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

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!

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 in Love

Aaah! I did it! I got side bangs! And about two inches off, and more layers. And guess what?

Oh. You read the title?

Well, fine, yes :P I LOVE IT. It's my new favorite hair cut :D

Captions on the bottom.

Before I straightened my "old" hair.

After I straightened my "old" hair.

MY NEW HAIR!

~Kendra

The Weekend

I BROKE A RECORD!

Cavender and I got to see each other two days in a row XD Never happened before. WooT!

Yesterday/last night was a Casting Crowns concert that my church went to, and Cavender came with us. Everyone met at a BBQ place beforehand, which was interesting XD

For the record, I like BBQ. But my sandwich was nasty. Every other bite had something hard or chewy or crunchy or gummy that I couldn't identify. So that grossed me out XD I'm not really a fan of food to begin with, so most of my sandwich went unconsumed.

So did Cavender's. Why?

Matt (little brother) -_-

Cavender does not like spicy food. Like, at all. (I love it, so hah XD) So Matt, being the Irritating-Yet-Completely-Lovable kid he is, decided to pour Texas Pete on Cavender's coleslaw. It just went downhill from there until I confiscated the hot sauce. Even Matt does not ignore The Look when I give it to him.

By the way, Cavender got revenge. Matt's sandwich ended up with copious amounts of Texas Pete...

The concert was good. Tenth Avenue North was there, too, which I didn't expect. I really like them. Casting Crowns is good and everything, but they're not really one of my favorite bands. I like hearing Mark Hall talk as much as I like their music. Their concerts aren't really FUN like tobyMac's are.

Yesterday was apparently Food Fight Day in my circle of friends. Matt sat almost right behind me at the concert, which I knew was bad news -_- I did not however expect him to shoot frozen lemonade at me through his straw. What a middle schooler XD

Cavender: "Hey, see if you can get it in her ear."

He did -_- XD Some of Cavender's nacho cheese also somehow found its way to my cheek...I could have put in on his Metallica shirt, but I didn't feel like starting World War III--with cheese anyway >:)

Today was also good. Church was good, and Cavender came home with us.

Have you ever seen these?

Kyle hadn't, so don't feel bad if you too have been so brutally sheltered and out of the loop ;P

Well. Allow me to share something with you:

They are waaaay more fun than they seem.

Call me easily amused (which I admit, I am XD), but they are freaking awesome. Cassidy and Katie (little sister) gave me some! I gave some away though, 'cause I'm nice like that XD Right now I only have a blue dog, a green turtle, a yellow sun and a purple rocket ship. Cavender has my cloud and my star.

But anyway, they are awesome. They're apparently extremely cheap, and if you're easily amused and imaginative like Cavender and me, you can enjoy yourself for long periods of time with them. I love how we think the same way. It's just really great.

Youth group was good. Dinner was good. This evening is good.

This weekend was great.

~Kendra

Summer Lists

It's here. It's here. It's finally here! I've been waiting for this for nine months!

SUMMER.

No school. No tests. No exams. No papers. No projects. No timelines. No modules. No notes. No rough drafts. No final drafts. No vocabulary. No lab write-ups. No flashcards. No stress! My life is complete XD

Well, almost. I just need a mode of transportation and the rest of the world to get out of school XD And texting would be nice...But for now, I'm in paradise :D

But just because I don't have school doesn't mean I can't be productive. I just get to be productive in the areas that interest me now! How? I got one word for you:

Lists.

I love lists. I make lists things to do. I make lists of things to pack. I make lists of things to remember. I make lists of things to wear. I make lists of things I hate. I make lists of things I love. I make lists of lists.

Okay, I'm not quite THAT bad.

But I get organized through lists. It's how I think. So when I want to make sure to accomplish some awesome things over the summer, where do I turn?

Kendra's List of Summer Lists
1. Books to Read
2. Movies to Watch
3. Places to Go
4. Things to Learn
5. Things to Start
6. Things to Stop
7. Things to Try

Lists are tangible reminders of what you want to accomplish. Sometimes just putting something in writing can give you some motivation. What do you want to do this summer? Make a list :D

I'll post my own summer lists later, starting on Sunday, my first full week of awesome.

~Kendra

Musical Roots

I must be bipolar XD But this is going to be a happy post. Know why?

