A Whole Lot of Nothing... Just Kidding!

Everyone looks forward to Christmas. Children set out plates of cookies and mugs of milk for Santa, and when they wake up they have new toys in boxes, which are then wrapped in decorative paper and then placed under a real/fake tree. It sounds ridiculous when you talk about it that way, but really for many people, it's the most magical time of the year.
This year, family was really different for my family. We have always been lucky to have each other, and everyday we think about this. This year, my Mom was bummed when she found out she had to work on Christmas. She was really worried that  we would all be upset on Christmas, were we sad that we wouldn't have the whole day together, but we worked it out.
The morning started when we woke up at around 6 A.M. all eager to go upstairs. The night before, we (four of my sisters and I.) had all slept in the basement together, as we have done every year since I can remember. When we finally were aloud to go upstairs we were all shocked, but excited to see 5 "Ugly Dolls" lined up on the couch. (Check out the "Ugly Dolls" here.)
Laughter continued as we passed each other various presents. My sisters and I had put together a movie date basket for our parents, and we were extremely happy when they opened it and became excited for their date. The morning was a lot of fun, and after we had thoroughly made a mess of the living room, we played with our new "toys" and "gadgets".
We were spending as much time together as we could until my mom had to go to work at 8 A.M. We laughed, smiled, and sometimes freaked out, as we opened the various exciting presents. That's not what mattered most to us though. All we wanted was to spend time together, so we spent the morning laughing and talking together.

Sadly, 8 A.M. approached a lot faster than we expected, and before we knew it, we were giving our mom hugs and saying goodbye, wishing her a good day at work, and that we'd see her at 6, maybe sooner if she got off early. Then we cleaned up the mess of boxes, papers, ribbons, plastic, and various other trash then headed off to our cousins house.
When we got there we were met by screams of joy and surprise from our cousins, as well as their screaming as they try to be heard above one another. Because there is five of us, there were plenty of us to go around as our cousins, ages 5, 9 (I think), and 13, eagerly showed us their presents.
Several hours went by, and we were saying goodbye to our cousins to head to our grandmas house about 20-30 minutes away. When we got there, we were greeted by the sweet surprise of our mom getting off early, We spent a few more hours there laughing with cousins and aunts and uncles then headed home.
Even though today was different than usual, it was still a lot of fun, and I got to see my family. I am so grateful for them. I couldn't have asked for a better day. Thanks Mom and Bill!

Letters for Literature Contest Entry

For an assignment in one of my classes, we had to enter this contest. This was the letter I wrote for it.

Dear Jay Asher,

            In the past year, I read your book, 13 Reasons Why, and it completely changed my outlook on life and self harm. Just a few years ago, when I was about 10 or 11, my best friend, since kindergarten, texted me saying he cut himself. A little naive and not wanting to think about the options, I asked him how, and then hoped he would say it had been an accident while he was making dinner. He didn’t. When I was thrown headfirst into the knowledge of self harm, I was shocked, afraid, and worried.

            I no longer talk to that friend, and every day I worry that he might still do self harm. That’s why your book means so much to me. As I read the book, I think I was just as shocked as Clay when he heard the thoughts going through Hannah’s head as she explained her reasons for suicide. The story captured me and managed to terrify me and captivate me at the same time.

            Your book made me think harder about the reasons why people often resort to self harm and suicide. At the time my friend told me, I didn’t understand, I was naive, so I could never completely help him. Now, if we still talked, I think I could help him through it.

            As the tapes went on, I grew more and more shocked. Then it was Clay’s turn and I sobbed right along with him. Each word Hannah said tore into his heart, and then mine as well. It made me realize the importance of speaking out even when you’re afraid. I’m trying to get back in touch with my friend because we haven’t talked since we were about 13, so a little less than 3 years ago. If he were to still commit self harm, or consider suicide, I would blame myself for it, just like Clay did. It would be like I unconsciously sat back and watched as he self corrupted.

            Your book has also helped me through a lot of hard times, while it’s not a happy upbeat book, it’s real and relatable. Whenever I’m in a hard patch, I pick up your book. Most of the time I flip to Clay’s tape, and sob the whole way through it. It made me realize that even though I may feel alone sometimes, there’s always someone out there that cares. I just have to wait the tough spots out and be strong, for those who do.

            Your book has inspired me to never let anyone go on without knowing that they are loved. Every day I tell me friends how my I appreciate and care  about them, I tell my family how much I love them, and I tell myself that even though it might not always feel like people understand me or care, they do and every day should be lived like it’s your last. Many people consider people who self harm pathetic, or weak, but really they just need help, but are too afraid to ask. Thank you for showing me how valuable life is, and that I need to try to reach out to people, even though I may not always be comfortable. Your words inspired me to be a better person overall, and I am so glad I read your book. It gave me a different and better outlook on things.

Sincerely,

 A Constant Reader (No, on the letter, I did not sign as this. It had my name, but since the internet is dangerous, this is what you get to see.)

Future

So, This was supposed to go up last night, but I accidentally posted this on the wrong blog, so here it is:
I was asked this the other day, and it really made me think... Below is my response.

Where do you see yourself in three years? As a senior in high school, what do you think you will be considering for your future? What career do you think you will want to go into? What colleges will you want to apply to? What will you want to study in college? How do you think you will change between now and December of 2014?


