...

:]

I'm really, really happy.
I'm taking ballet, and it makes me feel beautiful and strong (you'd never know how hard the simplest things are by watching the pros!). I'm kind of obsessed with it, also. It's what I spend my time thinking about, and I also spend tons of time practicing. I like watching videos of variations (my favorite is Esmeralda) and I hope some day (distant future we're talking here!) to go en pointe.
School is okay. No one likes doing homework, especially not me. But I've been doing the assigned reading and doing well on quizzes so far, and I feel confident about my smarts. I didn't really feel that way much last semester, but this semester I feel it's true. I only have one troublesome class (and you'd never guess which class it is - and I'm not telling!) and hopefully, now that I know a bit better what's expected, I'll improve. But all my academic classes are going well and I'm really absorbing the information!
Things between me and Steven are wonderful, as always :) I get to see him most days, and for this I am very thankful. We watch a lot of House together while falling asleep on his couch. It's really nice, except for once a few weeks back when we fell asleep and I couldn't make it to ballet because I overslept! I'm also getting really excited because it's about time for his acceptance letters to start coming in, and I want to know where he's going to school next year! I'm both so excited and so nervous! I'm hoping he gets into UCSD and gets a ton of aide so that we can get an apartment and a dog together. :)
I've been very proud of myself lately, and really happy as well. Of course, battling depression is never easy, but I think most days I'm good. Right now is a good moment. Life is good. :)

Second semester, so far

It's been pretty good. I've only really had two days, but I like it.
My geography teacher's voice is somewhat like Doctor House and he's got a good sense of humor.
The geology teacher has some accent, I'm not sure from where, and she also has a good sense of humor.
My history teacher is a slow talker with an accent. The accent is understandable, but he talks really slow and doesn't have a ton of enthusiasm. I'm going to have to make myself sit in the front in his class. He seems nice enough, though.
My math teacher is probably pretty good. A young guy, probably a master's student. I'm just sad because I was anticipating a different teacher, the amazing teacher I had last semester. So, I'm a bit disappointed but I'm sure I'll get over it.

It's been really rainy here. Last night it hailed! Really hard! It was funny and a little frightening! There was thunder and lightening, too. And twice now while I was driving the rain got extremely heavy! Like, windshield-wipers on full blast isn't enough type rain! I think I handle it pretty well, but I hate all the idiots who can't drive in the rain.

I'm probably going to get a hair cut tomorrow. I need a trim and have the layers re-done. My hair has been bugging me a lot lately.

Steven has a new nephew and he is sooo cute! And so tiny! I'm not used to being around newborns (most of my time with Julissa was from 3mos and up), and Frankie is smaller than Luna was when she was born. He's also smaller than Sophie, but I didn't see her as a newborn.
Sophie has started to like me :) Makes me feel pretty good. It's probably because I play with her and stuff. She's so adorable. On Sunday, I think, she had cat make-up on, and she was meowing. She was playing with something and hurt her fingers, and showed me her hand (y'know, kiss it and make it better) and I asked her "Does this finger hurt?" Her response: Meow.

Things are pretty great right now. I'm borderline nervous for school. I'm worried about my studying; I'm not used to studying so it'll be difficult. By the way, I'm taking geology, geography, geometry, history, Teaching as a Profession, and rowing. Too many studying-kinds of classes. And too many 'geo's.

RFOTD: I love eating raisins in slow motion. Like, turning one raisin into 8 bites. My new addiction.

Happy New Year 2010!

Cadet Kelly is on. Can you say cheesy?!

So, this last year was definitely not as good as I hoped it would be. A lot of people died, most recently, my next-door neighbor, Mr. Huezo. I have known him all my life. Dad knew him almost all his life! He was good friends with both my dad and my grandpa! He's also my friend Johana's grandpa. He died of kidney failure, more or less. He had been on constant dialysis the last month or two of his life.

School went well, as you know, and I am now a sophomore with good grades. :) I got all the classes I was going for this semester, which starts on the 20th. Geology, geography, history, math, Ed 200, and rowing! I'm not too excited about all the purely-educational classes, but I'm very excited about rowing. Also, I'm considering taking summer school, so I can start off next fall as a junior.

I made quite a few new friends, and lost an old one, and repaired an old friendship also. I haven't gotten super-close to any of my new friends, but luckily I have the world's best boyfriend to make up for it :)

He's proven to me, a lot lately, how amazing he is. A lot of the times he's the only person I have to turn to, and I don't mind. He is an amazing shoulder to cry on, and he gives wonderful advice, not to mention he's a great cuddle-buddy. :) And he's not a half-bad driver!

I feel that I have improved and matured as a person. I have a genuine interest in learning; I always have, but it's showing more and more as I spend my free time reading articles on various topics. I also know how to make wise decisions; I feel like I've been making fewer and fewer mistakes. And while I know I'll never be perfect, and I know that mistakes are learning opportunities, it's refreshing when you consciously don't make ten million mistakes per minute.

This past year, although many things that happened were pretty darn... well, awful, I feel I truly grew as a person. I'm smarter than I was last year. I am wiser than I was last year. And, in general, I'm happier than I was last year. Maybe not always, but I find happiness in simpler things.

Basically, 2009 sucked, but I didn't.

Happy new year!

I FINALLY got my last grade, and my final GPA for my first semester is a .....










....................





3.15! Sure, it's not fantastic, but I am so extremely proud. :) Just a few years ago I was a super-mega-failure because I never actually did anything, and now I'm a sophomore at a university with a 3.15 GPA.


I am elated. :)

One semester down

I'm miserable,

but at the same time

I am so happy.

Things could be so much worse.

I love you.
Rose

RIP Aunt Silvia

My Aunt Silvia passed away this Saturday morning/Friday night at 12:30 AM.

The short explanation is, she died of breast cancer.

The long explanation is that she had a stroke when I was about eight, and that initially left her paralyzed and mentally... altered. She recovered, physically, after a few years, but she was never mentally 'right' again - she saw herself as a burden onto others and was embarrassed by herself, and because of this, I hadn't seen her in 9 years. Three years ago, she discovered a lump in her breast, and she was happy. So, she let the cancer progress without telling ANYONE at all for two and a half years, told her husband in March, and told her sister in October, who then told my family. Initially, we were told she'd have around six months to live, but she got worse and worse, and on Saturday she finally let go.

I was extremely upset over this, naturally, and I spent a lot of Saturday crying. I really miss her, the old "her," the one who took us to the Children's Museum and threw pennies into the pool for us to dive at. I really wish she had never had the stroke so many years ago, and I also really wish I could have known her better. She sounds like she was an amazing woman, but, as I haven't seen her since being old enough to truly care (You know what I mean), I never did get to know my Aunt Silvia. I loved her regardless, and I am very upset over this all, from many angles.

I love you, Aunt Silvia. I hope you're somewhere better now, and no longer in all the pain that has come along within the past decade.

I'll never forget you, or all the fun we had with you, or the purple slide whistle and Stegosaurus poster you bought me. <3