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October 17th, 2013

Hey, guys, I'm alive!
So today's my half-Birthday! Meaning I'll be 18 in six months... *refuses to believe it* But anyway, I guess I'll talk about today... and then get into other things!
MOPs has started again, and I actually got to go today! :) I've had a cold for... *checks things* ...about two and a half weeks, and so missed the last one. But I'm doing much better, and thus got to go today! I meant to bring my camera and take pictures, but it sort of slipped my mind. But anyway, there was this four year old boy named Skyler who's just absolutely adorable. :) I... I can't figure out exactly what it is about him, but he's really cute (in terms of a little kid), and at one point, I sort of attacked him with my hair (which is at a decent length), and he said that my hair was scary, which I found hilarious. :D And the shy, quiet boy I mentioned in number two of my Thoughts While Babysitting came again this year since he was 4 last year and is now 5. I'm definitely going to miss him next year. Anyway, his name's Carter and he has really curly blond hair, which makes me think of a good friend of mine whom I call Uncle Kenny. I loved that on the first day of MOPs this year, Carter came right up to me and showed me his new Perry the Platypus shoes as though a mere two weeks had passed since he'd last seen me. It made me really happy. :) And today, he came over to me as soon as he came into the room and starting playing with me. ^_^ I definitely get the feeling he's on the autism spectrum, which I find super cool. Thaaat's about all on today, though I did go to the chiropractor, but that's not exactly an exciting thing.
So the last of my summer was uneventful, but good, for the most part. :) Then I started school in the beginning of September, and even though I was really nervous 'cause I have a good bit this year, it wasn't that difficult, and it's still not hitting me that hard. I don't really have much more than that, but since I've been sick for a really long time, Dysprosium wrote with washable crayons of some sort on my bathroom mirror which made me happy! :)

This is the closest you're gonna get to a picture of me. And yes, that's an Invader Zim shirt! Titanium gave it to me recently. It makes me happy. :D

And I don't have anything else, so for the time being, good day!

Writing

June 15th, 2013

I was on an Internet fast for June, so this was originally on paper. But after I got back from mah fast, I did a post on everything I did. You can find that here.

...Wow, I'm observant. *sarcasm alarm goes off* This was supposed to post automatically a while ago and didn't. It's now October (of 2013), and I only just noticed.

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I guess I like writing because it's my way of escaping. I've always wanted to to sword fight, fly, use magic, ride a horse through unexplored lands, and other sorts of things without actually being in danger.

We don't have holodecks, so writing's the closest I can get. I suppose there are video games too, but there are few games that are what I like. Legend of Zelda's the closest, except maybe Fate. Or Wizard101. Or, I guess, Adventure Quest, although if it were me, I'd wear more.

What I really want is a Pick-A-Path in a really schweet world with unlimited options. I suppose everyone wants that, though. Holonovel! What I really want is a holonovel. But alas, no holodeck.

I think I could write a really good holonovel. I'd base it off the only Pick-A-Path I tried to write. See, I had it start with you waking up in the clearing of a forest, and there's this path real nearby, and there are a coupla dudes travellin' along it. Oh, and in the clearing, there's this rock with a weird symbol on it, buuut if you look closely at it, it becomes a letter. :)

Anyway, it wasn't thought through very well. But if it were a holonovel, all I'd have to do is program the world and then all the people. Sure, it'd be time consuming, but it would be absolutely worth it. It would probably be really popular, too! I think I'd rock as an authoress in the Star Trek 'verse.

Magnus

October 17th, 2013
So I wrote this post on the date mentioned and never posted it, I guess because I wanted to add more update, which I'm planning to do in another post that I'm working on today.... Hopefully, I'll actually post that one.

August 28, 2013

So I found a spider on the night of the 24th and with Dysprosium's help, I got him in a jar, just 'cause I felt like keeping him for a while. ...He stayed alive two and a half days. It's completely his fault for not eating the insects I gave him! Anyway, I had meant to do a daily post on how he was doing, but I kept not doing it... and then he died. Sigh. Well, I have some pictures!

 When I first found him on my hand towel...

 Not long after I'd named him Magnus...

While he was eating on a cricket... or... something. You can't really see it very well.

And just a random picture - nothing specific was going on. The beetle you see in with him was named Frodo, by my brothers.

So... um... he was my second pet ever and it was exciting.

Meteor Shower!

August 12th, 2013
So there was a meteor shower last night. Apparently, there's also one tonight, so that's exciting. :D But anyway, last night, I went outside and lay on our trampoline at about 10:30 while my family was still watching Gladiator. There was some cloud cover, so I didn't see any meteors, but I thought it was gorgeous. I didn't stay out there long, though, because I'm addicted to Facebook. But at around 11, when most of my family was outside, I went and joined them. Two were on the roof, which was apparently the better place to be because they saw about three meteors before us on the trampoline saw any. But that was okay, because I was busy making up a story with Nitrogen by each one adding one word. We didn't get very far on it before we were distracted, and so started another one, this time with Dad and Mom, and occasionally, Carbon and Potassium. I very much doubt I'll get it fully right, but I somehow remember this story fairly well.

     Once upon a time, there was a fat man who really wanted cake. But he couldn't have cake because he couldn't lose weight that way, so he decided to eat garlic while whistling a happy dirge.
     Suddenly, a giant spider smiled at his terrified companion. She leaped back and swiftly blew bubbles at him, then used her sword to stab the spider's eye. Unfortunately, no one knew the technique that could save the universe from definite destruction....

I lose it there. But yeah... that's how random it was. Anyway, while that story was being created, I believe I saw about three meteors, but I'm sure more than that passed by in that time. Oh, and Nitrogen let me hold his hand almost the whole time, so that was happy. :) Then I believe Meinerium and I made up a story together, during which time Dysprosium came out and Dad, Mom, Lanthanum, Potassium, and Argon went inside. Mine and Meinerium's story really made no sense at all, which is all I remember about it, so we started another one with Nitrogen which also only made sense in the very slightest, but it was still fun because it caused much laughter. :) Then I had the idea to make it so that we contributed sentences rather than one word each, and we got Dysprosium to join, so we told a story about a purple elephant and savage townspeople. After that story, we accidentally figured out how the Q came about. This particular story was really short, but Meinerium started it by introducing us to some astronauts in the depths of space that were observing a black hole, Nitrogen said they were eaten by the black hole and found themselves in a realm where time and space meant nothing, and I said that these astronauts later became known as the Q. I said my sentence very conclusively, so Dysprosium was kind of left with "the end", but we're all quite delighted that we finally discovered where the Q came from! :D I think we only told one or two stories after that, and then we went inside, at which point it was nearly one in the morning.

