Today is bittersweet...

Exactly two years ago today, I boarded a flight to London for four of the most amazing months of my life.

I grew up in those four short months in so many ways. I went from being this quiet girl who kept everything bottled up, to the strong willed individual that I am today. Long gone are the days where I let everyone walk all over me...long gone are the days where I used to avoid making an ass of myself...long gone is that quiet, naive girl.

In her place is someone who immediately had to refocus her life the minute she stepped back onto American soil. Everything that had been in shambles before needed to be re-evaluated. And in that process, some things that I thought had been so important before, that I'd been clinging onto for dear life, hoping they'd come back so they could be the way they were before...were finally severed and let go.

In the past two years, a lot of stuff has happened and a lot of stuff has changed.

But I like this Julie. She's surrounded herself with people who really seriously get her...who don't want -- or ask -- her to change. Who accept her for who she is and has always been.

And so today, a day that makes me sad and wish I were in London, starting another scary semester abroad, I know that trip is a huge factor in who I am today. Sure, faces change and so do friends, but those friends that I do have and that I did make are what keep me going every day.

So thank you London for making me who I am today.

And thank you to the friends who've stuck with me this long. I appreciate and heart you all more than you'll ever know. :)

--J

PS: Also, thank you London for my super pretty British boy and my crazy stories about him. American boys pale extremely in comparison to him.