Carpe Diem

You may have noticed something (Okay, probably more than one something, but I'm talking about something specific XD):

My lack of blogging.

(Okay maybe you didn't XD But now that I've brought it to your attention...)

I love ~Carpe Diem~. Like, I think I might actually love it, like it's a person, an extension of myself. It's been a sounding board for new ideas, my journal for good times and bad, a venue for meeting some of the most amazing people, a way to document my life in fun and beautiful ways that I never would have been able to otherwise. I LOVE ~Carpe Diem~.

The name is perfect; Seize the day. Live, love, laugh, learn. To me, ~Carpe Diem~ represents growing up and changing and being excited about life. Even the templates have been happy and fresh.

So it feels kind of like my heart is breaking as I say that I think I'm finished here.

I'm so silly, I'm almost crying XD

(Dang, as I type, I'm not sure if I can go through with this.)

For some reason, there's been a distance growing between me and ~Carpe Diem~. Not a dislike, not a disinterest, just a distance. I'm growing up, but that's not quite what I mean. I've outgrown ~CD~ is more like it. I haven't matured out of it, I've grown out of it. I know that might sound like the same thing, but it isn't. Maturing would mean that I feel ~CD~ is below my thought level now, that it was cute while it lasted but I'm moving on. That is not how I feel.

I feel like ~CD~ represents a definite chapter of my life, of who I am, and that chapter is over.

Honestly (for you writers out there), it feels like I've finished a book. I'm heartbroken to leave it behind, but it's truly finished and it's time to move on. It'll always be there, and I'll reread it or maybe even work on it, but it's in the past now. I've finished it. I've out grown it and I'm ready to move on.

If I haven't made it obnoxiously obvious yet, I will now: I won't be posting on ~Carpe Diem~ anymore. I may post occasionally, but most likely it'll be memorial posts (~CD~'s birthday, MY birthday, holidays, etc.) and not a regular thing. At this point, I don't plan to ever come back to daily posting.

I love ~Carpe Diem~ dearly, and much more than anyone should love a blog, and I love all of you. I can't believe 137 people care about what I say! It's mind-boggling! Me? ME?? You want to read ME??

I've gotten really arrogant about the whole blog thing too, and I think that was what started the distance. I started caring too much about the number of followers and not enough about the real reason for blogging. I'm so sorry.

As hard as it is to make myself come to terms with this decision, I feel like it's almost been made for me. I grow up, I change, and those plain facts are out of my control. So this is goodbye. (Forget almost crying, I AM crying >.<) I honestly cannot thank you enough for being a part of this wonderful journey I've been on.

If you're interested in keeping up with me, I have something to tell you, but you need to email me: livinglovinglaughinglearning@gmail.com.

With much, much, MUCH love,
Kendra Logan

So, Yesterday...

The SATs went about like I expected. I'm sure I did well on the reading and writing parts, but I did poorly on the math, I know. I'm just behind where I need to be. I'm not longer completely BAD at it, just behind. And I'm slow at it. So on the first math section, I finished 7 of 10. The second section, 12 of 20. And the last section, 6 of 16. So yeah. Even if I get every one of them right, it's still gonna be baaad.

So, kinda :( But oh well.

Lunch with the "popular" girls went really well. They were nice to me, and I didn't say anything stupid or do anything really awkward-inducing. Some other friends picked me up from the restaurant at about 2:30 and we hung out doing random things. Then we saw "Red Riding Hood," which I thought was really going to be awful, but it wasn't! :O I actually enjoyed it.

I thought it was gonna be scary, too, so I was all worked up inside about it. (I do NOT do scary movies. I don't think...I've never actually SEEN one...) But, again, it wasn't. Not at all. Not even a moment of Oh-My-Gosh-This-Is-Getting-Intense. So yeah. I was surprised to find myself a tiny bit disappointed about that.

