Sunshine Mania

formspring.me

2011-08-07T16:39:00.001-04:00

ASK. http://formspring.me/sunshinemaniac

formspring.me

2011-06-03T16:56:00.001-04:00

ASK. http://formspring.me/sunshinemaniac

formspring.me

2011-04-14T20:04:00.001-04:00

creeps welcome.

Christmas Eve

2010-12-24T10:09:00.000-05:00

Merry, Merry, Merry Christmas Eve!! I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas! If it feels like I have been neglecting the blog, I have. Remember when I took on the social networking challenge? Well it worked and now I'm addicted to Tumblr. It's like a blog. but easier to share pictures and such. So forgive me if it feels like I'm abandoning you! If you really want to get your daily dose of me, check my Tumblr:

http://darlingfarewell.tumblr.com/

Reflection Numbers 5, 6, 7 and 8

2010-12-22T11:45:00.002-05:00

I want to live in a world that is free of sin and comprised entirely of Jell-O. Sin and Jell-o seem to go hand in hand; sin is the opposite of Jell-O, which represents peace. If sin did not exist, hatred and discrimination- two things I despise- would be foreign ideas to society. When I have a gelatin bed to fall into at the end of the day, a complaint will never again escape my lips. The truth here is undeniable; if we lived in a sinless world made of Jell-O, life would be perfect.

I have a dream that one day, teenagers can attend a government funded high school where the spectacle of a teenage couple displaying public affection is not the first thing seen when they arrive at school. Watching insecure girls cling to their boy toy du jour is not something that I enjoy. Though public displays of affection past handholding are considered as abominations in the eyes of school officials, minimal action is taken to enforce these rules. My hope is that future generations will not be as exposed to such low teenage relationship standards as I am forced to be.

I prefer Romeo to Prince Charming. Though every girl’s dream is to be swept off her feet by the perfect gentlemen, I think that it would be fun to enter into a whimsical relationship with a fickle young man who attempts to woo me with Shakespearean praises. Of course, I would certainly not enjoy waking up from a drug-induced slumber to find that he has killed himself after our three-day relationship. Though Prince Charming would never do such a reckless thing, I believe that Romeo would pull through for me because Juliet was a wishy-washy airhead whereas I am mentally stable and more mature than other girls my age. I would much rather court a spontaneous suitor than a predictable paramour.

I am not an average stereotypical teenage girl who is easily shaped and swayed by the trends and common opinions of society. When the relentless surge of pressure to conform to society threatens to knock me down, I stand firmly rooted in my belief and personal opinions. I know that I am unique. It’s not often that a young woman possesses the ability to stay true to her high morals through high school. Even though I am not quite halfway through, I am confident that thus far, I have maintained integrity and earned the respect of those who surround me. At this point in my life, I do not know precisely where I stand in relation to the world around me; however, one thing I do know is that wherever I stand, I stand strong.

Reflection Number Four

2010-12-17T20:49:00.002-05:00

Reflection Number Four:

I do not particularly like people who randomly burst into song. There are times for spontaneous singing, and there are times for silence. When in my presence is a great example of a time for silence. Their songs are not appreciated or welcomed, and I am not impressed by their weak attempt to showcase their self-deemed amazing voices. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for making a joyful noise every once in a while; however, I am also all for people who recognize that silence is very, very golden.

Reflection Numbers Two and Three

2010-12-16T20:06:00.002-05:00

Reflection Number Two:

I love rainy days in the summer. Watching the steam rise from the road as the cool rain meets the scorching pavement is magnificently enchanting. I especially love thunderstorms. Exhilaration consumes me when I am surrounded by thunder so powerful that the ground shakes while a deluge of rain drums and pounds relentlessly against the roof. My favorite part of storms is the serenity that arrives after the clouds have cleared. When the burning heat of summer begins to take its toll, a cleansing rain always comes along to refresh my spirit.

Reflection Number Three:

I believe that people with Mohawks have low self-esteem. The vast majority of those with radical hairstyles are not regarded by society as artistic, but instead they seem to be emitting a deafening cry for help and a desperate plea for attention. I believe that all people who have to beg for attention in such away are pathetic. If one was to examine a group of people who all do crazy things to get others to notice them, he would most likely find that such people actually showed signs of dependency, idiocy, and all around weak personalities from the get go. I have resolved to never invest my time into people who possess these qualities.

Reflection Number One

2010-12-14T23:12:00.000-05:00

I have decided to follow through on my commitment to blogging this week, so I am going to share my latest reflective essay with you, one paragraph at a time. So here we go... EIGHT DAYS of reflective insight. Enjoy!

Reflection Number One:

I am a Rubix cube. This metaphor is not meant to lead one to believe that I am an individual with many hypocritical faces; I am not. I simply have a multidimensional personality. Much like a Rubix cube, those who possess simple minds are immediately attracted to my bright colors, but are just as soon repulsed by my complexity. No, this does not mean that I am a weird kid with no friends. In fact, this attribute that I bear is very efficient at weeding the fake people out of my life with whom I do not need to associate myself. My close friends often tell me that I am a fun person to be around because, as you will soon discover, my witty approach to life is utterly hilarious.

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2010-12-14T00:07:00.001-05:00

Ask me anything http://formspring.me/sunshinemaniac

Back to December

2010-12-01T20:42:00.000-05:00

It's DECEMBER...what? Yeah. I cannot even grasp how quickly this year has slipped away. Spring disappeared, summer was a blur, and fall just didn't even happen. There was one day in late November that I remember regarding as fall, but other than that, it has just changed straight to winter. And with winter, soon comes Christmas. 25 days!!

When I am a young successful business woman, I hope to have a nice studio apartment with a very tasteful and extremely artsy touch. My Christmas tree will be simple, yet amazing.

Keeping Up With Your Networking

2010-11-28T20:14:00.001-05:00

This week my goal is to conquer every popular networking website out there...

According to this website *** that I found through immense research (which means it was the first website on google...) these are the top social networking sites:

1. Facebook
2.MySpace
3. Twitter
4.LinkedIN
5. Ning
6. Tagged
7.Classmates.com
ETC. If you really want to look up the rest, you can.

The funny thing about this is that there are really only 3 of these that your average joe off the street has ever heard of- Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace. Facebook and Twitter are cool with me but MySpace is so outdated and abandoned that it makes any social network junkie want to cry. LinkedIN? Ning? Tagged? The majority of the privelged population has never even hear of such websites. I did a little research and found out what they are...

LinkedIN- a social networking site for professionals seeking business connections and potential clients
http://press.linkedin.com/about

Ning-I don't know how to summarize this...
http://www.friendster.com/info/index.php

Tagged- "Other social networks are for staying in touch with people you already know. At Tagged, we make it easy to meet new people through social games,friend suggestions, browsing profiles, group interests and much more."
"Tagged is the place where people can discover hundreds of new friends or just meet that special someone. "
http://about-tagged.com/

Friendster- a social networking site for the nerds who play legitimate online games
http://www.friendster.com/info/index.php

SO I have accounts on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, and Blogspot and I am taking on the challenge of actually updating them on a regular basis. Hopefully I'll have some cyber success.

***http://www.ebizmba.com/articles/social-networking-websites

Turkey Lurkey is in the Oven

2010-11-26T09:45:00.000-05:00

This marks the beginning of my return to fame.

HEY! Yes, I am alive, and if you're still reading this, then Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family! Now that Turkey Day is gone, Christmas is coming up fast and I am STILL procrastinating about shopping. I have a substantial amount of shopping money this year because I have gotten smarter when it comes to spending. So since it's BLACK FRIDAY, I am going out to brave the lines and moronic drivers in hope of getting a good deal on some stuff.

Sam and me. How cute are we?

Sometimes Half is a Great Thing!

2010-07-27T23:10:00.000-04:00

Birthdays are awesome. Of course, the bad part is that it only comes once a year. My birthday is about a month after Christmas, so I have all of the excitement of gifts and celebration basically all at once. But the thing that makes it all worth waiting for is the day that comes 6 months after my birthday. Yes, my half birthday. Yesterday (July 26) was my half birthday. This year it means a little more than my past birthdays. I am 6 months away from being eligible to obtain my driver's license!! That is so unbelievably exciting to me! I am so ready to drive without parental supervision. I won't have to ask my parents to drive me to a friend's house or take me to go get gum because I can just hop into my car and do it all myself! (if you're under the age of 14, you probably have no idea why I'm so happy.) Anyway, the six month mark was a major milestone for me! :)

So my internet has been down, so I apologize that I haven't really gotten on here and written anything about my summer. There isn't much to say, though, because my summer has basically been like this:

Sunday: Church, Home, Lunch, Sleep, Shower, Dinner, Church

Monday: Drama Camp, Home, Sleep, Shower, Dinner, Sleep

Tuesday: (See Above)

Wednesday: (See Above)

Thursday: (See Above)

Friday: (See Above)

Saturday: Lunch, Sleep, TV, Dinner, Shower, Sleep

If you actually took the time to read all of that, then I'm sorry... you must have a similar schedule.

Of course, I left out a few things such as Facebook stalking people and playing solitaire... but otherwise, that's pretty much it. And yes, I do actually sleep that much!!

2010-07-08T16:39:00.001-04:00

http://hornscreek.com/forms/hwymap.pdf

You Got Sparkles in My Mouth!!

2010-06-25T19:54:00.005-04:00

So today we had the final performance of the week. They did 3 scenes from Alice in Wonderland and then the entire Wizard of Oz play. We had two girls this week who were not only best friends, but also amazing actresses. Erin played Dorothy and the Mad Hatter and she was absolutely amazingly talented as well as one of the sweetest girls who has come through the camp. And then there was Kate, my "favorite camper" who was with me last year during the 3 week camp when we did Willy Wonka (and of course, she has already proven to be awesome). During the performance, everything went smoothly except for a missed cue by the Good Witch of the South (which was brilliantly saved by Kate when she improvised some lines and then went and got her).

Oh, and remember Jennifer?? I forgot to mention that Wednesday, she was trying to memorize her lines at pick up and then she started talking to herself, saying "I'm never going to memorize these lines!" and stuff like that. So I reassured her that she could indeed memorize her lines and told her that she had a great mind. Then she threw her script down and started whining so I sent in some of the older girls to encourage her. This was a really bad call on my part, because she of course ate the attention right up and said that she was quitting drama camp and she was stupid and she started "crying" (and while she was, she kept peeking to see if we were watching her. I then called off my backup and she started kicking a tree and muttering "I'm quitting drama camp!!". Well, despite her multiple threats to "quit drama camp", her hissy fits, and her slightly annoying personality, she actually pulled through for us. And she also decided to work with Rosina at her studio during the school year. Good luck with that...

Before the show, we were spraying some hairspray with sparkles in it on the kids and their costumes. Abby and I had a sparkle spray fight and I definitely won by successfully aiming and shooting some into her mouth. She tried to return my amazing shot by getting some in my eyes but she ended up getting it all in my hair and on the side of my face. Ha! Win. Next week is going to be hard because my two partners in crime- Beth and Abby- are going on vacation. So it will just be Sam, me, and possibly Logan- Rosina's son. It will be hard trying to do everything backstage by myself, but I did do it alone before so I guess I will be able to pull it off.

* As a side note about the weather, I just wanted to acknowledge that it has been extremely HOT here for the past two weeks. When I come home from camp, I have to change my clothes and then just lay on my bed with my fan on for at least 10 minutes. Yesterday it got up into the high 90's! Right now, it's 8:10 and the temp outside is 90 degrees, feels like 97. The forecast says it's supposed to rain Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday, so hopefully the rain will cool things down.

Tomorrow, I think we might be going to see Toy Story 3. Have you seen it yet? I heard it was a satisfying end to a great set of movies.

Stay cool!

No, seriously.

You might have have a heat stroke and then die.

Or get dehydrated.

Drink some water. Stay inside.

Save yourself.

:)

Please Keep All Articles of Clothing on at All Times

2010-06-22T21:10:00.001-04:00

So drama camp for the past 2 weeks has been crazier than any other year. So far, week 1 was the best (probably because we only had one boy!). The kids were awesome and they all did an amazing job on their performances. Week 2 was crazy!! We had four boys who went nuts! One of the boys punched another in the face, I'm pretty sure they all had ADD, they had a slap fight with their hats, one of them called a girl fat multiple times, they didn't listen to instructions, AND to top it all of, we had a 'drama king' kid who thought that everything revolved around him. It was ridiculously insane!

This week, we have a girl named Jennifer who is crazy... she is very spoiled and causes trouble every time I turn around. We also have a kid named John who must like to take off his clothes. The first incident was when they were doing an exercise called 3 Changes. Partners turn their back to each other and change one thing about themselves (like untying a shoe lace or tucking in their shirt and then they face each other and try to figure out what they changed. Well of course, John and Jennifer were partners and while she undid her ponytail, he took his shoes off. The second time, he took his shirt off. So we made him put it back on. And then the third time, he dropped his pants and happened to not be wearing anything underneath. So we all were like "put your pants back on!!" and he finally did. Then later when we went swimming, we were telling the kids to go up to the bathroom to change and then meet back in the theater. And John stood up and pulled his pants down. So I ran over there, threw a towel at him, and I was like "What are you doing?!? Pull your pants up!" and he goes "I'm changing into my swim trunks!". And then I informed him that he most certainly would not be changing in front of everyone and I made him go up to the restroom.

Kids these days just need to learn to keep their clothes on.

Back for the Summer :)

2010-06-04T10:03:00.001-04:00

Okay, I don't even know how to BEGIN to explain my super-long absence from this blog. I guess that school completely took over my life. Between homework and theatre stuff, my only free time was consumed by sleep! So I'm back again, and I'm going to start my blog back up for the summer. Once again, I will be volunteering at a theatre camp, and some of the same crazy kids will be back! That will all start on Monday, so I have this weekend to chill and then I will be back at camp.

The Sunday after school let out, I left for a mission trip to Baltimore, Maryland. My group worked on the east side of downtown Baltimore where we helped bring life into an old church so that a new church plant could be there. The church was founded over a hundred years ago. It then burned down in 1906 and they rebuilt it to what it is now. We did a lot of painting and cleaning to liven it up.

We also worked on two 'houses' that were next to the church. These houses are 13 feet wide and about 25 feet deep. There are 3 floors- a basement, a main level, and then the second level. All of the houses in the inner city look exactly like this. They are all built up right beside one another and they have 13 ft by 10 ft back yards (if you could even call them yards). The below house are some of the nicest ones that were there.

While we were there, we also picked up trash and weeded down both streets. It was a really cool experience because we got to talk to the people in the neighborhood and tell them what we were doing. They really appreciated all of our work. Each day after everyone had finished their work, the local kids got home from school. We found some chalk and everyone got to hang out with them. They were some pretty cool kids!

But it wasn't all fun and games. The inner city is a dangerous place! There were signs every where that said:

There were these siren thing on top of street lights that measured the time, speed, etc when a shot is fired. While a few of my friends and I were working, a guy pulled up near us in his car and said "Hey baby, you wanna go for a ride?" which we responded to by declining. About five minutes after that, a guy came out of his houses, saw us, and shoved a bag up his shirt. He looked down and then walked down to the corner and crossed the street to where another guy was standing. The 1st guy passed the bag to the second guy and he shoved it into his pants. Did I see a drug deal? Yes. Multiple. But we weren't there to rat anyone out, we were just there to spread the light of Jesus and fix up some houses and the church.

We also took a train into DC and had some fun there for a day.

Twilight Film (for theatre)

2010-04-19T21:48:00.000-04:00

Forbidden love. Rebellion. Vampires. These three ideas began to sweep the nation once Stephanie Meyer started to release her books in the Twilight saga. Teenage girls went vampire crazy and became obsessed with the thought of other mythical beasts, such as werewolves. In November 2008, Twilight turned into a movie, and for months, fans flocked to theaters like mindless moths to bright lights. Though the movie Twilight was wildly popular, I would never recommend it to anyone in their right mind. This film has without a doubt made my list of the worst films ever made.

One of the biggest mistakes that director Catherine Hardwicke made was the people she chose to cast. She took a big risk by choosing lesser known actors, and unfortunately, this is what ruined most of the movie. Though Robert Pattinson became an instant teenage heartthrob, his lead performance as the vampire Edward gave us nothing to love; his acting was monotonous and one sided. Another leading actor with the same problem was Kristen Stewart, who played Bella. Her acting was dull, uninteresting, and I had a hard time believing in her character. Sadly, the other up and coming supporting actors were not provided with an opportunity to prove themselves as worthy because the two lead characters overshadowed them with their lack of acting technique and skill.

The writers of this movie do not deserve a compliment either, because they also did a terrible job. Their adaptation and transformation of the book into the movie was unsatisfying and boring, They left out multiple parts of the novel which made the flow choppy and hard to follow. I must admit that changing a book into a movie can be a difficult task, but frankly, I believe that one of the Twilight fans could have completed the transformation more efficiently and also could have written a better script. The movie was predictable and not well thought out.

Some of the most exciting parts of the book were the fight scenes. Stephanie Meyer illustrated very compelling and interesting action scenes in the novel, and I did not feel like the excitement was captured and then carried out in the movie. The scene with the evil vampire and Bella in the empty ballet studio was pathetic. The special effects and stunts that were attempted and failed included the shifting and destruction of the hardwood floors and mirrors, the crazy vampire jumps, and the parts where Bella held on to Edward's neck while he ran and jumped. They looked fake and did not satisfy my standard for the intense action that should have been there.

Though this movie was a flop, I almost enjoyed it because I ended up laughing at the attempts at the special effects, stunts, plot unification, and acting. The entire movie was characterized by the weather in the fictional town of Forks: dull, gray, and boring. I would not recommend this to anyone because of the terrible acting, horrible and choppy plot, and the ridiculous special effects. This movie left me with a pessimistic attitude toward the Twilight saga movies that are scheduled to be released in the future.

Edgar Lee Masters essay :)

2010-04-19T20:54:00.000-04:00

   When people are armed with weapons, they tend to do reckless things that they later end up regretting. It is often not until after a man commits a crime that he realizes the audacity of it. This, of course, does not only apply only to palpable weapons, such as guns, but also to intangible weapons, such as words. Just through the use of words, one can torment another past the point of no return. I was shown this in Edgar Lee Master's metaphorical poem "The Unknown" from his book, Spoon River Anthology. This poem revealed how a relationship can be permanently damaged through the example of a boy and a hawk.

  The web of human emotion is an intricate one, and once impaled, it is difficult to repair. Because this web is so intricate, one has to tiptoe very lightly when it comes to someone's feelings. Whether he realizes it or not, once a man oversteps an emotional boundary, the task of redeeming himself can be nearly impossible to complete. He can say that he is sorry as much as he wants, but the damage is usually already done. I believe that this illustrates the message that the author is trying to send the reader.

Now that I look back, I realize that I have personally witnessed the effects of a deeply wounded friendship. Usually, when a problem with a friend arises, I find it easy to work through. But last year, I found myself friends with someone who constantly showered me with negative remarks and a pessimistic attitude. This poem brilliantly illustrates my former friendship because to me, it shows how she shot me out of the tree and wounded me. While listening to her insincere apologies over and over, I eventually learned to forgive her and then we parted ways. Unlike the caged hawk, I discovered how to set myself free: the key is forgiveness.

