I'll have to make this quick, considering David Phinney & Deborah Randisi thought it would be swell to finally give me some work to make up. It's all good though, whatever makes me graduate!

First and foremost I'd like to share some awesome news with everyone:
I GOT ACCEPTED INTO SUNY POTSDAM!
I came home from school and noticed a really small envelope from Potsdam. I was definitely expecting a letter telling me to get my butt in gear and send in my new request for an audition date (I'm hoping to major in music education, for those who do not know). I can honestly say that I was very surprised to read a letter that started with "Dear Courtney, It is my pleasure to offer you admission to The State University of New York at Potsdam for the fall 2008 semester...." SWEET. So if I don't get into Oswego, I'll definitely be going to Potsdam. Which is even sweeter, because that's where Rive went. If you are out of loop and do not know Rive, wow! SUCKS TO BE YOU.


Now, for my punchline. STYX IS THE BEST BAND EVER. Honestly, I really don't think I have to take my time and explain this to anyone, because no explanation is needed... they are that AMAZING. It took me awhile to get into rock music, but I started my classic rock binge last summer. I really didn't have a choice while being stuck in a car for 3 hours with people who listen to nothing but classic rock 24/7. I mean, I've always listened to it, I've just never really loved it until recently. I am seriously a Styx fiend. I have every single one of their songs on my iPod. The other day I was participating in some serious channel flipping and heard "Welcome to the Grand Illusion" and immediately stopped right then and there. Of course it was on "That 70's Show" (awesome show) and they were in the basement listening to their album. The wonderful Time Warner Digital Cable (or not so wonderful?) informed me that the episode was actually about how they got tickets to a Styx concert. It made me all the more disappointed that I had only caught the last minute of the episode. I actually had a chance to go to a Styx concert last month, but I'm way cheap and didn't have $60 to spend on a concert ticket plus gas for my car. Seriously, though I think it's going to become an addiction close to the severity of the Smallville addiction I currently have. Meaning it's only going to get worse from here! Mr. Roboto was my first favorite song by them and I'm pretty sure that I drove my friends crazy by putting it on repeat and making them listen to it at least once an hour every day. Of course, I eventually grew tired of this song and now "Too Much Time On My Hands" holds the amazing title of "Courtney's favorite song". However, everyone should know that my music personality is crazy and Ilisten to every single genre besides the following (with good reason): polka, jazz, gospel, most metal, most country, and bluegrass. Other than that, I listen to everything. I was recently informed that I should definitely make an appearance on "Don't Forget The Lyrics". My music knowledge is insane. I am definitely considering to be the first person to win a million dollars on that show. I think I could. Anyway, back to the matter at hand. STYX. AMAZING. LISTEN. THE END.

Physical Therapy

In case you are unaware, physical therapy is the best thing ever created in life (next to Smallville, of course). Now, I don't particularly like getting injuries but having physical therapy everyday makes an injury that much better, SERIOUSLY. The first week of physical therapy is the best. Depending on the severity of the injury, the therapists are usually not allowed to make you do any sort of tedious exercising. So basically, you pretty much just sit on the comfiest massage table ever for an hour.
For my 'injury' (achilles tendonitis/surgery on the achilles tendon) I essentially do 3 things in that hour: 20 minutes of resistance training in which all I have to do is press my foot against the therapist's hand in different directions (for me, that's a lot harder than it sounds), 15 minutes of getting a "free" foot massage (it's free to me because I'm not paying for it), and 15 minutes of the best therapy on earth, STEM AND ICE. If you've never undergone stem and ice therapy, I really believe that you're missing out. When this therapy was first explained to me by the best therapist on the planet, Matt Myette, it wasn't exactly very appealing. However, it really isn't all that bad and I definitely look forward to it at the end of my sessions :) For those of you who are really out of the loop and do not know what stem and ice therapy is, electrical wires/pads are attached to the injured body part and then said injury is wrapped in ice. Then a machine is turned on which sends electrical currents to the injury, providing better circulation of the blood and helps to contain swelling. You can control how strong the electrical currents are but I usually start at 9 and then crank it up to about 15. I really don't know what those numbers mean, but you can definitely feel it. This is one of the biggest reasons I like physical therapy so much, it's definitely worth it for the stem and ice. Nothing is better than what I'd like to call an hour's worth of a free massage. As for the rest of the conditioning stint, it really doesn't get any harder than that. Next week I'll probably ride a bike for 10-15 minutes instead of resistance training or added to the resistance training, h20 therapy, and the aforementioned therapeutic stuff. Seriously though, physical therapy is the best thing about an injury and hey, if it helps me to start walking again then it's all good :)

Blog About Blogs.