August 13th, 2013
Last night, I was more prepared. I wore knee socks as well as shoes ('cause last night I didn't have any shoes... I had socks, but it was still cold), plus I had cloth all up both my arms and even on my hands for sort of makeshift fingerless gloves. Oh, and a trench coat and my suuuuper long scarf that Dysprosium gave me. So I was all prepared for coldness and stuff. I went outside at nearly midnight and expected Vanadium, at least, to be out there. However, I quickly discovered that Dysprosium had gone on a walk and had took Vanadium with her. So I decided to take my Kindle outside since I was alone out there because I knew several of my friends in a group chat on Facebook were online, plus, my Kindle was actually fully charged! (That's a rarity at this stage.) When I got on Facebook, there were three Good Friends online, but not long after I'd gotten on, two left. So I talked to Jj until about two at which point Becca joined in! And then Becca's older brother joined for a little bit, sort of... and then Yuri joined in, and it was joyfulness for a while, and then we all went to bed. Despite having a Kindle in my face for a lot of the time, I saw twelve meteors! Oh, and around 1:30, I thought I heard a wildcat, but I think it was actually the neighbor's sprinklers turning on... at 1:30 in the morning. Seriously, though, not long after I heard a hissing noise that I thought was a mountain lion, I heard the neighbor's sprinklers going!
Okay, so I may not have seen a lot of meteors, but last night was my first time seeing the night sky from a roof that I remember... well, when I was about seven we would watch fireworks from my Uncle's roof, but still. It was beautiful! I loved looking at it sort of upside down, it was disorienting in a really neat way. Also, I didn't notice that the moon was somehow out of sight until one. I am so unobservant. :D Uuuum, so yeah, I stayed up far longer than I did last last night and didn't feel as tired by the time I went to bed. I must have been pretty fatigued though, 'cause my brain was really not working. I have witnesses! Anyway, I had a fabulous night. I don't think I'm gonna stay up that long any time soon, though. :)

My Weekend On the Other Side of the State

As I believe all you regular readers know, I live very far away from my very good friends. This weekend (mostly Sunday), however, I was able to see several of them. This was because a girl who I hadn't actually met yet, Starski, decided she wanted to see as much of her friends as she could before moving up further north. I counted as one of those friends because she really wanted to meet me. :) (Yay mutual friends! :D ) So after a good amount of organizing and feeling like I wouldn't actually be able to be a part of it, my parents decided that they were okay with taking the time and gas to drive over there, even though it meant I wouldn't be able to go to a girl's Bible camp that was taking place the week before the Sunday in question. Still, I'm sooo grateful they allowed me to go. :)
On Saturday afternoon, the third of August, we (Dad, Dysprosium, Vanadium, and I) drove over to my friend's Jj's house, because he so kindly twisted his parents' arms to let us stay. ;) Actually, I'm pretty sure he didn't force them to keep us. :) Anyway, we arrived at his house at 7ish in the evening, and we were fed. ^_^ Theeen I'm pretty sure I spent the rest of the night conversing with Jj. Vanadium joined in as well, and Dysprosium... sat in. :) In any case, it was very enjoyable.
I awoke at 6ish the next morning... I usually have trouble staying awake at 7, so I was surprised to find that I didn't even feel tired at 6, especially since I didn't get to sleep until 1ish. Weird how other people being awake affects me. In any case, Jj had asked that I wake him up at 6, and I thought that'd be no problem seeing as I was planning to wake up at 6 anyway. But when I woke up he was already awake and talking to Dysprosium and Vanadium... whaaatever. Sooo for breakfast Jj made me tea and I had a breakfast cookie that my Mom had made previously and had us bring for sharing. :) We then left for the church that we had planned to meet at, which was, in fact, about half an hour from Jj's house. On the way, I read two chapters from a book (Deltora Quest, if you're interested) to Jj, and I suppose everyone else that was in the car, too. :) Then we sat outside of a Burger King because Jj's Mum wanted to get a drink and the drive thru (through!) was extremely slow. I don't know whether to add "that day" or not... I think I'll just assume it's not usually that slow, so, the drive thru was extremely slow that day. However, we still got to the church building in time for class and service, so yay. :)
Afterwards, we (Starski, Holly, Mitchell, Jj, Yuri, Andrew, Taylor, Krissi, to name a few, or perhaps the majority) went over to Uncle Kenny's house, which just so happens to be located right beside the church. (Like really, the church parking lot could almost pass as a parking lot for Uncle Kenny's house. Also, by the way, Uncle Kenny isn't biologically my Uncle... I just call him that. :) ) I had only brought some homemade potato salad to contribute to food, but almost none of the teens ate it (I guess because they thought it was cottage cheese... but I took the lid off and told at least a few people what it was), so I gave it to the adults, who thoroughly enjoyed it. So that's happy. :D Especially since I worked raaather hard on it. (My Aunt makes the best potato salad ever, (or at least, the best I've ever had, and I've had a few) and I felt like I needed to make mine up to par, especially since I was using her recipe.) Then, since everyone had gone off to watch Starski play Slender and I wasn't much interested, I played a bit of Portal on Jj's laptop until I felt like I was shunning people and watched Starski play Slender, which was actually rather amusing. :D Aaand I got to hug her at a time when I felt she needed it, so that's good. :)
I managed to stall our (mine and my travelling companions') departure until 4 in the evening, and even more accomplishy of me, I got us home in four hours rather than the expected five. I guess I can't get all the glory, though, especially since that would imply that I sped a lot, which I didn't do... a lot. The interstate was really rather clear. :) Though when we first entered the interstate, it was quite obvious that the interstate was not clear the other way. I was glad I was heading west rather than east.
So that was my weekend. 'Twas fabulous. This extrovert is happy. ^_^

