Sunday, June 3rd, 2012. It's that time of the month once again...time for Silver Lining Sundays!
Silver Lining Sundays are a blog meme I started this year. For anyone unfamiliar with the rules, let me explain how it works:
On the first Sunday of each month, I'll write a post listing some of the good things that have been happening to me recently - the recent silver linings in my life. You never know what you'll find in my post - it could be anything that makes me laugh, smile or just plain happy. The only thing you won't find is negativity! At the end of each of these posts will be a link-up widget that will stay open for the remainder of the month, so if you'd like to write your own post of silver linings, you can feel free to share a link to your post with the rest of us.
So here we go - these are my silver linings this Sunday!
1. Algebra (or lack of it)
At the beginning of May, Mom finally gave me the go-ahead to tackle schoolwork on my own. She's been holding off for awhile now, but I tend to remember stuff pretty well, so she decided it would be fine if I handled the rest of my education myself. Ever since then, I've been steadily working on my own to finish up. I'm dying to be done, and I've set a goal to be finished with all of my schoolwork this year - by my sixteenth birthday this August, if possible, but if not that's okay, too. I can't get my GED until I'm seventeen, but I can finish up my work. And now...I'm DONE with my algebra workbooks!!
I'm doing a few worksheets on quadratic equations, just to make sure I've got it down, but otherwise...
I've got some world history, a few books of American history, and a bit of science left to finish up. (Also Spanish, but I don't count that; it's not necessary to graduate and get a GED.) And then I'll officially be done with high school. I can hardly believe it! When did this wonderful thing happen?!
Please excuse me while I join Calvin and Hobbes in their joyous dance.
2. Quickly approaching proms
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| Left to right: me, Riley, my cousin Maddie, and Jordan in our 2012 prom dresses. Photo edited by Jordan! |
And speaking of dances, on June 12th, me, Jordan and Riley will be attending the Spring Fling! It's an annual dance hosted by our homeschool group - a prom that takes place every June for homeschoolers between the ages of eleven and nineteen. A sit-down dinner, fancy decorations, professional prom photos, and hours of dancing - is it any wonder my sisters and I count down the days?!
This will be mine and Jordan's fourth time going, and Riley's second. (Maddie, unfortunately, hasn't been homeschooled for years now; she's in the photo with us because her dance is around the same time as ours, and when she slept over in April she brought her prom dress so we could show all of ours off together! Hence, the lovely photo of us four gorgeous girls.)
Just nine days left!
3. Tangled
For the most part, there seem to be two kinds of people in the world - people who love Disney, and people who abhor it. I think it probably has a lot to do with upbringing. Personally, I was raised on a steady mental diet of Peter Pan, Mulan, Copper and Todd, Lady and the Tramp, and of course all of those Disney Princesses; so while I've certainly encountered many people in the second category, I without a doubt belong in the first one!
Tangled, the first Disney adaption of the classic fairy tale Rapunzel, has been out for two years. Of course, being who we are, my sisters and I didn't actually get around to watching it until recently. But eventually, all of the positive recommendations by fellow Disney lovers pushed us to get it through Netflix...and OH. MY. GOD. Cutest Disney Princess EVER! This is tied with UP for the possible title of My Most Favorite Animated Movie. I loved it!
You know, I watch a lot of different kinds of movies, but the one thing they usually have in common these days is the fact that there are lots of PG-13 titles with mature scenes and references. And while I love some of those movies (I mean, Titanic? Rent? Across the Universe? Juno? All epic favorites of mine!), there's just nothing like a good old Disney movie. Once in awhile, it's nice to go back to innocent humor and sweet, clean romances with thwarted evil witches and happily ever afters. Tangled was my most recent innocent movie, and I loved it - from Flynn to Rapunzel, Pascal to Maximus. It was fantastic - definitely watch it! (If you're a Disney person, that is.)
4. Great advice from supportive mothers.
Personally, I think that if every writer had a mom like mine, the number of abandoned books and plots in the world would shrink dramatically. Without Mom's help and support, I would surely have abandoned The Sandcastle's Way long ago! Mom's my biggest cheerleader, and she's always got a different, helpful perspective and opinion to give me on my book...and even if I don't totally agree all the time, it's still a big help!
5. Brand new books.
Bitterblue, by Kristin Cashore; sequel to Graceling and companion to Fire. Insurgent, by Veronica Roth; book two in the Divergent trilogy. Both were released on May 1st; both were on my wishlist; both are now on my bookshelf! In fact, I just read Insurgent and am currently enjoying Bitterblue.
I swear, I get as giddy as a kid on Christmas morning when you put books in front of me! Shopping bores me to death, but put me in a bookstore - heck, put me in a library! - and I'm content. (I also have to refrain from bagging the entire place and bringing it home with me, but that's another story...) Even just owning these two gorgeous new books makes me happy!
Also, speaking of books, I've accomplished my 2012 reading goal! Before this year, I hadn't really kept track of how much I read, so I had no idea what was a reasonable reading goal for me. Therefore, I settled on a goal of 60 books - a little more than a book a week for the whole year.
Yeah, I'm laughing, too.
It's June 3rd, and in just six months I've read a whopping 70 books! That includes rereads, by the way; I decided that since rereads are still books I read during the year, they should count towards my goal. However, I've read 68 new books this year; it'll be 69, once I finish Bitterblue. Check out all the books I've read in 2012 by clicking here!
So that's me...and now it's your turn! What makes YOU happy this Sunday? Write a post about it and link up, I'd love to see your silver linings!
