Awards!

Thanks to Bleah Briann for making the awards for the Scavenger Hunt! Take the one that applies to you, I'm trusting y'all :)

First Place:
Second Place:
Third Place:
Participation Award for Hunters:
Participation Award for Hosts:

Thanks for playing, everyone!

Also, I'm going to Great Wolf Lodge tomorrow and won't be back until Friday :) I'm hoping this time will be better than when I went in March XD That wasn't much fun.

~Kendra

A Little Life Update

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

~Kendra

GO!!!!!!!

***LATEST NEWS: Clue #11 has been put up! Happy hunting!***

The Scavenger Hunt starts now!!

All you awesome Hunters get going! Put on your detective caps and find which blog comes next! The first clue issssssss...

"All silver and green, find this Elvish theme."

Now, check out these blogs and figure out which one fits this description...

A Collection of Reflections

Evening Stars

Nahla's World

Caliginosity

Summer Girl

A Selection of Varied Topics

The View Through These Eyes

With Love and Kisses

With the Setting Sun

Playing for Him

(:My World:)

Random Thoughts

Farmgirl Writes

Thoughts of A KleeWyck

Katie's Pixels

Good luck! You have til the end of the week. Special prize for the one who completes it first.

~Kendra

GET SET...

THE SCAVENGER HUNT BEGINS TOMORROW! :D If you're a Host, you should have (*cough* finally *cough*) gotten an email from me with your clue. If you didn't receive the email, leave me a comment and I'll resend it.

Don't forget not to post your clues until tomorrow. I forgot to say that in the email, so if you put it up early, don't feel bad :) My fault for forgetting to tell you.

Anyway, Hunters, GET SET, for tomorrow we GO! :D

~Kendra

Hosts and Hunters

Today I wrote the entire rough draft of my big American history research paper! Yay! It's not due until Wednesday, and I've already done the hardest part. It is safe to say that I am very proud of myself. Colonial architecture in light of different cultures turned out to be really interesting. And I've never been the slightest bit interested in architecture before. Cool :D

Okay, so I'm trying to be organized about the Scavenger Hunt, and I don't want to miss anyone, so bear with me. Will you please read this, and let me know of any errors?

Blog Hosts:
1. Izori - Evening Stars
2. Elizabeth - A Collection of Reflections
3. Bleah Briann - With Love and Kisses
4. Levi - With the Setting Sun
5. Katie G - Playing for Him AND Katie's Pixels
6. Tunafish - The View Through These Eyes
7. Emily Ann - (:My World:)
8. Rachel B - Thoughts of a KleeWyck
9. Sarah - Caliginosity
10. Emma - Summer Girl
11. Bethany - A Selection of Varied Topics

Blog Hunters:
1. Bethany
2. Elizabeth
3. Emma
4. Katie G
5. Tunafish

If you want to be a Host or Hunter and your name isn't on the list please, pleeeeeeease let me know! Just a simple comment to indicate Host, Hunter, or both, please.

The deadline for blog hosts is Sunday. Hunters can continue to "sign up" as late as next Saturday.

This is going to be lots of fun! And I've recently added one little bit to this...

If you post about the Hunt on your blog, along with a link back to THIS post, there will be an extra clue (and therefore possible award) for you! WooT! Just make sure to leave me a comment telling me that you posted so I can add you to the special list XD

Normally I frown upon heavy blog advertising, and asking people to do it, but I think the Hunt will be a lot more fun if we can get lots of people involved.

This is gonna be awesome XD :D

~Kendra

More on the Hunt!

Hey, y'all! It sounds like some people are interested in the Blog Scavenger Hunt! Awesome! The start date I'm thinking about is September 12th, about ten days from today.

If you missed the post where I introduced the idea, you can click HERE, or read this next paragraph XD

The Blog Scavenger Hunt will be a fun way to get traffic on your blog, win awards, and flex your detective skills. On September 12th, I'll publish a list of blogs where clues will be hidden, as well as some "decoy" blogs. I'll give Clue #1, and the great quest to find Clue #2 on a blog from the list begins. Once you find Clue #2, the detective work continues as you search the list to find Clue #3...

Rules for Hunters:
1. Be sure to find the Clues in order!
2. It'll be more fun if you don't tell anyone which Clue is on which blog :)

Rules for Participating Blogs:
1. Don't forget to put your Clue somewhere on your blog on the 12th! (I'll be sending them to you sometime next week.) You can "hide" it anywhere on your homepage (the sidebar, your posts, your header, etc.), just make sure it's on your homepage and doesn't require any clicking around to find :)

So far, there are nine bloggers who'd like clues hidden on their blogs. There's room for more if anyone is interested :)

Now we need Hunters! Bloggers with participating blogs are welcome to play too (or not play), but I think this will be even more fun with lots of people. Spread the word! If you want, posting about this would be great. The more people we have, the more fun it'll be!!

Please leave a comment if you want to play!

~Kendra

Blog Scavenger Hunt!

So, I was just thinking the other day, and I had an interesting (and kind of awesome) idea. Guess what it is?

*looks disappointed* Oh. You read the title, huh?

Okay yeah. A blog scavenger hunt.

Picture this: If you want your blog to participate, tell me! I'll compile a list of the blogs, and then I'll publish the list, along with a clue leading to the first blog.

Lemme pick on Sam from One Sparkling Star. Let's say Clue #1 is "This blog is sparkly, and home of the first clue. Go find this blog, full of book reviews!"

