2012-2013 School Year

{{Not sure if this post is really a great example of blogging like I talk, but the words really just flowed out, so I guess it is?  Anyways, this is a more personal post, but something that was-and is-really important to me. :)}}

Random picture, but I needed something haha.  :)

  June 6th, 2013 was my last day of the 2012-2013 school year.  Of course, I was ready for summer {I mean, who wasn't?!}, but I was also definitely feeling sad.  And why was that?  The 2012-2013 school year was probably the best of my entire life.

  To say that is definitely saying a lot.  I've always been the type of person who enjoys school, has a pretty good group of friends that I look forward to seeing on a daily basis, I haven't ever had a particularly bad teacher, and my grades have always been pretty steady.  This year held true to all of those standards, but it also went above and beyond.

  This year, I made some really amazing friends.  Like I've said, I've always had people I've enjoyed spending time with, but as we all grow and change, friend groups change, too.  I had no idea, going into this school year, that I'd become close friends with people that I was friends with when I was really young, close friends with people I'd barely talked to before, and strengthened some of the friendships I'd already had.  Of course some friendships didn't remain as close as they were last year or the year before, but I can still consider those people friends.

  These "new" friends of mine are so different than me, but at the same time so similar.  They're the girl athletes of the grade, the girls whose lives revolve around basketball, volleyball, softball, and track {or any mixture of them, therefore}.  You look at them and automatically know that they're the athletes.

  Now, if you've been reading this blog for a while, you know that the school sports I'm involved in are cross country and track, but dance is my thing.  Who would've thought that I could be close to people so different?

  I don't know exactly how it works, but it definitely does.  There are so many people that I consider friends, both in this group of athletes and out, and I really appreciate that.  I definitely think that this year was a very good year for our entire grade, that we all kind of learned to respect each other, even if we don't agree with every person in the grade.  That was very important for all of us.

  This year wasn't drama-filled at all, and for that I am SO grateful!  I've had years that I look back to and think, "Drama, drama, drama."  I'm glad that this year wasn't one of those.  Of course there were little things that came up, but not enough to become anything serious.  I did have some doubts of where I fit in at times, but by the end of the year, I think I found my niche. :)

  Besides this school year being a good year for finding my friends, it was good in so many other ways.  All of my teachers were seriously amazing.  Every single one of them was so awesome, funny, and I could really talk to most of them about anything.

  My amazing math teacher knew just about everything about everyone's social lives, relationships, and everything in between, but it wasn't in a weird way.  She loved to hear about what we did over the weekend every Monday, and we all were excited to tell her.  My math class overall was actually extremely amazing.  We've all been together since around third grade {with the exception of a couple of people that have joined the class in the last few years}.  We're a family, and next year, some of us won't be together.  Obviously, I'm kind of {extremely} upset about that, because it won't be the same without them.  But the memories our math class made are memories I'll remember for a long, long, time.  :)

  Also, my homework/grades were both really great!  I actually maintained a 4.0 GPA throughout the entire year, and I'm hoping to keep that up for the years to come!  And actually, I didn't have an excessive amount of homework that I had to bring home on a daily basis, so that was really great, of course!

  I know this post was extremely long, but I definitely wanted to talk about my school year.  I've had an amazing summer so far, and it'll only get better from here, but that's a whole different post!  So, how was everyone's school year?  I'd love to know. :)

xoxo,
Carolyn

In Which I Explain My Hiatus! {{A HUGE Update Post!}}

  Well . . . hi guys.  So, I haven't posted in about two months, and-trust me-I feel pretty darn bad about that!  But before you start asking questions about where I was, if I was/am okay, or if I'm giving up this blog entirely, let me explain myself!  And while I explain myself, please enjoy some photos of the my Red Bud tree and some other miscellaneous things from my phone!  :)

Warning: Lots of words ahead

Whenever I put on mascara, I feel the need to take
pictures like this.  :)

Dance

  The dance season is over for a month or so, and I'm sad and bored, as I always am at this time of year.  I was so busy with dance, as I had three recitals to perform in.  Being in three recitals means lots of practicing, so time on the computer was really cut out of my every day life.

