Carpe Diem

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

My lack of blogging.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

With much, much, MUCH love,
Kendra Logan

Life in Pink

Hey! So, guess what? My sister Lizzy finally got a blog! :D It's really cute and she's super excited (as am I). Check it out!

Life in Pink

~Kendra

[Carpe Liber]

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

http://carpeliberi.blogspot.com/

~Kendra

Less is More

I'm really not a good blogger right now, am I? I think the countdown may not work very well for me this year. When I feel like I have to post EVERYDAY, it makes me procrastinate if I miss a day. I feel like I get "behind" in what ought to be a fun activity. I think that by planning to post less, I'll actually post more.

I'm so weird.

Also, Rachel B is having a cool guest-blogging thing over at Thoughts of A KleeWyck, in which I happen to be participating XD My post should go up tomorrow, so check it out! (And don't stop there, haha, her blog is really neat :D)

~Kendra

13 Things and a Semi-Guest writer

I hate thinking up names for those blog posts, don't you? Gah. Anyway, my writing style will be hugely different from the awesome female writer you're used to reading from. I'm Kendra's friend from Utah that you may have heard of multiple times, named Jordan. Kendra's currently SWAMPED with Homework, so asked me to make a blog post. The post may be somewhat below your standards for the blog though, so just bear with me. :D

Also: I was in a rather odd mood when I wrote this. You'll see. Keep reading.

13 THINGS

1Rudolph the Red-nosed reindeer. Aside from him having a biological lightbulb built into his nasal passages, he's (obviously) a reindeer, so gets to pull Santa's sleigh. YAY!

Dasher: His name sounds like a razor product built specifically for the holidays. "Buy the new Gilette Dasher for just $12.99 at your nearest Walmart and get the shave your wife can appreciate on Christmas Eve! Only at Walmart!"

Prancer: There's a ballerina reindeer, apparently. Prancer, his name reminds me of a sword for some reason. o_O

Dancer: I do ballroom dance, and I know Kendra does hip-hop, so we can both kinda relate to this Reindeer's name. Maybe he does latin or standard while he's flying? *shrugs* Something to think about.

5 Vixen: Okay, seriously, anyone getting twilight vibes here? Vixen makes me think of vampires. Also, vice is the opposite of virtue, so makes for an interesting name of a pet of a beloved fat jolly guy that sneaks into your house and eats your food.

Donald: Aha! So apparently the duck has a second job to sneak into the north pole and dress up as a reindeer every so often. Apparently he does quite the job, since Walt Disney never noticed him sneaking off of the pages and walking away.

Cupid: Honestly there are just too many lame jokes I could make about Cupid. Why name a Reindeer after one though? I mean, really, he already has his own holiday. Going after the inspiration of Donald, he apparently slips away and metamorphs into some sort of fairy tale 4 year old with a bow that makes people fall in love.

At this point, I googled the song lyrics and realized there isn't one named Donald. *facepalm*

Comet: Best name here, in my opinion. If I were Santa, I would've named the reindeer after the places where he gets more cookies.

#OTHER REINDEER NAMES

Being a frequent user of twitter, pardon me if I let some hashtags sneak into the post. >_>

Snowball: Wouldn't that be a fitting name? He could have a huge annual snowball fight with the penguins when the visit whichever pole they inhabit. I mean, the scientists can use the company and maybe some more fun.

10 Jolly: If you can have one named Prancer and another named Dancer, why not a mindset? Jolly should go around as a backup and make positive on all the most nefarious situations.

Food: Santa's favorite snarky little Reindeer, he usually hangs out with his cousin, Jerald McGreggor and cooks things like hot chocolate in the kitchen with dear old Mrs. Claus.

Timothy: That dear little boy in that classic tale actually walked all the way to Santa Claus's summer house in the Bahamas after a hobo burnt his crutch. Jerald McGreggor and dear Timothy are planning revenge on said hobo.

