Quotes

I am absolutely obsessed with quotes. I find inspiration in the smallest of places, and it just amazes me that a person can say or document a few words and they can completely transform your way of thinking and perspective. It has always been my hobby to find quotes that I love and live by them. I have countless journals full of quotes and my room is scattered with inspirational messages that help me get through the stresses of daily life, however large they may be. I focus on quotes that are about life in general and living life to its fullest. I fully believe that every moment is a gift and needs to be embraced. It’s a difficult concept to grasp when there are so many other things going on in life that cloud what is really important. I know that I personally take things for granted when my mind is focused somewhere else. I stress about my AP Calc assignment rather than remaining calm and realizing that there is more to life and that as long as I work as hard as I can, everything will turn out fine. It’s hard to eliminate negativity completely since life is full of trying times and is not all rainbows and butterflies all the time. However, I think it is extremely important to find happiness in the smallest of things. Finding the beauty in the sunshine, or the roof over my head, or even the fact that I was able to wake up this morning to a brand new day full of opportunity are just examples of what brings me happiness even when I am stressing. Quote time: “And above all, watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places. Those who don’t believe in magic will never find it.” – Roald Dahl

It’s extremely difficult. But life quotes help keep me grounded and not get overwhelmed by stress and negativity so that I am able to find the happiness within even the smallest aspects of life. One of my favorites: “Being happy doesn’t mean that everything is perfect. It means that you’ve decided to look beyond the imperfections.” :)

Chronic Boredom

There is actually a condition called Chronic Boredom. It is when people are easily and always bored. It is believed that people on pain medication get easily bored because they develop a higher tolerance for pleasure. Some psychologists believe that with all the visual media, humans are not able to explore their own interests and get easily bored as a result. It has also been identified that chronically bored people have "difficulty in describing or identifying feelings, distinguishing between bodily sensations and feelings, and an inhibited inner emotional and fantasy life." Courtesy of Scientific American.
It also makes me think that boredom has a direct relation with patience.
Anyway, I just thought that was interesting. There hasn't been a lot of research put into it and psychologists can't pinpoint exactly where and why boredom strikes but maybe in the upcoming decades...

Week Two

It's only my second week back from summer and I'm already exhausted. I'm taking a couple of hard classes but I'm not tired from staying up late doing homework. I'm tired because I am constantly staying up late to relax and procrastinate. This doesn't make much sense considering I don't have much homework yet, but I guess I'm still not used to getting up early and not eating whenever I want. I am always hungry by third block because I'm used to being able to graze in my fridge whenever I feel like it. It's strange how some classes are already giving work every night (like Precal) and some still haven't given any (Honors LA). I guess I still have to get used to being back at school. (I also found out recently that Precalculus/Trigonometry is now an Honors course, this freaks me out a little because that means it's going to be difficult but at least I'm getting honors credit now.)

Then there's this drama with the I Love Boobies bracelets. In my opinion some people at school probably are just wearing them because they say boobies, but many people are legitimately wearing them to support the Keep A Breast Foundation to find a cure for breast cancer. I personally don't think that the bracelets should be banned. In all honesty it's an insult to the maturity of high schoolers to ban them, by banning them the school is really saying that all of the people wearing them are doing it because they think its funny or popular and not to help find a cure. I'm not sure if the school banned them because they consider them inappropriate, or degrading to women but it really is an overreaction on both sides. There's no need to ban them, and there's no need to freak out now that they've been banned.

Five Year Anniversary of Huricane Katrina

Today is the five year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina pounding the coast of the Southern United States. I was watching the Today show this morning, where they ran a story showing footage from the disaster. The videos of people huddled together in the SuperDome, paddling through the flooded streets, and trying to get supplies from the tops of roofs, brought back the memories like it was yesterday. Although I was only ten years old, this experience made a life-changing impact on me. Seeing the intense struggle was so different than anything I had ever been exposed to before. It opened up my eyes to how big the world really is, and how many things could be going wrong. I remember questioning why relief took so long to get to these people in the gulf, and now I am still questioning why the region is still in such distress.

Although there are still problems in the city of New Orleans, and all throughout the Gulf Coast because of this hurricane, I feel like most people are optimistic about the reconstruction. With help from the mayor and celebrities, like football superstar, Drew Brees, the city is slowly but surely making its way back to how it used to be. I think the key to the reconstruction of the city is to remember that even today, five years later, people are still feeling the horrible affects of the Hurricane and that with a little help from everyone, the Gulf can be rebuilt.

Paper Doesn't Do a License Justice

Well, today I got my real license, and just in time, because I lost my paper license a couple of days ago. There's just something awesome about having your actual license, the card that is. Though, of course, now I'm much more legally responsible... a mixed blessing? Getting my license really makes it seem like childhood is over. I've passed that ultimate threshold of adulthood. I don't know, I have two more years before being an actual "adult", but when do we really become adults? All I know is, I'm loving this :)

Truth...?

Today in AP english, we had a very profound discussion about truth. Is there really such thing as truth in the world? Does it even matter? Many said that truth is a form of bonding, a way to bring people together through trust and honesty. Others believed that it was based on opinions. Every story has a different truth, based on perspective, and facts, such as 'the sky is blue' are truth. But when it comes down to it, are facts even truth or are they just commonly agreed upon and accepted ideas?
I personally think that the actual meaning cannot be understood by the human mind. Thinking about it just hurts my brain...but what I have come up with is the opinion that truth is just a word to be applied to things that one believes are real. There is no such thing as universal truth, as each person has their own opinion and, therefore their own truth. This being said, truth seems unimportant. If each person has their own perspective, no one will have the same truth, so this makes me question how valuable the truth is. However, I believe that honesty is necessary. I think that honesty is different than truth, because it involves not lying or embellishing your opinion. It means that you must tell exactly what happened or what you believe; being straightforward and conveying your perspective to someone else.
This is such a confusing topic...but I hope it gives you something to think about! :)

Its still August?

Remember when the whole of pre-Labor Day schooling was dedicated to teacher introductions and those "find someone who..." type things, saving the assignments and work for September? A glance at the little clock on my screen and my binder full of work inform me that those days are long past. (That's your cue, July of 2011).

The Sacramento Bee Is Ready For Some Thunder

At Rocklin High School, we have many things to be proud of. Our campus is one filled with the solid support of our students and staff (as shown by the immediate outrage at last year's vandalism). But one thing that really inspires the Thunder pride is our athletics, and as our fall football season rapidly approaches, we are not the only ones recognizing the Rocklin team as a threat.

In the Sacramento Bee "High School Sports Preview-- Top 20 Football Teams", we are ranked number 4. Our quarterback, Jimmy Laughrea, is described as, "healthy and ready for another season." Now, as much as we dominate the ranking of our neighbor Whitney High School (they come in at number 13), we still come in behind our rival, Del Oro (who ranks at number 3). The name of Rocklin High School has certainly been boosted in the ranks thanks to last year's outstanding season, but we are expected to live up not only to our own standards, but those of others' as well.

