Homecoming Week!

Yep, it's that time of year again. The days get shorter, the air gets crisp, and there's an unexplainable electricity in the atmosphere.
Fall is coming!

It's my favorite season and I'm still not really sure why. I've never really been into football (except when my high school is playing), and my family has never been the type to celebrate Halloween, so that's not it either.

It's gotta be the weather.
Late September to early November is the time of year when the weather is absolutely perfect. There's a cool breeze always going, but it still gets warm in the afternoon. Mosquitoes are no longer a problem. Grass is dying so it doesn't need to be mowed. Marching band rehearsal is bearable. Bugs are dying by the truckload. It's cold enough in the evenings to go out on my back porch, wrap up in a blanket, and drink hot chocolate to my heart's content. And the best part: it means Christmas is coming!
There's no other season that gives me a better feeling than Fall does.
One thing that's going to make THIS Fall the best is my parent's 25th wedding anniversary. We're renting a huge luxury cabin up in the Tennessee mountains to have a big party with all my relatives that I haven't seen in forever. I can just imagine how awesome it'll be to live in a huge, amazing cabin:


Amazing. That's what it'll be.

School!

I'm officially a senior...

...and Economics is officially kicking my butt.



I'm hoping that it'll get better as the year goes on. I can tell that I'm gonna have to do most of my learning out of the textbook cause I don't learn much in class.
All my other classes are good though! I think that this is going to be a pretty good year :)

Falling Behind...

Just thought I'd post since i haven't done that in a while...

A lot has been going on in my life since April 1st (my last post).
For example, on June 5th at 11:11 PM, I traded being single for a wonderful boyfriend :)

I also did a bit of world travelling!! I went with my teacher, one of my best friends, and two other students to France! :)
It was absolutely amazing. I love to travel anywhere, but going to France was exceptional. I had a marvelous time, and I can't wait to go back sometime.

This past week I was down in Leesburg at one out of two of my favorite camps: Young Musician's Camp. Actually, the name got changed to Older Children's Music and Worship Week, but i don't know why. Young Musician's Camp is so much easier to say...
Anyway, it was a blast as usual. However, it's really sad to know that i won't be a junior counselor down there anymore since this year marked the last time the YMC would be operating :( But i had fun anyway. I love being around kids and keeping them in line. And having JC parties, helping with recreation, fishing (and almost catching gators) on the dock... it's a blast. BUT, Harmony Bay is still going to be running, so at least i have that to look forward to for next year.

Something that's coming up really fast, though, is band camp. woo. Something I look forward to EVERY YEAR. But at least this is my last year!! That's a bittersweet thought though... I mean, going to band camp is awful, but i'm really going to miss playing in the stands at football games, riding on the bus to and from the football games, and getting home at 4 AM from competitions, then going out to eat after the football games and competitions. But I'm not sad about not having any more rehearse-a-thons, no more 7:30-5:30 days of band camp, no after school rehearsals... those will not be missed. I'm really not THAT sad though, because i know i'll be coming back to visit and see how things are going, so I'll be alright.

Here's a slide show of pictures that i took while i was in France. Since i took 1,124 pictures, i had to narrow it down to my favorite ones.

STRESS.

I hate the week before Spring Break.
Seriously.
And i hate having to make an audition tape for Mr. Kaminsky. And I hate the fact that the aforesaid tape is due in 3 days.
I'm screwed.

Perfect Days

Yesterday was undoubtedly one of the most relaxing, fun days that I have ever had.
It was a late start/FCAT day, which means that Juniors like me and my 3 friends don't have to go to school until after 12:35. So we spent the night at Lisa's house and stayed up till about 3 AM doing our hair for no reason, went to sleep, and then got up at around 10:00, and headed over to Starbucks (pretty much the best place ever) for a nice little breakfast party. After that, we walked out to the little park near Starbucks (where the dandelion picture was taken) and ran around and made fools of ourselves.
We were spread out around the grass a little, and I was laying down with my eyes shut, when Lisa said, "There's a weird man coming over here" in a low voice. I didn't really think anything of it except that he was probably just walking around enjoying the park like we were. I didn't think that he'd actually TALK to us. But the next thing I hear is, "So, are you ladies having a nice day?" My eyes popped open and I sat up to see this weird looking man who seemed to be in his late 50's walking his little white dog right next to us. I didn't want to be rude so I told him that we were doing good, at which point Lisa scooted a little farther away from the creepy man.
He didn't say much else... just polite conversation, but it was still weird and the four of us were exchanging our weirded-out glances the entire time. Then he mumbled something about his friend Frank and walked off.
After that little episode, we started laughing and then I remembered a game I had played that was called "Ha Ha." It's where everyone lays down with their head on someone else's stomach. Then the first person says "HA." the second says "Ha ha," the third says, "ha, ha, ha," and so on down the line. The point of the game is not to burst out laughing, but we could never get past 4 laughs...
After that we just laid in the grass enjoying the perfect weather for about a half hour, and then we headed over to school where we spent an uneventful afternoon. I wish we could have a late start every day...

Life Is Wonderful!

It's days like today that make me wonder why i have bad days. All i have to do on those bad days is just remember all the great days that i've ever had!

My morning started at a leisurely 7:00 (No jazz today!), i got breakfast at Starbucks, and then went to school and had a very good day. I have no homework (unless i want to study), and I've just been relaxing and looking forward to the weekend! I'm having a movie afternoon tomorrow after school, then going to a sleepover with the girls in my youth group. Saturday isn't going to be all that great though cause the BHS band is going to Starke for District MPA (Music Performance Assessment) all day to be judged on how well we play. Hopefully we'll get superiors!

Last night as I was driving home from church, a song that I'd never heard before came on the radio called "Cinderella" by Steven Curtis Chapman, and I love it! It made me cry because it's such a sweet song. If you're a girl and you love your daddy, i highly recommend it :)
Here's an acoustic version:

Not Such A Great Day...

Today was alright, but it didn't start out too great...
I woke up this morning -like I have to do on most mornings- at 6:15, but when I got out of bed and stood up, I had the most enormous headache ever. It was so bad that I just fell back in bed for a moment until it went away, and then I got up veeeeeery slowly to see if it went away. There wasn't so much of a head rush the second time, but it was still there.
So I went through school which was pretty uneventful as usual.
When I got home though, I did my homework and then laid down in my favorite big chair to watch a movie. When I stood up though, the same painful rush happened that did this morning started. I don't know what the matter is, but I'm pretty sure it's not normal... I haven't been getting headaches anymore than usual, just these rushes when I stand up after being down for a long time... I'll see if it keeps up.