Content.

I promise I have not totally fallen off the face of the earth! I am still here, just a little too busy to blog lately. I've got things to post from several weeks ago, not to mention prom which was last weekend :)

I'm pretty sure the season of life I am in right now is the busiest one I've experienced up until this point. Life is crazy, absolutely crazy, right now.

I have 2 different 4-day exams this week, as well as 3 AP tests next week. I have Senior Project presentations in a few weeks (my practice one today was perfect though!) and TONS of other things in between.

This picture pretty much sums up the way I feel about tests of convergence for Calculus as well - ha!

I've been doing a LOT of studying. Starbucks was a must on Sunday night!

I've also been playing and enjoying this sweet pup's company.....

.....as well as trying to get out a little bit and enjoy the gorgeous weather we've been having.

Thankfully, despite the chaos, I am feeling content. I feel like I'm beginning to accept my upcoming life changes a little bit better. Now I'm just extremely thankful for every day I have in school since I know I don't have very many days left. Graduation is exactly one month from today (I'm writing this on April 30). I can hardly believe it. Not to mention the fact that my birthday is on Friday. Insane!

So basically, don't be too surprised if it takes me a little while to blog about things. I'm trying to soak up as much time with friends while also getting school work and other stuff done. I'm just in a busy season, but one that I don't want to forget.

Making Memories

Last weekend was SO fun. I spent a lot of time with my family, and we did some fun things that we don't normally do. Here's what I was up to.....

On Friday night my family went to dinner, and then I snuggled with Coco and watched my favorite movie ever - Titanic!

Saturday afternoon was a little cold, but still so pretty outside. The sun was shining bright, so I was thankful for that.

We headed out to a different part of town on Saturday afternoon. I have been wanting to go to a store called Sugarcraft for awhile now, and I finally got the chance!

It's a baking supply store and literally all they sell is baking stuff. It was right up my alley, and I spent way too much money in there. Oh well :)

Seriously - look at all of these cookie cutters. Crazy!

Sugarcraft was out by another fun store, Jungle Jim's. I've been there before, but it's been years. It's basically a HUGE grocery store that sells a lot of exotic and different kinds of foods. I think I could spend hours in there.

I was happy to see that they sell BonBonerie treats at their bakery. BonBonerie is one of my favorite local bakeries.

I picked out their French Macarons, which I didn't even know they made. Eeeep! The pink was strawberry (which was just okay in my opinion), but the chocolate one? Hands down, absolutely delicious. By far the best macaron I've ever had, even if I have only tried 4 different macarons - ha! It was filled with a caramel filling. Getting more of these tasty macarons is on my list of things to do as soon as possible!

I wasn't kidding when I said they sell some weird stuff - here we have packaged and flavored seaweed to snack on. I'm sure you aren't surprised to find out that I passed on this one :)

I really like how they have food from different parts of the world too. One of these days I need to pull together some recipes to try and head out to Jungle Jim's for ingredients.

You know I had to go in the France section, right?!

We bought these cute cookies because I really can't pass up anything that has the Eiffel Tower on the package.

I scoped out the Sonic out that way too. The first and only other time I had been to Sonic was on vacation, and I fell in love with their strawberry slushes. If there was a Sonic close to my house, I would popping in for slushes all the time.

I think it's so neat that you eat in your car and your food gets delivered right to your window by a waiter on roller skates. Totally old fashioned!

We also went to see a movie after dinner. I don't see too many movies in the theater anymore these days, so it's always a rare treat.

We saw the movie Home Run, which I would totally recommend. It's a Christian movie that's similar to Fireproof, Facing the Giants, and Courageous. I loved how the movie had such a good message of hope and finding God! Plus it helped that the main actor was pretty attractive - ha!

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When I got home I assessed all the baking supplies I had bought. Shopping for baking stuff is one of my simple pleasures in life.

What a weekend. I still have a few more things to blog about before I am all caught up, which at this point may take me 2 months - ha! I figure I have life to live, documenting it can happen later :)

Gonna Miss This

I have heard this song on the radio three times in the past week, and it has really summed up what I'm feeling right now. Kind of weird since it is an older song, but I just keeping hearing it!

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I remember when I was in grade school and high school seemed so far away.

I remember one of my grade school teachers telling my math class about how we would all be reunited our senior year in BC Calculus.

I remember starting freshman year, thinking high school would never end and feeling as if I had all the time in the world.

I remember my freshman English teacher telling us about a huge paper his seniors write every year and how we would be those seniors eventually.

I remember being so excited for my senior prom when I left my junior prom last year.

I remember my teachers telling us at the beginning of the year about reviewing for the AP tests that seemed so far off in the future.

And now high school is almost over. I'm taking BC Calculus. I don't have much time left. I just wrote that 21 page English essay. Prom is this Friday. AP reviewing is under way and final exams start next week for me.

