So that snowstorm we were supposed to have, where they estimated 15 freaking inches of snow plus 3 inches of ice, yeah, we got 3 inches. The blizzard went north of St. Louis so we didn't for real get anything. That was rather disappointing.

The good news, I got three snow days because of it. Not sure why, because one would have been sufficient and now I don't get out til June 7th. So I guess that's both good news and bad news. One of my friends was joking that we'd be out of school for one day and then we'd have to go back again, haha. Normally, it wouldn't be too much of a deal, besides being annoying, but I'm leaving for my trip to France and Italy June 9th, so if we get two more snow days... what do I do? I'm praying for no more snow days!

With my abundant amount of time that I had to procrastinate homework, I've created a 101 in 1001 days. For those of you not familiar with this, it's basically just a list of 101 things that you would like to do in 1001 days. I was inspired by Juniper, and I thought it would be a good way to get the things I want to do done. Besides, there's something I love about crossing things off of lists.

I'm not quite finished with my list yet, I only have 87 things, so I'm still working on it, but I've got a good head start! I was looking at a couple other people's lists for ideas to put on my own, and I ran across this site PostCrossing. It's a really neat site, I think. You send post cards to people all over the world, and in return, you get postcards as well. Some people might think it's lame, but I think it would be really cool just to get a postcard from someone in Russia, or Germany, or Taiwan, or some place on the other side of the world from you. Am I the only one that thinks this is cool?

Needless to say I signed up and I'm itching to get sending some postcards. I need to go out and buy some first, though. Hehe, that's kinda necessary to send one. xD I think I might make a book or something of all the post cards I've received... dunno, I'll have to wait til I get some. ^^

If you'd like to suggest some things to my list, I'd be glad to hear them!

I have had the longest week of my life. Not really, but it seemed like it lasted forever. I'm sorry I haven't replied to any of my comments in like a week! I've had a butt load of homework and then this weekend all I wanted to do was sit on my butt. Which I did, for the most part. But, I'll try to be returning those in a timely manner!

This weekend was really what I needed. On Friday night, a bunch of friends and I went out to celebrate my friend Julia's 17th birthday. We all planned to meet up at Bandanas (a local BBQ restaurant) at 6:30 and then afterwards go for some FroYo.

My friend Jacqueline needed a ride and I was already planning on driving so I offered to give her a ride. I forgot that she so conveniently lives on a really busy street, so backing out of her driveway is a pain and I almost killed us both, twice. It then took us about half an hour to get to Bandanas because neither of us had been to that specific one (don't mind the fact that I was using a GPS!) so we got lost. It was quite an adventure, to say the least, but we arrived alive.

It was really good just to hangout with friends that I haven't seen in a while and just to be dumb. If you've never been to FroYo (I'm not really sure if it's a local place or not), it's absolutely amazing. You walk in and you grab this big cup and they just have big machines lining the walls of frozen yogurt and you put whatever flavors you want in it. Then they have a whole counter full of toppings and you pile whatever you want on top. When you go to pay, you just sit your cup on a scale and they charge you per ounce. It's a really cute place; the walls were pink and the chairs were this cute green color. It was adorable. And delicious.

Oh yeah, when I got home, I locked the keys in the car. I walked inside and just kinda started getting ready for bed and my dad was like, "Where's the keys?" Uh.... haha. xD Thankfully, my mom also has a pair of keys for the car, so we didn't have to call anyone to come break in to our car. I'm just glad I did it when I got home and not when I was out!

On Saturday, Andrew came over and we made funnel cakes. :) He had never made them before and they were absolutely delicious. I also managed to "accidentally" get powdered sugar all over his face. Ahh. :D Afterwards we just watched the movie "Knocked Up." I wasn't sure if I would like it, but it was actually pretty funny.

In other news, we're supposed to be expecting a huge storm all this week, which is why I decided to update today. We're expecting 2-3 inches of ice in the morning and then sometime Monday night to Wednesday morning we're supposed to be getting like 15 inches of snow. Which is crazy!! We're kind of expecting to lose power, so if I disappear for a while, I'm still alive!

About a month ago, in front of our refrigerator, our tile was starting to push up from the ground. There was moisture around the area, and my dad assumed that there was water under there. Water from where? We weren't sure exactly, but we guessed the fridge.