Kamp Koinonia First Week 2013

So as some of you know, I went to a Bible camp last week (July 7th to July 13th). It was utterly fantastic, so I decided to do a blog post on it. The theme for this year was No Other Name, and the verse was Acts 4:12. So basically, the lessons were on how the only way to get to heaven is through Jesus, for there is no other name. I have to admit, though, I tend to see Kamp as more of a way to see my friends. Which is really kind of sad: I need to focus more on God and His word. Not to say that spending time with my friends is that distracting, because they're fantastic and definitely help lift me up. But I live on the western slope of Colorado, and most of my friends live on the eastern slope, so I never see them apart from at Kamp. I miss them so much when away from Kamp, but you know, I don't think I should get into that. That would be a totally self-centered post and I don't want to do that.
Throughout the week, I made sort of journal entries. I wish I could say that I kept up with it and I did a post every day, but the week went faster than most weeks and I only got two entries done. Sooo I'll share those, possibly fill in the days that I didn't write anything on, and explain things throughout.

By the way, if you Koinonians are reading this, know that I generally don't put real names in these posts. I'm paranoid like that. So if I put in a nickname or a middle name instead of your actual name, now you sort of know why that is, and if you'd prefer your real name, let me know. :)

7-7-13
So far, so good! The drive took about six hours rather than five 'cause we were in stop and go traffic on the interstate for nearly an hour and a half, but once we reached the campground, all that was forgotten. The day seemed a liiittle slow for Kamp (no complaints from me), but I know for a fact that the week will seem to whizz by. I've experienced this. [Goodness, that is so true. The seven days that last week felt more like three days.]

So first, I'm going to try to get more detailed on Sunday. We got to the campground at about 3, and went through registration. I was put into G-1, where the oldest girls are. In that cabin, Anne was the counselor, and my cabinmates were Brittany, Miranda, Ariana, Anne Marie, Rachel, Lauren, Olivia, Christina, Missi, and Courtney. :) That was a great cabin, for sure. I had previously met many of them, and I was so glad to have met the ones I didn't know before. Although Sunday seemed kind of slow, I was very joyous to spend time with my friends.
On Monday... really, the only thing I remember was working to get Nitrogen to a different cabin 'cause he wasn't entirely happy with the cabin he was originally placed in. Honestly, I didn't do much, but I did start the ball rolling, and I'm not sure Nitrogen would have done that on his own. Monday night was scavenger hunt, which isn't what you might think it is. Rather than looking for items, we were split into groups according to our birth month and told to look for sort of qualities in a person in our group, such as who can do the best GLaDOS impersonation. I didn't do anything, as seems to be usual. It was still fun, though!

7-9-13
I FORGOT TO DO A THINGY YESTERDAY!!! Sooo, I met several people yesterday, including but not limited to Jj and Viktor. I think I most likely met others, but I can't remember whether those meetings were Sunday or yesterday or today. Oh, actually, I met Jj Sunday. Whaaatever. Yesterday, I got my second ticket in very nearly almost six years. [A ticket is a fun thing that we do at Kamp. During the week, the staff writes tickets to Kampers for silly things like dressing up as a unicorn. Then on Friday, the Kampers can write tickets to staff, like having too few Ts in their name. More than usually, though, they get turned around on the Kamper who wrote the ticket. For example, one year, our director Bret got a ticket from one of the Kampers, Brett, for missing a T in his name. He got the T chair. (Having a whole bunch of paper cut outs of Ts dumped on him.) It's good fun. :) ] On Sunday, I kept wearing different hats throughout the morning, so Aimee wrote me a ticket for it. I'm so happy! ^_^
Today, my friend Lee pretended to be The Doctor and my friend Nichole and I pretended to be his two companions! (No one in particular) Aaand our friend Yuri joined in and pretended to be Jack Harkness sometimes. (But don't worry, no flirting took place.) We were rather hoping to get a ticket, so after Court we sort of stopped. We didn't even really think about it. :) Oh, oh, so Jj talking in an English accent all the time (not that he's English), and now it's affecting me. Like, I even think in an English accent. I only hope it's rather good, otherwise it means I'm tormenting everyone with a badly exaggerated accent.

On Tuesday the ninth, we did underground church. That's where we pretend like we're in a different time or place (which one is left up to the players' imaginations) and we go out into the dark cold world. The staff pretends to be law enforcement, and at the beginning, no one is a Christian. As the game continues, more and more people convert (get a Bible verse written out on an index card). You can even try to convert a guard! :) Once the horn goes off, everyone runs up to the amphitheater and creates a big group. Then we make our way to the building and do our best to not leave. The guards can enter the circle or try and entice you to come out, but they can't drag you out. If you leave the circle, you lose the game. This year, I didn't win. I went out into the game pretending to be Susan Foreman (a Doctor Who character) and was completely open-minded. If someone had come up to me and asked, "hey, do you have the Word?" I was prepared to ask, "the Word? What?" and then they'd explain to me and I'd be converted! But no one did that. So instead, I stuck with my friends Yuri and Jj and my two brothers, Vanadium and Nitrogen stuck with me. The five of us lost wonderfully together. But after five years of winning, I didn't care. In fact, it was interesting to see "the blob" from the outside for once. I had spent my last five games finishing the game from inside the blob, and it put a new perspective on it. So that was fun.

On Wednesday, we went on a hike. I'd say what trail head, but that would sort of give away more than I'd like, 'cause I'm paranoid. (Sam, Bobbi, and Josh, you have not helped with my paranoia. <--They're staaalkers...) I did get a picture!

