reputation.

So. I’ve officially gotten two big fat rejection emails from two different grad schools. (University of Toledo and Ohio University). It sucks to a point, BUT I have a positive outlook. Yesterday Taylor Swift announced the first half of the tour dates for her reputation tour. Some of these dates would have been when I was already back in school, so now I won’t have to worry about those particular options!

Lol. But in other news, her album was released on Friday!! And because of who I am as a person, I needed to film a reaction video listening to it for the first time. So, here that is. Enjoy my emotional self.

 

Let me know what you think! Do you have a favorite song from the album? I still don’t think I can decide yet!

Elizabeth.

 

1 Second Each Day: October 2017

October was a month that brought big changes for me. I knew I wanted to document it in a unique way, and I chose to do so with a quick video! I took a one second video each day and this is what resulted! It’s so interesting that sometimes, it seems impossible to capture an entire day in just one second, and other days it seems impossible to find anything that’s worth capturing even just for that second. Regardless, I made it! Here’s the video, let me know if I should keep up with it going into November as well 🙂

Elizabeth.

Cows.

For those of you who don’t know, I’m a photographer. In my downtime, I enjoy taking and editing self portraits just to practice new looks and improve my style. I had a half day of work at my “day” job today, so I decided to take advantage of the gloomy afternoon and take a few self portraits.

It’s almost Halloween, so I guess you can say I kind of resemble a doll. This is actually taken in my backyard, and I was lucky enough to have my neighbor let his cows out to pose with me too. I love being able to look out at this view every day, and I love being able to have such curious cows close by! Once I finish editing the rest of the images, I’ll post them to the blog on my photography website (www.eacphotos.com) so you can check them out there!

This makes me happy. I’m glad I finally found the time to do it again 🙂

Elizabeth.

Halloween Weekend.

Ah yes. The Saturday before Halloween is always one of my least favorites. I never got into parties when I was living on campus and now that I’m only in school online, I feel like it’s even worse. My best friend and I aren’t talking, and my boyfriend is going out without me (long distance problems). I’ve worked every day since this past Wednesday and don’t have an off day until Tuesday. AKA, my plans for tonight involve sitting at home with my mom watching Grey’s Anatomy and trying to dig myself out of a giant homework pile. I really don’t mind it, but it kind of makes me feel like I’m missing out on something I should be experiencing at this age. I’m 21. I should be dressing up and going out with a group of friends. But here I am, 5:30pm already in my PJs. Sometimes I feel sad and sometimes I feel like I’m missing out, but in reality I have my warm bed and endless Netflix episodes. My mom is making me dinner, and I don’t really need to be doing anything else tonight. I just wish I had more consistent friends.

But oh well. Here’s to hoping for next year.

Elizabeth.

Surprising Grad School Update?

So. Two days ago, my transcripts were finally verified through my PTCAS application. October 25th is 24 days late for the majority of schools I applied for, so I wasn’t expecting much. I came to terms with missing the deadline for all of my Ohio schools, but maybe I wasn’t being patient enough. Since my application went through, I’ve heard back that Regis University (Colorado) is reviewing it (which I met the November 1 deadline so that’s good!) but I wasn’t expecting anything from anywhere else. BUT to my surprise, I’VE GOTTEN EMAILS FROM BOTH OSU AND OU, TWO OF MY TOP SCHOOLS. They’ve both just requested for me to fill out an additional supplemental application, but I didn’t think I would hear anything at all! I was 100% under the impression that I had missed the deadline and wasn’t even being considered anymore. I almost cried getting the emails, because my hope has been restored. Hopefully this will bring positive news. I don’t really have much of an update, but pray for me!

Elizabeth.

Oh! I’ve also been picking up extra days at work to get extra $$$ for Ireland so yay for me! Hopefully I hear back soon about the credit card I applied for so I can put the majority of the payments for this trip on it. That way, I can get great cash back and bonus $$ for signing up! Woo!

Booking A Trip To Ireland??

Alright. I said I wanted to get my life back on track and have a plan, and today I took a step in that direction. I booked a trip to Ireland to spend St. Patrick’s Day there next year.

You read that right. WHAT. I’m crazy, I know. I wasn’t really even thinking, but I saw something about spending the holiday there and I just thought it sounded like SO much fun. The next thing I knew was that I was pulling out my credit card and making it official.