We came to the conclusion that we needed a new fridge. So, me, my mom, and my dad went out and looked at fridges for about a week and decided on one that we all liked. It was black and shiny and had those fancy in-door ice and water dispensers.

After buying a new fridge, we realized we would have to get new floor, because the place where the water ruined the tile looked terrible. My parents went out again, this time to look for new flooring for the kitchen and the dining room. They picked out hardwood.

My dad began pulling up the other flooring to find layer and layers (four more layers to be exact) beneath our original. It was pretty funny looking at all of them. You could tell which ones were from the 70's and 80's. ;P

In our kitchen we've had the same wallpaper hanging in there for 15 years--ever since we moved in. I begged and begged my mom to take it down. If we're getting a new fridge and flooring, the wallpaper will look even more outdated and we've just got to rip it all down. I won. (:

We picked out some green paint, (our wallpaper was green and white) and began pulling it all down while my dad was pulling the floor up. One of the layers of flooring before us was put down with glue so when my dad pulled it up, we'd get the glue on our shoes and then we'd track the wallpaper all over the house! Our house really was a mess!

Our kitchen table was absolutely covered with kitchen appliances, tools, and everything else that we couldn't have in the kitchen. We had to pull out our card table and eat at that instead. My mom couldn't cook, we just had take out for a couple of days. It was pretty fun actually.

Things really started to come along as my dad got the floor down and me and my mom started to paint.

My mom wasn't too sure about the color but I absolutely love it. After that it was just putting on finishing touches and cleaning up! I think we're still vacuuming things up from it!

I wish I would've taken some good before pictures so you could compare, buuuut I didn't, so I apologize. But doesn't it look great now! I think our black fridge ties all our other appliances in well, since they're black too.

I think sometime in the near future we're going to get new counter tops, which would be cool. :)

I really can't wait til I can have my own house and decorate it the way I want. I love decorating and painting and all that kind of stuff. I love the kitchen, and I can't wait to do that kind of stuff to my house. Do you all like decorating/painting or stuff like that?

Last night, the weatherman predicted that we would get around 3-5 inches of snow. My school canceled that night and I was looking forward to sleeping in the morning. Around 10:30 a.m. this morning, my mom pulled the covers off my bed and jerked me out of my happy dreams.

She ran to my window and threw back the curtains and I was immediately blinded by the brightness emanating from outside. When my eyes got adjusted to the whiteness, I couldn't believe my eyes. We had a foot of snow, holy cow!

Later on in the day, my mom sent me up to a neighbor up the street to get some cream cheese to make some gooey butter cake and I was like, sure no problem. Then I realized I don't have any good shoes to go trudge out in the snow with. So by the time I got back, everything up to my shins was soaked and very cold!

The point is, I really need a pair of boots. I've been needing some for a long while now. I've always borrowed my mom's if I really needed some but I realize that they're too big once I start walking in them and I just really need my own! We've gotten a lot of snow this winter and trekking to school through snow isn't really fun at all!

I know I don't want Uggs, or the fake rip-off Uggs either. There is just something about those boots that I just don't like. Plus, everyone and their mother (literally) has them. I was thinking something maybe like these:

Aren't these cute! Well, I thought so. ;) I figure if we have a foot of snow and I plan on getting out of the house anytime soon without having to take a change of socks, I need to get me some boots! My school has canceled for tomorrow, so I'm going to enjoy my day off of school. That's two days in a row! Hopefully I can head out to Target and try and find me some! Andrew wants to take me out to IHOP, so maybe I can get some boots before then and try them out?

and oh, how I love getting new shoes! :)

Do you own a pair of boots? If so, tell me about them! Also, do you have any suggestions regarding what kind of boots I should get?

As my Junior (11th) year is almost coming to a close (well, sort of...), we have all received sheets to sign up for next year's classes. After this semester, I will have all of the required classes I need to graduate (i.e. personal finance, gym, health, etc.) out of the way so I have a lot of free room in my schedule. I think I have it pretty much narrowed down to what I want to take. It's going to be challenging, and I might just dig myself a hole and die, but I'm going to give my senior year my all:

(Classes with '1818' in them are college credit courses. Slots with / indicate it is a semester long class. Class before / is semester 1 class, after is semester 2.)