After getting up at 5:45 that morning, blowing my brains out on a test, and gallivanting around town all day, I was completely wiped out. I went to bed at 8:30 and was out by 9.

It was interesting, having a life like that. Without a license, I feel like I don't get out much. Yesterday I was gone for over 12 hours and with friends the entire time. It was quite fun. But also expensive and tiring and I've had a good day today just doing nothing :)

~Kendra

Battle of the Boys

NOTE: Boys, feel free to skip this post.

Also, if you are allergic to shallow, you can skip it too, because this is quite possibly going to be shallow. It's also going to be eye-candy, so stick around if that changes your mind. That is all.

Alright. So, there is an on-going fight between Camellia Dayla (and Cassidy) and me:

Who is hotter? William Moseley or Jeremy Sumpter?

Lia and Cassidy are under the impression that William Moseley is more attractive. While I totally agree that he is a big bowl of beautiful, I happen to think Jeremy wins out by a little bit. What are your opinions?

Contestant #1: WILLIAM MOSELEY
He is gorgeous. There's no doubt. He has flawless skin (although it's probably air-brushed), piercing grey eyes, and something about him that kind of screams "SMOOTHPROTECTIVETYPE."

He also has abs. Which is always nice.
And looks good when he's annoyed.
He can (almooooost) pull off long hair.
And has a strong jawline.
He (in case you didn't already know) played Peter in Narnia, one of the greatest, most crush-able guys in fiction.
He's also an older brother, and tan (a rarity among British dudes), if you want to throw him those brownie points.

When asked what religion he is, he replies (quote), "Um I do believe in God but I’m not very religious, I’m…probably Christianity."

Two worst pictures I could find (I found some baaaaad ones, but when I tried to click on them I mysteriously got the "Not Found" screen...-___-):



Basically he's an all-around good-looking guy with few (viewable) exceptions.

Contestant #2: JEREMY SUMPTER

Used to look like this...

Now he looks like this...You look at William Moseley and the words "handsome," "solid," and "good-looking" float across your mind. You look at Jeremy Sumpter and all that's left of you are the chills running down your spine and your heart beating in your wide eyes.

He has eyes that slice into you, right to your soul, carrying an aura of mystery, adventure and mischief. Something about him screams the contradictions of "fierce-gentle" and "strong-sensitive."

He had abs when he was twelve.
Manages to make smoking look hott, which is hard to do in my book.
And makes me go weak at the knees when he looks like this:
...even though I feel like a pedophile.

If you feel you haven't quite seen enough evidence, I've saved the best for last. Take adventure, mystery, intrigue, mischief, cockiness, cleverness, wit and sheer attractiveness and rolled it together, it would look exactly like the following.
Holy...guacamole. I'm trying very hard to...not go crazy over this boy.

Here's one where you can read the whole tattoo.
In case you still can't tell, it says "To die would be an awfully big adventure."

He played the role Peter Pan in the real people version and did a beautiful job in a terrible movie.

Peter Pan has always been an attractive character to me, maybe some of you share that feeling. There's something about the adventurous, mischievous cockiness that's just awesome.

He also played Justin in a movie called Cyber Seduction, which sounds dirty as heck, but is actually a Christian TV movie that does a good job of keeping it PG without sugar-coating things.

I haven't been able to find Jeremy Sumpter commenting on his faith, but his role in Cyber Seduction leads me to believe he is a Christian. However since he doesn't mention it in any interviews, it leaves me wondering.

Two worst pictures I could find (btw, I've seen his movies and he never looks bad for a second, although admittedly these are pretttttty bad):
Basically he makes you want to run after him wherever he's going (as soon as your knees recover their stability), even though he's got a few bad shots out there.

Well there you have it, folks! The strong, handsome older brother of William Moseley, or the cocky, mysterious portrayer of Peter Pan.

Which do you find more attractive? Comment! None of this "I don't have time" or "Plenty of other people will" or "She'll never know I didn't" stuff! I have a page number tracker and I'm not afraid to use it ;) Drop a line and end this feud between friends!