13 Jerald McGreggor, Food's cousin, often times is the most left out of the backup-reindeer team. After Rudolph joined the team, Santa said he didn't want to put another spot on ther already over-crowded sleigh. Jerald stayed back in the kitchen and poured the hot cocoa when Food told him so and spent the rest of the time concocting odd plans with Timothy to get back at that hobo.

Yeah, it was random, it was odd, but hopefully I made someone laugh. Enjoy Christmas and remember the story of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, being born in a manger. Spread the holiday cheer and remember Kendra's swamped position and maybe send her some chocolate. :D

-Jordan, Kendra's odd friend from Utah.

DISNEY RECAP

Hi! I'm back! So...Disney World was amazing :)

Hollywood Studios: It's the kingdom where you see all the special effects stuff and very movie-related stuff. They have a show where you get to see an Indiana Jones scene acted out, complete with explosions and amazing fight scenes. It all looks so real.

I rode my first legit roller coaster (the Rockin' Roller Coaster). I got in line with my parents before I told myself what I was getting in line for. I didn't tell myself that the roller coaster went upside down until even later. It was extremely fast and extremely upside down etc.

I have decided that I was born for roller coasters and can't wait to find another one.

I saw a great Beauty and the Beast show.

We ate at this place called the 50s Diner, which is supposed to be so much fun, but I hated it. The food was okay, but our waiter was obnoxious, and the restaurant has RULES. No elbows on the table, and you have to eat all your vegetables to get dessert. -_- It was annoying.

I got my picture taken with Minnie Mouse.

I saw the coolest parades ever.

I experienced snow while wearing shorts and a T-shirt. Disney is amazing. They had a snow machine blowing the stuff from the roofs at one point. It was my own personal dream come true (which is, after all, Disney World's motto): snow when it's warm outside.

Magic Kingdom: Everybody loves Magic Kindgom :) It has Cinderella's Castle and most of the princesses and characters. It's divided into Adventure Land, Frontier Land, Liberty Square and Tomorrowland. It's so fun :D

I MET PETER PAN. :OOOOOO He looked exactly right, aside from the part where he was two inches shorter than me, but what can you expect from a kid who never grows up? I happened to be wearing green, and he complimented me on my color choice. *blush*

I rode Splash Mountain, which I remembered loving. I got soaked and it wasn't as great as I remembered. Drat XD Still fun though.

I went to a store that had M&Ms of every color and I got a pound bag of them. I chose dark teal, light teal, white and brown. They look very pretty :D

I saw Cinderella's Castle get lit up to look exactly like it's covered in ice. I have no idea how Disney is so amazing.

I got delicious pineapple ice cream.

I MET ALADDIN AND JASMINE. Okay, guys...like, I don't even know how to explain how amazing that was. "Aladdin" is my favorite Disney movie, and I loved Aladdin. Jasmine is my second favorite princess. I love, love, love, love, LOVE the whole shabang, so I had high expectations.

My expectations pale in comparison to the real thing.

I don't understand how Disney found two people who look exactly like Aladdin and Jasmine. I swear, they looked EXACTLY like their cartoon versions, and I'm a perfectionist. It only got better from there.

Those of you who have seen "Aladdin" know that Aladdin's voice is pretty distinctive. It's almost a little bit cracky, but not quite. It's just really unique. And the Aladdin I met had the same voice. The VERY. SAME. VOICE. Jasmine did too. She sounded just like Jasmine.

And I'm not done. Not only did these people look exactly right and SOUND exactly right, but they ACTED exactly right.

Most Disney characters, when you go up to meet them and get a picture with them, they say, "Hello, princess/prince, how are you doing today? I like your shirt/necklace/shoes/insert some random article you're wearing. Would you like to take a picture with me?" Then you take a picture and they tell you to have a magical day.

Not Aladdin and Jasmine.

*I walk up*

Jasmine: "Hello!"

Aladdin: *stares at my shirt and reads it:* "Santa's Favorite Brunette."

Me: "Yup."

