Wow, it's been over a week since I last posted, and it feels like forever. Here are the high points:

I broke up with Martin.
I'm still going over for Christmas - it'll be great to be back in NL, to see my friends, and to see him - and we're going to have a great vacation and act just like we always do, but after that, it's over. It hadn't felt perfectly 'right' for a long time, but that didn't matter so much until recently. Now it's getting to the point where I have to decide if I 'love him enough' to change my entire life and limit my options while I'm still so young, and I decided I don't. And I feel no regret whatsoever - only relief.

I applied for Semester at Sea.
Check out that site - I'll hopefully be going on the Fall 2005 trip. This has the potential to be the most amazing experience of my life; however, it's also going to run me about $20,000 - yes, for ONE semester - and Bright Futures and National Merit only pay about $4000. I'm hitting up every single business and scholarship site I can think of - my best idea so far has been to e-mail the newspaper and see if they'll sponsor me in exchange for my writing a feature about every country I visit - but it's going to be tough to raise that amount, especially since I refuse to take out a loan. If anyone has any ideas for me or knows of any scholarships out there that I might have forgotten about, please let me know!

School is out!
So I'm back in Jacksonville for a few days - until Sunday night, anyway, since exams start Monday. I went to the dentist and eye doctor today (need some new sealants done on my molars, and I'm apparently now actually a tiny bit FARsighted in my right eye due to that overcorrection) and have a haircut appointment tomorrow. I love getting my hair cut - I know Mom likes it better when it's a little thicker and longer, but I love how it feels when it's short - I don't even need a swim cap.

My size 8 jeans fit me again.
Yes, they're still a bit small, but I can wear them. This is a major coup. For those who don't know, I swim two mornings a week (for a class) and five evenings a week (for R's team) and I love how it's going - my shoulders and arms are getting really strong, I can swim faster and farther all the time, and my butterfly stroke gets better every day. I've toyed with the idea of swimming the English Channel someday ever since I first read National Velvet (in the book, Velvet's mom swam the Channel) but now I'm starting to think I may actually do it. Maybe that'll be my next fundraiser... :)

I went for a run today and didn't have to stop once.
That, too, is a big deal - I went on approximately a two-mile run and didn't have to slow down at all. I just kept going. So the swimming is helping me there, too. Even better, I did not feel a single twinge from my foot. This physical therapy stuff is amazing - why didn't they recommend this when I was first recovering from the surgieries? That amazes the people in the PT room too - "If you were immobilized for a year -" which I was, "- you should really have had something like this done before now!"

That's all for now...
- But I promise I won't leave you hanging for so long again. And if I get to do the Semester at Sea, you can bet I'll be keeping you guys updated through here!