Jennifer Alexandria Photography

here i sit on a saturday night pondering what the next nine months of my life will look like. i move to USC this week. a new chapter of life will begin. the twenty-four hours that construct each day will be permeated with classes to attend, deadlines to meet, and social events and clubs to take part in. in the midst of this constant schedule i hope to make each day count. for Christ. for those around me. & for myself, so that at the end of the day Christ will be honored and so that i will be filled with the joy He provides. during this venture i will be majoring in International Relations (Global Business). i hope to work and study my hardest in every class so that I can apply these skills to a career one day. i hope to obtain an internship within the year. i hope to study abroad. i hope to build life-long friendships. i hope to maintain tight-knit relationships with those that i love already. i hope to give my all in every circumstance.

so friends, i leave you with this, not knowing when the next time i will write or update this blog.

fight on!

My best friend and I were lucky enough to get to go to the east coast over spring break. Her aunt Valerie lives in Providence, Rhode Island, which I loved instantly. She was gracious enough to not only open up her home to us, but to make us delightfully appetizing meals (Jacqueline too!) and take us on fun little outings. The plan for our first day was to take a day to drive through Cape Cod. In honor of Stacey's birthday, Valerie surprised us by giving us a night at a resort on the Cape. We had so much fun walking through quaint villages, seeing the beautiful beaches, and eating delicious food. When we woke up the second day it was raining and we stumbled upon the cutest little diner that served fresh, hand-cut donuts. I mean c'mon...rain and donuts. If you know me you know it doesn't get much better than that.

The next day Stace and I explored the charming college town of Providence. Brown University was the most picturesque campus I have yet to walk through. That day we also got to visit Valerie's work at NBC studios. It was so cool seeing the news being recorded!

Then it was off to Boston, where I fell in love again. Honestly, I don't know what it is about that city that I adore so much. It's just great. The following morning we were up bright and early to catch our three hour train ride into the Big Apple. Our first stops included the You've Got Mail locations such as Kathleen Kelly's apartment and the cafe where Joe Fox and Kathleen are supposed to meet for the first time. Of course I wouldn't go to New York without doing this :) I think we must have walked at least 5 miles that day because we started on the Upper West Side, walked through Central Park and ended up at our hotel in Times Square about seven hours later. It was totally worth it seeing the city that way though. To top off the day the frozen hot chocolate at Serendipity lived up to its hype. On Friday we went to Greenwhich Village and shopped in SoHo. While enjoying the sun and sipping the best lattes of the whole trip in Washington Square Park, a really talented jazz band happened to be performing. That moment was probably my favorite of New York.

Back in Rhode Island on our last day, Valerie drove us through the farm land in Rhode Island to eat a delicious breakfast at a little restaurant in an old barn. The drive reminded me of Ireland. I want to go back.

Anyways, I'm going to stop here because I could go on and on but I'd be surprised if anyone read this much.

Day 1: Valerie's home