New Year, New Me #2015

2014 is officially over & 2015 is here. This past year has been filled with ups & downs & in betweens. I'm devoting this year to the improving myself.

#collegelife

I cannot believe I am almost finished with college! I will be graduating this summer with a major in Human Communication & a minor in Mass Communication... I guess you could say I like to communicate. I have two awesome roommates & an awesomely decorated apartment, so I really can't complain.

#vivabrazil

This paragraph is long overdue by about 4 months. My trip this summer to Brazil was absolutely positively incredible. I went for 17 days & visited about 5 different cities. I tasted new foods & made new friends, as well as learn some Portuguese. I am so thankful that I was able to spend time with my dad in a beautiful country & am looking forward to going back this summer.

#familyforlife

My family grew larger this year! I was able to meet my family in Brazil, where my stepmother is originally from. I also gained a stepdad, stepbrother, & stepsister when my mom got married in October. The wedding was beautiful & I had the honor of singing "More Than Words" during the ceremony. It was definitely a night to remember.

#newyearnewme

Everyone makes New Years resolutions &  not everyone is able to follow through with them. For 2015 I have decided to make a resolution that is attainable. While I would love to be 30 lbs lighter & have a rocking 6-pack, I'm not going to make that my goal. Instead, my goal is to get healthy & happy. 2015 will be dedicated to working on myself & becoming the best Alyssa I can be. I will not focus on the negatives or the things I do wrong but instead focus on the positives & what I am doing right. I will not worry so much about what people think of me but focus on how I can inspire others.

My other New Years resolution is to faithfully blog. I started blogging last year but didn't keep up with it. I figured if I write down my goals and my progress, I am more likely to follow through with them, especially if others are aware of these goals. Hopefully my words will inspire someone, as I was inspired by Noelia Trujillo's blog, tohealthwithlove.com

As Steve Maraboli says in his book, Unapologetically You, 

"When you are living the best version of yourself, you inspire others to live the best versions of themselves."

Involved, Inspired, & In Love #surprise

School is going fantastic and I'm becoming more involved. I didn't realize how many organizations and clubs there are at UCF. If you are interested in an acapella group, we have one. If you want to get into larpining and role playing, there's a club for that. A communications club is in the making right now I'm proud to say that I will be involved in that.
I will be going to Universal Knights which is where they open Universal Studios from 4 PM to 2 AM on March 30th! My roommate and I got our tickets the other day and I'm so pumped! Roller coasters, here we come!

You know I love concerts...

Every time I go to a concert I feel inspired and recharged, not to mention how much fun I have. I went to The Unconditional Tour at the House of Blues with my friend Stephani earlier this month. My favorite bands that played were Beartooth and of course, the headlining band, Memphis May Fire. The crowd was alive and the crowd surfing was rampant. I'd like to announce that I crowd surfed for the first time and I feel like I can officially cross that off my bucket list. I've been keeping my eye out for upcoming concerts and I have a feeling I will be attending some pretty awesome ones this summer!

Someone's in love...

And I'm happy to announce my mom is engaged! James, the groom-to-be, asked a local band called Amp'd, to learn a special song and then asked my mom's family and friends meet at Dexter's because he was going to propose. Everything went perfect and she was so surprised. I couldn't be happier for them and I'm ready to have a ball at the wedding! Here is myself, my mom, James' son (Caleb), and James the night of the proposal.

College & Concerts #journey

What a journey! I'm in my second semester at UCF and I feel like I've already been on the biggest journey of my life. There have been some firsts, a lot of fangirling, and some lessons learned. I've created some new memories, collaborated with colleagues, and I might have even captivated some hearts.

Let's start with UCF...
These two semesters have been pretty fantastic! My professors have been really awesome AND helpful. One of my favorites is Professor Dusseau. I took her last semester and I'm taking her again now! She has a fun way of teaching the material to students that makes it really easy to understand. I have fallen in love with my major. Human Communication is so fascinating and addicting. I can't wait to see what the rest of this semester has in store. And have you seen how beautiful the campus is?

