My Favorite Things

It's the happiest time of the year! Here are my top ten favorite things this year:

1. Christmas Music- I especially love radio stations that play nothing but holiday favorites the month of December. Favorites this year: Michael Buble "Cold December Night" and Darius Rucker "Candy Cane Christmas"

2. Christmas Movies- No holiday season is complete without White Christmas, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, It's a Wonderful Life, and Miracle on 34th Street. 

3. Christmas Lights- who doesn't love driving down the street looking at all the pretty lights? 

4. Big Fuzzy Blankets & Good Books- When not watching a holiday favorite, its the perfect time to take a break and relax. With the stress of the holidays, everyone deserves a personal break!

5. New Slippers and PJs- Best gift ever! Totally useful and they go perfectly with your fuzzy blanket and book!

6. Christmas Candle Scents- New favorite this year is Bright Copper Kettles by Yankee Candle

7. Candy Canes- my all time favorite candy :)

8. Salvation Army Bell Ringers- Every time a bell rings an angel gets their wings! Think of all the angels blessed with wings during the Christmas season. Plus I love walking into stores and remembering the true reason for the season! 

9. Salvation Army Angel Tree- Going off the bell ringers outside, I believe everyone should be able to buy at least one extra toy for a child in need and count their own blessings. Other great resources are Toys for Tots and church sponsored organizations gathering supplies for those in need. If you can't sponsor a whole child and family this Christmas, you can at least bring a toy to a local organization or some food to the food bank. 

10. Spending Time with Family- I love my family, especially when we all gather for the holidays. This year's Thanksgiving included 20+ people gathered together for one delicious meal. Our family Christmas will be even bigger, which just makes it more amazing. This may be my last year for the family Christmas party, since I am heading south soon, another reason why this holiday season I am so thankful and blessed to be a part of such a large extended family. No matter how big or small, or whoever you call family, spend some time this holiday enjoying some simple time together with good food, holiday cheer, and laughter all around. 

Merry Christmas Everyone!

July 6th Can't Get Here Soon Enough :)

Thanks to my wonderful future sister-in-law and her camera skills, Clay & I took our engagement photos this past week at Hampden-Sydney! Clay was in town for the Macon Game (explained here for those who don't know the significance of this one game at HSC: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gh9kEvu2f1Q). I loved seeing him and spending time with both our families! 

Here's a sneak peek at our engagement photos :)

  

We make such attractive faces sometimes :)

Hope you enjoyed them as much as we did. Thanks so much Sam! July 6th can't get here soon enough :) 

Love to all, G

Reading Bucket List

Colder weather is right around the corner and this year, instead of getting sucked into the tube, I'm going to sit in my cozy chair, covered in blankets, drink tea, and read books. 

Care to join in? Feel free to tell me what books you want to read and we can read them together. Books are always much more enjoyable if someone is there to share the story line with. Here's my reading list in no particular order, let me know if one strikes your fancy:

1. The Help
2. Trash
3. The Book Thief
4. Red Kayak
5. Something Borrowed
6. Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
7. The Mortal Instrument
8. Love Wins
9. The Heretic's Daughter
10. The Alchemists Daughter
11. Belong to Me
12. Winter's Bone
13. Room with a View
14. A Passage to India
15. Return of the Native
16. Beloved
17. A Raisin in the Sun
18. Into the Wild
19. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
20. The Lady in the Lake
21. Commencement
22. My Sister's Keeper
23. Major Pettigrew's Last Stand
24. The Forgotten Garden
25. Miss Peregrine's House for Peculiar Children
26. The American Heiress
27. The Magicians
28. Possession
29. The 4 Loves
30. Percy Jackson series
31. Inkheart
32. Sarah, Plain and Tall
33. Hoot
34. These is My Words
35. Bag of Bones

Anyone have any input or other suggestions? I'd love some reviews on these before I start reading :)

Memories of Half a World Away

People often ask me why I choose to study in a remote part of India, with little Western influence on the social structure. The majority of college students who are looking to study abroad generally want to explore European culture and the major cities in this part of the world. While this would have been an amazing experience and I love to live through my fellow world travelers on all their adventures, I discovered so much about myself in this about 100 miles north of Sri Lanka. Unlike my previous trip in the northern part of India, my five months abroad brought me to a small city called Madurai. Looking back now four years later, it feels like I was there yesterday, laughing with my classmates, eating meals off banana leaves, and seeing life through a different lens. Sure, not all my trip was fantastic, and maybe it has taken me four years to appreciate everything I learned over there, but the point is I did learn so much more than the classroom could have ever droned into me. 

