miTunes

Hey! So, Lia gave me the idea to post some of my current favorite songs! Maybe you'll find something you like :D

"My Paper Heart" ~ All American Rejects


"Higher" ~ Taio Cruz featuring Travie McCoy


"Ghost in the Machine" ~B.o.B


"Head Full of Doubt/Road Full of Promise" ~ The Avett Brothers (totally not my normal style, don't ask me why I love it...)


~Kendra

[Carpe Liber]

Well, I decided to do it! There might not be tons of interest, but I've decided to start a blog for book reviews :) I plan to post around twice a week, and the reviews will ALWAYS be under 500 words. I'm really excited :D The first review goes up tomorrow! Check it out!

http://carpeliberi.blogspot.com/

~Kendra

Books

There are different kinds of snobs out there, as my friend Cassidy pointed out. You have clothes snobs ("Anything from Goodwill is automatically garbage."), water snobs ("Bottled only, thank you."), movie snobs ("The character development was a little slow, and I thought the script was weak."), clique snobs ("Oh, she's really into artsy stuff, soo..."), etc. You can be a snob of just about anything. One (of many XD) thing I'm a snob about?

Books.

I love reading. My first word was "book." I used to follow my mom around the house when I was two, holding up a book and asking her to please read it to me.

When I was little, my mom picked out my books. She always picked really good ones, classics or ones that were by well-known authors. When I got to be ten or so, I wanted to pick my own books. My mom was fine with that. It was then that I realized something:

Not all books are actually good.

It was a strange revelation to realize that a book doesn't have to be well-written with well-developed characters, a tight plot, and good vocabulary to get published.

I haven't changed much in my expectations for books since then, except maybe I've gotten even "snobbier" XD I'm sure that keeps me from finding as much stuff that I absolutely love, but I think that's a fine. I'd rather know what a really good book is when I find it than think everything I read is amazing.

I don't mean to sound really arrogant here, although I'm sure I probably do :-/ Anyway, I'm thinking about doing book reviews every once in a while, maybe even starting a separate blog for it. Would any of you be interested in that? If you don't mind, leave a comment and let me know!

~Kendra

Disney Disguise

Hey, y'all! As my awesome friend Lia pointed out, I'm finally having my birthday party this Saturday! I haven't really had an actual birthday party since I was fourteen, so I'm excited :D I'm also excited because I think the party theme is just awesome, if I do say so myself:

Disney Disguise.

Oh yes. It's a costume party! Everyone dresses up like their favorite classic Disney character! (Well, it doesn't HAVE to be your FAVORITE, and it doesn't have to be a princess. Pirates of the Caribbean or the Incredibles works too :D) There will be games for each princess and a dinner made up of food from all the different countries where the princesses live :)

Do I really need to even tell you who I'm going to be? Just in case you haven't looked at my profile...

I'm going to be Belle!

While Aladdin might still be my favorite Disney movie, you gotta admit that Beauty and the Beast is the best love story out there, and I happen to be a lot like Belle. The only challenge was finding a costume.

I decided right away that I didn't want the yellow dress, you know, the one she wears to the ball or whatever. It's gorgeous, but I wanted to be Belle when she's just her plain ol' self in the blue dress.

I could have ordered a costume. If I happened to have EIGHTY-NINE DOLLARS JUST LYING AROUND XD Which I do not. So I did not. But yesterday rolled around and I still just had some sketchy ideas about how to make a Belle costume, and I was beginning to worry that I would have the worst costume of all--at my own party.

But, like the last-minute heroes they are, my mom and Lizzy went to Goodwill last night while I was at dance and found a couple of things.

I won't tell you how amazing it is, because that might ruin the surprise when I post pictures later ;) But needless to say, OH MY GOSH I LOVE IT IT'S PERFECT IT'S SO AWESOME--

*clears throat*

So yeah. My party is Saturday, and I'm totally psyched.

~Kendra

Homeschooled vs. Homeschooler

Someone I know put this on Facebook today XD I love it. Best homeschooler vid I've seen so far. There are a lot of people who try to do this, but it's usually a little...er..."homeschooler" XD Hope you like it.



~Kendra

I Was Stumbling Today, And...

...look what I found! Click on it for a bigger version.

{Stumble.com}

~Kendra

Perfecto

Today, it is 74 degrees. The air is warm, the sky is blue, the breeze is gentle. It's a perfect day :D Absolutely perfect.

Things That Make Today Amazing:
1. The weather is warm.
2. It's FRIDAY.
3. It's the first monthly Family Fun Night at my church.
4. There was a little raccoon on our back deck (second story) this morning. Second time, same little furry offender. Sometimes my dog Licorice freaks him out and he ends up "treed" on the porch railing. Cute as freakin' button and not rabid. He's curled up in the V of a tree about 30 yards from the house as I type.
5. My insane friend Kirsten is coming to Family Fun Night and to spend the night :D

This pretty much describes our friendship.

So, until later, EVERYONE HAVE A GREAT DAY/HOPE YOU HAD ONE!

~Kendra

If You're Pushed for Time, Just Read the Italic Portion at the End

Wow, I've been terrible at posting. Like, really awful.

My birthday was great, I got four new books and the movie "Brigadoon." The books I got are "The Forest of Hands and Teeth," "Tex," "Incarceron" and "Across the Universe." I've read "Forest" and "Tex" and I'm on "Incarceron." I plan on posting some review-esque posts soon :)

I used to LOVE the movie "Brigadoon" when I was really little and we haven't been able to find it for years and years. We watched it the night of my birthday and it was really sweet :) Some lines and especially some songs brought back waves of childhood memories. The dancing in the movie is really great, too. I guess I was too little to appreciate that when I was five XD

Last Friday was the Father-Daughter Sweetheart Dance. It was basically like prom only with better music and dads instead of awkward guys. I had a blast :D Pictures possibly soon, my friend's dad took them and they haven't appeared on Facebook yet...

