Hi Everyone! Wow, when I said I was going to take a small hiatus, I didn’t expect to be gone for this long! Sorry about that!
I know you all must be very curious to see what I’ve been up to and I’m very excited to show you some things that have happened in the past couple of months!
March:
During about the last week of my blog, I was actively performing in a Musical at my High School! We put on Mamma Mia! I was lucky enough to be playing the role of Lisa & multitasking as an ensemble member! Here are some pictures from our production!
I really enjoyed my last high school musical and it was an amazing experience! There’s so much I will always cherish and never forget!
Next up in March, I went to my first accepted student event for the university I’ll be attending in the fall – the University of Mary!
- There I registered for classes
- Met new people
- Traveled around the campus
- Got to see more of North Dakota
I don’t really have any pictures of the trip, so I don’t have anything more to add. However, I will say that I am very excited to be studying there in the fall. I’m going to be pursuing a major in Biomechanics and focus on Sports Medicine (possibly a minor in Spanish too). Go class of 2026!
April
Ah, April. The month were like everything was happening at once! Let’s get to it!
Started off with a bang and a trip to Chicago!
The fine arts program at my school took a trip down to the Windy City to see some popular sites, the Chicago Art Insitute, and Moulin Rouge! Check out some pictures!
It was an amazing trip and I absolutely loved watching Moulin Rouge! Their cast was amazing and I think it was most of the original cast too that day. Incredible music – I now have the entire soundtrack on my phone and am listening to it on repeat! Go see it if you have the chance!
Next up was track and field (which is kind of also still going on now in May). This is my first year doing track and I’ve really enjoyed it. Since I was not built a runner, I spend most of my time throwing shotput and discus. Also, since there’s not too many throwers at all, I managed to make Varsity too, so that was really exciting. It also meant that I was going to two meets per week and practicing every day after school. This was a huge chunk behind why I kind of had to stop my blog for a while. It was getting too hard to have track and school work, and trying to write on the side.
So far, my PR for shotput is 30ft and 11in. I’m really proud of it and am looking forward to finishing the season strong!
Finally, April would not be complete without one of the most hectic days in history – April 30th. Aka my b-day!
Yup, I had my birthday on April 30th! Got to see my brother who I hadn’t seen since Easter and spend some time with my family.
But also, in usual fashion, my birthday needed to have about a million things going on as well.
First up, early in the morning, I had Solo and Ensemble State. If you don’t know what that is, Solo and Ensemble is hosted by the WSMA (Wisconsin School Music Association) and is a competition where band, orchestra, and choir students can perform a piece and receive a rating on it (1*, 1 through 6). 1 is practically a 1st place equivalent, while 1* is a 1st place qualifying for State. Back in Feburary, I competed at the local Solo and Ensemble, and received my first ever 1*, earning me a chance to perform at State. This year, State just so happened to fall on my birthday, so my family got up early in the morning to travel down to the University of Wisconsin-Plattville.
I earned a 2nd place at State, which is perhaps some of the hardest grading I’ve ever encountered. It was a great way to end my High School music career and an overall super fun experience!
However, that day did not end there. No, no, no. How could it? The day would not have been complete if I did not also have PROM that very same day!
Yup, that very same evening, after getting back from celebrating my birthday with my brother, I had to get ready for my last Prom.
Alas, it was a very busy ending to April and a very fun one to say the least.
May
May was bittersweet. It was the ending of so many things. Namely my high school career.
I finally graduated on May 20th. 4 years in one place had come and gone. I graduated with high honors and a not so bad GPA (4.123). Took some crazy AP tests (didn’t do so bad either!) and then worked some at my job. Don’t have a lot of pictures for this month, so I’ll just move onto the next two.
June/July
What. A. Month!
SO towards the end of June, I embarked on this amazing trip with Benedictine College called Journey With Dante. It was a three week class taking place during a very busy travel schedule in ITALY!!!!
For two years now, I’ve been waiting to go to Italy with my plans only to be cancelled every year because of Covid. But now, I was finally able to go and experience the amazing Italian culture! We had such an amazing time and take a look at some of the photos I took while on the trip! These are all from places in Rome!
There are so many other places I went and experienced, but I don’t think I have the time to do them justice! Anyways, it was a really fun experience and I hope maybe someday to go back to Italy!
August (AKA – Now)
Well, time really flew by fast and here we are. August. Who would’ve thunk it?
Anyways, I’ve saved the BEST for last.
As a quick note before I get into some important news, I want to just say that coming in just 1 month, I will be going off to College at University of Mary! So, there might be a bit of a change in posting schedules and also how much extra time I have.
Okay, back to the big news!
Since about last August I have been working on a project. I hid in the shadows as I typed a whole bunch of nonsense down onto a document. Over the many months since, this document underwent many changes and edits. I went on such an emotional rollercoaster trying to figure out if I was even good enough. Only the constant nagging of my grandfather kept me motivated! Well, who can say no to their grandpa? Hmm?!!
So, now, it is with great pleasure I announce………
AHAHAHAHAHHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
THE DEFY SERIES CONTINUES!!!!!!!
Coming to an Amazon store near you soon!!
See you next week!!
L.A. Grabins
You are so freaking amazing!! Never change!