In three years, I can see myself finally knowing who I really am. I'll finally have the group of friends that I trust, and that I know won't stab me in the back like some have before. I'll be the person that, while few, people/friends will be able to talk to me about anything and everything. I want to be the type of person that people trust easily. I want to get good grades, so I'll likely be following in my sisters footsteps (for example, when I walk into class the first day of high school, a teacher will read my name and say, "Oh! Your a Randquist!" Why yes, yes I am, and that has never changed, Or "Your Carley, Madi, and Emily's little sister aren't you?" Well, as far as I've been told, yeah I am, I've never seen the documents saying so though, and sometimes I wonder how I can be related to them.) I also hope that I will be working towards graduating with an associates degree.
I can see  myself going into teaching, but I'm not sure what. I like kids, but not too little, so I could see myself as say... A third grade, maybe second grade teacher. I also like using a lot of sarcasm though, and I appreciate it when people actually understand it, so I could also see myself as being a junior high or high school teacher, maybe an art class of sorts, or a math class. Yeah, I know that sounds nerdy, but I know that a lot of people struggle in math, so if I became a math teacher, I would do my best to help all students. I could also see myself as a English teacher, I've always loved reading, and always encourage my friends to read books that I thought were good.
As for college, I have no idea at all. I guess it would depend on what I am going to be studying.
I can see myself driving constantly, hopefully having my own car. I'll probably have a job, let me rephrase that. I better have a job, that makes good money, and isn't something related to greasy food.
I'll probably have a million things to pay, and I'll probably be lonely a lot of the time seeing as my three older sisters might move out by then, with 2 of them being 22 in three years, and the other being probably around 21 depending on the time of year. I will be 18 or 19, also depending on the time of year, and hopefully things will be going good overall in life. The thing I'm most afraid of right now with the future? Losing friends when we split and go to high school. I already lost some in the transition to junior high, and I don't want to loose more. My friends mean the world to me, (other than my family of course), and I hope I'm not going to loose them.

To Kill A Mockingbird Essay (Comma Tutorial)

We often don' like to trust things that we don't understand. It's frightening, our fear of the unknown. In Harper Lee's "To Kill A Mockingbird", Arthur Radley, or Boo as Jem and Scout call him, is very much unknown through a good part of the book. In the first half of the book he is never seen by Scout, Dill, or Jem, so they fear him. They create up stories of what happened to him, and listen to Miss Stephanie Crawford, the neighborhood gossip, to hear her various tales about the Radleys. Jem and Scout are curious about Arthur 'Boo' Radley, but are still very afraid of him, just because they don't know him. When we distrust something, or someone, we usually are afraid of taking a risk with them, and so fear would be the basis of the trust, or lack there of, which is why people don't like things they don't understand.

"To Kill A Mockingbird" starts with the narrator, Scout Finch, telling us about how her brother broke his arm. The plot quickly unravels from there and it tells of Scout and Jem's childhood, filled with events that circulate around the mysteriousness of the Radleys. '" Touch the house, that  all?" Dill nodded, "Sure that's all, now? I don't want you hollerin' something different the minute I get back." "Yeah, that's all," said Dill. "He'll probably come out after you when he sees you in the yard, the Scout n' me'll jump on him and hold him down till we can tell him we ain't gonna hurt him" . . . Jem threw open the gate and sped to the side of the house, slapped it with his palm and ran back past us, not waiting to see if his foray was successful. Dill and I followed on his heels. Safely on our porch, panting and out of breath, we looked back. The old house was the same, droopy and sick, but as we stared down the street we though we saw an inside shutter move. Flick. A tiny, almost invisible movement, and the house was still."' In that scene, Dill first dared Jem to make Arthur Radley come out, but Jem was afraid, so he kept saying he'd think about it. When Dill grew tired of this, he dared Jem to just touch the house, and Jem agreed, but he was extremely afraid. The only reason he was afraid was because of the stories that had been told about Arthur Radley. Jem was afraid that Arthur was going to catch him, or something similar. He was only afraid because he didn't know what Arthur would do, if anything.
Throughout the book Jem and Scout are afraid of Arthur Radley, and during a boring summer day they were doing one of their typical activities: performing play-like-things. Usually they would play something like Tarzan but this time, Jem had something else in mind. He wanted to play the Radleys. '"Boo Radley? How?" asked Dill. Jem said, "Scout, you can be Mrs. Radley-" "I declare if I will. I don't think-" "Smatter?" said Dill. "Still Scared?" "He can get out at night when we're all asleep...." I said.' The theme, "People often distrust what they do not understand", is almost perfectly illustrated here. Scout does not understand Arthur Radley, or the game Jem wants to play, so she is afraid. She's afraid the someway, somehow,  Arthur Radley is going to find out that they are playing the game., and get them in the middle of the night. The only reason she is afraid is because she doesn't know what is going to be the consequences of playing the game.

While Arthur Radley is one of the main people/things that are unknown and misunderstood in the first half of the book, another character that appears and strikes fear into the heart of Calpurnia and a few other characters is a dog, Tim Johnson. '" Mr. Finch!" she shouted. "This is Cal. I swear to God there's a mad dog down the street a piece- he's comin' this way, yes sir, he's- Mr. Finch, I declare he is- old Tim Johnson, yes sir... yessir... yes-" She hung up and shook her head when we tried to ask her what Atticus had said. Throughout the book so far, very few things, almost nothing, have scared Calpurnia. However, when the mad dog comes walking down the street, she is very afraid and worried. She is afraid of what the dog will do. When the dog is put down though, she feels a little bit better, simply because the risk was taken out of the way.