As I type this post (I wrote this a few days before I'm publishing it), I am babysitting while the girl I babysit has a few friends over. I can hear them laughing and giggling in the next room. I don't think I've seen little girls play together since I was the little girl. They're planning a sleepover and playing on the iPad (which didn't even exist when I was young!). I wish they knew to cherish the times when they are little since they go by so fast. I know that in the blink of an eye they'll be the ones getting ready to graduate from high school, and I'll just be old :)

For some reason last week I was hit with reality. I truly began to realize that some of my school friends will be people I don't see that often anymore.

We were talking at lunch the other day about where everyone is going to college. I love the girls I eat lunch with, but I don't necessarily hang out with all of them on the weekends. We went around the table and shared our plans for next year. We're all going to different schools in different states. South Carolina, Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan. Things are changing. Big time.

I was sitting in my Stats class the other day and it was just a gorgeous day outside. The sun was shining, the flowers were blooming, and the leaves on the trees were blowing in the wind. I remember staring out that window in December, when time didn't seem to be running so low. I looked around the classroom and out the window, and kind of formed a mental picture. I tend to do that sometimes. If I'm in a moment I don't want to forget, I'll take a mental picture to go back and remember it. I have made lots of these over the years, especially in the last few months.

My friends are leaving. I may never see some of the teachers who have had such a big impact on my life ever again. I'd be lying if I said that I haven't been struggling with coming to grips with this reality, and I'm actually tearing up as I write those last few sentences.

I don't know what the future holds, but I know that I'm sad to see high school go. But honestly, I'm thankful for the sadness. If my high school experience had been filled with sad, lonely memories then I'd be excited to see it end. Instead, I know that I'll look back on my high school days with fond memories.

I'm excited and sad about the next few weeks. I know I'll make great memories with my friends at prom and graduation. We'll celebrate finishing our AP exams and Senior Projects. But I know this time will be a little bittersweet. At the same time though, I have a great summer planned with friends and family.

In the end, everything will be alright. I just have a good feeling about it despite my little bit of sadness.

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Colorful Flower Cake

Last week I made a cake that I have to say is probably my favorite one I've made so far. I think it turned out great, and it was perfect practice for my wedding cake. I am now much more confident that the wedding cake will turn out perfect.

I started off by covering the cake in homemade fondant, which is, in my opinion, the only way to go when it comes to fondant. Store bought seriously tastes like play dough - gross!

I made a few little mistakes, but I was able to cover most of those up later. That's the great thing about cakes - most mess-ups can be easily hidden!

Then I topped the cake with tons of homemade flowers. I made a bunch of different colored fondant flowers, and then filled in the gaps with buttercream flowers.

I love this view - you can really see all of the different flowers and colors!

The best thing about making cakes though? Taking it into school and sharing it with friends. I'm so thankful to have friends who love it when I bring in cake. I love being able to brighten someone's day with a slice of cake or a cake pop. That makes all of the hard work and effort worth it to me!

I actually had some of my friends in my social studies class staring me down until I agreed to cut up the cake for them. I can't begin to express how grateful I am to have friends who are so supportive of my baking. I really couldn't ask for better classmates and friends!

Catching Up

This post is just going to be a catch up of all the pictures and things I haven't had a chance yet to blog about. To say I've been busy is an understatement!

The weather has finally warmed up over the past few weeks - spring is finally here, although it's been cold the last few days.....

I've been taking more walks recently too. I love going down to the park by my house since it's right by the river.

I've loved getting to wear some summer clothes!

Two Fridays ago I had to get dressed up for a job interview, and I'm happy to say it went well - as long as I pass the background check, I'll have a new job for the summer and college. Wahooo!

The job is up on campus - it was SO weird walking around by myself. That was the first time I had walked around a college campus by myself, but in 4 months that will be totally normal. Crazy!

I went shopping with my friend Danielle out at the mall last weekend too. Mall trips are my favorite!

My aunt and cousin brought me back a cupcake when they were in Hilton Head a few weeks ago from a cute bakery called South Carolina Cupcake. They know how obsessed I am with bakeries - ha! I can't wait to try the Savannah location in person this summer :)

The Red Velvet was HUGE and delicious. I always get Red Velvet when I try out a new bakery - that's my "standard" cupcake that I use to compare them all - ha!

I also worked an event at school recently that required formal attire. I busted out my Lilly dress because I haven't gotten too much use out of it. I love it so much though!

I was also having a great hair and makeup day - a rare combination of both :)

I've also been spending a lot of time playing with this pup.

And maybe torturing her a bit :) Thankfully she's such a good-natured dog.

I also finally got to go to Zip Dip (our favorite creamery around here) and actually eat my ice cream outside. Yeah!

And just because she's cute, I'll end this post with another picture of my sweet Coco.

I just have a few more posts until I finally get everything caught up! I hope you had a great weekend.