People, I'm Finally Gonna Do It

I'm finally going to actually finish a novel. Ever heard of NaNoWriMo? Also known as National Novel Writing Month? Basically, the goal is to write 50,000 words in 30 days. That's right. 30 days. That's an average of 1,667 words per day. It is currently day 4, and I already have 11,677 words (not to brag or anything). Or, you could say it this way: I am 23.35% finished my novel. My novel. That's got a nice ring to it, doesn't it? My novel. Hehe.

So, in order to complete my novel in 30 days, I knew I had to sacrifice something. Of course, I had to be all over-achiever and give up Facebook AND tumblr. This has been harder than I thought. I have no means of distraction to procrastinate with. That was the intention behind it, though. And I guess that's why I'm blogging for the first time in months. Hehe, sorry about that... been a busy year, you know?

And here I am, procrastinating further when I should be writing. But hey, daylight savings is coming up. One more hour added to the day. Most people are going to use it for sleep. I might use it for noveling. Or sleeping, sleeping is nice, too.

The Joys of Summer

School has finally, finally come to a close, and with that closure comes the beginning of those blissful three months of summer. Probably the most anticipated and appreciated months of the whole year, summer vacation holds a charm in everyone's eyes. For starters, no school. No stressing over finals or projects or papers. No waking up at insane hours of the morning to drive to school half awake. No lectures, no classes, no anything school related for a whole three months. Summer is trips to the beach, spending time with friends, days at the pool, sleeping in, long vacations, and relaxation.

In my family, summer is filled with daily activities and outings. Everyone is up and dressed by nine o'clock (I have yet to meet that requirement) and after the chores are complete, its off to a friend's pool, a park, the library, shopping or out to lunch. We have not yet had a day of staying at home. We are always busy. Yesterday we bought two hammocks and I manually drilled them into the posts below our deck. A few days ago we were at the library, signing up for the summer reading program, where I only have to read three books. I completed that requirement that day. I've swam in three of my friends' pools over the course of two days. I have been a very busy person.

Next week, I'm volunteering at Beachmont Christian day camp. After that, I will most likely be teaching riding camps almost every week. July 14th is my birthday party, along with the premier of Harry Potter 7 part 2 (insert girly squeal here). The week after that, I'm spending a week at St George Island in Florida with my cousins, aunt, uncle, parents, sister, and best friend Megan, who is currently serving in the Dominican Republic for ten days - pray for her!

I have thoroughly enjoyed my first week of summer, though I have gotten quite exhausted from all the running around I've been doing. Tonight is my friend's graduation party, Emily's dance recital and swing dancing.

Since it is now summer, and I therefore have an abundance of spare time, I am hoping that I will be posting more blog posts. The last few months of school are always the toughest, with AP exams and finals to prepare for. But with all that behind me, I am determined to become a religious blog-poster... hopefully.

Quote of the Day:

"I am so clever that sometimes I don't understand a single word of what I'm saying."

-Oscar Wilde

(^I got that feeling last night while reading my transcendentalism essay...)

This is not a meaningful post... so don't feel obligated to read it.

I would like to give my sincere apology for my lack of blog posts. My life has been quite busy, and honestly I forgot I had a blog for a little while. I always come across this dilemma - I go weeks with no posts, so I always feel obliged to write about something thought provoking or intelligent. And then I always end up writing about something random that comes to my mind. Which is why this post shall be about my 'adventures' at Deep Creek Lake.

First of all, why is it call Deep Creek Lake? To me, it seemed like more of a river. But according to Evan, it was a creek, just made into a lake via dam for purposes that I now forget. Something unimportant, like real estate or one of those random things.

Anyway, the drive to Deep Creek Lake/river whatever was ... interesting ... Lets just say I would have rather walked than have listened to Justin Beiber then entire time (not a fan, can you tell?) The view was amazing from the top of the mountains, though my ears were popping like crazy. And then we were chased by ominous thunderstorm-looking clouds that we ran away from. But it ended up snowing when we stopped to eat in Annie's Kitchen, which apparently is the place were all the old folk go, like they look forward to it every week - "oh boy, tomorrow's Friday night - party at Annie's Kitchen!"