But no matter what the rankings, it all comes down to how our team finishes in the end. So I pose a question to you readers: Are you ready for another mind-blowing football season???

The Weekend

Most people look foward to Friday night much more than Monday morning. I was looking up why we had a two day weekend, instead of the one Sunday that we had many years ago. It's because the labor union wanted to accomodate Jewish workers who wanted to take Saturday as their Sabbath instead of the usual Sunday.
Then, in the late 20's, the Almagamated Clothing Workers of America, a labor union, demanded a five day work week instead of a six day work week, and they recieved it. Soon after, the rest of the USA followed.

Nearing a Mental Breakdown

AP Calculus is suicide.

So, I'm a math person. I seriously enjoy math. But we're barely a week in, and I know that Calculus is going to change this.

No offense to the teacher, but I just do not click with her style of teaching. Both freshman and sophomore year I had Waechtler, and I really thrived in both Adv. Algebra 2 and Precal, probably partly due to his teaching. He was very organized and wrote everything out, whereas my teacher now makes it hard to keep up.

Last night I nearly had a breakdown while doing my homework. I reached such a point of frustration and mental exhaustion, I wanted to crawl up in a ball and never see a math problem again.

This is going to be quite a year :(

I Love Boobies?

Today in class, we discussed the issue of the "I Love Boobies" bracelets that everyone seems to be wearing. Honestly, I thought these bracelets were awesome at first but now they are getting annoying. It's great that people are supporting the cause, but now people are wearing them just to wear them.
In my opinion, people should not wear them unless they truly know the meaning behind it. I see little 7th graders wearing them and they don't even know what the bracelets represent. People are forgetting the meaning.

First Week of Senior year done

I don't know if anyone else felt it, but that Tuesday going back to school...I did not want to go back to school, sure you get to see your friends and all but I had already seen my friends over the summer so to me there was no motivation...haha. Another reason why I didn't want to go back is going to bed earlier...this summer I had been going to bed around 2 am and getting up around 10 or 11....now I have to get up around 6:30 am. Not fun. Basically this week was just long and tiring and I'm glad that I am able to sleep in this weekend. I wish it was already Thanksgiving break.....Ok one of the good things about being a senior is leaving early, I really like the idea of having only 3 classes a day and being the oldest in the school. Hopefully next week I will adjust to school, but for now I'm just glad its the weekend.

The Pursuit of Happiness

For the summer homework for my AP psych class we had to read a book on happiness. We got to choose from three different books and I chose one called Happier: Learn the Secrets to Daily Joy and Lasting Fulfillment. I was actually pretty excited to read this book, not that I am an unhappy person, but I thought it would be interesting.

I did not enjoy this book, at all.

I found this book informative but don’t see how it could help someone find happiness. I think that he talks a lot about how happy people function, but not enough about how unhappy people can begin a lifestyle that functions like a happy person. The parts that I did enjoy about the book were the exercises that concluded each chapter. Each exercise made me think and allowed me to reflect on what was discussed in the chapter. So although this book provided me with some knowledge and insight, I did not find that it made me any happier like the inside flap promised.

I Have Not Learned Yet

That procrastination is detrimental should be a given. However, for some, like me, it is not so straightforward. For those like me, it is known that procrastination is very very bad, yet some way, somehow, we always end up in those sticky situations that force us to do everything at the last minute. This often gives off the appearance of procrastination, which never hesitates to rear its ugly head and bite you in the buttocks given half a chance.

For those of you who have not learned, procrastination is indeed ruinous young ones. It is far more beneficial to get everything done in a timely manner. So don't be one of those people who procrastinate all the time. I say this with the utmost sincerity and gravity.

To those of you who never procrastinate. Bravo, bravo, and kudos to you. I hate you. Just kidding, it is very good of you to not be a dirty rotten procrastinator. You are truly ahead in this life and the good work ethic you must already have will suit you well throughout life.

Even though I am doing this late at night, the day before the assignment is due, and I've had all summer to do this. I hope you do not assume this to be procrastination, for it is not so. This is the work of delicate planning for an article about procrastination at precisely the time procrastinators would be doing their work.

If you have gleaned any information from this blog, or learned anything. Then may I say. Bravo, bravo, and kudos to you. Farewell and goodnight.

First Day on the Job

Yesterday I was informed that I would be having my first shift at my new job at Catta Verdera Country Club today at 2:15 sharp. I was ecstatic that I would finally be sending money in for my social security, regardless that the system is corrupt and probably will not benefit me in any way. I arrived at 2:10, but to my dismay I realized that since it was a Bobby Jackson tournament there would be no parking spots available and I would have to park far away only to have to run to work to not be late. I was sweetly surprised to find a nice shady spot under an oak tree waiting there with my name on it, well not literally my name, but still it was a nice spot. I exited the car and marched to the Pro Shop, determined to have a fantastic first day.

The day started off very slow, with a private tour (by private I mean two others accompanying me), and a quick run down on what needed to be done. We actually finished everything we needed to do and had time to spare, wondering why we had been told that today would be hectic. It was probably a laughable sight, for we probably looked so happy that everything was going so well. But then...everyone seemed to finish the eighteenth hole simultaneously, leaving us scrambling to take the carts down to the wash station, where we had to throw away any trash, completely wash it with the hose, dry it off, and park it. Sounds simple enough right? Imagine hundreds of these golf carts, and you will think otherwise.

We worked straight throughout the day, and since we were able to keep what we found (besides valuable of course), we were able to have some nice lemonades and iced teas that were left just for us in the coolers. It certainly helped with the searing sun beating down on our tired bodies with mercilessness known only to Attila the Hun. After all the carts had been washed and parked, we had to move them to park them in their final resting spots for the day. Being a rookie driver of golf carts, they were more like bumper cars for me, which I was able to use to hone my parallel parking skills.

After everything was finally finished, I realized that the moon and stars were out, and when I checked my phone, I saw the time I was leaving; 9:50. My first day was one of the most hectic days for the golf course for the year, and was over seven and a half hours long. Very tiring, yet a very good day, I would not have it any other way. Farewell for now.

Here we go...

It's almost August 17? Well, at least I got my summer homework done.

A Typical Summer Day in the Life of Christian Young

Usually my summer mornings started off with my parents vainly trying to drag me out of bed at the crack of dawn before leaving on their way to work, reminding me to take my siblings to their respective summer camps. With a tremendous effort I would try to get my body out of bed, but no matter how much my mind tried, my body always prevailed and remained stationary.

