Winter Break in Pictures

Today my five week winter break comes to an end. My bags are packed and I'm headed back to CoMo! I had a great break, filled with precious time with family and friends, the opportunity to work and make a little money, time for crafting and blogging, and of course, snuggle time with my dogs!

I'm ready to get back to a routine though, and I am very excited to get second semester started! 

Here is a recap of my winter break in pictures:

Reunited with my sister, Hannah! (via Instagram)

I started my break by celebrating Christmas with my dad's side of the family in Chicago. Here we are with my grandpa!

I enjoyed lots of errand running and shopping with my mom, including a stop at a cute little cheesecake bakery that opened up in Uptown.

I baked gingersnaps!

I got together with and caught up with my friends from high school. It was so great to hear about everyone's first semester!

I enjoyed pretty Christmas decorations around my house.

I made delicious confetti crisp!

Christmas Eve with my sisters

I got the chance to flaunt my red pants and blackwatch plaid shirt.

I made New Year's resolutions and reflected on 2013.

I went skiing with my family in Colorado

I went with my mom to pick up our new puppy, Norbert

I treated myself to many a sweet treat

Leaving these two is going to be hard! 

I'm all packed up and ready to get back to Miz!

Can't wait to get back to this beautiful place!

How was your winter break? How did you spend it? Was it hard returning to school?

Here's to a great second semester!

Stay Stylish. Stay Classy. Be Creative.

Emily

The First Few Weeks of College

I've been attending college classes for two weeks now, and I've been living on campus for about three weeks. The time has flown! I feel like I've been living in Columbia for a year.

The past three weeks have been amazing! So much has occurred in this short time span, and many of the experiences I've had have reinforced that Mizzou truly is the right place for me.

1. My Honors Learning Community

I am so glad that I chose to live in Schurz Hall. Schurz is a traditional style hall, and a majority of the floors are reserved for students in the Honors College. As a member of the Honors College, students are required to maintain a minimum of a 3.3 GPA and take at least one honors course each semester. This makes for a dynamic community within the hall, and most of the individuals are very focused and driven. This isn't to say that we don't like to have fun though! I've met some really great people from all over the country, who are majoring in a variety of subjects. The community style of the hall ensures that there's always people coming and going, and the lounge on the floor is always buzzing with activity. I love Schurz because the people are fun-loving, well-rounded, yet serious. Most people have a major picked out and are on a path to achieve their goals. It's so great to be surrounded by individuals who share your interests and values, as this is a motivator. Our hall is a little bit further from the center of the campus than some of the other halls, but I find this to be great. We can escape the craziness of some of the other parts of campus, and don't have to deal with crazy partying and excess noise.
I'm also a member of a journalism FIG (Freshman Interest Group) within the Honors Learning community. This has been a great way to "shrink" the size of campus and connect with people. We have a one credit hour class per week where we explore all the J-School has to offer. Most of my friends are from my FIG, and so far it's working out great!

My new friends and I at Tiger Walk, a Mizzou tradition where all the incoming freshman run through the historic columns on the quad.

2. The Missouri School of Journalism

It's no secret that one of the driving factors behind my decision to come to Mizzou was because of the excellent journalism program. The program was the first of its kind when Walter Williams founded it 1908. There are 6 emphasis areas, and over 30 interest areas within those emphases. After sophomore year, I will need to declare an interest area. At this point, I am not exactly sure what emphasis area I want to declare, but I am exploring all that the J-School has to offer. I am currently enrolled in J1010, which is an introduction to careers in journalism. We have had some very interesting faculty members speak about their fields of expertise, and several more are scheduled to lecture throughout the course of the semester. The J-School has so many connections both domestically as well as internationally, and this aids in getting jobs and internships. The program offers its students real life experience (called "The Missouri Method") and depending upon your interest area, you will have the opportunity to work at The Columbia Missourian (newspaper), Vox (magazine), KOMU (television) KBIA (radio), and AdZou and MOJOAd (strategic communication). This gives students valuable real life experience to make them more appealing to employers after graduation. The faculty at the J-School are some of the best in the country, having been published countless times, and the majority of them have worked at major publications, media outlets, or television stations. In addition to taking courses in journalism, I am also going to try to write for The Maneater, the student newspaper at Mizzou, and I've also joined the Mizzou Chapter of the American Copy Editors Society.

Beautiful, Wonderful, J-School.

3. The Campus is AMAZING!

When I took college tours in high school, the physical campus was often what stood out to me the most.  I'm not advocating making your college decision based off of the campus alone, but it sure is a bonus if the campus is nice. MU's campus has a tons to offer, is gorgeous, and is in walking distance of downtown Columbia. We have everything we need right at our fingertips, but Columbia is never far away if we feel the need to escape the everyday.

Some of my favorite spots (so far):

Ellis Library

Ellis at night

I have done all my studying at Ellis. I am one of those people who requires near silence to study, read, and digest material. Ellis has been my second home these first few weeks of classes. The first floor is great for when I have work that I need a computer for, as there is a big study space with plenty of computers (that way I don't have to lug around my heavy laptop.) The upstairs is perfect for when I need a little but more peace and quiet to study or do a reading assignment. I haven't ventured to the third floor yet, but plan on doing so soon. 

From my Instagram: The second floor of Ellis. So tranquil! 