~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

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

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

The Godfather

I watched "The Godfather" today. I've just been feeling in the mood to watch it lately. Maybe it was the references in "You've Got Mail." I dunno.

For those of you who don't know, it's a movie about gangs, basically. But at the same time, that is SO NOT what it's about. It's about family. It's about loyalty, honor and justice. The kind of loyalty those people stick to is incredible, and admirable. You stick up for you family, pay your debts, keep your promises and treat each other with respect. (There is a certain "or else" feeling to it, but that's beside the point XD)

Gangs are bad. I know. Killing is bad. Yes. Blackmail is wrong. It is. But if friends and family could show each other the same loyalty required in the Corleone family...wow. It would be incredible. You'd always have someone to go to, someone to talk to, someone to take your side. You'd never be alone.

"The Godfather" is one of my favorite movies. It's intense, it's a little violent (okay, so it's rated R), and calling it "lighthearted" would be about as accurate as calling Edward and Bella's relationship "healthy," but I love it. I really love it. It fills me with a fierce loyalty for my family, a passion for justice, and a will to plan carefully (along with an overwhelming desire for brothers, of course).

The point is, I think "The Godfather" is definitely a movie to see, so long as you can handle it, and the basic principles are ones that we can all draw from.

~Kendra

Resolution

Happy Second Day of Twenty-Eleven! How was your first day? Did you notice the date?

1.1.11

I thought that was pretty sweet, but then again, I'm easily amused.

This year, I have a lot of little resolutions, but in general, my goal is very simple (and not particularly original): be myself.

I go through ups and downs in "being myself." 2010 was not an especially good year for being myself. It's not that I lied or was fake or tried to be someone I wasn't, it's just that...I was being the wrong parts of myself and not looking at the big picture.

Of course, 2010 was also just a growing year. I might not have been completely myself, but I did a lot of experimenting and learning and stretching. I learned what works for me and what I'm like and where my limits are.

You know, when I think about like this, 2010 really wasn't that bad. I'm not upset to say goodbye, but it actually wasn't a bad year. I had lots of Firsts (and several Onlys) and discovered that I love eyeliner, hate chemistry and can, in fact, tolerate guys screaming in movies (which will come in handy with the Harry Potter movies, I think).

Long story short, while I wasn't as successful at being ME in 2010, I did make a lot of discoveries about who I am that should help me become more the person God wants me to be in 2011 :)

More on that later.

~Kendra

Pictures of the Part-ayy

The party.
Was.
Fun XD

Starring...

Lizzy

Brianna

Lia

Me, Kendra

aaaaand Ellie!

Group shot!

Food...

Fun...
(Katie and Cassidy also came for a little while :D)

And more XD

I love my friends. Happy New Year.

~Kendra

Looking Back and Looking Forward

Dos mil diez.
Deus mille dix.
Twenty-eleven.
Two-thousand ten.

It's been a year, which is hard to believe. Last year, I had just come off the best Christmas in the entire world with stronger friendships and a million inside jokes. 2009 was, in a word, epic, and lots happened. Last year, I wrote:

"You know what, 2009 was great. It was full of everything a year should be. I loved it. It was an amazing year for me. But 2010 can be great, too. My New Year's Resolution?

Stop being afraid of the future. Stop living in the past.

Just because something was great, doesn't mean greater doesn't exist.

2010 is going to be great. That's not a hope. That's a fact.

Because (not to quote Hannah Montana) life's what you make it.

So, let's Carpe Diem, people."

Wasn't I cool? I don't mean that in a conceited way, I just realize what a great outlook I had. Somehow, in 2010 I lost some of that.

2010 has been really different. It's been quieter sort of, full of growing up and learning (often the hard way). I've made some unexpected friends and lost some unexpected friends. I've worked harder in school and started to like shopping.