After getting up, with much resentment and protest from my tired body, I would take a shower, usually lasting ten or so wonderful minutes, and then proceed to brush my teeth, with the ritualistic Listerine after. I would follow up with a quick bossing around of my innocent siblings, and after a quick workout (and much delay), I would finally take them to their camps. However there was never a hindrance from heading out the door.

Upon returning I would usually do my many and arduous chores, as quickly and efficiently as possible, and make plans with my friends. I would usually always be hanging out with one Jessica Rodriguez, either at my house or hers. We would watch movies, interact with the family members, cook, and in general be very lazy. When the time for farewell came, almost always at 10:40 sharp, we would say our goodbyes and part ways.

I would get ready for bed and either play a few video games or watch some t.v., but almost always the latter and I would almost instantly fall fast asleep, only to wake up and begin my fantastically captivating day anew.

Looking forward

So this whole transition from summer to school feels like plain routine now. Sophomore year went by so fast and this summer seemed to go by even faster. I can't even imagine how fast this year will fly by. And I'm actually not dreading coming back to school. I think a huge part of that is because Rocklin is a really great school to be a part of. I'm looking forward to the dances, the football games, making new friends, and strengthening old bonds, and all the things that made both my freshman and sophomore years memorable. I'm even looking forward to the stress! I miss it! Like today I had Link in the morning from 7:00 am to 12:30 pm and then at 3:30 to 5:00 I had golf practice, and I still have some last minute studying I have to stress about(3 tests during the first week - BRING IT! and blogging of course...:). I was exhausted afterwards but it's great having things to do, places to go and people to see. Especially now that I have my license I can get so much done in one day.

I plan to make the most out of this year. Junior year is pretty much the last year to just be able to enjoy high school. Senior year is all about stressing over college app deadlines and scholarships. Seniors are not even on campus for part of the day. So walking on to campus tomorrow morning, I'll bring with me a positive attitude and open mind because my high school experience can only get better from here.

Status Madness

Okay, so I don't know about you, but since when do people have to resort to posting premade statuses instead of actually coming up with something to answer the famous question, "What's on your mind?"?
I log onto Facebook to actually see what's going on with you. I don't want to sit there and 'like' your status just so you'll post something on my wall about me. I don't want to comment a number and have that number represent what I think of you. And I most certainly don't want you to fill in blanks and play a not-well-thought-out game of Mad Libs.
This is just me blabbing about how stupid Facebook is becoming and that I don't want it to turn into a sad form of Myspace. Thoughts?

Goodbye Summer, Hello Senior Year :)

I honestly cannot believe I am going to be a senior already! It feels like just yesterday I was the scared little freshman walking onto the campus for the first time, feeling awkward and out of place. However, senior year is not exactly what I always pictured it to be... Rather than easy classes, I have more difficult classes than I have ever had, more responsibilities, and the dreaded college apps...I am very excited for all of my clubs and my last year of cross country, but at the same time overwhelmed by thinking about writing college essays and focusing on my classes.
I wish I could have realized this is how it would be, earlier than now! So, to everyone who is not a senior...enjoy this time that you have and make the best of it! It is crazy how much I already feel so focused on college and seem to be looking past high school.
That being said, I am more determined to make this a good year! I think we have a fabulous newspaper staff and we can put together an amazing paper :) It is going to be a great year!

Last Day

Well, thus far, it's been a day of ups and downs. Today was supposed to be my last day of sleeping in, however, I was up at 7:15 to get ready to leave for my driving test in Oroville, because I didn't want to wait until the end of September to get my license. Waiting an extra two months is enough, thank you. On the drive there, I opted to be a passenger, so that I might get some more of my homework done. At this point, I have my psychology book done. All I have left is to do is: a couple of journal entries, my critical review, 5 calculus problems, this blog entry, and polishing up on my polyatomics. Oh, and clean my room, get my binder ready, etc. Lovely. Anyhow, my appointment was running 40 minutes behind, and the girl next to me was having a conversation about her pig with her boyfriend. Yes, she was having a conversation about her PIG. She wanted to be sure that it was being well fed while she was at college, because her brother would have to take over the responsibility of his pig and goat, as well as her pig. Right... Then the driver told me it was my turn! I drove the course, nervously, given that I've never driven in Oroville in my life. We pulled back into the DMV, and as I'm parking, he says that I didn't do a thing wrong. I DIDN'T MAKE A SINGLE MISTAKE!! YAY!! (At this point, I drive the car up onto the cement parking space divider...smooth...) On the drive home, the exits were closed, so we had to drive up a few miles so we could come home. Oh yeah, and our car broke down in Sacramento when we took the detour home, so I sat in the Goodyear at the Arden Fair Mall from 12:30 until 4:45, reading my book as quickly as I could while the movie, The Great Escape played. And I had to miss cross-country practice :/ It seems like anytime we need things to run smoothly because we let things get ahead of us, Murphy's Law has to kick into hyper-drive, just to make things interesting. Anyway, I have tons to do, so I hope everyone enjoys their last day of summer. See y'all tomorrow!

Alexandra

All of you know me by Alie. That's what everybody's called me my entire life. But I'm bored with it so I've been thinking about going by my full name, Alexandra. I feel like its such a pretty name. While I was in Spain I asked everybody I met to call me that and I loved the way it sounded. And ever since, when I've met new people, I have introduced myself as Alexandra. But would my close friends be willing to try to call me Alexandra? Can I pull off a name-change halfway through highschool, or should I wait until I get a fresh start in college? Also, I've heard complaints that its a mouthful and people always insist on shortening it to Alex, which is annoying because they never ask if I like to be called that. Maybe if I wear a nametag to school...

Summer Hobby

Alas it has been an amazing ten weeks, but summer will soon come to a close. Before it's over, I would like to share about a recurring summer activity in my household. Home renovation! We seem to change something in our house almost every summer.

When we first moved in, our backyard was all grass and mostly taken up by a hill connected to our neighbors behind us. That summer, we replaced part of the grass with cement, took out part of the hill, and built a wall on it to keep the dirt from eroding. We now have a little garden there where we grow a variety of flowers and fruits. A few years back, all of our floors were carpet. That just wasn't working out because they were hard to clean and caused a lot of allergies. So now we have tile throughout all of the house except the bedrooms. Last summer we had a lot of family members visiting including my uncles, from France and Dubai, and my grandparents, from Algeria. Before they came we did some renovating. We painted the entire house (going from white to a more daring soft white) and put new carpet in all of the bedrooms. This year we focused on the kitchen and bathrooms. We stained all of the kitchen cabinets and painted part of island. Next to the kitchen we replaced an out of place window with dry wall. In our bathroom we replaced the old counter top with granite, got a new mirror, shelves, and painted the entire room a pale green. It took some getting used to but I really like all of the changes now.

My mom and I are inspired to renovate by design shows we used to watch on HGTV. Our house has changed so gradually but so much since we moved in ten years ago. I would like to go back in time and look at how it was when we were just considering buying it. I hope everyone had a great summer and I will see all of you at school!

