Today!

I'm going to the beach TODAYYYY!

:D

Insanity, for sure.

The senior pictures actually turned out pretty schweet. The only bad thing about them is the ABSURDLY EXPENSIVE PRICE to get them printed. Carolina Photography takes care of all school pictures. Usually for fall pictures or spring pictures the price is around $30 to get a good package. That exact same package (one 8x10, two 5x7's, and 8 wallets) for senior pictures is $90. NINETY BUCKS! And that's the cheapest package! The most expensive one is $450. Yeah, I know it's crazy! But that's how they make their money, because they know people will pay that much for them.

Now let me take a moment to get down from my soapbox.

I bought the cutest top from Walmart today. Usually, Walmart's clothes are yuck or non-fitting, although they claim them to be "fashionable." I was pleasantly surprised when I found something that caught my eye hanging on the rack. It was silky with a pretty purple-pink print. I put it on, and it actually FIT! Plus, it was only ten bucks. Chyeahhhh cheap-ness.

Today is Tuesday, and it's 9:41 PM. That means I only have 84 more hours until I depart for the beach. Talk about anticipation. I saw Becky S and Kyle while I was at Walmart, and it turns out that Kyle is probably going to go down early with us too. Now that is going to be one interesting van ride. 5 or 6 crazy males + 2 poor little females + at least 5 hours of traveling time = INSANITY.

But I'm still looking forward to it. Tomorrow's Wednesday, which means it'll be the last time Casey has a chance to give us any last-minute news or preparations. Hopefully he won't say that we're limited to one bag; I know for a fact I won't be able to fit all my junk in one suitcase.

Until then, I'll be bursting with excitement :D

5 Days

We had senior pictures earlier today. I still don't think it's really kicked in yet that I only have 2 months until I'm finally taking my last year of high school. But maybe it'll kick in once I get the huge load of work from taking 3 AP classes.
Woo.

Speaking of AP classes, I started reading Jane Eyre the other day. It's actually not nearly as bad as I thought it was going to be, either. I'm on page 110-ish, and I'm surprised I haven't gotten sick of it yet. And I hate reading. No wonder it's a classic.

FIVE DAYS. That's it.
Five days till I leave for the beach with my favorite people in the world! Me, Caleb, Casey (youth pastor), Mandy (youth pastor's wife), Wes (video guy), and Zach (another band guy) are leaving a day early to go to Garden City Beach, where we'll be having summer camp. I AM SO PUMPED! Casey's having me bring my acoustic guitar & the bass so I'd be able to play both for the band while I'm down there. I haven't met the music director yet, but he and his wife are going to do the singing while me, Caleb, and Zach take care of the music. I cannot WAIT! We're gonna be staying at Garden City Chapel for the whole week. From what Casey tells us, it's a nice place. I've just got to make sure that I bring my battery charger and extra memory stick for my camera because I know I'll be taking hundreds of pictures while we're down there.

It's about to storm here, so I had better get off the computer before a lightning bolt strikes me down. So until next time,
Take the time to stop and smell the roses.

Relax

Today's Thursday and it's 1:37 pm. I just got a haircut, and I really like it. It's not too different from what I had, just trimmed up and with a little bit of bangs.
<<<<< Seeee?

Nothing too interesting has happened since yesterday. I figured out how to plug my iPod into my car stereo so I can listen to it while I'm driving. Hopefully I won't get too distracted and pay too much attention to picking a song that I swerve off the road in a massive accident and die an ugly death.
[[Eeek]]

I'm currently wearing a white dress that I got on sale at Rave for $6.93. With TAX! It's awesome. I took a few pictures before I went to get my haircut, and they're really cute (see above... and below). They're all summer-y and stuff. Oh! Speaking of pictures, I'm thinking about enrolling in an online photography course at Gaston College or somewhere, but most of those classes require Photoshop CS or CS3. So if you have either of those, it'd be nice if you could make me a copy so I don't have to go spend $400 on it. K thanks :]

I'm going to start my AP summer work today for English 12. Definitely not looking forward to it. I have to read The Poisonwood Bible AND Jane Eyre, AND do two book reports, AND read 5 poems AND give a response to each. Ouch. Doesn't sound too appealing to someone who doesn't like to read. But I guess I had better get used to it, because it only gets worse from here.

Luckily, I have a massage scheduled for tomorrow at Belle Voús. I am SO ready for it. I've had a 30-minute one there before, and it was like heaven on earth. Absolutely amazing. But hopefully I won't be too dazed and relaxed that I can't make the drive home. Once again, swerving off the road in a massive accident leading to an ugly death isn't the best thing in mind.

By the way, green tea is the bomb-diggity.

And so are sundresses :]

Happiness

Yesterday was the best :]

Caleb and I were going to have a picnic at the park and I was going to make sandwiches, but I realized right before he arrived at my house that we didn't have any bread. So we went to Hardee's and got yummy cheeseburgers and took them with us to the park. I had brought this giant water bottle -- it had to be at least 5 gallons (okay, maybe not) -- with us so we could share, and even between the two of us over a 4 hour period we didn't even put a dent in half of it.

But anyways.

We walked down one of the trails at the park and stopped on this cute little bridge. Now this wasn't any old bridge; this was the bridge where he first kissed me over a year ago. And of course, it brought back some good memories ;] The bridge was running over a cute little creek that had cute little crawdads and tadpoles swimming around in it. I tried catching one, but after about 30 minutes of failed attempts, I gave up. But whatever.

Today is Wednesday, and that means I'm headed off early to band practice at THE BEST CHURCH EVERRRR, Catawba Heights Baptist. And then youth later tonight. I love our youth pastor; he's so passionate about what he does, and he's so God-focused too. His faith is so incredibly strong. To put it lightly, he's the best :]

I have to go take a shower and get ready now, so until next time,
stop and smell the roses.

Opposite Way

The whole reason I chose the name for this blog was because of this song by Leeland. If you haven't heard it already, I highly suggest you go get the CD and listen to it. The whole album is absolutely amazing!

GO GO GO NOW, so you can sing along! ;]

Living in the same town
For all these years
Doing the same old things
Hanging with the same crowd
And it's starting to get crippling
You've never felt in place
And you tell yourself it's all okay
But something's different today
You want to run the opposite way


And it seems like you're locked in a cage
And you need to find a way of escape

When everyone is setting the pace
It's okay to run the opposite way

The Father sent His Son down
The light of men
The cross He bore was crippling
Rejected in His own town

They couldn't see the sun shining
He knelt in the garden and prayed
Father, let this cup pass from me
It's not Your will for me to stay
Your will for me is the opposite way

And it seemed like He was locked in a cage
And He couldn't find away of escape

But through the cross He conquered the grave
My Jesus ran the opposite way

Oh, and through the cross He conquered the grave
Oh, He ran the opposite way
Yeah, through the cross He conquered the grave
So you could run the opposite way

-Leeland :]