Welp...it's here again. My birthday. My 18th Birthday.

My life is amazing. Let me get that straight first. God has blessed me with opportunities most people don't even get to touch in their lifetime. And as of right now, I'm only 17! I mean seriously.....what the heck. Last time I posted, I was graduating from high school. I don't know how I managed to do that. I have a lot of homework and I'm really tired, so I'm going to make this post relatively short and sweet. But basically this post is a record of all of the amazing unbelievable things I've done while being 17. And tomorrow I'll be 18. It's so weird. I know I'm still really young, but to me, 18 is old. My teenage years have flew by.(sorry about the cliche) So anyways....here's a lovely list of all the things I've done in the past 365 days. Which by the way have gone by way too fast. I'm going to blink and be 80. It's not fair! I will shut up before I go on a rant. *le' sigh*

• Birthday party with my dorm sisters. Love them so much.
• Many football games with my friends at King's.
• Homecoming. First time having crazy school spirit. It felt good.
• Won first place at TKA's talent show. Taylor the Latte Boy.
• Photoshoot in a tobacco field. lol
• Singing at the Southern Baptist Convention. Umm. Yeah. 'Nuff said.
• Countless Dollywood trips! :)
• Thanksgiving break with my dorm sisters! And Brianna. haha
• Christmas dinner at the dorm, and singing O Holy Night.
• Christmas in Florida!
• We got two puppies. What the heck. Yep.
• Survived Senior Thesis.
• A million and two college auditions.
• Many photography excursions with Dad to the National Park.
• Dr. O'Brian "proposing" to me at church. College decisions. :P
• Guatemala Mission trip. I'll never forget it.
• Rode Wild Eagle on opening day with Dad!!
• Prooom.
• Senior Skip day, Dollywood with my fantastic four!
• Survived doing a 15 minute presentation for my Senior Experience.
• Sang "Forg Good" And cried my eyes out on Senior Day
• I graduated from highschool. Wut.
• Went to see the Hunger Games!
• Super fast Florida trip.
• Fulfilled my summer bucket list
• Got my driver's license!
• Hawaii Mission Trip. Yeah.
• Started college, and my life as a Vocal Performance Major.
• Made A Capella choir!

And here I am. There's been little things that have happend in between. Friendships, books I've read, music and movies I've seen and listened to. But overall, it really has been a fantastic year. I'm throughly grateful for this time I have had. And honestly, as much as I hate getting older, I am really excited to see what God is going to put in front of me. I always look back in awe of how God has moved in my life, which utterly fascinates me when I think about all the things I don't know are going to happen in the future! I do get deep sometimes. lol I think I'm going to shut up and get started on my music theory homework, but here's to you 17 for all of your awesomeness, and here's to you 18, for all of your potential!
I love my life.

Wow. Just......wow.

So.....today I'm graduating from high school. Yeah. I can't believe it. The last time I posted, I was about to leave for Guatemala. That was in March....and it's May. Yeah, I've been really busy. I'm so blessed that God has filled my life with so much excitement! I don't even know what to say. It's so weird to think that this stage of my life is actually.....over. Didn't I just start high school? The friends I had then, I don't even talk to anymore. Now three of my best friends are from South Korea, Afghanistan, and Nigeria. I have an amazing roommate from Rwanda, who I still can't believe I have to leave in a week. I have so much love for my dorm family, my dorm sisters, my dorm mother and Staci. There are honestly so many emotions that are going through my mind right now, that I don't even think I can put them into words. How do you say goodbye? Hoe do you tell people that you truly love them, when you only met them last January? It's amazing to think that I'm not the same person I was at West High. What the heck, I'm not even the same person I was in March! I feel like I am more sure of myself, I am in the process of growing a backbone, and.....I have my first boyfriend. Yeah. Didn't see that one coming to be honest. And through it all, I've gotten closer to everyone around me. The administration, my teachers, even the cafeteria workers and office workers! King's is a family, and that's one of th ebig reasons that I'm going to miss it so much. Ah.....I don't even want to think about it. I guess I shouldn't act too sad, I have an exciting summer awaiting me. I think? I have a boyfriend and dates to look foward to, a possible roadtrip out west or trip to Hawaii, and of course college. College. Wow. I am not a freshman in college. Only through Christ am I able to not be worried about my future. I know for sure that if my life has been this full and exciting while having a relationship with Him in high school, it's going to be incredible from now on! I'll post later...... :)

2012, you re blowing my mind.

Well, it's leap day! I still can't believe we are this far into the year. I always say this when I blog, because I procratinate and never get around to writing. But once again, my life is crazy full. Let's start with my auditions!

Belmont: five hour road trip with dad, sonic banana milkshakes, 8:00 registration, 10:45 musicality exam, 12:20 audition, lascia chio panga, last rose of summer, Dr. Moore recognized me, portrayed my songs well, got home after five hours of driving and countless games of bejeweled and majong. Good experience. I've been accepted to the school and music program, but I havent recieved any scholarships yet.

Dollywood:10:00 registration, waited for Mrs. Littleton in the Backstage Cafe, got called into last group, taylor the latte boy, used every ounce of flirtation and personality I had in me, got called back, died of shock, text everyone I knew, dance audition in pines theatre for hour, final audition in celebrity theatre in front of everyone, Taylor the latte boy again, sight read of somewhere over the rainbow and why do fools fall in love, acted out a shel Silverstein poem, and got the heck out of there at 10:00 pm. Longest day ever, so worth it. I will find out by phone call or letter if I have been hired or not. Will I get to fulfill my drem this year?

