Florida Abode

For the next few days, my mom and I, along with a couple relatives, are staying in a small beach house in Florida for my cousin's wedding. The quaint home is located just a few minutes' walk from the beach and will serve as a lovely home away from home for the remainder of our time here.

I took a few pictures of the house this morning so I can take you on a bit of a virtual tour! I hope to catalog my adventures in Florida to the best of my ability here on my blog.

Drive down Seabreeze Boulevard and you will come across the driveway to the house which is hidden from view by a hodgepodge of shrubbery.

Follow the driveway in and take a right onto the front porch, which is isolated from the forces of nature (aka hoards of mosquitoes) by netting along the border.

Open the front door from the porch and you are greeted by a cozy setting of couches centered around a table and TV, already the site of many great family conversations.

Take a look to your right and you can see a small kitchen and dining area, perfect for a small group on a beach vacation.

And there it is! Minus the bedrooms, but I'm sure you get the gist.

As I said before, I'll try to post again! We'll be here until Monday, so I intend to blog about that which I feel blog-worthy. A few ideas are coming to mind already!

Doors

They say that when one door closes, another one opens.

Lately, I've become even more aware of the power of these unseen opportunities brought about by seemingly closing doors. Something completely feared and horrible can take place, yet seven months later you realize that it truly was the best thing that could have happened. Sometimes, the thing that you most feared losing is actually strengthened by that which was threatening it.

Interesting how life's doors work.

Graduation Pictures

Here are some pictures from graduation! In the photo-taking frenzy that ensued shortly after our arrival, my mom and I fought to get pictures with everyone we could. Unfortunately, I didn't get one with everyone I'd have liked to, but here are some of the highlights.

A good group right here!

Anish and I: Locker partners for life!

Rachel and I

Tyler and I: Friends since preschool

Matty D and I: LHC, Solidarity!

Takami and I, squinting into the sun

Brad and I: friends since elementary school, still living it up!

The Guys

I'll probably write another blog about graduation soon, but I had to put some of these pictures up. For now, let's just say that it was a spectacular culmination of what have been a great three years.

The Final Stretch

After a long week (that for some reason included homework,) yesterday seemed to be the beginning of the end as far as my high school career is concerned. The day began with graduation practice which, in spite of its excessive length, reminded me that I will be graduating from high school next Wednesday.

As silly as it may sound, I know that I'll be graduated by this time next week, but I don't feel as though I'll be graduated. It hasn't hit me. There has been no paradigm shift in which I realize that my life will soon move beyond high school. Still, this reality is quickly becoming more and more apparent as high school comes to a close.

Tonight is Senior Dinner Dance, the last dance I'll have with the Hillcrest Class of 2010, an amazing group of people. It's going to be the first of many "last _____ I'll have with the Hillcrest Class of 2010." That is such a bizarre thought.

I've spent so much time with my classmates over the years, some since preschool or elementary school. Soon and literally for the first time in my life, I won't be surrounded by these people at all. I'll be 2,000 miles away at college, reminiscing about the last eighteen years of my life and the strong friendships I've formed in that time. My life as I have known it will soon be over. I won't live at home, not even in my hometown, and will be thrust into a life which I'm sure will be very different than the one I'm living now.

This may come across negatively, and I don't mean it to. Yes, my life will be different, that much is sure, but it won't be bad. In many ways, I look forward to this chapter of my life. I know that I will make new friendships, learn a variety of lessons, and take this opportunity to reinvent myself to a degree, all good things, but I will certainly miss the people and the life that I leave behind.

I think all of the graduating seniors have similar emotions. Emotions that border on excitement and trepidation with a sense of surrealism attached. None of us can fully comprehend what being graduated will be like or feel like or what lies in store for us in our future life path.

Luckily, neither I, nor any of my classmates, have to worry about coping with such emotions directly until this Wednesday evening. Until then, I'm going to fully enjoy every end-of-high school activity on this final stretch, beginning with Senior Dinner Dance tonight.

Can You Say Double Post?

Yes, I'm posting twice within an hour. I told you I was in the mood to blog!

You may notice some differences in the musical selection gracing your presence on my blog today. I've made a playlist of one of my favorite songs from some of my favorite bands and artists. In no particular order, they are:

Taylor Swift

Relient K

Juanes

Owl City

The All-American Rejects

Coldplay

Fall Out Boy

The Fray

Good Charlotte

Yellowcard

I hope you enjoy this unique blend as you search my blog!

I Just Wanna Blog!

Sitting at my computer with a good friend, checking out my friends' wonderful blog, I was struck with the inspiration. You all know what I'm talking about- the inspiration to write, even if you don't know yet exactly what you'll write about.

Well, that's me. Inspired with a desire to write, but lacking an inspired topic. In this spirit, I'll turn to the happenings of the week.

Tomorrow is the National Honor Society Officers' Luncheon. After school, the five outgoing NHS officers get to be treated to some wonderful cuisine provided by Chile's. I am so stoked! The officers this year are really great people, it's been such a pleasure getting to interact as a team. We have a fun, but focused dynamic- a truly enjoyable attitude. And really, where better is there to toast a great year in NHS than Chile's?

One contender is Cafe Rio, which is catering the NHS end-of-year social on Wednesday! Yum :). That will be yet another great gathering! As I continue, I realize that much of my week will be characterized by the food I eat. On Thursday's menu:

Breakfast: Academic Letter Breakfast

Lunch: La Puente with 7th Period Spanish

Dinner: IB Senior Dinner and Awards Night

YES!

I really love food. Thursday will be an excellent day.

Then, there's Saturday. Senior Dinner Dance. Probably the most important and most-anticipated meal of them all. Wow. That will be, along with next week, really... I don't even know the word to describe it.

A blog regarding my up-and-coming graduation is sure to follow soon.

It's Been a Long Time...

I have finally decided that, no, I will not study, I will update my blog because it has been, quite frankly, too long. I've started to feel progressively worse about the neglect I've demonstrated to the poor fellow and decided tonight that it was time.

I am, along with my fellow classmates, finally on the outward end of what has been a long AP/IB testing season. At the beginning of the year, scheduling my senior year, I knew somewhere in the back of my mind that I would be regretting my jam-packed schedule eight months later. Well, maybe I don't regret it so much as recognize that it has definitely challenged me academically. The last three weeks have been, for lack of better word, insane. Test after test after test and on and on it goes. Funnily enough, I'm posting this blog as though all of this is in the past tense! Ha! I have Biology AP tomorrow.

I'm glad that most of my fellow bloggers (also being my readers) can understand the stress of the past few weeks. Keeping this in mind, I'm sure that you can understand my absence from the blogging universe.

Well, as you can see, testing has been a large portion of my life since... oh, April 1st, but certainly not all of it. As I will soon have much more spare time on my hands, I expect to be retroactively blogging rather frequently over the next few days, sometimes even more than once a day! Topics to look forward to: Work, Summer, 30 Days to a Better Man, Graduation, and Prom :).

I've had some good ideas for blogs lately, so I hope you'll bear with me as I make up for lost time!