Tonight, at 8pm, I will be arriving at my school.

I will be setting up a tent in the grass (unfortunately in the dark).

I will be sitting, laughing, hanging out with my friends.

I will then sleep (maybe).

After all that, I will be getting up sometime around 5am to make a dash inside the school.

I will be running down the hallway.

I will be picking out my locker, alongside my friends.

I will be making a (fantastic) memory to start off my last year in high school with a bang.





I couldn't be more excited.

SHINY!

Yaaay 150 posts! This is exciting. And so...

(credit)


(p.s. if the picture above is just a giant pink box that says "gallery.hd.org" just click on it and you'll see it... I dunno whats up.)

I went shopping today and got some really adorable things. Huzzah! (I went, as usual, with my dad, 'cause he is the best person in the world to shop with. Seriously.)

After that, I baked a cake! (There's a reason behind this, but I do not wish to disclose it here. Why? Because I just like to be silly sometimes.) Then The Boyfriend came over and received said cake. Then we drove over to his friend's house to party. Then I went home. The end.

♥

(Life wasn't very interesting to write about today, apparently, but it was a very good day.)

p.s. (Added a whole day later)... BE ON THE LOOKOUT! My next post will be #150! Oooh, shiny...

In other news...

There are two people I really want to talk to right now. One of them reads this blog (at least sometimes). The other does not (or has not made it known to me).

You win a cookie if you guess who they are. (You won't know if you get them right, but all I said was "guess," right?)

I feel weird and stir crazy and (almost) sad and bored and anxious and everything. I'm jonesin' for a hug.

At about 3am, I realized that all breakups are different from each other. It hit me like a train: not all breakups are caused by fights or people not caring about each other anymore. Not all breakups are caused by mistakes made. Sometimes, breakups happen when two people really love each other, but are just at an awkward or transitional point in life. It doesn't mean that they can't get back together later, either. On occasion, breakups simply mean that the two involved parties need some time apart to reevaluate themselves and what drives them to stay in or get out of a relationship.

That being said, I almost went through one such breakup last night. In fact, I think for about 5 minutes of my conversation with The Boyfriend, I was single, but that was not to last. The reason I'm willing to post about this is because it's my private blog and I use it to exhale any words that can't be said out loud to most of the people I'm close to. Back to the point... We ended up talking for nearly 3 hours, trying to decide if we should stay together and try to fix the weird little things that have been eating away at us both, take a break (the details of said break would be discussed if that was the option we were to choose), or just be friends (potentially with the option of getting back together later on). Each option was seriously considered. Option #3 almost won out, but we decided not to give up without at least trying, first.

The way I saw it, why throw in the towel when, underneath the awkwardness and occasional frustrations, we had something really fantastic? We met by what he believes to be coincidence, and I believe to be an act of God (the reason behind the act is still beyond me). We get along incredibly well, and we've basically been best friends since we first met. We've never fought (not a real fight, anyway). We have our problems, yes, but so does every couple. If, after a while, we can't seem to resolve a bit of the tension that's been looming over our relationship, then we decided to talk about it again and figure out what to do, and if that means breaking up, then that's what we'll do. Right now, though, we are both just going to try to love the heck out of each other.

Sorry, by the way, for being vague about our "problems." For one, they are difficult to explain, and I also don't feel entirely comfortable posting about them because I'm afraid I'll make everything sound like The Boyfriend's fault, when we're both imperfect people who don't always know the right thing to do in certain situations. Also, sorry if I'm all rambly and don't make sense.

I guess... wish us luck/send us prayers/whatever else people do so that we can figure out how to work on things. It's not like we have huge problems that are impossible to overcome, so hopefully it will all work out for the best. We're still absolutely nuts about each other, and can't imagine life apart (meaning even if we do break up, we'll still be best friends... after a while).

