The first semester of organic chemistry is officially over!

Now, it's time to pack and come to grips with the fact that I will only be in Maryland for eight more days.

After my final exam tonight, I took a drive through DC, into Arlington.  I'm going to miss our capitol.  It's seriously one of the most beautiful places in the world.  Today, as I was driving across one of the bridges, a lightning storm was outlining the city.  It was incredible.

Prepare yourself: another proton analogy is on its way...
There are these crazy ways that chemists can figure out the structure of a molecule.  One of these mechanisms is called H NMR, where hydrogens in a molecule show up on a graph as peaks.  Each peak represents hydrogens that are dwelling in different chemical environments.  Sometimes multiple hydrogens will all share one peak, as long as they are the same environmentally.  So here I am, on my way home from lecture, realizing I again feel like a little proton, in need of a major chemical environment shift.

So here comes that shift, whether I'm ready or not. ( And to all you counselors out there, no, I do not think that moving is equal to fixing things.  I also don't believe staying stuck and trying to fight through craziness the rest of my life is worth my time or my dreams.)  I've already plotted out the route we'll take, heading straight to Seattle for my cousin's wedding.  Montana is on that list!

Tomorrow I will hit the hiking trails that surround Harper's Ferry, then it's to Virginia Beach this weekend to see some friends before the long distance "see you later!" departure statement has to be said.

I am excited and so scared.

I'm so ready to learn love.