People often distrust what they don't understand, and this is true in everyday life. "To Kill A Mockingbird portrays this theme many times throughout the book, and we relate to it because we have experienced it. It strikes home, whether about yourself, family, or friends, and it can frighten us quite a bit.

The Day Before Yesterday . . .

Just clicked on the title box and a drop down appeared with a bunch of things in it. One that showed up that I found really interesting? The Day Before Yesterday . . . I don't want this to be a journal type thing, but I couldn't think of anything to write about, so I'll start there.

The day before yesterday would've been... Friday? On Friday, I was celebrating Thanksgiving at home with my family. Now right now I bet a lot of you are thinking, "Thanksgiving was on Thursday, is she confused?" No, I'm not confused. It came to be this way because my Grandma was having a big Thanksgiving dinner at her house on Thursday, so of course, we went. The day was kind of relaxed at first, I got up in the morning, had breakfast, and then proceeded to type up some notes from my art class. After typing up my notes I hung out with Ashley.

Now, for those who don't remember, although I'm sure most of the people reading this post actually know Ashley in person, Ashley is my step-sister. Because she lives in Georgia with her mom, we don't see her very often. It's sad, but we can't change it most of the time. She usually comes out during the summer and stays a month or so, but last summer she was supposed to have heart surgery, which is a whole other story, so her stay was cut short. As well as coming out in the summer months she also usually comes out for about a week for Thanksgiving, and a few days after Christmas she'll come out and also usually stays a week or so. Anyway, so to sum up what I just said in the above paragraph, when Ashley comes out it's usually short visits, and so we tend to cherish them. So when I say I was hanging out with Ashley, I'm saying that I got to do something which I don't usually do, something that a lot of people take for granted, which is hang out with my sister.

As I just realized, I was supposed to be talking about what I did Friday, not Thursday, but Friday required a little bit of an introduction, I just got off track. So Thursday I went to my Grandma's house for Thanksgiving, and Friday stayed home for a Thanksgiving. Friday was actually kind of unusual because we almost had two holidays going on at once. Earlier in the week my step dad had gotten all the Christmas decorations out because he was looking for the snowflakes we put on the roof. So Friday morning, while my parents were cooking for our Thanksgiving, Ashley, Abby, and I put up the Christmas Tree, and all of the other decorations that are spread throughout the house. We cleaned the house, and then it was dinner time! So we ate dinner, had dessert, and then watched home videos from when we were kids for the rest of the night. It was a lot of fun. Putting up the decorations and looking at them now and everyday until Christmas makes me so excited. I can't wait for Christmas Eve and Christmas, they are two of my favorite days of the year. I can't wait!

Life is Wonderful

Life is Wonderful- Jason Mraz

It takes a crane to build a crane
It takes two floors to make a story
It takes an egg to make a hen
It takes a hen to make an egg
There is no end to what I'm saying

It takes a thought to make a word
And it takes some words to make an action
It takes some work to make it work
It takes some good to make it hurt
It takes some bad for satisfaction

La la la la la la la life is wonderful
Ah la la la la la la life goes full circle
Ah la la la la la la life is wonderful
Al la la la la

It takes a night to make it dawn
And it takes a day to make you yawn brother
And it takes some old to make you young
It takes some cold to know the sun
It takes the one to have the other

And it takes no time to fall in love
But it takes you years to know what love is
It takes some fears to make you trust
It takes those tears to make it rust
It takes the dust to have it polished

Ha la la la la la la life is wonderful
Ah la la la la la la life goes full circle
Ah la la la la la la life is so full of
Ah la la la la la la life is so rough
Ah la la la la la la life is wonderful
Ah la la la la la la life goes full circle
Ah la la la la la la life is our love
Ah la la la la la

It takes some silence to make sound
It takes a loss before you found it
And it takes a road to go nowhere
It takes a toll to make you care
It takes a hole to make a mountain

Ah la la la la la la life is wonderful
Ah la la la la la la life goes full circle
Ha la la la la la life is wonderful
Ha la la la la la life is meaningful
Ha la la la la la life is wonderful
Ha la la la la la life it is...so... wonderful
It is so meaningful
It is so wonderful
It is meaningful
It is wonderful
It is meaningful
It goes full circle
Wonderful
Meaningful
Full circle
Wonderful

Every time I hear this song, I stop and think about what it really means, and it never ceases to amaze me. I never really stop and take time to just look at the beauty of the world we live in, and it may sound cheesy, but it's true. We've all heard the saying, "stop and smell the flowers," but I think we're forgetting it. When was the last time you took a minute to look back at things and just enjoy life. When did you last look at your accomplishments? I know that it's been a while since I've just taken a minute to look back at how lucky I am to have all the things I do today.

I have an amazing family, first of all. They are they for me when I am down. They bear my wrath when I am mad, make me laugh until it hurts. Without them, I don't know what I'd do. Together we go to movies like 'Breaking Dawn' repeatedly with my sweet grandma. We goof off late into the night, not wanting to go to sleep in fear of missing something fun. My sisters and I sleep in the same room on Christmas Eve, giddy awaiting the next day. On New Years we would go out onto the porch and bang pots and pans together. On the 4th of July we sit on the roof and watch the fireworks from several different cities. On St. Patrick's day, we do NOT go around pinching each other, thankfully. We cheerfully laugh and sing together in the car, creating "caraoke", our car version of karaoke. What more could I ask for? I have an amazing family, and I couldn't ask for anyone better to support me each and every day.

