I've been debating for some time on whether or not to continue having a blog, thus the long absence of updates. I might as well write occasionally. I've been living in Austin for the past 5 months. Boy, has time flown by. I originally started working for a photographer here and at a coffee shop. Unfortunately, the photographer cut back on her hours and no longer needed me. I'll get another job in the fall when I come back from Summit and next spring I will finish up my degree here at UT. I'm changing majors again! English this time... I think it will be the easiest degree for me to get in 60 hours here.
This spring has been an interesting time for me. After mom passed away in November, I went into a deep depression. Most people didn't know at the time how depressed I actually was. In fact, I didn't really tell anyone until I realized that I needed help getting out of it. I'm so thankful for friends who encourage and challenge me. I didn't start to come out of it until the end of February beginning of March. Some days are still hard. I miss her every day and probably will for the rest of my life. Sometimes you don't realize how important someone was until they're gone. Mom was the light of our lives. At least now I can remember the good times without excruciating pain. She was the most wonderful woman in the world, and I'm not saying that because she was my mom, everyone thought so. There is one thing that I would encourage others to do: don't take for granted your parents. Love them even when they drive you up the wall, are "too" strict, or embarrass you. Get to know them when you're young. I wish I had been closer with my mom when I was younger. Thankfully, I had a couple years where I got to know her, but so many questions I would still love to ask her.

This was a little over 5 years ago.

I AM NOW DONE WITH SCHOOL FOR THE NEXT 7 1/2 MONTHS!!!! Time to have some fun!!!!

Monday is over. phew! That means I only have 4 more busy things this week. Today I had a test and a project/paper due in Political Science. Have I ever mentioned how much I detest political science. I always seem to have really boring profs. Anyways, that's over. Tomorrow I give a speech, Thursday I have a 6-10 page paper due and a presentation for a Management group project, and then on Saturday is my last orchestra concert. Thankfully, I have my speech written, and most of my paper done. I will be given what I'm supposed to say for the presentation, so that's nice. Finals week should be a breeze compared to this one.
On to a lighter note... I'm going to Colorado Christmas! I'm going to go skiing for the first time in 7-8 years. I'm going to play in the snow, drink tons of hot chocolate, try to stay warm (cause after all I am a Texas girl), read a few books, watch movies, stay up late, hang out with all my friends, and all in all not think one nanosecond about school. I'm going to have FUN! Feel free to offer ideas of fun things to do while on break. I might even find someplace to go swing dancing or the like...
I'm not going to feel bad about any of my grades this year. That's my New Years' resolution for 2006! Happy finals everyone!