things i wonder and things i know

i wonder what it will be like when i'm not the only one riding my bike on the sidewalks on campus. i wonder what it will feel like to swipe my ID once again to get into my own dorm (Williams Hall).  and i wonder at what point in the semester i'll call that little dorm room "home" for the first time.

this summer changed me. i feel so much more "settled" here in lansing.  i know more people at my church. i love how they greet me by name and hug me around the neck even when both of my hands are occupied, clutcing my coffee mug and muffin i just got from the breakfast table.

another thing: i no longer fret about not having plans for every single evening.  summer is good for not having plans, i think!  it's a good season for trips by myself to Schuler's to read my new book i got for a dime at a garage sale.  sometimes in the school year i freak out if i don't have amazing, crazy-fun plans for friday and saturday nights. i might even freak out on a tuesday night if i'm alone in the dorm room! but now? i don't freak out so much. i know i have great friends from the past 3 years at State, and from the 18 years before that. i even made some new friends this summer and started dating this really awesome boy.  but if those people aren't in town? i can read or visit my grandparents or crash at my cousins' houses.  (they are so kind).  i can stop striving for things, and relax in all the good (GOOD) things i've already been given.  like dear friends, sisters who are in michigan, and summer fruit in the backyard.

but in a few weeks i move out of the lovely house i got to stay in this summer. i'll carry all my stuff up three flights of stairs and start again in a new room with a new roommate. but i'm not really starting completely fresh.... because (east) lansing is already my home, and people here are already near(&dear) to my heart.