Carson Newman: 9:00 registration, 5 minutes in the practice room, 10 minutes reviewing music with super lovely accompanist, last rose of summer, lascia chio panga, and solveg's song, sweet judges, ate lunch with super nice slightly awkward musicmajors, spent rest of the day t home alone. Moderately pleasant experience. I have recieved $8,000 from faculty and $5,000 from the music school. I don't want to go there, but it's a nice backup.

I feel the need to add that that next Sunday, the president at Carson newman not only requested for me to sing the solo at church, but he literally got on his knees in front of the whole congregation and said he wanted me at his school. Everyone said they've evr seen that happen before...ever. Anyways...

UT: 8:00 registration, awkward schedule, embarrassing traumatizing violin audition, warm up personally with my voice teacher aka one of the faculty, fell in love with the faculty, per 'la Gloria and last rose of summer, left with boost of confidence and knowing which school I wanted to go to. I have been accepted to the scool, but haven't heard from the music school yet.

Phew. So crazy! In between that, I have been icesksting with my small group, skiing with the dorm, sInging the national anthem for a bunch of basketball games, and wonderful times with my dear friends. I really am going to miss king's when I graduate.....in seven weeks!

So guess what I'm doing tomorrow? At 5 am I will be boarding a plane to flaunt a, only to hop on another plane and head to Guatemala!!! I really can't believe that this tip that i have been looking foward to for a year is finally here. Even though I've been to china, this is my first mission trip. Agh so exciting!!! I better go to bed now.

Next time I blog hopefully I will know where I am going to college, among other things. My life is so crazy.....I wouldn't trade it for the worl. :)

It's here! Wait, what?

Well folks, the end of 2011 is upon us. Wasn't I just posting about the end of 2010 like....five minutes ago? Oh wait, that was actually 364 days ago. What the heck. Why is it that when life begins to get super exciting, it speeds up? Time really does fly when you are having fun. Well....here are some highlights from my year! God has blessed me so much.

The King's Academy. Why have you not been in my life before this year? I have been missing out.**

First professional audition: Dollywood. I lied about my name, was sooo nervous, and it really did help me grow as an artist because it gave me some important experience!**

Snow tubing with the dorm!!

New York/Washington D.C trip**

First solo competition-Third place in the classical category!

Sitting in on Knoxville Opera's rehearsal of I Puritini and meeting Rachele Gilmore!!

Choir retreat with Dennis Jernigan, I'm still affect spiritually from what I experienced there.

Rapelling down a mountain at the Eco Trip. What an adventure!

Prooom. :D

Spring break with my dorm sisters!

Lousiana Trip with the family, and first trip with Cyrille

Oh yeah, Cyrille came into our lives this year! Can't forget that!

Photography expedition to Biltmore, and painting in the gardens.

Sooo many wonderful trips to Dollywood. It is my second home.

Getting poison ivy in June. Not something I want to repeat, or wish on anyone....

Midnight premiere of Harry Potter 7 pt. 2. The end of an era....

White water rafting with my cousins!

CHINA. CHINA CHINA CHINA. First time out of the country, changed my life. I don't have the words to describe how much I love China now. And the friends I made there!

My first international gig: singing in front of 3000 people(and being on local Beijjing television!!!)

First semester of my senior year! Football games, homecoming, I actually participated and enjoyed having school spirit and doing all of the typical high school things!

Camping trip with the dorm. And forming my first potentional relationship with a boy.

Talent show-I won first place!! "Taylor the Latte Boy"

All of the many singing gigs I had representing the school

Singing at the Southern Baptist Convention in front of 1500 people.

Fall break with my dorm brothers and sisters!

Florida with my cousins!

Seeing Scott and Arnie perform for the last time in Christmas in the Smokies

Oh, and I got my permit ;)**

Getting a voice teacher! Cecily Nall is awesome. :D **

And...here are all of the things I am looking foward to in 2012!

Audition for Dollywood AGAIN. Yes, I am stubborn. haha

College auditions. Not really looking foward to those...

Guatamala! Leaving the country again, this time for a mission trip!

Senior prom! A date? I have the dress. Let the magic happen....

Graduating! Yeah, I really will be graduating from high school. What the heck.

Summer break! I'm not even going to begin to guess what I'm going to be doing.

Getting my license! Yeah, I need to work on that.

Going to college. Once again, what the heck.

Turning 18. Woah.

Aquiring a boyfriend? That would be cool.

Getting better at my chinese, because I really want to go back to China.

More solo gigs, maybe some that I will get paid?

More magical adventures at Dollywood. I love that place.

Growing as a musician, christian, and person. Can't wait!

How fitting that I would be ending my blog at 11:11. I wish that God will open more doors to me this year, and give me the wisdom I will need to make the right decisions in my life. Because this is the year where the decisions I make will affect the rest of my life. No pressure! For the first time ever, I also wish for love this year. I don't want to be alone and never kissed like Susan Boyle! Ugh. Anyways...

2011, you have been SO good to me. You definitely knocked 2010 out of the water! Thanks friend. :) Dear 2012, I can't wait to see you in a few minutes! We are going to have so much fun. And no, the world is not going to end! Yay!

Goodbye 2011, I still can't believe you are leaving so soon. Hello 2012, time to have fun! :D

I can do all things through Christ, who strenghtens me. Phillipians 4:13. <3

Christmas Eve....