That doesn't quite capture it, but I did my best. Then that night, we played Jewel Hunt! That's a game that I really look forward to when Kamp comes around. In the Jewel Hunt, you go about to each station and solve a puzzle or complete a challenge to get a certain thing. From station to station, there are monsters chasing you and you have to avoid them. At the end, the top three groups sort of face off... at least, they faced off this year. It was a sort of race last year, and the year before that, they had each group do a sort of fight thing (it wasn't that bad) one at a time. The prize is M&Ms. :) Anywayyy, my team came sort of in second. I think it's so strange how my teams almost always seem to do really well. I'm pretty sure I have nothing to do with it. See, my first year, my team won. My second year was the year we didn't even come close. My third year, we were in the top three. My fourth year, I think we nearly made it to the top three. Last year, we made it in third place, and this year we were second. Sooo, I dunno. :) I'm a charm, I guess?

On Thursday, we had the flour bomb war. First, let me share my friend Yuri's status on it.

"At Kamp, everyone meshes together and rarely argue about anything... Until Thursday afternoon. Massive conflict breaks out, the land is ripped in two and long-lived, cherished friendships are mercilessly severed. The people of Higher Earth don one of two colors and do not rest until the opposing army is crushed into oblivion or their own life has been crippled in the name of war. Out of the ashes, one man rises up and delivers the other army's coat of arms to their own stronghold and secures the enemy's defeat, for to lose their symbol of strength is to be called unworthy of independence. When this is secure, the two unite again, revive their wounded and once again stand as one proud and strong people, free from conflict and covered in flour."

I hope he's okay with me posting that... anyways, that, I think, describes the flour war perfectly. There are two teams, the blue team and the green team. Iiit's basically capture the flag. :) Everyone has their own opinion on which one's better, but honestly, I find them equal. So every year, I shift. This year, I was blue. Naturally, that means we lost both wars. Ah, well. I'm just not a lucky charm in that. :) Then on Thursday night, we had the staff talent show. That was super fun. I don't think I can even describe its amazingness. :)

Very much later that night, four boys from B-1 got baptised. Mitchell, Nathan, Jj, and Yuri. Although Yuri had a stomachache the next morning, possibly from the lake water that got up his nose, that was so awesome. :)

Friday was the last full day, which made me super sad. For seriously, last week was the quickest year at Kamp ever. I kind of don't think I got even half my fill of friends, which I suppose is a little selfish of me. I got a week, and I wish I could figure out why I'm having such trouble with being content with that. At least I'm signed up for a girl's Bible camp called Higher Ground in a couple weeks, but honestly, Mom and Dad dunno how they're gonna get me over there or back. I just pray that it'll work out. Anyway, that night was the Kamper's talent show, or the real talent show, and among other things that were done, Yuri and I sang My Eyes from Dr. Horrible together. It was really fun to do, and I honestly really want to do it next year as well.

Oh, and also on Friday, for supper there was what's called banquet. It's where you're allowed to get fancy and sort of have a date. The staff serves you. :) I went with my fabulous brother, Nitrogen, who failed to dress up because he'd grown out of his fancy things. I, however, had a really cool dress along with a cloak.

By Saturday, I definitely dreaded the drive home. Saturday morning went normally, apart from getting up at 7:30 rather than 7, we had quiet time for fifteen minutes (where you sit down alone somewhere and read the Bible, or pray, or ponder life), did calisthenics, and ate breakfast. But after breakfast, everyone's split up by cabins and we clean up the campground and pack. Then your parents pick you up. We ate lunch at a friend's house, then drove home, away from all my friends. I really need to work on making friends closer to where I live. Having all of them so far away is painful.

But anyway! I had a fabulous time up there, and despite what I may make it seem like, I adore my family, and am so blessed to have been put into such an awesome family! I'm grateful for each sibling, and I try to be a blessing to my parents rather than a burden. :) (As suggested by Bobbi:) The end.

June Electronic/Internet Fast

July 1st, 2013

Five years ago, I didn't do much on the Internet. Club Penguin and Adventure Quest is all I remember doing. Of course, there was computer stuff. I loved Paint, and writing stories on Word Document. We had a whole buncha computer games, Grammar Rocks, Clue, Carmen Sandiego, Oregon Trail, Explorapedia, ect. On my 13th Birthday, Mom let me get an email, and a HomeschoolBlogger account. That was sooo exciting. Then, on my 15th Birthday, Mom finally let me get a Facebook account. Of course, it wasn't really "finally", it just felt that way, and oh, had I waited for that day! I remember telling myself that I was not gonna let myself get addicted to Facebook like others had. The thing was, I was just not doing Facebook apps (besides My Tribe... *cough cough*), I was told that was what people got addicted to, not Facebook, necessarily. Wellll... I got addicted to Facebook. And not only Facebook, but the Internet, in general. I used to be such a bookworm. I didn't entirely know what to do with myself without a book. But before I knew it, I was an Internet absorbed teenager. The teenager bit freaked/freaks me out more, though. So in April or somewhere in there, I decided an Internet fast was in order. But I didn't want to stop getting on the Internet for school, how insane would that be? Sooo I decided to wait it out 'til June, the first full month of break. This post includes the month's events, day by day.

Day 1: To my disbelief, I actually had a nightmare about no Internet. It's so hard to resist the computer, with its luring hum.

Day 2: Finished Ender's Game and am now more than halfway through Pride and Prejudice. (I had already gotten pretty far on it from reading it for school)

Day 3: Almost finished with Pride and Prejudice. Austen's writing style is kinda weird, but I adore the story.

Day 4: Finished Pride and Prejudice! Loooved it.

Day 5: Spent the day at a cabin, so I didn't do much reading.

There was a creek really close, so Vanadium, Meitnerium and I spent a lot of our time wading in it.

This is where I slept with Carbon, Potassium, and Argon. Carbon and Potassium talk a lot!

Thought this tree was cool.

Cameras never seem to be able to get that cool effect of the sun through trees.

Having fun with the water. :)

Day 6: Got home this afternoon, but we're planning to go to a different cabin Saturday.

On the way home, I saw someone with a Jawa car thingy! So I took a picture of it.

Day 7: I packed for the second cabin, more prepared for cold and such this time. Anticipation rises.

Day 8: Hiked six miles with approximately 20 pounds on my back to get the cabin.

Now, I'm not much of a photographer, but it was so beautiful, and my camera was right there, so I used it.

