And we'll all float on anyway,

Hellooo,
So it's officially spring guys, how exciting is that?! You know what that means--- summer will be here in no time :). Only three months until I graduate and move on from this place to wherever the road ahead leads me. I have been accepted to University at Albany, still waiting on Purchase. It's less than two weeks now until my trip to Disney, I'm pretty excited. I like it when days just sneak up on you, atleast when you have something you're impatiently waiting for.

This nice weather has lured me outside lately, taking walks with Candy and wandering around in the woods. I have decided that I'm going to spend alot of time outside this summer. I envision many days out on the lake and nights around the bonfire. As the days dwindle down though, I can't help but question if I'm making the right choices. The cashier at Hannaford last night was talking to my mom, and my mom of course got on the topic of college hahah. That's what every parent of a senior in highschool has on their mind. Anyways, the lady asked me where I was going and what I was majoring in. I told her journalism, and her response kind of surprised me. "Oh, really? You're into that stuff?" It didn't offend me or anything, but it kind of flipped a switch in me. Am I really into that "stuff"? How do I know this is my niche? Sure, I enjoy writing. I'm that asshole in english that always gets her papers back with a 100 circled at the top. Sure, I love expressing myself through words on Blogger. What I'm questioning though, is if this is enough to mean that I could be a journalist. Our school doesn't offer classes in it, we barely do journal writing
related assignments. How am I supposed to know without the exposure? I guess that's the problem-- you don't. It's all a matter of taking the plunge and ignoring the risks. I guess the biggest issue with me now is I'm discovering new interests. I have actually thought of owning my own small business lately, what with the maple candy success and all. Doing something like that seems rewarding. Being responsible for the success of whatever you're making, putting hard work into it, and personally receiving the benefits. I'm thinking somewhere along the lines of a bookstore, a maple sugarhouse, a little cafe, or some crazy combination of the bunch. It'd be pretty cool to sell natural foods and products too. Who knows, these are just ideas that have been brewing in this little head of mine. I guess I'm getting a little nervous that I'm going to head off to college with this big idea that journalism is my "thing", when I really don't know nearly enough about it. Maybe my passion for writing and sharing my opinion with the world will be enough, hahah :). I don't know. Whatever I do though, I don't want to be permanently trapped in an office.. I could see myself working for a magazine like National Geographic and actually going out and experiencing new things, writing about them. I just know I need my space, my fresh air.

Walking around, exploring in the woods is my cup of tea (:

My boys-- Eeyore(right) and Vinnie(left).

Let's see, what have I even been up to lately..
Hmm.. last Friday was a half day, after my eye doctor's appointment I met up with three of my best guy friends to eat lunch at Panera's :). It was a nice, sunny day too, so we all sat outside to eat. I could really go for one of their strawberry smoothies right now.. like really, haha. I spent the rest of that day taking pictures such as the ones posted above, wandering around in my woods. I love having so much land here. I worked all day Saturday until five, then went over to Derek's house to hang out with the guys. Fire outside, jamming inside, good times with good friends. That pretty much sums it up. Sunday and Monday were both boring, I won't even discuss them. Tuesday I took the day off from school :P. Well, until 10th period. I had about six physics lab reports due by the end of the day and I needed the extra time to work on them, so that was my purpose in staying home. It worked out pretty well. I came back in time for photography and study hall, hahaha. After school I drove a few friends out to Ben & Jerry's to take advantage of Free Cone Day :).
Mmmm... cake batter.
After we got our free icecream we decided to walk around the town, checking things out. We found some cool little places; my favorite being Bettie's Cakes :). We stumbled onto this hidden treasure by complete accident. We were in this little mall of shops, looking at the Egyptian and Peruvian stores, and as we wandered further I saw a sign for a cupcakery cafe and simply couldn't resist. It was such a cute place, completely 50's themed. Bettie's Cakes.

That's my cookie dough cupcake, and Tom's pesky little fingers trying to get a piece :P. It was delicious, and very filling. I'm glad we found that place, it's a great little business. I wish there were more places like that around. Apparently they also have a double decker cupcake bus :), how cool is that?! The bottom of it is used to make the cupcakes and take the orders while the top part is an actual cafe. Things like this make me consider having my own business even more so.

