Advice Day!

Advice Day:

"Is all fair in love and war? Remember, you can't have a double standard." ~Kendra Logan :D
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Well, school work dragged on today, but totally due to procrastination. I could have been done at 2instead of 4, but, hey, this is ME we're talking about.

No soccer practice tonight. We're going to have it Thursday night at the same time as another team so we can scrimmage. I have play practice tonight, though: 7-9:30. We're getting our schedules. It turns out I don't have to come to every practice. Yay! I'll know which ones I do need to come to when I get the schedule.

I'm going to try to get in some good writing today. Or, I was. Lizzy just called downstairs and told me that supper is in five minutes -.- Then play practice, then print out junk for school tomorrow, then bed. :( Will I ever get back to writing anything?? I hope so.

Friday will come sooner than we all think, and I still don't have a question to answer for Question Day...*hint hint* :)

Well, I just got the dinner call. I'll talk to you all later! Maybe tonight if something REALLY exciting happens at play practice!

Mary and Martha: God's Custom-Made Love

So, today was definitely a cool day.

1. Cavender came to my church.
2. The sermon really spoke to me.
3. I had the first play practice.

I'll talk about the second cool thing last; it'll be my thing for God Day.

So, Cavender came to my church today! That was cool. He said he really liked the music, which is my favorite, too. I think our church really does have awesome music, and the band members are all really into.

Play practice went well, I think. We just did a read-through of the script and listened to the songs on a CD. Mushu (the little dragon) is played by a girl who definitely does it justice. The girl who plays Mulan is awesome. The guy who plays Captain Shang (Shang + Mulan = falling in love, duh ;D) is pretty good. He can sing pretty well. If he can just hide that southern drawl a little...Lol! No, really, he did fine. Mulan's father is...not good, and neither is the Emperor. I think the guys were just nervous, though. And it was the very first read through.

I'm, just in case you didn't know this, doing the voice for a big Hun puppet -.- Lols, I'm okay with it now, though. I'm also in the Ensamble (yay for singing and dancing with everyone else), and a hairdresser. I forgot to mention that last night. The hairdresser is going to be my favorite, probably. It's a tiny part with no real lines, but in a song, a have a quick singing-line all my myself, and then some with the other hairdressers and stuff. I picked out a couple of harmony parts, so I'm looking forward to being able to do them. I really hope I get a harmony part and not just the melody...
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God Day!

So, the sermon today was about Lazarus. Let me just do a quick run-through of this story. It helps me to do that. So, Jesus and his diciples are just kind of hanging around, and a messenger comes and says to Jesus, "Lord, the one you love is sick."

The messenger is talking about Lazarus. Lazarus and his sisters Martha and Mary are good friends of Jesus', so they figured Jesus would want to know that Lazarus was sick. Really sick. Like, about-to-die sick.

Instead of going right to Lazarus' house, Jesus is just kind of like, "Oh, yeah, okay" and he hangs out in the little town where he is for a few more days.

Finally, he says to his diciples, "Okay, let's go see Lazarus. He's fallen asleep, and we'll just go wake him up."

The diciples are like, "Uh, but isn't sleep probably the best thing for him?"

Jesus: "I mean he's dead."

They go to see Lazarus, and when they're close to his house, Lazarus' sister Martha comes out and says to Jesus, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother wouldn't have died. But I know that even now, God will give you whatever you want."

She's pretty much saying, "I know you're the Messiah, so why didn't you DO SOMETHING?"

She's kind of mad. She's like, if you're so amazing and powerful, why didn't you stop this from happening? Why didn't you FIX IT?

*cough* That might sound just a little familiar...maybe...

May 24th: "Then four years later, God takes him away. Uh, ouch. Thanks a lot, God."

July 17th: "WHY COULDN'T I HAVE HAD BROTHERS? IS ONE BROTHER TOO MUCH TO ASK? ONE? ONE??"

August 2nd: "Why had God taken Him away from me? Why on Earth would a good God do that? It's like someone punching you in the face."

March 23rd: "God created the Heavens and the Earth, surely he could give me my older brother!!"

...

Hmm.

A little later, the other sister, Mary falls at the feet of Jesus and says, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother wouldn't have died."

The way she says it is more like, "How could you be so unkind to your friends?"

Don't you love me, God? Why would you let this happen? Don't you care?

Of course, Jesus ends up raising Lazarus from the dead, but only after he meets both sisters where they are. With Martha, he takes the logical route.

Martha's argument is a simple Modus Ponens:

If you are the Messiah, then you could have saved my brother.
You are the Messiah.
Therefore, you could have saved my brother. (And yet you didn't.)

Jesus talks to Martha about how her brother will rise again. Martha is kind of like, "Yeah, thanks, I know he'll rise again at the ressurection and all."

Jesus says, "I am the ressurection!"

He's like, Martha, listen to me! I AM the ressurection! It's me, it's here! Your brother will rise again.

Mary comes to Jesus not from the logical and theological angle, but from the emotional, friend-to-friend angle. Jesus cries with her. He's really sad! Lazarus was his friend! He's upset. He cries with Mary.

Jesus meets us right where we are. Right where we need to be met. Whether it's logical or emotional, or somewhere in between.

As my pastor said in the sermon this morning (ALL of this is borrowed STRAIGHT from him, by the way), "God's love is not one size fits all, or most. God custom fits his love for us."

That was a great sermon anyway, but add on my whole issue with God not giving me a brother, then giving me one and taking him a way, and the sermon is flat out AMAZING.

It COULD NOT have been more spot on. I come to God from Martha's angle, as demonstrated in my post excerpts. God, you created the Heavens and the Earth. And you didn't give me a brother?? If you're so great, fix this injustice!

I also come to God from Mary's angle a little. God, if you love me, why would you do something so unkind? Why dangle my life's desire in front of my face, and snatch it back? Don't you care for me?

I know this has been a very long post, and sort of jumbled and probably at parts unclear, but I just needed to get in writing how much this morning's sermon hit me. Everything was exactly fit to ME! This story is, literally, ANCIENT, and I've heard it, probably also literally, A HUNDRED TIMES, and it's never been so clear to me.

Every detail fits me. It's even about losing a brother and being mad at God because he could have prevented it and didn't.

It takes my breath away, y'all.

I could elaborate more, but I know you must be tired of the ranting, so I'll stop. I just want you to know that I KNOW that God is watching out for us. He knows what he's doing. And every once in a while, he might throw an tired ol' Bible story at you and revel a whole new meaning.

Thanks, God.

... :(

I'm a Hun.

And I'm in the Ensamble.

A Faithful Follower and My Call Backs

FIRST: Thanks to Moon Shaw for following!!! You're awesome.
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Second: AWARD DAY!! I will now give an award to a follower. Eventually, everyone should have one.

The first award ever will go to...KREVAN! He hasn't been commenting as much anymore because he's been at his grandparents' house, but in general, he's been one of the most faithful followers and commenters on the blog. Thanks, Krevan, and here's your award for whenever you get back:

Thanks, Krevan!

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Okay, so call backs were today. They went okay. Some good things happened, some okay things.

Good thing: More guys came, so now there are actually around EIGHT instead of THREE. Wow ;)

Good thing: I was asked to read the part of an ancestor, and I loved it. I want to be an ancestor now.

Bad thing: I also had to read the part of a Hun, who has one line (I heard him, too, boss. -.-), and is actually going to be a giant puppet for the play. I would just have to do the voice offstage--a guy voice, of course.

Bad/Good thing: A grand total of 29 people auditioned, and there are a grand total of 30 parts in the play. Yeah; everyone will get to be something. Which means that it's not special at all that I will definitely be in the play. (And if I'm not, it'll be a huge slap in the face and not just a "Sorry, there weren't enough parts", LOL!)

Just a thing: I had to read the part of Mulan's grandmother.

So, over all, I really don't know what to think. I guess I feel a little a little disappointed, but I can't really even put my finger on why...*shrug* I'm still glad I'm doing this, and I'm having fun, don't get me wrong. I guess I'm just starting to wonder if practicing six days a week will be worth it if I'm just an offstage Hun.

I know, I know. No small parts, only small actors. Or actresses :)

Other news: ...

Nothing, really. Lots of chores to do today (BLECK!!), I'm going to try to sit down and write, but we'll see.

Oh, we're going to this guy's surprise party. He's turning 90. Yes, NINTY. I don't HAVE to go, but I think I will. I mean, he's a really sweet old guy apparently, and how many surprise parties for 90-year-olds do you get to go to?

I am inviting all of you to come to mine. When I am ninty, I want to see all of you at my party ;)

I think that's about it...

**AUDITION UPDATE**

Well, I think the audition went pretty well!! I did fine with the song, and the dance combo was pretty easy. I didn't ham it up as much as some other people, though...I wonder if that's too bad...hmm...

I GOT A CALL BACK!! But before you get all excited, so did everyone else -.- But, I still did. It's tomorrow at 2 o'clock. So...YAY!