I don't say this enough... or have I ever, even? Anyway, thanks for reading. ♥

(500) Days of Summer was a really good movie, in my opinion. I actually didn't predict too much of the plot (there was one major plot point I saw coming from a mile away, but only because of some foreshadowing at the beginning). I won't tell you any details, because you just have to see the movie for yourself if you want to know about it. (Or go look it up, I don't care, but you won't get anything from me!)

I have to admit, part of me wanted to see the movie just because the main stars are very attractive people. I find Zooey Deschanel incredibly beautiful, and Joseph Gordon-Levitt to have this kind of shy handsomeness that is so rare (at least, in my world). I also liked how it looked like an "indie" flick. I wanted to feel cool watching it. I guess my intentions in seeing it were not great, but I'm glad I saw it, either way.

It's the same as when I wanted to see Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist. The ONLY reason I wanted to see it was because, and I'm not kidding here, my name was in the title. I'm glad that I watched it, because I really like it now, but I wanted to see it for a stupid reason.

I guess it doesn't really matter why we want to watch movies. It just matters what we think of them after we've seen them. I can't remember the first time I watched my top two favorite movies (most favorite being The Princess Bride, and second favorite being Waking Ned Devine), but I'm glad I saw them. They are excellent examples of great cinematic endeavors. (Speaking of which, William Goldman, author of The Princess Bride, had his birthday a couple days ago. Not sure if I mentioned that in an earlier blog post.)

So how do you choose what movies to watch? Do you remember why you wanted to watch your favorites for the very first time?

♥

Speaking of "modern fashion," go look at my "artsy" blog. I posted a new thing and I'm pondering whether or not to add more to it.

I'm going to Six Flags tomorrow! Yay! With the Best Friend, no less. It should be a blast.

I think I will play some Sims 3 now... yes.

♥

Modern Fashion

Horrible stuff. I want to rip my eyes out. D:

My best sisterfriend came up from Georgia this week. She's leaving tomorrow morning. I miss her already.

:(

!!!

I STOOD AT THE TOP OF THE SEARS TOWER!!!!!!! (That's right, it's SEARS, not "Willis.")


Here are some pictures! :D

Doesn't that look like a speckled rooftop? Or some gravel? It's actually the crowd at LollaPalooza!

From so high up, the buildings just look liked little models, or toys even.

Me trying to be "artsy."

Yep, in this picture I'm standing in a glass box, 103 stories in the air.

I sat in the box, too.

Chicago 2016!! Yeah, baby! Check out all those flags.

It will always be the SEARS Tower.

Look up toward the top of the building... see something that looks like...

little glass boxes? Those speckles are PEOPLE! And I WAS ONE OF THEM! (Not in this picture, but you get the idea.)

So there was my exciting adventure for the weekend/summer. Yaaay!

:)

Answer: YOU PUT A LITTLE BOOGIE IN IT! :D

It makes me laugh every time.

Girls night was lots of fun. We pigged out, talked about random stuff, watched awful/strange/nostalgia-inducing movies, pigged out some more, and slept. We actually never ended up doing nails or baking. Oh well. It was fun. :)

My sister is home! I haven't seen her yet, but I'm going to Chicago with her tomorrow! Yaaay!

I guess there's nothing else I have to say. Toodles!

♥

MAGGIE, IF YOU READ THIS, YOU NEED TO UPDATE YOUR BLOG! It occurs to me that it has been too long since you've done so.