It has been the most amazing week. I feel like I am in another world! My family has been visiting my mom's sister and my cousins all week....in florida. FLORIDA. While is is cold and rainy in Tennessee, it is warm and sunny. Palm trees everywhere, beaches, and the pool! I'm in love. This is exactly the break I needed. Two days ago was my brother's birthday, and to celebrate we went to Barefoot beach on Lover's Key! There was not a cloud in the sky, and the sand and water were warm. I was....in heaven. It was one of those moments that you treasure in your heart forever.
It's 11:11, and right now I'm wishing for love. I'm also thinking about the friendships that God has brought into my life, and my heart is so happy. HE is so good to me, I don't deserve his love at all.
Well, I guess i'm spending Christmas morning with my cousins, and not with my mom and brother. Dad's at work in Tennessee...this is so weird. I mean, they'll be over later in the morning, but the fact that we're not even at home is crazy to me! But we all needed space from each other, that's for sure. So I think this is a good thing? We'll see.
I'm going to go eat chocolate cake/icecream and finish watching Fireproof with my "extended" family. We spent today shopping at thrift stores, then attending their church's candlelight service. I GOT MY DREAM PROM DRESS. Details later. :D
Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night! God bless. <3

I have survived.

It is December 16, 2011, and this morning I turned in my senior thesis. Twenty pages. I still can't believe it's finally over. Not only that, but the first half(and my only fall semester at King's)of my senior year is over. I am feeling really melancholy right now. I am so glad that it's break! But as I am typing this, my dorm sisters and brothers are home in South Korea, Rwanda, China, Thailand, Japan, and Nigeria. And I am in Morristown. Well, at least until Sunday....thank goodness! Anyways, it just makes me realize the short amount of time I have with these people I love so much. I only have a few months left to witness to some people who I deeply care for, who are not yet saved. That kills me. Though a good thing is, in January I will officially be a student at King's for an entire year! Where has the time gone, seriously? Where has 2011 gone?! So many emotions are running through my head, and I just want to either scream, or cry.

I'm so tired because of finals, and so frustrated because I feel like a friendship and potential relationship is slipping through my fingers, and everything I'm trying to do to fix it is failing. It's a long story. Does he still like me? He wants to be friends, but does he still care about me? Everyone says that he does.....and I do too. But he doesn't share the same beliefs with me! He does not believe that Jesus is God's son, or that his dying on the cross and resurrection is our only way to heaven and a relationship with God. He believes that Alah and God are the same, and Jesus was just a prophet. He goes to mosque during break, he's read the Qu'ran, and his heritage is Muslim. There's got to be a reason God has allowed me to fall for him. Something good will come out of this....please Lord let story in my life have a happy ending! I don't know what I would do if I parted ways with him, and didn't know whether I would see him in heaven or not. Or if I would see him ever again...period. I have to keep telling myself that I have until May, so many people are praying for his salvation, and we ARE friends. I just miss it when he would IM me just to ask me how my day was. Or when we went camping with the dorm, we walked in the rain, and we didn't have to say anything to each other...we just enjoyed each other's company. I miss him. One day I will force myself to move on, but I still believe that there is hope. I can feel it. So I won't give up....yet.

As of today I am on Christmas break. Christmas is next Sunday. What the heck! I still can't believe it. Sometimes I wish I could just stop time. I know in my heart that every year I get older, and something about me changes. I'm not the same person I was last year. And next year, I probably won't be the person I am now. It's so weird. I look at pictures of myself and know they are me, and yet at the same time I don't recognize myself. I am grateful though of what I know now, and how much I have grown as a person. God has a plan for me, and I am trusting him in all of my decisions. So even though it's not 2012 yet, I'm already excited for the new year, and everything that's going to happen! But I'll save that sappy post for when this year is actually at it's final curtain call. :)

It's almost midnight...therefore I think I need to go to sleep. When I get really tired I get all deep and philosophical and stuff. :P So anyway.......Sunday I'm leaving to spend my break in Florida. This is the first Christmas I haven't been at home. It's so weird. I've just had this really weird feeling all semester. The fact that I live in three places makes me feel so stretched out, that I almost feel like I'm having an identity crisis sometimes. Wo bu jie dao.....ta bu tai hao. I'll be ok though. I only just push through! I pushed through my school, church, and violin Christmas concerts, I pushed through this semester, and I think I'll always be like that. We'll see. All I know now is that I need sleep, tomorrow I'm going to watch Sherlock Holmes II, and then go to Dollywood. It will be a good day.

mmm....goodnight world. Ta bu zi jian.....just goodbye for now. :)

Thanksgiving, my cases of boy crazy, and a bunch of other schtuff.

Just for your information, I REALLY like being seventeen. SOOOO MUCH. I have all of the perks of being a teenager, but I have respect from people like an adult! And, I can date people who are 18 without it being creepy. Told ya I was boy crazy. I've had so much "drama" with boys in the past few months, it's crazy! I'll elaborate. lol

I think in my last post I said that Chuck was going to ask me to the homecoming dance back in September? haha. I scared him away, poor guy. He wouldn't ask me, so I wouldn't go with him. I think I would of had more fun with him though.....maybe. He's such a sweetheart, has a really deep voice, and he's Thai! So he's a pretty cool kid. :)

Tom: Oh geeze, where do I start? This was a bit of a nightmare. I don't even know why I liked him in the first place! He's such a nerd. Korean nerd, bless him. lol Don't ask me why I like asians so much. It's China's fault! Anyways....I was an idiot and told everyone that I liked him, and in turn they told him. But he could tell, it was so obvious. Which was my master plan. I can be so stupid sometimes. :) I asked him out after study hall one night.....and he rejected me! I think it's really funny now, because now we're really good friends. It just cracks me up when I think about how freakin' bold I am. So yeah, that attempt at a relationship was a mini disaster. And my dorm sisters still tease me when they remind me of it. Oh well. You learn from mistakes, right?

