. last post of the year..eep!! .

So crazy that tomorrow is the last day of 2012...I feel like this year has flown by! I have been pretty busy this past year and a lot of stuff happened and a lot changed. Here is a look back at my 2012.

January

I spend 2 weeks of January at home in Holland celebrating Christmas and New Years with my family. It was the first time I brought a boy home to meet my family...3000 miles away is quite a distance.
After we came home, things didn't quite work out the way I had in mind..I became single. Best thing that God could have done for me, He has it all figured out.

February

What a month! I got a new job this month, I started as a housekeeper at Liberty University. I despise that job, but I met one of my best friends there! We can talk for hours...its more me talking, her listening, but she just gets me! This is the month where I really started contemplating my future.

March

I made what I thought at the time was the smartest decision ever, I became a Mary Kay consultant. And even though I still love the company and the products (oh my gosh how I LOVE these products), my business has had to be on the back burner for a while, but I might be making a come back :)

April

Yay, I turned 26 this year. I'm so excited I got to celebrate it with the people I love the most. Its kinda scary to get older but I do feel like my life is starting to fall into place the older I get.

May

I found out I got accepted back to my alma matter, the State University of New York at Fredonia! I'm 39 credits away from graduating, and if I can pull my GPA up, I will be walking at graduation in a year! I quit my first ever big girl job at Liberty, leaving behind my family there. I love all my coworkers, but it was time for me to move on to bigger and better things!

June

My parents flew into the country. Luckily my dad knows me well enough to know that A: I can't pack my own stuff in a 20ft Uhaul, and B: I can't drive a 20ft Uhaul with my car behind it for 500+ miles....mommy & daddy to the rescue! My dad is the master packer and he did a great job, as usual with the Uhaul. We left for NY and unpacked and decorated my house in 2 days. My sister and the hubs drove up, and we started our great Canadian adventure...which might have been the best vacation ever!

July

I got word of blessing #3 for the year...my current job. I so dearly love my job and the people I work with and for. My bosses are the most unbelievably nice, sincere and caring people and all the girls are great. I didn't come to Fredonia looking for friends, but I will be leaving with a second family

August

Cannot believe the time has come for me to start school, so crazy. I remember how nervous I was to walk into my first class, everyone knew everyone and I felt like such an outsider, but I actually made some friends in my classes. I'm nervous about getting good grades, but I feel so much more focused and confident this time around...it feels right! In the midst of having a new job and starting school, I also adopted baby Hazel...a 9 day old kitten :)

September

Hazel and Izzie, and school and work are keeping me on my feet. Hazel is growing like a weed, her eyes are still bright blue. She is gaining weight and looking healthier by the week. She weighed 0.5lbs when I first got her but she is getting close to the 1lbs mark! Its almost break, which means I'll see Lynne soon!

October

Fall break is here! We get 2 days off school and my aunt and Lynne have decided to drive up. So much fun! My house was jam packed with 4 dogs, a kitten and 3 people, but we had such a great time!!

November

Its getting colder...winter is definitely on the way. I spent my Thanksgiving with my best friend Brianna. We made dinner at my house, our table was so full we could hardly squeeze in there! After dinnfer it was time for pjs and movies until we fell asleep on the couches :)

December

Holy cow, both the end of the semester and the end of the year! After much debating, I decided to spend Christmas with my sister and her hubs and his family..i had a blast and I'm so glad I decided to spend it with them. I am not a big fan of Canada this time of year, snow freaks me out (driving in it at least) and its just too cold. It was -15 Christmas day!! We got the first real snow in Fredonia, about a foot fell the day after Christmas and more has been piling on. I'm feeling a litte more confident driving in it, but sometimes I'd rather just hibernate :)


It has been an incredible year. I hit some rough patches in the beginning of the year, but God always has your back. He has a plan in mind that is just right for you, and all I have to do is trust in Him! Sometimes its hard to see a good thing until a while later. But I am so blessed that things have really fallen into place in my life and I feel incredibly accomplished.

I have to share some good news with ya'll. I got my final grades back for this semester and I'm so excited to share that my GPA is a 3.25...something I have never done before!!!! My highest GPA for a semester was a 2.79 so I am so proud of myself... I DID IT!!! I will be taking a winter class, 6 classes next semester and 3 over the summer, but it looks like I will be walking in the graduation ceremony on May 18th 2013!