To participate, you'd search the list of participating blogs and find the one that fits the description. Then (hypothetically, Sam has agreed to participate, haha), you go to Sam's blog and somewhere is the next clue, leading to another participating blog.

Once I get a list of all the blogs that want to participate, I'll start making up the clues. Then I can send the clues to the appropriate blogs and the blog author can post them anywhere on their home page, ready to be found :)

I'm sure awards would be involved somewhere... ;)

Of course, you'd need to make sure to find the clues in order :) Probably we'd just go with the honesty system there.

So what do you think? I think it'd be a fun game, and a good way to get lots of blog traffic.

Anyone interested? If you are at all, leave me a comment! You don't have to commit to it or anything, but questions, feedback...who's interested? Let me know! :)

~Kendra

Contest

So. I have a challenge/contest for you. But I also need help. This contest serves three purposes:

Purpose 1: I've never held a contest like this before, so it's a first. W00T!
Purpose 2: Exercise your creativity. You need it. I'm doing you a favor.
Purpose 3: I need this for a story idea.

Who: IF YOU'RE READING THIS YOU MUST DO IT. MWAHAHHAHA. Not really. But please do. It'll only be really fun if a lot of people do it. All you people who read faithfully and never comment, this is your day to comment.

What: A funny family contest. Everyone's family is weird. Some more than others, but we're all weird.

I need your funny stories.

Your little incidents. That one relative and how they always do (you fill in the blank). How you can count on your aunt to start a food fight, or the way your uncle never calls anyone by their real name. Stuff like that.

Tell me, and I'll post some of my favorites, and maybe put it in this story... (if you don't mind, I'll ask you first). I'll also give you credit if my story ever gets anywhere XD

Oh yeah. And an award. I think that's pretty standard for blog contests :D

When: RIGHTNOW. And until, oh, I don't know...til next Saturday. The 24th.

Where: Here. You can post your stories or funny bits as comments, or you can email them to me at livinglovinglaughinglearning@gmail.com.

Why: I covered that already in the little Purposes thing.

How: That's kinda with Where. So scroll up if you missed that.

Please do it. Even if you think you have nothing to offer, try. Oh, and here's the best part:

They don't actually have to be true. You can make them up! Of course, when you get your imagination going, you might decide to keep the ideas for your own stories! That's awesome too, but if you wouldn't mind, tell me anyway just for the contest part. I won't use anything unless it's okay with you.

So yeah. I know this was sudden and really jumbled, but...do it XD I'll know if you didn't. There is a page views thingie and a thingie that tells where you are in the sidebar >:D

~Kendra

Titles

The lovely Laura has awarded me! She holds a Modest Outfit of the Month contest on her blog, and the picture I submitted won. Awesome :D Thanks, Laura! You can see the post HERE.

Hang on, lemme think of something interesting to post about.

Okay, I actually have several interesting ideas, but I'm really, really tired right now and I don't feel like putting that much brain into a post. Sorry.

My inspiration has somewhat carried over to today. I haven't written any more of the Random Story, but I came up with two cool book names. I have a list of titles that I think would be awesome for books. Now I just have to write books for all of them XD

Wanna see some of them?

No?

Oh. Okay.

...

...

...

Hah, admit it, for a second you thought I'd actually let that go. Tee hee, no such luck XD

I have a freaking ton, but seven of my favorites are...

1. California Rude
2. Black Christmas
3. Pride and Arrogance
4. The [Real] Difference Between Love and Loathe
5. The Intruder Letters
6. Maps of Life
7. The Wind Reign

Think they're any good? Possibly. Absolutely no fair stealing them. I play to write books to stick on the ends of all of them XD

Anyway, I'm very tired and I think I have an ear infection, so I'm done posting for today.

But, since you all practically begged for some "fun stuff like challenges" in the poll over there (-->), here's a challenge:

Come up with a book title. I don't care if you already have a book going. I don't care if you're not a writer. I don't care if a friend usually names all your stories (*cough* Gabby named my entire series *cough*). THINK OF A TITLE.

Oh, and tell me in a comment, cest vous plait?

Thanks :D

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...

>.>
<.<

Two in One...Sorry!!

First of all, WHOA. Thanks for following, Hannah Ross, Miss Zara and LaSara! Y'all rock :) Sorry I couldn't find links for Hannah and Miss Zara, though :'(

Sorry I didn't post yesterday! Gosh, I had the post all ready, really, I just wanted to put some finishing touches on it and never got around to it. Here it is, all finished:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
We finished the first season of Alias. Amazing episode, but the worst cliff hanger I've ever seen. Imagine having to wait an entire summer to see the next season!!!!!!

So, Will got tortured, though, and he cried. *hyperventilatingshudder* Y'all know I'm not good with that, but be proud of me; I was okay. I felt like bawling or going into shock (LOL), but I watched it all. I hate how I suck at taking guys' screaming, so I'm working on the whole toughen-up-and-deal-with-it part XD

So, other than that, I went to a Christmas party today! It was kind of awkward, because I don't have mutual friends to talk about with these people, though. They kept talking about people that I didn't know. And they're all masters of innuendos and twisting things. It was pretty okay, though, I'm definitely glad I went. I just hope they don't all think I'm a total dork XD I got a really cute journal and a Hershey bar as a Christmas present, though :)

I've also been doing a lot of serious thinking about lots of people. I should go into more detail so you don't feel like you've bee gypped, but I don't think I will ;P But I could use prayer, and so could one of my friends, if you don't mind? That'd be great :-/

Okay, there are only three days until Christmas. Three.

