Candlelit Study

This week has been moderately, okay actually super stressful for me. Junior Prom is May 16. I'm still awaiting the shipment of my dress, which WILL need alterations, we just found out tickets to prom are $75, and now some of my classmates want to ditch the lodge we booked and move prom to school instead. I'm really not thrilled by any of this.

So as a last minute attempt to save us from epic fail, I, along with some other classmates, have been trying to organize a carwash/bakesale for the weekend. You see, our town has an annual garage sale. So we figure since that's this weekend, it'd be opportune for us to try to raise some money to lower the whopping price of tickets. Last year the prom was on a boat, but it cost $35, ONLY $35 for their tickets. Ours isn't going to be nearly as nice, yet it costs double. Yay for having a lazy class who refuse to ever participate :. But, if this whole weekend thing works out, I'll let you know how it goes. I think way too much of our earnings are being stowed away towards after prom, since hardly anyone is attending it. I understand we have to offer one, but if only a fourth or less of our class will be there, what's the point of spending a large sum of money on it? My mind has been on a whirlwind trying to process all of this information, and even more details I won't even venture in to. Let's just say this whole thing is stressful to the max.



Our power went out Tuesday, so I got kind of thrown off track with blogging. It did give me the opportunity to light some candles and work on my homework :). Like fifteen minutes into that though, my dad turned on the generator so he could finish milking the cows. So I wasn't in the dark for long, but I felt like taking a picture of my little candlelit study anyways. Because let's face it, the power was out, and I was bored :P.

So I overestimated how long it would take me to post, and it's past eleven. I need to take care of some assignments, and head off to sleep :). I really will make a better effort to post more often, I'm nearing my 100th post!

well folks, it's about time.

dear fellow bloggers, :P
I've been missing in action for like--ever, I know. It has been quite pathetic.
I think it's about time for a major update, is it not? :).

Spring Break.

I felt like it was enjoyable, but I didn't really accomplish much. I wanted to read alot, and catch myself up with alot of things, and [pause for nerd moment] there were things I wanted to research about. I have this itch for more knowledge lately, and I need time and ambition to scratch it. But I spent most of the duration driving around and hanging out with my friends. I was satisfied with that :).


[the college of visual & performing arts]


[the college of arts & sciences ]


Syracuse University
The quest for the perfect college is an adventure I am just beginning. I have vague ideas about what I want, but I'm nowhere near set on any specific school. SU was my first college visit/open house, and it was pretty interesting :). I went with my mom and my friend Amanda, who you should all be familiar with because she's mentioned in like every other one of my posts, haha. But we munched on doughnuts and juice while listening and watching the presentations about the university. There were alot of people my age there because it was an open house to high school juniors.
Things I was highly pleased with :)
- The proximity to the large downtown area. Where I live now offers little to nothing in the form of entertainment. One of the things that the speakers repeated was that students there are rarely bored. I would love that. Concerts, exhibits, just even being able to walk to a coffeeshop. As of now I have to drive 25+ minutes to get to anywhere remotely fun. And I've been to all those places a hundred times over. I want new grounds to venture.

- The study abroard progams. I want to see Europe so badly. There's this Discover Florence program you can participate in your first year, so you go straight to Italy. Plus they have other programs for places like London, Madrid, Paris I believe, Hong Kong, ect. And if you want to go somewhere different than they offer, then they will work something out with a program they're associated with. Love itttt! I do not doubt at all that I'll study abroad for awhile.

- The University consists of several schools, and you can mix your classes between any of them! Like, I thought I would have to only apply and go to the College of Arts & Sciences if that was my top pick. But no, I could take some classes there, and other classes at the College of Performing Arts, or any one of my choosing.

- I also was impressed with the architecture of the buildings. I love the vintage/gothic look of them. The College of Arts and Sciences, and the Visual and Performing Arts College were the best looking in my opinion. I like being surrounded by interesting, beautiful things.