 Memorial Union/Lowry Mall

At MU, we are lucky enough to have two student unions. Memorial Union is the older of the two, and from what I've observed tends to be more calm. There is a small cafe inside run by Campus Dining Services, as well as a Starbucks. There's plenty of tables and couches to eat or study at. I've gone on a Sunday morning when the library wasn't open, and it's the perfect place to get some studying done. During the week, it's a great place for me to grab a quick lunch of snack between classes that are on Northeast campus. Right in front of Memorial Union, across Hitt Street, is Lowry Mall. Lots of fairs and markets are set up here, and its always bustling with activity during the day. The benches and low concrete walls on the side of the mall make it the perfect place to take a break and eat a snack between classes. 

Jesse Hall and Tiger Plaza

Jesse is one of the most photographed buildings on campus. It's shining dome can be seen from around Columbia, and it's often featured on literature and websites promoting Mizzou. It houses the admission office for the University, among other uses. Directly in front of Jesse, to the South, is Tiger Plaza. Tiger  Plaza consists of a bronze statue of a tiger, as well as a fountain. It's such a pretty sight at night, when Jesse is lit up as well as the fountain. My goal is to "ride the tiger" and swim in the fountain at least once before I graduate.

Mizzou has been so good to me during these first few weeks, and I can't wait for the adventures ahead. Stay tuned!

A few more shots from the first couple of weeks:

So lucky to have a Newman Center on campus

Lucky to have my friend Hanna here with me!

Blessed to have such a great roommate! We get along so well!

Yes, I successfully did my first load of laundry

New Mizzou swag for game day

Football is a culture here. Faurot Field on opening day.

First Mizzou football game with the gals!

Are you a college freshman? How have the first few weeks treated you?

Stay Stylish, Stay Classy, Be Creative.

Emily

The Beginning of a New Journey

On Monday afternoon, my parents and I packed the car with four white plastic bins, green and pink bedding, a mountain of clothes, my bike, and of course, a box of tissues.

It was time for me to leave for college.

It was heartbreaking to say goodbye to my two triplet sisters, my 12-year old brother, and my dog. Tears were shed, and lots of hugs followed. 

We pulled out of the driveway and made the four hour drive to The University of Missouri in Columbia, MO.

I was sad, I was scared, I was nervous, I was excited.

Move-in wasn't until Tuesday, but we spent the night in Columbia so we could get an early start. I had found my roommate over Facebook, but we hadn't met in person yet. We decided to meet for dinner with our parents. It was a marvelous meal! It was so great to finally meet her! She and her parents are so nice and we share the same values. I'm so excited to get to know her even better and spend this year with her. Meeting my roommate Erin calmed some of my nervousness, and made me more excited for the road ahead.

Since I'm a member of a journalism FIG (freshman interest group) in an honors dorm, I was able to move in a day earlier than the rest of campus freshmen. This was a blessing! Moving in was not at all like I had imagined. There were no crazy line of cars, no crazy lines for the elevators, and overall everything ran very smoothly. We were able to get all of my things from the parking lot to my dorm room in about 25 minutes. Thanks for helping me with the heavy lifting, Dad!

My dad helped my mom and I raise the bed. We can't loft our beds (as in put a desk under them) but we can raise them to about three feet off the ground so we can store items underneath. I had sewn longer bedskirts for both my roommate and I, so they conceal the clutter underneath the bed. My dad sat in the floor lounge while my Mom and I organized my closet, made my bed, and put everything in its place. The room looks so good, and I look forward to calling it my new home!

I'm in a traditional style dorm, so it's two residents to a room and there is a shared bathroom on the floor. Some people might dread sharing a bathroom, but I think it's all part of the freshman year of college experience. The community nature of my dorm, plus the fact that I am a member of a FIG is going to help me meet tons of great people and I am so so excited!

After we unpacked my room, we went to lunch at Shakespeare's, which is a famous pizza place on campus. Very good pizza and a nice campus vibe. After that we made a quick run to Target to stock up on some last minute things for my room.

Saying goodbye to my parents was hard. Tears were shed, but they let me know that they were proud of me. I can't wait to see them on parents' weekend. I am four hours away from home, so I am not incredibly close, but I am not incredibly far. I was the first of the three girls to leave, so this was an entirely new experience for my parents as well.

I start classes on Monday, so in the meantime the University has so many fun activities planned for Welcome Week, I can't wait to participate in these events and meet new people! 

I can't wait to feature a blog post or two each week about my new college adventures.

In the meantime, wish me luck as I embark on these new journey in my life.

Are you a college freshman? Have you moved in yet? What are you looking forward to? Current college students or graduates, what tips do you have to offer? Let me know in the comments!

My awesome roomie Erin and I

My closet. Kind of small but I was actually able to fit a lot in it! I used a curtain to cover the opening to conceal the clothing

Naturally, there's Diet Coke in the bottom of the closet

My Bed. My roommate and I coordinated our bedding and did pink as our accent color. The bedding is the Peyton Collection from PBTeen. The pink accent pillow is from Target, and the backrest is from Bed, Bath, and Beyond.

I have a small dry erase board with a picture of my dog and little brother next to me bed.

The bed is surprisingly comfortable!

My desk! I adore all the storage space it gives me! And the chest of drawers underneath rolls out if I need more space.

I got the set of green frames from Target, and the scalloped one from TJ Maxx.

Bookshelves! I keep my makeup and mirror on this shelf so I can do my makeup and straighten my hair at my desk and not have to deal with the bathroom.

Desktop! I love the mousepad my mom got me for my birthday!

My roomate's dad was so nice as to string lights around the top of our room. It's so perfect!

Yes we coordinated bedding. 

We both decorated our bulletin boards, and we finally laid our rug down.

My new home away from home

Stay Stylish, Stay Classy, Be Creative.

Emily