Breaking Up With 2009

Hey there! Hope you had a lovely Christmas (assuming that's what you celebrate), and are excited to ring in the New Year. 2010! I've been alive for almost 2 decades now. Sheesh! Remember when we were supposed to be floating around on hover boards by now? I guess no one predicted that big drop in the economy. I'm sure if we were financially stable enough, we'd be rocking those shiny metal shoots, and cool Star Trek style sunglasses while riding around in hover-convertables. Okay.... maybe not... but still! How cool would that be?!

Well anyways... as most of my life consists of spending way too much time surfing YouTube (there is just so much cool stuff on there!), I came across a few videos in which people wrote breakup letters to 2009. I thought that was a cute idea, and considering I'm just so gosh darn cute myself, I decided to do that on here as a nice New Years themed blog entry. Keep in mind I have only broken up with one person. My 8th grade boyfriend. I know, it was pretty serious and we were TOTALLY in love, but overall I have very limited experience breaking up with anyone, let alone a year. But none the less, here you go:

Dear 2009,
I'm not quite sure how to say this... so I guess I'm just going to come out and say it. There is someone else. Now I know that's not right, but we went in to this knowing it would probably end eventually. You knew how much 2008 meant to me, and we just started off so rough... I think it's fair to admit we both kind of saw this coming. That's not to say you weren't great while you lasted though! I mean... we have some great memories. Becoming a state officer, training at NLCSO in New York, graduating from high school and starting college... and the people I've met! I mean I don't know where I'd be if I hadn't met some of the people you brought me. But still... it was rocky. And I'll admit, I could have tried harder, I could have done things better, but maybe this is what I need in order to grow. Maybe in order to be a better person I just have to put the past behind me and move on. You were there for me at some really rough times. I went through some really sad patches, and you never turned your back on me. It meant a lot to me. But you're my past, 2009, and 2010 is my future. I have the chance to bring my GPA up, because you and I both know I could have done much better this past semester. I have to chance to run for State Officer again, and actually be a line officer this time because I can now get my State Degree. And who knows who I will meet! Perhaps the love of my life. Maybe the best friend I will ever have. Who knows where 2010 will bring me? Where ever we go though, I know I need to go. So thank you, 2009 for all the good times I will remember, the the bad times that I will learn from. It's not you, it's me. I just need to move on.
Friends?,
Amanda

I suggest trying this to anyone who reads it. It's fun, and it's a nice way to get some closure before starting the New Year.

So this past year, my New Year's Resolution was every day, find a reason that the day was awesome. And I have to admit I thoroughly enjoyed doing that! It really made me a much happier person and I realized how many ways I am blessed. At the end of every day I felt so grateful because I was focussing on the things I had, not the things I wanted. So I plan on continuing that.
This year my New Year's Resolution will be to write a list of 100 things I want to do before I die, and start working to accomplish things on my list.

I hope you have a safe and happy New Year surrounded by people you love.

Until next we meet,
Respectfully,
me

Yikes

I know, I know. Its been a while. Let me skip right to my excuses:
Finals week at college is VERY difficult.
Coming home, I would much rather rest than blog.
No one even comments this thing. Anyone reading?!
One word; CHRISTMAS!
My dog ate my blog... oh... wait a minute...
Okay so maybe the last ones not so true, but everything else is! Finals week needed my undivided attention, I wanted to spend time with friends and family when I got home, its hard to be motivated to write when you are not sure if anyone is actually reading, and hellooooo Santa! He needed his cookies of course.
Now I have a typical theme style blog coming up in just another paragraph, but just to quickly catch everyone up: Finals went well. My family and friends are all looking lovely, especially my cousins that I only see once a year who are getting way too old for my liking (my cousin Christophers voice changed! How scary is that?!). Oh, and Saint Nick was very kind to me this year. All in all, I am feeling cheerful. And to be completely honest, that was not necessarily the case these past few weeks and I did not want to be a Debbie Downer and blog when I was feeling less than chipper. But all this Christmas spirit has brought me back, so here we go!

