The Third Decade.

I just entered my third decade of life.

Wednesday was my 20th birthday!

To celebrate, I:

Went to work, and was given this fabulous birthday tiara by two of my coworkers.

Please excuse how awful I look. It was early. 

 Was gifted the complete series of Friends on DVD (finally!), a cake decorating set & cake decorating lessons, and a few other small things.

 Presents!!

Went to the Cheesecake Factory with my parents and grandparents, and ate this delicious caramel apple streussel cheesecake.

That's right. Be jealous.

Spent some of my birthday money on a third ear piercing, because apparently I was lying when I got my double and said that I was done with piercings forever.

 I think it's really cute. Don't you?

Also, my growth group started on Wednesday which is always super fun! But I don't have a picture of that. Just know it was awesome.

I always get really sad when my birthday is over. I think the day after your birthday is one of the most depressing days there is. But if this year goes by as fast as last year did, I'll be 21 in no time.

Until then, I'll be looking forward to Christmas. Just 88 more days -- better start shopping!

It's a Brand New Year.

Happy January 1st, everybody!

Another year has gone by. And if you've been reading my posts all year, you know that I had some major disappointments earlier in 2012, but at the same time, so many great things happened in the year as well. To recap:

I participated in a mud run,

I went to prom,

I graduated from high school as valedictorian (also, here),

I went to San Antonio on a senior trip with my good friends,

I participated in a 3 week long training program with some girls in my youth group,

I started college,

I turned 19,

I saw Les Miserables TWICE (at the Bass Hall and at the movie theater),

I went Black Friday shopping for the first time,

I had a merry Christmas,

And a happy New Year (to be blogged at a later time).

2012 stretched me, challenged me, humbled me, encouraged me, made me cry, and made me smile in so many different ways. I crossed three things off my bucket list, I made some new friends, I joined the "adult world" for the first time. And I missed a lot of things about high school, but I still enjoyed my new stage of life.

This year, I earned about 70 college credits, putting me at a total of 84. (If I pass my test this Thursday, I'll have 90 and officially be a college senior). And I survived the end of the world.

I'm definitely going to miss parts of 2012, and I'm definitely NOT going to miss other parts. But I'm definitely excited to see what 2013 has in store for me. Some things I know will be happening:

• I'm going on a cruise next week!
• I'll be finishing college in May and graduating in September.
• I'll be starting and hopefully finishing getting my teacher's certification.
• I'm entering a new decade this year! 20 years!
• And then of course Christmas and New Year's are always something to look forward to.

I rung in the New Year by throwing the first party I've ever thrown in my 19 years of life...and I do believe it was a success. I will post about that tomorrow or another time this week.

But until then...I wish everybody the best in 2013. I hope everybody had a great New Year's Eve, and here's to a brand new year.

P.S. I had the exact numbers of posts in 2012 as I did in 2011. I am way too consistent.

Things Are Changing!

I know I'm a day late, but it's October! :D

Even though personally I think September is better, October's pretty cool too. We are already experiencing some cooler weather here in Texas! (Which means 70s and 80s for those of you who already have snow).

In other news...

Les Miserables was fantastic! It's technically the only musical I've ever seen live (I've seen the movies of Chicago and Phantom of the Opera), but I think it's the best! Okay, wait...I saw a high school version of Oklahoma...but I was referring to the professional ones at like...the Bass Hall...or Broadway...haha.

Anyway, we went to the Cheesecake Factory afterward for dinner and, well, cheesecake. Pictures anyone?

 We were waaaay up high.

 Yay! Les Miserables!

Lemon Raspberry Cream Cheesecake. They decorated the plate for my birthday. :D

 

My mom's giant chocolate cake. My dad's face wins.

These may or may not be blood relatives of mine. I'll let you decide.

Guess what guys? I get to cross off #9 on my bucket list! Which technically says see Les Mis on "Broadway"...but what I really meant is a professional performance that does not include Anne Hathaway (who is playing Fantine in the upcoming movie, and I'm not sure she can pull it off).

I have also recently accomplished #37 and #41. Though the cinnamon rolls didn't turn out very well. Those were made at HEART, and it was my first time using yeast...I did it wrong, and the dough didn't rise. They still tasted good, there just weren't as many and they were kinda more like cookies, haha. BUT IT COUNTS. I don't care what you say. I'm gonna try again someday anyway, so what does it matter if I cross it off now?

Check out my list if you haven't yet and let me know if you can help me out with any of them! Ex: Your father owns an airport and your mother owns a hotel chain and you can get me free transportation, room, and board for that trip to Europe/visit to every continent. Or you know, your uncle is Steven Spielberg and he happens to be directing a new movie with Alex Pettyfer and Taylor Lautner and just so happens to need a 19-year-old girl about my size to be an extra...

It could happen.

And if it does...TELL ME. Pleaseandthankyou.

Happy October!

Nineteen.

That's how many years I've been alive, as of yesterday.

You may think it's pretty impressive that I've survived 19 years. But 19 really isn't all that impressive; it's the age in between the onset of adulthood and an entirely new decade. It's almost as bad as 17: the age between the age of legal driving and the onset of adulthood.

My birthday was pretty good. I mean, there was no way it was going to even slightly compare to my 18th birthday, but considering the circumstances, it was pretty good.

The circumstances being, despite it being my birthday, I still had to engage in my everyday life. Meaning school, work, and growth group.

I got up at 6:30 am to go to my 8:00 speech class. The best thing that happened in that class was that I did not have to do my impromptu speech yesterday--that would have been a terrible start to my day.

Oh, and my dad went out and bought donuts for breakfast! :D

Then I went to my logic class, where I got my test back. I got a 92! Happy birthday to me!

After school, I went to Starbucks to claim my free drink of choice with the birthday coupon they sent me. I got a venti double chocolatey chip frappucino, because no, I don't like coffee.

Then I got to work where I found a beautiful arrangement of flowers on my desk from my parents! For the next hour and a half, though, it felt like it wasn't my birthday anymore, until I got my present from the company. (What they do for birthdays is give you a $25 gift card to the place of your choice and pass around a card for everyone to sign). To be completely honest, I like cards more than presents...I think I read through what everyone wrote like three times before I even noticed the gift card attached to it. haha

I asked for an Amazon gift card, which I will probably be using to buy Christmas presents.

When I got home, I had a couple more gifts waiting from me for my parents. The main one was one I knew was coming, because I had straight up asked for it: tickets to see Les Miserables at the Bass Hall!

Guys, this is the broadway cast in my very own town. Guys, this is on my bucket list. Guys! It's on Saturday!! IMSOEXCITEDIJUSTCANTHIDEIT.

Anyway, my mom also made me a book full of my prom pictures and two recipe books, one of my dessert recipes on Pinterest (and some others) and the cookbook we used at HEART which is incredible.

We went to Steak 'n' Shake last night, which isn't my favorite restaurant but we went to my favorite one the night before. Steak 'n' Shake is really good though, and it has milkshakes.

Then I went to growth group, which is like a discipleship group/book study. We had our launch party yesterday, so that was fun getting to know people better and learn about how the group is going to work.

And then I came home and went to bed.

Overall, pretty good day.

Oh! And then there was the party going on on my Facebook wall.

Guys, this is the reason I love Facebook. Do you know how much I love birthdays? More than Christmas. I'll talk about why some other time, but birthdays are like my favorite thing ever. Not just mine. Anyone's.

Anyway, when I woke up at 6:30, I already had 11 people write on my wall. By noon, I had over 30. And by the end of the day, about 60 people had wished me a happy birthday, on Facebook alone.

That's not counting the text messages, phone calls, and the people who signed my card at work.

And now I'm sad because it's all over...though I do still have Les Mis to look forward to! :D :D :D

From Messy to Marvelous.

And once again, I'm late on the blog posting. I just had the craziest week in school, with a 10 page paper and a 6 page paper due on the same day. I also got sick this week, so that didn't help. But, now it's Friday, the week is (almost) officially over, and I have no plans tonight. So, here I am to update you on the most exciting event of a high school girl's life...

So, if you read my last post you'll know that two weekends ago I participated in a mud run. Well, this past weekend, I did essentially the complete opposite of jumping into mud.

I...

Went to prom! Yay!

And let me just say, it was fabulous. Getting ready was probably one of my favorite parts, despite the fact that it took FOUR HOURS to curl my hair. I have a lot of hair. This is good because I know that I will never be bald. Other than that...it's really not good. If you don't think you have enough hair....just be grateful you don't have too MUCH hair.

ANYWAY....enough about hair...you want to see pictures, don't you?

Good thing we took some! :) I will narrate my way through the pictures, so you can feel like you were there, and then be jealous that you weren't.

 

After curling my hair, I looked like a poodle. Did I mention I have A LOT of hair?

 

The final touches.

Time for pictures in Meagan's front yard!

 

Fun fact: I got my dress for free and have been saving it for five years.

