Taste of Summer

Good evening, ya'll :). I had promised to update with more regularity so here is what's on my mind tonight...

Have you ever seen Legends of the Fall? I watched it for the first time this weekend with James and it had a pretty profound effect on me...I've been thinking about it for the last couple days. It's probably one of the saddest movies I've ever seen. There's death, war, betrayal, violence, unrequited love. I think it was the war that got to me the most, especially since I was watching it with James. The movie begins in 1914 so, naturally, the war scenes were very different from what you would see today but it was still difficult to watch. In one part, Brad Pitt's character watches his little brother bombarded with bullets against a barbwire fence. After he dies, Brad Pitt cuts out his heart to take back to their family. Talk about devastating. All I kept thinking about was James's heart coming back to the States in a box. Sorry - gruesome, I know. But you can see why this scene would be upsetting to me. Just so much tragedy befell this one family. And where did it start? The war. I just have a very hard time imagining my boyfriend doing what those men were doing. Again, it was 1914, I know...but it's no less terrifying today. Maybe even more so. Anyway, if you do decide to view this movie...bring the tissues. It's powerful.

Fortunately, not my entire weekend was depressing. On Friday evening, I headed into Raleigh to meet up with James. We didn't do much but, after the week we both had, it was nice to just relax with each other. On Saturday afternoon, I left James to spend time with his brother and joined Jamie, Kristy, and Will for tailgating before the Brad Paisley concert. I had never actually tailgated before but it ended up being a really good time. I felt like I hadn't spent much time with my MFT friends lately so it was nice to catch up with a couple of them. We managed to avoid talking about school for most of the night which is usually difficult when we get together. Our seats for the concert were on the lawn and we had the opportunity to see some very interesting things while we were there...mostly drunk people behaving badly. For instance, one very drunk man practically rolled down the hill all over Jamie. She was okay and probably took it better than I would have. Later, an older woman got all huffy because she was worried that Kristy was going to spill her drink on her. Okay, look, when you get seat on the lawn, you have to keep in mind that stuff is going to happen. You will probably be stepped on, rolled over, or splashed with beer at some point. You may even be inappropriately groped on the way to the bathroom. It hasn't happened to me but it does happen. The concert was great and Brad Paisley is a very talented performer. Later that evening, I was supposed to meet up with James at his brother Michael's house. I should have known I was going to have a difficult time getting back. I somehow ended up in Garner but I suppose I'm becoming accustomed to getting lost because I set myself straight again without too much trouble. When I finally made it to Michael's house, I was able to meet his girlfriend, Janice, as well as his roommates. We sat around a fire in the backyard for a bit before calling it a night.

Sundays are always a bit depressing for James and me...for a couple reasons. First of all, neither of us particularly enjoy what we're doing right now and Sunday means that Monday is just right around the corner. Secondly, it means that another week stands between us being able to see one another again. So, we both tend to be in a lower mood on Sunday. However, we didn't have a bad day at all. On Sunday afternoon, we ended up back at Michael's house. That is where we watched the previously mentioned Legends of the Fall (and I cried my eyes out). Usually, I'm very concerned about the time and getting back to Greenville in order to organize myself for the week but this time...I just didn't CARE. I wanted to soak up as much time with James as possible. It was nice to pretend it was just the summer and I could do whatever I pleased. I knew I would probably pay for it the next day but that didn't seem to matter much. Instead, we had a cookout with Michael and his friends. For a few moments, it truly felt like summer vacation...until we had to return to reality and head home. Overall though...really good weekend.

I have some exciting events coming up... This Friday is the military ball. I've never been to one and, honestly, I didn't think I'd have another chance to really dress up (until my wedding?) after graduating from Meredith. So I'm quite excited. The following weekend, Hillary is coming to visit me in Greenville for the first time and I'll be showing her the sights (hardy har har). And the weekend after that...I'm off to New York for the first time ever! Look for pictures in the weeks to come! =)