In February, I attended my last Fraternity conference as a collegiate. Delta Sigma Pi has been/is/will be a huge part of my life. The keynote speaker had an interesting message– he created this movement called Dream, Think, Do and one of his main points dealt with permission.

As humans, we’re always looking for permission: permission to take time off, to chase a dream, to move onto a new stage of our lives.

Give yourself permission to open the door.

This conference was actually a big deal for me. I had been nominated by my Chapter (damn proud to be an Alpha Tau) as their Collegian of the Year. So not only did I win COY for our Chapter, but also for our region (Southeastern) and our Province (Southern). That put me in a pool of five students to be considered for the national COY position. I topped out at Provincial, but it was such an amazing honor to be selected. (You can read more about it here). The thing is, I would have never been able to make it so far if I hadn’t given myself permission to fully immerse myself at Mercer.

Here are some pictures from the weekend. I had a blast in Nashville with Iota Mu and Alpha Tau. Middle GA is where it’s at y’all.

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I am nine months away from marriage.

Ian made a joke the other day about how for the next month we can make pregnancy jokes about our wedding, like it’s a child we’re expecting. And honestly, right now the wedding does seem like a child. We’ve made a lot of decisions, but there are still more to make. When we find a vendor that we click with it is such a relief– this person doesn’t think we’re insane. This person can share our vision.

Some days, I just want to elope. We’d take a photographer, our parents, and our closest friends and just go away for a few days. I am ready to be married now. I want to be a wife, to learn and grow with Ian.

But I’m sure we’d have our “what-ifs” and I know that Ian’s been planning his dream wedding for at least as long as I have (hopeless romantic, that one).

The newest explosion of craziness is wedding music. We want an eclectic blend of music that is meaningful for us that has been arranged for the cello and piano. You’d be surprised how few songs have this done for us (lol– but really, if you arrange music, contact me).

What music did you play at your wedding? Did you get a DJ or splurge for a live band? I would love to hear your experiences.

For the last couple of years, Ian and I would make the drive/flight down to my parents to spend a week and celebrate what a long-ago friend christened “Bastard-Christmas”.

Christmas that was “bastardized” by being held on the 23rd of December.

Well, it’s the 23rd and I am missing my holiday tradition.

It’s bizarre, this is the first time I’ll miss both Christmas and New Years with Ian since we started dating. Hopefully, it’s also the last.

Even with the bit of melancholy of not getting to celebrate with both of my families, I know that there’s a lot to be joyful for this year.

So while drinking my cup of Joy (new Starbucks tea– apricots with hints of floral notes, really quite lovely) I composed a short list of things to be thankful for this warm holiday season.

1. I’m engaged, we’ve set a date, and we’ve almost completely narrowed down our guest list.
2. I’m (mostly) set to graduate in May.
3. I’ve got a fantastic job opportunity lined up for after graduation.
4. I get to spend time with my mom and dad, and with my younger brother and sister.
5. I have the sweetest little Shadow, Sasha, who seems petrified that I’m going to vanish at any moment.

I cannot wait til I go home to my (slightly more) wintry Georgia, but I’m enjoying this break with my family. Hard to believe it will be my last!