GUESS WHERE I'M GOING?

I'm doing something great tomorrow. And the next day, and the next day, and the next day until Thursday. You may already know what it is (and I honestly can't remember if I've mentioned it before), but I'm going to give hints. Ready?

Happiness.

Got it? No? -_- Okay.

JOY. And WONDER.

Yet? No?

Here's a big one: four parks.

...not yet?

Fun, excitement, memories, characters.

Anything? UGH!

WISHES AND MAGIC AND DREAMS COMING TRUE. DO YOU HAVE IT NOW? :DDDDDDDDD

I'M GOING TO DISNEY WORLD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Disney World might possibly be my favorite place in the whole wide world aside from...um...nah, it's my favorite place. Wishes, dreams come true, magic, wonder, rides, excitement, fun, memories, characters, PETER FREAKING PAN, rides, food, shows, ALADDIN AND JASMINE, songs and parades and stories and being a kid again and imagination and castles and pirates and shops and BELLE and happiness and happy workers and little kids and Splash Mountain and mermaids and lions and kings and kings that are lions and staying in a Disney resort for the first time and swimming in Disney pools with fake ziggurats and wild animals.

Disney World. Possibly the happiest, most fun, memorable, adorable, creative, perfect place in the world.

Me, tomorrow, Disney.

I am one happy camper.

OMG :D

~Kendra

Happy Thanksgiving!

(EDIT: .......it didn't work.......so I'm posting it really quick now before I have to go.)

I don't know if I'll have time to post on Thanksgiving ("today"), so I'm gonna use the auto-post thing. So, technically, I'm writing this when it's not Thanksgiving, but you'll READ it on Thanksgiving... XD

But don't worry; sometime soon, I'll post about what happened today.

I hope you're having/had a great Thanksgiving!

Girls' "Word Names" I Made Up
451. Peace
452. Survivor
453. Rumor
454. River
455. Tally
456. Trust
457. Every
458. Legend
459. Soul
460. Story
461. Lyric
462. Atlantic
463. Props
464. Amaze
465. Ocean
466. Anime
467. Memory
468. Lake
469. Lymrick
470. Echo

Things I'm Thankful For
471. Words
472. Talents
473. Writing
474. Freedom
475. Books
476. Family
477. Friends
478. Friends that are more like family
479. Straighteners
480. Internet
481. Education
482. Dance
483. Laughter
484. Music
485. Teachers
486. Advice
486. Friends that can drive
487. Food
488. Licky (my doggie :D)
489. Eyeliner (I really am...)
490. Razors (See above.)
491. Heat
492. Philosophy class/Philosophers
493. Languages
494. The chance to go to Europe this summer
495. My blog
496. My camera
497. My iPod
498. Thinking/Opinions
499. Challenges

500. The God who made all 499 other things possible.

~Kendra

NaMeS

Well, today has been sort of depressing for some reason. I really have no idea why. It should have been great. My first day of freedom, the day before Thanksgiving. But for some reason, I just haven't felt like doing anything today.

I read for like an hour and a half, which should have been fun, but it just felt like laziness and procrastination.

I took my chemistry exam, which was actually pretty good. I DID feel good having gotten it out of the way.

I watched TV with my sister, but the shows were all boring.

I practiced this song on the piano, but I didn't feel like I got anywhere with it.

I folded my clothes, but it took way longer than it should have.

And now it's five o'clock and I still have to clean the bathroom, sweep the porches, and empty the trash. I also have dance tonight. I extremely don't feel like going, even though I know I should (and will).

Today has been a depressing disappointment, and I haven't the slightest idea why. Hopefully tomorrow will be better. As some of you might know, I'm really paranoid about having good holidays. They sort of scare me (as does my birthday) because I'm always afraid I won't make the best of them and then they're GONE for a whole YEAR. As a result of the worrying, I sometimes end up spoiling the special days for myself.

-_- *sigh* Tomorrow will be better. It has to be.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Favorite Boys' Names
401. Joshua
402. Caleb
403. Cole/Kole
404. Drew
405. Jayden
406. Alexander
407. Everett
408. Seth
409. Aaron
410. Daniel

Favorite Girls' Names
411. Khloe
412. Kyrie
413. Juliet
414. Riley
415. Raegan
416. Lauryn
417. Alazne
418. Adrianna
419. Maris
420. Piper

Futuristic Girls' Names I "Made Up"
421. Kaelie
422. Polaris
423. Eris
424. Neveah
425. Enigami
426. Bracy
427. Bree
428. Elle
429. Rakelle
430. Raeven

Futuristic Boys' Names I "Made Up"
431. Castor
432. Apollo
433. Xizon (I pronounce it "kai-zohn")
434. Jaxon
435. Blaise
436. Polar
437. Sol
438. Alecks
439. Luken
440. Rowan

Boys' "Word Names" I Made Up
441. Rex
442. Pilot
443. Polar
444. Ankst
445. Nano
446. Shade
447. Blaze
448. Pagan
449. Voltage
450. Next

(Girls' Word Names tomorrow.)

~Kendra

~Sad Songs~

When I was little, I hated sad songs.

And when I say "hate," I mean "LEGIT. HATRED." If I heard the first note of "Christmas Shoes" on the radio, it was off before the sound had time to register with anyone else. Just about any country sound was taboo, and the general category of Sad Love Songs was banned from my presence.