I hope everyone is doing well, catch me up to speed :)!

♥ Olive

Happy St. Patrick's Day :]
I would have to admit that my favorite part about this holiday is going to Stewarts with my green tshirt and getting icecream :). It used to be FREE icecream with the green clothing, but now it's $.50. Ehh, still not bad, it was worth the five minute drive for some birthday cake deliciousness. I miss those elementary days of leprachaun hunting and rainbow chasing. We had this teacher, who happened to be red-headed and a little out there, who would dress as a leprachaun every year, and we would set these "traps" the day before to try to catch him. It was a pretty big deal haha, looking for him all day, disappointed when we saw our traps disassembled and empty :P. Then there was good old rainbow chasing with my grandma, searching for that pot of gold. She obviously knew we wouldn't find anything, but I think she just drove me around so we could spend the time together, and before long I would get wrapped up in talking with her and forget we were looking for anything in the first place. Oh, and whatever happened to the search for the four leaf clover? I miss childhood.

So my maple business has been a success lately :). The candies have been selling well, a lot more people are into maple than I realized, which is cool. The weather has been awful for sugaring though, we need the cold to make the sap run. I however, enjoy this surprisingly warm weather. I just wish it didn't affect our syrup. Spring break is just around the corner, 21 days! Did I tell you guys what I'm doing for it? Well, if I didn't, our class is going to DisneyWorld for our senior trip. I'm so ready for the warmth and the fun.

Hope everyone is doing well,
♥ Olive

Hmmm,

So this is me, writing with nothing head spinningly interesting to convey. But the days are slipping by and the last thing I want is for another month to pass without me catching up with you all, so here it goes.. please don't expect anything life altering or well written haha :).
These days my backwoods, rural roots are starting to pull me in. Growing up I have sort of opposed them, as most difficult little children do, always wanting to repel from what they've been taught. Now it's all beginning to draw me in. I guess what I'm really into is a simple life, you know? Doing something you love and allowing it to bring you its own rewards. I'm really beginning to value hard work. I cannot really picture myself as a farmer such as my dad, but I could see myself operating something like a nice little maple business, or a small bookstore/cafe combo. The more I question it, the more certain I am that I will end up in the country. I may spend a portion of my early 20's living the city life, going out on the town :), but I think I need to settle where it's a little calmer. I want my space, my open skies. I want to take a walk in the woods and not come out on a highway. I wouldn't mind living near a lake either, but not a major tourist destination. Just a beautiful place I can spend the day exploring around with my dogs and watching people jump. I could picture myself having a beautiful horse too. I plan on having a lot of land :). What I cannot imagine is spending my life in an office all day every day. I could swing it while I'm young, I would gladly work for a magazine. I would just rather have a job in it that allowed me to travel and see what I have been asked to write about as well. That is the kind of journalism I'm drawn to. Something I can experience first hand and get the raw details on. I guess at this point I'm just speculating on what I want from my future.

And how are you? :)

'Cause the candy man can :).

Makes the world taste good.

Sunday was a productive maple day for me :). One of my teachers along with her friend and her mom came over to make maple candies for a special occasion. How it works, basically, is you cook a gallon of pure maple syrup(in case you aren't aware we make/sell our own, which is why this is taking place at my grandmother's house) until it reaches the appropriate degree for candy making. My grandma has a nifty temperature that has a scale for what range goes with different consistencies of syrup, such as cream, hard candy, ect.

This is "the pig", named for it's striking resemblence, haha. It's the container the syrup cooks in. Once it's reached the point, we transfer "the pig" over to the table and secure it to the candy machine. Once it has cooled to the appropriate temperature we turn on the machine and open the little pig snout to allow syrup to drizzle into the tray below.

As you can probably guess it is stirred by the coil, and a valve on the end can be opened and closed to let the candy flow into the molds below. Precision is key; this step can get real messy, real fast.

.......And GRANDMA!! Hahah ;D!!

Once you have run out of syrup, this is your end result :).

There will actually be ALOT more than this, trays and trays full. This is what they look like though. The portrait molds belong to my teacher. We generally just make the traditional maple leaf candies although I've considered investing in some new supplies when I take it over this year :). I find the whole process to be pretty enjoyable.

So tell me, how are you guys?