Track

  I honestly can not remember if I ever told you guys about this, but I was in track this spring sports season!  I really enjoyed track, but I had so much going on, I only had the chance to go to two meets out of the eight that were scheduled.  On top of that, the last track meet we had-which was a home meet and also the conference meet-had to be cancelled when it was only half way over because of thunder storms.  To say the least, I was really upset!  I only got to run in one event,-the open 400-which I got first in my heat in, but seventh overall {aka one place away from getting a ribbon and actually "placing"}.  Although that really stunk, I'm definitely going to keep on running, and I hope to run a lot this summer, including some 5k's!

School

  School has definitely been a big part of my life recently!  School is beginning to wind down, and for that I am so thankful!  Our last day is the sixth of June, which could definitely be worse.  I really need to get to reading, {that's what I'll be doing after I hit publish on this post!} I have a lot of big projects going on, I need to get to practicing my French horn, and all kinds of other things are going on right now.  The school year's almost over, but school work definitely isn't.

Life in General

  And then, of course, I still have the little things of everyday life.  I still have to make time to be a regular human being, getting outside, hanging out with friends, just doing everything that I should be doing.  With summer coming, though, everything will be so much better!

  So that was kind of extremely long, but I hope you guys read through the whole thing and understand that I'm not trying to just give up on this blog.  If I have to take a break, {such as this one, even though it wasn't planned} I have to take a break.  Once summer comes I'll probably have more to post about, but who knows what summer holds for me!  I guess we'll find out soon enough.  :)

xoxo,
Carolyn

Valentine's Dance 2013

  So, it's two days after Valentine's Day {already?!}, and I thought it was only right to write about the dance.  :)  I wish I could post pictures, but since I can't show my face {or the faces of my friends}, that's not going to work.  But oh well, right?!

  The dance was absolutely AWESOME!  I had an amazing time with my friends, and it was just so much fun.  The DJ was great and made everything really fun.  The lights were great, the music was just loud enough, and he'd always announce a slow dance {so then it wouldn't be so awkward} and made fun little comments about songs.  It was great fun!

  There was a worst part of the dance, sadly, but it's kind of a funny story, so I'll share it!  So, the DJ had this smoke machine.  It was just in front of where he was set up and barely any smoke was coming out.  Well, the fire alarms went off, and we all had to evacuate the building!  Keep in mind that it was below freezing, some people were wearing dresses, lots of people didn't have shoes on, and there was snow that had just fallen earlier that day.  Yikes.  But it was all fine, and we got to go back in quickly.  That's a memory right there!

  Alright, so let's talk about what fun stuff happened at the dance!  So, my friends and I danced nearly the whole time, which was really fun.  My frannnns Makenna {I've talked about her lots!}, Sam, and I had a dance battle with some guys, and we totally won.  We even had a Macarena show down, and again, I think that us girls won!

  Now, you might be wondering about the fact that I said I had a date to the dance.  Indeed, I did, and I don't think I'm going to use his name on here.  I said Germs in my Dear Boys post, but that's an inside joke I won't explain.  I promise you, he's not germy.  It's just his name.  But basically, I'll just call him J.  J asked me to the dance with the help of his friend C.  It wasn't a big extravaganza, just him asking me to the dance, and me saying yes in a kind of confused manner.  Haha. :)

  So at the dance, C was trying to get J to dance with me, but J just walked away because he's so shy.  Then he just kind of stood nearish to me and walked around aimlessly until he got the nerve to ask me to dance.  And he did, and we danced for three of the slow dances.  He was very quiet when we danced, but-as I have said before-he's so shy.  But still, I just thought it was cute that he asked me at all.  He's a lot shorter than me, so it was kind of funny.  My dad {who is my principal, if y'all didn't know} came over to us and took a picture.  Oh, the joy of having your dad as the principal. *sigh*  

  But all in all, the dance was extremely fun.  It was a night I'll always remember for sure!

  Hope y'all enjoyed this post!  I've been in a blogging mood lately, if you can't tell.  I have lots of stuff coming up, so I'll be posting about that when the time comes!

xoxo,
Carolyn <3

Dear Boys: Valentine's Day

  I felt it was only right to do a Dear Boys post on Valentine's Day, and so I shall!