I FINALLY DECIDED ON A MUSIC LECTURE IDEA. AND I FREAKING LOVE IT.

The assignment: Pick three different styles of music and analyze and compare them.

Deciding was my biggest hurdle. I couldn't settle on anything. I thought of doing three things that I thought would have nothing in common like Classical, country and death metal. I really wanted to do, like, subgenres of metal. Lots of people (especially the people in my class) think it all sounds the same. I thought it would be really interesting and fun to analyze some different types. Unfortunately, my teacher and most of my classmates would hate that -_- Also, to do the idea justice, I felt like I'd need more time than I had.

Then my mom had the idea to take three kinds of music that built on each other. I liked that idea, but I still didn't know what to pick...

(The project is due Tuesday by the way. We've had all semester to work on it. Heh.)

I began researching stuff like "music family tree" and "roots of music" and "music genome project". I was coming up blank and getting more frustrated by the second. Finally, I'd had it with the whole thing. I decided to pray. I probably should had done that earlier, but I'm never sure how much time God wants to spend on my petty little academic issues...

Anyway, while I was asking God for suggestions (XD), I got an idea.

"What if I take Classical music, trace that through, like, Stravinsky, and then...I wonder if there's a kind of metal that comes from that..."

I did some research. There is a direct line from Classical, to Neo-Classical (Stravinsky), to Neo-Classical metal.

How. Perfect. Is. That.

I actually kinda screamed for happiness. (No one was home, so it was okay XD) I spent the next two hours completely fascinated and excited about my project. This stuff is so fascinating, people! Oh my gosh! I can't remember the last time I enjoyed school so much! I might do this in my spare time!

I got a little sidetracked with my keyboard, though. I do not play the keyboard, but before long I had "Happy Birthday", "What Child Is This?" and some of "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" figured out. I was really excited :D

My dad says I have all this natural music talent. I'm not sure. I don't think I'm particularly gifted, but maybe. *shrug* It's interesting me more and more for sure.

And guess what? I'mma have another ring soon. So yay.

*doesn'tgrindoesn'tgrindoesn'tgri--okay, GRINS*

I'm really thrilled about the music lecture. I can't even tell you how excited I am. I'm just really pumped :D :D :D

~Kendra

The Earth Shakes

Today was :D

I hung out with Cavender all day at church, my house, then Ellie's house. Then my house a little bit more. We played Balderdash with just us and my dad, and watched a little bit of the movie "Major Payne", which is awesome.

My friend's party was pretty fun, too!

I also ditched my mood ring today.

*pauses while you scream, gasp, and recollect yourself*

Yeah, I got something better now :)

So, today was great. Really great.

~Kendra

Day Five On This Alien Cloud of Joy

It's not like I don't feel the sad/crappy/annoying/suckish things that happen, it's just like they roll off because I have better reasons to be happy.

School is going fine. Nothing to report there.

Writing is nonexistent. But I'll get inspired sooner or later.

Family is a'ight, which is basically as good as it gets XD

Sickness is getting better. Now my throat just hurts, but I think it's from coughing. I got sick of being sick yesterday and decided I'd be done with it today. So far so good. I've scheduled myself to be 150% back to normal by Saturday at the latest, lol :D

Guess what happened Monday? ELLIE (bff :D) TURNED SWEET SIXTEEN!!!!!!! WooT! :D

Music: I'm swimming in glorious iTunes cash from my birthday :D And I want more music. But I'm being really picky and I can't find anything I want. I dunno. Any suggestions? In general, I have really eclectic taste in music. However, I don't do country, Disney stars trying to sound sexy, or praise-and-worship type stuff (like, I don't really enjoy Michael W. Smith, lol). So...lol, if you're dying to help me out, I need music XD

Other awesomeness: Cavender is coming to church on Sunday :) And then he's coming to my house, then to a friend's birthday party with me. Awesome.

That's all. kBai.

~Kendra

Random Good Day and a Quote

Today was good :D

Hah, sorry, I'm getting repetitive. But these past three days have been really good :D I luv mah life right now. I'm quite happyyyyyyyy. I'm ridiculously happy.

*clears throat*

So, first, the Latin test results:

I GOT A 92!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I really think it's 'cause of all the praying. No lie. Because I got ridiculously lucky. I only studied ONE SENTENCE out of the suggested HUNDREDS. It was the one on the test O.o WooT XD

We dissected a frawg. His insides were colorful O.o We thought ours was really buff at first. He had a six pack. But then we got in there and took out, like, a TON of fat bodies (kewl, yellow fingery things XD). He was, like, sumo-frawg.