It's not that I was a controlling little devil (although maybe I was), I just couldn't deal with sad songs. My heart would start to get smaller and tighter and my throat would squeeze and I'd feel warm wetness in the back of my eyes and an uncontrollable need to curl up and die would overtake me.

I heard "Christmas Shoes" ONCE and spent that entire Christmas alternately crying in my room because I thought my mother was going to die. True story.

Now, I love sad songs.

I buy them on iTunes, search them out on my iPod, have playlists for them, put them on in the car. My sister hates me for it, but I figure she'll come around eventually like I did.

Instead of sad songs ruining my day (or possibly my ENTIRE CHRISTMAS SEASON) the way they used to, they fill my soul. Isn't that weird way to say it? But it's true. Something inside me swells with emotion until I think I might burst. The truth and tragedy resonate with me. Sad songs inspire me to write with passion; they pull my emotions together into a breathtaking bundle. They make me feel something beautiful.

I'm not sure when the change happened, or why. I've always been a very emotional person. I don't mean that I cry a lot or am a drama queen. I actually don't cry very often and I pride myself on dry humor.

I mean that when I'm happy, the whole world is beautiful and alive and nothing can stop me. When I'm sad, everything I am dips into a well of despair filled to the top with all the misfortune and cruelty in the world. When I'm angry, everything is tinged in red and channels of passion course through my veins, giving me strength to make a change.

I feel everything strongly. No matter what the emotion is, I am all over it. Full-force, completely, nothing halfway about it.

I think when I was little, I was afraid of my emotions. I knew how powerful my sadness was, so I ran from it, blocked it out, avoided it at all cost. Somewhere along the line, I began to realize how beautiful emotions are. The stronger they are, the more potential for beauty, for inspiration. Not to say that emotions should control you--you must be sure that YOU are in control of THEM--but that you shouldn't fear them.

You miss 100% of the shots you never take. No pain, no gain. The bigger the risk, the bigger the success. You can never win unless you're willing to try.

