Before i begin this post (kinda like a re-birth in a way), i apologize for not writing for so long. I had lots to figure out in terms of....everything. But even still, i had to stop writing because i needed to understand for myself why i was writing as often as possible. Was it for myself or for some other reason...or other person? I now know, and that is that. So let's do a MAJOR summer recap (the short version...):

WOFI ISRAEL TRIP 2005....
What can i say? I love israel more than anything else. I support it with all my heart and compassion, and i will speak out in defense of my people and my country with out thinking for a single second from now on. I met (er, got to know better) eighteen AMAZING people ranging from public to private school, reformed to orthodox, etc. I couldn't have asked for a better group of people to travel with to israel for the first time. Also, during my trip i got to meet my family. I have aprox. 40 or so cousins in Israel, all of which moved there just before WW2 began. It was an honor to bridge the gap between the two parts of the family (Chicago/Israel). And, on top of all that, i want to go back. That's never happened before! I hope it is not another 17 years before i step on the soil of the Jewish people. My heart is forever in the east. And to quote Adina, "Why is it that i'm home, yet i still feel HOMEsick?" Though they'll never read this, thanks to all my WOFI friends for everything. You guys rock my world.

JULY 2005....COLORGUARD and JAMBA JUICE
I'm not really sure what i did in July. Thinking back to it, I went to a lot of colorguard rehearsals, and i saw Lizzie a lot and drank Jamba with her. Guard practices were always a blast because it just was a predecessor to how awesome the 2005 marching band season is going to be. I love the flag work we know, i love the girls, and i love being co-captains with Megan. She is my missing half, and as we've discovered, we cannot make decisions without each other anymore. More on guard and MB in a bit....BUT, we must talk about jamba. After a year of barely seeing each other, Lizzie and I got to spend a great deal of time with one another. what did we do? We ran errands, took pictures of condos (i navigated), and what else, drank jamba. Above all, we just talked and talked and talked for hours upon end. Thank goodness there was a lot of that, because i loved it! Thanks, m'love....you made my time home amazing!

ACADEMY FRANCE TRIP 2005
Oh the academites. Now, going into this trip i was a little nervous about various things, and even during the trip there were things going on that i didn't want to deal with, but c'mon....FRANCE with 24 of your friends? Hard to beat, lemme tell ya. The first week in Paris was incredible! Lots of museums, lots of food, and lots of fun times on the metro. We won't really discuss the train ride from Paris to Nice, cause that was awful. But once we got to Nice it was another really fun week. The Cote D'Azure is gorgeous....beaches, mountains, and cute little villiages. We had a much more relaxed week....chilling on the beach, eating ice cream, chilling in the hotel, eating ice cream, etc. I love all the academites, and i'm really glad i got to (more or less) end my summer with them. We're such an awesome group of kids....they rock my world!

BAND CAMP 2005
While most GBNers were enjoying their last week of summer in the sun with friends just chilling out, i was spending it in the sun with friends working really hard. This year's marching band show is SO awesome. The music (of the musical Chicago) is incredible, and the drill is quite difficult (48 sets...yikes, about 14 more than last year!). But I love band camp and the bandies. There isn't a group of people i would rather spend my last week of summer with. The incoming frosh class is great! They're really into MB already, and they're so nice/easy to get along with. The Sophs are cool too....sometimes a little annoying....but still really great. The juniors are great...i'm so glad they're "our" juniors. They're high energy, but really a great group of people. I really couldn't be happier with the marching band this year. Oh right, there's of course the senior class. You have to understand, i am in love with the senior bandies......some of my best friends are in MB which makes it even better. As for the colorguard, as co-captain with megan, life could not be better. For some reason, everyone thought that megz and i wouldn't be able to work together, but it has been amazing. I can't even describe our relationship because it is so incredible. We've been friends since 1st grade or so, and this just seals the deal. The rest of the guard is great (like i said before) and i really couldn't be happier with how things are turning out. I'm not gonna lie, i love having the captain power....it makes me, erm, happy. But still, this year has been great. I LOVE GBNSMB....."if you can't be famous, be infamous"

I'M A GBN SENIOR!
I honestly cannot believe that i'm a senior. There's this crazy emotion that comes with being a senior and i for sure have it. I love my classes, too, which helps. I've met a few new people in my classes who are really cool seniors....it's for sure something i've missed being in Academy. Which btw, as much as i hate only seeing the acadz for 90 minutes everyday, i love the schedule freedom. It makes me SO happy to be able to do everything i want. I get my Write Place time, i get to be in AP poly sci, and i just get to enjoy senior year. I have friends in all my lunches, and i have friends in all my classes. There's not much more i could have asked for. It was really cool helping @ Frosh orientation the day before school started....i just hope my lack of SA board connections doesn't hurt me too bad when it comes to other committees throughout the year....HC, Canned Food Drive, etc. It just goes along w/the corruption of our school.....it just sucks...a lot...that i'm such an involved person yet it has gotten me no where. It's the one thing that makes me regret being in acad. I wish that i would have had the opportunity to run for class board and be involved in that kinda stuff....but yeah, the more i think about it, the more upset i get. It goes for peer group, too. The nomination system is corrupt (last year's pg leaders get lots of power)....and if you don't know them, how do you get the application? Gah, it just pissed me off that certain people got to apply and i didnt even get the chance....regardless of me being in France. But see now, i get slightly frustrated when i'm around people and all they talk about is PG. It gets really obnoxious sometimes because i happen to be friends with some of them. *sigh* i cannot let this get to me that easily....senior year is gonna be great. I hope i get IE board. That would make me a very happy jamie. That and going to state (and doing well) in impromptu. That's a long time away, though....

I think that's about it for now. I really need to get back into writing in this. It really did help me, even if it was just putting random stuff that was in my head on paper. So yeah, i really need to take like 30 minutes every night and write. I don't care how stupid stuff sounds or how poorly written stuff is....i just need to be less stressed......