*is irritated at her use of "like" and the suffix "-y"*

I feel like a bubble-head right now.

*deletes the shallow sentences she had going*

Okay, if I can't say anything of substance, lemme leave you with a quote at least:

"Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake."
- Napoleon Bonaparte

I really love this quote XD

~Kendra

P.S. I might be getting sick...>.< But I'm still really happy :D

Epic Post From Your Own Personal Epic Now-Sixteen-Year-Old Blogger :D

Table of Contents:
1. I am back.
2. Our power went out.
3. MY SIXTEENTH BIRTHDAY.
4. Thanks, God!
5. Thanks, friends!
6. Thanks, Y'ALL for being awesome about my hair!

I'm baaaaaaaaack! :)

Our power went out Friday at 4 o'clock. I was like :O

*clears her throat and revisits the land of good word choices and articulation*

Sorry. I had a replace-descriptive-words-with-smilies moment. Won't happen again.

I have so much to say! I don't even know where to begin. First, I'd like to say that I am now officially sixteen years old.

Sweet. Six. Teen.

*smiles hugely*

Instead of starting at the beginning of this weekend, I think I'll skip the parts where I couldn't take a shower and had to read by faux candle light (batteries FTW) and get straight to Sunday, February 7th. My birthday. My sixteenth birthday.

(Notice I'm saying that a lot. It's in an effort to brainwash myself into realizing the truth, that I am OLD :P)

I woke up at 7:10 because I was tired of trying to pretend I was asleep. You know how that is when you're really excited/nervous and you keep closing your eyes, hoping you'll just lose consciousness again? Well, I feel like I did that all night, at least when I wasn't violently dreaming.

For those of you who may not know, I get nervous about my birthdays. Very nervous. Birthdays only come ONE DAY A YEAR, and it's the one day that everyone is nice to you, and you get to do what you want. So you better enjoy it.

D: Pressure!

I always feel like I MUST ENJOY THE DAY and, being how I am, that usually ruins it for me. I'm getting better though. This year and last year I've gotten a hold of myself and actually had great birthdays (even though last year I had driver's ed on my birthday D:).

So anyway, after I drug myself out of bed, I went upstairs and ate half a bagel, after my family sang Happy Birthday do me :) Then I opened my presents:

Lizzy - season one of Monster Quest XD (How great is that?)
Momma and Daddy - this necklace that goes with a dress I have, a shirt, and twilight woods body cream from Bath & Boyd Works.
Gr'anne - gift card to Barnes & Noble.
(then later)
Cavender - "Witch and Wizard" book.

EDIT: OMG MOMMA AND DADDY JUST CAME DOWNSTAIRS WITH A PRESENT THAT JUST GOT HERE! I LOVE IT! You might think I'm crazy. I might be. But I'm still happy to have this:

The New Testament. IN. LATIN.
END EDIT.

I was happy, but I also wished the power would come back on D: In all my life imagining my Sweet 16, I never envisioned it happening in the dark not able to flush a toilet XD

But anyway.

We normally get to church at 8:30 so the band can practice before church. However, since the building had no power, there would BE no band, and it would be really cold. So we decided not to head over until 9:45.

We got there like six seconds before Cavender. Possibly seven.

Church was good. Small (but still 45 people!), short, and quite cold. We ended with an a cappella Amazing Grace, which I was like -__- about. I don't like that song, and I REALLY hate singing a cappella. No music to cover my voice, so I end up singing really softly and sometimes not at all. *shrug* Oh well :D

After church, Daniel, David and Cavender all came back to our house and we ate hot dogs and white cheddar Cheez-its, which I love :D

After that, we went downstairs and played Balderdash. Have any of you heard of that game? Basically, someone draws a card with a strange word on it, and everyone has to make up their own definition for the word. The person holding the card writes down the real definition. Then, card-holder reads the real definition along with the fake submitted ones, and everyone has to vote for the definition they think is real. You get points for guessing correctly, points for fooling others, and if you're the card-holder and no one guesses the real definition, you get a point for that, too.