1. Writing Workshop 1818 / Brit Lit 1818
2. AP Bio
3. AP World History
4. Foreign Policy 1818
   
5. French IV
6. AP Calculus
7. Contemporary Fiction / OPEN
   

Needless to say, I'm going to have a very rigorous and tough schedule. I still have to find another semester long class I want to take, but other than Contemporary Fiction, all of my classes are all honors classes.

I tried to load my schedule with as many honors classes as possible (that I had at least a remote interest in) so I can make the Top Ten of my class. I know, that probably isn't the wisest decision; countless number of people told me to not take a class just because it was honors, but making the top ten is really important to me. I'm not even exactly sure why, to be honest. I guess I want to prove not only to others, but also to myself that I can do it. I will definitely be proud of myself.

Normally, making Top Ten is difficult, but not nearly impossible. At my school, we offer a variety of different engineering classes. My freshman year, they started to offer them, so they required us to take Introduction to Engineering Design (IED), so my class is kind of the class that the overachievers take engineering classes. They are all considered honors, so are weighted as 5.0 instead of standard 4.0. I, on the other hand, hated IED and had no desire to continue onto the other engineering classes. In this way, my rank fell because I was not taking another honors class every year like the others. I'm trying to make up for it this year.

I'm also looking forward to a lot of these classes I've signed up for. It's just an added bonus that annoying underclassmen will not be in them and won't annoy me. Hurray! I just really hope that I can get into all of them and that they don't conflict with each other.

A lot of my friends have already narrowed down where they want to go to college. As I don't really have much idea about what I want to do, besides continuing French, I decided I better scoot my booty and at least look at a couple of colleges online. So the past couple of days, I have been doing some research and I think I've decided that there's a possibility I'll major in French. I'm not sure if I can really see myself being a translator or a teacher, or the other various jobs, but French is always something I've loved and I thought I at least should try it.

I also would absolutely love to study abroad. I think it would be an incredible experience and I would meet tons of new people and learn so much. I love traveling and I think it would be so cool to really experience what it's like to live in another culture.

This narrowed down the colleges I was looking at considerably, as quite a few don't offer French or study abroad programs. I've found two colleges so far that I really like, and I talked to my mother about them and she liked my choices. They're in-state, which will eliminate some unwanted expenses, and they're also within three hours driving distance.

As a bit of a side note: I remember saying how worried I was about my ACT test, but I don't remember if I ever said what I got on it. I received a 26, which is a respectable score. Of course I would've liked it to be higher, but I plan on taking it again in April and hopefully I can boost it up a couple points!

The whole looking for colleges that I want to attend really has got me excited for college. I'm looking forward to getting out of high school and getting on with my life, as well as getting out of the same old routine and city. I know I'll miss a lot of things, but sometimes I just can't wait to get out of here!

I mentioned in my last post that me and Andrew had gotten into a fight. Since then, we had talked it over and we've worked things out. At that moment in time though, I was having a horrible day and when my boyfriend told me he was at another girl's house, even with friends, it made my day even worse.

I suppose I'll start from the beginning. Andrew knows this girl, Lindsay, through one of his guy friends. So Lindsay plays on Xbox Live with Andrew and all his friends. They talk quite a bit and he's mentioned her here and there to me. You could call them friends, though they had never met.

Around Christmas time, Andrew was kind enough to take me to the mall to buy Becky, my best friend, her Christmas present. Lindsay happens to work there as well, so after I had bought my present, he asked if I would mind if we went and met her, as Andrew had never met her offline before. I wasn't really thinking about it, I was just concerned to get home so I could watch Glee (yeah... I'm a pretty big fan!). He took me home instead of meeting her, and I really didn't spend a lot of time thinking about it.

Friday, I'd been running around with my mom, or I guess I should say, my mom was running around and Andrew mentioned he was going to hang out with his friends. Later on, around three or four, he said something kinda weird, and then he explained that he was at Lindsay's house.

