6. I am thankful for...

Today I want to talk about how thankful I am for:

My best friend.

Someone who has been there for me right from the start. A girl who I miss terribly. An individual who has helped make me who I am today. A person who I will never forget, because I hold her very close to my heart. I am so thankful that I have been able to spend such a great 6-7 years with the girl pictured above. I really couldn't have asked for a better friend. I am so thankful that I met such a wonderful person. ♥

I miss you more than you know! I hope that we can be reunited soon and make even more memories. I love you, Carly. You're like a sister to me. You're the sister I never had. ♥

busy busy busy.

Good evening my dear bloggers,

Today has been one of the busiest of days. Tomorrow is my graduation party/open house. So this morning I got up and had to go to town to make a trip to the bank, to State Farm to get my insurance on my own policy, to my hair salon to put highlights in my hair, and to the dollar tree and Walmart to buy the rest of my party decorations. After all that I got to McDonald's for a vanilla shake and went on my merry way home so that I could put together my center pieces. Everything is looking good so far. The only thing that isn't so fantastic is the fact that it is supposed to rain tomorrow. Oh well, we'll make the best of it one way or another. I'm excited for the even busier day ahead of me. More pictures up tomorrow! (o:

Michigan's Adventure.

Hello my lovelies,

Last Wednesday I went to Michigan's Adventure with my Physics and Calculus class. We drove down 4.5 hours on a bus and a lot of people slept most of the way there. Then about halfway down we stopped at McDonald's and I got a hot chocolate to keep me alive for the remainder of the drive. When we finally arrived it was too cold to open the water park, but it was comfortable weather. So I wore tennis shoes, jeans, a tank top and a light cardigan. It was beautiful weather actually. I even rode my very first roller coaster: the Thunder Hawk. We had tons of fun. I took a lot of pictures, here are my favorites!

i'm a big girl now.

I am in denial. I have been for the past week. Which is my excuse for not posting since last Sunday. The last week of school had been creeping up slowly since the very beginning. I guess I never thought it would get here. It always seemed so far away, but now, its over, and we're moving on to bigger and better things. Graduation was Sunday, May 27, 2012. It was a beautiful ceremony. I am happy to say that I have graduated with the Pellston High School Class of 2012. I couldn't be any happier, or more proud of myself and everyone else in my class. Here are some pictures:

This is Carly (my best friend) and I walking in together. I'm gonna miss her so much.

Here I am standing and waiting for them to announce that we are represent the Class of 2012.

This is me receiving my diploma. Such a proud moment.

This is me directly after the ceremony. I was just finishing up crying. So my eyes are a little watery looking.

My dad, me, and my step mom afterwards.

Me and my dad ♥

My grandma Byard, me, and my grandpa Byard. ♥

My momma and I ♥

Cap and gown finally comes off! (o:

So, now that I have your attention, I'd like to say a couple things and point out a few others. First of all, graduation was a blast. Like I said earlier, I couldn't be any happier. It feels so good to know that I am finally done with the high school years of my life. I am ecstatic about moving forward. This summer is going to be wonderful and it is going to be a perfect lead in to the awesome year that is to come.

That being said, I want to touch on what I am doing. Recently, just yesterday actually, I finished up my picture a day for a year album that I had going on Facebook. Now that it's done (and I don't plan on doing it for another year or for any other years to come ever again) I have decided that I would like to document the next stage of my life in some way, shape, or form. So, what I've decided to do is to continue to document my life in its future stages through the posts on my blog. If you were wondering why the name and design of my blog changed from paper planes & playground games to I'm a big girl now. it's because I am a big girl now, and I wanted to change things up to go along with all the major changes that have now taken place, or will shortly, because I am done with high school.

Today I am going to leave you all with a list of changes that I am extremely excited about.

---Working two jobs for the entire summer. 4 days a week at Hush Puppies shoe store, and on weekends at the Dixie as a hostess.

---Moving out of my parents house, and into an apartment with my boyfriend when the leaves on the trees start to change colors.

---Starting college at North Central Michigan College to work on my Associates of Science degree focusing on Biology/Pre-med so I can become a successful pediatrician

---Starting a new job in Petoskey when I move there. Hopefully working early mornings at Starbucks in the local Glens store in town.

