New New!

Let's see, let's see.... what is new? Well....

I'm reading Born Free by Joy Adamson for biology. It's about a couple, living in Africa, that adopts a lion cub and then has to release her back into the wild. It's really interesting for a nonfiction book and is really easy to read.

Currently, I'm doing a unit on the Bible for English lit. We've discussed the Bible as the Root of Western Literature by Adam Potkay, the Gospel According to Harry Potter by Connie Neal, and have now landed upon Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan. It's been really interesting to study the Bible as part of school. It's such a new concept to me. I have learned a lot in the process though. I've only read the very beginning of Pilgrim's Progress and I already feel wiser.

On a side note, we went to see Eat Pray Love yesterday and while it's not school related it is spiritually related so that's what made me think of it. I really enjoyed that movie because it wasn't about some trite "I love him but he doesn't love me back" concept. It was about really important concepts of life. Finding religion, balancing that religion with everything else, learning to enjoy everything and not obsess over the details, loving someone even though they could break your heart into a million pieces... it was such a deep movie. One of the most notable lines was "God lives in me, through me." This sentence wasn't explicitly defined and was thus left open to interpretation. In my opinion, it means that being who you are is the most important thing you can do with your life. Mainly because if you're not yourself then you won't enjoy anything you do. Also it conveys that God shines out of you, when you are being yourself. You come to know him better by acting naturally. So the basis of life is: Love God and be your self. Everything else will just fall into place around those two things.

My flute lessons are about to end for the summer but I'm ending with the knowledge that I've really improved in my abilities. I know way more about scales, have better sight reading abilities, havebetter pitch and tone, have a larger range, and enjoy playing so much more because of all those improvements! I can't wait to go back to band and be equipped to perform well! :D

School: a mix of good and bad

I just finished reading The Diary of Anne Frank! It was quite good but reminded me a lot of how I was at that age, which I'd rather forget, so it felt like it dragged on and on... Of course, Anne's story ends tragically and what she records in her journal is the truth so it does hold quite a lot of epic appeal. I did enjoy it but was glad when it ended because it was definitely not a fast read.

Now I'm reading The Cather in the Rye by J.D. Salinger. So far the book seems to have absolutely no point. But it is so wildly interesting! I don't know how J.D does it but he makes nothing fascinating! It does talk about some rather risqué topics and every other word seems to be a swear word but in spite of that, I'm still enjoying it.

Geometry is going about as well as can be expected. But I don't know what everyone was saying that it's supposed to be easier than Algebra. Algebra had easy concepts and a lot of work. Geometry has hard concepts and not much work. So they're two sides of the same horribly evil coin.

Zoology got incredibly technical and we had to spend like three weeks breaking down one chapter. This involved flashcards, note taking, reading, and re-reading. And I have to say: I did not like it much. Then I come to find out: that's what college is like! Whoopdedoo! Meh. I don't even know how to respond to that realization. So I just won't.

My flute lessons are going extremely well! I seriously can feel my self improving! We've had to take a few breaks because of surgeries but I don't feel that that is hindering my progress. I'm now practicing with a wedding duet book. It has some really gorgeous songs and some of them I can play at my church! My teacher even said she would come to my church to play a duet with me! How exciting is that? Plus it'd be way less scary for my first performance ever! Because I'll I've ever done is band stuff. Unless you include the videos I recorded, which I did over and over again so you can't really count that as a performance. So it's all very exciting!! TTFN!

School Continues As Always...

Ahem. So... the colors are still here.... I just forgot how to find them. *evil snickering laughter* Anyways, school just continues on.... I've been out of school for almost two weeks because of fun stuff with friends and a babysitting class at Gordon Cooper though.

During the class I learned about different leadership styles, professionalism, safety, child development, basic child care (which I already knew), and emergency care. As a part of the latter I am now infant and child CPR certified as well as first aid certified and a red cross trained baby sitter! How cool is that? I can put that on my resume and everything! The last two days of the class we were taught crafts we could make with the kids and easy snacks to make for them. Those were my two least favorite days. It was very juvenile. But the class is over now! YAY! And I'm CPR certified so the pain was worth it.

I have also started private flute lessons at OBU for the summer! I've only had two lessons so far but I'm enjoying them and learning a lot! It turns out one of key pads on my flute is cracked and that is messing up my tuning so we're going to get it repaired tomorrow. I'm practicing some easy Haydn and Bach duets for my lessons as well as lots and lots of scales. But I don't mind the scales because they're very important. I also recently recorded myself playing "Think of Me" (Phantom of the Opera), "Wondrous Love" (a hymn), and "I Could've Danced All Night" (My Fair Lady) and posted them on Facebook. I got quite a few compliments on them! :)

I've now finished reading Romeo and Juliet and am writing an essay on how the couples seclusion caused them to behave irrationally. And I'm currently reading The Diary of Anne Frank. It's really interesting but it makes me feel guilty for not journaling more than I do. As a part of reading the book, we're of course learning about the Holocaust. That is some sad, sad stuff right there! :(

I believe I'm starting geometry tomorrow. Bleh. *hides* But math is just one of the evils of life. So I'll suffer through it. ACT in September! Gotta be ready! That's all for now! Over and out!

Hello Sophomore!