2010 hasn't been fireworks and joy, it's been moonlight and understanding.

Twenty-ten was interesting and enlightening, but I can't say that I will miss it. I'm more eager to see what twenty-eleven holds than I am to hold onto twenty-ten, and I think that's a good thing.

Tonight, I'm having the first New Year's Eve party I've ever thrown. I think it'll be great :) Scratch that, I *know* it'll be great. We'll eat popcorn and drink sparkling grape juice and play games and watch the ball drop in Times Square. We'll be with each other.

Life is about living, loving, laughing and learning. In 2011, I plan to remember and do those things to 100% of my ability, and then I *know* the year will be great.

Who's with me? Let's live, love, laugh and learn together. Let's Carep Diem, y'all :)

~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

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

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

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

Washington DC!

Maybe you remember last year, my class went on a 10th grade trip to Washington? Well, we're going again. We are in 11th grade. We're not supposed to go. But, as usual, my class has decided that we are the best class in the world and are therefore allowed to participate in trips for any grade we've been through XD

It's kind of hilarious actually. You should see us crash 8th chili day...

Anyway, we're going to DC :) Today. I'm extremely excited. It's not supposed to rain EVERY DAY or be FREEZING every day, so that's a plus. Also, I don't have the worst sore throat ever this year. YAYAYAY.

The history will mean a lot more this year, too, since I'm taking American History. I'm actually excited about the history itself and not just spending time with some of my best friends.

I might post while I'm gone, but I dunno :)

Be back Saturday! Expect pictures!

~Kendra

P.S. The picture of Evil Inc. to the right is not how I feel about Washington or anything, I just wanted something with a big building/monument XD Just thought I'd clear that up.

I'm Posting... :3

I'm sorry I haven't been posting! *sigh* I don't have any especially good reasons besides the old favorite:

I've just been busy.

But I really have XD I've been feeling behind ever since the trip to Great Wolf, and then Wednesday-Friday, I was out of town at a conference. It was really awesome and definitely worth it (I'll probably be posting about it at some point), but I'm back to treading water in school. Gah.

I'm especially behind in math, which sucks. At least I'm getting it though, right? Usually I just keep up with the pace, ignoring my issues. This year I'm actually slowing down to learn the concepts. So...that's good...right?

Tomorrow I have a Family Tree project due. In Spanish XD It's pretty fun, but a little complicated. I'm not sure which labels to put and how to show all the relationships. I also wanted to make the poster look like an actual tree, but there's not really room for a leafy outline and trunk at this point...

So yeah. My life has not been boring lately, I'm just telling you the boring PARTS because telling the exciting parts would take a lot more time, and I still have philosophy and Shakespeare to tackle...not to mention babysitting tonight...Although you really can't call it babysitting when Matt is now FOUR-FREAKING-TEEN and Katie's almost twelve.

That's kind of scary.

>.>

*stops ranting*

~Kendra

P.S. If you want to, check out this blog. It's...sort of hard to explain. But I like it XD Check it out: A Crossroads of Rhyme and Reason.

