"How will you know what you have to look forward to if you don't plan, just a little?"
- from the planner in me!
Lets start with looking back at 2019. If you are new here, this is a time for you to get to know me! I am someone that I hope you do not forget, but for good reasons! 2019 taught me a lot where 2020 is going to need every single new skill I have! Let's take on this daunting year by storm!
January 2019
This was the start of my last semester of high school a time that was about 5 months full of laughs and lasts. I will say this was a month full of frustration. I missed a lot of parties, birthdays, dates, and games to be able to fill out scholarships and write essays to make sure I could follow my dream of moving to Los Angeles. There was a lot in this month, but in the end I would not change a thing about that month sitting on the kitchen counter crying. (If you have been paying attention, the kitchen counter/ floor is where I have a majority of my mental breakdowns...) I also went to L.A. to put together a few last minute things and make sure that everything was in order! I got to go with my momma so that was a really great little girls trip for us!
February 2019
This month was when I passed on the gavel to the next President of Arkansas DECA. DECA was a massive part of my life. This co-curricular took up all my spare time while also making me the person I am today. Without this great group of people I would have not had a voice in my future. I would have settled in becoming a lawyer or something that was not me. I thank this co-curricular for everything. It is what shaped me. It gave me a voice and I will be forever grateful for what it did for me, and I will always advocate for this amazing organization. This is not the only thing that happened in February. I also received the Outstanding Airedale award. An award that I have hoped I would receive since I recongnized it was a thing in 2015. I not only received this honor, but I also received the last Outstanding Airedale award that Mr. Valentine gave out. He gave me a 110% pin when I was a sophomore and then the outstanding Airedale. I felt excited about both, but he has always been a supporter of me and my dreams; which made receiving this Outstanding Airedale award that much more special.
March 2019
My birthday. That's the whole month. I was surrounded in birthday celebrations all month long, and I was in my heaven. I know I have admitted this before, but I am what some would call an attention snob and my birthday means a lot to me. I not only got to go and gamble at the horse race track in Hot Springs, which should be a given when you turn 18, but I also had a party with all my best friends a week later! To end the month I had the DOPEST promposal a girl could ask for. Adam flew me, yes he is a pilot, over a big sign in his aunts yard that said, "prom?" Guys, when I say that I cried I mean it. I was not prepared, and I was caught so off guard. He pulled off surprising me. That was one of the many moments I realized this guy was a keeper, because only two people have been able to truly surprise me in my lifetime. That is my mom and him. Usually I figure it out before it happens, but I had no clue!
April 2019
I brought my dad to Los Angeles... I was honestly very prepared for him to hate it, but he didn't! I brought him out to see FIDM and that I was going to a good area. I also brought him out to see the Debut show, which was phenomenal I might add. He was able to bask in everything that I was gong to be surrounded by for the next 4 years and I loved that. Not long after I got off a plane I was in Prom prep! That day was crazy! With rain, running late, and worrying that my hair was going to fall. With all that in mind my Senior Prom was nothing short of amazing! I was with a great group of friends and had the best date around. I have never laughed so much in a few hours and I was living my best life with my favorite people! Let's not forget about my last ever International Career Development Conference with my favorite organization, DECA!
May 2019
Oh goodness... this month was soooo much. It went so fast! I had my last week of high school the first full week of May. Which was a blast to say the least! I then graduated a week after that! It was so crazy with a massive mix of emotions. I was excited to move on with my life, but Alma was all I knew and there was a large part of me that was terrified! After the whole graduation thing happened I was shoved into working pretty much full time to help compensate with all the orders coming in while also getting tossed into a wedding as a last minute bridesmaid! Talk about a whole lot all at once! Not to mention that while helping with the Makayla and Andrew's wedding I was also trying to pack and plan for the trips I had coming up! There was also a quick trip to Dallas for Makennas birthday! In other words... May was a crazy month where my planner was not just nice, but a necessity.
June 2019
This month you could have caught me dancing in the streets of Rome. I was spending my vacation in a country that I had always dreamed of visiting. I was able to be in places that I had only seen in magazines and I cannot wait to go back. I mean, I did throw coins in the Trevve fountain for a reason. One to come back, one to love, one for good health. The week after my family landed back in the United States we were thrown into Vacation Bible School, where I got to see all my little hoodlums. The week after that I was helping some of my favorite people pack up their things and start a new chapter of their life! Oh and let's not forget Adam and I had been dating for six months!
