My rollercoaster has the biggest ups and downs. Long as it keeps going 'round it's unbelievable!" -KimyaDawson

At the end of the school semester I made a decision that instead of moving home for the next few months, I would stay in Missouri, be responsible, and get a job. Ok, I must admit that a small motivating factor was that I will be graduating in December, so I was also hoping to take it easy and enjoy my last ever summer outside of the "real world." I mean, let's be honest, summer breaks don't happen in reality, only in the fairy-tale world of childhood and seasonal academia.

So I reapplied and was rehired at my old place of employment, signed up for some volunteer work, and planned for lots of free time to practice guitar, go to the lake, and catch up on that pleasure reading that somehow evades all English majors. I drove home for a week-long visit with my fam in NashVegas and then headed back to the Ozarks to carry out my plans for the best last summer break ever.

"Map out your future, but do it in pencil lines" -JonBonJovi

Unfortunately, it seems my baby sister was not as in-tune with my summer plans as the world clearly ought to be. In fact, she was obliviously caught up this apparently big ordeal of FallingInLoveAndGettingProposedTo. (I know, right?!) Not only that, but she somehow thought it would be a good idea to schedule her wedding for the end of June. This June. Y'know, that month that started a few days after I got back to Missouri? And as we are all well aware, your truly is the designated Maid of Honor.

It would be impossible to explain the chaos that inevitably followed, but, suffice to say, after a few hundred telephone conversations and grovelling for a dozen or so favors, I went in for my first day at work and apologetically informed my manager that I might be quitting. (She was gracious, and basically gave me the month off. After all, I don't know if I mentioned this, but the wedding is at the end of June! So I'll be back soon.) Then I re-packed my recently un-packed belongings, loaded my life back into the trunk (and back seat, and passenger seat) of my little Camry and headed back to the hills of Tennessee. And here I am.

"When God throws a curveball, don't duck. You just might miss something." -Anonymous

I'll be honest: I'm not too good with spontaneity! I had to take a lot of deep breaths. But when it comes down to it, I can think of worse things than a month of hanging with my favorite people in the world, helping my baby sister (who doubles as my best friend) to plan the wedding that she and I have dreamed about our entire lives.

So I'm cutting my losses, counting my blessings, and spending a splendid month on the Whitehead family farm. In the meantime, I'll be keeping a running tab of the things that make life's little moments of chaos totally worthwhile, and I'll probably be a better person for it.

God knows, if we can pull off a wedding by the end of June, we can do anything!

"Some didn't like it. They went on the merry-go-round. That just goes around . . . I like the roller coaster. You get more out of it." -GrandmaBuckman