If you want to live through my entire trip with me, please look through the ten million albums I posted on Facebook. But if you don't have the patience to look at every picture, here are some of my favorites from life half way around the world:

 Lady Doak College Chapel

 Walk Way to Classes: Definitely made coming back to plain sidewalks difficult. I actually loved walking to my morning classes. 

 Lady Doak College Guest House: This is where I lived!

 Science Building: I took Physical Chemistry and Calculus here

(Word to the wise: when studying abroad, take fun classes! Calculus not so awesome when your teacher speaks broken English!)

These flowers bloomed all over campus when I first arrived. 

  

 Boating in Kohlikanal

 National Forest in Kerala. I love how the bushes look like a turtle shell. 

 Temple outside of Madurai

Visit to the village of one of my classmates. In the village, they live in huts like the one above. Village living is still fairly rustic. In this particular village, they grow sugar cane and process molasses. 

 One tradition in the village is to hang a bell here every time a wish comes true. Wishes range from wanting a good rain to being blessed with children. According to local lore, when the wind blows and the bells ring, new wishes are granted for the villagers. 

 We actually visited on the first day of a funeral. This village honors life very differently than US culture. Here they are blessing the family and making a sacrifice in honor of the recently passed. 

 Madurai Palace: Now a museum, constantly undergoing construction, the palace's architectural features are absolutely breathtaking. This photo is of the hallway outside of the main courtyard. 

Palace decortations

 Small temples are everywhere in India. This one is in the middle of the main shopping district in Madurai. Often times, shopping areas and markets have been built up around the local temples to draw in tourists and local temple goers. 

While there is plenty of wildlife to go around, monkeys roamed around much like squirrels in the US. Here is a family unit in the mountain region of Kerala. To all you future travelers to India, don't keep food easily accessible in your backpack. You might have an extra load drop on. 

I hope these inspire you to look beyond the major tourist areas. Take a chance and go to somewhere unexpected. You might discover yourself in a world of others. 

Virginia Bucket List

With less than a year left in Virginia, I've decided to make a bucket list of the things I want to do before heading south. Most are just going back to places and reliving experiences, but a few will be brand new experiences. Let me know if you'd like to join in my adventures!

1. Visit Monticello
2. Go to the Cherry Blossom festival in DC
3. Visit DC at Christmas time, including a stop at the White House Christmas Tree
4. Go to all the Smithsonian Museums
5. Visit Montpelier
6. Explore Colonial Williamsburg, including the Governor's Palace
7. Go to Busch Gardens
8. Visit Natural Bridge
9. Take a Ghost Tour of Staunton
10. Go hiking
11. Drive Skyline Drive during Fall Foliage
12. Visit Arlington National Cemetery
13. Visit Appomattox Courthouse, site of Civil War Surrender
14. Wine and dine some new wineries
15. See Crabtree Falls in Nelson County
16. Explore Luray Caverns
17. Drive to the tip of Virginia where Tennessee and Kentucky meet
18. Eat Joe Froggers at the Rising Sun Tavern
19. Visit the George Washington sites- Stratford Hall, Ferry Farm, and Mount Vernon
20. Tour the Union Cemetery on Memorial Day weekend

More things to come soon. Let me know, I'd greatly appreciate company on all my outings :)

When life begins at 23

When you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible. 

 ~Nora Ephron, When Harry Met Sally

WOW! So much has happened the past three weeks! Life has truly taken the best turn. In under a year, I will be starting a new life in Florida. But before the big move can happen, lots of planning has to be done. 