Tres.

Trois.

Tria.

THREE.

So, what do we do when there are only three days until Christmas?

Christmas Jokes, how about?

1. What did Adam say on the day before Christmas? It's Christmas, Eve. (WOW, that was lame.)

2. What do you get if you eat your Christmas decorations? Tinselitus.

3. Why did the elf push his bed into the fireplace? He wanted to sleep like a log.

MERRY THREE-DAYS-UNTIL CHRISTMAS!!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
So, now there are only--get ready for this--TWO DAYS UNTIL CHRISTMAS!! But we'll get to that in a minute.

Today, my family hung out with another family (descriptive, right?). I've mentioned these guys before: Daniel (14, but awesome), Emily (12?), and Caleb (...10?). We went and saw the movie The Blind Side.

Now, no offense to those of you who like them, but I hate inspirational movies. I hate them. To me, they are all the same: the underdog with a bad past gets someone who finally believes in him. They help him out, something bad happens, someone dies, he stops trusting them, and then it ends happily. The entire point of those movies is to make you happy, but to give you the illusion of happiness, they must first make you sad as crap so they can then lift your spirits back up with inspiration.

-.-

Yeah, I hate inspirational movies. Guess what?

I LOVED THE BLIND SIDE.

I mean, WOW. This is an amazing movie. Shockingly *amazing*. I recommend it to anyone. Everything about it was really good. Just see it. It's truly awesome.

Then, my dad dropped Lizzy and me off at good ol' Barnes & Noble, where Cavender and I "happened" to bump into each other XD Yay for texting!

Then, we went to get Matt (little brother) a Christmas present. He had showed me this remote control car he wanted when we were out before. He's very good at subtle hinting. NOT. LOL, his exact words: "Kendra, come 'ere." *drags me over* "This is what you want to get me for Christmas. That one." *points* "See it? That one, right th--No, wait, THIS one...Ooh..."

:)

So, we went to get it. But, it turns out it's a slot car. In the words of Kyle and Cavender, "FAIL." So we ended up getting him a trick kite.

*blink*

I really hope Matt doesn't read this blog secretly...Nah, LOL.

Then, we came home, ate dinner, and decorated a friend's neighbor's house for Christmas. He's having a rough time with his family, lonely for Christmas, so we decided to surprise him with Christmas cheer, LOL :)

I'm freezing and my stomach hurts. But it is all good, my friend(s).

So, anyway, Christmas Countdown!!! Two days :D TWO DAYS. Here we go...

TWO FAVORITE CHRISTMAS TRADITIONS (as suggested by Cavender and approved by Kyle, LOL):

1. The Cross Collection. Every year, someone in my family makes a small cross. Usually, the cross will represent something or be made of something you've done throughout the year. Something that's defined you, or something that you've been interested in lately. The first year my mom taught eighth grade, she made a cross with Greek letters on it, because she had to learn and teach Greek. My dad has made a lot of stuff with woodworking. When Lizzy was little, it was her turn and Daddy helped her make a little cross out of Play-Doh :) Last year, I wrote a cross. It's a poem about the cross, but it's not cross-shaped. I thought it was a cool idea, haha :) This year it's Lizzy's turn again. Wonder what she'll do...?

2. Christmas dollhouse :) I won't go into this more because I've been talking about it a lot lately, but yeah. I love that.

Also, COMING TOMORROW:

AWARDS!!!! :)

MERRY TWO-DAYS-UNTIL CHRISTMAS!!!

NINETEEN DAYS UNTIL!!!

First, two thank-yous:
Thanks to Cori for following!!! You rock!
Thanks for the Legolas Fan Award and the Eowyn's Courage Award, Eldarwen!! I love them. (You can see them on my sidebar just past the Visitors Since... and the Find it Fast thing.)

Also, I made a Christmas Blog Button :D It's on the side right there. Yeah, there. Feel free to put it on your blog :D Lols ;P

We are down to the teens! Only nineteen more days until Christmas!

What better way to celebrate the teens with a quick announcement?

I FINALLY CALLED THE NON-PUBLIC EDUCATION PEOPLE ABOUT GETTING MY PERMIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

After waiting since MARCH for my parents to do it for me, Mrs. Martha (Matt and Katie's mom, my second mom) told me I should do it myself. Yesterday when we were at their house all day, she asked me when I got up in the morning. I told her (sheepishly) about ten, and she told me she'd call me at ten thirty and remind me to call them myself!

So this morning, my dad comes into my room while I'm still asleep and says, "Telephone," holding out the phone. I blink at him, my hair in a ponytail that WAS neat last night and a voice resembling a frog say, "Oh. It's Mrs. Martha..." I take the phone.

Me: *croak* "Hello?"
Mrs. Martha: "Hey, I told you I'd call!"
Me: *smiling groggily* "Yep." *getting out of bed* "I'm making a note to call right now..."
Mrs. Martha: "I have a meeting at 10 so I had to call earlier. Sorry."
Me: *freeze...look at clock...it's 9:30 WHEW* "Oh, it's fine. Thanks for calling!!"

So, I did :D And I should be receiving a certificate of eligibility within a couple of days! Yay!

FYI:
Favorite Christmas song ever: God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen. This is an awesome version by MercyMe.

God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen

Anyway. Now for the Christmas Countdown, 19 Things To Do This Christmas!

