Hello September!

What September has to offer us:

Labor Day 

First Sunday after Labor Day - Grandparents Day

September 17th- Constitution Day

September 19th - Talk Like A Pirate Day

September 21st - International Day of Peace

National Preparedness Month

National Hispanic Heritage Month

Birthdays:

September 1 - Rachel Zoe

September 4 - Beyonce

September 8 - Wiz Khalifa (& my favorite set of twins, Jennifer & Marissa!)

September 15 - Prince Harry (& my mama!)

September 22 - Tom Felton

September 28 - Hilary Duff

Birthstone: Sapphire

Flower: Aster

Zodiac Sign: Virgo & Libra

This photo alone makes me love September. Anna Wintour was photographed for Vogue's Instagram account and this is the first picture of her that they have taken specifically for Instagram. Plus, she is wearing her signature glasses. This photo is everything.

Sassy turns 21!

Fifteen Reasons Susanna deserves a great birthday:

1. Her nickname is Sassy. Enough said.

20th birthday bash

2. Susanna still watches movies like The Cheetah Girls and High School Musical. Disney channel will never be foreign to this newly twenty-one year old, and the lyrics to their movies won't either.

3. Once Susanna woke up and found a Sonic hamburger in her closet.. Hopefully one day she can remember where the trash can is.

4. Everything she owns is hot pink. Her Tory Burch flipflops, her Lilly Pulitzer agenda, her J. Crew shorts, it's all pink. Her birthday celebration? Pink.

5. If Sassy laughs hard enough, she cries. When this happens in public places it is so entertaining and embarrassing at the same time. Let's hope many tears are shed tonight though, only for good reasons!

6. Her mother, Diva Dee, has forbade her from watching the movie Remember Me and all of her friends are in on it too. Sassy will literally lock herself in a room just to watch this movie. The first time she watched it, she was depressed for a few days (maybe weeks) and wouldn't come out of her room. Valentine's Day 2013? We all went to see Safe Haven and got depressed and cried (romantic, eh?). Then back at the dorm, Susanna says she is going to her condo. Betsy Kate knows what will happen. Sassy tells us she is going to watch The Cheetah Girls, not any depressing movie. BK is so clever though, she looks inside the movie case. Sassy has hidden Remember Me inside of The Cheetah Girls case!! Sassy, you are 21. While you are able to make your own decisions, the decision should never be to watch Remember Me.

7. If you ever need a ride, Susanna will drive. She hates being a passenger and this is very convenient for her friends and the squirrel girls.

8. She has touched Celine Dion's hand and looked in to her eyes. Of course Sassy randomly decides to see Celine in Vegas and is presented with THIRD ROW AISLE SEATS. It's ok, that's only all I've ever hoped for in life. Since she's touched Celine (still crying and can't believe it), she deserves a great birthday.

9. Switching to Accounting as her major from Education, she met the love of her life. Since he is faculty at Ole Miss, I won't say his name. Let's just say though that Susanna would only wear makeup on days she was in his class, would go out of her way to go to his office hours, and Google searched his name over 100 times.

10. She is one of my only friends who only refers to me as "Chan" 99% of the time. The only time she says "Chandler" is if it something very serious and dramatic. Examples: telling me about touching Celine Dion, talking about previously mentioned accounting teacher, "guess who I just saw" sentences, and if I say something stupid.

11. Sassy really is a caring friend. She never forgets your birthday, if you're sick she sends you things, she sends care packages to our friends far away, and is always there to lend a hand. 

12. While some may think she has her life together, on the inside she is Sham City. (shambles). Everyone is shambly in their own way though, which is what makes us all friends. Whether we are sipping Passion Tea out of our Anthropologie mugs or taking turns in your bathtub to take bubble baths, everyone's problems fade away with the help of our friends. Sham City is real, but it helps that we are together as one.

13. On Spring Break Sassy was determined to get in the Flora-Bama bar. That's all she talked about. All Sass wanted was that geotag on Instagram, and what Sassy wants, Sassy gets. 

14. When in doubt, fly. Why walk when you can fly? You know where you were supposed to be Susanna, you know ;)

15. Susanna has such a big heart underneath her diva status and is such a caring friend. Everyone loves to be around her and when she is there everyone is laughing. Whether it is a trip to "the Chili's" or a move night to watch Twilight (yikes), it's always a party with Sassy. I'm so glad we became friends sophomore year, and you finally learned my name after a year of being in the same pledge class. Being neighbors in Crosby brought us together and I can't wait for this year and the next. Love you Sassy!!

Happy Birthday, Sassy! Let's celebrate!

