I've Got A Love Like Woah Woah Oh Oh...

So I have a confession...I'm kinda obsessed with shopping =)

Now, I'm going to Europe and clearly my normal wardrobe just will not do, so naturally I've been on a shopping rampage! AND...it's finals week. And when I get stressed, I get a little OCD. At the end of fall semester I probably had planned out an entire (non-existant) wedding. At the end of spring semester I planned my fraternity's formal. (Yes, I did say fraternity - it's co-ed and is APO. Why did I join you ask...I got lost. That's right, I got lost and ended up in a frat office and met my amazing boyfriend and joined a fraternity. Totally normal.) And now, as the end of summer semester rolls around, I am freaking out about Spain and SHOPPING!!!

In the last week I've gone a little crazy. I've got dresses and shoes and boots and jackets and blazers and skirts and shirts and yeah...

I can't wait until I'm done with school so I can start packing at looking at what I have and what I have yet to get. Ahh!

Oh and I need to get my hair done - it's a mess. I mean...without straightening it, it looks like there is a small fuzzy animal that has taken up residence on my head...I must remember to call for a hair appointment!

But yes, I must go back to studying =/ The history of Latin America and Organic Chemistry are calling...NOT.

 *large sigh*

Sad Face :(

This isn't related to my going abroad, but I had to put one of my cats to sleep today and I feel horrible about it. I feel like I wasn't able to protect him when he needed me and I wish I could have fixed him. But as much as I love him, he couldn't be fixed, as many times as I tried. He was never the cuddly kind of cat, very skittish and always on the move. This morning, he laid in bed with me for a good half hour, not moving, just laid there and cuddled. He's always been my shadow, he would follow me everywhere-in my room, to the bathroom, sit there while I showered, jump in the shower, follow me back to my bedroom. So today, he followed me into the bathroom when I went to brush my teeth and when I was done I just sat on the floor and held him and cried. I felt like I was betraying him when we had to put him in his cat carrier to go to the vet. And driving over, I held him and petted him as he meowed. We sat together and he fell asleep on my lap as the anesthesia kicked in. I told him I was sorry and that I loved him and he had to go play with his brother KiKi. We got home and wrapped him up and stuck pictures in his box so he can always look at us. I'm sorry Trev =( I love you!!

Yup, I'm Freaking Out...

For whatever reason this week it hit me that I'll be leaving soon. In one way I am so excited and I've been talking to some of the other people in the program over Facebook and am really wanting to just be in Spain. But, in a different way I am a complete mess and freaking out. I'm worried that my Spanish won't be good enough. I'm worried about all of the people I am leaving here. My parents, my boyfriend, my grandparents, my kitties, and my puppy. I am so afraid that something will happen while I am gone and that I won't get to spend the time I want with everyone. My dog is old (14 years) and as much as I want her to be around when I get back, I know there's a good possibility that she might not be. If there was a way to guarantee that when I get back all will be as I want it to be, my life would be so much easier and I would feel so much better about going. I'm also still in summer school for another 3 weeks and I'm feeling very crunched for time. I'm trying to focus on getting through my classes, but it is so easy to get distracted by the things I also have to do to get ready for Spain. It's hard to delegate my time and do all of the things I want and need to do =/

I Can't Sleep :(

Ok...so it''s 1am and I'm still awake making lists in my head of all the stuff I need to get done before I go. And my room is a mess, so naturally I will avoid cleaning it by writing a blog about not being able to sleep. Anyway, I'm down to 55 days - 24 of which I am still in school for. (summer school sucks by the way - I'm so very burnt out) I can't wait to have a life again. I've been going to school Monday-Friday and working on Saturdays and Sundays so I can save up some money for traveling, so I have had no time for myself.

But basically here's whats left to do...

• Packing - I've slowly begin shopping for this adventure, but I haven't actually had a chance to throw everything in my suitcase and see what exactly I have and what more I need.
• Doctor Appointments - I think I literally have a doctor's appointment every week until I leave: dentist, doctor, eye doctor, dermatologist...
• I need my visa! - still waiting for my visa and my passport to show back up in the mail...starting to stress that one.
• Find my host family - the way this works, I don't find out anything about my host family until a week before I leave...I want to know now!!
• Some special things for a special person - I've got what I believe is an amazing plan for my boyfriend while I am gone, and I really need to start working on it.
• See my friends and family - I've been so consumed with school that I feel like I haven't really gotten to spend any good amount of time with the people I want to :(
• Figure out how to work iMovie - I don't know why I'm having such a hard time with it, but I need to figure it out, quick!

I'm sure there's more that I'm forgetting, but I really can't think any more... Hmmm.

Let the Countdown Begin!

Countdown to Spain...67 days. That seems like a lot still, but by the time I get done with summer school I'm only going to have 1 month left before I leave. Right now I've just been getting some things organized-I applied for my Visa about a month or two ago, so I'm hoping to see that in the mail soon. Basically I'm waiting. It sucks. I am excited to find out who my host family will be and get to know them, but I don't see that happening any time soon. I'm stressing over clothes and what to buy here and how to pack and what to buy there. And then there is the abundance of doctor appointments that have been made that I need to take care of before heading off. I'm torn- in one way I am scared to death to go, yet at the same time I'm excited and just want it to get here. (Or maybe I'm just ready to be out of summer school!!) Either way...yesterday I started making vlogs on my YouTube channel. (If you aren't subscribed to it you should check that out) Doop...Doop...Doop...back to studying organic I go...

Dear Donald Trump...

So if there's one thing I've learned from this whole process, it's do foreign exchange in high school! There's one more thing to add to my list of things I hate about the American education system-not only do we not require learning other languages from a young age, but schools don't make it known that being and exchange student IS an option. (And you don't even have to know another language for some programs).

Let's say I had done this in high school, it would probably have been about 1/4 of the cost it is now. My tuition for the year is looking to be about $16,000 plus $1000 every month for housing plus books, plus plane tickets, and day-to-day money. It's insane. My student loans and scholarships will cover the tuition money (I hope). So now I am writing to local businesses to help finance some of the costs outside of my tuition (mainly housing).

All I can say is I really hope it works, because god only knows where I'm gonna come up with that much money in 7 months. Hello student debt! Nice to meet you!

Official Acceptance!

I have officially been accepted into my study abroad program! I'm both really excited and really scared. Not necessarily because I'm going to a foreign country, but because I don't know what's going to be happening here while I'm gone. I've been told that Spaniards will appreciate that I am attempting to speak their language and they are overall a very accepting culture, so that should be ok. I figure once I get there I'll start picking the language up pretty fast. Having to think in the language and hearing it all the time will be really helpful. At the same time, I also have to figure out how much I can talk to my family and friends back home. Originally, I had intended on Skyping them once a week, as well as making an update for everyone on YouTube but...I'm gonna need to talk to someone a little more than once a week :) Other than that, I'm excited! I filed all of my housing requests - living with a family, 3 meals a day, non-smoking, don't care if they have pets or kids. Also had to sign a waver that said if I lost any limbs my insurance would pay be a certain percentage of money depending on what limb it was...I'm not sure why I would lose any limbs, I mean maybe if I go run with the bulls but that's not really in my plans...Other than that, there isn't much else I can do now. I'm going to be spending a lot of time trying to collect enough money to pay for this, so that should keep me busy for a long while!