That guy from England

That guy ^^^^^^ He is incredible!!

It's a strange thing dating long distance, it's not something i can really

explain because unless you've done it you probably won't understand!!

We text constantly so we can still go about our day productively and we spend

a few hours a week face to face via Skype so we can feel as connected as possible!!

In 104 days he's going to be landing at DFW airport...

He's going to be in Texas...He's going to be with me :) 

& I am so stinking excited about it!!!

Yesterday we broke our Skype record...It's always been about 2 hours and 45 minutes

or 2 hours and 57 minutes but we finally broke the 3 hour barrier...

3 hours 1 minute and 51 seconds to be precise :) 

he's always telling me how perfect i am and how happy he is that he's found me

which may sound cheesy and corny to everyone but it's as sweet as can be to my ears...

I mean he say's it with an accent.....a british accent!! ;)

so you can't blame me for loving that!!!

Never have i ever met someone who makes me feel this comfortable, 

I'm an awkward girl, like its in my blood..i can't help it

and that's kind of hindered me in past relationships,

but Tom makes me feel like i can snort when i laugh in front of him...

that's kind of a big deal!!!

I like him. A lot!!!

{girly sigh}

-Emily

Calling all Expats!!!

I need your help!!

As most of you know i am working towards grad assistant

for Paris next spring with my school...

I've been in recruiting mode for the last 2 weeks

and as the wheels are turning i'm getting more and more great ideas

on how to show my school that England and Paris and EUROPE in general

are all places you should go for studying abroad!!

I've decided to make a short video to present to my entire student body...

That's like 6,000 students!!!!!

yeeeeeaaaaaa....

What i need from all of my little expat friends is this...

A short video clip of you in your part of the world!
You can stand in a field, or in front of the Eiffel Tower or Big Ben 
or in front of whatever makes your part of the world unique!!
I really need UK and France shots but i'll honestly take whatever you give me!!!

And THEN i need you to say these words to the camera as enthusiastically as possible...

"{You could live HERE!!}"

Maybe do some extravagant arm motions when you say here...

and it doesn't need to be any longer than about 15 seconds..

So since you are fortunate enough to live in an amazing part of the world

I'm hoping, praying, begging for you to share a little blip with me

so i can share it with my peers in hopes that it inspires them

to go off into this big, beautiful world and explore it for themselves!!

If you're interested in helping me please e-mail me at eowens@harding.edu

And please make the subject line read "Expat Video"

So while you're on your next walk through your beautiful foreign city

take a quick moment to document it and send it to me!!

I will love you FOREVER & i'll highlight you in the blog post when i post it!!!!!

 I will post the video in it's entirety once i've finished it!!

Thanks to everyone willing to help me with this!!

ps...if you're not an expat but you're actually from these wonderful places
then i would LOVE footage from you as well!!!
Anything and Everything HELPS :)

-Emily

Emily + 200 college guys = Awkward Sauce

I'm on a mission

A mission to recruit as many people as possible for HUE and HIP

that's England and Paris in regular english!!

These are the two international programs i'm recruiting for

in order for me to get to be grad assistant in Paris next spring...

I could be making flyers and giving away free food...

but i decided to try to reach the masses from pretty early on in the game!!

How am i doing that you might ask????

I'm talking to any and every social club that will listen to me!!

Last night was my first "social club experience"

A social club is the equivalent of a sorority/fraternity 

but since we go to a Private Christian University they are deemed social clubs!!

The first club i decided to talk to was a guys club, TNT as some might know them...

Well I'm pretty shy & sometimes ALWAYS awkward and this club was loud and LARGE!!!!! 

I walk in after they have been calmed down by their president and all of a sudden i realize...

uhhhhhh.....there's like 200 guys in this club...awesome..............

So i shyly walk towards the front while they all bang on desks and holler and shout

encouraging words of wisdom while i take my place at the front of the room...

My first words are.."WOW..there's so many of you"

awkward...

I then give my little speech, i'm continuously being interrupted by their shenanigans...

but you know....It was pretty hilarious!!

They are all super nice guys, probably my favorite guy club on campus...

They were welcoming and fun and energetic....I just wasn't mentally prepared for it!!

I hope that i got the message across to a few of them....

One of my lines was 

"The England trip is basically a trip where you eat a lot of food and storm a lot of castles"

BOOM...that should have captivated at least half of the room right??? 

I hope so...because I really want to go back to Paris!!! 

le sigh...200 boys + one little Emily is a little intimidating

but i think it went really well, and i'm doing it again soon so i need to get used to it!!

My public speaking skills are going to be amazing by the end of this!!

-Emily

Pit Stop Paris

Paris is already a very lavish city, filled with so much fancy history.

One of my FAVORITE time periods is the Belle epoque era!!

Paris was filled with glitz and glamour and people took notice.

Which is how restaurants like this one came to be...

Le bouillon Chartier is a restaraunt that was started in 1896 in Paris France!!

This was prime time in the Belle Epoque era.

Which is why it's most well known by that factor!!!

When you walk through the doors it's almost as if

you were walking into another time period!!

