Leaving in the morning

Guess who has to get up at 4 am to make their flight? Yeah, you probably guessed right... it's ME! When you're trying to coordinate a flight with a second person and you both want specific things in a flight, sometimes you have to get up early. I don't mind though, cuz I'm going to EUROPE! I think I might be a little excited...but I think I'm ready.
-Suitcase under 40 lbs, CHECK
-Carry-on with a set of clothes (in case they loose my bag), CHECK
-Backpack with munchies, CHECK
-Fully charged camera and iPod, CHECK
-Passport, CHECK

What else does a girl need? Nothing I tell you!

I'm not sure what the internet situation will be like in Edinburgh (the first city) but I know that there are lots of internet cafes in London, so worst case scenario would be that my next post happens a week from tomorrow. Hopefully it will be sooner, so talk to you then!

Almost there!

Here I am, entering my last week before the trip and I'm getting quite anxious. There seem to be dozens of things to do and I'm praying that I actually remember them! On the bright side I have some fun plans for the next few days! Tomorrow I'm meeting a friend from school, Karly, at a huge mall here in So. Cal. to finish picking up a few things and enjoy some girl time shopping! It's been weeks since I've been with friends... Oh the joys of being home for the summer! ;) And on Friday we're hitting the beach for her birthday! I've kind of been lacking on beach attendance considering that I've been home since May and this will be my first time out!

I finally got a definite itinerary for my trip, so I used a map and plotted out the cities I'll be visiting!
Anyways, I've just got to finish up a few more quizzes from the International Business textbook and I'm done with the pre-trip homework (finally)!

Baking fun!

So I figured it's about time for another post... This week has been rather busy so far (compared to the past few). I've started picking up the random little things that I need to take on my trip like extra hair pins, mini cans of hairspray, toothpaste, a power converter, dress pants... you know, all the fun stuff! ;) I've also started running over my packing plan to make sure that I eliminate all the things that I most likely wont need so that I have room to pack stuff I get while I'm there. I decided to go see Les Miserables with a group of people while I'm in London! I've never seen it, so that's pretty exciting.

This week has been full of good food too! On Sunday I made Matt and Dad their favorite cookies, and Tuesday Dad made Persian food. Tonight we had the missionaries over for dinner and I made chicken tacos with rice and beans. Then for dessert I used a new recipe to make some really fudgy brownies which were super rich, so I swirled in some lightly sweetened all natural peanut butter to almost made them healthy! These boys better miss me when I'm gone!

Birthday Weekend

So this past weekend I turned the big 2-0! It's a weird feeling... I think I'll just stay at 20 for a while. Besides, everyone always wishes they were 20 again, so if I just stay here then I'll never have to worry about it! I've never been a very big fan of birthdays because I hate planning a party for myself and so my family usually decides to do some sort of surprise. I've had about 6 or 7 "unplanned" parties in my life. But this year was great! No unexpected big deal party, I didn't have to get dressed up or deal with a bunch of people I didn't care to be with on my birthday. I just went to church, spent time with my dad and brother and got to talk to my friends on the phone. Dad made me a great dinner and I got to watch the first episode to the new season of The Next Food Network Star! Oh yeah and I got to eat cake! Honestly, nothing could have been better except maybe having my besties around, but they are all so far away... :( So talking to them was great!

I love having a break from school in the summer, but I really miss the lifestyle of college life. I'm really excited for my trip and to go back to school in the fall. I'm like in love with the apartment that I'll be moving into because it's unbelievably close to campus and not sharing a room anymore will be tons of fun! I want to decorate it really cute and I have a few fun ideas, but I'm waiting to hear back from the management company to see if there is any possibility for me to paint the walls. I doubt they will let me, but it's worth a try!!! I'll let you know how it goes!

Welcome

So this is my first blog EVER! I will never be one of those people that writes everyday about every little thing, but I'll try my best while I'm in Europe to include all the fun and important stuff! I'll also try my best to include pictures!!! But no promises... [I may not be able to figure it out ;) ]

Right now I'm just enjoying my time at home with Matt and Dad. Having family dinners and going to the movies together. Matt will be graduating from high school next week and as the family tradition follows, Grandma made Matt a quilt for graduation. But she hasn't been feeling very well lately, so today I finished working the edges and it's all ready to be wrapped for graduation!

I have my packing list all ready for my trip and I am working on making a list of things I want to see and do while in Europe, so if you think of anything, let me know!