I didn't really think about having tests this week, but it suddenly hit me that I have two tests to study for. I'm not too worried about them all things considered, but I also don't think they're going to be that easy of tests either. I foresee myself doing quite a bit of studying this week.
The week is off to a pretty good start so far though. I signed up for housing and registered for next semester's classes yesterday. I was a bit worried about housing because there was only one single left, and I really didn't want to buy a double like I did this year. I got the single, but it's a suite style room that's different than the one I have this year. I'll be sharing a living area with another person and then have my own room. I'm not sure how that'll work out, but hopefully it'll be good.
I had a bit of trouble with registering for classes because a class that I'm supposed to take was listed as more credits than it actually is, and I could only register for so many credits. I emailed my advisor though, and she said she was going to send a drop/add slip to the registrar's office and get it sorted out, so I should be good there. I'm not really worried about it because it's an arranged class, and aside from my advisor knowing the problem, I know the professor of the class. It'll work out just fine.
The weather was also really nice today in comparison to lately. Fingers crossed that this is finally the time that it stays like this. I think we might have a chance of rain tomorrow, but if it's not snow, then I'll be eternally grateful.
I'm hoping that this week goes well even with all of the tests I need to prepare for.
How I Met Your Mother series finale: tonight!!!!
Summer break: 39 days
City of Heavenly Fire book release: 57 days
Sorry I'm Late album release: 57 days
Monday, March 31, 2014
I'm Looking Forward to...
One thing that I'm really proud of myself for doing is making myself a more positive person. I'm not entirely sure when it even happened, but at some point in the last year or so I realized that I thought a lot more positively than I used to in the past. I don't really know how I did it, but I do know that now I'm more conscious of when I'm being negative and somehow I've learned how to make myself think positively again much quicker than I used to.
While I'm not entirely sure how that came about, I think part of it was looking forward to things. I've mentioned before that I have countdowns on my phone that let me know how much time I have until certain things I'm excited about. Some of them are pretty simple, such as the first day of summer break. Others are more exciting like my Little Mix and One Direction concerts. All of them are things I'm looking forward to though, and thinking about them when I'm down really helps. (As does reading or watching a show I love, but that's a coping mechanism I've always used and not what I want to talk about in this post.)
I'm writing this not about the positivity/negativity thing, but just because I want to write about all the things I'm counting down to on my phone. I keep meaning to post the next three of these on my "life post" posts, but I tend to keep forgetting. I'll try and get better in the future, but here's all twelve of the countdowns currently on my phone are for:
My next one ends today, and it's for the How I Met Your Mother series finale. This might be the only countdown here where I actually dread it a little. I'm not ready for the show to end! But Ted's going to meet the mother, and isn't that what we've been looking forward to for years? It's definitely bittersweet.
My next countdown after that won't end for about a month, and that's for summer break on May 9th. It's just recently started hitting me how close summer break is. It hasn't felt like spring at all recently, so thinking about summer seemed ridiculous. Now I'm finally starting to even with the weather, and it's getting me excited for the fun things happening this summer.
May 27th is going to be a crazy day because two amazing things are being released. First of all, City of Heavenly Fire, the final Mortal Instruments book, is released. Words can't describe how excited and also utterly terrified I am about this book. The number of people who are supposed to die probably has me worried more than anything. I think the chances are good that at least one of my favorite characters won't make it, and that scares me. Cher Lloyd's new album Sorry I'm Late is also released that day. I have it preordered on iTunes, so I should be getting that right at midnight. I can't wait to hear it all. The songs we've heard so far are absolutely incredible, and there's no doubt in my mind that this album will be even better than her first. I also really want to get a hard copy, but that may have to wait depending on how much money I have when it's released.
Not long after that day, The Fault in Our Stars movie is released on June 6th. I've never made it a secret in the past how much I love the book, and the movie looks really good as well from what we've seen. I'm really excited! Continuing with movies, How to Train Your Dragon 2 comes out on June 13th. I don't get the opportunity to see many movies in the theater, and when I do, they tend to be book adaptations, but this is one I really want to see because I love the first one. I won't be able to see it on opening day though because...