Jahan: And then there's.....Jahan. UGH. I've liked him since the first time I met him. (which was at orientation before school started.....not like I remember or anything. :P) I don't even know where to start. I'm just going to make a long story short. lol For some reason I think God is working in his life through me, so I'm going to put feelings aside and settle for friendship. And just to make it clear, I'm not friends with him because I want to convert him.(just for the record, he's from Kabul, Afghanistan, and he is Muslim.) I've already tried to screw up our friendship twice by my feeble attempts at a relationship, and twice I've backed out. Well, the second time it was fine, but it's way too complicated for me to explain. Now I'm just happy that we're friends. I love our conversations, I love trying to make him smile, and I hope that by the end of the year our friendship is solid enough to last graduation and not seeing each other on a daily basis. He's one of the few people that I feel could stay in my life for a really long time. :)
And this leads up to the present, where I'm definitely taking a break from trying to get a boyfriend. lol The problem is that people don't believe me when I say I'm taking a break from my search! Yeah, I'm really fickle, but when I say something, I mean it. So there ya go. Not that I feel to the need to explain myself on my blog, because nobody is going to read it. Thank you privacy settings! But I will anyway, because this is more fun then writing thesis. I really like Jahan, it will be a long time before I can get over those feelings, but friendship is more important. I'm going to try really.....really hard not to screw up our friendship. Yep.

So why don't I change the subject before my brain explodes? Ooooh Thanksgiving

There area a lot of people at my house right now. Just for record's sake there are nine people, seven when you don't include me and Andrew. There's:
Joyce from Taiwan
Rebecca, HyunSoo, and Grace from South Korea
Jesse from Japan, but he's half Nigerian
aaand Frank and Chad from Thailand
They are my family, I love them so much. :) They helped with the Thanksgiving meal, and putting up the Christmas lights outside! Yesterday we went black friday shopping from 10 pm until 11 am the next day! It was amazing. I also had my friend Brianna over for three nights, and during that time we played pool for bets(I lost.), and I talked to Jahan for 2 1/2 hours at midnight. So yeah, I've had such a good break, I really don't want it to end! but I really need to fall back into the reality of my work for senior year. I have a 25 page thesis due, and an 8 page research paper, both due next month! Please shoot me to get me out of my misery. I'm writing the research paper on Jimmy Stewart, and the thesis on the history of opera and how today's culture has affected opera today. Yeah. I'm a nerd. :) And a procrastinator. Big time!
I better go, Frank wants me to help him with his science project. lol He's twelve, and knows more about Luis Vuitton than I do! Goodness. I think I'm going to write a short list of what I accomplished since I last wrote:
I have a voice teacher now!!!!! Her name is Cecily Nall, and she's one of he main music teachers at UT. :D
I won the talent show. I sang the Taylor the Latte Boy. One of the highlights of my year.
I've done various singing gigs for my headmaster to make up for him retrieving my laundry in Beijing. It's a long story. lol But I also sang at the Tennessee Baptist Convention, in front of thousands of people! So cool. :)
I have visited two colleges: UT and Belmont. Belmont is my #1, but I'm more likely to get a full ride at UT. I'm going wherever the money goes! Going to college. goodness. I've grown up.
That's all I guess. Let me just reitterate how much I simply adore being 17. This is the age I will be when I graduate from high school and start college. God has opened up so many doors for me this year, it blows my mind. I guess I'll just have to keep praying for his guidence, so that I walk through the one that is best for me! AGH He is so good. :)
Until next time!

So.....

Woah. I just realized that I haven't written in months. I didn't write at all during the month of summer, which is really pathetic. But, with good reason. I've had such a full, busy life lately. I guess I didn't really mention it, but I kinda went to China this summer! My life is changed because of China. I'm taking Chinese, I am keeping in touch with a few really good friends from there(and an "almost" boyfriend, but the relationship wasn't meant to be. Of course), and.....I think I want to go back and be a missionary one day. Who knows? Anyways, those were two of the best weeks of my live.

So now it's September, and I'm seven weeks into school. Almost a quarter way through my senior year, it's crazy! I feel so old. I'm going to be seventeen tomorrow you know. And i haven't even had a boyfriend. What the heck! I tried to though, with embarassing results. Koreans can be a little difficult, especially when they refuse to act interested AT ALL. It's like flirting wth a brick wall! And then there's this other guy......we both like each other(I THINK), and I would love to date him in a heartbeat. But, he's not a christian. It kills me! And just for the record, that's personal standard, not something banged into head since I was three. Maybe something will happen this year, but if it doesn't he's a good friend anyways. :) And then...there's a guy who might ask me out tonight!!!! He's Thai, and he's so sweet. A little socially awkward, but really sweet. He almost asked me out to the homecoming dance today, but I think I intimidate him. :P Only because I talk way to much. I just hope he gets the courage to ask me after dinner! It would be so much fun. We'll seee...

I'm pretty sure I was talking about something else before I got on this tangent. Oh year, tomorrow's my birthday! Man. This year has gone by so fast! I can't believe that a year ago today, I was sitting at my desk, blogging about how crazy it was to be sixteen, and I was saying goodbye to my 15 yr old self! Now I'm kind of doing the same thing again...but this time I'm bidding goodbye to my 16 yr old self. How will I change? I know I've changed a lot over the past year.....it blows my mind to think that not only was a junior last year, but I was at my old school, and miserable. The people that I know now are people who I had no idea existed a year ago. If I remember correctly, we toured the school on my birthday weekend, before going off for my Super September Saturday. And to be honest, I just feel like a happier person, a stronger christian, and I feel like I am living my life to the fullest. It's a great feeling. :)

I wonder what I'm going to do tomorrow? Tonight's the game and the dance, I have a violin/piano lesson at 1 pm, then family dinner at the dorm! But past that I have no idea. I guess we will see!