:D :D :D :) :) :)

I'm so glad the audition over with (well, most of it), but I really had a fun time doing it! I also met lots of nice people. Now I hope I get a good role, not just the chorus like I had hoped before.

I know you guys' thoughts prayers helped so much; thank you!

Question Day and NERVOUSNESS!!

Question Day!!

The wonderful Rochelle Blue asked:

"When did you decide you wanted to become a writer?"

This might be a more in-depth question than I thought when I first read it. I thought, "Oh, that's easy. I decided when...um...well...when DID I decide I wanted to be a writer??"

I recently looked back at the “books” I made when I was a little kid. I would draw pictures and then tell my mom what to write under each picture. I thought that I wanted to be an artist because I loved to draw the pictures so much, but now I see that really I wanted to be a writer all along! I just thought I was being an artist, when I was really being an author even then.

Being a writer is the only goal for my future that has never shifted once. My other dreams for the future have all changed or been dropped, but I have wanted to write stories for other people to enjoy ever since I can remember. Because of all the events and passions pointing to my becoming a writer, I do believe it is the one goal that I am certain about. I firmly believe that God’s purpose for me has at least something to do with my being a writer. While all my other career goals and dreams may shift and change, I think being a writer is something that will always be close to my heart.

So, long answer short, I honestly think I was born wanting to be a writer. Something about the way my mind and personality works is just perfectly suited to do that.

Thanks so much, Rochelle! If anyone else has a question for Question Day, feel free to tell me! Please... ;)

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*internally quivers nervously with teeth clenched* That's how I look when I'm really nervous: jaw tight, chill bumps, flat expression, noticable swallowing.

My audition is tonight. I've changed song AGAIN.

Turns out the original "Teardrops on my Guitar" is different from the karaoke version I bought. The karaoke version sounds nothing the same, and the stupid CD doesn't have any tracks with the lyrics on them so I can learn. So, my dad and I spend half the morning hunting down and downloading the sheet music to one of my favorite songs we sing at church: "My Savior, My God". I can sing that really well.

So, now I have a song and sheet music and I know the song and I can sing it.

All very good things that came from a long series of bad things. Isn't God funny like that? Just when you're ready to scream at him to stop messing up everything you try to do, he's like "ta da!" and everything is all fixed. *sigh* You'd think I'd have learned to trust him more by now, but I haven't. Still working on it.

I'm definitely nervous, though. VERY nervous. My dad told me that when I audition, I need to put all my inhibitions aside and be my crazy, wide-open self. He told me that I tend to act small when in front of people, but I didn't used to be that way. He told me that I should forget about nervous and go back to how I was when I was little. Easier said than done. I'm going to try, though.

School is going so weirdly. With birthday shopping on Wednesday and birthday celebrations on Thursday, I just didn't get a whole lot done. I've mostly caught up today, though, so I'm back on track. It's been a very stressful day, though. It's so hard to concentrate on how WAAAAAAAAAAYYYY much school I have when I'm freaking out inside about the audition. When I'm nervous, sometimes I get really short of breath 'cause my heart is beating so fast, and that, of course, affects my singing...*sigh*

If you wouldn't mind, will you guys keep me in your thoughts and prayers tonight? The audition is at seven. I know this really isn't a big deal, but it does mean a lot to me.

Thanks for listening, y'all. It's good to have somewhere to vent.


P.S. GracieTheFirst and Cavender are the only ones who responded to Fact or Fiction. Here's the answer:

Fact/Fiction: In Missouri, a man must have a permit to shave.

Answer: Yes and No. Not to shave himself, but to own a barber shop and shave others, yes, he does ;)

You both won in a way. Sorry for irritating Everyone-Wins??-That-Is-So-Lame thing, haha! In the future I promise there will be only one right answer. In the meantime, Gracie and Cavender both get this award:

Congratulations! :)

P.P.S. I recently got some new awards (see the right side bar thing right below the About Me) from Bethany! Thanks!

Character Day! And an Audition Update

It's Character Day just as sure as I'm sitting here in a blue and white striped lounge dress waiting for it to be time to go eat dinner at Chinese for my mom's birthday.

Everyone say happy birthday to my mom! :D
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Character Day:

Well, I don't have a lot of time right now (because of going out to dinner), so I can't go into a really deep analysis of anyone. I *can* just tell you a bit about one of my own characters, though. Hmm. Darren or Paige? Darren....or Paige...

I'll go with Paige. I know her better.

1. Story: "The Mirror"
2. Gender: female
3. Home: Greenwood, SC

4. Name: Paige Anastasia Walt
5. Age: now 16!!
6. Birthday: August 19th
7. Family: Mom, Dad, little brother (Trey)

8. Hair color: medium-light brown
9. Hair length: past her shoulders
10. Hair style: slightly layered, straight, easy to work with
11. Eye color: dark blue
12. Facial shape: oval
13. Skin color: Caucasian, slightly pale
14. Height: 5'8"
15. Weight: 127lb
16. Body type: slim, athletic

17. Favorite color: blue
18. Favorite food: potatoes with the works
19. Favorite hobby: reading, hanging out with friends

20. Secretly loves: rap music
21. Secretly hates: the Twilight series
22. Strengths: Strong willed, persistent and logical
23. Weaknesses: tends to believe what she wants to believe
24. Sucker for: babies
25. Irritated by: thoughtless arrogance
26. Wants most: to figure her life out
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Well, it's after dinner now. I'm kind of hungry right now, though, because I didn't eat dinner.

*sigh* I know, I know. I gotta tell this now :) It's honestly not a very interesting story, lol.

So, some of you know that I'm allergic to peanuts. Anyway, most of the things on the menu at the Chinese were "peanut such-and-such" or "so-and-so with peanut sauce". -.- So I decided not to risk dying and just didn't eat anything, lol! I honestly wasn't hungry anyway, though, and Chinese isn't really my favorite, so that was okay. I got a soft pretzel at Target later.

Ohh, I have some news about the Mulan audition: I'm not singing "It's Over" anymore, although that was really perfect for my vocal range (as I know it, anyway). Matt ("little brother") and Katie ("little sister)'s mom works with a lady named Roxanne, and Roxanne's husband is the one directing Mulan. So, M&K's mom got some more information about the audition for me, and it turns out that I A: should not sing a guy song (not that "It's Over" is anyway), B: should not sing a group song, and C: should sing something Disney-Channel-esque.

While out eating Chinese of Death and poking around at Target, we went to the CD section and I asked a sale's girl about karaoke stuff. (She was kind of funny. Red hair, lots of makeup, it was her first day in the electronics department. She reminds me so much of someone...who is it??)

We ended up buying a Taylor Swift karaoke CD, and I'm going to sing part of "Teardrops on My Guitar". It was the only song on the CD I knew, and it was the only CD we could find. *shrugs* I can sing some of it, so that's good enough for me (and hopefully the audition people...).

Now I just have to learn the lyrics, learn the timing, figure out how long "16 bars" is, pick a section to sing, get used to doing it without her voice, and practice.

By tomorrow.

*GROAN* Kendra, you sure know how to make your life interesting.

But, hey, anything to entertain my followers, right? ;) Haha, no, stuff like this just happens to me naturally ;D And it's usually my own fault. Like now for example.

*sigh* Well, I need to go read Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, which I'm supposed to finish today. No, I have not started. I have so much to do tomorrow it's not even funny. I maybe be doing some work on the weekend :-/

Well, my mom had a good birthday full of waffles for breakfast, her favorite Mocha Java coffee, turkey-bacon-apple-clubs for lunch, Bath and Body Works stress relief bath salt, Dove dark chocolates, a new lounge, nightgown thing, and dinner at Chinese. Hope she had a good birthday :) I think she did.

Love you, Momma <3 :)

Thanks for reading, y'all :)

Oops. Just Kidding.

Okay, so it apparently wasn't Blogger that was being stupid. It was me. -.-

I added the tag to the wrong post, lol! So, here it is:

I've been tagged by the lovely Bethany, a fellow LotR fan.

Rules: Tell 30 things about yourself! It's as easy as that.

1. I have never ridden in an air plane.

2. I can sometimes make my eyes change between blue and green, and once I made one blue and one green at the same time. I don't know if that's even really possible, though. Maybe it was just the light.

3. I used to have hair almost down to my waist.

4. I can speak Elvish a TINY bit.

5. I wear my mood ring on my left ring finger all the time, and when I get married, all my friends joke that we'll have to have a Ceremonial Removing of the Mood Ring :P

6. My favorite candy is M&Ms and Hershey Kisses.

7. I hate jelly beans and skittles.

8. So far, this is the oldest I've ever been.

9. I'm obsessed with names.

10. I love eerie sounding music.

11. Indian (like, the Asian kind, not the Native American kind, lol)/Arabic culture is my favorite.

12. I take a long time to make decisions of the heart.

13. I like pizza hot, warm, and cold, and I will eat it three meals a day for days on end if posisble. I never get tired of it. Really. Never.