July 2019
I started this month in California in the 2 week signature summer program at FIDM. I was able to be a FIDM student for two weeks before I truly became a student. I lived my best life in those two weeks and assured myself that Los Angeles was my new home. I flew back to Arkansas on Adam's birthday! He doesn't deem his birthday as a huge deal, but I take my birthday seriously so everyone's should be taken that seriously in my opinion. SO we had a big get together that ended in fireworks with friends to recreate the 4th of July that I missed! This was also the month of the going away party for Terrance and the realization that I was going to have to give my brother away to smart school really soon...
August 2019
Well, the time had come to give Terrance away to smart kid school and let him follow his dreams. Honestly I feel this would have been much easier if it wasn't for the fact that I was going to be at home for another two months without him. It was rough not gonna lie, but we made it through and now he is loving ASMSA! The rest of this month was filled with getting Adam ready for college, working, hanging out with my family a little more often, and coffee dates with my boyfriends mom and friends.
September 2019
Adam was in full swing with school and I was in full swing with packing. Well, kinda sorta... I was avoiding it to say the least. I have a superstition about waiting to pack until the night before a trip, silly I know but it soothed my anxiety. Unfortunately I could not wait until the night before to pack my entire room so we just didn't close the boxes until the night before I left. This month was a lot of tears, breakdowns, really wondering if I was making the right decision, and praying to God that I was doing the right thing.
October 2019
This month started with sobbing. I have never been more terrified in my life than I was in the first three days of October. I was leaving everything I knew, and I did not know the outcome of my endeavors. If you know me, you know I have everything planned out, including the outcome. This was a time that I realized I could not plan the outcome. I would just have to follow the words of my boyfriend, "Go with the flow. You are not in control, learn to accept that." I made the big move to L.A. and although hugging my mom goodbye at the intersection outside my apartment and kissing Adam and saying that I would see him again in 3 short weeks might have been the hardest thing I have ever done... I did it, and I am grateful. Adam did come out to Los Angeles to see me this month. I got to show him all of my favorite things in downtown L.A. while also showing him my apartment and favorite places to eat. I mean let's be real, we are not shocked that I was excited to show him my favorite food spots... We finished off the month with my roommates birthday and last, but not least, Halloween!
November 2019
This month had a very exciting event of going to the Ellen show! Talk about excitement! I was so excited to see this icon! Little did my roommates and I know we would walk out with gift cards and a vacation for 2! We each were ecstatic and called our loved ones immediately to tell them the good news; that we would not be broke from Christmas! Then there was the rest of November, the thick of it. Midterms, not seeing any of my family for going on 8 weeks, and aching to see everyone on Thanksgiving. The only thing was, when I went back for Thanksgiving... it didn't feel right. I didn't think of it as home. I didn't sleep well to the crickets and woke up to the train. I would say home and I meant Los Angeles. None the less the trip back to Arkansas was quick, busy, and gave me enough hugs to last a hot second.
December 2019
Finals. Thats all I need to say to explain the amount of stress I was feeling. I started it out with seeing some of my favorite mentors and showing them around my home. Soon after there was a ton of planning for my Christmas vacation... stressful times, my friends. I finished out my first quarter at FIDM with all A's and got the exact schedule I wanted for the upcoming quarter! I was also able to see almost everyone I love while I was in Arkansas and Texas! I also got to continue the tradition of going on a night out with my dad! 5 years running! The night after that I went on a date with Adam to celebrate our first anniversary! How exciting! I have kept a guy around me for a year and he has not went insane from my craziness yet! Whoot whoot! I know I have said it before, but I think I have found a keeper! I also got to have a nice and quiet Christmas with my family as well as the Carlsons. Oh! I almost forgot! Adam also officially signed for the Air National Guard at the very end of this month! See, I told you... so much in just two weeks...
Looking to 2020
This year is going to be just as eventful as the last! I am so excited to share what is going on in my life with you all. I know that last quarter I was really bad at keeping y'all updated via the blog, but this quarter I am hoping to give y'all updates more often! I cannot wait to see where this year takes me! What do you hope for this year?? Leave it in the comments! Goals are important and it is said that if you write them down and share them you are more likely to achieve them because you practically hold yourself accountable for said goals! Cheers to 2020, may it be the best year yet!
Much Love,
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