Sadly, I had to leave DJ in California, but driving home alone actually wasn’t bad at all. It was probably the first time I had driven longer than an hour, but I just listened to some music and talked to DJ on the phone and I was home before I knew it. You have no idea how excited I was to sleep in a real bed that night. Despite the fact that I am by no means a camper, I actually had a really great time, and it was so good to not have to worry about school for five whole days. Now, I’m just counting down the days until winter break…  
As soon as I say dorm, everyone always assumes the worst, but it's not as bad as you're probably thinking. I live in a quad. That means there are four of us, but we all have our own rooms, there are two bathrooms, theres a kitchen-type area, and a living room space. When I first walked in, I was surprised at how big everything actually was. Two weeks ago, my room mates and I were all strangers, but I already feel like I have known them for a really long time. They're all super cool, and I think they are going to help make this next year super fun. Ever since I moved in, my life has been chaotic to say the least. I kept making lists of things I needed to go out and get for my room, but every time I would get what was on the list it seemed like I had a new list of things I needed by the following morning. I've pretty much been runnings errands every day for the last two weeks, but I think the worst is behind me because I finally feel settled in to my new room. My dad definitely loves the fact that my boyfriend will come over and help me out because that means he doesn't have to drive all the way out here to do it (even though it's only 30 minutes). DJ is pretty much the best. I'm already totally loving college. For the most part, all of my professors seem pretty cool. The amount of homework I have been assigned is slightly overwhelming, but I'm slowly adjusting to things. Yay I can't wait to see what this year is going to be like!   
Instead of overwhelming people with a million pictures and an insanely long blog post, I decided to break it up, so here is the rest of my trip :) Day 4: Virgin Gorda The first stop of the day was Leverick bay. I have been waiting all week for an island with cute buildings and today I finally got it:) We stopped for a bit and hit the bar while the crew took care of a few errands, then it was back to sailing the ocean for us. Next, we stopped a little farther up the island at Bitter End where we got to sail Hobie Cats. Haha we almost tipped it once or twice, but that just adds to the experience right? Then, we got to watch a tarpon feeding. They were jumping out of the water and the guy feeding them even got them to eat his arm. It was crazy to see how big the fish were out of the water. Then, we sailed over to Prickly Pear for the night because it was a little more secluded. It was cool to have our own space for the night with no other boats to obstruct our view.       
Day 5: Anagada
    
 Day 6: Tortola Today, I heard banging on the hatch in our room, and when I woke up, Kenetha was poking her head in and telling us to get up and come look at the sun rise. Even though it was 5 something in the morning, I'm glad I got up because the sun rise was beautiful. I snapped a few pics, said goodnight to our chef, then went back to bed. A few hours later, I woke up to the noise of the sails going up, so I went outside, and we were off to our next island. Kenetha made us brunch, then we stopped at Smugglers Cove while they got provisions for dinner. We hung out on the beach for a bit while they shopped, then we set sail again for the next stop. We just went to the next bay over, but we were the only boat there, that meant we had then entire bay and beach to ourselves! Ryan took some of us out on the dinghy and we knee boarded and wake boarded. Then, the boys had to go to the beach and get a fire going because we asked to do a beach barbecue for dinner. Kenetha made prime rib, kabobs, and baked potatoes, and it was the most amazing beach picnic I have ever had. You would never guess that she cooked it all over a fire! After, we roasted marshmallows and made s'mores, then went back to the boat and laid out under the stars for a while. It was the perfect end to a perfect night.      
 
