Drastic Changes

My summer plans have changed drastically...in a good way. The original plans were for me to stay at Shawnee and work, well, my job at the ammo factory kinda fell through the last couple of weeks of school so it was decided that it would be much better for me to go home, which I was more than willing to do. Although, I must say after having psyched myself up to be at school all summer, the thought of going home was slightly odd.

Friday night after graduation me and a friend hopped in my car and headed north. My friend, Amanda, lives about 45 minutes south of my house, so I dropped her off and the continued home. I got home about 2:30 am!! It was a loooong trip, mainly because we ran into some really bad weather.

My great grandma is at my house right now, so that was yet another good reason to be home...I haven't seen her in quite a while. I spent the weekend resting, and being in the kitchen (which to me is the best thing ever!) Today I headed out fairly early to start the job-hunt. I filled out bazillions of applications, and had 3 right off the bat interviews, which ended up in me getting 2 jobs! WOOO HOOO!!! I've never had so much success so fast while job hunting. It had to have been God!!! I got a job working mornings as a hostess at a pancake restaurant, and working close at Wendy's! I start tomorrow at the pancake place, and next week at Wendy's.

I also took my cello in for an appraisal today as well...the prognosis is a lot of money! :-/ So I don't know yet what I'm going to be doing with that. He had REALLY nice cello for a really good deal, but even that good deal is almost the same as an entire semester of college. So that's on hold for now too.... I'd appreciate everyone's prayers on that cuz I really miss playing.

A Few Prayer Requests

Hey everyone! This is just a really quick post to ask everyone to pray for me right now. I have a lot of stuff on my plate and it's getting rather overwhelming.

First on the list, and really this request is for every college student, pray for finals. I know that mine start tomorrow, and most colleges have already started or will be starting within the next week.

My second request is because on Saturday I took a really bad fall at work and landed smack dab on my rear end. Sunday I went to the doctor and they did x-rays and stuff, nothing is broken, but I'm bruised really badly, my hip is insanely swollen, and I'm hurting like crazy. Orginally the doc just told me to take ibuprofen every 4 hours. Well, that wasn't working so I started rotating asprin and ibuprofen every 2 hours and still that wasn't helping. I called the doc's office today and asked if I could get a prescription from them, which they did give me one. The only problem is that it's making me REALLY dizzy and nauseated, which makes studying almost impossible. So please pray that all those little complications go away and I can once again focus on what needs to be done.

Finally a third request is for what God wants for me this summer. My original plans were to stay down here in Louisville for the summer and work. However, in the past 4 weeks I've been off 2 of them from the ammunition factory because they keep running out of supplies! I haven't worked there in over a week and I have a school bill to pay. I'm praying about finding another job down here, or possibly trying to find a job at home for the summer. A really good friend of mine told me about a restaurant where they are pretty sure they can get me a job waitressing.

So right now I have a lot of things on my plate. They seem so overwhelming, and to be honest I've cried more lately than I have in quite awhile. I know that God will get me through all of this and I've been praying almost constantly. You're prayers will be greatly appreciated.

"Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things thou knowest not."

~Jeremiah 33:3

Different Schedule

My entire schedule for this semester has completely changed. I dropped a class and added a class, plus one of my classes schedules changed.
I decided to drop the Handwriting class because it's not required for Secondary Education majors, only El Ed., and besides the book is really expensive and I really didn't have the money for it. I decided to add choir because I have a free hour when it's going on and Bro. Todd, who is the music director, gave me a REALLY hard time for not being in it! Also, my Biology class is now meeting for an hour on Tuesday and Wednesday and 2 hours on Thursday and not at all on Friday. AND I now have my internship schedule! I'm interning from 9-9:50 on Tuesday and Wednesday in the Chemistry class! I'm completely pumped about that cuz it's in the high school, AND it's science! :) So here is my new schedule for the semester:

Monday:

US History II
8-8:50


Tuesday:

US History II
8-8:50

Chemistry Internship
9-9:50

Biology
10-10:50

Chapel
11-12


Wednesday:

US History II
8-8:50

Chemistry Internship
9-9:50

Biology
10-10:50

Chapel
11-12

Choir
12-12:50


Thursday:

Biology
8-9:40

Biblical Ethics
10-10:50

Chapel
11-12


Friday:

Biblical Ethics
10-10:50

Christian Womanhood
11-11:50


On Wednesday I'm also teaching a cello lesson at 2:30, and I'm doing Cards for Christ, which is a Bible study run by Shawnee on the campus of the University of Louisville. We leave at 3:30 and don't get back until 6:15 or 6:30. And I'm also going to start playing the piano for the children's choir which practices at 6:20 on Wednesday nights. And of course I have church at 7 as well. So pretty much on Wednesdays from the time I get up until about 9 at night I only have about a 1 1/2 hour break! Pretty crazy, but I'm ok with it.
Also starting this upcoming Wednesday I'm going to start playing the piano for the congregational's in chapel! I'll be switching off every other week with another girl! I'm pretty excited about that too...I haven't been able to play congregational's in ages!

Also, please continue to pray for a job for me. I have an interview on Monday at a deli, and the manager sounded pretty serious about hiring me!

Back to School

I arrived at Shawnee late last night and today was registration and book buying and all of those fun things. I'm now officially a second semester sophomore...isn't THAT thrilling?! The sad thing is that I'm only 6 credits from being a Junior! Oh well...that will come soon enough.

Here is my schedule for the semester:

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday: US History II, 8-8:50
Thursday, Friday: Biology, 8-9:40
Biblical Ethics, 10-10:50
Friday: Christian Womanhood, 11-11:50

I'm also taking 3 independent studies, they are "Intro to Youth Education," "Handwriting," and "Prayer." I will also be interning in the Christian school, I'm just not sure which class I will be in. I'll find that out sometime this week.

I'm only taking a total of 17 credits this semester!! I wanted to take more, but they weren't offering very many classes that I needed.

Please also pray that I find a job with a lot of hours. My job is hardly giving me any hours and I can't really afford to do that. I already spent 3 hours today filling out applications. I have 2 good leads so far, one at a consignment bookstore, which sounds like a lot of fun, and would be something I would really enjoy. My other job possibility is at Office Depot. I filled out an application today and the manager said that he would get back with me tomorrow. I'm also planning on filling out applications at several restaurant. Please pray that God will provide for me.

*****All of my books except for Biology and Prayer*****

Weekends Are Supposed to be for Resting!!

Sooo....I've been BUSY to say the least!
Friday was another day where I slept in, without anything that I HAD to do early. In the afternoon I made dirt pudding, which is chocolate pudding, butter, cream cheese, and milk mixed together and then layered with crushed Oreos! It is really good stuff, but I can't eat it which is sad! I made it for the Bible study that is held on Friday nights for families of people in jail, ex convicts, and really anyone who wants to come. It did go over REALLY well! :)
Mom and I went to the Saturday morning jail ministry team meeting. It went well. I was planning on going in on Sunday, which was all well and good until I found out that the regular pianist (also my former piano teacher) was going to be out of town! UGH! That meant that I had to play, I haven't played the piano in several months, there just hasn't been time! So, not only did I have to play the piano, but I also had to accompany a guy who was singing, which was fine cuz he was just singing out of the piano. Plus, I was told that I would be helping with what would be done with the speaking in the ladies block, I wasn't feeling well, and so it seemed REALLY overwhelming!!
I had a HUGE blessing on Saturday! :) At the jail meeting some how I had made the comment that I had found a job, but I would also like to get another job as well. One of the men on the jail team, Wes Smith, who has a whole bunch of ministries, mainly involving the end times and prophecy, asked if I was good on the computer. I was like, "Uh, yes." He said, "I'm wanting a presentation that I can show at churches of pictures from Israel that I have taken, etc. Do you know how to do things like that?" I said, "Yes!" The discussion went really well from there, and I'm hired! I have a meeting with him tomorrow to begin the work! YAY!!
Saturday afternoon we went to a high school graduation party for a friend of ours. I grew up with him, and we had a lot of fun! On our way home from that Samuel and I stopped to see another friend. He is trying to sell a pick-up truck, and jokingly tried to sell it to me!! :-P He did let me drive it, which was fun! :)

*****Me n' a truck...what a combo*****

Saturday night we went to a friends high school graduation. I grew up with Brent and his older brother, Bobby and I haven't seen them in ages. Bobby went to college at Pensacola Christian College, and ended up moving back down there almost two years ago, and we haven't seen him since. They have both been like brothers to me over the years. Bobby and I sat next to each other at the graduation and we made comments back and forth the entire time!! It was fun!

