Let winter break begin!!!

Wow. Today is such a great day because finals are FINALLY over. This semester has been an interesting one to say the least and it was really hard to get adjusted back to life in America after having the amazing schooling experience in Spain. It's hard to believe my last fall semester for my undergraduate degree is over... but so exciting at the same time. After Halloween *which is posted on my previous blog post* school became really difficult and not in the way that you would think. It was so hard to focus and for some reason my mind was just checked out...guess that's Senioritis. We also lost my Aunt Marne from cancer in October and that was so difficult for my family and I had to make an emergency trip to Utah for it which made getting back to school even harder. Well here's a few major events that happened in the end of the fall semester:

My great aunt Treva and Sandy visited from Indiana. They came to Flagstaff to see Rachel and my apartments and took us to a yummy dinner.

Then we all met back in Glendale for some fun going to the Colts VS. Cardinals football game and tree decorating. This is our first year without my grandma and it was an emotional day going through all of her ornaments and all of our hearts were very heavy as we miss her and she will have left us almost a year ago. I am still so grateful to have had them here for our family while we did our Xmas festivities. They helped my mom deal with her first xmas without her mom and the rest of us as well.

I finally got around to sledding this winter since it is my last one here in Flagstaff and let me tell you...that was an adventure to say the least!!!! Who knew getting stuck in the forest for 4-5 hours could be sooo fun.. hahaha....

 We are way too cute to help dig the car out of the snow so obviously the only logical thing to do was take pictures!

We had an amazing Thanksgiving this year and celebrated at my step sisters house. Having kids around for the holidays makes it so much more fun and enjoyable. My nephews, Josh and Kaiden are so funny and always say the darnest things! We had an eventful day of playing games like hungry hippo, chutes and ladder and Yahtzee. After the fun and food, the girl were all off to do some amazing black friday shopping and we scored this year!!!

LAST BUT NOT LEAST. Cassie graduated from ASU. It was so fun to see my old JCP friends especially since I am back there working a bit for the holidays and miss them all soo much and know none of the new people. We were all so proud of Cassie and she has overcome so many obstacles within her time and college and is truly my greatest role model. It makes it all the more exciting to graduate myself in only a few months!

Overall, I am so happy this semester is over and think about the last year and am so very grateful for the amazing friends I have made and already have. Nothing compares to the friends I have in my life and they make saying goodbye to Flagstaff so difficult. Now it's only 5 days till XMAS and 10 days till New years and I am so very ready for a new year with even newer opportunities.

Falling into Fall

The start of my senior year of college started as a success.. Coming back to Flagstaff after a fun summer of travel was so great and very needed.. The weather was so nice, but rained almost every day for almost a full month...fingers crossed for a full winter of snow so I can learn to snowboard!!

Fall also marked the first time moving into an apartment!! It is so nice to have my own place off campus with a full kitchen, my own room and my own bathroom! Plus, Genae is such a great roommate and we always have so much fun together in the evenings when we are both home and share so many stories and laughs!

Here's a little rewind of events that were important to remember and fun in fall:

 My amazing bedroom!! Love my bedspread and so grateful my big strong step dad brought all my furniture from Glendale up.

 My bathroom that my sweet sister Liv helped me decorate!!!

I was so obsessed with Goodwill this summer and did so many fun crafts with the cool finds!

With Fall comes.....FOOTBALL!!!! 

 My amazing family on our last family weekend!!!!!! 

One of the funnest highlights of this fall semester has been my great sister, dad and niece visiting! 

Zaida is growing every day and every time I see her she changes so much. I was so happy that my sister got to finally see my apartment and like always she brought additions to it. She so full of gifts and love and is the most thoughtful person I know! Zaida has such a personality now and every visit gets more and more interesting. 

Halloween is seriously one of my favorite holidays. My friends are so awesome and we always make every occasion a fun time! I had three different costumes for every night of the weekend and it was exhausting! 

Fall is so fun but I am so excited for winter and snow!!!!!!! This senior year is already turning out to be soo amazing! 

I love my friends!

My love found in Spain

Summer was something I couldn't even imagine leaving off my blog because it was probably the best summer of my life! I traveled to another country, celebrated Fourth of July in California, visited my sister and sweet niece in Utah, and somehow in between all of that had time to work in Flagstaff! It was a wild one, but the fun fast pace of it made it one that I would never forget! I feel so blessed to have had the opportunity to study for a month in Spain. I get emotional every time I think about it because it was such an amazing experience that I could never being to explain in words but I will try.

For anyone who has ever questioned studying abroad, DO IT!!!! This was an experience that taught me more than Spanish. I learned independence, met my new best friend and learned things about myself I never knew. I know that sounds sooo cliche saying "go travel, you will find yourself", but I promise it is true!!

Since it is so hard to explain Spain in words, I'll show a few of my favorite moments and pictures from Spain!!!!!

This picture was taken the first weekend in Spain in the Plaza Mayor in Salamanca! Our program greeted us with an amazing welcome dinner the first night we arrived with some crazy authentic food and wine! One thing in particular I remember is duck... it was served with crackers but was pastey like cheese spread... and I didn't like it. A few of us decided to go out this night and thought "yea we have horrible jetlag, but its our first night in Spain....lets rage" little did we know... they dont start partying in Spain till about 12:30 am so we were at the bars around 11:30 pm wondering where everyone was... Us Americans had to adjust quickly to this crazy party scene and time difference.

 This is from one of the first bars we went to call Mama Juanas and we got free shots...SCORE

 Who knew these people would become some of my closest friends!! Here's us in the Plaza Mayor in Salamanca...which is where most of us decided was our favorite place in Spain...also Salamanca is where we studied. 

 DUCK!

Here's a few more highlights and some of my favorite people on this planet! 

 Michael McKenzie

 Kayla Windsor (My best freakin friend!)

Fun times explorin' Salamanca!

The best thing about traveling is traveling!!! 

We got to see soo many cool places in Spain and Portugal..

For instance..Segovia

PORTUGAL......where I got to hold an OWL.....HOO HOO

Madrid for my 20th Birthday day then back to sweet Salamanca for my birthday night.. Shout out to the most amazing friends Kayla, Brenton, and Michael for making this night extra special and unforgettable. 

And who could forget our adventures to.....VALENCIA!!!

 Authentic Valencian Paella!

And last but not least the people who made this experience above and beyond amazing for me.

And now you understand why this was the BEST MONTH OF MY WHOLE LIFE!!!!

I remember being so afraid to make the commitment to study abroad and now more than ever I am so grateful I took a leap of faith and did it.. I met some amazing people that I was lucky enough to have back at NAU with me. 

The greatest thing I learned from this whole experience is that I LOVE SPAIN and cant wait to go back and visit again.