Dear Germs,

I think it's very sweet you asked me to the dance.  You're cool. :)

Sincerely,

Cererlern

Dear . . . Erlerx,

You've appeared in more than one of these posts.  Cool, no?  But please stop shipping people.  I'm sure no one appreciates it much.  {No offense.}

Thanks for the Tootsie Pop,

Rainbow Dash

Dear Son of Athena,

We are brother and sister, but stop smiling at me in choir and mouthing, "Sister!"  It's very . . . scary.

Worried,

Daughter of Athena

Dear Serth,

I thought I must include you in here, too, because the rest of the people from TAG are in here.  So . . . yeah.  Friction is cool.

Laughing,

Uhm.  I don't know what to put my  name here as.

A Post Full of Winky Faces and a TAG!

  Hey y'all!  Sorry for the lack of posts, I've been super busy lately and am still unable to get pictures on my blog, but I promise I'll figure something out, or at least try as hard as I possibly can!  But let's not focus on that, mm'kay?

Though this was fitting, since tomorrow is
Valentine's Day! :)

  So, with Valentine's Day {or Single's Appreciation Day!} coming up tomorrow, I thought it'd be fun to do a Valentine's Day TAG!  I haven't done a tag on my blog in an eternity or seven, and there are some floating around YouTube, so I thought, why not?  Sure, this is made for YouTube, but I'd answer the questions the same either way.

1.) What are your thoughts on Valentine's Day?

  I-personally-like Valentine's Day.  It's not my favorite holiday at all, and I wouldn't say I love it, but it's fun nonetheless!  I do like tend to go all out for this holiday, giving people heart-shaped things and chocolates and red roses.  So, I can say that I do like Valentine's Day.  :)

2.) Have you ever had a Valentine before?

  Yes, yes I have! I had a Valentine last year, actually.  And when I was little, I'd always give Valentine's to the person I "liked" that said, "I love you" and stuff like that!  Was I the only one?!

3.) What is the cutest thing you've ever experienced/seen a friend experience on Valentine's Day?

  You know, I've been thinking about this question, and I can't really think of something too extremely adorable, but one experience for me was when Carter {look at link above} gave me the bracelet.  It's very pretty and was so special to me.   :)

4.) What is your favorite Valentine's Day candy?

  Although this isn't a candy, and I haven't ever really eaten it on Valentine's Day, I'd have to go with chocolate covered strawberries!  They are a m a z i n g!  XD  But chocolate in general is pretty great, and conversation hearts are good, but only some of the colors!

5.) Do you have a Valentine this year?

  Nope, I don't.  But someone asked me to the Valentine's Dance, which is tomorrow, just today!  We're just friends, so he's not my Valentine.  XD

6.) If you were to get a gift on Valentine's Day, what would it be? {Ideal gift}

  I don't really know, to be honest.  Something super cute {when I was older} would be a little picnic inside {there's still snow here!}, or maybe a song or poem or something heartfelt like that.  :)

7.) If you were to have a celebrity Valentine, who would it be?

  Hands down, Louis Tomlinson.  I can not explain my love for Louis.  He is amazing and I'd love to have him as a Valentine!  I'm sure he'd have lots of fun ideas of what to do on Valentine's Day!

  Well, that was all for the tag!  I hope y'all enjoyed!  :)

xoxo,
Carolyn

Five Sleeps 'til Santa!

  Well, since my last post, quite a few things have happened . . . 

Pictures in this post were taken last night when the blizzard started!

1. We had a BLIZZARD!  {{Last night!}}
2. We had a SNOW DAY! {{Today!}}
3. We're having ANOTHER snow day! {{Tomorrow!}}

  So, needless to say, I'm a very happy girl.  :)

  Christmas is coming oh-so soon, and I still have some presents to buy!  XD  I might be getting some presents for friends, my cousin, and my dad tomorrow, if the stores downtown are open, that is!

  Sorry for not much of a post today, but I'll probably have more snow pictures tomorrow night!

xoxo,

Carolyn

Seven Sleeps 'til Santa!

