Hiatus....

Lack of posting due to finals week. Final final tomorrow! Can't wait! Instead of studying I'm online though....

Thought I'd just update our lives! Career wise, I start my job after spring break, Rachael just got hired at Old Navy, and Laura has officially sent in a couple applications and has looked into other positions at places like Fred Meyer, Target and Petsmart. The position at Petsmart actually looks interesting to me too, and after I've worked at the foundation for a week or two I may apply to Petsmart as well.

In other news, my roommate moved out so I know have my own room! There's a possibility that someone new will move in, but I'll just pretend that there isn't!

I've also decided that I'm going to make some jewelry for the trip, because it'd be nice to have simply accessories for the trip so I can pretend that I'm not wearing the exact same outfit again. Laura's going to get in on this too, and we'll upload pictures throughout the process.

Over Spring Break we're going to have an Ireland get together with Rachael, Laura and I where we'll make definite plans for where we'll be when, and what flights. We'll all buy our tickets to Dublin and Rachael will also buy her tickets back from London. This way we have the beginning of the trip set in stone. We won't buy our returning tickets until Rachel is back from Australia, in early May. Luckily, this will still be over three months before the date of the flight.

Obsession...

I'm so obsessed with French its ridiculous. How did I realize this obsession? Besides buying 2 books in French and a "real" French phrasebook online, besides listening to French music constantly, besides reading this bought book constantly (Harry Potter!), and bragging to everyone how far I am, besides reading up on French politics and besides thinking in French and only wanting to talk in French....I did the one thing that makes it a true obsession. I've begun to read my French dictionary for fun. As a bedtime reader.

So yes, I am obsessed with the language. Luckily I have the 9-10 days in France this summer to look forward to. I like to think that it gives me a reason for my obsession. Yea, I'd like to think that.

Nope...

Haha, so apparently no one is out there. Well we don't need advice, we have other people, better than the nonexistent you. Our lame and sporadic posts are due to the fact that its dead week, the week before finals. Not only are we busy on school, making it hard to post, but because we're busy with school we haven't been planning much, meaning we have little to post about. Thought I'd explain myself, seeing as there has been such an uproar, you know, all of you dedicated fans commenting disappointedly...

PS. Laura thinks I should clarify that I'm just teasing cause I have nothing else better to talk about right now. I thought that was a given...

Anyone out there?

I never should of told Laura the password to our blog. I could just EDIT, copy and paste them. First off, she shouldn't change her picture! Mueheheh. Secondly, she used the wrong font and I had to go back and change it. CONSISTENCY, Laura...sheesh. Plus her titles were not capitalize-able, which gave me serious heart pain.

On a completely random note, Annarosa called me this afternoon and sang me "Last Kiss" - by Pearl Jam, and since then I just can't stop listening to it. That and Sympathique by Pink Martini. And Ma lettre au president, by Axiom. And a few others.

Ok so lately I've been asking a lot of: "oh, you've been to Europe?! Excellent! Where do you recommend?". I've gotten some good responses...to be honest, most I don't remember. I try, I really do, but I don't write them down, so really I don't try. So, I was thinking that whoever (if anyone) reads this, they should write a few must see places. Its very beneficial in this early planning stages, plus I get to know if ANYONE is reading this.

por favor

Oh and I keep telling Amy to change my picture because I look angry in it. Boo. I'm not angry! Change it! Wait... I'm signed in... I could change it huh? Muahahaha!

shimmy shimmy

Earlier in the year, before I thought we were actually going to go to Europe… wait, no, I really thought we were going to go to Europe, it just wasn’t as real at that point… I was told that I was nominated for an internship with the USGS for doing well at field camp (I’m a geology major, and for those of you who don’t know this, in order to graduate we have/get to go on a 6 week field course where we learn mapping and other skills. And how to drink a lot of beer. And throw huge rocks off of cliffs). Well, it wasn’t until after I told everyone that I was interested in this internship that Amy, Rachel, and I (mostly them two) started planning the trip. And no matter how excited it was to try for the internship, I was more and more excited about the trip. Finally, a couple weeks ago, it was time to start talking to all of the different internship opportunities and the more I thought about it, the more I thought I would rather go to Europe. And this tore me up. Well, at least a little. I did NOT want to actively close the door on such a good opportunity… but I really want to go to Europe. What to do? What to do? Well, you know the answer… we’re going to Europe! I figured that I would probably regret not doing this more than I would regret not doing the internship. So that decided it. That, and a coin flip. Not really, I would only accept the side of the coin that said Europe.