It's been three weeks since I last studied French so you will get no cute openings in another language from me! Today was my first day as a sophomore! I had my three weeks of summer break and now it's time to crack down and get myself graduated! During the summer, I'm taking English Lit, Double Zoology, the remainder of Algebra 2, Double Geometry, and the remainder of Driver's Ed. among other extracurriculars. I'd like to take private flute lessons at OBU, just for the summer, so I called about that today.
In English Lit. I'm reading Romeo and Juliet. I haven't actually started it yet but I will tonight! I'm expecting to really enjoy it. As much if not more than A Midsummer Night's Dream! It's like trying food from a different country - a new experience. :)
Zoology is currently focusing on how there are benefits to a wildfire! The flames clear out the underbrush so that when a really giant fire comes it has less fuel. Also burned grass grows back more luscious than before. There is even a certain type of plant, whose name has escaped me, whose seed pods only open under extreme heat.
Algebra 2 is just the same old same old stuff we've all missed terribly since completing it so I will say nothing further on that.
Driver's Ed. has reached an exciting point!!! I have finished reading the book!!! Next up is studying for and passing a review of it all. Then comes a proctored test. And finally the actual permit test! I can see the light at the end of the tunnel! I'm almost there!!! I'll be able to drive soon! XD
Apparently, when you become a sophomore your blogging site takes away the colors!!!!!! Just FYI.

FREEDOM! XD

This is my last act as a high school freshman!! As soon as I publish this blog I am officially done!!!!!!!! We are finishing a week early! XD Which is sweet! I got all A's for finals and my cumulative grade for each subject too! It's cuz I'm just good like that. XP I start my sophomore year in June but we're not gonna talk about that now! CUZ I'M DONE!!!!

I finally had a biology test! Teehee! I didn't have a single one all year! >.> <.<>

I didn't finish algebra but my dad needs time to plan out my geometry a bit and I'm not doing as many modules for geometry as I did for algebra. At least I don't think so. And if I do all the modules, I get pre-calc. and trig. credits! Because they're all wrapped into one! Whoop whoop! But during the summer I think I'll just do the geometry part because I need that for when I take the ACT for the first time in September!

For English class the final book I read was Ella Enchanted! It was great! I really liked it andf finished reading it ahead of schedule. :) I decided I liked the book's beginning and the movie's ending the best. The movie's ending was more climactic and the book's beginning showed more of the trials Ella went through. Oh! In case you don't know what I'm talking about: Ella is a girl who was given a 'gift' at birth that makes her obedient. If you give her an order, she has to do it. So the book is about how hard that is for her.

French we also didn't finish but French is one of those things you never really finish. I'm taking four years of it so we just decided what the heck! We'll just stop now and start again in three weeks. :) I was getting seriously tired of remembering what words are 'la' and what words are 'le'. I don't see why it should matter so much!! But it's stressed in all of my French books! >.<

Government.... I actually ended up liking by the end of the year. *hides* I know I hated it before but it's really not all that bad once you get a handle on how it all works! I feel quite informed now which is nice! :) I had like 3 separate finals for that which shows you how many aspects of it there are! I took the naturalization test that people have to take to become citizens and I don't know what the official passing grade is but I would say a B+ guarantees me as an official citizen even though I earned that right by being born here. Funny huh. :p The test really isn't that bad. It's got some history about wars, some current info about who your D.C. Representatives and Senators are, and other general government stuffs.

Choir, Volleyball, and school are over now! My last day at my job for CFA is Monday! Which I find very sad because I love those kiddos! Maybe they'll need me again next year... I don't know.. Co-op is like moving to a new building and like everyone is leaving so I'm not sure. After co-op ends all I'll have is band and that is over the end of May! So wow! Crazy, jam-packed life has really boiled down!

Well that's all for now! You are now speaking to an official sophomore. Or reading the thoughts of. How ever you want to spin it.

Things Are Finishing Off For The Year! :D

I visited the University of Oklahoma for a campus tour! I didn't think I would like it to be honest. I'm not really sure why... Because it's not like I'd heard bad things about it or anything. I knew like nothing! So I'm really really glad I went because it's in a good location, has a beautiful campus, and is a state school so it's a good price! I went for Junior Day, shhh don't tell I'm not a Jr. XP I learned about the Arts and Sciences department, where my major would be, and a bit about the music and performing arts department. It was cool to learn about the latter because while I wouldn't want to major in voice, acting, or playing the flute, it would be nice to do some stuff while I'm in college and I learned you can be a part of things with out majoring in them. So woot! :) Then we had lunch out side and it was really windy so that was interesting. So OU is a definite possibility!

I went to the OCHEC convention on the 30th to look for school books for next year. We decided to continue with the math I am currently doing now for geometry. I was excited about that because Textbook Interactive has really been working for me. :) For Zoology mom found a book online that she thinks is going to be really good so we're going to order that. And then they found a coloring book that covers some of that stuff for me to do on the side. I was like SWEET! COLORING! :D Mom also found some other reference books for my other classes too. So it sounds like my sophomore year is almost planned out! Which is kind of happy/sad. haha. But the only way to finish high scool is to actually do the school. This is life.

Choir has ended now. We had our spring concert on April 25th. And then we sang at a retirement home on the following Tuesday. We did very well both times! I was proud of us. :) We sounded good and remembered the words (since we memorized this is very important). And no one passed out! Haha not that that's happened before but still. Dr. Gerber kept telling us not to lock our knees. And he said we don't need to audition for next year! Which is awesome! Because auditions are scary! hehe he said he knows we are good singers so we don't need to audition again. I'll be in Youth Chorale next year but so will everyone else because choir has gotten really small so they're doing away with Concert Choir. The one I've been in for the past two years.

Well that's all for now peoples!

4 Weeks Left! XD

Things are going well! And school will be out in like 4 weeks! WOOT! I'll be back 2 weeks after that but I'm not gonna focus on that fact at the moment.