June 13th is the day I see Little Mix in concert! I'm unbelievably excited! I have fourth row seats! I got to meet them the last time they came to Indianapolis, but when they performed we couldn't actually see them. I may not get the chance to meet them this time, but I'll have a great view when they perform. Plus, they have a new album now, and I'm dying knowing I'll see some of those songs performed. It's going to be such an absolutely incredible wonderful day.
The next countdown isn't until August 4th, which is my 21st birthday. Honestly, I think that may be more scary than exciting. I could care less about being able to drink, so for me it's just getting older. I'm trying to freak out less about growing up though, so I'm turning it into a positive thing.
August 15th is The Giver movie's release. I've been in love with this book since I was twelve, and the trailer really doesn't look that impressive. Still, I'm hoping for the best.
My One Direction concert is on August 29th! This will be my second time seeing them, and I'm just as excited as I was the first time. There will be new songs, and it will be Liam's birthday! Plus, it'll actually be my first time going to Chicago, so that's exciting.
The last two countdowns are for both of the Mockingjay movies, which are released on November 21st of this year and November 20th of next year. I love the Hunger Games series, and both movies were great so far. I'm really looking forward to seeing how they adapt Mockingjay.
And that's all the countdowns I have at the moment. Let me know if you can think of anything else I should countdown to. I know there are plenty of awesome things happening that I haven't thought to add, and I'm always up for having more things to look forward to. Let me know if there's anything you're looking forward to as well!
While I'm not entirely sure how that came about, I think part of it was looking forward to things. I've mentioned before that I have countdowns on my phone that let me know how much time I have until certain things I'm excited about. Some of them are pretty simple, such as the first day of summer break. Others are more exciting like my Little Mix and One Direction concerts. All of them are things I'm looking forward to though, and thinking about them when I'm down really helps. (As does reading or watching a show I love, but that's a coping mechanism I've always used and not what I want to talk about in this post.)
I'm writing this not about the positivity/negativity thing, but just because I want to write about all the things I'm counting down to on my phone. I keep meaning to post the next three of these on my "life post" posts, but I tend to keep forgetting. I'll try and get better in the future, but here's all twelve of the countdowns currently on my phone are for:
My next one ends today, and it's for the How I Met Your Mother series finale. This might be the only countdown here where I actually dread it a little. I'm not ready for the show to end! But Ted's going to meet the mother, and isn't that what we've been looking forward to for years? It's definitely bittersweet.
My next countdown after that won't end for about a month, and that's for summer break on May 9th. It's just recently started hitting me how close summer break is. It hasn't felt like spring at all recently, so thinking about summer seemed ridiculous. Now I'm finally starting to even with the weather, and it's getting me excited for the fun things happening this summer.
May 27th is going to be a crazy day because two amazing things are being released. First of all, City of Heavenly Fire, the final Mortal Instruments book, is released. Words can't describe how excited and also utterly terrified I am about this book. The number of people who are supposed to die probably has me worried more than anything. I think the chances are good that at least one of my favorite characters won't make it, and that scares me. Cher Lloyd's new album Sorry I'm Late is also released that day. I have it preordered on iTunes, so I should be getting that right at midnight. I can't wait to hear it all. The songs we've heard so far are absolutely incredible, and there's no doubt in my mind that this album will be even better than her first. I also really want to get a hard copy, but that may have to wait depending on how much money I have when it's released.
Not long after that day, The Fault in Our Stars movie is released on June 6th. I've never made it a secret in the past how much I love the book, and the movie looks really good as well from what we've seen. I'm really excited! Continuing with movies, How to Train Your Dragon 2 comes out on June 13th. I don't get the opportunity to see many movies in the theater, and when I do, they tend to be book adaptations, but this is one I really want to see because I love the first one. I won't be able to see it on opening day though because...
June 13th is the day I see Little Mix in concert! I'm unbelievably excited! I have fourth row seats! I got to meet them the last time they came to Indianapolis, but when they performed we couldn't actually see them. I may not get the chance to meet them this time, but I'll have a great view when they perform. Plus, they have a new album now, and I'm dying knowing I'll see some of those songs performed. It's going to be such an absolutely incredible wonderful day.