Hope ya'll had a great 2012...I am so excited to see what is in store for 2013!!!

xoxo E

. time flies .

Time flies when you're having fun! Or when you're busy!!
Tomorrow at 1:30 I am scheduled to take my last final for the semester...say WHAT?? I remember just posting a picture on Instagram (follow me: elisesandrina) of my outfit that I was to wear the first day of class and tomorrow is my last final. Where did the time go?

I have been incredibly busy between work and school. It was exactly what I needed, and only God knew that. I have made some incredible friends this past semester, most of them at work. I wasn't interested in making friends but I've made friends that mean the world to me.

I have done pretty good this semester and my grades are better then expected. It is always hard to keep hanging in there during finals week. I managed to get the flu this past week so I'm recovering from that. I was lucky enough to only have 2 finals, and some papers due. I don't think I could have handled much more.

16 weeks ago was my first day of class. And 5 months from yesterday I will walk across that stage to get my degree! YAY college graduations :)

I am so blessed to have a God who knows what is best for me...what I needed most. Sure it hasn't always been the easiest, but I've made it through. I relocated, reacclimated, mourned friendships that didn't last, and made new friends that are for life. I don't know if I would have done as good this semester if it wasn't for those people!!

My favorite time of year is just around the corner. I will be heading to the Great White (not right now) North to celebrate with my brother in law's family. Can't wait to have a day of complete relaxation!

What do you have planned for the holidays??

xoxo E

ps. my sister has a fashionblog and yours truly made a small little appearence there :) go check it out right here

. favorites .

Hi ya'll!

Ater going through the 500+ pictures on my phone, I found some pictures of really cute outfits I wore this semester. Since this semester is coming to an end, I figured I would give you a selection of my favorite outfits

{ 1st day of classes }

{ work dinner party }

{ new go-to summer outfit }

{ meeting with the president of my school...excuse the flash }

{ debate outfit }

{ favorite winter outfit }

 

Sorry about the quality of my pictures...my phone is pretty good but it could be better. I'm the worst at taking pictures of myself :)

 

Hope ya'll like the outfits. If you like to know where something is from, I'll be glad to tell you where it's from!

 

Hope you had a great Monday!!

 

xoxo E

. Upper Crust Christmas party .

Hi ya'll!

It's almost Christmas!! I'm seriously so excited! Today we had a Christmas party at work, where we did some crafts and had a secret santa gift exchange. It was a blast! We got there and these beauties were waiting for us

How cute is it to wear matching pj's when your in your 20's! :)

We started doing some crafts (making Christmas ornaments) before breakfast was served. My boss came in especially to make each employee their own breakfast. I picked french toast, with home fries and bacon...so darn good! Probably the best breakfast I have ever eaten..thank you Jim!!

I made these lovely crafts by myself..they all match (I've got a serious problem matching things)

{old sheet music modge podge ornament}

After the amazing breakfast, and craft time it was time for presents!!
These are some pics from the girls opening their gift!!

 

 

 

 

Then it was time for me to open my gifts!! I love how everyone knows each other so well...I love all my gifts!!!

{drink thermal cup}

{coffe cup earrings!!!}

{awesome glitter top}

{Kate Spade knockoff earrings!! Love these!!!}

 

 

All in all it was an awesome awesome day. I love all of my coworkers so much, we have all become really good friends. It's weird that all 12 of us get along as much as we do, but there really aren't any issues or any drama going on (Praise the Lord!!)

 

So here is to Allison, Brianna {not pictured}, Brittany, Colleen {my boss, not pictured}, Emily, Haley, Jenn, Jim {my other boss, not pictured}, Lindsey, Marisa, Meghan, Shawna & Tia {not pictured}

 

I love ya'll!

 



{fltr: me, Haley, Meghan, Allison, Shawna, Marisa, Brittany, Emily, Jenn & Lindsey}



 

What a great day, I'm feeling super blessed! God knew I really needed some good girlfriends after I moved back here!

Hope you had a lovely weekend.

xoxo E

. acts of kindness .

