All About Me

Hello everyone and welcome to my personal blog! My name is Danielle or Miss Mays… whichever you prefer! 

This is the part where I tell you a little bit about myself. I was born on August 2, 1988. That would make me 25 years old. I have not one clue where the years have gone and I'm still trying to comprehend that I just typed that as my age. I am originally from Latrobe, Pennsylvania, a city about 40 minutes outside of Pittsburgh. Latrobe is the home of the banana spilt, Mr. Rogers, Arnold Palmer, but most importantly, the home to the training camp of the Pittsburgh Steelers. Here We Go Steelers! I now reside in Raleigh, NC. Southern belle in training.

By the title of my blog, you might have already guessed that I'm a recent graduate who studied Elementary Education. It’s not a secret that finding a teaching job in Pennsylvania is a hard thing to do. I’m currently a teacher-in-waiting as I like to call it. Just go with it. It makes me feel important and gives me the confidence I need to not give up on my love for teaching. This blog was created for my own sanity. I don't want to specify what I'll be posting about because I like to keep it interesting. :) In college, I was desperately forced by one of my professors to create a blog and found out that I shockingly enjoy it! Who would of thought? Teachers are pretty smart people. ;) 

I am an only child who is blessed enough to have two parents that have been happily married for 26 years.  Although I have no siblings, I have some of the most remarkable cousins. Kelly, Mandy and Emily are my three older cousins that I am closest to and have grown up acting as sisters to me.  Considering I have no siblings, I grew up learning and idolizing their every move. I’m enormously grateful to have them in my life.  An interesting fact about my family is that my cousin Kelly, my cousin Mandy’s son, Colin, and I share the same birthday!  I am also extremely close with my mom.  We are so alike, yet so different.  She means to world to me and I feel I will never be able to pay her back for all that she has done for me.  My dad has the pleasure of being stuck in a house full of women because we also have two female dogs, Mischa and Missy.  I got Mischa, a Yorkiepoo, in 2004 and Missy, a Chihuahua, in 2006.  They used to be the best of friends, but recently they can’t be in the same room for longer than ten minutes without trying to kill one another, but that’s a whole different story.

Parents

Emily's Bridal Shower

Happy Birthday to us!

Emily, me and Mandy

I attended Greater Latrobe School District all my life and graduated in 2007. I then ventured off to Penn State Altoona for my freshman year of college with two of my best friends.  By my second semester at PSU, I realized I chose to attend this college for the wrong reasons. At that point, I still hadn’t decided on a major. I then made a wild decision to move to Las Vegas, Nevada to attend UNLV. My marvelous parents allowed me to do this only because I have some family located in Las Vegas and Southern California. For some reason I think my mother knew that this wasn’t going to last long because she refused to send my car with me. She was right, as always. Although I wouldn’t trade moving away for those six months for the world, I did realize how much I took for granted back home. I missed the seasons and my fabulous family and friends the most. Sometimes I find myself complaining about all the snow and rain, but then stop myself when I remember how much I missed it. Waking up to 100 degree weather on a daily basis was one more thing I discovered I wasn’t very fond of. So after one semester at UNLV, I found myself transferring one last time to Indiana University of Pennsylvania.  This is where my mom had wanted me to go all along. Who knew my mom would always be right! I am now a graduate sucked into the black abyss of the real world. 

The Pittsburgh Steelers and Steeler games have been a big part of my life for longer than I can remember. I have had the privilege of going to games since I was a baby so in reality I had no choice in this matter. My family is fortunate enough to have season tickets. I actually used to dread going to Steelers games. This is only because when I was very little and I would go to the games with my mom she would scream so loud I would cry. Luckily, I have gotten over that situation and now I am the crazy one screaming at the games and mother couldn’t be more proud!

 

I’m a total entertainment junkie and proud. Anything from my daily dose of mindless television to a Cirque du Soleil in Las Vegas, I love it all! Often I find myself sharing the most random information about some celebrity to my friends and family. This probably due to the fact that I have so much of it stored in my head that it needs to be let free so I can fill it with more useless information. 

I am an avid fan of the comedian, Chelsea Handler. I’ve read all her books, watch her show daily and seen her do stand up twice now. She is the perfect role model. Some of my other favorite television shows are Pretty Little Liars, The New Girl, Community, Glee, 30 Rock, Modern Family, Once Upon a Time and Desperate Housewives (R.I.P.). The answer is yes, I do have a problem. Not only do I enjoy the small screen, but I also LOVE going to the movies. It’s honestly always been one of my favorite things to do, with the exception of Jr. High when you were forced to sit in awkward positions with the lucky boyfriend of the week. Favorite movies consist of: Twilight, The Hunger Games, Bring It On, Clueless, Scream, Inglorious Basterds, Bridesmaids, The Sound of Music, The Notebook, Miss Congeniality, Now and Then, Pirates of the Caribbean and all eight Harry Potters. The list goes on, but for everyone’s sake I’ll limit it. 

Chelsea Handler in Virginia

I LOVE TO READ! Anytime I have free time, which has been limited lately, I have my nose in a book. I am not ashamed to admit that I am what most call a “Twihard”. I give all credit to Twilight for taking me on a journey to reminded how books can inspire you in ways nothing else can. No, the book isn’t life changing, but everyone has that book they hold dear to them. For me, it's Twilight! This may be obvious, but my favorite books consist of: The Twilight Series, The Hunger Games trilogy, Harry Potter and Divergent. Nerd alert, I know. :)

Something I try to do as much as I can is travel. Near or far, any kind of trip is a gift. Traveling abroad has always been a big dream of mine. Almost two years ago, during winter break, I had the chance to take a short trip to Europe! I went with an organization called EF CollegeBreak to London, Paris, Amsterdam and Brussels. I went solo, but met some of the most incredible people from all over the United States. I am lucky enough to have indulged myself with a real Belgian waffle and spent New Year’s Eve gazing at a glowing Eiffel Tower and city of Paris. The sparkling Eiffel Tower at midnight is a mental picture I hope to never lose. Each city was a new adventure, but London was by far my favorite. In London, I had the opportunity to go see “We Will Rock You” at one of the famous London theatres. It was whimsical! All the experiences I had and friends I met, while abroad, are memories and people I will treasure forever. I hope to go back as soon as possible!

Amsterdam

Me, Lauren & Rachel in Paris