Day 7: Jost Van Dyke It's our last day in the BVIs and boy did we have a busy schedule. Our first stop was Sandy Spit Island, but it's better known as Corona Island. You know the commercial where they clink their beers together looking out to the ocean? Ya that's where we went:) The island was so small I walked around the whole thing in probably 5 minutes. Next, we stopped at a few bays at Jost Van Dyke and did some more bar hopping. The first one, White Bay, was home of the Soggy Dollar Bar who is known for their Pain Killers. At the next bar, Gertrude's, you tell her what drink you want, then she brings you the stuff to make it yourself. That way, you can make it how you like. We sat on the beach and people watched for a little bit, then swam back to the boat for lunch. After lunch, we moved to Great Harbor where we were going to stay the night. We went to the island to do some shopping, then came back to the boat and freshened up for dinner. We gave Kenetha the night off and took the crew out to eat at Foxy's (just another restaurant on the beach) When we went back to the boat, Kenetha had dessert for us, then she talked to Lauren and I about life and gave us a few words of wisdom. We honestly got so lucky because we had the best crew in the whole entire world; they made this trip a million times better, and I am definitely going to miss them and these islands.       
Day 1: Norman Island
  Day 2: Cooper Island & Salt Island So, I just spent my first official day in the BVIS, and I can't even put into words how breathtaking it is here. In the morning, we set sail for Cooper Island. The ride today was a lot smoother than the first one. As soon as we anchored up, we grabbed our fins and goggles, piled onto the dinghy (that's the little boat that we use to get around) and went over to Salt Island where we got to dive the Rhone. It was a shipwreck that killed 183 people. As you drive by the island you could even see the mass burial site where all of the bodies are. It was cool to see all of the divers swimming through the different parts of the ship. When we got back, Kenetha had lunch for us, then we all went to the island to check out the bar and do some shopping. The views were honestly something you would see in a movie and I couldn't believe that I was seeing them in real life! We spent the night around the table playing riddle games and Blackjack. Just as I had gotten ready for bed, I was told everyone was going back to the bar so I put my clothes back on and went with them. Besides it was only 9:30 who goes to bed that early? Not I. We stayed there for a bit and met some other people visiting from the states. We just got back to the boat and I'm so tired I can't even function properly. I can't wait to climb into bed! 
  
  Day 3: Virgin Gorda Today, we went to the Baths. The views were killer and the water was so blue! I wish I had a waterproof camera that I could have brought with me. After we hiked all through the Baths, we started hiking up the mountain to go bar hopping and do a little shopping. The bars were on the very top of the island, so when you looked out, you could see everything. hands down, that's the best view I have seen so far. When we got back to the boat, Kenetha had lunch ready for us again, then we set sail for the other side of the island. When we got there, Ryan took us to another shipwreck. This time the wreck was only 3 months old, so you could still see the boat very clearly. Apparently, they sunk the boat on purpose for people to go and dive, but they built it so that it looks like a kraken brought the ship down so it was still super cool. The rest of the day was pretty chill. After dinner, there were probably 50 tarpon swimming underneath the boat so we decided to go fishing. I had my line in the water but the fish were so huge I was afraid it would pull me in if I was able to ever hook anything so I passed it on to someone else haha. I can't wait to see what island we head to in the morning!  
    I don't want to miss a single details, so stay tuned because I will post the rest of my trip on a couple of days! The past few weeks have been busy to say the least, but I'm back and even better, I'm out of school! I can't believe high school is over, I remember my teachers telling me on the first day of school how fast the next four years would go by, and I didn't really realize how right they were going to be. I'm glad I can say that I loved high school. It's where I found the best group of friends I could ever ask for and I am extremely thankful we have all stuck together for all four years.  the class of 2017        To celebrate, The Band (minus Brenna) all went up to Lake Powell for a few days. For any of you who don't already know, we named our group of friends The Band. Anyway, we took our houseboat out for a couple of days and surfed, and wake boarded, and hammocked, and just hung out. I have been going to Lake Powell every year since I was three weeks old, and I can honestly say that was the best trip I have ever been on.      As great as it was to finish high school and go to graduation, it didn't really feel real until two days ago when I finally completed all 1600 I need to go and test for my cosmetology license. After almost two years and lots of really long days, I am so happy to finally be done. Now, I just have to wait until I get assigned a test date, then I can finally get to work on people's hair legally haha.  Now that I'm all done with school until August, I can finally relax and enjoy my summer. My first stop is the British Virgin Isles, so stayed tuned to hear all about my trip!
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