Yesterday, in case you don't know, was Valentine's Day :D I had a good one. We went out to dinner as a family + my grandma. The restaurant was actually the same one my dad and I had gone to before the Father-Daughter Dance. We saw the same cute waiter :3 He told me to have a good night. That may or may not have MADE my night...

I got to drive home :) Yes, in case I never officially said so, I got my permit :) I plan to post more on that later also...

So basically my life has been fine. Up until tonight. When something devastating happened (don't get too upset, I suppose I'm probably being a little melodramatic). First, a little back story.

Have you ever heard of the show Happy Days? If you haven't, you should watch it, because it's genius. It's set in the 50s and 60s and it's about this teenager named Richie and his friends. My personal favorite character is Fonzie, the greaser who's a shocking blend of freaking TOUGH and surprisingly profound.

Anyway, I started watching Happy Days every night at 10 o'clock around Thanksgiving when I was going through some internal crap XD It was so hilarious and fun and took my mind off things. I watched the two episodes and went to bed neatly at 11 o'clock. I went to bed happy and laughing over some of the lines.

If I was having a bad day, it was okay because I could watch Happy Days at 10 o'clock.
If I was stressed about school, I could make it through because I could watch Happy Days at 10 o'clock.
If I was struggling with what to do about something, there was a chance that I'd find wisdom in Happy Days at 10 o'clock.

Happy Days was something happy, something constant, something perfect and reliable that I could count on every night to make every day happy. Lately I've actually said during the day, "I'm so excited--Happy Days comes on tonight!"

XD I know, I'm a complete dork. But a happy one. This evening was great because I was looking forward to my daily dose of Fonzie and my close-second-favorite ChaChi. Good ol' reliable 10 o'clock rolled around and--

Holy mother of feathered cow gerbils. No Happy Days.

Yes. You read that right. No. Happy. Days. The show does not come on at good ol' reliable 10 o'clock, just in time for me to go to bed neatly at 11. No Fonzie. No ChaChi. No wisdom. No laughter. No happiness. Nothing to get me through the day or cheer me up.

I realize that it is only a TV show. I realize that it is not the end of the world. I realize that I really need to get a life outside of watching actors who are now pushing 50 years old IRL. But when I read "Next: Family Ties" I died a little inside. I am way more devastated than I should be.

I thought I could never hate Michael J. Fox.

I was wrong.

~Kendra

Lizzy: Before and After

So, my sister Lizzy has had braces for THREE AND A HALF YEARS. That's kind of a while. Since she was, like, eleven. And guess what?

Yeah. She got them off today, after one terribly disappointing false alarm (thanks a lot, Mr. Orthodontist). I know people who have gotten their braces off, and to be honest, I hardly noticed. I mean, I thought something was a little different maybe, but it wasn't like "OH WOW."

Well. Lizzy's After is OH WOW. She looks so different! She is beautiful, her teeth are beautiful, and honestly she looks about two years older. People are gonna think we're just friends instead of older-sister-younger-sister. OR maybe they'll think she's OLDER... O_O That'd be...weird. But she IS taller than me.

*...frowns...*

ANYWAY XD Wanna see?

Before...

After...

I just can't get used to that new face XD :D

~Kendra

Well, Folks, It's That Time of Year Again...

No, not the Super Bowl -_- My BIRTHDAY.

I have a little over 12 hours left of being sixteen.

Sixteen was good. In fact, it was pretty great. I went to the beach with a bunch of friends, went to prom for the first time, vacationed in Florida, almost had a boyfriend, read all the Harry Potter books, got accepted to go to Europe, and finally got my permit! Not a bad year, not a bad year at all :)

However. I am completely ready and eager to leave sweet sixteen behind. I'm excited for my birthday. I mean, I'm actually smiling and happy and bouncy and waiting for the clock to get to tomorrow. To be perfectly honest, I don't remember EVER feeling excited about my birthday before. I'm usually anxious and apprehensive and totally paranoid that I won't enjoy it enough. This year, I'm just plain excited. Old-fashioned excited. Little-kid excited.

My birthday's tomorrow.
My birthday's tomorrow.
My BIRTHDAY'S tomorrow!

Yippee :D

I have it all planned out so that I have NO SCHOOL WORK to do! Tomorrow is all mine. I will be "sexy seventeen" and it's going to be freaking AWESOME.

Gosh, a whole day. Whatever will I do with my aging self? :D

~Kendra

Praises and Prayers

Praise: I got my permit! YESSS :) It was a little more complicated and irritating than we thought (we ended up not having all the paperwork, etc.), so I just got it yesterday. I missed 2 questions XD Oh well. I drove to class today, which was fun, even though it was kind of nerve-wracking.

Prayers: I know 10 people who are sick. There is a horrible thing going around. Stuffy nose, runny nose, sore throat, sneezing, coughing, chest pain, and a high fever in my sister's case. See, Lizzy is an amazing sport. She plows through life and gives 100% no matter what. She has to be feeling like death warmed over to show it, and, well, she's showing it.

I haven't seen her like this in years. At least. It makes me want to take all the sickness and just go through it myself, and I mean that. (Normally I'm a selfish little snitch, so it's different this time, lol...XD) My mom is even thinking about taking her to the doctor, something she hardly ever does.

Anyway, I don't want to sound annoying, because I know there are WAY worse things than a bad cold/virus thing, but any prayers for my sister (and all the other sick people) would be wonderful.

~Kendra

Peep

~Kendra