So... I don't really know how to explain this, but I'll give it a shot. I've had a weird couple of weeks. I've been... kind of freaking out. It hit me that this is my last summer as a high-schooler... And even though it's been an amazing one, it hasn't really taken my mind off the fact that after this year, I'll know where I'll be going... and it won't be anywhere near where I am now. I'm really excited to go to college, but I'm also really scared. I'm scared that I won't succeed, that I won't find friends, whatever. More than that, I'm scared of losing my friends (or just being away from them for too long), and I'm scared of losing The Boyfriend. I know, it seems stupid to be freaking out about him, being so young and all that, but he's been a stable fixture in my life for over a year now, and by the time I graduate, it'll be over 2 years (assuming we don't break up before then). Last night, I was over at his house and he was talking about going to his friend's house, and I just freaked. I was like "oh but we were supposed to have another hour together" (yes, in retrospect, I sounded like a moron). And then I started thinking about college and moving out and ended up crying on his shoulder for 10 minutes, not letting him look at me. The problem was that this was in combination with the night before, when I had a major self-esteem meltdown. I don't worry about my looks ever. In fact, I'm a rarity apparently, in that I think I'm beautiful. What I was freaking out about was that I'm not smart enough, I don't know enough about music, or pop culture, and so on. Dumb, but whatever. So yesterday was just a weird combination of freakouts. I feel a lot better this morning, but still... I can't shake this feeling of fear.

Buh, sorry about that. I tend to ramble.

I've been playing Sims 3 a lot this week. I've made 3 new families... yikes. I need to chill out on that, I think.

HERE IS A JOKE! How do you make a tissue dance? (Answer in the comments, I'll post the actual answer later.)

That's all, I guess? OH HAY YOU SHOULD LISTEN TO BLUE OCTOBER, I AM RECENTLY IN LOVE WITH THEM AGAIN. :)

♥

I got my license!!! :D Here's proof (or maybe I just like to show it off, lol).


I've already driven to The Boyfriend's house and to Jewel (the grocery store). Yaaaay! :D

The jazz show last night was fun. We ate pizza while we were there, and then left a little early for ice cream. We went back and watched the end of the show, and then went home. Talked to The Boyfriend on the phone for a while, and then went to sleep. I think I'm hanging out with The Best Friend tonight, so yaaay! :) That's all. Bye!

♥

p.s. I don't know if they do this in every state, but here in Illinois, there are 2 different types of licenses. As you can see, mine is vertical. This is because I'm under 21. I guess it just makes things easier on cashiers at stores and whatnot. When you turn 21, you can go get a new license (well, you have to, as it expires 3 months after your 21st birthday), and that one is horizontal. Soo... yes.

I'm going to try for my license today. Can't say I'm 100% confident, but I think I'll get it. From what I've heard, the test is easy and short, so all I have to do is not screw up too badly. I know you're allowed 2 minor problems, which I'm assuming means like forgetting to signal or stopping past a stop sign, but I'm not really sure. You automatically fail if you go over the solid line in the middle or if you hit the curb, or if you do anything really illegal or dangerous. Obviously hitting another car means failure unless it was the other driver's fault. I think I can do this... I'm a good driver, even in my mom's car, which pulls side to side if you don't pay enough attention to it. I don't have to parallel park or do a 3-point turn, so I should be safe. I know how to turn, park (...sorta), read signs, and all that basic stuff, so I SHOULD be okay.

Excuse the above paragraph, it was mostly so that I could assure myself that I will be okay.

I promised The Boyfriend that the first place I would drive with my license would be to his house. Regardless of whether or not I get my license today, I'm still going to see him because he and I are going to a jazz concert tonight. More specifically, it's his father's jazz band that's playing, so that should be fun. I'm not a huge fan of jazz, but it's okay, and I always have a good time with The Boyfriend, so yeah.

Going to the dunes was a blast, even though the sun didn't show until about 5 minutes before we left. We still got to swim and climb up one of the dunes and bury The Boyfriend in the sand, so overall it was a wonderful trip. I have discovered that The Boyfriend is not that great of a driver, but he's good enough I guess. He also has a big enough vehicle that getting into an accident wouldn't really be all that bad. lol.

Family came over on Sunday. My uncle and aunt came, and three of their sons, who brought their wives/girlfriends as well as their children. Adding all of them up, it came to twelve people, plus myself, my parents, The Boyfriend and his mom, two of my sisters and their fellas, and my grandpa, which gave us a whopping 22 people. Two of my cousins and their attachments left after about an hour, which cut out 6 people, but still, it was a lot. We had lots of yummy food. We even MADE beef jerky! (My oldest sister gave our dad a dehydrator for his birthday, which was the 29th.) Yummmmm. Homemade jerky is the BEST. I can't wait to try drying some fruit. Dried mangoes are my favorite.

