A Very Lucky Girl

It's very humbling to come to a brand new (to me) country, that is in fact older than my own country, and interact with several different cultures at once. Classes don't start until Monday, but I've already gathered a wealth of facts that I never knew before. Boots are not the most comfortable shoes to get lost in It's never too soon to watch Orange Is The New Black with a new friend and then comment on the phallic shaped crackers in our soup. Thanks Nat.  Time changes are the bane of my existence. You mean I have finished lunch and my American friends have barely touched breakfast?  Always carry a grocery bag with you because you never know when you might come across Tesco/Poundland/Lidl and suddenly need to grocery shop. On a related note, large market trips are impossible.  Lemon vodka is the direct equivalent of Smirnoff ice and I will continue to drink it shamelessly. Sluuuurp. Don't believe Aussie's when they tell you they live in fear of the dropbe...

The infamous Miss Johnson I had quite a tumultuous education growing up. I started Kindergarden at New Hope Academy and completed third grade with the wonderful teaching of Mrs. Utley, Mrs. Fontenot, Miss Johnson, and Mrs. Peabody. I couldn't ask for a better beginning of school. From there I attended fourth grade through ninth grade at St. David's School. I learned Latin from the legendary Mr. Davis and labeled the African countries in Ms. Newsome's class. Mrs. Crutchley aided my seventh grade heart and placed me next to my crush in her assigned seating chart. Mrs. Purvis instilled basic grammar rules into my fifth grade brain and Mrs. Durham endured my crying fits in math class. LETTERS DON'T BELONG IN MATH. It's a disgrace to the alphabet. Sophomore and junior year were spent at Legacy Christian Academy in the presence of educators like Mrs. Maxey and Mrs. Brunson. I learned extensive amounts of European history and American Government from Dr. Hamel and Dr. ...

I discovered an incredibly inspiring exercise through my friend Kelky's instagram. I asked her about it and learned that it's her way of recognizing all the good and happy things in life, no matter how small, especially when she feels like the world is pummeling her with hard experiences.  I've decided to follow her example and create my own list of happiness that I can update consistently. Because as cliche as I sound right now, and as much as I'm making myself cringe, there's little sparkly bits of happiness in a lot of minute details of life.  Without further ado, My Experiment in Happiness: used books with a stranger's thoughts in the margin random texts when someone is thinking of you Fat Amy days with no plans rainy afternoon naps tie blankets sparkles old pictures handwritten notes mail brown paper packages tied up with string Troy Bolton flawless cinema romance quick wit bold colors the euphoria after finishing a morning run putt...

I have so many plans for myself. I want it all. I want to travel, I want to learn, I want to graduate, I want to be successful, and I want to share it all with everyone.  I've recently felt so inspired to succeed. Maybe it's the presence of adversity. Whatever it is, I choose to embrace the future. Nothing is holding me back except my own insecurities. I'm not invincible, and failure is always a frightening possibility; but there's no reason why I can't try anything. "Go hard today, Can't worry about the past Cuz that was yesterday."  Present goal: Teach myself the entire "No Diggity" rap from Pitch Perfect so I can sing along to the Riff Off. Why can't A Very Lucky Girl be a Boomer Bella?