"Houses are like people - some you like and some you don't like - and once in a while there is one you love." - L.M. Montgomery

  I have fallen in love with two beautiful 4 bedroom, close to campus homes in Tempe. Like the kind of love, where you can imagine a future and life with; quickly start undressing the walls to be redecorated with decor of your own. A love that makes you want to host Sunday brunch, for all your loved ones to join. Am I a proud, secure feeling renter of ether of those bewitching homes? Nope. Rental house hunting has made me believe, love at first sight is never going to last.
  Outside of that I have learned some valuable lessons, as I continue this hair pulling process. The first house I fell in love with because of the backyard that takes you to a place that feels far, far from the heat and dry landscape of Arizona. I saw this house on a Thursday, with just one (out of 4) of my future house mates. We fell in love with it quickly and new we wanted the rest of the girls to see it immediately, but Rentals Tempe (which has the WORST costumer service possible) could not schedule us to see it until the following Wednesday. The next 5 days was serious anticipation to see the home with the girls and hoped they would fall in love with it like we did. Welp, as soon as we arrived to their office, the good looking, ridiculously rude worker informed us that the house was rented the day before, with simply saying, "gone". When we we responded with a, "whaaa"?, he again snarly replied "yesterday. Rented". My heart broke and rained inside my head, specially as none of the houses we saw that day could even compare. This is the first time I have ever been in any type of house hunt, and I'm not sure why I didn't realize houses and apartments are a whole other game, and that we would quickly need to pounce on the homes you know are just right. Lesson learned.
  After about a two week house hunt break, for finals and a chance to recover from our first heart break, myself and another one of my future roommates visited 2 homes Thursday. One of them, I think immediately we knew that house was not meant for us. The other though, again, love at first walk through. The nights of roommate bonding with s'mores being made in our fireplace; and brunch Sundays in our beautiful nook with natrual lighting lowing from the large windows, were imagined and so excited for. We had learned our lesson though, only a few hours after viewing I called back the Realtor to let him know of our very serious interest and what were the next steps to make this house our first home. He informed me that he had already promised someone "dibs" a couple days ago but by the next day at four he would know if it would go through or not. Today, I think me and all my roommates played this long waiting game, filled with angst. 4:30 rolled around to find this would not be our home.
  Honestly I am not sure what I have learned from this house going wry, I hope that it means something like when one door closes, french doors and a house with shutters open, but it is too soon to tell. Anyhow, I plan to keep ya posted in hopes that this house hunting hell is over soon!

"Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art.... It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things which give value to survival" - C. S. Lewis

  What has brought my life so much joy, is the long lasting and loving friendships I've had. I don't even think I have the right words to explain the love I have for my friends and all the laughter they have brought into my life. People who choose to live secluded and without friends, are people I will never understand. Ever. People are the best part of life, their stories and experiences have a very weird way of impacting on your own and it's even better then you consider those people your friends. 

   As I've recently looked at my life and what's missing is, not necessarily my lack of friends, but how I haven't spent much time with the people who i've considered really important. Most of the time these friendships, have dwindled on my behalf and my awkwardness of not wanting to reach out too them. Disclaimer: Michael is my best friend and most days he's the only person I want to see, but my favorite part of our relationship is that we value each others friends and typically share our good friends.  I've been on this very me centered, trying to get it all together in the past couple of months and I probably would have figured it out, if I spent more time with the people I love most. I 'm very bothered by the people who complain about their lack of friends, because they're probably the reason they lack them.

  Where I'm going with this is, value your friendships and don't let them go stale. I'll be inviting lots of people to have lunch with me in the next few weeks.

"She Refused to be Bored, Chiefly because She wasn't Boring" - Zelda Fitzgeald

  So I haven't posted in a while now and that's because every time I've sat down to write I have these really positive intentions, but then it just turns into a long complain fest. So here goes my final attempt in not doing so:
  Where has the time gone? Just last week it was only the end of January, and now we're about to start March.  After next week it's spring break, and midterms, with all this time that has already slipped through my fingers, what feels like so quickly, why have I not put myself together yet? Jordyn, not only already lives in Spain, but is spending her spring break in Berlin and Amsterdam, Sydnee just had her big little reveal last night and Traci is still in RHA and doing so wonderfully, Elena lives in D. C., Michael is killing it in school (and on the piano) and me, well I commute. I feel as if everyone important to me is living out some part of all the collegiate dreams I've had. The worst part of all this is that I know i can only blame myself for the things I have not accomplished.
  I have a couple options: too continue to compare my failures too my loved one successes, start from scratch in attempt to making new plans and goals, or repair the bridges I’ve burned and start living out the person I’ve wanted to be so long now. Honestly the first two options sound the easiest, but we all know what I should be doing.
  So here is my game plan, because I refuse to continue living this boring, complacent, quickly passing by life:

1.      Savior each minute - stop thinking about what I’m doing and focus on what needs to get done in the preset

2.      Love Libraries - the reality is I am so unproductive most places besides the library, so do what ya need to do to spend more time there. Snacks, headphones, etc!

