82, 81, 80....Graduation

May 1st is national decision day for committing to a college. That means I still have. 51 days, that's enough right? Let's hope so. I have narrowed my options down to Marietta College and Hanover College. I honestly love both of these colleges. I have had good experiences at both of them and good tour guides, which lets be honest, has been known to sway my decision. 

While a lot of seniors have already commited and even found their roommates, I think I'll just follow my usual habits and procrastinate on this as well. I just don't want to make the wrong decision. What if I go to Hanover but in reality fate has it that I was meant to go to Marietta and then my life goes horribly wrong? Obviously this is a big, determine the rest of my life, decision. 

As far as being a second semester senior, I don't think I have quite yet caught senioritis. I still do my homework everynight and study for most of my tests. My graduation is in less than 100 days, 82 to be exact...when did that happen? 

As college has been nearing closer, it has become more of a reality. I'm starting to become anxious about it and worry about it and get excited about it and let it consume my thoughts. 

2014

I guess it's time for an update. I kind of forgot I had this blog for a couple months but anyway I'm back. Happy New Year. It's 2014 which means, drumroll please, I graduate high school this year. Earlier this year I applied to six colleges and finally all my acceptance letters have arrived. Actually that's a lie. My last one came before winter break started. So now I have to choose between six different schools, Bellermine University, Franklin College, Capital University, Marietta College, Otterbein University and Hanover College. I have no idea how to decide. Part of me wants to base it on school colors, I mean I will be wearing their spirit wear for the next four, if not more, years. The more reasonable part of me wants to base it on the cost, my academic scholarships have started showing up in the mailbox, and yet another part of me, my heart, simply wants to base it off of where I feel the most at home. Wherever I choose essentially will be my home for the next four years. 

By the time I got my letters from Marietta and Otterbein I was kind of done with the whole picture thing.

I would like to thank the common app for all their help in submitting my applications as well as my councelors and finally my parents for bugging me to finish them. It was certainly a long and somewhat boring process but it's done. Not I have the financial aid process to look forward to.

Five months from yesterday at 3pm I will be graduating, done with high school starting the next journey of my life. I have no idea where that will be but I do know I'm excited. I'm really excited for my last exams to be over. They start January 13th. Wish me luck. I certainly need it. 

I'm Going to College

Last Friday, I got my first college acceptance letter! I was accepted into Bellarmine University. I was very excited when I read the first sentence. Knowing that I will be going to college next fall is a great feeling. 

I opened the letter right before leaving for work on Halloween. Please ignore the minion costume. 

On Tuesday I took a tour of Bellermine and I realized that I didn't like the college. Sometimes you just don't fit right on the campus. 

At this point most of my college applications have been sent it. I get more excited for the mail to come now then I did when I was a little kid. I basically watch my mailbox like a hawk.

Trick-or-Treat

I forgot how much fun it is to wear a Halloween costume until this year. At my school, only the seniors are allowed to wear costumes to school on Halloween. The past three years I have walked the halls on Halloween admiring all the seniors, wishing I could dress up. 

Well this year I was finally allowed to and I used my freedom to dress all the way from Minnie Mouse ears to pink slippers. I had three different costumes this year. One for school and two for my work. 

At school I dressed up as Mermaid Man and one of my friends dressed as Barnacle Boy.

Obviously we had to take a picture posing like this:

Note the pink slippers.

There were some pretty awesome costumes. Some people are really creative. 

One of my friends was Darla from Finding Nemo.

She was a senior in high school and a senior citizen.

This guy was fishing for compliments.

On Halloween at worked I dressed up as Minnie Mouse. 

And on Friday night at work we all dressed as minions.

What a great looking group of people.

You Have to Kiss A Lot of Frogs...

To find your Prince Charming. No, I'm not going to talking about my love life, I'm talking about finding the perfect college.

                                                                    I really love that coat.

I have been looking at several colleges and the search has not yet ended. On Friday, my four day fall break started. I took advantage of the day off and my mom and I took an hour and a half car ride to go on a tour of Hanover College. I really, really liked it. It's a little expensive but it was absolutely gorgeous. It reminded me of Gatlinburg with all the wooded area, rocks and leaves. They have a lot of hiking and there are even waterfalls nearby. It's pretty small with slightly over 1,000 students but that's what I want. 

Seeing all these colleges is just making the decision harder because I fall in love with all of them. Like I said earlier, you have to kiss a lot of frogs to find the perfect college?

It's not a sprint, it's a (half) marathon

On Saturday October 19, I ran my first ever half marathon. The Cincinnati half marathon with 1,500 other people. It was an amazing experience, spending 12 weeks training for a race that will take two hours. It is a true test of strength, will power and determination. I have already been asked if I'm crazy enough to do it again and the answer is that I'm already trying to convince my mom to let me run another one in two weeks. I have been wanting to run one for a few years now and I decided I should do it before I head off to college next fall. I was not really a runner before I started training this summer but that didn't stop me.

Through this experience I have learned a lot about myself and about running in general so I decided to compile a list of 13.1 things I have learned from training for and running 13.1 miles.