Personally, I think I should get points for being able to distinguish handwriting pretty well from the beginning without having to ask. Don't you agree? Three teenaged boys with similar handwriting...I rock. (Just kidding XD)

(On a side note, why do guys write so lightly? Or is it just Cavender and David and Daniel that do that?)

Anyway, back to the game of Balderdash that you guys don't care about but that I'm telling about anyway ;P

It was really fun. Most of the fun was in inside jokes ("A piece of land shaped like a tongue." "NO WAY. *glares* CAVENDER.") and just things that happened, so I won't go into them here. For the record, I will say that Cavender is very good at Balderdash.

'KAYFINEISAIDIT. He won XD

After Balderdash we picked up all the tons of trash paper it had created (we = *cough* me and Daniel *cough*).

Then we played Life. That was fun too XD I was a doctor, which translates to BIGMONEY in that game. Unfortunately, I still didn't win -_- I rolled mostly numbers 2-5 and lagged behind considerably. I refused to buy car insurance (I never do, I'm usually really lucky), and ended up having everything that could go wrong with a poor car XD I also didn't have a single kid D:

LOL, maybe it sounds like I had a bad day, but I didn't. It was so much fun. So much fun.

Even though Cavender won Life too -_- :P XD

THEN, David and Daniel had to go home, and my family and Cavender headed over to another friend's house to watch the Super Bowl since we still didn't have power. That was really fun :) I love my friends.

After we ate dinner and halfway watched "Failure to Launch" (how did I miss the dearly departed fiance and her kid??), my mom called us for birthday cookie!! I don't like cake all that much (I mean, I like it, but I like cookies better), so my mom made a giant, homemade chocolate chip cookie! I told my dad I didn't want them to sing to me again. I hate that awkward moment when everyone is singing and you're just like, "Heh...*looks around awkwardly*...thanks..." So, my dad got everyone not to sing.

They hummed it instead -_-

Then they whistled it.

And then my dad--heh, never mind.

Anyway, after (well, really while) we ate our big cookie slices, we tried to decide on a movie to watch on Netflix. We finally chose one, but before we got very far into it, it was halftime and we had to take Cavender home :(

My friend also has a cat, and I'm allergic to cats, so I had taken some Benadryl to help with the sneezing/itchy throat/watery eyes/cruddy feeling. I stopped sneezing, but Benadryl makes me...well...

Some people get drowsy on Benadryl. I get, like, high XD

Well, I mean, drowsy, but so intensely so that I'm completely loopy and out of it and nothing hits my brain, and I say...everything >.<

Luckily we dropped Cavender off before it really, uberly kicked in XD

On the way home, Mrs. Martha (Matt and Katie's mom) called my poor, dying phone (and no power to charge it!). She and everyone who was with them sang "HAPPY BIRTHDAY" to me :) :) :) :) That was really awesome.

And then it got better.

"Happy birthday," said Katie when they were done singing. "And you have power."

:O

:D

YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! What an amazing end to an amazing day!

My Sweet 16 was NOT how I planned it, not how I'd always envisioned it, and WAY out of my control and comfort zone, but guess what? It was wonderful :) Just another time when God has shown me that HEY, going with the flow and having fun really WILL make for a great experience.

So, thanks, God. You've been by my side for sixteen years helping me out, and having the power go out didn't change that one bit :)

Thanks also to any of my awesome friends that are reading this. Whether I hung out with you, or you said Happy Birthday to my Facebook, thanks :D

AAAAAAAND thanks to everyone who was so supportive about my hair the other day :) After I washed it and straightened it myself, I think it looks better, less ten-year-old-ish :D

In a nutshell:

My weekend was interesting. (I might possibly expand on that later.)
My birthday was AWESOME.
My friends are the BEST.
My God is the bestEST.

Bring on my sixteenth year. Fourteen was the best, Fifteen was better, and now Sixteen...wow, I just cannot imagine.

Bring.

It.

On.

:)

Truth Revealed and Character Profile: Skye

Hello :) I didn't have school today. Yay :D

AND I wrote about 2000 words in that story I've been posting about, also yay :D

Okay, now to answer yesterday's Fact or Fiction Day question:

Question: Is marijuana addictive?

Answer: No. Fiction.

Only Tragedy101 and Milli got it right! Good job, you guys!