 

I found this today when I was roaming the good ol' internet and I thought I would share this with ya'll. It amazes me sometimes how unbelievably nice some people are. We should all act more like these examples to make a world a better place, I know I will be making more of an effort. I had a busy, stressful day at work and this made my day a whole lot better. Hope you enjoy!!

{its a tad small, but if you click on this link you will find a much easier to read version...no squinting}

. keep the change coming .

Yesterday I changed my whole blog layout and even came up with a new name! Today I went a little drastic and did something I've not done before.

I needed something to change in my life. Seen as how my therapist told me I am not allowed to get any more tattoos (for now) that wasn't an option. I recently got this beauty, but it heals so slow, I don't wanna get anything else pierced :)

{its an ugly ring for 8 weeks and then it will be replaced by a little diamond stud}

So to do something different, I told my boss I wanted to dye my hair. She suggested auburn, because of my pale skin and blue eyes and I told her NO!! But then I started looking at some different pictures and it grew on me. My boss is a costmetology student and suggested I go there to get it done...$15 for a full color! Heck to the yea!! So this was me before....very blonde

                      {sorry about the instagram pic...my phone won't let me send picture emails??}

And the after:

 

It is actually a little darker than the picture shows. I LOVE IT!!! I think it looks natural still even though it's a drastic change. Its a good fall/winter color and I think I will stick with it for now. I might get highlights added next week because the girl ran out of time, but I haven't decided yet.

 

 

So..what do ya'll think??

xoxo E

. make - over .

Hey ya'll,

I felt really great after sharing my story and it felt like a new start, I have finally gotten my story out there. I thought this meant it was time for a change, so a new blog name and layout were in the works!

I hope ya'll like the new things around here. I am working on finding someone who will custom design my blog because there are a few things I can't do myself and I'm too anal to leave things off centered and all on here...drives me NUTS! I might just give myself a custom blog design session by a professional for Christmas :)

Tomorrow I'll be posting about this past semester, how time is flying by and my plans for after graduation!!

Have a lovely evening!

xoxo E

. if you really knew me {link up} .

Today I'm linking up with Becky from 'From MRS to MAMA'

I haven't blogged in a long time and I honestly thought about giving it up. But there was something in me that wanted to keep blogging, and maybe make a difference in someone's life and perhaps save someone from going through what I am going through.

(I'm not looking for a pitty party, I am sharing my story to tell others that they are not alone and that they will make it through and let my story serve as a warning that should not be ignored)


My story is not always a pretty one, but its mine and I wouldn't change it. Everything happens for a reason, even the bad things in our lives, and I am a firm believer of that. I'm a Christian and all my faith is in God. He has a plan for my life, and this was part of His master plan. I am just now starting to realize that this is where my passion is, and I want to make a career out of it (Lord willing). This is a pretty long story, just so ya'll know

WARNING: I left out the details, but some people might experience triggers..

When I started college I was 21 and recently moved to the States from The Netherlands. I was really naive and was trying really hard to fit in and not stand out too much from the other freshman who were all 18 and away from their parents for the first time. I hadn't really been a drinker before I came to college (drinking is legal at 16 in the Netherlands) but by trying to fit in and be popular I had my fair share of alcoholic beverages in college :)

After my freshman year, my parents bought a house and I lost a lot of my friends because I was no longer living on campus and part of their lives. I adopted a puppy (yay Izzie) and was pre-occupied with other things besides drinking and going out every night. In an effort to find more friends, I got an invite thru facebook to go to a party. It was November 9th 2008 and it is a day that is etched in my memory.

Shortly after arriving at this house I realized I was the only girl (bad sign #1). I brought my own alcohol, knowing the dangers of drinking someone else's drinks at a house with people you are now familiar with. There was maybe 10-15 guys there and I knew none of them. I had a few drinks and I lost conciousness. To make a long story short, I ended up getting raped by at least 3 of the guys that were there. I was there for over 7 hours and I was in and out of consiousness so its hard to remember (I have a collective memory of that night of maybe 10 minutes). Sometimes I wish I remembered all the details and other times I am glad I don't.