I came across this one blog titled 'Life of A Female Marine'. It is essentially what it says it is, a blog detailing the day-to-day life of a female Marine. I thought it would be appropriate to post this considering one of our current class projects. I can't exactly offer much to my blog audience about what I've read or learned from her blog, considering I've only read a few posts (and by few I mean 3 or 4 posts) and those were her earliest posts. I just think it's a neat thing to read about what's going on overseas in her perspective.
Check it out here: Life of A Female Marine

SUMMER = BEACH HOUSE :)

Hello!?!? How often can you walk out your front door and be on the beach, just like that!? So basically, I CANNOT WAIT UNTIL IT IS SUMMER!!! Actually, I'll be even just as excited for spring! :)
However, as a graduation gift, my friend Jen's parents decided to rent out TWO beach houses down in Flordia for an entire week during July!!!! So myself and a few of my friends get a beach house to OURSELVES for one whole relaxing week! Seriously, there's nothing better than living right on the beach, soaking up some rays, surfing/scuba diving/parasailing/wakeboarding, etc, scoping out some hot guys and just having the best times with your best friends!! Being there without parents is a major plus! One last chance to hang out before we all leave for college! I am so excited!!! We've known about this since late November and it's all we can do not to just pack our things and go now!!
Basically, the winter so far has been crazy. One day it's -20 below and the next its 50 degrees! The only thing that I've ever really liked about winter was the clothes I get to wear (of course) and the crazy snowboarding/sledding outings that I partake in from time to time. Oh yes, and hockey. This winter would have been a whole lot better if I wasn't injured the whole time but no, I was cooped up in the house all winter dreading my surgery on my achilles tendon. Which went really well, in case anyone was wondering. I'll be making an epic appearance at school tomorrow for the first time in 3 weeks.

Anyway, back to warm weather. I love it. I love being outdoors and just feeling the warmth of the sun. I don't mind how hot it gets, unless I'm in my car. My uncle decided it would be fun to completely ruin my air conditioning. Most of the time that's okay, because I like driving around with the windows down, blasting my music and feeling the cool breeze through my hair. It's a great way to relax and unwind. When it gets to be late April/May, it sucks getting into that thing after school, after the sun has been beating down on it for hours on end. Other than that, I love the spring/summer! I get to spend a lot more time outdoors and go hiking/mountain climbing/climb rock scrambles, whitewater rafting, SWIMMING and get a sweet tan! I better enjoy it while I can, because with the way things look, I'll be going to college up in North Country a.k.a the very top of new york state =x I don't mind it considering I applied to those colleges for a reason (Potsdam & Canton) and I'm used to brutal winters after many years in Oswego (seriously, it doesn't get any worse than that) but let's hope Buffalo State sends me a sweet letter detailing a "congrats on your acceptance!" Sure, brutal winters ensue there, but I don't mind seeing as how that's my first choice college :)

Seriously though, let's get the summer started already!

Writer's Block.

I belong to another blog/journal site called livejournal. I've noticed that when you login to livejournal, they have a little box at the top of the page called 'writer's block'. It gives you all these different questions to answer, in case you're having a hard time thinking of anything to write about (go figure). I thought I'd take some time and answer some of the prompts for the fun of it. At least anyway, I'm hoping I'll get some entertainment out of it.

1. List 3 things you would buy with your last $20. One practical, one frivolous and one of your choosing:
The practical thing would be $10 of gas, since I seem to be filling up my gas tank a lot more than I should be.
As for the last $10, I'd go on alloy.com and find a cheap t-shirt with some witty saying on it, guaranteed to make everyone laugh when I wear it (such as my awesome David Hasselhoff shirt, too bad for anyone who hasn't seen it yet, it's truly what people shall call "epic"). I'd probably have about $6 left afterwards and it seems you can't really get anything with that amount of money around here, so I'd most likely spend that on pizza or some other cheap version of food. You can never go wrong with pizza, though.

2. What is your biggest accomplishment thus-far in 2008?
I'd say it would be getting accepted into college. It was the biggest goal I had for myself this year and even though it's only my safety school, at least I can say that I'll be going somewhere next year. I'll have to wait awhile longer to hear from my first choice schools, seeing as I still have yet to audition. Quite frankly, I really do not want to go to college at my safety school (SUNY Canton). It really is my last resort. It still feels good knowing that I have it as a back-up though.

3. What inspires you to create?
I don't really create much, but I suppose if I was made to create something, then music would be my inspiration... even though it's always been my inspiration. How could anyone not be inspired by music? I really don't think I have to explain myself on this one.