What was going through my mind right then, I don't really know. I think there were so many things running through that it sounded something like: he's at another girl's house that he's been wanting to meet and they're good friends are you serious oh wait I need to calm down he's with friends and he wouldn't do anything what no I do not need to calm down he is at another girl's house and I'm completely pissed off and he could have had the decency to tell me in the first place what a douche-bag okay deep breath he's with friends... and on and on.

I didn't reply to his text. I thought it best that I just cooled down and thought it over a little bit before I told him how I felt. As time passed though, I didn't cool down; I became more angry and more bitter. I didn't want to talk to him. I didn't want anything to do with him. He texted me later on, since I hadn't responded, and asked if I was mad at him, and if so why?

Why? Why am I mad at you? Oh I don't know, you're at another girl's house, that you're friends with, and have been wanting to meet. Nope, I don't see anything wrong with that picture!

In an uncivilized manner, I managed to rephrase what I said above and say it in a manner that clearly said I was not happy. After a few more texts back and forth, he apologized and said he was sorry. He said he realized he shouldn't gone over to her house around the same time that his mom texted him asking him why he was at another girl's house, without me. He realized he shouldn't have gone over to her house without telling me first and that he messed up.

He left shortly after and we talked things through on the phone. He said that he hadn't realized before he went over how it might've looked to me, and that it would've bothered me because he went with friends. I asked him calmly how he would've felt if I went to one of my good guy friend's house, Nirav, with Becky and a few other single girls. (As a side note, Andrew believes Nirav likes me--untrue!) He said he would've been a bit angry and that he would've not been comfortable with it. I told him I was in the same situation.

You could say all in all, it was somewhat a misunderstanding, and somewhat not thinking things through. Looking back at it, now that I'm not angry and have moved on, I think I sort of overreacted. I trust Andrew I also think though, that he should've told me ahead of time and made sure I was comfortable with it. So I'm not really sure if the way I acted was just or not. What do you guys honestly think? Was I in the wrong, or was he?

Since the last time I blogged, a lot has happened and a lot hasn't, and yet I feel like there are so many things I need to say, so I have a feeling this is just going to be one mumble-jumble, hodge-podgey kind of blog. So bear with me!

School started back up and I found out my semester grades.... I GOT A FREAKING 93% ON MY PHYSICS FINAL. I almost peed my pants when I saw that! I am so happy! And to put more icing on the cake (is that a phrase or did I make that up?), She hadn't entered a few test grades yet before the final, so when she did it boosted my grade to a 95% overall. :D

AP English could've gone better for everyone in the class, as in I was one of the five people that actually passed the final... She gave us an opportunity to boost our final grade though, so I boosted my 72% final to an 88%, with an overall 94% in the class.

In other words, I got straight A's, which I'm very pleased with.

Getting back into the groove of things has been a bit harder. After sitting around all break and doing pretty much nothing besides munch on cookies, work? Whaaaat's that? I've been really slacking in this new semester and I think I've just been overall in this really weird mood. Like I've been so moody. One minute I'm all happy-go-lucky, then I'm sad, then I'm angry. It's the most bizarre thing.

Last Friday, we didn't have school because teacher's had a work day, so I was rather looking forward to it. It turned out to be such a horrible, horrible day. I wanted to go to Wal-Mart, as I had ordered a book (Peter and the Starcathers, yes, I am a nerd and a 5-year-old at the same time) so my mother offered to take me, as we hadn't gone to get my actual license yet--I had taken my driver's test, but had not gotten the official little plastic card that legally let's me drive. We decided that we would drop by the License Bureau as well and get it.

So we set out on what I thought would be a quick, one hour tops trip. My mom says she needs to stop in to Schnucks. Sure. She needs to go to the Post Office. Okay. She needs to go to Walgreens and get her Passport picture taken as she was renewing it. Alright. Oh, do you mind if I go to Deirbergs and pick up that pie Ryan bought us? My mother managed to drag me around for about two hours before we even hit the Wal-Mart parking lot. I go in, get my book, wait another half-hour for her.

We finally get to the License Bureau and we sit down in line. My mom starts pulling the stuff we needed out of her purse minus one thing: my social security card. I groan and explain for what feels like the millionth time that I needed my birth certificate, social security card, proof of address, permit, and driving test paper.

The day never ended. We drove back home, back up to the place, got my license, la di dah. By then I was in such a sour mood. I managed to throw away almost all of my day just being drug around by my mom.