14. I'm terrified of crane flies.

15. Only about six people call me by my really-obvious nickname.

16. I love food, but I don't like to eat. (I cannot explain this at all.)

17. I'm addicted to the computer.

18. I used to start tons of clubs when I was younger.

19. I used to want to be the first woman president.

20. Getting new followers makes my day. (Really, it does. I have no idea why. I guess it's just good to know that people care about what I have to say.)

21. I go to the best church ever XD

22. My biggest, deepest desire is to have an older brother.

23. My favorite books ever are the "Farsala Trilogy" by Hilari Bell.

24. I *love* the classic Disney movies (especially Aladin).

25. I love the Disney show Phineas and Ferb.

26. So do my parents. We actually got my dad a Phineas and Ferb beach towel for his birthday.

27. I'm singing the Cheetah Girls' "It's Over" for my audition. IF, that is, I can find the sheet music...*moan*

28. Kendra means "fire-sprung", but Kenda means "from the clear, cool water"

29. Smells remind me of things.

30. I have a weakness for older brother characters.

The end :)

I tag...
Abby
GracieTheFirst
Cavender
BJHamrick
Ciaraaa:)

Fact...or Fiction?

Weird Fact Day!

*GASP* I just had a better idea!! :O :O :O What if I change this to Fact or Fiction Day, and you have to guess whether or not the fact is, uh, Fact or Fiction! First person to guess it right gets an award, and everyone who guesses at all gets and award, too.

Ready?

Fact or Fiction? In Missouri, a man must have a permit to shave.

(No fair Googling it -.-)
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Today Lizzy and my dad and I went shopping for my mom's birthday, which is tomorrow. We got some good stuff, but I didn't quite finish all my school work because of the shopping trip. But, hey, for my mom, it's worth it :)

My mom is one of those people who tries to do everything, and is good at everything, too. She speed-walks seven (I think) miles every day, comes home, works out, then homeschools Lizzy and sort of me, and does her job, which is being the state manager for the company Classical Conversations. She's also really involved at church, including singing in the church band.

She's also an amazing speaker. She's inspirational, and clear. She helps people see the big picture, and how they can get there.

She's good at pretty much every subject in school (physics isn't really her thing, though). She's a great mom, as well as being a great person in general. Happy almost-birthday, Momma!

If she even read that. Which I doubt :P

Anyway, life is pretty good at the moment. Can't really complain, I guess.

I started watching Disney's Alice in Wonderland for the first time in eleven years yesterday. It's not a little kid's movie at all! It's really quite thought-provoking if you want to get into all the symbolism and questions asked. The idea of a world where everything is nonsense in itself has incredible discussion possibilities.

We're reading the book this year in school, and I can't wait to discuss it.

XD I'm such a nerd.

There hasn't been much writing action lately. I've had lots of ideas, but nothing has made it onto paper, or the computer screen, yet.

I have two things to remind you of:

1. Followers Say...On Carpe Noctem is coming up in September! Let me know if you want to do it.

2. Questions for Question Day are always welcome ;)

I hope I don't sound like a broken record...

Anyway, if you want to guess whether the fact is Fact or Fiction, leave a comment! Thanks for reading, y'all! You're the best.

Oh.

Em.

Gee.

I just did the tag that Bethany tagged me in, and now it's not showing up. I am not kidding. I just spent like twenty minutes on it, and it's, like, deleted. *ISMADISMADISMAD*

Sorry, Bethan, but I don't feel like doing it again right this sec. I'll do it later.

*moan* Blogger can be so retarded.

The Beaches of Ministry

Memory Day! :D A peek into my past...

When I was around two years old, I attended play practice for the Christmas play at my church. I was too little to have a part, but I went along anyway, I guess. During a break in practicing, the adults went aside to talk about some details and make some decisions. Meanwhile, I convinced the older children and teenagers to march around the sanctuary being camels. When the adults looked up from their planning, there was a train of teenagers stomping around the sanctuary pretending to be camels—with me at the front of the procession.

Haha, I don't know if that should really count as a memory--I don't remember it all that well. Mostly I've just heard the story told.
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First: Thank you, Rochelle Blue for the question! Yay!! So, the rest of you guys are off the hook--for now -.-

Classical Conversations (my weekly "school") was today. It went much better than last week. My class is slowly getting back to its old self. In biology, we looked at a piece of thread and some cheek cells under a microscope. That was pretty interesting, fun, and funny :) I had the best cheek cells :D Lots of epitheleal (spelling??) cells to sketch.

Cassidy and her family stayed for dinner (Domino's pizza), and we went to the revival service at another church where our church band played again.

We have the best church ever :P We play real music, clap, sing, and praise God! Some of the people were kind of shocked that we actually had DRUMS and ELECTRICE GUITARS, but after a few minutes, they seemed to like it. Of course, by the end of the songs, the 23 people who showed up from our church were basically the only people still standing :)

I liked the pastor's sermon a lot. He talked about how funny it is that we make plans, clear our schedules, pack up, load up the car, rent a beach house, take our stuff down to the beach, put on sunblock, set up the chairs, and then try our very best not to get wet or sandy.

Huh?

He said that that's kind of how some of us Christians are about God. We're really excited, but then we get to the "beach" of ministry where it can get a little uncomfortable, and we're ready to step back out of the water. It was really thought-provoking, and the pastor was really funny.

Well, I'm supposed to get off the computer at 10:15 since school started, and it's 10:20 right now, so I better go. Thanks for reading, and PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, don't hesitate to ask questions for Question Day :)

Thanks for reading, y'all!

OHH! I almost forgot! (Shame on you, Kendra.) I've been tagged by the lovely Bethany, a fellow LotR fan.

Rules: Tell 30 things about yourself! It's as easy as that.

1. I have never ridden in an air plane.

2. I can sometimes make my eyes change between blue and green, and once I made one blue and one green at the same time. I don't know if that's even really possible, though. Maybe it was just the light.

3. I used to have hair almost down to my waist.

4. I can speak Elvish a TINY bit.

5. I wear my mood ring on my left ring finger all the time, and when I get married, all my friends joke that we'll have to have a Ceremonial Removing of the Mood Ring :P

6. My favorite candy is M&Ms and Hershey Kisses.

7. I hate jelly beans and skittles.

8. So far, this is the oldest I've ever been.

9. I'm obsessed with names.

10. I love eerie sounding music.

11. Indian (like, the Asian kind, not the Native American kind, lol)/Arabic culture is my favorite.

12. I take a long time to make decisions of the heart.

13. I like pizza hot, warm, and cold, and I will eat it three meals a day for days on end if posisble. I never get tired of it. Really. Never.

14. I'm terrified of crane flies.

15. Only about six people call me by my really-obvious nickname.

16. I love food, but I don't like to eat. (I cannot explain this at all.)

17. I'm addicted to the computer.

18. I used to start tons of clubs when I was younger.

19. I used to want to be the first woman president.

20. Getting new followers makes my day. (Really, it does. I have no idea why. I guess it's just good to know that people care about what I have to say.)

21. I go to the best church ever XD

22. My biggest, deepest desire is to have an older brother.

23. My favorite books ever are the "Farsala Trilogy" by Hilari Bell.

24. I *love* the classic Disney movies (especially Aladin).

25. I love the Disney show Phineas and Ferb.

26. So do my parents. We actually got my dad a Phineas and Ferb beach towel for his birthday.

27. I'm singing the Cheetah Girls' "It's Over" for my audition. IF, that is, I can find the sheet music...*moan*

28. Kendra means "fire-sprung", but Kenda means "from the clear, cool water"

29. Smells remind me of things.

30. I have a weakness for older brother characters.

The end :)

I tag...

Abby
GracieTheFirst
Cavender
BJHamrick
Ciaraaa:)

Advice Day

Today begins the new Days! :O Excited? I am!
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Advice Day:
Source: Me
"Promising is for liars. If you're always honest, you don't have to mention it."
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Today was interesting. Kind of weird. I don't know why at all, it just was. School went okay. Just weirdly. I finished math in 30 minutes (record time) and only had four wrong.

Tonight I'm going to a revival service at this other church because our church band has been invited to play. At 8 o'clock, I have soccer.

I know this is pretty much the most boring and unemotional post ever, but something is weird with me right now. I feel like a robot or something. Whatever.

I'll post tomorrow if I'm not dead from soccer ;) Just kidding. It's not that bad.

Remember, please, please, PLEASE!! ask as many questions as you can think of (or just one) in a comment for Question Day. Otherwise, there will BE no question day...haha :)

Out With the Old, In With the New!

Hi! Sorry for not posting yesterday. We went to a funeral reception, a movie, and then I had to babysit, so there wasn't much time.

