Summer so far

So, just when I got on a role and made it a goal to continue writing I happened to lose all motivation.

So far this summer has been fairly bland. George has been gone for 3 weeks, I read one of the books on my list (The Secret History, I highly recommend it), started organizing my closet (made it through the dresses!), and worked my butt off in the office. Luckily work has been really busy and crazy interesting so that has kept me distracted from missing my hubby.



Unfortunately, I have not made much progress with HP in Arabic...took me about 30 minutes to get through one sentence...may have to cut that goal back. I also have apparently developed a little shopping problem which is not helping my goal of saving to take an online course through Oxford University.

Speaking of Oxford, that is a little bit of a sore topic for me lately. I recently saw on facebook that two acquaintances of mine will be heading there in the fall for graduate school and immediately felt a strong twinge of jealousy/disappointment that I am not on the road there myself anytime soon. I am at a strange point in my life where I happen to have an amazing job that I love that has tremendous opportunity for growth and could very well be my ultimate career but I also have strong desires to go back to school for a graduate degree. I really regret that I didn't get a degree during the last three years since I graduated from UCSB but, alas, what's done is done. Hopefully at one point there will be an opportunity for me that makes sense but for now I am actually thrilled with my current job and need to focus on what I have rather than what I could have had.

Speaking of what I have...check out this amazing drawing I received in the mail yesterday from George's brother's girlfriend!

She got the image from this picture, one of my favorites from the big day.

Summer Bucket List

Considering George is leaving to travel/teach for most of the summer I figured I should come up with some sort of bucket list of things to occupy my time so I don't get too lonely. I will still have my wonderful job, friends and horse to keep me company but I thought that having a few goals might make me feel a little more productive as well as make the time apart go by quicker. I'm sure I will end up editing this list as the summer goes on but here is my start:

Summer 2013 Bucket List

• Read at least 5 books from BuzzFeed's 65 Books You Need To Read In Your 20's.
• Get through at least 3 chapters of Harry Potter & The Sorceror's Stone...in Arabic.
• Save up to take this course through Oxford University in September.
• Reread The Great Gatsby.
• Do a MAJOR closet clean out and get rid of a lot of clothing.
• Work out at least 3 days/week.
• Beat George in our Who Can Read All 7 HP Books First race.
• Keep writing.
• Start & finish my online accounting course.
• Learn some new line dances.
• Catch up on some TV shows (Grey's Anatomy, Revenge, The Lying Game).

And that's all I got for now. As you can see, I plan on doing quite a bit of reading. I used to read all the time when I was younger and then once I started high school and college I sort of ran out of time and never got back into it. Last summer I spent two weeks in Portugal with George's family and spent many days lying on the beach reading and sort of fell back in love with books so I'm hoping to continue that this year.

xo, Elena

Let's try this again

Two years ago I started this blog because I panicked when I realized I had been out of college for a year and had little to nothing to show for my degree. At the time I was living in Berkeley with my then-boyfriend, working an administrative job in Oakland and studying vigorously for the LSAT. I imagined writing a blog would not only be a fun way to chronicle my journey to law school, etc. but also a motivator for me to try new things, push myself harder, and ultimately, figure out what I wanted to do with my life. Judging from my one entry, that clearly didn't pan out. Since then, I have  successfully conquered the LSAT, decided against law school, broke up with my then-boyfriend, moved back to my home in Santa Barbara, met the man of my dreams, traveled the world with him and my family, got married and started a career. Looking back, the past year and a half probably would have been the most exciting time to blog about but, alas, I was too busy living it to think about writing it.

Throughout this time, I have kept up with reading many other blogs and have recently found myself re-inspired to start up writing again. While I may have missed out on some of the bigger events in my life, I know there are still many more amazing and exciting times to come. Honestly, I still don't know what I want to do with my life and that's okay. I think many 20-somethings go through a similar period in life of exploration, adventure and choices as they try to pin down who they are and what they want out of life. Hopefully I can use this blog to chronicle my journey and help me along the way.

xElena