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*****Brent walking across the stage*****

Sunday morning Samuel and I both went into the jail. I was excited/sad to go to into our first service which is in F block, the lock down block where guys are locked into individual cells 23 hours a day, because a guy that I've known since he was a little boy, we were neighbors, and he and his siblings used to come to church with us, was in that block. When I found out several months ago that Michael was in jail (at the time he was only 15, now he is 16) I was pretty mad at him, but I also really saddened, and as time went on I decided that I couldn't wait to get back into jail so I could give him a hug. Since he was in F block, there would be no way that I could hug him, which made me sad. So we go into F and I'm looking around and didn't see him in any of the cells, so I asked one of the guys and he said that Michael had been moved from F to another block!! YAY!! That meant that I would be able to give him a hug after all!! That TOTALLY made my day! :) After the service in F one of the guys motioned me to come to his cell. In the little bit of time that we had been doing the service he had drawn a picture of me! How cool is that??!!

*****My picture*****

The next service was all of the guys in the regular cells combined into one service and Michael was there!!!!! :) There was a radical change from the boy that I used to know to the young man that he is now! When he was younger, Michael used to be a mocker, and defied authority at any and every chance possible. Now, he is really sweet, and he listened very intently, and was even helping another Mexican man who was sitting next to him. After the service was over the jailers weren't ready to take the men back to their blocks, so Michael and I got to talk for quite a while. He has really matured! I not only got one hug from him, but two!! :)
Our church had a carry-in dinner and then an afternoon service, so we went to that. I sang a solo for church! That was cool! I sang "God Hears My Prayer." It's a song that I learned for voice lessons and I really like.
Sunday evening we had friends over for dinner and played games.
Today was the beginning of training for my job. I will be selling Rainbow systems. It's a lot of information to digest, but I'm pretty sure I will like the job! :)
I got a phone call this evening from a hotel that I had filled out an application for last week, wanting me to come in for an interview tomorrow! Praise the Lord!

Running Around

Yesterday morning I decided to surprise Daddy with breakfast. :) I got up at 5:30 and cooked up a breakfast that I had pre-planned the night before. I fried a potato, and once it was done I sprinkled shredded cheese on it, scrambled eggs with cheese and diced ham, and made him toast. To drink he requested vanilla chai. After his food was all done I went back to bed, LOL! I was planning on sleeping for a little while, like maybe until 8 or 8:30, 9 at the latest. I woke up at 10:45!!! WOW!! Mom said that she had thought about waking me up, but decided to let me sleep. It was nice!
I went to Columbia City, which is a town about 15 or 20 miles from Warsaw, to search for a job. I picked up four applications, 2 from motels, and 2 from other stores. Columbia City just recently opened a Dunkin Donuts and right now their large coffee is 99 cents!! I got one of my favorite mixes: french vanilla and hazelnut! YUM!
I had a 1:30 interview with Diamond Air, a company that sells air purification systems. I was hired!! YAY!! A job! Training starts on Monday and runs through Thursday. I will be selling air purification systems. I will be making "house calls" by appointment only, so it is pretty much up to my schedule, so if I can find another job I can work two jobs! That would be WONDERFUL and a MAJOR BLESSING!! If I do well with selling the air purification systems, I should be able to make some pretty decent money with that job alone! PTL!! There is also the possibility of transferring to Louisville next school year!
Following the interview I had a chiropractor appointment. Dr. Sarah was showing me my x-rays when all of a sudden I got started seeing black spots, got really shaky, and REALLY hot (I am normally freezing)! I told Dr. Sarah that I was about to black out, so she immediately had me sit down and called to one of the girls to get some apple juice for me....however, for once they were out of juice!!! One of the office girls had Pepsi in her car, so she got me a can....I drank that, and started "reviving!!" LOL! My blood sugar had completely bottomed out. Yippee!!
So, back to my x-rays....my neck did not properly heal from when I had whip lash almost a year in a half ago, so its a MESS!! Not only do I have whip last, but also stage 1 arthritis in my neck! UGH! I also have arthritis in my hips and other joints, which I already knew! Dr. Sarah said that for an 18 year old I'm a mess, such comfort!! LOL! She is pretty sure that they will be able to correct the problems and have me doing pretty well before I go to college in August. :)
Last night I decided to make buck-eyes which are peanut butter balls dipped in chocolate! They are really good, but very time consuming! It was fun....I haven't made them in ages and since we are having a church carry-in dinner on Sunday I thought they would be something different to bring. :)
Today I did NOT get up at 5:30, nor did I sleep until 10:45! I actually woke up around 6:30, but didn't get out of bed until 8! I LOVE having the ability to sleep in! I'm NOT a morning person AT ALL!!
I went to Columbia City to drop off the applications, went to quite a few other companies, only finding one that said that they were possibly hiring. :( I went to Dunkin Donuts again, this time I just went with a plain coffee.
This afternoon I went to the GI specialist for results on my tests. Pretty much nothing turned up. So he thinks that I have a MAJOR vitamin D deficiency, as well as possibly irritable bowl. So I'm supposed to go take vitamin D and see him in a month. WOO HOO!! WHATEVER!!
Mom and I went to the Dunkin Donuts up there in Goshen cuz the small lattes are still 99 cents. I got my usual with whipped cream (of course)! It was good.
On our way home we stopped at Wal-Mart and got some groceries and vitamin D! LOL!
I'm really not feeling too well tonight, so I stayed home while my family went to church. :( Hopefully I start feeling better soon......