I'm almost done with Nicholas Nickleby. The book started out great but after awhile there were too many characters and things got confusing and now my mind just wanders when I read so I have no idea what's going on! There's not really anything I can do about it either. So I've decided this is definitely not going to be my favorite Dickens novel. Hopefully I'll like A Tale of Two Cities, that we're reading for next year, better! But the beginning of Nicholas was great! The part where Mr. Squeers was so horrible to the school boys was of course awful but it was interesting! After that, things just got to silly and then complicated.

We finally got our other two band songs! It's about time too because we are playing at the Oklahoma Christian Home Educators Convention (OCHEC) on April 30th and then our official concert is the end of May! The good news is that the two 'new' songs, "The Great Locomotive Chase" and "Black Wolf Run" don't seem too hard. :) The flutes don't really have the melody in either song so that is less complicated and more complicated at the same time - not as hard to play but harder to get the feel for and the timing right. I'm not sure if I'll be playing at OCHEC or not but we'll see. Because prom is that evening and I don't know what the plans are yet. PROM! Ahhhh! So exciting! XD

My Mom told me I had to give a speech for my Government class but she told me I could pick the topic! So I chose elf owl's! XD They're adorable! And tiny! This speech should be fun! I haven't started on it yet because all my other government homework sort of built up but I should soon! :) It should be fun!

I'm nearly done with driver's ed! I've been working on finishing that book for a while now! I started in January and by the time I finish and am certified and everything it'll prolly be the end of April. Who knew just learning enough about driving to be allowed to have a permit could take four months! Hopefully it gets easier after this or who knows how long it will take to get my actual license. I have to have my permit for at least six months before I can get my license and then I have to pass the test obviously. I have three more chapters in the driver's ed book to read and then there is some sort of final exam thing we have to send for and then send back to AAA so I can get an official certificate of graduation from the program since it is parent taught. After I get that, I should be able to take my permit test!!!! Yayayayay! So exciting! :D

I've been working a lot on a short story I'm writing called "The Guardian Fairy" because I'm entering it in a contest at the end of April. I'm really excited! The story seems pretty good to me! It's about a fairy who gets murdered and her sister's quest to find the murder. I actually finished writing it! That doesn't happen to me too often. I usually get bored or the plot falls apart before I can finish. There is still editing work that needs to be done but the actual getting the ideas and wording them part is done! YIPPEEEE! XD

Disagreement? Or A Plot Against Our Lives?

Well, I haven't been ignoring you purposefully! Things just got intense. Let's seee.... where to start...

I went to Austin, TX and while I was there I toured University of Texas (UT). It is a humongous campus! (I just spelled humongous all by myself on the first try. ^_^) I thought I was going to die from too much walking! Because there is no parking! So you walk. It has a population of 50,000 students! It's a very beautiful campus and town though. And my mum went there, 35 years ago. But it's also like 7 hours from home....I'd miss you peoples! So I'm thinking prolly no to UT. But I'll probably end up applying there anyways, just to say I got in or in case I change my mind. College is still a few years away so you never know.

While we were there we also went to the Harry Ransom Center, where they have one of the first Gutenburg bibles! It was pretty cool to see. It's like a foot and a half long though! And in German... haha. They also had the first photograph - a black smudge might I add. Mum thought that was cool though.

We also saw The Phantom of the Opera live! It was incredible! I was totally blown away! They had amazing effects and costumes and vocals and everything was just so amazing! They used pyrotechnics. That is where they lull you into a false sense of calm and submit your eyes to a prolonged period of darkness and you're just sitting there awestruck listening to the heartbreaking music while goosebumps appear on your skin and you try to catalog every aspect of the night so you never forget and then BAM!!!! SOMETHING EXPLODES! (Now I know, I prolly didn't scare you because if you're anything like I am my eyes automatically flit to capitalized words before I read other stuffs. It can be a pain sometimes. But! That was still fun. teehee!) So the result of this pyrotechnics stuff is that you end up having your eyeballs burned out of your head.... :D It was the first live musical I've seen. I hope I can see more! Wicked would be awesome to see!!!

My job at CFA is going well. Due to spring break and me going to Austin I've only worked 3 times. But I'll be back again on Monday! Woot! I get to play with the kiddos some more! That job has been just perfect for me! Not much I love more than babies! Especially babies that I don't have to take care of 24/7. ^_^

My choir concert is in like 4 weeks!!!! AHHHHH! We're memorizing for this concert and I'm happy about that because it gives you a more professional appearance but seriously! I don't want to memorize Hebrew! I have enough of a time with English.... Ahh, well. I'm sure it'll all be fine. Band is good too. Music mastery is close at hand, my friend!

Oh! Volleyball didn't end for me when I told you it did! There was an invitational tournament 2 weeks after the first one and I was asked to come and play! I was playing on the next team up from mine - Beginner High. It was so much fun! There was a practice the week before and then two, straight days of volleyball! Our team did really, really well! We came in second for the championship in our bracket! The championship game was sooooooo intense! The final score was like 30-28. The score just stair-stepped for like ten points! We'd get a point and then they would... over and over and over! And you have to be ahead by 2 to win. Even though we didn't win it was still a blast!

I finished my Aurora Borealis research paper! A+! But were your really expecting anything less? :p I'm glad that's over with! I've got another one coming though. EWWWWWWW! I hope I start to like these more eventually because I've heard college is full of them!!!!! Groan...