I wish I had a picture or two to show you.

I realized this weekend how much I need photography in my life. I've been told I should pursue this as a career, taking pictures, but again and again I tune them out because I honestly don't think I'm better than anyone else. In the wise words of Ratatouille, "Anyone can cook!" goes hand in hand with "Anyone can photograph!" which I am a strong believer in.

It all started on Thursday when my friends and I had our "Last Summer Hoorah" which included a bonfire and swimming. I took a million pictures and videos like always. I was so excited to upload and edit all of them because I'm weird and get excited about the words JPEG and Photoshop. So on Friday I try stickin in the SD card and nothing pops up. I search for it and still nothing. All it keeps saying is "Error. Format card" Of course I hit cancel because as all nerds know, formatting anything erases all data. And I did not want my Last Summer Hoorah to be gone forever.

Saturday went by while I just sat there worried about my dear pictures, knowing that I will eventually have to format because there is no other choice. Sunday was a sad day as I went to Best Buy and had a chat with a worker about recovery programs. $200 at least. Umm... As much as I want those pictures back, I don't want to pay an arm and a leg for them. So, the Best Buy worker (I believe his name was Rob) and I stood there and both miserably watched as I pressed Format.

My nephew also came over today and sat outside as he filled up a pan with grass and hose water. It made me think of how awesome it was to be so little and have absolutely no cares in the world. It also made me wonder what he's going to be doing on Tuesday. Having fun while I'm at school. His life is so cool. As all these thoughts were running through my mind, I ran inside and grabbed my almost dead camera because maybe, just maybe, those few shots that I take will make someone else think about their childhood and bring back just so many awesome memories of digging up dirt and making grass soup.

I got the shot. The one shot, right as my camera was dying, that I knew would just bring so much joy to me and hopefully others. That feeling is so awesome. I go inside and put the depressing SD card in and NO GREEN LIGHT COMES ON. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Can you say frustrating? Oh my gosh. I can. Over and over and over again. Such a frustrating weekend. But I try and look on the bright side of things. It makes me think of how much I really do need photography in my life. The joy of just getting the shot makes me so happy. It's really just... unexplainable.

GAA

While in Ireland our aunt and uncle took us to a Gaelic Football match at Croke Park stadium (pronounced crow) in Dublin. GAA (stands for Gaelic Athletic Association) is a lot like Australian Rules, or a cross between rugby and football. We took the Dart (Train) into Dublin from Ballybrack and walked to Croke Park from the station. As we neared the stadium the crowds got thicker and the street vendors started appearing, selling scarves or hats and flags for Dublin and Wexford (the teams that were playing that day). When we got into the stadium it was already starting to rain so we all bought huge rain ponchos before we went to sit down. Our seats were good; they were close to the pitch and we could see everything.

My sister and I didn’t really know much about how the game first and my aunt had to explain a lot to us but here is the game explained by the pros at the GAA website:

“The ball used in Gaelic Football is round, slightly smaller than a soccer ball. It can be carried in the hand for a distance of four steps and can be kicked or "hand-passed", a striking motion with the hand or fist. After every four steps the ball must be either bounced or "solo-ed", an action of dropping the ball onto the foot and kicking it back into the hand. You may not bounce the ball twice in a row. To score, you put the ball over the crossbar by foot or hand / fist for one point or under the crossbar and into the net by foot or the hand / fist in certain circumstances for a goal, the latter being the equivalent of three points.”

This might not make sense unless you actually watch the game, it sounds sort of complex. It is a really fun game to watch, there is something going on the entire time, and there are no breaks except halftime, unlike American football. The score was back and forth at the beginning but soon Dublin started to fall behind, we were disappointed because they were our team (my family lives in Ballybrack in county Dublin).

In Croke Park there is a certain section of the seating called ‘Hill 16’. Only Dublin fans sit there (sometimes they even chant "Hill 16 is Dublin only") and they yell louder than anyone, when Dublin is losing they usually get a bit rowdy, especially since most of them did some drinking at the pubs before coming in. The Dublin Fans are often called ‘The Dubs’ and they are often considered the best supporters in the country. They sing ‘Come on you Boys in Blue’ at matches because Dublin wears blue jerseys.

The players (who I doubt were drinking beforehand) also get pretty… unrestrained. It didn’t happen while we were there but my aunt said that usually if Dublin is losing there is a fight on the pitch. Someone did get removed from the field after they punched another player in the head and there was a lot of fouling going on but there was no full out brawls. (Refs are a lot more lenient with fouling in this game than in soccer, it’s more similar to rugby in that respect)

By halftime our team (Dublin, or Ath Cliath in Gaelic) was losing by quite a bit, but someone must have given quite a pep talk at the break because when they came back they demolished Wexford (Loch Garman in Gaelic), 21-16 with 2 goals over the bars after an extra 25 minute overtime. It was a great game and a real once in a lifetime experience for me (though I hope to go to another game). Yet again, hope you feel a bit more enlightened on Irish culture and the GAA.

Great Crack... and I'm not talking about the drug.

One thing people almost always seem to ask my mom when they find out she’s from Ireland is, why don’t you have an accent? Of course, they may not know how long she has lived here so the question makes sense, but my mom has actually lived in California for more than half of her life. It’s funny though because whenever she gets on the phone with her mom or her siblings she always seems to get it back a little.

Being in Ireland over the summer with my family was awesome and we got really used to hearing everything in an Irish accent. My uncle Dave, a taxi driver in Dublin, has an especially strong accent; a lot of Americans wouldn’t even know what he was saying half the time. Another thing that makes it different over there is the words they use. They often have things that they say completely different from us that mean the exact same thing. For example, if you were going to throw something in the trash can, you would be throwing it in the rubbish bin. People say garbage or trash too but rubbish would be more common. Here’s a short list of some things I noticed that were different:

Trunk (of your car) = Boot

Drug Store (like CVS) = Chemist

Candy = Sweets (Nobody says candy. We always go to the corner shop to buy sweets, not candy)

Chips (Like Lays or Pringles) = Crisps

French Fries = Chips

Pacifier = Soother

Stroller = Pram

Tide Pools = Rock Pools

Knock on Wood = Touch Wood

Pretty much my favorite slang over there would have to be deadly. Instead of saying cool or awesome they always say deadly. My other favorite is probably craic (pronounced crack) If they do something that’s really fun they might say something like, “It’s great craic”. The problem with this one is, when they’re in America people may think that they are actually talking about an illicit substance. ( In case you were wondering, people in Ireland do have a language, it’s called Gaelic and they have to learn it in school but pretty much everyone speaks English and most people don’t speak Irish on a daily basis at all. ) Anyways, I’m done educating you on Irish slang. Hope you feel informed J

A Farewell to Summer

Well, another summer has come and (almost) gone. I'm heading into my Junior year, and although the perfection of summer was slightly tainted by AP Calculus, AP Chemistry, and Language Arts III Honors homework, it was still amazing. And on the positive side, I managed to celebrate the end of summer with a bang.