We finally reached the cabin at about 6:30 pm. :)

Day 9: Forgot to read, but had a fabulous day up at the cabin!

We journeyed to a nearby trolley across the river and went across it just for the fun of it. :)

The river!

The trolley....

Daddy, Lanthanum, and Vanadium went across first.

The other side!

Mom wouldn't hold Argon... (Argon's the one on the right. I missed where she was clinging to Mom and so got her reaction to Mom rejecting her. The pink hat behind her is hers; it fell off.)

...So Dad carried her.

Dad playing with Argon while we waited for Lanthanum to get a picture. She had an old picture of her from when we'd visited before, and she had something cool planned with it, but she ended up not finding the spot.

There were some marbles in the mortar in the sort of wall thing around the fireplace outside.

Day 10: We left the cabin today, and finally got home at 11:13 pm.

It wasn't actually that dark, but the sky was bright and my camera had difficulty adjusting.

I apparently reached the van at 6:15 pm, because that's when this was taken.

Day 11: Read a little bit of the Book of Three (Chronicles of Prydain), but mostly just did some sewing.

Day 12: Once again, did more sewing than reading. Grandma came over to visit! She lives a state away.

Day 13: Spent most of the day preparing a letter thing for a good friend of mine. Also, went to the farmer's market in my epic trench coat.

To my dear cousin-brother: today's Juggling Day. I wish I had mentioned that in my letter, although it probably would have still been a day too late. Ah well, just know I thought of you. :)

Day 14: Went on a hike. Also, I think today's the first day that Internet withdrawal has set in. I was bored, and although I could think of things to do, I didn't do them.

Day 15: My left ear plugged and won't unplug. I'm trying to resist the hopelessness that's sinking in.

Writing

June 15th, 2013

I guess I like writing because it's my way of escaping. I've always wanted to to sword fight, fly, use magic, ride a horse through unexplored lands, and other sorts of things without actually being in danger.

We don't have holodecks, so writing's the closest I can get. I suppose there are video games too, but there are few games that are what I like. Legend of Zelda's the closest, except maybe Fate. Or Wizard101. Or, I guess, Adventure Quest, although if it were me, I'd wear more.

What I really want is a Pick-A-Path in a really schweet world with unlimited options. I suppose everyone wants that, though. Holonovel! What I really want is a holonovel. But alas, no holodeck.

I think I could write a really good holonovel. I'd base it off the only Pick-A-Path I tried to write. See, I had it start with you waking up in the clearing of a forest, and there's this path real nearby, and there are a coupla dudes travellin' along it. Oh, and in the clearing, there's this rock with a weird symbol on it, buuut if you look closely at it, it becomes a letter. :)

Anyway, it wasn't thought through very well. But if it were a holonovel, all I'd have to do is program the world and then all the people. Sure, it'd be time consuming, but it would be absolutely worth it. It would probably be really popular, too! I think I'd rock as an authoress in the Star Trek 'verse.

Day 16: Ear's still plugged. Also, Branzah came over for lunch today! 'Twas quite loverly.

Day 17: My ear is still plugged. I think something's up with my eardrum and hopefully, when I see the chiropractor on the 20th, he'll know what to do. Also, I spent a lot of the day playing with little pirate and knight figures with Nitrogen and Meinerium.

Day 18: I've been getting behind on my Bible reading since the cabin. I need to be towards the end of Nehemiah, and I'm in the middle of 2 Chronicles.

Day 19: We spent nearly the entire day on a hike! (The driving alone took several hours) I guess we're doing hikes 'cause Grandma's visiting..?

Day 20: Went to the chiropractor today, and he made several adjustments, including one that had to do with my ear, but it's still plugged.

For Kamp Koinonia and Ruby Mirror

June 20th, 2013

So I was listening to my iPod with my good ear when Don't Say Goodbye by Ruby Mirror came up. I'd always seen that song as almost a love song of some sort, but today, it made me think of Kamp; I suppose because I miss it so much.

Anyway, I thought I'd post the lyrics and explain in what way it makes me think of Kamp after each part.

You can say that maybe all the stars won't come out tonight.

It's like going back home and looking at the night sky after a week of being up in the mountains where you can see pretty much all the stars.

You can hope that the summer will last for you another day.

For me, Kamp is summer, so I always hope that "summer" will last for another day, but it's always just a week.

You can dream of all the maybes that could come true,

Often I wish that all "the maybes" such as visiting my friends from Kamp or my friends from Kamp visiting me would come true.

It's good for you, but don't say goodbye.

This one, to me, means that it's good that you're not always at Kamp (as sad as that is), but don't say goodbye to Kamp, come back year after year.

Yes, I know it's hard to leave it all behind like this,

And you wonder if it's worth the tears or worth the pain.

It really is hard to leave Kamp after the week ends.

There's an emptiness that stays with you for quite a while.

For me, I feel a little empty after leaving Kamp for several months after, and sometimes a month or two before.

Try to smile, but don't say goodbye.

Why do I feel this hurt inside? I can't forget everything you meant to me.

Don't you see that I need to be always right there as your friend?
Okay, so I can't really see how this has anything to do with Kamp....

There's a light that's shining brightly just ahead of you,

And I hope that maybe I might be a part of its glow.

If you leave I will remember you,

I'll wave to you, don't say goodbye.

These last four verses make me feel like that's what Kamp says to each person as they leave.

Sometimes I wish I would stop being so crazily excited for Kamp each year. It makes my siblings feel like I don't want to be around them, and I know that I can't let my life revolve around Koinonia.

Day 21: (My ear is still plugged) Saw Warm Bodies! I really liked it, but I wish the TV Guardian had worked.

Day 22: After nearly a whole day of anticipation, Vanadium got home from Encampment at about 10:15 tonight! Everyone's so glad to have him back - our family seems so very incomplete without him.

Day 23: My ear unplugged this afternoon! Wonder how long that'll last. Also, since Branzah took the little girls tonight, we watched Mama. I thoroughly enjoyed it, but that's 'cause I looove creepy movies.

