The Last Day

It's here. My eighteenth birthday. Well, it will be tomorrow, anyway. And that's why I'm writing this. Today is my last day to be seventeen. 17. I can't tell you how much I've enjoyed being 17. In fact, if you think about it, I've enjoyed being every age in my teenage years. (Can't remember actually feeling happy to be nine or anything. haha) I know most people hate being 14 because they were so awkward, sometimes 15 gets lumped in for the same reason. But while I was ridiculously awkward during those years, I didn't really notice it--or at least I didn't care. I just really enjoyed 14. I thought 15 was GREAT! Being 16 was amazing. And 17? Let me show you what made being 17 wonderful.

What I did during this last year:
My 1st birthday party!
Senior year (the spring part of it)
My last semester of choir
The choir Disney trip! (This is sol much fun!)
Graduating
Hawaii
Surfing
My first mission trip to Boston!
Visit to PA to see Ryan, Noelle, and Julianne
Getting to see the Builtmore Estate
The start of "real college"
One of my most enjoyable semesters of college
   --made possible by the best English class led by the best teacher
   --and also by two friends who got me through ridiculously tough classes.
Surprising Justin in WI after he got sworn in
Wrote my first 50,000 word novel in 30 days!!!
Getting my sister back for a month!
Having my whole family here on Christmas day!
Getting my license

Do you understand a little better? Haha. Of course, I could have done most of those things regardless of my being 17, but there's just something...There's something in the number 17. There's a special connotation when you say "I'm 17." There's a lingering idea of still being "young." Not in a sense that now I'm done for, and I'll never have fun, and I'm suddenly old. Just the idea that you're no longer a kid. You might be young-er, but you're not young. You're not little. 18-year-olds vote; they join the army...hey, they can buy stuff off of infomercials. Haha! This last year has been the most growing I've ever done in my life. The most spiritual growing, the most emotional growing, and the most growing I've done as in learning new things and getting older. Trying to go back and think about the beginning of being 17...I don't even feel like the same person. Piles of things transpired over the summer that I feel like it was a year in and of itself. Yes, only three months being a year. Sounds weird, but that's how I feel. I will miss 17, the number, the label, and the idea. I will miss being able to say "I'm 17." I'm sad to being turning *another* page in my book. I know that's what life is about, but it doesn't make it any easier. So many pages have turned this year...I just want to read these pages a little longer.

Goodbye 17! It's been the best, spending time with you!

Gorgeous Day!

The weather is gorgeous today! Seriously, I just want to be outside. It's so windy, and I love the wind! I'm just going to have to take a walk or take some school work outside.
This lovely weather combined with copious (amazing word in my opinion) amounts of sleep has energized me in knew ways. I'm ready to knock off everything on my to-do list and put new things on to be checked off.
I feel rather like listening to Disney music and watching Mr. Rodgers right now. :D Like, I'm seriously so perky and ready to do anything. I do have Disney music on at the moment (currently playing is Best of Friends), and it's adding to my mood. By the way, I'm smiling as I write this.
Yes, it's a good day. And I'm not letting thoughts of my Bio class tonight distract me or get me down. There are too many good hours in this day to be worrying about later. Haha!
Well, I only wanted to jump in here and write all this 'cause there was no way to condense it properly into a facebook status. OH! And I will be doing either some editing, brainstorming, or writing today! :D

Check in with you later and I hope you enjoy this day as much as I am! :D

Cats on Terrifical Tuesday

It's "Terrifical Tuesday" again! Here's a picture for your enjoyment!

Terrifical Tuesday!

I'm going to start a trend today. I shall call it "Terrifical Tuesday." It's basically like Wordless Wednesday, but I'm doing it on Tuesday. I got the idea from Mom, and it's pretty much just posting a funny picture or something else really funny like...I'm not really sure what. But, today, we shall have a picture.

Something Funny

I was reading Great Expectations earlier today, and I came across this line that I thought was very funny. Thinking you all might enjoy it, I decided to post it here.

"There, I found a virtuous boatswain in his Majesty's service--a most excellent man, though I could have wished his trousers not quite so tight in some places and not quite so loose in others--who knocked all the little men's hats over their eyes, though he was very generous and brave, and who wouldn't hear of anybody's paying taxes, though he was very patriotic."

