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!

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?

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

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

I managed to survive my physics final! I didn't crash and burn, but I did take my time and worked rather slowly. There were a few questions that just completely stumped me, but I gave them a shot. I honestly can't tell you how I think I did. It's one of those things where I either got a lot of it right, or a lot of it wrong. I don't know which, but I'm hoping for the latter!

So I am no officially on break and finished with all my finals! After school yesterday, I went over to Andrew's so we could exchange our Christmas presents since he would be busy on Christmas Eve and Christmas. Being the butt he is, he wrapped each part of my present individually, then wrapped it as one big package, then wrapped it in packing tape. I think it took me like 15 minutes to actually get it open. The entire time he was laughing his head off. I should've taken a picture. He got me the first four Harry Potter movies, and then a pack of Sour Patch Kids to eat with each movie. It was really cute, because my favorite candy is Sour Patch Kids. :)

I got him the Underworld Trilogy, which he says are his favorite movies. I also got him a bunch of Chocolate Oranges, because he is like obsessed with those and you can only get them here in the US around Christmas time. Then I just baked him a TON of cookies. He thought it was funny that I mainly got him food, which I thought was funny too. I wasn't evil with his present, which he thought I would be so he was joyous I wasn't, but oh you just wait til next year! *cackles*

I am thoroughly enjoying my break so far. I slept til around eleven today and then went to the movies with Andrew and his mom and saw Tron. It was really good. I hadn't seen the first one, but you didn't really need to, which I was glad about.

Now I'm just sittin' here, munchin' on cookies. Christmas in two days! I hope you all are having a wonderful break!

My family and I traveled to my aunt's, who lives about an hour and a half away, yesterday for my mom's side of the family Christmas. Because she has such a large family and there's tons of cousins and aunts and uncles and whatnot, we don't just buy gifts for everyone. We all just buy a $5 gift and we put the gifts in a pile and play a game called Rob Your Neighbor. (I'm not really sure if that's the "official" name of the game, but it's just what we call it. :P)

It's pretty simple. Everyone draws a number and that's the order that you go in. So, number one goes and picks a gift out of the middle and unwraps it. Then, number two can either still the gift or can pick one out of the pile, and it just goes around like that. It's actually really funny because people get so competitive over these cheap $5 gifts. xD Nothing spreads holiday cheer like stealing presents does!

I ended up with a $5 gift card to Dairy Queen (mmmmmmm, so good!) which I was perfectly content with. I stole it from my grandpa, haha. I'm still his favortie. ;)

Then we all ate entirely too much good food and kind of sat around and talked for a couple hours. I always feel so awkward when it comes to that part because no one is for real my age. I'm 16, and the closest two people to me are 21 and 23. So while my older cousins talk about college and everything, I'm kind sitting there, twiddling my thumbs, thinking about how I can't wait to get out of high school. Or, wishing someone would ask how I'm doing in school. I really like to see my family and stuff, I just always feel so awkward as I don't have anyone to talk to. Does this happen to anyone else?

Schoolwise, I'm almost done with this semester! I have all my finals this week; three tomorrow, two on Tuesday, and two on Wednesday. Thankfully, Tuesday and Wednesday are half days, though I sometimes wish they would just shove Tuesday and Wednesday together so I could get on with my break! I'm really not too worried about any of them except for my physics final. This year my school implemented this new dumb grading system where finals are only worth 5% of your grade. Uh, what? Does anyoneone else agree how dumb that in itself sounds? Finals are supposed to show what you know but nope, not anymore.

On the upside, I can get a 0% on five out of seven of my classes and still pass with an A. On the downside though, in Physics, I have to get 110% on my final to get an A, so I'm pretty worried. Our teacher told us that there would be extra credit on there, but that means I have to completely ace it, which is pretty unrealistic since I really struggled with that class. :/ I was aiming for straight A's this semester, but I guess I can handle one B...

Anywho, I hear most of you are out on break! Woot! For those of you who are, I hope you're all enjoying it and for those who aren't, good luck on finals and whatnot!

I wake up this morning and the first thing that I notice is my alarm clock blinking back at me, announcing it is 8:13. Well, that's odd. My mom usually, by now, has come into my room at least 3 times trying to get me up to get ready for church. I sit up in bed, and through a peep in my curtains, see bright whiteness.

I hop out of bed, throw back my  curtains, and BEHOLD! Little white balls of happiness are floating to the ground! The ground and cars are covered in snow! Not a foot, but a good three or four inches! Pure euphoria!

I run out of my room and into the kitchen where my mom and dad are sitting, drinking coffee and reading the paper, and chant over and over excitedly, "IT SNOWED IT SNOWED IT SNOWED!" They look at me like I'm five, but I don't care. It snowed. :) My mother comments that she should wake me up everyday, telling me it snowed, just to get me up. Psh, silly woman, you can't fool me!

Since church was canceled, me and my mom decided to be productive and we spent all morning and part of the afternoon making cookies. Every Christmas we always make tons of cookies; it's really a tradition. So we get busy, playing Christmas music in the background and happily baking away. We have a window right above our counter, so as we cooked, we could see the snow falling outside. It was beautiful.

We even got my dad to help us a bit. And, for the life of him, he can't cook. Nor can he stand the amount of estrogen in the kitchen all at once. ;P

He peeled the wrappers off of Hershey's Kisses and Reece's Cups so we could use them for Peanut Butter Blossoms, which are, if I do say so myself, absolutely delicious. Tabor seemed to, as he always does, get in the way, so he finally just settles himself under my dad. The perfect spot to be if my dad accidentally dropped something.

I think I'll add a couple of my favorite cookie recipes to the site, if anyone would care to try making some of them. I'll try to do that in the next day or few.

In all, we probably made enough cookies to feed a small country. But they're so gooood. :D

In an hour or so, I'm going to be heading over to Andrew's to have him sample some of our creations and to watch some movies, where I will probably fall asleep. Baking can be so tiring...

Today is happiness at it's finest. I hope you all had a wonderful day as well. :)