When someone hurts me, I would rather try to forgive them and move on than sit and bask in resentment. For some people, forgiveness is not that easy to bestow upon one who has hurt them. Masters is attempting to communicate this to his reader. In the poem, he has appealed to the people in two tough situations: the tormented and the tormentor. He shows one side by depicting the painful struggle of tormented souls through the wounded and caged hawk. The other side is illustrated through the guilty boy who begged for the forgiveness and friendship of the bird.

   Throughout this book, Edgar Lee Masters cleverly teaches a variety of lessons by presenting them in individual poems. Out of the 245 poems, I chose "The Unknown" because I believe that it gives great advice. Masters advises the reader to not do or say anything recklessly; but he also says that if a man does something recklessly, he must live with the consequences and not expect forgiveness.

Free Pastry Day!

2010-03-22T18:56:00.002-04:00

http://assets.starbucks.com/assets/1ac43f0b737a4b778Ba9c80ee14715ec.jpg

So tomorrow is free pastry day at Starbucks- don't miss out!!!

So today I got a 94 (!!!!!!!!!) on my research paper!!!!! I was so worried but incredibly, I made an awesome grade! This past week I have been dedicated to Oliver! the musical at school, and it ended on Sunday. It's crazy that I actually get to come home and rest every day!!!

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2010-03-16T17:02:00.001-04:00

Ask me anything http://formspring.me/sunshinemaniac

Research Paper on the Russian Revolution

2010-03-04T21:02:00.138-05:00

Ok, so I highly advise that you do not continue to read this. I just have to type my paper on blogger because my laptop doesn't have Word!

Since the beginning of the human race, there has been a struggle and a hunger for power. It began in the perfect Garden of Eden when man was first tempted to be all knowing and powerful. Eve was manipulated by a serpent into believing its lies, and once Eve fell for it, Adam followed. Throughout history, things have been no different. People have been tricked into believing the lies of a modern serpent and then acting upon them. During the rise of communism, the use of propaganda was similar to the purpose of the serpent; it was used as an unfair and extremely bias tool of manipulation.

In Russia, the term propaganda did not necessarily have anything to do with manipulation; it simply meant  the distribution of new material and ideas. On the other hand, the term agitation does have a negative connotation; it describes the media used to persuade people to do what the Soviet leaders wanted through the manipulation of their emotions. The communists constantly used agitation for their benefit. In fact, they used it so much that they created the Department for Agitation and Propaganda in 1920. Its goal was to coordinate propaganda work of all Soviet institutions. "Early Agitprop in the cities included parades, spectacles, monumental sculpture, posters, kiosks, films, and agit-stations, located at major railroad stations, which had libraries of propaganda material, lecture halls, and theaters" (1:15).  The department also monitored all local press and directed propaganda campaigns. This censorship was an important aspect of government control because "the control of information is a powerful tool" (Steele 47). For the communists, censorship was a key asset in their quest for power and support. They strategically censored all media so they could "influence people to believe what they were told by telling them only part of the truth" (1:103).

Because propaganda is everywhere, advertisers and propagandists know that people do not really have a choice as to whether or not they want to see or hear it. For propaganda to be successful, it needs to persuade the viewer to hold the same opinion or views as the distributor. This goal can be achieved through the three main modes of persuasion: logos, ethos, and pathos. Logos is appeal based on logic and reason, ethos is appeal based on the character or authority of the speaker, and pathos is the most common method of persuasion because it is based on emotion. Russian dictator Vladimir Lenin used the pathos method in his campaign slogan Peace, Land, and Bread. He appealed to the desires of the hungry people and manipulated them based on their poverty. In Germany, the Nazi party's slogan was Blood and Honor. This is another example of pathos because it captivated people's sense of pride. Through this slogan they also tried to attract support by making their ideas and goals seem honorable, heroic, and powerful, which appeals to the side of people that yearns for leadership and organization.

In addition to ethos, logos, and pathos, there are other propaganda techniques that are used everywhere. Appeal to fear is a propaganda technique in which the creator attempts to gain support for his idea by using deception and intimidation tactics. Adolf Hitler commonly used this technique when he threatened and lied to the Jewish population of Germany. He seduced and tricked the Jews by playing on their greatest fears. Another very popular technique is loaded words. When propaganda contains loaded words, the creator is trying to gain support or influence people by appealing to their emotions. The natural trust that most people have for others can be manipulated through the technique of loaded words because "if we are led to believe that communicators have nothing to gain and perhaps something to lose by convincing us, we will trust them and they will be more effective" (Pratkanis 133). Hitler used this propaganda technique to contribute to the rise of communism in Germany by releasing posters, fliers, films, and radio dialogue that took advantage of people's emotions. Experts in advertising and propaganda research have discovered that "one effective way to persuade the masses is to develop and repeat falsehoods" (Pratkanis 133). Hitler was a very clever deceiver when it came to this concept. He gave the misled population seemingly fresh hope by painting the picture of a united and strong government with powerful leadership. To do this, he used repetition throughout his released propaganda and media.

From the rise of the Soviet Union in 1922 to its fall in 1991, the communists used propaganda to gain followers. Communists knew that "the more supporters they gained, the more power they would have" (Leone 84). Naturally, they tried to persuade everyone to favor their form of government. In Russia, Joseph Stalin used terror as an instrument to transform people's opinions and force submission to discipline as Lenin also did before him. In Germany, Adolf Hitler lied to and misled the German people by appealing to their emotions and taking advantage of their obliviousness. During the peak of the Soviet Union, propaganda was used to gain people's trust and faith in the communist government. Clever tactics were maliciously and deceitfully used to manipulate the people. When the majority of communism and its misleading propaganda crumbled along with the Soviet Union itself, people who were previously under the communist government were able to experience a whole new life that revolved around one principle that many people in America take for granted: freedom.

Works Cited

"Agitprop". Encyclopedia of Russian History.
   New York: Macmillan Reference USA, 2004.

Leone, Bruno. Communism.
   Minnesota: Greenhaven Press, 1978.

Pratkanis, Anthony. Age of Propaganda.
   New York: Henry Holt and Company, LLC, 1992.

Steele, Phillip. Political Manipulation.
   Chicago: Heinemann Library, 2006.

ANOTHER play!!

2010-03-01T22:44:00.001-05:00

This one is about Tiger & Elin and Jon & Kate on a couples therapy version of the Amazing Race.

The Amazing Race: Celebrity Couples Therapy

Characters

Tiger Woods............................................... mid 30's, darker complextion
Elin Nordegren........................................... early 30's, slight Swedish accent
Kate Gosselin.............................................. early 40's, slight anxiety
Jon Gosselin................................................ mid 40's, laid back, submissive

Setting

Scene 1: This scene takes place at the base of a mountain where the clues are to be given out.

Scene 2: This scene takes place on a mountain, where four blocks float over a deep ravine.

Scene 3: This scene takes place in a small coffee shop with two tables.

The Amazing Race: Celebrity Couples Therapy

Scene One:

Dave: Hello, and welcome to the Amazing Race!

(Tiger and Elin give nervous nods, Jon and Kate do the same. The

couples stand across from each other. )

Tiger: Hey, Dave? Uh, how long is this gonna last? I have an... uh...

appointment in a few hours...

Dave: Well, Tiger, that all depends on how well you do! For our

viewers just tuning in, this Amazing Race is about to come to a close.

Kim Kardashian and Reggie Bush left us last week when they.... well,

broke up. Again. This week, it's the moment of truth. Whoever makes

it to the finish line first wins! Let's meet our couples now!

Kate: Hi, hi. I'm Kate and... (Kate rolls her eyes and looks at Jon)

Jon: I'm Jon...

Dave: Great to have you! What is your strategy today?

(Jon tries to speak, Kate immediately cuts in.)

Jon: Well Dave-

Kate: Um, honey, I'm talking here. Well, my strategy is to first get

through this race, and second, get through my divorce. There are so

many things to work out. The house, the show, the dogs... the kids... my hair...

Jon: And-

Kate: Jon, honey? Shh!!

Dave: And our other couple- Tiger and Elin. As most of us know, Tiger

has committed "multiple transgressions" and then apologized many

times. Elin, do you have anything to say?

(Tiger is looking down at his phone, reacting to text messages.)

Elin: I just vant to vin this race. Tiger and I are seeking professional

help and for the sake of our children, ve are really trying to save our

marriage.

(She looks over at Tiger and sees him with his phone. She frowns and

crosses her arms.)

Dave: Tiger? Could you put down your phone?

Tiger: Yeah, yeah. Sake of the kids-

Dave: Alright, are both teams ready?

(The contestants all nod.)

Dave: On your mark, get, set go!

(Both teams run across the stage to the clue box and grab their first clue.)

Kate: It says: travel on foot to the top of Falcon's View. You will find

your next clue there. Oh don't look so sad, come on Jon.

(She grabs Jon's arm and drags him offstage.)

Elin: Ve have to climb to the top of a mountain.

Tiger: A mountain? Wow, remember when we met? It was on a hike

up in the Alps. And then I proposed to you on a mountain, overlooking

the crystal clear lake below. It was-

Elin: Vait a second! Ve didn't meet on a mountain! Ve met in Florida...

on a blind date! Your friend planned it! And you proposed to me on a

crummy putt putt course!

Tiger: Oh, uh... wrong person.

Elin: Vhat?? Oh come on!

(She drags him offstage.)

Scene Two:

(Kate emerges from the other side of the curtain.)

Kate: Jon?? JON? Come on!! (Jon stumbles out from behind the

curtain.) Whew!! That took a little longer than I thought!

Jon: Yeah, but I don't see Tiger and the model anywhere close-

Kate: Oh look, the clue box! (She runs over and pulls out a clue.)

"Roadblock: Who has the balance of a gymnast and the courage of a

lion?" Oh, that's me. I'll do it. You can't do anything. Hold my-

Jon: Now wait just a second! You have the balance of a hippo and the

courage of a mouse! Remember when we first moved into our first

house? You tried to paint the walls, but fell off the ladder and onto one

of our many kids... I will do this challenge.

Kate: But-

(Jon and Kate go into a stage freeze as Tiger comes out onstage.)

Tiger: Come on Jessie, we're almost there!!

(Realizing his mistake, he slaps himself.)

Elin: Vhat?? Jessie? My name is Elin!!! (She slaps him.) I know you

have had problems but the least you could do is get my name right!

Tiger: Uh, sorry... look! We're almost there! I see the child addicts up

ahead!

(The focus is returned to Jon and Kate as Tiger and Elin go into a

stage freeze.)

Jon: What does the rest of the clue say??

Kate: "Can you take the leap of faith? The floating stones in front of

you are held up by a magnetic pull that defies gravity. But be careful

and watch your step! One false move and you will find yourself

plummeting toward a three thousand foot drop, and then death."

Jon: Ok, let's do this!

(Four 'floating' blocks are in a row. Jon cautiously steps onto the first

one. His legs are shaking as he stands there unbalanced. Meanwhile,

Tiger and Elin unfreeze, move toward the clue box, and pull out the

clue. They read it, and Tiger points at Elin, indicating that she is the

one who will complete the challenge.)

Jon: Whoaa!! (He carefully steps onto the second block as Elin pounces

onto the first.)

Kate: Watch out Jon!! She's coming up behind you!

Elin: Ha, ha! That's right, Jon! Vatch out!

(Jon turns around nervously and sees Elin.)

Jon: AAHH!!!

(Elin makes a jump for the second block as Jon goes for the third.

Elin's foot slips and she clings onto the block for her life.)

Elin: HELP!!!

Tiger: Elin!! Hold on! Kate, grab my ankles!!!

(Kate grabs his ankles as they crawl toward the edge of the cliff.)

Kate: Dear God!! Have mercy on her!!

(Tiger crawls onto block #1 and reaches out toward Elin. Jon

continues to block #4 and sees the finish line ahead, then he looks back

at Elin.)

Kate: Jon, you can't save her!! Go to the finish line!! GO!! We must

win!! Don't screw this up!!

Elin: Someone help me!!!

(Tiger is trying to reach Elin, but is having trouble. Jon finally turns

back toward Elin.)

Jon: No, Kate, no. I am sick and tired of you being my superior! I am a

man!! I make my own decisions!! And I will do the right thing this time!

(Jon jumps from block to block, back to Elin. He smiles and reaches

toward her.)

Jon: Grab my hand!

Elin: Vow, thanks Jon!

(Elin and Jon go into a stage freeze. Kate drops Tiger's ankles in

disgust.)

Kate: Oh, I've had enough!!

Tiger: Me too! For the first time in seven years, I try to be a man and

save my girl, and then someone else swoops in and takes the credit.

Kate: Tell me about it! I was the one who popped out 8 kids and Jon

gets all the credit about being the sweet, easy-going guy. Which

automatically makes me the bad cop... with great hair!

Tiger: I don't think you're the bad cop! You just get a bad rap, kinda

like me! You know, we have a lot in common... do you want to grab a

coffee after this?

Kate: Sure!

(Tiger hops onto the first block and reaches his hand down to Kate to

help her up. Kate and Tiger freeze. Jon and Elin unfreeze. Jon helps

Elin onto the block and they continue on until they get to the finish

line.)

Elin: Thanks for saving my life, Jon!

Jon: Eh, don't mention it! It feels good to feel like a man again... the

whipped, submissive dog life I've been living lately isn't satisfying at all.

Doing something worthwhile and being appreciated for the first time in

years... it felt great!

Elin: Vell, I am very much appreciative! I have always felt like I have

had to stay under the shadow of a famous golfer. You always hear how

"Tiger von this, Tiger von that", and I'm fed up! No one even knew my

name until Tiger's secret life rose from the shadows.

(Kate and Tiger unfreeze and start making their way from block to

block.)

Jon: Tell me about it! You know, we have a lot in common.. do you

want to grab a coffee after this?

Elin: Sure!

(All four of them arrive in the same place. They all cross the finish line

together. Suddenly, Dave pops out.)

Dave: Well, looks like we have a tie! Would you like to split the

money?

Tiger: Well... it's only a million dollars...

Jon: Let's donate it to charity!

Dave: Ok, great idea! How has this experience helped any of you?

(Kate looks at Tiger.)

Kate: Well, I found out that sometimes people aren't always what they

seem.

Jon: I second that!

Dave: Awesome! Well, that's all the time we have! Congratulations to

our four winners! (Dave looks at the audience.) And we'll see you next

time on the Amazing Race!

(The lights dim.)

Scene Three:

(Two tables with two chairs apiece are set up. The lights rise. Tiger walks in with Kate as Jon walks in with Elin. They all see each other at the same time. Kate points at Jon, Tiger points at Elin, and vice versa.)

ALL: CHEATER!

another play

2010-02-27T11:54:00.001-05:00

Game Show

(Three podiums are onstage with three contestants standing behind them. The host, Ted, enters. Ted, smiling, waves his hands to signal the audience to stop applauding and take their seats.)

Ted: Hello, and welcome back to Mash Up, where scholarly knowledge meets rediculously random. I'm you're host, Ted Thompson. Last night where we left off, our contestants were two questions away from-

(Pat jumps out from behind her podium and cuts in.)

Pat: TOTAL ANNIHALATION!!!

Ted: Hey! Get back there Pat!! We talked about this... (Pat runs back to her podium. Ted recollects himself.) We are getting close to finding out who will be our champion. This... is... Mash Up.

(Ted walks to his podium and gestures toward the contestants.)

Ted: Once again, here are our contestants. First up, we have Randy Butler from Rockwood, Tennessee. Tell us about yourself Randy...

(Randy smiles and nods. He is missing a front tooth and looks like he just rolled out of the woods.)

Randy: Well, I grew up in Tuba City, Arkansas where my daddy worked at a trumpet factory. It was very controversial. When I was 3 a rattlesnake done comed up behind me and I fought 'em off with my bare hands. I had a dog named Pumpernickle but her done got-

Jerry: Wow, great story. Have you done anything of note recently?

Randy: (Shrugs, uninterested and talks flippantly) Oh yeah, I just got out of Harvard a few months ago. I got me good and educated there. Top of my class. Then I done gone and wrote a book that's on its way to them fancy bookstores in a few weeks. Supposed to be on the best seller list and the-

Ted: Great. Now our next contestant here is Kelly Kardin... Kelly? Kelly...?

(Kelly is staring off into space. She suddenly hears Ted's voice.)

Kelly: Ohh, hey everybody! It's so great to be here. First of all, I would like to thank my fans for this award. Without you-

Ted: Kelly?

Kelly: Yeah?

Ted: Um...You're back on Mash Up... The game show...?

Kelly: Ohhh yeahh... what...?

(Kelly pulls out her phone and starts texting. Ted shrugs and moves on.)

Ted: And here is Pat Sullivan. Pat is a-

Pat: ...7 year reigning champion of the Rotelle County Annual Corn Chow Down. I'd like to see YOU go through 17 corn cobs in one minute. And you know what I won for it? Nothing! That's what happen when you listen to 'the man'. Do you have any idea how much corn that is??

(Ted shakes his head and turns back to the audience.)

Ted: And with that, we'll begin! (He pulls out his note card.) Ok contestants, here is the first question of the night: What common kitchen appliance is illegal in Cuba?

(Pat buzzes in.)

Pat: A microwave!

Ted: I'm sorry, that is incorrect.

Pat: Well then, they should make it illegal. Do you even know how many microwaves explode each year?!?

Ted: No, how many?

Pat: I have no idea.

(Kelly buzzes in.)

Kelly: I'm sorry Howie. This is a tempting offer- but it's not enough. A million dollars is in that case next to me, I'm sure of it. I'm going to have to go with my gut and say NO DEAL! (She slams her hand down on the podium and then throws her arms up in the air, welcoming nonexistant cheers.)

Ted: Wrong show, Kelly... And I'm sorry but that is also incorrect.

Kelly: Can I talk to the banker?

(Randy buzzes in.)

Randy: One of them toaster contraptions! I learned that in one of my fancy civics classes up at Harvard.

Ted: Yes, that is correct! Toasters are illegal in Cuba. Now there is a tie between Randy and Pat. And Kelly... well, let's just say that she has a negative number of points....

Kelly: No deal!!

Pat: Who even let that moron in here?

Ted: Er... anyway, it's time for the deciding question. Whoever correctly answers this will win the competition and our grand prize. Pat and Randy, are you ready?

Pat: I WAS BORN READY!!!!

Randy: Darn flabbit' you bet!

Ted: What do the M's stand for in M&M's?

(Pat buzzes in.)

Pat: More and more?

Ted: I'm sorry, no.

(Kelly buzzes in.)

Kelly: Bob, I'd like to place a bid.

Ted: (Sighs.) No, Kelly, that's The Price is Right. And my name is Ted.

(Randy buzzes in.)

Randy: Them two M's stand for Mars and Murrie! Learned that useless piece of information in my-

Ted: We have a winner!! Congratulations Randy! You win the grand prize, which is.... (The curtain slowly opens.) A new Toyota Prius!!

(Everyone strains to look and sees no car. They start to figure out that something is wrong.)

Randy: Hot diggity dog!! Where have you done and hid my brand new automobile??

Ted: (Has a flabberghasted look on his face.) It's gone.