- I feel like it would be best if I went to school at a place where I could drive home if I needed to, but not close enough for weekly visits. I want to go a few hours, preferable less than four, away. I'd be far enough to have independence, but close enough to come back if the need arose. Especially if some of my friends hang around for awhile, I want to be able to visit them and everything. Syracuse is 3- 3 1/2 hours away.

The very few cons.

- I'm not too into sports. Syracuse is very sports oriented and spirited, which isn't really my thing :P. I don't think it'd be a problem though, really. Everyone has their own things they enjoy, and I'm sure I could avoid most of the sports hype, or maybe I'd actually get interested in some of the games. Who knows.

- The dorm rooms were unimpressive. I'm assuming that most of them are the same though, universally. I mean, it's a room. I'd be living there for like two years, then I could switch to an apartment like I want to live in. I wish first two years on campus didn't require dorm living, but oh well. It's not a big deal really. I'm worried about how roommates will pan out too. I kind of like my solitude :.

the rest of my trip;
The college wasn't my only destination.. oh no, my friends. It was absolutely necessary for me to hit up the Carousel Mall. I lovelovelove that place :). I bought some things at Forever 21, Express, and I can't remember where else. Maybe that was it :P. It was great just walking around all day, like atleast six or seven hours, going in and out of all the stores, haha. Amanda and I were so exhausted that night. The hotel room was boring though, all we did was watch tv. I should've told Amanda to bring her laptop :P, curses. The drive was long from there to home, but I didn't really mind it much. I did alot of the driving. I think I could handle a road trip ;). I cannot wait until I go on those!

I spent the rest of my vacation hanging out with friends, especially since Julie and Jenna had been in Disneyworld all week long :P. It was nice having them back, Julie even brought me some goodies. The week back wasn't as bad as I was expecting, but it was still slightly annoying. I'm getting anxious for summer.

Thursday
This just may have been my favorite day this week :).
Jenna, Julie, Amanda, and I went to a horror film fest. We all thought it would be interesting, and it in fact was. The movies were played inside this theater on a huge movie screen. The funniest film shown was Night of the Living Jews, hahah. If you find it offensive, I apologize. I'm not discrimitive towards any group, but I found this to be quite comical. It was meant to be a spoof about these "jew zombies" lurking around this little country cottage. The white christian family inside was incredibly dumb :P.


Let the Right One In.
Wow. I have to say, this one REALLY impressed me. It was a vampire film, but it was focused on these two 12 year olds, Oskar, a socially awkward boy who's constantly teased and bullied, and Eli, a little vampire girl that lives in next door in the apartment complex. Oskar meets her out in the courtyard on the jungle gym one night. At first she kept her distance and refused to be his friend ( because she didn't want to hurt him), but then they winded up growing close. She's his only friend and he teaches him how to stand up for himself, and just live his life. It takes her awhile to tell him what she is, but eventually she has to. Her father, or rather her caregiver, went out late at night to murder townspeople and collect the blood for her to drink. I don't know how to describe it, just the dynamics of the whole film were great. It had really good quality, and it was interesting to watch the story unfold. I loved it, despite the subtitles since it was in Swedish :P. The only vice about it is there are a couple scenes that are a little uh-- awkward, haha. It might have been better if the characters were older, like 15 or something, but that might offset the way the film was. So I think if you can be mature about some of it, then it's definitely worth watching.


the weekend.
Fortunately for me, Friday was a half day :)! I spent it by myself though. I made a trip to the library, the mall/nearby plaza, and the grocery store. I always feel so grown up when I go to PriceChopper alone, pushing a cart around. It's like I'm a mother or something :P. When I got home I took the iniative to finally try out a new recipe.


maple cream pie.
I find this stuff to be absolutely heavenly. I got the recipe from Tom's aunt, who is a pretty much an expert in the kitchen. Since the recipe called for maple sugar, and all I had was syrup, I kind of had to guess and use my best judgement with it, but here's how I made it. I encourage anyone who feels like it to steal this and make it themselves ;).

