It's almost time for champagne, confetti, party favors, and the ball drop! Here I am, coming to you, LIVE and love from New York City:)
This week in NY city I think was the perfect preparation for my adventures to come in Spain. I’ve been staying with my best friend, Erin, at her place in NYC in the outskirts of Manhattan. (She graduated in May from Bradley and has been maneuvering herself around the state of NY since then and has landed herself a job with a marketing/PR firm and a beautiful, cozy little apartment.) So although I’m with someone that clearly knows their way around these parts, and with my sister, Rachelle too, I still feel like I’m “on my own” in this big city, which I feel is preparing me for where I’ll be in just a few short weeks. There are so many things to do and people and places to see that it is a little hectic trying to make sure we get everything in done in the short amount of time that we have here. Cousins on my mom’s side. Cousin’s on my dad’s side. Grandparents.  Aunts. Uncles. And they’re everywhere! And if I'm being honest... love it! This is the only thing I’m missing in my little world in Illinois. My family. And I know I'll be missing it all even more while I'm overseas BUT thankfully I continue to be supported, reassured, commended of/for my decision to pursue this dream of mine.

I planned this trip for me, to see my family. I especially wanted to see my grandparents before I left for months in a different country without easy accessibility to them. This trip so FAR has turned into long days roaming the streets of Manhattan, NYC, and the Bronx followed by longer, almost sleepless/restless, evenings and mornings spending time with Erin and my sister as well as cousins, Uncles, and my aunt. All nothing short of amazing/good fun besides minor set backs of tired eyes, extreme hunger, and a little bit of a cold. After the NYE festivities tonight though it will become the more family oriented trip that I had intended it to be, starting off with a large family dinner and spending the rest of the trip roaming the streets of Queens, Brooklyn, and the surrounding neighborhoods.

Back to the planning aspect, to prove the little point I’m trying to make here, I’ve been trying to take control of the planning coordination as much as possible while we’ve been here. A perfect example of the idea that if you want something you have to go and get it, if you want to see it, go out and make it happen. That’s the mentality I need to have while in Spain. In one day we made it to: Metropolitan Museum of Art. St. Patrick’s Cathedral. Rockefeller Center to see the infamous ice skating rink and larger than life Christmas Tree. and a reunite with Times Square. The following day we took on the Bronx, and had the opportunity to spend hours watching a football game at the new NY Yankee Stadium. Just to name a few.

It's NYE and everyone is scrambling to find the perfect place to be when midnight hits..and the standard heartbreaking question, who will I share a special new year's moment with.. I  schedule this trip to satisfy my #1 priority (again, family) but also killed two birds with one stone, and avoided Illinois scene; there's no where I'd rather be tonight:) The only thing that I would change is to have my parents out here in NY too. 

Right now the only love I need is the love I have for the world around me and my desire to know it better. What that should really entail is me starting to enhance my directional skills and my conversational Spanish skills, both which I have not been paying too much mind to this winter break so far. My month at home with my family is nearing the end. I do feel I’ve gotten a substantial amount of things done in my short return to the nest but it's still too short of a time!... I could not leave for Spain without turning my bedroom at my parents house inside out to clean it out and fulfill the phrase “Everything must go!”. New year. Fresh start. Out with the old.

It’s going to be a great year. It’s going to start off with spending time with family all over the U.S. Possibly a quick trip back to Peoria and making lists and, of course, checking them twice.

Happy New Year!
Be safe tonight. I know we (Erin, Rachelle, and I) will be doing our best to do the same;P

I've been avoiding writing this next entry, for a while now, for some odd reason. But I just wrote a letter to a friend and I am in writing mode / #beastmode. I know that it has a lot to do with the fact that reality is finally setting in--I don't have that much time left here and frankly, I'm starting to get a little nervous. I know it's all a part of the process and people advocate that emotions will be high upon arrival in a new city for an extended period of time.. but my emotions are somewhat going haywire right now, and they're hitting me all at once.

I will not be returning to the place I have spent 3 1/2 years pursuing two undergraduate degrees. I no longer have my own house nearby a campus that I (still) have mixed emotions about. I will no longer be surrounded by the Bradley populous, meaning I will not be known or recognized until introduced. I am done with undergraduate studies, it seems, but will not be living with my biological family. It will truly be a fresh start. Even my FAMILY does not know who I am yet!

I came to the realization that this is not an end. These is no such thing. When I leave Bradley, and my hometown, my acquaintances, and friends Life Will Go On, just without me in it. I didn't think that there would be anything I missed at Bradley, but that might be it... Life without what I've known. Yet, the same thing brings me relief!

My student visa is finally ready. That's the main element necessary for everything to really fall into place-- although lately I've been feeling the opposite, unkempt. Maybe the bittersweet taste is hitting me because the task at hand is to completely pack of my life, my "cave" of a room at Bradley University. I've acquired so much over the years while in college that it was beyond overwhelming to contain in two cares, but I did it (sort of)... and do admit I have to return for a few other items. I could have squeezed more (although I already couldn't see too much when I was driving already), but maybe (I think) I found comfort (and need the comfort right now) of knowing that I could return, if need be. And there are some people in Peoria awaiting my return... 

But time waits for no one.
I hate goodbyes but I embrace and love change. How does that work?
Most of the people I've found places for in my life have left.