1. Bake cookies and decorate them
2. Get a favorite Christmas song
3. Decorate your tree
4. Buy the perfect gift for someone
5. Talk to someone you don't usually talk to
6. Eat a candy cane. I hate them, too, just DO IT ;P
7. DECIDE to be happy
8. Watch a Christmas special (Rudolf, The Grinch, Charlie Brown Christmas, etc.)
9. See snow (snow globes can count if necessary)
10. Have a fire in your fireplace
11. Read a Christmas book to a little kid
12. Know the Legend of the Christmas Spiders
13. Watch an old Christmas movie
14. Make a gingerbread man (/woman/boy/girl/dog/mouse/reindeer...)
15. Say, "Merry Christmas" (NOT "Happy Holidays") to a cashier
16. Do something nice for your mom
17. Make a wish list
18. Wear a Santa hat out in public
19. Drop a few coins in the Salvation Army's bucket thing

Ta-da! If anyone does all those things, I want to hear about it! I will also give out an award. Get busy! :)

MERRY NINETEEN-DAYS-UNTIL CHRISTMAS!!!

Some of Just About Everything...

I'm in a good mood right now.

Table of Contents for this post as it were:
News About my Writing **mildly exciting**
School *ARE...YOU...READY...TO...GRUMBBBBBBBBLE!*
An Award from Lady Brainsample, and I tag seven people. *woot*
**HIGHLY RECOMMEND CHECKING OUT** Some blog stories I'm hooked on.

WRITING:
Big news! If I compile "Mirror" and all the random will-put-somewhere-later scenes I've written, the total comes to

102, 423 words!!

Yay!! How completely awesome is that?? *sighs dreamily* and I remember the day I hit 30,000...

I've been writing a lot lately, but not adding directly to what I have. I'm just writing random scenes that come into my mind. Maybe (hopefully) I'll use some of them in the actual book.

Hmm. Would you be interested in reading some more of those random scenes? Remember, they'll be really disjointed, and the facts might not even be right. I may never add the scenes into the book, they're just random brainstorming and phrases I've come up with. I'm definitely up for posting them if you WANT me to.

SCHOOL:
You know that presentation I've been working on? The Art Grant Project?

No?

Whatever. Anyway, I spent a long time on it. A very long time. And, if I do say so myself, it's not a bad presentation. I spent almost ALL DAY yesterday working on the poster to go with the presentation. Today I had to present it.

And I left ALL my notes AND the poster at home.

*bleep*

I was so upset. I had to completely wing my presentation. I had NOTHING. Not even the random notes I'd taken months ago. All of it was sitting on my desk. I gave a fairly disorganized presentation that lacked the ease and persuasiveness my original would have.

*sigh*

I HATE IT when stuff like this happens. I supposedly did fine, and I came in third, which isn't TERRIBLE. I still want to know if I could have done better, though, you know? And I never will. I'll never know how awesome it COULD have been.

*sigh*

AWARDS/A FOLLOWER:
So, a week or so ago, Sam started following my blog, but I couldn't find the blog, so I couldn't link back to it. Well, I found the blog, so HERE it is :) Just wanted to make sure Sam didn't feel cheated there :)
I've been awarded by the lovely Lady Brainsample! She's awarded me the Kreativ Blogger Award! I'm all about creative, so that's definitely a great compliment! Thanks!

"Rules":
1. Kopy the Kreativ Blogger picture and post it on your page
2. Thank the person who gave it to you and link back to their blog
3. Write seven things about you that we don't know
4. Choose seven other bloggers that you would like to give the award to
5. Link to the bloggers that you choose
6. Let the winners know that they have the lovely award.

#1, check.
#2, check.
#3...is going to be difficult, since I'm definitely pretty open on this blog. What don't you already know?? Hmm...

1. I have a VERY low "idiot tolerance". Some call it being impatient, I prefer my term ;)
2. I am an OCD perfectionist procrastinator. Being one is hard enough. Combine all three, and you've really got your work cut out for you.
3. I hair almost down to my waist in 8th grade.
4. I not-so-secretly love metal music. (I especially love the look on peoples' faces when I tell them that XD)
5. My goal in life (well, one of many) is to write and unpredictable romance.
6. It took me thirty seconds to learn to read an analog clock (the kind with hands), and months to figure out how to read a digital one. *shrug*
7. The sight of people spitting out their toothpaste absolutely disgusts me.

Alrighty, now that we have THAT out of the way...

I award...

1. Earwen
2. KnightWing
3. Mia
4. Gracie
5. Seth
6. Mr. Puddle
7. Insanity

**NOTE** KnightWing, Seth, Mr. Puddle and Insanity: I realize this award is a bit...feminine looking :) I won't be offended if you don't display the award or anything (like I ever am, lol), I just want you to know I love your blogs!

Now all I have to do is tell everyone they've been awarded!

And the last thing I want to mention...

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED:
Two fellow bloggers have going on some really awesome serial-style stories (hah, alliteration XD).

Earwen from Thoughts of a Shieldmaiden has an awesome story going on about Maid Marian and Robin Hood. I really don't like keeping up with blog stories that much, but Earwen has me hooked :) Check it out if you want! The link to the first installment is HERE (the post starts out as something else, keep reading, the story opens towards the middle).

And secondly, KnightWing has an awesome story going on about the Justice League as teenagers. I know basically nothing about those superheros, and I'm still loving the story so far. I definitely recommend dropping by if you want a well-written piece in a reasonable length post (none of this takes-twenty-minutes-to-read stuff). You can find his blog dedicated to these stories HERE.

That's a wrap :) Hope you've enjoyed that Conglomeration of Kendra.