- 8oz cream whipped cream cheese (I eyeballed it, so don't worry about precision)
- 8oz cool whip, extra creamy
-6 tbsp [give or take a little depending on your taste] of real maple syrup
- pie crust. i used a graham cracker one

* Combine cream cheese in medium bowl with maple syrup. Mix just until texture is smooth, not all clumpy. Then start folding in the coolwhip. Once that's all uniform and nice, spoon it into pie crust. Let freeze over night, then keep it in the refridgerator the next day until you're ready to serve it. It's easy as pie, really :P.

Sooo, Saturday. Prom is approaching in a few short weeks, so Tom wanted to go out to get new shoes for it because the ones he has now, are quite frankly falling apart :P. John tagged along with us, because he didn't want to sit home by himself. We ran into some other kids from school, Mike and Neddo, so Tom invited them to shop with us. I was kind of miserable the whole time because I had a tummyache, and I wasn't planning on being in a large group, so I felt kind of blah. I was just anticipating it to be me and Tom, a simple short trip :P. It was okay though, I just prefer to plan on things, and have those plans follow through. Once we were done at the mall, we dropped John off at Walmart and went to Tractor Supply so Tom could get a belt for his lawnmower, and then it was homeward bound.

I really like it when I get to hang out in the barn/shop over at Tom's, and watch him work on different projects. I don't know, I just find that stuff fascinating. The weather was so nice too, we could actually be down there without freezing :P. I'm pretty inept at mechanical functions, but he teaches me new things, so it feels nice to learn. I watched him work on his "fast lawnmower" that he bought for $15 and primed it at BOCES so it reaches speeds of like 30 mph or something. I'm scared to ride it, hahaha. Then he brought out this old engine to let me play around with. I had to use the wrench to take off all of the bolts, then he showed me the piston, the crankshaft, the carbureter, combustion chamber, the exhaust, and how they all worked together in the engine. It's nice having him show me things because I don't feel stupid asking questions, and he knows how to explain things to me so I actually understand. Hopefully he'll keep teaching me about all this stuff, and I can be like Kari Byron from Mythbusters ;).



I actually had to work today :P. The place I work is a soccer park, so it's only open during the summer and on special tournament days. But there was an event scheduled this weekend, and I was put on for Sunday. I didn't mind at all though, there was nothing better for me to do. Plus it's like $50.00 or more I'll be getting for the one day. Sweet deal if you ask me :P. I got to spend the day in the retail store working with my supervisor, who is actually really cool. She's in her fourties, and she's got this punk rock edge to her, which makes her fun and interesting to be around. We always wind up talking about music, movies, and traveling. I got to actually listen to alternative music while I was working because she likes it too. I'm wicked jealous though, she spent 20 days for her honeymoon in Europe. Her and her husband went to England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland. It was cool having her tell me all about it though. I can't wait until I can go myself. So that was my weekend, pretty much. I think we are all up to date here, I'll try to check up on everyone's blogs and such :D.

♥ Olive

Guess what

I'M NOT DEAD :D

Hahah. I seriously want to apologize for the lack of posting though :(. It's been pretty pathetic. The end of my spring break was just extremely concentrated with things to do, all at once. The beginning felt so chill and lengthy, but once I took off to Syracuse, things just got way too busy. I had plans with friends, people returning from Disney, AMANDA'S BIRTHDAY!!!, and wow. It was just too much :P.

Sooooo.. I swear there will be a decent post soon, with picture from the college visit, and interesting tidbits. I don't have time to do a nice post tonight though, so this is just a filler :). I have been trying to keep myself up to date with everyone's blog, and if I missed yours, I'm sorry. I just want things to fizzle out a little. Being back in school is no fun at all >:[. I did wear a dress today though, I'll post pictures eventually. Now onto English homework!

I hope everyone'is doing well and making the most of their week :)

♥ Olive

update time!

let's get down to business.
to defeat--the Huns. Did they send me daughters, when I asked for sons?
Hahah, sorry. I couldn't refuse the Mulan reference.

