Okay I have only been in school for three days and I just had my first snow day of the semester. Part of me was hoping for school to be canceled just because I didn’t feel like going to school. So when I found out that my classes were canceled I was kinda of happy, mostly because that meant I could sleep in and I didn’t have to go out into the cold! But as I was enjoying my day off I realized that I had to go out and shovel the snow. Now normally shoveling is not too bad because we have a snowblower, but around 1 or 2 pm today the snow turned to freezing rain, so no snowblower. On top of having to do it by hand, it was still raining outside. Yuck! And when there is a snow and freezing rain mixture, it is really heavy to lift with a shovel. So after I was done shoveling I wished that it hadn’t snowed and that I did have school. Last time I wish for a snow day….although I may if I have a test cause then I get more time to study!!!

Here are some photos of our driveway and front yard around 10 am

So I know this is kinda late since the first day of school was on the 21st on January. But I have been busy with just so much different stuff (mostly playing Amish Yatzee with friends! ). So I decided better late than never, right? So this semester I am taking five courses instead of just four, which isn’t too bad so far cause one of my classes is really easy.

My classes this semester:

• English 102
• World History: Beginnings to 1450
• Math 123: Precalculus
• Critical Thinking and Problem Solving
• Introduction to Liberal Arts

So for the first class, English 102, is different than English 101 (last semesters english course) because this one deals more with literature and only two essays. English 101 had four essays and a research paper and no literature readings. I personally would rather write papers than have to interpret poems and other works of literature. So this class isn’t too bad but I never have really been a fan on english.

World History is the one that I was most excited about! Some of you may know that I am hoping to be an Archaeologist so history is extremely interesting to me. The one thing that I am not to fond of is because it talks about the world’s beginnings it has the evolution theories and the world being millions to billions of years old. Yeah right! But this is not a Christian campus and not a Christian textbook. Anyway I am looking forward to moving on past the “beginnings” and talking about early civilizations and how they went about life.

Math is going great so far! My professor for math is hilarious! He told us that we would get “extra credit” for calling him Rambo! Aparently loves those movies and references them throughout the class. He is always making jokes so it makes math fun and fun to be in the class!

Critical Thinking and Problem Solving is probably the course that I really wish I didn’t have to do. So far it is not bad, I mean, in class we read then answer questions. But there is just something, I don’t know what, that I am not looking forward too. Maybe the homework, project, tests, or all of the above? The thing that is interesting is this class is kinda backwards in the sense that we do “note taking/class work” for homework and “answer questions/homework” in the class time. For homewrok we read and while we read, we are supposed to keep a critical thinking journal. Basically take note on what we have read. I usually take notes in class not while reading my homework assignment.

Intro to Liberal Arts is going to be my eaisest coure this semester because we are going to discuss the different aspects of a Liberal Arts degree. Throughout the course we will be reading a couple of different books but nothing too major. The professor for this class is also really funny and makes it enjoyable to be in the class with him.

So, yeah, that is about it for this semester. I have no doubt that I will be posting more about school throughout the semester, but for now that is all.

So it has been a crazy week so I haven’t had much time to update. I started school on Wednesday (will be posting about my first day and classes later) and then haven been hanging out with friends and playing crazy games! So Wednesday after school me and my family went to a friends house and watched Tuesdays with Morrie, which by the way made me cry. After that we had the Givens and the McGraths over for dinner and to play some games. We played both Amish Yahtzee and Spoons, both games are fast paced and kinda aggressive. We played until probably around 10 to 11 p.m. when everybody went home. Fast forward to Friday, this time we went to the McGrath’s for dinner and games. Again we played Amish Yahtzee, Spoons (although we used forks), and we also played Pictionary. But one of the times that we played Amish Yahtzee we wrote 100 to 1 instead of 1 to 100. It was definitely more difficult writing backwards then forwards! Again we stayed up playing until about 10 to 11 p.m. So that was my crazy week so far plus school, but I had an enormous amount of fun staying up and screaming “SIX!!!!!” ;D

I am a music fanatic! Lately I have been into more of the dance/electronic pop kind of music. A lot of the mainstream artists have been using that sound, so I was excited when my Dad found the new Krystal Meyers’ cd. After listening to the whole cd, there is not one song on it that I don’t love!

Track Listing:

• Make Some Noise
• Love it Away
• Shine
• S.O.S.
• Feel So Right
• My Freedom
• Beautiful Tonight
• Up to You
• You’ll Never Know
• In Your Hands

One of my favorite songs on this cd is “Love it Away.” In this song Krystal Meyers assures us that God’s love will take away our pain and fear, God is always there for us.  Similarly, on “S.O.S. she cries for God to save her from her pain and problems, and recognizes that “Precious time is taken away/And all that I can do Is pray” and that God alone “can save our souls.” On the song “My Freedom” Krystal Meyers knows that God is the only that save her and free her, “Will you come and wash over me/Like only you can/Will you be my freedom?”. Kinda of going along with that Krystal Meyers puts her life in God’s hands in the song “In Your Hands.”

The more upbeat songs “Make Some Noise” and “Shine” talk about either “We were born to make some noise” and “Nobody’s going to get in the way of my shine.” I really see the song “Make Some Noise” as an anthem for Christians in a way that we need to take a stand in our faith and in our society. We need to “make some noise” or to “shine” and not let the world get in our way or tear us down.

On the other hand Krystal Meyers touches on things that every teenager goes through: love, break-ups, and self-esteem. “Beautiful Tonight” deals with self-esteem and the struggles to be “beautiful” and fit in with the world, “I’m becoming quite a liar/Does that make me beautiful tonight.” The song “Feels So Right” is Krystal Meyers love pop ballad. I think that it is great when Christain artist write “love songs” because it is something we all feel and go through but it is in a way the is, I guess, innocent.” On the other side of love is break-ups, which is what the song “Up to You” is all about. This is another great one when it comes to relationships because no where in this song is she extremely bitter or angry towards the guy but “but at the end of the day I never wanted it to be this way/but I’ll leave it up to you.” That is a big difference when compared to other mainstream atrists who look for revenge or are bitter towards their ex.

