An Early Birthday Present.

[Background information: My birthday is on Wednesday.]

*The doorbell rings, Mom opens the door and comes back in with a package.*

Mom: Someone got an early birthday present!
Me: YAY!!! Can I open it now?!
Mom: I don't know, we might have to make you wait!
Me: Who's it from?!
Mom: It's from a boy!
Me: A boy...? [Internally: What boy would be sending a birthday present to my house...?]
Mom: Yes, a boy named Tom.
Me: Tom? [Internally: Do I know somebody named Tom?]
Mom: Someone named Thomas!
Me: Thomas? [Internally: Do I know somebody named Thomas?]
Mom: Thomas EDISON!
Me: YAY! [After briefly thinking, Isn't he dead?! -- then I remembered that's the name of the college I graduated from last week.]

I'm a diplomatic! 

Soooo I'm *officially* official! And the words say (if you're wondering): "The Board of Trustees, upon recommendation of the President, hereby admits Kayla Rose Holiday to the degree of Bachelor of Arts with all of the rights, honors and privileges thereunto appertaining. In witness whereof, the seal of the College and the signatures of the President and the Chair of the Board of Trustees are here unto affixed this thirteenth day of September, two thousand and thirteen."

In other, less fancy words: I graduated. (On Friday the 13th...)

Yay!

I will be accepting congratulatory cash gifts starting now through September of 3013. (I also have a birthday in two days, so if you want to double the cash amount to cover both things, that is also acceptable.)

Life Without School Is Kinda Boring.

I know that doesn't seem like a logical sentence and you must think I'm losing my mind, but it's true. I've been doing school the last, like, fifteen years of my life and NOW I'M DONE. Which was cool for all of about two hours and then it hit me that, um, I had nothing to do.

Like seriously, I have no life. I kinda had to put whatever inkling of a life I once previously had on the back burner about a year and a half ago when I decided to take the fast-paced approach to college, and didn't realize that that would have severe consequences once I no longer had to do school.

I. AM. SO. BORED.

Yeah, I'm working still. About 30 hours a week. But y'all? There's 168 hours in a week. And yes, I did google that number (twice, because I closed the tab and then promptly forgot what it said), because I'm now [almost] a college graduate and therefore I don't need math anymore. But that's not the point. The point is that there's 138 hours a week where I have nothing to do.

Okay, that's not true. Factor in like, 56 hours of sleep and like two to three hours for church on Sundays...oh! and two hours for my summer group on Tuesday nights...and that leaves me with....hold on...like 70ish (that's not the exact number but AGAIN I don't need math anymore) hours a week where I have nothing to do.

So...what have I been doing with all that free time you ask?

• Reading this AMAZING baking blog I found via Pinterest, and baking ALL of her recipes (Okay, only three. But I'm working on it.)
• Reading this makeup blog (also found via Pinterest) and being reminded how much I LOVE reading up on makeup/hair care/skin care tips, and constantly giving myself makeovers.
• Pinteresting. Meaning, doing every DIY I've ever pinned ever.
• Watching Gossip Girl on Netflix. Because I can't get away from the trashy teen dramas.
• Cleaning/reorganizing my room/bathroom because for some reason THEY JUST DON'T STAY CLEAN.
• Shopping at Goodwill, because it's close and I love new clothes and great deals.
• Spending 45 minutes at Wal-Mart trying to find where the heck they keep the glycerin and the castor oil (for a Pinterest hair mask I was making).

So basically, since finishing college, I have become a well-dressed, thrifty, organized, teen-soap-opera addicted Pinteresting machine monster with cookies. And blondies. Ooooh, can't forget the blondies. They're the best.

Like, no really. When I die, I really hope it's while I'm eating a blondie*. Best way to go, right there.

*I JUST realized that if you don't know what a blondie is, it might sound like I'm eating a female of the blonde hair variety. A blondie is basically a brownie without the cocoa. It looks more blonde than brown so it's called a blondie.

It's crazy how when you have school work to do, there are a million other things you'd rather be doing, but when you don't have school...there's NOTHING to do. That saying that "you don't know what you've got until it's gone" really rings true for me right now. (In a kind of pathetic way.)

But anyway, does anyone else have any other ideas of ways I can keep myself busy? Oh, and PLEASE don't say "working out." Because seriously, I'm not THAT bored.

P.S. Oh yeah, I finished college last week. I just realized y'all didn't know that before I wrote this post. Oops.

Happiness Abounds.

"Happiness abounds." That sounds so poetic. But it's true. The happiness has been abounding!

Here's why:

1. I turned in the final copy of my 42 page capstone last Saturday. That's happy.
2. On Monday, I found out that I made a -- wait for it -- 95 on my 42 page capstone. That's happy.
3. That means I made an A in the one and only college class I'm taking that actually counts toward my GPA. That's double happy.
4. Also on Saturday, I went to a friend's wedding. Weddings are happy. 
5. Today, I found out that my supervisor at work is engaged. Engagements are happy.
6. Today is also the last day of classes at UTA. That's happy.
7. Yesterday marked the beginning of May, aka the last month of me being a college student. That, my friends, is happy.

So as you can see, the happiness is in fact abound. It is so abound, and I hope it stays there. Because happiness is way happier than unhappiness. Does the word "happy" sound weird to you yet? It does to me.

