You know, DeviantART notifications are very misleading. They say there's some awesome new feature for something (your journal, your profile, your gallery, etc.), and they tell you just how awesome the feature is... and then they tell you that it's only for Premium members.

Fuck you. I'm not paying for DeviantART.

Wow. It's an entry that actually relates to DeviantART for a change.

So I was looking through my old writings on here, and I've decided to revamp some of them. Many of them were works in progress when I posted them, but I never went back to finish them. I think that project is long overdue.

Also, for anyone who may remember Only Half Of The Story, there was initially supposed to be a second poem clarifying what had happened. I completely forgot about this plan! When I wrote that, the whole story had not yet been revealed to me; it was not revealed until December of that year. Now that I know the whole story, I can (and will) write that second poem.

Other than that...

• I've been in France since January 21, and I'm having a blast. Classes are great, the town is great, and I'm making a nice little group of friends. I've taken so many photos, and I'm sure some of them will end up on here eventually. I just need to go through them.
• As excited as I am to be here, I'm just as excited (more excited, actually) to go home because Mark comes home from Afghanistan right around the same time as me. I get home May 20th, and he gets home in late May or early June. Just 2.5 more months. That's all that's between us now
• I've been on winter break this week. Last weekend, a friend and I went to Strasbourg. Just because. We fully took advantage of the wonderfully cheap train tickets and hotel prices, hehe. It was a great little weekend trip.
• I've been reading the Twilight series for a few months now. I'm over half-way through the 4th book...and I really don't like it. The first book was good, but it all went downhill from there. The story doesn't go anywhere. It's all very stagnant and boring. I've ranted enough on this topic in the past, but the point is that I really don't like the story anymore. However, since I'm almost done with the series, I may as well finish it.
• I think that covers all the real important (and not so important) stuff. Keep an eye out for new poems and revamps to old ones.

• Things are going well overall in my life.
• I suck at updating this thing.
• That's mostly because I suck at submitting new deviations.
• Once I start submitting more, the journal will get updated more.
• I will be on vacation in a few days, so perhaps I will get artsy.
• After said vacation, I'm home for a few weeks, and then, get this: I'm studying abroad in FRANCE. I'm sure I'll have some nice photos to post while I'm there.
• That's it for now.

P.S. -- You know in a wedding reception when the newlyweds share their first dance as a married couple? Well, regardless of who I marry or when I get married, I think I know what song I want that to be at my wedding: "Colour My World" by Chicago. If you haven't heard it, download it now. It's gorgeous and sweet and just might make you tear up a little.

WOW. That depressing entry has been up for far too long! An update is LONG overdue.

• Mark came home on the 11th from training! He'll be home until the morning of the 15th. Then, he goes back to his unit, and a few days later, they go to Afghanistan. But he got to come home!!! We hung out for the better part of yesterday, and I'll either see him today, tomorrow, or both.
• I went to California August 1 - 9 for a family reunion in Thousand Oaks (near LA) and then for visiting my grandfather in San Diego. Took a few pictures that may or may not end up on here. I have to go through them and see if any of them are worthy, haha. Overall, though, it was a fantabulous trip.
• I got my first real job in June! It was at a garden center, so I basically organized, watered, and took care of plants; helped customers find the right plants; swept up the place; ran the cash register; and pretty much everything else as well. We all did the same stuff, really. My last day was July 31, and I don't think I'll come back next summer. It was a good job. I mean, there are certainly worse jobs out there, but I think I want to give my body a rest and try to get a job that doesn't require me to be out in the sun all day for 5 or 6 days a week
• Now, I need to start that annoying but necessary task that is packing for college. Thankfully, I'm taking a lot less stuff than I came home with in May. I just need to organize all of it. Yay? -_-
• My allergies are acting up like CRAZY. It's ridiculous. They're so bad that it's almost like I have a cold, but I don't feel sick like I have a cold. It's just the allergies hating my face.
• There is less and less drama in my life. It's a beautiful thing.

Aaaaand if I type anything more, it'd just be rambling. So I'd better stop here. That, and I'm hungry and need to start packing for college. Like right now.

As some of you know, Mark, my boyfriend of nearly 4 years, is in the Army National Guard. As some of you know, he has recently been called for duty in Afghanistan. For the past few months, I've spent some quality time with him and have been pretty good about keeping my mind off of it all, but the day has finally come: tomorrow, he ships out for a bit of training, and after that, it's off to Afghanistan.

The good thing is that he will be back in no more than 398 days (or possibly as few as 362 days). A year is a very long time, but I'm not worried about me. I know I can deal. It's him I'm worried about. However, he's an incredibly smart guy; he knows how to stay safe and still get the job done. I have faith in him.

And more than anything, I'm just so proud of him for doing this. It's something that not everyone can do, myself included. Sure, I'm scared of what the future holds, but I have to put that aside. I can't think of the "what ifs" all the time as that would make me go insane. Right now, all I can think about is how proud I am of him and how much I love him...and of how much he truly loves me.

Last night, Mark and I hung out with a few friends. Ate a late dinner, watched Clerks II, and had an overall fabulous time. And after we left and had arrived back at my place, when it was finally time for me to get out of his car, we did NOT say "good-bye." I really hate that word. It's much too final. Instead, I looked him in the eyes, smiled, and said, "See you soon." And for me, at least, this time will go by rather quickly since I'll have a lot to keep me busy: my job, books, applying for the Teacher Ed program, school in the fall, preparing for studying abroad, marching band, and so much more. Like I said, I'm not worried about me, but I'll be thinking of Mark every single day.

He did tell me that he'll try to send a quick email whenever possible to say something along the lines of "Still alive. Bye!" After all of this so far, it's great that his sense of humor is still intact.

See you soon, Mark. See you soon.

P.S. -- Why isn't there an emoticon for being numb? Because that's how I feel right now.