12/3/09--Day 5

Well, unfortunately, I have failed to do an everyday thing. Time to do a redo!

This past week has been crazy hectic and somewhat stressful. I know this age is a lot about making decisions, but it's hard to make them when you could be potentially hurting your mother.

I'm trying to stay afloat in my math class. That's a complicated situation, but I want to finish well. History and English are coming along smoothly! Hallelujah! I'm so excited for this semester to be over in T-minus 2 weeks and counting!

The decisions I'm having to make are about my job situation. I have an opportunity to work at Third Pres with my mom as an intern until I leave next fall. However, that would mean not being able to be with the middle schoolers on Sunday morning that I've become so close with through these past couple months. I love all the kids at Pump, but there's something about the middle schoolers. I feel like if I don't do it, I'd be hurting my mom or at least disappointing her. But, I also have to work at EHA, which, apparently, I'm going to be doing more of next semester. On top of all the job opportunity, I'm taking 19 credit hours in school. It'll be interesting to see how I'm going to hold up!

On to more light hearted thoughts.......Thanksgiving was awesome. I love my family. We ate then rested and talked for a while. But, this year, I felt a little out of place. There was no "crowd" I fit into. Julia was off with her cousin Rebekah, who takes all of her attention. William wasn't wanting to be social. Then, there's the adult group, who talk about work and kids. And then there's the old men group. Well, I don't fit in any of those categories, so I felt a little lonesome.

But! Julia and I decided that we were going to go shopping the next morning. We got up around 5 and headed for Regency, Kohl's, and  Target! It was a blast even though we didn't get much.

Well, hopefully, I'll be able to get back into my routine of writing everyday. I still haven't gotten my computer back, so pictures will come when my computer does!

11/20/09 -- Day 4

Today was pretty decent. I woke up at 7! I didn't really want to...but I got up anyways.

I was supposed to take a history test, but the center was closed for some reason, so I started calling different college about what type of student they're looking for. It's so hard being the initiator, when all your life that's what parents did. Now it's my turn...part of growing up.

I went to history and a fight broke out between my teacher and a student over whether kids who worked in factories during the North's Industrial Age around the early 1800's were paid or not. Literally, it was a yelling match.
English went by pretty quickly, since there was nothing to do but listen to other's presentations. Then, I headed for the Common's to do some studying to take my history test. Of course, when I got there, they were closed. I was really upset because my teacher had today as a deadline. But, hopefully he'll give my grace so I can take it on Monday.

I ran around town and grabbed a gift for Tim, since it was his birthday today and headed home.

I was so excited to be home. I put on my sweat pants and laid down for a few. Next thing I knew, it was 6:30 and we were supposed to be leaving for the Cooper's house to see Jack and Karen! But, I love naps. :)

I love my family!--whether they're blood related or not. I got to hang out with Will a little. Since he's so involved with school and his own friend, we don't see each other much....I miss how close we used to be. I also got to see Billy! He's a mentally challenged guy in his 20's, who loves to hang out with me! Though he can only say "yeahh" and "nooo" and "maaa", we have the best conversations.

We enjoyed the bonfire and each others company. At some points I felt like my back was going to freeze over and my legs were going to burn, but moving positions helped. The air was so clear. Stars are one of my favorite landscapes, so being out from all the Short Pump lights was fantastic.

I was thinking about Monday night today when I spent the night at the Henry's. When Julia and I got in bed and were trying to get to sleep, she prayed to "Daddy." What an awesome example. She does that every night, thanking Him for the day, the people she was able to fellowship with, praying over loved ones, and adding anything that she could think of. It made me ask myself, do I do that? Do I pray to my heavenly Daddy every night? Not usually. My head is filled with dates, to-do lists, college prep work, papers to fill out, people I need to call or talk to, then I eventually doze off. It's not always the best thing to go to sleep stressed out. Just think about how you wake up!

Now I'm home and probably going to fall asleep to a good movie. Tomorrow should be a nice calm day.

11/19/09--Day 3

So, last night I figured out I had a fever. Thankfully, today wasn't a school day so I didn't have to go anywhere. I slept till at least 1 and watched movies until I FINALLY broke the fever.

Mom bought UP! and we watched it as a family with Hannah :)

Unfortunately, I have to be up super early so I can take a test for history. Hopefully, I won't wake up with a fever. But, even if I do, I still have to go to school. I can always collapse after.

Today has simply been a day of rest, which is what I've needed for a couple months. I'm mostly a night person, so staying up until 2 in the morning isn't out-of-the-question for me. I'm trying to switch my sleep habits though to morning. I'd love to start waking up around 6 or 7 and have a full day ahead of me. That can be another goal...