To catch up on the past few weeks, here's the highlights:

1. Clay asked, and I said YES! It was the perfect engagement, surrounded by most of our family. The only one not there was my brother, who was on his way home from deployment. Check out the video on Facebook to watch the whole engagement, but here's the general gist: Clay gave me an Adventure Book (like the one Ellie has in the movie Up), it listed all the things and major accomplishments we'd had since we started dating and then the last page had "Stuff I'm Going to Do," just like in the movie. When I flipped the page, it said "Will you marry me?" and Clay was down on one knee. I was in complete shock, I couldn't breath. Thanks to Sam for catching it all on video! 

2. My brother returned safe and sound from deployment! We're glad to have him back in the USA. Thanks to all our military serving both here and abroad. 

3. I am a certified wedding planner. Even before my own wedding started spinning off, I signed up for a wedding certification class through the Bridal Society with my mom and Ms. AT, an old family friend. For two long days, we trekked up to JMU for class, learning all about place settings, material, dress designers, dress styles, hairstyles, how to run a rehearsal, how to start a our own business, what to do in ten million different situations, etc. This is definitely going to come in handy not just when I look into opening my own company, but also as my dream wedding becomes a reality. Good thing my mom and Ms. AT took the class with me :) Three wedding planners working on one wedding, hope we all have a similar view!

4. I started a new job. While I'm still at MBC, I am now the Assistant Director of Admissions for VWIL and Athletic Recruitment. I'm still working with my current students, but I've started the transition to my new role. One thing is certain, I'm definitely going to use my Communication skills. New publications, social media pages, and recruitment are just the tip of my new responsibilities. I'm also stepping in and moving back on campus as the RD for VWIL nULLs. Its going to be a long year! 

5. Going along with #1, I said YES TO THE DRESS! It's absolutely amazing, and I didn't want to take it off in the store. But that's all I can share until next year. Clay can't know a thing :)

6. We are in full wedding planning mode. Trying to plan a wedding while living with your future in-laws, your fiancee in Florida, and your mom two hours away, it gets a little hectic. But as mentioned in #4, its going to be a busy year, so the more that gets done this summer, the more relaxed I'll feel. Hence why #5 already happened. 

So there's my past few weeks in a nutshell. Life is beginning again at 23, and I can't wait to jump on board. This weekend its off to Richmond for cousin's weekend, a much needed girls weekend full of color, running, baseball, Disney princesses, squirrels, the pool, and an amusement park adventure. Not sure how they all fit together? Check back next week!

The Art of a well written letter

In the midst of purging my life and getting ready for my second big move in a year, I came across three boxes of letters last night. Most were written during college by hall mates and my mother. But some were 22 years old, written by my grandparents for my birthdays or other big life events. Well as big as life events can get when you're 5. Some of them simply stated: "Love Grandma and Grandpa" under the cutesy phrases and designs Hallmark made that year. Nothing special, but for some reason, I'd held on to them through every other purge in my life. 

While during this purge I didn't save every card they'd written me, I looked through every one and remembered them so vividly, just through the handwriting on the inside or the special card they'd picked for me. Someone stood in the store, and picked this card for me. 

Mixed into this batch of older memories, were the letters from college. Rereading every single one, I discovered a pattern consistent with 1800s housewife letters. Most talked about daily life or encouraged me to overcome whatever obstacle was in my way at the time. Not very different from the letters I've read between Jane Austen and her sister. But like the birthday cards, each letter vividly reminded me of the struggles I faced and the victories I celebrated within 4 short years.

This experience of rereading my life reminded me, that even with modern technology and ability to quickly relay information, the power of a handwritten letter goes far beyond the moment. It takes you back in time, to that exact moment, remembering all the emotions you felt. Almost like a snapshot of feelings. One letter may be blurry from tears, another full of torn and crinkled edges, or yet another carefully preserved to keep forever. 

E-mails too quickly get moved to the trash bin or maybe saved in a place you swear you'll remember, but then find yourself never going back to it. A letter, even the simplest one kept in a box for years under the bed, is all about the waiting and rediscovery.

