World Heritage Site Update

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Last year in January, I posted my list about which of the 981 World Heritage Sites I've visited.  Despite traveling extensively in 2014, I actually only increased my total to 41. 

Venice

There are a ton in the USA that I haven't yet gotten to see, so those are my focus in the new year. Plus,  some of them are located in the West, so they are also easy to get to! 

Take a look at the sites I've visited below! What sites have you visited?

Palace and Gardens of Schonbrunn
Semmering Railway
Historic Centre of Vienna
La Grand- Palace, Brussels
Historic Centre of Brugge
Flemish Beguinages
Historic Distric of Old Quebec
Historic Centre of Prague
Palace and Park of Versailles
Pont du Gard (Roman Aqueduct)
Romanesque Monuments
Cathedral of Notre-Dame
Paris, Banks of the Siene
Histoic Centre of Avignon: Papa Palace, Episcopal Ensember, Avingon Brdige
Loire Valley
Palace and Parks of Berlin
Museumsinsel (Musuem Island), Berlin
Acropolis, Athens
Historic Centre of Rome, The Properties of the Holy See in that City Enjoying Extraterritoral Rights and San Paolo Fuori le Mura
Vatican City
Venice and its Lagoon
City of Verona
City of Luxembourg: its Old Quarters and Foritifcations
Seventeenth- Century Canal Ring of Amsterdam inside the Singelgracht
Historic Centre of Krakow
Auschtwitz Birkenau
Wooden Churches of Maramures
Giant's Causeway and Causeway Coast
Stonehenge
Blenheim Palace
City of Bath
Palace of Westminster and Westminster Abbey includng St. Maragret's Church
Tower of London
Old and New Yowns of Edinburgh
Maritime Greenwich
Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
Dorset and East Devon Coast
Statue of Liberty
Rila Monastery
Royal Domain of Drottnigholm

Goodbye 2014

I haven't posted a substantial blog post since this summer. As many of you guessed, I took a break from blogging when I started my job, moved to Vegas, and got used to not being in school.  I won't promise anything, but I do hope to get back into the blogging world.

For now, here is my annual recap for 2014.

Looking back on the year, 2014 was one of the best yet. A year of change, tons of travel adventures, new friends and acquaintances, a new home, and lots of memories.

In January, after a month home in the USA, I returned to London to start the lent term at LSE. Capstone was still going on, and while it was stressful, I was glad that I had two close guy friends in my group. I started to explore the parts of London I hadn't spent much time in as well as starting the job search process. 

In February, I hopped the pond to Princeton for the editing weekend for the Journal of Public and International Affairs. I got to see one of my closest friends as well as swing home for some snow during the week back in the States.  I checked out the Royal Photography Exhibit at Kensington Palace as well as taking a selfie with John Travolta. 

March was my birthday month. I kicked it off with finishing the dreaded capstone project followed by celebrations with the boys. I turned 24 with the majority of the MPA program present. The MPA Ball was held the weekend after, and we danced all night. 

April brought me home for a five week vacation. Much of that was spent applying to jobs and having interviews, but that work would soon pay off. 

I barely spent time in London during May. After finishing final papers,  I took off to Bulgaria, Sweden, Las Vegas for my job interview, did several day trips, and really enjoyed my time in Europe before I had to start studying for finals. 

June was my final month in London. I found out in the beginning of the month that I had gotten the job offer I had been waiting for. I would be moving to Las Vegas. I did a lot of fun things for my last month in the midst of finals. I was sad to leave London, but I was excited to start a new chapter of my life. 

July brought the start of a new life. I did a road trip across the country with my friend Nicola. I moved into my apartment in Summerlin, and I started working a job that I love! I missed graduation, but I still celebrated. 

And, if you do follow my blog regularly, you know I took a hiatus from July until now. I posted one or two small things. The short recap of August-December: Visited California three times, reunited with some friends from freshman year, stopped getting lost in Vegas, met some great friends, joined Junior League, and continued to wander. 

Stay tuned for new adventures in 2015!

2 Years Ago...

It's hard to believe that two years ago, I moved to England to start my graduate school adventures.  

Time flew by over these past two years. As my regular readers know, I had quite a lot of adventures and moments to last a lifetime. Some were school and career related with others being captured and lived at parties, coffee dates, or in other countries. 

It's been almost three months since I moved back to the USA officially, and I still feel as if part of me is missing. London was home for so long. The MPA program and the friends I made in the program were the substance of my life for two years.  It's been a cultural adjustment these past few months as I get used to life in Las Vegas, the working world, and driving everywhere.  But, life is about change. And, I'm embracing my new life to the fullest.

Today, though, I'll be reminiscing more than normal by rereading some of favorite blog entries from the past two years. 

After all, this blog served as a way to capture those moments I had. 

My Absence

Hello World!

If you haven't noticed, I took a month off from blogging.

Following my move across the USA, unpacking, and starting a new job, some things fell off to the wayside. The blog was one of the things. But, post this holiday weekend, I'll be up and going again!

Stay tuned!

The Last Day of the Road Trip

Arizona

On July 14th, I woke up in St. George, Utah, to drive the last two hours to Las Vegas. As I mentioned in another post, I'll have to go back to St. George to visit the sights.  

My drive took me through Utah and into Arizona before arriving in Nevada.

For those who went to Syracuse, there is a certain feeling that you get when you turn the corner on I81 North and see the Dome. It's a feeling that doesn't change, no matter how many times you've done that drive. When I turned the corner out of a canyon and saw the Strip for the first time, it felt like I had arrived home. 

From a small town to Syracuse University to summers in Boston and DC to London for a combined two and a half years, I've finally arrived in my new home. It's been almost three weeks since I strolled into town, and I am so excited to now make Las Vegas my home! 

