Year 3

I'm back at Sewanee, and life is exciting and fun and new all over again. It has always been tough for me to get back in the swing of school, but this year has been surprisingly easy. I live in a house now that I share with 5 other girls, as opposed to a janky dorm that I shared with 90 other students the past two years. I have my own bathroom (for the first time), a balcony right off my room, and even air conditioning! It truly is a palace for my roommate and I. The weather is amazing, and my friends and I have already made our way down to our favorite spot, Lake Dimmick. After dinner tonight I went on a solo bike ride to a close second favorite spot on campus, Lake Cheston. The sun was about to set, and I was the only student on the backroads. As the pink sky glistened across the glass-like water (lol), life felt so different from what it has been these last couple of months. Sewanee is such a unique and amazing place and I am so lucky to be able to go to school here.

Here are some of my recent snaps:

1. balcony jamz | 2. morning light

1. turn-down Tuscaloosa on the longest drive ever | 2. inevitably happens to my shoes @ Sewanee

1. new room | 2. arrow always points to balcony

room 2

Dimmick 

I've been jamming to a bunch of girl bands recently. Here are some of my favorites:

"Joke" by Chastity Belt

(side-note I really want to hang out with the girls of Chastity Belt)

"A New Wave" by Sleater-Kinney

THIS VIDEO IS MY FAVORITE VIDEO OF ALL TIME

Breakfast | Visual Journal #2

1. yogurt, granola, berries, & honey | 2. table

Bakery Lorraine

1. best vintage store in SA | 2. light fixture

song of the day:

"Half Full Glass of Wine" by Tame Impala

Living Abroad and Getting Used to It

Before leaving for my Paris trip, I wondered for months about who I was going to be friends with, what my host family would be like, and how this trip would change me. Would I become more independent? Happier? Lonelier? Confident? 

I stayed up till 2 am almost every night for a month before leaving for Paris, and, after my usual games of Solitaire burning brightly off my phone screen, I would shut off the strong light and stare into the darkness of my comfortable and familiar bedroom. I felt some of the same pings of anxiety that I did before moving 1,500 miles away from home when I decided to attend Sewanee. Eyes wide with excitement and fear, packing my bags and leaving for Paris for 6 weeks didn't feel real to me until I landed at the Charles de Gaulle airport, when my first thought was "oh ok I guess I should actually start believing that this is happening." 

Now, I'm over halfway finished with my abroad experience. Sitting on the metro, headphones in, staring off into the graffiti-ridden tunnels, as if to not make eye contact with any strangers, I find myself immersed into a phenomenon that is so foreign to my simple, rural life in Tennessee. I am, for once, completely surrounded by people who know nothing about me. My name, my hometown, my history, or why I am even in Paris to begin with are all unknown to the hundreds of people I pass in the metro and on the streets of this new and spectacular city. 

Once and a while I'll receive a text from a good friend saying something like "see you in 3 weeks!" or "can't wait to be back at school!" that rips me from this alternative mystery life into my "old" life. My real life. 

I've made great friends here, seen amazing sights, learned much more French, and gained confidence in my abilities, but I won't really know how this trip has changed me until I return to the United States. I definitely know that I am a changed person, but how I interact with my friends and family back in my familiar haunts is unknown to me.

Found a Friend

As I was walking to a great shooting location, Lake Dimmick, I stumbled upon a beautiful farm and a friendly horse (whose name I can only assume is Buttercup). I wasn't going to approach the beautiful animal, but it came right up to the fence and looked like it wanted some loving. "Buttercup" was a gentle giant, and kept nudging me so I would pet him more!

My friend Sarah snapped this photo of me petting the horse. 

Where is My Lens?

Greetings, friends!

Well, a new semester has begun, and my classes are awesome. Seriously.

I am taking a documentary photography class that is re-sparking my love for photography. I kind of lost touch with my camera last semester, and it's so great to have an excuse to carry it around with me everywhere I go.

Today, I will share the photographs from my first assignment this semester entitled "Where is My Lens?" Here's how my professor described the project to us:

Produce a set of photographs that consider any combination of camera position, focus, shutter speed and lighting in relation to subject matter. These are most of the key qualities, along with time (which we address in the next exercise) that form the basis of photographic language, and they largely determine whether or not a photograph is eloquent.

So, basically, put your lens in a spot you normally wouldn't think of putting it. Here's how I interpreted the project:

All Good in the Hood

Hey y'all! IT'S FALL!

Fall is a beautiful season, especially in Tennessee. In Texas, fall didn't really exist. But on the chilly mountaintop where I currently reside, fall is very real. Leaves actually change colors here, and I'm already pulling out my knits from storage. I saw my breath today for the first time since last winter, which made me feel a twinge of excitement, but also a wee bit of dread, for I know just how dang cold it gets here on the Domain.

Feeling comfy and cozy in the brisk fall weather is a must. Some of my favorite fall pieces are a great pair of jeans, a hooded, soft sweater, moccasins, and deep dark lipstick to edge up the look.

Sweater

Jeans

Moccasins

Necklace: Nordstrom

Top: The Impeccable Pig
Lipstick

Thank you Anne Gray for the photos! 

When All Else Fails...

Life is hard, friends. It's hard for every person, at every stage of life, and for many, many different reasons. However, there are so many good things about life that allow people like me to "just keep swimming."

I am five days away from being able to go back to Texas and attend Austin City Limits Music Festival for the fourth time along with my sister, cousin, and father. BUT before I am set free, I have to struggle my way through what might be one of the more difficult weeks of my life. I have three tests (one Wednesday, two Friday), and several other homework assignments (such as programming work and reading about half a book en français). What keeps me from losing my mind, you ask? Well, as I am sitting in the library at 11:39 pm on Monday, September 29 typing this blog post, my answer has to be the future. Future adventures I might have, future friendships that might spring, future excitement that is to come is what gets me through this week from H-E-double hockey sticks. Knowing that after completing a French test, a Humanities midterm, and a Computer Science exam, I can jump on a plane and be with my family is making everything seem just a little bit brighter.

So, knowing that this week would be absolutely insane, I took it easy yesterday and decided to go on a solo hike and complete my homework and reading assignments in nature (so Sewanee, right?). I pulled on my fancy Chaco's (aka car seats for my feet), hopped on my bike, and STARTED SOMEWHERE.

Also, gang, when I logged onto Blogger tonight I saw that my blog is at exactly 10,000 views. I know that might not be much for having this blog for almost 3 years, but I am incredibly thankful and happy that people have taken the time to actually read what I write!

So, to whoever is reading this, THANK YOU. 

Pedals & Petals

I invested in a very old, used bike to ride around on campus, and it has been quite the enjoyable experience. My bike, although a little rickety, gets me from my dorm to main campus in about 5 minutes, which is much better than the time it takes to walk it. Yesterday, I went on a bike ride to a beautiful lookout spot on campus called Green's View along with my pals Lynn and Kate.