The next countdown isn't until August 4th, which is my 21st birthday. Honestly, I think that may be more scary than exciting. I could care less about being able to drink, so for me it's just getting older. I'm trying to freak out less about growing up though, so I'm turning it into a positive thing.
August 15th is The Giver movie's release. I've been in love with this book since I was twelve, and the trailer really doesn't look that impressive. Still, I'm hoping for the best.
My One Direction concert is on August 29th! This will be my second time seeing them, and I'm just as excited as I was the first time. There will be new songs, and it will be Liam's birthday! Plus, it'll actually be my first time going to Chicago, so that's exciting.
The last two countdowns are for both of the Mockingjay movies, which are released on November 21st of this year and November 20th of next year. I love the Hunger Games series, and both movies were great so far. I'm really looking forward to seeing how they adapt Mockingjay.
And that's all the countdowns I have at the moment. Let me know if you can think of anything else I should countdown to. I know there are plenty of awesome things happening that I haven't thought to add, and I'm always up for having more things to look forward to. Let me know if there's anything you're looking forward to as well!
Sunday, March 30, 2014
Life Post: Homework and Writing
This weekend has basically been homework, a bit of writing, and more homework. It could have been overwhelming, but somehow I made it through. It helped that I've gotten far more sleep the past two nights than I had for the past couple of weeks. I went to bed earlier than I was on school nights and also slept in later. It was pretty fantastic. I don't know how I'm going to wake up early again tomorrow.
Saturday I was doing homework almost up until I went to sleep. I took some breaks to write, but that was basically it. I did manage to read a bit before I went to bed too, but that was about it as far as what I did yesterday. Today I've managed to get through things a lot quicker, and I had more than half of my homework done before it was even noon. I still have a bit of reading to get done before tomorrow, but I'm pretty confident that I'll be done significantly earlier than I was yesterday.
In between the homework though, I managed to finish up the first draft of the Hunger Games fanfiction I've been writing. I've set it aside for a bit before I got back to edit, and now I'm editing a draft of the original story I've been working on for a while now. I really am in love with the world I created in this story, and it's always so much fun to get back to work on that. I also love what I've managed to do with the fanfiction as well though, so I'll be really excited when I go back to edit it later on. Hopefully I'll have that up online sometime early this summer. It all depends on how crazy school gets as we get closer to finals.
I'm actually going to go work on editing now before I get around to the rest of my homework, and I'm really excited to actually get to it.
Saturday I was doing homework almost up until I went to sleep. I took some breaks to write, but that was basically it. I did manage to read a bit before I went to bed too, but that was about it as far as what I did yesterday. Today I've managed to get through things a lot quicker, and I had more than half of my homework done before it was even noon. I still have a bit of reading to get done before tomorrow, but I'm pretty confident that I'll be done significantly earlier than I was yesterday.
In between the homework though, I managed to finish up the first draft of the Hunger Games fanfiction I've been writing. I've set it aside for a bit before I got back to edit, and now I'm editing a draft of the original story I've been working on for a while now. I really am in love with the world I created in this story, and it's always so much fun to get back to work on that. I also love what I've managed to do with the fanfiction as well though, so I'll be really excited when I go back to edit it later on. Hopefully I'll have that up online sometime early this summer. It all depends on how crazy school gets as we get closer to finals.
I'm actually going to go work on editing now before I get around to the rest of my homework, and I'm really excited to actually get to it.
Book Review: Rumspringa Break by Kristina Ludwig
ASIN: B00FR1ER1UPublished: October 10th, 2013
Publisher: self-published
Read from March 23rd to 28th, 2014
Synopsis from Goodreads:
Rebekah is stellar at caring for the animals on her family's farm, and even better at eluding Jakob, the neighborhood boy who has a massive crush on her. But she's never ventured out of her ultra-strict Amish community in Pennsylvania.
All that changes when she and her twin sister Mercy turn sixteen. Now, it's time to embark on Rumspringa, the rite of passage for Amish teens. Together, the girls discover the outside world, dressing in "English" clothes, cruising to the city, and partying with college students. Rebekah meets a stunning pre-veterinary student named Braeden, who encourages her to follow her dreams of becoming a veterinarian.