Which happens to be one of my favorite things about Paris,

It's almost frozen in time and that is absolutely amazing!!

Now the restaraunt...

I think when we were there i chickened out...literally!!

I got the chicken and frites {fries}

While other people in my group had some...interesting food!!

Ever heard of beef tartare??? Because i hadn't until Paris..

Did i ever have any.....that would be a NO!!

{Beef tartare is a meat dish made from finely chopped or minced raw beef}

yeaaa...no!!

That's just one of the specialties they serve there!!

They have a lot of options and it's all relatively cheap but with a rich historical atmosphere!!

So if you're in the Paris area and are in need of a neat

place to grab a bite, go here...you will love it!!

It is popular however, but be patient if there is a line,

it's worth every minute!!

-Emily

*Click on photo's to be linked to restaurant site

surprise saturday Skype date!!

Skype date days are always on wednesdays because it's the day 

he get's out of work early and the day i don't have to work... 

but recently we've been getting to Skype wednesday's and saturdays!!!

Yea so this is turning into a two times a week "thing"

and i couldn't be happier about it!!!

I mean look at that face, it's something i could see everyday if it was possible!!

We spent this Skype date talking about the ghost that's in my apartment...

you see, my hairdryer was 10 feet from me and it turned on by itself the other day...

BY ITSELF!!!!!!!!!!

Hello paranormal activity...

ok so maybe i hadn't completely turned it off that morning

like the little button wasn't pushed completely over........

I still blame the ghost...It's more dramatic!!

We also talked a little bit about what we're doing while he's here this summer,

as most of you know he's here for 3 weeks!!!!

I wish i could give more details on everything we are doing, 

but i kind of want to keep it a secret till that time comes.

Let me just tell you...what we are doing is CRAZY and EXCITING!!!

If you guess right in the comments i'll tell you if you're right or wrong ;)

So yea...we had a nice two and a half hour Skype date :)

this is like our 15th or 16th Skype date...which we consider to be real dates

as we're normally eating or drinking something while they are happening!!!

It's all very romantical ;)

have a great Sunday everyone!!!

-Emily

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TEXAS!!!!

Ah Texas, my big beautiful Texas...

Today you are 177 years old!!!

If you've been to Texas you will know the words above...

"The stars at night are big and bright {clap,clap,clap,clap}

DEEP IN THE HEART OF TEXAS" 

these words which i normally sing while sitting at the Rangers ballpark in Arlington

make my little heart swell with pride for my state!!!

I mean we even have our own language

I may be biased but i do firmly believe that Texas is the best state in the world!!!

{Freedom of opinion}

;)

So happy birthday Texas...I am so so grateful to be a part of this great state!!! 

-Emily

Letter Decorating Tutorial

Senior Year in high school i was itching for a job where i didn't have to work for someone...

I really disliked the idea of having a real job for some reason!

So what did i do?? I created my own job..

Because I'm a creative person, and well people like me so it was easy!!

I think i started making these for my dorm room

for my first semester of college. 

I was making them for myself and my future roommate as

a gift for wanting to live with me ;)

So it all started with 2 letters...an E for Emily and an M for Mandie! 

It ended with selling over 150 letters

and making a profit of about $1200

{wowza}

I posted the letters on FB after feeling very proud of myself for creating something fun and cute!!

Then i started getting messages asking me to make these for other people for their dorm rooms.

one thing led to another and I had a small business!!

I sold the letters at $10 a piece because well...a lot of work goes into them

and they are personalized..and i lived at hobby lobby for like a year

while working on these!!

I did everything from Initials to Universities to full names!!

I did this so much that i got involved in the Bazaar my school was putting on!

I ended up selling about 30 letters that day...made around $280 in one day!!

Pretty good for it being a hobby turned business..

Now what you're wanting to know is how i made these...Well since i'm no longer

in the letter making industry i'll share all of my secrets so you can make your own!!

Materials Needed:

Letter{s}

Scrapbook paper

gems

bow/flower/anything you want to use

modge podge

foam brush

Hobby Lobby sells the letters, they are white and normally at the end of an aisle..

retail for 2.99 but you can get them at 50% off every other week which is 

when i went shopping for materials!!

I used scrapbook paper on top of the letters...there is an entire aisle of paper

so there is literally so many patterns you can make...

I also had gems and bows to complete the look...

Now when you start you'll want to lay your paper down

so that the print side is face down...then you'll trace your letter...

MAKE SURE your letter is face down so you see the back 

of the letter when tracing it!!!! 

Trace the letter as close as possible and then cut it out!

Once it is cut you'll lay it on the letter to make sure it covers all regions.

Then take your modge podge and your brush and paint a thin layer of modge podge onto the letter..

then you'll put the paper over the modge podge..try to put it as close to where it needs

to go as possible because it's hard to move after you've set it on..

It takes practice so don't get too upset if it doesn't work the first time...

Then add gems and other frilly things and you'll have your cute letter ready to go!! :)

I hope this helps those of you who have wondered for a while how i did this..

If you have any questions just let me know :)

-Emily