Well, tomorrow starts the new Days! I've been thinking, and I think I'm going to change out all the days anyway. I really love Name and Quote Day, but I have other ideas for different Days, so I'm thinking I might rotate everything every once in a while. The way I'm thinking, this is going to be the new schedule:

Sunday: God Day--I share a thought on God.
Monday: Advice Day--I give some personal advice, or quote someone else's advice.
Tuesday: Memory Day--I share one of my favorite memories.
Wednesday: Fact Day--I share a weird fact.
Thursday: Character Day--I'll talk about one of my characters, or a book or movie character.
Friday: Question Day--You ask a question, I'll give an answer.
Saturday: Award Day--I'll give an award to a different follower every week.

What do you think? You'll notice that I omitted "Obsessive Day", even though it's currently winning the poll! Why? Well, I figure that I post about whatever I'm obsessed with anyway, don't I? So why make a special Day for it when I could do something else? Sorry :(

One other thing: for Question Day, I'm going to need some follower participation. Every Thursday, or just whenever, could everyone (if you can) ask me a question? It doesn't have to be about me, it can be just a really weird fact you want to know, my opinion on something, anything. There's no limit to how many you can ask or anything, I just need something to answer for Question Day, lol! You can just leave a comment or email me (lol, as usual). livinglovinglaughinglearning@gmail.com.

Muchas gracias!! Well, I don't really have that much to say...Oh, wait, yes, I do!

We ate lunch at this little lakeside restaurant today with David and Daniel ("brothers"). I don't know if you remember, but I posted before about how eating there makes me feel sick? And I kept experimenting, getting different things to eat and stuff, and my dad and I came to the conclusion that it must be something in the well water that disagrees with me. So, today I got a bottled drink, so it wouldn't have well water ice in it.

SUCCESS!

So far, zero sick-feeling! Yay! I can eat at the restaurant again without worrying! Hooray for experimenting, hooray for science, hooray for being able to enjoy food (as much as I ever can, at least)! :)

Mystery solved.

Now if I can just solve the mystery of speed-math....

Using Music in Every Day Life

First: THANK YOU TO CIARAAA:) FOR FOLLOWING! YAAAY! You are awesome! AND you love the classic Disney movies apparently, which, of course, triples your awesomeness :)

Challenge Day: learn to juggle.
------------------------------
Guess what?

I'm done with school for the day :O

I don't know how I did it, but apparently I just way over-scheduled Wednesday and Thursday, so today and Monday I have hardly any work to do! Yay!!

So, as soon as Lizzy's done with her school work (it's her first year of middle school! :O), I'm going to watch The Scarlet Pimpernel. I've been having an absolute CRAVING to watch that lately. I have no idea why. It's a great movie to any of you who haven't seen it. It's about a guy during the French Revolution who annonymously rescues people from the guilitine. He goes by the name of the Scarlet Pimpernel. It's such a good movie. Anthony Daniels plays the Scarlet Pimpernel, and the lady he falls in love with is played by Jane Seymore.

**BREAKING-ISH NEWS** I actually got up to run today!! :O I know, hard to believe, isn't it? I got up at 6:50am, and was out of the house at 7:05. I was out until 7:30. I ran some, walked some, ran some, walked some. I listened to my iPod, and that was cool. I'm in about as bad of shape as I thought, but no worse. I ran from the beginning of the trail to the little picnic shelter, but that means nothing to anyone except me, lol! It's not that far, so don't be impressed. It's kind of hard to say how far it was, because the trail twists and turns so much...It's maybe twice the length of a public school cafeteria. Does that help? Lol! :)

Lately music has helped me in a lot of areas. It made running more enjoyable, and I listened to the LotR soundtrack yesterday while I did math, and the difference was amazing! I finished my math in record time, about half as long as it usually takes me, and I only missed one! Today was the same except that I got three wrong, but still. I'm WAY not a math person, so any help at all is good. If you have trouble with math homework, I definitely suggest listening to that kind of music.

Well, I still haven't picked a song to sing for the Mulan auditions, and that's not good. The audition is a week from today. Wow. Time flies, doesn't it? I gotta get my act together and pick something. If you have any suggestions, feel free to give them!

Tomorrow I am babysitting for this girl (9 years old) and her brother (4? years old). She can be kind of nightmare, but usually not to me. She actually listens to me. Why is beyond me, but that's one thing I don't have to understand. I'm just glad she does.

Book action is about zero in the writing area, reading action is maybe a three. I'm reading Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, as well as finishing up The Knight's Tale for school. HP is alright, better than the first one so far, but not super exciting yet. The Knight's Tale is about the same as it was yeterday. Pretty dang good, just kind of long.

Uhm, I guess that's about it. Sorry for the looooong post. I know I rambled about my life, and honestly, y'all probably don't care that much, lol! And I honestly can't blame you one bit.

Carpe diem, y'all!


P.S. Don't forget about the Carpe Noctem Followers Say...thing coming up in September! You get to post on the blog about anything (well, read the full post) you want! Join the fun! Haha, if you're interested, or know someone who is, email me at livinglovinglaughinglearning@gmail.com.

Follow the Naming School's Movie Poll (Haha, yay for title conglomeration :D)

Thanks to Mitchel Drake and Elrania for following! You guys have no idea how happy that makes me :)

Name Day: I cannot think of anything significant. Isn't that weird? Usually I'm just full of names, but now I can't think of anything worth doing. Hmm. Okay, well, here's one: Palamon. It's the name of the main character in Chaucer's "Knight's Tale". It's part of the Canterbury Tales that I'm reading for school. I don't know the meaning of Palamon, and I can't find it either. He's my favorite character so far. The story is about two knights, Acrita and Palamon, who get captured and imprisoned. They both fall in love with the same girl, and then they fight to see who "wins" her. I don't want to say more just in case you actually read it someday :)

Anyway, back to real life. Today was better than yesterday school-wise. I think I just overloaded myself yesterday. Today was better. Still insane, but, hey, I'm done, aren't I? Yesterday I didn't get done until after 5 o'clock. Ugh.

My cousin Kathleen is in town! She's on her way to her first year of college, and she's stopping to spend the night at our grandma's house. We're going over there to see her and eat dinner in a little while. I'm very happy about that :)

Okay, so I was supposed to go running yesterday morning, but I was too tired when my alarm clock went off. Then, this morning, I just felt stupid for some reason getting up and running around the neighborhood. So, I didn't go again.

GRR! This has got to stop! I have to get up! I need to DO SOMETHING! My brain is getting plenty of exercise now, but my body...not so much. *moan*

We might go see the movie Julie and Julia this weekend. Have you heard of it? It's about a lady named Julie who decides to cook her way through the Julia Childs cookbook in a year and blog about it. It's not usually my type of movie, but it's supposed to be really funny, so we'll see. I'm excited just to get out of the house, really. Something about doing school all day makes me frantic to get out of here. Some girls from class might go, too, so that'll be awesome.

Um, not much writing action to record. I read over the last 30 pages or so of "Mirror", just getting a feel for it again. I got my touch back toward the end, but then lost it again at the very end. Well, not really the END end, but the end of what I have so far.

The W Chronicles isn't going anywhere right now either, but I'm sure it will eventually. I'm not alarmed at the lack of progress.

Well, Kieran won the poll! Gosh, I'm so torn, though! I really love the way the meaning of Vega goes with the meanings of her brothers' names. And I love the way Vega sounds. But, I also love Kieran, and its meaning is cool, too...*sigh* I'll have to think some more. Thanks for voting, though, y'all! I'll probably end up going with Kieran.

So far, Memory Day and Character Day look like they will replace Word Day and Carpe Noctem Day. Agree with that and want to make sure it stays that way? Vote! :) Disagree and want to change the outcome? Vote! :)

Talk to you later, y'all!

Nostalgia

Quote Day:

“The world is full of people whose notion of a satisfactory future is, in fact, a return to the idolized past.”–Robertson Davies

So, today was the first day of school at home.

*groan*

NOW I remember why I prayed for summer. Doing school for 8 grueling hours with no rest will do that for you. And I'm still not done. I have stuff to do still, but it's BritLit, so it's not that bad.

Subject Rundown:

Latin: Somebody just shoot me. Either the exercises are so easily I want to throw myself off a building, or they're so hard I want to throw myself off a building.

BritLit: Awesome! Interesting, not too hard, great! I love literature!

Art History: Ugh, it sounds fun, but there's SO MUCH TO DO! We have to read all these books, write all these papers, memorize all the stuff about famous pictures, make a timeline of all the big music and art stuff we come across. It's just too much! I really like the books (How Shall We Then Live? and State of the Arts), but there's just too much to do.

Debate: Challenging, but fun, like last year. It's basically the exact same thing as last year.

Biology: Not really hard, just a lot of stuff to read over and work sheets to do. It's not good or bad yet.

Logic: Ridiculously easy, not fun, not what I love, and it's so disappointing! I love logic, but this isn't "real" logic. *scowls*

Alebra 1 (um, again): Do I even have to say anything?