Randy: Gone?!? (He pulls off his hat and scratches his head.) Well if it's not here, where is it then?

Pat: Someone must have stolen it!

Randy: STOLE?!?

Ted: Now, now, let's not jump to conclusions...

Randy: Can't you see me? I ain't jumpin' nowhere! I have me a new car and it ain't here! Haven't you got a CLUE where it is??

(Kelly pops her head up from her phone.)

Kelly: Professor Plum, with the rope, in the kitchen?

Randy and Ted: NO!

Pat: (Shakes her head.) This is the way the system works. It promises you something and then when it comes time, you don't get jack!

Ted: This was not my doing! We have had a theft! Now you both sit down and I'm going to get to the bottom of this mess!

(Pat and Randy retreat. Kelly looks up.)

Kelly: What's going on?

Ted: We are just about to-

Kelly: Can I spin the wheel now?

Ted: Excuse me?

Kelly: The wheel. You know, the one that goes whoosh and spins and lights up?

(Ted stares at her once again in disbelief. Pat cuts in.)

Pat: I bet I know who stole it... that airhead of a girl right there!! (She points to Kelly. Randy calms her down and steps in.)

Randy: Look, it ain't right to go 'round here accusin' people. Maybe Ted can tell us?

Ted: Right. A few hours before the show started, I was wrapping it up at Chuckie Cheese's where I was doing a gig for some kid's birthday party...er... Then I came to the studio and I don't remember checking to see if the car was there...

Kelly: I know the answer!

Ted: What...?

Kelly: What is, The Notebook?

Ted: Jeopardy this time? The Notebook? What has that got to do with anything?

Kelly: I-

Randy: Aw geez, now she's got a screw loose... Who lets these darn near crazy people in here?

Pat: One fry short of a happy meal...

Ted: Shh! What about the notebook?

Kelly: I found a notebook backstage... It had a to-do list in it. Here it is! (She pulls out the notebook and clears her throat.) One: Pick up Mom's sheets from the dry-cleaners. Two: Get a haircut. Three: Dismantle the bomb in the Prius. Four: Pick out flowers for-

Ted: Wait a second, bomb? WHAT? Security!!

Randy: Now just hold on a sec. I didn't mean for it to get out of hand...

Ted: YOU caused this??

Randy: Caused? No. Prevented? Yes.

(He looks around and sees the bewildered stares of his peers.)

Randy: Alright, alright. Enough already! My cover's blown anyway... (He looks down and then back up. The country accent is gone and now he has a British accent and a more distiunguished look.)

Randy: My name is Bradley Randoff, British special ops.

Kelly: What happened to Randy??

Randy/Bradley: Randy was a cover I was using. I have been tracking a major criminal for a few months now and he devised a plot to blow everyone here into smitherines by hiding a bomb in the Prius. I had to act fast so I stole the car and ran it into a lake, where luckily, the explosion went off safely underwater. The world is safe once more.

Pat: So you're working for 'the man'. I knew there was something about you that I coldn't trust...

(Ted steps forward and cuts in, grabbing Bradley's hand and shaking it vigorously.)

Ted: What she means to say is, thanks for saving our lives.

Randy/Bradley: Oh, please, don't mention it. It's what I do.

Pat: Oh, I see what's going on here... Well I just want to tell you that I also have a confession to make. I'm Hannah Montana!! Yeah, that's right! I'm livin' a double life! Fame! Fortune! Stickin' it to the man! (She has a crazy look in her eyes as she cackles and staggers offstage.)

Randy/Bradley: Bloody cricket, she was a little crazier than I thought...

Kelly: Did I win?!?

Ted: Uh...

Randy/Bradley: Yes, congratulations. You are the next American Idol, Bachelorette, and Biggest Loser!

Kelly: YAY!! (She jumps up.) Can I do my acceptance speech now?

Ted: Go for it.

Kelly: Well, it's so great to be here. First of all, I would like to thank my fans for this award. Without you, I would be nowhere. Secondly, I feel like I need to thank my good friend and savior, Will Ferell because I don't know how I would have lived through my last break up without watching his Ricky Bobby movie a hundred times. Thank you everyone and have a great night! (She waves to the audience as she exits. Ted and Bradley are left onstage. They turn to each other.)

Ted: Well, Randy.. Er, Bradley... thanks for being on the show. And saving the world... you know, the usual.

Randy/Bradley: Like I said, all in a day's work. (He looks at his watch.) Oh look, it's tea time. I should go!

Ted: Yeah, bye!

Randy/Bradley: Farewell! (He waves and exits.)

Ted: (Turns back to the audience.) Well... that was interesting... But that's why we call it Mash Up- where scholarly knowledge meets rediculously random! I'm your host, Ted Thompson, and good night!

That's Not the Way I Roll

2010-02-21T22:15:00.002-05:00

Every day I look around and see people who are obviously putting on a show and pretending to be people that they really aren't. And you know what? I always try to pray that they can find themselves and then act normal. Because life's too short to be anyone else (haha). Putting on a performance every day just to fit into a stereotype is not the way I roll.

Another thing is that people are snobbish in their own ways even if they aren't popular because everyone seems to hate everyone else who is out of their group. And, once everyone separates into their groups, there's no breaking in. I feel bad for the new kids because they go from group to group and the people on the inside look at them and decide for themselves which place that kid belongs. It's just completely superficial judgement. And sadly, even though I don't want to be, I am one of those judges. Every person does it immediately; there's no avoiding it. But as soon as I write someone off to be a pot head, emo, nerdy loser, or preppy airhead, I kick myself for doing it. Even though they don't deserve to be judged, they get it. And so do I. I am judged just as harshly as everyone else. And if I have to be in a stereotypical group, at least I'm in a good one: the Christians.

2010-02-20T13:17:00.000-05:00

We Are The World

2010-02-13T14:42:00.000-05:00

During the opening ceremonies of the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics, a remake of Michael Jackson and Lionle Richie's "We Are the World" video aired. Stars involved included: Jennifer Hudson, Miley Cyrus, Justin Bieber, Fergie, that guy from Maroon 5, T-Pain, Janet Jackson, Randy Jackson, Pink, the Jonas Brothers, Kanye West, Mary J. Blige, all along with many other talented artists of the music industry. They added a new twist with a short rap part. I really enjoyed watching this and hopefully you will too!!

My 100th Post!

2010-02-01T23:11:00.000-05:00

I didn't think my 100th post would be anything crazy, except I made an amazing discovery....

Of course, there were tons of pictures where she really looked nothing like her. Notice that in all of these, her head is turned or twisted or her mouth is open. Those are really the only times she she looks like she could pull it off!

Snow? YES!

2010-01-28T18:32:00.000-05:00

Well, I stand corrected. We are going to get out of school tomorrow!!!! Which is crazy, yet amazing. How much better could this week get??? I didn't go to school on Monday, My birthday was Tuesday, Wednesday was easy, today went by fast, tomorrow we don't even have school, and this weekend is D-Now!!! WOOT WOOT!!!!!

Snow? No.

2010-01-28T17:39:00.002-05:00

The sad thing about living where I do is that the counties right above us intercept all of the snow. Tomorrow, it is supposed to snow 3-6 inches (wow...) and everyone thinks that we will get out of school. Yeah right! The superintendent is from Boston, and if we do anything, we'll end up getting out at 1 or 2. So I guess that's what I'm hoping for!

I know, I know. I haven't blogged in a while. But I have been so busy! My birthday was on Tuesday, the 26th (yay!) and I turned 15. I had a great dinner and an awesome home made ice cream cake! I am planning on getting my permit sometime within the next week or so.
Another big event coming up this weekend is D-Now. It is a huge amazing thing at my church each year. Everyone is divided by age and sex, and then down into groups of about 12-15 people. The groups all stay at different host homes that have been volunteered away by parents and church members. We go to church on Friday and get everything ready. Then we have our first session (worship and lesson) and then we go to the host home and have our small group talk. Same thing Saturday morning and night, and in the middle of the day, we have some sort of activity. Then on Sunday, we all pack up and have our last session that morning. The fun thing is that you're with people your own age and everyone brings snacks and cereal and drinks and we just have fun!

This semester is much easier than last semester. I have Theatre, Honors English, World History, and Family/Consumer Science (home ec). Today we had our first big performance in theatre. We had to write a 3 page script for two people, and I wrote a great script about a kleptomaniac (someone who has a constant urge to steal) going on a job interview. Here it is!

The Interview

(May Steele walks into the office. May and Allison greet each other, shake hands.)

May: Thank you so much for this opportunity. With the tough economy and all, I haven’t had a job since my last… incident.

Allison: No, thank you. We had a major problem with our last employee… She had some major honesty issues. Hopefully you are the one we’ve been looking for!

(May gives a nervous look. Allison motions to the chairs, they both sit down.)

Allison: So, where was your previous place of employment and what were your job responsibilities?

May: Well… I worked at a toy store, but to be honest, the kids didn’t like me too much. So, they put me on inventory, like stocking stuff… But not everything got stocked, if you know what I mean.

(May gives a nervous laugh.)

Allison: I see… So how long did you work there?

May: Um… Well, you know, about a month or so. Until they figured out something was going on…

Allison: Oh… So did you resign or were you let go?

May: Well… they tried to fire me, but I told them that I was resigning. It was a…mutual agreement.

Allison: Ok then, let’s move on. What previous experience have you had that might have prepared you for this position?

May: What job is this again?

Allison: (sighs) You are interviewing for a position at a bank. You will help keep track of and organize the money.

May: Oh, yeah, right… Well, I worked at a jewelry store for a while. Some high-ticket items came in and out of there… More out than in if you know what I mean…

(Allison drops pen, bends down to pick it up. May swipes a few office supplies off of the desk. Allison rises.)

Allison: Wait, did you…? Never mind… I’m sorry, what was your name again?

May: May. May Steele.

Allison: May Steele??

(May shifts uncomfortably in chair, gives a nervous laugh.)

May: Funny story… When I was first born, I stole the rattle from the baby that was next to me in the nursery. My mama had a great sense of humor, so she named me May. May Steele.

(May laughs nervously.)

May: So do you get it?

Allison: Yeah… Ok then, thanks for the story… Anyway, do you have any conditions we should be aware of?

May: Um… well besides getting dropped on my head when I was a wee little one… I am on some medication for one small problem…

Allison: Which is…?

May: Well, I’m kind of a… Whoa!! Did you see that?!?

(May points enthusiastically toward the curtain behind Allison. Allison looks toward the curtain.)

Allison: What is it?!?

(May swipes some picture frames off of the desk. Allison turns back around.)

Allison: (sighs) Look, you are required to tell us if you have any problems that could affect your ability to perform at your highest level.

May: I’m a, uh… Kleptomaniac…

Allison: You’re a what??

May: A kleptomaniac…

Allison: Why would you even interview for a job at a bank, when you have a problem with impulsive theft??

May: Well, I though I would give it a shot…

Allison: Ugh, get out!!!

(May quickly rises, grabs the chair she was sitting in, and leaves with a bulging purse and the chair. She grabs a cash register on her way out.)

Home Again!

2010-01-03T21:23:00.001-05:00

It was so nice to be at the beach all week!! I loved spending time with my family and just relaxing. Oh, and falling asleep and waking up to the sound of the ocean waves was pretty great too!!! Here are some pictures from the week...

almost everyone

mom and her brothers

mom and me

the kids

all of us!

MeMe and Kim

MeMe and myself

my family

awesome shot i took of the boardwalk

Sam

Linnea and Landon

Linnea and Me

MeMe

Olivia and me

New Year's Eve blue moon

sunrise

under the boardwalk

beach!

Funny SNL skit

2009-12-28T16:08:00.001-05:00

Packing Nightmare

2009-12-23T16:17:00.001-05:00

Every time I go on a trip or to camp or something, the thing that I procrastinate about and put off the most is the one thing that I absolutely have to do.

Pack.

It takes me forever because I have to have enough room and I don't want my bag to be overflowing with clothes I really don't need to take. So I arrange and rearrange everything a few times until that feeling of satisfaction comes around.

Then I rearrange again.

So today was the day. I sat around a long time looking at my bag and my closet, but I am DONE! (With the clothes.) I still have to get sheets and blankets and towels and shampoo and that stuff together. But I guess I'll save that fun task for tomorrow.

Merry Christmas!

Just My Luck...

2009-12-20T12:37:00.000-05:00

Well, we got out of school on Thursday!! And it would be nice to chill for once but of course, I have walking pneumonia! Which just continues my neverending tradition of getting sick or having something go wrong over a break from school. Landon and I went to the ER on Friday night around 10, put on our matching hospital gowns and sat there and waited in the rooms (seperated by a curtain) next to eachother. He had already been on medication for it for a week, but since it wasn't going away, Mom dragged him along to the hospital too. we both had x-rays and I was declared to have the same thing he did.
Yesterday was the worst because I felt like crap!! I slept from 12 am to 1 pm and only got up once to eat dinner. Everything hurt from my head to my legs and I just spent most of the time taking light naps. So I basically spent my whole day in bed.
I have been on my meds for two days and I am starting to feel a lot better! Which is great because I'm leaving the day after Christmas for a semi-family reunion in North Carolina. We're renting a condo next to my uncle's right on the beach, and though it will be too cold for swimming or laying in the sun, just being near the beach is enough for me!

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

2009-12-12T12:43:00.000-05:00

The crazed shoppers are out, there are idiotic drivers, bumper-to-bumper traffic, people fighting over the last Tickle-Me-Elmos, people spending what little they have so that their bratty kids can have that new gaming system, and stores are all marking up some prices to get the most out of this month.

That's right. It's the season of love, giving, and happiness once again.

Now, I might have overexaggerated a little, but people do get overcome with the holiday craze. I haven't even started my Christmas shopping yet! It is such a pain to go out to Turkey Creek and be forced into the mix with thousands of people looking for present to give as well.

The kind of shoppers that annoy me the most are those 'I-better-stock-my-cart-with-all-the-toys-in-the-toy-aisle-before-someone-else-does' moms. They have boxes and boxes of toys stacked up in their cart and take an hour to check out! And you know exactly who I'm talking about.

Personally, I LOVE Christmas. Everyone is 10 times happier in the month of December than any other month. There's just something magical about the feeling of Christmas.

Try JibJab Sendables® eCards today!

Some of My Graphic Design Projects

2009-12-03T13:05:00.001-05:00

Once again, I am left with nothing to do in visual communications... enjoy!!

I'm ALIVE!

2009-11-25T12:22:00.001-05:00

Yeah, yeah I know. I haven't been on here in a while. It's probably been over a month!! Sadly, this is definitely the sign that high school is getting to me. I come home, take a nap or just lay around, and then I do homework for 3 hours, then dinner, then sleep. It's pretty sad.
But today and for the rest of the week, I am OUT of school to do as I wish. So this morning, I took Sam over on the greenway, where we met up with Hannah and Halley and we all walked to Dunkin Donuts. It was a lot of fun! And of course there was a twist. Their neighbor's dog followed them out of the neighborhood and then followed us all the way to Dunkin, but me, being the resourceful person that I am, found some rope around a tree and tied it around the dog's collar. It was one of the weirdest dogs I have ever seen, because it like walked sideways. It was probably skitzophrenic or hallucinating because it walked around like it was looking for someone who was following him. Anyway, that was just weird.

We're not doing anything for Thanksgiving, as usual. But it's a very pretty day here, so I think I'm going to enjoy the weather!

Missing Piece

2009-11-04T18:24:00.002-05:00

I had a very sad yet interesting experience on Sunday. Don't worry, no one died. We went up to visit my grandma a few days ago, and during that time, Dad and Landon decided to go golfing. Let me get something straight right now- I ABSOLUTELY HATE GOLF. Almost with a passion. I just don't get the fun of swinging a club and trying to hit the ball into a tiny hole. It is SO boring and SUCH a waste of time. Just playing 9 holes took days!! (ok, 2 hours...)

Anyway, the course was basically against the mountains, and I had my phone, mp3 player, and camera with me for entertainment. I was excited because I was going to get some great shots of the fall leaves and everything. And as weird as it sounds, I was walking along before tee time and saw the most beautiful squirell I have ever seen. It had a really thick coat and a really full chestnut tail. I whipped out my camera to snap a picture when to my disappointment, I was out of memory. There was no way!! I had tons of space on the memory card.

And then bad thing #1 happened...

I realized that I had left my memory card in the computer.

I had just taken off pictures from Halloween and it was still in the slot. Which means that I was at the mercy of my camera's internal memory... which is four pictures. Needless to say, the gorgeous squirell disappeared.

I shoved the camera back into my pocket and got in the cart.

The 2 hour ride wasn't too bad. My brother gave me some scares with his crazy cart driving, but I had Taylor Swift blocking out all other sound, which for the most part was quite fun. After they finished playing, I went and sat in the car while they got their clubs. I reached for my phone to see what time it was and then...

Extremely, horribly bad thing #2 happened..

My phone...was gone.

Not the kind of "Oh I just misplaced my phone" kind of gone, beause I never do that. When I say gone, I mean gone. And in this case, it was the my-phone-got-rocked-out-of-my-pocket-and-is-now-somewhere-on-the-course kind of gone. I charged out of the car and toward my brother in the cart.

We ended up searching for that phone for an hour or so, retracing and retracing our tracks until it was no use anymore.

That was three days ago, and no one ever found my phone. So tonight, I got on my phone insurance website (yes, I suggest you insure your phone) and I'll be getting a new one sometime tomorrow. Of course, this is great, but I lost all of my contacts.

And the entirely ironic thing about this is that I went up with them to see a certain person.. well, people... and they weren't there. I missed discipleship, lost my phone, and got home too late to do my homework for almost nothing. It was good to see my grandmother again though!

Try to imagine losing your phone for good, losing all of your contacts, AND then going without your precious cell phone for 3 or 4 days. At first, it was like I was just missing a piece of the puzzle that is myself, but after a few days, the only thing that really sucked about not having it was being at the mercy of using other people's phones to secure a ride or find out what was going on. From this terrible happening, I discovered that I did not need my phone as much as I really thought, and I am definitely going to buy a grippy cover so it doesn't fall out.

So..

Pros-
I got a new phone- same kind!! YES!!
I learned to keep my phone in a different pocket.
I learned that phones are a privelidge.
I learned to always buy insurance. With it, the phone was only $50.

Cons-
I lost all of my contacts.
I had to learn all of the above lessons the hard way.

:) Have a great day!! :)

Halloween Time

2009-10-28T12:20:00.004-04:00

It's come again already. As I was sitting outside, carving my pumpkin, I thought to myself how quickly the year has passed. It's almost November!

This Halloween, Olivia and I are going trick-or-treating like 6 year olds would. Once you hit 12 or 13, the neighbors start rolling their eyes as they dump a lollipop into your pillowcase, mutter "Happy Halloween", and then slam the door in your face. I wouldn't be going this year, but Olivia wants to so I guess I'll be wandering around the neighborhood with her after dark.
Of course, I haven't even thought about a costume.

Friday night from 10-12, I'll be at a lock in sort of thing at church. Then Saturday I have football practice (more info below), then I'll be volunteering at the fall festival (aka safe trick-or-treating festival at church), then we're going out to get candy and stuff from the neighbors.

