Taking Off

Dear readers,

Thank you so much for choosing to join me as I travel to Munich, Germany and Salzburg, Austria (and who knows where else I might stop along the way..)!

I am a music education major focusing on choral singing, and will be studying music history and instrumental arranging at Salzburg College.

Last summer may have been the driest season of my entire life, devoid of activity, and devoid of music. That being said, I truly couldn't be more excited and grateful to be immersed in what I love this summer, in a new and beautiful place! In Europe!

Being the natural worry wort/A-type personality that I am, I am overthinking and over planning like crazy, and getting a little anxious.

It is the day before I leave. I take off to Munich tomorrow afternoon and no...I am not yet fully packed. And I sit here typing away instead of getting a move on! ;)

It will all get done. It will all be well. I have to keep telling myself that.

What scares me the most is the unknown.
When I left everything I knew in love in Virgina four years ago and moved to Florida, the unknown terrified me.
One year later I left for the University Florida, and tearfully embraced my parents in disbelief that I was actually moving out. I had no idea what to expect.
That following summer I worked at a sleep away camp in the Poccono mountains for inner city children, and the unknown bewildered me.

In all of these cases, the reality was so much different than my expectations. In so many ways, it was better. I need to rest in that now.

All of the little details about getting there are not what is actually important. I'll get there. And once I'm there, I just need to enjoy and soak up every single moment.

I'm normally pretty okay at that. :)

As for the name of the blog, well, some might say I have an obsession with Disney Princesses. Okay here's the thing: I like how they sing. I like the songs. That's the main reason. But they have become, in some ways, my role models and inspiration for beauty and grace. Okay now I am not an "anti-feminist": Women do not need to look or act like the princesses to be beautiful. But if I want to resemble them in their patience and kindness, I don't think there is anything wrong with that.

So I began identifying myself as a princess. Perhaps I'm just revisiting a childhood dream.
But the label helps me combat the negative thoughts about my worth.
It also reminds me that I am a daughter of God, who is King over heaven and earth, and King of my heart.
Therefore, I truly am a princess.

Salzburg is so much more beautiful (even in the pictures) than anything I've seen before.
There is a real castle, unlike the replica in Disney World.
I can't help but feel like in Salzburg, I will feel at home. In a fairytale. A princess in her kingdom.

Here I will post my thoughts and feelings (hopefully on a weekly basis), and upload photos as well. Hopefully there will be a little on culture shock...dealing with German, Euros, and different social norms.

I can't wait for all that I will learn. For how I will be stretched and grow.

Thanks for reading.

All my love from my anxious heart,

Princess Samantha