End of School:
My last day of High School ever was May 13th, 2021. Not to be too pessimistic, but my senior year as a whole wasn't all that I had it made up to be. Don't get me wrong, I had a nice time. I got to lay in bed and do school work, and all my tests were open note. Full online school also allowed me to go to New Jersey, like I mentioned in my previous post. All in all, it wasn’t too bad but it definitely could have been better in regards to me trying to enjoy my life a bit more.
Something good that came out of the pandemic learning was that seniors got out of school much earlier than everyone else. For that reason, I had no cumulative finals and I ended with all A's. I even got a 95% in an AP class. Unfortunately these grades weren't good enough to get me any special recognition at graduation because my grades in Germany sunk my GPA. I'm still proud of myself for doing as good as I did though.
After school on my last day, I went to work. Everyone there congratulated me on being done and it was really nice. When I got home, my parents had a present for me--- my own laptop!! They got me a MacBook and using the word "overjoyed" would be an understatement. I have been loving this laptop since I got it. I'm so thankful for my parents and everything they do for me. On Thursday, the day before graduation, I had my one and only AP test. It was for psychology so that, hopefully, I'll get college credit for the class. I feel good about the test but I'm not sure how I did yet. The next day, Friday, May 21st, 2021, I graduated.
Graduation:
I actually got to graduate at Red Rocks! Just like at my Bat Mitzvah, it didn't hit me until I was really in it. For an hour when they were trying to get us into alphabetical order, I wasn't nervous about graduating. When we were sitting and listening to the choir, orchestra, and speeches, I wasn't nervous about graduating. When other people were walking across stage, I wasn't nervous about graduating. When I was standing in line waiting to go on stage, I wasn't nervous about graduating. It wasn't until there were 3 people in front of me that it finally hit me: I'm done. Graduating high school is the end of all real certainty you have in your life. I know that not much is going to change but it's still a crazy thought that I have more control over my life now than I ever have before. It was easy but now it seems like the world just opened up a lot more; and that scares me. Especially after the past year, I've gotten used to being at home, being alone, having things be relatively easy for me. But anyways, that's all gone now. At least I think it is... I won't know for another few months.
The funniest thing that happened that day (to me) was that when they were reading our names to have us walk, they pronounced my name completely wrong. The only part they got right was my middle name. I walked across the stage, laughing at how bad he pronounced it: "leeah janae schreerer" is what it sounded like. The best thing about graduation was that no one was wearing a mask. Since it was outside, masks weren't mandatory so no one was wearing them. It was weird to see everyone's face but it also felt so normal, like nothing had changed. Since Covid started calming down, my school gave everyone unlimited tickets. Since our closest family is hours into the mountains, I invited our close family friends who we've known for years. Suzie and Sophie Kollar, along with my parents and sister, came to my graduation. Having them there meant the world to me.
After graduation, we went to Virgilio's and since we're vaccinated, we were allowed to walk in without masks. Our server didn't have a mask either, meaning she was vaccinated. It was so exciting! We got pepperoni pizza and it was so so good because it had been a bit too long. Amelia is a full vegetarian and I am what I call a circumstantial vegetarian: I don't eat meat at home, but if we're out or we order something, I'll get some. That's why the pepperoni pizza tasted even better than usual.
My Best Friend:
I've mentioned my best friend, Liv, in previous posts. Now, it's time to get excited because she's coming out here for college!! It's been so long and we've spent 3 years in a long distance friendship but we'll finally be close again. She's going to be at a school that's just a 20 minute drive from where I live. Needless to say, I'm excited.
A couple weeks ago, she and her mom came out to take a look at the school and celebrate Mothers Day with us. It was nice getting to see them again, even though I had just seen both of them during my trip to Jersey. We all had a nice Mothers Day brunch with Amelia's homemade crepes, some berries, quiches from the farmers market, and vegetarian bacon. We then went for a drive to Red Rocks. However, it was snowing up there so we didn't get to see the nice views as per usual. That night I made my famous homemade oven baked mac n cheese. It is one of my favorite foods and it's one of the cheesiest dishes one could have.
The next day, the two of them went up to see the college while I went to school and drumroll please..... got a haircut!! 12 inches came off so this'll be my 3rd or 4th time donating. After my hair cut, I drove up to pick them up, we got food, saw the apartment complex where Liv will be staying, and drove home. It made me so happy realizing how close I will be living to my best friend.
Summer:
As of now, I don't have too many set summer plans. Amelia is having her Bat Mitzvah in July so some of our family is coming out for that. She also has a friend from New York coming out to visit for a couple weeks before, so I will be on vacation during that time ;) ! My plan would be to spend most of that time in New Jersey seeing family again and going to the beach, even though they'd be visiting a few weeks later. I also really want to go to Illinois at some point to see friends and other family friends who are like family. There's so many people there who I miss so I'm trying to figure out when and how that would work.
At the end of July, Ashton is coming back out and we're going to go see a concert together (Tame Impala). After he leaves, my family and I may be going on a road trip. To where? I don't know. For how long? I don't know. This road trip will be in place of the other trip we were supposed to take. We postponed Italy, so we were then thinking Iceland or Ireland. That quickly changed to Hawaii versus Alaska. From there, we decided a trip to Seattle and Olympic National Park would be beautiful and worthwhile. That plan was discarded when we decided to get a hot tub instead. So now we have a hot tub! The whole family actually agreed that a hot tub was the better option. I missed having a hot tub. I went in for the first time tonight (the night I'm writing this) and I felt incredible. In conclusion for that point: hot tub = bliss.
I've mentioned before that I'm planning on going skydiving and getting another tattoo. But those should be the only crazy things I do, so don't worry. Amelia and I were thinking of taking a krav maga class so we can be ready for anything... including each other. Or more specifically, me being ready for her (this is what happens to your mind when you sleep in a room next to a child who makes shanks out of spoons like she's planning on going to prison soon). Those are pretty much the only summer plans for me though, I'll just be working a lot.
I think my next blog post will be about music since there's no other big events happening for.a while. I enjoy writing and if I write about music, it gives me even MORE of an excuse to sit and listen to music (another thing I enjoy). I've heard a lot of new music lately that I would give high marks to, so I want to share since I'm always looking for a way to talk about music. Anyways, that's all for now. Until next time!
Gallery:
I included some graduation pictures, some from a late night walk that Amelia and I went on, one of Liv and me, and some of Che Che. I feel that it's best to honor Che Che now because she might be dying, I love her so much, and she's just the cutest cat ever so she deserves recognition.
