Wednesday 10

The thing about extended holiday breaks is that I have a tendency to forget what day it is, and I honestly thought that today is Tuesday...oops! Life goes on...

1. I am oh-so in love with this extended break. I go back on Monday, though, so all good things must come to an end. Part of me is excited to go back, see friends, and be in a routine, but there is always the part of me that just enjoys having no agenda and taking life as it comes. I would definitely be more excited about going back if I knew that it wouldn't be an all-out sprint from the get-go, because there will be lots of PLC projects to work as soon as we get back, much to my displeasure. Only sixteen more weeks until summer! :) 

2. One reason I am excited about going back is the new round of classes I get to experience. This semester consists of lots of electives and a three-hour math class, so I really do have high hopes! I have Ancient Arts & Cultures, Differential Equations, Statistics, Psychology, and Cardio Circuit Fitness, which is an 8-week class that starts in March. Truth be told, my schedule is much more open this semester because I don't have any labs and I'm drastically cutting back on my tutoring hours. Instead of tutoring every day like I did last semester, I'm only tutoring two days per week, which will give me much more time to keep up with my studies or take a nap! Yes, my math class is still ITV, but I have already met my professor, and she has already promised us that she will make it a priority to come to our campus and offer some office hours in case we need help or just want to chat with her! (This is already 100% better than last semester!) I'll give you more info after I actually go to all of my classes.

3. I actually accomplished the biggest item on my to-do list last night...I finished my OSU application! All I have left to do is send my transcript and application fee to them, and I'm good to go on that front! I feel so much better now that I have that worry off of my shoulders, although I'm terribly nervous to find out how much scholarship money I will be eligible for. That really, truly is my biggest worry. I did some number crunching the other day, and I think that things might work out alright, but I'll just wait and see for sure. I also might have made some progress on living arrangements, if only for the fact that I might have found a prospective roommate. I honestly have high hopes, but I'll wait to say for sure until I get a few more things nailed down. (Am I being cryptic enough today?)

4. I never got the chance to go see the Kingfisher lights with my cousins :( Our schedules just never synced up enough for it to pan out, and when they could have gone, the weather was being uncooperative. It isn't the end of the world, but it still bums me out. 

5. We did go to our Mannheim Steamroller concert on Saturday, though! We all had a wonderful time! I don't think that Scotty and Jeremy were necessarily too excited about it initially, but ended up loving it immensely! I wish that I could say more about it, but it was literally something that you had to be there to fully experience. None of my words could possibly do it justice. The music was as beautiful as always, and it still amazes me to watch it live, because it seems impossible that the sounds you hear really are being produced by the people on stage. That was one of the biggest perks about being at the Civic Center, because the acoustics are absolutely wonderful! We attended the matinee concert, so we had plenty of time to go eat afterwards. It was nice that we were able to go at that time, because there was also a home Thunder game that I'm certain would have made it impossible to find parking, navigate, or get seats at a restaurant. Thankfully, when we went to Abuelo's, we only had a five-minute wait for our party of eleven! Even better, we had excellent service and delicious food, so we were all quite happy! On our way home, we drove through downtown, and admired the Christmas decorations in front of the Devon Tower, and the awesome light display at the Chesapeake Campus. It was one of the best evenings that I have had in recent memory! I am grateful to my parents for making the evening happen!

I love this picture of my sisters and I in front of the huge Christmas tree!

 Great group shot of everyone!

From Left to Right: Tracy, Scott (Joe & Vickie's friends), Joe (my cousin), Scotty, Vickie (Joe's wife), Emily, my parents, me, Gina, and Jeremy...what a crew we had there! :)

Chesapeake Trees!

6. Sadly, because of the concert, us girls were unable to attend the Christmas Tea. My mom and I really thought that we could swing both events, but were unable to due to some logistical snags. From what I have seen, it looked like a great time. Next year, perhaps!

7. I had a very low-key celebration for New Year's Eve, but I still had a nice evening, nonetheless. As usual, we all went over to Gina's house. There was delicious food galore, including puppy chow and seven-layer dip (actually, it had four layers this time). My dad ended up shooting off some leftover fireworks at midnight, which livened everything up quite a bit. Yesterday was mostly spent watching reruns of Bewitched and the last Christmas movies of the season. My parents also made our traditional pot of black-eyed peas, which I begrudgingly ate. (I was a little hesitant after last year's black-eyed pea fiasco, but so far, so good.) They actually ended up tasting good, so I had to retract all of my prior notions. Here's hoping for a good 2013!

8. I'm not much of a New Year's Resolution person, because I never really follow through on them, and I believe that if you want to make a life change, that you don't have to wait until the new year to start on it. Even so, I did take a little bit of time and write down the goals that I am currently working towards, and I did end up throwing in some new plans, so I ended up being a little hypocritical. The highlights of my list include making significant progress on my transition to natural running, running a 5K under 30 minutes, maybe working up to a 10K, hopefully coming out of NOC with a 4.0 GPA, going on at least one date with someone new (not quite yet, though), and getting a professional manicure, at least once. That has got to be the most random New Year's list ever, especially the manicure bit! Oh well, it works! :)

9. I have to resettle back in my dorm on Sunday. Last year, they let us start bringing stuff back on Friday, which was much nicer. I don't really want to go back to my nomadic life, if only for the fact that I've finally got stuff settled in here at home, but it's all part of the package, so I'll live. I also think that I'm going to have to buy notebooks for the first time in about four years, because all of my notebooks bit the dust after last semester. Well, by that, I mean that I finally used up all of the paper in notebooks that I originally used in high school, which is quite the milestone for me! Really though, if you know me, you know how I hate buying new things when I still have something that can tide me over for the meantime. I think I might also need new binders, because all of my existing binders are filled with things that would greatly benefit me to keep (i.e. Physics/Calculus materials). I also have to get my books, and I'm hoping that it won't be as stressful as it was last semester! Hmm...I think I should probably make myself a list!

10. I think that I will start attending a women's running group sponsored by the local running store. I have read multiple articles citing the effectiveness of running in group settings, and it should actually work out for me time-wise. Hopefully, this will help me to be more accountable with my goals, so that I can see real progress! Speaking of accountability, I do believe that I will start tracking some of my progress on here, to help myself be more mindful of my goals. It's worth a shot! :)

Here's hoping that the first week of 2013 will be a great one!