And then to add on top of it, Andrew managed to be a douche-bag and just casually told me he was at another girl's house with a few other people. Uhm, what??

Needless to say, I was royally pissed and my day was ruined. I would've rather gone to school. But I think I'll explain our fight later; I would like you're guys opinion on it eventually.

I think I'll end my Friday rant for now.

In order with keeping up with my New Year's Resolutions/goals, I have been reading more and working out more. I'm taking Basic Weight Training this semester to fullfill the PE credit I still need and I'm actually really enjoying it. There are a few girls from my tennis team in there so it's been really fun.

I've also been getting up earlier in the mornings and doing some old workout videos that my mom had. I'm really trying to shed some pounds, just to feel better about myself. I think I already am, just feeling healthier. I'm on a kind-of-diet as I'm not really limiting the foods I eat, I'm just trying to eliminate extra snacking and to not eat like an elephant like I tend to do.

I had another snow day today, so I worked out a little bit longer today than I normally would've and tried to do some exercise we would've done in Basic Weight Training, just to keep up with it.

Becky is going to come down in a bit and we're going to have a Harry Potter movie marathon. :D

Anywho, I'll end this novel-long blog post. :P

Today, I did something that I have been putting off for approximately nine months. Today, I did something that I hate doing, but needed to be done. Today, I took another step towards being an adult. Today, I got my license to drive. (How much more awesome if I had said to kill. Yeah, I got my license to kill.)

Let me start from the beginning. When I turned 15, I was as excited as a five year old on Christmas morning to get my permit. My mother took me to the State Licensing Office and I took the online test. I passed and was so ready to get behind the wheel. We went to the License Bureau next to get my actual permit.

The first time I drove was also the last for the next couple of months. I hated driving. Absolutely hated it. All the other cars zooming onto the road next to you and cutting you off and honking at you cause you're going to slow and all the signs and rules and lights you have to follow and my mother and father yelling at me that I'm going the wrong direction. It was too much.

So far a while, I didn't drive. Then my dad persuaded me to get behind the wheel again, and it was a little better this time. And a little better the next, but never was I comfortable behind the wheel.

My 16th birthday came and passed and my friends left and right were becoming licensed drivers, and here I was with no desire at all to even become one. Getting my license meant I would have to drive. Drive to get it, and then drive afterwards. Why would I do that when other people can tote me around? I didn't get my license.

Then eight months later, Andrew's truck dies. He had no job, so no money to be able to get a new car, and I did not have my license, so I could not drive my dad's car. We were looking at a situation where it suddenly became hard for us to hang out. Andrew gently suggested I get my license, that way we could at least hang out over break some. I thought about it, thought some more, and after about a week, I mustered up enough courage to ask my parents if they could take me to get my license. I was going to do this.

Of course, Andrew's mom managed to buy him a used car, taking some money out of child support and then giving Andrew a good lecture about how he was eventually going to pay her back for part of it, and then the rest was a Christmas present.

Hey, I may not have to get my license. But by now, I wanted to get it. I started to feel bad that he always had to pay for gas and what other expenses while I just came along for the ride. I wanted to do this.

So today, my father had me drive out to the place, telling my things I would need to know; here's the headlights, the rear defroster, the front defroster, etc... We sat in line, and after a couple of minutes, one of the instructors called my name and told me to follow him.

Oh. My. Gosh. I was actually doing this. I probably looked like a freak as I led him out to the car, I was sure I was shaking and that oh my gosh I'm going to kill us all. He kindly asked me to show him where certain things were, and I complied. Deep breath. I could do this. He asked me to reverse out of the parking lot. I shifted into reverse, and I turned the wheel the wrong way. I was going the wrong way what the heck is wrong with me I've never had this problem in my life! I fixed it, and backed out.

He told me to proceed to the end of the lot. I stepped on the gas...and we lurched backwards. I repeatedly said I was sorry, and changed into the correct gear. He told me to relax and take a deep breath. I complied.

