This weekend...

...I bought Ellen, Christiana, and my ticket to NYC. We're flying there on Dec 28 and flying back on Jan 3.

...I applied for two jobs, one on Monster.com and one on CareerBuilder.com. They're both full-time. I don't know how I feel about that. I originally planned to work part-time while I was in grad school, but I don't know if I can find a satisfactory part-time job in southeast Texas. I guess satisfactory is a relative term.

Indecision

Ellen, Christiana, Heather, and I have been planning a trip to NYC after Christmas. Well, we decided it was about time to buy tickets because ticket prices have been going up. I knew I should probably tell my mom I was going before I bought my ticket. So I called her yesterday and told her. She was surprisingly ok with it (or she seemed to be anyway). I started out by telling her about the trip, but we ended up talking about my plans come January when I move. I basically explained to her all the decisions I have to make about where I'm going to live, work, and go to school. All of these decisions are up in the air right now and it's killing me. I could work in Humble, The Woodlands, Conroe, etc. Actually, I don't even know what kind of job I'm looking for, so that's probably the biggest problem. I could go to school at Sam or I could do their whole MBA program at The University Center in The Woodlands. Where I am going to live is partially decided. I'm definitely going to move back home for at least the first semester. If I don't like it after that then I will move (if I can afford it). Moving will bring up lots more decisions that I don't want to think about right now. Anyway, as you can see, my life is going to completely change very soon and I haven't figured out any of it. I HATE indecision!

The Travel Bug

I got a new book in the mail yesterday: 1000 Places to See Before You Die. It's pretty amazing. Out of a thousand things, I've only done about a dozen of them. This book has just fueled my desire to travel even more. I think going to New Zealand started it. I just realized how much I hadn't seen, how much I didn't know, how much I hadn't experienced. If I could do one thing when I graduated I would go backpacking through Europe for as long as my money held out, but therein lies the problem: I have no money. So, until I stumble across (or earn...whatever) enough money to get me to and through Europe then I suppose my $5 used book will have to do.

Leaving

I remember during the last semester of my freshmen year I made sure to take unnecessary belongings home with me my last couple of trips home to make the summer-long move at the end of the semester easier. Well, it occurred to me that I will have to start doing that again in two weekends when I go home for Homecoming, but the move will not just be summer-long this time. Sometimes I can't believe I'm leaving Austin in 3 short months. Sometimes I wonder why I'm leaving. Am I gonna regret it? I don't know. Currently I don't exactly feel like I really live anywhere, even though I really live in two places. I do still have a room or two in Cleveland full of stuff, but it's different when I go back. I certainly do reside in Austin, but my whole family is still in Cleveland. Then grad school is a whole other story. I have no idea if I'm going to like that, but I guess that is irrelevant. It won't take very long anyway. I wish I could just go travel...

I Won a Photo Contest!

The company that organized my study abroad trip, AUIP, held a photo contest for all the people who went on one of their many programs this summer. I submitted the photo below and won the Nature/Landscape category, one of three categories. I get an REI gift certificate for winning. Isn't that crazy that I won a photo contest? I don't even like being in or taking pictures!!

Graduation

Well, I mailed my grad school application yesterday and I applied to graduate today! I also made a reservation for my graduation party. Now I need to order invitations and regalia. It's all happening so fast. I keep forgetting that I still have a whole semester ahead of me and it's going to be a lot of work. It'll be over soon enough.

I went to the lake for Labor Day weekend. I almost managed to leave without a sunburn, but I ended up with one from the last hour we were on the lake because the boat wouldn't start and my dad had to pull it in with the jet ski. Despite the burn, I had a lot of fun. I like being able to be carefree every once in awhile.

I got my official GMAT score this weekend too. It didn't change. I made a 600. That gets me into grad school with room to spare. That's one less thing I have to worry about!