Ok, football practice. The high school youth group has a Turkey Bowl in Novemeber, which is grade level vs grade level girls' only football tournament. So we're having practice on Saturday. I hope we dominate the upper classmen, and honestly, the seniors won't be a problem because I've heard that they suck!

Me and my best friend at the haunted corn maze

my pumpkin! how cool are the teeth?!?!?

Oh, and I made this awesome video on JibJab. Happy Halloween from my family!

Try JibJab Sendables® eCards today!

Sam- Mad Professor
Landon- Frankenstein
Dad- Werewolf
Mom- Dancing lady
Me- Vampire (and don't even think i am making a reference to twilight.)

The Monster Mash

2009-10-25T17:10:00.001-04:00

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I created this wonderful entertainment on JibJab!

Tech Week

2009-10-21T23:18:00.002-04:00

I am now on the crew of the one act play Trophies. We are going to a competition with it on Friday, which means I'll be missing school for the whole day. The bad part is that our call time is at 7:45 in Cookeville, which is also inn a different time zone, so it's 6:45 our time. The drive is 90 minutes. So we'll be leaving around 5 am. Which means getting up at 4:30 at least... But it will be ok. We won't get back until 7:00 pm, so no biology test for meeee!!! If we win or place highly in this competition, we move on to state!!!

Despite almost meeting my demise on Monday, tech week has been a lot of fun and a lot of work! How did I almost die? What is tech week?

Tech week is the entire week before competition during which the crew practices setup and take down 300 million times. I have the glamorous job of moving a couch to and fro, as well as putting a table in place and then setting the telephone on it and a glass. Oh yeah, and I have the degrading freshie job of being a sitter- which means we have to stand (not sit) for the 45 minute entirety of the play BEHIND the set, just to make sure nothing bad happens (such as a wall falling over and crushing our beloved senior actors and actresses.) All of the sitters are freshmen because that's the way it is. NO ONE else wants this job. Personally, I don't really mind!
I almost died on Monday because one of the flats (aka walls) was not clamped or bolted. Michael was walking through and he tripped on it, sending it off balance and falling on me. Lucky for me and my intelligence, the wall was not yet complete and therefore looked like a grid, so it had empty spaces. My head went through one of them thankfully, but the rest of the flat crashed down on my shoulder. Not very fun.... But everyone knows my name now!!
I am really enjoying this experience! I get to bond with some of the most amazing upperclassmen during rehearsels and yesterday, when we finished most of the painting.
I am happy to report that today I stood up from about 7:30 am to 8:45 pm. I feel the burn! Just kidding, I'm not that fat.

RUN!!

2009-10-15T14:53:00.000-04:00

I am laying in my bed with Angel curled up beside me. Sam and Mom have decided to take on the task of moving his room downstairs. Which means all of his crap is getting cleaned up and then moved downstairs. And then we have to lug everything else up here from down there. Basically the whole transformation is going to result in his room down there and a bonus room up here. Which will be pretty sweet.
Day 1 of fall break has basically been extra sleep (yes!!) and cleaning (no!!). But I did my share by cleaning the kitchen so I'm good.

Last night, Olivia and I had an interesting expereience after church. We had to go meet her mom in the main building (we were in the student building) and I had the bright idea of going around the back of the building for a change. The back side of the church is in the process of being completed. There they are almost done with the new CCS (the church's school). There aren't any lights back there...

As we were walking, we got to the end of the sidewalk where they are trying to grow grass. All of a sudden, Olivia grabs my arm and says

"SAVANNAH!!!!!"

Me- "What??"

Olivia- "Do. You. See. That???"

I looked over where she was pointing.

Me- "That pipe?"

Olivia- "No!!!"

It was black, but I couldn't really tell what it was.

Me- "Is that a cat? Oh it's nothing... come on..."''

All of a sudden, I saw it move.

Olivia- "IT JUST MOVED!!!"

Then I saw two evil, beady eyes. I then saw a white stripe down the middle of the black creature. It was then that I realized what it was.

Me- OH MY GOSH!!!! IT'S A SKUNK!!! RUN!!!!!

We took off running and screaming and laughing in the opposite direction and didn't stop until we were at least 150 yards from it.

Needless to say, I am very glad that I did not spend the rest of my night in a bath of tomato juice.

You Better Hope You're Not Alone

2009-10-14T17:33:00.002-04:00

I love Jack Johnson. Name ring a bell? He is an amazing artist who usually does everything in acoustic. A few of his great songs include Sleep Through the Static and Hope.
In the song Hope, he talks about how you don't always have to hold your head above your heart. And if you do, you better hope you're not alone. The thing about this is pretty cool.

** DISCLAIMER: I am about to think this through way too much, overanalyze, and use metaphors as well as logical and in depth thinking**

Of course, if you were scared of that, you would have quit reading this thing a lonnnng time ago!

So this is true. You have to let your emotional guards down sometimes. I have had major problems with this! This is what leads to my relationship issues- I have to get out of my initial comfort zone to really be myself and be transparent. But when I'm in a group like discipleship/small groups at church when we start discussing things, I open up because I actually feel like they care what my opinions and certain experiences are.
So what's wrong with putting your head above your heart? Sometimes you just have to go with what your heart says despite everything else that your head is telling you.
It isn't always a bad thing. Putting your heart over your head can always lead to you getting hurt too, sometimes worse. You need to keep it half and half. A steady balance is the only thing that will keep you from sinking in anything you do.

Ok, enough with the metaphors.

So it's FALL BREAK! Notice I only put one '!' because it isn't that exciting. Last year, we had a whole weeeeeeeeeek for fall break. What did we get for this? 7 more days of summer. Big deal. Seriously, I would much rather have a week of fall break rather than extra time to get sunburnt. They also took out a bunch of inservice days, whch means we don't get those random little surprises of having a 3 day weekend b/c they gave us Monday off for teacher planning.
What am I doing this fall break? I don't know, but I've heard Pigeon Forge and/or Gatlinburg in the works. Let's do something!

Geez I am starting to feel like a reporter... which is really what I am considering I report my life to you readers haha.

In other news...
If I haven't already posted this, I am applying for a job as a camp counseler this summer. I went to this Christian (baptist) camp when I was little, and I saw something this year that sparked my interest once again. I desperately need money for a car in a few years, and I need a job. I really love working with the kids and getting the chance to be a spiritual leader to them is something I'm going to shoot for! I actually do have a ton of experience with all of my volunteering I've done i the past few years:

1) Volunteering @ Webb Drama Camp for 2 years, working w/ ages 6-13
2 )Volunteering @ GSMC Boy Scout Camp working in the "Tag alongs" (the kids that the workers need care for) ages 2-7
3) Volunteering @ STAR- 1 yr- which gave me experience working with the horses and the great kids with mental and physical disabilities ages 4-18
4) Volunteering now at church in the Children's Miinistry working as a co- teacher and helping hand.

I just got the last volunteer job last week, and I start on Sunday. YES!!!
I am so ready to make a difference in these kids' lives and try to set a Christ like example for them to follow. And someone to look up to for the right reasons. And someone who truly loves them and wants to make them better. And someone who they can always go to whenever and for whatever. I cannot wait!!!!!!!!! (Notice I put a lot of '!'s becaise I am very excited)

Memory Bank

2009-10-13T23:38:00.004-04:00

Write down random memories you've had by age or year, then tag all of the friends in it. You'll be surprised!!

Alrighty then...

Age 1- Ok, I've definitely got nothing here

Age 2- Or here

Age 3 or 4- BAM! Vacation to Hilton Head, we rented a house with a pool out back with my 2 uncles and aunt. The house had a slanted roof and a blue turquoise leather couch. Sam and Luke were in diapers and a huge hurricane blew through and ruined our fun in the nonexistent sun. My uncles went out and caught a bunch of blue crabs, which they then cooked and we ate of course.
Feeding the ducks, going to the library

Age 5- I almost died in a plane crash on my way to DISNEY WORLD. How ironic is that? The airplane had a really rough landing and almost went off the runway due to communicationerrors and bad timing. A nice flight attendant carried me off the plane.
Had a cat (Kit-Kat)

Age 6- Fun day at Veteran's Park Elementary in Kentucky. My best friends Lenna and Laura, us in our handmade American flag t- shirts, wearing hats. When the day was over, we got those frozen tube popsicles.
Got Scout and Shadow.
One of my good friends died of a brain tumor.
I witnessed a jewelry store robbery. Dad was having his ring fitted when this guy walked in and started looking at some coins or gems on display. He had a bag in his hand. The clerk/ lady picked up a phone and started talking in a foreign language, then signaled my mom and dad to take us outside. About 3 minutes later, 3 cop cars pulled up outside the store and we later learned that this guy was wanted in GA for similar crimes.
Vacation to NC with the Bowlings.
Got Angel.
Girl Scouts.
Easter Egg hunt.
Swim team.

Age 7- I moved. From Lexington, KY to Knoxville, TN. In the middle of 2nd grade, never enrolled at A.L Lotts beacuse mom decided to home school me... needless to say I didn't do that much.. basically skipped most of 2nd grade there haha.
Later that fall, I started Lotts in 3rd grade. Amazing teacher, Mrs. Smith. I bawled my eyes out for 30 minutes on meet the teacher day b/c I knew no one.
Weird neighbors, but nice.
Building forts in the very back of the yard.
Met Olivia Monroe.
And Emily Watson. Both went to my church.

Age 8- Discovering the pond behind the house at Pine Springs.
Building more forts.
Angel had 6 puppies. Cute little furballs!
Neighbors got a golden retriever- I trained it for them.
Girl scouts.

Age 9- Moved to another house @ Shady Springs.
Nice neighbors.
Started 4th grade (Mrs. Alexander), another amazing teacher. We went to her house in December to wrap Angel Tree gifts and eat pizza and ice cream.
Took class trip to Rocky Mount. It was amazing.
Angel had 5 pups.
Ethan!!
Laura Ingalls Wilder Day. I wasn't in the play, but I narrated some. Ate amazing food.
Watched random episodes of the show, burned a lot of class time.
Bill Nye the science guy.
Model volcanoes.
Climbing through the window.

Age 10- started 5th grade- Mrs. Fultz. Awesome teacher again.
Started my unstable advanced math career.
Read tons of books.
Garden.
D.A.R.E.
Finding out my best friend and I 'liked' the same dude haha
Thinking I was so freaking amazing because I was at the top of the school.
Ha.
T.A.G
Got so mad and upset b/c none of my friends were going to Farragut and I had to move there.

Age 11- Moved AGAIN. To Farragut.
Started 6th grade in Blue Pod.
Had no friends until half way through the year (I'm talking sitting alone at lunch or forcing myself to sit with people haha I was just a shy loner)
MRS. ROGERS. One of my worst teachers ever.
Hammontree- oh thank you so much for making us write in INK and CURSIVE b/c it's a lost art and professional. 50 page packets that we were given months to do, endless amounts of extra credit oppurtunities.
Befriended Mrs. Sells before I even had other friends b/c of American Idol.
Finally started making friends right before Christmas break. Anna Miller haha.
Actually going to the bottom of the hill.
The cat wandered up to our house, layed his fat self out on our porch, and we fed him. Now, he's stuck to our porch.

Age 12- Started 7th Grade in Orange Pod.
Slow start to the year, eventually picked up.
Field trip to the Appalachian Homecoming Fair thing. SO much fun. Wasted so much $ haha
Going to see A Christmas Carol
Powerpoints in Reading
Mrs. Brock reading us books and egging us on to beat Gold Pod. (while keeping up with ALL of the other pods' point totals might I add)
Getting about 700 AR points.
Regular visits to Mrs. Sells.
Really great teachers, fun classes.
Mr. MAC!!!!!! And his stories of course.
Parfaits.
(Now using some of the stuff Mrs. Manning taught us haha)

Age 13- Started 8th Grade in Orange Pod.
C-SPAN (and this should pretty much describe my whole 8th grade experience.)
The sound of Ms Rehder's heels clicking quickly around the classroom.
Ms. Rader yelling at me in Algebra I, then smiling at me in 8th grade math whenever "the good ones" said something smart since we weren't complete morons.
C-SPAN.
Mrs. Yander telling us some wacky story that always tied into what she was saying.
Mr. Walker's interesting facial expressions :)
Almost never doing anything in Reading or Language Arts... OH WAIT, we were "doing C-SPAN." Yeah, that's what led to the jungle animal sounds competition.
"ANNA MILLER IS A GIRL ON THE GO" hahaha
My hysterical math class.
Mr. Danner lecturing us over and over about the same topic in the middle of a song...
Huge fight with a friend... :(
DC trip!!! Hanging out with Susie and Michael the whole time.
Finding out some stuff...
C-SPAN.
Jazz band with Susie.
"Ms. Rader's going to eats us!!"
"What the flagnog?!?!? Sum a su, fu la nong a!?!?!?"
"I hate all woodwind instruments, but not the people who play them."
Science with Jordan.- "Do you have gum? Can I have some? Give me some gum! I'm hungry.."
Sitting talking to everyone during 8th grade celebration.
Speaking of which, didn't Jordan break the mic after her speech? :P
Leaving middle school.
Overall COMPLETELY AMAZING year.

Age 14- Summer 09- present
Canon doing "The Canon"
Donna and The Boss.
LOGAN!
Canon and Kate saying how I am "in love with Logan"
and how "we are going to get married"? haha
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
Kate and Canon attached at the hip.
The "amazing" smelling marker.
The cat fights between the girls.
Miss Rosina!!
LAWRENCE!!!
BRANDON as Willy Wonka. His Abercrombie shot.
Canon and Kate's obsessions with Twilight.
Braeden!!!
Kate giving Olivia the death stare. hahahaha
The delinquent girls at Bearden heheh
Webb.
140 hours at least of Theatre!!
Little Women
Me and Gloria sitting in the floor at Borders, asking questions to a magic 8 ball. very interesting. haha
CAMP 09!!!!!
Amazing kids.
The torch ceremony.
Crazy S-Dawg, Crazy Neck, and 8- Step!!!
Hanging out with my amazing cousins.
Meeting this really hot random guy. i just met. in Louisville. :P
You know who you are.
Starting high school.
Hating it, then absolutely loving it.
"The earth is circular..."
Wandering the halls.
Olivia and me eating sour patch kids in the 'dark alley' after church looking like drug dealers. haha
The EDGE!!!!!!!!!!!

And Then We Sent Them Doggies Whimpering All the Way Home...

2009-10-10T23:05:00.000-04:00

We beat Bearden. 42-17. Take that you annoying-mother-bulldog-woman-who-works-at-the-eye-doctor -and-made-fun-of-me. Take it!! FARRAGUT DOMINATES!!!

So I didn't end up going to either games because of the uninviting weather. Instead, I have spent the past few days looking at the world in a whole different manner. Apparently, my vision was 20x50, which means that I am sadly pretty nearsighted. On Friday, the glasses came in. I love being able to see, but I really hate wearing them. Mom and Sam say I look good in them, but I don't think so.. So sorry, but you won't be seeing me at school in those things. I just don't want all of the comments or to draw uninvited attention to myself (wow, I sound like a shut-in haha). Just stuff like people stating the obvious such as... "Wow, you got glasses!" "Did you have those before?" "I've never seen you in glasses!" would all get old.
I would much rather have some contacts, but my mom doesn't really want to get them for me. She's trying to sway me away by telling me how irritating they would be, not to mention expensive, and all this stuff, but I would much rather deal with them than have to keep the frames on. They get annoying after a while and kind of impair my depth perception when I'm walking because I always end up looking below the frames when I'm walking, and then when I look back up, I feel like I am thrown off balance.
It is sooo different being able to see the individual leaves on the trees and the blades of grass. And I can read small type from farther away and license plates and signs. It really is crazy to see all of the random stuff I've been 'missing out' on.

And to Whom Do We Owe this Honor?? Tyler Crone, Come on Down!!!!!

2009-10-08T19:10:00.001-04:00

As you may have heard, (well duh, of course you have) 3 seniors on our footall team went across town to our best friends Bearden and did some rivalry vandalism in the spirit of the game tomorrow. Which of course is usually ok.... when is doesn't cost $6,000 to repair!!! Here's an excerpt from the big article.

"The damage to Bearden High School in West Knoxville was done with spray paint, motor oil, glue, and even bleach on the football field itself.

"There was damage to our memorial garden, to our press box, to some of our athletic facilities underneath the stadium, to the back of the school," Bartlett said.
The principal of Farragut High School apologized for the incident. "Dr Bartlett as well as I intend on putting an end to this kind of stuff," said Farragut High School Principal Michael Reynolds.

Cleanup began Thursday morning. Repairing the field could include new sod. Early estimates of damage are $5,000 to $6,000, money the school principals say could be better spent on something positive."

Here is the full article link that includes some pictures- http://www.wbir.com/news/watercooler/story.aspx?storyid=101346&catid=141

So here is my opinion:

1) It was an absolutely uncalled for, idiotic act that obviously did some damage to our standards of integrity and those boys' permanent records

2) The memorial garden?? Seriously?? That is the one place that should be completely off limits and yet these guys took a truck and drove through it, as well as tagged some of the memorial stones with paint.

3) Inappropriate images were painted in the stadium itself that were just...

4) Some of the enraged Bearden students are pointing their grubby fingers at ALL of us @ Farragut and calling us the old generalization (that Farragut kids are stuck up spoiled brats)

5) The guys painted their own numbers on a wall at the stadium. Can you get any more stupid than that?

6) Yes. They went and bought 50 cans of spray paint at the Wal Mart across the street. Way to go guys.

So congratulations Tyler Crone and your lovely assistants. You win the Farragut High School IDIOT OF THE YEAR AWARD!! And chances are that he's going to apologize all the live long day about this, but what good will it do? He's going to serve time in jail, get suspended from school, get kicked off the football team, have to pay for his damage, and say goodbye to his football scholarship. Good one!

I am going to the Bearden game tomorrow, and hopefully I don't get murdered. But I'll have Gloria to protect me. Hahahaha... :) You should come with us!!

Homecoming!

2009-10-02T23:03:00.002-04:00

Ok, so I didn't actually go to the dance. I didn't want to. Actually going to the dance requires so much extra time and energy- you have to go find a dress (and cross your fingers that no one else shows up in the same one you do), get the shoes, fix the hair, deal with the cold, having the limited pleasure of going with friends and not a date, and having to deal with everything a dance brings along. I'm not a big dancer. I just don't find it fun to jump around in a huge group of people and sing along to the songs. Then you have to watch all of the 'couples' dance, hang all over eachother, gaze into each other's eyes like the world has stopped for them, not to mention those who just stand around (well more like sit in the corners) and make out. I just do not see why everyone gets so excited about homecoming! Prom, maybe. I do love seeing all of the sweet ways that the guys have asked some of the girls this year. So cute.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not just sitting here sulking about not going. I'm not a complete shut in. I went to the game... but none of my friends were there (who said they would be) and I sat alone in the cold, with my toes going numb because I was too lazy to run upstairs and get some socks for my tennis shoes. So that was a bummer.

Oh! And my wonderful experience at the eye doctor:

Yesterday I had an eye appointment. Just a check up. The nurse/ lady was talking to me in a very belittling manner and I was getting fed up with her. First of all, she's a Bulldog with a son on the football team. So the Mama Dog (in Europe, also known as the bitch) was like making fun of me and laughing evilly with my oh-so-supportive and helpful father. So then she told me that the would probably have to dialate my eyes to get a good look inside and she said:

Witch- "Are you ok with that?"

