This is my last semester. It seems like already so many things are changing and I have no control over it. For the last two weeks it's been just Corey, Tony and I trying to entertain ourselves because Tyesa is out of town and Greg is been working and Matt Shepard has been sick. I think because we spend so much time together anyway Corey, Tony and I get bored easily, and in addition Jonesboro is going through a dry spell. I guess not having anything to ease my mind had brought all my troubled thoughts to the surface, mostly about the end of this semester. I feel like I'm going to drop off the face of the earth sometimes, other times I look forward to moving on with my life. The plan is that I'm going to move home and pay off some bills while living rent free and be looking for internships, jobs, etc outside of Arkansas. I have to get out of the state. I've always liked the idea of moving northwest to Portland or Seattle but recently I visited St. Louis and fell in love with it.

I'm worried about moving home because I don't really know anyone there except my family. I know it's just going to be temporary, no more than a year at most. When I came to college here I didn't know anyone either, and I eventually made it out ok, but all the same I know how isolating I can be. I remember the hard times (most of them are written in this journal) and I don't want to go through that again. I have changed as a person, though. I know that I'm much more outgoing and confident then I was back then.

I have considered staying here in Jonesboro. It would be the easier thing to do in some ways. I think it would be an attempt to hold on to something that is fading. The whole point of this is to grow and evolve right? And I'm afraid if I stayed here I would be slowing myself down.

It's a weird thought though, that all of this will be over in a few months. A major chapter in my life is closing. In a few years I might go back to school to get my masters, depending on where the road takes me. I just have to remember that I'm not limited.

Hey guys! I just wanted to say that things are going great in Florence and I have 11 days left. I am really missing home and everyone and even work so it will be nice to be back. I can't tell you all the stuff I've been doing but the first weekend we went to Viareggio where there is a beautiful beach. Unfortunately it was raining so we just enjoyed the boardwalk. The next weekend we went to Cinque Terra and hiked for an hour and a half between two towns on the coast. It was raining again but at least it wasn't hot and we had a great time. I got so many beautiful pictures that I need to put up. This last weekend I stayed in Florence and explored museums and shops and went to Viareggio again on Sunday and it was sunny and awesome. I have the sun burn to prove it. This next weekend I will be going to the Venice Bennale which is a huge exhibit of contemporary artist around the world. If your curious about what we did during the week then the Dean has a blog at http://florence2009photojourney.blogspot.com that has tons of pictures and videos.

I miss you all and I'll be home soon enough.

Lots of love,
Reanna

This is it. This is the day before my life will completely change for a month. It's going to be beautiful. I feel like I'm going to learn so much more about myself, and rediscover some parts of me that I have lost. I've never been more prepared for something in my life. Now all I need to do is get on the plane and fly.

As Elphaba sang: Too late for second-guessing, too late to go back to sleep. It's time to trust my instincts, close my eyes...and leap!

In a month's time I will be in Florence, Italy. Holy shit. Where did the semester go?

I feel like I'm pretty much ready for it though. Joleen is staying in my apartment and taking care of the cats. I've already called my banks to tell them that I'll be over there so they don't freeze my cards, I've got my passport and I just renewed my driver's license and the new picture is a good one :) There's still a few technicalities like whether I'm going to have my mom drive me to the airport or ride with someone else that I need to work out.

I've met all the people who are going with me and I think it's going to be a fun group. My roommates are Kelly Little(who is totally awesome), Jennifer Hackworth (crazy girl that will be a lot of fun), and possibly Savanna Traylor(artsy girl), possibly nobody, and in that case I'll be bidding for the room by myself so that I can bring home some italian booty :P I'm really just kidding on that one, after seeing Taken I'm not going to let ANYBODY know where I'm living in Italy.

I still need to make copies of my passport and my debit and credit cards. Other then that I just need to get packed and finalize my getting to the airport plans.

Oh, yeah, and that little bit of the semester left called finals...I'm so over it. This semester has been...well...weird, I guess would be the best way to discribe it. I'm just ready to graduate. One more semester to go.