Seriously though, my updating has been horrendous. I don't even know how I let the time escape me. The past week of school was mainly devoted to finalizing my research paper and catching up on things, so I guess there just wasn't anything interesting to blog about. Plus towards the end I felt like I was coming down with something, so I combatted my fatigue with extra hours of sleep and gulps of orange juice. Worked like a charm :).
spring break is finally here!
I know many of you have already undergone this much needed vacation, but mine is just beginning. It's kind of depressing though without Julie and Jenna. It's just me and Amanda. There's nothing wrong with just us, obviously :P, but it's super awesome when the whole crew is here. Oh, I never even mentioned where Julie and Jenna are...DISNEYWORLD. Senior trip. Everyone in my school seems to have flown the coop to Florida, it's crazy. New York is currently too cold for my liking.

Saturday morning Amanda and I left to drive an hour & 1/2 to a ballroom dancing competition Shayla was competing in :). Until this point I had never been a spectator at this sort of thing, but let me tell you--- it's incredible. I was so intrigued by it. The grace and rhythm that has to be struck between the partners must take so much effort and practice. I kind of want to learn how to do these dances though. Maybe I'll sign up for dance lessons somewhere.. :) If I get brave. Seeing Shayla was really nice, I've missed her. She's such a wonderful friend to me, and I'm so impressed by how she's learned to dance and everything. It was cool hanging out with her family too, because they're all so nice and supportive. We must have hugged twenty times before I could tear myself away and head back home :P. It was rediculous.

happy easter!
From your friendly blogging atheist :P. Hahah. Nah, my personal beliefs/mindsets don't really intervene with my ability to celebrate traditions. Today was spent over at Grandma's, decorating easter eggs with Amanda :). Since I'm the only "child" in the family, it was just us and my parents participating in the two-room easter egg hunt my Grandma always puts together. It's cute how she still does things like this. It must be funny though, watching grown men and women scrounge their tiny house for little chocolate eggs. But hey, that's just us. It was good spending time with Amanda though, we hung out for most of the day. Just the two of us, like old times. It was a pleasant deja vu :).

I realize you're all really intelligent people, so this may not sound impressive to you :P, but that's okay. I've been really working hard towards getting good grades, and my report card came.. ninety-seven is my current average :):)!! I have never gotten an overall grade that high. Usually it's in the lower nineties. I'm afraid it won't stay that high though.. Because in History we now have a student teacher, who confuses me a little, and I messed up my last test because the review bingo sheet she gave us to study had little to do with the content of the test. I guess I'll just have to keep working hard.

I'm not sure if I'll make a post before I leave for Syracuse.. So if I don't, I probably won't be blogging for a few days. But I'll try to return with interesting things to talk about :).

♥ Olive

Listen up, buttercup :)

This weekend has actually been fairly blogworthy :). Very busy indeed.
It commenced on Friday night, when I had to be involved in "Parent's Night Out". This would be the splendid occasion on which the National Honor Society, [yupp, that's me] volunteers to entertain the elementary for an evening. They break up into age groups and do different activities we organize within the school. I was the kindergarten captain, along with another boy in the club. I swear, events like this are the most effective forms of sex education. I heard SO many people my age say "Oh my god, I'm never having kids." throughout the night. It was pretty funny :P. WORD TO THE WISE; never EVER agree to give one child a piggy-back ride. By doing so, you sign an invisible contract to become the community horse. Suddenly every kid, including the hefty ones, demand a ride.

All in all, my kids weren't so bad though; kindergarteners + first graders are the typical cuties. Most of them were sweet. There was one exception though. She announced that she "likes to bite boys", and proceded to scratch up my partner's arm! Good thing I'm a girl :). Exhausted as I was upon finishing, the night was actually decent to me. Kids can be cute little critters. However, I don't plan on having them unless I'm definitely settled, in love with my husband, and completely ready to take on the responsibility. I'm not one of those girls who "JUST HAS TO HAVE EM". If I don't, I'll be perfectly okay. But we'll just have to see where the future leads me.

[Just a cutesy couple that I caught a glimpse of in the village. Don't mind the quality, I was behind a window.]

1234, tell me that you love me more.

