The most wonderful time of the year

FINALS! Oh boy.

I planned on a nightful of studying, so of course I'm blogging/Facebooking/Pandora-ing. I'm making up all sorts of words tonight. Seriously though, "nightful" should be a word. I'm going to tweet Webster about that.

Our house is pretty Christmasfied... everyone laughs at our tree because the lights don't match, but it's the best tree I've ever had and I was impressed that we managed to hang lights on it at all. The best feature, however, is that when I'm on my chaise and someone walks down the stairs or in the front door, they can't see me at first. I've scared a total of seven years off of Amanda's life so far and it's only December 6th.

I.

I will not be bitter.

I will not be unhappy.

I will not be pessimistic or discouraged.

I will not be self-centered.

I will not be a product of my generation.

I will not be me-me-me.

...which is ironic, since every sentence of this post began with I.

Oh well. Starting tomorrow, I mean.

Woooo!

I got my first byline on the athletics website!

THIS IS THE BEGINNING OF A CHAPTER OF AWESOMENESS!

:)

In what I hope will be my last change of major (oh please oh please oh please), I officially enrolled in journalism school today. My advisor is one of the sweetest, most helpful people I've met thus far on campus. (Her baby daughter, Olive, and I have the same birthday.) I've come full circle and fulfilled my fifth grade dream of going to one of the best j-schools in the world. Following in my mom's footsteps, I suppose.

...except I don't EVER plan on transferring to KU :)

Woke up bright and early for pear picking with APO this morning. A couple of older gentleman bought the orchard a few years ago just for the lake, but they couldn't stand all the fruit going to waste, so they donate it to the local food bank now. Couple of good samaritans if you ask me.

Home is where the cat is

Back to blogging. Mostly because I refuse to leave the house until the temperature goes below 100 degrees, which keeps me confined until dark.

Is it a little sad that I was excited to pick up my textbooks today? That was until I got back home and started leafing through my TEN lit books, none of which seem even remotely interesting. I instantly got on the Internet and started perusing other possible majors. But if I'd like to graduate at some point in the near future, it looks as if I better stick with English. Let's just hope my professors are awe-inducing and balance out the blah-ness of the reading material. Don't get me wrong, I'd read all day everyday if I could... but Renaissance poetry and dear old Shakespeare just aren't my cup of tea.

I'm (almost) moved in to my new duplex. I'm cleverly finding dozens of other things to do besides unpacking those last few boxes. This is my third address in a year, so I'm very adamantly putting down roots so I can avoid repeating this process any time soon. The place definitely has its quirks... we're down the road from a fire station, so sirens are an everyday occurrence. Our back-door neighbors have had a party every night this week. The downstairs toilet has a mind of its own. But home is where the heart is, right? And where the cat is, of course.

Greta - my overlap between Home #1 and Home #2 :)

C's get degrees!

I am no longer a 4.0 student. This is cause for celebration..... I think.

This semester, I forced myself to be bold. It was terrifying and exhilarating all at once.

I made new friends, and re-connected with old ones.

I took a leadership role in APO.

I learned to survive on instant pasta and chicken nuggets.

I tested my limits.

I tried new things.

I pulled my first all-nighter.

I had a few lightbulb moments.

I learned what hard work feels like, and how to stretch a buck.

I got homesick... but then I went home, and got homesick again. I have two homes.

I got a better grip on who I am and who I want to be.

So yeah, I'll take a 3.35. Because I sure didn't accomplish that much with my 4.0's.