If you run from your feelings, you'll never know just how beautiful they can be.
~~~~~~~~~
[Due to miscounting on my part, I'm going to have to do more than 30 Things a day for the next three days, because I want to end on Thanksgiving :)]

Questions (all originals, btw XD):
361. When witnesses are asked if they will tell the whole truth in court, what happens if they say no?
362. How do British schools teach about the Revolutionary War?
363. Do Mexicans think about Spain the way Americans think about England?
364. Why do only guys go bald?
365. How important does a person have to be before they're "assassinated" and not just "murdered"?
366. How were cuss words invented?
366. Do other countries celebrate Thanksgiving?
368. Why is it now more of a girl thing to have long hair? I mean, originally, guys AND girls did.
369. What is the big deal with those nerdy glasses this days?
370. Why is it that when I try to think of them, all the awesome questions I have go away?

RANDOM FACTS
371. Saturday mail delivery in Canada was eliminated by Canada Post on February 1, 1969!
372. In Tokyo, a bicycle is faster than a car for most trips of less than 50 minutes!
373. There are 18 different animal shapes in the Animal Crackers cookie zoo!
374. Should there be a crash, Prince Charles and Prince William never travel on the same airplane as a precaution!
375. Your body is creating and killing 15 million red blood cells per second!
376. The king of hearts is the only king without a moustache on a standard playing card!
377. There are no clocks in Las Vegas gambling casinos!
378. There is one slot machine in Las Vegas for every eight inhabitants!
379. Every day 20 banks are robbed. The average take is $2,500!
380. The most popular first name in the world is Muhammad!


Answer to the "How Well Do You Know Me" Quiz:
381. B
382. A
383. D
384. A
385. A
386. C
387. D
388. A
389. B
390. There were only 9 questions... :3

Most Visited Sites on My Computer
391. Yahoo!
392. Gmail
393. Blogger
394. Facebook
395. Google
396. Youtube
397. Wikipedia
398. Stumble
399. Fandango
400. Twitter

~KeNdRa

So, Kirsten's Over...

I'm here with my friend Kirsten. She is cohosting my 500 Anniversary Celebration! :D

30 Random Things Kirsten and I Thought of For This List:
331. This week is "Change Your Picture to a Cartoon Character" on Facebook. We highly recommend DOING IT.
332. "Not you, WESLEY, you're a RRRRABBIT for heaven's sake."
333. "A GGGGGREAT ANIMAL."
334. We played dress up today.
335. We took exams today.
336. Kirsten failed an exam. (NOTE FROM STEPHANIE: She BARELY failed. Two points, and it was a freaking hard test, and she knew a ton of it when we looked at it after the fact.)
337. She likes animals.
338. She's allergic to aspirin and sulfa.
339. She's obsessed with my purple hippo named Happy.
340. We did crazy makeup today.
341. Facebook chat is annoying.
342. I love red peppers, Kirsten thinks they're gross.
343. And blecky.
344. We like the song "G6." Like, a lot.
345. Also, "Low." And we can dance to it.
346. I had ramen today.
347. Raw AND regular.
348. We watched "The Devil Wears Prada" for the first time, and it was good.
349. Kirsten, as you know, works at Subway.
350. She just now freaked out that I had told you guys that. She called me a stalker. I am deeply wounded and offended at such vicious name-calling.
351. Kirsten: "The truth hurts."
352. This list is rambling.
353. I had it all planned out that I would end this list thing on Thursday, Thanksgiving, but I feel like I may have misjudged that a little...seeing how it's like three days away and I'm still 150 to go...
354. I'm wearing my sock monkey footies.
355. We're going to go watch "The Swan Princess" til our eyes fall out in a minute.
356. We're going to a lunch tomorrow for a grade we're not in to have food we don't like (chili). It'll be great :D
357. I'm going to Disney on Saturday.
358. I hope I'll get a ton of school done before then, because we have a ton of assignments to do, and I want to actually have a break...
359. We want to go see "Voyage of the Dawn Treader" at midnight >:D
360. My cartoon character is Belle; Kirsten's is RUFUSSSSSS.

~Kendra

o_o \>//stress\\

20 Things History Class Has Taught Me This Week
301. I hold my breath when I’m stressed.
302. “Sovereignty” is hard to spell.
303. It is completely possible—and not uncommon—to fight for the right thing in the wrong way.
304. Making 56 billion typos every 6 words makes me want to scream.
305. I love Wikipedia.
306. Politicians have always been this way.
307. The computer screen starts to hurt your eyes after 3 hours.
308. I still don’t like Lincoln that much.
309. It is the “Gadsden” Purchase, not the “Gadson.”
310. I seriously do love Wikipedia.
311. Cranberry Sierra Mist in a wine glass is really good.
312. I am really OCD.
313. I can actually work really hard when I try :O
314. What the Ostend Manifesto is.
315. I might marry Wikipedia.
316. I love computers.
317. Facebook is only distracting if you let it be.
318. Food holds even less of my attention when I’m stressed or busy.
319. I can successfully condense 52 of material into 6.
320. All things are possible with God.

Things I Think Are Stupid:
321. The law that you must wear a seat belt. That’s MY business. If I want to get killed in a car wreck, the government should let me. As long as I’m not hurting anyone else, let me make my own choices.
322. “Food may be hot after heating” warnings on microwavable lunches. Gee, it’ll be hot after heating? I pity the fool who needs that reminder.
323. When middle schoolers try to make everything into an innuendo because they think it’s cool. I have nothing against a good “That’s what she said” every now and then, but when you stretch “Ring Around a Rosy” to mean something bad, you’ve gone too far.
324. Professional wrestling. It’s staged. That’s lame.
325. Serving green beans without a slotted spoon.
326. People who don’t believe in Peter Pan (;P)
327. Weak fingernails.
328. Those strings on corn that get stuck in your teeth.
329. Hangnails.
330. Running out of things to say (which I obviously am…>.>)

~Kendra

P.S. This time tomorrow, I will be a free girl until January. (Well, not exactly, but freER :D)

P.P.S. If you click on this post, it'll take you to another version of this post.

And I have no clue why or how I did it... >.>

Quotes and Pictures

How does England teach about the Revolutionary War? I've always been curious. Anyone know?

Quotes By People You May Have Heard Of:
271. "We confess our little faults to persuade people that we have no large ones."
- Francois de La Rochefoucauld
272. "Every generation imagines itself to be more intelligent than the one that went before it, and wiser than the one that comes after it."
- George Orwell
273. “If you have not done things worthy of being written about, at least write things worthy of being read.” –Giacomo Cassanova
274. “Suspicion always haunts the guilty mind.” Shakespeare
275. "The best liar is he who makes the smallest amount of lying go the longest way."
- Samuel Butler
276. "Anyone who can handle a needle convincingly can make us see a thread which is not there."
- E. H. Gombrich
277. "Charm is a way of getting the answer yes without asking a clear question."
- Albert Camus
278. "Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake."
- Napoleon Bonaparte
279. “I made this letter longer than usual because I lack the time to make it short.” - Blaise Pascal
280. “If you think education is expensive, try Ignorance.”
- Andy McIntyre

Quotes By People You Probably Haven't Heard of:
281. “Food is just there to give your sauce a little texture.” – Mr. Leon
282. “Mineral makeup? Isn’t that like putting dirt on your face?” – my daddy
283. “He’s so old he remembers when Dr. Pepper was in medical school.” – also my daddy
284. (in regard to how long an essay has to be) “Follow the skirt rule: long enough to cover the subject but short enough to make it interesting.” – my mom :)
285. If you run when it gets slick, you’ll only fall through the ice. – Me
286. (talking about chemistry and the boiling point of substances) “Boiling water’s like being pregnant. You can’t be sort of pregnant, and water can’t only be sort of boiling.” – my mom again XD
287. “I did what my mom would call ‘spill water everywhere’, but I actually just got a little on the floor.” – Sam
288. (my youth leader’s 8-year-old daughter had just told her she probably wouldn’t win the lottery) “Probably not. In fact, I’m 600% more likely to be struck by lightning.” – my youth leader
289. “My quizzes are like tests. My tests are like exams. My exams are like Hell.” – a teacher at this private school near me
290. Let’s play Oscar the Grouch. You win. – Me XD

Pictures That Fascinate Me:

291.She's story material, is she not?

292. Eyes fascinate me.

293. I have no idea why this is so intriguing to me.

294. Meet Lila from my book "The Mirror."

295. I'm still not 100% sure what this is...

296. It's like another planet...

297. He's kinda cool. Not THAT cool, but I was running out of pictures XD

298. Very cool.

299. This is what your insides look like when you're excited and nervous.

300. Possibly one of my favorite pictures of all time. There is a story in this picture, I'm sure of it.

~Kendra

Today's Post :D

The past couple of days have been somewhat of a pleasant surprise. Instead of having four days to get my school work done, this final week of school this semester is only TWO days.

Nothing like having your work load doubled and your time to do it cut in half, right?

I didn't think it'd be that bad until I started looking at all the stuff I had to do yesterday...XD It looks pretty bad.

But having to buckle down and work has actually made me buckle down and work. Weird how that works, isn't it? I actually did school yesterday night, which basically never happens. I usually get sick of everything and quit around 4 o'clock.

Today, I got up at a good time and really hit the books. I've been working steadily since 9 o'clock (so 7 hours, 'cause I took about an hour for lunch etc.). I'm still not where my schedule says I should be, but realistically, I'm doing great.

I'm planning to get up tomorrow like it's a normal school day and work until the Wake Forest game.

Did you catch that? WAKE. FOREST. GAME.

My awesome friend Kirsten invited me and my dad to go with her and her dad :D I'm extremely excited and having fun thinking up ways to show team spirit. At the risk of sounding hopelessly girly, I'll tell you that I have it all planned to wear my gold and black eyeliner...

Ways to Get Away from Pushy Salespeople (from Consumer Reports magazine XD):
241. Say you're just looking. Most likely they won't want to waste their time on you.
242. Be decisive. Either tell them you're ready to check out, or that you'll look on your own and let them know if you have a question.
243. Say you're comparison shopping. You'll seem like a savvy shopper not easily impressed by slick talk.
244. Use body language. Don't smile or make eye contact.
245. Be direct. If a salesperson is being rude, ask them if they're having a rough day. It'll make them check their behavior.
246. Go elsewhere.
