Days Go By

Holy moly!  Why is it already late-ish July?  I know I've done a lot this summer, but it seriously feels like the clock is ticking and I've done very little.  Italy? Check! Work? Check!  Hmmm...those are two good things, right?  I guess I've had little pleasures here and there like the concert, hanging out with friends, swimming, etc.

I go to camp on Tuesday and will be gone for 3 and a half weeks.  When I get back I immediately start preseason for field hockey which means I'll be heading back to school everyday...Now that sure makes me feel like the summer is over.  Anyway, I'm really looking forward to camp and as much as I dread the end of the summer, I look forward to field hockey.

Today is my sister Natalie's 19th birthday!  We are actually going to celebrate her birthday tomorrow because she's going to a concert tonight.  I can't wait for her to see the present I got her.  Wait for it...Wait for it...it's a Shakespeare tissue box cover!  Sounds weird, but I have a feeling she's going to looooooove it!

Where Have I Been?!

Enjoying my summer, that's where!  Italy was absolutely incredible--definitely one of the best vacations yet.  Now that I'm back I'm happily working as a camp counselor and just soaking up the sun.  I go off to camp at the end of July, but for right now life is about as good as it can get.

4th of July was great--we saw a nice fireworks show and perfectly escaped the rain (it started right as the show ended!).  We went with some friends and had a pleasant time.

I made a very productive trip to Target the other day.  I got some accessories for my room and new bedding.  Wow! It looks sooo good!  Lately I've been going a little crazy with the online shopping, though.  I bought a new camelbak water bottle (the insulated kind!), a vera bradley travel toiletry bag, new riding breeches (4 pairs *cough* *cough*), aaaaaand a cute bikini top.  Hmm...Maybe I should lay off for a while...

After a little chink in perfection I think I'll be able to ride a few times this week (as opposed to 0 times last week...).  After a clunker of a lesson two weeks ago, I really want to push myself to improve before camp where I'll be riding 5 times a day!  I am soooo excited to go (which reminds me, I should tentatively start packing in case I need to buy anything new).

Well, that's about all that's necessary for this little update.  Take a look at some of these pictures from Italy!

P.S.  I went to an LMFAO concert a few weeks ago!!!

Ciao Italia!

Tomorrow we leave for Italy.  I am so, so, so, so excited!  I am packing tonight because although we have an evening flight, I don't want to be stressed tomorrow.  Tomorrow I think I may actually head out to Barnes and Noble to pick up a few books for summer reading...

This week I was definitely living it up--summer style!  Late nights, sleepovers, pool, movies.  It was a nice little preview of what's to come after I return from vacation.  When I return I will be starting my job as a camp counselor, but that's not all day, I still will have my summer nights!

Do you want a good laugh?  Picture me hobbling around with a grimace on my face while my friend just laughs at me for my misfortune...We decided to do this little 10 minute workout.  It's 1 minute each of 7 different ab workouts and then 3 sets of 25 jump squats/10 pushups.  I thought it sounded like a piece of cake so I went ahead and tried it on Wednesday.  My goodness!  I could hardly walk the next day!  Then, for some bizarre reason, I did it again on Thursday, and then again today!  I am incredibly sore.  Usually it only takes a day to recover from things like this, but I don't remember ever being this sore from a workout...  It's probably a combination of the fact that I have hardly worked out all spring and also because I did it 3 days in a row with no day off.

Anyway, despite having issues walking upstairs/downstairs (downstairs is the worst!), sitting on the toilet, sitting in chairs, sitting on the couch, getting up from a chair, getting up from the couch, and probably a whole lot of other things, I feel muscles under my squish! teehee ;)  This little workout reminded me that I definitely want to be super active this summer (and not just active as in busy, active as in fit).  

Also, I rode in my new saddle today.  It was a dream except for the fact that my stirrup leathers hadn't arrived yet so I used nasty, crispy, crunchy ones from a school saddle.  My butt just makes it because I took the risk in buying a half size smaller than usual.  Anyway, this saddle is extra motivation to well maybe not have such a large behind! haha  Oh, and because life just works that way, my beautiful new leathers arrived today in the mail...after I went riding... HAHA

I have to get packing now...I'm not sure what the computer situation will be in Italy, but I probably won't be able to post anything.  I will definitely return with great pictures, so get ready!  Arrivederci!