After having plans set to start grad school next year, I suddenly didn’t have any plans once I realized that I didn’t get in. I’m a planner and knowing that I had nothing scheduled or put in place after December of this year was giving me some serious anxiety. I needed to do something that would make me feel like I wasn’t wasting my time in my unexpected off year. Traveling is just a fun way to go about doing that!

Don’t get me wrong, I spent about half an hour crunching numbers and making sure I’d be able to afford everything (I’m not stupid, I know what I can handle!) and know that I can absolutely make this work. I put down more than the deposit amount today and just have four easy monthly payments left. With all the work I do, this trip shouldn’t be a problem. It may be hard and things may get a little tight, but I’m so excited!! This will be such a great way to free my mind and set my spirit free.

I’m looking forward to having plans in 2018 instead of just feeling like my life will crumble apart once I graduate. Here’s to my first big kid adventure (ALONE!) and to all the neat experiences I’ll find myself wrapped in. Oh, and imagine all of the pictures I’ll get – YAY!

Elizabeth.

New YouTube Vlog Channel!

Hello blogging world! I feel like it has been SO long since I’ve updated this, and I want to tell you why! Lately, life has been really good and I’ve wanted to document it in more of an exciting way than just words on a screen-so I’ve started a YouTube channel! Below I’ve posted a link to my most recent video. This summer I took a family vacation to travel around Southern Germany and made vlogs (video blogs) throughout the entire trip.  It’s a great way for me to share my experiences with everyone and a unique way to remember what happened while there. I hope you enjoy watching as much as I enjoyed being there and I promise to keep my actual blogging life up to date when someone monumental happens, but for now, enjoy!

Where Was God?

For those of you who don’t know, I lost one of my very best friends in a motorcycle accident last Friday morning, one week ago exactly.  Even though we hadn’t gotten close until this past summer, Tyler changed my life. …

End of Semester Update: Transferring Regrets?

A few months ago, I transferred from a small, private school two and a half hours away from everything I had known, to a slightly larger state school way closer to home. This decision was one of the hardest decisions I’ve had to make in my college career thus far because of the fact that all of a sudden, I had absolutely no idea what I wanted. I couldn’t give a definite reason for leaving other than the simple fact that I knew I wasn’t as happy as I could be somewhere else. So I did it, I made a big girl, grown up decision and turned my life around in the hopes that it would change for the better. Since then, I’ve gotten a lot of questions, are you truly happier now? Do you ever wish you could go back? Any regrets? And for awhile, I fell for the skepticism people were throwing at me. Was I really happier? As soon as I moved I lost quite a lot of friends and one of the most important people in my life . . . I did sometimes doubt whether I had made a good decision or not.

But let me tell you the truth, because I’ve done a lot of thinking about it: I am so happy now. I make my own choices now and I never regret them. My friend group has proven itself and I know who will really be there to stick through everything with me until the end. I have a better understanding of who I am as a person and what I value in other people as well. I’ve grown so much closer to the people around me and absolutely love waking up in the small town I call home every single morning. Sure, I’ve had my rough days and dreaded moments being on my new campus, but compared to how I was before, I don’t have any regrets. It’s so freeing to be able to make the choice to be happy, and I recommend it to anyone who needs to make that choice as well. You’re never trapped anywhere other than your own state of mind. As soon as you start choosing happiness your entire life will just transform.

So yes, I do have an answer for those who ask me. I love my new school. I love being closer to my family and friends. I love the decisions I’ve made and most of all, I love myself. I love being happy and you should too.

Letter To Me: Hey, Self

Dear Elizabeth,

I know you’re strong. But sometimes it’s hard to believe it when you’re looking at your tear stained face in the mirror. It’s so hard to think that you’re not worthless when he continues to find a way to get to you. It’s hard spending so much time with someone and just one day waking up and finding out that they never loved you and they never will. It’s hard to remember that there is good in every relationship. It’s hard to remember that it all has a point. It’s hard to remember that God is looking out for you with absolutely everything you do.
But I promise you that someday, that boy won’t be able to send you home in tears. Someday, hearing that he’s moved on won’t rip you apart inside. Someday, you’ll be able to look back and be so proud of the strong, independent woman you’ve become because of the pain you’ve endured. I know it’s hard, but one day you will find the man who will appreciate everything about you that each boy from the past didn’t. And I promise that one day, you will be so, so happy.

Love, me.