LONG Overdue Update!

First of all, my ridiculously long blog hiatus (more like abandonment) deserves an explanation. As a senior in high school, I have been extremely busy with college applications and all that goes along with it- and, sparing all the un-interesting details, I can just say that time to sleep was a luxury. But I am thrilled (most of all relieved) to say that that part of my life has finally ended- I'm going to Smith College next year, so I can finally peel my eyes away from Microsoft Word and commonapp.org. At Smith, I plan on pursuing a double major in Education and French, and becoming a certified elementary school teacher. My dream is to someday work for an organization like the UN to develop education programs in third world countries, particularly Africa, and definetely spend time living there. I've always wanted to do the Peace Corps in Africa, but I want to travel after that too, living and working in African countries. I want to become fluent in French so that I can work in French-speaking Africa and/or teach French in the States (since the demand for language teachers is always so great.)

Anyway, first semester has also ended, and midterm exams (hopefully) successfully completed. I'm officially a second semester senior with an abundance of free time (hear that, mom?) That's the ideal, anyway. I just can't let myself completely fail out of school :).

In other exciting news, Sasha has officially graduated from the Terrible Twos and, as of this past Friday, is three. Her growth on all levels has been astonishing. She's seriously a little person now, with amazing senses of self and humor. She's extremely independent and is the only one in the family who does things before she's told to do them. You can always count on her to, with nothing better to do, load the dishwasher.

Sasha has also become extremely girly (I swear she doesn't get it from me, although I'm sure I endorse it by impulsively picking up dress-up accessories and stickers when I'm at the store.) The most common word that comes out of her mouth is probably "princess," although she can get pretty bossy when she gets into the role. A few weeks ago Sasha was trying on a new dress-up dress and our conversation went like this:

My Mom: "Sasha, can Mama wear this princess dress?"
Sasha: "No, Mama's too big."
My Mom: "Well can Susanna wear it then?"
Sasha: "No, Susanna's not a princess."

I know I've said this before, but she's honestly one of the most incredible people I've met...so full of life and energy I wish I had every day. I can't even begin to think about what I'll do without her at Smith one day. In an interview I had with them before I was accepted, I talked extensively about Sasha and I think it made my interviewer want to accept Sasha on the spot.

Along those same lines, I also talked about my Sweet Dreams Project, which is still up and runnning. I came across a minor setback recently because several boxes of donations were returned to me by the recipient without warning, so the money I raised through bakesales to send the boxes was wasted. Obviously that won't stop me though! I'm convinced I'll be in contact soon with other people who will be able to bring them to Ethiopia for me, and then I'll hold another drive probably in the next few months. I also definetely plan to bring the project to Smith and getting other students involved in my efforts.

That's been my life in a nutshell over the past few months! I can think of many more stories and events to impart here, but I think this should do it for today :) I'm back in the swing of things, though, so I'll definetely update my blog more regularly now.

Stay tuned!