Flowers and Superpowers

Greetings Wonderful People,

So this has been a really tough week for the Burril family. We lost our dog Tulip this past Friday. She went outside around 4 in the morning, as she always does, and she got into it with some kind of animal. Dad said he heard Gadget barking differently than usual, so he went outside to see what was going on. When he got outside he found her about 30 feet from the house, with all of her ribs broken and her lungs filled with blood. Dad said when he picked her up it took all the strength she had to slightly give into his arms. She died in his arms shortly after.

In order to tell me the news my Dad flew through the rain on Friday morning down to Athens. Mom and Callen came shortly after because we were all so torn up. We spend the weekend reminiscing on all of our sweet memories and comforting one another. I cannot believe how much we were all affected by this. It is honestly like losing a member of your family, and this is the first death I have really experienced where I am mature enough to understand it all.

Tulip Burril was a very important part of my growing up, we got her when I was 9 years old. I was the happiest kid in the world when we picked her up from Wilson, NC on Febuary 12, 2003. Ever since then she has always been involved in our lives. She put us on the school bus in elementary school, went on our RV trips, flew with Dad almost every time he went, and she was always there to remind us how loved we all are. God blessed our family with a loving companion, and lifelong reminder of compassion.

We will all miss her dearly. She was our baby. We will never forget you Tulip.

Love,

Mason

This is the last picture of Tulip,
she was stowed away in my suitcase when I was packing :(

Chocolate and Chapstick!

So I'm Jamaica we all get "warm and fuzzies", and it's where we give a gift to someone's name that we have randomly drawn on our trip! I told everyone I liked chocolate and Chapstick, and someone left me a little treatie tonight!

All over the place.

Greetings All!

So how is everyone doing on this glorious day? I have to say that I am doing quite swell!  Last week was crazy stressful from all my tests, but this week is free and easy.  So...lets see, where should I start? I assume that you all might be getting bored hearing about classes, so lets shoot for some exciting stuff!

I'm not sure if I have mentioned this yet, but next year I am going to be studying abroad in Europe!!! I cannot tell you how pumped I am to live in another county, absorbing another culture, all while getting college credit.  How much better does it get? I went to a study abroad meeting, and I can basically go wherever I want to, I just have to choose what I want to study and where I want to go.  I have a couple cities in mind: Rome, Italy; Madrid, Spain; London, England; and Paris, France.  I know I want to go to a big city, so I just have to find the place that has some classes I want to take.  If you guys have any advice lemme hear it!

By studying abroad, I have set myself up for a lot of preparation.  I have to completely rethink my housing situation next year because I am only going to be here for four months.  So, instead of getting an apartment with my friends, I am going to have to live on campus with some rando people.  But I mean I am not going to give up studying abroad to live with my friends, so it's all good.

So you know how I am going to Jamaica for Spring Break?! Well the countdown has officially begun, and it is a mere 26 days away! I had no idea it was so close, and now I am kinda freaking out about how I am going to pay for it! So, you guys might be getting a little treat in the mail in the next couple of days :)  Going on this trip will honestly be so amazing, and I feel like I am truly being called to join these people to change some lives in Jamaica.  We have set up some awesome mission projects, and I promise to journal everyday so I can tell you guys all about it when I get back!

In other exciting news, this summer I am officially going to be interning with Penske Racing!  I have been chatting it up with Jonathan Gibson who is a VP for Penske (big stuff I know), and he is getting me all set up for this coming summer!  I think I told you guys a while ago that I was also applying for an internship with Seventeen Magazine. Well anyway, I ended up getting the internship there too, which was super exciting for me! Interning for Seventeen is a huge deal, but sadly I had to turn it down because of my Penske gig.  But the good thing is I have started a relationship with them, and hopefully they will keep me in mind for next year!  I just feel so blessed to be pursued by two awesome organizations. As my Public Relations professor says, "any experience is good experience".

Life down here is going pretty well, but I am going to be coming home this weekend and I am so excited!! I have missed the ole fam so much.  Shout out to Callen for going to state for pole vault!! My sister is a total pole vaulting champ.  Also, I want you guys to keep praying for all my friends in school because college is pretty tough on peeps, and also pray for Lily who is in Thailand (keep up with her blog on http://lilymcclureclarke.blogspot.com/)!!

I hope all of you have an out of this world Valentine's Day tomorrow! I will be going to see "The Vow" with a bunch of girls, then going swing dancing!

Holla at yo girl,

Mason :)

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner

Ello Folks!

So some exciting things are going on in Athens today.   First off, it is finally getting back to the beautiful weather that it should be! Today it is 70 degrees outside and students have ditched the winter jackets for shorts and sunscreen.  Secondly, today all of the dining halls are having a special dinner dedicated to the Chinese New Year and we are going to indulge in wontons and egg rolls tonight! Yes, I know it is ridiculous to be this excited about dining hall food, but it's been a while since I have eaten a good fortune cookie.

Sorry for writing so late, I have been waiting to hear back from Jonathan Gibson at Penske Racing about my internship for the summer.  I was going to try and share all the exciting details with you guys, but I will just have to write about it next week! I could not be more excited.  Getting an internship as a freshman is not something that happens everyday, and I cannot wait to get real experience with such an awesome company.  I was actually talking with my advisor, and she says that it will be really good to write about in my statement of interest for when I apply to Grady School of Journalism.

In other news, I have started doing UGA Newsource again (which is the UGA news show)! This past week I was the floor director, and I got to direct the anchors during the show.  It was pretty busy because there are a lot of new people that are volunteering, but eventually they stop coming and it will get back to normal haha.  Areshia has actually started working at the show too, and she seems to really like it! TV Production is actually her major, so she actually has a reason for being there, but I'm just doing it for fun.

In Freshman Forum (Student Government) we all chose what service project we are going to work on this semester, and I chose to do Human Trafficking Awareness.  Human Trafficking is a huge problem all over the world, but especially in Atlanta, GA.  Atlanta is one of the top cities that is affected by Human Trafficking, and most people have no idea.  My project group is working on a couple events to raise awareness, and hopefully make some motion with this issue.  I am really excited about this, and I think some of our ideas will really make an impact on this campus. I'll keep you guys updated!

My classes are really picking up down here, I turned in two papers this week, and next week I have THREE tests!!! Its crazy stuff, and I am going to be a stress out maniac for a couple of days.  My tests are in Spanish, Interpersonal Communication, and Intro to Public Relations.  So please keep me in your prayers!

So I just want to write about my friends down here for a little while.  When I first got to UGA, I was completely alone, and I was hesitant to completely open myself up to random people.  But I now look around, and I constantly see people who I have grown to care about, and people that care about me.  Forming relationships down here has been so rewarding, and I have gotten to have some awesome experiences by taking this leap of faith.  One of my really good friends down here, Jennifer is also a PR major and we really just get along so well. The other night Me , Jennifer, and her roommate Kathryn were all doing Pilates  on their dorm room floor at like 11:00 at night...so hilarious haha.  I want to mention Meredith- she is an art major, she is soooo talented! She teaches sunday school with me, and we always have a good time together, you can always find us with coffee in our hands haha.  I also want to talk about Ashton! She is just about the sweetest person I have ever met in my life, and she is actually getting married this May! Ashton has the cutest country accent, and we like to unite on the fact that we are both the blondes, and we definitely have more fun.  I will be sure to mention some others later, but I don't want you guys to get to bored haha.

I love you all so so so so so much!! Please write back and tell me how everything is going, because I miss you guys!

Audios,

Mason :)