Thinking Out Loud #8

Another week has come and gone...

...it's time for another ToL :D

[check out the linkup here]

I.  My birthday is steadily approaching! Today is my last day of being fifteen.

Wow. When you think of it that way, it's kinda nerve-racking. O.o  I will never in my life ever be 15 again.

II.  On Sunday, two days after my birthday, I will be joining a majority of my ballet class to perform our "America the Beautiful" dance [which we did for this year's recital] at a war memorial service. I have never performed outside of the normal performance location (including the dance studio), so this is a pretty huge deal for me! 

III.  For a couple of days, I was having trouble with my Chrome account. For whatever reason, Chrome would log me out of my account upon startup and send me a pop-up message saying 'your preferences cannot be read' and some other mumbo-jumbo about my settings not being saved and such. I logged in, logged out, restarted the computer - nothing worked until I checked my download queue (at least that's what I'm assuming it was...I'm not very tech savvy). I cleared all the downloads that were in process - most of them things that I hadn't ever seen before! Since then, everything's been fine. My biggest worry was losing all of my bookmarks. I have over a dozen recipes saved on my bookmarks page; not to mention aaaaaaall the blogs I check up on every day. 

To lose those would most probably have led me into a fit of rage. My laptop would be in pieces, to say the least.

IV.  I've been looking at smartphones that are compatible with my family's plan and as much as I would love to say that I - an unemployed 16 [almost] year old - can afford an iPhone 5c, would be a massive lie.

I've narrowed it down to the Samsung Galaxy III mini, at roughly $210 dollars. The problem is, I can't seem to find very many legit reviews on it. Consumer Reports hasn't even heard of it. All I can find are bogus websites riddled with ads and pop-ups, and no one wants to deal with that. 

There is a time in life when taking a leap of faith is the only option there is. All I've got to lose is money that would take me months to re-earn... But I'll have a phone. A real phone. I'm all in at this point.

V.  In every. single. Thinking Out Loud post, I have to mention coffee.

[source]

Given that my birthday is coming up - namely my 16th - I have chosen to have a sleepover/camp out with as many of my girlfriends as I can manage [er, as many as my mother can manage. She's the one making the food...] which means the Keurig is likely to be the star of the day. That also means that coffee creamer is needed.

I came upon this guy while in Kroger the other day...

...Samosas seem to be pretty popular. I'm not a huge fan of them, but chocolate coconut creamer sounded delightful nonetheless. I have yet to try it out.

VI.  I went to Starbucks with my cousin last week. I could give you a detailed paragraph or two on why I really don't care all that much for this place, but for now, all I want to do is rave about this baby:

[source]

There are no words. None. All I can say is: get it the next chance you have. It is heaven in a cup.

VII.  As well as cookies and overly delicious frappuccinos, I have developed another obsession: french fries. Specifically the less-oily ones from Wendy's and Dairy Queen. I can't eat McDonald's (my belly does not agree with them), but every time we made a trip to a fast-food joint last week while on "vacation" (read: visiting family in Ohio), I ate way more than my share of fries.
When at Dairy Queen, dip them in the ice cream. Pure. Bliss.

[source]

^^If this is an actual thing, take me to your leader!!

VIII.  I am now officially down to 4 subjects in school. I've mentioned time and time again how I despise schoolwork, but if I don't do it I despise myself even more. Maybe I haven't explained it in that context exactly...
Anyways. I completed New Testament Survey with a score of 93.26 - barely an A. I'm determined to finish every course (with the exception of Algebra I) with an A. In my school, 93 is the lowest score you can get for an A; in most schools it's 90. So basically....my school is harder than most. #homeschoolprobs

IX.  I went to the orthodontist this week for an annual checkup. I'm actually not afraid of the orthodontist anymore; I used to be terrified, especially after one nurse pinched a bit of my lip in between my braces and the wire that connected them. But after four years of poking and prodding and pinching, I'm pretty much accustomed to the ways of the great oral-metal wielders.
(Conclusively, I won't have to go back for another year. Also, I may have room for my wisdom teeth; if so, I won't need to have them removed!)

X.  As part of some birthday party prep, Mom took me to the Amish & scratch-and-dent store where I found some coffee...

...and some WowButter that I was so eager to try, only to find that the container was cracked and the contents were dry.

even the jar is frowning. :(

Someday, I will get some hands on a [quality] jar of Wowbutter! On the bright side, I scored two jars of natural peanut butter and a jar of Peanut Butter & Co. Dark Chocolate Dreams. :D

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~JK