So many new things...

There are so many new things going on in my life, and I'm not sure where to start.

Well, let's move down the list from top to bottom, one issue at a time!

--A few weeks ago, I got some exciting news! Well, an exciting package in the mail is more like it. I got my passport back from the Czech Consulate WITH MY VISA IN IT!! That was what made Prague seem real. Up until then, it was all talking on the phone and sending papers, I hadn't really gotten anything back yet saying that I was good to go. I jumped up and down, sent pictures to my dad, mom, and boyfriend with about a million exclamation marks because I was so excited!! Then, after that I finally got to make my payment for the trip, so that was also a really huge and exciting thing... however, the day after I paid there was a giant blip in the radar. I received a call from a woman at CSUMB (my school) saying that there was a hold on my account. Naturally, I asked what it was and she said that the school has a policy against students going abroad without having a semester at that campus under their belt. I was devastated. I had spent a ton of money not even 12 hours before on this and it was coming crashing down on me. I cried for a long time. Chris just sat here with me until my dad got home and we could start to work it out. It threw me off guard because I had asked that exact question multiple times to many different people at CSUMB to make sure I was set. So I emailed my AIFS advisor to see what my options were in terms of the money I'd put down and if I could switch semesters if need be, and she said it was not a problem and to just let her know. That took the worrying part of it away, which just left the really really pissed off part of me. Naturally this all happened on a Friday at 4:30 pm so I couldn't get a hold of anyone until Tuesday since Monday was a holiday. All weekend I agonized over it and tried to figure out all possible scenarios of what I could do. I know that I want to go in the Fall to Prague because winter is my favorite season and I'd love to see the city covered in snow. Basically, if I couldn't go this fall I would go the next fall.

All weekend I waited.

Then on Tuesday, I went down to CSUMB and found out that there is no written formal policy on that topic. I couldn't have been happier!! This was good news and it was starting to look up. Eventually, I had to get a hold of a few deans of different areas of the school and got the okay for an "Exception to Rule" basically. So. Long story short, I was freaking out for a few days and it all ended up being fine in the end! Hopefully this means that it will be that much more special to me because I've had to fight people tooth and nail during the entire process over everything. It hasn't come easy, but now everything is set into motion and I'm crossing my fingers that no other problems come up!


--On June 21st I took a red-eye flight out of San Francisco to Hartford, Connecticut to see one of my best friends, Brittany. She used to live in Monterey but she's from Connecticut so she moved back. I stayed with her and her fiance for a week, and it was a BLAST!! The day I got there, they picked me up from the airport and we went to Cracker Barrel for breakfast (I flew in at 8 am CT time). I had forgotten how much I loved Cracker Barrel from when I used to go with my Grandma Connie. That place is DELICIOUS!! and cheap! Anyway, the rest of the day we just hung out until dinner time, where we went to this place called "Margaritas". They definitely had the BEST margaritas. I had a raspberry margarita and then a "lime in the coconut" margarita. SO DELICIOUS!! Brittany just had two of the lime in the coconut margaritas. Then, on top of all of that, our waiter gave me a free (gigantic!) glass of sangria because Brittany told him I like sangria and apparently their bartender makes it the best. And believe you me, it was by far the best sangria I've ever had. EVER. This was in downtown Mystic (we drove right by Mystic Pizza! There were tons of pictures of Julia Roberts in there too!) which is a really beautiful place. All of Connecticut is beautiful, there are so many trees it's amazing!!

Some of the highlights of my trip:
-Going to Brittany's best friend's wedding! It was gorgeous! It was at Ocean Beach Park in New London.
-Seeing Britt and Lilly (her 1.5 year old daughter!)
-Meeting Britt's fiance for the first time (really nice guy!!)
-Meeting all of Brittany's friends and family that I've heard about for so long
-Going to Mohegan Sun and Foxwoods Casinos and having a BLAST at both!
-Getting the "Swamp Water" drink while at a bbq place in Mohegan Sun. It is a drink in a fishbowl, and it took 3 of us to finish it!
-Trying on bridesmaid dresses for Britt's wedding next Sept!
-just having fun in general!

We were going to go to NYC for a day, but Britt got really sick so we ended up not going to that. Oh well! Life happens, and there is always another time for me to go to NYC!

Just a few other random things going on in my life:

I'm loving being able to take my dog Toby out to the beach and on walks as often as I like, but I hate not having a job. I've been looking for one, but no one wants to hire me for 2 months. In the mean time, I go do work for my mom or dad's office when they need me so that helps to give me a little cash flow.

I'm going to VEGAS for the first time (after turning 21!) on the weekend of July 30th and I can't wait!! I'm going with Chloe, Chloe's sister, and her boyfriend. Were all staying in the same hotel room (which makes it MUCH cheaper for us all!) Were staying at Treasure Island. We'll be driving my car down there (all chipping in for gas) and it's going to be packed to the brim with snacks, bags, BYOB from costco, and food so we don't have to spend all that much there. Works for me! I'm all for saving money if I can. Can't wait though!! It's kind of a belated bday celebration for Chloe and me.

Let's see... I think that's about it. Other than me trying to avoid Target at all costs (I save money that way haha) I don't really do a whole ton during the day. I've started a few projects that I'm going to pick back up next week that should be fun. I'm sanding and staining an electrical wire spool so I can use it for a table, I'm tiling the top of a chest we have, and I'm also going to restain my dining room table so it matches the rest of my furniture. Can't wait to put it all together!