I'M GOING TO NEW YORK!!!

I've written about camp and how important it was (and still is) in my life. In addition to learning a lot about myself, I have made friends all over the world, thanks to the Camp America program. I've also made some of my best friends there. Laura was a CIT the year after me, a lifeguard with me for 2 years, and I swear we're twins separated at birth; she was a bridesmaid in my wedding. Tasha and I were the proverbial small fish in a big pond -- Christianity wasn't something that was "prevalent" among people at camp. There were a lot of atheists, Pagans, and just non-religious people, but Tasha and I bonded over our common faith. So much so that we ended up roommates her freshman year and my senior year of college. She was also a bridesmaid in my wedding.

Our first staff shirts ever!

And then there are the friends I made who I was close to but never realized how much I missed them until they were gone. Bird (Becca) is one of those people. There was actually a summer (2006, I think?) when she wasn't going to come back because of some reason or another which made NO sense to me and Bunny (a girl who was in Bird's CIT group and ended up being my CIT counselor for 2 years). SO we waged war. Figuratively, of course. We got every staff member -- including people who had NEVER even met her -- to write letters talking about how much she would be missed and that she should come back.  It worked. =)  She worked another 2 years at camp after that, even joining the administration staff one year.

Then she joined the Peace Corps. And moved to Guatemala (because she's AWESOME like that!). And missed my wedding (which made me incredibly sad because it was a par-tay!). BUT she's back now and at grad school in NYC at Columbia. When she was home over Christmas, at a camp reunion of sorts, she mentioned how inexpensive it is to fly to New York (roughly $250 on Southwest if you catch the fares at the right time). Which made me think, "Dude, I could afford that!!"

When I filed our taxes, J and I decided to use $1000 of it to pay off debt and split the last $500. Which we did. And I bought my ticket tonight for the last weekend in March. I'm so excited. This will be the fourth time I've flown anywhere, the first with a layover (well... I flew to Hawaii when I was 5 but I was with my parents so that doesn't count), and my first time in New York City. I feel so grown up!  =)

This is the first part of completing number 61 on my 101 in 1001 list.