I guess that's really all I've got to talk about. I'll post later with an update about my license, maybe.

♥

-Me

I'm going to the Michigan dunes today with the boyfriend and a bunch of his (/our?) friends. It shall be lots of laughs and happiness. The only bad part is that I can't find my camera, but I'm borrowing my mommy's so it's okay (for today, although I'd like to find my camera soon).

DO YOU WANT TO KNOW WHAT MY SENIOR SCHEDULE LOOKS LIKE? OKAY HERE IT IS:

SEMESTER 1:

1) Advanced French Honors (basically this means year 3 honors)
2) Graphic Design I
3) Economics & Personal Finance
4) Creative Writing
5) Lunch (note that 4&5 may be swapped)
6) US Government & Current Issues
7) Drawing I
8) Doctrine & Apologetics (aka Bible class... for those of you who don't know, I go to a Christian school)

SEMESTER 2:

1) Advanced French Honors
2) Shakespeare
3) Digital Photography II (I took DigiPhot I during my sophomore year)
4) Faith & Culture (again, Bible class)
5) lunch
6) Study Hall
7) Ceramics II (took Ceramics I my freshman year)
8) 20th Century American Culture

SO THERE YOU HAVE IT, NOW GOODBYE! :D

p.s. I will possibly post later, otherwise MAYBE tomorrow (we are having family over so I dunno), or Monday.

Pee.Ess.

You should check out PostSecret. I still haven't figured out what makes me love it so much... I just do.

Maybe it's the sense that someone is telling me their secrets... that someone trusts me. It feels nice, especially when I have friends that don't even trust me. Maybe it's the fact that right there on that screen, there's something, be it work of art or almost post-it quality, that I can relate to. It makes me feel a little more human. Maybe it's simply the fact that I really like hearing juicy gossip, even if I don't know who it's about.

My guess would be a combination of the three.

Wow, two new readers! Hello! :)

I have just finished my 4 days of work study at school, which means I now have a large chunk of my tuition paid for this year via financial aid. Yay!

The first two days went by really quickly. We painted a maroon room this yellow-ish color... without primer... and latex over oil paint, so it was pretty much peeling off right after we'd finished it. Whatever, not my problem, not the problems of the other people in my group, either. If the paint ends up not working out, then next year's work study kids will take care of it, I guess. Maybe the school will figure out how painting is supposed to work... heh. Anywho, on both days we got out at 2:30 instead of 4:00 because we ran out of stuff to do. Yay, indeed!

Yesterday, I did a lot of random stuff. Watering plants, washing windows (which were not actually dirty), taking out recyling, organizing, whatever. Boring. Today, I did a LOT of cleaning. My group cleaned a stairwell, including walls and railings and carpet... blech. Then, we washed chairs and then we went to wash dishes in the kitchen (apparently, one teacher had stockpiled like 15 mugs in his room over the year and hadn't bothered to take them down and wash them himself... ew). After that, we were done.

Yesterday was also my daddy's birthday! He has a strong liking for huge, plastic cups, so my mom and I found 10 for him. I got The Boyfriend to ask my dad a question about something in the garage, and while they were out, my mom and I put all the cups (wrapped) in the cabinet. When they came back in, I asked my dad if he would go make me a cup of ice water, because I was "so tired and thirsty." He took the bait, and a moment later, I could hear fits of laughter in the kitchen. He unwrapped all the cups and liked them very much. We also gave him a hat with a family joke ironed on to it, and then we got The Boyfriend to give him a roll of toilet paper in a bag. You see, there's this long-running joke in my family where SOMEONE always gives another person a roll of toilet paper. It happens at every birthday, every Christmas, and whatever other gift-giving events roll along. My dad started it, I'm sure. Anyway, we thought it would catch him by surprise if The Boyfriend gave it to him, since he's technically not part of the family, and he's been around the least amount of holidays and such. My dad thought it was hilarious. Yay! After the presents, my mom, dad, The Boyfriend, and I went out to dinner with my two sisters and their fellas. Yummyyyyy Mediterranean food.

