It's surprisingly huge. I went back to Omaha and stayed with my dad for a few days because everyone at mom's house was sick. I don't spend a whole lot of time with my dad, so it was nice to hang out with him for an extended period of time. During the first part of the week most of my time was spent looking at apartments and cars, because my goal for the break was to get the material aspects of my life figured out for when I move back. The first apartments I looked at were ridiculously expensive ones with tons of amenities, fancy restaurants and nice gyms nearby. I realized that I really can't justify spending $850 on rent every month. I just don't need a place that nice. Maybe I want one, but I feel like I can get by with a cheaper option. After all, I don't want to live in an apartment for more than a few years; I'll be saving up money for a down payment on a house. I found a place that's about 2 miles from work which should do just fine, and it's a little more reasonably priced.
I went to a Chevy dealership and test drove a couple of trucks. The Chevy Silverado extended cab is definitely my favorite. I also went out to a Subaru dealership and tried an Impreza. I like the Impreza, but the only way I'd buy one is if I wanted to buy a turbocharger and a cold air intake to throw in it. The side of me that loves hobbies thinks that putting aftermarket parts in my car would be really fun, but the Subaru doesn't get very good gas mileage. I've concluded that although what I really want is a truck, I would be better served waiting a couple years and buying a smaller car in the meantime. I have a feeling that I'm going to be doing A LOT of traveling, so it would be good to have a car that gets more than 30 MPG. I'm a pretty huge fan of the Chevy Cruze, and I intend to test drive one next time I'm back.
My grandparents made it home safely from Hawaii, though they just barely missed getting hit by a tsunami spawned by the quake in Japan. They left their hotel literally a half hour before the landfall. When they got back down to the town the next morning, it was a real mess. Streets covered in debris, seawall broken, buildings damaged, some extremely seriously. I'm really glad they got out when they did. They brought me back a little souvenir ukulele, and I have to say I'm really touched. I learned how to play the chords to "Somewhere Over the Rainbow", and I'm having a great time with it thus far. This little gift has reminded me how important music is to my life. For the past couple weeks, I've been virtually ignoring that aspect of myself, and I think it was a terrible mistake. I've decided to go back to playing every day, because no matter how awful I feel, strumming a few chords and humming a song never fails to put a smile on my face.
I got to see all those friends I hardly ever get to hang out with, and as always it was a good time. Wednesday night I went down to Peru, NE to visit Inori and Lynzei, too. That was pretty fun! Now I'm back in Ames, and I'm glad to say that I'm feeling really motivated, and in a really good mood. I don't have it all figured out, but I have enough that I can feel comfortable, and I'm excited to see how all of this decision making pans out. Regardless of what I plan out, there's always a pretty good chance that I'll just change my mind at the very last second, so it should be pretty interesting. You might ask, if I'm just going to change my mind, then why make plans at all? It's really just so that I know I have a fallback. At the moments that I have to actually make these decisions about where to live, what to drive, how to spend my time, if I'm not feeling impulsive then I'll have my well-reasoned options already chosen.
So, what difference can a week make? You can spend time with people you don't get enough time with (and make new friends along the way). You can take a look into your future, and mold it into what you want it to be. You can fix your priorities, and become much more content with life in the process.
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My heart goes out to everyone in Japan, and all those with family and friends there. I'll be hoping and praying for their safety, and the nation's recovery.
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