Dear Diary,

Today is Thursday, January 10, 2008. Happy New Year! I know I keep repeating over and over that I will promise to post more often, and I never do. I'm sorry I haven't posted in a while... this 8th grade  year is stressful; after all, next year I will be a freshman in high school... hard to believe. Also hard to believe I have been a member of Bravenet for about 3 years. The user name has varied. Originally, I was Dreamer1188, but I realized I should use my most common user name, horselvr1188. But I wanted to spell out horselvr completely, so I made horselover1188. But then I realized since that wasn't my true user name, it didn't make sense to change it. So, I changed the website name to horselvr1188. I became a member of Bravenet in 6th grade in December after watching "The Perfect Man". The Hilary Duff character posted in her blog every night, and it influenced me to find a blog of my own so that I could post my personal thoughts that people could read and share advice. I love Bravenet!

I can't believe also that 2007 is over. I feel like it just began! But I'm also happy 2007 is over, for 2007 wasn't a great year for me. Although I started a new path in vegetarianism (Happy New Year for my vegetarian New Year's resolution), which was a plus, my friend troubles and school life were stressful and complicated, and my family and I didn't have the best relationship either. I lost a couple of friends last year and they're partly my fault. I haven't been the best person; I've been needy and annoying at times. The worst part about it is that I sometimes complain about one of my friends to be too needy when I realized, I'm being hypocritical! Actually, now that I think about it, my school life hasn't been too bad this past year. I've been a good student and gotten good grades. On the relationship/dating side, they're hasn't been any. I have had crushes on a few guys, but we are only friends or classmates, and I don't want to ruin our friendship with a relationship. But I do want to experience dating in my high school career, so perhaps next year a new phase may open up. Since I'm not going to the local public school, I can make a new impression on different people, be the new kid for once. Well, 2008, here I come!

The school life has been fine; before break I had not gotten decent scores on my math tests, but my most recent one was an A- or A so I'm happy. When I mean not decent score, I mean a new low for my grades. But no more on this terrible era; I want to live in the new era of 2008!

My one and only New Year's Resolution: To be a better person in all aspects. To be a better friend, student, family member, and team member. But doesn't everyone have that New  Year's Resolution? Nobody's perfect...

On the social, friend side: I think Louisa understands and comprehends that I am mad at her now. I ignore her whenever she's around some of my friends and I don't even acknowledge her anymore. But I have to admit, I feel a little relaxed that I don't have to deal with her. All the fights I had with friends in 6th grade were with Louisa... not Elizabeth or Katherine... Louisa.

The Claire issue is history... and truth be told, I don't even believe Claire would gossip about me. She loves me; she always asks me for help with homework and acts friendly around me all the time. Personally, I think Ashley felt a little jealous that Claire doesn't hate me. But I totally understand why, and I don't blame her for this.

Ashley... we've had our good and bad moments but we are in good sorts. She's an amazing, fun friend, and I feel honored that she considers me one of her best friends!

Mary has had a lot of drama this year with one of her friends and with family members. I try to comfort her as much as possible in times of need. We still hang out at Panera before Religious Ed. every Wednesday night.

Caroline... I don't know if I've mentioned her before, but sometimes I seem to annoy her, so I'm trying to work on my attitude for '08. But Caroline is an amazing friend!

Anna and I are better friends by the minute! She is smart and driven and a wonderful, fierce friend!

Jeannie and I are definitely friends at the moment, and I'm glad. She's a fun friend!

Elizabeth and I are not as close as we were last year... My fault. I started to obsess over the fact if she was mad at me or if she wanted to be friends or not because of a silly incident last year. I was convinced she was mad at me, but being the friend she was, she wasn't mad. I still want to be one of her best friends, but I know unless I try to talk to her, we won't be. But we are still friends and I am pleased.

My crush: He broke up with his girlfriend, but we are still only friends and I'm too shy to make a move, so I wait in anxiety for him to.

Charlotte: Sad news ... Charlotte's moving to California in September, and I'm upset and torn about this matter. One of my best friends since birth is moving to the other side of the country. We barely see each other enough now since we don't go to the same school, and now we will see each other less than we do now.   Although she will only be gone for two years, that's half of high school and soon college will come around and we most likely won't see each other then too.

I have been considering my future recently with high school, and I realized... I am excited for college! Although college is years away, I am eager to be able to experience a dorm at a university.

The Culver summer camp chapter... has ended for me. Culver has been a wonderful chapter in my life, but I have decided to end the chapter and move on to the next. I have already decided on two camps this summer. One is called "Stone mountain adventures" in Pennsylvania, and another is called "The Horse People, Inc." in Canada! Wow, I'm excited for both adventures and new chapters in my life; however, now that I don't attend Culver anymore, when will I see my Culver friends? We have talked about a Spring Break visit, but I miss them and I don't know if we can arrange a visit to Indiana  at Katie's. I will try my best to bring it about.

Well, I have written for almost 45 minutes now, so I believe I should start to read my book once more. I'm still reading Uglies... winter break didn't give me much time to read, unfortunately. Speaking of which, how was your winter break everyone? Let me know, especially fun anecdotes!

Adios, amigos! Hasta el sabado! (Goodbye, friends! See you Saturday- I will write again on Saturday TO MY BEST ABILITY!)

~Meg/Horselvr1188