It's like being a kid again. Rushing to the mail box, grabbing the contents, racing back inside, throwing the now crumbled envelopes at your mom, and waiting somewhat impatiently to see if anything was for you. Even if the mailman just brought bills or junk for the day, in your 5 year old mind, he/she was still a hero in that fleeting moment of anticipation and waiting. Opening the boxes to reread the letters, is like running outside once more: anticipation and waiting to rediscover your life.

While I did not keep every single letter or card in the three boxes, I purged my life down to one shoe box. Filled with an assortment of feelings and ages, waiting to be re-read for the upteenth time. Who knows the next time I'll open the box, pull a letter and reread it. Who actually knows when the box will be unpacked. But its there, waiting to take me back to the forgotten memories.

Also during my moving purge, I've found way too many boxes of unused cards and stationary. So here is my self challenge: Write one letter to someone every day. Even a quick note to say hi or a long letter to fill in an old friend. Its time to reclaim the art of letter writing, and get rid of the cobwebs in the mailbox. I'm gonna add a little piece of sunshine to the pile of junk and bills. So here's your challenge: address please :)

"You deserve a longer letter than this; but it is my unhappy fate seldom to treat people so well as they deserve." 

-Jane Austen

Paying homage to the bow gods

It seems that life after graduation is filled with paying back loans, job searches, new apartments, and the commencement of wedding season. Granted this 'season', for most, will last for the 5+ years after graduation. Mix in the baby season too, and life seems to be nothing more than a busy succession of showers and celebrations.

In the one year since graduating, five friends have tied the knot. Listening to their stress over planning and what goes into a wedding, I had a pretty good idea about the inside scoop. Luckily, its not my time to stress over the slight difference in picket fence and classic white. To me, their both white, so why bother stressing over the little things. At the end of the day only you and the poor people who felt your wrath will be the only ones to most likely notice the slight brightness in one versus the ivory undertone in the other. Though please, don't send ivory invitations and have white programs at the ceremony. Stick to one basic shade.

One week ago, I began a journey with a fellow graduate, which has given me a slight more in-depth insight into the world of weddings, and everything that goes into them. Finding a steal on the Micheals clearance rack, the bride-to-be got 150 invitations, including reply cards, envelopes, and ribbon for $40. Add the stamps and labels, makes it less than $200 for the whole thing. Well $200 and countless hours of your time. Definitely worth it for any bride on a budget though.

The time cost began last night, sitting in a small confined space, printing 150 invitations and tying what seemed like a million little bows. We haven't even started the reply cards, labels, and stuffing job yet. I now understand that 'tying the knot' is the easy part of the job, tying the bow is the workout for your fingers get so they'll look long and lean in all your ring photos. To all you grooms out their- get a finger workout: help tie some bows, you'll appreciate the ease of the knot. 

So here is the process of a million little bows and a printer which was particular about which invitation it wanted to print at what time. Couldn't just accept the one fed into it. Had to be the particular one in its relationship with the easiest bride in the world. 

And finally the finished product, totally worth the finger cramps:

A word of advise to all you brides-to-be, find some good friends who's fingers you don't mind sacrificing to the bow gods. And please, sit back, drink a glass of wine, and make the groom tie a few. I bet after one, he'll appreciate all your hard work.

Up next week is helping this bride-to-be stuff, stamp, and label, plus hopefully find a dress! After being engaged for 5+ years, this savy, budget conscious bride is probably the easiest person I'll ever work with if I end up in the industry. Thanks for being a non-Bridezilla and a guinea pig before my certificate class in July!

One year later

Friendship, Honor, Sorrow, Laughter. Exactly one year ago, one weekend summed up my life at Mary Baldwin. Graduation. It was a crazy four years, filled friendship, honor, sorrow, and laughter. I still can't believe its been five years since high school and first coming to these beautiful hills. From Cadre Week to Apple Day, Signature Ball to Change of Command, this place transformed me. Today, I enjoy the my new role at the college. Moving beyond the world of student, into the world of College Admissions. Not a day goes by I don't share my stories with future Fighting Squirrels. To my 2011 Squirrel Girls... I miss you. The hill never seems the same without you here :)