To answer the question further, it depends on how you define "addictive". Marijuana isn't addictive like nicotine, but it can become a habit. Just about anything can become that kind of "addictive". But technically, nope, marijuana isn't addictive.

However, it does pose tons of obvious health risks, so I would highly recommend you don't go out and start smoking it. Oh, yeah, and it's illegal XD

Now, because I'm really into this story right now, I'm going to ditch Memory Day (*gasp*) and do another character profile :)

1. Name: Elizabeth Skye Daniels (goes by Skye)
2. Age: 15 (almost)
3. Birthday: February 12th 1995
4. Family: Mom; Dad (divorced); little brother, Mark
5. Hair color: blonde/strawberry blonde
6. Hair length: medium-long
7. Hair style: thick and straight with short side bangs
8. Eye color: blue
9. Height: small, 5'1”
10. Body type: petite
11. Loves: languages
12. Hates: kill joys
13. Strength: very smart and cheerful
14. Weakness: innocence
15. Sucker for: foreign languages/accents
16. Irritated by: rudeness
17. Wants most: her parents to get back together

God-given power: Speaking in Tongues (Skye can speak, read, write, and understand any language naturally.)

S-N-O-W

Well, looks like another giant snowstorm :D :D :D :D Today has been wonderful!

Last time we had, what? sevenish inches? This time we have TEN INCHES OF SNOW!!!!!!! Last time we had, how many? five families come to our street to sled? This time we have TWELVE FAMILIES!!!!!!! WOOT!! One of the best parts about snow is getting together to share the experience with friends--and lots of hot chocolate!

My church never cancels, but we didn't expect a lot of people to show up. We actually ended up with thirty-nine people, though! Worship was really laid back and kind of impromptu. It was great; everyone was a bit hyper, grown-ups included :)

After church, we came home and had lunch, then chilled for a while before going to play in the snow. I didn't really feel like playing in the snow, but I was planning to go anyway. That is, until I fell asleep on the couch. I must have been tireder than I thought. I slept for about an hour before waking up to find everyone gone to play in the snow. (I do remember my mom telling me that sometime...LOL, I was really out, okay?)

I felt so much better after the nap, and I got dressed and ran to end of the street. Even more people than yesterday! Everything was perfect. Sunny, no wind, and the Hill was seriously packed down and slick. The sleds flew! I didn't get cold once, and ended up taking off my coat (not the Soft Jacket, my actual COAT :P) and gloves.

It.
Was.
Awesome.

Pictures for proof (captions on the BOTTOM [I usually put them on the top])!

The boys race!Katie and Kaitlin sledding!Matt wipes out XDMaddie getting ready to sled. (I sometimes babysit for her and her brother, Ryan. Maybe you remember hearing about them?)My dad and Joey. Joey is blind and autistic, but so much fun XDLizzy :)Ryan, Maddie's older brother.Maddie and Licky XDMy mom in the red, Mr. Leon (Matt and Katie's dad), and then Matt.

My Daybook: Week 5

Want to do you own? Link.

Date: Saturday January 30th, 2010
Starting time: 5:59pm
Mood: SUPER HAPPY :D
Outside my window: under the darkness, snow!
I'm thinking: that Kyle doesn't look bald.
I'm reading: "Wicked Lovely" by Melissa Marr, and "Alice in Wonderland" for school.
I'm listening to: old computer humming.
I'm wearing: WELL. Two pairs of socks, leggings, sweatpants, a cami, a long-sleeved T-shirt, and a sweatshirt.
Yesterday, I: don't wanna talk about yesterday.
I'm excited for: my birthday in 8 days :)
I'm sad because: School continues Monday.
I'm hungry for: CHICKEN 'N' DUMPLINGS TONIGHT!
The song stuck inside my head is: "Bad Romance" by Lady GaGa >.< I want: No school. Plane tickets. And to be able to read minds (better than I already do, of course :P) I love: people who make me happy. I loathe: School. This week, my goal is: to figure things out for sure. Ending time: 6:12pm

Memory Day (among other things...a LOT of other things)

Sorry I didn't blog yesterday. I was grounded. It was hard not to blog with the new schedule just starting! I was THIS CLOSE to giving Kyle my password and dictating or something, LOL.

Oh, and I leave the blogosphere for like ONE DAY and everyone decides to become awesome and follow! :O Big thanks(es? XD) to Pam Calvert, Nicole, Amber, and Ashley Schaffer !!! WooT, y'all rock!