Hmm... NO. I don't like anything put in my eyes that will make me cry whenever I see any light and give me a major headache.

Me- "Do I have the right to deny that?"

Evil One- "Yes. But your father has the right to override your denial."

Oh, she's good.

Me- "Farragut is going to beat Bearden."

Mama Dog- "We'll see about that."

Ughhh. I did NOT like this woman one bit. She had me inn a sour mood when the doctor came in, but he was everything she wasn't, so it was ok. Until SHE came back in to 'check' on me. Yeah right. So somehow we ended up talking about church and she said that her husband was going to the Westlake campus of my church. She said that she didn't go with him much because Phillip scares her. She also said this:

Her- "Well, I grew up in a Methodist church, and I just liked it better. I mean, when you miss a Sunday or two, you can tell that all of the people at the Baptist church look at you in a funny way. AND THEN there are the letters. They send you those postcards to remind you to get your butt back to church. It's just like they're invading you."

Me- "I like the Baptist churches better. And I like the postcards. They make me feel like they care."

Her- "Hmmphh. Well ok."

And with raised eyebrows and pouty lips, she retreated from the room, knowing the battle was lost. And me and my best friend Jesus have prevailed. Take that satan.*

And today Sam had an eye appointment. You know what she said to him?
"Wow, you certainly are not as difficult as your sister was!"

All I can say is YOU'RE DOGMEAT!!!!!!!

*OK I am SO overexaggerating some things. I do not think that the meanish nurse is evil or satan. I'm just saying that she wasn't too nice. But all of the dialog is 100% true.

Runs in the Family

2009-09-26T21:03:00.003-04:00

As you know, I have a very mild case of trypanophobia.*** Does anyone remember what this means? The fear of needles of course. Well, today was...

FREE FLU SHOT SATURDAY!!!

An annual event hosted by the Knoxville News Sentinel to raise money for the Empty Stocking Fund and vaccinate people in the Knoxville area.

So I think it's a really great idea that they are giving out flu shots. Not only are they saving people about $20 apiece, but they are also getting money to put towards "making the holidays brighter" for people in the city.

I have absolutely no problem with the flu shot. It doesn't hurt at all and the people are really fast. The only downside is that for a few days after the shot, your arm will be a little sore, but other than that, it's absolutely fine.

Anyway, this post isn't about me or the little fear of being stabbed with a metal syringe. No, this is about my little brother.

Every year, Sam totally FREAKS OUT (much to my humor) when we have to go get flu shots. It's about a fifteen to twenty minute wait, and with each corner we turn in the makeshift line maze constructed from our lunch tables, he gets more and more upset.

The suspense is what kills him. He stands there watching other people get stabbed and injected. Clean, stab, inject, remove. Clean, stab, inject, remove. Over and over and over. He starts to tear up about ten minutes into the wait. As we stood there I said,

"Hey look at that kid. He's probably 5 and he's not crying."

To which he replied:

"He has a sucker. That's why."

Right.

When we got to the end of the wait, he was almost shaking. When a nurse was free, I dragged him over with me and made him watch me first.

Me: "See? It doesn't hurt at all."

I pushed him towards the nurse and she asked him if he was allergic to eggs.

Sam: "Noo..."

He was red faced from crying and kind of swaying.

Nurse: "Do you feel dizzy?"

Sam: "No..."

Nurse: "Why don't you sit down?"

Sam: "No. I want to stand."

Nurse: "Please sit down."

Me: "Sam, sit down."

So he did. Clean, stab, inject, remove, and he was done.

"Did it hurt?"

"No."

He basically just had an anxiety attack. And a smile and a sucker later, he was completely fine. The 15th annual Free Flu Shot Saturday was a success. As in, no visits to the ER, and we all survived.

***May I also add that I did not even flinch when I was stabbed. Pretty amazing huh?

It's Not Easy Being Green

2009-09-23T17:31:00.002-04:00

For two weeks I am taking care of Shep again. (Hello Benjamin Franklin. Long time, no see) Usually nothing particularly interesting happens, besides Shep being a stubborn dog and not going inside, which makes me end up dragging her in. You'd think she'd learn.

Every three days, I have to put a chlorine tablet in the pool.

Which means opening this filter

and dropping in a big hunk of solidified chlorine.

This time when I opened it, I was confronted with an extremely nasty smell and a dead blob floating in the water. After a lot of trying to extract the frog with a stick, I finally succeeded. The smell was even worse and the frog had been in the water so long that his skin was peeling off and just floating around him. His toungue hung out of his mouth in the form of a white blob.

I put him back down onto the crime scene and started putting up my yellow tape. It was time for the investigation to begin.

I then looked over the edge of the pool and found another dead floating amphibian right near the skimmer door. I fished him out with the net and laid him out next to his deceased kindred. Next, I used the stick to expertly get the basket out of the skimmer. It was then that I found the third victim.

I looked at all three frogs. All of their skin was peeling or had already peeled off, one of them was oozing brown guts, and they all looked to be about the same size.

Oh yeah, and they were all dead.

I suspected no foul play, simply a midnight shenanigan gone horribly wrong. Or they were tired of what their simple lives had to offer. I packed up my yellow tape, disposed of the bodies, and left.

Time of Death: Monday, September 21, 2009. 3:27:13 am

Cause of Death: Suicide

Apparently, it really isn't easy being green.

All I'm saying is, Kermit tried to warn us.

And the Winner is.....

2009-09-22T12:28:00.002-04:00

A few weeks ago, FOX released the information we all (as in fans of American Idol) have been waiting for. Since Paula Abdul abandoned the show completely to take a hosting job on some show called "Divas", there has been an empty spot on the judges' panel. Who could this new, charismatic judge be? Who could possibly fill her shoes and swoon over the people with the worst voices, sugar coat everything to the point of making you want to gag?

Apparently, Ellen can.

I never even thought about her as a judge. I am not going to say anything until I actually see how she is on the show. This will be an interesting season...

Anyway, I am blogging this wonderful post at school. We sometimes end up with nothing to do in visual communications (aka graphic design) so we get the divine oppurtunity to get on the computers and do just about everything. Well, everything but the most important thing, which is of course FACEBOOK!

The People You Find in Halloween Superstores

2009-09-19T21:43:00.007-04:00

So in the building where Goody's (May They Rest In Peace) used to be, they set up one of the seasonal Halloween superstores. Costumes, wigs, shoes, make up, masks, hats, accessories; they had it all. Mom and I went into the place and had fun looking around through all of their overpriced stuff for about 45 minutes. As always, it was an interesting experience.

And while we were amidst all of the wigs, we heard a voice. Voices, really, all talking very quickly in a foreign language. Of course, with my profound experience with the Asians and their cultures and ways, I knew they were indeed of the Asian variety. They were talking faster than I ever could, repeating the same sounding words over and over excitedly, and all speaking at once yet still understanding every word they all said. It was crazy. They had their digital cameras clutched in their hands and took pictures of everything.

Now, if they truly were tourists from China or Japan, I can understand a few things, but I also have some questions.

1) I'm pretty sure they don't celebrate Halloween in Asia, so all of the interesting wigs and costumes and masks would seem pretty cool.
2) Of all places, why K-Ville??? We have nothing to offer them besides a great movie theater, China Pearl, or Wasabi!! There is no China Town in Knoxvegas. Oh yeah, and that annual Halloween superstore...
3) They had really amazing taste in fashion.
4) They all carried around the "advanced" cameras and cell phones
6) They had backpacks, which explains my tourist theory
5) WHY WERE THEY STALKING ME IN A HALLOWEEN STORE???

Yes, stalking. Everywhere I turned, there they were giggling and running through words and sounds at a hundred miles a second. Well, I managed to do a little amazing inconspicuous stalking myself, just so that you, my faithful readers, could see what I saw in the magical world of Halloween Land...

And of course they were taking pictures of every last thing. Isn't taking pictures of merchandise illeagal?? Because they have come up to me at Borders and told me to stop taking pictures... Anyway, the guy in the apron who worked there of course played his part perfectly by doing nothing. The creepy employee guy just sat on a table and bounced one of the eyeball bouncy balls up and down, chomping obnoxiously on his gum. He had crazy hair, eyes that looked like he was on something, and various rings piercing his nose, ears, and eyebrows (and wouldn't it all get annoying when trying to get through airport security?). He definitely looked like he belonged in that store.

Creepy employe guy was capable of getting up and telling them to stop violating the company rules. But he was lazy, probably had a hangover, or was stoned.

My mom was looking through the wigs after the Asians left. She opened up one of the little bags they come in and pulled one out to look at the length. All of a sudden I felt someone breathing down my neck so I whipped around to find creepy employee guy. Staring off into space, he informed my mother of the store's policy in his banausic, bland, boring, dim, dreary, humdrum, monotonous, plodding, yawn producing, stoned voice.

"Ma'am, it is against the store policy to try on wigs."

My mom's eyebrows flew up.

"Oh no, I was just looking at the length. I am allowed to do that, right? Just look at them?"

"Uhh, yeah..."

"Ok. I would never try them on. Nope."

Then creepy drugged employee guy chomped down on his gum once more as he hunched over and dragged himself back to his post to resume his job which he was probably getting paid 10 bucks an hour for: bouncing the eyeball bouncy ball. Great customer service. Thanks, creeper.

The Asians eventually wandered out of the store, going on to discover new phenomenons of America, such as Starbucks or Walmart or Target. Ahhh, the luxuries of being an American...

A Glimpse of Kindess

2009-09-17T21:21:00.000-04:00

Don't Forget the Lyrics!! Have you ever seen this show? The host is really annoying but otherwise, it's alright. We played this game at church last night. The three songs were.....

You Belong With Me- Taylor Swift
September- Earth, Wind, and Fire
and a Mystery Song!! which was a song from the old show we all used to watch... VEGGIE TALES!!!

Ben (our game guy) chose 3 people from the audience and 2 of them won. It was quite entertaining.

So I haven't been up to much. School is going well... but not much new. We're doing the annual can drive for 2nd Harvest VERSUS Bearden. And I really hope we win this year because then we'd be able to beat them in Football AND fundraisers. All the way across the board... GO ADMIRALS!!! My homeroom alone has raised 468 cans so far.

In my effort to make a difference and help people out this fall, I printed off 50 fliers for the can drive telling the people of my neighborhood to leave the cans by their mailbox for pick up last Sunday. After driving around the neighborhood at different times, we only found one lonely bag of cans. ONE out of fifty. I think this really goes to show something for this world. Now, of course I know that some people probably forgot completely- and that's ok. But that one family chose to make time for others and put 6 cans out at the end of their driveway to help out people much less fortunate than them. And I think that is the coolest thing.

Survival of the Fittest

2009-09-11T18:02:00.002-04:00

For the past 2.5 weeks, we have followed our bottle ecosystems in Biology. What are bottle ecosystems? Well....

We all got into groups of four and brought in 2 two-liter bottles. We then cut the top of the bottle off...

And filled the bottom with aquarium rocks.

And then water, and then elodea- an aquatic plant- and then two guppies. The we filled the top with soil and planted some seeds.

It was pretty cool to watch everything grow and one of our fish sadly died, but it was still a great project. We ended up having brown-yellow water. It was horrifyingly nasty. I am so surprised that our little guppy even lived, but it was a strong one!!! Definitely survival of the fittest.

So tomorrow I am going to help GLORIA!!!!!! make campaign posters for her thing for VP @ HVA. It should be interesting!!

We all remember where we were and what we were doing on September 11, 2001. The cruel, inhumane acts against God that day were incredibly devastating. Here's a word-

I would like you to take a moment to remember the people who died in the buildings and airplanes 8 years ago on September 11, 2001. Remember their families, the volunteer workers who saved the lives of the Americans in those buildings, and them. My heart goes out to you all. And God bless the volunteers. We all admire your heroism and patriotism, still today. Below is a timeline of the events.... it really puts it into perspective.

7:58 a.m. - United Airlines Flight 175 departs Boston for Los Angeles, carrying 56 passengers, two pilots, and seven flight attendants. The Boeing 767 is hijacked after takeoff and diverted to New York.

7:59 a.m. - American Airlines Flight 11 departs Boston for Los Angeles, carrying 81 passengers, two pilots, and nine flight attendants. This Boeing 767 is also hijacked and diverted to New York.

8:01 a.m. - United Airlines Flight 93, a Boeing 757 carrying 38 passengers, two pilots, and five flight attendants, leaves Newark, N.J., for San Francisco.

8:10 a.m. - American Airlines Flight 77 departs Washington's Dulles International Airport for Los Angeles, carrying 58 passengers, two pilots, and four flight attendants. The Boeing 757 is hijacked after takeoff.

8:46 a.m. - American Flight 11 from Boston crashes into the North

Tower at the World Trade Center.

9:03 a.m. - United Flight 175 from Boston crashes into the South Tower at the World Trade Center.

- U.S. Federal Aviation Administration shuts down all New York area airports.

9:21 a.m. - Bridges and tunnels leading into New York City are closed.

9:25 a.m. - All domestic flights are grounded by U.S. Federal Aviation Administration.

9:45 a.m. - American Flight 77 crashes into The Pentagon.

10:05 a.m. - The South Tower at the World Trade Center collapses.

10:05 a.m. - The White House is evacuated.

10:10 a.m. - A large section of one side of The Pentagon collapses.

10:10 a.m. - United Flight 93 crashes in a wooded area in Pennsylvania, after passengers confront hijackers.

10:28 a.m. - The North Tower at the World Trade Center collapses.

Though this day was a horrible act of terrorism, we showed them that they can't bring us down.

We are strong. We are united. We are Americans.

Pass the Morphine

2009-09-04T17:39:00.000-04:00

Today as I logged onto Facebook, I saw a new one of their improvements had been advertised, again. They created a widget to go on the side of blogs and other websites so that people who view sites like this have the oppurtunity to look at my status and profile picture without ever leaving my blog!! It's on the bottom left.

So check it out if you want. They call them Facebook Badges. Free advertising for Facebook, more of me to you, more Facebook for me. This is definitely a mutualism.

This weekend my grandparents are coming down. My grandpa is about to have surgery on his eye. Apparently it's cancer, but not life threatening. Keep him in your prayers anyway!!

I hate surgeries. Whether is be me (which has not happened yet) or someone else, I always mentally cringe at the thought of going under in pain and coming out with even more pain than you started with, because someone has taken a knife or something and cut you open, then sealed you back up. I can watch surgeries and stuff, because it's not the blood or guts that bother me. It's the concept and the sharp utensils. And I really feel bad for those people who wake up in the middle of surgery and feel the immense pain but cannot do anything. I also feel really, really bad for the people who go under and the doctors made a mistake.

"Umm, wait, I thought I was supposed to lose my right leg?"
"Oh, my bad! Well we'll take that one off as well I suppose. Sorry about that."

Surprisingly enough, it happens!

Why haven't I had a surgery? Well, due to the fact that I like to play it safe so that I can stay as far away from the doctor as long as I possibly can, I have never broken any major bones or had any stitches. Nothing. Broken toes don't need repair. They just swell up and grow back in all twisted and gnarly. So I am pretty sure that the first surgery I am going to have to sadly endure is the painful one of the removal of my wisdom teeth. I went to the dentist last week and saw an x-ray of my teeth. The dental hygeinist was showing me how my wisdom teeth on both sides were growing in such a way ---> / \ that I will have to have them removed, just like 82% of the population. If I don't, they eventually lead to crowding, pressure, gum problems, sores, absesses, blah blah blah. I am dreading the day. You guys know how freaked out I get around needles!! (see prior post) Just wait and see: I'll end up passing out on the table from stress and cardiac arrest as soon as they pick up the needle. Then they can just put it in, knock me out completely, and numb it. Please pass the morphine.

Is Having 19 Kids a Gift or an Obsession?

2009-09-01T23:24:00.000-04:00

So if you've been living under a rock for a while, this will all be new to you.

Most of us know who the Duggars are. A different kind of family, Michelle and Jim-Bob have naturally conceived and had 18 children. EIGHTEEN!!! The Duggars' 18 children all have names starting with the letter J and include two sets of twins. Along with Josh (21) and Jordyn-Grace (1), the family includes: Jana and John-David, 19; Jill, 18; Jessa, 16; Jinger, 15; Joseph, 14; Josiah, 13; Joy-Anna, 11; Jeremiah and Jedidiah, 10; Jason, 9; James, 8; Justin, 6; Jackson, 5; Johannah, 3; and Jennifer, 2. They live in a 7,000 sq ft house in a little town in Arkansas where the manage commercial real-estate. Of course, the real-estate isn't what got them that huge house (which they built themselves). Nope. It was the money from their shows and appearances. Not only do they have fun making episodes and such, but they also make tons of money to support their family. Just think of how much money it takes to keep them running. I think they said that groceries alone were 2-3 thousand dollars a week. They use coupons and stuff though, so they really do look for deals and the most ways to save money.

They say they'll keep welcoming more children as long as Michelle is able to have them.

But wait, there's more!

SHE'S PREGNANT. AGAIN.

Yes, baby number 19 is on its way. 19 kids!!!

And their oldest son, Josh, married and he and his wife Anna are now expecting their first child, a girl. So if you think about it, Michelle and Jim-Bob's grandchild is going to be older than their currently youngest child. Which also means that Josh's daughter's aunt is going to be 5 months younger than her.

Here's another cool thing that's different about this family: Michelle home schooled ALL of them. Also, ALL of them know how to play a string instrument (which she also taught them). Now, I am not discriminating against the Duggars in any way. I support them! If Michelle feels that what she is meant to do is to have kids and raise them well, then by all means, great for her! I love their values and the way they have their lives together. They are also amazingly organized and successful. I watch their show whenever it's on when I have time. This truly is an incredible family!

DaFont

2009-08-30T22:42:00.000-04:00

In visual communications, (aka: graphic design, aka: the class during which we do seemingly nothing), we're actually doing something! Surprising, yes, I know. We're doing a project using pen and ink. We went online and got these crazy awesome fonts and then printed them off, traced them on the light board, then filled them in using the ink and brushes or pens.

This website is amazing! It's called dafont.com, and you can go on there and get any font you ever dreamed of and more! All you do is go on, download the font for free, and it will appear in your text options in Word or whatever. Even if you do not plan on downloading anything, you should go on to the website and check it out for yourself!!

DAFONT.COM !!!!!!!!!!!

A Totally Random Thursday #1

2009-08-27T17:49:00.000-04:00

Apparently, the above billboard has been put up all over Florida to inspire people to go vegetarian. It is creative and funny at the same time! Because, as I have said before, Americans are overweight! (Especially in Florida...) However, I personally would probably die if I ever stopped eating meat. I love it. And yes, I also love cows, chickens, and cute little piggies as animals. I do feel sad sometimes when I see them in the back of the semi trucks headed toward the slaughter-house. :'( I feel very sad. But though I do show sympathy for the poor little animals, I also recognize the fact that the circle of life (thank you Simba) goes on. And on. And on and on and on. But we do have to eat something with sufficient protein to function as a human race and therefore, we eat meat. Sorry Wilbur.