Conjugating French verbs is HARD! I never used to understand when people would complain about that when they learned a language. But it's crazy! You have to remember all these rules so you get the right spelling and pronunciation and if it's plural or singular. Then theres a whole bunch of words that apply to verbs that I don't really understand.. indicative, past-present participle... I mean honestly?? Who needs to know this stuff! I'd bet most French people would get the point if I was using the wrong participle! But apparently teachers disagree... or they're trying to kill us... one or the other...

That's all for now. :)

I'm a Choo Choo Train!

Well.... I'm beginning to feel like a Choo Choo Train! Which is good really because I'll need to be one to make it through these next 2 and a half years of straight school without offing my self. (That's a joke, FYI!) You see, a Choo Choo Train just goes on and on... *chuga chuga chuga chuga, woo woo!!* That's what you have to do to go 2 years without a summer! But at least I'm okay with the idea of being a train. I'll be Lissa the Tank Engine! Teehee! I thought I'd explain my title at the very beginning because I know you would've been wondering about it the whole time you were reading which can be distracting. :p

My Aurora Borealis paper is almost done!!!!!!! WOOT! I'm like 5/6 done! All I need to do is call 2 weather stations/astronomers (or one of each) and interview someone working there and then write up the interview and I'm done! YIPEEE! It's been a whole lot of work, lemme tell ya, but I'm really pleased with the over all product. Which may be some motivation to not pitch a hissey fit when my next research paper comes up in a few weeks. YUCK! And it's for government! DOUBLE YUCK!!!!!

I got the most wonderful math surprise on Sunday! I'd gotten 2 weeks behind in math just from sheer procrastination and was not looking forward to having to do more math than I already do in order to catch up when my Dad looked at my math syllabus and noticed that the last 3 units are college algebra! So I don't have to do those units until I am actually taking college algebra (during my senior year, I think.) So! I went from being 2 weeks behind to 2 1/2 weeks ahead! GO ME! So for the next 2 weeks I only have to do 1 lesson a day instead of the usual 2 and the about to start in order to catch up 3. So JAZZED! My unit test grade wasn't too bad either! 82. It could've been better but I didn't care enough to study more and take a make up. I will take the B- thank you very much!

Volleyball is over. *SNIFF SNIFF!!!* My team played 2 games in tournament on Friday and we were eliminated because we lost both of them. But we played well and had fun so that's all that matters. The Excalibur club in general won 3 championships! Go Excalibur! Because our club only has 5 teams and there are only 6 championships all together! Woo woo! I already can't wait for next year to start! I had SO much fun! I love volleyball to bits!

Guess what else? (This blog is just full of wonderfully exciting news!) I got a job! (Not technically school related but it's working for my old school so I'm putting it in here.) I now work 3 hours a week at my old co-op's nursery! And I'm getting paid! That's the exciting part! My first paying job! XD And what could be better than getting paid to play with and hold babies?! I can't think of anything! The job is every Monday, so I started today. It went really well! And everyone I used to go to school with was like 'What are you doing here?' and I got to be all 'I work here.' Haha! So awesome! XD I also get to eat lunch with Ellen and my other friendsies! Teehee! Yays!

I started Nicholas Nickleby! It's my first Dickens! I'm enjoying it a lot! Since it's like 900 pages I'm listening to it on CD so I don't get behind. Which means I can crochet while I work! I cannot tell you the last time I had time to crochet! I'd basically forgotten how to do it even! And had to pull out some stitches to see! haha! But anyways, back to Nicholas. We don't have a Total Language Plus workbook (what we used for Jane Eyre and Pride and Prejudice) for this book so mom's making up all the lessons and I don't have to deal with all that vocabulary! Woot! Vocabulary is easy to memorize and everything but it's just so... meh! But I'm excited to have finally read a Dickens! I've seen the Masterpiece Theater versions of Oliver Twist and Nicholas Nickleby but as I said haven't read any. Did you know Charles Dickens has like 15 novels?! I had no idea there were so many! But I guess that applies to most writers... They have what they are best known for or a few of their best know works and then the more obscure stuff.

Well TTFN!

OCU Preview Day!!!!

Hello once again!

I went to OCU (Oklahoma City University, for those of you who don't know) on Monday for a Seniors Preview Day! (Shush! Don't tell that I'm only a Freshman/Sophomore! hehe) We walked all over the campus in the freezing cold and wind to get a tour of the place, I sat in on a Physc. class, had lunch in the caf, talked with 2 current students who answered everybody's questions, Oh! I saw the dorms two! If I go there, I definitely want to get into Centennial Hall! Those dorms are nice! The others are crowded! But anyways, overall it was a lot of fun to see it all and get to pretend to be in college for a day! Lemme tell you, I can't wait! I know it'll be a lot of work but it looks like a crazy amount of fun as well! Being out of the house, on your own, learning about what you love the most, making friends, and eating wonderful food in the wonderful cafeteria! Sounds like the life to be living to me! So I've decided to definitely apply there in two years! I'm not sure yet if that'll be my target school or anything but it'd for sure be a nice place to go! It's the first college I've seen (and I've seen quite a few for a 15 year old) where I got this 'Mmmmmm, I fit here.' vibe! So I'm excited! Going back to being in high school after that was a shock though! I was like nooo! Take me back to college! hehe. But I'll have that to look forward to for the next 2 1/2 years! Woo woo!

I'm going to take the ACT in September! Ahhhh! Hehe. I'm not too scared though. I can take it as many times as I want and there are certainly plenty of practice tests out there for me to study with! We also have this like 400 page book I'm gonna read between now and then.