As her appreciation of the English lifestyle blossoms, Rebekah is faced with a massive dilemma. How can she pursue a college education and still remain accepted by her Amish community? Can she and Braeden overcome their cultural differences and build a relationship -- and will her family and friends still talk to her if they do?
Review:
I downloaded this book because it was free for the Kindle and it caught my interest. Sadly, it didn't really live hope to the hope I had for it. I think the biggest problem was the length. This book is short. Extremely short. There are nineteen chapters, but each chapter felt incredibly short as well. The biggest problem with the length was how awkwardly the book cut off. It didn't end. It just stopped. I know there's more to this series, but honestly, I'm guessing that could have just been added to this book to create one book that was a better length. There wasn't the slightest bit of resolution in this book.
Not only that, but I felt like I didn't have time to actually connect with the characters or the story. I wasn't pulled into the book at all, and I disliked all of the characters. They didn't feel real to me. It was as if they were all extremely two-dimensional and boring to me. Maybe that would have changed if I had read more about them, but the book was too short for me to ever find out. I also know I could go pick up the second book, but I didn't get into the first one enough to bother with the second. That may have been different if the first book had been longer and more developed. Then I might have gotten into the story enough to bother with the other books.
I wouldn't necessarily call this a bad book. It just didn't feel long enough to actually grab my interest. I also would have appreciated characters that felt more three-dimensional. I'm sure some people will enjoy this book and be able to appreciate it for what it is, but I didn't find it to be developed enough to be satisfying.
Saturday, March 29, 2014
Reign Review: Season 1 Episode 16: "Monsters"
What even was this episode? It's been two days now, and I'm still processing it all. Things on Reign have always been crazy, but it's like this episode hit a whole new level and I'm not sure I'll ever know how I feel about it. The ending especially left me wondering just what they're doing.
Henry's craziness continued in this episode, and I continue to be confused about what they're doing with that. I'm wondering if he will end up dying from whatever is wrong, which would lead to Francis and Mary ruling. However, that also means getting rid of one of the main characters, so I'm not sure if it'll happen or not. Even if Francis and Mary rule France over the course of the show, I don't really see it happening that soon. Of course, there's also the option that Henry dies slowly which would give the show more time. We still don't actually know what's wrong though, and that's what my biggest question is. (Brain cancer seems the most likely answer all things considered, but who knows what they'll do.)
The best part of Henry going crazy to me is actually Catherine. I've said a million times that she's my favorite character in the show, and I'm loving seeing this side of her. She's typically cruel towards people, but in this episode we actually got to see her scolding Henry for being more horrible to people than he should be. I like what that shows of Catherine. You could make the argument that she's doing it for appearances sake, but I honestly don't think she cares about harming people unless there's a reason for it. It doesn't necessarily excuse things she does, but I don't think she ever does any of it out of pure hatefulness. She has a point behind it.
Perhaps I should have enjoyed Penelope since she seems to be somewhat like Catherine, but I actually strongly disliked her. That might have been because she was so antagonistic towards Catherine, but I think a lot of it comes out of how stupid I feel like she is. She's definitely cunning, but I think she's arrogant thinking she's in control of the situation. She thinks that she has control of Henry, and I know that's going to come back and hurt her. If she were just trying to work her way up in the ranks, I wouldn't have much of a problem with her, but her stupidity that comes from her arrogance makes me incapable of liking her even the slightest bit.
Mary and her friends seem to switch off guys at a rate that is far beyond healthy. I do feel bad for Greer, and I understand that she didn't care much for Lord Julian other than for appearances purposes. Plus, Lola really needs to find someone. Still, it's kind of weird that Lola is getting one of her friends suitors yet again, even if it's in a different way. It makes me feel bad for her.
Greer now has plans to marry Lord Castleroy, which creeps me out. He's a nice guy and all, but I can't get over the age difference there even though I know it's not out of place historically. She could marry a much worse guy all things considered, but I still want her to be with Leith somehow.
I saw hints of something between Olivia and Nostradamus last episode, but I pushed it aside mostly because I didn't want that to happen. It came back this episode though, so I guess that's a thing they're doing with the show. This brings up the age difference thing again, and I just can't get over that.
