My Special News... :)

*Ahem* I have an announcement to make!!! I have made a very important decision, one that I am very excited about and that may change my perception of the world forever! It is something could fulfill many of my deepest life-long desires and dreams! Any ideas of what it could be? Anyone? Here, I'll give you a hint:

             It involves this...

And a little (or maybe a lot) of this...

Add a dash of this...

And we'll throw in each of these...

Does anyone have it yet? Probably, but just to be clear, these photos are of (respectively) Jane Austen's house, the cliffs on the Isle of Inishmore, the Louvre, the Eiffel Tower, Buckingham Palace, and Stonehenge. I think it's time for me to just come out and say it...

I'm going to Europe!!!

...probably. I have been accepted to the British Literary Pilgrimage, a travel study program offered through Brigham Young University-Idaho. The tour goes through most of May, with a few weeks of intensive study on campus the last two weeks of April. It begins with a few days in Ireland, jumps over to England, where we will spend the majority of our trip, and ends up in Paris! Sites include those in the aforementioned photos, the Globe Theater, Chateau de Monte Cristo :), a ride across the Irish Sea, a walk through Sherwood Forest,  the Bronte home, etc., etc. That's barely skimming the surface of all the places I'm going to see. Needless to say I'm a little excited!

The problem (and it's a big problem) comes in when one considers the cost of the tour. I have enough financial aid to cover the actual program fees, but that doesn't include other expenses like tuition, books, passport, and some souvenir money (let's face it- we all know it's a necessity!). It would also be nice not to have to use all of my financial aid, which I probably will. Oh, and I have to come up with a $500 deposit by the end of the semester (Dec. 18) or it's adieu to the entire fantasy. So what am I do about it? First, praying for help. A lot. I've also been job searching like crazy. I spent four hours last night trying to find online job applications. The next step is phone calls and going to some businesses personally. The problem with the job hunt is that I am in the midst of my busiest semester ever, and that I don't have a car. So, I either need to wait until this semester ends before I get a job, or find some miraculous position somewhere that fits into my insanely weird class schedule and allows me to get all my homework done. Then I'd need to engineer some ingenious way to find transportation to and from my workplace. In the time being it would be great if I found a job within walking distance of my apartment, but (unless I can come up with an extra thousand dollars for rent in Rexburg) that will prove to be difficult next semester, which is when my break is. Money is so complicated and challenging and really kind of mean. 

I have no idea how I'm going to do this, but in the meantime, I'm very open to suggestions of where I can find work. I would also be really thankful if prayers were given on my behalf. I don't know how this is going to happen financially and if I can make it work. But I do know one thing. I have spent a lot of time on my knees and in the temple asking if this is the right thing for me to do. With the answers I have received, I have come to know that, even if this Brit Lit tour doesn't become a reality for me in the end, Heavenly Father want me to work towards it, and to try as hard as I can to achieve this goal. Wish me luck!