Our cabins were cute, wooden, small and had an air freshener that 'puffed' every five minutes. It also had a very steep driveway that made it near impossible to climb up when wearing shoes with no traction, such as TOMS. And fitting 20+ people into the 'main cabin' which isn't any bigger than the other cabins is interesting. And hot.

Being sick all weekend does not make it a very pleasurable experience. Thinking that you're going to die is not fun either. At least I brought my Tylenol (that also helped cure the headache cause by the singing of Beiber's so-called 'songs').

Sleeping through breakfast on the first day is not cool. How I slept through everyone in my cabin going through the getting-ready-for-the-day process is beyond me. Thankfully Aaron saved me some bacon.

I would not advise skiing when you had a fever the night before. Or skiing with your friends who are just learning to snowboard. You will spend the entire time helping them up only for them to fall again in a few yards. Eventually you will give up and leave them halfway down the slope to fend for themselves, hoping they don't mow over some poor five-year-old, so you can have a little freedom.

If you are ever in the Deep Creek Lake area, I would recommend Brenda's Pizzaria. The pizza are huge and one slice is bigger than my face. I couldn't finish half a slice.

When driving back to the cabins in the dark, watch out for the 'CAUTION - BUMP' sign. When going over said bump at 50 mph, you will get air. Also when driving in the dark and looking for a church to go to in the morning, do not mistake the 'Dunkard Brethren Church' for the 'Drunkard Brethren Church'.

On Sunday morning, the one day I could actually sleep in, of course I wake up early. And wait ever so patiently for the shower, but people kept butting in front of me. Then all of a sudden "We have to be out of the cabin by 10". Its 9:48. And your belongings are strewn about the floor, under the bunks, in the bathroom, kitchen and loft.

After hauling duffel bags and pillows out of semi-clean cabin and up to the vans, be carefull to not slip on the steep driveway. Because apparently it snowed again. And I, being smart and not wanting to listen to Beiber all the way back home, chose to ride in a van with four other guys. And Miss Laura. It was awesome. (no sarcasm there)

The Drunkard - I mean Dunkard Brethren Church is the size of my living room and has a total congregation of 8. It was most definitely an experience I will not forget.

Here's my favorite part - Swallow Falls. Climbing up and down stairs and cliffs covered in thick sheets of ice to the point where you could slide all the way down on your butt is tons of fun. I would definitely recommend it. The crazy kayakers going over the waterfall in 40 degree weather when the water is probably more like 20 degrees were quite interesting. And they roused quite an applause when they flipped all the way over. By the time we walked to Muddy Creek Falls, I was seriously questioning whether this little expedition was safe or not. Oh, did I mention someone knew somebody whose some relation fell and died here? Yeah, guess I forgot to mention that... Literally, on one side was a cliff covered in giant icicles and the other was a sheer drop to freezing rushing water.

The ride home was ... well, peaceful - to a degree. I actually approved of the guys' choice of music over the girls'. Which says something, because normally guys are all screamo Disturbed headache kind of stuff. We listened to Phantom, Pirates, Beach Boys, Beatles and Monty Python. And some of Gavin's music that I'd never heard of. And Aaron's Celtic awesomeness. Of course, after enduring their music, I had to make them listen to some Regina Spektor.

All in all, it was a great retreat with a great message on defending your faith. I absolutely loved our speaker, Tom something-or-other (I wish I could remember his name because I want to friend him on facebook!) He was brilliant. I will definitely always remember this retreat, from drunkard Quaker churches to ice slides to waterfalls.

Quote of the Day
'Sometimes the questions are complicated and the answers are simple'
~Dr. Seuss

The Power of Literature

This is actually a speech I should be presenting in rhetoric class tomorrow, if this so-called 'massive winter storm' holds off. So, here it goes... (and remember your British accents!!)

Storytelling has been a major part of culture since the beginning of humanity. Mankind was created to thrive on stories. As the world progressed, storytelling gradually shifted from oral to written. From Homer in the 9th century BC to Shakespeare in the late 1500s, the written word has flourished.

