2011 Christmas Note

For me, this year represents both the most transitions and changes as well as the most amazing and enriching experiences I have ever had. From start to finish, I have faced hurdles and achieved more than I ever thought possible, even at the beginning of the year.

The first big event of 2011 was the new addition to our family--our English Golden named Trixie. She is a retired breeding dog that we got from the breeder. It was an amazing coincidence that I emailed Louise about puppies right at the time when she was trying to find Trixie a home. She's an amazing, cuddly dog, and we are so glad to have her in our family now. I actually was not there when Trixie actually moved into our apartment, but I did get a chance to meet her a few days before I left for London.

2011 also brought me the most enlightening study abroad experience I think I could have ever had. I learned to "cook" (using the term loosely) for myself, search for apartments, and live with basically a random bunch of other girls. Despite my homesickness at how stressful it was arriving in a foreign country with all my worldly belongings and being jet lagged as I searched for apartments, I quickly began to develop a sense of myself in London. The independence I gained simply through being forced to do even mundane daily tasks on my own was invaluable, which is saying a lot because I've always felt as though I am an independent person. Pretty soon after getting to London, my friends and I decided to branch out and visit other countries as well. Here again there were learning experiences and stressful situations, but I also learned an incredible amount about the cultures of the world. I wouldn't change my study abroad experience for the anything. In London, I saw about 11 plays, went to basically ever museum London had to offer, saw the Crown Jewels, attended the Royal Wedding, took walks with Bill around the city, drank TONS of tea, and interned at a content-provider for the BBC. But aside from the sights in London, I took 4 trips to with school (Bath, Edinburgh, Liverpool, Stratford) and went to Dublin, the Scottish Highlands, Rome, Florence, Venice, Paris, and Versaille with friends. I did everything and went everywhere I had hoped to go at the start of the semester, and I'm so glad I did.

While I do consider London a second home now, I was still happy to return home to Boston for the summer. There though, I found my parents in less-than-full house searching mode. I knew they were looking, but they hadn't yet gotten anywhere. We expanded the search, and I actually picked the house we ended up moving into in my first house search with them. It's a lovely house, a little smaller in the bedrooms than we are used to, but still very nice. Actually, my bedroom is much bigger than what it was. I can actually fit a desk, bed, bedside table, and bureau in it at once! We have two living rooms, a dining room, two bathrooms, and three bedrooms, and it's just really nice to have a place of our own. The backyard and shed are great for Trixie. In the middle of the summer, as we planned the move, my dad decided to take me on a 5 day-long vacation to Disney and Universal Orlando to see Harry Potter World. I think he was jealous that he didn't get to visit me in London, and my mom did. It was great to be able to spend some time with my dad. We sure crammed a lot into the days that we were there. We saw all the Disney parks in 2 days, and then all of Universal on the third day! It was incredibly exhausting, but I'm so glad we both got to see it together. Even though I'm more hard core than my dad about going on roller coasters, he was a trooper for walking around everywhere with me. It was great reliving things at Disney that I only vaguely remembered, and I think my dad like watching me try to pull those memories out of my head. Also during the summer, my mom and I did our second triathlon and Ben graduated from his post-graduate year at Hebron Academy and enrolled at Merimac for the Fall 2011 school year. At the end of the summer was the move. We had to push it back a week because we weren't packed up quickly enough, so that meant we moved literally 2 days before I was on a plane headed for a semester at the Ithaca College LA campus. Not much time to enjoy the new house, but I'm glad I got to help pick it out.

Los Angeles was a completely different experience than London. It was a much simpler transition as I didn't have to find my own housing and the time difference was a little less dramatic. Also, while London, and the rest of Europe, is more educational and historical, LA is entertainment-based. Despite the fact that LA isn't necessarily that educational, they do have a lot of really cool sites. I think my favorites were the Hollywood Sign, the Getty Museum, and Griffith Park. The best part about living in LA was being able to relate with the people who want to do the same work as I do. There were so many networking opportunities that I felt the need to order business cards! I even met someone at a bus stop on one of my last days in LA and networked a bit. I got an internship with The Bold and the Beautiful, the most watched soap opera in the world, and it was an incredible experience. I was able to observe different departments, interview the staff, and learn about professional television production. Also, I was one of the few paid interns who was doing the ICLA program, and I was stunned when I found I even would be getting paid. The people were so friendly and willing to teach me, and I really felt like I contributed to the show. Along with interning at B&B, I had the opportunity to work a various events, including the American Music Awards, the AFI Film Festival, and the Creative Arts Emmys. I had never seen what goes into event planning before, and so these short-term internships allowed me to expand horizons as to job possibilities. It was also great to be relatively close to my cousin, Kate, who I rarely ever get to see because she's from Canada. I got to visit her in Arizona for Thanksgiving week, and she visited me for a week and came again to attend the AMA's with me and one of her friends as seatfillers. I've seen her more this year than I have in any other year. In driving back to Arizona with her, I found out that I can actually drive for a long time without it being too difficult, so that's cool. Arizona was beautiful, and Kate's husband, Steph, was nice enough to take me out to see some nature. I saw the real kind of cacti! I also turned 21 back in October, so I'm finally not restricted from anything anymore...except the typical illegal activities. The biggest news came half way through the semester when I found out that Ithaca College changed the curriculum for my major. I was already looking into going half-time during the Spring semester, but the changes they made meant that I was not required to take the one major class I was going to go back to IC to take. I did have to drop my history minor with one class left, but I was excited and nervous to find out I would be graduating a semester early on top of having been to both LA and London. What with school going on, I haven't have the time to really apply to that many jobs, but I think the game plan is to stay at home and save some money working at BSC while I try to find a job in whichever city will have me. It's a huge adjustment thinking about myself as a professional and not a student, and I actually can't believe how fast this semester, and college in general, went by.

To sum it all up:
I spent all of 2011 away from the main campus of Ithaca college. I basically attended three Ithaca Colleges as I went to our branch locations in both London and LA. I have been to 6 different countries, including the US, this year, and I have been to 5 different states, including the ones I was laid over in trying to get connecting flights. Also, I have taken a total of 17 planes just this year alone! My family got a new dog and a new house, meaning that I have moved three times this year. I am graduating early and trying to create a life for myself in the real world, which is the biggest transition of them all. I felt like all this change and news in my life warranted a nice long Christmas letter/blog post. Wish me luck in the real world!

Happy holidays!