Adjusting Focus

Everything has finally come to a close and I honestly couldn't be more happy. While this semester was good, it was beginning to feel incredibly long and I really just wanted the new semester to start. All in all, I'm glad I can say that I've successfully finished my first semester of college at MWCC. I feel like I've learned a lot since the beginning of September. Going into this semester I was worried what it would be like. I wanted to make new friends and I wanted to learn new things. Part of me was afraid I would end up drowning half way through and I would be the first one to have to leave. I was excited for my classes and excited for the people in the program. I was fortunate to know at least one person heading into Pathways, but everyone else was a stranger. And I just really didn't want to go back to my high school (no offense or anything). Things started to roll and I was handling everything well. I made friends and I felt like everyone in our program see...

In no particular order, here are some of the things I'm thankful for this Thanksgiving*: 1. Family Mom and dad (do absolutely everything and more). Brothers (weird but they're pretty amazing). Two sisters-in-law (my favorites).They are all quite possibly (or actually) my favorite people. I love them all dearly. They've done an infinite amount of things for me that would take forever to write down. I always have fun with them (we'll pretend I've never gotten mad at them because that would be silly ). 2. Friends All of my friends are truly amazing. They always know how to make me laugh and I can always manage to have a great time with them. After my family they are my favoritest (pretend that's a word) people. I can always count on them. I trust them with a lot. 3. A home I think there's a difference between a house and a home. A house is a place you live. A home is a place where you create memories and spend time with your family. It's a place fille...

I'm probably the worst person at making decisions. When asked what I want for a meal or where to go out, the conversations normally go like this; Me: "Where are we going for dinner?" Mom: "Where do you want to go for dinner?" Me: "I don't care." Mom: "Well what are you in the mood for?" Me: "What are you in the mood for?" Mom: "I'm flexible. Whatever you want." Me: "Well I'm not the only person who lives in this house. Other people eat too." Mom: "Don't you have an opinion?" Me: "No." Mom: "Okay then..." Me: "Well what do you feel like? What are the options?" Mom: "There's Chipotle, Panera, Bull Run... What do you feel like out of those?" Me: "Well... I could go for those salad things from Chipotle. Or I could go for a delicious salad at Panera. OR, I could get that thing I really love from Bull Run." Mom: ...

It's no lie that we all have insecurities. We all have those days where something about ourselves just bothers  us. I thought about this a lot this morning when I got up to go to seminary. Why? Because just like you, I have insecurities, too (surprise!). On Monday's and Wednesday's I don't have class until 11am which means I don't really have to leave the house until a little after 10. Most Monday mornings I throw on something easy and put on a little makeup and then wear my glasses. The first time I did this I felt weirdly self-conscious. It made no sense and there was absolutely no reason to. I thought about this later and thought that maybe it was the fact that I was wearing glasses and didn't have any mascara on. Silly, right? Well we all have little things that bother us sometimes. Now, I really don't care as I don't have to impress anyone but myself. Monday mornings are something I look forward to when I don't have to stick contacts onto my h...

Fall is one of my favorite seasons. I love the fact that the leaves change color. Driving on the highway and seeing all of the different colors is the main highlight when driving twenty minutes on the highway everyday. The leaves are a lot further along than ours are here at home, but it'll come along. As I think about fall, I've also made a list of some of my all time favorite "Fall Things". 1.) Sweaters. Sweatshirts. Cardigans. I love them all. They're all just so cozy. 2.) Boots. Let me tell you. I love shoes. I love Vans as a comfy sneaker thing, but I love boots for the fall and winter. I have this one pair that I've had for a little over a year and they're worn down on the heel and there's a circle of leather torn off. BUT, they're my favorite and will remain my favorite. I will wear them until they have literal holes in them or the heel is non-existent. Or, I find a newer pair that is the exact same. <3 Here's a mix of boots, ...

Let's just start off with this; Mia (Me-ah) aka the cutest puppy ever? We picked her up on Saturday the 27th. I died when I saw her. She is so small. Literally the size of like, a baby. She's so  soft, too. She did really well in the car. At one point she was climbing on top of me and my face to look out the rear-view window. It was cute... and a little painful when she stepped on my eyes, but that's okay. She's cute (?). And when we put the leash on her, she tugged and wouldn't move. It was a struggle so we decided she would learn that at a later point. Her collar is pink (as seen above) and she looks wicked cute in it. Unfortunately, she hates the collar and won't wear it right now, but that's okay too. The other day Bella and Mia were outside and they were playing together. I got a picture of them lying in the grass across from each other and I just about died. Tell me this isn't cute. Mia is basically a little version of Bella. In fact,...

It's been another successful week of schooling. I'll admit that I've saved a boatload of homework for over the weekend and until Monday and Tuesday, but I just wanted a break. And I have a ton of time tomorrow to do homework before we leave for New Hampshire... again (I feel like I'm always mentioning that place....). I've taken the time to practice the piano almost everyday. I'll be quite honest with ya'll.... it's been wicked good. For once I'm taking the time to really practice and do the things I don't like to do on piano. Like scales, octaves, and arpeggios. I never practiced them until the day of my lessons. I wouldn't really practice the piano intensely and I would do it for a short amount of time. And there would be weeks upon weeks where I wouldn't really practice. It was quite sad, actually. Don't get me wrong, I'm in love with the instrument, I just wasn't pushing myself to become even more in love with it... I was...

