Hell Froze Over 2009

I know I've had yet ANOTHER stint away from the site, which makes me sad, but I promise that was the last one. I've gone through so much in the last month and after straining my brain trying to think of who to vent to and get advice from I decided to come back here. So, following is my explanation on what has happened recently, what I'm doing now, and what I have planned in the near future. Any advice is more than welcome!
As you may be wondering from the title HFO week is here! Hell Froze Over is a huge speech tournament hosted in January every year. This year it is being held at wonderful Bradley University and being co-hosted by the Bradley Speech Team (my team) and another school. Our theme this year is Brat Pack vs. Rat Pack. So this week is going to be spent preparing for the tournament and a great day of hosting it on Saturday. We are also logging some serious hours practicing as we are going to be competing on Sunday. I'm so excited to be back in Peoria and working on speech getting back into the swing of things.
So, that's what's going on now.
Prior to this life has been a mess. I made the executive decision not to go home for break this year. It's not that I didn't want to see my family, it's that I wanted a break that I could have to relax instead of being constantly stressed. I wanted to feel like a person on break, not my parents' employee, which is how I usually feel. They didn't take the news very well. I planned on going to spend some time with them, however, all they seemed to care about was getting their material possessions that I had back. I haven't seen them or talked to them recently. I'm still talking to two of my sisters and my brother, but I just feel like my parents don't understand that I'm almost 19 years old and it's time for me to have my own life.
Now for the future.
Classes start next Wednesday (21st) and I can't wait. I finished my first semester of college out with all A's and B's and I see this coming semester as a chance to improve even more. I'm really excited about a couple of the classes that I'm taking. I'm becoming more accustomed to college life and absolutely loving it!