So yes, that was my yesterday. After work study today, my mom and I came home and made Paula Deen's Old Fashioned Fudge Pie. It was (and is) delicious! And, it was quite simple. I'd definitely recommend it to anyone who has a craving for chocolate and about 3 minutes to spare (since really, the brunt of the time it takes to make the pie is in the baking).

Sorry for the slew of long posts lately. I tend to neglect the internet for days at a time, considering it's summer and I have better things to do. heehee.

Again, hello to you new people! :D :D :D I can't wait to check out your blogs!

♥ Norah

It's been too long, kids. :(

Sooo... what is up in Norah land?

Last night, I was supposed to see The Cab and The Academy Is... at the county fair. I was SUPER excited. YOU HAVE NO IDEA. I seriously was running around, jumping, whatever. So yeah, we got to the show (about 2 hours early, and still didn't get to be in front). We waited. My foot went numb from sitting on it. (They made us sit for some reason.) The show started. The Cab was excellent, I must say. But, I have to admit, I was really there to see TAI. I LOVE LOVE LOVE them. They're definitely in my top 5. Anyway, The Cab got done, and we waited a little more. TAI started playing, and got through a couple of goodies. "The Phrase That Pays" was (of course) excellent, which is good, since it is my favorite. They played one more song after that (I think), and then started one of the songs from the newest album. It sounded good and we were all having a blast. Now, it had been raining since about 3/4 of the way through The Cab's set, but not too hard. We'd seen maybe 2 lightning bolts, nothing out of the ordinary. So we were a little confused when all of a sudden, Bill Beckett started saying "stop stop stop" to everyone (the band and the folks in the crowd). The guy working at the fair then got on stage and told us that the show was OVER. Everyone went nuts. I seriously thought I was going to be stuck in the middle of a riot. People begged and pleaded, yelled, just stood around... nothing worked. I stayed a little while to help my friend find her shoe (she wore flip flops and one of them had fallen off)... but nothing happened. The security guards kicked everyone out.

Now, here's the part that really bothers me: Bill Beckett looked at the crowd and told us that TAI will be playing at... wait for it... SIX FLAGS in a week (or something soon like that). As much as I love Six Flags and TAI, I'm not going to spend $50 to see a show that I should have already seen for $10. I just don't have that kind of money. I seriously hope they do some kind of make-up show for us. I mean, we were out there, dancing our asses off in the RAIN, muddy and sweaty and disgusting, only to hear like... 4 songs. Needless to say, I'm pretty pissed. (Mostly at the weather, somewhat also at the fair for kicking us off... screw the legal crap, lol... maybe a little at TAI, even though it's really not their fault at ALL.)

Ugh. I called The Boyfriend when we got back to my friend Maggie's house, and almost started crying. CRYING. I was soooo excited about this show. I made a t-shirt and worked on one for a friend. I'd been waiting and waiting and waiting for that day for MONTHS. I even started listening to The Cab more because I wanted to be prepared for the show. (The Cab is good, but not that good. Sorry Maggie, I know you want their bods, lol.)

UGH UGH UGH UGH UGH UGH UGH.

Aaaaaanyway... last night turned out pretty well. I hung out with Maggie and our other friend, Lauryn, at Maggie's house. We "slept" over, which really meant we stayed up talking until 6am and then slept until 11am... haha. It was pretty fun. Let's just say... they know me really well now... hahaha. Yeah.

Here's to good music and good friends. ♥

I would like to post something tonight...

"But I am le tired."