I reported the crime 2 days later and decided not to press charges (I am not really sure why and looking back I wish I would have). I just recently requested a copy of my statememt and it is heartbreaking to read because I can tell that I was really confused about what had happened, and still am. After stuggling to keep my head above water in school I dropped out and moved away. My GPA was so bad I almost got expelled and being on campus gave me too much anxiety so I never attended classes.

Being away for 2 years has really opened my eyes and made me realize that I am a much stronger person than I thought I was, strong was all I had. I felt like I had unfinished business here and after talking to school and realizing I could come back, I decided this was my chance to get my college degree...after 6 years.

I have had to overcome many obstacles coming back here, from driving past the house, to having a mild case of PTSD, and it hasn't been easy. This is something that I deal with almost every day. I try to tell every girl I meet or become friends with my story, and I encourage her to tell her friends so that this can stop.

One in 4 women will become a victim of rape before they graduate from college, that is sickening. I recently spoke in front of 100 people at my school's 'Take Back The Night' event and I was so empowered. I felt like God was finally telling me that I found my calling, this is what I am meant to do!

I am meant to share my story, so that others can learn from my mistakes. So that people, men and women, can become educated about the risks. I feel so inspired to do something really good with something so bad. I have finally found my job, my life, my passion. I am thinking about starting a company that goes around high schools and college so I can share my story and REDUCE the number of victims, or work for a sexual assault prevention and education company. Girls should be careful when in bad situations and alcohol can be a main factor when it comes to making decisions. Guys should be educated on how to speak up when they are a bystander and see things they don't want to see happen. It will take time, but with a lot of people and will power, a change WILL be made!!

I am doing better than ever in school and I am more focused and driven than ever. Once I put my faith in God, He opened my eyes and my heart and showed me the way.

I feels really good/nervewrecking/anxious/excited/scared/bless to be able to put this out there. I would like to add that if you have nothing nice to say, then PLEASE do not say anything at all. Thank your for reading all of my story, I know it's long..so thank you!

Please don't hesitate to email me if you have any questions, concerns or want to talk

xoxo E

. feeling neglected? .

I would! I haven't written a post in a month...A MONTH!! I thought I was making a comeback appearently a month ago, and then things happened..my life happened { 10 points if you can tell me what movie that's from :) }

Lets break my life down in catagories shall we, there is school, work, and animals :)
Yea you heard that right, no social life!

School
School started at the end of August. I had to work a 7 hour shift first before my first class and I was so darn nervous! If you know me, you know I talk an obnoxious amount...well I was so nervous that I could not stop talking!! Both my bosses had to tell me to shut up { which is not a good thing, haha }. It was so weird to be back on campus and it seemed like I had never been to school there, like it was all a dream. I don't know, it was a weird feeling.
My first class went great, its funny because literally everyone in the class knew each other..except me. So this semester I am taking White-Collar Crime, Social Statistics, Introduction to Archaeology, Family Sociology and Elementary Italian. I have a nice variety of classes and so far we are 3 weeks in and I'm doing really well! I'm so looking forward to graduating...I cannot wait!!

Work
Im still working at the Upper Crust and still loving it! Its amazing because I've never actually loved a job especially not for this long. I can already tell it's going to be sad when I have to leave there.
And in other news...after 26 years I think I have finally figured out what type of career I'd like to persue after I'm done with school. I would love to be a victim advocate and I'm praying that God has the same idea in mind for me! A victim advocate is basically a counselor that helps victims and witnesses to understand the criminal and legal procedures. The Victim/Witness advocates can be with you at the scene, at the hospital, in the courtroom and help you navigate the justice system. They are the “first responders” to the victim or witness and their family.I would explain to victims or survivors of crimes what is happening in present time or what is going on around them. This is an attempt to help give them back a sense of control around their immediate surroundings. I would attend court proceedings with or without the victim. Assist in preparing the victim or witness for court. During the trial the Advocate stays with the victim or witness and explains the procedure and answers all questions. In 2009 I did an internship at the Victims Assistance Program for the District Attorney in my county, it was great, and I learned so much. Im excited to graduate and get going with my life. I will be starting to apply for jobs in Decemer, 6 months before I graduate so hopefully I'll have a job by the time I have that little piece of paper. I don't have any states that I'm more interested in then others...its exciting to see where God wants me!

