Happy New Year!

I know I'm a week late on this, but I didn't have time to get my thoughts together last week, so whatever. I'm writing this while enjoying my first extra day of winter break! With windchill, today is supposed to feel like -24 by the end of the day, and tomorrow is supposed to feel like -40. I'm also kind of freaked out, because I need to submit an application for a summer program today, and my references aren't in their offices to send letters.

I added a new tab to the top of my blog, so stay tuned to see what books and music pieces I finish in 2014! The book section will include links to goodreads, and the music section will include videos, either of myself playing or from youtube, depending on how well I play.

My extremely vague new year's resolutions:

1. Read more books
2. Get into college
3. Procrastinate less on school work so that I can have more free time
4. Practice piano and violin more
5. Get more blog followers. I don't even know where to begin with this one, but I would love for my blog to grow.

Random Friday: Bookworm Things

Hosted by Awkwordly Emma

This is my first Random Friday, but I've really been wanting to do one, and how could I resist blogging about books? 

1. Never having complaints about the book selections for English class because you're READING! During the school year!
2. Watching your TBR list grow and grow and grow while your "read" list never seems to change.
3. Going to the library and seeing the second book of every single series you want to read, and dying inside.
4. Being accused of lying about the number of hours you read because the number is so high.
5. Waking up nearly dead in the morning because of how many times you told yourself "one more chapter."
6. When the package of books you got for Hanukkah was so heavy that the wrapping paper fell off when someone tried to hand it to you.
7. The giant smile that spreads across your face when a $50 Barnes & Noble gift card falls out of your Christmas stocking... and you don't even celebrate Christmas!
8. Having so many piles of books on every surface in your room that there's nowhere to put anything.
9. Your family hates you because you have started each one of them a stack of books that they need to read.
10. You have gotten in trouble in school multiple times for reading in class.
11. Even when you're not reading, you're still completely lost in imaginary conversations with fictional characters.

Merry Christmas!!

No matter what anyone tells you, I'm pretty sure Jews enjoy Christmas even more than those who actually celebrate it. Every year on Christmas Eve, we always sleep over at our grandparents' house. We go out for a fancy dinner, have ice cream for a late-night snack, and then wake up and get stockings. It's just a really fun time to spend with my family, especially when there's nothing else to do anywhere.
After we came home, we all lounged around in pajamas, worked on a jigsaw puzzle, and played the game Logo. Obviously, we had to go out for Chinese for lunch! It has been such a relaxing day.

I haven't worked on any homework yet today, which is probably a bad thing... you would think that they could give us two weeks off, but instead I have so much to do that two weeks isn't enough to get it all done. Remind me what fun is again?

Back into School Mode

It's that time of year again, and I must say that I'm pretty excited. Yesterday our schedules were accidentally released onto a website nobody uses, but once word got out that they were there...
Anyway, mine looks great! I got all of the teachers I wanted, the lunch period I wanted, and several classes with most of my friends. The only bad thing is that no two classes in a row are on the same floor. So. Much. Running. (My school is really big). It also hit me for the first time yesterday how demanding my classes are. I knew I was signing up for 3-4 AP classes, but for some reason something clicked yesterday.
I just got back from my final for the health class I took over the summer, and practiced parallel parking in front of the school. A school without buses should really have parking lots! I'll be back at the school a second time today when I take my sister to her high school orientation.
I should probably go finish that homework before Monday...

Yay!

Last night I finished this 1,000-piece puzzle, and earned myself an 11:00 PM trip to Cheescake Factory. Just felt like sharing!

Next up: A working, 6-ft tall clock puzzle that my parents got me for Hanukkah last year.

School Supplies!

If you don't already know, I have a minor major obsession with school supplies. Back to school shopping makes getting ready to start another stressful, sleepless year a little more bearable. Starting in July when back-to-school sales are advertised, my mom, sister, and I go from store store getting whatever freebies and penny items each store is offering that week. Our main game? To see how many paper folders we can rack up for a penny or less. This year's total so far: 30. No, I'm not particularly interested in counting how many from years past are sitting in our basement at the moment... LOL. We probably have even more filler paper.
Yesterday we did our more expensive shopping trip, for binders and notebooks and such. Because I love school supplies so much, I'm posting pictures.

Here are my binders- Purple for Spanish, blue for AP BC Calc, red for English, teal for AP Economics, and green for AP Chemistry.

 My notebooks follow the same color code, but because my math class is three semesters, I didn't have to buy new math notebooks for this year... they're somewhere, hopefully where I can find them.

I'm kind of infamous for having an overstuffed pencil case. I have my thin markers, 2 black pens, a thin and a thick sharpie, 2 highlighters, a wite-out pen, and some mechanical pencils. My sister found the most amazing colored pens at Five Below yesterday, so I also have those. They write perfectly, and they were $5 for two packs of seven.

Hope you enjoyed my obsession as much as I do! xD

My First Teaser Tuesday

Hosted by Should Be Reading

~Grab your current read

~Open to a random page

~Share two (2) "teaser" sentences from somewhere on the page

~BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! ( make sure that what you share doesn't give away to much away! You don't want to ruin the book for others!)

~Share the title & author too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR lists if they like your teasers!

- Then go on over to Should be Reading and share your teaser in her comments section!

Sometimes a meal is just a meal, and eating with others is simply eating with others. More often than not, though, it's not.

-Page 7, How to Read Literature Like a Professor by Thomas C. Foster

At the moment, I'm not in the middle of any books besides this one for school. Luckily, I'm not finding it too terribly boring so far. I think it will prove to be a must-read for high school students because it explains how teachers come to the far-fetched conclusions about symbolism in literature.