Oopsies

So much for writing every day...
Sadly, life & the stresses of undergrad caught up to me
But here's a picture slideshow of what I've done the past few months!

 I went to DAYGLOW, a ridiculous rave where they toss paint at you

Turned 21!

Added a new "staple" to my fashion closet

Introduced my friends to the joy of Pimms

Enjoyed some awesome bluegrass music

Hung out with my birth dad on his birthday

Met with executives for Strategic Trade Controls

Spent Spring Break with my CITS Family in DC

Visited Washington DC and fell in love

Hung out with the best kids ever! (see next caption to understand)

These are the CISV kids I'm taking to Indonesia in June!

Enjoyed lazy days in the BEAUTIFUL Athens, GA

As well as a few rainy days

Watched over 40 foreign delegates take Walmart by storm

And took the delegates to experience Athens, GA

Enjoyed a wonderful Naked and Famous concert

And got to meet the band! AHH!!

Dyed Easter Eggs with my brothers!

Had a few family weekends

Hung out with my little & baby brothers

And went to my baby brother's christening

Worked at the UGArden with Campus Kitchens

Helped lead the Campus Kitchen Project get an award!

And spent a relaxing weekend at the lake with my favorite CITS people

All in all, it's been one of the best semesters of my college career. 

You can see why I haven't blogged for a while... 

But I hope to do better and then blog A LOT when I leave for South Africa

 (ONLY 25 DAYS!!!!)

Fleeting Wishes

You probably don't know me, but I'm rather fond of liminality

being in-limbo, -transit, -between

I like the ambience of the airport, 

watching planes fly above the treetops, 

wondering where everyone is off to..

Kind-of like jumping off a cliff

Anticipating the splash into the waves

With many of my friends galavanting around foreign places,

my mind wanders to dreams of visiting a far-off corner of the world...

but as my wallet tightens (or should I say, deflates) 

I may just settle for some skipping across the pond

Paris in springtime?

England again, maybe?

Jump on a train to Bath or Sussex, 

Bike the streets of Oxford once more...

One of my good friends (and sorority sister) is spending the semester in Oxford

This love lady (pictured here)

Is studying at Regents Park, a college within Oxford University.

Hopefully we'll expand our photo-board settings from Hilton Head & the backcountry of Alabama

to the beautiful English country side. 

Backpacking here I come, maybe? 

One can dream!

*Please note, I do not take credit for all of the photos in this post. I am not trying to steal anything & if I could figure out how to connect a link to a photo, I would!*

Starting Fresh

This past week was the beginning of classes. 

I'm looking forward to my schedule for Spring,

I have 2 Women's Studies classes,

(Women's History & Black Feminism)

Which I will hope will open my mind 

and stretch my comfort zone.

Haa, the women's "movement"

In relation to Women's Studies, 

I was surprised to find out that a paper I wrote was accepted to 

SEWSA 2012 the SouthEastern Women's Studies Association conference.

It blows my mind that I was selected to present here..

In front of people who study and make a living off of Women's & Gender studies.

I'm honored and impatiently awaiting my departure to the wonderful Washington DC.

More to come about my paper topic 

(Which appeals to a large part of women, I hope)

Anywayssss

I'm also taking two International Affairs classes

East Asian Political Systems

(China, Japan, Korea mainly)

and drum roll please

A practicum called Methods and Issues in Security Studies

Basically, I'm learning research methods so next fall

I get to work with the Center for International Trade and Security.

Needless to say, I'm very excited. 

It's going to be an interesting, yet hard semester

and I'm looking forward to every minute of it!

Hello 2012

As is tradition, 

I've decided to come up with a few

 New Years Resolutions.

Resolution Number One:

Blog every week.

I'm going to try my best,

So I've imported & combined my two blogs. 

This should be fun!

Anyway,

Here's to a new(ish), improved blog.

I'm still learning about the blogosphere, 

therefore any comments, hints, tricks, or advice

is greatly appreciated. 

New Travels

As always, I am in the search of an amazing trip to a foreign place. One of my life goals is to visit all 7 continents before I turn 50. Well, this upcoming summer I have the opportunity to visit TWO new continents: Africa & Asia. 

AFRICA

That's right, I'm traveling to South Africa (Stallenbosh, in particular) to study for 6 weeks! I get to participate in two service-learning courses (shout out to the Office of Service-Learning!) and I'll get to work with children in the creches (mini daycares) in the neighboring community of Kayamandi. Our group will visit several tourist attractions in South Africa, and we get to go on a SAFARI!!! in Botswana & we also get to visit Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe! I am beyond excited for this trip & I can't wait for May to get here so I'll be able to jump on a plane across the Atlantic once again!

ASIA

My next trip (about 10 or 11 days after I return from South Africa) will be to the amazing country of Indonesia! I am now working with the organization CISV as an adult leader (yeah, I'm now considered an adult.. Which is terrifying!) for their Village program. I'll be accompanying four 11 year old children across the Pacific to Krakatau, Indonesia for 4 whole weeks. My delegates (2 boys and 2 girls) are amazing children and I cannot wait to watch them grow and encounter the world around them. I'll be posting updates as they come =)  

Sunday's Sentiments

I feel so...Thankful.

Today was much needed. 

The afternoon was spent driving through the Georgian countryside, next to one of my life-long best friends. 

it was time to roll the windows down, turn the radio up, & let the wind blow through our hair.

Although we no longer have sleep overs every Saturday, and go months without speaking due to conflicting schedules and time zones...

whenever we are reunited, it's just like old times.  

She always reminds me to never regret, and always push forward.
I wonder if she'll ever know how much she truly means to me. 

So today, I feel thankful. 

Thankful for the friendships that mean the world, and that withstand the tests of time.

Thankful to know that someone, somewhere, will always believe in me.

Thankful that we've come this far

and we still have somewhere to call home.

Fresh Start; New Beginnings

Travelling this summer inspired me to take my time, relax, and enjoy life. Hopefully this blog will provide an outlet to this crazy thing we call life.