When they can't be there for me because I am at school, or they are at work, I have my amazing friends. Each of them is just about as different as they can be, yet we all manage to somehow get along. It amazes me sometimes how things like this work, but anyway, they can tell when someone in our little 'group' is upset, and immediately go to comfort them and find out whats wrong. Whether it's me or someone else that is upset, I appreciate it when they try their hardest to cheer each other up.

Along with great family and friends I am lucky enough to have a nice house, bedroom, and meals on the table every night. My parents work their hardest just to provide us with what we have, and occasionally spoil us with things like trips to Hawaii or Boston. Even though they get worried when they've told us before, that Christmas is going to be smaller than the year before, we do our best to assure them that it doesn't matter to us, all we want on Christmas is to be together, laughing and enjoying our time together. I am so lucky to have the amazing life that I do today, and I appreciate my friends and family who help make everyday special. I love you guys!

P.S: Happy Early Turkey Day!

Just Thinking

A lot of people take what they have for granted, and they don't take time to really appreciate what they have, it's sad. In the past few years, I've lost friends, gained them, and lost some more, but I haven't really taken time to stop and think about how good of a life I have. There are days when I just want to go back to being a little kid and relieve memories that I have, like just going on a walk through fields at a friend's family farm, or a weekend at the park with my sisters and my dad. Too bad there isn't a time machine. When I was little all I was worried about was growing up, and getting people to actually listen to me, now I just wish that I could go back to the simplicity of life. I miss elementary school and recess, even though at the time I claimed that I would be glad that it was gone, I'm not though. I want to go back to when my whole family was always home, and we would play Mario Kart and Apples to Apples, or card games, and we would laugh the whole night long. Don't get me wrong, I'm grateful for what I have, I really am. I know that I have a much better life than some people, but I miss the sweets it had when I was a kid. I've always said that people don't know what they have until it is gone. When it is summer, we want it to be winter so it is cool. When it is winter we want it to be summer and warm. I am grateful though, for all the time I get with my family, even though I can go a day or two without seeing one of my sisters for more than 5 minutes. It all makes me sad, but I'm grateful that I have sisters, and loving parents, I just want to get back the time I took for granted when I was little. Everyday we go about out lives overlooking the little things, and I think that we all need to take a step back and look at what we are grateful for.
Last year, my mom gave my sisters and I a challenge to write on a blog once a week saying what we were grateful for, and I failed, I only lasted about 8 weeks. 8 weeks out of 52. I'm not gonna lie, looking back now I'm extremely disappointed in myself. I know it's only a blog, but I know that had I tried harder I could have made it all 52 weeks like Carley, or 12 weeks like Madi. I'm also proud of Abby who posted for 8 weeks just like me and Emily who I think made it 2 weeks. I've gone back and read through the posts and looked at what my sisters were grateful for, and I realized that there really are so many things that we take for granted. For her final post Carley said she was grateful for doors. When you think about it, what would you do without them? It just makes you realize what little things we don't think about. If you want to go read the blog, click here.

October Sky

I read October Sky recently, and here is my review of it:

Not too long ago in our history, the concept of space travel was unheard of. Building Rockets? “How in the world is that even possible” some might have asked. The first object launched into space was Sputnik I launched by the Soviet Union on October 4, 1957. The first moon landing was 12 years later by America’s Apollo 11. Sonny Hickam and his friends grew up as these events were taking place, and in 1998 their story was published into a book by Mr. “Sonny” Hickam himself.

The book is about four boys that had a summer to kill, so they began to build rockets. They were inspired by Wernher Von Braun, a scientist working for NASA, in the race to excel at space exploration faster than the Soviet Union. As the boys began their adventures, they gained a new cohort, Quentin. Quentin soon became clear as the brainiest of the group. He very quickly helped them launch their rockets higher and higher. The boys were outcast in their mining town, Coalwood, but eventually became its pride, as their rockets reached new heights. The boys launched a total of 34 rockets known as Auk I-XXXI, and four different Auk XXII’s. They were determined in launching their rockets, and they fought against any and all obstacles they ran into.

One of my favorite quotes from the book is actually during a rocket launch. It is, “Auk XIV erupted from the pad, spinning once around the rod before hurtling into the sky. Quentin threw himself out of the blockhouse with his theodolite and started tracking… ‘Three thousand feet.’ He concluded.” I like this quote because it shows that the boys never gave up, and in the end, they prevailed. Another quote that shows the same thing is, “When I pushed the ignition button, Auk XXII detonated on the lauchpad, sending shards of steel deep into the slack and a boil of greenish-white smoke into the air.”

I liked it because it was very different compared to the other books I usually read. When I first picked up the book, I was very doubtful that I would like it, but in the end it turned out not to be so bad. It wasn’t at all like I thought it would be, and in all truths, I didn’t’ even know what it was about when I first picked it up. Overall though I enjoyed it, but I would only recommend it to people who enjoy books non-fiction books about science, and rockets.