*AND* Milli awarded me.

Wow, I mean, I leave for one day...

XD Thank you, Milli! Here are the tags/awards:

First, the Happy 101 Award, where I get to list ten things that make me happy.
1. Writing
2. Reading
3. Alias
4. Cavender
5. Kyle
6. Brothers
7. When people laugh at me (even though I'm not actually funny).
8. Saturdays/sleeping in after staying up late
9. Music
10. Comfort food

Now, the Humane Award...
...which apparently means 10 bloggers who brighten your day. So, I'll tag...

1. KnightWing - Because Teen Justice is just that awesome (AND he is my online older brother).
2. Christian Miles - Because his advice on writing is really good.
3. Mia - Because her posts are unbelievably encouraging.
4. Shep - Because he (and his author) are both awesome.
5. Krevan - Because he was my first really active follower!
6. Chris - Because his posts make me LOL.
7. Cavender - Because he's hilarious.
8. Kyle - Because he's awesome, and my older brother :)
9. The sisters at Two Sisters~Best Friends - Because they are wonderful models of sisterly love!
10. Cinderella - Because she's the kind of girl I want to be when I grow up.

*gasp* Okay, now that all THAT is out of the way, the schedule...

Today is Memory Day. *headdesk* I need to get to writing so I can beat Kyle. I do not have TIMEEEEEEE for a memory!! I AM GONNA LOSE.

*sighgrumblemoan*

Oh, wait, that's perfect! Memory Day can be for the day that I "met" Kyle! It's not really a memory EXACTLY, but it can suffice for today, right? Because guess what? A year ago today I met Kyle. So, there. That is a memory. And that's the reason I'm gonna leave now because we're having an epic write-a-thon that I'm gonna win...

>.>
<.<

The Surprisingly Perfect Christmas

Children
Hershey's
Rambling
Ideal
Stockings
True family
Magic
Always
Snow

:)

No more Christmas Countdown; Christmas is now.

Wow. You know that feeling--that warm, glow-y feeling--when you can't think of anything that would make something better?

When you clean your room well, and it just feels perfect.
When you see a blanket of snow without any footprints.
When you hear a beautiful song.
When you taste the perfect batch of cookies.

When you have the best Christmas ever.

I hope y'all's Christmases were as good as mine. I got lots of good stuff--stuff that I'm happy about--but when I stop and think, I can honestly say that the best part of today has been the people.

I was really starting to worry that this Christmas was gonna be another personal flop. Last night I was freaking out again, over-analyzing and basically ruining Christmas for myself. Then, I remembered the original problem and mentally slapped myself: "Kendra. This was the entire point of your thoughts this Christmas. I mean, it wasn't even a month ago that you figured out your problem was trying too hard. And what do you call this??"

I decided right then and there that this year would be the best Christmas ever. And you know what?

I think it was.

I woke up, and found Baby Jesus lying in his manger on the table in the big room downstairs. Taking him up in my arms, Lizzy and I climbed the stairs with our parents, giddy with the idea that this is the day we've all been waiting for.

Through the hall, across the living room, to the hearth in front of the fire.
My "stocking" on the left, Lizzy's on the right.
I see an iHome!! Lizzy squeals at a new scooter--one actually big enough for someone over the age of six.
My eyes fall on a calender reading: "1,000 Places To Visit Before You Die", and I love it right away.
I take in a memory card for the digital camera I opened last night, and I see a tiny glass bunny waiting for me to smile at it.
There's lots of candy, too, and a puzzle that's a sphere.
A Santa for my collection, and the Lover of Learning statue-doll I've been wanting.
Out of the stocking I pull candy, Bath&Body Works stuff, and more.

Everything is wonderful, and we watch my parents open their "stockings", too.

A little later, my grandma shows up with her bags of pre-picked-out gifts for us. I unwrap all the clothes I picked out and loved. I still love them.

Soon Mr. Keith-from-church comes to enjoy Christmas morning with us.

Not long after, as I'm putting the finishing pieces into my Jacob Black sphere puzzle, our neighbors come over for Christmas brunch.

Minutes behind are Matt and Katie.

Breakfast is huge: grits, two dozen eggs, biscuits, bacon, ham and orange juice.