I'm very good at making goals and dreaming, but I wish I was better at achieving them.

Well, there's another day!

11/18/09--Day 2

Day 2 of blogging! I must be getting into a habit...haha. I was thinking this morning about how neat it is that this time next year, I'll be at a college...Everything will be done and somewhat set-in-stone. Crazy thought.

I attempted to get up early this morning, but unfortunately was unsuccessful...My hand kept subconsciously hitting the Snooze button. Oh well.

I managed to sneak in to the Success Center at J. Sarge for Advising about my new math scores. I'm super excited about it. I got into Math 166: Precalculus and Trigonometry. Tons of fun, right? I'm just excited that it's actually worth college credits!

I went to History and took notes. Then, English, where I had to give a speech on my 5 page paper I wrote a couple weeks back. I got an A!!! That was another good note to my day!

After school, I had lunch with dad at McDonald's; a very nutritious snack wrap and apple. I then headed to Panera to sign up for my college level math class! I also got some college research in. I still need to call the transfer office at JMU to talk about how the transfer process works.

I was supposed to meet Mom at home to work on Elijah House papers, but somehow there was a miscommunication and I ended up doing it late at night.

I went to band practice and got a surprise. I'm singing with Dr. John White on Sunday! He taught a band class in 7th grade, so it was a nice reunion. I'm also singing Amazing Grace alone on Sunday, which I'm a little nervous about, but, hey, I've done it before.

I got home and realized I have a fever. Thank goodness for no school so I can sleep and rest tomorrow.

11/17/09--Day 1

Well, here starts a new chapter in the Adventurous Non-fiction novel of Leah Hardwicke! So far I've faced most anything that a family can be hit with, but now I'm facing the giant of college...

Applications are lined up on the "Common Application Online" and I'm ready to get a move on.
I was talking to Catherine (aunt-like figure) about life yesterday and she's been noticing a change in my attitude. "You just seem so much more...joyful, like you have a more positive outlook on things."
I completely agree. Once my first semester at J. Sarge started, I instantly hated it. No one cares who you are, what you're doing, or why. The teachers are stereotypes to the T and students are constantly covered in smoke. Thinking about college was and still is extremely overwhelming. I felt like I was on a Broadway stage, having to audition to the world to prove who I am. But now that I'm in the rhythm and I feel like I'm going somewhere, I'm motivated; something I haven't felt in a long time.
So, now that I've entered into a whole new mindset, I want to get things moving, but the process unfortunately takes time...and a lot of it.
JMU was the first application! I don't want to put all my eggs in one basket, but I'm slowly falling in love with that college. It just seems to fit. So, for now, that's where I want to be. But, who knows? Early action isn't until January. My mind will probably change a hundred times between now and then.
But, back to the here and now. Last night was William's (part of my "adopted" family) last football game...ever. He didn't get to play and neither did many of the seniors at all even during the season. The coaches apologized, but it was a little too late. Even though it was a disappointing loss, we enjoyed our night anyways. We got back the house and ate our midnight pizza snack and headed to bed.
This morning was awesome. I'm not an early morning person, so when the alarm went off at 7, I just rolled back over...until I heard Kay's voice, calling up to Julia to get out of bed. Being the person I am, I got up too not wanting to miss any action. We scrambled to get Julia to school and then came back to the house for coffee. I felt like it should have been 11, but it was only 8! I'm definitely going to try to do the whole bed-thing earlier, so I can have more mornings like today (being shocked at the fact that my day was halfway over). I slowly got dressed and headed home.
Now, I'm about to head to Catherine's to get ready for Jack and Karen (extended family)! Then, maybe work on the speech that I have due tomorrow...

PS: Catherine's house went well. We got a lot of junk out of their closet taken care of so Billy (J&K's son) could sleep in his own room. I actually cleaned our my car (!!!) and enjoyed the gorgeous day. Then, I went and picked up Natalia (girl I used to babysit) to drop her off at GCN practice, but it had been cancelled. I got CFA because I could though :)  Yuumm.

What an awkward date to start out with. Oh well...I've never been normal. 

So begins the journey.

Welcome to my blog :)

This year has been a crazy roller coaster and I wish I had documented my thoughts and feelings about what all has transpired. I've also been terrible at my daily devotionals. I've been praying about how to fix my procrastination and I think I've found the answer.

I've given myself a challenge: 365 days of photojournaling. I want to use this site for my thoughts and pictures during my journey through applying to college, being accepting, deciding which one is right, the beginning of college, and beyond! Sounds easy enough, right?

I've never blogged before so...Here it goes!