My Apartment

Road Trip Day #3

Continuing to re-cap the road trip, day three was a very long day of driving.

In the morning, we toured around Omaha. 

Doing some scheming the night before, we were able to find Warren Buffet's home!

Warren Buffet's Home

Down the street from Mr. Buffet's home, we found the birthplace of President Ford. While the home was torn down many years ago, they have put in a garden and small exhibit about what the house looked like. 

Birthplace of Ford

Finally, before we left Omaha, we wandered down to where Lewis and Clark surveyed the Missouri River and stood on the state line on the pedestrian bridge. The pedestrian bridge runs over the Missouri River.

Lewis and Clark Landing

Omaha

State Line

Our second major stop of the day was in Lincoln. It was supposed to be a quick stop to see the state capitol. I, of course, got us lost in the city for a good 40 minutes. Nevertheless, we did get to see more before finding the capitol!

Nebraska State Capitol 

One of the highlights of the trip was getting to see a lot of sites that were part of the Oregon Trail. After a few wrong turns, we found Fort Kearney on our way into South Dakota following Lincoln. 

Fort Kearney

GO WEST! 

We wanted to stop and see the actual markings in Ash Hollow which was a short drive away from Kearney, but we were battling some weather. We did get to drive through parts of the area on our way to Chimney Rock. 

Phew! Nebraska Rain Showers...

Chimney Rock Cemetery

Chimney Rock 

My Car thought it was in a Chevy Commercial

Before turning North to get to South Dakota, we found one of the most amusing things on the side of the road.

What, you may ask?

CARHENGE.

Based off the one I've seen several times in England, Carhenge is well...Stonehenge but made out of American cars. It was a bit weird, but it served as a good break.

Unfortunately, the drive into South Dakota was not a pleasant one. We stopped for gas right outside the border, and we were both considering giving up driving for the evening and grabbing a different hotel. But, I started to drive into the rain, the Black Hills, a highway that while runs into Texas has no light all while we avoided deer...somehow we made it through it.

Nicola and I clearly were stressed when we got in, but we survived!

Stay tuned for day four! 

I graduated!

Yesterday, LSE held a graduation ceremony for the MPA program! 

While I wasn't there to attend in person, I'm now officially an LSE alumna! Earlier this week, we got our grades including the mysterious capstone grade that I'm sure all my friends were waiting for me to stop talking about. For those wondering, we did better than we anticipated. But, the release of the grades confirmed my graduation!

So, while I would have loved to celebrate in-person with my class and have a great night out in London, I'm getting ready to start my job on Monday!

But, don't worry...this was my version of a graduation ceremony!

Recapping: Instagram Photos

I'm about to be done with grad school in a matter of a few days. As I plan on recapping the Aldwych tour, O-Town, and grad school in future posts, I figured I would at least post a recap of my week. Apart from studying, I did try to add in a few fun things to keep the atmosphere light!

Front Row Seating for Gordon Brown

Gordon Brown, former PM of Great Britain 

Tower Bridge

Sunset

My LSE Class Ring

Brunch is always the answer!

Traveling across the river!

Shard

HMS Belfast and Tower Bridge

Shine Bright, London!

2 Years Later...

Today officially marks my second anniversary of being a Syracuse University alumna!

I'm not entirely sure where the last two years have gone, but I know I've been enjoying the ride. 

As I spend part of my day looking through old albums, I leave you with the commencement address that Aaron Sorkin gave to my graduation class.

The "Last" Last Paper

19 years later...technically 21 if you count preschool, I submitted my last academic paper this week.

I'm not sure how many papers I actually wrote over my academic career. There were some that I hated.  There were some that I finished minutes before they were do. There were some that I love. And, of course, there were some that I wish I could go back and keep working on. 

My last two weeks have been paper writing hell. I've spent more times at the 24 hour Starbucks in London than I needed to. The library and I are not on speaking terms anymore. But, I'm done!

My last two academic assignments are two exams in June! For now, I'm switching to job applications and mini assignments, here and there. I've got freedom for a week or so before I start studying!

Reunions

Greetings from the States!

I've been back for a little more than a week at home. Just about three and half more weeks of spring break before I finish up my last term at LSE. I know I say this quite a lot, but crazy how fast time flies!

Since, I've been home, I was able to catch up with some friends that I have not seen in quite some time! 

Last week, I grabbed lunch with one of my best friends, Erin, and our good friend, Ryan. Erin and I met on the first day of freshman year at Syracuse. Living on the same floor that year, we've been friends ever since! Ryan is a mutual friend of both of ours, and he just headed off to China to teach English for the year! 

Friends

Erin and Me 

Ryan and Me 

Taking a break from doing work, I met up with my friend Evan in Syracuse on Sunday. He was up visiting campus as he finishes up his last year of grad school. We were both Remembrance Scholars, and we hadn't seen each other since graduation day in 2012. 

To celebrate our reunion, we took a trip to Dino BBQ before driving through campus and remembering the glory days!

Delicious Dino BBQ

Syracuse University

Evan and Me at Dino 

And, lastly, I grabbed dinner with a friend from high school on Wednesday. It's been a week of so of many catch-ups, but it was so nice to see all my old friends! 

MPA Ball: Round 2

As our spring semester came to a close this past week, it was time for the annual MPA ball! 

Susannah and Me

This year, it was held at the Grand Connaught Rooms with the after-party at Sway. 

The Boys 

The evening included a speech from our Dean, several musical performances by classmates, and incoming/outgoing MPASA board members. 

Plus, there were the token superlatives awarded to my graduating class.

Yours truly won for 'Most Likely to Like your Facebook Post!'

It was a fun evening of dancing and sharing laughs before we all depart on our five week spring break! We've got one more term to go before we are done!