Less now, more then.

College applications are out... and now it's time to start trekking up senior year. It seems like everyone is really starting to feel it now. Isabel has to get a bunch of essays turned in for a Naval Academy scholarship by the beginning of August... yikes.
I can still remember some of the summers from past years. Doubtless, I spent about half of my summers in Louisiana but a lot of them were just spent in Vacaville, hanging out on trampolines and having lemonade stands. One time, we had too many kids in the neighborhood manning the lemonade stand so I told my friend we didn't have enough chairs or some other reason (so we could hoard the dimes for ourselves, we knew how math worked). She proceeded to go inside her house, grab a chair for herself, and set up a competing business two doors down from us--selling milk.
There were a lot of good memories there, especially when they had the best community pool since Waterworld (remember that, anyone? Anyone?). There are some places, kind of like Disneyland, where it's not quite as unreal and magical as it was when you were 5 and believed anything, but simply the fact that you can remember the feeling keeps you in awe for the rest of your life. I want to go back to that pool sometime this summer, and see if that basic formula can be applied there.

OH MY GOSH

Well a few days have passed but I'm soooooo excited because I actually passed my AP US test!! And with a 4!!! Ahhhhhh I thought I'd get a 2 haha, but I'm so excited :):) And Justin, congrats! Of course we all knew you would get a 5 on AP US, but all the same I'm happy for ya! But my main point is we still need more ideas for next year! Thank you Emily for always reading the blogs and helping out :) But whoever is reading this, encourage your friends to contact us on Facebook because I'll guarantee I'm on a few times a week, and I'm sure Amanda is on even more, our Facebook queen :) haha, but that would be the best way for them to get their opinions heard, thus getting a more enjoyable paper! Thank you thank you! Hope everyone is doing well and relaxing.

Some of What Ive Done This Summer

So far, it has been a really nice summer break for me. I definitely am relieved that the school year is finally over and I can focus on other things besides the stress of school. Near the beginning of the summer, I volunteered at my church in a VBS week-long summer camp titled "Breakaway to the Great Frontier." With the western theme, kids from preschool to 6th grade participated in activites with their small group, including rally(fun worship songs and a play), recreation, arts and crafts, and other activites with their small group. I helped out in arts and crafts and it was an unforgettable experience. It was my first year helping out, and I probably help out as a small group leader next year. Other than that, I have been enjoying my summer sleeping in, hanging out with friends, some homework(unfortunately), shopping, more time with family, and the nice weather. I can't believe summer break is already half over!

Finally!!!!

First off, I hope everyone's doing well, my summer has been pretty good so far. Pretty much been hanging out, doing absolutely nothing with my time besides watching the Star Wars marathon thing on Spike. It's so much better in high def. I gotta say, there is definitely something to be said for a total lack of productivity, I mean, for the first time in a long time, I have enough time to get more than 8 hours of sleep a night, it feels REALLY GOOD! I have just started my community service for the summer and that requires that I get up at 6:45 in the morning =( , and that cuts down on that sleep I was talking about, but I guess I'll be OK.
At any rate, on to the main topic. AP scores are here!! YAY. I was really worried for there for a long time, there was some iffiness on all three of my tests, some essays that did not go as well as planned, but it turned out alright. I passed them all, and that's always good news. Got a 5 on my APUS test, and that feels very, very nice. Well, hope you all did well on whatever tests you may have taken. Keep on having an awesome summer.

ohhh blogging

i love it. i love to read them more though. thanks to victoria's posts and the muffinman's i am highly entertained. what am i doing right now? you might be asking yourself. well, im getting lost in the world of a MAC computer. im in love with it! they're so much more fun than everything else.

while im not in pennsylvania, or even outside of rocklin, i must say im also having a great summer...well, 95% of it is.

fourth of july was the best so far, but just having so much time to meet a bunch of new people, to relax or keep myself busy with friends and get out of the house has been nice. getting two paychecks every two weeks doesnt hurt either :).

i havent done any homework yet besides this and thats because i dont have any of the books i need checked out from the school library xD. ill have to borrow from a friend but that probably wont happen til august anyways.

my faaaaavorite thing that i've done so far is completely decorating my room with the help of my mom. it was all white

walls, white desk, a wooden nightstand. now, we've painted the remaining wall around my closet a super dark brown,

and switched out my 3 sliding closet doors for blue curtains, bought a new bed set, stenciled paisley pattern on the other

wall and a dark brown wooden entertainment center.

yay :)

Why I love the summer.

Even though summer is not so wonderful as far as the volume of work you have to get done (it's not so much a vacation as much as an extended school night), it does offer me many, many hours in which I can finally catch up on my Oscar-winning movie list. I can remember growing up and watching the Academy Awards ceremony every single year with my mom and dad, but secretly loathing the fact that I'd only seen one or two movies per category. The sad truth is that 75% of those movies that the Academy deems to be Oscar-worthy all seem to fall under the "age 17+" domain. And now, as a 17 year old, there is suddenly a bevy of new movies to watch... and conquer (haha?).
Some of my findings include Pretty Woman (it was entertaining, but not AMAZING), Schindler's List (incredible), The Shawshank Redemption, Jerry Maguire, American Beauty (creepy), Quills (!), Erin Brockovich, Capote, and Babel (wonderful).
There are still a few on my list. Even though my parents would let me watch R-rated movies before, there's something to be said for the sense of entitlement you feel being able to watch them as a 17-year-old.

Long time no blog!

Well well well, it's been too long! I can't believe how fast summer has already gone by, and I have to say, I'm starting to miss RHS already. Not to mention M5. I've updated the facebook a few times about ideas for next year, and of course Amanda has as well. But I would love to know from all of you staffers, who I am assuming will blog soon, what you think about this coming year's issues and things about the paper and web week that we can improve right from the start! A very talked about issue: What about post secret? Maybe we should do a version of FML stories, or like Nichols said MLS (my life sucks)! Anyone feel free to comment. Oh and I almost forgot! I've actually been working on different designs for The Flash staff t-shirts, and always get to a certain point and get caught. Does anyone have any ideas? And what color do you guys think they should be? Pllllleassseee let me know, because I'd love to have an idea once crazy school starts and want everyone to love them :) I've pretty much been hanging out, going to Fresno to visit family, and going to Santa Barbara to check out schools, so not much excitement here. I'll probably visit Cal Poly in a few weeks and go back to Fresno, but besides that I'm just enjoying the break! Can't wait to read all of the blogs from the new and returning staffers, and don't be shy to comment about what you envision for next year! Talk to you all soon :)