Wrapping up

This morning when I woke up at 8:30, my 8 am class was cancelled (Hallelujah!), I was overcome with anxiety. My "Countdown App" on my iPhone informed me that it is one week until my 21st birthday. You'd think I would have been excited, right?

Instantly so many events started running through my head. My birthday being closer, which means exams are next, then I have to say goodbye to everyone for the summer, then I am home barely for two weeks, then I hop on a plane to New York for 11 weeks. Panic, anxiety and fear completely overtook my morning.

As the afternoon progressed though, I felt silly for not being thankful for those events. I'm lucky enough to have made it to almost 21, to have incredible friends that are hard to leave, and I have the opportunity to go to New York for a summer. Sure, I know I can be sad and scared, but I don't want those feelings to overshadow the complete joy I have in my life.

Somehow I've blinked and here I am wrapping up my junior year of college. It seems unreal to me that my junior year of high school was four years ago. I've had quite the year. Beginning in August 2013 I started all of my journalism classes, ventured to New Orleans and New York for the first time, fell in love with a new city, watched the Rebels become the Music City Bowl champions, spent an unreal amount of time with my two roommates and pledge class, bonded with the freshman pledge class, and basically enjoyed every moment of being in Oxford, Mississippi.

There's a quote that says, "How lucky am I to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard?" from Winnie-the-Pooh. Recently there has been a new reason every day to make me think of this quote. The seniors are graduating, my bible study leader is moving to Birmingham and I'm saying goodbye for 15 weeks to all of my closest friends who I see every day. PSA: We don't know what personal space is anymore.

This school year has taught me so much and I am incredibly sad for it to end. Each day I am surrounded by my best friend who encourage me in every way. If only my family were here as well, I would have it made! I appreciate the time of my life that I am in right now more than ever, and I appreciate time in general. I'm encouraging myself and would love to encourage you all to appreciate every moment you have and sometimes you just have to look around and see everyone's faces instead of the screen of your phone, and you'll know how incredibly lucky you are to call these people your own.

To those of you who I spend every day with, I cannot thank you enough for being here for me 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. You are the ones that make all the difference. College wouldn't be a second home if it weren't for you. Lets wrap up the year on a great note!

What I Like Wednesday

 

My Touristy New York City Bucket List

1. eat at Central Park Boathouse
2. go to the Top of the Rock
3. run in Central Park
4. visit MoMa 
5. take a photo by the LOVE statue on 6th & W. 55th
6. go to the Chelsea Market
7. venture to Brooklyn for the flea market 
8. go to the Metropolitan Museum of Art
9. play in the Washington Square Park fountains
10. see a play on Broadway -- I'm looking at you, Wicked.
11. go to movie night in Bryant Park
12. visit the New York Public Library
13. on a Saturday go to Smorgasburg in Brooklyn
14. watch a performance live from The Today Show
15. go to an outdoor concert or play; Bryant Park
16. walk the Brooklyn Bridge
17. go to a Yankee's game -- can't leave without getting ice cream in a baseball helmet
18. see the Statue of Liberty
19. eat at Shake Shack -- hold the meat, extra fries
20. visit the High Line
21. find Carrie Bradshaw's apartment
22. buy something from a sample sale

The list is ever-growing and changing & I have many different titled lists. (Lists are my life). If you have any suggestions or top places to see that are iconic to the Big Apple, please comment below! Other list titles that I will soon share are "The Real New Yorker Bucket List" which consists of local coffee shops and things that maybe I won't be too touristy to do. During the summer I'm also going to compile my own list of my favorite things I did and can't wait to share that too!

Comment below with your favorite places and spaces, restaurants too! It's almost one month until I board my plane with my one way ticket. Don't worry, I'm coming back eventually. 

xoxo,
Chandler (almost in the City)

Map Your Career

Career mapping you say? Don't mind if I do. Although I am not a finance major, I am here to inform you all about this cool online website that will help you map your way! Finance is woven into every job opportunity and they even need marketing, IT, and human resource people in the financial industry.

The quiz was created by the CFA Institute and a student marketing agency. This offers career options, instead of specific recommendations. (Like one time when Ali took a career test and it told her she would be a great funeral director). CFA has created a quiz different than the one we took in middle school that gives us more insight.

The quiz asks questions about leadership, creativity, communication, etc. In the end after answering the ten questions, I was presented with an answer. Research analyst. Funny that should be my answer, really. With my summer internship I will be doing some of the duties of a research analyst. A quick section of the summary read, "Common sense, commercial savvy and an ability to take a view and argue your case against challenges are also valuable qualities." That's always nice to hear. Thanks, survey.

If you want to see some insight into career opportunities, financial or not, take a look at the quiz. You know you would click on it if it was on Buzzfeed about "Which 80's Song Are You?" or "Which Character From Mean Girls Are You?"

You can find it by clicking on this link.

Take the few minutes to take the quiz, it is worth it!

Every blessing You pour out I'll turn back to praise

From elementary education to journalism, my life in this past year has been quite the journey. One year ago I was enrolled in elementary education classes at Ole Miss. I was making lessons plans for Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs for my second grade class. I had no idea what was about to come.

At the end of May 2013 I realized I wasn't going to allow myself anymore to think about my "second life." Why only dream when I could make these dreams my reality?

