I'm not even sure how to start this post off, I'm so far behind on my blogging I don't even know where to start.

But lets start here. I'm home! I've actually been home since the 10Th and I couldn't be happier about that. I'm already dreading going back. I'm fine once I'm there but leaving is always so hard. It's so nice to have real food, to get sleep, and to not always have some kind of homework assignment haunting me.

There is a lot I hadn't had the time to blog about so here is a recap for you:

Well, my apartment mate and I put together a team for intramural flag football. It only consisted of 4 games (given there was only 2 other girls teams) and we didn't end up doing very well, but it was fun. I ended up getting quite the beating when I ripped my fingernail off, landed on my head and possibly got a concussion, and pulled a muscle in my leg that hurt so bad I couldn't run the entire game and it hurt for days afterward. I was quite the hobbler for a few days after that one.

I started working at a local elementary school during the hours my classes allow. I work in a first grade classroom and I love the kids I work with. They are all so sweet! This job has really made me look forward to my career in teaching because I really do just love spending time with those kids and helping them out. When I go through my "I'm not sure if I'm doing the right thing with my life" thoughts, I just try to think of how much I love them kids. Sometimes it helps and sometimes I don't feel much better about things, but one day I'll realize if what I'm doing is right.

When I went to the eye doctor for an eye exam to get more contacts I got news I was expecting. Apparently I had spots on my right eye. I was told to cut back on contact wear so he could see if that was the problem. So, I did and when I went back I was told that they had gotten worse. I was then not allowed to wear contacts at all. Apparently my eye had gotten a virus. It wasn't contagious or anything but it couldn't heal with contacts and if it didn't heal it could get way worse. Last time I went to see how it was he said he could barely see it and I would be allowed to go back to contacts in January.

That's really all I got as far as the big things. For the little ones, well I really struggled with biology class but some how I managed to pass it. My little sister turned 13 and I surprised her by being home for her birthday. Whittneys little brother turned 7 and had a party at the zoo which was a lot of fun even for us older folk. Working on the yearbook staff has been harder to manage then I thought it would be but overall it still has been pretty fun.

Oh! Another kinda big thing that I just thought of would be that I volunteered to take pictures of sporting events for the college and now my photos have been used for the recap articles and one even got used on a bigger athletic website.

Well, now Christmas is over, which saddens me. I love giving gifts and shopping is way more fun for me when I have a reason to just go out and buy things for people. Despite the fact that I'm a poor college student who hates spending money, I love buying things for family and friends and seeing them open the gifts I give them. I also love the spirit people have around Christmas, the happiness and extra kindness that people carry around with them. It should last all year but it fades with the season. I wish it would stay.

A new year is not very far away and as excited as I am I can also say honestly that I'm a little scared. I'll be turning 20 here soon and that's a little scary for me. They really are right when they tell you that when your younger you really don't wanna grow up. I didn't really believe it but I do now. I don't want to get any older!

I also don't want to go back to school- but it's something I have to do and it's really not as bad when I get there, it's just the leaving part that's I hate so much.

Speaking of leaving, I'll have to end this post here. I really don't have much else to say and I need to go to bed here soon to- I'm getting up early to go to the sportsmens den with Whittney! I'm excited, I've been wanting to go there and it has been awhile since Whittney and I have hung out. So it will be a good day.

Hope you all are doing well!!!

Love,

Where homesickness bumps frustration and they both trip over overwhelmed and land on emotion.

Thats where you can find me.

I have so much to say, so many things that I want to put up here so that I will have these stories on my blog so that I can come back and reflect on these moments of my life.
The things that I have neglected to blog but should be up here, like
My cousins coming to stay with me for a week,
Me moving on campus,
Me being moved my first week on campus,
Adjusting to the campus life and the crazy feelings that went with it,
My campus job, that I'm pretty proud of,
How my photography is growing- through sessions and campus opportunities,
What I have learned about my true friends since I've left,

and how I don't at all feel prepared to face life some days.

As well as so much more but time never allows me any of that. I already keep pushing back my bedtime. I cut out activities to do homework. I haven't got to see my family in almost two weeks because if I stay here I think I can get more done. I miss out on friendship building fun activities because I don't feel that I will ever get it all done if I take any time away from it.

I don't know how other college students find the time to watch movies or take naps. I can't seem to find the time to eat some days.

But life goes on and all this frustration may just be the mood I'm in. Which seems to follow all to closely way to often.

I'll share a picture with you since that's all time has left me to offer:

A flower on the bush outside my apartment. Kinda pretty, huh.

Well I better return to homework...

Do you know its been only short one day of a month since I've blogged?

Sad huh.

