Photo Diary No. 1

4 / 24 / 194 / 23 / 19

As I was looking through some of my old posts the other day, I realize that while I do share a lot of life updates and personal posts, I don’t share that many of my own photos. I used to take pictures all the time of my outfits specifically for the blog, but I haven’t really found time to do that in forever, and I never really had any other pictures that I thought were cute enough to add to posts. I really want to start adding more of my own photos, even if they are just random snapshots. So I went back through my camera roll over the past month or so and collected a bunch of pictures I thought I’d share + explain. It’s kind of a life update and photo dump all in one!

My Recent Everyday Essentials

4 / 19 / 19

Happy Friday everyone! It’s an early weekend for me because of the Good Friday holiday, and it was nice to finish school yesterday and remember that I didn’t have school the next day. Then I found out we don’t have school Monday either, which was definitely a nice surprise! I’m super excited about this Easter weekend. Tonight my family is driving up to Clinton, where we used to live, to spend the night and visit some old friends, and hopefully Saturday we can do a little shopping. Oxford doesn’t have a Target, so any trip to a bigger town means a Target run is inevitable :). Then later on Saturday afternoon we’re going to visit family on my dad’s mom’s side for Easter, and the next day is one of my favorite holidays! I’ve always loved Easter and the traditions behind it. We do easter baskets and the morning church service, and then around lunch I think we are going to our other grandparent’s house for the annual egg hunt. You’re never too old for Easter egg hunts, right?

Hello April + Spring Bucket List

4 / 9 / 194 / 8 / 19

Spring is finally here! After a long, dreary winter, it makes me so happy to see the sun shining and flowers blooming when I step outside. The temperatures have been slowly but surely rising, and when I checked the weather for this week, it’s supposed to be high 70s every day! I’m really looking forward to April. I plan to spend as much time outside as I can and take full advantage of the sun. It’s also my last full month of school left before graduation, so I’m going to try and do as many fun things with my friends as possible before we all go our separate ways.

March Recap

3 / 31 / 193 / 31 / 19

I cannot believe how fast March went by. It both amazes me and scares me how fast time is flying these days. One half of me can’t wait for summer and for school to be out, but the other half of me wants time to slow down because that means it’s time for graduation, and high school will be over forever… March was a great month for me though, it’s probably been the best month of 2019 so far. We had our first few track meets, I went to Europe for the first time over spring break, and it’s finally starting to warm up here! The past two weeks have been warm and sunny- the perfect spring weather. After such a long, cold winter, I’m almost afraid to wake up one day and it be back to 40s, but the temps have been consistently in the 60s and 70s- literally perfect.

Italy Photo Diary

3 / 27 / 193 / 31 / 19

It’s been a little over a week since I got back from Italy, and I think I’m finally fully recovered from jetlag! The only other country I’d ever been to was Honduras, which was only an hour ahead, so this was my first real experience with it. Italy was six hours ahead, so coming back home and trying to get on a regular sleep schedule was rough for the first few days. Italy was such a crazy experience. I touched on it a bit in my last post, but it was nothing like I thought it would be. It was a lot of talking and meeting new Italians and forming relationships with them. The main portion of the week was spent on campus, but we had three days of free time, one in Amalfi and two in Rome! Needless to say, I got some great pictures that I’ve finally taken the time to sit down and edit. Half of these are the different pasta dishes I ate, ha! Enjoy!

My Favorite Oatmeal Recipe Ever

3 / 23 / 1911 / 21 / 19

Does anyone else find one recipe they like and just make it over and over until they get tired of it? That’s me with this oatmeal, but I hope I never get tired of eating it; it’s just so good. I’ve always been an oatmeal fan, but my usual recipe would be peanut butter-chocolate oats. I made this over and over and never really branched out. One day, I noticed we had a bunch of frozen berries that needed to be used up, and I decided to branch out and experiment with a new flavor of oatmeal bowl. That’s when my famous “berry vanilla oatmeal” recipe was born, and I haven’t stopped eating it since. I make it allll the time. A few weeks ago I had it for breakfast Friday, dinner Saturday, and breakfast and dinner Sunday! It’s the perfect blend of sweet with some savory flavors and crunches, and it’s super healthy for you!

the good life.

