the bittersweetness of life

Yet again, it has been quite a while since my last post. I am proud to say, though, that my excuse is legit - I have a life here in Marfa. Not just a "read books on the porch, workout, watch movies" life. This one is the kind where I frequent the Jett's scene (hotel's restaurant), spend evenings with my friend Rose, get DQ blizzards with Lindy, etc. There's just so much going on that I have barely read my extremely long summer book, Gone With the Wind, and am definitely lacking in the sleep area! No time for those things means no time as well for blogging. Sorry :/

I spent this last weekend in Lubbock. Man, I miss that place! I miss the workout machines in the REC, cherry coke and salad bar from Market Street, my perch at J&B coffee shop, seeing my family I have created in Raiderland, all the Tech pride, and I even might miss the wind - but that's just because it's part of Lubbock and I love that town. My new roommate, Tessa, and I officially have the keys to our new house. I have officially moved in all of my stuff and will be there for good in three weeks - gotta finish up here in Marfa and have the long-awaited campmeeting first! My room is about 70% set up, many thanks to Zac and Micah for providing the truck and muscles necessary. We spent Saturday moving furniture and boxes, sanding and priming furniture, unpacking, painting the furniture, and getting things situated. One nice sunburn and two sore arms later, my room is ready to be lived in! The paint color is great...there are lots of windows...big closets...built in desk...HARD WOOD FLOORS. I love it.

The problem with having this great house waiting for me and the rest of my belongings to come home is that I have mixed feelings about summer and campmeeting. Please know: I never have mixed feelings about Campmeeting. It has never happened before that I was not eagerly counting down the days until I drove the 9 hours out West with a week's worth of outfits planned out, high expectations for this year's campmeeting, a crush on one of the boys of my life waiting to be further established. This year I am already in West Texas, I have all my clothes with me anyways, I don't "dress up" anymore than I have to for work, and I have no crush, no boy-expectation looming in front of me. It's not a feeling of not wanting Campmeeting to come - it's just more of an "it happens when it happens" feeling. My reason is this: when CM hits, my time here in Marfa ends. When CM ends, I leave the mountainous West Texas and the life I have so lovingly established for the flat West Texas that I also love and adore. And yet, As much as I love the life I have here in Marfa, I love and miss my Lubbock life. Like I said, there's many facets of life in the LBK that I cannot wait for. There's many aspects of my summer experience that I will miss dearly as well. That is why life as of now is bittersweet.

I am totally happy with how things turned out this summer. No cowboy to whisk me away but that's for the better - no need to end a good summer with a hurting heart. I gained so much more experience and knowledge from my 41-room hotel internship than I could have ever received in a larger hotel. I know people in town now - when I return to visit, my seat at Jett's will be waiting with open arms. I lived here long enough to unpack, settle down, and enjoy the peace and quiet before having to reload the car and watch the mountains disappear in the rearview mirror. It's been a good time that, bittersweetly, will come to an end. I will leave here only to immediately return to the other town I love so dearly, the people I haven't seen in over three months, the restaurants I enjoy frequenting, and the obnoxious Suddenlink commercials which invade all tv stations.