Animals
Besides caring for Izzie I also recently adopted a baby kitty!
 

{ hazel @ 2 weeks old }

 

Baby Hazel came into my life almost a month ago. She was born July 31st and was about 2 weeks old when she found me, oh and she weighed a whopping 0.5lbs :). My friend was taking care of Hazel's mom, and when the mom had Hazel and her brother and sisters she rejected all but one {bad mommy}. My friend was raising 3 kittens by bottle and was just overwhelmed, so I took Hazel home to 'foster' her. I think my foster idea was completely obliterated by cuteness oh maybe 4 days after I got her...she's mine forever! I had to bottle feed her every 2 hours (now every 3-4), burp her, bathe her, help her go to the bathroom, keep her warm, socialize her and help her become a cat. She is thriving! I go home in between classes and in my 30 minute lunch break from work so I can feed her and walk Izzie. Its a lot, but they are so woth it! Hazel will be 6 weeks old in 2 days and has changed so much over the past few weeks, its really neat to see. Here are some more pictures of the newest baby :)

{ hazel + mommy 3 weeks old }

 

{ hazel 4 weeks old & 15oz }

 { hazel 5 weeks old..her blue eyes are turning green }

 

{ hazel almost 6 weeks old...looking more like a kitty every day }

 

 

 

And the cutest picture of all:

 

They love each other and I love them tons!! They are my babies :)

 

Happy Thursday

 

xoxo E
 

. workout Wednesday .

I have been so crazy busy with work that I have not yet had time to do groceries or make healthy meals in a while. This kinda has worked out in my favor...that and being on my feet walking all day long has also helped. I saw a number on the scale that I haven't seen in a while...drum roll please :)

148.4

I'm so excited to be seeing the number go down since I started. I got off to a slow start, but I think I might be on a roll now. I'm stoked!!!

Hopefully soon I'll get my stuff together and upload some before and after pictures!

xoxo E

. soon i'll be covered in... .

via

Yep...I'm having ink fever :) again! I would love to get more tattoos (no worries mom, I won't go crazy and be covered!)

I'm heading to Virginia this weekend for a birthday party, a going away party...and a tattoo appointment!! I'm sure a lot of people think I'm nuts for getting this tattoo, and that's ok. Everyone is entitled to their oppinions and I respect them, but this tattoo is for me and for me alone.

This is a stamp of Izzie's paw. I'm getting this tattooed on the top of my right foot. I have had Izzie since she was 6 weeks old and she has been with me thru a lot and I want to never forget what we went thru (maybe someday on the blog I'll talk about it, but for right now it's between Izzie and I). She is there for me when I'm sad, lonely, happy, you name it, she's with me. Like the blog title say's, right now its just Izzie and me! I love this dog like nothing else...its insane really :)

Then after that one, I have a few more tattoos planned. In no particular order:

this one

{ This was taken right after the bandage was taken off..I should update this picture no?? :) }

will be extended to look like this:

via

I'm pretty sure this will cover up most of my back. I really want someone to draw this on me in pen so I can see what it looks like when it's all done that way if I don't like it I don't waste a tattoo artist's time by having to draw it up and me not liking it. I'll have to find someone who can draw...

I have a tattoo on my ribs that says: "Each day is a gift, not a given right". Its a quote from a Nickelback song and I absolutely love the quote but I'm not sure about the lettering, I also don't want to cover any of my tattoos up. They were all done at a specific time in my life. So instead of covering it up I'm thinking about putting either a tree with no leaves on it with the quote in there or a cherry blossom tree, like so:

via



to go around my quote that is this..capeesh??

{ this tattoo is a lot smaller then this, it covers a little bit of my ribs, so it would be as big as the picture above }

Next up: a thigh tattoo. I've wante one for a while now and I was playing around with the idea of a peacock, but that doens't really have any meaning to me. So I came up with the idea of getting my mom, dad, Lynne and my birth flowers on my left thigh...there is nothing more important then family an this will be a pretty, colorful way to pay tribute to that. And when I have children, I would like their birth flowers added on my right thigh.