Saturday was wonderful :). Jenna drove Amanda, Julie, and me to this nice village 45 minutes away to look around and see a show. Our friends, "The Punk Trio", as we refer to them affectionately, have their own band. I believe I mentioned this with the fundraising dance. But anyways, they booked a gig with some other localish bands and we wanted to go. Before the show we bought RICE DREAMS, these delicious lactose intolerant icecreams. We get them from the organic grocery there. Then we walked to a few small shops and stopped in so Amanda and Jenna could get hot beverages at this upscale coffee shop. It was crowded though, so we made our way across the street to Borders to revel in the literary ambience. I bought a bargain book called "501 Must See Destinations". I love reading about intersting places, and the pictures were gorgeous. We couldn't stay long though because the show was about to start :).
What surprised me was the venue. I was expecting more of a club/bar type scene. I assumed there wouldn't be alcohol, but I figured it'd be in that sort of place anyways. But lo and behold, it was in an art center.




We walked in and people were wandering around, admiring a collection of paintings. Wine was being sipped and cheese & crackers were being munched. I was like "Hm.. where are all the punk kids..?" Finally Cody, one of the bandmates, emerged and showed us how to get to the concert room in the building. I really did enjoy the art though. The paintings above are by the same guy, obviously, and his style caught my eye. Those two works were my favorite. I love artsy things. I cannot CREATE art, but I sure do appreciate it.



PUNKS.
Zero Climax put on a wicked awesome show. If you're into the punk genre, or atleast are open minded, I suggest checking them out :). The guys in the band are just great, you won't find anyone quite like them. Steve's the one with the mohawk, Jeff is Amanda's boyfriend, and the drumer. Then Cody is the shirtless one who plays bass :P. If you feel like checking them out, feel free to add them. They're a friendly group. ZEROCLIMAX. I don't mean to be all advirtisey, haha. I just think they deserve some recognition.
The rest of my bands weren't quite my style, but I stayed anyways. One of them really freaked me out, haha. They looked old, like in their fourties, and they screamed alot. The main thing I could make out was "LUCIFERRRR" D: hahaha. I'm basically an atheist, but it was still a bit strange to watch.. The singer like got on his knees and rolled his eyes back into his head and flipped off god, hahah. Mildly amusing to watch. I guess they have passion. I'm more into the punk and alternative scene. When I listen to heavy stuff, it has to be something unique. Like The Devil Wears Prada. I love the way the incorportate the keyboard into their music, and the instrumentals just are astounding in all of their songs. They scream though. I like them nevertheless, and I'll be attending their concert tomorrow evening with Zack.

[The shirtless Codester]


[hah, one of those lame finger stars. but look at our cool concert x's :P]


[GUN SHOW! Hahah :). I look rather unattractive, but hey. It's a concert. Cut me some slack :P]

So in case you haven't picked up on it yet, my friends and I are utterly insane. We thought it'd be funny to tattoo phrases on biceps, such as "BANG - BANG" or "KA POW" I opted for "GUN - SHOW". Amanda picked "BERNIE - MAC" (RIP), and Julie chose "WHOOPIE - GOLDBERG" So obviously we didn't have tattoo needles and such, so we settled with sharpies :). Let's face it people, intermissions get to be a bore. After the show ended we went to Ben&Jerry's to end the evening. Cake batter icecream is delish. Then I went back to Julie's, played with her dwarf hamster, and watched season one of Lost until I got sleepy.


start wearing purple ;)
Aren introduced me to that song, and I love it. Sunday morning was spent at Julie's, but she had somewhere to go with her dad, and I wanted to go shopping. After hanging out with the boys for awhile (Tom and his friends were working on his fort), I drove myself to town. I found a purple shirt, obviously, that I liked. So that's mine now, along with some sharpies and toiletries I needed. I hated spending as money as I felt like I did today, but whatever :P. I bought flip flops at Old Navy, 2 for $5.00, two scoopneck tshirts from DEB, $25 light blue chucks from Tj Maxx, and a new journal from Staples. I definitely needed more shoes. All I ever wear are my boots and the shoes Amanda made me, but I want to make them last as long as possible. And my current journal is nearly full, it was time to get a new one. Today was beautiful outside. It felt nice just driving around with myself, windows down, music up.

please excuse the awkward/dumb expression :)



oh wait, was I supposed to be looking at the road..?! :P
Just kidding folks, I was driving slow and attentively on a country backroad.