Today was great. In the morning I was wicked nervous for my driver's test. Each time I woke up in the middle of the night I would automatically tell myself how to do my uphill parking with a curb. I would also recite the steps for parallel parking. I officially woke up a little after 6:30 in the morning and I could not fall asleep for the life of me. I was so scared that I would fail. I would fluctuate between feeling like I could pass to feeling like I would fail before I even left the driving school.  That test was the easiest test I have ever taken. I had worried for days. I had prayed for days. And all for less than ten minutes of driving in a circle (basically) and then parallel parking and doing a 3-point turn. I even was a little bit farther from the curb than I was supposed to be for my parallel parking and all the guy said was, "I would just get a little closer next time." I was a little nervous then... In the end I got handed a little piece of paper and I to...

Today was my last day of summer so I spent it having a party by myself. I exercised and did some Photoshop... and that's about it. I played a little bit of piano (I just ran through my 3 songs). I did remember that this is my last official summer without school work. Next summer I'll be taking classes (hopefully mostly online) while everyone else is free and sitting around. I just keep on telling myself that I'm graduating with an associates degree  while graduating with a high school diploma. "It'll all be worth it, don't worry." Tomorrow starts a new chapter in life. I'll be a college student and a high school student... all at once.  But I'm wicked excited and a smidge nervous. I also need to figure what room all of my classes are in. And I have class tomorrow. I'm pretty ready for this and I think this choice of schooling was very much what I needed. I was kind of done with the normal high school life and I just wanted something else. I...

I had the opportunity to go to a leadership camp for two days at my new school, Mount Wachusett Community College. I wasn't really looking forward to waking up at 6 in the morning and being there for longer than a school day. In fact, when the mornings came, I honestly considered falling back asleep and acting as if I had forgotten. I knew I had to go, not only because the camp was mandatory, but because I knew that somewhere along the way I would learn something. All I had to do was be open to what people had to say to me. In the end, I learned a few things and gained some knowledge. I noticed a few things and realized that I hadn't wasted 100% of my time. Tuesday was the first day. I really questioned that day afterwards as I reflected on some weird meditation I had to do for like, 10 minutes. "You're in a dark room. You can't see anything. Suddenly, your foot hits something. It's stairs. You climb up the stairs. With each step you think of something that...

My two weeks were super fun. I hung out with my cousin almost everyday and I finally have a room. My walls are all painted! One wall is red and the others are beige (although it turned out a little more grey... I call it greige). I got to spend some time with my parents, which was great. My favorite dog ever, Bella, got to sleep near me on her bed every night too. She's literally my favorite dog out of all the other ones I have ever owned (sorry).  I'm sad it's all over but at least I'm back at my real home with real floors and ceilings. The NH house does look great and my parents worked incredibly hard everyday to get it to where it is currently. I'm grateful for them and their hard work. It has come so  far. So, as you've seen, I've taken a lot of pictures with my cousin within the last two weeks. It seemed like almost everywhere we went we were asking our moms to take pictures of us. One of our last pictures together for a while came from our adventure...

The concert last night was a ton of fun. It was incredibly loud and afterwards my voice was kind of gone. We listened to some 5 Seconds of Summer beforehand. When they were done performing there were music videos playing on the big screens. We waited and waited and finally the lights turned down and all we heard were thousands of screaming people all around us . It was wicked cool.  We had good seats. Gillette Stadium is flipping huge  and tall . I was scared for the people all the way up at the very top. I was amazed at how close we kind of were. I mean, we weren't on the floor, but we were on the bottom right near the floor... which is pretty awesome. And with the big screens, you could still see all of One Direction's faces... It's weird to think that only 24 hours ago we were just leaving. Here's some pictures from last night. Waiting... at least there were music videos for entertainment. I'll admit that I enjoyed 5 Seconds of Summer. Dang . I ...

Today I didn't do too much. I watched some TV... I had amazing watermelon (as pictured below). Watermelon is so  good. I went grocery shopping... At the end of my day though, I had a goodbye party to attend. I even curled my hair for this event which wasn't extremely terrible as it sometimes can be. I found this great thing on Pinterest where you just put your hair up in a ponytail and then take strands and curl them. I got some compliments which was very nice. Sorry, this picture isn't the best. Mainly because I have a silly smile and we have a nice little photobomber on the side...  BUT this is the only picture I have of us. Thanks, mom. I had an enjoyable time at this party but I was sad to say goodbye to this wicked good friend of mine. He's been a huge part of my life since we became friends. He was also my very very first dance when I had turned 14. It was some instructional dance that people don't particularly favor, but as we figured out, he...

Last night I was on the floor trying to play with my dog. I called her name and she turned around, quickly looked at me, and raised her paw to my face. She hit me right in the eye and I whipped my hands towards my face and curled up. For a second I was scared that when I opened my eyes, I wouldn't be able to see anything. When I raised my head, I was incredibly glad to find my eyesight was still there. I went over to my mom. I took out my contact to find that my dog's toenail had poked right through it. We figured I was lucky that I had my contacts in because what happened to it could have happened to my eye. Later today my mom and I finally made the decision to go to the emergency room. Nothing serious happened, which I was grateful for. There's just some redness in one corner of my eye, but I should be all better in a couple of days. I've been instructed to wear glasses, much to my dismay, but I'll live.  Besides that adventure, I made an attempt to catch up o...

I would like to start off my first post by saying that I'm very excited about this blog. I think it will be a good experience and that I'll learn a lot from writing posts... and here's my first one: Today I spent a large chunk of the day by myself (minus my dog, Bella). I woke up, did some Zumba, took a shower, and made scones for myself. I then watched some TV, played the piano, and craved some cookies, so I made them. I played music from Spotify while baking. I fell in love with a few songs and fell in even more love with a few more. Even though I was kind of a loner and even whispered to myself, "I need a life," at some point in the day, in the end, I felt very fulfilled. It was a good day filled with exercise, FOOD, great TV shows, and music. I was reminded of this quote I found on Pinterest that says, "Enjoy the little things." I enjoyed every little part of my day, even if I was by myself. These cookies in the shape of mini muffins are my favor...