The "Night Circus", a World of Wonder and Mystery

"The circus arrives without warning." are the opening words of "The Night Circus" by Erin Morgenstern. So simple, yet holding a world of power within them. Five simple words, and your imagination goes everywhere possible, pulling you along with it. But what is the Night Circus? The Night Circus weaves a new world into your mind, as the story winds along, telling of circus tents filled with Ice Gardens, Wishing Trees, and Cloud Mazes. I absolutely loved "The Night Circus" and the uniqueness of it.
Never before had I read a book like "Night Circus", but I couldn't have loved it more. My favorite character in it was Celia. I loved her because she is different, and I love that she is an illusionist. Ever since I was a little kid I was picking out books filled with magic. Magic has fascinated me since I was little, and I only wish it were possible for the magic in "Night Circus" to be real, or the circus in it to be real.
At times, I was confused about what was going on in the story, because it would tell one part of the story from inside the circus, and then switch to a new character outside of the circus. It was confusing in parts, but when you kept reading, the different stories combined into one single stream of events as the book ended.
Of the tents in "Night Circus"  my favorite was the Ice Garden. It was my favorite because I think it would be way cool to be able to walk through a circus tent filled with a garden made of Ice. I would stay there for hours just watching the way the light would reflect off of the petals of the flowers and the ground even. It would put me almost into a trance because of it's beauty.
One of my favorite parts in the book was when Celia and Marco first meet each other. It was my favorite because I loved the simplicity of the meeting. The meeting started with a simple mistake when Celia grabbed the wrong umbrella, which was Marco's and Marco realizes she took his umbrella and goes to retrieve it. They exchange their umbrella's and go on their way, unaware of the events that will happen in the near future, it's almost ironic that the first time they meet is so simple, and the relationship between the two of them is not.

The name of the circus is "Le Cirque des Reves" which means "the circus of dreams", which is exactly what it is. I love the creativity put into the book, and the idea of the circus itself. I only wish it were real, so I could go and visit it and experience the same things as the "reveur"s of the circus, who were the "extreme fans" of the circus.
Overall I loved the book, and I would definitely recommend it to people. However, I would only recommend it to people who like books about magic, and fantasies, and don't have trouble believing the strange and unknown. It was a very unique book, and I have now added it to my list of favorite books. I would definitely read it again.

The Talisman

I read The Talisman by Stephen King and Peter Straub over the summer and into august. I thought I would post my review here.

Imagine being able to travel to a parallel universe just with one little thought. People all over the world would take the chance to escape their lives for even just a minute, and if traveling to a different world was the way to do it, then so be it.What would happen though? What horrors or miracles would you find? Stephen Kind and Peter Straub make you ask yourself these questions as you read the Talisman. Would you wreck havoc by traveling to this other world? what would you find?

King and Straub launched me into the Talisman at full speed, with their enticing tales of the Territories weaving more and more curiosity into my mind. Once I got through the first few chapters it became extremely hard to put the book down, whether it was so I could go to bed or because I needed to pay more attention in my science class, it was very hard to tear the words from my mind. It captivate me one-hundred percent.

When I started reading the Talisman because of a suggestion from my mom and sister, I had no idea what type of book it was, or what I was going to be reading. I thought that it would be hard to get into, boring, and that I wouldn't like it. I thought all of this only because my mom and sister had been begging me to read it for years. I was completely wrong about the book.

I read the first words completely clueless over what to expect. "On September 15th, 1981, a boy named Jack Sawyer stood where the water and the land come together, hands in the pockets of his jeans, looking out at the steady Atlantic." They're simple words, but they're the first words in the book. The very first thing the reader will know about the story. It's basically the most important part of the book. Well... that and the ending of course.

I loved how King and Straub weaved the tale of a twelve year old boy's sorrows and his trials as he traveled across the country to save his mother who was suffering from cancer. They managed to take you into the story, right on the pages of the book. In part of the book it says, "It occurred to him..." (Jack) "... That you could only express your ownership of a thing in terms of how freely you could give it up..." The book took you into the eyes of a twelve year old dealing with the life of an adult. I don't think they could've done better.

While it is an amazing book, I was a little disappointed here and there. First, I had a hard time getting into the book, no I don't think that is necessarily the authors fault, I'd just never read anything quite like it.

(Spoiler alert!)

Second, my favorite character, Wolf, died . It tore my heart into pieces when he was shot. I cried through the whole chapter. I felt as though I had gotten to know him, and like I was losing a friend. Now, I know that it sounds really weird and crazy, but it's true. I think that's the one spot that I could not be more upset about, but it needed to happen for the outcome of the story. Who knows what would've happened if he hadn't died. The whole story could've and probably would've changed.

So while at one point I may have wanted to stop reading because my favorite character died, or because I was having a hard time getting trough some chapters, I am so glad I read this book. It changed my opinion and my outlook on some things, and gave me one more world to add to my "personal" collection. I would definitely recommend this to people.

Every book you read is going to be frustrating at parts, and you just have to get through them, or you may not get to the real treasure underneath.

A Whisper Away

My feet pounded against the earth beneath me ferociously, sending me further away from the predator. I had to get away.  I heard branches snapping and leaves crunching in the wake of my pursuer, each thunderous step getting closer and closer. I shoved branches out of my way, just to have them swing right back at me. I stumbled through the thick  under-growth, each slithering root trying to snag my feet as I ran. It was difficult, but I wasn’t about to give up. Trees flew past me as I dodged them left and right. While I ran my mind wandered for a fraction of a second, wondering why I had been stupid enough to leave the trail, and then there wasn’t any flat ground beneath my feet. Instead, a dangerously steep slope covered with broken branches and large threatening rocks rolled beneath me.