4. You crash your friends car because you're driving too fast in bad weather. Everyone's okay, but the car has to go into the shop. Do you pay the deductible?
I really can't help it if I have a lead foot, as my dad likes to tell me every time I come to him after being in trouble with the law... I mean, that's only happened once!... I really have to come clean to everyone, though. You should all know that I pretty much never have that kind of money on me and when I do, I like to spend it on practical items, such as tons of clothes. I'd have to say that no, I would not pay the deductible. Besides, my friends know that I have a need for speed (I'm always safe though, I promise!) and if they're willing to let me drive their car, then it's their fault in the first place. As a precaution, I should probably make some legal documents and have them sign.

5. What would you do if you had one day left to live?
I'm going to assume that I have loads of cash. I would buy many plane tickets to visit the following places (assuming that I haven't visited them before my last day and unfortunately knowing that I'll get to spend about an hour in each place); Lac La Biche, Alberta (That's a story for another day), Chicago, Cloverdale B.C. (SMALLVILLE!), Ireland (family roots), Greece (it's beautiful) and many other exotic and foreign places no one has ever heard of. I'd make sure that I end up in California though, seeing as how I absolutely love it there and hope to maybe someday even live there. I'd obviously make time to spend time with my loved ones and tell them things about myself and the live I've lived that I cannot tell them about now. I'd make sure that I re-visited my childhood past times and just do the things that I love to do now while making sure I was the happiest I could have been.

i suprised myself.

The ideal job for me would be playing professional soccer for the U.S. Women's team. Now, I came to a conclusion a few years ago that this would not be possible. I played both travel and school soccer until 9th grade. I stopped playing so that I could focus more on my music and I just felt more at ease/less stressed with my music than I did playing soccer. Last year, I started travel soccer again because I realized how much I miss the adrenaline rush and the friendship that I had built with my teammates. I'm one of those people who play the sport for the love of it. Sure, it feels good to win games and celebrate with my teammates afterwards but just knowing that I'm out there having fun and doing what I love to do is what ultimately means the most to me. While I would love to play professional soccer, I've realized that I have to start thinking more realistically, especially since I haven't been able to play any sport since October after being diagnosed with chronic achilles tendonitis. Now, music has always been my first love. It was actually my dream to play the violin at 5 years old. It feels great knowing that my dream of playing violin has come true and that I've continued to play the violin for 10 years now. At the beginning of my junior year, a prospective dream job of mine was to play the violin in a Broadway orchestra pit. Luckily for me, some of the music teachers in our school got together and decided to host our own little assemblies in the music wing, inviting people who have all kinds of occupations within the field of music. One of these people just happened to have the job of ... PLAYING THE VIOLIN IN A BROADWAY ORCHESTRA PIT!!! It was great being able to talk to her and find out more about this occupation, but at the end of the class I realized it just wasn't right for me. I would still love to play in an orchestra pit for Broadway and maybe someday I'll get that chance, but it just doesn't fit in with my life goals as a permanent career.
After all of this, I knew I still wanted to have a career in music and eventually I decided on becoming an orchestra teacher (get ready for the music nerd to come out). I have been playing the violin with the same kids for the past 6 years and the orchestra is pretty much my second family. I've looked forward to 1st period everyday for the past 4 years, because I just have the best and funnest times with them. As corny as it sounds, I do get sad when I think about the fact that I only have two more concerts this school year, one of them being our annual senior concert. This has been my life as I've known it since the 4th grade and I feel as though my life is going to end come June 3rd (the date of our senior concert). Once that concert is over, we turn in our music and just take time to hang out with each other until the last day of school. Part of me doesn't even want to leave the orchestra room at all that day, because it has become my home. I realize though, that I have to move on to the next chapter in my life and I do believe that I'm definitely ready to do that. As sad as I'll be knowing that next year I won't be playing with my family, I am anxious to learn more about music, make new friends and possibly even become a part of a new family. I am excited to become an orchestra teacher and possibly even take over the role of the wonderful Ms. Shari Rivenburg, who's been not only a teacher and a friend to me, but also a confidant and a mother for the past 6 years. To me, the ultimate dream job would just be doing something that I love to do and having fun while doing it. It doesn't matter the amount of time and effort I have to put into it or the money I get out of it, it's just about having a passion for what I do. With that being said, a music educator is my new dream job. It feels awesome knowing that in 4-5 years, it will be my career.

tom welling is dank.

The following video is somewhat poor quality, but its the only video I could find on the internet for what I am about to show you. Let's just say that this is my favorite scene from the entire 'Smallville' series. (Anyone who knows me, knows that I am much more than a fan of this show, trust me. I scare myself sometimes on how crazily obsessed I can become/am).

Tom Welling's dancing is pretty much the most phenomenal thing I've seen in my life. It never fails to put me into hysterical laughter after watching his dance moves. Take a look for yourself:

School Violence.