And the last one I really really want, and will probably be my next one. A tattoo on the inside of my arm that will say:

And because I don't want it to be just the writing, I may add this to it:

I would like just the birdcage, not the chandelier. I think the bird in the cage represents quitting before something good happens and therefor staying in your cage. I can't wait to get this...I've always wanted a tattoo on my inner arm.

Basically my tattoo artist is going to be making bank on me, and my body will be covered in more art. I love tattoos and what they represent to me and I'm hoping that in this day and age no one will judge me on my ink and not my personality!

What is your oppinion on tattoos?

xoxo E





. updatie .

once again, I took a little unplanned bloggie break! I'm back though, I have some blog updates planned for this week and I'm excited to get back into the groove :)

I got a new job a few weeks ago...basically when I stopped blogging. Here is a little back story. So basically I had a job interview at an agricultural transport company for a position as an accounting assistant. I got a call back for a second interview and it was between me and another girl. I thought I did really well, and I NEEDED this job, I had to get away from McDonald's, that job really was a temporary solution to a financial problmems. I got a call saying I did not get the job. I was pretty devastated to be honest and didn't quite understand what His plan was, I mean surely I don't have to work at McDonald's for a lot longer...right?

Well I talked to my aunt who told me the quote I put online here earlier, "Don't quit before the miracle". That day my neighbor came up to me and told me that this cute coffee shop downtown was hiring...its like a family style panera/starbucks mix with amazing sandwiches, soups, bakery items and coffee drinks. It's called "The upper crust" and I've been going there since my freshman year. So I went there right away, and filled out the application. These 2 girls that worked there asked about my experience and availability and the girl behind the counter told me I would get a call the next day. So I left and went to get some groceries, and I had left there maybe 20 minutes and I got a call!! They asked me to come in for an interview the next day!! So I went in the next day and met with the owner, Jim, and I thought it went really well. I went in on  Monday morning to see if I got the job or not, and the girl behind the counter went back, came out again and said "ok, you work Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday from 11-3pm", I was shocked and so excited! So I worked all that week at the Upper Crust and at McDonalds, and it got pretty hectic and busy! The week after that was even worse, working 16 hours on Monday and 11 hours the rest of the week! I'm so happy that I have found a job where I feel at home, people are nice to me and I love the girls I work with.

I'm leaving for VA again this Thursday so lots of pictures shall be posted next week. I'll also be getting more ink which I am estatic about...it's about time! I think I have 6 new tattoos planned...this is a tiny financial problem that we shall discuss later, yes :)

How have you been? I really missed blogging but this time I'm going to keep my word and I'm back!

xoxo E

. roadtrip shenanigans part 2 .

So ya'll can read part 1 of my story here.

The night after we went to the lake, I spent at Lynne's house and we watched the Bachelorette...totally hooked on this season by the by! We had a nice relaxing night which was a nice way to end the trip.

The next morning I stopped by Lynne's work to say goodbye and I drove to Front Royal, about 2.5 hours north. When I got there, I got Izzie all situated, and Torrie (my aunt) and I decided to go to lunch and run some arrands. As we were leaving her road, we see a UPS truck...now I decided to have my new phone sent to Torrie's house so I could have it before I drove back to NY. So we did what any logical person does...we turn around and follow the UPS truck. He drove straight to her house, where I met him and he handed me my new phone. It was quite exciting!

We had some lovely Mexian food for lunch...I love Mexican food but there is none here that is any good, but this place was delicious. Well when Torrie went to pay she realized she left her wallet at the house, so we went back home. We hung out with the doggies a little bit, did some stuff around her house. Then we left again to go to Target and get peddies :)

After that, we decided to spend some time at the house with the doggies. Torrie and I talked about our weight loss journey's and she just started to go for run/walks every night. So we decided to take the dogs...and the wine we bought at Target. My uncle and her live on 5 acres of land and right on a river, so it is perfect for the dogs to run around. We ran/walked for 30 minutes and it felt really good! We ran by the river, in the water and it was so good...it was a good bonding experience. We got some little chairs and set up right by the river, even lit some tiki torches. My uncle came out and we just hung out, drank quite a bit.