Sixteen, these past 365 days have been fantastic. I'm so grateful to God that this year has been so good. I'm sad that we have to say goodbye, because being sixteen is such a defining year for a person. And that was definitely the case for me! I will always cherise the memories we had, and will look back on them with a smile. So....goodbye 16, and in about 7 hours, hello 17!

Goooodneeess.

The bad thing about not blogging in over two months is that so many huge things happen, and I don't have the time or energy to talk about all of them! So I'm just going to make a list because....I like writing lists.

• Roane State




• Meeting Rachele Gilmore




• I Puritini Rehearsal




• Finding out that Ms. Thomas is leaving...




• Going to see I Puritini with Dad twice.




• Worship retreat with Dennis Jernigan




• Biltmore Trip with art class


• Cyrille coming to live with us


• Spring break!


• Spring concert

I know this isn't much, I might elaborate some other time. Graduation is next Friday, and then summer break! This truly has been a life changing semester for me. I can't wait to see what life and God brings me next!

New York in a nutshell. (and Washington D.C)

For some reason, this particular trip I can't seem to put into words, so I'll just show you some pictures and put up a few highlights:At the White House

At the National Museum of Natural History-I named the Elephant george. ;)

Ilove these girls, they were so much fun to be with!

Washington Monument

Lincoln Memorial!This is my "I'm in New York City and I never want to leave" happy face.

Times Square!

PHANTOM OF THE OPERA. Phantom fist pump!A great end to a fantastic trip. :)

So as you can see, I had the most amazing time in the city. :) I think on thing I got out of the trip is the discovery that I really, really want to live there one there. This longing to make it back to the place where I felt at home has inspired me to work harder to become successful in my singing so that one day I could maybe live and sing there!

A Week from now...

How exciting! I can't believe all the opportunities that have arisen at school recently. Before I start overly blabbering as usual, I must apologize for not updating in almost a month. I've gotten into a rhythm and routine at school, and usually the only time I think about maybe blogging is when I'm half asleep and going through lists in my head. But I finally have the chance, and since it's the last day in Febuary, I felt the need to at least have something for this month. Especially since a year ago I began this blog. I can't believe it, a whole year! I don't think I've ever stuck to any type of journal of blog for more than a week, let alone a year! It's a good feeling. :) It's also an amazing to look back and compare my Febuary of 2010 to my Febuary or 2011. Here's an example:

Last year I was working as assistant director for Into the Woods, and being contantly reminded that I was not a senior, and I was not allowed to have any solos, let alone a non-ensemble role in the play.

This year I have been invited to sing for prospective students and all faculty at the spring orientation. I have the solo for the finale song in the spring concert, and I will be auditioning as a soloist at the main annual competition.

Last year I "performed" at DisneyWorld, and spent the majority of the time with my family, and staying away from everyone in the choir.

This year I'm spending a week with the entire junior class in Washinton D.C and New York, and rooming with two of my dorm sisters! One is from Korea, and one is from China. :D

Last February I just found out that I was accepted into Governor's School for the arts, and that my best friend Elizabeth and I would both get to go!
This February I'm looking foward to my third GSFTA reunion, I've made lifelong friends and grown as a singer, and my life has been changed.

And the biggest one:

Last February I was attending public school and was miserable, and this year I am attending private school and am thriving, and having the time of my life!

It blows my mind how so many things have changed in the span of a year, and I it makes me feel SO blessed to realize that God does have a plan in store for my life, I just need to be patient and do what he wants! It's really comforting to know that you don't have to worry about what's going to happen to you, because God has already planned out your life, and if you follow him, you get to follow that plan! How exciting!

Well, I guess that's all. I'm pretty pumped because this weekend I'm taking my roommate, her sister, and Ana to D-Now at my church this weekend! It's going to be so much fun. :) And next week? NEW YORK!!!!

Ahhh I can barely contain my excitement!!! I've been many times before, but I feel like this trip is going to be really important in confirming whether I want to live there someday or not. And I'm really excited that I'm going alone without family, and with my new school friends! And plus, it's NEW YORK!!! Ahhh!!!

I'll let you know how it goes. :) Goodnight!

Long time no see!

