Keep on, Keeping on.

Hello Beautiful!

It's been a while, I'm aware.

To say life has been hectic, wouldn't be quite the right way of saying it.

I am a recent graduate and have joined the hundreds of thousands looking for a job. 

This season of my life has been very taxing emotionally. Rejection is hard, people!

So this summer has been a summer of personal growth and finding my center again.

I know many of you have had periods in your life like this, with many unknowns looming. 

So here are some quotes that have really helped me through a rough day.

So keep going, this is only a season. You won't always be here. I promise. 

Keep smiling,

Makenna

Tie Dye Shoes

Hello you beautiful people!

This week me and my two roommates decided to tie dye some shoes. I had never even heard of this before. But it is shockingly easy, and cheap! We went to Wal-Mart and got some five dollar shoes. We then got three things of dye, yellow, pink, and blue. We made all the colors from them. Note: these dyes can be found by the laundry, not the crafty part of the store.

We then laid out plastic grocery bags on the counter. We boiled salt water and poured in the dye. I wasn't the one doing that part but we didn't need to use a ton of dye and about a bowl full of water. We put each of the three colors into a bowl and then took some sponge brushes (that we got for less than a dollar) and went to town!

The colors mixed crazy well and the soles wouldn't absorb any of the dye so it was no problem keeping them clean. We then tightly wrapped each one in a plastic grocery bag and let it sit overnight. In the morning we rinsed them off for awhile and then set them out all day to dry. That night we did use a hair dryer to speed up the drying process, but by morning they were perfect. It also rained all day the first day I wore them (the first day they were dry enough to be worn. I was excited and impatient!) and they didn't bleed at all.

This was a super easy and simple craft that made the cutest shoes! I hope you all enjoyed!

Wishing you smiles and happiness,
Victoria

You're going to hear me roar!

GUYS!
One of my best friends Jenna, gave me a trip to Dade City Wild Things for my graduation. Its a wildlife preserve and rescue in central florida. We went on a Tuesday morning. We drive up to this tiny sketch house and we both were like "oh dear, what did we get ourselves into?" haha. You take a trolley from their shop to the actually zoo. When we got there, we took a tram tour of the complex. All the animals were so happy and friendly. They would come up the cage wall as we approached and they were playing with each other. It was awesome! The preserve had like 15 tigers. They were all ages and gorgeous. Some of them were HUGE! We got to feed a bison. They were so cute. They had huge eyes and a giant purple tongue!

Then we got to participate in our tiger encounter. The zoo had 4 five week old tiger cubs and we got to meet one! Her name was Torah and she was so precious! She would "chuff" which is a tiger version of purring. She was very friendly and chill. We got to pet her and hold her! It was AMAZING!

Here, Ill just let you fall in love with her yourself....

So, if you find yourself in Dade City, GO VISIT THE TIGERS! ITS SO WORTH IT!

Peace, and love,

Makenna

The End of an Era.

Hello dolls,
I know I've been drastically slacking when it comes to blogging this semester. It has been my last semester and I've been trying very much to live 'in the moment' which hasn't allowed for much reflection honestly. If I could explain to you the beautiful mess of joy that is my life I would. This semester has been perfect and difficult and challenging and full of growth and happiness. I know, I know, vague.

Let's see. I have had many adventures with the beautiful souls placed in my life throughout my college experience. For spring break. I ventured to Atlanta with my roommates Jenna, Brianna and our friend Eva. It was such a wonderful time! We did all the touristy things, like go to the Atlanta aquarium, and the Coca cola Factory. We ate fantastic food. We climbed Stone Mountain. But I think my favorite part of the trip was a late night excursion to a drive-in movie theater. We went to this theater in the middle of nowhere and watched the movie 'Need for Speed'. (Side note: great movie!) it was wonderful to laugh and cuddle with my friends whilst watching a great movie. Needless to say, that trip was full of great memories.

I recently participated in Relay for Life at FSU. I was part of the FSU Wesley team. It was such a great time. The event actually ended up raising over $200,000! My sister,  Hayley and Jenna were on the team as well. We had a blast staying up all night. We got henna tattoos and danced and played corn hole.

The next night Wesley hosted their senior prom. This year's theme was Dayglow! It was a wonderful time to spend with my friends celebrating our time at Wesley. I truly have met so many incredible people through Wesley. I met one of my best friends through Wesley and one of my mentors! Anyways, Dayglow was a blast. Driving home with Jenna, we were trying to not get any paint on the car since we were literally covered head to toe in paint.

Let's see, I also had a last shenanigans fort night at my apartment with all my friends. It was one of the last times we will all be able to get together before the craziness that is the end hits. Looking around that night at all the wonderful people I have met brought a tear to my eye. These ladies have encouraged me through my darkest days and have celebrated with me through life's triumphs.

