Europe Post #1: Disclaimer

To all of you thousands* of people who read this blog (and you newcomers looking for updates on my trip):

Alex (my roommate of 2+ years and friend of 16+ years) and I started this blog back in 2010 for a couple of reasons.
1)  We were inspired by other blogs, i.e. Todays Letters, our friend Kelsey's blog, etc.
2)  To document our lives together (not because we are together all the time but because (a) our lives are "boring" and two "boring" people blogged together might get more interesting and (b) we might actually hold each other accountable to posting occasionally).
3)  It was the week before exams, and we wanted to procrastinate.

And so we have blogged, some posts more interesting than others.  Alex and I developed this theory that most of the "good" blogs out on the internet aren't by college kids because college kids have better things to do... like... study and go to football games and be social.  And while our blog hasn't always been a hubbub of culture and brilliant ideas, it's been a pretty accurate reflection of our lives (hiking, aquarium, beach, national championship, school, Jesus, photography, mission trips, random road trips, concerts, etc).

And now, as I will be traveling to Vienna, Austria, for the next five weeks, so will this blog.  I'm going on a study abroad trip with Auburn, and I'll be taking Elementary German II and Honors Apogee.  One of the requirements for my Apogee class is to keep a journal... and since I already have a blog and others (like my mom) will probably want to see what I'm up to, I can simultaneously keep my friends and family up to date AND do homework.  Brilliant.

Here is my disclaimer.  Alex and I have always had an understood agreement not to post anything too "mushy" (like... "Why my boyfriend is the greatest in 500 words or less" or "My emotional health as described by the colors of the rainbow").  And while I don't anticipate unloading my feelings to blog-world, be warned that this blog might get a little more personal.

So, in short, I'm going to Austria for 5 weeks and will be posting regularly for class.  Alex will continue posting as usual.

I will leave you with this:

Kelsey gave me this gem ("The Singing Sisters Present Joy! - a vinyl) as a going away present.  The thought process was: Austria --> Sound of Music --> nuns.  I had a recurring role as a nun in all of our church camp skits (5 years in a row) that was also reprised at a sorority swap.  Seeing as we are very Protestant, we have made nuns somewhat of a novelty.  Disrespectful?  Possibly, but it's all in good fun.  I truly do admire nuns.  Inaccurate?  Maybe.  We saw nuns at Disney World so surely they're in Austria, too.

*note the sarcasm