Goodness gracious. Has is really been almost a month since I've written on my blog? I mean, last time I wrote, I didn't know my roommate, I hadn't auditioned for Dollywood, so much had NOT yet take place! I guess I'll give a short rundown of what I've been up to:
I now have a roommate!! Her name is Arianne, she's from Rwanda, and she has a twin sister, Lily! And we get along! yay! One thing that crack me up is the fact that they speak fluent english, meaning that sometimes I'm stuck in the middle of a conversation that I don't understand! It's quite amusing. Oh, and another thing! The first day after I met them, it snowed. Big time. Like, over five inches. And it was BEAUTIFUL. When we walked out to brunch that morning, you couldn't tell where the paths and roads were, so it looked like a big, beatiful bed of white! And it made it even more exciting, because Lily and Arienne had NEVER seen snow before! SO COOL. Let me just say, I've never had more fun in a snowball fight. :D
Dixie Stampede: That weekend, we had our first dorm outing to Dixie Stampede. Boy was that fun!!! Since it was over the weekend, my Mom went with me so that she could drive me to and from the show. I'm so glad my Mom went, it was a lot of fun with her there! It definitely was neat to expierence the show from the perspective of the foreign students, who did not grow up learning about the American civil war, and the divide between the north and the south, or even the big deal about the slaves! So that was neat. And watching them expierence true southern cooking with only their hands was so funny! My Mom told the kid sitting next to her(bless his heart, I think she drove him crazy because she talked to him so much, and he's generally quite reserved), "no chopsticks here!". It was a good weekend. :)
Fast foward a weekend to my DOLLYWOOD AUDITION.
I'm still slightly in shock that I actually auditioned for Dollywood. I've wanted to do this for years! I feel like I didn't do too bad, even though I screwed up my first song(which will probably haunt me for the next few months), but I kind of made up for it in the next song. I say that I didn't do too bad is also because I was one of the few that actually got through two songs without being stopped, and they actually asked me questions and talked to me! In comparison to the people that went before me, that's a big deal in my mind. It also helped that Mrs. Andrea Duncan was kind enough to come with me to be my accompianist. To put my opinion about Andrea in a nutshell, I would say what my Dad and I always say when we mention her, "When I grow up I want to be just like her!!". She is the kindest person I know, and I truly admire her as a christian. I mean, she's almost too nice! You know what I mean? She's one of those people that I always want to be around so that maybe some of her kindness and godliness would rub off on me. Anyways, her being there for encouragement, support, and of course, to play my songs for me, made a HUGE difference. Even though I have not been told whether I've made it or not, I know I didn't make it. I mean, I lied about my age for crying out loud! But I know now that I definitely will try out next year, and this year was a great expierence that I will never forget.
This past weekend was very much eventful. I went snowtubing with the dorm kids, had family dinner at the dorm, and started working on stuff for economics week! Family dinner was SO GREAT. I got picked to be on the cooking team, and I got to cook noodles! I've never cooked like THAT ever. How crazy is that, when my Mom is a professional cook?! Anyways, I survived making the noodles without getting burnt, and everyone ate them without getting sick. Success! The set up crew decorated the cafeteria with snowmen, and we all ate together as one big happy "family". I loved it. :) Afterwards, we went out to the football field and played THREE hours of night capture the flag. Let me tell you, it was intense. My brother, his friend, and my Dad also came, and had fun as well. Even though it was freezing, and I was tired, and we lost, it was such a great night. I can't wait for next month's Family Dinner!
Aha! I'm caught up now! So here's this week. This week has been HECTIC. With economics week, my World Religion presentation, my childrens book and singing in choir, it's been crazy. Economics week I think has killed me. That is, it's killed my voice. I can barely talk, let alone sing. Being the over-enthusiastic ray of sunshine I am, I can't help myself but to talk to everyone about how badly they need my homemade brownies, necklaces, and love bugs!(made of really cute pom-poms and googly eyes). Literally, I will scream across the room if it means gaining a customer. It was great the first two days, but it's past day four, and I'm hurting. So, tomorrow I'm going on vocal rest and not speaking AT ALL. Good luck to my business partner! Though I guess she can do it, seeing as she was not here at all last week, because of mono/getting ehr wisdom teeth taken out. I did feel sorry of course, but by Tuesday I was seriously questioning my sanity! Anyways, amid all of the stress, we haven't done too terribly. Our table looks great, we have great products, and everything is selling! So even though the thing is so unorganized, it's a good expierence. :)
Well, I guess that's all for now! Saturday Dad and I are going to a Valentine's day concert with the dorm kids, which will be fun. :) I'll hopefully post sooner than later!

Home, home on the range...more like the Alps!

It's snowing buckets! I'm pretty sure there's over three inches of the wet stuff on the ground outside my house. Oh BTW I'm at home now! I just put on my favorite fuzzy socks, and I think I'm going to get to bed really early! Yay! And I can stretch out extra far because my bed is a queen, whereas my dorm bed is a twin. Joy. But I do kind of miss my dorm a little. But it is nice to be home. :) Ok, I think I'm going to go now, since I don't have any homework tonight! Goodnight!

2nd Day = Success! Except for getting lost once...

I've had such a good day. I'll go class by class:

Art: At this point, it seems like it'll be a breeze. The teacher is very uhh chill? I guess that's how I'll describe her. We're going to be building cathedrals apparently, so I need to do a little research on how they are made and such. Besides that it seems alright.

Bible: I got lost getting to class. UGH. The school has to seperate third floors, so you have to go up the right set of stairs of course. Which of course I didn't. Twice. FAIL. Anyways, I eventually made it to Bible. And all we did was watch a movie on polygamy(sorry bad spelling probably), which was really depressing. And you know what our homework was? He doesn't want us to come back the next day married with thirty two children and four sister wives. Sounds easy enough!

Technology: The teacher makes me really nervous. She's so serious, and is probably not the kind of person you want to get on their bad side. Of course I did by drinking...in a computer class. They do call me the smart one you know! But the class should be really easy. I pretty much know how to work Microsoft Word/Office and do powerpoints anyways, so another easy class. :)

Economics: Strangely, I think I'm going to really like this class! The teacher is really nice, and he reminds me of someone I know already, so that's pretty cool! And he's funny, which is a plus. And I sit right in the middle of a pool of sunlight, so it's perfect. And we had no homework, plus the textbook are really tiny, which doesn't matter because we dont' even have to take them home with us. Score!

English III: After a ten minute break to chill and such, I get to go to a really fun class. The teacher is super nice, and funny as well. Apparently those teachers are pretty tight, so that's awesome. And we're doing this....Grammar Rodeo. It sounds a little weird. LOL But it's all good. Though I have to figure out a way to print out my grammar quiz I'm giving to everyone. Oh joy. But besides that it's all good.

LUNCH: Lunch is basically a class period because we have a whole stinkin' hour! It's crazy. And the food was pretty good today. And the cafeteria staff is super nice! And they have hot tea! I love it here. :)

Middle School Orchestra: We had a sub again, so we played musical bingo! Lovely. The kids are cute, but get to be a little obnoxious after a while. :P But hopefully tomorrow it will get better.

