Goodbye Summer, Hello Senior Year!

Summer is just about over and it's finally hitting me that I'm about to return to UNH for my senior year. It seems like I was just moving into my freshman year dorm feeling like I had all the time in the world. A word of advice: enjoy your time at college...it goes by way too quickly.

I've had an amazing summer. Most of my days were spent at good ol' Dunkin Donuts making coffee after coffee after coffee. I've grown to love working at Dunks aside from the whole alarm-going-off-at-3:15am-thing. My co-workers and I have bonded over the many sunrises we've witnessed together. We're all in the early alarm game together.

I had the opportunity to visit my sister and my mom in Florida. Running across the cast parking lot at Magic Kingdom into Laura's arms sobbing is something I'll never forget. I'm so proud of all that she has accomplished. It was the first time in over 6 months that my family was together in the same state and we had an amazing time together.

Senior year is going to be the busiest year of my life. I'll be balancing classes, a 20 hour/week internship, and 2 jobs to pay for well, life. As I'm writing this, I am equal parts excited, stressed, and motivated.

Post graduation, I have absolutely no idea what's going to happen or where I'll be in one year from today. Where will I live? What will I be doing? At this point, everything is up in the air which, surprisingly, isn't scaring me. I have a handful of options bouncing around my mind and I'm excited to see what happens. For the first time in my life, I'm not going to plan out every little detail. Instead, I'm going to sit back, enjoy the ride, and see where life takes me.

I've worked so hard these past few years and I know that no matter where I end up, I'll blossom. 2016 is going to be one heck of a year.

Inspirational Friday/Exciting Announcement: Hey, it's okay to indulge...!!!!

Words can't even describe how excited I am right now! I just booked a trip to Europe after I graduate from college in May!!!!!!! IS THIS REAL LIFE?!?!?!?!?

During my senior year of high school, I was lucky to be one of the 50 students in the class of 2011 that got to spend spring break in Spain. It was an incredible experience and I can remember sitting on an 8 hour bus ride from Barcelona to Madrid and having this epiphany that I needed to travel the world. Ever since I returned from Spain, I've been dreaming of my next overseas adventure.

I thought it would be London for the 2012 Olympics. I had it all planned out. I was going to stay with a host family and walk around London during the hubbub of the Olympic Games. The plans never came to fruition for a multitude of reasons. I put it off assuming that someday, somehow, I'd get to it.

London has been at the top of my travel bucket list for as long as I can remember. I wish I had some impressive reason as to why I want to visit London so badly but I don't. There's just always been something about those red double-decker buses and Big Ben that I'm drawn to. London is the one place that if I never got to visit before I kicked said bucket I would regret it...even from 6 feet under.

Why do we wait so long for the things we desire? We push our dreams aside while we pursue the life we've been taught to live. We go to work, we come home, we eat dinner and go to bed. Indulging feels foreign - wrong, even. We wait for the day when we're successful, rich, and settled before pursuing our most indulgent, selfish dreams.

I began to think about the next 10 years of my life (which has become quite common now that the "real world" starts in less than a year). I realized that after I graduate I'll have loans (#CryingForever), followed by saving for a new car (Jetta Baby isn't going to last forever #DoubleCryingForever), which leads up to purchasing a house (wut). The way my life is going, I won't be in any better a position to travel than I am right now.

Today was filled with signs. If you know me well, you'll know that I look for guiding signs everywhere and in everything. This morning on my 4:30am drive to work, I saw a shooting star. While I was browsing in Barnes and Noble, it seemed as if every book was centered around London or Paris. As I was driving back from my errands, my iPod was a mind reader and played "Now or Never" and that's when I realized: it's now or never,

So, I'm going. London, Paris, and Rome (the top 3 locations on my bucket list in order - another sign) are just under 300 days away. I still can't believe it. At first it felt a little selfish because I'll be putting a lot of money towards this trip and because I'll be travelling alone but I feel like I deserve it. I mean, heck, you only graduate college once. ;)

Here's to self-indulgence and getting to live out 3 of the many Mary-Kate and Ashley movies! Tehehe :)