"I don't want to go to prom with HER..."

My back is awkwardly arched...

 

Meagan's overly excited, and I am in shock. Typical.

 

 Aww...friends!

Hey, look! More friends!

 

Look at our pretty dresses. :)

 

 We took a lot of pictures...

  

Tree shot!

 

 On the way to prom--so exciting!

 

Personally, I think the sunglasses complete the look...

We met up with some more friends at prom...

...and things got a little crazy!

Group shot! We're defending the boys.

 

And now the boys are defending us...

 And now I'm about to murder Alex. Don't mess with me.

And that would conclude all the pictures I have from prom. We also had a fabulous dinner with this amazing, mouth watering raspberry mousse for dessert. It was so good, I almost cried when it was gone. And then the dancing was a ton of fun...even though I'm not a dancer, and probably made a fool of myself.

I think my favorite part though was getting ready. I love getting all prettied up and spending extra time on hair and makeup and stuff. For example, I love my hair curly...but I don't typically have four hours of free time, so I usually leave it in its naturally wild and crazy state.

Prom ended suuuuper late...at 1...I didn't get to bed until after 2! Most of our group went to IHOP afterward...but I had to be at church at 7:30 the next morning, so I passed on that one. 

So, that was my exciting Saturday! My first--and last--prom. It was a lot of fun and totally worth the money, but I wouldn't do it again. I think it's worth the money the first time, but not a second, if that makes any sense at all. If it was free, however, I'd go every week.

Also, I mentioned in a previous post that I had a recital coming up this past Friday. That got canceled because one of our girls got sick and couldn't sing. It is now going to take place sometime at the end of May, so I will post about that whenever it happens. Just in case anyone was wondering.

And I have one last note! I wanted to give a quick shout out to Memory from the Lowercase Letters blog. Her 18th birthday was on Wednesday, so I'm a little late, buuut 18 is too important to be forgotten. Happy birthday, Mem! You are now officially part of the adult world. Enjoy! :)

To My Friend.

This post is dedicated to one of my best friends whose birthday is/was today.

I've known who he was for about 5 years, but I've known him for just about 1. But that year has been one of the best.

I hope you had a great day even though you are suffering from a rare and deadly skin disease. (It's actually just poison ivy, but yellow journalism tends to be more readable and fascinating.) Happy birthday, Christopher. I'm glad you were born. :D

P.S. That's three times I've said happy birthday today. Someone better be on his toes come September 25th...you're three behind. ;)

Surprise! (Sort Of)

Yesterday was my 18th birthday.

Saturday, three of my best friends (along with my parents) threw me a "surprise" birthday party. I put surprise in quotes because I knew about it. I did not, however, know what was going to happen.

It was great!

It started off with a kidnapping. My church, every year, does a freshman kidnap in order to welcome the freshmen into the high school. My freshman year, however, I had a volleyball tournament the weekend of the kidnapping and had to come late. Therefore, I never got to be kidnapped. Having kidnapped other freshmen the past three years, I was really disappointed I missed out on all the fun of being kidnapped. So, my friends came up with the idea of giving me the kidnapping I never got to kick off my party.

There was a bounce house (yes, I know, not your typical 18th birthday part event...but hey, it's still fun). That thing was DANGEROUS. People were, like, dying in there. Not literally, but kind of. Oh, and the bounce house had DOLPHINS. Coolest thing ever.

There was lots of good food, including a beautiful cake:

 Decorated by Christopher's mom, Denise. Didn't she do a great job??

There was a fabulous program that started with a live performance of my favorite song. There was a skit, which basically just made fun of me, but it was all true. haha, I'm easy to make fun of. :-) One of my favorite things, though, was the song that Christopher rewrote to be about me. I loved it.

Oh, I almost forgot. I now have a shiny new toy named Flynn Rider:

Vandalism compliments of Meagan.

Disclaimer: This was not exactly a present considering that I paid for it. However, it was fun that I got it at my birthday party and was able to drive it around on my birthday.

This is me with the wonderful people who love me so much that they put in a ton of time to make the day, literally, the best day ever.

My best friends, aka "The Schemers". L-R: Meagan, Ellen, Me, and Christopher.

I am so blessed to have such amazing friends, and I pray everyday that I will be fortunate enough to keep these friendships for a long time.

My party was perfect. I don't care what any of these three say about how things could have gone better. They're wrong. I couldn't be happier with how everything turned out. They truly did give me the best birthday I've ever had.

And, thanks to them, I can now cross numbers 17 and 42 off of my bucket list!