Band went really well today! When I got my retainer off in October, my flute sound quality started sounding like a chicken (breathy and squeaky and out of key. YUCK!) but today the band director asked me if I'd been working with a tuner and when I said no (thinking I'd be in trouble might I add because he'd been telling us to do that for awhile) he was like well wow! You've really improved! So yay! I'd noticed it two because the other flute (Lauren!!) and I sounded the same for once! (It was usually me who was the problem. haha) Most of the music sounded good too! Except there are three songs I don't like/can't get the rhythms for so I sort of just don't practice them. Heehee. So those didn't sound too good when I played them. But nonetheless band was fun!

After band I went to this thing at the library. They were having this class about online researching for teens. It was pretty interesting, actually! I was expecting to be bored! We saw how there are lots of other search engines out there. I'm still faithful to Google of course. But if the day comes when Google fails me *knock on wood* then I know I have these as back up! And there are a bazillion of them! You can use them to look in any New York Times ever published, for example. The class coordinator even typed in her last name into the Oklahoman database and found the death announcement of her uncle back in '97. It's almost a bit scary! (If you are a stalker, forget you read this!!!!) But you do have to have a Pioneer Library Card or cash to do a lot of this stuff.

Last week, I got quite behind in my school and starting off this week by previewing OCU and then going to the movies and shopping with my sister the next day (Which was a a bundle of fun by the way! :D) didn't exactly put me ahead... So guess what my big weekend plans are?? Math exams, biology text books, government unity study's, and many many chapters of Pride and Prejudice! It's alright though. I didn't have anything else planned. Although apparently there is a volleyball party on Saturday.. not sure if I'll be there or not. And I don't mind school a huge amount. I mean, what else would I do all day? I just like to complain about it. Teehee. Plus having homework to do by myself and having lessons I have to sit and do with my Mum when she's ready are two very different things. I can blast My Favorite Highway while I do math but not when I'm working with my Mum.

Tomorrow should be a very long day at volleyball! I'll be there from 11am - 5pm! Woot! I'm totally excited! It should be loads of fun! My team is playing 3 games and we are reffing 1! So hopefully we win our 3! :D OH!! Last Friday my team won our first game!!!! We were so excited! We beat Airborne (the Lawton team). I don't know how many times we've lost but there have been a few! It felt so good to finally win! XD

Well that's all that's new with me this past week! It's crazy to me that that much new stuff has happened in a week! And that's just the school side of my life! Believe it or not, I do other stuff too. Life is just so busy! Such a blur! Farewell!

The Facts! With Added Opinions and Commentary

Hello!! Things have been busy! I have lots to write about! Aren't you excited? :p

Firstly, my research paper is coming together! The topic/personable thing I chose was the myth's about the northern lights! I have 5 or 6 sources so far! I'm supposed to have 2 primary sources (first hand info.) but I'm not exactly sure how to do that... Because even if I talked to someone who had seen them, it's not like they wrote a myth about them while they were there.... And while I have the scientific aspect in my paper as well, so people will know what exactly they are, it's not like someone who has seen them would necessarily know about that either.... Hmmmmm. I thought about maybe taking a poll of some sort. Is a true or false considered a poll? I'm not sure. But the idea I had was to summarize a few of the myths and make up a few and see if people can tell the difference or not. I can't decide if I like that idea or not though. Whatever, I'm brain storming. No bad joke is forth coming. ;) For another idea I could write to a mythologist (is that a word/job?) and ask them questions. But this paper is due in like, uh-oh... 2 weeks???? Really? Fantastic... I have SO much done and everything! Not! Whatever. It's my paper after all! Mauhaha! Okay enough about that! I'm going to start going in circles if I continue talking about the paper.

My new novel is coming along well! I have a title! The Bond of Terra! Isn't that awesome? (Steal it and die.) I don't remember how much I've written about the new novel here... if I'm repeating my self, I give you permission to scroll down. But! If not, I'll tell you! It's a medieval romance/fantasy! My current favorite genre. It's about a girl who discovers she has powers and a guy who offers to teach her how to control them. I'd tell you more but then you wouldn't need to read the book! So that's all you get to know for now! I don't have very much written yet. Only like 4 typed pages. But I have the story line sketched out and I really like what I've done with it. I don't see any holes and it's pretty ingenious if I do say so my self. Much better than any of my past works! I've done some research on medieval times too so hopefully it will be realistic! The thing I'm struggling with is the difference in the way people talked then and the way they talk now. Obviously there is a major difference! But I'm not sure I want to do all that research because to me it feels like if you do too much with the speech and make it hard to read and understand it bogs down the story. And I don't know about you, but I would imagine most people now a days don't speak old english/middle english. A friend suggested I tell the story from modern times like a history lesson. But then that messes with the tenses and the POV. (Point Of View). So for now I'm ignoring that obstacle. I'll come back to it later when I'm struck with a fabulous idea. (Feel free to shed some light on the situation if you have some to shed!)

Volleyball League is going well. I'm enjoying playing other teams and getting more time to play! We still have yet to win a match though! Hopefully this Friday will be our day! We only have one this Friday. But I think we have like 3 next week! Tournament is fast approaching! Ahhh of excitement/fear! Not much new there. My skill level was growing for a while there but it seems to have leveled off. I'm not really improving much. :/ But at least I'm not getting worse either...

