I haven't forgotten about you, and even if I did, even for a moment, my family would remind me that it has been five months since we last chatted.
The last five months of my life have been busy (extremely busy) and wonderful and challenging and life-changing and eye-opening and filled with memories to last a lifetime. I vow and promise to back-blog at least all my pictures to show you (and make you jealous) of the life I live, today and from all my yesterdays since August. Here is a quick re-cap of the last several months and why I am excited about what lies ahead, starting February 10th, 2012.
*Just yesterday, I completed my LAST Day One of class at The Culinary Institute of America. Meaning? I graduate in 3 short weeks (2 weeks and 6 days now). Over the past five months, I have made my bakeshop rounds and completed Confectionery Art and Special Occasion Cakes, Contemporary Cakes and Desserts, Chocolates and Confections, Specialty Breads, Advanced Baking Principles (where I passed my 5th Term Practical), Restaurant Desserts and Operations, and Back-of-the-House Apple Pie Bakery Cafe. I have maintained my perfect attendance, which should be noted. I will no longer, unless for fun on Halloween, wear the gold-enscribed CIA-issued whites here on campus as a student. I've earned my blues, for sure!
This is not the greatest picture but my first day in my blues!*The sweetest, cutest, most precious, she-already-has-us-all-wrapped, baby girl, named Tynlee Brooke Roberts, was born in Statesboro, Georgia, on September 30, 2011. I was able to fly home to witness Georgia beat Florida, for the second time, and meet this heaven-sent bundle around her one month birthday!
One of her first pictures. My whole family, minus me, was there. I waited patiently by my phone for updates (and PICTURES). :)
Tynlee and Aunt Haley. Our first picture together (but not our last).
Pedi-day!*I surprised my mom for Thanksgiving, and instead of watching the Macy's Parade Live from NYC again this year, I spent Turkey Day with the family and Turkey-butt (Tynlee). With my grandmother being sick and wheelchair-bound, I was thankful, especially this year, to spend the week with those I love the most.
*I have fallen in love with (and I am not ashamed to write this on a public forum because, let's be for real, my mom already knows we've said the "L word") the most adorable 20-year-old on the planet. Brady Michael Benson actually calls when he says he is going to call. He wants to spend time with me, even if that means going to see Twilight in theaters. He surprises me, like with the stuffed panda for our one month. He knows me so well and he doesn't run away from me too fast considering (even though my OCDness does annoy him some days). He thinks enough of me to let me visit his family for New Years in South Dakota (and he is comparatively as close with his family as I am with mine, if you can imagine). He's the Southern boy (even if it is SOUTH Dakota) I've always wanted, who wears boots and listens to country music and shoots guns. OH, and did I mention that within the first week of dating, we had to defend our relationship to our-too-small-campus-where-everyone-knows-everybody and decide if it was worth pursuing or leaving well-enough alone. When I want to be mad at him, I can't be because he looks at me with "that look," which makes me angry that he has that power over me. He takes care of me when I am sick with tonsillitus (soup? juice? panda?). He picks me up when there is snow on the ground when I don't have the proper shoes on my feet. We go out on the weekends; oh wait, he is underage (he gives a whole new meaning to "Teenage Dream," Katy Perry). We are four and a half years apart. I may have been a senior in high school when he was in seventh grade but that makes us us. And, I wouldn't change us or him for the world. I don't know what will happen after his 10 day trip to Georgia/ the South after graduation, but he's the guy that makes me consider moving to -30 degree weather (sorry, Mom).
Apple-pickin' pandas!*Two of my best friends are getting married. Brent proposed to Bailey in November, and they are getting married on June 9th. Brent (not the same one :)) proposed to Whitney at Walt Disney World in December before Christmas. I love these girls (and guys) so much and I am thrilled for them! I am excited to celebrate with them this special time in their lives.
Straight-haired Haley and Bailey Harvard Greer-to-be.*I've enjoyed multiple trips since August. I visited my bff Katy in Boston. Brady and I have taken the train to NYC several times, to play and to celebrate Christmas (Rockettes, anyone?). I went to Ithaca to interview for graduate school and Brady came along. Katy and her roommate, Jocelyn, visited NYC to see the City in all its Christmas glory!
Brooklyn Bridge at Sunset. <3
Playing the Big Piano with Katy and Jocelyn at FAO Schwarz.
Christmas in the City with BB.*Another car parked on top of my car. It's a long story; I'll explain later.
Volvo, meet Acura. Volvo, get off Acura!*I am now a proud owner of an iPhone. (I've actually owned two! iPhones don't like hitting the concrete.)
Poor Brady for dropping my phone.*And, as of yesterday, I found out that I have tentatively been accepted to the Masters of Hospitality Management program at Cornell University's School of Hotel Administration for May 2014. The admissions committee was extremely impressed with my resume, application, and interview that with more experience and a second GMAT score, they want to offer me deferred admission for two years. How am I feeling about this? I'll be honest in saying that I was expecting a rejection, period. My GMAT score was not even close to the average for incoming students. The average age for admittance is 28 and I am 24 years old. The average amount of work experience is 3-5 years; I have no where near that amount. Graduate School is a life decision, and this deferment definitely throws a curveball in my life plans. However, I have two years to decide, and no matter the decision I make, I can always say I was accepted to the Ivy League, right?!
This post is just a snapshot of my life since August 30th. Stay tuned (but don't expect my backblogs in a timely manner) for the full journey. I love you all, and thank you for being a part of this experience. It's just the beginning.
TAKE THAT, HATERS. I DO REMEMBER HOW TO BLOG.
Now, time to play in the inches of snow that have been falling since last night...
Haley