If you know Natalie Mancuso, she was a former student at Rocklin High, and she moved to Texas in the middle of the year because her father was given the opportunity for a job promotion. I've been missing her a lot for the past six months because she's one of my close friends, but she flew out from Texas in the beginning of August and stayed at my house for an entire week.

That one week was like a reunion for all of our friends; all eight of us together again, the complete "octet". We celebrated Natalie's return to California by throwing a pool party, complete with tons of food, and then going out to dinner at the best restaurant in the world: Chili's. The next day, we lounged around and hung out at my friend's house and discussed politics, interestingly enough. And on Friday, we went to Roller King. Roller King is officially the new place to be, even if we were some of the only teenagers in an old wooden rink swarmed with small children. The snacks are super cheap, you can request whatever song you want (if they have it), and plus, rollerblading is ridiculously fun.

On Saturday, I stole Natalie away from all our friends, and we went to visit my grandma's house instead. Even though I've been to my grandma's house more times than I can count, this time was really special and interesting. We got to pick the fruit of the trees (which was very unsuccessful, seeing as most of them were eaten by birds, rotting, or still green), have dinner, and play old games such as Chutes and Ladders and Candy Land with my younger cousin. It was that kind of homey, reminiscent feeling I haven't had in a long time.

Sunday was fairly uneventful, although we did go to AMF bowling and play the games along the back wall like they were slot machines (Natalie wasted a handful of quarters trying, and almost succeeding, to win a new mp3 player). We also went to our church, Saints Peter and Paul, where Natalie caught up with our church family that have missed her as well. We had dinner at a friend's house afterwards and scoured local stores for fanny packs (which apparently are too old to be even sold anymore) for a trip we were going on the next day: Six Flags!

Six Flags was amazingly fun, even if when we got there it was freezing cold and I had a terrible stomach ache. But after riding the Medusa first thing and taking pictures on the rides (I took my camera on practically all the rides that day), I felt much better. In the 70 degree weather, my friends and I rode the log ride three times in a row, completely soaked and freezing by the time we were done. We also met a bunch of employees that day (named Sonjay, Ryan, and Marcus), who were extremely entertaining while waiting in the long lines. Sonjay and Ryan even came with us on rides after they were off duty, and Sonjay gave me his employee discount when I wanted to get a Henna tattoo. So I guess it's safe to say that picking up random employees at theme parks is a good plan of action.

Tuesday was a complete drag, as Natalie was leaving that morning. It was another sad goodbye, but the fun times we had completely overshadowed the only sad moment. Now as we are quickly approaching the school year, and I will miss the late summer nights,the relaxing vacations, and my good friend. But I guess I'll just have to wait until next summer.

Suburban Jungle

Well, today I had an amazing time at Six Flags with two of my great friends, and as soon as I got back to Rocklin, I went over to my other friend's house to wish her "Happy Birthday," so as soon as I got home, all I wanted to do was plop down on the couch and relax. I turned on the t.v., and it was on the news. The newscasters went through various stories on downtown urban revival and the race for the governor. As I was about to change the channel to something that I would find more interesting, the station cut to a breaking news story. Over in Carmichael, a mere five minutes from my Grandma's house, on the corner of Manzanita Avenue and Fair Oaks Boulevard, one of two escaped zebras had been captured! There are zebras running around our streets!! It all seems so wonderfully out of place! Apparently the creatures had been in the possession of breeders, when they were startled by a dog, and made their mad dash for freedom. Thanks to the efforts of police, the breeders, and one unfortunate teen, who was kicked by a disgruntled zebra, the animals were returned, without any serious injury, to the breeders. I'm glad that the animals were able to get through their little adventure safely, and I thank them for some great entertainment. There's nothing like watching a cop car chase down a speeding zebra.

Finally!!!!

Ok so I just finished all my summer homework!!!!!! YAY! I am finally free! I feel like a huge weight has just been lifted off my chest! There is still so much to do to get ready for school, i have my outfits to pick out, school supplies to buy, and a room to clean. Well at least all that homeworks done:) Enjoy your last 2 days of summer! See you guys on Tuesday!

A Rose By Any Other Name... Might Give You Different Friends?

A little food for thought: according to the book that I have been reading for AP Psychology, The Happiness Hypothesis by Jonathan Haidt (I know how excited you must be to go out and buy it, so I included the author's name for you all), we are influenced quite heavily by our names! Apparently, people are more likely to select jobs, places to live, friends, and even romantic interests based upon name similarities, or even a common initial! It really brings into question how much free will our minds allow us, and how much our actions are just based upon a series of instincts. I, for one, thought it was ironic, as my best friend in preschool was named Brent. Well, how influenced are you by your name? I don't plan on moving to Great Britain and becoming a brick-layer at this point, but who knows? How many of your friends (or even your boyfriends/girlfriends) did your subconscious initially lead you to because your names were similar?

A blogtastic summer? Almost...

OOO boy... Saving my blogs for the last week... tisk tisk. But seriously, this summer has not really been all that, well, I guess we could call it, blog-tastic? Anyways, here's a little recap of my summer.

So my summer can be split up into four chunks: 1. Hawaii (which I admit was pretty awsome:) 2. The At Home Doing Nothing Part 3. My Cousin from Italy Visits Part 4. The Stressful Last Week of Summer Part

1. I was so fortunate to be able to spend two weeks in Maui. It was definitely the highlight of my summer. Beautiful, relaxing, and BEAUTIFUL. The first week it was just me and my parents. We pretty much played golf every single day that week on some of the most beautiful golf courses. The second week, my best friend Danielle(known her since before preschool) and her family came to Maui with us. We went snorkeling and saw wild sea turtles, went boogie boarding and almost got swept out to sea by the undertow, swam in the pool, and went to a Luau. We ate out everyday and I'm pretty sure I gained ten pounds. The worst part of the trip was the last day. I'm not a very adventurous person, and I usually am hesitant to try new things, but being in Hawaii and determined to break my cowardness, I suggested we get surf lessons. Well, not only was my surfing instructor extremely impatient with me, I got motion sickness from the rocking of the waves while I was waiting for my turn to surf, and I... "fed the fish" if you catch my drift... Ugh! It was a horrible day! That's what I get for trying to be adventurous:(

2. I was glad to be home. Too much paradise is not good for a person. This part of my summer I focused on getting back in shape from eating waayy too much in Hawaii, cleaning my room, and starting on my homework. The Grapes of Wrath = awesome book! AP Calc homework = IMPOSSIBLE! But these two and a half weeks, although productive, I was bored. Boredom led me to do my homework. Homework was the most exciting part of those few weeks...