Overall, *sob* I miss Challenge I!! Oh my gosh! You really never realize how good you have it until you're gone! I hate this! I *LOVED* Challenge I! It was, like, the best year of my whole life! (Challenge B was pretty awesome, too, though...). *SOBSOBSOB*

I just CANNOT live in the present, can I?? I was living so in the past last year that I missed the complete and utter AWESOMENESS of the year! And now I'm doing it again! I'll never learn.

But this year really does suck (so far...day two).

And last year really did rock beyond all freakin' compare.

Other than that rant, I have nothing to say. I feel like I'm just barely keeping my head above water, and school has BARELY started.

:'(

Next year when I say that Challenge III sucks and that Challenge II was amazing, come over and kick me, would you?

*sob*


P.S. Vote in the poll, s'il vous plait.

First School Days and Chicken Glaze

Picture Day:

So, there's this puzzle that's all put together--finally. Every piece is in perfect place, each one fits into the next just as it shoud, there aren't any wrinkles or gaps, and everything is just right. Except suddenly there's a giant piece missing...

Hi! Well, lots of news!

Soccer went...well, pretty fine! The coach is very nice, and he doesn't make us run at all, which is good for me in the short run, but not the long run. He's also not a particularly good coach, but I've had WAAAAY worse, so it's all good.

I bought some ADORABLE new tennis shoes yesterday, and I'm planning to run every day. Since I won't be running at soccer practice, I guess I'll have to get into shape somehow else.

SCHOOL UPDATE: Well, it was okay. Definitely overwheming and there's a lot to do each week. I'm not really excited about the main subjects, and logic isn't the kind I like at all. My teacher does a great job, she's just not my favorite teacher for some reason. I really liked having my dad last year; having a guy teacher was awesome, and the boys acted differently (better), too.

So, pretty much, it was a disappointment :'( Still, I thought Challenge I was going to totally suck and it was AMAZING, so, you never know!

We called Ellie at lunch and put her on speaker-phone, so she got to "eat lunch with us" even though she wasn't there. That was awesome.

Several times, I glanced around at Taylor to ask him something with my eyes, but he wasn't there. No further comment on this issue.

In a minute, I'm going to go outside and kick the soccer ball around with my dad before taking a quick shower.

Okay, I gotta tell this story from dinner.

So, we were having a really fun dinner, laughing and joking, and then Daddy started reading the Bible (we're in Revelation, which is my favorite book, and Lizzy *hates* it). Well, all the sudden, I look down at my arm and it's all nasty and greasy. I'm like,

"What the heck? What *is* this??" I'm kind of laughing and freaking out at the same time.

Then my mom is like, "It's in your hair!" And there's all this grease in my hair. Then we all look at the little cup of nasty chicken-juice sitting by my plate, and we're like, *groan*. So, I use like a million napkins, and we're all sort of chuckling. Then, I'm just like,

"Okay, I am just taking a shower after a while."

Mom: "Why don't you just go over to the sink and rinse that piece of hair really quick?"

So, I go over and start sink-washing. And my dad just cracks up. I'm like,

"What is so funny??"

He's just howling and he's like, "It really is funny!"

Me: "It is NOT--okay...yeah, it really is."

More really hard laughing.

Okay, maybe you had to be there.

At any rate, I think my life could totally be turned into a sitcom.

That's all for now! TTYL!

Losing Losers

*swallows hard* Soccer practice is tonight at 8 o'clock. Not only is Ben-from-class on my team, so is Josh-from-class and all Josh-from-class's awesome siblings (at least the high-school-aged ones). Their family is insanely talented in soccer, and Ben isn't a bad goalie himself, so I think we have a really good team even though I don't know who else is on the team. Except me. But I hardly count. I don't do anything stupid, but I'm not really good either, so I'm kind of like a 0. I don't subract from the team's goodness, but I don't add to it either.

I am so nervous. This is gonna be horrible. The coach is gonna make us run suicides or something and I'm gonna finish dead last and then throw up or something. Omg, this is so awful. Why did I even sign up for soccer? I'm so out of shape. This is awful. Oh my gosh. *MOAN*

*clears throat* Well, um, on a lighter note, I just finished watching 17 Again. I really love that movie. Every other line is a LOL, and the moral of the story is great. If you can get past the billions of inuendos, lol ;) Luckily Lizzy doesn't pick up on half of it, or I'd feel really creepy watching it with her. That's why I didn't want her coming with me to see it in the theater. I was so glad my mom hadn't made me take her, too. I wouldn't have been able to enjoy the movie knowing my impressionable little sister was watching in the next seat.

I did the 16 pages of pre-class biology today. I love the science book. It's written by the same guy as last year's was. The way he phrases things is really easy to understand, but it's still complicated stuff so I feel like I've actually learned something when I'm finished.

After school starts tomorrow, I might not be able to post as often. I'm not sure. I'd still like to post every day, and I'll try, but I'm not sure how hard this year is going to be. We'll just have to see.

In honor of school starting tomorrow, let me post a quick class "cast" and an unfair stereotype to them to help you follow me if I start using names.

1. Me - The Bigmouth
2. Ben - The Dare Devil
3. Tori - The Pretty One
4. Josh - The Nice Guy
5. Amanda - The Normal One
6. Kirsten - The Genius
7. Chris - The Clown
8. Jessie - The Good One
9. David - The Youngest
10. Alex -
11. Cassidy -

Yeah, that's our class. Alex (she's a girl) and Cassidy are new this year, so I don't know about them yet.

Writing that list almost made me cry. Know why? Because two very, very, VERY important people aren't on it. Ellie B and Taylor (he's a guy) aren't going to be in class this year. Y'all "know" Ellie. She's a follower and one of my best friends. She's been going to my school since 7th grade. We've started school together every year since middle school. She's awesome. She's part of the class.

And she won't be there this year.

Taylor goes back wayyy farther. We've known each other since we were five (wow, a whole decade), and done school together since we were like seven. We've both been going to THIS school since fifth grade, and every year as long as I can really remember, he's been in my class. We aren't amazing friends or anything, we don't even talk to each other that much. But we're exactly alike. EXACTLY ALIKE. I honestly can't imagine school without him there, asking the question I was opening my mouth to ask, finishing my sentence, giving me the word I was looking for when I'm talking, making the same stupid mistakes as me in math, helping me remember what I was going to say even though I hadn't said it, glancing at each other when someone says something stupid.

I don't mean to get all...memory-lane on you guys, but...all the sudden, it feels really wrong to be starting school without him. It'll be like half the class is gone, not to mention half my brain. We don't like each other all that much, we never talk, don't each lunch together, don't even see each other outside of class, but I'm really gonna miss him. Way more than I ever imagined. In some ways, more than Ellie. I'll still call Ellie and talk to her like every day, and we'll get together sometimes, but Taylor...I might never really see him again.

I don't know what to do about that. It's not like I want to hang out with him, it's just that I feel like I shouldn't be starting school without him. He's always been there, and I kind of figured he always would be.

Gosh, I hate this. I hate it when people leave that you never even knew you cared anything about. You know how whenever I get an email or Facebook fill-out and the question is "What are you most afraid of?" I always put "losing people"? Well, this is why.

I HATE this. Why can't everyone just stay where they are forever? What is so great about changing, growing up, being a LOSER and LEAVING? What is the deal?

*sigh*

I guess I'm done posting. Sorry for ranting.

Soccer in 2 hours and forty-nine minutes.

Carpe diem. You never know who's gonna just not show up next year.

Top 50 Ways to Annoy People Who Don't Like the Maximum Ride Books

This is great because you can change it up a little and make it work for ANYTHING.

1. Relate everything they say to the Maximum Ride books.

2. Say they look like a Maximum Ride character of the opposite gender.

3. Quote the Voice.

4. Rewrite their favorite song with Maximum Ride lyrics and sing it constantly.

5. Crowd their inbox with Maximum Ride related e-mail and make sure the subjects are misleading.

6. Start reciting Max's poem "White" at random moments, pretend to forget what comes next, and ask if they know in a very loud voice.

7. Make them play Erasers vs. Bird Kids with you.


8. Give all of their friends Maximum Ride related nicknames and act mortally offended when they don't know the history of their character.

9. Change your name to that of a Maximum Ride character and start screaming when they don't address you as such in public.

10. Draw wings and wrist-scars on every poster and picture you come across...in permanent marker.

11. Give long lectures about how the Voice's advice relates to every day life.

12. Constantly ask if they can see the Flyboys too.

13. ...refuse to explain what a Flyboy is.

14. Pretend you can fly, become invisible, or read minds..

15. Insist that NOTHING in your house be moved, for Iggy's sake.

16. Constantly compare them to Jeb.

17. ...laugh evilly if they ask who Jeb is.

18. Complain loudly about how you need at least 3000 calories a day to grow up big and strong like Max.

19. Tell a very long joke using a random Maximum Ride quote as the punchline and then laugh hysterically.

20. ...make sure the joke isn't funny.