3 / 21 / 193 / 20 / 19

I wrote this in the notes app on my phone on the plane home from Italy. It’s really ramble-y and personal and kind of all over the place, but it’s one of my favorite things I’ve written. Italy was such an eye opening experience. I learned so much and really grew in my faith over the week, but it wasn’t all sunshine and happy times. Italy was an experience I’ll never forget, and it made me appreciate the little things in life. Enjoy.

Italy Packing List

3 / 6 / 193 / 5 / 19

Spring break is almost here! I officially leave for Italy in two days…what? Time went by so fast, I didn’t realize how quickly the trip was approaching until Sunday when one of my friends who is also going asked me if I was excited for this weekend. I honestly hadn’t even thought about how soon it was, which was both a fun surprise but also an added stress. I had so much to do to prepare in just a few days! I’m a very list-oriented person, so I knew I would feel better after making a packing list. After looking through my closet, browsing pinterest tips, and getting advice from people who’ve gone in the past, I’ve finally compiled a complete list of everything I’m going to be taking.

Dorm Inspiration

2 / 21 / 192 / 22 / 19

It’s so weird to think that I technically only have five more months of living at home. I graduate in May, and in August I’ll be at college living away from home for the first time ever! It’s scary, but there are also exciting parts to it-one of the biggest being that I get to decorate my dorm! I submitted my housing application a couple of weeks ago and in about a month my roommate and I find out where we’re going to live! I love home decor, and while I know dorm life won’t be that glamorous, I still have lots of ideas about how to make a tiny room more homey.

Weekly Wrapup #2

2 / 19 / 192 / 22 / 19

I meant to post this Saturday, but got super busy and didn’t have time to write it until just now! If you remember my last weekly wrapup, I said I wanted to start writing this to sum up my week and update on fun things going on in my life. I feel like my past few weeks have been pretty boring and unusual, but this past week was a good one, with lots of updates I wanted to share!

in my shopping bag // current wishlist

2 / 13 / 192 / 22 / 19

Happy hump day! This week has gone by super fast so far, and overall it’s been good! I went out of town Thursday and missed all day Friday for a college visit, so Monday was a little stressful because I had lots of schoolwork to catch up on. Thankfully I didn’t have work Monday, so I was able to grind and get it all out of the way. This is my first full week of track practices, and I couldn’t be happier to be back running! I’m definitely out of track shape, but thankfully we have a few weeks before our first meet so I have time to get back on track…literally.

February Goals

2 / 9 / 192 / 22 / 19

Happy February! To be honest, I wasn’t excited for February at all at the beginning of the year. It’s always cold, there’s nothing fun to look forward to, and there’s no school breaks the entire month. But while I was journaling and making my goals at the beginning of the month, I was actually getting really excited! January was such a good month for me that I want to continue the productivity into February!

January Recap

2 / 6 / 192 / 22 / 19

Did anyone else feel like January just flew by? Usually January is one of the slowest months of the year for me, but I feel like it was already halfway through the month before I knew it, and then the last half was so busy that when I looked up, it was January 30th! January was a great month. It took a week or so to get back into a routine after I started back school, but now that I’ve gotten used to my classes and schedule, I’ve gotten a lot more productive.

2018 Recap + 2019 Goals

1 / 3 / 19

Happy New Year! I seriously cannot believe it’s 2019 already. This is going to be a big year for me, I graduate, travel a lot, start college, and learn to live on my own. If this semester goes by even half as fast as last semester, it’ll be over before I know it. I feel like the year 2019 always seemed like so far away for me. I always knew I was getting closer and closer to my graduation year, but it never felt like it would ever get here. But it’s here! I graduate in less than six months. That is seriously crazy. Today I wanted to recap 2018 and share some of my goals for the upcoming year!