first line that said: "Dear Jennifer, It is with great pleasure to inform you of your acceptance to the University of Tennessee." Poor Libby (my dog), I think she was a little scared of all my screaming and jumping up an down. So, mid to end July, I am making the move across state to "Knoxvegas." I'm also super excited because my little brother, Kyle, is coming with me. He's going to establish residency and then start undergrad there. Yes, we're going to be roomies. AND, to add to that my friend Rachel is going there for her masters, as well and so is her boyfriend. We're all so glad that we'll know people when we get there. Of course, we're mostly excited about being there for all the football games. Florida and Alabama are both home games, I absolutely CANNOT wait!
Another thing that I am super excited about is a week from tomorrow my mom and I are leaving for a 3 week trip to Europe!!! AAAAHHHH!!!! We went there before on a school music trip, but this time is going to be a lot better. We're going to London, Brussels, Amsterdam, Rhineland, Cologne, Lucerne, Innsbruck, Venice, Rome, Florence, Tuscany, Pisa, Nice ,and Paris. Oh my goodness, I absolutely can't wait. My mom and I've always wanted to do a "Grand Tour" of Europe and my daddy was so sweet to surprise us for Christmas. It was really cute. Christmas day, I didn't get up til almost 8. This is was a monumental moment in Heckman family Christmases because normally Kyle wakes us up at 6. Anyway, Kyle wasn't even up yet I actually got a shower and was dressed to open presents. This is the first time I have ever done this in 25 years. Anyway, once Kyle got up, Dad was being really weird about the presents. He said we had to do it in a certain order, and he had his in the library instead of under the big tree in the living room. We all said why couldn't we do our stockings first like we always do and he said OK. Kyle and I each had a camera memory card in our stockings. I asked him if they'd work in our cameras. He said I'd have to see and gave both of us a box. I remember thinking to myself, great, I already have a digital camera and I just gave Kyle one for graduation, not 6 months ago. I kept this though to myself. Yes, he gave us each a digital camera, but not just any digital camera. A professional Canon Eos, with the big, interchangeable lenses and "stuff." Wow, Dad really went all out. It then dawned on me why we'd need a camera. I asked him if we were going on a trip. He handed, me, Kyle and my mom wrapped shirt boxes. At this point, we are all frantically ripping them open trying to figure out what's going on. Kyle got his open first and starts screaming "I'm going to Kenya! I'm going to Kenya!" Of course, this gets me even more excited and when I open mine, I see it's a manila folder with my name on it. Inside, there's an itinerary starting June 13 with London. Of course, I start screaming and then my mom gets excited wanting to know where she's going and she sees we have the same itinerary. "In a nutshell," (as my mom says), Mom and I are going to Europe and Kyle and Dad are going on a photo safari to Kenya and Tanzania in August. The funny thing is that I kept telling my dad I wish we could just all go on a trip instead of exchanging presents. My point being, I have enough "stuff." Little did I know, he'd been planning this for over a year. My dad never ceases to amaze me. If we end up taking a laptop with us, I will try and blog on the trip so everyone can see what we're up to. If not, I'll try to make up for it when I get back.
So, it's going to be a crazy summer. I get to Colorado on Monday, we leave for London on Friday, we get back June 30, then it's the 4, then I have a concert (Journey at Red Rocks!) then my brother's birthday, then back to Tennessee to find an apartment and move. WHEW! There's never a dull moment...
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