In other news, I just picked up the new Jenny Lewis cd and it is AWESOME and yesterday I dyed my hair and it's a bit darker then it has been in the past. It doesn't look bad though.

We're all liars. We're all stuck in the same rut we were born in the first time someone didn't show us love. This world is all about self improvement but do we really ever change? I bet if you look for it you'll see that nasty part of you. So much for that high horse. Think about it.

So I just kicked ass on my beginning acting scene. Molly didn't have any notes. She said that after the first minute it was so realistic that she just relaxed and let us take her into the story. Everyone was speechless. It was great.

Tonight is the first meeting for the Florence trip. We will be choosing roommates, choosing the class we'll take over there, and going over general information. I don't know what class I should choose. I've fed up with the spanish class I'm taking, so I might drop it and take italian over there for a foreign language credit. But then again I couldn't take fashion design...hummmm. Idk. Sometimes I'm still can't believe that I'm going.

I'm making a potholder for our new neighbor Ben. It's going to be awesome, and really easy. I got material this morning and will prolly have it done tonight. Last night we went to a mexican bakery on johnson and Ben got like a dozen pastries for 7 bucks. Definitely a place to check out.

I lost ten pounds this last month without even realizing it. I guess it's walking around on campus and eating less. If I don't feel like cooking I've started going to The Edge and it's much healthier than fast food.

Finally I'm going home this weekend to see the fam and go to my sister's wedding shower. I'm a little worried about leaving Nimbus because she got spayed recently but she's healed up well and by the time I leave tomorrow she should be done with antibiotics.

Blah. I should be studying for a spanish test right now, but instead I am updating my lj. It's been an awesome week compared to the last one. Last week Corey, Matt, Megan and our new neighbor Ben were feeling very under the weather. I managed to escape being sick but on Friday I was in a car accident (minor, but my fault :() then on Saturday I locked my keys out of my car and my pet rat died. You were a good rat, Sampson!

But enough of that. Everyone is feeling better. Tuesday Ben, Corey, Tony, and went to Memphis. We ate wonderful indian food at The Indian Palace and then went to see a classical/pop concert on the memphis campus. One of the guys that work at The Edge with Ben, Chris, was having his piece preformed. The music was cool and after that we went to the campus bar with Chris and some of the other composers. All and all it was fun times. Ben has introduced me to a band called Of Montreal and I love it.

Right now Nimbus is at the vet. I can pick her up after my test. She's finally getting fixed. The vet said that she had some increased liver function and I don't know what that means. They're sending home a supplement for her to take and I'll ask them why she might be having these problems.

No more for now, got to go over my verbs before the exam.

Financial Aid is such bullshit. I went to the office on campus three months ago and said "I need this amount of money in this amount of time. But I need to wait until I get my W2 right?" Well, turns out, I didn't need to wait for my W2, I got $1000 less then what I needed, and I'm still waiting to get the money even though the first installment was due last Friday. WTF??? Are the Financial Aid people just trained to smile and nod? Oh well. I told Dean Reeves what the deal is and he said it was ok.

In other news my V-Day was fine, went out with friends and ate at Chili's, although ppl were in such a bad mood that night. There was crying at the table, seriously. But it can't be helped.

In beginning acting we are getting very close to our first showing for our first scene. I'm pretty excited, it was weird doing a scene with no director, but it came together pretty well and now I'm just trying to pry the scripts out of our hands. That's difficult too when you don't have someone to call lines for you. But, overall, I think it's going to be good.

We've got a new neighbor. His name is Ben and he seems like a pretty cool guy. He's the manager at The Edge. He says that another guy who works down there, Chris, maybe moving in over here too. That would be nice, because Chris is pretty geeky cute.

http://store.babeland.com/vibrators-premium/naughtinano-vibrator

I need one of these!

Well, I got the info for my possible student loans and guess what? I'm a 1000 dollars short of what I need. The woman at financial aid suggested that I have my parents fill out a PLUS loan. My mom is going to be pissed because she doesn't like that I'm taking out loans anyway for this. Again, I don't know what to do.