The God of Loser, Failure and Jerk

There was a guest pastor at my church today, and he was interesting. It was extremely difficult to follow his line of thought, and he went off on so many bunny trails, but I got a few random good things from his sermon. My favorite was this:

In the Bible, God is often referred to as "the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob". If you think about those three people, Abraham left a lot of things unfinished, or didn't finish them right. You could kind of see him as...well...a little bit of a loser.

But Isaac came behind him and picked up where he left off. God has placed Isaacs in our life to help us out. Of course, Isaac was kind of a wussy who didn't really fix things a whole lot either...He couldn't even finish was was already started a lot of times! What a failure!

Then you have Jacob, who was the go-get-'em type. He liked to seize the moment, which was sometimes great, but sometimes ended badly. God has placed some Jacobs in our lives to help us live in the moment, too. Then again, Jacob's rash attitude earned the reputation for being a tiny bit of a jerk...

So, basically, all three of these guys kind of failed. Abraham never finished anything, Isaac never finished anything right, and Jacob was just too out-there sometimes.

And that's when Joseph comes in. Joseph did EVERYTHING right! He stayed close to God, he was brave, he was strong, he became second-in-command of Egypt, he saved his entire nation! Joseph picked up with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob had stopped and he tied everything together. Joseph was awesome!

So...wait.

Why doesn't the Bible say "the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph"?

Our God is the God of the underdogs :) God is on the "losers" side. Thank goodness! We're all "losers" from time to time! Our God isn't just the God of the rich, famous and successful. God is a personal God who's rooting for all the "jerks", "losers", and "failures" right along with the "winners"!

Now, of course, all those titles are in quotation marks, because are any of us really "losers", etc.? No. We might act like jerks or losers sometimes, but, guess what?

God doesn't make losers!

We're all winners in the long run, but just to show us that he's on our side even when we look bad, God calls him self "the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob".

I thought that was kind of interesting. What did you think?

Just really quick, I want to share a link to a cool song that Kyle showed me. He finds cool music like this and sends it to me. I usually (actually always) love it.

This song is called Preliator, and the words are in LATIN!! How cool is that? If you could understand them, it'd be even better...lols XD I found the lyrics, though, so if anyone besides me feels like translating, here they are:

Hosana Meus
Fortuna deus
Aeterna Teus
Mystre, Morte, Sancte Pior

Fortuna hosana deus
Legionus ab comae
Fortune fortuna equis
Ad pugnatoris in veritae
Hossana meus
Fortuna dues
Protego causa
In sanctus

Aeternus praetor
Firmitas semper
Coryphaeus
Rex Regis universe
(Prosay solis hosanna
Protego sanctus causa
Padre illuminata
Gloria in resurrectem
Gloria in unum diem)

Terra tenebrae
Telluris malus
Quisere pere curiatus
Genitor edo
In ex domino
Patris illuminata
Rex Regis universe

(Prosay solis hosanna
Protego sanctus causa
Padre illuminata
Gloria in resurrectem
Padre alluminata
Gloria in unum diem)

Lacrimosa, lacrimosa
In ex dominum

Actually, I feel an award coming on...See if you can translate any one section of this. You can use Google if you want to, but try it without first. If you're even moderately successful, let me know in a comment! Hail all the fellow language geeks! :)

Long Life Lessons

FOLLOWERS SAY ON CARPE NOCTEM HAS OFFICIALLY STARTED!! :O :O
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Well, today is Question Day, but I won't be able to do it for lack of a question, lol!
---------------------------
So, justagirl4god awarded me in the Honesty Scrap thing! Instructions:

1) Say thanks and give a link to the presenter of the award.
2) Share "ten honest things" about myself.
3) Present this award to 7 others whose blogs I find brilliant in content and/or design, or those who have encouraged me.
4) Tell those 7 people that they've been awarded HONEST SCRAP and inform them of these guidelines in receiving.

Thanks, Rachael!!

Okay, 10 honest things...

1. I don’t (usually) like to eat.
2. I like the moon better than the sun.
3. I have a strange fascination with thieves, assassins, etc.
4. Although my blog is named ~Carpe Diem~, I totally suck at carpe-ing my diem.
5. My goals for my life include becoming a writer, lawyer, kindergarten teacher, and mom.
6. The author I admire most (aside from the obvious like Tolkien and stuff) is Hilari Bell.
7. My hair is naturally this weird mix of corkscrew curls and waves (maybe it sounds pretty, but it’s not, lol).
8. My eyes change color.
9. I sometimes bruise/get scratches/have pulled muscles from dreams.
10. My #1 wish of ALLLLLLLLL time is to have an older brother.

Ta-da! :D I now tag/award...
Jaynine
Seth
Steven
Cassie
Mr. Puddle
Meggie
Gabrielle
---------------------------
Okay, so today has been weirdly awesome.

First of all, let me start out by telling you how a typical school day goes for me.

9:30am: Get woken up by mom.
9:45am: Actually get up.
9:40am: Go upstairs and eat breakfast (and read Dear Annie in the paper, catch my favorite comics in the funnies section, read a chapter or two of whatever book I'm reading..."
10:10am: Come down stairs and "start school"
10:11am: Check all my many emails, check my blogs, check Facebook, stalk some people on Facebook (maaaaaybe...)
10:30am: Repeat.
10:40am: Actually start school. Fiddle around with some research for Western Culture, glance at biology, check off twice as much stuff on my list as I actually did.
11:05am: Repeat what I did at 10:11.
11:30am: Do a math lesson.
11:55am: Well, I've been hard at work all morning, so I guess I can just read or goof around until lunch.
12:30pm: Lunch.
1:05pm: Write a paper...or at least a couple of paragraphs...okay, four sentences maybe...
1:10pm: Check Facebook.
1:30pm: Finish paper...or at least a couple of paragraphs...
2:00pm: Check Facebook, emails, blogs...
2:20pm: Do some logic.
2:40pm: Glance over some reading for Art History...
2:50pm: Get side tracked by this old story I found in my room...
3:10pm: Oh, wow! A whole day gone! Guess I'll call it a day.