The rest of the test went much smoother than that. He was very polite, which made me relax and not make anymore horrible mistakes that made it look like I had never driven a day in my life. I had never parallel parked before, but I thought I managed that all right. We pulled back in front of the building, he gave me a grin, and told me I passed. I almost fainted I was so relieved I would never have to do that again. I found out later that I had passed with a 71, and you needed a 70 to pass. I didn't care that I didn't do very well, I passed and wouldn't have to take it again, and that's all that mattered.

Afterward, my dad handed my the keys, implying he wanted me to drive home. I almost laughed and handed them back. I had enough driving for today.

I'm not usually real big on these things, as I usually make them and fail to follow through, or they're pretty much meaningless generic crap that everyone wants to do. But! I do like to set goals, and I think it's good to evaluate things from the past year in order to try and become a better person. So here are some resolutions/goals that I hope I can fullfill in the upcoming year:

• To maintain a 4.0+ GPA. I don't think this should be terribly difficult, as I'm taking a few honors/weighted classes (meaning an 'A' is a 5.0 opposed to the traditional 4.0), so I have a bit of leeway to make a B and still have a good GPA. Which is good.
• To eat healthier and maybe shed a few pounds. I like junk food, and I love eating candy even more. The unfortunate thing is, these are not healthy at all. I'd like to become a bit more active, stop eating like a cow, and start living a little healthier. I think I'll feel better about myself, and I'll be more prepared for my upcoming trip to Europe this summer.
  
• To read more. I used to love to read and I would read all the time in middle school; I'd read a book a day. Now, I read about a book a month. :( I still hold the same passion for reading that I used to, but now I have much less time on my hands. I now have a boyfriend, am taking much more difficult classes, still am an active part of my youth group, spending more time on the computer and on my blog, etc etc. I received quite a few books for Christmas, so I plan to read them, which I'm excited for. :)
• Try to not be such a worry-wart. I can and will worry about every little thing. This worry inevitably causes stress, to the point I just sit down on my bed and cry. It's not healthy, and I hate it. I know this is something that I can't just fix overnight, this will take time. But I know that if I can worry less, I'll be less stressed, and I will be considerably happier. Who doesn't want to be happy? 

I hope you all had a fantastic New Year. I spent it with Becky and Andrew; we didn't really do too much except eat a bunch of junk food and watch a few movies. It was nice, nonetheless. We didn't have any fireworks, so we drove to a convenient store nearby and got Pop Rocks, haha. That's close enough to fireworks, right? :P

Wow, I feel like it's been forever since I last updated! Either way, I hope you all have a lovely Christmas and are enjoying your break!

It was really nice staying home for Christmas, especially since it's not something my family does a lot. Christmas Eve we went to my church's candlelight service and it was really nice. We weren't sure if we were going to have it because the snow was just coming down in blankets! Then, we came back to our house and just ate a bunch of junk food, little smokies, toasted ravioli, nachos, little pizzas, etc.

Christmas morning, I awoke around 9:30 to my mother and older sister barging into my room and jumping on my bed, screaming "Merry Christmas!" at the top of their lungs. They continued to suffocate me until I threatened to start throwing stuff at them. They left and I got up and learned they had done the same to my brother, but he did throw stuff at them. Haha.

We all pitched in to help make breakfast; I made the pancakes, my father the bacon, mom the hash-browns, and my sister biscuits and gravy. (My brother was still asleep so there was no helping from him!) After that, I gave Tabor his toys I bought him from his stocking and he didn't know which one to play with first; it was hilarious.

Eventually Steven got up, and we opened up our presents as a family. I got a couple books (The Hunger Games series, Sarah's Key), Cry Baby (which I had been pining for forever. Johnny Depp = <3), the Harry Potter DVD's, and then some pajama pants and fuzzy socks. My father bought my mom an off-brand mp3 player and she opened it and didn't know what it was. xD So, we're all gonna have to help her put her music on it and whatnot.

My other brother, Ryan, is working in Greece (I'm not sure if I've mentioned that before),  so we skyped him a little bit later on and talked to him. He's coming home in February, and though I tell everyone I'm not excited he's coming home (brother/sister rivalry and whatnot), I really am.

So we kinda did our own thing after that until about 5:00. My grandpa and my aunt came over and we had Christmas Dinner, and it was delicious. We used my mom's fine china, which we never use, so it was all fancy and fun.

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas, hopefully with your family. <3