Aladdin: *blinks and crosses his arms like Aladdin. He looks at Jasmine.* "What's a brunette?"

Jasmine: *raises her eyebrow at him*

Me: *raises eyebrows also* "It's brown hair!" *points to pigtail*

Aladdin: "Ohh...Right.....so, where are you from?"

Me: " >insert my state< "

Aladdin: "We've been there, I think." *looks at Jasmine* "Haven't we?"

Jasmine: "I think so...I don't know, we go so many places. We--"

Aladdin: "I think...if you flew the Magic Carpet back and forth, we've probably been as many places--"

Jasmine: "As Santa Claus."

Me: *raises eyebrows* "Really?"

Jasmine: "But we don't go to Canada."

Aladdin: "Way too cold."

Me: "I heard you don't go to Delaware either." (I'd been listening to them talk to other kids.)

Jasmine: "Oh no, we have been to Delaware--"

Aladdin: "Yeah, just not in the winter. We don't do snow."

Me: "But Canada is too cold all the time?"

Jasmine: "Yes. Always too cold."

Me: *grins and moves in for a picture*

*dad takes a picture*

My mom: "Kendra, you could do your Eliza hands!"

Jasmine: *looks at me* "What's Eliza hands?"

Aladdin: "Yeah, what's that?"

Me: "Well, I was in a play that's set in Siam, and I was one of the dancers, so I had to learn Siamese dancing." *does Eliza hands*

Aladdin: "Ohhhh--"

Jasmine: "Oh, that's kind of like when I hold my scarf."

Me: "Yeah!"

Jasmine: "Here, you do your Eliza hands and I'll do my hands like that too."

Aladdin: "And I'll....well, I'm just gonna stand. Like this." *crosses arms like Aladdin*

Me: *laughs* "Awesome."

*dad takes another picture*

It was...amazing. I know I didn't capture it here, but it was truly...well, magical. It really was. They were so exactly like their real characters that I left them with my head spinning and my heart flying. Some tiny part of me wondered if they might really be the REAL Aladdin and Jasmine. They way they talked, the way they acted, the way they moved...it was all absolutely right. Take your very highest expectations, create in your mind an Aladdin and Jasmine that you think couldn't possibly be out there, and the ones I met were even better than that.

Seriously.

I saw Mickey's Philhar Magic, which will always be amazing no matter how many times I see it. It's the most elaborate 3D show ever, complete with other effects like scents and water splashes and breezes.

I rode It's A Small World, which is annoying, but still somehow really cool.

I walked past a camel statue that spit.

I rode Space Mountain, which is awesome. It's a roller coast that's completely in the dark, except for a few lights that feel like/look like stars and a freaky night sky.

We had breakfast at the Grand Floridian hotel, where Alice in Wonderland, Tiger, Pooh and the Mad Hatter walk around and talk to you and stuff.

Epcot: Epcot is the kingdom where tons of different countries have their own sections. All the stores have items from that country, the people working in that section all have to be from that country, the buildings and food come from that country, etc. It's completely awesome.

I went to a store where you could taste soda from all over the world. Chinese watermelon soda is great btw. So is the stuff from Israel. And I almost got a shirt that says "Coke adds life to me."

I saw a Celtic rock band called Off-Kilter perform, and they were great.

I got a leather bracelet with studs and had it engraved with "Ember" at Epcot in the Canada section. Sorry, I know this post is long, but there's a story with this, too. I was in line to get the bracelet engraved, and in front of me where all this girls. Now, I don't mean to judge, but right away I pegged them as prissy airheads. *puts hands up* Sorry, but I did.

And I turned out to be completely right. Especially about one chick who spent the entire wait time with her head in her hands and her elbows resting on the engraving counter. Why? Because of the admittedly attractive boy running the operation. It only got better when he opened his mouth, because he was FRENCH. I never liked the French much, but I must say I do like their accents.

Anyway.

List of Questions Said Bubble-Head Girl Asked Said Attractive Boy:

1. "Are you French?" (Not a terrible question, because he did sound French, but seeing how we're in the CANADA section...)