Well about that homework...I'll be back when it's done.

See you in...June?!

Love,

I Can’t Stop Time But I Can Capture It

My Opinion Essay for my writing class. I hope you like it- The professor did ;)
I love photography; it’s one of my greatest passions and my most favorite things to do. I love the way the strap grazes my neck, the way the grip fits perfectly in my hand like it was made just for me, the way the autofocus whirrs as it gets ready to take the picture, and then the soft but audible click as the camera captures a moment that would otherwise be lost and quickly forgotten. I love how photography can capture an instant, a moment in time that individuals will want to remember but could never recapture. How it freezes that moment so that it can be looked upon for years to come.

Photography also allows me to change something ordinary into something extraordinary. With a camera in hand the possibilities are endless. With the right view and level of creativity I can turn an everyday scene into something phenomenal and breathtaking. It’s almost magical which makes it so much more enjoyable for me. Another thing I love is how a simple photograph can tell the viewer so much. It can portray almost any emotion; from devastation to extreme joy. It can entrance the viewer allowing them to feel as if they were there in the millisecond of time reliving all the emotions and activities that were captured. In this world I can’t stop time or go back to a time and relive it but with photography I can capture it and that’s good enough for me.

I've been experimenting more with different editing actions. The last two are examples of a couple new actions I like, what do you think? Do they work?

Love,

*Insert sigh of relief here*

This is all I've seen the last few days....

and I won't even subject to you to what I've had to listen to....

Oh finals, how I love thee. (This is sarcasm, in case you didn't know)

But I love thee even more now that your over. Which also means Music in the Western world is over to. (Unless I failed....lets not go there.) And Principles of Health and Fitness is over as well, you know the class I completely blew off so I could pass the other one? Yeah, that one. lol.

Now I can have my life back!!!!!!!!!!!!! =]

Until next semester..... =[

But, I doubt anything could be worse than having to listen to ridiculous music from long dead composers and having to identify it...or learning about other old music stuff that I have no need to know.

We will see I guess but until then, I am going to enjoy the much needed and deserved five day break. Its not much but I will sure enjoy every minute of it!

Love,

I've been behind

on my blogging because I've spent most of my time behind these:
college has started for me and they sure do not start slowly! My life is slowly being consumed by school and I do not like that fact at all! I have had so very little free time and that drives me insane. I need time to work on the computer, take pictures, and hang out with my friends and I really do not like the lack of it. So far college has just been too overwhelming for me. So much to do and I do not even know if i am doing what i need to do correctly. I really do not have any friends there and that bothers me most of all. I hate feeling like I have no one and that I don't belong anywhere. Anyways, I do not want to continue to complain on here so I will share with you a couple of pictures of my two favorite girls:

All of them are edited. I did not post the originals. The second ones of each are cropped and slightly different than the one that precedes it. So what do ya think?Well, I wish I had more to say right now but I indeed do not. I will try and post again this week but given how busy I've been I really can't promise anything =[

Now I am off to prepare some notebooks.....

Love,

Can you hear me now? Cedar Point part One.

Yesterday was our Senior Trip and we picked to go to Cedar Point - Americas Roller Coast! Where else? ;)

We loaded the bus at about 7:45 and got there uhhhm round 9 or 10.

Me and Melinda sat together
Rochelle, Katie, Jamie, and Brittany were behind us.

We got there and boy was I in heaven- All my best friends and roller coasters - can't get better than that.

The lines were not to bad so we immediately hopped in one and got our first thrill of the day. We moved on from coaster to coaster and even though I have rode them all before let me tell ya they never get old. We were even able to convince Jodi to ride three of them (shes not a roller coaster person, more on that in the next post.)

Then we finally made it to my favorite ride- The Millennium force. I love this coaster. I was so excited. Now throughout the whole day I was worried about my phone falling out on one of the rides. I did not wear pants with good pockets and had the feeling all day that I was not going to end up bringing this phone back with me. But I am a worrier and that I know so I just took the extra precautions on all the rides so that this feeling would not go any further.

But it was different this time.

I decided that on this coaster it goes so fast and I was so excited I did not think my pockets would be able to hold my phone well at all, so I asked Brittany if she could put it in her much better, jeans pockets. We get on the ride and have one heck of a fun ride and then get off. As I am going down the exit I see that Brittany has stopped and is looking around...oh no... I turned to the person next to me and I say "I betcha my phone did not make it" now I had no idea and I just thought on that feeling... and it turned into truth.

My phone did not survive the Millennium Force. I wish I could tell you thats all of this story but there is more...