Summer and I have a love/hate relationship...

I have my senior pictures today! It's so weird... I love and hate this feeling of growing up. I'm excited that I'm almost ready to go out on my own, get away from home and my parents... but at the same time, I have this extreme anxiety about not being ready. I'm only going to be 17 when I graduate! What if I really did need that one more year like everyone else? Plus, I have to get my license by August 1st, since I need to get a parking ticket for school. I also have to read my two books for summer reading (although I'm assuming that will be easy) and write the essay on the history book (not so sure about that one). On top of that, I have a college visit this Friday... which, I have to say, I'm pretty excited about, but still, there's that whole growing up thing again. I still need to set up my checking account and get th
e picture taken for my passport so that I can turn in my application, so that I'll be able to go on the France trip that I believe is already 1/2 paid for. Two weeks from now, I will be spending 4 days at school (8am-4pm, longer than school hours, even) with the boyfriend (was going to be my mom but she went and got a job... how lame) so that we can work our butts off in order that I may continue going to my school. It's a little thing called "work study" and I do it so that I can get financial aid, seeing as I go to a fairly expensive private school. That is not really something that I'm stressed about so much as not really looking forward to it. I am slightly worried that I will forget to pack my lunches. But... oh well, I can always make the boyfriend go get me a hot dog from the place down the street. Teehee, I'm spoiled.

That being said... I still love summer. It gives me time to relax (although I'm finding that rather hard to believe, looking at that list up there), time to myself, time to get tan (or just freckly), time to be with friends, family, and the boyfriend, time to swim, time to shop (or just wander aimlessly at the mall), time to make s'mores and camp out, and generally time to have a good amount of fun.

Time to talk about fun/happy things, eh?

I haven't seen the boyfriend in a whole WEEK! (I know, I'm spoiled... most people would not think that is a big deal, but for me, it is.) He's coming to pick me up for my senior pictures today, so I FINALLY get to see him! (He was at his cousin's house, which is like an hour away, for a few days and then at his dad's house for the weekend.) I am very excited, to say the least. There shall be many hugs. I have two very adorable outfits for senior pictures, one of which is brand new, fresh from the mall yesterday. Here are some peektures for you. :D

EDIT: SORRY ABOUT THE BAD LIGHTING AND FAIRLY BLURRY SHOTS AHEAD OF TIME. I WAS TOO LAZY TO MOVE ALL THIS CRAP OUT OF THIS ROOM WHERE IT ALREADY WAS. :D (Anyway, you get the general idea of what they are, so it shouldn't matter too much.)

Outfit #1: Green 1/2 length sleeved blouse from Charlotte Russe, most favorite pair of jeans (skinnies from... Zumiez?), black 20s/30s heels from... Sears? or Carson's.

Outfit #2: White cami (purely necessity, can't really see it), orange tee from Kohl's, White hoodie from Kohl's, golden necklace w/ beads & leaves on it from Kohl's, favorite jeans again, colorful Chuck Taylors (that I had to wash off so that they don't look so grungy).

Closer shot of the shoes

Closer shot of the necklace (which I will probably wrap around my neck twice - 1 long strand and 1 short)

Orson, my teddy bear that I've had since I was 2. My mommy wants me to at least take a couple shots with him as my prop, just because they would be cute. I agreed to do it because he has been with me through just about everything. He even went to the doctor with me once when I was little and I left him there over night on accident. I was so sad, but when went to pick him up, the lady that talked to us (I don't remember if she was a nurse/doctor/receptionist/whatever) said that he was very good but cried all night because he missed me so much. Sometimes, grownups are adorable.

So that is that. I'm not 100% sure I'm going to wear the heels with the first outfit. Might just stick with the Chucks for the whole shoot. Not even sure if my shoes will show up in any pictures.

What else? Well this has been a really long post so I will wrap it up by saying that my next post will be all about the rest of the fun things I'm going to do this summer.

For now, peace out, homies!

♥