2. "Do you live here in Disney World?" (-_- Really? Yeah, he and all the Disney workers just chug on into the Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse and spend every night...)

And finally, my personal, gag-me-with-a-spoon, she-did-not-just-ask-that, let-me-turn-so-you-won't-see-me-rolling-my-eyes favorite...

3. "Do you meet lotsa pretty girls working here at Disney?" *bats eyelashes, leans forward on counter*

The poor French-Canadian boy didn't know what to do XD It was funny because I didn't know girls were actually that...THAT. I thought movies only caricatured them. But nope. Some girls are really that...just, that.

So I got up there to have my bracelet engraved after the Bubble Brains were gone. The guy, whose name was Felix, btw, asked me to write what I wanted on the bracelet on this little chart. So I did.

He started programming the engraving machine, and said (don't forget the French accent),

"Ember...Zis iz your name?"

Me: "Well...actually no. It's sort of a nickname."

Felix: "Oh."

Me: "My name is Kendra."

Felix: *laughs and looks at me* "Iz not even close!"

Me: *lols* "No...I'm actually a writer, and Ember is a character of mine."

Felix: "Ah."

*he works on the bracelet for a few seconds*

"What iz it zat you write?"

Me: "Well, mostly fantasy...One of my stories is set in a Celtic/Scottish setting, so this bracelet was sort of perfect for 'Ember.'"

Felix: "Ah." *finishes bracelet* "Well, good luck to you. Have a magical day!"

Me: "Thanks, you too."

My dad as we walked away: "He talked to you a lot. And you didn't even have to ask if he saw lots of pretty girls."

Lols XD

I finally met Belle!

I saw fireworks like you've never seen before. They were so loud and so HUGE and so MANY and FAST and BEAUTIFUL and all synced up with music and other lights...You can't explain something like that. It was so incredible...My mouth was open for the entire thing, and I am NOTTTTTTT easily impressed, y'all. I'm really not.

In the Italy section, we ate genuine Italian food and had a genuine Italian waitress, who was so cool.

In Morocco, there was a belly dancer. (Don't freak out, it was perfectly kid-friendly; she had plenty of clothes on.)

Animal Kingdom: Animal Kingdom is what it sounds like. It's actually one of my favorite kingdoms. It has safaris and all kinds of animal-related stuff.

I saw tons of African animals a few feet away in an open-windowed safari van.

I saw this guy who walked around with a guitar and made up songs about people he saw. He was incredible! He'd ask a kid what his name was, and create a whole song about him as he sang! He never stuttered or paused and all his lyrics rhymed. It was very cool.

I saw the Festival of the Lion King, which is great.

Our Disney Dining Plan got us 1 Sit Down Meal, 1 Quick Service Meal, and 1 Snack every day. The meals all include entrees and sides and desserts. Good grief; I've never eaten as much as I did this past week in my whole life.

Basically, this vacation was incredible. It's impossible to be too old for Disney. No one ever grows up THAT much, and if they do, they need to have that fixed as soon as possible! I love Disney World, and I can't wait to go back :)

~Kendra

P.S. I dunno if you've made it this far, but if you have and you're still reading (XD), I'd like to announce that I think I'd like a new Christmas header this year. I still love the beautiful one Bethany made me last year, but I switched backgrounds and I don't know that it fits as well. If you'd like to help me out, that'd be great. I'm no good at that stuff XD

P.P.S. My Christmas Countdown will start tomorrow! I'm so excited!!!!

Kendra's 500 Begins!

*FANFARE PLAYS*

WOOOOOT! Can you believe it?? ~Carpe Diem!~ is two years old! It's a toddler! It's speaking in full sentences! Soon it should hit the terrible twos...um...great...

But it's also the 500th Post Celebration!!!

Do you know what this means?????questionmark?

I gotta post 500 of something. I'll spend hours and hours trying to figure out things that would hold your attention and interest you and not seem narcissistic.

