*Early* New Years Resolutions

I never have New Years Resolution. I hate them. They are basically a list of things that I will most likely never accomplish.

But not this year.

Here are 8 things that I would LOVE to do in 2012:

1. Cook 50 new recipes and add them to my cookbook.
2. Learn to drive a stick shift.
3. Read 4 books on my shelf that I've never touched before.
4. Go skydiving. (21st birthday, maybe??)
5. Run a half-marathon.
6. Make a music video.
7. Make plans for flight school.
8. Read the entire bible.

A few of these are some of the same goals I had this year, but obviously I was too lazy and they didn't get accomplished. The thought of only a year and a half left of school has left me excited and hopeful for what my future holds but also makes me realize all of the things that I still want to do while in college. Thoughts of living in a big city are quickly becoming more of a reality than a dream. And my plans for China this summer are coming to life! This next year is sure to be a whirlwind. And I'm ready for the ride.

Look out China, here I come!

After my trip to Taiwan, I was genuinely glad to be back in America and thought I would be happy staying in the States for a very long time. But after thinking about the goals that I want to accomplish in the future, I decided that going abroad again would be the best decision. After spending many MANY hours researching and studying up on all of the many programs out there, I think I have found the one. Thank you to the MSU Study Abroad office for being so helpful and patient with all of my questions. I could not be more excited about this trip. Because I still need an internship to complete my degree, I have decided to try to get an internship in China! I have started the application process with a company called GlobaLinks that will hopefully find the perfect company for me to internship with. It can take anywhere from 4 to 8 weeks to find a company that I will be a good fit. This time I will not let culture shock take a hold and deter me from experiencing everything that I can in China. I am looking forward to exploring on my own and seeing everything that China has to offer. I will be gone for 10 weeks this summer, interning and traveling around China.

I always said that if I ever got the opportunity to travel back to Asia, I would go to Hong Kong. So, we will see! Some things on my list of places to see include The Great Wall of China, The Forbidden City in Beijing, the water town of Zhujiajiao, and ride the Shanghai Maglev, which is the fastest train in the world! I will be by myself in Shanghai and will not know anyone. Please start praying that I quickly make friends through my internship and through my living arrangements. May 28th is the day and is quickly approaching. More to come soon!

I have always heard...

everyone talk about how fast life goes the older you get.

I don't think i really believed that until this semester. I don't know if you all are keeping tracking of the timeline that is my life BUT I have almost finished my sophomore year of college. SOPHOMORE YEAR!!! This means that, Lord willing, I will have 2 more years of college to go (and I will even be graduating a year early for my major if all goes as planned!). What a scary thought. I will also be 20 years old in exactly 13 days which is exciting because it will mean that my mother will no longer have 4 kids in their teens which means that the days of her having moody children hopefully for her are quickly going.

Anyways, it is almost the end of the spring semester and entirely too much has happened. Where shall I begin...? Let's start with ROTC. I am 100% positive that ROTC is not the right life decision for me. I think that deciding to do ROTC was one of the best decisions that I have ever made. Not only did I realize how different things really are in the Army, but it has helped shape my ambitions for the future. Even though ROTC is not for me, I have the utmost respect for the people who choose to go through the program. It has been challenging for me on so many levels. Although i could not be more happy to see the last days of 5am wake up calls from my ROTC comrade, Sarah, rapidly approaching, I am sad to see the early morning hours of bonding time with my fellow cadets quickly leaving. I will say that through ROTC I have experienced a bond between strangers like no other. I have one last PT test to take this Friday and a military ball to attend, then I will be done with ROTC forever.

Lets move on to International Business. I am now a MSU College of Business Ambassador. It is something I applied for on a whim and it has turned out to be one of the best things that I could have done. I have been able to meet influential MSU alumni and see how the behind the scenes of the College of Business works. I am also the intern for the youth group of the church that i have become an associate member of. I work with a guy who graduated from MSU last year. This youth group consists of about 6 boys about 8th grade and 1 girl in high school who I meet with one on one through out the weeks. VERY different from what I am used to at Southwood. But just as fun. We are going to paint our youth room and plan for fun events for this summer. I have loved every second of this and will hopefully be able to continue working with the youth until i graduate! This summer, I will remain in Starkville and I will be a server for a restaurant called the Veranda. I will continue to work there throughout the school year. I am very excited about this new job opportunity!

My grades are good and all is well with friends. I am involved in way too many things, I am entirely to busy all the time, and I am constantly tired, but I wouldn't have it any other way.

Clean Apartment

It's been a while since I last updated, so I figured now was a good time to catch you* up on my life. Last semester ended in a whirlwind of emotions ranging from "am I going to pass my classes this semester" to "I just need to get home" to "am I ever going to be able to get this apartment clean?" to "WHEN IS 5:30AM PT GOING TO END". It's been a long, and hard semester full of many trials and really difficult things, but it has also been a wonderful semester full of good memories and time spent with great friends.

In the end, my grades turned out just how I needed them to. Maybe not the very best I could have done, but not terrible either. I had a lot on my plate last semester but I wouldn't have traded it for anything. I would much rather experience college and do everything that I want to while I'm here than do nothing and make all A's. HOWEVER, this semester the goal is to have both- do everything that I want to do AND make all A's. That's the plan, I'll keep you posted on the progress. This semester is full of goals that I want to accomplish. This is the semester of learning Life Skills. Yes, Life Skills. The ones you need in order to be a good wife, like playing guitar, and cooking hahaha Since I can't cook or play guitar at all, this will be a challenge. But I'm up for it.

So, it's January 2, 2011. I am already back at my apartment eagerly awaiting the start of classes and the beginning of a new semester where I can meet new people and begin the quest of accomplishing all of my goals. My room and apartment is probably cleaner than it will ever be again but that's ok because I don't think I can live in a room thats spotless anyways. Well I'm off to sell books back and buy some new ones. Hopefully I'll update sooner rather than later next time.

*assuming that someone other than my mother** is actually going to read this **Mom, I've very glad that you read my blog