I will discontinue the picturesque, poetry-like talk for a while because I hate writing in present tense and just realized I'd been doing it. *dreamy feeling vanishes rudely*

So, Matt (little brother) drank, like, half a bottle of orange by himself ;) while he and Cody thought of all the different angles of cannibalism (inspired by Cavender's cannibal peeps theme. Ask him for more details XD).

Examples the Two Came Up With:

- feeding a pig bacon
- feeding a chicken eggs
- feeding cheese to cheese...thanks for pointing that out, Cody...LOL.
- feeding a cow milk. (To this I said, "Well, that's not really cannibalism seeing how calves DO drink milk." Cody replied, "Oh, but it's probably goat's milk." >incredulous silence on my part< Then I was like, "From the cow's udders?" Cody: "...ohh, yeah..."
- feeding your nose a booger (Thank you, MATT.)

After eating a lot of good food, we kids went downstairs and played Outburst Junior. That was pretty awesome :) Matt and Katie found their presents under the tree, but I wouldn't let them touch them. (Well, sort of. Matt touched them anyway. *grumbles*)

Cue cross opening.

Yay, Lizzy! What a cute idea!! So great for the first Christmas in the new house. Perfect. You'll have to wait and see it when I post pictures ;)

After the neighbors left, everyone (AKA, my mom and Mrs. Martha) decided to point out the fact that Matt is getting bigger than I am. *glare* Thank you, I really would like everyone to just take a moment and notice that. *grumble* Just kidding...mostly. But it is irritating to say the least not to be able to actually hold him back when he tries to steal my last cookie, etc.

The funniest part was the feet thing. Matt got really nice new boots for Christmas, and

They.

Are.

MASSIVE. Truly MASSIVE.

I wear a size 11 in women's shoes, which is nearly unheard-of-ly big. I put my foot next to Matt's boots, and HOLY JEEZ THEY LOOK SMALLISH. I put his boots on, too (don't tell him, okay?) and they were roomy to say the least XD

Lizzy's getting taller than me, too. Well, not yet, but her legs are like two inches longer than mine, easy. She's gettin' there. But I don't really mind that much. It doesn't bother me that she's getting taller than I am like it does that Matt is. Weird, huh?

Lizzy got a scooter for Christmas, an iHome, cute clothes (that she said she'll let me wear!!!), a scooter, and assorted other cutenesses and candy.

I got lots of awesome stuff that I mostly already mentioned, but I got a cool journal, too. I wanted to mention the journal individually, haha!

Katie did not get a dog for Christmas. NO, REALLY? *SHOCK* :P Luckily we had gotten it through to her that she REALLY WASN'T GETTING A DOG, so she wasn't disappointed. *whew* But she got really cute stuff anyway. An awesome outfit that made me "jealous", a swing that will attach to your CEILING, and bunches else.

Matt got coats, boots, a camcorder (:O), a PS3 (um, I *think* that's what it is...), and more. Yay!

After everyone left, we watched my present to Lizzy: the Wizards of Waverly Place Movie. Complete with extended scenes, a rock that changes colors, special features, and, of course, wonderful older-brother-little-sister moments. *sniff sniff*

I really can't tell you how awesome today has been. I mean, if there was ever a You-Had-To-Be-There moment, this is it. I feel sorry for anyone who didn't share Christmas with us, because when you share it with friends like this, it just doesn't get any better.

Merry Christmas, bloggers. Let's always remember the reason for the season: the pregnant teenage girl, the confused (of course) guy, and the little baby that would save us all.

(Just one more time: don't you love God's sense of irony???)

~Kendra (the signature isn't working correctly, sorry!)

P.S. Pictures taken with my VERY OWN NEW CAMERA THAT I LOVE (even though it's purple XD) coming soon!

SNOW! :O

VOTE ON THE POLL TO THE RIGHT.

IT'S SNOWING!!!!!!!! IT'S SNOWING!!!!!!!!!!!!! BIG, GIGANTIC, GOOSE-FEATHER FLAKES!!!!!!!! AND LITTLE TINY MEAN-BUSINESS FLAKES!!!!!!!!! AND FLURRIES!!!!!!!!!! AND IT'S

STICKING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This is the kind of happy that you can't convey with typed words. You have to see me beaming; you have to see my eyes lighting up; you have to watch me clap my hands; you have to see me pressing my face to the window; you have to watch me jump up and down by the window. You have to hear me giggling like a five-year-old; you have to hear me screaming through the house. You have to hear me walk around in wonder saying, "Look how soft it looks!" and "It's sticking!!" and "Look how pretty it looks in the woods!" and "Look! Narnia!" (And no one is even home to hear me!)