  I can NOT believe that in just a WEEK, it'll be Christmas day!  I am honestly so extremely excited for Christmas, I can not even begin to explain it.  XD

  So, Christmas break is coming up really soon!  It's Tuesday,-obviously-and I'll 100% be going to school tomorrow.  Then, Wednesday night, we're supposed to get a huge winter storm!  :D  So, the likelyhood of actually having school on Thursday is becoming slim, which makes me oh-so happy.  ;)  So, if we have a snow day on Thursday, that means that we only have FRIDAY until break!  I honestly would have no problem with going to school on Friday because we're having winter activities all day instead of actual classes.  OH YES!  XD  {{And, my dad also said that-due to the weather, since it's supposed to snow all Thursday, too-we might not even have school on Friday at all!}}  I am SO happy!

  Really, Christmas is coming so fast, and I can't believe it!  Just a week and I'll be waking up and feeling way too excited.  XD  Eeep, I am so excited that I am seriously feeling excited RIGHT NOW, as I right this.  Carolyn, calm yourself.

  As you can easily tell, I am just a tad excited for Christmas!  :D  I've been posting some Christmas videos on my YouTube channel, if you'd like to check those out . . . and I'd really love it if you did.  ;3

  MERRY WEEK-UNTIL-CHRISTMAS!  <3

xoxo,
Carolyn

Goodbye, October!

  So, I haven't posted in a long while . . . eek.  I apologize.  XP  I last posted at the BEGINNING of October, and today's Halloween, or otherwise known as the last day of October.  I really am extremely sorry, guys.  But I do hope you forgive me!

  So, October was a rather good month!  Full of fall colors, smells, sights, and sounds.  :]  My dad's birthday was the 19th and my brother's birthday was 24th, and they're both A YEAR OLDER!  :O  That's the oldest they've ever been!  :D  I've had lotsandlots of dance, which is AWESOME.  :3  And for Halloween, I didn't dress up, but I do have a costume to wear . . . for our Halloween dance TOMORROW!  <3

  So, I am very really extremely excited for November!  Let's compile a list of great things that will happen once November is here!

NaNoWriMo!

NaNoWriMo is starting tomorrow, and I'm going to try my absolute hardest to achieve my goal of 25,000 words!  :D  I'm writing the sequel to my first NaNoWriMo book, The Fall of Olympus: Storm!  :3  I'm really utterly excited to become re-acquainted with all my lovely characters!  :]

The Fall Dance!

Tomorrow is also the day of my first school dance of the year!  :]  It's a fall/Halloween dance, and there's a costume contest!  :D  I'm dressing up in an extremely comfy costume that's quite original, if I do say so myself.  ;]  What is it, you ask?

  And if you guessed Harry Potter, you're wrong.  Who else wears circular, black, glasses?

. . . 

WHERE'S WALDO, OF COURSE!  :D

  So yes, I am very excited for the dance.  I'll be slow dancing with my lovely friends, because we're all #foreveralone.  XD  {{#hashtagswag #hashtagsdontbelongonblogsbutidontcare}}

TAKE ME HOME AND REACHED!

The new One Direction CD comes out on November 13, and I am COUNTING DOWN THE DAYS!  Ahhh, so excited, as I am me, the obsessive fangirl Directioner!  :D Which reminds me, my Jack-o-Lantern this year was the 1D symbol.  ;D

And also on the 13th, Reached by Allie Condie-the third book in the Crossed series-is coming out!  I can't wait for this, either!  <3

MY BIRTHDAY!  {{And my mom's.  XD}}

I am SO excited for my birthday!  November 17th, only 17 days away!  :]  We're having our family birthday party this weekend, and my birthday party with friends will be on the 16th and 17th!  :D

My mom's birthday is on the 30th, too!  :D  We're both November birthdays!  ;]

~ ~ ~ 

  So, I've got a LOT to look forward to in November, and that's not even all of it!  :3  November's going to be a good month.  I can just feel it.(:

xoxo,

Carolyn

Falling for Fall

  First, please let me apologize for not posting in A MONTH.  But let's not dwell on that.  XD  So, let's get on with the post! :]

  Fall is officially here.  The leaves are brilliant shades of orange and red, and they make such a satisfying sound as I walk on top of them.  The temperatures have dropped rather significantly, and it's basically the perfect weather for hot cocoa and reading good books.  :]

  I got rather excited when October came rolling around.  October means a lot of things to me, so I guess I'll compile a list of those many things!

