Year in Reflection

This is a long and overdue post - but with all good things comes an end and definitely a new beginning. As I have had plenty of time to reflect on the 2012 year, I am completely astounded with how I have grown. As a person, friend, christian, student and being on this earth. It is incredible seeing how simply one year can completely shape you, build you up, tear you down and overall bring things into perspective.

January/February:
2nd semester freshman year, became a member of Gamma Sigma Phi and WSAJ, Applied to work at Summers Best 2 Weeks - did not get a contract but it was all part of Gods overlying plan

 

March:

Realized how blessed I am by my friends at college, one of my best friends/roomie visited me in the Burgh, Traveled to Tuscon, Arizona for missions trip, Fell in love with Arizona...

April:

Got a job nannying for the summer, Sorority Formal and Spring Party, realized I wanted to minor in studio art

May/June:

Goodbye freshman year of college, began to journey in the life of a Nanny, reunited with some high school and hometown friends, became obsessed with scrap booking, ate far too much Chipotle

July:

New Wilmington Missions Conference - was a high school counselor, applied for their summer service program, visited a close friend in Central PA (first time ever being there!)

August/September:

Said goodbye to the craziest yet best two kids I have ever babysat for, started Sophomore year, went to sheetz a record of 8 times in 1 week, celebrated my 19th birthday with Mexican and great friends

October:

Dressed up like a bro with my favorite ladies, then dressed up as a homeless girl for a $2 Chipotle burrito, enjoyed fall bike rides complete with local coffee, began the crazy journey called Rushing freshman, found out I got summer service and am going to Nepal!

November:

A new freshman friend stayed at my house during Thanksgiving break, Realized how busy I was, Realized how I do not think I can be that busy ever again

 

December: 

FINALS, cherished what I have in my life, came to so many realizations about my faith and my life, did not see one person from high school when I was home for Christmas, Traveled to Atlanta for New Years

Cheers to the year I have had, the struggles I have faces and the joys I have experienced. Let 2013 commence...

Chemistry Overload

Chemistry final tomorrow the the semester begins. Oh man I cannot even handle it. I cannot even explain how excited I am to be done with this class. Through my school I took this class as a two week "intersession" class where we have 4 hour classes (and 2 hour labs) where you get pounded with information and simply hash it out on a midterm and final. To put it plainly, it has been quite the marathon. However the fact I am done with the class tomorrow brings me so much joy. Being on campus with so little people has actually been kind of incredible. It is awesome just being able to hang out in a more relaxed environment, develop so many new friendships and get close to a small group of people that are here. The term "blessings in disguise" accurately sums it up.

I cannot even believe second semester starts Monday. The way time passes and life changes astounds me.

Things I am looking forward to in the this semester:

• ICO Arizona trip (round 2!)
• 2 Comm classes - one of them being all about visual design!
• Sculpture - be prepared for a picture of a bust on the blog in May
• Pledge and the new additions to the Sorority
• Seeing how God continually works in my life and shapes me
• NEPAL (for those of you confused, I am posting on this soon)
• Being Program Director for the radio station and really building the program up
• Figuring out more of what exactly I want to do with my life
• All of the photos that will be taken this semester

I am off to cram 2 weeks of Chemistry content for a two hour exam. Here we go...

DIY Looms (Kaitlyn edition!)

With all the craziness of the holiday season and trying to finish up some of my own crafts while studying for finals, I have not been able to work on any projects you have not see yet! With that being said, one of the blessings of living on a Sorority hall is that you are bound to find one or two crafty girls around. Luckily I did not just find a crafty girl, but one who has her own make up tip blog (check out Kaitlyn's blog here!). She created this great craft that is simple yet looks great (plus I have been eyeing it up for the past month!).

Things you need:

• Cross stitch holder (all sizes work!) - can be found at any craft store
• String (you can get the low quality kind! A more stiff string works better)

The directions are so straightforward I barely have to write them down. Take your string, wrap it around the holders, then hang them up. Easy, simple yet so crafty and so chic!

DIY: Dorm Christmas!

One of the biggest struggles with being at college is being away from home during the holidays. I love seeing my house get beautifully decorated, listening to Christmas music and being surrounded by my family. While I cannot bring my immediate family to college, I find that decorating the dorm is a great way to get into the spirit of the season! Here are some tips, tricks and maybe even some new ideas to decorate!

Get your own tree! A mini tree is perfect because it does not take up that much space yet you can still go all out with lights and ornaments. Why not try something different than a classic green tree (like Kaitlyn's pink tree) to spice things up even more?

Another great DIY activity is making your own ornaments. At any craft store you can purchase ball ornaments that you can open up and fill with your own ideas. I filled one with tinsel and a gold snowflake yet the other with gold balls. Both very different looks, but both look great on the tree. Glue ribbon around to further complete the look and finish with a big bow on top and string to dangle your ornament.

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My room mate made the ball pictured below. She took a plain ornament from Salvation Army and completely covered it in multi-colored glitter to give it a cool, yet different effect. Do not be afraid to experiment and make every ornament your own! The more personalized they are the more your tree will feel like one from home.

The ever classic snowflake - a college DIY'ers dream. Simple, essentially cost free and is open to so many different creative elements. This is one of my favorite tutorials on how to make a 6-pointed snowflake. Simple and easy! Try making some with scrap booking paper, or better yet outline them in glitter to really make the snowflakes stand out. 

Be as creative as you can be and have the best holiday season during finals! 

DIY Dry Erase Board/Calender 2.0

As I continue to embark on my effort to not break my budget with Christmas presents, I am finding more and more creative ways to give people cute organization tools that are so useful! A few months ago you saw me create my DIY Calender using paint chips to create an easy dry erase board to organize dates and my monthly schedule. I am participating in a secret Santa exchange and in addition one of my best friends is transferring after this semester. Both of them are very much type A personalities who LOVE organization and creativity, so whats not better than revamping my previous calender?

Things you need: 

• Scrap booking paper
• Frame (I bought mine from salvo and spray painted them!)
• Card stock or paper to use as background of the calender itself
• Screwdriver or flat tool to help you pry open the calender

For my DIY Calender 2.0: I wanted to make more of a weekly calender but with the addition of a space for a to do list/notes of important activities! You are free to cut the scrap booking paper to however you see fit and however you want to style your calender. Make sure to not forgot to write labels for each space though!

For the DIY Dry Erase Board: This project is honestly even simpler than the calender because you can just use one large sheet of paper! However be weary - depending on the dimensions of your calender you may run into the problem of your whole sheet being unable to fit. Simple solution - mix papers! Cut different shapes to position the paper in a slight collage way to not just fill up space but section off your white board.

With the holiday season here, do not let your budget ruin you from creating fantastic gifts for your family and friends!