Required Readings

Two classes this semester have me reading various interesting things. My Brit Lit course has me in Beowulf right now. I used to be staunchly anti-Beowulf. But I must say, after understanding the principles and period behind it, and how to decipher some of the *beautiful* poetry...within the poem, haha!, I'm really enjoying it. It actually reads just like a regular story, and it's quite exciting. Though I'm not required to read the whole thing for the class--we're only reading to page 88--I have decided to continue on so I can say I've read the whole thing. :)
The other class for reading is the Then and Now course with Mrs. V. Now, I already mentioned the Cinderella variations, but I want to come back to them for just a moment. Everybody knows that Disney has cleansed all the original stories, because they are quite gruesome. I know I've read Grimm's Cinderella, but I did not remember that the step-sisters cut off their heels and toes to get their feet into the shoe. Nor did I remember how the dad doesn't even like Cinderella anymore. Oh, and also, the step-sisters? Yeah, birds pluck out their eyes at the end of the story? While I do not agree in theory with sanitizing stories...thank you, Disney for giving us the lovely Cinderella movie we have today.
The other things I've read for the T&N class are Poe's "Tell-Tale Heart" and Browning's "Porphyria's Lover." I had read neither before but because of them being Poe and Browning, I was excited to read them. I really like Poe and Browning. Do you know how violent those things are? It's kind of funny, actually. You read them and go...wait, WHAT?! Did that just happen? Why am I reading this? Haha! I shall not spoil the stories for you, but both are very short and can be found on google if you'd like to know what I'm talking about.

Then, something that I'm not being required to read for school, but that kind of goes in the same theme, is Great Expectations that I'm still making my way through. Though it's thick writing, I am enjoying it quite a lot. Dickens has succeeded in writing an amazing display of characters. I can't even begin to describe it. The depth and warring facets within Pip...and yet, he's not a whiner...AH! It's just so cool and makes me grin just thinking about it! I don't think I can ever hope to pack into a character what Dickens has put into Great Expectations. Go read it, if you haven't and keep reading it, if you're stuck plowing through the endless descriptions. Haha! It is worth it.

Just a Random Post

I'm going to be abnormal. I'm not going to say "WOW! I haven't posted in forever." I'm not going to apologize or offer explanations for why I haven't written. I'm not even going to talk about Christmas or having all the family here. Well, maybe for just a second. ;)

It was great to have the family here! I couldn't have enjoyed spending time with Julianne more than I did. Yes, I did most of the diapers, and asked for it, too. :) I'm practically a pro...well, not quite yet. But, I will be soon. Though I posted them on facebook already, I've got two adorable shots for you. Right here. :)

 You might be able to see her "Cindy-Loo-Who" curl in this picture. 

So, let me tell you a little about my classes. I'm taking four this semester, and attending a fifth...though I'm not actually taking it. It's a bit confusing, but I shall explain. (Oh, and to protect the privacy of the teachers, I shall use only an initial to refer to them.)

1. Brit. Lit: When I signed up for this course, I was not looking forward to it. I'm not a fan of ancient English literature. Still, a friend was taking it, and the class fit into the category of a "required" for my degree. The class is taught by Dr. T. (From a Muppet standpoint, that's really funny!) Though I doubt it will be my favorite class of the semester, I have already found myself enjoying the presentation of info.

2. Speech: Ms. S is unpredictable and fun. I'm looking forward to the rest of the class. 

3. Spanish: This is an online class and has caused an insane amount of headache. Still, after going back and forth, back and forth, and back and forth again, I've decided to stick the course out and just do it. Prof. S is prompt with emails, so that's a very good thing. 

4. Biology: Science is not my favorite avenue, but I do enjoy Biology. And though I'm taking the first part that mainly deals with cells (blah), I'm interested in the class. Plus, it's taught by Dr. S. He's been fun, spending one class meeting talking a good deal about penguins and the other talking about cake. He assures us we'll get to Biology soon. Haha! 

5. (the almost class) Literature: Then and Now. This class is with my favorite teacher, Mrs. V. She and I rather brainstormed the idea for this class last semester. The whole class looks at a piece of literature and then a modern (or at least written after the original) version of the literature. For example, we've already looked at the difference between three versions of Cinderella. Grimm's, Disney's, and then the Chinese version. Yin Xuan? I think that's the name, but I'm not sure. Anyway, it's really cool to see the differences and similarities in these pieces  and I'm looking forward to reading and attending more, though I'm not required to. :)