december-december. hace un ano ya.

at exactly this time last year, i was boarding a plane in the airport in asunción, paraguay, about to leave mi país y mis queridos paraguayos. mi gente. 

i didn't cry until after we took off and i could no longer see the houses or the streets or the crazy drivers. as soon as i realized i couldn't see paraguay anymore and that i was zooming away from the country i loved so much, i started crying. like, a lot. 

about a day later, i finally made it back to the united states. i remember walking into an airport for a layover, not knowing what hit me. the united states was so fancy! and people all around me were speaking english! i wasn't getting snaked or stared at for being a "yankee". 

anyway, i got home. i literally could not contain myself when i got off the plane and walked down that little hallway in the salt lake airport to get to baggage claim where all families are waiting. my autonomic nervous system decided that i was going to cry and as soon as i saw my family, i lost it. against my will, i cried again. 

the point is that one year goes by incredibly fast. it's been a YEAR since i've been in paraguay and i don't think i've ever missed it so much. december is the best time there. it's hot, but not so hot that you want to kill yourself yet. the ensalada de fruta is all over the place, the chipa is extra good. cute little strands of lights are placed on the outside of wood shacks. everyone's outside ready to exchange an "ADIOS" with you. they're all handing out their not-so-tasty fruitcake. what can i say?, it's magical.

how is it even possible that time can go by that quickly? how is it possible that i'll be graduating in one more semester? how is it already time for me to be right in the middle of nursing school applications? time is weird and the more i come to realize how much i love my life right now, the faster it seems to go.

here's to one year of being back!

i'm a big kid now.

reasons i know i'm growing up. (or something like that...)

1. i have officially registered for my last semester of classes. get a load of my classes - injury and violence prevention, disaster response and emergency prep, occupational health and safety, women's health issues, and international health. it's gonna be an amaaaaazing last semester.

2. my graduation application is officially accepted. i'm graduating in april!

3. i am in the process of applying to post-grad nursing programs. well, to one at least (university of utah). my back-up list is giving me a hard time and i'm not quite done deciding what other schools to apply to even though i've been researching schools for a few YEARS now. geeeeeez.

4. i'm a morning person. kind of. i know this makes me officially a grown up because i used to always think that the day i actually liked getting up and getting ready and leaving to be at work and/or class every single day before 8 am was the day that i was old. i guess that day has come...

5. i no longer enjoy listening to screamo-type music. that actually makes me very happy. 

6. i like listening to the news. NPR is an almost daily staple. i feel like that makes me old and i know my 19 year old self probably would have thrown up on my 23 year old self. 

well, anyway. 

it's good to grow up. but just because i'm getting a little older and maybe a tiny bit wiser doesn't mean i've got things figured out. haaaa... if anyone does, let me know.