My parents bought me three cranberry suitcases of various
sizes that have carried me through this past month. In the month of June 2014 I
spent 4 nights in my bed at home.
It was a month of new friends, new adventures and so much
traveling. Those suitcases became home to me in the good and the bad and gave
me one of the most exhausting and elating months of my life.
The month began with dancing.
Dancing in Xenia Ohio at the #beikerttobush wedding to be
exact. I packed my suitcase for it’s maiden voyage and trekked down to my best
friend’s house for the night and then over to Cedarville for the wedding. It
was a great way to bring in the month and the summer. I stopped at my mom’s for
a night on the way home and then settled back in Cadillac for a night.
After weighing and crushing and squishing my suitcase to
make my belongings fit, two of my suitcases and I were off to England. I was
able to go to the UK for 2 full weeks and see my dear friend Beth and travel
about the country with her. It was one of the most amazing things that I have
ever had the chance to do and the memories are worth more than I can explain. I
met beautiful people that I could listen to for hours, saw some of the most
amazing and awe-inspiring buildings and places that I had only ever read of in
books, and fell head over high heels in love with English fashion. Check out
pictures from my trip on instagram with #jgoesuk to see more.
England pulled me in completely and every night I would curl
up on my air mattress and just smile to myself, in shock that I was really
there. I was smitten with the accents, the social vibes, the shopping and the
history. I tried to act like a casual local, but I’m sure the stars in my eyes
and painfully nasal Michigan accent gave me away.
While my suitcases stayed at home for many of my day
journeys they found themselves packed to the absolute brim by the end of it. I
drug my suitcase into Heathrow’s Terminal 2 after about 12 hours of praying
that it wouldn’t be too heavy to find that it weighed 22.6kg. My hands could
hardly grab my phone to convert the weight fast enough, but I don’t know if anyone
has been more relived than I was when Google reported that my bag weighed 49.86
pounds. So we trudged through security and got on another plane.
And then that plane left me stranded at O’Hare in a storm…but
more on that in another post later. So I found myself in at my grandma’s house
instead of my own bed. I was thankful for some familiarity but I was hardcore
craving my down comforter and 4 pillows that surround me like a fortress of fluff.
One night at home followed and then off to another friend’s wedding and another
2 nights at my grandma’s house…I’ve earned a key there after this month. I made
it home again for a night and then went to my mom’s for a few days, which is
home, but for the sake of a point, it was also traveling.
The next destination was Camp Lake Louise, a place that is
essential to my heart and one of the best little spots on the earth. I got to
make new friends and hug old ones. Hear about kid’s hearts for Jesus and pray for
those that are still unsure. I also got to laugh like a fool at a talent show
by 5th and 6th graders and have my hair styled with
shaving cream, but what is camp without a healthy heap of crazy?
After camp I was home, and then July came. And now I am sitting
on my couch thinking, “Where did my summer go??” It’s the fourth tomorrow and I
feel like the swing of summer is just starting.
But then I read through this post and see that my summer isn’t on my
back deck in the sunshine or at the beaches of Lake Michigan as it often is…but
it’s in Ohio and England and Wales and Chicago and Fremont and Boyne Mountain.
It’s a scattered summer of a wandering soul packed into
those three cranberry suitcases that stand like soldiers in my room, ready and
waiting to take on the next adventure.