And then you won't actually READ all 500 things anyway...>.>

SO.

I got to thinking.

What if I milked this a little? What if I spread my 500 things over the course of a couple of weeks? Give it to you in pieces that wouldn't require you to pull up a chair, grab a cup of coffee, buckle down and stay glued to my blog for an hour and a half?

I figured, that might be nice.

I've put my 500 things into convenient little bundles of 10. I have 50 different categories of awesome, so what if I post, say, 3 a day for a little while?

Yes, I realize this would have been better if I'd had a COUNTDOWN to my 500th post instead of STARTING this at the big five-oh-oh, but hey, good ideas can come better late than never, right? :D

Also, this smaller-bits-at-a-time idea is NOT a result of Kendra waiting until 11:12 at night to think of 500 freaking things.

I hope you're not mad :( I honestly do have 355 things already. Only about 150 to think of.

Anyway, without further adeu, the first 3 categories in Kendra's 500...

*drumroll* (<-- Does that hurt your eyes? 'Cause it hurts my eyes.)


Things I Am
1. Friendly
2. Stubborn
3. Ambitious
4. Persuasive
5. A writer
6. Unique
7. Confusing
8. Complicated
9. A screw-up
10. A Christian

Things I'm Not
11. A jealous person
12. A fake
13. Dull
14. Wishy-washy
15. A touchy-feely person
16. A Justin Bieber fan
17. A Justin Bieber hater
18. Quiet
19. Stupid
20. Normal

I Plan On...
21. Going to Wake Forest
22. Majoring in political science
23. Minoring in philosophy
24. Getting married
25. Having kids
26. Writing
27. Arguing
28. Staying up late
29. Making mistakes
30. Living for God

Hopefully, I'll see you next time, when Kendra's 500 continues!

Blog Birthday?? :O

This is post 499. The next time I post, it'll be in celebration!

But guess what I also realized today? Thursday, the 11th, will be ~Carpe Diem~'s TWO-YEAR-OLD BIRTHDAY! :O

Last year I completely missed my blog's birthday. And I felt horrible. This year, the birthday might be swallowed up in the big 500 post. Unless...

I just put the posts together :) I'm planning to dedicate 100 things to ~Carpe Diem~, and the other 400...you'll have to wait and see!

~Kendra

Four Ninety-Seven...

This post, this one right here, is post 497. Four hundred ninety-seven. Cuatrocientos noventa y siete. Yup.

So, that's only three posts away from the Big 500! Can you believe it?? I missed the Big 400, but I'm determined not to miss 500. This needs to be awesome...epic...legit.

Unfortunately, I've been...let's just say "less than the most active blogger" lately. My posts are beginning to be few and far between, and my activity on other blogs, frankly, sucks. (I do read your blogs, I promise, I just suck at commenting these days.) I'm trying to fix that.

But the point is that it makes a big celebration kind of hard. I'm not particularly in touch with the blogosphere right now. I feel out of practice as far as being the fun and funny blogger I used to be. I'd like to get back to my old self with the Big 500, but it needs to get started with a bang.

Basically, this post has been a grossly extended version of this simple question:

What should I do to celebrate ~Carpe Diem~'s five hundredth post?

I like things that make sense, so maybe five hundred of something. Five hundred questions, five hundred facts about writing, five hundred quotes, five hundred...somethings.

Any ideas? I know I'm asking you to please comment when I've been terrible at doing that myself, but...please? :3

I'll see you again soon--promise.

~Kendra

I'm Posting... :3

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

I've just been busy.

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

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

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

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

That's kind of scary.

>.>

*stops ranting*

~Kendra

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

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

A Not-Too-Bad-for-a-Monday Day

Hey! Please note THIS post :D It's about a Blog Scavenger Hunt. I think it'll be pretty awesome. We already have seven awesome bloggers who want their blogs to be part of the scavenger hunt!

