Greetings from North Carolina!! :)

Hello, lovely friends and family members!

Some of you may have seen this in a mass email, but I thought I'd post it here, too (with minor edits), in case I'm missing any one's email address.  A number of people have been asking if I'm alive and where I live and other assorted questions, and since time is at a premium these days, I thought I'd just get the info out in one fell swoop.  I also think I have old emails for a bunch of people, so if you have a better email to reach you, please let me know.  :)  And I am sure I missed people, so you can feel free to pass this along if there's someone you think would want to hear from me.  :)

So, greetings from North Cackalacky..ahem...North Carolina!

The South is lovely this time of year, especially if you love 90+ degree temps and 80%+ humidity!  Haha, don't worry, the giant bugs make up for any kind of less than desirable weather.  Kidding, kidding.  North Carolina is GREAT!  The only totally scary bug I've seen is a house centipede (dare you to google it!) in my kitchen.  Otherwise, thanks to extermination on my second day of orientation, my puppy Allee and I are thankfully so far the only ones who live in my apartment.  And with the exception of a few hot and humid days, the weather has been surprisingly mild and much like a lovely Pacific Northwest summer since I arrived.

Despite a bit of a rocky start with my living situation, I am now happily getting settled in my lovely TWO bedroom townhouse apartment (did you notice I said TWO bedrooms?  And I didn't mention a roommate?  That's right, friends, I have a place for you to stay, so you should all start planning your trips to North Carolina now!).  Allee has made a million friends with all the kiddos who live in the neighborhood, and they come over frequently to ask if she can come out and play.  She's doing better than I am in that arena, because they couldn't care less if I can come out and play!  ;)  Which is good, because I am way too busy for that anyway.  

Speaking of busy, school is off to a lightening speed start.  Holy moly, they aren't messing around with this accelerated program business.  We are almost finished with the third week of classes and we already had our first pathophysiology test on Tuesday (which I survived and did NOT fail, thank you very much!) and our next test is coming up on Monday.  But here's the craziest thing--I go to DUKE, you guys!!!  Seriously, I still can't quite believe it.  But as I spend all my time in basically two buildings on campus, plus the hospital, it might take awhile to sink in.  The faculty are INCREDIBLE.  They are some of the kindest, most brilliant people I have ever met, and even though my Gonzaga friends will never believe it, the vibe at Duke is much more Gonzaga-like than I ever could have imagined.  Everyone is incredibly supportive and the faculty are like cheerleaders in their enthusiasm and desire for us to succeed.  It's awesome.  I am surrounded by brilliant and talented people all day every day, which is both amazing and exciting...and sometimes slightly exhausting (but in a good way).  My cohort is made of people from literally all over the country and all over the world (no joke, China, Tanzania, Jamaica, Ethiopia...just to name a few), all ages and shapes and sizes and colors and ethnicities...it's really exciting.  I love being surrounded by this much diversity!  And my new bit of excitement is that there is an a cappella group at the nursing school and I am TOTALLY joining it and I can't wait.  :)

Anyway, I really have to get back to studying, so I will wrap this up, but just wanted to say hi, and thank you so, so, soooooo much for all your amazing love and support.  My phone number is staying the same as always, and in case any of you are inclined to drop me a line or send me some love (which I would NEVER say no to, especially since I have once again joined the ranks of poor, starving college student) and want my address, let me know (I never turn down a good care package).

Please stay in touch, and feel free to drop me a line or give me a call anytime!  Love you guys and miss you all!  And always remember...the BEST is yet to come!

Loves!

Jen