Capitol Day was yesterday! It was pretty much exactly the same as last year. Except last year was more formal. We had a tour of the capital. I didn't mind not having one this year though. It's not like the capitol has changed or anything. Also this year I didn't talk with my state representative or senator. Neither of them was in their office and I went to see them. But again, I haven't moved and there hasn't been an election so it's pretty much the same there as well. The mock debate topic was different this year though! It was a bill to make it mandatory for all guns in the same household as children to have a trigger lock. There were actually 2 mock debates because the group was so large. But they were pretty much exactly the same. Just one you watched and one you participated in. Both times the bill was defeated. Oklahomans and their insane love of guns... *rolls eyes* Nothing against them or anything but in my personal opinion only service weapons should be allowed. Giving citizens guns is just asking for trouble. Especially citizens who have children! There have been some horrible accidents and you would think people would want to do anything they could to prevent them. But no, they were too worried about an intruder and not being able to get the lock off fast enough to defend your self. And the only other purpose for giving citizens guns is hunting and hunting for sport just seems cruel. And in this day and age hunting for necessity is nonexistent anyways. But don't shoot me or anything! Those are just my opinions. :p

I've decided to take the ACT over the SAT because women have been shown to do better on the ACT. Plus it's what most colleges in Oklahoma are looking for and I'm like 95% sure I'll be going to college in Oklahoma. Plus the ACT just looks less scary.... XD I started reading the 400 page ACT book tonight. I had been reading about the SAT before but the two are so different I need to forget all of that so I don't get confused! The plan is for me to read 3 pages of the book a night, take geometry (which has trig. in it) over the summer, and be ready to take my first ACT in September. I'll be half way done with my Sophomore year by then if things go according to plan which seems like a good time to take it for the first time to me! And obviously I have no idea how many times I'll take it. It just depends entirely on my score. It'd be nice to get a good score the first time and have that over with! It's not like I don't have enough to do....

Well that's all for now! TTFN! (I miss Winnie the Pooh! I think I should watch that.....)

The Rather Repetitive's of Life

We had snow!!!! In case you hadn't noticed that is... it made Thursday and Friday short school days. Such a travesty! :p

As part of the Total Language Plus program we used for Jane Eyre and are using for Pride and Prejudice as well I am writing a research paper. Bleh. The good news is I got to pick the topic! Now don't call me a science geek, they're more mystical than sciencey in my mind.. :p I chose the Northern Lights or Aurora Borealis! Isn't that awesome!? I know, I know! You only wish you were that awesome! I'm not exactly sure how I'm not going to sound like a science geek yet... (as in tie in something personal, like an interest.) But I have a few ideas! (Thanks to my mum) Something about Greek mythology would be cool! Or tying in how important lighting is in painting is to the finished product (not that I'm particularly interested in painting but thats still an idea). Let's see... what else was there? Some sort of musical aspect would be awesome seeing as how that's my second favoritest thing ever! (After books that is.) But anyhow, this project should be cool!

Next week is capital day! We spend an entire day at the capital! (In case you hadn't realized that.) It should be fun! It was last year! Minus the pokey girl in my group. She was constantly poking me! Hard too! Okay random memory there. But yeah you tour the capital and talk to senator peoples and last year there was a mock debate about lowering the driving age that the students participated in. :) Gotta get up SUPER EARLY tho! Not looking forward to that! And I have to skip volleyball (if they have it, I need to check. The schedule just changed.) because it's on a Tuesday! Sadness!

We didn't get to go to league last Friday because of all the snow! And the snow was the cause again for canceling Tuesday's practice! *Starts hyperventilating* I needs my volleyball! *Sniff sniff* Oh well, I guess I'll make it to Friday... possibly that is..... I do still have choir tomorrow. So that's good. ;) Oh and there was no Band either last week! Very sad! At least that's on for this week. Band is going really well! The music isn't nearly as hard as it was four weeks ago when we first got it! hehe. Most of the songs are a lot of fun! We're playing one called the typewriter and it's uber fast and sounds like someone typing. It's fun!!! And we have another called "Yakety Sax' that has part of the circus theme in it. (The none Brittany Spears one that is). That songs fun! But my favorite is Second Suite in F! It's sooo much fun!! It's four movements. My favorite is the last one "Fantasia on the Dargason". Super fun! XD (Fun is just a good word to describe band music! :D)

Well that's really all that's new with me! There's been lots of school but it's rather repetitive so I don't wanna note too much of it here. lol If all my readers get fed up I'd just be talking too myself... uh-oh! :D TTFN

Clouds? Light? Martians?

Well, life goes by crazy quickly! Christmas feels like forever ago!!! And it's only been a month! I believe this is called 'Your school is consuming you' syndrome. <.< >.> SCARY!!!!! Last week I got epicly behind in school and spent several hours Saturday trying to catch up. I got a decent amount done. And already this week (it's Tuesday for those of you who don't know) I'm behind! How does that even happen?? I'll tell you how! Volleyball, choir, and Starbucks get in it's way! XD All things I love. So it's obviously not a bad thing. But since I'm trying to graduate a year early I feel like I should always be doing school! And I am. A good portion of the time at least.

WOAH! Have you seen the moon tonight? My Dad was just like "Come see the moon!" And I did and was like wow! It's awesome! Giant ring around it! Clouds? Light? Martians? You decide. XD

Okay, minor interruption. It's my ADD. :D But yeah! Soooo much school! And I've still got years and years of it left! Okay, done complaining for the moment. You tired of hearing me complain yet? I hope not! Because you are stuck with me!!! MWAHAHAHAHA! Or you could possibly just stop reading or close the page...but I'm choosing not to focus on that fact!