21. Write letters to people (friends, neighbors...politicians) and ask them to join the fight to save the world.

22. ...hand fliers advertising it to random passerby.

23. Report Ari's death to your local authorities.

24. Call them repeatedly asking if Dr. Martinez is there and hang up before they can reply.

25. Walk past a wall over and over again, stopping randomly to bang on. When you receive weird stares, shout, "What?! I'm look for branches of Itex!"

26. Every time you see them, demand an explanation of why exactly they don't like Maximum Ride.

27. If anyone tells you you'll go to hell for reading Maximum Ride, either: a) jump and down and tell them that you can't wait; b) tell them you'll meet them there; or c) ask them to back up this claim with evidence, and laugh at them when they can't.

28. Play the book-on-tape while they're stuck in your car.

29. ...add commentary.

30. When it's the anniversary of one of the releases, call to remind them.

31. ...every five minutes.

32. Classify everyone you meet as a different mutant. (Example: "Ooh, he would make a great dog-whale!")

33. Follow them around while acting out a scene from the book doing very annoying voices for all the characters. Expect them to join in, and act offended when they don't.

34. Count down to some obscure Maximum Ride event, whether it's a random date mentioned in the books, or maybe a character's birthday. Keep saying: "87 (86, 85, etc.) more days!" in the middle of every conversation you have with your friend. Smile in a superior way when they ask what you're counting down to.

35. Start talking about a deceased Maximum Ride character and suddenly burst into hysterical tears.

36. Refuse to be comforted.

37. Send them numerous letters informing them that they have been selected for research, and you must bid them goodbye.

38. Print this out and use it as a checklist.

39. Insist that they subscribe for your new Maximum Ride newsletter and when they say no, act like you've been seriously offended.

40. If you go to a big city with them, loudly ask random people if they know where you can find the School.

41. Invite them to play "Mad Scientists" with you.

42. Tell them you're Fang, then hide.


43. Send out birthday party invitations for a Maximum Ride character. Be sure to call everyone who doesn't respond and ask them if they're coming.

45. Call your local news station and give them a tip on where to find the Bird Kids.

46. Whenever looks like it might rain, scream "Global-warming induced hurricane!!" and hide for days at a time.

47. When travelling long distances, tell them it would be so much faster if they had wings, too.

48. Tell them that they're almost as good a cook as Iggy.

49. ..refuse to tell them who Iggy is.

50. Speak in an androgenous voice at random moments and make predictions about people, give directions and advice. Then, use your normal voice again and pretend that you don't remember anything.

Haha, now that that's done with, I just have three quick "announcments" to make.

1. Since Word Day and Carpe Noctem Day are scheduled for replacement, I need something to replace them WITH. I have some ideas, but I'd really like to know what you guys want, since you're the ones who read my boring junk anyway ;)

2. Don't forget to vote on Name the Assasin girl poll. Pro to Kieran: very cool sound and cool meaning. Pro to Vega: very cool sound and fits with the meaning of her two brothers, whose names mean Sun and Mood. (Vega means falling STAR).

3. Also don't forget about Followers Say...at Carpe Noctem coming up on September 26! So far there are only three people "signed up" to do it. C'mom, you know you want to ;) Details here.

That's about it! Thanks, y'all! Talk to ya later!

My Life, the Pscho Mystery Story?!

So...today was...weird to say the least. Wow. Just really weird.

The weirdness started last night. I mean, I guess. I don't remember. Which is the weirdest part! Okay, so apparently last night went just like any other night pretty much. I went to bed, and then read Maximum Ride: Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports for a really, really long time. I went to the bathroom right before turning off the light, and on my way back to my room, I heard this creepy hissing noise, so real and so close that my blood ran cold. I whirled around, hoping I wouldn't actually see anything, but in the middle of the big downstairs room, is a tall something. More blood running cold. The thing hissed again, and this time it sounded like, "Hey."

It was Lizzy.

I was pretty ticked off at her for freaking me out. I was only half conscious anyway because I'd been reading Max like a fiend trying to get as far into it as I could before I passed out asleep. My mind was working in creepy ways, going about bird kids and mutants and evil scientists and sneaky Erasers and junk like that, so having Lizzy sneaking around the house at night really didn't help the situation much.

But, I digress.

I went to sleep after a while of lying in bed, wondering why I was still awake. When I finally went to sleep, I had millions and millions of very fast, very flashy, very creepy, very intense dreams. They had to do with everything from twin brothers who fought to air vents flying off to big spiders to my friend Gabrielle evangelizing. And a **TON** of stuff that I can't clearly remember.

I woke up with a jolt, kind of warm and cozy and disoriented. Then, my stomach hurt like crap. Not like I was gonna be sick, like someone was cutting open my insides. It hurt really bad. But I must have dozed off again because I woke up when my mom came in and opened the blinds saying, "I'm so sorry, I forgot, you have soccer practice at 10 and it's five till right now." I opened my eyes and was once again greeted by the knife-in-the-gut sensation.

"My stomach hurts," I said. My mom was sympathetic, but still kind of hurrying me to get to soccer. I went to the bathroom, but my stomach still hurt really bad. I wondered if my mom had overslept or something since she and my dad hadn't gotten back until really late the night before. They'd been helping at a wedding rehearsal and hadn't gotten back until 12:34. Funny time, isn't it?

Well, my stomach was still slicing itself up even as I tried to get ready for soccer. It really hurt, and I didn't think I'd be a very good addition to the team, so I ended up calling the coach and leaving a message explaining why I didn't go to practice.

After a while, my stomach felt better, and I read some Max (finished it actually) before lunch.

The day went on pretty usual from there. Lots of reading and talking, though no computer at all, which was weird.

At 4:45 I started getting ready to go to this wedding we had to go to tonight (I just got back from it). I put on my new dress (you saw it yesterday) and all that good stuff. We went to the wedding. On the way, I started having really weird feelings about my parents getting home so late. It almost seemed like they didn't get home late, and that was just a dream. I had dreamed so much...I couldn't be sure. So, I asked.

"What time did you guys get home last night? Was it really late?"

Daddy sort of shrugged, eyes on the road. "It was a little after 8, I guess." He turned to my mom. "Wouldn't you say?" She agreed.

For the second time that day, my blood ran cold. What?? They hadn't gotten home at 12:34? But...but I had been so sure! I remember it! I remebered them--Wait, I remembered them coming home at 12:34, but I didn't remember anything else...

"Uhm, so you didn't come home at 12:34?" I asked. Daddy frowned.

"Uh, no," he said. I was getting a little weirded out.

"Oh....'kay...Well, what did we do last night?" I asked.

The whole family kind of looked at me.

"Momma and Daddy brought home those strawberry popsicle things..." Lizzy prompted. That faintly ran a bell...

"We watched about an hour of What Not to Wear," my mom reminded me.

"And that new episode of Phineas and Ferb," Daddy said.

I know I was looking at them like they were speaking Russian, but I didn't remember any of that! They had to be kidding me. Or maybe I was kidding me...but how can you kid yourself?

"You don't remember this?" Daddy asked. I stared at him and shook my head. He went on, "I was downstairs in the unfinished part of the basement, trying to fix the air conditioning? You said goodnight to me, then went into your room and closed the door?"

I frowned and nodded slowly, "Now that you mention it, I remember that."

My mom nodded. "Is it starting to come back now?"

Still, frowning, I had to answer, "Uh...no, not really."

They didn't seem nearly as alarmed about this whole thing as I was.

The wedding was beautiful, and the food was good, but I didn't get enough, so I'm still hungry, which for some reason is the best feeling to me. One of my favorite feelings is to be really tired and really hungry when I'm going to bed in the summer. I have NO IDEA why.

I also have no idea what happened last night, or why I had such insane, fast-flashing dreams, or why I don't remember anything that happened last night except strawberry popsicles and my dad fixing the air conditioning. I'm kind of scared.

Why can't I remember that random little piece of time?

Did the dreams mean anything?

Will I remember what happened tonight when I wake up?

Did my stomach pains this morning have anything to do with it all?

I know this probably sounds like some insane mystery book and not at all like real life, but that's me for you, I guess. Even though this is creepy and freaky, it's kind of...well...exciting, too. I hope this turns out to be something really awesome and not just a random brain fart or something. Hmm...

But then again, I hope it's not something serious, like brain failure...

Just keep me in your thoughts...and hopefully tonight will keep itself in my thoughts, too...

Shopping. Yeah, AGAIN.

FIRST OF ALL, THANK YOU BETHANY, AN AWESOME FELLOW-BLOGGER, FOR FOLLOWING THE BLOG!!! YAY!!! I AM SO HAPPY! HENCE THE CAPITALS!!!

Anyway...

Challenge Day! Challenge: do 100 crunches.