Today, mankind thrives on progress. Today, mankind takes pleasure in knowledge. How are we supposed to gain knowledge if we no longer value the written word?

Reading opens up the chance to take in knowledge. Books hold the potential to broaden our minds and learn about life.

One of my favorite quotes by author Janette Oke says “When you read you can have every adventure. In the pages of a book you can be anyone you ever dreamed of being… They can never tell you you’re too young to slay the dragon -- because it all happens right here, where it’s safe.”

When you open a book, the pages hold the possibility of escaping into an entirely different world. Reading allows you to momentarily escape the realities of life. Another one of my favorite quotes, by author Cornelia Funke, says "The world was a terrible place, cruel, pitiless, dark as a bad dream. Not a good place to live. Only in books could you find pity, comfort, happiness - and love. Books loved anyone who opened them, they gave you security and friendship and didn't ask anything in return; they never went away, never, not even when you treated them badly."

Reading, in general, makes you smart. It improves analytical thinking, increases vocabulary, and improves memory and writing skills. If reading provides us with all of these things, then why are 44 million adults in the U.S. unable to read even a simple story to a child?

Fifty-six percent of young people say they read more than ten books a year, with middle school students reading the most. Ten books a year? Personally, I could read ten books a month!

Now, I know most of you cringe at reading any book over two hundred pages. I cannot personally say that I have ever felt that way, but trust me, I know plenty of people who have. I have a challenge for you- go to the library or book store and pick one piece of classical literature off the shelf to read in your spare time. I’m talking about Charles Dickens, Shakespeare, Henry James, the Bronte sisters, C. S. Lewis or Jane Austen. Each and every one of those authors has left their mark in history through their works of literature. Now, wouldn’t you want to be able to brag about understanding the quality language of Jane Eyre, Macbeth, Wuthering Heights or A Tale of Two Cities instead of complaining about how boring and long it is? Nobody wants to hear you rant on about how Portrait of a Lady was a terribly long and drawn out book. That doesn’t make you sound smart. If anything, it makes you sound unappreciative of the great literature that you were privileged to read and inconsiderate of the person to whom you are ranting.

Reading good, classical literature in your middle and high school years can benefit you greatly in your future. It can improve your SAT scores, thus increasing your chance of getting accepted into a good college and, further in life, getting a good job.

Reading allows the imagination to wander. Reading keeps our imagination alive in a way that media cannot. When you read, the language and descriptions in the book give you enough information about the scene that you can let your imagination run free and fill in the tiny, minute details. Media such as television and movies give you little to no room to let your imagination take control. It is rapidly taking over the minds of America. Many people would rather watch a movie than read a few chapters of a book. Where will that leave us in a few years? Classic literature will become ancient literature; books will be a thing of the past. The way we’re headed, our best hope for literature in the future lies in the success of Nooks and Kindles.

One of my biggest pet peeves is when people refer to teen novels and chick flicks as ‘literature’. Let’s take the Twilight Saga as an example. Basically, the series copies the same cliché idea of forbidden love but puts a ‘fantasy’ twist on it. I won’t go into details, but the four very long and drawn out books are about a boring, average girl trying to decide whether to fall in love with a sparkly vampire or a wolf-human hybrid with anger management problems. The books hold some kind of obsessive appeal and give girls a false view on men. They hold no truth, no good morals, unless you can pull good v. evil from ‘good vampires’ and/or ‘good werewolves’ versus ‘bad vampires’. If that is what people are calling literature these days, then I’d hate to see what they call literature in our children’s generation.

So, you see, reading truly is beneficial. Books are like portals into dream worlds- giving you the opportunity to escape from life and its hardships. Reading good, classical literature can improve your SAT scores and overall intelligence. It puts your imagination to work- and trust me, your imagination is one thing you don’t want to lose. But please, steer clear of the so called ‘literature’ the world is spitting out today. Pick up a copy of some of Edgar Allan Poe’s short stories or one of the Narnia books and let your mind escape into the beautiful language of classic literature. Because, in the words of Mark Twain, “the man who will not read good books has no advantage over the man who cannot read them.”