This is the first snow in the new house, so it's especially special. But really, snow it so fun and awesome. I'm bouncing in my seat! I love this!

And to make matters even specialer,

MY MOM AND I ARE GOING TO BAKE SUGAR COOKIES AND DECORATE THEM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

:O :O :O :O :O :O

WE NEVER DO THAT!!!!!! WE'RE GOING TO BE LIKE A REAL HOLIDAY FAMILY AND BAKE COOKIES!!!!

And to make things EVEN BETTER:

ONLY SEVEN (7) {septus} [one week] DAYS UNTIL CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!!

OH MY GOODNESS! CAN TODAY GET ANY FUNNER?????

Yes. Let's watch Alias and have it be an episode with Mr. Sark.

No, just kidding.

NO, NOTHING CAN MAKE THIS DAY BETTER! Of course, I will be glad to be proven wrong for once ;)

But, what shall we do for the Christmas Countdown?

SEVEN THINGS TO DO IN THE SNOW, OF COURSE, SILLY:

1. Snowball fight!

2. Snowman

3. Snowangel

4. Catch it on your tongue :D

5. Make snow slushies (snow + Kool-Aid of your choice)

6. Watch it and get inspired

7. Go on Lamppost hunts

I will be posting pictures later, so expect a second post :)

MERRY SEVEN-DAYS-UNTIL CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


P.S. AND THANKS FOR FOLLOWING, KARIS!!!

OMGosh!

Holy wow! I have 80 followers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That is so insane! I never thought I'd see the day! Good grief, how can all these people possibly care about what I have to say????? :)

For some reason this feels like a really momentous occasion (hence my posting twice in one day, usually a strict no-no of mine). I'm going to do two things in honor of it. First, obviously:

THANK YOU SOSOSOSOSOSOSOSOSOSOSOSOSO MUCH CHRISTIANMILES AND THE COWGIRLS! Y'ALL ROCK! I recommend checking out both blogs I linked. The Cowgirls have a great blog where they post about their life in TN, and Christian has an amazing blog where he posts writing tips. Super helpful, check it out!

Second, I'm going to see how many people actually READ the blog :) The gadget says 80 followers, but wonder how true that is? Let's see how many of you guys are really paying attention ;) I'm putting a poll on the side, let's see if we can get 80 votes! I've been wanting to test this for a while, and the 80th Follower Celebration seems like the right time to do it.

Thanks so much to all you guys. You make blogging the best experience ever. What would I do without you?

CrAzy Trees and the Number 24

Thanks for following, ***Emily***!!!

TWENTY-FOUR DAYS UNTIL CHRISTMAS!

...so why does my countdown say 22? Good question! I have no idea. I set it to count down to December 25th...*shrug* Ah well. You get the idea.

Speaking of ideas, I've decided to do both Christmas ideas, the countdown and the daily Christmas...thing. So, something interesting about the number 24...

24: Subtracting one from any of its divisors (except 1 and 2, but including itself) yields a prime number. 24 is the largest number with this property, for to have this property a number cannot be divisible by a prime greater than three, nor can it be divisible by 9 or 16.

Kind of a "brainful", isn't it?

Now, in the spirit of preparing for Christmas, here are nine Christmas trees! Enjoy!

Serious recycling goin' on...

Hmm, she's really putting herself into her decorations...
Merry Christmas, Charlie Brown!Whoa! Who came up with this??
A Christmas tree made out of CDs!
I don't even want to think about how long it took to free up all those bottles...
Colorful, earth-friendly, what's not to like?
I'm not really sure what this is...
God bless AmericaMERRY TWENTY-FOUR-DAYS-UNTIL CHRISTMAS!

P.S. I think I'm going to start doing every-other day. Tomorrow I'll just do something about the number 23, Friday I'll do a Christmas thing, and so on.

Kathleen!

My awesome cousin Kathleen is home from college and staying with us over Thanksgiving!! She's amazing and I love her so much. I can talk to her about anything. If I don't have an older brother (in real life, I do have an "internet" one, though :D), at least I can have an older sister!

<3