Pool Party

Yesterday I had some friends over at my house for a celebrate-the-end-of-school-and-beginning-of-summer party.  It was really fun!  Even though the weather was less than desirable I still had a good time.

The rain held off long enough for us to be able to swim before dinner (even if the air was cold, the pool was heated to 86 degrees!).  We had chicken fajitas for dinner which were definitely crowd-pleasers.  Then we watched Mrs. Doubtfire and made s'mores inside.  I had originally hoped to use the fire pit outside if it had been a typical summery feeling night, but alas, we did the winter style s'mores and made a fire inside.

It was a great way to get everyone together one last time before we go off on our own summer plans and don't see each other until September.  Inevitably, I do usually see my closest friends a few times over the summer, but this was a good kickstart to the summer festivities even if it was 60 degrees and drizzly...

Also, I'm basically in crunch time for packing for our family vacation to Italy.  We leave on Saturday so I really should get myself together...I know what I'll be doing tomorrow...

Summer Freedom

I officially finished my last bit of academics for this school year on Friday when I took my AC1 final.  As a whole, finals weren't bad this year (come on, we're freshman, how bad could they be??) except for Latin.  Latin was that bad...I won't even go into how I screwed up the easy stuff, completely blanked on the hard stuff, and basically drowned on paper.  BUT, it's over and done with now ;)

Now that I'm free I've been able basically enjoy life more.   Sometimes people forget that school honestly stresses out kids...a lot.  It's a full time job...even more so considering we can't leave it in the cubicle at the end of the day.  It's our life.  Yeah, I know, it's important, everyone does it, blah, blah, blah.  But, I can guarantee that what we do in school now is more pressure-filled than "back in the day."

Anyway, I've officially sorted through, packed up, and organized all of my school things and won't be seeing them until September.  That even inspired me to clean my room.  Basically, I'm feeling a positive snowball effect!

Here's my agenda now that school is out:

1. Hang out with friends I haven't seen in a while
2. Have a party to celebrate the end of freshman year
3. Prepare for Italy (shop, pack, learn Italian...)
4. Read Harry Potter like it's nobody's business
5. Spend time with the family
6. Be thankful I go to private school and don't have another month left like the public schools do...

Ok, I've basically done a lot of the stuff on this list already.  I've seen friends, I'm having a party Wednesday (small gathering), I've had umm..multiple shopping sprees to get ready for Italy (but haven't actually packed yet), read Harry Potter, went out to dinner with my family, and aren't I always thankful I go to private school?? 

Some other things on my mind:

• Horseback riding.   pfff...this is it's own post! Let's just say it makes me dizzy in the head thinking about it (ok, not really, but whatever, it sounded good!)
• I'm going to Boston tomorrow for a class trip woooohoooo!!
• I ordered new towels for my bathroom (random, but a total excitement for me nonetheless)
• I got a new saddle...finally after searching for a bajillion years (ok, maybe just a few months...)

So I know this a jumbled mess of a blog post, I definitely need to get better about focusing these things...I think it's partially because it's the first one in a few weeks.  But don't worry, they will get better, more organized, and hopefully more frequent now that I'm out of school.  I'll also be sure to put pictures and doodads besides just plain words.

Almost There!

So this is going to be a really mini post.  I am in the middle of review week for finals.  In 10 days I will be done with all work related to freshman year!  I'm really busy right now with review but I think I will be prepared for my finals come Tuesday (math and bio on the same day! yuck!).

Anyway, I have a lot of things on my mind right now, but of course I have no time to blog about them with finals looming... But, I will mention some mini things that won't take a lot of time.

1. a few of my friends are at a One Direction concert tonight  (have fun, guys! I wish I was there!)
2. I plan on having a pool party to celebrate the end of finals/school year
3. I had Chipotle for dinner tonight ;)

So, that's my mini, random update. Expect some bigger, meatier, all-around better posts once I'm on summer break.  