-.-

Long schedule short: My work ethic sucks. Absolutely SUCKS. I know that, and the people that I admire the most do not have sucky work ethics. I would like the people I admire to think well of me, too.

So.

Today, I decided to exercise the self-dicipline I KNOW I have (...don't I?) and work HARD. Actually HARD.

I was at school by 9:30. I attacked biology with ferver. I got a lot more done than usual, and OMG I UNDERSTOOD IT??????? I did!

Then, I got to work on the bibliography that I'm supposed to have been keeping for six weeks but haven't. It is no easy task tracing down every website you used to find research on the Renaissance, Albrecht Durer, Jan van Eyck, Michelangelo, El Greco, Leonardo da Vinci, the "Pieta", "The Resurrection", and "Arnolfini's Wedding".

But I did it.

Then, I got to work on the vocabulary list I'm supposed to have been keeping for six weeks but haven't. That was a bit easier.

THEN, I FINALLY started working on my Art Grant Project. (Basically, we have to put together a presentation to apply for a "grant" for an art project. We give a presentation to the class, and then the class votes on whether or not we get the grant.)

Step One: Decide on a project.

Yeah. My work strategy basically sucks.

So, anyway, I got up to date on the Grant Project.

Next, a math lesson.

Next, attack a chapter in logic.

By this time it's 3:30pm, and I've only checked Facebook once. I've also had the most enjoyable (NO sarcasm!) and productive day I've had in a long time.

Then, I attack the Art History paper on Leonardo da Vinci some more.

By this time it's 4:15pm. Busy day, crazy, day, but a really fun day! :O :O :O Weird, huh?

So, my dad comes in and tells me that if we want to grab a bite to eat somewhere before the special play practice at 6pm, we should go. (It takes us 45 minutes to get to the play practice town). The special practice was for me and the other people who are working with the Hun puppets.

So, we go eat at Pizza Hut, just me and my dad, which was awesome. I get along with him so well. We always have such a fun, easy time. We're a lot alike.

Play practice went well. Working with a big, heavy-ish puppet is a challenge, and my arm is a tad sore (lol), but I think I'm getting it, and I had a lot of fun. I'm really getting to know people better, and I'm getting to be more of myself around them.

We came home, and watched two episodes of this spy-mystery-action-freaky-action-spy-mystery TV series we got on DVD called Alias. It's so awesome, but this last episode had some stuff set in a creepy, bad-conditions mental institute...do I even have to say that I am a little creeped out?

So, after an awesome day in all ways possible...

I still have to read a ton of "Gulliver's Travels", do some Latin, and read some Art History stuff.

*SIGH*

SLACKING DOESN'T PAY, PEOPLE! And actually doing the work can be more enjoyable than doing nothing all day...

I am a bit worried about getting those three last things, done, though...Tomorrow's schedule:

8:00am: GET UP.
8:30am: Eat something (c'mon, just oneeeee bite...)
9:00am: Get self looking...decent.
9:30am: Leave for play practice.
10:00am: Play practice.
1:00pm: Lunch break.
2:30pm: Resume play practice.
5:00pm: Get out of play practice.
5:30pm: Babysitting
11:00pm (hopefully): Come home, sleep.

...

And WHERE am I supposed to fit in reading "Gulliver's Travels", doing some Latin exercises, and reading loooooong chapters in the Art History books?

Ohh, right, I should have been doing that instead of posting...

XD Ah, well. Some things never change.

Carpe diem, everyone! And sorry for this epic-long post...

Character Day and Feeling Much Better

Character Day! I'm going to do one of my own today: fourteen-year-old Kaelie Kayla Morgan (KY-lee KAY-lah MOR-gun).

Kaelie is bubbly, fun-loving and impatient, but also clever and maintains a touch of solemnity when necessary. She's a complex person. She can be giggly and easily distracted one moment, and then come up with a perfect solution to a mind-boggling problem the next. Her favorite things include good jokes, the color periwinkle (she likes the name as well as the color), and friends. She despises stupid people, her brother being right when she's wrong, and long waits.

Appearance-wise, Kaelie's looks match her personality. Her auburn hair and extraordinarily bright green eyes give her a clever and excited look. Originally, her hair was supposed to be kind of scrunched-style and shoulder length. Now I'm starting to like the picture of hair I have below. Kind of a Star Trek-esque ponty-tail thing going on, which fits since Kaelie's story is set in the future. What do you think? Anywyay, she's 5'6" tall and weighs about 124lb.

The color and texture (and maybe length?) of Kaelie's hair:

Kaelie's eyes:

Over-all (she's a bit younger than the girl in this picture):

And there's Kaelie Morgan!

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So, as you might have gathered from the title of this post, I'm feeling a lot better. I guess I was just having a bad few days. I'm still not who I want to be, but that's okay, but God is working on my every day. I'm not *supposed* to be perfect!

Thanks, all of you guys who left such encouraging comments. You can't possibly know how much they help me when I'm feeling down.