If you want to be a part of the hunt, but just want to play, not have your blog involved, that's perfectly cool too! Leave a comment anywhere with a question or a comment and I'll add you to the growing list! I'm excited, y'all :)
~~~~~~~~~
Today, I worked mostly on American history, and philosophy. This is the first real history class I've had since elementary school, and it's amazing. The book I'm reading looks like this:
Seriously, that's it. A Patriot's History. It's actually that huge. It starts a little before Columbus discovered America, and delves deep into the details of our history. It's so well documented and researched that even the critics can't say anything against it. I think it should be a history textbook for everyone in the US. It's an amazing history education.

Philosophy is really cool. I loved it more than anything in 9th grade (if you've been following a while, you may remember MY EPIC POST on it), and I love it all over again this year. I think the book we read in 9th grade, Sophie's World was more interesting and explained things MUCH better though. I'm glad I had Sophie's World first, or I might not enjoy this philosophy class very much.

Every week in philosophy class, one of the students has to lead the discussion. Explain the chapter, ask philosophical questions, get the class involved. The catch? The teacher doesn't tell you who's gonna lead the discussion until about 4 seconds before you have to lead it. You just have to be prepared for it every week.

This week, I prepared MAJORLY. I worked on this thing almost all day. Aristotle is my faaaaaaavorite philosopher, and we studied him this week. I want to lead the discussion sooo badly, but I guess we'll just have to see what happens on Wednesday...

~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

Would you, please? :D

Hey! Will you do this survey really quick? I think it's about 8 questions. There's really no reason in particular except that I really want to know what you think of ~Carpe Diem~!

Quizzes by Quibblo.com

Blogs of Note

And now a tribute to some of my current favorite blogs.

***CAPITALIZED, ASTERISK'D NOTE DESIGNED TO AVOID PROLONGED WEEPING AND GNASHING OF TEETH*** I didn't pick all the blogs that I love. Because that would take a billion years. So I really don't want to wake up with rotten tomatoes plastered to my windows or anything, okay? :D

Sometimes I linked directly to the blog, sometimes I linked to a specific post that I liked. Just so you know.

One Sparkling Star gets some recognition! Sam is awesome. She's hilarious and has a great way with making her posts center around an actual point. She also writes. And has excellent taste in books. And just when I thought she couldn't get any cooler, I found out...she also loves Jace and Alex Pettyfer. A kindred spirit indeed XD

Sara Spelled Without an H. Sara, you crack me up. I am in love with your writing style and ability to point out the funny stuff we all notice but don't think about addressing.

My Life's Graffiti. I love hearing about your college life, Cinderella Natalie :D You're so funny, and you keep your life together very well. I hope I can do that XD

Teen Justice. Actually no. DON'T CLICK ON THAT. Click here. <--That's the beginning. Start there and keep going. I'm not really addicted to many blog-serial-things. But I'm addicted to this. Read it. Reeeeead it. Do it. Do itttttttt. Aaron's pretty awesome.

So yes. That's all for today, folks. In case you have too much time on your hands this summer, I suggest checking those blogs out. Actually for these blogs, I suggest you MAKE a little time this summer... :)

~Kendra

Double Tagged

Today is going fine. Nothing really to report. I might go to Cavender's lacrosse game later. That should be interesting considering I know NOTHING about lacrosse XD (But at least I know about football, huh, Cavender? :P)

School is going a'ight. We're supposed to be starting our Lincoln-Douglas debate this week D: That's a one-on-one debate... Our teacher didn't explain it at all, and yet we're supposed to work on it this week...? Ugh, I'm confused and already stressed -_- And it's only day two. *sigh*

Well, I was tagged by Bleah Briann. This is a unique tag in more ways than one! This particular tag was created by Bleah, but part of the tag is to make your own. When you tag people, they will take your and then create one themselves. The people you tag will take yours, and make one of their own, etc. Here we go!