Dancing around Journalism

Over the past few days I have been thinking a lot about my new major. I am in the introductory level classes of journalism and am loving every minute of it. When I think about taking the higher level classes, like magazine editing and public relations, I get way too excited. Finally I realized that I have been dancing around this new major for a while now.
When I first entered high school, I did not really know what I wanted to do with my life, but to me it felt like the day would never come when I had to make the decision. All throughout my four years at Centennial High School, I had incredible English teachers who all impacted my life. From this experience, I thought I would want to be an English teacher. I knew I loved to write and I wanted to give back to future students. To me, I felt like I wanted to impact other students lives just like those four English teachers at Centennial had impacted mine.
After graduation and moving to Oxford, Mississippi, I began my major in elementary education. Although my goal in high school was to become a high school English teacher, for some reason I settled with elementary education. In those classes I really did enjoy all my time learning about elementary ed. When I was twelve I began babysitting and still do to this day, and I was even a nanny this summer. Kids loved me and I loved being around kids. I learned a lot through this major like patience and to always have a kind heart.
In the beginning of the summer though, I felt like everyone was doing something with their summer and I was stuck in Franklin, TN babysitting and mainly relaxing. Within the first few weeks into summer I was looking for internships in New York but realized obviously I was way late in the game. I was trying to find way to tweak my elementary education major into being someone's personal assistant. See how that was hard? (by knowing how to teach your kids math, I promise I can help you style a photoshoot...?) Trying not to be discouraged, I looked into switching my major and making my "second life" come true. You can read about that here.
Now that I am a journalism major, I realize that I was dancing around it the whole time. I knew I liked to write and I knew I liked being around people. It is funny how life takes you around your dream in a perfect little path and finally you end up where you are supposed to be. I was dancing around journalism when I envisioned myself as a high school English teacher. I was dancing around journalism when I Googled about a hundred internships a day in May of this year. Now I am no longer dancing around journalism, but I am dancing with it.
God's plan may not reveal itself to you immediately or the way you think it will, but once doors are opened and you learn to trust in the Lord, paths are made clearer. Without relying and trusting in the Lord, I would still be dancing around with no real insight into where I want to go in life. I'm not saying I have it all together and that I know exactly where I will end up in life, but with the guidance of the Lord and His greater plan, I know I will end up exactly where I am supposed to be. It is comforting trusting in Him and knowing He knows what is best for you.
I think that if you are struggling with where you want to go in life or what you want to do and be, give up those worries to the Lord and let Him establish your plans.

I especially like this verse right now because being a Journalism major, I am always working with my hands. Whether I am frantically typing away or writing down thoughts, I want the Lord to strengthen my hands.

Happy 21st Birthday Cristina!

Ten reasons Cristina deserves the best birthday:

1. She is my big sister in Tri Delt & this is a bond that cannot be broken. I'm always happy to see her face around the house.

2. We look so similar and people confuse us all the time. If I had a dollar for how many people have said, "Do you know who you look like? Cristina" I would be a millionaire.

3. If you need a hug, go to Cristina. She's always snuggly and cuddly and who doesn't love that? She's so loving and always lets her friends know that she loves them.

4. People call her "Stanka" as a nickname and that is enough in itself. 

5. Tina loves a good selfie and Snapchat. Good thing I do too, and we are never afraid of a hideous photo. Nothing stops double chins and crossed eyes.

6. Before rush & when I barely knew her, somehow we ended up being on the same tube at the lake (it was a sign). I said I would go tubing first and Cristina volunteered to ride with me. After the ride my hand that was near Tina's was so bruised & swollen from hers bumping into mine. Pain is love.

7. Our idea of fun is throwing a babydoll up at a ceiling fan and watching it fly across the room. Even when we should be studying for finals, baby Abir is always ready for a joy ride with Aunt Chandler and Aunt Cristina.

8. Both of our names have 8 letters, start with a C, we have brown hair, brown eyes, brown skin, go to Ole Miss, are Tri Delts, and like to say "Shalom."

9. My face when I saw you on bid day pretty much sums up my feelings for you.

10. You really are such a great friend and sister to me! You have such a loving and caring heart. You're good at telling people how you feel and loving on them. I love you so & will not let you leave me next year! 

Happy 21st Birthday, Cristina!

Monday Inspiration

Tri Delta House

Are you wondering what it is like living in a house full of sorority girls? What is it like when you walk upstairs to our bedrooms and what goes on behind these walls? In the Tri Delt house's little kitchen off of the main kitchen (dining hall), there is a painting I love. It reads, "Oh, if only these walls could talk."
Thinking of all the girls who have lived in this house, me and my friends living here now, and how many girls in the future will live here is weird, but awesome. How many other girls will sleep in these bunk beds and what does their future hold for them?
So far I've spent four nights living in the DDD House. I love my room, my roommates, my bunk bed, and being right in the mix of things. It has been so convenient this week, Rush Workshop week, living just a set of stairs away from where I need to be in the mornings. Living among the seniors is fun too because we have not all been around each other this much. We see them out, we see them at DDD events and in the house, but we have never all lived a few steps away from each other.
The coffee is already waiting for me in the kitchen, the staff is always there to tell you "Good Morning!" or in this mornings case, "I like your bunny slippers!" Our house mom, Mrs. Martha, has made some incredible changes and the house looks better than ever.
The first few days living here have been incredible and I feel so blessed to be able to live here this year, and hopefully next year, too. I know it will only get better each day. We will all discover new things together, bond together, and most importantly love each other. I can't wait to see how these friendships grow over the next year.

So, here's to the first year in the Tri Delta house. And oh, if only these walls could talk!

Entrance

 Sunroom 

Little kitchen

New downstairs bathrooms

An inside look into my room later on in the month!

Pep Talk

With only a few days before I return to Oxford, Mississippi to begin my junior year, I felt like I needed a little pep talk.

I'm ready to make this year awesome.
Are you?