However, the most important happenings of the last week have had nothing to do with me or my trip, but my sister Mackenzie and the trip she has embarked upon. On Tuesday the 21st, at 6:02 p.m. mountain time, she, my mother and my father left on their road trip to Spokane, Washington, where she will be attending Gonzaga University. Shehas been charged with the mission of heading north
and updating the Pavlik reputation with the Jesuits there at Gonzaga. (For those who don't know, my dad, Mark, attended Gonzaga.....uh.....well.....quite awhile ago.) Mark Pavlik's legacy will be replaced with that of Mackenzie Pavlik. Out with the old, in with the new I suppose. All joking aside, it is a great institution and my sister is going to absolutely thrive there. I look forward to hearing what all she will do and how all will play out.....GO BULLDOGS!
Here is the link to the Gonzaga's website for any of you interested in doing a little research: http://www.gonzaga.edu/
Yes, things will be very different in the Pavlik household without Mackenzie around! Nathaniel, Allison, and I were able to get a taste of this in the immediate aftermath of the move...
BACKGROUND: Allison Anderson (my girlfriend of almost 9 months) is in nursing school down at the University of New Mexico. The nursing program there is a quick in-and-out 16 month program, and so she is on a much different schedule than the rest of us. She has a 2 week summer vacation though and she came up to Farmington for the first week of it to spend some time with the family before the great departures.
...She, Nathaniel and I had three days together after Mackenzie and the parents left and it is safe to say that we all missed her very much! Nathaniel realized that it was going to be a much different dynamic now with just the parents and him in the house. Well, after a short period of mourning, the three of us decided that we were doing no one any good by dwelling on the absence of Mackenzie and we tried to fill up this void via frozen yogurt at Aspen Leaf....twice!, dining at Costa Vida, eating with the cousins, and consuming milkshake upon milkshake. We were unsuccessful. No amount of food was able to replace my sister, we will miss you Mackenzie! Mackenzie is all moved in to her dorm now and seems to be having a blast so far at orientation. The parents are scheduled to return home very late tonight, Sunday.
Then, on Friday, Allison and I drove down to Albuquerque where I had various meetings with the Financial Aid Office and Study Abroad Office in order to clear a couple things up and also make sure we were all on the same page going into the trip. Since then I have been saying goodbyes to my various Albuquerque comrades and spending time with Allison before the long distance stage of our relationship begins. Next on the agenda is a visit with Allison's sister and her fiancée before attending "Mass on the Grass" at the Aquinas Newman Center on campus, and then wind down the evening with Allison and I's last date.
Well, that is all for now! Sorry about the tardiness of this second post, I have already failed you in my once a week promise. At least I got that little bout of infidelity over with though and we can both proceed with renewed commitment! Also, I am done packing, here is my life for the next year!
And here is the link the the University of Wuerzburg's website, while I am in the business of giving out college information: http://www.uni-wuerzburg.de/ .
Google has a very useful and decently accurate translator. ;)
