All Good Things Must Come to An End!

Hello!


This is my final blog post!

On Saturday November 29th, I graduated VGY. It was an incredible night filled with awesome memories and final farewells--until the next day, when we did most of the graduation over again during church. My family came to watch me graduate, and it was really good to see them again! I hadn't seen them since January, so it was really weird, but in a good way. Both my sisters grew a lot, and I will probably be the shortest in a few years. Then we drove down to Cape Town, traveling along the Garden Route. After we returned to the States, we spent a week at home (in which time I had a job interview), before driving down to California to spend Christmas with my grandma. We returned two days before new year. The past few days has been catching up with friends, getting employed, applying for scholarships, and staying in contact with my friends around the world! Needless to say, the past few weeks have been very busy and an adjustment!


Here are some highlights:

 

I spent a lot of time at the beach the last few weeks, to make up for barely going to the beach at all during the third term. Summer was starting, so the weather was usually really nice. As my house dad always said, JBay is where wind is made! So it was always really windy. My friend Rachel and I laid down in the sand, and after a minute we were covered from head to toe!

 

 

The Wednesday before graduation, we did Paper Plate Awards as a house. We nominated 60 awards, and then voted who should win which award! It was a blast! Dooitze and I also won the Old Married Couple Award, because we argue on the most pointless things, but we're still best friends. I won the disaster kitchen award because of the time when I was cooking captain that we accidently made 4 kilos of rice and I decided to add peas and broccoli and some weird spices. It was really gross! We had so much left over that I served it for dinner too! And then I made a sauce and served it again the next day! Some people decided to fast. Some things you learn the hard way.

 

Left to right: Marike, me, and Cari

 

Graduation was an amazing night! I wore Marike's dress, which I liked because it's my favorite color (red) and was very comfortable. It was the first time most of my friends saw me in a dress! I've changed so much from the insecure tomboy I was in the beginning of the year to the woman of God I am now, realizing my identity is in Christ! I'm the daughter of the King! During the special awards ceremony, in which the receivers were voted on by students, I won the Crescendo award, for the most spiritual growth in Worship Academy. I didn't expect it, but it was a cool confirmation of the change that happened this year!

 

The theme of graduation was the same as our CD: Unshakable Kingdom. We performed two original songs from our album, and also had a time of worship. Josh lead the décor, and his team spent a lot of time decorating for the event.

Left to right: Annika, me, and Nicole

 

The car ride down the garden route was very long. It was a good bonding time, but it was weird being with my sisters again. They wouldn't stop talking! I got used to it after a while, though, and it was normal again. I'm thankful for our vacation time, to be able to integrate back into the family again in a neutral environment.

 

 

On our family vacation, we stopped at the place where the Indian ocean meets the Atlantic. It wasn't all that impressive, but I can say that I've been!

 

In Cape Town, we visited the Two Oceans Aquarium and saw a lot of cool creatures, including mantis shrimp, giant spider-crabs, six-gilled hag fish, sharks, and penguins! It was a great aquarium and I definitely recommend it.

 

We drove back from Cape Town to Jeffreys Bay in 7 hours! For dinner, we ate at Ocean Basket. It recently opened over Spur. It has good food and a nice view over the ocean. Early in the morning before we left, I went to the beach one last time. It was really peaceful. I miss JBay, but am excited to see what God has in store for me next!

 

My ticket from PE to Jo'burg was upgraded to business class! It was so nice! My flight from Jo'burg to DC was really long (around 19 hours), but I ended up sitting next to a guy my age who had just finished his gap year in South Africa. We had a ridiculous amount of things in common! It was so cool.

It's been a crazy year! I hope you enjoyed my blog! I will probably not be blogging again any time soon, but I did enjoy it while it lasted. As they say, all good things must come to an end. That's just part of life.

Have a fantastic year!
Nad