Now about concerts...
I saw my favorite band, A Day To Remember, for the second time in October. Their set was incredible; they had fire (yes, actual fire was shooting from the stage), & Santa even joined the party!  Then last month I saw Bring Me The Horizon  for the first time and they definitely did not disappoint. One of the many reasons I love going to concerts is because everyone is there for the same reason, to see the band. Meeting new people and even making new friends is so much easier when you both share the same goal.

I'm going to see Memphis May Fire this coming Wednesday, so expect pictures!

Flo-Rida #GoKnights

As promised, a post about the Victoria's Secret PINK concert on a few weeks ago. It was incredible! Fui con amigo, Amanda, de la clase de español... la clase es muy difícil pero interesante. I've been practicing my spanish! But the concert was awesome because we were right up front!

Here's The White Panda:

Then Flo-Rida came out on stage! He definitely knows how to put on a show. We were singing at the top of our lungs and then during the song, "Low", the bodyguard started lifting girls on to the stage and I was one of them!!! It gets better, Flo-Rida then turned around and handed ME the microphone so... of course I started singing and dancing! 

Flo-Rida & Me:

COLLEGE: I got through my first round of exams! I did better than I thought and now I know what to expect. My human relations & comm. was the hardest; all fill in the blank. But I did get a 98% on my Spanish exam! 

This past Saturday I went tailgating with some friends before the UCF vs South Carolina football game, which we lost by 3 little points! My friend, Katie, had her own tent and the tent next to us was grilling French toast in the morning and hamburgers for lunch!My favorite Courtney also came out! I've known her literally my whole life (Our moms have been best friends since they were 16 years old!!!) Here's Court & I when we were in Girl Scouts:

Can't wait for the next game :)

I'm a Knight! #newlife

Within the last year so many things have changed in my life. Getting my AA, realizing that my first love wasn't the right one anymore, moving out, getting a new car, paying bills, discovering my new favorite TV show (Dexter), getting accepted to UCF, learning to cook (somewhat), learning to give my car an oil change, giving up bad habits, exploring new places, meeting new people & being reunited with those from the past, and realizing that it was time to grow up. I've decided to start a blog so I can document this journey that I'm on:)

I'm currently in my 4th week at UCF and I am LOVING it! The campus is amazing, my classes are interesting, my professors are passionate, and there's no limit to the opportunities I can take advantage of.

Alright, so I'm a Human Communications major taking Interpersonal Comm., Intercultural Comm., Human Relations & Communications, and Spanish! So far my favorite class is Human Relations with Dusseau; while the class is almost a whopping 3 hours, her lectures are actually really interesting and quite entertaining. My only fear is that her exams account for 80% of our grade...YIKES! I have my first one tomorrow! Fingers crossed I ace it!

Apartment life is dreamy. My roommates are pretty cool and I'm in love with my bedroom (I get my own bathroom and walk-in closet).

 

 Props to my mother for helping me decorate. I'm trying my very best to keep it nice and tidy; she would be proud:)

I'm also slowly but surely discovering what an incredible area this is! Every restaurant and shopping place imaginable can be found within a 10 min drive! The hardest part is not to spend all my money here!

Now on to employment...

Back in June, I had to give my notice to a family that I was nannying for (knowing that my school schedule and the distance would be a conflict); one of the hardest things I've had to do. This is Callie, she just turned 7 years old. I was lucky enough to be able to spend some time with her this month and snapped this picture!

This little girl taught me so much in the past two years. She has such an amazing spirit and played a huge role in me "maturing". I didn't grow up with a sister or brother so I never felt that need to be protective over someone or the desire to help them grow or the feeling of being proud when they accomplish something. Callie made me experience that kind of love. She will definitely always be a part of my life and I'm so thankful for her family.

Now I'm working at My Gym Children's Fitness Center, again. It was the first job I ever had! I guess I just couldn't stay away:) It's such a fun and rewarding place to work; plus my coworkers are pretty awesome themselves. (Me, McKenzie, & Dana).

 I should probably catch some Zzz's now considering the fact that it's 3am.  I'll have to blog about the PINK takes UCF concert that I went to last week... it was a blast! That'll have to wait until another day though:)