Stop and Smell the Roses

Sometimes I get so caught up in school that I forget to realize that there is life existing outside of school.  This weekend, for example, I had a wonderful time just slowing things down.  Don't get me wrong, I still did a butt load of homework, but I did some other fun things too.

• I unwound with some junky tv
• I went out to dinner (just me and my parents, no sisters!)
• I baked my mom scones for Mother's Day breakfast
• I gardened with my mom on Mother's Day
• I had a great time taking pictures at my weekend house (I got some really great reflection shots because that was my photography assignment this weekend)

Overall, I was able to really decompress this weekend which was a nice treat.  Unfortunately, as soon as I got back to school this morning a whole flood of problems, irritations, thoughts, and other daily troubles came back to me.  It's great to unwind sometimes, but then it feels pretty awful to have real life come back and settle on your shoulders.

I don't have to worry too much longer, though, because I only have 5 days of classes, 4 days of review sessions, and 4 days of exams left.  Whew! 

It really is starting to sink in that soon I will be on summer break with almost 3 months of no school.  My oldest sister is coming home from college tonight, so we're opening gifts for my mom tonight instead of yesterday.  

Oh, and as a last minute thought, you know sometimes you need a break from things or people you love? It's like you spend every moment of your time with them that sometimes you just need time away from them.  Not alone time, just time with other people...

The pond was full of critters this weekend.  I got pictures of most of them, but there was a huge bullfrog that kept getting away from me!

I especially love these tadpoles.  It's so cool to see an animal in sort of "textbook" style.  You always imagine just a frog and maybe the younger tadpoles, but these guys look like they're pretty far along...maybe next week they'll have the beginnings of legs!

Baking in a Bikini? You Bet!

the remains of the Easter decorations... I guess Mother's Day is next...

Today I had the day off from school for professional development day.  Teachers sit through meetings all day and the students have an extra day to catch up on work, relax, or concoct in the kitchen to their hearts' content.

First I must say something about the weather.  It was GORGEOUS today!  Definitely the kind of day that has you aching for summer.  High 70s, sunny, blue sky.  Not a bad day to have off from school...

After heading out to get froyo for lunch (you read that right, I had it for lunch, not after), I came home and wanted to sit by the pool.  But, not before I had the urge to make something in the kitchen.  Actually, I wanted to make it for my sister to take to her tennis match, but it wasn't finished cooling in time.

Anyway, I decided that being home alone on a gorgeous day I would bake...in my bikini.  Weird?  I don't think so.  I was wearing an apron at least!

First thing I made was a dump bar.  Literally I dumped everything into the pan and baked.  :)

Layer 1: refrigerated sugar cookie dough (I had bought two rolls but only ended up using one for my rainbow pinwheel cookies)  I actually pressed this down, not really dumping
Layer 2: semi sweet chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, and heath bar toffee bits
Layer 3: sweetened condensed milk
Layer 4: flaked coconut
Layer 5: the remaining semi sweet chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, and heath bar toffee bits

I'm not exactly sure how long it baked for because I originally put it in for 15 minutes but that was WAY too short and ended up putting it back in for probably 15 more minutes, maybe 20...

First time out of the oven...not nearly done but still looks mighty yummy.

These things are deadly.  Lucky I was wearing my bikini because if my tummy weren't in site I would've eaten the whole pan with no shame.  But, I resisted to just picking off the "scraps" that stuck to the knife, spatula, pan, and maybe the ones that I pulled off the bars themselves...

Wait for it...wait for it...

The gooeyness is calling my name!

Sweet, gooey, caramelly, buttery, toffee-y, chocolatey, chewy.  If I didn't care about appearing somewhat sane, I would've hidden in my playroom with the whole pan and scarfed them down as I watched my latest netflix, John Tucker Must Die.  Seeing as I like to occasionally appear somewhat normal, I let these babies cool, cut them up into generous squares and packaged them up for either my mom to take to work or for me to take to school.  I haven't decided who gets to be blessed with these bars of heaven yet.