Anyway, you all know that I want to be an elementary school teacher, right? If not, you do now. Over this past school semester I have slowly gotten closer to making that a reality and I am SO excited. I've been helping my mom out with her drama class, and got a couple subbing jobs for a second grade class (which was a lot of fun, but you know how kids are with subs -- I am really hoping they'll listen to me more when I'm actually their teacher, haha). And then after I graduate college, I'm going to take the summer off, and then start working on getting teacher's certification. I'll probably also look into doing some assistant teaching with an elementary school teacher.

I feel like I'm not going to know what to do with my life once I graduate. I mean...obviously I'm gonna work. But I'm not going to have homework. What am I going to do in the evenings?! Supposedly your life actually gets busier once you're out of school, but I don't understand that concept yet. I'm freaking out about not having enough to do. I guess I'll find out soon enough.

I don't really have any big events to update y'all on other than that. In a few weeks I'm going to be participating in a color run. Remember the mud run? It's like that, but with colored cornstarch...we're supposed to look like rainbows after it's done. Awesome. I'll be sure to post pictures of that, and anything else that may come my way.

I also have a few random posts in my drafts that I know I keep talking about and not posting. I'm going to work on finishing those, too, haha.

Until then...

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.

Proof of Graduation.

And now, I present you with the pictures of my graduation day...you know, in case you didn't believe that it actually happened. :)

Before the ceremony.

Giving my speech. I look so into it.

Getting a character award.

These next three pictures are a series of my diploma receiving...

Wait a minute...that's not my name......

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

 

Apparently I wasn't over it yet...at least I had the right diploma.

Turning our tassels to the....left. We didn't know which side it was...we just made sure we

all were on the same side. 

 

Throwing our hats. You'll notice mine is still on my head. No one told me it was time.

 

 Family!

More family!

Christopher! (He wore my favorite shirt :D )

Mom!

Mom and Dad!

Uh...Grandma? What are you doing to me....?

Meagan!

Math buddy sandwich!

My beautiful display board that my mommy made!

There you have it. I've got to go because it's breakfast time, and then I have a date with Shamu. :) Yay for vacation!

The Class of '012.

Yes, I did realize I wrote "'012". I did that on purpose. "Class of '12" sounds like it's missing a syllable.

Sooo....I'm graduated! That wonderful day that you all heard me talk about way too much...it finally came! I graduated Tuesday, May 22nd, and boy does it feel grand. Cue the music... "I feeeeeeel good! *duh nuh nuh nuh nuh nuh nuh* I knew that I would! *duh nuh nuh nuh nuh nuh nuh*"

 But in all seriousness, I am so glad it is over. It has been so stressful the last several weeks, as you may have guessed from my lack of presence in the blogosphere. I have pictures, which I know you are dying to see...but if I put them in this post, this post is literally going to be a mile long...so, I will dedicate a separate post to them later, but here's a preview:

Oh yeah, things got crazy.

So, you may be wondering...now what? I think the question most commonly heard by new graduates is "So, what are your plans for your future?" Ah, the future. I am a future person. I have my wedding planned. Heck, I have my funeral planned. (Have I mentioned I'm a planner?) I like to think ahead. However...my future is kind of hard to explain....

"I'm going to be enrolling full time at UTA in the fall, because I was valedictorian and have a scholarship I can only use if I enroll full time. However, I'm also going to be testing out of various courses through CLEP and DSST and also taking some online courses. Then I will take all the credits from UTA, the testing, and the online courses and transfer them to this random state college in New Jersey that you've probably never heard of called Thomas Edison and receiving my diploma from there with a degree in liberal studies. My goal is to finish in two years, then go on to get my teacher's certification."

That's the true answer to that question. But what I actually say is,

"I'm going to UTA."

It saves a lot of time and I don't have to answer a gazillion questions about why I'm doing it that way or how we heard about the college or the tests or whatever. Occasionally, people ask about my major, to which I say "liberal studies" and then pray that they don't know that UTA doesn't have a liberal studies program because that just brings up a whole bunch of other questions that I really don't want to answer.

In the much nearer future, however, I have some exciting things going on as well. For instance, I am leaving in the morning to go to San Antonio with some of my best friends for about a week. We're going to Fiesta Texas, Sea World, and Schlitterbahn while we're down there. We're also planning on a fancy dinner at an expensive steakhouse and dessert in a revolving tower overlooking the city. Can't wait! :)

(Don't worry...we have parents going with us, they just won't be hovering.)

Then, a few days after I get back, I am leaving for 3 weeks to go live in/renovate a house with a bunch of other girls from my youth group. We will also be learning life skills like cooking, cleaning, budgeting, laundry, etc. It should be a lot of fun, though it will definitely be challenging as well. So just a heads up...I will be MIA for most of June as I can't bring a phone, a computer, or anything like that with me.

July, I plan on working more, and doing some school (I already have 27 hours! That's almost a year of college...and I just graduated! Woohoo!). Hopefully I'll still have some time for fun though...I don't want to be the boring person who works all the time... :) Anyway, I'm bringing my laptop to San Antonio so you may be hearing from me there. I am definitely most excited for Sea World. When I was little I wanted to be a marine biologist, because I love dolphins so much. Haha, can't wait!

 Oh, on a side note...my phone and charger mysteriously moved outlets last night. My parents said they didn't do it. I have come to the conclusion that someone in my family is a sleepwalker, and I intend to find out who. The culprit will NOT get away with this...unless of course it's me, in which case I forgive myself.