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I remember when I was little, I always thought Cincinnati was just okay. I used to wonder why anyone would want to move to Cincinnati because it was just Cincinnati - nothing special. But now that I've gotten older, I have a much bigger appreciation for my hometown, and I can't imagine living anywhere else.

Last week was finals week, which meant that I had a lot more time on my hands since I didn't have normal classes and I only had two exams. Plus my mom had a few days off work, so we were able to do some fun things around town, and I just couldn't stop thinking about how much I love living where I live.

We started the week off by going to the Zoo. I feel like I've spent so much time there these last few weeks since I went two weeks in a row for my project, but I love the Cincinnati Zoo so much, and after doing that project, I love it even more! Every spring they have Zoo Blooms when all the flowers bloom, and I love seeing all the pretty flowers each year.

We also got to see a lot of animals. The giraffes are always my favorite!

When we were looking at one of the exhibits, this little monkey came up, put his hand on the glass, and was staring us down.....

How sweet is this mama monkey cuddling with her baby? I can't get over how cute this picture is.

How can these lions be that dangerous? They look so sweet and innocent!

I always love the flamingos too!

The elephant looks like he's smiling here :)

After my accounting exam on Tuesday, my mom and I went to see the movie Heaven is For Real, which I thought was pretty good. We also watched my cousins' dance rehearsal since we couldn't make it to their actual recital.

I worked all day Wednesday but was able to meet some friends for Panera and Orange Leaf on my lunch break. I then spent the rest of the evening studying for my last final.....

Once I was completely done with school on Thursday afternoon, I came home and started working on some trip planning. Wahoooo! If you're reading this now, that means I'm on my way home from my trip, so I'll be blogging about it soon.

Friday (my first day of summer!) was spent picking up a bunch of travel necessities.....

....painting my nails....

.....packing (I think I may have a stowaway!)....

.....eating dinner at Chipotle with my family, and going to my cousin's senior design thesis.

Such a fun week - next I can't wait to blog all about my trip!

Easter 2014

I'm just now getting around to posting about my fabulous Easter!

I made cupcakes on Saturday and they turned out to be both cute and yummy.

I woke up to an Easter basket filled with candy - you're never too old for an Easter basket, right? ;)

My family went to church and then stopped home real quick to take a few pictures.

My mom and I both wore our Lilly dresses!

We went to brunch with my mom's family at a restaurant called Market Street Grille. We used to go there all the time a few years ago, but it had been awhile since I'd been there. It was nice to go somewhere different because the place we usually go was all booked up by the time we tried to get a reservation.

Later that day I went over my aunt's house to celebrate Easter with my dad's side of the family. I don't have a single picture from that, but it was so fun. All of my family was there, and I just love it when we all get together!

I hope you all had a great Easter - I know I did!

Fabulous Friday

The Friday before finals (the 18th) was such a fabulous day. I didn't actually have to go up to UC, so I had an entire day free.

My mom and I kicked off the day by meeting my aunt and cousins at Taste of Belgium downtown. I tried something new this time (the Banana Nutella Waffle), and it was so delicious. I can't even begin to tell you how much I love everything at Taste of Belgium.

Such a fun girls breakfast!

We then piled in my aunt's car to head over to Findlay Market to do a little shopping and browsing.

I hadn't been to Findlay Market in years, but now I really want to go back when I'm hungry - ha! I'm not really a fudge person, but I have to admit that this Easter themed fudge looked like it could have been good.

I just love that I live in a city with fun things like Findlay Market :)

After that, my mom and I headed over to Fountain Square to stop at the bank and get my money for my upcoming Canadian trip I'm taking through school. I'm so excited!

Then we headed out to Kenwood to finish our day with some shopping. My best purchase of the day was the Too Faced Chocolate Bar Palette. The eyeshadows are made with real cocoa powder, so the palette itself smells like chocolate. Plus the names of the shadows are all dessert themed like Salted Caramel and Haute Chocolate. I am absolutely obsessed!

That was my fun filled Friday! I'll spare you the details of the rest of my Friday evening which consisted of working on homework the entire night ;)

The Last Week of Class

It's so weird how after 12 years of school ending in late May or early June to suddenly be finishing school at the end of April. I mean, my birthday is now a summer birthday. What?!?