3. My cousin Lorenzo arrived from Italy for three weeks. We were planning on having a blast! But turns out it's hard to do that in Rocklin... He got bored fast! Especially since a lot of the time I was still working on homework. I introduced him to all my friends and he seemed to really enjoy hanging out with them, but when we got back home, his excitment completely disappeared, and I felt horrible. I just didn't know how to entertain him. Then we went to Disneyland... for a WEEK! Some might say Lucky! I say KILL ME NOW (not literally)! Even Lorenzo said it was, "too much fun." And too many lines! That killed the whole experience for him. We visited UCLA and USC too but he couldn't understand the tour guides so he didn't find that interesting. And he ended up getting sick on the way home from all the "junk food" hahaha! In the end, my cousin and I did have a lot of fun, but it was just a lot of work having to repeat myself over and over because he couldn't understand and trying to entertain him all the time. But I'm pretty sure he liked America.

4. The last week of summer = Link meetings in the morning, and 4 hour SAT classes at night. And I still have a tone of homework to do! But I can't wait to get back to school. This summer was very... chill. I was expecting it to be crazy fun, the best summer ever! This is my first summer with my license for goodness sake! It was fun... but it didn't live up to my expectations. O well. It gives me this whole school year to look forward too. I'm ready for the stress, drama, and excitement that comes with it. Yes, I actually MISS SCHOOL! Can't wait to see you all:D

THE END

Soccis? (Soccer/tennis)

One thing I've always liked about exercise is the wide variety of ways a person can exercise. I saw a video of Rafael Nadal playing "soccer" on the tennis courts and liked how the game was creative and innovative. Growing up in a family that likes both sports very much, I would want to give this a try sometime.

Here's the link: http://sports.yahoo.com/tennis/blog/busted_racquet/post/Video-Nadal-and-Djokovic-play-soccer-tennis?urn=ten-261745

Schedule!!!

So I just got my schedule and turned in all the paper work for school today!! I am soooooo excited I'm really happy with my classes and all my teachers:) I cant wait to see who I have in my classes and meet my new teachers! This really is a wake up call that school is starting in less than a week! Wow I better get a move on all those Language Arts Advanced questions!
Here is my schedule:
1. La/Com 2 adv. - Hurrianko
2. Journalism 2 - Nichols
3. Spanish 3 adv. - Ramos
4. Family life/ Drivers Ed. - Gwartney
4. Heath- Gwartney
5. Aerobic Fitness - DeVinna
6. Algebra 2 - Kirk
7. World History - Swarts
8. Chemistry - DeMaria
Let me know if we have anything together!!!:)

The Other Guys

Last Friday, I went to go see The Other Guys with my cousins and my brother. It was opening day and my cousins were stoked to go see it. They love Will Farrell but I am not thoroughly impressed by his style of acting... The only Will Farrell movie that I really thought was funny was Kicking and Screaming and that still didn't quite impress me... Anyways,they are all pumped to see the movie and I'm like ehh... all right. I thought it was going to be some really lame movie with Will Farrell's weird comedy but let me tell you, I was completely wrong!

The movie was HILARIOUS. And Will Farrell did not disappoint me AT ALL! I loved it and laughed the whole time. Plus, Will Farrell and Mark Wahlberg are just golden together. So basically, I'm glad I went and saw it and give it a 4 out 5 stars. If you haven't seen it, I suggest go see it.

So I've Been Thinking...

ALOT. I don't know why but thoughts about problems in the world and what's important in life keep running through my mind. Lets face it, its great that I am thinking about this stuff considering that I could actually do something about it but I'm sixteen and this just isn't right. Anyways, I just thought I would share some of what has been going through my head.

This world is becoming too complicated. I sometimes just wish we could just go back to the days when everyone was farmers. (This idea is all thanks to Grapes of Wrath) People didn't have to depend on large corporations that only care about making money to get things. We would just grow the food ourselves. People just lived in and with nature. There wasn't any towering skyscrapers or huge factories or busy highways or pollution. We think these things make our lives easier but do they?

Then, I'll wake up from this trance of deep thinking that I am in and go watch T.V or go on the computer. And then I get to thinking again. Our world is so obsessed with material things. But how do we stop being obsessed with material goods when its all we know, especially for our generation. We've grown up with this mind set that it will bring us happiness. But does it? We hear the stories of how billionaires aren't actually happy even though they can buy anything they want. Also, there is the old saying "money can't buy you happiness". I think everyone can admit that there is no greater joy than doing what you love or being around those you love.

Well, thats just a little snapshot inside the mind of Elisabeth Hartman. Basically, I have been doing WAY too much thinking for summer.

LeBron Dunks On Little Kids

I'm not sure if anyone has seen this, but it has been all over the Internet... LeBron James, at a recent children's benefit played basketball with a bunch of young boys and girls and proceeded to throw himself alley ops and even once dunk on a nine year old. So, i ask you, fair or foul?
           Watch LeBron Throw Down on Kids

So You Think You're Obsessed?

All summer long I have been watching So You Think You Can Dance. It is my third season watching it and I love it. To put it simply, I'm obsessed. I honestly have an unhealthy addiction to this show. It got to a point where it was the thing I was looking forward to most all week. It's pathetic. And now, the finale is this week and I have no clue what I will possibly do with myself when it's over. I seriously tear up just thinking about it. I admit that I have a problem. Do they have rehabs for this sort of thing? Well at least school will be here to keep my mind off of it.

Summerrrr.....

I have been reflecting on this past summer a lot lately. More so than I normally do... maybe its just because Im feeling overwhelmed becoming a senior and all. This summer has been different from my others. I have definitely gained more independence and new responsibilities, while doing tons of fun things! I have gotten that monotonous I am soooo bored feeling much less this summer than ever before.
The obvious differences are that I got a car and a job this summer. I love having my car, and being able to do things more independently... meeting up with friends, going to practice, and being responsible for myself. Having a job has broadened my horizons and I think made me come out of my comfort zone, because of the amount of responsibility it has forced to me to gain.
Then there is summer school! I can honestly say that I LOVE volunteering at summer school! It is such an amazing experience, and I feel lucky that I have been able to do it for two summers. I feel privileged to work with children who have autism for both summers, as it has truly impacted me. The kids are so adorable and sweet, with such a love for life. It is contagious! Their laughter, words, smiles, and hugs can brighten anyone's day :) I have also made some good friends through volunteering, that I know I will keep for a long time.
Thank goodness I am finally back to running! ...and some decent mileage now! I missed it so much at the beginning of the summer. I think it is so crazy that practice starts tomorrow...my last year... but i know it will be really fun! I am very excited! Plus, I have been going to yoga classes. The teacher is so good! I am always in shock at what she can do, and then I try. More often than not, I surprise myself with the poses I am actually able to hold! Yoga has been so relaxing and is much more of a workout than it seems. I am always so sore... hahaha
I also must admit that I am now obsessed with watching Pretty Little Liars and Make it or Break it. I look forward to Tuesday nights just so I can watch them :) I am glad I have had the time to watch them during the summer, because it is so crazy during the school year that I barely watch tv.
However, there is one thing that did not go so well... and that was my progress on summer homework. I did the math within the first two weeks school got out, and then i stopped. Now we have one week until school starts and I still must finish my AP english books....oh dear. I was not exactly as productive as I wanted to be, but I am sure things will work out...
Overall, I have had a fabulous summer :) It was definitely on of my bests and most memorable. I cant believe it is almost over! It has gone by more quickly than any other year!!