            The world began to spin, a blur of broken colors. Nothing made sense. I couldn’t figure out which way was up or which way was down. As I tumbled down onto the slope, I heard the creature skid to a stop at the top of the treacherous slope, sending several branches and rocks sliding down the hillside.  A cry escaped my chest as a sharp fallen branch pierced into my side. Nothing seemed to slow me down. It felt as though I hit every single obstacle possible on my fall. Finally, I came to a thudding stop at the bottom. I felt blood trickling down my face, and my entire body ached from the painful fall. At least the creature that had been chasing me was gone, I thought.

            Tears poured down my face. Sharp raspy breaths burst from my chest. Nobody would notice that I had wandered off, and if they did notice no one would care. “Curiosity killed the cat.” My dad would always tell me. Now my curiosity would kill me, I would die here, and there was nothing I could do about it. If I had just stayed on the main trail of the forest none of this would have happened. Gosh, why had I been so stupid? Always ignoring what my parents said, what everybody said. I began to search the forest floor for my backpack but there wasn’t a single trace of it; I must have lost it on the hill. I reached up to my neck to grab my whistle, but it had disappeared too. “I’m lost, with no food, no water, no supplies, and no way out. I’m going to die in this awful place.” My thoughts began to haunt me. How would I get out of here?

                                                                      *******

Earlier that morning:

I worked on finishing getting ready for school, I glanced at my clock and was surprised to see that it read 7:00 A.M. and my school, Jordan Rivers Junior High, started in twenty minutes. I hear my dad yelling at me from the kitchen, "Shyanne! Get down here now. You're going to be late for school!" I quickly finished packing my backpack with things I would need on the field trip, and ran downstairs. I hugged my dad goodbye, and then ran out the door to catch the bus as it drove up to my stop. Right as we got to school we switched buses to go to Deschutes National Forest for our field trip. The field trip was a wildlife exploration trip, I really didn't want to go, but my dad wouldn't let me skip, he said that it would be good for me to learn something about nature. 

When we got to the forest it was 12:00 P.M., we got off the bus and our teacher, Mr. Hansen, called everyone to his attention and begin to speak, “Students, I know you are all very excited and anxious to get moving but there are some rules we need to go over first. Rule number one; always stay with the class as a group or with at least one other person. Rule number two, always stay on the path. We don’t want anyone to get lost today. Rule number three, if you are lost stay put and blow on your whistles, which I will begin to pass out in a moment. Is everyone clear on the rules?” The class mumbled back yes’s and nodded their heads. After he passed out the whistles, I decided I was tired of the lectures. So I decided to do some exploring of my own. I left the group, and walked off the path, into the forest. As I walked off I just managed to catch Mr. Hansen’s last words:

“Alright students,” He said “Your free to go, and don’t forget that you need to be back on the bus by two o’clock.”

            While I walked my tennis shoes hooked underneath old tree roots, nearly tripping me every time. Branches would slap me in the face, and bushes would scratch my legs with their vicious thorns and sharp sticks. After a few minutes of the difficult trek I decided that I should probably go back. When I turned around to go back to the group, I couldn’t figure out which direction I had come from. I began to panic. What if I was lost? What if they couldn’t hear me? Did they even notice I had left? I was trying to calm myself down when I heard a low growling noise. It sounded like it came from directly behind me. I didn’t even turn around. I just ran.

********

            That’s how I came to be in this cold, muddy, miserable place. My head still pounded with pain, and my vision was blurry. I must have hit a rock or something when I fell down the slope. Oh well, I knew I had to do something soon. I slowly and carefully stood up, then started walking in the opposite direction of the slope I had tumbled down only minutes ago.

While I was walking I thought about my mom, she would know what to do. I wished she could be here with me, instead of buried in Greenwood Cemetery. If only that drunk driver hadn’t drank as much, or left the bar a little later. No, nothing could change that she had been dead for over six years now; I had to get over it. I cleared my mind of my mom and kept walking.

            After walking for a while I began to get thirsty, my tongue felt like sandpaper in my mouth, and after crying my throat felt raw. When I had not known what to look for, other than a way out, it was misery. Filled with a little bit of fresh hope, and eagerness to complete my goal, I started walking once again, this time in search of water.

            As the sun began to set in the west I heard the trickling of a stream. I began to walk faster, eager to get to the water. I ran to the edge of the stream, dipped my hand in and splashed my face. The water felt cool and refreshing as each drop hit my skin. I then dipped my mouth into the water, taking several mouthfuls at once. I drank until I felt like I would explode. With my stomach satisfied, and feeling tired, I wearily crawled over to a bush and slept.

Day 2

            When I woke up I was cold, sore, and caked in mud. I felt like I had been hit by a truck, rolled in mud, then stuck in a freezer. It took me a minute to remember where I was, and what had happened. When I did I felt like crying again. I struggled to hold back tears of pain and fear as I stood up. I walked over to the stream, and took a drink. After drinking I began to explore the edge of the stream.

