Money, Preparation, and Pre-Departure Gitters

T-Minus 54 Days until I leave for my 5 month long semester abroad in Rome, Italy and the excitement is becoming a bit overwhelming! I have 101 things to do and plenty of time to do it (as long as I stop procrastinating). 54 days...less than two months and I will be on a plane on my way to have the experience of a lifetime! I am overly excited; I call my mother and just about anyone who will listen to tell them about my excitement for the upcoming months quite too often :) 

Money has become a pretty large damper on all my excitement. My total program cost is just over $17,000, most of which will be covered with by my school loans. But that total doesn't include the money for food I will need, the money for bills back home I will need, and of course the spending money I will need (because come on, who in the world goes to Rome and doesn't buy something special). I have set up a site on Go Fund Me that has proven to be a help already! [Special shout out to all those who have already contributed to my trip: Sam P, Andy V, Nathan B, and Bobby E.] By clicking the link you can take a part in starting to feed my obsession with travel, and fascination for hearing people's stories! 

I have got just about everything turned in and all deposits paid, and i'm patiently awaiting my roommate assignment, my new address in Rome, and to register on November 27th for my classes. I guess the theme for this first post is how EXCITING everything is! :) I'm going to start packing up my room and moving things to my mom's so that my subleaser, the wonderful Jennifer, can start to move in. I'm working toward being completely moved out by January 3ish and staying at my mom's or crashing on the couch until I leave on January 7th. 

I plan to keep this blog going to update my friends and family on my adventure abroad. So keep checking back and don't forget to check out my Go Fund Me site :) 

Until next time, 
Emily :) 

P.S. Christmas is only 39 days away...just another form of excitement in my life :)