The Day Before

Hi, everyone. Today's post has a little to do with this week's incoming mail and a lot to do with one of the biggest days of my life so far- graduation day!

Technically, I'm going to start by sharing a bit of today- the day before graduation- with you. Between these stupid, sudden allergies of unknown origin and the aftermath of an argument within my house Monday night, I started the morning off in a pretty bad mood. However, that changed pretty quickly when all the people in my office approached me shortly after my morning break, carrying a big basket full of goodies for graduation. I figured they might do something like bring food and maybe some spare change when I go back on Friday, but I definitely was not expecting anything so amazing. The five of them had apparently been planning this for weeks, and instead of telling you the amazing project, I'll show you!

The Basket!

The basket's contents!

 And now, for a closer look!

Stickers and colored pencils! The alphabet set is actually a series of pages with about
360 ABC/Number stickers in all- I definitely needed those! And there are 48 owls,
which I assume they picked because I've been talking about the owl quilt my mother
is making me for my dorm room. The things they catch on to that I never would have expected!



200 stationery sheets and a matching pen! This is probably my favorite item of the whole set!



Yarn! When I first started back in January, I was in the middle of my huge crochet kick.
I haven't crocheted in a while after finishing an exhausting rainbow blanket for my little cousin,
but my inspiration came back with these awesome Buzz Lightyear shades!

And second-to-last-but-not-least, the food! They've apparently caught on to all my favorites
from our daily conversations. Chocolate fudge poptarts, a Coke and a Dr. Pepper, Frank's Red
Hot Sauce (which I'm slightly obsessive about; they often tease me that I need to bring a bottle
to keep in the office- looks like I can, now!), soy sauce, which I'm equally obsessed with (I had a
drawer full of the individual packets until yesterday! My stock is replenished!) and finally, Salt and
Vinegar pringles. I was so surprised that they remembered my choice of flavors that I didn't even realize
there were $20 taped onto the Pringles can until they said "Did you see what elsewas on there?" as I moved
on to the next item! Shows how unobservant I am.

All in all, I thought it was a sweet gesture from all of them. I almost cried, but I managed to control myself and instead of gushing, I settled for hugs for everybody. Thanks so much, everyone! Everything was so neatly wrapped that I almost didn't want to break into it, but I wated to share my day's highlight with my followers.

I also received $100 from one of my dad's closest work friends today! Also completely unexpected and appreciated more than I can put into words or write on any Thank You card. People amaze me! Also in my home mailbox was a $20 Target gift card. I have a feeling I'll have a hard time spending this on something school-related instead of 20 items from the dollar bins!

And as if that wasn't enough, as I'm typing this post, the doorbell rings, and it's our next door neighbor with a check for another $50. ;-; I'm sooooo overwhelmed! I can't thank everyone enough!

For those of you who don't know, tomorrow evening I'll walk the stage and become an official high school graduate. With my stage fright, I'm already a nervous wreck- I bet I'll be in hysterics throughout practice tomorrow morning (which I'm told will take at least two hours! Eek.) I don't know for sure who all is coming yet, but I'm excited to find out. Then again, as I don't want to be there myself, I don't blame the ones who are opting to come to the graduation party at my house Saturday instead of sitting through the ceremony tomorrow.

In conclusion to this part of the post, I just wanted to share how much gratitude I was feeling and rave about some of the amazing gifts I've received today. And now, for my penpals, the part you're probably more interested in  hearing about:

Yesterday I received an amazing package from my penpal Bri. In it was the return of the latest book I sent her- Eon: Dragoneye Reborn, an entire season of a TV show called Pushing Daisies for me to watch (I hope to sit down and get started on it as soon as I'm finished here!), another long letter, an ATC, and a ton of pictures of her, her house, her family, and her room. She's the first of my penpals to have sent pictures, and I must say I find them incredibly special. I've been going around my house taking pictures on a disposable camera. I hope they turn out well and can be developed soon enough that I won't have to keep her waiting for the response too long! Also included was a lot of star confetti in honor of graduation/getting into college!

Today I received some Chinese coins and two nifty bookmarks for a tag on the Postcrossing Forums, as well as something from the "Offering a Lot, at least 20 little items" tag game. In this one came 3 tiny keys, 5 kawaii dragon stickers, a bag of caramel! tea which I haven't made yet, and two lettersets- Rilakkuma and Hello Kitty!

Lastly, I received a letter from my new penpal Cazzie. With it she included a kawaii key cover!

Sorry for the lack of pictures on the incoming mail. I haven't been at the top of my game when it comes to that, lately. D:

I can't wait to sit down and reply to everyone on my new stationery! And while drinking a cup of caramel tea!

Hope everyone has a fantastic, less-nerve-wracking-than-mine-will-be day tomorrow!

-Shelby