I started Pride and Prejudice! It's awesome! I mean I knew it would be, I've seen both movies a bunch of times, but I didn't think it'd be THIS awesome! The text it self isn't not hard to understand at all. Easily comprehendable! I'm liking this romantic story after Skellig! Nothing against Skellig but the kids were ten. Haha. This is quite interesting! Everybody hates Mr. Darcy! Poor him. Everyone thinks he's all stuck up and snobby. But he's just shy! Don't judge him! Hehe, (I like Mr. Darcy a bit. Can you tell? :p) AND we're spending 5 weeks on this book! Enjoyment city! XD

Math is going really well! It's my third favorite subject now! (After English and French) My grades are AWESOME in math and I'm totally getting all of it! (It is a review, well two third's of it. So I'd hope I'd be getting it! But that's not the point. Here I am saying I'm liking math! Why am I going back! Stop it!) So yeah, we're graphing the y=mx +b idea. Easy squeezy. :)

Volleyball league started on Friday! It was lots of fun! I actually had time to TALK to people! What a novelty! Having time to talk! But besides the talking part it was still great! We played 3 games, won one, lost two. Not bad. I think it was our first win of the year too! (Not calendar. School. ;) ) WOOT WOOT! Can't wait for this Friday! I have six games! Technically, it's 1 game with 3 scrimmages in it. So on Friday we technically have 2 games not six. But at the time I didn't feel like explaining. Then I realized that six games sounded exorbitant. hehe!

Well that's about it ya'll! Is that how you spell ya'll? I'm not sure.... if you have a say in the matter, feel free to comment. :) TTFN! I miss me some Tigger! ;)

Driving! Here I Come! :D

So! (I've run out of interesting greetings! If you haven any suggestions... lol) Have I mentioned that I've started drivers ed???? Whoop whoop! I've read the first three chapters in the book!!! AHHH! So exciting! I can't actually drive the car until I get my permit. And you have to be 15 and a half for that. For me that'd be March 28th. But until I go to take the permit test I have the book to read. It's 16 chapters so hopefully I can finish it and start studying for the DMV issued permit test because I'm sure it's different than the book I have which is AAA. Apparently, to take to test you have to get there at like six o'clock in the morning and wait in line! Isn't that insane!?? But if that is the case it will be worth it when I can actually drive! Driving doesn't seem to hard to me! As long as you remember that 'driving is a privilege'. I'm sure you've all heard that one before... =p So, in case you couldn't tell, I'm rather excited! :D

We did finish A Midsummer Night's dream! It was great! I loved it! My first Shakespeare to actually read! And now it's Skellig, like I said before. Skellig is really interesting and mysterious! We didn't do an over view like we have the with others so I have no idea how it ends. It's about a ten year old boy named Michael who moves into a new house with his parents and new little sister, who is sick. The house is falling down and so he helps his dad repair it. In doing so he explores the garage and meets his next door neighbor. A girl about his age named Mina. It's a cute story that's been a nice change to read after Shakespeare. Skellig being easy reading and whatnot.

Math is going well! I'm still on schedule! If I keep this pace up I should finish a few days early actually! Maybe I can get ahead and finish a few WEEKS early! Whoop whoop! Have a few weeks of a math break before we start geometry!

Have I mentioned that I'm trying to squeeze four years of high school into three? So I can graduate in 2012. The plan is to work summers. So my sophomore year starts in May, like a week after my freshman year ends. Sophomore year goes from May to December('10). Then Junior year is January to August ('11). And finally Senior year is back on track with the usual school year September to May. :D Then comes college! Ahhh! Woot!

I'm thinking about going instate. I didn't really want to originally but my life is here...so why should I leave it? It's a pretty awesome life! My friends are here (excepting the ones in Maryland of course), my parents, my sister, brother-in-law, niece and nephew doggies... etc. Plus Oklahoma itself isn't so bad either! I don't know if I'll end up here permanently. You know with a family and stuff. But college here sounds okay now.

Unless I go to Sarah Lawrence of course! It's this new college I found out about today! It's in New York! They don't take ACT or SAT scores there! And you sit down with your professor/counselor and make up your own major! It sounds cool! It's based on the idea of pulling away from the usual idea of college and going more freely. And they have like a 58 acceptance rate too! Unlike Harvard! Do you know what their acceptance rate is???? 7!!! And Yale isn't much better either! 9!!!! Insane peoples.... :p Well that's all for now! (I've also run out of goodbyes. haha. fail. I'll just re-use I guess.) TTFN! :D

More or Less Bueno!

Well, I've been back in school for one week now AND I'm still alive!!! W00T! Aren't you impressed?! I'll now proceed to tell of my wondrous week!

Biology is picking up this semester! (Not hard because I barely did any last semester besides the butterfly migration project.) We are currently in the kingdom of Animalia (because it's the least boring XD)! Which involves reading about penguins and polar bears and also the bio. 101 text book. Yuck! But who knows? Maybe one of these days I'll come to love science. And math and history along with it hopefully! XD

In Government I'm writing an essay for the Capital Day essay contest. I read an article in the Wall Street Journal about a ban that passed recently in Switzerland that says there can be no more Minarets (the tower things on top of mosques). Which is ridiculous A. because there are only four in all of Switzerland! It's not like they're crowding the place! and B. because it's against the international law of religious and political freedoms! So the ban is being looked into. Meanwhile, a Swiss man (no he's not made of cheese XD) built his own Minaret and put it on top of his shoe warehouse to spread a message of peace to Muslims. It's crazy to me that all Muslims are being discriminated against because a few radical ones bombed the Twin Towers! It was a horrific ordeal and the people in charge should be punished! But Islam is a religion of peace and love much like Christianity. (Yes, I am quoting my essay. :D.) To read more find the winning Capital Day essay! (You know what they say about wishful thinking) Or Google it if you must have more info now! (Not yahoo it. Or bing it. Google it. I stay true to Google!) *Disclaimer* I'm not trying to pick a fight with you about your religious and political beliefs. The beauty of the freedom is that you have it too! :)

Let's see... what else, what else?! Volleyball twice a week is awesome! :D It crazifies things a bit, but that makes it nonetheless awesome! :D I was soo sore when it started up again after break! But I think my muscles are used to it now (again) because I wasn't sore after Friday's practice. As far as I know, the other alternate has moved up a team, leaving me the only alternate! W00T! hehe, but I could be wrong. I'm still getting the hang of all this. My lack of understanding of where to stand when you switch with the setter is almost comical were it not for the fact that I'm shouting across the room at the coach 'so, where do I stand?' and 'what do I do?' :D But everybody loves me there (or will grow to anyways) so they put up with me.