Choir: Because we had a sub, I went to choir even though I was supposed to go to Orchestra. I did NOT want to play Bingo again! Anyways, I'm going to really like choir. A couple of them seem to be a bit annoyed that Ms. Thomas called me the soprano leader, but I think I can hold my own with them. Personality wise I mean, singing is a definite. LOL Oh you know what made my day? Ms. Thomas said I'm going to have a solo in the spring concert!!!!!!! You know how much of a big deal that is? Mrs. Bowen never let me have a solo! Even though I was the obvious one who should of had it! Justice is fair!! And it's one of my favorite hymns! Too bad I can't think of the name of it. UGH. Oh well, it doesn't matter, she's giving me a solo! I feel like I've found a friend in her too, which means so much. :)

Oh, tonight I went to my first ever basketball game! It was fun. I actually have some school spirit! Shocker. LOL

I think I'm going to bed now. I'm pretty wiped. Either that or start my George Bush biography. I don't know. But I'm going to finish this post either way! Goodnight!

Oh BTW the picture is me in my dorm on my first day. Pretty great, right? ;)

Moving in!

So, I'm officially in my dorm at TKA!! I'm so excited. I don't necessarily want to start school, but getting to meet new teachers, new kids, and have new classes WITH completely new teachers in a new enviroment is going to be pretty cool. The uniforms though, I'm not too excited about. But that's just a little thing I suppose. Oh, and my dorm leaders are so nice. And my dorm mates are pretty cool too. They're from Taiwan, China, Korea, and New York. So that's really neat. And apparently I'm the only girl in high school band? That should be interesting. But the sax player is from Brazil! And my roommate is from Uganda! Though she's not here yet. She and her twin are on a plane, on their way here....so I don't know when my roomy is going to make it. Oh well. Maybe I'll meet her tomorrow? Tomorrow is going to be cool, because my routine is going to be a lot like Governor's School! I wake up, go to breakfast in the cafeteria, walk to school, have classes, have free time after school, do study hall later, then free time before bed! So cool. But anyways, I guess I better go to bed, seeing as I'm not used to waking up so early, because I haven't been in school for a good three weeks. *sigh* But it's not going to be like my old school! YAY! That is, I hope. UGH. I guess I'm just going to have to wait until tomorrow.....goodnight!

Last Full Day of Winter Break...

It's the first day of 2011! Or I should say, it's 1-1-11. Pretty awesome I must say. Though that's the only really exciting thing about today. All day I have literally been sitting in bed, burning CDs of music from my "old" computer, and then reburning the music onto my new computer. Fun. It's soo tedious. Though I guess in the long run it'll be good. Even though staring at two computers for eight hours is NOT beneficial. But oh well. Tomorrow after church I leave to move into my new school! I'm prettye excited, though I don't really want winter break to end. I throughly enjoy sleeping in, taking naps, and doing whatever I want to my leisure. But all good things come to an end of course. So I'll enjoy these next few hourse I have and rest up as much as I can! I'm going to get back to my "project", but I just wanted to post something for the first of the year!

Ten minutes....

Just thought I'd throw out the fact that the new year is only ten minutes away. :) Here's to the last post of 2010! I'm sitting in the office working on my digital scrapbook, and watching Dick Clark's Rockin' New Year! Mom's organizing photos in her room, and Andrew and Dad are at a New Year's party at a friend's house. Whoo good times! Tomorrow is a new day, and a new year! So exciting! I think this year I'm going to try and lose more weight, become a harder worker and more patient, and keep working on making my voice better. :)

2011, WHAT?!

T-mines seven hours until the new year, and I'm quite in shock. I always get a little clauserphobic on New Year's, just because you have no choice in the fact that you must go into the new year.

Here are a few exciting things that have happened this year:

Disney World trip with choir, getting to sing at Disney World

Music Man

Governor's School for the Arts

Louisianna Trip with family

Going to Splash Country and Dollywood with Dad and Andrew

Super September Saturday to Gatlinburg/Smokey Mountians National Park

Tough Church retreat with my church

Being in the church under the direction of our new music director

Both Governor's School reunions

All East

Dollywood trips during Christmas season with family

Andrew's birthday trip to Wilderness Resort and Dollywood

First solo "gig" at Veteran's Day Program

White Christmas

And....here's what I look foward to next year:

Getting my permit

New School

Auditioning to perform at Dollywood

Sunday in the Park with George

New York/Washington D.C trip

More solo gigs hopefully

New choir teacher

New voice teacher hopefully

Summer break

So, I guess I have had a very full year. I'm so grateful for all of the opportunities I've been given this year. I can't wait to see what life is going to bring me next year!!

Goodbye 2010. You've been good to me, and I'll never forget you. Hello 2011, here's to you and the new decade!! Happy new year everyone!!

Day 1 of the "Cold War"

Phooey. I have a cold. I woke up two days ago with a really dry throat, and knew the worst was about to begin. Both of my parents have been sick this month, and I was SO confident that I would not get sick! But alas, I spoke too soon. Today is what I would call my first day of my, 'cold' war. Get it? COLD, war? hehe I know. It's sad. haha Here's what I've done so far to defend myself against this lovely virus, or whatever it is, in my head:

Woke up at 5 am(not by choice) and gargled warm water, blew my nose about twenty times, and ate a Hall's Vitamin C drop. Lemon flavored. Then I spent the next half hour trying to fall asleep again.

When I offically awoke at 9 am, I couldn't breathe. Again. And my throat was extremely dry. Which is my worst nightmare, because now I can barely talk, and sing. Fun. Anyways, I ate a blueberry mini bagel, a banana, and a mug of lemon tea. I sat in bed for another two hours, then drank some peppermint tea. Then I took a nice...hot....shower.

