The Countdown Begins!

I absolutely cannot believe that it is New Year's already! Where did the time go? My one month coutdown began yesterday and I meant to write at some point, but per usual there are not enough hours in a day. Thirty days seems like a long time, but I know it is going to fly bye so I have begun the preparations. Yesterday my mom and my friend Erica went shopping with me to find a dress for the formal events that we have during our semester in Tubs. Dress shopping is most possibily the most obnoxious process that a woman ever has to go through. I swear I tried on at least thrity dresses yesterday, but I finally found the one that I loved. However, I should have taken a picture of the Macy's dressing room because there was barely room to walk in it. There were so many dresses and clothes scattered all over the place that we had to clear a hanger in the dressing room just so that I could hang my dresses. It was NUTS! Meanwhile, while I tried on dress after dress, my mom and Erica went digging through the remains left in the rooms and on the discard rack. They actually managed to find a couple for me to try on! Anyways, my dress shopping experiences are really not that important or interesting.
Tonight, its dinner with the family and then heading to my friend Ally's house for a night of grand shinanigans. I'm sure that someone will cry their eyes out laughing or pee their pants; that's usually how it goes when we get together! But I'm excited to just hang out. We always seem to have something going on that stops all three of us from getting together (Erica is number three if you are wondering!) so it is nice when we can all get together and spend some quality time together. Ally and Erica are the two people that I stay in touch with from  home. During high school we became really close friends bonded through laughing our way through the tougher times. They are family and I love them!
Speaking of high school, I would like to take a moment to address some sadder news that has been brought to my attention. A former friend of mine from high school has recently found out that her younger sister has been diagnosed with Lukemia (AML to be exact). Although we are not really friends anymore due to the fact that high school is over and life goes on, I am deeply saddened by this news that I have recieved. I just spent about a half an hour skimming through her care page and its hard to not to want to cry for her and her family. It is such a painful process and her whole family has been in my thoughts for the past week or so. I truely hope that everything works out and that her sister is able to overcome this disease. I know that she is strong and that she will make it to the other side of this mountain.
Hearing about someone you know having cancer really makes you reevaluate what is important in life. After learning about this person's struggle, I have really thought about how lucky I am that I am healthy and happy. Taking New Year's into account, I think that my New Year's resolution should be to make the most of every opportunity that I am given. Considering the fact that I am heading to Europe in a few short weeks, I could not pick a better resolution. I look forward to my time abroad, and although I have some anxiety about leaving the country for such a long time I am going to face it head on and make the most of it!

Happy New Year's to all of you, and I hope that you have a fun and safe holiday!

Peace!

Tub?!

Sitting around in my common room on the last night of the semester, my roomates and friends decided that we should nickname the places that we're traveling to; hence, Tubs! Other fabulous names included: Ry-Ry(Ryan Hall, SMC), SanFran (San Fransisco, CA), Granobs (Granobal, France), Uncork and Pork (Cork, Ireland...for other John Tucker Must Die fans, we stole it from the movie!), and Dubs (Dublin, Ireland). Staying or leaving, we all had a place and that's what made it okay that we all had to say goodbye. I have to admit that the experience was bitter sweet since we were all excited to head home for the holidays but the closing of this semester was more morose than the others. We all knew that we were going to return to SMC in the Fall, but leaving the people who become family while at school makes it difficult to say goodbye. I knew that we're all going to come back different, changed, in someway but I can't help but believe that the ties my friends and I have forged will allow us to fall back into the same inside jokes, laughing fits, and late night talks that we share now. I will miss you all, but I look forward to the stories depicting grand adventures and epic shinanigans!

With views of the future daunting me in visions of packing and airports, the anxiety sets in. I've traveled abroad before, to Costa Rica, and the pre-departure emotions follow the same strict pattern: excitement, anxiety, dread, and my-life-is-sure-to-end-if-I-so-much-as-step-on-the-plane. But, at least this time I know that when I get to Tubs and get settled I will enjoy every minute of it! I'm nervous but also excited because having this opportunity handed to me makes me a very lucky person. Being an Education and English double major makes Bath the perfect place to go! I chose it because of what it offered me, especially in the Education department. The Education Programme allows me to spend a day each week inside a school in England, and it also allows me to take a class on Education in England. Having this opportunity to really experience education first hand is really going to give me a perspective on education that many do not have and I am completely grateful for it.

Deciding to leave SMC for a semester was a tough decision for me. I'm the type of person who becomes comfortable in an environment and I like to step ouside of my comfort zone, but not too far outside. And let's just say that across the Atlantic and in a new country was a huge leap outside my comfort zone. But, as I've learned, it is when I leave my comfort zone and am surrounded by people I don't know that I learn the most about myself as a person. I look forward to learning more about who I am and what I want out of life through this experience. College is about discovering who you are, and I hope to discover something new about myself through this adventure.

Stay tuned and follow me as I discover something about myself and the world.

Peace!