Can I just say that coming to FSU I had no idea how much these people would change my life?!
And I know that these friendships are not merely ones of convenience too. Which makes them that much more awesome. These are people I get to do life with!!

As I write this, I have 11 days until I walk across that stage. I picked up my cap and gown today. I'm completely happy and terribly sad all at the same time. Saying goodbye to this chapter in my life will be very emotional. Yes, I have gone through a lot of difficult things throughout my college career, but I have grown into the person I am today because of it. The people here will be very difficult to leave. Tallahassee has truly become my home, which is something I never thought I would be able to say. What a blessing. I'm tearing up just thinking of saying goodbye to these people. Oh boy.

So if you are going through transitions like I am. Please know it's completely normal to be both incredibly happy and terribly sad at the same time. Here's to the next challenging adventure and all that it will entail.

Much love,
Makenna

Tennessee Vacay

Hello there people of the internet, sorry it's been so long. 

After the madness of finals week and praying to the good Lord above that we do well on our tests we busied ourselves celebrating Makenna's graduation. It was all exciting and busy and unfortunately this little corner of the web got pushed down on the priority list. Sorry bout that. But we are back and better than ever!

This past week we took to the road, twenty hours of road, and made the trip to Tennessee to see our wonderful friend Lauren's uncle and aunt. They have the most gorgeous home on a lake in Loudon. Now I don't know about you, but I haven't spent a ton of time in Tennessee and judging from stereotypes of the South I was expecting something a little more hick-ish. Don't hate me. I'm sorry to every person in Tennessee I have misjudged. We left at the crack of dawn on Tuesday and honestly I don't remember much of the trip up there because I was pretty much sleeping the whole way. Oops. But after a slight trouble with directions (read we got lost on a mountain in the middle of nowhere) we found our way to an amazing home and three even more amazing people inside. They welcomed us with open arms and truly made us feel at home. We then spent the next few days laying out by the lake, exploring the water via jetski, taking the boat to dinner, and playing card games. It was the most perfect vacation ever. Now it's time to stop blabbering and get to the pictures! (I know why you're really here ;) ) 

the view from the house 

(get ready for the most creative tags ever) 

me and Makenna 

(so creative, it's a masterpiece) 

They had the most absolutely adorable dogs ever 

(maybe I should go to an artsy school)

dinner over the lake 

(and put all of my unused talent to work)

Jetski time with Makenna 

(coming up with lines like these surely puts me up there with Shakespeare) 

Jetski time with Lauren 

(and he got by just fine) 

The gang all together 

(he even married Anne Hathaway) 

so many hours on the road 

(and she's a ten, or at least a nine) 

I am so thankful for the opportunity to go and explore this little slice of world I live in and I am so blessed to have a family of friends who have seen me at my worst and still want to lock themselves in a vehicle for two whole days with me. They're the best! 

Hope you all are finding ways to relax now that summer is in full swing! 

Wishing you all smiles and happiness,

Victoria 

I don't know about you, but I'm feeling 22!

Welcome back my lovelies,

This past weekend was my birthday! It was filled with so much, laughter, cake, and sunshine. My roommates welcomed midnight with 22 by T-Swift and it's been magical ever since. On Saturday, my actual birthday, some friends and I went to Lake Claire on campus and played volleyball, spike ball, passed around the frisbee, paddle boarded, stuffed our faces and laid out on the dock. The weather was perfect and it was honestly all so great. I've never done an outdoorsy birthday celebration before and man have I been missing out.

My roommates deserve a whole paragraph of their own for all they have done. Nicole made me some of the most delicious cupcakes I have ever had (think oreo heaven). They all helped so much with getting things together to take to the lake and just going the extra mile in the details to make sure that I had the best birthday ever. Rebecca made a 'pinata cake' that explodes when you cut it. She filled it with easter m&ms because they had turquoise (my favorite) and made the icing the same color.

Sunday was spent with family and two dozen rock shrimp from my favorite restaurant Dixie Crossroads. I went all out getting dolled up for this and (if its not too conceited to say) loved the result! From the polka dot shorts to the chunky necklace and many rings, somehow I feel like it all worked together.

If you Facebooked, Tweeted, texted, drove three hours to see me, or called me, thank you so much. I appreciate everyone who wished me a happy birthday and am so grateful that they took time out of their day to try to make mine a little brighter. Can't wait to see what all this next year holds! 

Wishing you smiles and happiness,

Victoria 

Bathroom Reno

Happy Spring everyone!

This spring break has been filled with clouded skies and only a few hours of beach time. To keep myself feeling productive and doing what I love, I took it upon myself, with the blessing of the parents, to do a major haul on our half bath. This showerless powder room off of our living room is a high traffic place with the decor of the 80s. It was crying for help. So I went to the store and bought everything from new flooring to new soap dispensers. Here are the before and afters:

 Hope you all enjoyed the transformation as much as I did!

Wishing you all smiles and happiness,
Victoria