"R2 says the chances of survival are 725 to 1. "

Those may be the odds of this post actually getting finished, since as you might have guessed, I’m watching Star Wars at the same time. I love writing…but Star Wars, even better, Star Wars on a screen that’s bigger than my laptop? Blog can’t stand up to the power of the force!

Right, so my nerdiness mostly aside, where does the phrase “My got up and go got up and left?” come from? Sometimes I’m ashamed to admit that it seems to apply to my life way more than it should. I sleep in every day – except Sundays and Mondays. On those days, I have such a hard time getting up. And even though I know that there are so many things I could - probably should - be doing with my time, when the sun is shining, the air smells fresh, and the room is lazy, it’s so nice to just lie cozy and quiet in bed.

My last few weeks have been such a blur. I really don’t know what happened to February. Somewhere in there I had a bunch of midterms, and some papers, and a ridiculous amount of reading. And then came March, which finally included the completion of a very, very long mission application.

February did, however, mark a step in my life which I’m now finally ready to write about. I dropped a class. Because I didn’t need it. Because I didn’t care about it. Because I couldn’t invest in it. Because I didn’t understand it. And my life as an overachiever is temporarily at an end. Sometimes I feel like I’m failing, like I’m just not trying hard enough, just not sacrificing enough. I don’t need to sleep in, or stay up talking with my friends, or spend Sunday afternoons relaxing, do I?

[Leia: I love you

Solo: Serious, longing (hysterical!) face I know.]

But I don’t want to repeat the mistakes I made in high school. I don’t want to be the girl who doesn’t have time for the people she cares about. I don’t want to be the girl who does well in school, and volunteers three times a week, and goes to church, and keeps her room clean, and doesn’t know anything about herself.

Maybe right now, I should be learning more than where to place pronouns en francais, the importance of transfer epithet , or the significance of the Cuban Missile Crisis.

The sun is shining again, it’s rays are warm, life giving. The snow is melting, revealing grass that is surprisingly green. Winter coats, boots, scarves, hats, mitts, and sweaters are being put away – in a cautious disbelief, is Spring actually here?

[I AM YOUR FATHER! Hopefully no explanation required.)

I’ve learned that black socks aren’t quite as bad as I once thought. I’ve learned that drinking pink juice out of a pink cup isn’t going to kill me. I’ve learned which types of tea are still good the next morning. I’ve learned that I can cook in a toaster oven. I’ve learned that I can stay up all night if I have to.

[Luke, it is your destiny]

I’ve learned that I don’t have to get straight A’s. I’m learning to accept it. I’ve learned to take quiet time. I’ve learned that I’m so much happier with more balance in my life. I’ve learned that I’m so not as grown up as I thought I was.

[I’ve learned that the person who played Vader, and the person that did his voice apparently were not the same!]

~ Later~

I also just wanted to give you a minor update on my mission application process, I mentioned that it's finally in! This week I also began getting some shots in anticipation of the trip. I still dont know if I'm going for sure, and when exactly the trip would be...but my work is done and now it's time to wait, and trust.

Anndd I have been trying to post some pictures from my trip to Toronto on reading week, but for some reason, I'm having difficulties uploading them. I might try later, but in the mean time, you can see my entire album at:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=159960&id=538346974&l=5001745833

The secret plan? Amber and I took photos for every letter of the alphabet. Some of them are pretty funny!