Today I also saw an article about how teens are texting too much. The over-analytical scientists, psychologists, psychiatrists, and people all got together and decided to over-think texting. They came up with results such as "teens are texting so much their thumbs ache, leading to early arthritis". Here's some of the article...

"The Times story goes on to quote a series of physicians and psychologists, who tick off a list of possible physical and mental health effects from the constant flow of text messages—for example, sleep deprivation as teens fire off SMS replies late at night, "terrific anxiety" over the fear of "being out the loop," and even repetitive-stress injuries as thumbs fly across the keypads."

Terrific anxiety? Over the fear of being 'out of the loop'?? Stress injuries in your thumbs??

Ok, so sleep deprivation I have seen. And been a part of. But just during the summer and because I was talking to certain people at 1 in the morning does not mean that I have mental problems or am an addict. I have NEVER heard of 'sore thumbs'. Or terrific anxiety, for that matter. Texting is fun and an easy way to keep up with people. Someone also pointed out that you reveal more personal things about yourself while texting someone than you actually would during a face to face conversation. Which I also agree with. They even went as far to say that people are becoming shut ins because they have no personal contact with their friends. Ok then... let them think that.

Oh and on Sunday! My mom and I were driving home from Wally World when we get this frantic phone call from my little brother. He was crying hysterically, sobbing uncontrollably. Once Mom got him calmed down a little bit, he said that he went out to get Smokey (our little cockatiel) to play with him and the garage door was open. His wings weren't clipped and he got out and flew away. Sam followed him around the house, from tree to tree for 10 minutes before losing sight of him. We got home and calmed him down again and then tried looking for him ourselves. I knew from the start we would never find him. He was gone. We tried putting Peaches out in their cage so he would hear her. My mom even started whistling for him. I gave up and went over to talk to the neighbors. Then I heard him. And again. Surprisingly, we found him!!! He was sitting in our neighbor's tree/bush looking at like "Aww man. Is my burst of freedom really over??"

Yes, it was.

Farragut Football!!!

2009-08-22T00:04:00.000-04:00

So, I went to the game tonight! We beat the other team by about 20 points and every one was crazy excited because it was the first real normal game of the season. For the seniors, it was Toga Night. I was surprised at the creativity of some people. And then there were the guys who wore some sort of material that looked like skirts and of course, they had no shirts on. Even though the togas were cool, I saw that some guys just used it as an excuse to walk around and show off their 6 packs and hard core abs or whatever. (not that I minded lol)
After the game was a dance or something for freshmen but the seniors and a few juniors came in to help make it crazier. Some people really surprised me with their dancing skills! (haha Caleb) They gave out a bunch of prizes- usually $20 gift cards- throughout the dance. Though the party/thing was weird yet crazy and very interesting, I still had a lot of fun!

The Case of the Biology Murder

2009-08-20T19:30:00.000-04:00

I have a really cool science teacher again! She keeps things really interesting and upbeat. Despite the fact that our class is held in what was previously an unaveragely large janitor's closet, we hae fun. (The fact that it's the last class of the day is cool too). So today in biology, we had our first day in the lab. To get used to the place, we did a little activity. We partnered up and one person out of each group pulled a piece of hair out and made two slides. The teacher then numbered each group of slides 1-9. Out of the second group, she labeled one as "E". So we had to look through the microscope at each piece of hair and try to find a match with the "E". It is surprisingly fun to look at hair through the scope! It just makes you want to look at tons of other random stuff to see what it's composition looks like when it has been finely picked apart and viewed.

Sometimes I wish we could put people under a microsope. We could see every thought and view and hopes and dreams and wishes and wonders. It would be a lot easier if people were more transparent!!

One Foot in the Door

2009-08-18T16:59:00.000-04:00

Ok, the second day is over. Well more like the first day because yesterday was only a half day... It was better and, as I figured I would, I actually enjoyed it a lot more than Monday.

So I need to go buy an umbrella or something so I won't get drenched from when I have to walk to and from the vocational building. I really don't mind the walk, but if it rains, I sure will. Still not liking the class schedule. I hate sitting in math for an hour and a half. But since it's in the morning, I do like getting it over with for the day. Though she is already giving us a quiz tomorrow...

My lunch is last (1:20!!!) but my v.c. teacher said that we can have food in her class and even start eating our lunches in that class since it's so long- cool. I love it! I do like having a really empty cafeteria though, so 4th lunch isn't that bad.

The bus (lame, yes) is crazily crowded this year so besides being able to barely breathe, I love being with my 8th grade friends!! Lol...

So yeah... I'm out of random stuff to tell you guys about. How was your first full day?

Welcome Freshies

2009-08-17T21:50:00.000-04:00

The thing that I hate about being a freshman is the constant buzz of degrading remarks releating to the unaviodable fact of me being in 9th grade. What makes them so high and mighty?? I heard things like "Oh my God. Look at all of these stupid freshmen." and "Look at the little freshman.. they think they're so cool-hahahahaha". First of all, the fact that they are generalizing me is so annoying. Gosh! Why are they are just so full of it? But the stupidity of the upper classmen doesn't really get to me at all! I just wish they would be more open and less arrogant.

Anyway, my first day wasn't that great... It was alright. High school is just alright. Not amazing like every one says and builds it up to be. I barely have a class with any of my friends. And I just feel left out. The halls are annoyingly crowded. Did I mention I feel lonely?

I can usually adjust to change and stuff really easily! It's just that for once, I got hit. High school slapped me in the face! I need to get used to it but it's just weird.

Anyway, it's only the first day. As of now, I liked middle school better. It was easier, more friendly, and comfortable. And it really seemed like I had more friends... Please, people of the world, talk to me. I really need someone right now. So I guess that I really need to stop being a pre judger because it was only the first day! A half day at that. Maybe I'll end up loving it! But today was not great.

An Interesting Post of Advice #2

2009-08-17T21:15:00.000-04:00

Ok, so tonight I was out on another adventure in one of my favorite places in this town- Turkey Creek. But instead of the usual, something kept happening over and over. EVERYWHERE I went, it followed me. What was it? PDA.

One of my favorite weird websites is urbandictionary.com. You might have heard of it. This is how the geniuses who write the urban dictionary define PDA..

PDA

Public Displays of Affection, can be seen in the form of kissing, touching, groping, licking, nuzzling, cuddling, crossing hands into each other's opposite back pockets, etc. Usually spotted among new couples, frisky teenagers, and occasionally the "young at heart" (god help us).

Also, a handheld computer of sorts.
Jen and Craig's PDAs at the table were so intense that there was actually slobber on the green bean casserole.

Look at my new PDA!

Ok, so we all know what it is. We see it at school and out in public places like Turkey Creek or the mall especially, but tonight it seemed to come along with me everywhere.

Couple #1...

So first up was "the frisky teenagers". In front of Target was a couple (my age, sadly I knew them) who is known for their boldness to publicy display affection a lot. A LOT. And then take pictures of it and post it on Facebook... Anyway, they were walking together and holding eachother and swinging their hands together and then she like grabbed him and he grabbed her and pretty much pinned her against the wall and started sucking her face off.

.............

Umm...

Couple #2
Later outside Verizon, another frisky teenage EMO couple were like pressed into eachother... interestingly... and he was also making out with her. (Are emos even capable of emotion...?)

Couple #3

AND THEN when I was eating a couple (who were not teenagers, but apparently young at heart) sat down a few tables away, right in my line of sight. After ordering their food, they decided to pass the time cuddling, cooing, and kissing.

I have no problem with people showing their affection for their significant other.... but come on. When it's to the point of almost making me want to gag on my sandwich, someone needs to get a room.

I think you get the advice I'm trying to give you all here. Take it, please. If you end up in an "overly affectionate" relationship (which I hope you aren't in), spare the person who's trying to eat their sandwich. Please.

Ok, so thats my 2nd post of advice. And who knows? Maybe I am being a total uninformed biast person. Maybe I am just giving out advice in the dark. Maybe I just need a boyfriend. Lol, who knows??

Why Blog? And A Request to my Readers!!

2009-08-16T21:44:00.000-04:00

If someone asks what my are hobbies, I usually say theatre, basketball, (other stuff) and blogging.

Blogging? What's that? It's a hobby?

Of course, I consider it a hobby. I pour my heart and thoughts and everything into my interesting little posts. And apparently you love it (or at least tolerate it) because you took the time out of your day to come and check for new posts! And I love it that you love it! The thing that really makes me happy is when I come back before writing a new post and see that someone has commented on my prior post. PLEAAASE COMMENT!!! I love reading reactions and comments- it lets me know that other people actually understand my points, what I'm going through, and what I'm saying!!

So in relation to the comments (which you all need to do more often lol)- If you feel like it, take a few seconds to comment on this post telling me why you even bother to read my constant rambling. Sometimes it really just feels like I'm talking and giving advice to no one!!! Seriously! It's like I'm on a deserted island and I'm just shouting out over the ocean but no one can hear me. In the ocean, being the vast internet, my blog is just a little island of paradise that is very small, so nobody sees it but you readers!! So I am begging you to comment on everything you have time for!!

ANYWAY, the little freshman test drive on Friday was cool. I have some (seemingly) good teachers and I found out that visual communications is everything I love! It's basically a class on PHOTOSHOP!!! How cool is that?!?

And Landon got a car on Saturday!! WOOT WOOT!! At the beginning of the summer, he set the goal that he would have a car by the end up the summer. And he reached it 2 days before school started! I am so happy for him and almost inspired by his will-power and committment to working and saving all of that money. Congrats bro! It's a '96 Honda Passport, in case you were wondering. OK SO DON'T FORGET TO COMMENT!!!

Aww his first cars!! Yes, that's him on his little yellow car as a baby!!

Over in Loompa Land...

2009-08-13T23:40:00.000-04:00

I am running out of new things to ramble about, so I'm taking a swipe at American history. I promise I will have new stuff once school starts guys!!

Have you ever thought about how us Americans are always referring to how much more advanced other countries are than us?

For example, you hear people saying all the time stuff like...

"Yeah well you know, over in China, they use their really developed ancient medicine and the herbs work better than the stuff we're throwing together!"

Or...

"Well, over in Europe, they detox themselves 2-3 times a year and that's how they stay so healthy!"

"Over in Germany, they use nuclear energy for most of their power needs and they're doing quite well!"

"Have you seen that over in Japan, they just made a robot that can play the violin!? And did you know they're almost done with a robot that's outsmarting its creator? They'll be taking over the world soon enough! Is that cool or what?!? Go Japan!"

Ok, well that last one was almost all a joke (ha ha, I know.)

But anyway, it's so true! People here are always talking about the developments in other countries and how great they are. But what about us? Do people over in China ever talk about us? How about Europe?

Sure, I know (from an inside source) that the Asians love talking about our overweight population. Well I think that the sad truth about that is that Americans are exposed to much more food than people in China and stuff. We eat more than rice because we can. We have options and a smaller population density. I bet that if we let all of the people in China come to America and give them money to eat on, the national percentage of body weight/ mass would dramatically increase. Ha!

Ok, enough about that.

Anyway, WE are the ones who had the first telephone. It was invented here. First radio broadcast of voice and music, first successful Television demonstration, first tape recorder, etc.

Going back through some inventions, we've invented things such as Benjamin Franklin's first ocean current map, the first cotton gin (yes, the plans were stolen from Britain lol), milling machine, electric doorbell, reaping machine, telegraph, the wrench, the revolver, condensed milk, BASEBALL, the potato chip, the inverted microscope, the clothespin, rolled toilet paper lol, burglar alarm, can opener, modern oil well drill, modern water tower, postcard, four wheeled roller skates, breakfast cereal, motorcycle, barbed wire, paperclips, tape measurer, vaccum cleaner, paper bag, clothes hanger, fire hydrant, hand mixer, cream cheese, a diner, jeans, earmuffs, electric dental drills, airbrush, dishwasher, COCA- COLA!!! The list goes on! And after researching this stuff, I really appreciate the creative people who invented it all! They really have molded life as we know it!
The list goes on, I stopped at about 1890. Here's the rest of it:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_United_States_inventions

Yes, I understand that over in China and Europe, they don't say "Hey! Did you know that those smart Americans over there in America invented rolled toilet paper?!?!?" but I don't think they appreciate us enough!! I mean, where would we be without cream cheese, roller skates, and paperclips?

Oh, the Woes of Going Back to School....

2009-08-10T23:36:00.000-04:00

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2029191&id=1075335760&l=c7d73f76c6

Above is the link to see some of the photos we took in Louisville!

Everytime I try to watch something on TV, a 'back to school' commercial comes on and ruins my mood. It does not feel like it's time!! I didn't go to summer insanity, I haven't been school shopping, and I haven't started getting anything together!! I am going to be an unprepared wreck on Friday!! Lol, well maybe not a wreck!

I do think it's pretty cool how they're going to let the freshies come and try to run through our schedules on the 14th. It will give me a chance to get to know where everything is and where I'm going. And what I need to get... which is probably just some paper and a few binders really. Oh, and I didn't read my summer reading requirements so I need to go look at some notes or something!!

I really really really really really really DON'T want summer to be over!!!

Red and Green Don't Go Together Unless it's December!

2009-08-07T12:07:00.000-04:00

Seeing as I'm in Louisville right now, I'm going to miss summer insanity. Oh darn. I guess that menas I'll be taking the locker leftovers whenever I get back. My creepy mentor with the black nails and strange beret called me this morning and left me an out-of-character cheery message, telling me to meet her at the commons at a certain time or something. I then had to break the news that her favorite freshman (aka me, indicated by the x's for death eyes she drew on only my nametag bear) would not be there to meet her at the commons. Oh well!!
It's been a lot of fun up here this week! We got our nails done yesterday, and of course, I chose the two brightest colors I could find- bright lime green and really bright peachy-red. The Asian guy (JIM!!) who did my nails tried to make small talk which ended up being more like...
Jim- lijfhoeruhgpg
Me- What??

It was pretty funnny because I think he gave up trying to communicate with me. I have problems talking to people with really bad accents!! Especially Asians!

So when he finally finished my nails, I went over to the blue drying light thing. After about 5 seconds, another old lady came and sat next to me. She took one look at my crazy youthful blinding shining nails and did a double take.

"Oh" she smiled, "Chirstmas colors! Nice!"

Ugh. I looked down and realized that yes, I did end up picking green and red. But it's more like a tropical Christmas I guess because I got lime green and bright red. It was then that I made a mental note-

Red and green don't go together that well unless it's December. Darn it.

An Interesting Post of Advice #1

2009-08-02T00:31:00.000-04:00

Ok, so here I am, stepping out into the world of advice. This time I'm doing it on a common and annoying issue. Enjoy!

"Finding Mr. Right"

Because two wrongs don't make a right.

People are so worried about finding the guy. But the truth is, most of the people worrying shouldn't be. Mr. Right isn't always who you want him to be. There will always be flaws in him that you might have to overlook for him to be 'the one'. You don't want Mr. Wrong, but you always get stuck with him a few times.

On a whim, I have put together this post based on relationships I've seen and kind of been in/ experienced. So have fun!

1) Mr. Right isn't always going to be Mr. Perfect.

Women are so hung up on the idea of Mr. Right. He's going to be Mr. Good Looking, Mr. Well Mannered, Mr. I Love Dogs, Mr. WHATEVER. There probably isn't a person out there who is going to fit all of your criteria and have no flaws. You have to be open to finding a great guy who could be the one BUT forgets to put the cap on the toothpaste every once in a while. I don't know. So:

Lesson 1: Be Open and Ready to Accept

2) <3 Urself

Because how can you find 'love' if you don't even know what it is?? You need to live your life to the fullest. If you're living your life waiting for Mr. Right to come along and fix it, you're in big trouble. If you live your life without a gap, one day when you think that your amazing life just couldn't get any better, 'the one' will come along and just rock your world and make it even more amazing!!

Lesson 2: Love Yourself, Sista

3) List Time!

Yeah, that's right. I said make a list. It's good to have a list down of all of the traits you want in a guy BEFORE you start dating someone. If you try to make it while you're seeing someone, you will skip around some things that that guy doesn't exactly measure up to and mold the list so that it seems HE is 'the one'. NO. You must make it while you are single. Write down the list when you have time. It has no limit and you can add onto it whenever you want.

For example....

Mr. Right

God- centered, humble, able to plan and execute his plan, have good ethics, romantic, spontaneous, hospitable, on time, well mannered, very good personal hygeine, intelligent, loves animals, adventurous, open minded, emotionally mature, great sense of humor, no alcohol/ drugs, good listener, adaptable, financially stable, independent, capable of unconditionally love, likes to travel, loves nature, respectful, honest, loyal, trustworthy, self confident, priorities in order, common interests, no hot temper, supportive, outgoing, encouraging, perceptive, realistic, organized, common goals, clean, generous, hardworking, respects my freedom, positive attitude, considerate, caring, loving, etc.

Now, I know I said above that you have to acceot people for their flaws. But remember this, NEVER LOWER YOUR STANDARDS. It only disappoints you in the end. Also, don't just date to be dating. Anyone can pick up a rock off the street and call it theirs. It takes patience and persistence to find a gem.

(So if you didn't get that analogy, hopefully you won't be dating someone for a while) Anyway, take that and use it. I know that for most of the peolpe who read this, we don't even really need to bother with thinking about finding Mr. Right. But whatever. For future reference then!!

So I hoped you enjoyed my little advice column there. If you didn't get anything out of it, hopefully it was amusing in some way!! I actually had fun writing it so maybe I'll make advice a wekly event!

FriendBot

2009-07-31T23:08:00.000-04:00

So I saw this weird thing on Facebook called 'friendbot' and I was bored so I decided to try it out. It apparently uses "advanced calculations" to figure out who my 'real' best buddies are. Here's what it said-

#1 Jordan Kirchner - Best friend
#2 Landon Lucas - The funny one
#3 Gloria Yu - Drinking buddy
#4 Olivia Jeannette McGregor - The trouble maker
#5 Elizabeth Anne Ozment - The partier

I have to agree that Gloria is definitely my drinking buddy and Olivia is the trouble maker. And of course, Jordan Kirchner is my best friend. Ha ha. And Landon is the funny one! As for Liz Anne, I don't really know!

Anyway, so the guys are all gone to Middlesboro for the weekend and I am taking care of the neighbor's dog and chillin with Mom. Tonight we went and saw "The Ugly Truth". It was hilarious!

Instead of taking a slim chance on catching a free ride on a flight to Louisville on Tuesday, a friend (Mrs. Bowling!!) is actually driving up there on Wednesday and we're going to ride with her!! ROAD TRIP!! And the Escalade will be an awesome ride. YES!! Hopefully nothing changes between now and then so that we can definitely go! WOOT WOOT!!

Blue Nails

2009-07-30T14:18:00.000-04:00

Ok so I bought this amazingly blue nail polish and I must say, it earns the title of crazy awesome! I just wish I could take a picture of it! If only I had my memory card.. stupid fish.

Oh wait! Ha ha! I didn't even write about my little fishing experience! Ok, so here's what happened...

