No Sophomore slump here

Oh Sophomore year...where to begin?

I had to go potluck on roommates since i gave mine up

the previous year since i thought i was leaving...

So...i'm feeling good about it, it can't be too bad right??

hmmmm judging by this dividing curtain i installed in the dorm room

i'd say it didn't really work out very well.

Yes...the curtain could be pulled all the way across...

And it was pulled...often...

Dear sweet roomie from Fall semester sophomore year,

If you are reading this then please know i have no ill will towards you.

But you need to get control over your alarm in the mornings.

One way to poke the bear inside of me is to sleep through your alarm.

Especially when said alarm is the Pokemon theme song/office theme song.

I wanted to chop my ears off and throw them at you every morning.

moving on...

Sophomore year was pretty awesome.

I made a lot of new friends and opened myself up to new experiences.

Experiences like sleeping outside.

That one time I decided to go on a "mission weekend" thingy

instead of writing a paper over a book.

Spoiler Alert: It was AWFUL!

I'm not cut out for the mission field.

We slept in that hut in the above picture.

hmmm no thanks.

I left after one night ;)

Another experience I had Sophomore year was my first JOB.

It was at a little bakery in my town called Cutie Cakes.

I had no idea what i was doing and i was petrified of the cash register.

The Lady who owned it was awesome though, such a fun first job!!

I also decided to be more outgoing...bleh...

I'd much rather spend every night of the week cuddled up

on the couch watching a movie with some snacks 

but apparently there is this whole thing about making friends

and having experiences and blahh blah blah...

So i got out there...and I had fun...

I made some of my best friends in my Sophomore year.

Ms. Samantha who you'll see in most pictures from now on

was a freshman in my Elementary Stats class.

We sat together and became fast friends.

She became my roommate the following semester

and we've been roomies ever since.

I fled my fall semester roommate and moved in with Sam the following Semester.

This was our little dorm setup :) No dividing curtain here!!

You may be wondering why we're dressed so weird in the above photos.

Well that's Spring sing. It's a student produced musical extravaganza thingy...

I did it once and i'm glad i did it and

I will never ever do it again ;)

Sophomore year is also when i started looking into Business.

Up until then i was really just kind of waiting for a major to jump out at me.

But right out of high school i started making these letters for people.

I made a lot of them, well over 100 and made over $1,000 in sales.

So you could say i had the business bug in me long before i knew it.

Spring of Sophomore year was when i started getting

into more business classes which is obviously where i've stayed.

Once i got into the business stuff i really found myself.

I was comfortable where i was and everything i had been 

scared of from Freshman year just floated away.

I found my calling and it has all worked out 

so well since then.

Sophomore year was really the beginning 

of my "College Experience"

I'm just so glad i went back and gave it a chance.

Junior year + Paris on the blog tomorrow!! :)

Have a great Tuesday!!

-Em

August 2009 - Year 1 {The angry year}

So because i'm graduating Saturday

I think it would be fun to take you year 

by year through the ups and the DOWNS

of my "College Experience"

It will be fun, i promise.

The first half has no Tom but 

the second half does so stay with me ;)

I was terrified that i was going to have to

go back into the Myspace Vault to find pictures

from Freshman year but thank goodness that was all

Pre 2009 Emily....and it wasn't pretty...at all...

Anyways...

I'm looking through pictures from 2009

and lets just say i'm thankful i've come a looooong

way since that year ;)

I'll start at the beginning...

I go to school where i go because of Family.

It's one of those...my mom, dad, cousins, aunts and uncles went here kind of thing.

So all through my life i knew where i was headed.

I didn't really even give other schools a chance.

So when i was accepted into my University in December of 2008

I was the happiest Senior in the High School halls.

{Right before graduation}

Flash forward to August 2009

when i had just finished my first day of classes at my University. 

After class i picked up the phone called my mom and dad

and yelled "I hate you" at both of them for...a while

for leaving me in this God forsaken place...

yupppp, that's how well i adjusted.

I threatened to sign myself out of school.

To leave all of my classes.

Heck, i was basically already packing.