Day 24: Apparently, my unplugged ear didn't last incredibly long. I woke up with it plugged and it kept plugging and unplugging throughout the whole day. Sigh. Well, at least it's unplugging sometimes. I don't carry any other news aside from the already mentioned.

Day 25: This fast is getting really hard. Part of me wants to end this early. After we took Vanadium to C.A.P. (Civil Air Patrol), I got to drive around to different stores. Driving's so terrifying. You'd think that after having a driver's permit for a year, I'd be better at it by now. (The reason I don't have a license isn't because I can't pass the test. I'm just bad at logging my hours.) If I am, I barely feel it. Goodness, I am so excited for Kamp.

Day 26: Aunt Sheila came over this afternoon and talked about several things, including the Constitution (she's been coming over on Wednesdays telling us about 1776 for this whole year. :) ) Aaalso, I played a few small (Internet) games, which broke my Internet and electronic strike thingy. *shame* Still, I'm going to pull myself back into the saddle and hang on 'til July.

Stream of Consciousness Writing

June 26th, 2013

I randomly wanted to sit down and start writing, so I did. Mom tells me this is called stream of consciousness writing.

I walk slowly through the large crowd of people that appear to be everywhere, barely conscience of what I'm doing and unable to stop looking around. There are mirrors on the ceiling, so looking up, I can see myself. I have a lost look in my greyish blue eyes and my brown hair (with purple highlights, I note) drifts around me as though I'm underwater or in zero gravity. There are colorful signs on the walls presumably advertising... something. Because of the wall of people, I can't see anything else, so my eyes drift to the faces.

The first thing I notice is that nearly everyone seems either bored or upset. A couple of them stride with much purpose, in large circles. A few people can be seen following those confident - even the ones marching in circles.

My mind drifts to the thought of following and I look to the person ahead of me. I appear to be following a man with long white hair and a bright orange shirt. Never mind, he turned off and a woman with short curly brown hair rudely steps in front of me.

I look down. The floor is blue, but the colors move like the surface of a body of water. My shoes are white, but the rubber over the tip of the shoe isn't as white as they clearly used to be. My pants are also white, and make my legs look fat, but I know they're not because I can feel the fabric rubbing against my legs. My hands are stuck into my very large pockets, and I can feel something in my right pocket. A small cylinder. I stop walking (several people bump into me) and pull it out, looking at it. It's also white (I must have an obsession with white), and has a promising lid. I pull the lid off and peek inside the small tube. A bright blue light pours out of it and I tightly shut my eyes.

Well that was weird. Anyway, sorry for stopping so randomly, my brain quit giving me ideas.

Day 27: Went to Red Mango with Lanthanum and my cousin Anne Marie, which was fantabulous! Also, we watched I Am Legend, not for the first time.

Day 28: Finally decided to skip the Chronicles of Prydain and start on Witches Abroad. I'm about a fourth of the way into it, and I'm quite enjoying it.

Day 29: I'm now halfway through Witches Abroad. I read a bit aloud to some family members, and they appeared to enjoy it.

Day 30: For a day so full of.... stuff, it seemed to pass by, for me, quite slowly. Anyway, after church, Chase, a friend from church, took Dysprosium to the bookstore, and Branzah came over for lunch. OH, and on the way home, we were stopped at a red light in the right turn lane, and this guy came up into the left turn lane and into the crosswalk, and (on a red light) turned right into the left lane. That was frightening. Anyway, after lunch, we found that Chase brought Dysprosium home! We thought she was gonna end up walking home. So we held Chase captive for several hours, which was fun. Then I sat myself down with Witches Abroad and (with a slight distraction by the name of (Disney's) Ratatouille), I finished it today! And at midnight or roundabouts, I... *cough* checked Facebook.

So that was fun. I didn't read all the books I wanted to, but I got to spend some time with my family that I normally don't since I'm so absorbed my own world. However, I doubt I'll do this again. (Mom might make me, though....) 

Stream of Consciousness Writing

June 26th, 2013

I was on an Internet fast for June, so this was originally on paper. But after I got back from mah fast, I did a post on everything I did. You can find that here.

-----------

I randomly wanted to sit down and start writing, so I did. Mom tells me this is called stream of consciousness writing.

I walk slowly through the large crowd of people that appear to be everywhere, barely conscience of what I'm doing and unable to stop looking around. There are mirrors on the ceiling, so looking up, I can see myself. I have a lost look in my greyish blue eyes and my brown hair (with purple highlights, I note) drifts around me as though I'm underwater or in zero gravity. There are colorful signs on the walls presumably advertising... something. Because of the wall of people, I can't see anything else, so my eyes drift to the faces.

The first thing I notice is that nearly everyone seems either bored or upset. A couple of them stride with much purpose, in large circles. A few people can be seen following those confident - even the ones marching in circles.

My mind drifts to the thought of following and I look to the person ahead of me. I appear to be following a man with long white hair and a bright orange shirt. Never mind, he turned off and a woman with short curly brown hair rudely steps in front of me.

I look down. The floor is blue, but the colors move like the surface of a body of water. My shoes are white, but the rubber over the tip of the shoe isn't as white as they clearly used to be. My pants are also white, and make my legs look fat, but I know they're not because I can feel the fabric rubbing against my legs. My hands are stuck into my very large pockets, and I can feel something in my right pocket. A small cylinder. I stop walking (several people bump into me) and pull it out, looking at it. It's also white (I must have an obsession with white), and has a promising lid. I pull the lid off and peek inside the small tube. A bright blue light pours out of it and I tightly shut my eyes.

Well that was weird. Anyway, sorry for stopping so randomly, my brain quit giving me ideas.

For Kamp Koinonia and Ruby Mirror

June 20th, 2013

I was on an Internet fast for June, so this was originally on paper. But after I got back from mah fast, I did a post on everything I did. You can find that here.

-----------

So I was listening to my iPod with my good ear when Don't Say Goodbye by Ruby Mirror came up. I'd always seen that song as almost a love song of some sort, but today, it made me think of Kamp; I suppose because I miss it so much.

Anyway, I thought I'd post the lyrics and explain in what way it makes me think of Kamp after each part.

You can say that maybe all the stars won't come out tonight.

