In the Midst of Summer

Being on summer vacation is a truly excellent feeling.
Yesterday was my last day of finals, and my last day of freshman year. I'm happy to say that I passed all my classes with high honors and am excited for a challenging sophomore year come September!
For now though, I sure am enjoying the summer.
After school was over yesterday, my friend Haley and I hopped on the bus and headed down to the local ice cream shop where we treated our selves to large amounts of chocolate ice cream topped with Reese's and plenty of whipped cream. Needless to say, it was a great start to summer vacation. I spent the rest of yesterday lounging around and playing badminton with my brother and my mom and I went shopping in the evening, which was good because I needed a few more summer clothes.
Got some orange plaid shorts a couple tank tops, and also the lovely outfit I am sporting today, some gray jean shorts and a aqua-green and white striped shirt. Very summery and awesome.

Today I simply relished being able to sleep in until eight, which is so much better than having to wake up at five-thirty every morning to a shrill alarm clock. Best part of summer- no annoying alarm clock.
This morning I went to my brother's final assembly at the middle school at which he received a number of awards, and then came here and finished ready Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows out on my front porch. I figured that I had to read it again before the epic second half of the movie comes out in July :)
I also had a practice up at church for trumpet, and soon I am heading out to my final driving lesson! I'm very excited...I take my permit test of Monday and should have that permit in my hands by 3pm, at which time I can legally drive. Bwahaha.
I'm also going out to dinner with my extended family tonight to celebrate my grandmother's birthday.
All in all, it's been a busy and fun first day and a half of summer vacation!
What have you done so far with YOUR summer?

H is for Happiness

H is for Happiness.

What is happiness? Well the dictionary defines in thusly:

hap·pi·ness

[hap-ee-nis]

–noun

1.

the quality or state of being happy.

2.

good fortune; pleasure; contentment; joy.

That may be true, but I think it's a lame definition. The definition for happy is also lame. What is wrong with the dictionary? Their definitions for such happy words are....lame and boring. 

So, because this bothers me, I'm going to write my own. HA! So there dictionary. Your definition is about to get owned.

HAPPINESS IS....

A good book on a rainy day, curled up by the fireplace with a cup of hot tea,

A day on the beach with the wind and salt in your hair as your drink in the sunshine and the freedom of summer,

Working really hard on very complex pieces of music, and then performing them well too,

It's conquering the glades and double black diamonds on your favorite ski mountain,

Apple pie and corn on the cob (Though not together),

Chocolate, chocolate, chocolate in any form,

Getting a good grade on a really hard test, and then seeing your name in the paper for honor roll,

Marching across lush green grass in a gold medal band,

 Friends who run up and hug you in the middle of the school hallway every time they see you,

Arranging music for various events and people,

Summer camp....all different kinds of it,

Watching a hilarious show like Wipeout with your family and falling over laughing hysterically,

Your high school friends attempting to sing karaoke,

That amazing feeling you can get when you feel as if you're never going to stop smiling.

That, my friends, THAT, is happiness.

Brickways, Magic, & Travel

Hey everyone! So over Thanksgiving, my family decided to use up a bonus week for our timeshare and spend the holiday week down in Cape Cod. We got down here Sunday night, and hung out right around here yesterday, and today we traipsed up to Providence, RI.
We had been there a few years back and went to this AWESOME cafe called Brickway on Wickenden, so we went there for breakfast. They've got these hot chocolates that come in mugs as big as soup bowls with towering piles of whipped cream and some scrumptious hashbrowns among other things. Yum. :)

We then headed to the mall, Providence Place, which also contains a huge movie theater. We got our movie tickets, and still had a few minutes to poke around in some of the shops. I've been needing a nicer warm coat that I can wear to school and church and around and stuff as the only things I have right now are by ski coat and marching band jacket. We ended up buying this really cute pea coat at Aéropostale that I love very much.

 

Finally we went and saw Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows {part 1} in IMAX. The screen was so incredibly huge and the surround sound made everything shake. The movie was totally awesome, and very true to the book which was nice. I can't wait for part two!

All and all, we had a good time today, and we're going to go up to Plymouth tomorrow which should also be fun. What are you guys up to? :)

Life is so much better now

Ya know, I've actually had a really great day. Funny how that happens, doesn't it? Anyway, I had been on the computer for quite a long time this morning contently checking e-mail and facebook for honors updates. It seemed pretty bleak at first. No phone, no power over at the host site, and Mrs. Barry (my band director) couldn't get in touch with the host because of that. Well, finally we get some news at least. Mrs. Barry was going to drive to the school so that we could get our instruments. So my mom took me in, and Mrs. Barry told us that she was expecting a call from the coordinator very soon and that she'd get in touch with us so that we'd know the plan for tomorrow. Well, a little over an hour ago the phone rang. I was on my laptop working on Trumpet's Secret (I'm SO close to being done!) but I jumped up, grabbed the phone and answered. It was Mrs. Barry! And she brought the best news of all. The festival would go on as planned tomorrow! I nearly screamed. After going over details and she asking me to call a couple of people, she hung up. I was so happy, I was jumping up and down. And then my mom made it even better. She said that me, my brother, my brother's friend who was over and the boy, Zach, who lives next door could all walk down the street and get ice cream! It was so nice out, and it felt so much like spring with the sun shining, birds singing, walking down the street, chocolate shake in hand. So anyway, life's good. How about you? Off to finish up Trumpet's Secret now!