So.

I have just posted my Theological Term paper. I received it back from my professor today and was pleased (okay, thrilled) with my grade. If you've ever wanted to know what a ten-page paper looks like on blogger, take a look! And please comment and give feedback. Don't worry about offending me; believe me, this paper has been ripped to shreds before (constructive criticism, you know).

Just a quick update: I am alive, I am loving break, had my braces removed last week (pictures here), went on a harrowing shopping trip with Katrina, had a marvelous Christmas, turned 19 yesterday (I suppose I need to update my sidebar!), and am actually starting to look forward to college again. I definitely needed a break, though!

All right, I'm off to post on Erika's blog!

In Which I Write Like a Hysterical, Relieved College Student

HOORAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sorry, I had to get that out....

See that smile on my face? ^^^^ Josh drew that picture of me, and I think he captured my feelings quite well. :)

This post will probably be sickeningly exuberant with an excessive number of exclamation points because I'm currently floating in a state of delirious happiness. First semester down!!! I took the last final last night, and now I have 28 days free. (Yep, I counted them.)

Life is fantastic and God is amazing!!! Not only am I done with college for the semester (have I mentioned that yet?), but my braces are coming off next Monday (December 21st), I will be 19 the week after that, and I am majorly thrilled about my plans for break.

What are my plans for break? Well, basically, I plan on being a complete slob. Just kidding...I have a long list of things that I've been unable to do all semester. It's the simple things that I miss, like...

cleaning my room (it has gotten pretty bad lately...piles of projects that I need to work on and haven't had time)

-sleeping

-emailing friends back

-writing letters

-Christmas things, like the newsletter, buying presents, and more

-blogging

-writing in my journal

-talking to friends and family without watching the clock and keeping college assignments constantly in the back of my brain (It's true that I've been home since I do distance learning, but having assignments has meant that I've had to shut myself into my room [even when friends are here] and do school.)

Actually, it's a rather surreal feeling to have no assignments pressing on my brain. It's amazing.

But, I think my family is more relieved than I am...if that's possible. Why?

1) My mom has a list for me to do over break. And she's probably happy that I will stop completely forgetting to do the dishes!
2) My family will not have to listen to my incessant talk about college.
3) And Erika will no longer have to sit with me at late hours, performing the role of "study partner."

Oh, yes. This is where I tell the hilarious story about last night's frantic studying. At least I found it funny. I wasn't too concerned about the Theology Final, since the Theology Exams up to that point had been incredibly easy, but then I started hearing scores from the amazing geniuses in the class and panicked. Based on the numbers I was hearing, I was scared that I would completely bomb the test. So, I read through all the lectures and wrote 16 pages of notes to study. And who did I pick to help me cram my notes into my brain?? Yep, Erika. I bribed her with hot cider (I have a stash of hot cider in my room that only a privileged few can have!!) to stay up until 11 with me, reading my notes and quizzing me on them.

What was so funny was her pronunciation of the words. I admit, my handwriting was pretty bad, but she had never heard of most of the terms and was pronouncing everything completely phonetically. It was completely understandable (there were words like Patripassianism, anthropomorphisms, etc.) until we got to the definition of omnipotent, and she read it "om' ny po' tent *blink blink* Oh, omnipotent!" ...I burst out laughing, because she knows that word.

It was great. I love PHC. I'm glad to be done. That's about all I have in my head right now.

I've learned so much this semester which should prove useful next semester. I have learned those little details about how distance learning works and have some ideas about the standards of the professors. Next semester should be slightly easier, as I'm taking 12 credits instead of 13.

Today I'm cleaning, catching up on things, and loving life. Can life get better? I think not.

(Erika says this is a hyperactive blog post, which sounds a lot like me right now. So, I think I'll post it.)

9 Days!

But who's counting?

Oh, wait. I am.

Nine days until what? you might ask. Good question. You might also ask why I am writing in choppy sentences. That would also be a good question.

Anyhow. There are only nine days left until I will be done with my first semester at PHC. I am ridiculously excited! I finished the last two essays on Friday and now have only one more week of studies and then final exams. I'm seeing the light at the end of the proverbial tunnel. Or would that be, the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel? I don't know (or care, at this point!).

It's 12:45 AM, which incidentally might not be the best blogging time for me. But I'm currently caught up enough in studies to justify typing this out.

About those essays...I know I said I would publish them, but let's just say that they will not be seeing the light of day for a long time. And if I ever publish them, it will be as a joke! Sometimes I really dislike my writing. Like right now. I am not exceptionally proud of the two essays I wrote this week. But I still plan on posting the Theology paper and Research and Writing paper.

Hmm, anything else of note? Tomorrow (or actually, today) I get my lower retainer (for you non-braces people, that's part of the orthodontic procedure), which means I'm starting to see the light at the end of THAT tunnel as well. I was starting to despair of ever getting my braces off!

All right, this is all for now! I hope to post more often now that college is almost done.