The Way I like to Say Hello:
In real life, just "Hey :)". In chats online, either "Hey" or "Hai" XD

Once Upon A Time...(finish the sentence):
...is no way to begin this story.

When I was five my favorite item was:
Hmm, I'm not sure if I had a favorite item then...Probably my dollhouse. I loved that thing. I still do!

What I like between two peices of bread best is:
Turkey and pepper.

When I grow up I want to be a/an:
WriterLawyerTeacherWifeMom. Oh yeah.

I like:
Summer, dancing, words, feeling free, being with my friends.

I really, really want:
Since "No school" is too obvious, I'm going to go with...I don't even know actually.

I desperately need:
Self-discipline.

If I could color my hair any color I would color it:
I don't think I would. I don't really mind my hair color, and if you color it you have to keep going to get it done...Not for me.

People often call me:
Weird :D XD

I'm terrified of:
Losing people. (Also spiders, food poisoning, and tapeworms XD)

The Way I like To Say Goodbye:
Talk to you later :)

Now I have to make a tag. Hmm. Let's see...

1. Do you believe the world will end in 2012?
Nope.

2. Which scares you more: things that happen outside your body (like falling off a cliff, getting punched in the face, a spider biting you, etc.) or things that happen inside your body (like diseases, emotions, ignorance, etc.)?
Definitely things that happen inside my body.

3. Briefly describe your life in ten years.
Hmm, I'll be 26. Mkay, if I am still planning to be a lawyer, I'll be just finishing up school. I sort of want to be married by then, but maybe not kids yet. It would be so hard to keep up with school and kids. Hopefully I'll still be writing. It would be cool to have a book published by then. I hope I'll have retained my love for words and imagination and am on the path God wants for me.

4. What do you think is the most power thing in the world, and why?
Words. Words are definitely the most powerful thing in the world in my opinion. Sure, friends, love, and compassion are big, but how are those things expressed? Lots of times, with words. You can persuade people to do the right thing with words. You can make a difference with words. You can spread knowledge with words. You can change the world with words. Words are the way people communicate, and without communication, where would anyone be?

5. What high-school stereotype would you put yourself in?
Either the weirdos or the normal kids. Definitely not running with the popular crowd, but not *quite* a nerd.

6. Why did you start blogging?
I was part of the Pen-Wielders' Guild, and I thought blogging would be interesting to do on my own. My class also started a blog, Students of Serendipity. I've always had lots of ideas floating around in my head, and I thought blogging would be the way to capture them all in one place.

7. What's your favorite animal at the zoo?
Lions. I heard one roar one time. That was AWESOME. It was just O.O So cool.

8. Gold or silver?
Silver.

9. Light or dark?
No such thing as darkness, just the absence of light.

10. Good or evil?
Without evil there couldn't be good.

Okay. *whew* Finished XD Now, you take my tag, do it on your blog, and make one of your own! I'll tag anyone who wants to do it XD Go for it. Can't wait to read your answers!

~Kendra

Kendra's Warm Weather Rant

Notice anything different about the blog?

...

...

-_-

Oh, come on. *I* could notice this.

Yes, I've changed the blog back to its default theme. The warmish weather is inspiring me :D The background is totally new. I like it, and it matches the blog colors so perfectly. I got it from The Cutest Blog on the Block. I'd definitely recommend looking around over there!

Anyway, I see nine of you have voted in the poll over there. You are now my favorite followers. To those of you who didn't vote, I'm offended. I'm going to go cry myself to sleep in a corner, wondering why the world is such a dark place.

Nah, I'll probably go stalk some people on Facebook or maybe I'll write something. I feel like writing something. (Sit down, Kyle, I don't think it will be The Mirror.) I feel like writing about kids in the south in the summer hanging out and doing what we kids in the south do in the summer.

I watched "To Kill A Mocking Bird" last night. Can you tell?

