A new day arrives, I wanna look in your eyes when the sun comes up.

{Title: "Sun Comes Up" by John Legend - preferably the live version}

Good morning! Guten tag!

Well, I'm up at 9am, and since I went to bed around midnight, I feel pretty good. I'm getting better about waking up and starting my day earlier because I can get more done & my day feels more accomplished. I have a few classes today, but no work today. I just stepped down from manager to associate at a mall retail store to make more time for school, and I also wait tables at a chain restaurant. Neither of my jobs are where I want to be after school, but they help keep me afloat until I take my next steps.

I'm sure some new people will be reading this, so introductions are in order...

Hi! I'm Emily. I'm a senior at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, MI finishing up my undergraduate degree in public history and have already finished my minor in English. I will be graduating in the spring, and then next fall, I'm be starting graduate school in history. To be more specific, I am very interested in bringing some of the same attention given to individual survivor stories the past quarter century to the perpetrator side of WWII study, to pull back the “big scary German” mask and find the faces underneath. I would like to investigate, most basically, what kind of political, social, and individual climate conditions were present to bring neighbors, friends, countrymen and strangers to the point of killing one another for the causes of the Nazi regime, or perhaps other causes on differing levels. Everyday life history, personal documents, court documents, military records, and other primary sources are essential to my research.

I am recently engaged to my wonderful partner Mark. He has stood by me through incredibly hard times - we've been dirt poor, without transportation, without jobs, and cramped in a tiny apartment together - and I cannot imagine there's anything we can't handle in the future. Photos!

Here is a slideshow of our journey so far, by season.

Other than that, I'm just a young woman trying to make her way in this world. Mark and I are excited to graduate and move on in our journey together. I'm can't wait to get out of Kalamazoo - I need to see more of the world than West Michigan. My spirit is too wild to stay in one place.

Here are our babies....

Drake (Lab mix) & Isis (kitty)

Rosco (ferret) & Mommy

We also have a 20 gal fish tank (1 rosy cheeked angel, royal pleco & a bunch of danios) & a 50 gal fish tank (African cichlids & pleco). We love animals!

Instead of a dining room table...

Well, time to get rolling on the day. I've got classes & homework & laundry & dishes & . . . The list goes on. Oh yeah, grocery shopping too! Having food in the house is a good thing.

I also have to shout out my small business website, http://www.emilysheavenlyhandmades.webs.com/ where you can find tons of fantastic & one-of-a-kind jewelry sets, accessories, decor and more! Stop over and take a look. I have a small blog on there too relating to the business. If you get around to taking a look, please become a site member to support me! It's free!

More later today I'm sure - I miss this.

Emily