A Little Life Update

I think the Scavenger Hunt is going off pretty well! So far, only two people have completed the Hunt though! All you Hunters better get a move on before Saturday rolls around and the Hunt is over! Thanks so much to everyone for participating :) It means a lot to me, and I hope you had fun!
~~~~~~~~~
Wow, that was a lot of exclamation points XD

Life's been interesting lately, but good. Very good. I was right about Junior Year being awesome. Honestly, school isn't bad at all. Last year was HORRIBLE, but this year is kind of...not. The only thing giving me trouble is chemistry, and I'm planning on understanding that...in the near future XD

American History was starting to be a living nightmare, but my teacher had a talk with us yesterday and explained that we were all taking too many notes. (At least some of us were XD I'm pretty sure some people haven't taken ANY XD) She told us how to outline the chapters less heavily, and so far it's going better.

I absolutely LOVE Spanish. Languages come sort of naturally to me, and Cassidy loves Spanish too, so we talk about it allllll the time :D It's great.

Shakespeare. Was. A. Genius. Oh my gosh! I love his writing! The way he phrased things was so perfect! So witty and ironic and funny. The subtleties in his writing are absolutely brilliant. I love this class.

I also have poetry, which is tacked onto Shakespeare. I didn't really do my poetry assignments until last week because I forgot about them. We're using the book "The Roar On the Other Side." The exercises are so cool. Basically, it's just learning how to write better and be creative, but I get SCHOOL CREDIT FOR IT :D It's helping me get over my seemingly-chronic writer's block too.

Math is...not bad. Not bad at all. One might even say good. One MIGHT even say that with tutoring and actual effort, I love math. One MIGHT say that. Not saying it's me.....I don't love math, I hate it......right......Oh crap XD I like it this year. All my years of profound hatred gone to waste... *sigh*

Philosophy is the love of my life, has been since 9th grade. It's awesome. I love my class, too. We're deep thinkers. I get more out of this class than possibly anything else.

This year my class is getting along really well. Normally, you have Group A and Group B. Group A appears to think themselves too good to associate with Group B, thereby removing themselves from the class whenever possible. Group B rolls their eyes and thinks Group A needs to get a life and stop treating people like dirt.

This year, there is only one group. There is no Us and Them, no A and B, no Good and Evil. We're just a class. We're just all friends. I absolutely love us this way. We haven't been like this since 8th grade. I know there's a lot of growing up going around. Personally, I decided I was just as much part of the problem as anyone. I was guilty of being conceited and exclusive too, so I decided to change that. I'm definitely not saying I'm responsible for the great class dynamics, just that I've been paying more attention to how I act this year.

And...Cavender might be coming to church this Sunday. I really want to see him. It's been a while.

~Kendra

The Weekend

Shopping
Brothers
iPod
Beastly nails
Allergies
Church
Go-karts
Brothers
Sisters
Corn
Spiritual Gifts
Sleep
Laundry
Extra family
Barf-esque face masks
Pictures
Grown Ups
The Matrix
Pizza
Reading
Beastly toe nails
Lasagna

And too much thinking.

~Kendra

Hey :)

I am forcing myself to blog. Because I've been neglecting poor little Carpe Diem. But in a way I guess that shows a good thing? That I'm Carpe-ing my Diem and not on the computer as much?

What have I been up to lately. Hmm.

Well, on Tuesday I went to Cassidy's 18th birthday party! We went to a hotel and swam and ate and talked. Then we went to the midnight premier of Eclipse! It was actually very good. It stuck to the book beautifully, and Kristin Stewart only sucked mostly instead of completely XD Edward even had a couple of parts where I didn't hate his guts. And Jacob was awesome.

There was just one thing.

Here.

Yeah. The movie opens with a guy screaming his lungs out. And then there are like four more times with guys shrieking bloody murder. I was like O.O *crumples in the seat*

XD Amanda and Kirsten, the girls I was sitting with, weren't aware of my...issue. It was kind of funny.

Other than that, quite a good movie XD

After the movie, we went back to the hotel and hung out and ate stuff and talked. We went to bed around 4:30 and woke up at 8:30 to go eat continental breakfast. I had a really awesome time, even though there were no blueberry muffins D: Isn't that, like, a hotel-breakfast-standard? Apparently not :'(

Today, Daniel, David, this girl named Alden, her FREAKING AWESOME six-year-old brother named Elijah, and some other people came over and we hung out at the lake all day. I got tanner :D WooT! We also watched "Monty Python and the Holy Grail". Great movie XD

So, the past few days have been awesome. Which is good, because the days before that sucked.

I'm beginning to see a pattern. Horrible, great, horrible, great, horrible, great. Whatever happened to days that were in the middle? Hmm. *shrug*

~Kendra