work study – Elspeth's Day by Day

Hey guys!

I hope your week is off to a great start. It has been so nice to settle into a new routine for the summer months. Every summer I try to set realistic goals for the summer months. They can be anything from activities, projects, trips, and small tasks. I start out with a basic list as summer begins and will add things if necessary as the months go on. At the end of the summer, I love to look back and see everything I accomplished and all the memories I created.

Summer 2019…you are just beginning…let’s take a look and see what my summer goals are:

Get license renewed

-A small but necessary task and I got it done right when I got home!

Work/Internship

Although summer is for relaxing, I plan to work through the summer. I like to stay busy and working through the summer will definitely keep me busy.

Make College photo album

Through my college years, I have been saving photos and organizing them into years. This summer, I want to get them all printed and organized since my time in college is coming to a close.

Celebrate 21

I’m really looking forward to celebrating my 21^stbirthday this summer. I’m so lucky I get to be home to be with my family, but I’m looking forward to celebrating this milestone with my friends in Pittsburgh!

See friends from college and high school

Speaking of friends, I am making seeing my friends both from college and high school this summer, whether it’s coffee dates or day trips, friends are so important and I want to make them a priority this summer.

We didn’t even say goodbye at graduation because we knew we would be seeing each other through the summer

Portfolio (BLS)

Another requirement for school that I need to get done before school is back in session for 2019!

Work Study

This summer I will be working remotely for a job I hold back at school. There are a few projects that I will be working on that I am excited to get started on.

Read 12-15 books

I am an avid reader and I am really looking forward to reading a lot over the summer. I already made a stop to my local library to check out a few books to get a start on summer reading.

Download pictures to laptop

Again, another task, it won’t take long but I want to make sure I have all my photos from this past year saved to my laptop.

Spend time with family

Since this is my last summer home I want to make sure I soak up as much family time as I can, whether it is family dinners, soccer days, or pool days. I can’t wait to get some quality family time in.

Looking forward to a full summer with the fam!

Day Trips

I love taking day trips, whether it is to the city, in the country, or to see family and friends. I’m hoping to spend a few days going to new places this summer.

Start Healthier habits

I have gotten into good routines while I am at school and I want to continue those routines at home, whether it hitting the gym several days a week, eating healthier foods and meals, or just setting time aside to relax. Getting into a good routine is something I’m looking forward to this summer.

Go to a concert

I have a concert planned for September with one of my best friends, but I want to try and hit up another summer concert. Anyone with suggestions, please let me know.

Beach days

I may live close to the beach, but that doesn’t mean I spend all summer there. Last summer, I went to the beach on the last day I was home. I want to make more of an effort to go to the beach, whether it’s for the sunset, sunrise, or a day in the water.

Family Vacation

I have been reflective in the past few months with everything that has been changing and I’m looking forward to getting away with my family for a summer trip. Where and when that will be is still up in there air, but none the less, I’m looking forward to making some memories.

Find a new show to Binge watch

Every summer, I always am on the look for new shows to binge watch. I’m currently finishing up Dawson’s Creek-an oldie but a goodie! I’m now on the hunt to find a new show to watch this summer. Any good suggestions?

Take more walks outside

In an effort to spend more time outside, I want to take more walks, whether it is at sporting events, at the end of the day after work, or around lunch. I’m looking forward to enjoying the outdoors more.

Weekly facetime calls with friends

Back to the friends…can you tell I miss my college friends?! A few of my friends from school and I have suggested doing weekly facetime calls to keep each other in the loop with what’s going on. It’s a weird feeling going from seeing your BFF’s all the time to going weeks without seeing each other.

You mean I won’t be seeing my friends every day….thank gosh for FaceTime!

Try something new

Leaving this one up in the year. I want to try something new and pushed from my comfort zone. We will see what happens and what I try.

Try new recipes

I love to cook and bake. This summer I want to try some new recipes and even come up with a signature dish. I am into salads right now, so I have a feeling I will be making lots of different salad combinations this summer.

Entertain Friends/family

I love to host people at my home and I learned it all from my mom. In the summer, we love to have friends and family over and I’m looking forward to doing some entertaining this summer.

Do something spontaneous

This goes along with trying something new, even though I love my schedules and routines. I want to be spontaneous and more flexible. I’m hoping to accomplish that this summer.

Be Present

After a stressful and busy semester, I want to be present and just live this summer. There will always be things to do and tasks to accomplish, however, I want to make an effort to just be happy where I am at.

Made this my background for my phone to only focus on the positive things in life

That concludes my summer goals. It may seem like a lot, but overall, I think it is a good mix of realistic and mental goals. Overall, I want this summer to be one filled with happiness, love, laughter, friendship, purpose, and maybe even a dance.

Have a beautiful week! xoxo

What a semester it has been!!! Not gonna lie, in January, the semester started out as a rocky one. But, I was determined not to let a few bad days change the outlook of my whole semester. Thank goodness, that I didn’t because this semester turned out to be my best semesters yet!!!

Throughout the course of this semester, I truly felt that I came into my own. I found my tribe of friends to lean and gain support and that made all the difference. Without a strong support system both at home and at school, it is very hard to navigate yourself through life.

During the semester, I took on more roles, and wore many hats in these short months. I took on 18 credits, added another work study to the mix, and took on a leadership role in my other job I have at school. Although my job has its stressful and unpredictable moments, I had truly had the best staff and coworkers. We all got along great and were able to have fun as a one big family. When work got tiring or stressful they made the job 100 times better. I am so lucky to have made so many long lasting friends because of this job. Whether it was staff meetings, Sheetz runs or late night adventures we all had the best time together.

Obviously, taking on all these new things felt like a lot and could be a bit overwhelming at some points. Like for example, starting my day at 6:00 am and working through 1:00, yes, I had a few of those days but they were filled with fun memories braided through the stressful moments.

One motto that I used towards the end of the semester was “Live Mas” or “Living my Best Life”, a lot of my close friends were either graduating or moving to different building so during my last few weeks of school, I made sure I went out and did things with my friends to savor our last few days together, whether it was Dairy Queen trips, late night drives, or playing card games while working the late shift, I wouldn’t trade those memories for anything. I’m so glad I found so many wonderful people because of this job and school.

Here we are at one of our first events of the year.

Lastly, something that made this semester so great was working on myself and being my true authentic self. I learned and worked on this a lot with the help of my friend Olivia. We met a year and a half ago because our boss suggested we meet since we are so similar. Every chance we get we thank our boss for introducing us, we immediately hit it off and have been close every since. Not only can we talk about the easy day to day topics, but we often talk about the challenging stuff too. Olivia, is one of the hardest working, caring, driven, and “mom like” people I have ever met. She has been a wonderful mentor but an even better friend to me this past year. She has taught me a lot but the most important thing I have learned is to be my authentic self. Olivia, thank you for making this year the best one yet.

Here is a second picture of her, as we were moving out. I love this quote– a constant reminder of girl power

This has been such a good semester for me both in and out of the classroom. I have excelled in my studies, formed long lasting friendships, made countless memories but most importantly, I lived my best life as my authentic self. Here’s to hopping I grow even more as a person next semester.

LIVE MAS THIS SUMMER!!!

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My Latest Blog Post is up. Give it a read. xoxp

My Latest Blog Post is up. Give it a read. xoxp