            While I walked my stomach growled loudly, a reminder that I hadn’t eaten since yesterday morning. I saw a bush with red berries on it and decided to try them. They couldn’t hurt me, right? Oh well, my hunger won this time, not caution. I put one in my mouth and when I bit down the berry made a small “Pop!” and then it burst in my mouth. It tasted sour, but right now I didn’t care. After eating all the berries I could find on the bush I kept walking, looking for a way out.

            After what felt like a few hours later, I was still walking. The stream had dried up a long time ago, and my feet were beginning to hurt. Now I wandered aimlessly, hoping desperately to escape this place. The sun rose to its highest point in the sky, and began to slowly bake me in its rays. “I’m never going to find my way out of here. I’ll die here. Every hour I’m getting more and more lost.” I said to myself, no longer bothering to keep my thoughts in my head. So I decided to try what I had always been taught when I was little, to stay put if you’re lost. I sat down on the wet muddy ground and waited.

            The sun began to set and I was still waiting. Nothing had happened, other than my stomach feeling like someone had turned it inside-out and upside-down. Why was my stomach upset? Was it the water? Maybe it was because I hadn’t eaten anything since the berries this morning. Wait, the berries! That’s it! They must have had something in them that upset my stomach.

            My stomach lurched, and even the very thought of taking another step sent thoughts of surrendering into my mind. Tonight, I would stay here. I found a large tree with several bushes surrounding it, crawled underneath them, and fell asleep.

Day 3

            I slowly struggled out of my sleep. I felt like I had become an iron boot, dragged through wet concrete. It felt impossible. As I struggled to wake up, I felt something cold hitting my face. I finally managed to open my eyes, and I saw dark thunder clouds overhead with rain pouring out of them. I sat up, and quickly discovered that I was freezing. As I looked all around me I realized that a puddle of water had pooled around me.

            I opened my mouth to catch some rain, then I heard a voice “Shyanne! Shyanne where are you?”

I didn’t recognize the voice but I responded anyway, willing to take any chance to get out of this torturous place. “Hello? I’m over here!” I yelled back to the mysterious voice. Who was calling out for me? Did they send out search parties? No, they couldn’t have already discovered that I was missing, could they? It didn’t matter now, people knew that I was here, and they were coming to save me.

            In a few minutes they were close enough that I could hear their footsteps. I sank to my knees, and began to cry. Holding my head in my hands, I was filled with relief that this horrible nightmare would finally be over. I could finally go home. I stood up and started walking towards the sound of the footsteps. I called to whoever was there, “who are you?” my voice cracked as I spoke but I knew they heard and understood what I said.

 “I’m detective Alexis Jones, we’ve been looking for you for two days now! Shyanne, where are you?” Detective Jones yelled back.

 “I’m over here!” I managed to yell through my sobs. Finally I saw them, about five or ten people that I could see, and they were all looking for me.

            I saw my dad in the front of a group, followed by detective Jones' crew, and I ran over to him. My muscles which had been tense for so long began to loosen as he wrapped me in a warm, familiar, bear hug. I couldn’t hold back the tears that streamed down my face, but these were tears of happiness, and relief. He held me tightly in his arms, telling me over and over again, in his sweet calming voice, that it's okay, that everything was going to be okay, that I was safe, and that soon, I would be home.

Finding Different Perspectives

When The Help came out as a movie, my family and I was so excited to see the movie of the book we new and loved. It's been a constant topic around the house since we heard that it was becoming a movie. Somewhere in the book it said something along the lines of " if you are in a hard patch in life, try to find a different perspective" Now that is a very bad recitation of the quote, but I couldn't find it elsewhere. Lately I've been talking to one of my friends who has been going through a rough time, and it makes me realize how lucky I am to have such a great family who loves and supports me in every way. Everyday I read posts from people on a website called Gives Me Hope that has posts from people who have seen or witnessed an inspirational event. I always get really sad when I get to the end of the page or to posts that I have already read. One post that I read recently said: 

                                        "My roommate, who is struggling to even

                                         buy food went on a run yesterday.

                                         When she got back I noticed she didn't

                                         have the sweatshirt she was wearing

                                         when she left.

                                         I asked her where it went,she said she

                                         came across a homeless man and that a 

                                         5 mile run in the cold is nothing

                                         compared to a night in it.

                                         Her love and compassion for others GMH."

Reading this website makes me realize that maybe the world isn't as bad as we always see on the news. It makes me realize that maybe one day we won't have to hear about wars or crimes. Reading this website everyday GMH that one day we can change our world to be a better safer place for everyone.

Back to the main subject of this blog though, this website can really change your perspective on life, whether it is raising your appreciation for you family, your home, your friends, or your community, it really does change you.

As I'm writing this blog post, I'm watching 'Extreme Makeover: Home Edition' with my family. In the episode a family in New York has 2 kids. One of their kids was born with dwarfism, but the Korpai's house was not safe for Hailey, their daughter with dwarfism. Ty Pennington and his crew built a house for them that was safe for their daughter. The Korpai family started a program for raising awareness about dwarfism, called "Understanding Dwarfism", and Ty Pennington and his crew made it possible for them to continue their awareness program, and invite others into their home for "Understanding Dwarfism" events. The Korpais now have a much safer home for their daughter. If you want to learn more about dwarfism, visit their website here.

Everyday, somewhere someone loses their best friend, their mom, their sibling, their dad. Our world is surronded with loss, but with things like Gives Me Hope, and Kids Give Me Hope, and Love Gives Me Hope each day can be made just a little bit easier for someone who may be going through a rough time.