So for any of you who DO read this, I was just thinking... I have not properly introduced myself. Please excuse my momentary rudeness, and allow me to introduce myself! My name is Amanda and I a fun-loving, energetic 19-year-young kid who still believes in Christmas miracles. That one sentence alone says a lot about me, but let me break it down a little more for you.
I have lived in Massachusetts my entire life, and really love this place. I have never lived more than 20 minutes away from Boston, but I can not honestly say I like to visit the city that often. Aside from the occasional Bruins game of course. Oh, did I mention I am OBSESSED with hockey and the Bruins monopolize my life during the hockey season? Thats a key point to know about me. I am smack dab in the middle of two brothers. One two years older, one two years younger. Growing up we played in our small back yard a lot, most of the time digging holes with my brothers Tonka Trucks. I played a lot of sports, but mainly soccer. Eventually though, soccer killed my back. I still have developing scoliosis, and I was told my freshman year of high school I had to quit if I wanted to be able to teach my kids how to play someday. So I did just that, and now I stay active by running, and occasionally hiking when I find the time. Speaking of freshman year... I chose an alternative style of education when it came to my high school experience. I was not doing well in my towns public school system, and decided to attend Essex Agricultural and Technical High School where I majored in Natural Resources and Parks Management, joined the Cross Country Team, became a class representative, a Peer Leader, the school mascot, an FFA Officer, and managed to graduate 6th in my class. I now attend the Stockbridge School of Agriculture at the University of Massachusetts Amherst where I major in Horticulture. I am not entirely sure just yet what I want to do with my life, but as of right now my two top choices are agriculture education, or agriculture communications. All I know for sure is that I want to influence people. And boy is that a word I hear a lot! Influence. Remember a few sentances ago I mentioned I joined the FFA in high school? Well I am now serving as a State Officer of the Massachusetts Association, and I could not be more thrilled. I get to spend my time out of school visiting chapters, meeting members, attending conferences, holding leadership building conferences for our chapter members, and hopefully above all inspiring new students to love agriculture and persue it passionately while gaining beneficial leadership skills along the way. Now if you remember, I mentioned I was born and raised in Massachusetts. So was my mom and dad, and their mom and dads, and so on and so on as far back as my family has been in America. So how did a little Massachusetts girl become a Future Farmer of America? Well... sometimes you just have to be in the right place at the right time, and someone or something will inspire your true passion. Becky Sullivan was the someone, State Convention was the something, and my true passion is agriculture and FFA! Now how many Massachusetts kid have cowboy boots and rodeo style belt buckles? Well I do, and I am proud! Besides those are far as my wardrobe goes, if I am out of my official FFA black skirt, black tights, black heels, white shirt, scarf, suspenders, and that infamous blue jacket... then you will probably find me wearing one of my two pairs of boat shoes, skinny jeans that are cuffed at the bottom because I am too short to find pants that fit just right, and a V-neck cardigan sweater with a button up collared shirt or a t-shirt underneath depending on how comfortable or how fancy I feel like being. Sometimes though, its just a plain old t-shirt (my personal favorite is my Nothing Tips Like a Cow t-shirt I got in the Indianapolis Airport) or UMASS or FFA sweatshirt. Comfort is my main goal.

I am pretty sure I have talked about myself just as much as anyone can. If you would like more of an introduction or an explanation to any of this, feel free to let me know. But for now...

Until next we meet,
Respectfully,
me

Snow!

Gooooood afternoon, lovely reader. As we speak, I am sitting in my dorm room trying to warm up because I just finished constructing one of the cutest little snowmen I think you will ever have the pleasure of seeing. I even went through the effort of inserting a picture of him! Now, tell me he isn't adorable.

Let me back track though. Last night I went to bed very excited at the prospect of our first real snow of the winter. I can't say I had any dreams about sugar plums or anything like that... but I promise I was happy when I woke up to a fresh white blanket of snow on the ground! For those of you unfamiliar with the landscape of UMass Amherst, I live up on a place called Orchard Hill. It's exactly what it sounds like. A big hill! And I mean BIG! And even though I live up here, I was not even slightly annoyed at the idea of going up and down all day for classes and to eat. I was way too thrilled for all this beautiful snow!

So I sat through my first two classes this morning feeling too excited to be sitting inside. I kept gazing out the windows, admiring the beautiful trees covered in the snow which just makes the world look even more lovely. After my Botany class, my friend Samantha and I went right to work finding materials to make our snowman. We decided to go small, and built a little guy right on a picnic table in the middle of our residential area. All four buildings can look down on him and smile, which hopefully everyone does!

What makes me happy is that I can see him from my dorm room window. I can look down at any moment and see people passing by, stopping, and admiring our hard work. No one has knocked him over yet. No one has done anything to disrespect him at all. It makes me all warm and fuzzy inside to know that even though we're adults and in college now, we can still experience the simple joys such as making a snow man with a friend. I hope I never outgrow that. I hope I never get so old that a snow ball fight seams immature, or hot chocolate and a Christmas movie seam boring, or snow is just the hassle we have to get through in order to accomplish our responsibilities. Sure, it is taking me a little longer to get where I need to be. But that doesn't mean I won't stop and take a little time to build a snow man, or throw a snow ball at a friend I'm walking to class with. This time of year is wonderful. The spirit and joy in the air. The way world looks different and calm. I don't care how busy your schedule is today, take a moment to enjoy nature's beauty. I think snow is just God's way of telling us we're moving too fast, and we need to slow down and notice everything around us. So that's what I plan on doing today.

Until next time
Respectfully,
me