Bittersweet Symphony

One week.

7 days.

I have 168 hours left as a student living in London. It is too wierd and unreal to think or believe that I will be home so soon. This past year has been such a fun and crazy ride. I never thought I would become as attached to London as I have over the last several months, but to be honest, I am really going to miss this place. There is always so much happening in London. Every week brings something new to see, some place new and interesting to go; while at the same time there are places you can return to and count on for being consistently amazing or serene. I am not sure when it happened, between the tears as I forced myself on the plane back to the UK last Christmas, the new friends I made at LSE and St. Mary's Church, the tiring and stressful school work, and a brilliant summer doing random things, London has become a home for me.

Going back to Spokane is going to be like losing a limb, losing a little part of me. However, going home - Spokane will always, always be home - will also mean getting a little piece of me back. I have very much missed the people, the trees, the mountains, the sunny weather...and generally all things American while I have been here. It will be nice to be surrounded by comforts once again.

Boarding the plane will be a bittersweet step to take indeed.

At the risk of sounding cheesy, I have been thinking a lot about this past year and lessons I have learned from the mistakes I have made and hardships I have gone through - and I know there will be people reading this thinking, "hardships, what hardships? She is living in London - lucky girl!" Yes, I realize I am lucky, and yes I am living in a fabulous city, but yes, there have also been many, many difficult things I have had to get through - Anyway, back to lessons learned.

If there is one thing that living in London has taught me, it is how to deal with the rain. Whether you hate it, love it or simply accept it there is nothing that will stop it from coming down. All one can do is put up their umbrella and know that the sun will soon shine again. A little rain should never make someone forget the sun. And, because of the rain, the sun will feel all the more brighter and warmer when it does shine.
(insert analogy for 'living life daily' here. Rain = hard times; Sun = good times; Umbrella = God, family, friends, etc)

For those in Spokane - I will see you on the flip side soon.