Running into old friends.

This week, I checked my mail as I always do, and I was so, so, SO pleased to find a note from an old friend.

Libbi, a graduate of Virginia Tech the year before myself (2011 for her), and I ran into eachother in Sharkey’s, really popular bar downtown, and got to share quite a few minutes reconnecting. One of the things that I love about the world, now, is that when you run into someone that you haven’t seen in a while (ironically enough I ran into a few old high school friends JUST before I ran into Libbi) is that through social media, it’s easy to stay connected with people even if it’s not in a direct, out-right kind of way.

So, we spent a few minutes catching up, and went our separate ways for the night. It was nice to have that little blast from the past.

But it was made even better when I got a letter in the mail from her, telling me some great things, amongst them wishing me good luck going into Graduate School.

KKΓ – “Aspire to be.” I’m not Greek, but I identify with most of their philanthropies, missions, and greater good they do in so many communities.

Not to spoil a surprise, but I’m returning Libbi’s letter with a little surprise. One little hint: it’s green. :)

Thanks for making my day, Libbi.

They weren’t kidding…

when they said that you get less excited about your birthday as you get older!

As it’s currently almost 4:00 in the morning, and I’m working on preparing for classes next week (don’t worry, I slept in BIG TIME today…like you probably ate lunch already by the time I got out of bed), I realize that my birthday is in a little over a week, on Sept. 1. I think the most obvious reminder was the great card my older brother sent me from Bahrain, where he is stationed working for the Navy.

I wonder when it’ll hit me that I’m about to turn 22…

Heisman Hopeful.

I hope this doesn’t bring those silly Cam Newton comparisons of last year – he and Thomas are two completely different kinds of players – but nonetheless, I always love to see the Hokies on the front page of Sports Illustrated. :)

Sorry for being M.I.A.

I know I’ve been absolutely dreadful at updating my blog in the past week or so. Truth is, I haven’t really done that much – besides cooking. And I have a ton of photos and recipes to share with you all in the very near future. But the point of this blog post is to show you this wonderful GIF I found on The Key Play today. It’s beautiful.

I enjoy Bud, well, because he’s my boy. And more importantly, I got to give him and a ton of football recruits a bus tour last semester. Kind of my claim to fame. :)

Oh, you know – just Hokies Defensive Coordinator Bud Foster performing some awesome cartwheels during football practice last week.

 

two guys walk into a bathroom in a bar…

Last night, one of the coolest things happened.  I was in the stall, using the potty if you will, and was coming out to wash my hands.  A guy is at the urinal, and he turns around and he’s like “THAT MUST BE JUSTIN!!”

Lo and behold, I had just finished a conversation with some friends at the bar about how you really can’t mistake anyone else for me … unless it’s a bicycle or something. The guy releiving himself was an old friend, who I hadn’t seen in years. He bursts out into a store from sophomore year, about how we were both at an apartment party, and he sat on my lap, and I explained to him the story of how I became paralyzed, and how I really try not to let that hold me back. Anyone who knows me or spends the smallest amount of time with me knows this story, if you haven’t already heard it at least a dozen times.

This guy went on to explain how, even though he hadn’t seen me around much since then, it really impacted his decisions since then, and it really made me feel like I had made such a positive impact on someone after apparently only meeting them for five minutes.   I was very honest with the guy, I didn’t remember that night at that party, but the fact that he was awesome enough to greet me while he was using the restroom…I was honored. It would have been so much easier to just let me keep on rolling by and not really say anything about it – but we elbow bumped each other, and went on our merry ways. I hope I run into this guy again though, I’d really like to learn more about his life, too.