As I impersonated a horse for my newfound friend for the next 15 minutes, life began to return to normal speed.

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It all started when I returned home from college after my freshman year to find my newfound freedom again weighed down by daily parental oversight.

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As I spend the last few days of 2012 evaluating how my time was invested this year, I am going to be looking at 2013 first with the perspective of making more time and then with the commitment to investing my newfound commodity wisely towards the much bigger goals the year ahead holds.

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She found the newfound freedom had at least one unexpected perk: "I can go to more of my friends' shows!"

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