Sick!

I have been absolutely LOVING the last several days! Because I have been sick I have not gone to Brooklyn for ECBF. I have been staying in the dorms all by my lonesome, but let me tell you, it has been WONDERFUL! I LOVE silence and alone time, and I've sure gotten quite a bit of it lately! SOOO wonderful! Yesterday I woke up around 6:30 cuz there was a LOT of noise, but I didn't get up until after 8:00! I know, call me lazy if you want, but that is a VERY rare treat for me, I think the last time I did that was on Christmas break.
So, I did a whole bunch of laying around and relaxing. Believe me, I still don't feel good at all! It really stinks.
I got some homework done, and did some reading and instant messaged several people. One of whom is a friend of mine who I have mentioned before, his name is Ray and he is in the Army in Iraq. Please pray for his salvation!
I also filled out some more job applications and followed up on some other applications that I had already filled out. Please pray for my job situation for the summer, cuz it's not coming along very well. Basically, nobody is hiring pretty much because of the economy.
I went to bed pretty early and that was my day for the most part.
This morning was a repeat of yesterday, only I slept until after 7:00 and woke up cuz of noise, and then fell back asleep after everyone was gone, and didn't get up until after 8:00. SOOO nice! I got some more HW done, and did more reading, etc. I took an hour in a half nap, it was WONDERFUL! I'm such a lazy bum, but who cares? I don't!
I read "Tortured for His Faith" by Harlan Popov over the last several days. It is really good, and very eye opening. I finished that yesterday and today I started reading "God isn't in a Hurry" by Warren Wiersbe. It is very convicting, cuz I like things to happen NOW! I don't like to have patience.
P.S. Please pray for finals....they start on Friday.... :(