Sebastian came back of course. I didn't expect him to be gone for long. I'm beyond happy that things with Sebastian and Francis got resolved. It's nice to see that.
I most certainly wasn't expected the random wedding between Sebastian and Kenna. (Another example of Mary and her friends alternating boys between themselves.) I suppose it's a good way of showing how crazy Henry is, but I'm not so sure that I like that being thrown in there. My heart definitely broke a bit at Kenna's crying. It was really hard to watch. I wonder if they'll stay married and make things work or what will happen. Looking back on it I think Kenna and Sebastian had a cute scene together in one of the very first episodes and I actually made a comment about thinking they could be cute together. I'd completely forgotten about it until now, but now I'm starting to think about that again. Maybe they'll actually end up being good together. It's possible I could end up shipping them, even though the forced wedding was still absolutely horrible.
I think the biggest question for next week is what is the crazy thing that Henry will do. I don't know how he can get even crazier than he is now.
Henry's craziness continued in this episode, and I continue to be confused about what they're doing with that. I'm wondering if he will end up dying from whatever is wrong, which would lead to Francis and Mary ruling. However, that also means getting rid of one of the main characters, so I'm not sure if it'll happen or not. Even if Francis and Mary rule France over the course of the show, I don't really see it happening that soon. Of course, there's also the option that Henry dies slowly which would give the show more time. We still don't actually know what's wrong though, and that's what my biggest question is. (Brain cancer seems the most likely answer all things considered, but who knows what they'll do.)
The best part of Henry going crazy to me is actually Catherine. I've said a million times that she's my favorite character in the show, and I'm loving seeing this side of her. She's typically cruel towards people, but in this episode we actually got to see her scolding Henry for being more horrible to people than he should be. I like what that shows of Catherine. You could make the argument that she's doing it for appearances sake, but I honestly don't think she cares about harming people unless there's a reason for it. It doesn't necessarily excuse things she does, but I don't think she ever does any of it out of pure hatefulness. She has a point behind it.
Perhaps I should have enjoyed Penelope since she seems to be somewhat like Catherine, but I actually strongly disliked her. That might have been because she was so antagonistic towards Catherine, but I think a lot of it comes out of how stupid I feel like she is. She's definitely cunning, but I think she's arrogant thinking she's in control of the situation. She thinks that she has control of Henry, and I know that's going to come back and hurt her. If she were just trying to work her way up in the ranks, I wouldn't have much of a problem with her, but her stupidity that comes from her arrogance makes me incapable of liking her even the slightest bit.
Mary and her friends seem to switch off guys at a rate that is far beyond healthy. I do feel bad for Greer, and I understand that she didn't care much for Lord Julian other than for appearances purposes. Plus, Lola really needs to find someone. Still, it's kind of weird that Lola is getting one of her friends suitors yet again, even if it's in a different way. It makes me feel bad for her.
Greer now has plans to marry Lord Castleroy, which creeps me out. He's a nice guy and all, but I can't get over the age difference there even though I know it's not out of place historically. She could marry a much worse guy all things considered, but I still want her to be with Leith somehow.
I saw hints of something between Olivia and Nostradamus last episode, but I pushed it aside mostly because I didn't want that to happen. It came back this episode though, so I guess that's a thing they're doing with the show. This brings up the age difference thing again, and I just can't get over that.
Sebastian came back of course. I didn't expect him to be gone for long. I'm beyond happy that things with Sebastian and Francis got resolved. It's nice to see that.
I most certainly wasn't expected the random wedding between Sebastian and Kenna. (Another example of Mary and her friends alternating boys between themselves.) I suppose it's a good way of showing how crazy Henry is, but I'm not so sure that I like that being thrown in there. My heart definitely broke a bit at Kenna's crying. It was really hard to watch. I wonder if they'll stay married and make things work or what will happen. Looking back on it I think Kenna and Sebastian had a cute scene together in one of the very first episodes and I actually made a comment about thinking they could be cute together. I'd completely forgotten about it until now, but now I'm starting to think about that again. Maybe they'll actually end up being good together. It's possible I could end up shipping them, even though the forced wedding was still absolutely horrible.
I think the biggest question for next week is what is the crazy thing that Henry will do. I don't know how he can get even crazier than he is now.
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