I think there are enough good quotes in the above speech, but here's one just for kicks:
Isn't is odd how much fatter a book gets when you've read it several times? As if something were left between the pages every time you read it. Feelings, thoughts, sounds, smells... and then, when you look at the book many years later, you find yourself there, too, a slightly younger self, slightly different, as if the book had preserved you like a pressed flower... both strange and familiar.
~Cornelia Funke

Nyctophobia, Pteronophobia, etc.

Now, I know that since I haven't posted in weeks that this post should be something meaningful or thought provoking. Well, that's not really the case. I just got home from my school's Renewing the Vision thing (basically, some people talked about stuff about our school. I wouldn't know the specifics because I was locked in a room with four year olds- but more on that later.) The Girls Ensemble sang The Precious Blood, and actually, I don't think my mother managed to video that one! That was at the beginning of the night. For the remaining hour and a half, while various people - including Katie - talked about their experience at New Covenant, I was assigned babysitting duty.

Imagine yourself in a small classroom along with around 15 children under the age of 5 and about 10 high-schoolers. Now, let your imagination run wild for a moment. I'm sure you can think up some pretty gruesome scenarios. What really happened was as follows:
- The tiny room quickly turned into a sauna. I'm fairly sure it was at least ninety degrees in there when we were finally released. We would have opened the windows, but opening them could have potentially set off the alarm, which would have been bad, considering there was a sanctuary full of people upstairs.
- Someone *cough Hannie* got the brilliant idea to play Simon Says, which is normally a decent game to play with scores of toddlers. You know, "Simon says jump up and down. Simon says stop." Now, this said someone also got the brilliant idea to say "Simon says jump on Josh!" This quickly turned into jumping on Dalvin and I as well, which quickly led to tickling me.

-- Fun Fact About Lila #46: Lila absolutely hates having her feet touched in any way. --

Yep, you guessed it. They tickled my feet. And I screamed. Many times.
- When faced with the challenge of putting a Clifford puzzle together, do not be alarmed when a two year old child who doesn't even know his own name totally destroys you and your puzzle skills. I find it amusing that six high-schoolers couldn't manage to put a floor-size puzzle together, but a two-year-old could.
- Creepy men who come in the the room about halfway through the night and take two children out with him are probably bad. It is also not good if said creepy men cannot be found after returning the children to the room three minutes later.
- Once we were finally released, we made a break for the fresh air. And the cookies.

After that torturous hour and a half of screaming, sweaty and adorable children, feel free to socialize. Just don't forget that all of your bags are in the nursery.

Here's what happened: Once realising that my bags, coat and shoes were still downstairs, I ran down the back staircase, only to find that there was no light switch on that end of the hallway. After hesitating briefly and contemplating what sort of vicious monster could be hiding in the dark hallway and dark classrooms (did I mention there is also a crawlspace in the church basement?), I bolt. I literally booked it down that hallway, eyes closed, until my outstretched hands hit a wall. I tried the nursery door. It was locked. SO, naturally, I would choose the closest stairway- the front stairs. And it figures there's no light switch at the bottom of those stairs as well. Now, if you know me well enough, you should know that Lila + dark stairs = disaster. Fortunately, I made it up the stairs in one piece. I ran to find our pastor for the keys. After taking a considerable amount of time fishing them out of his pocket, I run back down the front stairs- with the lights on, mind you- turn on the hallway light, and unlock the nursery door. I grab my bags, coat and put on my shoes. I know I have to go back up the back staircase because I left the light on. Then it hits me- since there is no hall light switch on the opposite side of the hallway, I was going to have to run back through the hall with all of my things in the dark. Oh, joy. (did I also mention at the end of the hall there was a door that led out to the back of the church?) I flicked off the light and sprinted down the dark hallway yet again, with only the ominous green EXIT sign as my guide. Only now do I realise that I could have used my cell phone as a flashlight.