This is in honor of soccer starting tomorrow. I figured something exercise-related would be good.
I am so nervous about soccer. The coach forgot about me, so the team has already had two practices without my knowledge. I'm in horrible shape, and it the coach makes us run a bunch, I don't know what I'll do. *moan* I'm on a team with a guy from my class named Ben, who was on my team last year. At least I don't have to worry about looking stupid in front of him--he saw it all last year anyway. *sigh*

My poison ivy is doing incredibly well! Yay for the small-town store with homemade soap! The poison ivy soap is amazing. It works crazy-well.

So, today, I went shopping again. Lizzy's and my mom's birthdays are coming up, so my grandma took them shopping. I decided to go with them, and my mom bought me (sort of) some more school clothes. And one random dress. I'm considering posting more pictures...hmm...I'll ask Lizzy.

She said okay. So, here:

*MOAN* Only now I feel like such a vain girl who wants to show off. :( Not true. I just usually hate shopping and all the sudden I'm going all girly and loving it and I want to document it! *moans again* Please don't hate me...

Me in a dress. *gasp* YES, ME, IN A DRESS.

My Michael Jackson shirt XD What can I say? He's the King of Pop.

Pig tails XD And, yeah.

Other than shopping, worrying about soccer, and OH, YEAH, I got the next two Maxiumum Ride books, and so far, Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports is excellent. <3>

That's about it. Pray for soccer, and thanks for the prayers about my poison ivy! That's clearing up nicely. Also, thanks for voting on the Name the Assassin Girl poll. Looks like Kieran is still ahead...

Audition??

NAME DAY!! I'm actually going to do three names: Chandar, Vega, and Levant. Their meanings? Sun, falling star, and moon. Isn't that great? Sun, moon and star! If I decide to use the name Vega for my assassin girl, her brothers will be Chandar and Levant.

I remembered the big thing I wanted tot tell y'all! Remember when I said I was thinking about becoming an actress? And how I might want to do some plays at the community theater coming up? Well, I got a little card in the mail about the play Mulan! The auditions are on the 28th, and I think I'm going to go. I have to sing sixteen bars of a song, and then a short dance combo is going to be taught. My mom says I can sing, and I've been doing dance all my life, so I guess I'm going. I don't think I'm an *amazing* singer, my range isn't very good, but I can sure carry a tune.

I'm super excited. What should I sing? Yikes! Mulan!

I also have poison ivy :'( All over my left ankle. And now my face is itching and there is a bump under my nose. I'M ITCHING EVERYWHERE! AHHH!! *moan* I've had poison ivy before, all over my face. It is NOT FUN, let me tell you. My dad is pretty allergic, and sometimes when he gets poison ivy in one place, he'll break out in all the places he's ever had it. What if that happens to me? What if I get it all over again? WHAT IF IT'S STILL THERE FOR THE AUDITIONS??

Sorry. I freak out about this stuff. (In case you A: haven't figured that out yet or B: don't know me personally.)

So, I found out when soccer practice starts. This Saturday at 10am. *MOAN* I am so out of shape it isn't even FUNNY. I'm going to die. DIE, I TELL YOU. HOW CAN I GET IN SHAPE IN TWO DAYS??

Sorry, sorry. I'm in the freaking out mood today apparently.

Under my nose is REALLY itching...

Harrpy Potter is getting a little better. I don't hate him anymore, and I really, really love Draco Malfoy, just like I thought I would. Evil little cuss >:D

The W Chronicles is going alright, too. I wrote a little of the first series, Woods.

Kieran and Vega tied for the names for my assassin girl (series Wars). I'm setting up another polls just between those two names. Sorry if it seems like this is going on and on.

Picture Day won for the favorite with 6 votes, followed closely by Name Day (yay!) with 5. Quote Day came in next with 3 votes, then God Day at 2 and Challenge Day with 1. Looks like Word Day and Carpe Noctem Day are OUT! Fine by me! But, I do need two days to replace them. I have some ideas, but I'd really like to hear yours. Leave a comment if you would, or email me at livinglovinglaughinglearning@gmail.com as usual. There may be an award for best idea...

So, if you would, vote once more on the poll for the assassin girl's name. Vega (VAY-ga) or Kieran (kee-ERH-in)? And if you have any ideas for what to do in place of Word Day and Carpe Noctem Day, let me know!

Muchas gracias!
a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com" target="_blank">

P.S. I also wouldn't mind an occasional prayer about the audition? And the poison ivy...Lol :)

Change

I'm sorry I haven't posted in a few days! It's just been kind of busy, and I haven't felt like posting.

Today was fun! Daniel (14), Emily (12), and Caleb (10) came over to swim in the lake. Unfortuantely, it rained a lot, so at first we were trapped inside playing Monopoly (that lasted about ten minutes), and Break the Safe (we actually made it through the whole game). After lunch, we went down to the lake, and had LOTS of fun. We flipped the giant tube over, and played king of the hill a little. I barely played. I figure my chances of winning were slim and none since I can't even knock Matt ("little brother", age almost-13) off anymore. I did knock Caleb off once, though. Watching big-brother-little-brother interaction is always kind of hard for me, but I like it still. It just reminds me of how things used to be, and how things have changed.

It was just a lot of fun. I love hanging out with them.

Other than that, I've been keeping my room pretty clean (I know, I know, I marked THAT day on the calender), packing my new pink and charcoal backpack with school stuff, and reading "Beowulf", which I should have started earlier. Like, maybe seventh grade. It's amazing how much the English language has changed over the years.

The old English isn't too bad to read, not after Shakespeare last year, but the names are awful! I can't pronounce but three of them, and almost all of them begin with H! Haelfdene, Halga, Hrothgar, Heorogar, Heoro, the list go on and freakin' on! It's crazy! *moan* But I'm gettin' through it. Somehow.

"The W Chronicles" character sketches and outlines are going pretty well. I'm starting to really like Tyler (she's a girl, just so you know). She's kind of a cool character. I'm also trying not to start crushing on my own guy characters. *sigh* That tends to happen kind of a lot. Not really with Darren, surprisingly. He's more of a brother-feeling character to me. Paige is more of a daughter almost. The character (of my own) that I had the biggest crush on was this guy named Jayden. Man, he was awesome. I mean, the writing isn't anything amazing, I just really love his character. That hasn't changed over the years. I still fall for the same kind of character.

I'm listening to "Had a Bad Day", chipmunk version. Love it.

I'm also reading the first Harry Potter (have I said that before?). Honestly, so far, I don't even like it. I'm on chapter, like, three, but I just can't get into it. It's too cartoony and I can't stand Harry. Maybe it'll get better as I read on. It's weird, though, because this used to be the kind of thing I'd just eat up. Guess I've changed...

Now I'm watching Michael Jackson's Thriller video. The special effects are so good considering how old this thing is. Haha, I love the part where I flashes over to the theater, and everyone is cringing except Michael, who's eating popcorn and grinning. Lols :) And I love the part where he asks, "You were scared, weren't you?" and his girlfriends is like, "I wasn't that scared." And she walks off. And Michael kind of giggles and is like, "*hehe* You were scared..." Just watch it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AtyJbIOZjS8&feature=related Too bad he changed and got all weird.

Omg, this made me cry this time. I don't even know why. Something seems different or something. The song "The Call" from the movie Prince Caspian? Do you know it? I don't know why, but this time, it felt really...I don't know. It just made me cry. And I don't usually cry anymore, so that was weird. Here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9CvaTrg8Frg

Anyway, um...I had so much to say, but now I can't remember any of it! Oh well.

OHHHHHHH, DUH! Today is Quote Day! And I need to do Picture Day and Word Day, too.

Quote Day: "But just because they can't feel it too, doesn't mean that you have to forget." a line in "The Call."

Picture Day:

What is this a picture of? My opinion? Change. Yours? Comment or email me.

Word Day: Change. Is it good or bad? Sometimes one, sometimes the other. The Call: "Just because everything's changing, doesn't mean it's never been this way before."

Lots to think about, guys. Listen to The Call. It's such an amazing song. The lyrics are in the description if you click "more info". I recommend it.

P.S. It looks like the names Kieran and Vega are winning for the name of my assassin girl, and Word Day and Carpe Noctem Day are going to be kicked out! Disagree? GO VOTE!

*mutters and moans*

I'm burning up. *moan* I haven't been able to cool off since lunch. We ate at a pizza place that was way hot, and I haven't cooled down since. *moaaaaan*

And now I also have a headache, and my throat feels funny. *hangs head sadly*

Sorry. I'm in kind of a pitiful mood. I'm going to try to suck it up and move on.

'Kay, so, it's God Day, and I have an idea, but I feel so pathetic, I wouldn't be able to write anything very well anyway.

What I've been doing lately: reading Maximum Ride: Angel Experiment. It was very good. Favorite character: Fang, the strong, silent type. Yay, Fang.

I'm also halfway watching the Hannah Montana "brother-a-thon" and wishing I were Miley Stuart.

OW! I just bashed my elbow on the counter!