WHOA BUDDY, VIOLENCE IS NEVER THE ANSWER. =0
I'm not going to sit here and rant about my opinions on school violence. I think it's a safe bet to say that we've all heard about it before and we all know the consequences involved. Unfortunately, some of us may have even experienced some sort of violence first hand and for those people, I am eternally sorry.
I turned on my laptop today and was greeted with about 4 different stories on school violence that have happened in the U.S. within the past week. Yes, past week!!! Honesly, I couldn't believe it. I am well aware that this sort of thing has happened before and it's nothing new. I just don't understand why. Let me correct myself, there. I do understand the different motives that make people upset. I DON'T understand why anyone would ever THINK of killing another human being. I probably won't ever understand why someone would do that. I don't want to ever understand that sort of thing.
Basically, I was just blown away that 4 different acts of school violence have occurred in the past week.
In case you haven't read about these acts of violence, I will point you to the following links:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/niu_shooting


http://www.usnews.com/blogs/paper-trail/2008/2/8/three-dead-after-shooting-at-louisiana-technical-college.html?s_cid=rss:paper-trail:three-dead-after-shooting-at-louisiana-technical-college

http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/Top_News/2008/02/11/student_charged_in_memphis_school_shooting/9233/

http://www.huliq.com/50359/oxnard-school-shooting-leaves-one-teenager-dead


What's your opinion on school violence? What NEW steps do you think we should take as a student body to help stop school violence?

Today I Realized....

- that you should never pull a plug out of a socket by the metal prongs. It results in mild electric shock (if you're lucky).
- that you will be surprised by someone you least expected to surprise you.
- that it's really hard for me to read my own blog. The second I look at something bright after reading my blog, my eyes feel like they got punched or something.
- that most of the seniors are actually starting to act like young, mature adults. Emphasis on most, though.
- that I probably will graduate this year without ever participating in a gym class, due to my foot.
- that I'm really not sure what I'm doing posting in a blog at 2 AM.
- that I have really bad insomnia so you should probably get used to this.

Education

As both a current student and a future teacher, there's a lot that I can say about education. I believe that the importance of education in our lives plays a greater role than we think it does. Would I be writing in this blog now, if I had not received some sort of education before? It is a possibility, but it would be a lot harder to comprehend and my grammar skills would most likely be non-existent. Education comes from a lot of different sources. While going to school and being lectured by teachers and professors does provide a majority of our education, we also learn simply by living our lives. As children, some of us may have learned not to put our finger in the pot of boiling water by accidentally doing it anyway. As teenagers, we learn not to speed in the car because of the unfortunate incident of being pulled over and receiving a horrible speeding ticket. As adults, we simply know that mistakes are always going to be made and the greatest way of learning, is learning from our mistakes. We all learn to take care of ourselves and to interact in society in a healthy way. Without education, this would not be possible.
I'd also like to take the time and mention statistics. I'll save everyone the numbers, because I believe we all know the basics. It's obvious that those who go on to receive a higher education have generally higher-paying occupations than those with just a high school diploma. It's also obvious that our elders are generally wiser than us. However, we can find education in the most ironic places. Who would have thought that the custodian we pass by everyday, actually completed all 4 years of college and 1 year of medical school? Yes, he wanted to be a doctor. Unfortunately, a tragic death in the family really perturbed him and he was in no psychological state to continue his studies as a doctor. He gave up on all his goals and no longer had a passion for life as he knew it and now he's a custodian. Did you ever stop to think about that? Or how about children? They may not know the quadratic formula or be able to recite everything about the human anatomy, but they know more than we give them credit for. The simple things really do mean the most and no one other than children can really understand that. Give it a try, I dare you. Ask a child a really meaningful question and see what the answer is. I guarantee it will amaze you endlessly.


Author's note: I was just lying about the custodian. Maybe not, though. Think about it.

life

You know when people ask you, "If you could tell others about the most important thing you've ever learned in your life what would it be?" Well, I've finally come to my answers.

1 - It'd be to not procrastinate. Don't ever put anything off until the last possible minute. If you have a deadline that is weeks away, it's probably for a good reason. People can tell when you put absolutely no time/effort into what you're doing. A 5 hour effort the night before something is due is not equivalent to an entire 2 weeks of effort. Plus, why spend your entire weekend doing schoolwork (or something else that requires a lot of effort and time) when you could have finished your work long ago? All I know is that I'd rather be hanging out with my friends than doing any sort of work. Unfortunately, I've learned this lesson the hard way.

2 - Simply put, you need to learn to save yourself before you can even THINK about saving others. Think about that one.

3 - When you have goals/dreams, don't give up on them. Life tests you all the time and unfortunately, there will be times when you don't think you can achieve your goals. Whatever. Just because life throws something unexpected at you doesn't mean you should let it interfere with said goals. If you have to hold off on going after something that means a lot to you, then so be it. Just don't give up on all hope completely. I'd rather try and fail at something than be left wondering "what if" for the rest of my life.