I switched all my classes to meet the journalism school requirements and planned to visit Oxford to meet with an advisor. I went from learning about early literacy to journalism 101. After I made that jump and trusted in the Lord that this is exactly where I was supposed to be, the blessings kept pouring out.

I applied for and accepted an internship with Hello Perfect and began my journey with them as a contributing writer. I loved all of my fall semester classes in the journalism building and then reached out on a limb to apply for the Teen Vogue Fashion University weekend in October in New York, which I found out about through the founder of Hello Perfect.

Patience. One word I am not good with. Teen Vogue Fashion U was one of the only events I applied for and never thought about again. I didn't over analyze every step or already plan out my trip in my mind. That's why when my acceptance email came I was incredible overjoyed. Through prayers and not planning, the Lord provided for me to attend TVFU along with five of my best friends.

"And so it was, that [she], having waited long and endured patiently, realized and obtained what God had promised" Hebrews 6:15 

It was there that I had no idea how much my life would change. When signing up for my seminars for TVFU I had no idea who DANNIJO was, but they sounded cool. I liked the idea that they were two sisters working together and I like jewelry, so I thought, "Sure I'll sign up for your seminar."

Immediately I was drawn to Danielle and Jodie & I loved everything they said during the seminar. I knew I would fit in with them. Who would have thought that three/four months later I would be accepting an internship with them. How cool is this series of events?! Everything is linked together!

Last week was incredible & I received a "God wink" almost every day. I got offered other internships and interview opportunities, I am a new campus ambassador for Intern Queen, received a few cool emails from people in New York that I'm going to be able to meet, and to top it off, I was published in the Daily Mississippian this morning. Needless to say, I was on cloud nine. I found my head growing a little bigger.

What I needed to be reminded of is that without Jesus, none of these things would have been possible.

The Lord has humbled me through all of these experiences & they have taught me a lot. It is in my nature to want to run around saying, "Hey look who just emailed me back!" or send a tweet broadcasting my internship offers. My life would not be woven together like this without my daily strive (and struggle) to follow Jesus and believe that He has control of my life, not myself.

"...My cups overflows with your blessings" Psalm 23:5

In high school when I thought I was actively pursuing the Lord I thought I made all the decisions. Obviously you can see how wrong that was because I was settling with the idea that I was supposed to be a teacher for the rest of my life. Once I actively began pursuing the Lord and seeing where He led me, I have been overwhelmed with incredible opportunities. Don't get me wrong, every day I stumble and fail, but the Lord is always so faithful.

The glory does not go to me though. The glory goes to God. Without Him, I would never have gotten this far. I would still be student teaching and sulking to my classes. I have to remind myself every day that it is enough that I know these things about myself and to thank God every single second of the day for providing for me and putting these desires in my heart.

This morning, with the Daily Mississippian in my hand and the sun shining on my face, I was remind of the song lyrics, "Every blessing You pour out I'll turn back to praise" from Blessed Be Your Name. Everything clicked and I had to share this experience with all of you. Also, I can't wait to see that Jesus has in store for all of you! It makes me giddy and excited.

Without Jesus none of these things would be possible. I've learned that there is no way I can control my life. I can't make plans because the plans have already been made. Through this I challenge myself to turn every blessing into praise. (see how we came full circle there?)

"Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us" Ephesians 3:20

Home is where the heart is

"I'll go home," I said. "I'll save money and get together my things for New York," I said.

Upon my arrival to sweet Franklin, Tennessee on Thursday night I was overjoyed. I hadn't seen my family in two months and it felt like an eternity. Somewhere in the back of my mind I thought, it sure would be nice to be sitting on a beach with a drink in my hand, but I knew this trip home is exactly what I needed.

My family is a funny pack. We've got my fourteen year old sister who is always moving, bouncing, cheering, eating and asking if she can play with my hair. My mother who is overwhelmingly caring and loving & making sure I am getting enough to eat since I'm the only one in the family who is a vegetarian. My dad who is always making me laugh, the life of the party and serving me delicious dinners.

Basically, there is never a dull moment at my house. Some of my friends never want to go home. They're always planning and saying they don't miss their family. How could you not miss these goons?

My eleven days at home were perfect. In the mornings while everyone was away, I woke up whenever I wanted, read my Bible and drank my coffee, watched Gilmore Girls reruns and scrolled through Pinterest.

In the afternoon I would venture to my grandma's, walk around downtown Franklin, travel to different Forever21 and Target stores, and lay out in my backyard. Around 3 p.m. everyone returned home and I'd never been so happy to see their faces. I love "me time" but it sure was nice to be reunited with my people every afternoon.

We did things like attend Centennial High School's incoming freshman night where I was walking through the halls with memories rushing through my mind. I was actually giddy and much, much happier to be there than my sister. We also went to the Poplar Grove talent show, which was as comical as you can imagine. A bunch of middle schoolers showcasing their talents of singing and dancing. Dinners at LaHacienda are a must and you better believe I ate fried pickles at 55 South while people watching.

As much as I want to take an adventure after college, move away and explore, I do love my little corner of the world. Falling asleep just a few steps away from the people I love the most. It's a hard choice and when it comes down to it, we will see.

I'm grateful for living in this town for my almost 21 years of life.

 Franklin Mercantile to begin Kendall's spring break on Friday

 

 Thanks Kendall for snapping these pics

 I'll always love you, Chipotle.

What I Like Wednesday