In regards to my last post, the dress dilemma has been solved! I called the place and spoke to a woman who knew what she was talking about. It should be in the week of the twentieth :), horray. And I'm glad you all like my blog as it is! However, I'll continue to try to add pictures and fun little tidbits as often as possible. I know text upon text can get tiring.

I hope you all had a very enjoyable weekend :)
♥ Olive

Black shoes, tie, & overcoat.

brain juices are rather dry..?
I feel absolutely dumbfounded sitting here, not knowing what to even write about. My blog feels dry and boring. I need to quit being so seclusive. Lately I've felt like having time to myself, to relax, but I think I may be having too much of it. Tom and I hang out nearly every afternoon/early evening, but as far as my friends go, we haven't done anything in awhile. Since last Saturday actually, and that was only during the day. I guess I've let schoolwork and obligations overcome me and push my social life aside. Maybe I'm preparing myself for what things will be like next year if I make New Visions.. busy to the max. I just need to improve my time management skills and handling of stress.
Tonight I was actually run down and in a sour enough mood as to where I turned down going to Panera's. I wasn't hungry, plus I didn't want my antisocial mood to bring down my friends. I should've just gone and tried to push aside the moodiness. Bleh. I feel in better spirits now though :). I wish I could've spent time with my friends, but Tom did a decent job of turning my frown upside down. He did a hilarious impersonation of this mean, butchy girl we know. Like she's built like a tank. If you're in her way, it's pretty much guarenteed she'll shove you right out of it. She also dips chewing tobacco. Attractive huh? :P.

prom stuffage.
So our poverty stricken class has made a fair comeback I suppose. That previous dance/local show along with fundraisers like Yankee Candle helped us out alot. We still have a little ways to go, but we're out of the quicksand atleast. Lately we're trying to figure out the details, like what songs to play. Do you guys have any suggestions? I'm not much of a dancer, so I didn't request many "fast songs". I think I chose Flathead - The Fratellis, because I enjoy dancing around my room to it. I chose Seize the Day - Avenged Sevenfold, and Stolen - Dashboard Confessional, for slow songs. I really hope the dj actually plays them. But if you guys have any suggestions, I'd love to hear them :).
UGHHH. I'm still waiting on my dress. I ordered it back in the beginning of March, like the very beginning I believe. I called back a couple weeks ago and the lady informed me that they take atleast 3 weeks to ship. It's been nearly five I believe.. So what the heck?! During the phonecall she asked me about my order form or something, too.. I was NEVER given one, just the receipt from the downpayment. If they try to tell me that I didn't order my dress because they didn't give me a paper I needed, I will flip, haha. So I'm a smidge worried.

MODERATELY EXCITING NEWS!
I think I might start writing soon, like real writing, like a story. I thought about a character and a possible plotline last night. Who knows if I'll actually go anywhere with it, but the thought is thrilling. I just want my words to manifest into something worthwhile, something interesting. Not just continual descriptions of my semi-uneventful life as a teenager in Middleofnowhere, New York.

Tonight was spent ignoring my chemistry homework (don't worry, I'll do it after this :P) and making rice crispies treats :D. Before tonight, I had never attempted to make them. Surprisingly, my mom, famous for her love of microwavable entrés, showed me precisely how to make them. Oh, they're not even for me. I had to make all three batches for National Honor Society. We're doing this "Parents Night Out" sort of deal, where we entertain a bunch of kids for the night. I'll make sure to write all about it :P.

Lastly, do you guys have any suggestions as to how I could jazz up my blog, make it more interesting? Like Hannah said, it's spring blogging fever :P, I feel like I need a little revamping here.

♥ Olive