247. Give a canned answer. When a salesperson asks you one of those right-out-of-a-book questions ("Would you like to save a hundred dollars today?"), give them an out-of-a-book answer--or two or three ("No thank you, excuse me, goodbye.").
248. Develop "the look." You know what I mean. The look of hitting the mall with a toddler. A cross between exasperation and madness.
249. Ask for a business card.
(there were only 9 suggestions, so the following comes straight from me XD)
250. Ask ridiculous and slightly annoying questions. (Do you know who first invented the fork? Are the toilets for sale by any chance? Can you direct me to the book on liger metabolism?)

Stories I've Started:
251. Cammie and Cousins
252. The Girl and the Ring
253. The Fire Fairy stories
254. The Mirror
255. A Tale of Ethnoc
256. Dream Come True
257. Desirae Mayes
258. Tunder
259. The Magic Ring
260. Vega

Poems I've Written:
261. Twins
262. My Guy
263. To Baffle the Bilious Bureaucracy
264. Broken Heart Summer
265. Kings and Dragons
266. Lines
267. Colors
268 The Globe and the Map
269. The Elven Lady’s Plea
270. 50 Word Friday

~Kendra

Yesterday's Post :3

Oopsy.

Top 10 Most Played on My iPod:
211. Fireflies - Owl City
212. Going Under - Evanescence
213. Papercut - Linkin Park
214. Bring Me to Life - Evanescence
215. Call Me - Shinedown
216. Here I Am - Bryan Adams
217. Whispers in the Dark - Skillet
218. Comatose - Skillet
219. I Never Wanted - As I Lay Dying
220. Forsaken - As I Lay Dying

Top 10 Recently Played on My iPod:
221. Breaking the Habit - Linkin Park
222. Forsaken - As I Lay Dying
223. I Never Wanted - As I Lay Dying
224. Alice - Avril Lavigne
225. Going Under - Evanescence
226. Bring Me to Life - Evanescence
227. In Transit - Mark Hoppus
228. Lux Aeterna - Clint Mansell
229. Rawkfist - Thousand Foot Crutch
230. Dry Bones - Gungor

Favorite Artists:
231. Relient K
232. Linkin Park
233. As I Lay Dying
234. Evanescence
235. Skillet
236. Shinedown
237. tobyMac
238. Gungor
239. Michael W. Smith (only when he's NOT singing XD So, like the "Freedom" CD)
240. Globus

~Kendra

Ballet and Babies

I am not usually a superstitious person. I am a self-proclaimed realist with OCCASIONAL tendencies towards being a hopeless romantic. But I am not usually superstitious.

Tonight was dance class :D I love dance, and I love my teacher. She's so sarcastic, and hilarious. She's 28. We learn a lot of strange, random things from her. She tells us about having kids and the things to look for in a house and celebrity crushes and she gives us advice on boys.

So today, we got started talking about babies. (Boys, don't panic. This is not going to be that bad XD) And apparently, there's an old wives' tale where you have someone else dangle a necklace over your wrist and wait. After a few seconds, the necklace will start to sway in a pattern that will tell you the gender of your first child. Then the necklace will stop, and if you'll have more kids, it'll keep going and tell you the rest of them.

In my head: "Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight."

But, all the dance teachers at the studio have tried it. There are like 12 of them. And the necklace has never been wrong. Ever. And it'll give the same person the same thing every time. So. Hm.

Well, being the easily amused and distracted bunch we are, Adrianna yanks off her necklace and we decide to test it on each one of us.

It's freaky watching the necklace at work. It just sits there, then it suddenly starts to sway. If it sways parallel to your arm (towards your wrist and then back to your body), it represents a boy. If it sways horizontally, it's a girl. If it sways in a circle, that means twins. Then it'll sway to tell you if your twins are boys, girls, one of each, yada yada yada.

It was intense. All of us holding our breath, watching the necklace tell each girl what she was going to have. My friend Susanna was so into it. (But then again, Susanna gets really into everything XD) She almost cried when she "saw" her kids.

All the girls went. I was the only one left. (Dramatic, right?) I was slightly torn, because I've always said I wanted to be surprised, but I figured what the heck. I held out my wrist.

As some of y'all might know, I'm very adamant about having a boy first. I've always mourned the fact that I don't have an older brother, so it's really important to me that none of my kids have that issue. Preferably, I want boy, girl, boy, girl. Like really bad.

I watch the necklace dangling over my wrist. It just sat there.

That was awful. No kids?? At all?? D:

But then it started swaying. My heart started pounding. What was it? What would it be?

A BOY!! It was a boy! Everyone cheered for me XD They know how much I want that.

The necklace stopped, then started again. It was a girl! How amazing was that? I was thrilled. Then...

Another boy.

Freaking wow.

After that, it was done. Apparently I'm only having three children (boy, girl, boy). But WOW, three out of four is NOT BAD AT ALL. XD

Normally I'd just roll my eyes at this crap, but...if it's never been wrong...and it's consistent...hmmm? ;)

Note: Here's the killer though. It's the male that determines the sex of your baby. So...technically, your babies' gender is NO WHERE inside you, girls. But hey. It's worth a shot, right? XD
~~~~~~~~~~
My Favorite Books
181. The Mortal Instruments trilogy
182. The Farsala trilogy
183. The Inheritance cycle
184. The Uglies series
185. The Da Vinci Code
186. Inkheart
187. A Morbid Taste for Bones
188. The Maximum Ride books
189. Sophie’s World
190. The Princess Bride