1. Fall is officially HERE
2. My dad's birthday
3. My brother's birthday
4. Cool temperatures
5. Nutcracker practices! :D
6. Dance team!
7. My schedule becoming routine
8. Homework -.-
9. Reading
10. Warm sweaters, jeans, and tall boots <3
11. Halloween 
12. NaNoWriMo is near!
13. . . . And so is my birthday!
14. . . . Which means so is my DSLR!  {{Well, hopefully. I'm saving up!  ;]}}

  Needless to say, I'm excited for this month.  Oh so much.  :]

  I decided to take this opportunity to talk about some books I've read/am reading/am really excited to read/hope I get for my birthday.  XD

  So, I recently finished re-reading The Hunger Games!  It took me a REALLY long time to re-read it, as I had a lot going on in August and September.  But come October, I just powered through it.  XD  I did enjoy it a LOT, though {I mean, how couldn't I?  It's The Hunger Games, for goodness sake!}, don't get me wrong.  ;]

  So, a couple days after I finished The Hunger Games, I decided to start The Maze Runner by James Dashner!  :D  I'd been wanting to read this book for some time, since I'd found it through Goodreads.  So, at the beginning of the school year, I noticed my English teacher had it on her bookshelf, so I checked it out as fast as possible!  I just started it yesterday, actually, and I'm loving it already!  <3  It's such an interesting concept, but it does have that Hunger Games vibe to it that I find in most of the books I read.  XD  It also reminded me a bit of The Heroes of Olympus series, which is another AMAZING series!  {{I'll return to that topic soon.}}  But anyways, it's really awesome, so you should check it out.  ;]

  So, speaking of The Heroes of Olympus!  THE MARK OF ATHENA CAME OUT NOT TOO LONG AGO AND I'M KIND OF FREAKING OUT.  :O  Seriously, I NEED TO READ THIS.  Bleah, if you're reading this, I read that you're feeling the same way.  XD

I'm kind of adoring the fact that my house now has a blue front door.  :3

  So, fall, I love you very much.  I am so happy that you're here, and I'm most definitely falling for you.  ;]

xoxo,

Carolyn <3

{{By the by, I'm ten away from my goal.  And I'd really adore that ten by my birthday.  Thanks so much for all the follows, lovely people!  <33}}

WICKED MUSIC {{Pun Intended}} . . . And Other Stuff

--Art means glitter, which means my shamazing Glitter Buddies <3

--Chugging down lots of A&W Cream Soda

--Wishing it was sweater season {and it's obviously not, because we've been getting out early for heat nearly every day thus far}

--New ballet shoes

--WICKED MUSIC {{pun intended}}

  School's been pretty good.  I've honestly made a best {guy} friend already.  :]  I do very much enjoy talking to him, he's one of my Glitter Buddies, you see.  XD

  Dance starts tomorrow, and I have Nutcracker try-outs this Sunday, so I'm just VERY excited right now.  :]

xoxo,
Carolyn

Hello, September!

  I can honestly not believe that it's already September.  2012 is whipping past so quickly, it's pretty crazy!  XD  I know I'm not the only one to think that, I've read at least three other blog posts feeling the exact same way!

  I've spent September lazing around, eating barbecue, taking pictures {that I am quite proud of!}, writing lists for my birthday {because it's not that far away, really!}, and dreaming of my DSLR.  ;]

  I've finished my second week of school, and it was pretty darn good!  :D  Nothing to complain about, really.  ;]  Plus, we got out of school early every day this week because of heat, so I'm just content.  XD

  Sorry for the boring, small, post, but I don't ever feel like writing much when I have photographs in my post.  XD  So, that explains it!