I don't want to talk about school. At all. Next topic.

I'm supposed to be reading "Gulliver's Travels" this week for school. So far, it's pretty good. It's not super exciting, but it's not particularly hard to read either. We're supposed to be keeping a record as we read of all the satire in it. I'm really looking forward to that. Satire/sarcastism is definitely a subject I love XD

No writing to speak of. I've been thinking some about my stories, but nothing has struck me as writing material--yet. I'm still waiting.

I haven't written any "Mirror" in a very long time. Like, MONTHS long time. Am I worried?

Nope.

This happened to me in the beginning of "Mirror", too. I wrote about thirty pages, and then it was a good nine or ten months before I read over it and got excited about it again. I'm just taking a break. Sooner or later, I'll start to miss my characters and I'll get a brainstorm or something and BAM! The words will flow.

Play practice tonight :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D I've been a little depressed, though, thinking about the fact that it has to end.

I'm telling you, I SUCK at carpe-ing my diem. I live in the past (I wish I could go back and time and relieve such-and-such) and in the future (it's gonna suck when so-and-so leaves or when such-and-such is over). I've been trying SO HARD to enjoy "Mulan" while it lasts that I've been ruining it for myself.

*MOANGROANSIGHWAILSOB*

I know this is a weird prayer request, and frankly pretty selfish, but if y'all think of me during the day, do you think you could send out a prayer that I will learn to enjoy life RIGHT NOW?

I guess that's about all I've got to say.

Oh, hah, no, it isn't. I lied XD

Fact or Fiction Day was yesterday. The fact/fiction: Eating 2 poppy seed bagels can make you test positive for drugs.

FACT.

Cavender, Bethany, and Gracie all got it right, but Cavender got it right first. Here's your award, Cavender:

I think I'm going to stop giving out awards for this. Awards are supposed to be special, and giving them out twice a week is just making it kind of mundane. And it's kind of a pain to keep cranking out awards, lol XD

Thanks for being there, you guys!

A Lame Award and Two Good Newses (Lol XD)

I had a soccer game today. More on that later.
---------------------------
Award Day!!

The I-Know-You-In-Real-Life Award! :D I know, pitifully unoriginal and disappointing. Sorry.


It goes to Cavender, Gracie, Gabrielle, Lizzy, Ellie B, Meggie, Mr. Chris, Tori, David Bailey, Anna Lee, Cassie Roads, Nicole, Lisabailey and Ember! It's great knowing you guys!
----------------------------
So, I had a soccer game today. We played the team with all the really good Mexican kids on it. (I'm not being racist, I'm just saying they're all REALLY GOOD where I live.) It was coached by a college guy named Luis, who's pretty much a soccer legend in my town. I didn't think we would win.

Which is why it surprised me when we did.

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOT!! :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D I actually did okay this game, too!! Ben (The Dare Devil) even told me I did well, and he never says that unless it's true. Especially at soccer. He doesn't talk to me that much at soccer. So yay!! :)

Lizzy's party was today, but because of the soccer game, I missed pretty much all of it :( Ah well. It's times when she gets all her friends together that I actually like being the oldest. I get a lot of reverent looks from the younger ones when I tell them I'm a sophmore XD

No play practice today, but I have it tomorrow.

OH!! I didn't tell you about Thursday night. Okay, so, Thursday night at play practice, we started at the beginning of the show, and just did it up until a certain point with singing, dancing, lines and everything. My part came. Man, my heart was pounding, but I sang it out. (I actually sing better when I sing loud.) I sounded fine! I was so relieved. The second time through wasn't as good. I got a little nervous for no reason, and I didn't sing very loud, so I couldn't hit some notes :-/

We took a five minute break, and Matt (who's playing Shang, the main guy character) came up to me and told me, "Girl, you can sing! You sound good! You just gotta sing loud."

That made me feel SO GOOD. I was definitely beaming for a while. I was so afraid that I just sounded really bad, but apparently I sound fine. What a relief! And it was nice of Matt to encourage the New Girl.

Sorry. That was random and you probably don't care XD

That's all! Thanks for reading! Bye!

Chinese Culture

Fact or Fiction?

"The Chinese are considering renouncing the one-child law."

Comment. Email. No Google. First one correct gets an award (no longer all who get it correct, sorry :-\).

Oh, yeah, and here's the award from last week that I forgot about XD Cavender and Justagirl4god got it right! (Will a tooth left in Coca-Cola over night disolve? The answer is NO! That's a myth!)

Award:
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"Let's get down to business

To defeat the Huns

Did they send me daughters

When I asked for sons?

You're the saddest bunch

I ever met

But you can bet

Before we're through

Mister, I'll make a manout of you

***

(Be a man)

We must be swift asthe coursing river

(Be a man)

With all the forceof a great typhoon

(Be a man)

With all the strength of a raging fire

Mysterious as thedark side of the moon!"

I am listening to the Mulan soundtrack for the third time today. I have no idea how, but I'm still not sick of the songs yet...