I'm not even sure why i hated it so much.

I knew my freshman Bio class was going to slaughter me.

No really, i was dead before i even walked through the door.

Cells, bacteria...hmmm how about I.Dont.Care...

I'm a business student so clearly science was 

not ever going to be my strong suit.

I knew day one that college was too hard.

I was not prepared for this level of work

and i sure was not prepared to be this far away

from all of the people i know.

I was alone and life was rough.

My parents told me i had to stick it out till mid semester.

hmph...ok...if i must.

I ended up sticking it out till the end of Freshman year.

Mostly because i didn't want to transfer in December.

I was WAY too lazy to do that.

So in May of 2010 i said "see ya nevaahhh"

to this school that i'm graduating from on Saturday.

Yea....you see how i stuck to my guns ;)

I was under the impression that i was never returning

so i did the smart thing and skipped signing up for classes

and my roommate found someone else.

Once i got home i was on a mission

to find that perfect school.

Here's how that went.

"Oh this school is nice...but"

"Oh i like this program...but"

"What a pretty school...but"

"They're all nice...but they're just not like {my current school}

There i was comparing my new choices to the school i left.

Yeeeaaaa...

So after that first week home

and after looking at about 10 different

schools I decided that I was so dumb.

What's that saying...it's not until you lose 

something that you realize how good it was...or something like that.

I hated {my current school} because it was so far from home.

I had friends but I still didn't feel like i belonged.

But it wasn't until i got home that i realized

being away from home wasn't the end of the world.

In fact it was a challenge that i clearly needed to break through.

So what did i do?

I signed up for classes at the school

i said "see ya nevaaahhh" to.

I found a new roommate {Potluck}

and i felt relieved to be going back.

I'm such a strange girl sometimes.

But honestly that first year of school was

something that i really needed.

Never in my life had i had to really do something on my own.

I fought like a champ in the beginning to be lame and run away from

the things that scared me but in the end i stuck with it.

And now i'm graduating on saturday.

Zetus lapetus!!

{My Freshman Dorm Room}

Please stop judging me for twilight

And yes that is a price is right sticker.

Been there, done that.

Towards the end of freshman year i was actually 

enjoying myself, but i still wanted out of there.

You'll be happy to know it got a lot better.

But i'll share more of the "good times" tomorrow!!

-Em

Nostalgic or not-stalgic...

This time next week i will be all graduated.

No more school for this girl, hello adult land.

I'm happy that i'll always be learning

even if it's not in a class setting but the days of book reports

and scantron tests are almost over.

So you might be wondering...

"how are you feeling about graduating in a week Emily??"

Well...I feel great.

I have been in college for 4 and a half years now

and it's time to move on from this place

and go on some new adventures.

So many people are feeling nostalgic this week.

Moving on from the norm, from school, from friends is hard.

But i'm really just not feeling that...Is that bad?

Should i be more emotional about the end of my college career?

I think while everyone is looking at this week as the end

i'm kind of looking at it as the beginning.

Just because you graduate does not mean you can

never visit your school again or see those special friends again.

More than likely the friends you want to stay connected with after school

will want to stay connected just as badly...

And you will find a way.

It's not hard to stay connected it just takes effort.

So i'm not nostalgic because i'm not losing anything.

Things are just changing.

As they should!!

Plus it might have something to do with the fact that

after graduation i am going on an adventure.

Maybe that's why i'm really not that concerned

with this whole graduation thing.

There's just way too much to be excited about.

Really everyone graduating has an adventure they're about to embark on

whether it's a big adult job or just trying to move out of mom and dads house.

We all have things to be excited about.

Soak this last week in  but don't forget that

you're not losing anything, things are just changing.

And i think we can all agree that one thing we all want to lose is the ice.

Holy moly it is icy out there...i don't even want to leave my apartment!!

It is however...real pretty...but that's all i like about it ;)

       

I'm sure as next Saturday gets closer the nostalgia may present itself a little bit

but as of right now i'm ready to move forward, it's exciting and

there are so many possibilities out there!!! :)

Hope you all have a safe warm weekend!