And I wanted to let you all know how terrible of a sister Amy is. I had to learn from this website that she got the other job. What?! Yeah, now I feel loved. She didn’t even tell me about the job! Gaahh! Well… now it’s my turn to get a job and bring in some money. My parents don’t know it yet, but I will probably be so broke after getting back that I’ll have to move back in there. Something I said I would NOT do. But… they are a lot cheaper than renting… and … I love them? YES I DO! Did you see that parents? I love you! Wanna let me live with you again? I’m a great housemate! Oh I hope they do.

--Laura

Money!

One of the main concerns of this trip (understandably), is money. We need it. We don't have it. I (Amy) previously planned on waiting to get a job until Fall, and taking this first year of college nice and easy. However, I soon realized that that would not be a wise decision if I don't want to come back from this trip broke and having to pay for tuition.

Therefore, Laura and I plan to get jobs for this quarter as well. I'm not quite sure of the details of Laura's job hunt (she can write about that eventually), but mine have been rather successful. I've only inquired into two positions, the first filled up before I actually turned in my application (sadly) but the second seems very promising. I mean, I think I got the job. *knock on wood* I may be wrong! Its at the Foundation Office in Old Main, just entry level data entry. My friend Colleen works there, and told me they were looking for new people. I emailed the boss, and she told me to come in today. When I did, she told me the details of the job, asked me if it sounded good, and I said yes. She gave me an I-9 and W-4, and told me to tell her my schedule after I register. She said that I will start April 1st unless I desire to have the first week free for getting situated in my classes. So I think I have the job! She never said "you're hired" though...

I'm very excited for this opportunity! I need/like money! I'll give more details about the job as I learn them! Like if I'm actually hired!!!

The first month....

We’ve decided that we want to keep this blog updated, writing everyday, and maintaining that, hopefully, throughout the trip. That way everyone who reads our site would be happier, plus we can respond to comments easier. Problem with that right now, however, is that it’s the end of the quarter! Test and assignment crazy time right now, and I (Amy) have my last of 3 tests in 4 days tomorrow!

So I think I’ll just begin a topic that I can talk about regularly, which is my sole planning of where to go in some of the countries. In the countries that Rachel is with us, I don’t have to plan what we do as much, because Rachel is an awesome trip planner. Not only has she been to most of these countries before, but she also she knows great resources and methods for finding out what to do. So she’s been great in telling us what cities are best and stuff such as that. It’s her books that we’ve been using to plan this whole trip. The first month, in Ireland, the UK, and Denmark will be without Rachel however, and I am the second most plan-ey, therefore the main responsibility of finding where to go and what to see, is on me. Don’t get me wrong; of course, I love planning! But I figured that I’d introduce the fact that I am in charge of planning our routes through those countries, because I’ll probably be talking about it a lot!

Well I best be off, I should really study for my test in French tomorrow!

Oh how plans change....

We’re at it again. Laura and I have been planning on taking a trip to Europe for a few years now. This is the first summer where we were “free” (I’ll get into that later), so we decided its time! We started off planning a 5 wk trip, visiting 5 different countries for a week each. However, this slowly, pre-planning, morphed into a 6-week trip, because 5 weeks was already so close to a month and a half. Before we knew it, I had suggested we have a 2-month trip, that way we can really relax and see all of the countries. This is the mindset that we had when we started planning this trip, approximately a week ago, the end of February. But in planning we found a) our brothers wedding won’t be until December, not early September, like we thought and b) Rachel (#2) wouldn’t be able to join us until the middle of July, limiting the countries she can visit. Therefore, we thought the most rational thing to do, was to expand the trip to 3 months. Instead of 6 countries, we plan on visiting approximately 12.

Rachael (#1) came into play when I told her of our plans. She’s known for a long time that we were going to go, eventually, and I’ve always known that she wanted to go to Europe as well. Once we started making definite plans, it came clear that Rachael joining us for the two weeks would be convenient, and fun, for all of us. So Rachael will be with us in Ireland and our adventures in the UK.

Unlike our road trip of the south, where we decided and left in 1 week, this trip takes a little more planning. I’m going to chronicle our adventures in planning our adventure, for all of you to see. I mean, after all, isn’t planning supposed to be half the fun?