  I hope September's lovely for all o you, and I'm sure it'll be gone before we know it, so let's enjoy it.  :3

xoxo,
Carolyn

Back-to-School Series: Episode 5

  Sorry for not having one of these up in an ETERNITY.  XP  Life's been really super busy with school started and such.  So, enjoy the video, and PLEASE READ DOWN BELOW THE VIDEO, TOO!  XD



  Alrighty, so I made a vlog every day {except for Friday} this week, but some of them weren't uploading, and therefore I can not have a full weeks' worth of vlogs. :(  BUT!  I'll just tell you about it right now!  XD

  So, school's been going GREAT so far!  I've really had no issues with getting to classes, my locker combination, etc. etc. etc., which is great because I'm in a new building.  :]  All of my classes are good, I have at least one friend in each class, if not more, even though I usually don't have the opportunity to sit near them.  XD

  Well, I would've gone into extensive detail if my vlogs were up, but I hope this satisfied you!  Please do comment and tell me . . .

1. Your favorite outfit of mine
2. When you start school
3. And if you have already, how it's going!  :D

  And always request more videos, and tell me how you liked the video! :D

xoxo,
Carolyn

Back-to-School Series: Episode 4

  IT'S FINALLY UP!  :D  I'm so sorry that this has taken SO long to get up!  I only have so much space per week on Vimeo, so I'll have 2-3 videos for the series up per week.  So, this video took up A LOT of space, that being said, I'll try to get two shorter episodes up.  If I can only get one more, please do not be upset!  But anyways, ENJOY ZE VIDEO!  :D



  SO!  Besides this video, I have eight days until my blog turns one, and nine days until school starts!  :O  I am SO excited for school!  I have my schedule for the most part, but it's kind of subject to change right now.  I have my orientation on sixteenth, so not tomorrow, but the next day!  :D  I can't wait to get  my locker all "dolled up"!  :]

  In other news, I got CONTACTS yesterday!  I've had glasses for FOUR years, so it's quite a change! But it's been going well so far.  I got to wear them for four hours yesterday and six hours today, and the rest of the week will be six hours, as well.  So yes!  :D

  Well, that's all I have to say!  I need to get in the shower, it's late, and my mom wants to use her laptop.  XD  So I shall be off!

Lots of love,
Carolyn

Back-to-School Series: Episode 3

  Hey guys!  I edited this one on my mom's Mac with iMovie, and gosh.  I love it.  O.O  I'll probably do this from now on.  :3  So yeah!  Enjoy ze video!



  Oh, and I have never said this but it sounds like I have a lisp.  Like, my "s" sounds like "sh".  It's my camera's fault.  I honestly DO NOT have a lisp.  Ask Makenna or Sara, they talk to me-like-all the time.  XD  I apologize.  XP

  Anyways, please request some more videos!  :D  I am needing more requests always!  :]

xoxo,
Carolyn

Back-to-School Series: Episode 2

  I'm back with the second episode of my Back-to-School series!  :D  I thought I'd also tell you how many days I have until my first day to school!  So, as of today, I have 14 days until August 21-my first day!  :D  I am so excited!  <3



  Keep on requesting videos!  I have two more done right now, I just need to upload them to my laptop, edit them, etc.  :]

  Well, that's all I have to say really!  Please do comment and tell me/show me if you used this idea!  :D

xoxo,
C a r o l y n <3

A Special Thank You!

  If you can't already tell, my blog looks so very different right now!  And why is that?  The ever-so-lovely Jeneca designed my blog for me!  <3  LOVE YOU SO MUCH, GIRLYPOO!  This is the prettiest my blog's ever looked, I think.  :]  The yellow is so summery, and it's my favorite color, so . . . it's perfect.  Thank you, gracias, merci . . . in whichever language you like. ;]

  Now, with this lovely new design, I made two new headers that are summery and go along with the colors well.  Which one do you prefer?

  This first one has four summer pictures {that I adore, might I add} that I took last year with "Truly, Utterly, Carolyn" in the blue and yellow of my design and then "utterly me" in gray.

  I've been kind of imagining this header up for a long time.  I also took these pictures last year and thought they would make a cute header.  So, all pictures are in a Poloroid frame with "Truly, Utterly, Carolyn" in my blue and yellow.  :]

  I think I'll stick with my first header for a while, and maybe switch off to the second if I get bored with my current one.