My last week of normal class was April 14-18. It was a busy week since I had a presentation, a quiz, a test, and a bunch of other things to complete. I really tried to take it all in though and enjoy the last few days of class before summer.

I kicked off my last week of class by making cake pops for my friend's sister's birthday. I always love doing cake pop orders. It also made me a little sad because a part of me missed being 16 since I was doing Sweet 16 themed ones.

For the most part, the weather has been nice and warm around here. But then it snowed. This is so not what you want to wake up to in the middle of April.....

Lately I've been listening to music at work a lot more. With my job, I can listen to music on my iPhone while I work, so I've been listening to iTunes radio, especially the Frozen station which only plays Disney music. I always get happy when this song comes on since it reminds of Royal Caribbean's commercials and just puts me in a better mood. Sometimes it's the simple things like a good song on the radio that can make your day!

Speaking of work, the big thing I was doing at work during the last week of class was prepping diplomas. The students who are graduating get their actual diploma mailed to them, but we had to stuff the diploma covers with a letter from the president of the university. It was so weird to think that I'll be getting a college diploma in just a few short years.

That Tuesday I had my last Kappa Delta meeting of the year, which was so crazy! Since my birthday now falls in the summer, I got a little treat for my birthday too.

When I was leaving the KD house, I turned back and caught a glimpse of the sun setting over Stratford. I thought it was so pretty and also kind of fitting since I had been thinking about how my first year of college was coming to an end just as the sun was setting over campus.

On Wednesday of that week, my friend Courtney and I celebrated the end of the school year with a trip to Yagoot. Wahoooo!

I also had a celebratory lunch with another friend at the nice sit down restaurant on campus on Thursday for getting through a particularly annoying class. I have a tendency to like to celebrate things with food. Oops ;)

My family also colored Easter eggs on Thursday night. You're never too old to color eggs, right?

My last week of class may have been filled with a lot of homework and stress, but the fun times and memories made with friends made up for it!

Freshman Year of College: Check

I am officially finished with my freshman year of college. It's so weird that it's April 24th and I'm already on summer break. What's even crazier to think about is that I'm 1/4 of the way finished with my undergrad.

I've been doing a lot of thinking back over my first year of college, and it's crazy to me to see how far I've come.

I was thinking about how on orientation I didn't know most of the people in my learning community, but now I've come to be friends with a lot of them, and we're all leaving on a trip together in a few days (!!!).

I also can't help but laugh a little bit when I remember back to the fact that my chair broke in the middle of one of my professors talking to us on orientation, me screaming as I fell out of my chair, and then being completely mortified about it. If that would happen now, I wouldn't really think much about it, but when I hardly knew anyone in KBS? It was super embarrassing :)

The first day of college.....that was also pretty scary. I had a break between some of my classes, and I remember having no idea what I should do or where I should go - ha! I think I ended up going into work even though I wasn't scheduled just to give me something to do.

Looking back over this past school year, here's a few of the highlights that stick out....

KBS formal

Joining Kappa Delta!

Lots of meals with new friends!

Introducing my KBS freshman class to cake pops ;)

Spending school days doing non-traditional things like eating cupcakes downtown.

Kappa Delta semi-formal

Lots and lots of snow days.....

Visiting Danielle in Clemson and road tripping it to Folly Beach and Charleston!

Exploring Jungle Jim's for a class assignment.

Kappa Delta Mom's Weekend.

Shamrock!

KD Formal!

Visiting the Zoo a few times for a school project.

When I look back over my first year of college, all I think about are good things.

I've completed projects I thought would be impossible. I've made a lot of new friends and joined some great organizations.

Of course there were times when it was tough, but I wouldn't trade in a minute of it. There were incredibly long days (I may not have technically lived on campus, but there were many days that I spent more time at UC than at my house).

I am incredibly excited for the next few years, but also a little sad at how fast it is going. This is my last summer for who knows how long - probably many years.

Even though the time is going fast and 40 hour work weeks are quickly approaching, I am looking forward to my remaining years of college and the many memories that are sure to come!