1) Not all dogs are friendly. I did a lot of my training in my neighborhood and the surrounding ones. There are a lot of dog owners, some let their dogs roam the yard freely. I have been chased down by a dog twice and although neither one bit me I was still afraid for my life. I also learned that dogs love to chase people who are running and when you run away from them it makes the situation worse.

2) There are some crazy drivers. Every time I cross a major road while running or even walking, I use the crosswalk, yet I have almost been hit two or three times in the past three months. Also not everyone looks behind them while backing out of their driveways. That has happened to me once, if I would not have stopped, they probably would have backed right into me.

3) Sweaty bands are amazing. I bought one of their headbands so I could wear it to the race, it's really cute because it's pink and says 13.1 all over it. See the picture above. Anyway headbands have NEVER stayed on my head. This one did for the entire race. I was so impressed.

4) My family really loves me. On race day they came with posters saying "Run Amy Run" and "We Love You" and stood at miles 1, 3 and 13. When I crossed the finish line and my family met up with me, my mom was crying and telling me how proud she was. The one I'm holding in the picture, my sister made because Beeze is my nickmame. I don't know why.

5) Runners are really nice/awesome.  Part of my course was out and back so when I was on mile 7 there were people on the other side of the road on mile 11. The girl behind me was clapping and cheering them on. There were also a lot of high fives between runners. There is a community feel when your suffering through 13 miles together.

6) Mother Nature can be mean sometimes. Running in the rain is not one of my favorite things. Before my race I had run a few short distance runs in the rain but on race day it rained starting on mile three and then it started pouring around mile seven. I was drenched by the end. Luckily my loveing family was waiting at the end with a jacket for me. 

7) People are really creative. The crowd support for the race came with posters. I didn't have my glasses on so it was hard to read some of the signs but my favorites were "You Run Better Then The Government" and "Run Like You Just Stole Something." I also loved all the kids giving out high fives.

8) You always run faster during a race. My training time was a 10:30 mile and my race time was a 9:50 mile. You gain a lot of adrenaline.

9) Music is my best friend while running. I don't know what I would have done without Katy Perry's "Roar" or Alicia Keys' "Girl on Fire." And don't make fun of my taste in music.

10) Carbs are awesome. They give you lots of energy and help you run. I ate pasta almost every night the week of my race and I think it really helped me. Also water is really cool too and when they offer you water during a race, drink it or else you will end up regretting it.

11) You will look gross after a race but so does everyone else. If you don't then your not human. Because of the rain, I basically looked liked a drenched dog when I was finished. Also, my perfect fishtail braid fell out around mile four and my hair was just kind of wet and the ponytail was basically nonexistent at that point. Again, see the photo above. It is the farthest thing from a fashion show.

12) It's important to reward yourself after a race. I spent the day laying on my couch, icing my knees, watching movies and eating ice cream while wearing my metal.

13) Finishing a half marathon gives you such a sense of accomplishment. I have run a lot of 5ks and a few 10ks but I have never actually trained for a race. Having a goal, training for it and then achieving it is one of the best feelings. I did 90% of the training by myself, probably because most people don't want to wake up at 7:30 on a Saturday to go run ten miles or go out in ninty degree heat to get a few miles in. I think that shows a lot about my mental strength. 

13.1) You can do anything as long as you have determination and it could end up being one of your biggest accomplishments.

If you were woundering, my time was around two hours and ten minutes, I don't know the official time yet because they haven't posted the results online yet. In total I ran 216 miles while training and went on 46 runs. But hey, I'm only half crazy.

Homecoming

Last Saturday was my senior homecoming dance. It was a very bittersweet event. This year was pretty low-key but that made it so much more fun. I painted my own nails and my friends did my hair and make-up. I got my dress at Platos closet which is basically a tradition for me because I have bought it there every year.

All of us girls met up to get ready for the dance and it made the day more fun. We had pictures at a beautiful park. There were a lot of other groups there but that didn't keep us from taking pictures on the beautiful steps. We had to wait a while as the other groups took pictures but I'm a fairly patient person. 

     The sun was a little bright that day

Dinner was at one of my favorite restaurants, Bucca Di Beppa. We shared pizzas and pastas while trying to act elegant. 

Then it was time for the dance. I have gone to all four homecomings and each one of them have provided me with a different experience. I absolutely love school dances, you get to dress up all fancy and show off embarrassing dance moves while spending the evening with friends, it's perfect. However, some years have not been so perfect, but this year was memorable and fun. 

I had on heels before I got there, I promise.

During the dance I kept thinking about what homecoming would be like next year and then I realized there is no next year, there are no more homecomings. Sad face. 

All four homecomings. Please notice there was a flower in my hair every year.

Also a part of homecoming weekend was the game. We lost because I guess our football team is not very good this year but that's okay. I still had fun. 

Normally each grade makes a float for the homecoming game but this year they switched it up. We had a dance off instead. All four grades preformed their dance during the homecoming pep-rally and the winning grade got to preform during half time at the homecoming game that night. Seniors won! 

             We even got a ribbon!

I am not a good dancer by any means but I went to the practices during spirit week and preformed because it's senior year so YOLO I guess. 

You can watch the dance here 

http://youtu.be/4tmjhNmX3Es