  Two days 'til school's out, no school tomorrow!  :D  WOOT, WOOT!

Lots of Love and Lollipops, Too,
Carolyn

  It's May!  {{Surprise there!}}  It's crazy how fast time flies lately, it seems as if we were just in winter, we hadn't even had Christmas, but it's May, and school's almost out.  **SQUEE!**  And when school's over, what does that mean?

Summer.

  And because I am so excited, I will have a short list of things I will do to fill up my lazy days:

--STRETCH!
--Go swimming {in our pool!}
--Take lots of pictures *nods*
--Rearrange my room
--Make lists :]
--Complete my 102 things!
--Hang out with friends
--Color {OF COURSE!}
--Play my instruments
--Sing :]
--Write
--Read

  And by the way, I've been doing a lot of that last thing lately, reading.  And just to prove it . . .

Terrible picture, I know.  XP

  Yep, this year I've read seven books!  I know some people read seven in a month, but oh well.  XD

  Right now, I'm reading Divergent by Veronica Roth.  It's FANTABULOUS.  If you like The Hunger Games or Matched, you'd like this book.  Lots.  XD  And so, when I get done with that book, I'm planning on reading Delirium by Lauren Oliver.  VERY excited to start this one, too!

This looked a LOT better on my camera.  XP

  Now, I was just thinking.  Once I finish Divergent and Delirium {kind of jumping ahead, but . . . XD}, I'll have nine books read, and my goal is ten this year.  I think I'll pass that easily, but I'll keep it at ten for now.  Which reminds me!  On Goodreads, there's a 2012 Reading Challenge, where you set how many books you want to read and then update when you've read more.  So far-as I said-I've read seven.  They say I'm four books ahead . . . OH WELL. XD

  So, I only have twenty days left of school left . . . I am just SO excited.  XD  But believe me, I LOVE school-no joke.  I just love summer, too.  :]  So yes.  XD

Love, Love, Love, Hug your Books for Me,

Carolyn <3

Of Lovely Music

  I had a bit of an emotional day today, but I have some songs that I've been adoring like crazy lately that make me smile.  So I shall share them with you.  :]

  Now listen to them.  Lots.  Because they're lovely.

  My school dance is tonight, and I'm very excited.  :]

Love,

Carolyn

Three Goals- ACHIEVED!

  Yep, that's right, I have achieved three goals in 102 Things to do in 2012!  :D  What are those goals, you ask?

19. Dance with someone

  Now, before you go all, "OHMIGOSH, GIRLY!", please settle down and let me tell you the story.  ;)

  So, last night was my first school dance, a Valentine's social.

  Goodness, it was the best night of my life.

  But anyhow, I danced mostly with my friends.  All of us jumping around randomly, screaming songs over the roar of music, shouting, laughter, and excitement.  Then, that first awkward slow dance song comes on.  Of course, my friends find me and Carter's friends find him, pushing us together.  Honestly, we were awkward, and walked off.  XD  So for the first few slow dances, I danced with friends.  XD

  Eventually, Carter found me and asked me to dance.  I was so happy, and we danced for the rest of the slow songs after that.  It was really, really, fun.  :)  {{And that shows you I'm not too young to have a "boyfriend" if we have school dances and slow dances at them.}}

36. Make a list of all the books I read in the year

  Basically all I did was colorfully decorate a piece of paper that says, "2012  What I've Read", then lists the two books I've read this year!  {{Far North was for school, terrible, TERRIBLE, book.  XD  So . . . uninteresting.}}

49. Memorize all my lines for the Hobbit before I have to

  Nothing too special about this, but I have my lines memorized!  :D  YAY!

~~

  So, basically, that is it!  XD  Hope you've had a great day, happy Friday!

Much Love,

Carolyn

Thanks ;)

{{A response to Hannah's post.}}

  Okay, I started writing this yesterday, so . . . yeah. XD  I didn't have a chance to finish because of having relatives over, I was planning to write more.  I apologize. :P

  I woke up this morning to light streaming in from my translucent curtains and smells of turkey, vegetable, and ham wafting through the air.  I quickly reminded myself that it was Thanksgiving.  My relatives were probably on their way to be here right now.  A smile spread across my face.  I gazed at the clock tiredly, seeing 8:50.  I was tired, so I closed my eyes for ten minutes, got out of bed, and began walking towards the kitchen.