What's Been Goin' On

I had a wonderful surprise Monday night. Bro. Barnes, who teaches Christian Home, which is my first class on Tuesday and Thursday, sent me a text to call him when I was done with dorm devotions. So, I called him and he said that something had come up and he wouldn't be in class on Tuesday, he decided to cancel class!! :) :) :) Fine with me, and everyone else in that class!! The rejoicing in the dorms was rather loud!! It was AWESOME!!!
I didn't have to be ready until 9:20 for chapel! I still set my alarm for 5:00, but didn't roll outta bed til 5:30. I took my time getting ready, read my Bible extra, did laundry, got homework done, and straightened up my room! It was WONDERFUL!
Chapel was really good! Pastor Douster from New Jersey preached from Ezekiel 22:30, the title of his message was "The Person God Uses." It was amazing and VERY convicting. His 3 points were, 1. We must have a clean heart, Psalm 51:10, 2. Clean Head, Romans 12:2, 3. Clean Hands, Psalm 24:3-4. In his conclusion he said, "When God has control of your heart it will control your head which will send signals to your hands. The greatest need in the Christian life is your heart." WOW!! How important it is that I "Keep my heart with all diligence."
I had a test in Christian Womanhood. I don't know how that went, I remembered a lot, but there were somethings that my mind went completely blank on! :(
Intro to Missions was boring cuz Dr. Grimbilas went over the same notes that he gave on Thursday! I played Monopoly on my computer the entire class!
Work seemed went pretty well, but I was exhausted by the time it was done.
I went to bed before 10:00 last night!! I think I was really tired because of the fact that it rained all day.
Today was a normal wake up and classes. I had a REALLY hard time getting up, I'm not sure why cuz I got around 7 hours of sleep! I even fell back asleep this morning. It was really bad!
I had a test in English Composition. I think it went well.
Mrs. Donaghue was gone for World History, so we were given the answers to our homework and a review sheet for our test on Friday. We were out of that class early! :)
Dr. Akl, a deacon in the church, spoke in chapel today. He is an oral surgeon, but has his B.S. degree in Biology! COOL! He talked about Evolution, I loved EVERY minute of it!
We got our test results back in English Grammar.....I got the highest grade, it was a 75%!!! UGH!!!!
There was a quiz in New Testament Survey. It went ok.
Choir was nice, we got out 10 minutes early which is CRAZY!! We got out 5 minutes early last week. Normally we get out right on time, or a few minutes late. Its been nice.
Voice lessons went well. I hit a B-flat, not quite as high as last week, but it was still good. :)
It was raining again today, but I decided to take more pictures of tulips anyways. While I was outside I figured out that my setting for up close shots on my camera was turned off, so I turned it on, and the pictures turned out GORGEOUS!! I think I took a couple of my best pictures today! Totally AWESOME!

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I did some more job hunting this afternoon. I found a good possibility working for a photographer. I would mainly be taking pictures of horse shows! How sweet is that??!! :) He took my name and number, and we talked for between 5 and 7 minutes! AWESOME!! He said to call back the middle of May, he is pretty sure that he will be hiring somebody this summer! :)
I also started packing and going through stuff tonight! I threw away a LOT of junk, gave away some clothes, and packed some clothes and other things! My room is pretty clean right now! It's really nice! :)

It's Spring!!

Last night in dorm devotions Mrs. Mushtaq spoke to us. For an illustration she handed several of us styrofoam cups and then came down the line pouring what looked like water from a cup into what looked like a small wooden goblet, and pouring from that into our cups. After we all had some in our cups she told us to drink it and then tell her what we thought. We all kinda looked at each other nervously and tried a sip, it had a really funny taste. Bitter was the best word to describe the flavor. It was regular water in the styrofoam cup, but it was poured into wormwood, which gave it the funny flavor. Apparently the longer the water is in the wormwood the worse it tastes, we were all glad that Mrs. Mushtaq had only had the water in the wormwood for at the VERY most a minute before we got it in our cups. However, it was a REALLY good illustration of sin, and how quickly it becomes bitter.
I love Tuesdays and Thursdays because I only have 3 classes, and they are all relatively easy, especially compared to my Monday, Wednesday, and Friday classes. First period was Christian Home, we got our test results back, I got a 95%, not bad, although it ruins my 100% average in the class, but oh well, I think I can still handle that. :)
I had a wonderful free period in which I made some phone calls following up on job applications. One of the places said they weren't hiring, another said that for some reason the online application that I had filled out said that I wasn't eligible for the job. She asked me a couple of questions and said that shouldn't have happened, so i had to fill out that application....again. The other store that I called said that I needed to talk to the manager, and he wasn't in today, so I have to call tomorrow. So far, not so good. :( Please continue to pray that I find a job.
Chapel was really good. Pastor Wes Bailey from North Carolina is here for a couple of days. He is the dad of 2 of the students here. He preached from Psalm 56, using the whole chapter, but his text was verse 9, "When I cry unto thee, then shall mine enemies turn back: this I know; for God is for me." The title of the message was, "This I know, for God is for me." It was REALLY good! He is going to be preaching tomorrow as well, and I'm looking forward to the sermon.
My next class was Christian Womanhood. We learned more about interior decorating, finished up that topic and then went on to verse 23 of Proverbs 31 and discussed the success of a husband, and how it is the wife that makes or breaks her husband. It really is a VERY scary thing to think about. Obviously I'm not married, nor do I have a boyfriend, but hopefully some day in the future I will have one, and I want him to succeed at whatever God has called him to do. It is a good reminder to stay close to God ALWAYS!!
Let's not even go into what I learned in Intro to Missions, or rather what I didn't learn in that class. I didn't learn anything, like normal. I spent the hour IMing and texting friends, and filling out job applications online.
I actually ate lunch in the cafeteria today! They had baked chicken, so I could eat it!! It was WONDERFUL!! :)
Nothing exciting happened at work. I worked about 15 extra minutes in order to finish something up, but that was ok since I had left early yesterday.
After work I came back to my room and worked for several hours on the World History that I'm teaching. It's really hard to fit all of WWI into one 50 minute lesson! It's a LOT of info to condense down to such a small time frame.
I found one brave tulip that flowered today, so I took some pics, it is really pretty, and since tulips are my favorite flower I HAD to take some pictures!!

