New Chapters

Hello friends, family, and friendly followers! My most sincere apologizes for my lengthy absence and apparent neglect of this blog. Since March, my school schedule has become much more intense, my wonderful mom and brother came to visit and explore the islands during my Easter holiday, and I move into a new flat.

Each of the things I just mentioned deserves its own post (and one of those things will require many, many posts), but the last one is the subject of this post and probably the biggest factor in my not posting recently.

Due to some unforeseeable circumstances and an enormous dose of luck, I moved out of my first flat, meant to house five people, into a new place just up the hill, which is meant to hold two. I was thrilled to find out I could move into a smaller place. I had requested a smaller place anyway so this worked out really nicely. What's kind of amazing about the situation is that when I moved in, I didn't have a roommate. What's even more amazing is that I've lived here a little over a month and I still don't have a roommate. Believe me when I say that I am completely and utterly, 100% cool with this.

SO! HERE is my house. That I have all to myself. All. Mine. Can you tell I'm still pretty excited about this? Everything about this house is better for me. The public areas are smaller but I like them that way. The water pressure is better. My mattress is better (the last one had springs that popped into my back randomly). The windows are better....oh, just see for yourselves.

(My room: comfortable bed, desk, bookshelf.)

(The enormous window. Notice the stain glass?)

(The view outside.)

 (Closet: originally the dresser was in the main room but I stuck it in here to save space.) 

 (I put up some souvenirs to a rugby game I went to. The heater you can see on the right is in my room.)

 (The living room.)

(Non-working, but still cool fireplace and gigantic window.) 

 (Adorable bathroom complete with tub and fishy shower curtain.)

 (Kitchen!)

(Thanks to my friends who not only helped me move, but also helped me "break the place in" with fish and chips and fun!)

 I will be the first to admit how spoiled I have become: this is not how college kids are supposed to live, I know. But I'll also be the first to admit how I am not taking a single thing for granted. Every time I wake up or walk in the door, I count every single one of the blessings this new place has given me.