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

...AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH school is in ten days!!!!!!!!!! And lucky me, I get to spend all 10 of those days doing yummy homework. bleh. As usual I made the mistake of procrastinating until the last minute. So besides the small amount of work I got done this weekend, I've still got to read a 600+ page book, do 21 AP chem problems, 46 AP calculus problems, and a FAT AP spanish packet. hooray. My game plan is to download the Grapes of Wrath on audiobook (21 hours long) and attack the other hw while I listen to it... genius right. Wish me luck

Foreign Exchange Students

Earlier this week, my foreign exchange student, Robin, headed back to France. It was insightful to see things from a different perspective and I thoroughly enjoyed the 3 week experience. It was especially fun since one of my good friends, Alex, had a foreign exchange student, too. I got to spend more time with her and our French students quickly befriended each other. Together, we had a great time since we went to SF, Sunsplash, Six Flags, the movies, etc with our students. It was also nice to have Robin because I was able to spend more time with some of my friends that don't live in Rocklin like my French friend in Granite Bay before she heads off to Stanford and my friend in Roseville from Girls State. Funny story I was wearing my sweatshirt from Girls State in SF and one of the French boys asked me if he could buy it from me! He thought it was based off the song "California Girls" and reasoned it would be incredibly chic to sport back to France. I didn't sell him my sweatshirt despite his fifty dollar offer, but told him it was not based off the song.

These French kids love to party and go on adventures. My dad surprised me the last week in July by taking Robin and I to Los Angeles with him while he was on business! We heard some French spoken in the streets, which was fun, but I ended up speaking Spanish to get around half the time. Robin, along with Alex's student, helped me perfect my French accent. Alex's brother acquired a great French accent and accidentally would begin to speak English with it! I love listening to accents and furthermore, other languages. It was great to have a student this summer since I'm taking a year of French over the summer. As I reflect, here are some great highlights/ideas..

1) Majority of the French students asked to go to the beach as soon as they got here. Their accents were sooo heavy, though, that the vowels in "beach" sounded like an "i" hahaha. They were quick to fix that.

2) ALL the French kids adore American pop culture. They memorized songs from Green Day to the Hannah Montana theme song to sing on the bus.

3) They find Americans completely conservative beyond belief. Alex and I find their culture completely liberal beyond belief (and both of us are moderates more or less).

4) They like to stay up...the entire night. Non-stop socializing..it was fun, though.

5) They all spoke relatively fluent English for the most part. Oh, and they find English an easy language to learn (food for thought for me as a language nerd haha).

6) They find the Galleria more "sophisticated" and also more affordable. College, however, is much more expensive in the States than in Europe.

7) Hollywood was a let down. In France, Hollywood is America's most famous city! Robin much prefers SF and Santa Monica to LA and Hollywood.

I miss hanging out with Robin and the other French kids. Thankfully there's Facebook and studying abroad opportunities in college :)

California State Fair

What’s a summer without a trip to the California State Fair? All the food, games, and entertainment are worth bearing the heat to walk around Cal Expo to take it all in. My boyfriend and I went to the last day of the fair and had a blast. We walked through the showcase buildings, and spent a lot of time in the fur and feathers building with all the cute little animals. We even pet chinchillas! They were so soft and adorable. :) After we ate some cheese fries, we went and rode the monorail to somewhat escape the heat. Then it was off to the midway. I have a bucket list, and number 46 on the list is to ride a ferris wheel since I never have and they seem kind of scary yet still a lot of fun. We decided to embrace the opportunity, and I can proudly say number 46 has officially been crossed off! After that, we stopped so he could play a few of the stereotypical carnival games. Wasn’t a total waste of money, as he got a stuffed banana out of it. :) By then we were hungry again (go figure; we aren’t teenagers or anything… haha) and it was off to get amazing chocolate chip funnel cakes. We enjoyed each other’s company and the deliciousness of the fried batter until it was time to go find his parents and our seats for the Weird Al concert that night! Listening to hilarious parodies (my favorite being “Eat It” parodying Michael Jackson’s “Beat It” in which Weird Al came out in a fat suit) and watching “Al TV” clips was extremely entertaining. To top it all off, the fireworks of the fair filled the empty time right before Al came out to do an encore (“The Saga Begins” complete with Star Wars outfits…epic). Kind of like…the powdered sugar on top of a funnel cake of an amazing day!

Paris At A Glance

During my trip to Ireland my grandma brought my sister and I on a trip to Paris. Probably one of the best things about Paris is that if you have the time, you can walk everywhere. We were on a tight schedule because we only had three days to see everything we wanted to see in France but we still did a lot of walking.
We went to the Arc de Triumph and my aunt, uncle and I climbed to the top. (A great thing about Paris, most museums and monuments are free for the under 18 visitors) The view from the top of the Arc de Triumph was probably my favorite part of Paris. All the biggest streets and avenues spread out from it. Afterwards, we headed to the Eiffel Tower and went window shopping on our way. We saw some weird storefronts and insane prices (like the Louis Vuitton suitcase that cost more than a car we saw in another window). It was getting dark so they had closed the very top of the Eiffel Tower by the time we got there but we were able to get the elevator to the second floor.

We also managed to fit a trip to Versailles (which is not in Paris) into our schedule. We listened to a French accordion player on the train on our way to the Palace where we took a tour of the gardens, which were seriously HUGE. Then we took a tour of the actual palace and saw the hall of mirrors, the kings apartments, the queens apartments and Napoleons apartments. That night I tried Escargot. I have to say, it wasn’t something I would eat again but it wasn’t as bad as I was expecting a snail to taste.

The next morning we went to the Louvre (I got in free againJ) and saw some unbelievable statues, mosaics and paintings. We also saw the Mona Lisa and she was… unremarkable. The museum is quite literally huge and pretty much half the population of tourists in Paris were squashed into one room. All this just for a relatively average painting (compared to other paintings in the Louvre) of a relatively average woman that is about the size of an average television. Needless to say she wasn’t worth braving the crowd of aggravated old women trying to complete their bucket lists, frenzied high school tour groups and families of sweaty American tourists.