I must be crazy, but my one guilty pleasure is a really hot, really long shower. Another crazy thing: I stole my brother's Axe Shower gel and took it for my own, only because it has a ton of menthol, and when you put it on a bath poufe, it opens up your sinuses like nobody's business. And it is this intense shade of blue that I really like. hehe I also use three different shampoos, and a conditioner. Yep. I sound spoiled. But they all work for different reasons, so I kind of have to have them! One is for body, one is for shine, I'm not sure what the other one is for yet, and my conditioner is vital! I guess I wouldn't technically have to have it, but we all have things that we don't need, right? Ok now I'm really blabbing. Anyways, the shower really helped my sinuses, but at this moment I'm stuck with a really dry throat. ehh. We'll see how the rest of the week goes. :P

Oh another thing: my Aunt B.C and Uncle Matt are here from Louisianna! They got in around five yesterday, and I think today we're going to do nothing. I was going to say what we were going to do, but then I realized that we really aren't doing anything today, so that's why I put in that awkward sentence. I think tonight is my brother's basketball tournament, so we probably will go watch him do that. As for the other twelvish hours in my day, I have no idea what we're doing. We'll see!

Merry Christmas!

Goodness. Christmas really snuck up on me this year. I mean, two weeks ago I was at the last Saturday show for White Christmas, and not even thinking about Christmas. Then there was the Christmas Tree lighting at Church, which was simply magical because we got to sing while it was snowing! It was so much fun. Speaking of snow, the next day we were out of school! An then the next day we were out. And the next day(Dad and I went to see Voyage of the Dawn Treader that day, which was SO good.) By Thursday I was getting a little annoyed, because I actually wanted to get finals, gift giving, and goodbyes over with! But alas, we were out on Friday, I'm not taking finals, and I didn't get to say goodbye to anyone *sigh* oh well. Good thing for Facebook I guess! So that was last week.
This past week has been literally a weekend of sleepovers. Sunday night/Monday morning was spent at Brittaney's house, where we made sundaes, talked about anything and everything, playing pee poker(I got second place after drinking over sixty shots of water and being the second to go to the bathroom after holding my poor bladder for over 1 1/2 hours!), and falling asleep to She's the Man. Definitely what I was call a successful sleepover. The next day(Tuesday) consisted of music lessons with Mrs. Syder, and sleep recovery from the night before. On Wednesday I left at 9 am for Knoxville to hitch a ride with Laura to Nashville for my second Governor's School reunion! We arrived at David's house at about 6:00, and were greeted by Savannah and David. Many hugs ensued of course. After everyone else arrived, we ate a fabulous dinner cooked by David's "gourmet" chef of a Dad, took a ton of pictures of us dressed up in our finest, and played some hilarious games, thanks to Staci's genius creativity. Poor David and Savannah. Let's just say that using panti hose, balloons, and ribbon makes quite the hilarious reindeer costume. Then we changed into our PJ's, and played Dirty Santa. After practically paying JJ to trade my Obama chia head for his caramel popcorn, I ended with the edible gift. Of course. Better than the silly bands I guess! At about 1 am, I passed out in the comfy chair, while everyone else stayed to 5:30. Of course. I'm pretty pathetic when it comes to all-nighters. But it's OK I guess. That morning(Thursday) we chowed down on David's Dad's Mickey Mouse pancakes and cranberry juice. OH NOM NOM. We chilled in David's room and listed to music while digesting our breakfast, before getting out of our pajamas and preparing for an outing to explore where David lives. I must say, my friends are really great drivers. I hope I can be that good....once I get my permit. :P Anyways, we ended up eating lunch at P.F Changs, which was simply delightful. I've never eaten that much soup in my life! When we arrived back at David's house, JJ and Miranda left, and Laura and I were left to wait for Laura's Dad to take us back to Knoxville. It was sad saying goodbye to David. But after a three hour drive back to Knoxville, and an hour drive east, I was home! And very sleepy. Friday(Christmas Eve!) consisted of sleeping, chilling, and the Candlelight service at church. That was probably the highlight of my Christmas. Seeing all of those people hold up their candles during 'Silent Night' was very moving. And singing the high notes in 'O Holy Night' was so much fun. Definitely a successful service. And I got to open two presents that night! Mom and Dad got me a personalized Tervis Tumbler, and black slippers(which I'm wearing right now. SO SOFT.) After watching the Holiday with Mom and Dad, I went to sleep. Which leads me to:
Christmas Morning!
I awoke at 5 am, to look at what I recieved from good 'ole Kris Kringle, and saw:
A keyboard, a HP laptop, George Bush's autobiography, some professional grade shampoo, two Trollbeads(which are on backorder, so I'll get them in January), a scarf and some socks, my new school uniforms(lovely.), a purple peacoat, and a few other little things. I didn't get a lot of things on my list, but I've recieved many things throughout the year, so I'm throughly grateful. I'm trying not to take anything for granted, because knowing God, if you let material things get in the way of your relationship with him, he'll take it all away. So I'm definitely going to put him first always. :) After picture taking and gift opening, I went back to bed, then chilled until dinner. My Mom is the BEST. We ate turkey w/ dressing, mashed potatoes(homemade!!), peas, and topped it off with pumkin pie. So. Good. And that brings me to now. I'm sitting in the basement with my new laptop, waiting for Andrew to come back down and play modern warefare on his new "kinect" X Box 360, and maybe turn on First Baptist's Living Christmas tree pre recorded on TV. At this moment, life is good. :)
Next week my Aunt B.C and Uncle Matt will be coming in from Louisianna and staying with us for a few days. A Dollywood trip will definitely happen during next week. And then next Sunday, I move into my dorm at TKA! So exciting!
Well, that's all for now. I'm going to play around with my new laptop some more, and watch Dad and Andrew jump around in from of he Kinect. Merry Christmas everyone! :)