---Driving the new car that my graduation and work money will buy me at the end of the summer. I'm looking for a Grand AM or a Monte Carlo. We'll see what I can find for under $4,000.

---All the first times that I will experience as a brand spankin' new adult who has graduated from high school!

I'm also very excited that you will all be following me on my journey in this small world. (o:

The future begins today...

in my dreams, my actions, and my heart. 

It's time to dream big, live wisely, and be kind...

And to never forget how much I have to offer the world. ♥

Tattoos On This Town

Tattoos On This Town by Jason Aldean

This song goes out to the graduating class of 2012 at Pellston High School. This is OUR song.

There's still black marks on that county road, where we drag raced our pick-ups and mustangs

And weathered all the sun and rain

And to this day up on that overpass, even underneath the new paint, you can still see,

"Ali, will you marry me?"

Take a ride, look around

There ain't no doubt

It sure left it's mark on us, we sure left our mark on it

We let the world know we were here, with everything we did

We laid a lot of memories down, like tattoos on this town

There's still a rope burn on the old branch, that hangs over the river, I still got the scar

From swinging out a little too far

There ain't a corner of this hallow ground, that we ain't laughed or cried on, it's where we loved,

Lived and learned real life stuff

It's everything we're made of

It sure left it's mark on us, we sure left our mark on it

We let the world know we were here, with everything we did

We laid a lot of memories down, like tattoos on this town

Like tattoos on this town

Everywhere, it's where we are

It gets me right, in my heart

It sure left it's mark on us, we sure left our mark on it

We let the world know we were here, with everything we did

We laid a lot of memories down,

And we'll always be hangin' around, like tattoos on this town

Like tattoos on this town

picture an hour #3.

I haven't done a 'picture an hour' in a couple months. So I decided that today would be a good day to do one. So here you have it, a picture an hour!

 8:00-9:00

This was what we did in Physics today. A whole lot of nothing. We basically just used noise makers and played around for the entire hour. I worked on my study guide instead because we have a test this Monday.

9:00-10:00

 During this time Carly and I worked a little more on our ceiling tile. It is coming along so great! Then I went and got another tile from the senior hallway so that we can have the seniors all write their names on it.

10:00-11:00

 This was Calculus for me today. We had a fire drill and a substitute so that was hilarious. And everyone brought the noise makers they made in Physics with them to calculus. So you can only imagine how the teacher was feeling. This was our last Calculus notes EVER, and we had a sub, so Mrs. Carter wrote some funny notes on the overhead.

11:00-12:00

 In English we basically just worked on our final exams. Mine is coming along slowly. I finished the book a long time ago, I have just been slacking on the writing part. Only one more week to finish the entire project. We'll see how that gets done. I'll probably end up taking a day off of school next week. More than likely it will be Tuesday.

Later that night...

 I got out of work and went to Jessie's bonfire. It was so fun. We played water-pong. Because none of my nerdy friends like to drink. Which is fine, I'd rather not drink with them anyways. I respect their wishes.

 Carly and I were on a water-pong team. We kicked butt! We were knocking cups out throw after throw. She's gonna be super great at it at college! Haha.

 Dale decided to bring these cool things. You light the thing in the center and then the balloon fills and you can let it go into the air. I guess it's supposed to go out eventually and then fall to the ground. Hopefully we didn't start any forest fires!

I love nights like this. Just hanging out with lifelong friends who are there for you and who truly appreciate you as a good person in their life. I can bet that there will be many more of these kinds of events in the next couple weeks just because we're all about to take separate paths and go out on our own. We might not see some of the students in our grade for the rest of our lives. Its crazy to think that in just two weeks on May 27th, it may be the very last time I see some of the people in my class. Wow. How the time flies...

senior ceiling tiles.

Today Carly and I worked on our ceiling tiles for another hour. This is the progress we've made over the course of the past couple days. We've been told that if we are able to finish it by May 20th we can put it in the art show. So if you guessed that we'll be working our little butts of for the next few days you're absolutely right! So, here you have it! The nearly finished tiles (: