Two Years Ago...

I just had to show you this picture. This is me and Ginger (before Lia came to America) on our first day of school two years ago. That meant that Ginger was going into 5th grade and I was going into 7th grade. That was the beginning of my realization of college and other future goals and the year that my academics soared.

As you can see in this picture, neither one of us has brushed our hair or gotten dressed. I actually think that Ginger is wearing the same headband in this picture as the one she wore in our first day of school photo shoot this year! I was wearing braces then and I am so glad that I no longer have to.

We were in the height of adoption planning by then. We knew that we were adopting Lia by then and began making plans for travel and such.

So enough reveling in the past and living now!

So long!

Jade

PS: just to show how much I HAVEN'T grown, I'm still wearing both of those shirts now!

First Day of High School!

 Even though I'm homeschooled I still think that it is a big deal to start high school. I had a great first day. Here are the pictures my mom took on our front porch.

Lia wasn't too happy with us by the time this picture was taken. Her outfit was completely picked out by her. Ginger always goes casual for school and of course I had to be dressed perfectly. The school outfit I chose was a white shirt, jeans, and a scarf. 

Here's a close up of all three of us. 

I was pretty excited to start school today. I love the idea of being on a schedule and learning. Ginger was pretty much dreading the start of school and Lia just wanted to learn how to read. 

I am trying to journal my school days and here is the one that I wrote today. 

August 19, 2013

I really enjoyed my first day of school. It felt rejuvenating and inspiring to be learning again and being on a schedule. I wake up at 6:21 every morning now. I make up my bed, read my Bible and get dressed. At 7:00, Ginger and Lia wake up and we all eat the breakfast that mama has sat out. I love figuring out what my first day of school outfit will be and I could not decide this year. After putting on the outfit that I had decided (orange skinny jeans, denim shirt), I completely changed my mind and put on my jeans, white shirt, and scarf. I love the feeling of being completely dressed. It helps me stay focused and prepared. I am doing 2 hours of math a day now. When my geometry book comes in I will be doing an hour of algebra and an hour of geometry every day. I am half a year behind on math so I will complete Algebra 1 so that I will be where I am supposed to be, Geometry so that I will have math completed for the year, and Algebra 2 so that I will be a year ahead. That means that next year I will be starting PRE-CALCULUS! For literature I am reading Romeo and Juliet. Mama and I read it together, voicing the different characters. I’m Romeo. I hope that I can switch to Juliet later. Handwriting is harder than I expected. I just can’t write beautifully. Hopefully I’ll make improvement. I got all but the last few pages of my literature book done before I left for tennis at 3:15. Tomorrow I will be more focused. 

So that's my first day of school. I'll try to keep you informed about other things that are going on including the tennis season. 

Best wishes to all!

Jade