After finding out that our special little bait shop had closed early due to a family emergency, we were left to fish with bait of the fake variety- aka everything in our tackle box. With a fake minnow on my line, I immeadiately pulled a little Bluegill out of the water. Then another. Then another. Then another. Of course, after each catch, I took a picture of the fish, and one of me with the fish. Then I sat the camera down on the dock and tossed the fish back.

Now, I knew that something bad would probably happen. Electronics and water don't ever mix. But I ignored the little voice in the back of my mind telling me to leave the camera in the car and rebelled.

Well after the 5th fish, I was taking a picture when the thing flipped around, got off the hook, and made me drop my camera. The camera hit the dock and the bottom thing busted open. The batteries surprisingly went nowhere, but the force of the drop turned the memory card into an unstoppable projectile and I watched as it (in slow motion of course) flew out over the water and then met its match when the force wore off and it went down under the water.

My 4 GB memory card was gone.

I didn't know what to do. I thought about crying, but then I realized that it wasn't that bad. I had all of my pictures (except the ones of my fishing escapade) on my computer. AND I had another 2 GB card at home. So I stood up after staring into the water for a few minutes, put my camera away, and went back to fishing. I caught 2 more after that.

So at the end of the day it was:

Savannah- 7
Sam- 0
Dad- 0
Memory Card eating Fish- 1
Karma- Infinity and beyond

Ahhh, Summer...

2009-07-27T18:33:00.000-04:00

Day 1 of Freedom:

I stayed up till about 2, so I ended up sleeping in till 11:30 when I awoke to the wonderful smell of love as Sam served me breakfast in bed. Later I took Sam on a bike ride and we went to Mellow Mushroom and Walgreens (of course). After eating dinner there, we rode back home. The whole way back, I had to hear Sam complaining of how tired he was and how much his legs hurt. We ended up stopping at the bottom of the hill in my neighborhood to rest and wait for my dad to come pick us up- because I couldn't just ride home and leave Sam sitting there alone- when I heard one of my favorite sounds in the world. That creepy song that is blared out of the speakers on top of the ice cream truck filled the air as it came closer to us. This is a big deal cuz the ice cream man NEVER NEVER NEVER comes to my neighborhood. NEVER. So I bought us ice creams and then the ice cream man drove away into the sunset...

Okay, not the sunset, but you get the picture.

Anyway, that's pretty much it. We might be going fishing later so let's hope I actually catch something bigger than my thumb this time!!!

Oh and ask me about the guy who told me he's in love with me. It's pretty interesting!!

My Summer Day Job = GONE!!

2009-07-24T22:39:00.000-04:00

Since I haven't updated in a while, here's what's been going on...

In Loving Memory of Jeanette Adelia Hughes...

On July 18th, my great grandmother passed away. She was almost 92 years old and I knew her by the name 'Nanny". What is surprising to most people is that I actually knew her well. She wasn't just some random distant relative. She had congestive heart failure for about 3 years and then Jesus called her home. Her 1st husband- known as Pops- died of lung cancer a long time ago- 1977. She remarried and out-lived her 2nd husband as well- Charles. Nanny always loved every creature that walked the earth- well, her backyard at least. She always had her bird feeder full and she loved to watch them twit around and sing her their songs. If a bird was singing, she could tell you the exact kind it was. She lived through the Great Depression, World War II and everything else since her year of birth 1917. Every day at 3 o'clock, she had her Creme Sherry, and never, missed a day, even at 92! She was the youngest of 8 children, had 2 husbands, 3 kids, 8 grand children, 8 great grand children, 1 great great grand child, plus one on the way. We loved her so, so much and she loved us all even more. Even though I am really sad that she's gone, I know she's dancing in Heaven now with God and her family and friends, and I will see her again.

So we drove up on Tuesday for the funeral and then came back Wednesday night. A lot of my family was there that I hadn't seen in a while and it was so great to be with them again!

It's so crazy to think that today was the last of me at Drama Camp until next summer. Since I'm not involved in any summer sports or anything, for the past 6 weeks I have been at Webb from 9-2, working with and teaching and learning from and helping and making friends and having fun with the kids. And having a blast with Rosina, Logan, and Beth (aka Donna). Now that it is over, I have absolutely nothing to do for the rest of the summer!!

*GASP*

I know. It's going to be weird. I will actually have time to do stuff with my friends, go places, etc. during the day. (Speaking of which, I have not yet seen the 6th Harry Potter movie. Is it any good??)

In a few weeks, I am flying up to Louisville with my brothers to spend almost a week with my awesome grandparents and my incredibly amazing cousin! I have not seen her in FOREVER and it's going to be so much fun! Wooo!!

Trend Setter

2009-07-15T19:03:00.000-04:00

Today it started raining out of nowhere. I was just sitting here by my window when all of a sudden rain started pouring down. About 10 minutes into the downpour, I heard a bird start to chirp and sing. Me and my always metaphorical mind immeadiately saw a connection. Ehemm-

Even in the storm, the sparrow sings.

I think God was trying to show me something. This little singing bird sitting right outside my window revealed to me that even in the worst situations, problems, and positions, there's nothing that's keeping you from fighting back with an optimistic and positive attitude.

So there's your daily qoute of inspiration.

Anyway, we have some crazy kids again this week, but they have started to listen to us more! I am going to play Miss Hannigan in 'Annie' because we didn't have enough strong girls who weren't already given a part. So yeah.. I get to be an evil, bitter old woman. Woo! Oh and today I started a new trend!

Ehemm...

CAUTION TAPE HEADBANDS!!

Yeah, you know it. In a few weeks, people will be walking around with them on. But you saw it here first!

Crazy? No. Dillusional? Not a chance. Genius? Most definitely.

Discoveries

2009-07-11T20:55:00.000-04:00

This week camp was amazing. God came into us and filled us with his love and showed us his glory. For the 8th graders, it was a very awesome yet emotional experience. Everything that happened on Friday night really showed us how much we are bonded together and how close we all are.

Though it was our last year at camp and almost the end of our experience with the middle school ministry, as Stan said, it is only the closing of one chapter and the beginning of another. Just because middle school is over does not mean that we are done. We're opening the next chapter of our spiritual journey- high school. It might seem intimidating because venturing out into the unknown always is. But the thing that is always there to reassure me is the fact that we have God on our side and in our hearts. I am so blessed that I will have you guys at my side as well. To know that you will be the ones who will always be standing beside me and there to catch me when I fall is more than I could ever want. We can all get through anything together. And even though the transition is a huge one, we can make it. Because as you know, Phillippians 4:13 says this: "I can do all things through Christ who strenthgens me." And with minds and hearts for Him, we can achieve anything. It just really helps me knowing that I will also be surrounded by a group of some of the strongest Christians I have ever known.

To the rising 8th graders, I have but one thing to say- you all will do amazing. Watching you at school, church, and getting to know you at camp has shown me how great you all are. Seeing Him shine through you is the most awesome feeling. I know a lot of you are worrying and nervous about having to be leaders, but do not worry- it will be ok.
Phillippians 4:6 says this: "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God."
Though I can already see that you will be very strong leaders, if you are still unsure, just pray. Pray that God will give you the strength to lead and set great examples. I have been praying for you, and I know many other people have been praying as well.
Another thing that you all have to realize is that though you may look to us for guidance, we also look to you. Instead of us all looking up to the generation before us, we need to look to eachother. No matter what their age, people can lead anyone. You all have set great examples not only for the ones younger than you, but for all of us as well.
The last time Cham came to speak to us was Camp '06, when I was in 6th grade. The theme of the camp that year was based upon this verse:
"Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for all believers in speech, in life, in love, and in purity." -1 Timothy 4:12
From that point on, I have tried to be a leader and set a great example for everyone around me.

This year, I realized something. When I asked myself "Do I have a life worth telling stories about?" I saw that most of my stories do not reveal the amazing things that God has done for me or the things he has blessed me with. I have God in my heart and I live for him, but I wasn't living up to my full potential for Him. I didn't even realize that UNTIL I got home. I came across this verse:
"Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?" And I said, "Here am I. Send me!" -Isaiah 6:8

Not only have I found the verse that is the soul mate of my all time favorite verse ("'For know the plans I have for you,' declares the Lord, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future.'" -Jeremiah 29:11), but I also discovered that I just need to give it up and lay all of my burdens, my problems, my flaws, my everything at his feet and do anything and everything he tells me to do. I had been praying that He would show me what it is that I need to do with my gifts. I see that now all I have to do is continue to let His love and His light shine through me and into His world and His people. When He wants me to see what I need to do, He will reveal it to me and I will just know exactly what to do. He will let me know.

I just want to thank Stan, and Erin, and Darby, and the band and Wesley and Cham and everyone who made this week so great and special. I will love you all forever and one day I really hope to go into the ministry with you. I know you will be praying for me and all of us as we go into high school and beyond. Thank you so much for the past and for changing my life.

God bless everyone who reads this and thank you for being in my life!

Pass Me a Firecracker!

2009-07-05T16:48:00.000-04:00

I had a great time at the lake this weekend. Usually there are about 15 people there, but this time we outdid ourselves. These are the people who were there-

Adults (parents): Jeff, Johanna, Mom, Dad, Sally, Tim, Joey, Michelle

By age-

Colton- 18

Kelsey (guy)- 18

Johnny- 17

Sarah- 16

Landon- 16

Jenna- 16

Me- 14

Ashton- 14

Boone- 14

Wyatt- 13

Blair- 13

Sam- 11

Ben- 9

Hank- 9

Bryce- 4

Bottom Row (left to right): Boone, Landon, Kelsey, Colton, Johnny

Second Row: Blair, Savannah, Jenna, Wyatt, Ben, Sam

Top: Bryce, Hank

For a total of... 15

+ 8

= 23

So if I counted everyone correctly, we had 23 people.

Finding a place to sleep was the hard part. The lakehouse is huge but there are limited beds. The rest of us who were unfortunate enough to miss out on a bed slept on cots and pull out beds from the couch and air mattresses and couches. I really didn't mind though. It was fun.

So on Saturday, we took out both boats and jet skis and spent the day on the lake. When we got back to the house around 5, Mr. B went out to buy more fireworks. As if two grand's worth wasn't enough... jk. But the temporary firework superstores start slashing the prices at the very last minute. So they took advantage of that and left for about an hour. When they got back, we headed just across the cove to a...

PIG ROAST!!!

I have never been to a pig roast. They roasted the whole pigs in a giant smoker/ oven. It wass kinda weird... especially when I looked down and saw this-

Yes, that is a pig head.*

*enlarged to show texture ;)

The people who hosted the roast had really nice land and a cool setup. In this huge garage, a buffet line was set up with tons of food and great desserts! So after the guys pulled the pork, all of these random people I didn't know started crowding toward me and the buffet line. I got my desserts and ran.

After we (me, Boone, Landon, Wyatt) got our food, we all just went down and sat on the boat, listening to music, sharing desserts, and chillin.

Right before we headed back to the house to get our firework stash ready, a huge block headed yellow lab named Rosco decided that he wanted me to throw his stick in the water and play fetch with him. So I did.

Later, the fireworks were amazing. Of course we had the best on the entire lake! Duh! Half the people form the pig roast came over and we all sat on the long driveway down toward the dock and gazed up at the spectacular show of brilliant fireworks. It was so great! We had them going off in every direction! Tons of different colors, thousands of flashes!

And then...

It started to rain.

So everyone ran inside. After we got over the fact that the rain ruined our amazing light show, most of us settled down in the big open living room. Colton got out his guitar and played and sang for us. Kelsey, his friend, sang with him. They both have great voices and they blended together well.

When the rain stopped, we went down and shot off some more fireworks ourselves and lit sparklers for the

little kids.

We ended up staying awake till about 2 before drifting about the house to salvage a sleeping spot.

So, it was a really great weekend.

This week, I will be at camp (church! yes!) until Saturday when I return. There I will take tons of pictures and have another amazing time! So no texting, calling, or blogging for a week. But that's ok! I made this blog extra long (unintentionally) so you'll have a lot to read. See ya! Have fun looking at the pictures!

Mom and Blair

Bryce, Blair, Ben, Sam, Mom, Landon, Me, Johanna, Boone

Same

Mom and Johanna.. with Blair :)

Cake!

Me, Blair, Jenna, Johanna, Sally, Michelle, Mom

Landon, Boone, Colton, Kelsey, and Bryce, the happy camper in the middle

Boone, Landon, Colton, Kelsey

Me and Blair

unintentional weird firework pic

Hope you had a great fourth!! I SURE DID :)

50th Post!

2009-07-03T22:01:00.001-04:00

I know 50 posts don't really add up to much, but I thought it was cool that I've been at it for this long! Well, really more like 100 posts since I switched from my old blogs. 100 posts, 100 days. Countless thoughts, rants, raves, dreams, situations, encounters, experiences, drama, happenings and much more. Blogging is so amazing!

Anyway, so in preperation for Camp (church this time. 5 days), I ended up cleaning out my drawers yet again because, well, I felt like it. And I found this!

Things Our Mothers Teach Us

Logic: "If you fall outta that tree and break your neck, don't come cryin to me."
Religion: "You better pray that this comes out of the carpet."
Time Travel: "If you don't straighten up this instant, I'll knock you into next week."
Contradictions: "Shut your mouth and eat your dinner."
Perserverence: "You better eat every last bite of your spinach."
Genetics: "You're acting just like your father."
The Circle of Life: "I brought you into this world and I can take you right back out!"

So yeah, I thought that it was funny. Because sometimes we hear those exact words come out of our mother's mouth!

So happy 50th blog post to me!!

Don't Touch the Mud Puppies

2009-06-30T20:19:00.000-04:00

Well, today we went up to the Smokies, as planned. We were headed toward our favorite swimming hole with our picnic lunch and snacks, ready for a day of fun. Landon claimed to know where we were going, but we ended up getting lost and then heading back down to Pigeon Forge. There we got ice cream at some little shop and then did a go kart track. It was fun! After All of our so-called picnic lunch was eaten in the car, we finally figured out where we were going once again and found our little piece of heaven. (on earth)

the most amazing place ever

As we were swimming, jumping off the cliff/rock, and attempting to spear fish, Mom saw a Copperhead swimming up next to the rock she was sitting on. After we all rushed over to see it (it swam away, deep underwater though) I carefully made my way back to where I was when I saw a big brown blob in the water. At first I thought it was a snake, but then I saw it was too fat. So I went underwater and discovered that it was a mud puppy! Mud puppies- basically giant salamanders- are apparently endangered and we are by law under no circumstances allowed to touch them or any other wildlife we come across.

Well, I broke the law and touched it and it swam away. Then after I yelled over to Mom that I had found a muduppy, about 7 people crowded around and one guy said that they bite, but he would try to catch it. He picked it up and it twisted back to try to bite him and then it went soaring through the air and plopped back into the water.

Anyway, very fun day!

The Swimming Hole

Sam

Part of the waterfall

Oh! And I've been using Blogger In Draft. It is the new version of Blogger, soon to be out permanently. It is very cool, has way more stuff to work with, and is faster. Go Blogger!!

MAS*H

2009-06-29T19:18:00.000-04:00

Since our neighbors are gone, we get to use their pool as we please. So does their daughter. She is over there CONSTANLY with her kids (7 &4), making it really hard to find a time to swim. And then she invites the rest of the soccer moms and we've looked over there and seen 7 or 8 cars at a time parked all down the driveway and on the grass. The funny thing is that if her dad ever found out that ALLLL of those people were coming and parking on his precious grass, he would have a heart attack!!! Anyway, we did get to swim tonight once she left after being there for 4 hours.

I have also been spending the day trying to sort out other people's complications. Here's the deal- Claire likes Bobby but Bobby just likes her as a friend. And in the midst of trying to convince Bobby otherwise, just realized that since yesterday I'm in the same position. But I'm Bobby!! Anyway, I started to see where Bobby was coming from and the whole 'we're friends, I don't want to ruin a friendship' thing actually made since. Because I feel the exact same way!!! But whatever... we'll see how things work out for the both of us.

Tomorrow I am going up to the Smokies with Mom, Sam, and Landon and we're going to our secret amazing swimming place. It's right up near Cade's Cove, but about 3 miles in the opposite direction. It is SO cool. (I'll take pictures) let's just hope we don't see another bear! 3 is enough for me!!

When Uncle Sam Comes A- Knockin'

2009-06-27T21:59:00.000-04:00

The irony of the world never ceases to ~~surprise~~ amaze me. My 91 year old great grandmother was called for jury duty. In the almost century of her life, she has never been summoned. And now, Uncle Sam is sought out to make it happen. Of course, she can't do it- she's on oxygen and bedridden- but if she had her way, she would march right down to the courthouse and serve up some justice. Screw her medical restraints!! But for now, it looks like Uncle Sam will have to find someone else.

Today I went and saw The Proposal. It was hilarious! It's about this uptight workaholic woman who is about to be deported back to Canada because of an expired Visa. Not wanting to throw her career down the drain, she sets up her executive assistant into marrying her so she can stay in the country. In turn, he gets to be promoted to editor. So they strike the deal and have to fake their way through their engagement and beyond. It was great! And it felt good to laugh!

Oh, and on Friday, I tried Menchies for the first time! I really like how they set up the place. If you've never been, you walk in and there's like a bar with all of these different yogurt flavors and you grab a cup and fill it with as much as you like. Then you go over to the toppings place and put whatever you want on your treat there as well. But the only thing is that yes, you can have whatever and how much you want, but they weigh it at the end and you end up paying more. Smart, though. Very smart.

ABC- Jackson 5

2009-06-26T20:56:00.000-04:00

I'll Be There-

2009-06-26T20:53:00.001-04:00

Wonka Mania!!

2009-06-25T20:01:00.000-04:00

Well, tonight was the first performance. Everyone did an amazing job!! With Logan and I being the only two people backstage, it was a challenge to get all of the scene changes completely done and the lights and everything right, but we pulled it off!!
Tomorrow, there will be another performance @ 1:00 pm (webb auditorium). You should really try to be there, because it's absolutely fantastic!!

Kate, Canon, Brandon, Erika, Sam, Paris, Alexa, Sarah, Riley, Evan, Lily, Danielle, Lawrence, and David- GREAT JOB!!! YOU PEOPLE ARE AMAZING!!!

During the show, there were only a few problems.And there was one that wasn't even our fault!! A lady walked in and opened up the huge utility door in the middle of the show. I was almost pulling my hair out when I heard that thing go up! It was so loud and it let in tons of light! Have they no respect for our work?? It worked out to where I closed while they were in the invention room... so it almost sounded like it should have happened.

The only other problem actually turned into a laugh! During the scene when they were in the nut room, Logan and I were tossing the squirrels- really multiple brown beanie baibes- back and forth so that they flew across the opening and made it look cool- and funny. Well, during one of the switches, our animals collided in mid air and plopped to the ground. Ha ha we got a laugh out of that!!!

Also, Michael Jackson died today. Though he was most recently known for being a creepy cross-race child predator, Michael Jackson actually was on top of the world of pop about 25 years ago. I like the songs he did with his brothers as the Jackson 5. He had a really rough childhood- his dad would beat him and his brothers until they sang and all of the kids watched as their father also beat their mother. So before he became a freaky guy, MJ made an impact in the world of music. I'm not going to say I'm glad he's dead like most people do... because it's weird that he's not around anymore. And he had a tour sold out and planned for the fall. I can't wait to see the stampede of people trying to get their money back!! Anyway, here's an excerpt from the article I saw on Yahoo!-

"As years went by, he became an increasingly freakish figure — a middle-aged man-child weirdly out of touch with grownup life. His skin became lighter, his nose narrower, and he spoke in a breathy, girlish voice. He surrounded himself with children at his Neverland ranch, often wore a germ mask while traveling and kept a pet chimpanzee named Bubbles as one of his closest companions."