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*****Flowers on a bush*****

*****It's all green and alive! It's Spring time!!*****

Job hunt continues......

Today was an easy day in classes which was a good thing cuz the job hunt continues and I made TONS of phone calls today. Still no definite leads. :(
So classes: Christian Home had a test. It was really easy, so I'm not at all worried about it. Christian Womanhood was pretty interesting. Mrs. Donaghue was talking about interior decorating. It was kinda cool. Intro to Missions was boring as usual. I must admit, I was playing scrabble! Bad me, I know, but it was either that, or fall asleep! I won the game! :)
I spent a LOT of time on the phone today. It was crazy!! I'm hoping something will come out of all the time and effort I have put into finding a job. Please pray!!!
I had a few pictures taken today because I needed a picture to go with the resumes that I'm sending, so I thought I'd post a few for you!! :)
As you can see by my new background, I am VERY ready for summer, and flip flop weather! I'm dying wearing shoes! Unfortunately we aren't allowed to wear flip flops here. :( Today was absolutely BEAUTIFUL and would have been a GREAT day for wearing flip flops or going bare foot!! .....sigh.....

Such is Life

Well, my words came back to bite me today! It snowed! :( :( Of all the crazy things! It's April and almost Easter!! Good grief. However it only snowed for about 10 minutes and none of it stuck! At least we didn't have the blizzard conditions of the mid-west, at least we haven't had those conditions yet!!
Nothing too exciting happened in my first two classes of the day. Chapel was EXCELLENT! Bro. Dan Donaghue, the principle of the Christian school, preached today. His topic was about trophies. He brought with him 5 trophies as illustrations. He listed Eve, Lot, Samson, and David, he had a trophy for each one of those, as he talked about the sin that they committed that allowed the devil to take them over he put their trophy on one side of the platform. Then he came to the final trophy, it was a gold cup. He held it up and said, "This is you life. The devil wants it for himself and he is going to send things your way that will try to make you sin and ruin your life. You could have a really good life, be desiring to do right but just 5 minutes could ruin your life forever." What a sobering thought. How easy it would be for me to slip in any area of my life and completely destroy anything that I could do for God in just a few minutes of time. Scary. It's sooo important for me to maintain a close walk with God.
New Testament Survey is where life started to get exciting. We had a test. UGH! I was not at all prepared for it! I had fallen asleep last night studying for it and none of it was really sticking in my head. A lot of it was fill in the blank so I was able to figure it out, but I have NO idea how it really went.
For some reason choir went really fast today! That normally isn't the case for me, but it seemed to fly today, which was really nice.
I had a voice lesson this afternoon. It went well, even if I did keep frowning!! :-S I'm going to get at least one new song next week!! I'm really excited. :) So far I've learned "God Hears My Prayers," "Love Lifted Me," and I am working on "Everlasting Love." I love the words to "God Hears My Prayers" they are really pretty!
This afternoon I started job hunting for the summer! I filled out 3 applications online, made 18 phone calls, and sent 2 emails!! I got quite a few "No," several "pick up an application," and several "call backs." Please pray that I find something so that I will have a job by the time I get home in May.
I counted the amount of days of school, and there are 36 days until graduation, but only 34 days of school left, that includes weekends!! I'm amazed at how fast this semester is flying by! It's really scary!