All in all, I had a fairly eventful night. Thankfully, I have no homework to complete.

To be a star, you must shine your own light, follow your own path, and don't worry about the darkness, for that is when the stars shine brightest.
~Author Unknown

The Art of Present Wrapping

As Christmas day draws closer, the number of hours spent wrapping gifts increases. "Santa's elves" are hard at work wih all those extremely last minute details, which include the wrapping of all the presents.

When faced with the challenge of intense-latest-possible-moment wrapping jobs, the hidden art of present wrapping is revealed. The huge mound of gifts just waiting to be dressed in colorful paper is seen as your iminent doom on Chistmas Eve. Suddenly, you start to worry that each child has an uneven amount of presents, or that you will run out of wrapping paper, gift boxes or bags at ten o'clock that night. Your faithful (...) husband willingly runs around town to retrieve extra gifts, more wrapping paper and lots more tape. Crazed and stressed Mother locks herself in her bedroom and burries herself with presents, wrapped and unwrapped.

Two hours into the wrapping session and you swear that the unwrapped pile is multiplying.

Three hours in and you call up said husband to pick up more stocking stuffers for Kiddo #2.

Four hours, and you're just about ready to give up on wrapping and set out all the presents as 'gifts from Santa'.

Five hours, and you realize that you haven't eaten since 8 A.M. this morning. You are suddenly plagued by fatigue and rush downstairs for food, only to find that the kids have destroyed the house, being unsupervised and given empty wrapping paper rolls.

Six hours, and finally, finally you are finished!

One of the most difficult parts of wrapping is the wrapping of oddly shaped boxes. How on earth are you supposed to wrap a box that has five corners, or is completely round? Of course, these boxes will not fit in a gift bag, so, we bring back the geometry lesson we were taught oh so long ago. Eventually, the box is covered wih paper... mostly....

And then, of course, you tuck the children safe in their beds and haul all the presents downstairs and arrange them aound the tree. Multiple times. Then, collapse into bed and wish desperately that said children will not wake you at the crack of dawn.

Happy, happy Christmas, that can win us back to the delusions of our childhood days, recall to the old man the pleasures of his youth, and transport the traveler back to his own fireside and quiet home!
~Charles Dickens

Voyage of the Dawn Treader

Lately I've been doing a lot of movie reviews, but, as Christmas draws closer, more good movies release and my parents are more willing to take us to see them (we have yet to see Tangled, but we will probably see it in the next week or so). Today, I saw Voyage of the Dawn Treader and I LOVED it! (I will try not to give away too terribly much...) The only thing that really disappointed me was how far it was from the book. Normally, Disney movies, if based off a book, stay on the same major plot line as the book. I am currently in the process of reading Dawn Treader and from what I have read (I am about halfway into it for the first time- sad, I know...) there is nothing about seven swords of the seven lords...? Dawn Treader does mention the Seven Lords, but I do not recall their swords. Also, wasn't Eustace supposed to be turned back into a boy much earlier in the story? instead of at the very end? Anyway, the overall movie was great- though personally it would have been better with another Regina Spektor song at the end, but that's just my opinion... I will most definitely be seeing this movie again, multiple times, and hopefully with Katie, Megan, and Rachel after/before our little sewing party, where we will attempt (key word: attempt) to sew our own Winter Formal dresses because formal dresses these days are insanely short, especially for someone as tall as I am. Oh, wait, I'm getting off subject...

*Might I say that I typed this whole post like I wanted to kill each and every key on my keyboard? Apparently my laptop doesn't like me today and will randomly not accept keys- like just now, in this last sentence, it left out A, o, n, i, o, a, t, c, space, and e. It was getting quite frustrating. Just picture a crazy girl in pajamas with cutsie pigtails pounding at her laptop like a maniac. Yep, that's me.

Ah, I almost forgot my quote!

In honor of Voyage of the Dawn Treader, today's quote will be by C. S. Lewis. And because I am in a good mood, and also because I can't decide which quote is my favorite, I shall post two.

Courage is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at the testing point.

I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.

~C. S. Lewis