It's like going back home and looking at the night sky after a week of being up in the mountains where you can see pretty much all the stars.

You can hope that the summer will last for you another day.

For me, Kamp is summer, so I always hope that "summer" will last for another day, but it's always just a week.

You can dream of all the maybes that could come true,

Often I wish that all "the maybes" such as visiting my friends from Kamp or my friends from Kamp visiting me would come true.

It's good for you, but don't say goodbye.

This one, to me, means that it's good that you're not always at Kamp (as sad as that is), but don't say goodbye to Kamp, come back year after year.

Yes, I know it's hard to leave it all behind like this,

And you wonder if it's worth the tears or worth the pain.

It really is hard to leave Kamp after the week ends.

There's an emptiness that stays with you for quite a while.

For me, I feel a little empty after leaving Kamp for several months after, and sometimes a month or two before.

Try to smile, but don't say goodbye.

Why do I feel this hurt inside? I can't forget everything you meant to me.

Don't you see that I need to be always right there as your friend?
Okay, so I can't really see how this has anything to do with Kamp....

There's a light that's shining brightly just ahead of you,

And I hope that maybe I might be a part of its glow.

If you leave I will remember you,

I'll wave to you, don't say goodbye.

These last four verses make me feel like that's what Kamp says to each person as they leave.

Sometimes I wish I would stop being so crazily excited for Kamp each year. It makes my siblings feel like I don't want to be around them, and I know that I can't let my life revolve around Koinonia.

Long Overdue Information

I'm afraid I've been neglecting this blog for too long, and now I'm attempting to return to it. I had my seventeenth birthday on the 17th of April (yay for golden Birthdays), I'm steadily getting closer to finishing school this semester, aaand I saw my dear friend Nichole on May 5! Nichole lives on the other side of the state, but her singing group travelled through here on the fifth for lunch, and so Lanthanum and I went over to the mall to greet them! We know several people in their group. and Lanthanum had decided to go over with them to stay with one of them, so after meeting them at the mall, Mom drove me home.
As to my birthday, I'll have to admit that very little happened, apart from it snowing! Which is a very rare happening in April. :D It was about seven inches, I believe. My Aunt and my cousin, Ann Marie, showed up with the ingredients for homemade ice cream as I had asked even though it had snowed, which I'm so happy for, especially since Aunt Sheila's ice creams's really rather wonderful. Apart from a couple of drawings from Potassium, I got some Lego-y Doctors. Like, all of them, along with their sonic screwdrivers and Seven has his umbrella! Then on Sunday, Branzah got me a hair flower thingy and Captain America, the movie! :D And I believe I spent that particular afternoon watching Captain America, for some reason, alone.
Now I know there's more, but I'll have to think about iiit... well, Dad bought all of us some ESV Bibles... oh, and about a week ago, while the sun was going down, the sun reflected off of some clouds above the house, which made all the colors in the backyard burst out so vividly, when I went out there, I felt as though I were in a painting! And when some of the clouds cleared out, the sky looked sooo beautiful where there were no clouds! I'm afraid it's rather difficult to describe, and I was afraid to take pictures, partly because I'm so bad at pictures, partly because I'm quite sure the best photographer wouldn't be able to capture the scene, even though a somewhat bad picture is better than no picture.
Other than that... I don't think I have anything else to say... but I suppose I'll mention that I rewrote Little Red Riding Hood on one of my other blogs, and am working on rewriting Jack and the Beanstalk, which I will also post on my other blog, so I guess stay tuned for that. :)
With that, I suppose I'll bid you a good day!

For My Grandparents

So my Grandmother (on my Father's side) died the 30th of March at about 11:30 PM. Oddly enough, I'm not terribly distressed about it. I suppose it's because my Grandfather died three years prior so neither one was left behind, and Grandma was lower than sea level (so to speak) the weeks, or maybe even months, leading up to her death. Another factor was, perhaps, because she moved up to Montana where her daughter lives three years ago, after Grandpa died, and that was where most of my sadness took hold, because I knew I'd never see her again. And yet, at the same time, part of me was relieved that she didn't leave so very near us anymore, and looking back on it, that's kind of sad. It's not that I didn't like her, or even really saw her as a burden. I loved her a massive amount, and I know that that was mutual. I suppose... my Dad's siblings don't communicate very well, and as a repercussion, I don't know many of my cousins on my Father's side of the family. I don't want to get into that, since that, to me, is sadder than my Grandmother's death, and since I'm listening to the K-Pax soundtrack (which, by the way, is fairly sad-sounding), I feel like I might start crying anyway, and Mom has given me twelve minutes to do this post, I'm not going to get into it.

Today, I got up, dreading school, only to find out that I only had two subjects and then we had to go to the graveyard to bury Grandma's body. (Mind you, we buried her body, not her) I, I'll admit, didn't want to go, seeing no point, but I'm glad I did, although partly because I was able to see how one, they got the coffin in the hole, two, how they got the straps that dropped the coffin down back out, and three, talk a little to people, even if it was cold, windy, and there were rain clouds approaching. After getting home, my sister, her husband, my Uncle, my Aunt, two of my cousins, one of my cousin-in-laws, and my little first cousin once removed came over and the older ones (in other words, excluding the three year old) gathered together and shared stories about Grandpa and Grandma, which I think some of my relatives needed. We pulled out some pictures and were reminiscing some more when some church members brought us supper and we had some wonderful food and fellowship. My brother-in-law and his wife departed first, followed fairly closely by my cousin, his wife, and his daughter. My Uncle, Aunt, and cousin stayed a couple hours longer, although I didn't take much part with them, because my Uncle talked to my Dad, my Aunt talked to my Mom, and my cousin talked to Lanthanum, and although I tried to stay a part of that conversation, they often seem to subconsciously exclude me. I soon left and watched a wonderful Star Trek: Voyager episode. I wanted to end this better, but it's 10:16 and Mom asked me to get off at 10:15, so I'd best get off. Perhaps I'll articulate more later. In the meantime, have a great day.