Well, I was in the middle of a super interesting story when I heard this super loud crack! I jumped up out of my chair and so did my uncle. I look behind me and this huge tree log fell out of the tree. It fell 5 feet from where we were sitting and 2 feet from the cars, somehow it didn't hit us, the cars or the dogs! When I turned around Torrie was still sitting in her chair, appearently my story was so interesting she didn't really react to this huge cracking sound. I looked for my uncle and he was in a ball like 20 feet away from us. I just started laughing and asked how he got there so quickly, he said he thought the whole tree was falling and just ran while looking behind him at the tree and tripped over a rock! He was fine, and we were just lucky that all of us and the doggies were ok.

Here is the evidence

It literally left a crater in the ground, it was insane! Its a good story to tell, but it was scary, I was shaking like a leaf...pun intended :)

I left pretty early the next day to head back to NY. I had so much fun in VA, but I wish I was there longer, the time went by so fast and I feel like I spent most of my time in the car. I can't wait to go back. I'm going back in 3 weeks when my uncle turns 40...they are having a huge party with a band by the river, but they are making sure all the dead tree limbs are gone first :)

Hope ya'll enjoyed my shenanigans!

xoxo E

. roadtrip shananigans part 1 .

Holy cow...what a fun past couple of days! I have pictures to share and stories to tell :)

Ya'll read about my trip there...it took for fricken ever, but I made it safe and sound! I got into Lynchburg around 5:30pm and raced to my sister's house. Basically I dumped Izzie there, said a real quick hello to friends from Canada and then bolted because I had dinner plans at....5:30 :) I was a little late but met Laurel at Buffalo Wild Wings where I finally settled my recent craving for fried pickles...I'm not sure what that was about, or where it came from!

After that I went home and went to bed, I was exhausted from my drive! Lynne came home from her rehearsal dinner and we hung out for a little bit before I called it a night. The next day Lynne and I went to see my grandma who just had shoulder surgery, and it was good to see her. After that we went and did some shopping, which was amazing!! :) We took a little too long shopping and when we got home we had an hour to get ready for the wedding...ya'll know an hour is not  long enough to get ready!!! Lynne only has one shower, so I opted to wash my hair in the sink, a girls gotta do what a girls gotta do! We managed to get there in time though, it was by the grace of God because I'm not sure how we did that.

The wedding was beautiful, just look at the pictures! Megan and Daniel are a great couple and they have an awesome relationship.

{ groom + groom's men }

{ bridesmaids }

{ the gorgeous bride and her father }

{ THE KISS }

{ the head table, so cute }

{ the cake }

{ the lovely couple, via instagram }

{ George, the groom's dad and the girls }

{ my wolf pack, from left to right, Kaci, Scott, me, Meagan, Lynne, Justin, Kyle, Caleb, Christy, Brittany and Erik }

The next day Justin, my brother in law, was working at the lake, and Lynne and I and some friends drove out there to hang out. Another friend (are you following) had gotten a boat with his parents and invited us to go tubing...uhm heck yea (not the tubing part). So we hung out on the boat and Lynne was a beast out there on the tube, the driver definitely didn't hold back because she was a girl. It was all fun and games until we hit a tital wave and it hit my bag, which was canvas, not quite waterproof! Well there was a lot of water and for some stupid reason I brought my phone with me on the boat, I'm not sure why because I didn't use it or need it. Well my phone got soaked and so did my camera. I managed to get my camera battery out and saved my camera...my poor phone wasn't so lucky. When I picked it up, water was streaming out and I couldn't get my phone case off fast enough to save it. So $130 later, I had to get a completely different phone, a Samsung Blaze or something, I think I like it so far. It was a big bummer, but here are some pictures!

{ ready for the lake }

{ about to go tubing }

{ the look on Lynne's face is priceless...sheer terror, but that turned to fun, no worries :) }

Because my bag got soaked, so did my extra set of clothes. So I wore Lynne's undies (they were clean) and her shorts that went over my thighs but couldn't quite zip or button, and Justin's shirt..oh and no bra, great look I know. Well then Lynne was going comando, wore Justin's jeans and a button up shirt. We both looked AWESOME :)

That night we saw 'Snow white and the huntsmen' and it was pretty good, but too long for my liking.

Stay tuned for part 2 of my trip, coming tomorrow!

xoxo E