-Em

A tomily video :)

I enjoy throwing pictures, video and music together

to create fun videos like this one below.

I think it's neat to compile it all in one place so you can see

 the progression of Tomily in a short video :)       

It kind of gives me chills when i watch it.

Not because it's that good of a video but because

it's neat watching Tomily from where we started a year ago

just skyping the days away to where we are now

flying back and forth to see each other :)

I wasn't planning on making this but it just kind of happened

and i'm glad it did because i think it turned out so good :)

           

I hope those of you in the ice storms path are staying safe and warm.

I'm hoping for no school but who knows i could wake up and it will be 70 

degrees outside ;) Southern states are crazzyyy!!

Have a great weekend :)

-Em

Etsy Success!!

I am having a blast making stuff through Etsy.

I've had 13 sales and i know that's not really that many

but it is still really really exciting to a girl who's

trying to raise money for a 5 month stay in England ;)

Every time i make a new canvas i decide its my new favorite.

I wish i could make these all day long, they're so pretty and fun to put together.

If you want to stop by my little shop just go {here}

All i am making currently is the canvases and feather garlands :)

But those two items are enough for now since i've

got a pretty busy life at the moment.

I graduate next Saturday...from College...

And my last day of class is tomorrow...

And it might get cancelled because of snow

which kind of makes me feel cheated in a way.

It's funny though...i never felt cheated when i skipped on purpose ;)

But now that it's my last day i kind of want to go...you know...

This is going to be an interesting weekend.

Y'all stay warm and dry.

-Em

Where would you go?

If spending the next five months in England with Tom

wasn't exciting enough, we are also planning

on going on a few trips while i'm there.

These will most likely be small trips 

to amazing places.

We like to stay on the cheap because well..

we've got lot's of expensive things going on.

When we go on a trip it will probably 

only be for a few days, enough time to see the sights

and get back in time for Tom to go to work.

We're definitely thinking Paris,

We've both been there, we both enjoyed it

and so we think it would be a sweet spot

to head back to together.

We've also discussed a trip to Germany.

I'd LOVE to travel to all of the different castles in Germany.

And Germany was one of Tom's favorite places when he 

backpacked through Europe a few years ago.

And this one isn't one i've talked over with Tom

but i've always had a fascination with Amsterdam. 

 It just seems like the cutest town.

I'd love to go there.

Truth is i'd love to go to a lot of places, problem is money.

But that's not really a problem at all because

even if we weren't able to afford any of these places

we're still in the UK and the UK has TONS to offer.

So what are some amazing yet affordable places that you have visited

in Europe or the UK that you would suggest we look into??

Leave a comment and share your favorite places!! :)

-Em

Freddos and a skype date

It's strange that i'm posting a blog about chocolate.

But not just any chocolate.

THE Freddo...

The magical candy made by a wizard

that has changed my life forever.

It's a little chocolate bar in the shape of a frog

that does this whole pop rocks thing in your mouth.

And it's crazy and amazing and just really addicting.

In fact on the last day i was in England Tom took me to 

a little shop at the top of his road and i bought 10 of them.

I'm having constant regrets that i didn't get the whole box.

They sell them on Amazon if you're interested...

That is all...

Tom and I had our first skype yesterday 

after seeing each other for a week.

It was awful.

I haven't been too weepy about leaving because i know i'll be back

but seeing his cute British face just sitting there looking at

me and not being about to reach out and hug him was hard.

It's always hard right after we're separated

but it will get easier and then before i know it i'll be back.

Jet lag has taken me captive.

I woke up yesterday at 5:45am and didn't really go back to sleep.

I also was asleep by 9pm on Sunday night so it made sense to wake

up so early the next morning.

I know i'll be good after a few days being back

but right now i'm just exhausted.

It's supposed to get frigidly cold this weekend.

Like sleet/snow cold and that means there is a possibility that

my classes will get cancelled Friday leaving me to nap

all day long and dream of Tom and Freddo's.

And that's my life folks...

have a wonderful Tuesday :)