When we left the Louvre we headed straight to Notre Dame Cathedral (a long walk in sandals) and bought Panini’s on the way , which took a while because The Panini makers were having a huge fight behind the counter in French (at least it sounded cool). Notre Dame Cathedral reminded me immediately of the hunchback, Quasimodo (no shock there). But it was a beautiful building and inside it was nice and cool (stark contrast to the dripping heat outside) so we gave ourselves a tour before we left.

My time in Paris was a whirlwind, but it is an incredible city that I would absolutely love to visit again. If I go to France again I will visit smaller cities and towns that are less influenced by the pressures of tourism so I can see what France is like to French people.

Viva Las Vegas!

Las Vegas. So much comes to mind when one thinks about it... busy nightlife, elaborate casinos, off-broadway shows, etc. I experienced almost all of this when my family and I went on vacation a couple of weeks ago.

Of course, there's not a lot to do in Las Vegas when you're under twenty-one. But my family and I managed to keep busy, and it really was one of the most enjoyable parts of my summer.

After driving for nine straight hours from Rocklin to Vegas, we finally arrived at the Wyndham Resorts (time share!), which is actually a really nice hotel. It had three separate buildings, two pools (which I enjoyed thoroughly), a gym, and a sauna. After settling in somewhat, my family and I decided to go out for the night and try and find the rollercoaster I wanted to ride located in New York, New York (New York, New York is a mini model of New York city, complete with a huge model of the Statue of Liberty). It was a hot night, and at almost 11:00 PM, it was still about 95 degrees outside. We never did make it to the rollercoaster, but we did get to walk the streets and listen to hilarious drunks singing "Sweet Caroline" outside a bar, view amazing hotels such as the Bellagio and Caesar's Palace (reminded me of the Hangover), and snap a couple pictures with the famous blue people from Avatar.

I got a picture with some Avatars!

The next day, my family and I made yet another long drive to see the Grand Canyon in the neigboring state of Arizona. On the way over, we stopped to get lunch at a tiny diner in a town called Dolan Springs. Dolan Springs is literally in the middle of nowhere; once you drive out of there, it's nothing but desert. But this diner, called Mystic Munchies, was amazing. I don't know if it was the aura or just the fact that we had stopped for food in a cool, faraway place, but I thought Mystic Munchies was just the coolest thing I had seen in a long time. If you ever go to the Grand Canyon, make sure you stop by.

Anyways, we eventually reached the Grand Canyon about an hour later and began our tour of the canyon. It was honestly one of the most amazing experiences I've ever had. Being on a ledge hundreds of feet up from the bottom of the canyon without any guard rails was definitely nerve wracking, but allowed for an experience that you couldn't get anywhere else in the world. We went at about sunset too, so it made the scenery even more beautiful (if that's even possible).

A fun fact I learned during the trip was one about guano. Guano is bat poop, and it used to be mined on a regular basis in the canyon. The mine was closed for safety reasons, but guano is still a hot commodity because it is used in makeup. Yes, makeup. For us girls, we are putting products containing bat poop on our face every morning (guano is in our mascara and our lipstick mainly). So there's your fun, but gross, fact.

A view of the canyon's bottom from the ledge. Eagle's Point. The eagle is in the center,
with outstreched wings.

I'd have to say the Grand Canyon was the highlight of the trip, but we still did some pretty amazing things after that. For instance, my family and I watched the off Broadway production of the Lion King, which was absolutely amazing. Considering I am an absolute Disney fanatic, I'm pretty critical about anything Disney related, but this surpassed my expectations. The music and the props were magical, and it was pulled off in such an artistic way. If you're going to see a show anytime soon, see the Lion King.

The next day, my family and I packed up and loaded our rental car for the drive home. It was a long nine hours back, and I missed the craziness and beauty of our trip already. But as much as I loved living the "Las Vegas life" for a couple days, it was nice to be home. Not having to wither up in the 112 degree heat everytime one stepped outside was just one of the many positives of being back in Home Sweet Rocklin.

A Day of Babysitting

For the past few years, my 13 year old cousin and I have been entrusted with periodically babysitting her little sisters, ages 4 and 6. We have both taken a class on babysitting. Usually we will just go to the park, do puzzles, draw, or watch movies with them. This Sunday however, she had the idea of having all the activities of the day follow the theme of the book "Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?" by Bill Martin. We began planning the activities the day before.

When they all arrived at my house, we got right to work by reading the story to them and asking them what animals were in it. We made instruments by stapling plates together with rice on the inside and decorating them as one of the animals in the book. Some pretty cute bear, cat, and duck instruments were crafted. As a follow-up to this activity, we sang the words of the book to the tune of "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star." By this time, we were all hungry for lunch. We used animal cookie cutters to shape their grilled cheese sandwiches as animals such as squirrels, bunnies, and dinosaurs. Some coloring followed, using animal coloring sheets of course. They then used index cards to match the picture with the color or word. Keeping the book in mind, they made rock pets out of backyard rocks and construction paper. This was definitely the little girls' favorite part of the day as they kept insisting on feeding their pets every few minutes and gave them cute names like Sylvie and Clover. After this, they made their own 'Brown Bears' by gluing construction paper body parts together. Towards the end of the day, we made cut-out sugar cookies in the shapes of animals before nap-time.

My cousin and I had a great time planning the activities and we could tell that the girls enjoyed partaking in them. Keeping them busy made the seven or so hours that we were watching them pass very quickly. While babysitting it is always a good idea to have a plan. I had a really fun day with my cousins!

A bit overwhelmed

So I pretty much have a mini panic attack every time I think about how much time there is before school starts. I just can't wrap my head around the fact that summer is almost over. This has been the fastest summer of my life, and I can't help but think that I wasted it sitting around and watching TV.
While school was in session, I imagined this being the best summer of my life. I had this image in my head of everything I wanted this summer to be, and it was no where even close to living up to my expectations.
But anyway, I digress. I just have so much homework and I feel sick to my stomach whenever I actually think of getting it all done in the time I have left.

España!!

A bit late on this blog haha, but i think its worth mentioning that i was in Barcelona when Spain won their first world cup. It was such an amazing experience that I wouldn't trade for anything. You could feel the energy and excitment pulsing through the air on game days as people walked around sporting the jerseys of their favorite players and spanish flags on their backs. I got swept up into their national pride and cheered for the Spanish team louder than most of the locals; it was really fun! I found it interesting that these Catalan people, who for centuries have felt a seperate identity to the rest of Spain with their own distinct history and language, were rooting for the Spanish team. It seemed like soccer, for them, was a unifying thing that allowed even Catalan people to be proud to be Spanish. In fact, one popular cheer during the games was "Yo soy Español Español Español" which translates to I am Spanish Spanish Spanish.

I really want to write something about the experience, because it was really special to me. Any ideas about how I should go about it?