Things that Scare Me
191. Rock climbing
192. Being alone in dark, sketchy parts of town
193. Heights
194. Losing people
195. Being out of control
196. Drowning
197. Arachnids (spiders and scorpions >.<) 198. Being unprepared 199. Crazy people (like, actually mental XD) 200. GOING crazy Things About Clothes
201. I hate pointy-toed shoes.
202. Skinny jeans only work on girls.
203. There’s a line between “mini-skirt” and “is that a belt?”
204. Dresses don’t have to be girly.
205. I’ve worn white shoes after Labor Day.
206. High-water pants are hideous.
207. Make sure your shirts aren’t see-through.
208. White socks with black/brown shoes will never be okay.
209. Hot pink and red are supposed to be okay together these days. Well, they’re not.
210. Knock-off shoes are not a bad thing. If they look the same, who cares? Now you can spend those 40 extra bucks on something else.

~Kendra

Exploring the Forbidden Halls

Today, I went to class with the rest of my family. At my "school," preschool through 10th grade meets on Tuesdays, and my lonely little class of juniors meets on Wednesday. Normally, I stay home on Tuesdays, but I decided to go hang out around the school today. Sometimes my friends will drop by, and some of the "lowerclassmen" are pretty cool anyway XD

Sure enough, some of my friends showed up, and we even ended up going to Subway where our friend works for lunch. We got back from lunch at about 2 o'clock: math class time. Some kids don't take that math class, including Daniel S, so Amanda and I hung out with him until school was over.

We were bored and unsupervised, so we decided to explore. The school building is massive, and most of it's not even being used. There are lots of stairs and complicated hallways that connect and turn and end and lead to random double doors that lead to MORE hallways and stairs. It can be confusing when you're not used to it, but we mostly know our way around.

We went to the elementary school wing and reminisced for a while, went to the office and dodged the scary administration people, poked around in the vending area. On our way back, we decided to go through what I like to call the "Forbidden Hallway."

I don't know that it's actually forbidden, and I don't say that out loud, but it has a great ring to it, doesn't it? It really looks like a Forbidden Hallway.

For one thing, it's unfinished. The floor is some kind of black stuff that looks like it's been scratched up. For another thing, it's really long. You walk through the double doors and you're met with a long, dark hallway that ends in another set of doors waaaaay off in the distance. On either side of the hall, there are empty doors, offering all sorts of ghouls. It's perfectly quiet, but the echo is unbelievable. It's like you can hear every breath bounce off the walls. It's also frigid.

It's dark, lonely, long, cold, creepy, and full of echos. I pretty much love it. I wonder if they'll ever finish it?

So Amanda and Daniel S and I hung out there for a while, poking in the classrooms (the group of scarecrow children nearly gave us a heart attack), whispering, listening to our footsteps change sounds as they bounced down the hall.

After a while we explored the quiet upper floors we'd never had a chance to as kids.

It was a pretty cool afternoon. I like just chilling with my friends. Not even doing anything. Just being with them is fun.

Things About Blogging...
151. It’s like my online journal.
152. I never feel alone.
153. I love finding people with common interests.
154. You guys cheer me up!
155. Decorating ~CD~ helps get me into the spirit of things.
156. Blogging made me realize how much I love Christmas!
157. I hate word verifications on blog comments.
158. I promise never to put hidden auto-start music on my blog XD
159. Getting followers used to be really important to me.
160. Now I just like being myself and meeting great people :)

20 Random Things About Me:
161. I cannot stand the word “chick” when referring to a girl. It’s degrading. Unless, you're using it in a degrading way on purpose, and then, of course, you picked the right word XD
162. I’m allergic to peanuts.
163. I love to run, but I’m out of shape so it sucks.
164. I hate ravioli.
165. I have a serious fear of food poisoning and tapeworms.
166. The closer to and more comfortable I am with you, the more sarcastic and “mean” I can be. I think this is because if I feel safe with you, I feel like I don’t have to worry about you starting to hate me when I’m a brat…or something twisted like that.
167. My hair is naturally this weird, ugly, half-curly thing.
168. I live next to a lake. I can walk to it :D
169. I love Bojangles.
170. I have very eclectic taste in music.
171. I love As I Lay Dying.
172. I love learning.
173. Hilari Bell is the writer I think I admire the most (for her writing, I don’t know anything about her as a person).
174. I take random pictures of myself when I’m bored. And it makes me feel vain when I think about it.
175. I’m TERRIBLE at buying gifts.
176. I hate the shows Suite Life of Zack and Cody and Suite Life on Deck.
177. I write lots of unsent letters.
178. I dislike wearing sunglasses. They make me feel like a diva.
179. Begging is just not my style.
180. Watching people spit out their toothpaste (or even seeing myself do it) disgusts me beyond belief.

