Blessings in Disguise

While this summer has been kind of rough with very little work and in turn very little money coming in to save for the next year, there have been a few things that have made this summer amazing, despite my failure to reach my goal of saving "X" number of dollars for my year of study abroad. Had I not come home for the summer there are a couple of things that I would have missed out on due to the fact that I would not have been able to get time off for or I would simply have not been around for. This includes, but is not limited to, my family's vacation to Colorado, New Mexico, and Texas, where not only did my younger sister make 1st Runner-UP for Miss FCRV (Family Campers & RVers) at National Campvention where I got to see some very close family friends I have not seen in a few years, but I also got to spend an extended weekend visiting with my amazing family in the Dallas, TX area. Upon returning home I was invited to chaperon the Kiel FFA Officer Retreat this past week, where I was able to witness the bright future of our chapter coming together and help give some insight in different areas from my experiences and especially those that made our chapter a 3-Star Gold Chapter at Nationals for 2004-2005. And for those opportunities and for the experiences that are still to come I am so very grateful for. But for now it is time to continue my work on organizing my life and bedroom before I leave in three-weeks and do not return for the next year.

Summer...where has it gone and where I am going...

Okay, so it is July 2nd, and while that means I technically have 2 months left before Germany, it sure seems like a lot less time than that. In less than 24 hours, my younger sister, my parents, and I will be on the road heading for Colorado and a two-week holiday during which we will vacation with friends, camp for a week, see a "Green Home," try our hand at a state-of-the-art shooting range in New Mexico, visit with family in Dallas, Texas, and catch a show in Branson, Missouri. Upon returning, I have about a month during which I must visit the dentist, the doctor, the allergist, the Marquette Financial Aid & Bursar's Offices, all before I leave for an 11-day Alaskan cruise with one of my aunts. I will return from the cruise on 31. August/1. September and leave almost immediate for Germany. I am definitely looking forward to all of my forthcoming travels and can barely believe how lucky and blessed I am to be able to have these wonderful opportunities. The hardest part about all of this is the limited amount of time to work and save money for the coming academic year abroad. Unless I am able to work in Germany over the semester holiday, I only have a month left of possible work days before a year without any hard-earned income. Something I will need to learn to adjust to, as I have been working along with my constant array of activities that have kept me busy for almost as long as I can remember.

Well, I still have a lengthy list to accomplish before I head to bed and we leave tomorrow, so Happy 4th of July everybody!