Thoughts While Babysitting

April 4th, 2013

I babysit at a place called M.O.P.s (Mothers Of Preschoolers) on the first and third Thursday of every month September through April (ish, I didn't double check, so this is a bit of a guess). MOPs is where moms gather together, dropping their kids off in various rooms according to their age, and go to a meeting where... they talk about stuff... or something. I've never been in one of the meetings, so I've no idea what they do.
This year, I help in the 4s and 5s, and I must say that that is the easiest age group I've ever been in. (I've been in the 1s, 2s, and the 4s and 5s. The other two groups are infants and 3s.) Today it was crazy, but I thought quite a bit this time. There are several things I don't understand and whether these are explained to me or not, I don't care. I just wanted to write them out.

     1. Why don't the kids wash their hands? I'm always the one to take the kids to the bathroom, and for a while, I always just thought that they were quick in the bathroom. After that time, I realized that many of the kids were not washing their hands. I even asked one of the girls if she had washed her hands (knowing she hadn't), and she just looked back at the sink and said, 'ah, I don't need to.' and moved on.

     2. Why is it that the quiet shy ones are treated like they're odd? I love getting to know the quiet ones because they're less aggressive, more inclined to share, sometimes more mature, and just generally kind. This year, there's a boy in my group of 4s and 5s that didn't want to play the first few meetings, but eventually, I decided to read a bit of the Bible to him since everyone else was gathered together for story time and I had to watch him. My first instinct was to try to play with him, but he didn't seem comfortable with me getting near, so I backed off and stayed away. After reading some of Isaiah aloud to him, he came up right beside me and only backed off when I stopped reading. Over the next several meetings, he started to talk and even play with me. Now, near the end of the MOPs season-time-thingy, he plays with just about anyone. Sometimes I miss that he doesn't play with me as often, but I'm glad that he's not just sitting around doing nothing the entire time. I rather hope that he'll remember me.

     3. At four and certainly five, I would imagine that the children could possibly be a bit more selfless than they seem to be naturally, and yet when I ask the kids to give up their swing because they have been on it for about five minutes and there are other kids waiting for a turn, more often than not, they'll either refuse to get off or complain about being kicked off. Even when it comes to having to share the marbles because they have 20ish and another kid has none, rather often, they're very inclined to keep as many marbles to themselves as they can, even though they have more than enough.

     4. There are a couple of five year olds in my class that are 'boyfriend and girlfriend'. Usually, I believe that I wouldn't think much of it, but the two seem to take the endearment much too seriously. One time, the two actually kissed each other during the movie at the end. When the mother of the girl was informed of what happened, she was as shocked as I, and told the girl that she was only to kiss 'Mommies and Daddies and Grandmas and Grandpas' on the lips. I suppose I'm a bit odd and old-fashioned (not that I'm ashamed of that in slightest), but I wouldn't allow my child to kiss a single person on the lips at that age. However, I do my best not to judge, because that's not my place.

Anyway, those were some of the things going through my head this morning, and I felt like sharing. As for the rest of my day, I have to go to the chiropractor, and I hope desperately to be able to watch The Dark Knight today, because we watched Batman Begins last night, so I'm in the mood. Oh, also, we got the Kamp applications filled in today!! I'm so excited to go to Kamp in July!! :D :D Aaand... no school today! Yay! ...I keep remembering more... I'm turning 17 in thirteen days!! It's so weird to know that I'm that age... but that leads to a post I'm planning for a later date. Anyway... good day!

The Only Fourth Sunday Of February 2013

February 24th, 2013

Hello! How are you today? Bloobloobla blablablablooblooblablablabla!!

Okay, that was Bobbi telling me what to say because I really wanted to do a post and didn’t know what to say. After that… stuff… up there, I decided that anything I say has got to be better than that. (Sorry, Bobbi!!)
We went to church this morning!  ’Cause… it’s Sunday. Our church worships with instruments, which makes me rather sad, but in our town, it would seem that a church will either have good lessons or good singing. (And we would know because we have visited countless churches in our town.) So we chose the one with good lessons, and I suppose I shouldn't say good because they are exceptional. :D
Dysprosium has a weird sleep schedule, so after the church service, she went to sleep on the front row, which was fine until she decided to move and no one knew where she went. Sooo… we left church without her. (She’s 23, she can handle herself)
Let’s see, what else… OH!! On the way to church, I saw a car that had a power cord sticking out of their hood. I would’ve gotten a picture, but I didn’t have my camera.
I played on the Wii with Vanadium… (which doesn’t happen often, because I’m not a huge gamer)
Theeen… I watched some Star Trek: Voyager episodes. Not an exciting day, but I really wanted to do a post, so here it is!

My Saturday

February 16th, 2013

Okay, first of all, I’m changing up my siblings’ names on here. (Sorry!) It was pointed out to me that I referred to my siblings in numbers as well as The Doctors, and it got confusing, sooo… One is Dysprosium, Two is Titanium, Three is Lanthanum, Five is Vanadium, Six is Nitrogen, Seven is Meitnerium, Eight is Carbon, Nine is Potassium, and Ten is Argon.

Today started as an average Saturday. I woke up late and practically immediately got on the Internets. After a while, when I was on Facebook, I discovered that my dear friend Nichole was on as well. So after talking to her for a little while, I realized that she wasn’t doing her work either. A brilliant plan struck me After a moment, I had an idea, and put it Nichole in the form of a suggestion. She accepted it, and so we would get off of Facebook for a half hour, tell each other what we did, and then repeat the cycle. It helped me a considerable amount, and I achieved most of my goals in about an hour. (Trust me, that’s a bit of a record)
We had a younger couple over for lunch, which was super fun, ’cause I’m extroverted, and as an extrovert who is very often at home with no visitors, it didn’t matter if they didn’t talk to me much. Let’s see…
Honestly, not much happened, but in a previous post on a different blog, I answered random questions, and one of the questions was ‘what is your happiest memory?’, or something along those lines, and I remembered my surprise Birthday party from last year! And theeen I read a post about a fellow Whovian’s Birthday where she had a TARDIS cake, sooo I figured I’d post pictures of my schweet TARDIS cake!

And with that, I’m off to bed, because it’s late, and I’m tired!