25)

I.
so, after completing:
one final exam in politics of southeast asia
one final exam in history of english
one final assignment for philosophy
one paper and two responses for restoration lit
andone written exam and one oral exam for intermediate thai
i am officially done with the semester.

which is awesome, you know, awesome and totally strange because i have ONE more semester left of college. just one. (um. holy shit.) to be honest, it hasn't really quite sunk in yet, that i'm actually done for the semester and it's winter break. i really can't believe how quickly this semester passed by, either... i swear i only started school a few weeks ago. has it really been four months?

i have this memory. it was a blustery and cold gray early evening, sometime in early winter... i was 18, in the midst of my freshman year of college. it was one of those weekends where the photographer came to visit; we were sitting in his car, more than likely putting off the inevitable goodbye. i was feeling sad (about school or him leaving or something else) and he leaned over and kissed me and said, "don't worry. there are only seven more semesters until you graduate." at the time, seven more semesters, three and a half more years, seemed like an eternity. at that time, everything seemed so far away--graduating, turning twenty-one, even just finishing my freshman year.

and yet, here i am. the end of semester seven.
oh my, how time flies!

II.
we spent the weekend in lake county. it was nice.



III.
winter finally showed up.
it's snowy, and blowing, and cold.
it sure does look pretty, though.
(i'll stay inside, thanks!)