Favorites:
1. Written in Stone
2. I'll Make a Man Out of You
3. A Girl Worth Fighting For

The way the guys do A Girl Worth Fighting For is hilarious! They do a great job, even with the harmony and stuff. I have no real idea who's reading this, since no one uses their real name, but if any of the guys from the play is reading this, GOOD JOB! XD

School is going okay. I've barely started "Pilgram's Progress", and I need to finish by tomorrow so I can start on the writing assignment: write an allegory. Sounds pretty fun to me. I'm going to try to make mine more subtle than John Bunyan's. *rolls eyes* I mean, really. A guy named Help? Hmm, wonder what he symbolizes...sheesh :P

I've become a little obsessed with Chinese culture. (Gee, wonder why? It can't be the fact that I'm totally EMERSED in it 24/7 because of Mulan, can it? XD) It's so fascinating. Very unfair, but fascinating. I love different cultures, they get my imagination going, and I just love learning about them. Chinese culture is such a good culture to write stories in. It's really sad that you're only allowed to have one child, but it does create an interesting premise for stories.

*frowns at self* Maybe I'm just horrible and unfeeling. Oh dear...

I had lots of crazy dreams last night, but I can't remember them clearly at all. Something about kidnapping and a driveway...lol, no idea!

Dance tonight! And no play practice, so I don't have to miss it.

Lizzy will be THIRTEEN YEARS OLD in TWO DAYS!! :O :O It's freaky enough that Matt ("little brother") just turned thirteen, but Lizzy? That's freakier even still.

He turned eighteen (18) today. :- Wow.

Writing on "Mirror" = zip
Writing on random otherness = some

That's all :D Thanks for reading!

YAYY!! And Awards

...

:O

...

:O

...

:O We won our first soccer game today. :O

Did you hear me? WE WONNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN!!!

More on this after Award Day.

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Well, two awards are to be given out today. Who will they go to? Hmm... >:D

JUSTAGIRL4GOD for her flattering interest in "The W Chronicles: Walls"! She gets the Kaelie Kayla Morgan Award for being fun and sparkly just like her! Congratulations, justagirl4god!

The next award belongs to...Drumroll, please.

Illunse for being a fellow language-lover! She gets the Logophile Award! (That's actually "word-lover", but oh well XD)

Congratulations, y'all! :)

----------------------------

So, back to soccer.

Not counting last year's amazing season, that's the sixth game I've won in my whole life. ALRIGHT! I am *SO* happy!! Way to go Josh-from-class (The Nice Guy) for scoring two awesome goals! I kind of missed the other two...don't know how that happened...I was out, asking the principal of the school that I took drivers' ed at about my certificate to get my permit. The one that that guy let expire without telling me? Yeah. That one ;)

The game went pretty well. We could definitely work on teamwork, but hey, we won, right? I got shot in the face pretty good. It didn't hurt exactly; it was just one of those I'll-Be-Fine-As-Soon-As-I-Can-Feel-My-Nose-And-Lips-Again things. I walked off the field and my mom gave me her seat for a second. I just sat there with my eyes closed, waiting to feel something, and I was like, "Was that Zach?" (He's...really good. And a hard kicker. And on my team, yay.) My mom and like three other moms sitting around were like, "Yeah." Lols :-/ I was perfectly fine like two mintues later. It's all good.

WE WON! :) Really, that is exciting, because I thought we were gonna lose every game. Of course, the other two teams we'll be facing...*crosses fingers and looks doubtful of sucess* We shall see.

Play practice was fine this morning. More choreogrpahy, but it was the same dance, so it was pretty much just review. That was good since I had to leave early to go to the soccer game, lol!

No babysitting tonight, hallelujah. (Did I spell that right? I never can.) I found out that Matt and Katie's ("little brother" and "little sister") mom recommended me as a babysitting to another family, so my babysitting might get to be more frequent. We'll see. The kid sounds adorable. He's four. I don't really know who it is yet. I guess I'll find out if they call, lol! At the soccer field, one mom that I know asked me, "So did you get a call about babysitting for that family yet?" I was like, wow, how does she know about that?? I just found out in the car! (And she wasn't the person who recommended me, either.)

Welcome to [insert the name of my tiny town], where everyone knows everything about everyone, sometimes before you do. I honestly love it.

Sorry I'm all over the place today. I know this is a huge and rambling post. Mostly I'm just keeping a record for myself at this point.

My mom is making chicken and dumplings for dinner. They are SOOOO good. She makes the best ones EVER. Wow, I can't wait. And I hate eating, so you know if I'm looking forward to it, it's GOOD.

Well, I guess I'll go now. I need to take a shower. I feel sweaty.

Sorry. You didn't need to know that.

I'm so...hyper. Must be a runner's high. Talk to you guys later!! Vote on the poll!

~Kendra (I am NOT risking this post being deleted by putting my normal signature up. Sorry.)

Awards! And a Crappy Day :(

AWARD DAY! I'm going to give out two awards a week, I think. I want to get to everyone eventually, so this will make it happen quicker, lol!

Well, it's a full moon, and I LOVE the moon, and Moon Shaw has been very comment-y lately, so...

The Moon Award goes to Moon Shaw! :P

And to Crescentise, the Awesome Name Award!Sorry Crescentise's is bigger. There is no reason for that other than the size of the pictures, lol!----------------------------

Hi! Short post today.

My day was crap. How was yours?

Why My Day Was Crap:

1. I felt uneasy for NO REASON.
2. My mother presented me with a giant list of chores.
3. My father got mad at me at the dinner table (with good reason, but the way my day was going, everything was just a million times worse).
4. I offended my mother and now she isn't talking to me.
5. I didn't feel good this afternoon.

And the day started out with such promise! I woke up, it was sunny, I felt great! I even **DID A MATH LESSON EVEN THOUGH IT'S THE WEEKEND AND I WASN'T BEHIND**. Yeah, that's how good it was!

And then it just had to go and roll down hill from there :-/ *sigh*

Well, guess they can't all be winners.