Filling in the Timeline: June-November

Before I start defending myself, let’s get something straight: I am inherently lazy. Who else would start a blog, see it hit a couple thousand views and then just abandon it for almost six months? Consider this our coffee date to catch up.

This summer, I worked two jobs and stayed perpetually exhausted. I would detail the events that led me to ditch the blog and delete my social media apps from my phone, but I hope to make an entire post about the summer of 2018 and how the lessons I learned can help you. For right now, let’s keep it simple and say it sucked. That’s the most poetic term I can think to use.

In July, my family and I took on the beaches of South Carolina and for two weekends in a row in October, I visited my sister in Indianapolis. During one of these Indy adventures, I was lucky enough to meet my idols, a few of the guys from Whose Line is it Anyway?, for the third time. The beach has kept my skin sun-kissed while the trips to Indy have kept my momentum alive to finish out this semester.

Where am I? HINT: Not Indianapolis in October.

School started back in August, and I’ve made some changes this year. For starters, I chose a cozy dorm on campus. Until this year, I lived in an apartment and was never too convinced of the hype. The decision has made this semester the best so far. I became involved with my hall council and other organizations on campus that brought me out of my shell and introduced me to people I wouldn’t have met otherwise. In addition, I can roll out of bed at 2:00 and be to class by 2:15. Note to self: Write a post about the advantages of living on campus. Of course, this takes me away from the namesake of my blog, but Goldie is happy and healthy living with my parents in Madisonville, so I can get a degree and afford her insatiable appetite.

Speaking of which, on October 2nd, Goldie celebrated the 2nd anniversary of her adoption! Here’s her with a pupcake.

My proudest accomplishments during this blog hiatus have all included writing to some extent. Along with my dull and mathematically intense business classes, I’m taking an advanced composition course that has kept me working on a professional’s schedule. (This is another allusion to a future post: What I’ve Learned By Taking Advanced Composition.) I also have posted some online fiction and practice writing daily.

My writing not only takes my mind to new worlds, but it takes my physical self to new countries. I’ve done a bit of traveling here and there during these few months, but it hasn’t been enough. If you follow my ever-exciting Facebook narrative, you have seen that I will be making the voyage to Chester, UK in January for six months of study. In less than 55 days, I’ll fly into the Manchester airport for the most ambitious trip of my lifetime. I know I say this a lot, but East Tennessee State University treats me better than I deserve, and their monetary and personnel assistance with this trip is the greatest example of this. I can also never thank my parents enough for providing me with the support to even think this was possible.

The rows of Chester, UK, my home from January to July 2019.

The next six months of this blog is planned to be study abroad posts, tips and tricks and other drabbles from a young inexperienced mind that’s working hard to sort itself out. As always, my messages and comments are always open.