I called my mom from a friends phone soon after to tell her what happened. Like any mother would be, she was not happy. But she told me to call her again in an hour if we could not find it and she will report it lost. I called her back in an hour and the conversation went something like this...

Me: "Hi mom" Mom: "So you found your phone" Me: "No, I am calling from Brittany's phone" Mom: "Well you must of found it cause you have been texting me" Me: "Nooo mom I have not found it" Mom: "Well someones been texting me"

.....and so it goes. Someone found it. My mom texted me asking if I had found it. They answered No. Mom, thinking it was me, asked where I found it. They answered in the bushes. My mom tried to call, they turned it off and it went straight to voicemail.

So my phone was found, but I still do not have it. They never turned it in. I went to the lost and found and filed a report and as of this morning they still do not have my phone. But someone does.

Its crazy because I do not even know where they would have found it. The only bushes around that ride that are not fenced off are back off the main way and blocked by vendors. Are these people like random bush checkers? I think that they would have had to see it fall, otherwise I cannot think of how they would have found it. And then the fact that my phone is not even worth keeping, really. The front screen is broken and its scratched and cracked and its not even a good model phone. Its not like the iphone or even close for that matter. So why would you not turn it in? And then if you were going to be a smart thief, why text my mom? And as a person taking a phone ya gotta know that the owner is going to shut off the service. So why not turn it in? Its beyond me really. I have priceless pictures on there and even worse I have a friend who I am now never going to be able to get in contact with because I now do not have her number. The circumstances with her make it hard to begin with now I do not have any idea how I am going to find her.

My mom thinks a kid may have found it. A kid that knows how to text and that would hide it from their parents so they would not have to give it back. Otherwise, I have no logic that would make sense. What do you think?

But all-in-all this trip was amazing. I had so much fun with my friends riding roller coasters.

And the answer to the title? No, I can't hear you now, but I am hoping that soon this situation will turn good and that I will be able to hear you now.

And as for the trip- its certainly one I'll never forget.

Tune in for part two- the one part of the story I haven't told yet!

Love,

PROM!!!

wow. prom was amazing this year. I can even begin to describe the fun in words and I know that you didn't come here to read about it anyway so I will just use pictures. The descriptions will be underneath, so enjoy and comment! This is Me with Randi, my wonderful neighbor. She took all the beautiful pictures of us before prom. She did such a wonderful job and I am so glad to have her as my friend/neighbor/role model/photographer buddy! (PS, you can find her over at Mymomentsastoldbyme.com)

This would be me.
This would be Jodi, my twin =] We are so much alike its crazy really.This is me with Gavin and Landon, Randi's boys. Aren't they adorable?
Us again.

My family and I.

One of my best friends, Kelley, and me.

My best friends! In order shortest to tallest- Me,Kelley,Lizzy,Brittany.

Jumpin!

One of my favorites, where did my legs go?

Another favorite. Well actually all the ones on here are my favorites lol

My best friend Brittany and I, shes the best!

My group, Kelley,Me,Brittany,Courtney,Lizzy

We spotted some boys! lol.

Actually at prom, waiting on the food.

All my best friends! From top to bottom: Jamie,Brittany,Me,Lizzy,Rochelle,Katie,Courtney.

Jamie and I!

Whittney and I

Melinda and I, Her mom handbeaded that dress, isnt that amazing!

Jodi and I again, Love this girl!

Katie and I! aww!

Mirror shot, shes so much taller!

And then, after prom we had to stop at wall mart cause that's the cool thing to do!

Well anyways that is a picture summary of my Senior prom! Well some pictures anyways, I have so many more but I had to limit it down to my favorites (which you see I had a hard time doing anyways lol) Hope you like them and please comment!

I do indeed have a reason...

for my lack of blogging. That would be because I was in PITTSBURGH! NHS decided to go there for a field trip this year so that's where I have been. I have so many pictures to show you all so I am going to go right into those now but just so you know I am going to try and keep up better and I didn't edit any of these pictures I was to anxious to post them! So here they are !

This would be the city of course, so beautiful!

We went to a pirates game and had the nosebleed seats but It was fine cause we just had tons of fun! And they won which is awesome!

After the game I took some pictures of the city at night
We went on a dinner cruise that was absolutely lovely and so much fun!

We also went to a museum where our tour guide spent way to much time talking about the dinosaurs.

When we were finally let out of the dinosaur part we got to explore and they had a bunch of animals (they were stuffed)

And of course as a die hard Steelers fan I have this wonderful picture of the stadium they play in! I was so very excited to see this!

So there you have it!! I would blog more but I kind of still have homework I need to do but no worries I hope to stay better plugged into blogging, after all, prom is coming up!

Much Love,