Eva-lastin' Gobb-stoppas!!

2009-06-23T18:49:00.000-04:00

Yes, that is what I am eating, as I type. I think Wonka is getting to me!! Or maybe to Sam... he bought a box off Landon, lol. See, Landon is always getting money out of Sam by convincing him he needs something he doesn't have and then selling it to him himself. And he always manages to swindle him out of cash and make money. He would make a fantastic salesman!!

And after eating 5 gobstoppers, I am starting to get a headache... heheh! Anyway, things went back to normal as the day wore on and it was easier to deal with everything. People did start getting into their characters more and improved tremendously. I stayed late with Rosina, Logan, Sam, Susie, and Evan and we worked on the set till about 4. When I say set, I mostly mean the factory chocolate room. It is the most colorful, involved, and needy. So we created a colorful rainbow of props and scenery for the scenes.

In addition to solving the acting and technical issues, the few people I know who had issues with other people have told me that they worked them out and it's okay now. And the people who had a problem with me and my ways have also gotten over them, which makes everything so much easier. So that was great!

Oh and Sam made a blog!! It's sam-blogman.blogspot.com
He absolutely loves my blog and decided to make one of his own. Haha, it's cool to know that I am someone's inspiration. And who better than my little brother??

Me = Happy Blogger

2009-06-22T20:56:00.000-04:00

Well, in August Blogger is celebrating its 10th birthday! I have been with Blogger for 6 or 7 months now and I have absolutely loved it! It's given me an outlet for my opinions, thoughts, and experiences. It is also a great way for my friends to see what's going on in my life and stay connected. Unlike your classic Internet social networking sites such as Facebook or MySpace or Twitter, Blogger lets you connect with your friends, family, and fans on a much more personal level.
On a technological level, I love all of the different tools and widgets and gadgets that you get to add on and use. Even something as common as ABC Check has actually improved my spelling and typing skills. I have found that the more posts I create, the less highlighted words pop up when I check everything at the end!
Blogger is helping me get through my parents' divorce. I can vent, be crazy, talk to people, about people, about ANYTHING I even want because I just can. Because Blogger makes it possible. A blog is basically a modern day diary, or journal. The fact that it's on the Internet and much, much more modern than your classic pen and paper attracts more people (including myself) to the idea of keeping a little personal record of their lives, day-to-day and then sharing it with others.

So Happy Birthday Blogger, thank you, and keep the up the great work!

Heart of Glass

2009-06-22T14:40:00.000-04:00

After my two-and-a-half-day-movie-a-thon, I was so ready to get back to Webb for the last week of camp with some of the coolest people ever. My dog- Angel- woke me up at 5 am this morning, whining for security and comfort. I let her up on my bed and held her and stroked her back and calmed her down for about thirty minutes. The storm went away and I went back to sleep with my little dog curled up next to me.

Anyway, it started raining again when I woke up which screwed up the whole drop off process at Webb and cut into our time. I was so happy to see everyone again though!I couldn't wait to dive back into the play and polish it up.

And then everything fell apart.

No one at all really got into their characters. People weren't getting into their blocking either, ad seemed to forget everything they learned in the past few weeks. I think that everyone was frustrated with themselves and the others, and they are getting tired and bored of running the play over and over. I can't blame them... I guess I would get tired too.

And then came the marker!! Ha ha.

Ok, so in the dressing room, there was this Expo marker that smelled amazingly like cherries. Everyone started obsessing over it and I could see that it was going to be an issue. See, eventually it was going to get lost, damaged, or something and Webb is so freakin possessive of their stuff. We have to like ask them permission to tape something to the wall or move a chair. It's crazy!! Anyway, so I knew that if something happened to that stupid marker, I would be the one getting blamed. So I took it away. Why?

1)Because I don't think it's a good idea to let them be sniffing markers....
2) The whole Webb thing
3) It was getting to be a distraction

And they totally freaked out!! They started saying how much they hate me and then they decided to (and I qoute) "plot revenge on me at lunch." Okay, let them plot revenge... lol. And most of these girls are older! Even the ones that like me and I think are cool turned against me!

So after lunch they all decided to spring out at me and attack... or so they tried. And after that, all of them got over the whole marker thing and were cool again. EXCEPT for two of them. The two that I have probably been the nicest to. I guess they don't see that I'm trying to look out for them and be a leader and a friend.

I mean, okay, I took a marker. A MARKER, that wasn't even theirs, away from them. Big deal. But that's absolutely no reason whatsoever for them to stop listening to me, tell me they hate me and I'm a mean person repeatedey, or just disrespect. I have been nothing but nice to them. I have looked out for them and been a friend and treated them well and THIS is how they treat me? They have NO idea what I have been through this weekend and everything that's gone on. And now I have to deal with this?

This is our last week together andI sure hope they get over it so we can start having fun again.I also think that they're really cool people and they should just apologize and be chill about it.

This weather is killing me!! AAAHH!! Hot, muggy, miserable, almost unbearable!! It's gone on for almost 2 weeks and I can barely stand to go outside!! And the constant thunderstorms are aweful too!!

This Weekend and Beyond!

2009-06-21T10:28:00.001-04:00

Well, we were supposed to go up to Middlesboro this weekend to see my grandma and hang out with the Bowlings at there amazing house, but at the last minute my grandmother called and said that she wasn't feeling well and she wasn't up to it. So that was a bummer.

So what to do during this incredibly hot, muggy, almost unbearable weather? Well, we went to Blockbuster on Friday night and the guy told us about the summer movie pass. You pay $15 and you get 2 movies. But, during the course of the week, you can go back in as much as you want and switch those 2 movies out for 2 more. So we have been getting our money's worth out of that! Ha ha.

This week, one of my friends has nothing to do. So, she is going to be volunteering at Webb with me for the week! (Still Drama of course) It's time for one of the most over the top people I know to be in the environment she belongs in!! She will mostly be working on the set, but will probably help out with the kids.

So now Canon and Kate (two of the coolest girls ever!) will have someone else to follow around. Even though that probably won't happen.... Actually, I've come to like their ways of being around me every second. It's fun! And of course so is everyone else!! I'm going to be really sad when it's all over! I mean, we've been together 6 hours a day for 3 weeks and it's going to be weird when a new group comes in. :'( But I'll deal. I'll just have to wait for it to come! And it would be really cool if I ended up being able to babysit some of the kids. Then the fun would never end!!

Anyway, with Susie with me for a week... it's going to be.... interesting!! Hahaha!!

Chocolate Icing

2009-06-18T15:58:00.000-04:00

Every week at camp, we have icing incorporated into a snack at least once. Today we had sugar cookies and icing. (I got to take the rest of the icing home, as usual) Not a great combo though because they went crazy. Sugar rushes kept overwhelming them, one by one. It is very hard to deal with people who naturally have tons of energy (and loud voices). When you add sugar, it's nearly impossible!! At least we had pretty much finished up for the day, so that was good.

Tomorrow, we are doing a mini performance for a few of the different camps. I think we're just doing the first 3 or 4 scenes. And I get to be old Grandpa Joe because the guy who is supposed to play him isn't here, so I'm stepping in!! Yeah, that's right, I'm dressing up as an old man. Complete with the voice, the walk, and my dad's long sleeved plaid shirt. Oh and I put paint on my face and smeared it really well so it looks like I have man scruff. Ha ha!! I am a sight to see!! I'll take pictures! And I must say, being the amazing actress that I am, I'm pretty awesome!!! The lines were easy, of course! I got them after a few run throughs and didn't bother studying any more.

The play couldn't have been casted more perfectly. I absolutely love what everyone has done with their characters. The costumes are magnificent and it's going to be a lot of fun!! So if you want something to do tomorrow- or you just want to see me acting as an old guy- come to Webb at 1:00 pm. It's going to be great!

The entire performances will be on Thursday, June 25 @ 6:00 pm and Friday, June 26 @ 1:00 pm. Remember, the one tomorrow is just a sneak peek but I won't be playing the grandpa in any of the other ones. Let me know if you're coming!!

Once Upon a Gas Pump...

2009-06-16T21:59:00.000-04:00

Tonight Mom, Sam, and I were watching random shows. We saw Deadliest Catch- a show that I absolutely CANNOT STAND. It is so boring to me!! Ugh!

And then we remembered that '18 Kids and Counting' was on. If you haven't heard of this show, it's about a family who had 18 kids WITHOUT fertility treatment or anything. Some info- the oldest is around 20 (he and his new wife have a baby on the way) and the youngest is probably 6 or 7 months now. All of their kids' names start with a J, she home schooled all of them, and they all play an instrument. Anyway, the show follows them in their daily life and it's just so refreshing to see a grounded Christian family that is able to function perfectly even with that many kids. None of the kids fight and they all take care of each other. Yes, very refreshing!!

So during the commercials, Mom was like "If they ever did a show about me, what do you guys think it would be called? Would people watch it??"

So I said some sarcastic comment about stupidity and then of course we threw in the gas pump incident.

See, my mom broke her leg 2 years ago. It was reaally hard for her to get over and it just seemed like it took forever and a day for her to heal. How did Mom break her leg? Well, she was filling up her car at a certain gas station. She stuck the thing in the car after swiping her card and turned to put the card away while she waited. The gas pump hose twisted around her leg, suddenly throwing her off balance. She then landed on the concrete platform that was under/around the pump itself. Unfortunately, her ankle connected and she broke her leg/ankle in 3 places and completely tore the ligaments and muscles. It was a pretty painful experience.

Anyway, a chain of events happened because of this (sorry, not going into detail, would take too long) and now she has a completely different job and is absolutely loving it. And she's even closer to Christ than ever before. And to think, it all started with a gas pump..

Ha ha, so anyway, Sam and I decided that if Mom ever gets her TV show, it will be called "Once Upon a Gas Pump". Pretty great huh? Yeah you know you would totally watch it!! (Um yeah duh, I'd be on it!!)

Oh and today we were swimming (yes, at the neighbor's house!) when I opened up the skimmer to put in the chlorine tablet. And.. there was a dead RAT/MOLE/MOUSE floating!! I was like "GOOD GOD!! AAHHH!!!" and very quickly extracted myself from the pool because, quite frankly, it kind of creeped me out to know that I had basically been swimming with a dead rat or whatever it was. And it had jumped to its death and drowned last night. Um.. eww!! And I don't get grossed out easily!!
Ha ha, so I quickly put the lid back on the skimmer, pulled out my phone, called Sam over, and started recording! Hahahahaha!!! He pulled the lid off and was like "AAAAHHH!!!!" as he staggered backwards! After he got over the initial shock, he was like "Is that a real mouse??" Hahaha!!!! And I got it ALL on video! (Ohh yeahh!! It's already on Facebook!!!) Though his reaction was hilarious, I sure wished someone got my reaction on camera!!

A Twitterer

2009-06-15T15:22:00.000-04:00

Yes, it's official. I created an account on Twitter. So yes, that makes me a Twitterer.... even though I LOVE Facebook and feel like a traitor for doing it. And after checking it out, Twitter sucks compared to Facebook anyway, so I probably won't ever get on it. So I now have the authority to say I'm on two of the biggest social networking sites! But whatever.

Anyway, so today we didn't do much. Just blocked a few more scenes. Sam is doing a great job and so is everyone else! I am very impressed that they are getting everything so quickly.

This weekend I am probably going up to Middlesboro to see my grandma and hang out with the Bowlings at their house- not the lake house, the normal one. So that will be fun, plus I'll have more stuff to talk about! Finally! I know you guys have to be getting tired of hearing all about nothing. But that's what I do and you are my faithful readers so you kinda have to read all of the rambling about nothing!!

I also was asked to mention Kate and Canon (my two devious pals- from drama camp-with many different cases of OCD, me being one of them). They are semi-stalking me which is really weird in my opinion. I'm not that interesting yet they have gone as far as cyber-stalking me. I think Kate has it worse... since she is the one who watched all of my videos and looked through all of my pictures on Facebook. They are weird but that's ok... they're amazing and cool anyway! :) Or at least that's what they think... :P

10 Clowns Don't Make A Circus

2009-06-12T23:05:00.000-04:00

I saw this book at some random store and took a picture of it. It's just one of those weird offbeat things that are so true. If you don't even get what I'm saying, that's ok. The book's title just left a mark!
Whenever I go to Borders or other gigantic mega bookstores, my brother(s) and I go over to the 'encouraging' and so called 'inspirational' section. There are some pretty weird titles that just make you laugh. It's surprising that stuff like that even gets published.
The Charlie and the Chocolate Factory project is coming along quite nicely. We blocked (as in showed people where to stand and when to move, etc) the first 4 or 5 scenes and a few of the kids are out of their scripts. I was skeptical about dragging out 3 weeks to do an actual entire play but it is going to be great once we're finished. I can see some real talent this week. And... well others need some 1 on 1 time with me to show them how to get into their character. Don't get me wrong- everyone is really great! I just need to polish up a few things. And we also need to plan out the set and then get started.
Also, if your name is Kate or you are one of her partners in crime, I do not like Logan and would appreciate it if you stopped insisting that he's in love with me. And remember, no one likes stalkers!!! :P

Friendship

2009-06-11T22:37:00.000-04:00

If you know what I'm even talking about, one of my former really, really great friends recently tried to make nice with me. And you know what I did that is totally out of character of me?? I said no. Well, not to her, but to myself. That friendship was once so awesome. But even the strongest things have the potential to break. Our super strong, unbreakable friendship suddenly plummeted to the opposite. I started seeing things I had thought that she wasn't... Suddenly, I lost just a little tiny bit of the sense of trust I associate with people- my friends especially. It made me think that even the best, seemingly untouchable things are, in fact, touchable. And breakable. And I know that she will probably never read this. Because I don't think she ever really took the time to learn or ask about the things that are important to me.

If you know (and most of you do) who I am talking about, please don't try to play the middle man. Or tell her about anything. I don't hold any grudges and I don't want her to have anymore against me...

I'm not going to sit here and gossip and ramble... but I just though it was worth getting off my chest. Just be really careful when assessing your friends. I learned that more than ever. 8th grade taught me a lot about people and friendships. I just hope high school isn't so intense.

I had a conversation with one of my real friends about her... here's a little sample of my side of the convo-

that's the point!

i dont need a list of rules and regulations to be her friend

thats not what friends do

they dont lash out at eachother or belittle them or abandon them or purposefully really annoy them or avoid them or anything

they dont hold grudges

and they be a true friend

im not the one with the problem

so im moving on.

So take that and use it. Don't make the same mistake I did. All it brings is hurt. But, like I said, I just have to keep my head up and move on. No use trying to fix things beyond broken! Ha ha this seems so depressing!! But I'm not depressed or anything so don't worry bout me!! :P =)

Finally!

2009-06-11T14:58:00.000-04:00

Today I FINALLY got my high school schedule for this year. Everyone around me (as in mostly on Facebook) kept getting their schedules and I was starting to think something was wrong!
But, low and behold, the school system pulled through for me for once! So here's my schedule:

Hon Algebra 1
Business Principles
Visual Communications
Hon Biology 1

Theatre Arts 1
Hon English 1
World Geo
Band (concert)

As long as I get past Algebra (this time!) the first semester should be fun! But the second semester doesn't look so great... anyway, I'm just happy to finally know my classes!

I am taking the 3 basic honors classes- algebra, biology, and English. I am SO glad that I won't be in Geometry. The people who think they're smart enough to take it are going to get snapped into reality. I know they love the look on the face of someone who asks them what classes they're taking, but trying to look smart to impress people is so annoying. Advanced math in middle school was easy- now they have actual teachers who teach GEOMETRY. Ha ha... they're going to drop like flies. Take that you super ego maniacs!!

Anyway-
So today I was back at Webb. I know, I know- you're sick of hearing all about Webb, but that's what I do during the summer! Well... it's my day job anyway. And I'm actually getting tired of writing about it so... I'll take a break for today. Except for one thing!
So today when it was time for pick up, another HUGE storm blew through. Since we obviously couldn't go over to the usual pick up spot, we referred to our Special Big Handbook of Emergency Procedures. Under the threatening weather section, it directly instructed us to "remain calm and not alert the campers" and to "silently step away from the group and wait for further instructions from the camp via phone or radio" and to "not let anyone leave the building."

First of all... if there's a huge thunderstorm going on, how is there anyway to 'not alert the campers'?
"Oh yeah kids, sorry!! That huge thunder-like sound was just God's stomach grumbling. No need to worry. Oh and that flashing life threatening looking lighting is really just.. umm you're having hallucinations!!"

Seriously... anyway, thankfully nobody 'went into panic' or died so I guess that handbook really helped us out! Phew! I could have NEVER gotten through that storm without it! (?)

Ha ha, anyway, I just though that was weird. So I don't really have much else going on so bye!

Sunshine Mania

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Christmas Eve

Reflection Numbers 5, 6, 7 and 8

Reflection Number Four

Reflection Numbers Two and Three

Reflection Number One

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Back to December

Keeping Up With Your Networking

Turkey Lurkey is in the Oven

Sometimes Half is a Great Thing!

You Got Sparkles in My Mouth!!

Please Keep All Articles of Clothing on at All Times

Back for the Summer :)

Twilight Film (for theatre)

Edgar Lee Masters essay :)

Free Pastry Day!

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Research Paper on the Russian Revolution

ANOTHER play!!

another play

That's Not the Way I Roll

We Are The World

My 100th Post!

Snow? YES!

Snow? No.

Home Again!

Funny SNL skit

Packing Nightmare

Just My Luck...

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

Some of My Graphic Design Projects

I'm ALIVE!

Missing Piece

Halloween Time

The Monster Mash

Tech Week

RUN!!

You Better Hope You're Not Alone

Memory Bank

And Then We Sent Them Doggies Whimpering All the Way Home...

And to Whom Do We Owe this Honor?? Tyler Crone, Come on Down!!!!!

Homecoming!

Runs in the Family

It's Not Easy Being Green

And the Winner is.....

The People You Find in Halloween Superstores

A Glimpse of Kindess

Survival of the Fittest

Pass the Morphine

Is Having 19 Kids a Gift or an Obsession?

DaFont

A Totally Random Thursday #1

Farragut Football!!!

The Case of the Biology Murder

One Foot in the Door

Welcome Freshies

An Interesting Post of Advice #2

Why Blog? And A Request to my Readers!!

Over in Loompa Land...

Oh, the Woes of Going Back to School....

Red and Green Don't Go Together Unless it's December!

An Interesting Post of Advice #1

FriendBot

Blue Nails

Ahhh, Summer...

My Summer Day Job = GONE!!

Trend Setter

Discoveries

Pass Me a Firecracker!

50th Post!

Don't Touch the Mud Puppies

M*A*S*H

When Uncle Sam Comes A- Knockin'

ABC- Jackson 5

I'll Be There-

Wonka Mania!!

MAS*H