My first roommate

My sister is graduating from ACU tomorrow! And I will be there! I am so excited for her. I know she is going to be a fabulous teacher. I don't think anyone loves children more than Hannah.

All of this has made me nostalgic for my ACU days (not that they were that long ago!) In a lot of ways the past 2 1/2 years have flown by, but it also seems like it's been a long time since I was living with Brittany, taking exams, working the free movies for CAB.

And it feels like FOREVER ago that I was graduating high school and getting ready to go to ACU. I was so excited but quite a bit nervous. I was especially anxious to find out who my roommate was. I waited and waited and finally got the card in the mail that said I would be living in Gardner Hall with Jeanine Wilson from Tahoka, TX. I nervously dialed the phone number on the card, and it had been disconnected! I was freaking out, thinking, "Oh no! I'm not going to be able to get a hold of her and she's going to think I don't want to room with her and then she's going to find a new roommate and I'm going to have to live alone." (I feel like I've mellowed some since then, at least I hope I have.)

Well, I think my mom and I, with a little Internet research, were able to find her number online (guess where my stalker tendencies come from?) I called and left a message. When she called back, I was at work and wasn't going to be home until late, so I couldn't call her until the next day. I fretted that whole time wondering if she thought I just didn't want to talk to her. (I am sometimes amazed that I have not had a heart attack due to all my worrying.) I finally was able to talk to her, and much to my relief, she seemed very nice, smart, and normal. We exchanged pictures (it's kind of like online dating, ha!), and she was really cute with short strawberry blonde hair and freckles.

The only disappointment was that she had already gotten her bedding. I really wanted us to have matching bedding, but I thought, "Well, maybe I'll just get something that coordinates with hers." So I asked her what hers looked like, and she said, "It's a black comforter with red and black Asian-inspired throw pillows." Oh, no! That totally did not coordinate with the Crazy Daisy set I had been wanting! But, I got it anyway.

I wish I had asked Jeanine what she thought that first day when she walked into our room and saw my blindingly bright comforter, my Hello Kitty alarm clock, and my abundance of clothes. She was a little bit on the tomboy side, and had a much more "Zen" style. I'm sure she wondered what she had gotten herself into.

But, we got along pretty well. Of course, we had some of the normal roommate tension. And we didn't hang out together all the time. But, I think I got really lucky for a random drawing. Jeanine was sweet and fun; she kept the room clean; she didn't make fun of me for going to bed early; she was serious about her faith. I'm not sure what she's doing now. Last I heard she was in Mexico for a short-term mission.

You could not pay me to go back and share that little room and use a community bathroom. But, at the time, I thought it was great. Some of my fondest college memories are from freshman year, living with 200 other silly girls, thinking we were "adults." I am so happy I went to ACU. I'm sure I would have enjoyed anywhere I went, but I really liked being at a small school, having to live in the dorms, actually getting to know my professors. I won't say it was the best four years of my life; being married to Darby is definitely better. But it was for sure the most fun four years of my life.

Hope you aren't bored to tears by my reminiscing. I love having my blog because I can look back and see what was going on in my life a year or two ago. But, I didn't have a blog in high school or college, so I'm trying to record some of my memories before I lose the details.