*mutters evilly*

Okay, I'm leaving. I have no idea why I feel so crappy, but I'm going to just go get some juice or something and read the next book in the Maximum Ride series.

Sorry for being pathetic :(

Yeah.

Carpe Noctem Day: http://toseizethenight.blogspot.com/2009/08/word-inflation-is-love-officially.html

Hung out at the neighbors' today, saw the movie Knowing (good, just...creepy), went to the lake, read some "Maximum Ride", which is very good so far. I like Fang a lot :D

That's all.

Back-To-School Clothes + Photographer Sister = This

So, I got some new clothes, new books, new hat, and new shades, and asked Lizzy to take a picture of me for the blog and for Facebook. Well...we went photoshoot crazy :)

Today we went back-to-school shopping, and dropped by the bookstore. YAY!! Usually I don't like shopping all day, but this was surprisingly enjoyable. My style is slightly and slowly changing to something along the lines of punk rock. Not so much in this outfit in the pictures, though.

We had Katie ("little sister") with us today because her usual babysitter had a job interview. That was pretty fun. We got to fool strangers into thinking we had another sister. We're such sly dogs ;P

Lizzy and I also started having really similar tastes in clothes. We would walk through the store and pick out stuff, and then when we met back up, we'd have the same exact things. It was freaky.

Other than a really fun shopping "spree", nothing happened today. It's Challenge Day, but I'll just let the challenge be to get through looking at the pictures of me without grimacing ;)

The Assasin Girl

Having today be Name Day is just ENTIRELY TOO PERFECT.

I pulled up this window to ask y'all your oppinion on some names for stories, and then I realized that today was the perfect day to do it!

Okay, so The W Chronicles is off to an okay start. I'm outlining more and more, and the plots and character are starting to come into focus.

My favorite mini series is probably Wars, just because I like the girl in it and I think she's an interesting person. She's the character I'm trying to name.

Let me tell you a little bit about her, and then I'll post the six possible names.

The girl is around the age 14-16; I'm not exactly sure yet. She's a assasin, and, pardon the pun, a killer one at that. She's a heck of an actress. She can play a timid servant girl, a flirty gypsy, a snobby aristocrat, a clever street rat, you name it, she'll play it. She's quick and quiet when she needs to be, incredibly persuasive, good with a dagger and a bow and arrow, and, oh yes, she's pretty. Not all the time, of course, and it's hard to tell what she really looks like. She's a master of disguises, so you might not see her looking the same way twice.

Back to the assasin business. She's not exactly evil, but she does love the excitment of, well, killing. In her world, politics is big and there's a lot of strife going on, perfect times for a budding assasin. She's never been caught, not really even close, and she's taken out a fair lot people. She'll get rid of anyone for a price, and including lords, ladies, love rivals, business competitors, and even a duke.

Possible names, meanings and pronounciations:
1. Brenna - (BRIH-nah) - raven maiden
2. Kieran - (kee-EHR-ihn) - little dark one
3. Vega - (VAY-gah) - falling star
4. Chiara- (a cross between chee-AHR-ah and shee-AHR-ah) - clear
5. Story - story
6. Juliet/Juliette - youthful

PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE comment and tell me which one you like best!! Or if you have any other ideas, let me know. I really appreciate this! Thanks!


P.S. Also, please vote on the poll about what Day is your favorite. I'm going to switch out some days, I think, and I want to know which ones y'all want to keep. Gracias!

Attention Followers!

On Saturday September 26th there is going to be a special eddition of Carpe Noctem: "Followers Say..." You will be granted access to posting on Carpe Noctem from midnight on the 25, to 11:59pm on the 26.

Sound like something you or someone you know might enjoy? Click here to read the details! I really hope you decide to do this! The more people we have involved, the more fun it will be! Please do it if it sounds like something you'd enjoy, and tell your friends! Thanks!

The W Chronicles

First: Thanks, Crescentise, for following!! You're a really cool person and I'm honored that you're decided to follow! YAAAAAAY!!

Today I had a giant burst of writing inspiration. Sort of. And it wasn't about "Mirror".

I've had this great idea for a while now, and today I've been fleshing it out more and more. It's really awesome. Well, at least while I'm sitting here all excited it *feels* awesome...And I'm going to tell you about it, too, if you SWEAR not to steal any of it? Promise? Okay, yay, thanks :) ;) :P

It's an idea for a giant series, a series within a series.

The whole thing is called "The W Chronicles", and within that are six mini series, each with four books in it. And all the titles have alliteration (Ex. Benny the Brown Bear Bought a Bike.) They also all corespond to a season. Each mini series has four books, one book for each season, so each series takes exactly a year. And the titles sort of match the seasons.

Each mini series focuses on a main character, and then in the last series of all, Worlds, all the characters from all the different worlds somehow meet together and have to do something that saves all the worlds. Make sense? It's still really sketchy. Some of the books don't even have names yet.

The whole thing is VERY systematic. Each series will all have colors, or directions, or slowly go from broad to narrow. It's hard to explain.

Okay, I'm just going to post it all and see if it makes better sense. But NO STEALING, COPYING, MIMICKING, BEING INSPIRED BY, OR GETTING AN IDEA LIKE THIS. It's not really amazing or anything, I just really want it not to be used before I get the chance to use it myself, you know?

Okay. Here:

The W Chronicles:

Woods:
1. The Forgotten Forest (Summertime)
2. The Golden Glade (Fall)
3. The White Wood (Wintertime)
4. The Teal Tree (Springtime)

Waters:
1. The Crimson Creek (Summertime)
2. The Brown Brook (Fall)
3. The Silver Stream (Wintertime)
4. The Rainbow River (Springtime)

Walls:
1. The Forbidden Fortress (Springtime)
2. The Traitor's Tower (Summertime)
3. The Rusty Room (Fall)
4. Death's Door (Wintertime)

Ways:
1. The Northerner's Name (Wintertime)
2. The Eastern Entrance (Springtime)
3. The Soutern Shadow(s) (Summertime)
4. The Western Waters (Fall)

Wars:
1. The Beginning Battle
2.
3.
4.

Worlds:
1.
2.
3.
4.

So???? What do you think? Do you like it? Will it work? Yes? No? Maybe so? Leave a comment or drop me an email (livinglovinglaughinglearning@gmail.com) if you have an oppinion or any ideas about what the unnamed books should be called.

I'm also thinking of switching out some of the specialty posts for other things. Be thinking about which specialty days you especially like and don't like and I'll put a post up soon to decide which ones stay and which ones go.

Quote Day: “It’s a job that’s never started that takes the longest to finish.” J.R.R. Tolkien

Better get started on The W Chronicles!

Carpe diem!

The Armoured Heart

Congrats to Cavender and Limer! You didn't get the Guess That Word: Spanish Addition word correct, but you DID it, so you get an award :D

*applause*

The answer I was looking for is this:

Desconsolado = heartbroken.

All your guesses were VERY close, and pretty much synonomous, but not quite :)

Moving on to Picture Day...

Okay, so, keeping with the Spanish word theme, I just Googled "broken heart" images. I found three AWESOME ones, and I CANNOT chose, so you get three pictures in one day! Woohoo! :)

Aren't those so cool?? I thought so. I really want to go into detail about them, actually, but I'll just do the first one.

This heart is shattering, but notice that not all the way through. The heart is three dimentional and only the outer armour is coming off, exposing the bare, red heart. As tragic as the picture looks, if you think about it, it's actually not. At least, not necessarily.

This could be a picture of at least two different and opposite things: it could symbolize a person with a lot of reservations, who has trouble giving his/her heart away. Then, along comes someone very special who helps to shatter than tough exterior and help him/her fall deeper in love without all the barriers.

It could also portray a broken and wounded heart. A heart that's been hurt deep down, and over a long time, a scab has grown over the heart, a scab, a protective shell. Then, suddenly something reminds the heart of the one it love, and suddenly the scab is torn off, exposing the painful wounds.

I tend to think it's the first option. Look at the stars sparkling around. It really doesn't seem like such a depressing picture.

Then you have that thing in the upper left-hand corner... What is that?

I think it's a tiny Earth.

Then that sort of makes the case for both options, I think. Having the Earth so small and far away could be portraying loneliness, or it could be portraying being so in love, that worldly cares are far away.

What do you think? Leave a comment and tell me!

Hmm, wow, that was a little deep, haha! I really like all the pictures, but the eye might be my favorite. Or maybe the armoured one...it's a tie. Which is your favorite?

**CHALLENGE** Comment or email me (livinglovinglaughinglearning@gmail.com) what you think one of the pictures means, and/or which is your favorite. There might be an award in this for you... ;)

Today I got to see my wonderful favorite Aunt Susan. She's so much fun. Almost scattered, by so very dear and fun. I just love her.

Well, that's all for now, folks!

Carpe diem!

P.S. Millions of thanks to ILARUS for following!! Wow, 41 followers...I think I'm getting dizzy...