3.    Sleep More - 6 hours minimum, stop depriving yourself from one of the best parts of life, you are so much more productive and happier when you’ve had a sufficient amount of sleep

4.      Organize your Life - Planners and list are your best friend.

5.      Dress Intentionally - Dress the way you want to be perceived & No Andrea, you don’t wasn’t to be someone who only lives in a constant state of napping

6.      Don’t be Boring - Force Michael out on random dates, Sydnee too, groupon life 

7.    Stick to a budget - Life is so much better when you feel a sense of financial accomplishment and aren’t asking your mother for money

8.      Community Service - Life is better when you’re helping others

9.      Rebuild burned bridges - I’m in this uncomfortable state of life, where I have more people I’m uncomfortable about running into, then I do to call up and make plans with, that can only change if I do something about it

10.  Sabbath Sunday - God gave us a day of rest for a reason, use it

11.  Write it Out - I have  recently fell in love with Moleskin Note Books, they are so simple, yet my favorite out of any journal/notebook I’ve owned. 

Okay, I’m sorry you read all of this and that I switched between first and third person so much.. Today begins some more life adjustments, may March bring us both us blissful moments that are worth Instagraming.

 

"There is no surprise more magical than the surprise of being loved: It is God's finger on man's shoulder." - Charles Morgan

  Michael is magic. Over the years, there has been very little that I have said I wanted in front of Michael and it hasn't appeared right in front of me.  This past weekend there were two instances that were pleasant little reminders of how magical he can be: the first was when I asked for a Sonoran Enchilada and it arrived at my door step within the next 20 minutes, the second was when I said, "I'm craving pink lemonade” and within the next 5 minutes I was drinking a tall glass of it. Realistically neither of those things were probably that out of reach; he works at a Mexican food restaurant and there may have been pink lemonade mix in his pantry, yet it is magic that after five years he can still adore and love me enough that he just responds to me like that with a smile.

  As our five year anniversary approaches (and Valentine's Day) I have been actively taking note on the little things, which remind me how real our love is, that can easily get passed by. I'm genuinely excited for us, five years is a big deal. Not because, I will officially be able to say that we have been together for that long, or that is so rare for young couples to make it here, but after five years our love has endured and caused us to grow together instead of apart. I am so in love and that is magic.

 In no way do I want to come off like my relationship is this perfect love story, because it is not. This year has been rough at times and I think we both considered the strength and dynamism of our relationship at points. 70% of the time I am a brat and needy, and would not want to dates myself.

  I want to celebrate that our love is so strong, enduring and magical, not pat ourselves on the back for sticking it.  I have about zero care for Valentine’s Day, but I want to pretty much spend the week of my anniversary telling random strangers about it (sorry if you follow me on social media bro). For a while, I have been trying to decide on the perfect gift and have finally decided on it. Michael is really going to love it, like really love it and I’m not going to say what it is, and it has taken a lot for me to not wave it in Michael’s face (he hates surprises), but it is awesome.

  Love is real. Don’t force it. Whenever love does decide to come into your life, it will be magical every day.

In No Way I Am An Eloquent Writer

 

I'm sorry none of these pictures happened in the last year

  My name is Andrea and I decided to write a blog, because I'm going through this awkwardly, important part of my life and half the time I don't even know what's going, so hopefully I will figure it out and maybe someone will enjoy reading my story as much as I do theirs.
  I was also inspired by two of my really good friends blogs: Jordyn's blog about her travels in Madrid and my friend Taci's blog about her travel through life . I promise you will like them both.
  So 19 years old at Arizona State University, who pretty much feels everything I defined myself as in life has been stripped away from me within the last year. I have been blessed enough to know that I have some of the greatest friendships of my lifetime, but three of my main lady's are all abroad and have very limited time to communicate with them. At this point in life, I have been extremely dependent on them, so who am I when they are not around? My boyfriend, Michael is the most perfect person I could ever be with; eventually I promise to write about him and all of his perfect imperfections. I am so in love.
  This semester, this year, right now is meant to be a time of action and change, doing more than dreaming and self doubting. I hope you continue to read on.