Photography? I Think Yes.

Several years ago on Christmas I woke up eagerly with my sisters and ran up the stairs to see what Santa had brought us that year. Looking around the room I saw a giant remote control car sitting on top of the pantry for Abby, a beautiful easel for Carley, Rockband for Emily, a stereo for Madi, and sitting in the corner of the room right next to the front door was a little box wrapped in Santa Clause wrapping paper. At my mom's permission, we all ran to the gifts adorned with our names. (except for Abby who had to wait for her's to be brought down from the top of the pantry. She just got to gaze up at it for the time being.) We all tore into the wrapping paper/ boxes, and I just stared at the little box in my hands. I couldn't believe what I was looking at, the one object I had been asking about for years, a brand new bright pink camera. (Now at the time pink was my absolute favorite color, I was about 7.) I eagerly and quickly opened up the box and pulled out the camera and began to take pictures and play with the settings as fast as possible.

As the morning progressed I still had my camera out snapping hundreds and hundreds of pictures, having no idea what I was doing, until the memory filled up. Later that day I plugged it into the computer and begin to fiddle with the different settings for uploading the pictures. Ever since that Christmas when I got my camera, I have loved photography. (Although there was a time when I barely took any pictures)

In the past year or so, two of my sisters have been trying to make their own photography business, and since then have been pretty successful. They're going to be doing their first wedding soon, and are working on improving their pictures as well using different tools and techniques. I guess you could say photography runs in my family considering the fact that my mom worked as a photographer for a little while. 

About a month or so ago, just a few weeks after school had started, and I had begun to bring my camera to class. (The very same camera I had gotten so many years ago for Christmas) Sadly, after those first few weeks, I misplaced my camera, and to this day, I don't know if it was at home or at school. I have missed my old camera a lot, but my loving sisters bought me a knew one, and I've been learning how to use it since. I still miss my old camera a lot, but I am very grateful to my sisters for buying me a new one that I am beginning to know and love.

Now that I am in a photography class I am learning new tips and tricks to take better pictures, and how to edit them as well. Anyway, here are some of the pictures I've taken in the past month or so, whether as a photography assignment, or just because I wanted to. All the pictures below were taken and edited by me.

 This picture I took in Boston, MA. I didn't have a specific reason to take it but I did,and I think it turned out cool

This was an assignment for photography. We were supposed to use "Kodak's top ten tips"

I think it turned out pretty cool, but I've done better.

This was also taken as an assignment for photography. I saw a box of baseballs, so why wouldn't I take a picture of them?

 This one was really hard to edit, because editing each individual strand of grass on

the baseball plate was really painstaking, but I think the finished result is cool.

 This is another one of my pictures from Boston. This was just a street corner we

drove past that I thought looked cool, so I snapped a picture of it.

 Just a flower I saw during one of our many activities in Boston.

This picture I actually took a few years ago, but I decided to go back through and edit.

All I really did was change the contrast. I took this in Moab, UT at Dead Horse Point.

I love how this one looks like the dandelion is floating in the clouds.

I just saw the reflection of the clouds in the puddle and thought it would look

cool with a dandelion in it. After a little bit of editing, it was perfect.

This picture is one of my all time favorites that I've done recently. I was just walking around my

backyard and picked up a flower and some leaves to use as a backdrop. I think it turned out well.

This picture was taken at Louisa May Alcott's House in Boston, MA. It is the knocker and

bell on the front door. I love that the knocker is a lion.

This was taken from the field of my school, and it was a pretty hard shot to get considering

the traffic on the road, and of course the distance. You can't really tell, but I also edited some

power lines out of the picture as well.

 This was one of the first pictures I took when I got my second camera and was 

playing around with the macro. I love the contrast of the bee and the flower.

This was just a little flower I saw growing in the middle of a field and thought would make

a cool picture. I think I was mostly right.

 This picture was originally taken on one of my old phones, hence the bad quality.

It was a sunset at Pineview Reservoir, And I just tried to brighten the color a little bit. 

Not quite sure it worked so well though.

I've seen pictures of really cool leaves covered with water droplets and I wanted to imitate that,

so I choose a Hosta leaf because they are huge, and it of course, had water drops on it.

This was part of an assignment for photography. The assignment was that we had to

take four pictures of things in the classroom. This was one of them.

This was another one of my pictures for the assignment of things in the classroom.

Also one of my all time favorites. It's a simple sink fauset turned very eye catching by messing around with the contrast of the photo.

Another one of the "items in a room" assignment. I wanted a black and white picture of a chair, and I got one. I think it turned out pretty well.

I loved the bark on this tree and how curly it was, so I took a picture and then played with some editing tools.

This was another one of my pictures where I just walked around my backyard, picked up some objects, and then arranged them and took a picture. In case you're wondering, the odd texture in the background is the mat of a trampoline.

This one I think is my absolute all time favorite. I love how the water and the sky look like paper, giving the whole picture a very... Artistic look. I don't think I could love this picture more.

This picture came about quite oddly. I found this flower, then walked around the backyard wondering where I should take a picture of it. As I was walking by a tree I was blinded by the sun, and then thought it would be really cool to get the sun spot behind the flower, but with the leaves in the tree as a backdrop. So i stuck the flower it a branch and wiggled it around until it stayed so I could take the picture.