Band is insane. 14 new songs I think! Most of which are mutible pages! One is THREE pages! My first three pager! Ahhhh! And on top of there being too many and me already being busy and not having time to practice, they are HARD! But we've only been back for less than a week.... hehe (it's the actor in me) so hopefully things will cool down as we near May, when the concert is. (Oh, an did I mention? One of the pages has BLOOD on it! I think there was a horrific flute 'accident' caused by the hardness of that song! Or it could be ketchup...but the blood theory is soo much more interesting!)

This is my last week of Shakespeare and A Midsummer Night's Dream and then we move on to Skellig! I'll miss Shakespeare. It's been fun! He's really not that(italics) hard to understand! You just have to concentrate and think and have a translation on the facing page, teehee. I've learned a lot and had a good time so thats always nice! School isn't soo(italics) bad... there's just A LOT of it! And to burst my own bubble IT GETS WORSE! AHHHHHHHH! *hides under desk* But what doesn't kill me makes me stronger! Maybe I'll finally be able to over hand serve in volleyball by the end of this! THAT takes some strength! Well folks, that's what's going on with me! Things are more or less bueno! (Don't judge me, I've got too many French words rolling around in my brain to remember good. It may be bon? I don't know.... However my Spanish vocabulary is surprisingly small! So bueno just kinda popped out! And it can be for my Sister! Who is quite fluent! :D)

Miss ME??

Hello! I'm sure you all missed my entertaining posts these past two months! I got very busy! hehe... I know! It's no excuse for leaving you all in the dark about everything I'm learning! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! Ok, not that sorry.... I had a great Christmas break! Lots of movies and my sister came! But I'm not supposed to write about that here <.< >.> So I'll move on to my first day back at high school! Second semester! Freshman year! :D

We started our lessons on A Midsummer Night's dream! Today we looked at a time line about Shakespeare's life! Turns out he was married and had 2 daughters and a son! Who knew!? I sure didn't! But tragically his son died at age 11. As far as I know though, his daughters grew up fine. :) I'm supposed to read the childrens version of the book for homework tonight to get the basic story line. Should be fun! It's got lots of pictures! :D I like pictures!

Oh! Over Christmas break I actually did some school! With my parents and my sister we pretended to be hunters who had to run crazily around our living room collecting little papers that stood for caribou and rabbit and stuffs. Me and my sis were on a team and my parents were each individual groups. The game was to teach us about the difference between renewable and nonrenewable resources. I learned that oil is nonrenewable. Trees are. And we had lots of fun moving breathlessly after 'beavers'. :D It was a fun biology exercise. Literally. I think I lost 5 pounds! Haha...

I am very, super, insanely behind in math. (No shock there, I put it off. hehe) Like I'm talking double math for the rest of this semester!! Which is insane!! I loathe math! I don't want double math! Groan..... Nothing I can do I guess...but chug through it.... (Catch the blood red ink association? :p)

Guess what?! We have double volleyball as well! But that I am super excited about! (In case I haven't previously mention, I LOVE VOLLEYBALL!!!) We now have 2 hour practice at our gym on Tuesdays and then League starting next Friday in Norman! I don't know how many hours a day league is though. It's exciting! I'm a bit nervous about league...but I'll just not think about that! AND it turns out that even though I'm on the Beginner Low team, I'm a Beginner Medium alternate! :D I'm not the only one, there's also a boy alternate, but at least I AM one! :D So at our last practice before break I got to play a whole bunch because we scrimmaged a lot and I played on my team and the next one up! W00T! :D So much fun! :D

Band starts up again this week! Our Christmas Concert went really well! I didn't have any 'solos'! Hehe. And I stuck to the key signature! But there were some spots I got off on my counting *cough* because I don't count very much *cough* and so I just didn't play there. But it was lots of fun! Got to see and hang out with lots of my friends as well as play my flute! (In case you haven't noticed, my friends are the reason I love the activities I'm in. Hehe).

Choir doesn't start again until the end of January. OBU has a weird trimester schedule and so our choir schedule follows that. But our Christmas concert for that went really well too! I don't remember if I told you or not, but I got the solo! :D The dress rehearsal the day before the concert where I sang my solo in front of the older choir and mine went fairly awfully. I was nervous and was having issues getting from my ending pitch to my starting pitch because I sang the whole thing through twice. It was embarrassing and discouraging.... BUT the actual performance went fantastic!! No problems at all! We didn't end up with it on tape because the camera memory card was full by then but that's okay. I know, and everyone told me, that I did great! I was quite proud of myself! I'd had other solos. But in English. And far less challenging music too. And not in front of that many people either! Ahhhh! Hehe! Well, that's really all that's going on with me school wise! If you'd like to learn about the other wises of me, you could always talk to me! Instead of just reading my blog like a creeper! Haha, JK! I know my blog is just too good to not read it! :D Well over and out folks! Until next time, I bid you adieu. (See! My French is getting better! hehe)