Winter Contemplation

There are not enough hours in the day.

It's 11:11 right now, I should make a wish ;). But in all seriousness, it's this late, and there are still quite a few things I need to be doing. Staying out until seven or later most school nights to do the barn chores probably doesn't help, but still.. I feel as though we're forced to just rush through life, poked and prodded when all we want to do is stop to smell the roses. I actually don't care much for the smell, but you get the idea. Relaxation seems to be frowned upon these days.

I'm not talking about sitting around watching Date My Mom, or a reality tv show. I'm talking about having the time to sit down and read a book without having to keep track of the clock. I'm talking about painting and drawing, writing poems or stories; even just little tidbits of inspiration that come into your head. I'm talking about making yourself dinner without using the microwave. All of these things seem to take a backseat to our academic and mandatory obligations. Whenever I've tried to read before bed this week, it has been impossible. My head hits the pillow and I'm done.

Even though I already have a lot on my plate, I think I want to try skiing. I've never had a 'winter sport', and with a lot of people I know taking advantage of the local mountains, I feel like I might as well give it a try. I only plan to go once or twice a week at most, probably only once, when they have discounted nights. I don't own skis, so I might have to find someone to borrow from. I thought about snowboarding, but I hear it's pretty difficult and expensive, and atleast I'm more likely to do well at skiing, and I have the land to do it cross country on my property. I don't know, I just think it might be a fun way to break myself out of this rut of boringness and obligations. Who said being a senior was easy? I just don't know, I have so much on my plate that I feel like hardly any of it's allowed to be devoted to myself. It's all about responsibility and being prepared for college. I guess by taking the time to do things just for me, it's kind of paying myself back in a sense, and giving me some the opportunity to let go of the stress and just enjoy myself.

My friends and I did a little iceskating over the weekend at one of their houses, which kind of set the mood for me wanting to find a way to enjoy the winter outdoors. Amanda and myself above, not the most flattering picture of me, but hey, we had a good time.
Painting is starting to appeal to me lately.

Just as a hobby type of thing. I'm not some fabulous artist, I just do things for fun when I feel up for it(my last two studyhalls that I spend in the art room), which isn't as often I as I'd like. Below are a few pieces I've done during this year, they weren't very time consuming, but I figured I'd show them anyways. The second one is a Sharpie drawing. And yes, that's my lovely Ralph Lauren comforter they're resting on :).

Since I was without my laptop for awhile, and then without my camera, I never got around to posting any of these fall photos, so here you go; random outdoor cats and my crazy little Border Collie named Candy.



Have a great week everyone, I'll be catching up :).