This is definetly a cd I would recomend to anyone who enjoys artists like Superchick, Miley Cyrus,or any artist with a strong influenceof 80′s electronic pop.

So I thought that since I listen to sooo much music, in many different genres, I thought I would start giving my thoughts on either an entire CD or a song that I think is worth sharing. These will be completely my opinion on the song/CD and will be music that I listen to (I probably won’t have any songs/CD that I myself wouldn’t listen to). This is my way of sharing the music that I love, listen to, or feel should be shared.

I would love to give my opinion on different books that I have read or am going to read, but I read very slowly and not very often so there will not be many of these. But I will try! Again these will be my opinions and what I thought was good or bad about the book. But the books are more of a hope, not an actual “yes I am going to do them.”

*First CD review will probably be posted tomorrow: Krystal Meyer’s Make Some Noise CD

I have really been craving an Orange Julius, but I think the closest one is about 40 minutes away, and I am not driving 40 min. just to get a smoothie. So instead I Googled for “Orange Julius Smoothie Recipe,” but I didn’t find one that I really liked or I didn’t have all of the ingredients. I decided to take a couple of the recipes and combine them to make my own. And I came up with this recipe:

Banana Smoothie Recipe:

• Two bananas
• 6 oz. of Vanilla Yogurt
• 3/4 cup of either orange juice or apple juice (the first time I used orange juice, the second time I used apple juice)
• About a cup and a half of crushed ice.

Place all of the ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth. This probably makes around 26 oz., this is an estimation because I am not sure exactly how much it made. Enjoy!!

So the other day we got rain and then freezing rain. The combination of slush and rain froze overnight and our driveway became an ice rink! Stupid Mass weather!!! We had tried to shovel the slush before it could freeze but there was already a layer of ice underneath the slush. So it was safer to leave the slush so that we could actually walk on the driveway without breaking something but then the next day there was a thicker layer of ice. So now it is one of those times when we have to wait and hope that the ice will melt on its own.

So sometime yesterday the cover and the release date for the Twilight DVD was released. I am totally excited that I don’t have to wait an eternity for the DVD to come out. That was one thing with The Prince Caspian movie, it was eight months after the theater release that the DVD came out. That is too long for me, especially since I usually don’t see movies in the theater and I have to wait for the DVD release. So for Twilight’s DVD release I only have to wait until March 21st. YAY!!!

So here is the newest news from director Chris Weitz on who exactly is going to play Jacob Black in New Moon:

Dear Twilight Fans,

I’m very happy to announce that Taylor Lautner will be playing Jacob Black in NEW MOON, and that he’s doing so with the enthusiastic support of Summit Entertainment, the producers, and Stephenie Meyer.

The characters in Stephenie’s books go through extraordinary changes of circumstance and also appearance; so it is not surprising that there has been speculation about whether the same actor would portray a character who changes in so many surprising ways throughout the series.

But it was my first instinct that Taylor was, is, and should be Jacob, and that the books would be best served by the actor who is emotionally right for the part.

I think that fans of TWILIGHT, the book and the movie, will be surprised by the Jacob Black that Taylor will bring to the screen in NEW MOON; and I’m looking forward to working with him and the rest of the cast in realizing the film.

Very Best,

Chris Weitz

I think that this is pretty cool! I am still a little concerned because Jacob is supposed to grow so much and look like he is 25 years old, but I definitely think that Taylor Lautner is “emotionally right for the part.” So I think that he will do a great job as Jacob Black and I am totally looking forward to seeing the movie hopefully at the end of the year!

So for the last two years I have been trying to knit or crochet something for my grandparents, but never finished. At first it was supposed to be a scarf and I would knit one and my mom would do the other. So we went out and bought green and red yarn (my grandparents favorite colors) and we started to knit a scarf. Well not long into it, I decided that I wanted to try and crochet a scarf, so I started over. Well that didn’t go so well because it was my first time crocheting and the scarf was very uneven, so I started over and went back to knitting. Long story short, two years later only a fourth of a scarf done. I realized that I don’t have a lot of patience for just sitting and working on the project, so I decided to find something that would not take so long and that way I could have the satisfaction of completing a project.  I found several patterns for “coffee cozies,” basically a sweater for your coffee mug. Well my grandparents drink a lot of coffee so I thought it was perfect and it shouldn’t take too long. But I couldn’t really find a pattern that was for beginners or one that I wouldn’t get too frustrated with, so I made my own version. I decided that I wanted to crochet them just because I like to crochet better than knitting. Anyone can do this as long as you know the basics of crocheting (chain stitch, single crochet stitch, and finishing off), I probably finished in two hours.

Materials:

• Two different colors of worsted yarn (I used green and white). One is the main color, the other is used for the border
• A I-9/5.50 MM crochet needle
• A yarn needle (used to make the border and weave in the ends)
• Scissors

Steps:
1.  Chain 35 stitches with whichever of the two colors you want to be the main one (green in my case)

2.  Next you want to use a single crochet stitch to make as many rows as needed (depends on how tall or short the mug is)

3.  Once you have the desired height, finish off and weave in the ends.

4.  Next you want to take a good length of the second color of yarn and use a whip stitch around the border of the “sweater”. This step is not necessary but I thought it made it look nicer.

5.  The last step is to attached three sets of string (the same as the border color) to both ends of the “sweater.” This is what holds the sweater to the coffee mug.

6.  That’s it!! You’re Done!