~Kendra

Culture Honor and the Civil War

I have a essay due on Wednesday. Anything from chapters 7-9 of my history book, which covers the years up to the Civil War, and the Civil War. I've chosen to do my paper on why the south decided to fight.

You may say the reason for fighting was slavery, and I agree in part, but I think there's a lot more to it than that. Sure, the south wanted to keep its slaves, but I don't think that was the root issue or why most southerners fought.

"Why are you fighting this war?" Union troops asked a captured southern soldier.
"Because you're down here," the soldier replied.

I believe that most southern soldiers fought not to keep their slaves, but out of loyalty, out of cultural honor. Someone challenges you, invades your land and threatens your way of life. If you are a southerner, what do you do?

Fight, obviously.

I'm against slavery. I hope everyone reading this knows that! It's unchristian, unfair and wrong. But if I had been a boy during the time of the Civil War? I would have fought for the Confederacy, no doubt.

It's difficult to explain my feelings, but I think a lot of my southern friends can understand. There's something that runs deep, really deep in southerners; something that makes us fight for our family and friends; something that rears up when someone attacks our character; something that will not stand by and let our land be taken.

Whatever "that" is, I think, was a bigger reason for fighting than slavery. But what is "it"?

That's what I've decided to write my paper on.
~~~~~~~~~~~
Southerners Are...
121. Extremely competitive
122. Naturally rebellious
123. Intensely patriotic
124. Fiercely independent
125. Passionately loyal
126. Steadfastly honorable
127. Impressively good shots
128. Unfailingly polite
129. Proudly territorial
130. Always charming ;)

Strange/Crazy Things I've Done (thanks, Izori!)
131. Ride cross-legged on the top of a pickup truck.
132. Wear two kinds of eyeliner at once
133. Go out in public in my Wacky Tacky Day attire (It was for school, and I decided not to change so I could see all the weird looks it would get me.)
134. Wink at a random guy at the fair (He ran into a prize tent >.> My bad.).
135. Go up to a random guy and ask if he tried to figure girls out.
136. Ask the man who works the counter at the bowling alley if he could please blow up my ball, I thought it was flat.
137. Challenge a friend to a heated debate at a Christmas party
138. Feed the dog in the snow without shoes on
139. Fall off a cliff in the dark
140. Be a boot for Halloween.

Things I Stand For
141. God
142. Freedom
143. The right to speak freely
144. Equality
145. The right to bear arms
146. Justice
147. The right to challenge the government
148. Individuality
149. My country
150. And, of course, southern honor XD

~Kendra

"I'm southern and proud of it. I think all southerners are. I mean, if you're not proud of it, you're not really southern."

Proof of Depth

I feel like I've been talking/posting a lot about hot guys lately. I mean, just look at my Celebrity Crushes list a couple of posts back. Jeremy Sumpter, Hayden Christensen and Michael J. Fox have been in daily conversation for about a week now. Their characters have been elevated in my mind. I was starting to feel terrifyingly shallow.

Then I watched "Troy" last night.

Ever seen it? Well, it's about, um, Troy. The ancient city. And their war against the Greeks. It has Brad Pitt (ehh) and Orlando Bloom (wowowmakesmylist). Trojan prince Paris (Orlando Bloom) kidnaps the Greek queen, Helen. The Greek king calls upon this unbelievable warrior named Achilles (Brad Pitt) to help the Greeks defeat the Trojans.

It was a fairly good movie; not AMAZING in my humble opinion, but fairly entertaining. It definitely elicited some emotional responses from me (actually only one: anger). There's only one real man in the entire movie, and the others make me so sick I wish they'd all get run through.

Orlando Bloom plays just such a sickening man.

I won't spoil what he does for anyone who hasn't seen the movie, but he does the #1 most cowardly thing I've ever seen a man do in a movie. I actually jumped off the couch with a shocked, "WHAT?!" (My dad can attest.) I hated that Prince Paris with a passion. (Okay, so I strongly disliked his guts for the three-hour span of the movie.)

BUT. Something good came out of all that. I had proof for myself that I was not becoming entirely shallow XD I can honestly say that Orlando Bloom's gorgeous face meant nothing to me when paired with his character's despicable personality. And that was a relief.

Things I Love (there are 30, so only one category today :D):
91. Happy Days (the TV show)
92. Cheez-Its
93. Eyeliner
94. Reading
95. Indian (Bollywood, not Native American) culture
96. Writing
97. Dancing
98. Music
99. “Aladdin”
100. Peter Pan
101. Awesome guy characters
102. That 70s Show (Don’t judge me ;P)
103. Emo makeup
104. Green
105. Ice cream
106. Fonzie
107. Greek culture
108. Making people look twice
109. Puns
110. Music in a minor key
111. Rice Krispy Treats
112. Christmas
113. Summer
114. Egyptian Culture
115. Eyes
116. Brothers
117. Winking
118. Car trips
119. Disney World
120. Going barefoot

~Kendra

Concerning Guys and Girls...

Hellooo! Today was great! I had some crazy friends over for a sleepover last night, and today we went and worked at Cassidy's ranch as a youth project. I rode on the top of a pick-up truck back and forth on the bumpy road (which I think feels a lot like riding on an elephant would), shoveled a lot of horse manure, and got to see a guy's foot actually gush blood (not gonna lie, it kinda reminded me of the Black Knight in "Monty Python"). All in all, a very exciting day.

Now I know you're all very interested in my Dos and Don'ts for Guys, as well as the About Girls category, so without further adieu...

Don'ts for Guys:
61. Don't let your hair get too long.
62. Don't wear skinny jeans.
63. Don't be girly.
64. Don't part your hair (if you follow the first "rule," this shouldn't be a problem XD)
65. Don't let yourself or people you care about be pushed around.
66. Don't lie.
67. Don't be disrespectful.
68. Don't be so nervous!
69. Don't cuss.
70. Don't go too long without shaving.

Dos for Guys:
71. Do hold doors for girls.
72. Do give hugs.
73. Do make people laugh.
74. Do like guy stuff.
75. Do know *something* about sports.
76. Do be yourself.
77. Do try in school.
78. Do persevere.
79. Do read (at least occasionally).
80. Do be on time.

About Girls...
81. We like it when guys call/text/talk to us first.
82. We're tough. But not ALL the time.
83. It will bother us when you forget something we’ve told you, even though we know guys are pitiful.
84. Even if we know you like/love us, if you stop showing it, we’ll think you’ve stopped meaning it.
85. Tell us when we look nice, but don’t tell us that ALL THE TIME, or it loses its meaning.
86. Sometimes we tell you that you win even when you lose.
87. Sometimes we tell you that you lose even when you win.
88. We’re complicated, but it makes us feel good when you try to figure us out.
89. It’s annoying when you try to interpret our secret girl eye-conversations. If we wanted you to know, we’d say it out loud.
90. Flowers will always be cute.

~Kendra ;)

Kendra's 500 Continues!

In honor of ~CD~ turning two, and my 500th post, I'm doing 500 different things spread over a week or so. Get ready for 30 more things...

I Wish...
31. I had an older brother.
32. I had a license.
33. I had a smaller nose.
34. I could read minds.
35. I could control minds (haha, just kidding XD Ish).
36. Jeremy Sumpter lived next door.
37. I had started my 500 things earlier.
38. I'd paid more attention in school my whole life.
39. Crayons would never get dull.
40. I had a bigger family.

10 Celebrity Crushes!
41. ****Jeremy Sumpter**** (<--depending on where you click, there are 3 pictures there XD) 42. ***Hayden Christensen*** (He has one of those smiles that you have to smile back to because your insides are melting.)