  "Good morning!" my mom and dad chorused.

  I smiled.  "Good morning," I repeated groggily.

  "Happy Thanksgiving!" my dad told me.

  "Yes, happy Thanksgiving!" said my mom, capturing me in a hug.

  "Happy Thanksgiving!" I repeated again.

  I then made my descent down the stairs to get ready to type up this very post, the post where I post {man, lots of posts!} things that I am thankful for.  So, here I go!

1. My family: I don't know where I'd be and what I'd do without them.  I love them SO much and am so grateful to have such a wonderful family. ♥
2. My friends: The family I get to choose.  ;)  I absolutely love these people.
3. My house: Not everyone has a nice house, a nice bedroom, nice cars, and nice things overall {such as couches, chairs, desks, computers, etc.}.  I am really blessed.
4. Food: I am very lucky to be served food whenever I need it or be able to go out and get food to eat.
5. Dance: I am EXTREMELY blessed that my parents allow me to dance and they pay for it.  I don't know what I'd do if I couldn't dance!  I am also extremely blessed that I get payed for working at dance.
6. Education: I am very lucky that my parents send me to school and I can get an education and eventually go to a good college.
7. The internet: It's kind of stupid, but I really LOVE the internet.  I love how I can write, read, draw, and interact with people from all around the world that I can call FRIENDS.
8. This blog: Gosh, you don't know how much this means to me.  After my blogs were deleted, I didn't know if I would ever earn back my followers or my views, but I'm getting there.  I know I have the same amount {if not more} of followers that I had around this time of year last year.  :)
9. American Girl: American Girl is so amazing.  It's a creative outlet and a great way to meet new friends, through the internet AND in real life!  I am so grateful to have my four gorgeous dollies.  ;)
10. The American Girl Fan Message Board: Through this amazing, wonderful, spectacular, message board, I have met amazing girls, learned to love my dolls EVEN more, fall more in love with dance than already, and even get closer to God.  The American Girl community is so warm and welcoming, I am very happy to be a part of it!
11. NaNoWriMo: Man, NaNoWriMo is SERIOUSLY one of the best things I have ever done.  I wrote like a maniac, and accomplished my goal of 9,000 words, then went on to do over 2,000 more words!  :D  Through the forums I have met lovely people that I really have enjoyed getting to know.
12. Music: The world would be rather dismal and depressing without music.  I listen to music when I write, when I do homework, when I'm bored, when I dance, and even more!  It's a way to bond with family in the car, those hours of driving to and from dance with my mom, singing together.
13. Instruments: I'm very lucky my parents let me play the French horn and piano.  They are a large part of my life and I enjoy them both immensely.  :)
14. Books: Man, what would I do without books?  I love to read them, AND write them!
15. Pointe shoes: Go ahead and call me crazy, but I absolutely ADORE pointe shoes.  There's just something about them that makes you feel beautiful and elegant.
16. Ghillies: My Irish dance shoes are too special not to include on here!
17. Tap shoes: Loud, clear, sounds coming out of these normal-looking shoes . . . so beautiful.  :)
18. My classes: The dance classes I teach . . . oh, I love these little girls!
19. My room: I love my room.  It's bursting with inspiration and color.
20. My desk: I just rearranged it yesterday and cleaned it and such, and I'm really happy with how it turned out!
21. Snow globes: If you didn't already know, I collect snow globes.  :)
22. Clothes: I love the clothes I have, and feel really lucky to have them.  Not everyone is so lucky.
23. My teachers: My teachers this year are pretty great.  I really enjoy them and my classes!
24. Hot chocolate: This time of year, I love to sit around and sip hot cocoa.
25. Cameras: Whenever I see a DSLR, I clutch my mom's arm and say, "LOOK AT THAT PRETTY CAMERA!"  Hehe, hint hint.  ;)
26. Holidays: Holidays are so much fun, being with family, huge meals, and giving thanks.

  What are you thankful for?