Warm weather always sparks my creativity. I think I've always done my best writing when it's warm outside. Winter just kills me inside. It's cold, and wettish, and pale, and you can't DO anything unless you live where it's cold enough to legit ice skate. Where I live, you have to drive yourself to an ice house and pay to skate around for two hours will trying not to trip over little kids and gag at all the couples giving PDA a whole new definition.

And it's cold. Which I hate.
I like warm weather. All the good stuff happens when it's warm outside: playgrounds, cook-outs, picnics, bare feet, T-shirts, ponytails that don't make your neck cold, tanning, pools, lakes, the Forth of July, fruit, no school, freckles, getting in shape. What is not to like?

*thinks hard about this question*

I got it: bugs.

Bugs are a huge downside to summer, especially if you're like me. It's like the arachnophobic and OCD sides of me come together, making it impossible for me to sleep until I've checked every corner of the room for eight-legged terrors.

You also have bees, wasps, and yellow jackets. Bumble bees do not actually bother me. They're fuzzy and round and adorable and they look cute on the flowers. Wasps on the other hand are hideous and BIG and yellow jackets are like the Mafia of the insect world. They're always up to something and if you mess with one, the entire freaking hive comes to haunt you.

Then you have the mosquito/fly/crane fly category. Do I even have to go into this? Mosquitoes are loud little disease factories with long tongues (note the spelling of that, Cavender). Flies barf on your food. Crane flies were designed specifically to add to my paranoia. (Come on, they are HUGE with long, creepy legs, and they're so...*shudders*...just awful.)

But. Other than bugs, warm weather is completely perfect.

Now, if you will excuse me, I'm going to go write something truly brilliant and charming, full of lovable characters and believable dialogue laced with underlying morals and a surprise ending.

Nah, just kidding. We all know I won't get past the first three pages. But for some reason, I'm going to go write it anyway...

You will never understand me. But neither will I, so it's okay.

Go enjoy your weather.

~Kendra

Mostly Boring

Thanks so much for following, Katie G! You made my day (well, yesterday, but whatever XD).

Today was the get-together-with-cousins day. Garrett the Tall and Kathleen the College-Freshman are lots of fun, but more and more I'm finding that I'm closer to my friends than I am my own family. Is that bad? I can't decide if I feel guilty about that. I do have lots of fun with my cousins, though.

Oh, Kathleen was interested in Alias, so we watched the first episode :D Watching the first one made me realize something: they just get better as they go on XD

For lack of a Christmas Countdown, I'm left with not much to say. Haha, did some of you actually just cheer?? How rude :P Just kidding. I don't have any big revelations to post, but maybe you'd be interested in a few little revelations? :)

1. I have been doing a lot of thinking lately. So much, in fact, that I wouldn't know where to start even if I were going to. I'm a confusing person, sometimes so much that I even confuse myself. And that's REALLY bad, right? XD Doesn't it suck when you don't know what you want?

2. VOTE ON THE POLL TO THE RIGHT. YES, THAT ONE. DO THAT FEW PEOPLE REALLY READ THIS THING? JEEZ. Can't blame you. This is boring :P

3. I have (once AGAIN) started the "fire fairy story". How far will it go this time? You guess. The winner will be given a lifetime supply of virtual cookies.

Just so you don't decide that without Christmas, I am boring, let me tell you some things I plan to post about in the final days of 2009 :)

- Cultural Honor (I like this one. Some of you may have already read it on Carpe Noctem.)
- More Fortuna Kendrae
- Top Ten Blogger Pet Peeves
- "Sex" is Not a Bad Word (This was originally entitled, "Sex is Not a Dirty Word", but I decided that came across a bit differently than I intended XD)

Stick around and maybe you'll learn something, or at least get in a few laughs at my attempts to be philosophical ;)

Hey, if you have an preference to which of those topics I do first, let me know!

~Kendra

Questions

I have three questions that maybe you more experienced bloggers can answer :)

1. How do I get music on my blog?
2. How do I make my blog three columns and will that change all my settings?
3. Which Christmas idea should I chose? (see previous post XD)

Gracias,

P.S. Don't worry about the new header, LOL, it's not staying, it's only temporary until Bethany finishes mine ;)