43. **Drew Roy**
44. *Michael J. Fox*
45. Alex Pettyfer (<--two pictures in there, too XD)
46. Jesse McCartney
47. Cameron Bright
48. William Moseley
49. Orlando Bloom
50. Shane West

Favorite Movies
51. Aladdin
52. Peter Pan
53. Beauty and the Beast
54. The Bourne movies
55. Braveheart
56. The Sting
57. The Oceans movies
58. The Matrix
59. Pirates of the Caribbean
60. 17 Again

Stay tuned for Dos and Don'ts for Guys, as well as About Girls tomorrow! :D

~Kendra

Kendra's 500 Begins!

*FANFARE PLAYS*

WOOOOOT! Can you believe it?? ~Carpe Diem!~ is two years old! It's a toddler! It's speaking in full sentences! Soon it should hit the terrible twos...um...great...

But it's also the 500th Post Celebration!!!

Do you know what this means?????questionmark?

I gotta post 500 of something. I'll spend hours and hours trying to figure out things that would hold your attention and interest you and not seem narcissistic.

And then you won't actually READ all 500 things anyway...>.>

SO.

I got to thinking.

What if I milked this a little? What if I spread my 500 things over the course of a couple of weeks? Give it to you in pieces that wouldn't require you to pull up a chair, grab a cup of coffee, buckle down and stay glued to my blog for an hour and a half?

I figured, that might be nice.

I've put my 500 things into convenient little bundles of 10. I have 50 different categories of awesome, so what if I post, say, 3 a day for a little while?

Yes, I realize this would have been better if I'd had a COUNTDOWN to my 500th post instead of STARTING this at the big five-oh-oh, but hey, good ideas can come better late than never, right? :D

Also, this smaller-bits-at-a-time idea is NOT a result of Kendra waiting until 11:12 at night to think of 500 freaking things.

I hope you're not mad :( I honestly do have 355 things already. Only about 150 to think of.

Anyway, without further adeu, the first 3 categories in Kendra's 500...

*drumroll* (<-- Does that hurt your eyes? 'Cause it hurts my eyes.)


Things I Am
1. Friendly
2. Stubborn
3. Ambitious
4. Persuasive
5. A writer
6. Unique
7. Confusing
8. Complicated
9. A screw-up
10. A Christian

Things I'm Not
11. A jealous person
12. A fake
13. Dull
14. Wishy-washy
15. A touchy-feely person
16. A Justin Bieber fan
17. A Justin Bieber hater
18. Quiet
19. Stupid
20. Normal

I Plan On...
21. Going to Wake Forest
22. Majoring in political science
23. Minoring in philosophy
24. Getting married
25. Having kids
26. Writing
27. Arguing
28. Staying up late
29. Making mistakes
30. Living for God

Hopefully, I'll see you next time, when Kendra's 500 continues!

Blog Birthday?? :O

This is post 499. The next time I post, it'll be in celebration!

But guess what I also realized today? Thursday, the 11th, will be ~Carpe Diem~'s TWO-YEAR-OLD BIRTHDAY! :O

Last year I completely missed my blog's birthday. And I felt horrible. This year, the birthday might be swallowed up in the big 500 post. Unless...

I just put the posts together :) I'm planning to dedicate 100 things to ~Carpe Diem~, and the other 400...you'll have to wait and see!

~Kendra

How Well Do You Know Me?

Y'all have really good ideas for the 500 post celebration! I'm definitely gonna use those...If you have more, comment! :D

So, I made this quiz on Facebook, but it looks like it got messed up -_- I tried the link, and it's wrong...Or something. 15 minutes of my life I'll never get back.

So, at the risk of sounding narcissistic, I'm going to post it here XD If you feel like taking it, leave a comment :) I'll let you know how you did. It's pretty hard, so I won't be offended if you get a lot incorrect, haha XD

1) What was the first Linkin Park song I ever heard?
a. In the End
b. Papercut
c. New Divide
d. Breaking the Habit

2) What's something unusual that I like?
a. Nightmares
b. Hiccups
c. Brussel sprouts
d. Ruffles

3) Who are my two favorite presidents?
a. Washington and Reagan
b. Jefferson and Lincoln
c. Washington and Lincoln
d. Jefferson and Reagan

4) What upsets me the most?
a. Being lied to
b. People being late
c. People spreading rumors
d. Getting a bad grade

5) Where do I want to go to college?
a. Wake Forest
b. William and Mary
c. Somewhere in Florida!
d. Highpoint

6) What have I written the most of (completed)?
a. Stories
b. Short stories
c. Poems
d. Songs

7) If I were going to dye my hair, what color would I dye it?
a. Black
b. I'd try blonde, but it probably wouldn't work.
c. I'd get highlights.
d. Reddish brown

8) What's my favorite sport to watch?
a. Soccer
b. Basketball
c. Football
d. Tennis

9) What is my hair like naturally?
a. It's basically straight.
b. Wavy, neither curly or straight. Ugh.
c. Curly -_-
d. Frizzy.

I had ten questions on the Facebook one, but now I can't remember them all! Oh well XD

~Kendra

Four Ninety-Seven...

This post, this one right here, is post 497. Four hundred ninety-seven. Cuatrocientos noventa y siete. Yup.

So, that's only three posts away from the Big 500! Can you believe it?? I missed the Big 400, but I'm determined not to miss 500. This needs to be awesome...epic...legit.

Unfortunately, I've been...let's just say "less than the most active blogger" lately. My posts are beginning to be few and far between, and my activity on other blogs, frankly, sucks. (I do read your blogs, I promise, I just suck at commenting these days.) I'm trying to fix that.

But the point is that it makes a big celebration kind of hard. I'm not particularly in touch with the blogosphere right now. I feel out of practice as far as being the fun and funny blogger I used to be. I'd like to get back to my old self with the Big 500, but it needs to get started with a bang.

Basically, this post has been a grossly extended version of this simple question:

What should I do to celebrate ~Carpe Diem~'s five hundredth post?

I like things that make sense, so maybe five hundred of something. Five hundred questions, five hundred facts about writing, five hundred quotes, five hundred...somethings.

Any ideas? I know I'm asking you to please comment when I've been terrible at doing that myself, but...please? :3

I'll see you again soon--promise.

~Kendra

Tag!

I've been tagged! This one is kind of fun. I answer 8 questions from the person that tagged me, then I come up with 8 new questions and tag people. Those people will answer my questions, then make up 8 of their own.

1. What is your biggest pet peeve? People who are wrong and refuse to admit/understand that XD
2. Do you sleep with your sheets tucked in or out? Well, tucked in a the bottom, but not on the sides or anything, lol :)
3. Do you think it's okay for guys to wear pink? Only if they are blonde.
4. Where would you bury hidden treasure if you had some? What’s the point of hiding it if I’m going to tell you where it is? ;P

5. Do you have any magazine subscriptions? Um…Well, my sister and I get Discovery Kids, I think.
6. What's your song of the week? Oh, hmm… Right now, I'm in love with "What I've Done" by the String Quartet. It's a tribute to good ol' LP. Check it out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTo1tKavRHQ
7. When was the last time you wrote a letter to someone on paper? A week ago exactly. I wrote a letter to my sponsored child in Cambodia.
8. What country would you like to visit? Ireland, France, Spain, Italy and Greece. And I’m going to three of those places this summer!!

Now I make up 8 questions...

1. What was your first word?
2. What are two facts about you that seem to contradict each other?
3. If you could play any instrument, what would it be?
4. Do you know more than one language? If you do, what is it? If you don't, what language would you like to learn?
5. Do you like to travel?
6. Are you an open person?
7. What is your favorite season?
8.8. In ten years, where do you see yourself?

I'll tag...
1. Laura
2. Camilia
3. Rachel B
4. Elizabeth
5. Amanda
6. KnightWing

If you guys don't like doing these, that's cool :) I know everyone is pretty busy this time of year!


~Kendra