So it has been a while since I have blogged, but I have been quite busy! With school and other activities it has been kinda of crazy this month. But this week I am on my Spring Break! YAY! I love the break but I am going to hate having to go back to school next week. Anyway my family had a whole bunch of activities going on this week so I was lucky enough to be on break to join them.

First up is Monday. Monday was not very exciting because it was grading period for my brother and sister. So that means helping my mom put together all of their work, making sure that it is graded, and putting the grades into the progress report. After that is all done then we copy the work as a back-up and then send it in (we haven’t done that yet).

Next we have Tuesday. For Tuesday we went to a Culinary Museum in Providence with a bunch of other homeschoolers. That was interesting and I definitely had fun. After that we went and got some lunch at the Cheesecake Factory in the Providence Place Mall. The food there is amazing!!! I had a Double B.B.Q. Bacon Cheesburger with fries, and I only ate half of that burger!

The last one we have is Wednesday. Yesterday we went bowling with other homeschoolers (this time homeschoolers from our church). Now this wasn’t the normal bowling but candlepin bowling with the smaller bowl and pins. I had so much fun going bowling! I always loved going bowling!

So that is this week so far but we still have the rest of today and Friday. On Friday we have a homeschool gathering between 2-4 pm. I normaly go to every Friday (although I am usually late because my last class ends at 2:50ish pm). In the evening on Friday me, my sister, and my mom are going to a purity event at our church. So that is it for now…

So we just took our dog, Shadow, to the vet and the vet told us that she had gained 12 lbs. since her last visit. To make sure that Shadow lives a long, happy life without diabetes we are supposed to get her to exercise. The vet suggested putting Shadow on the treadmill during the winter months, so….

Okay so I just watched this movie a couple of nights ago and it was absolutely AWESOME!!! I cried through most if not all of the movie! This movie is about a relationship between a husband and wife who are going through a extremely difficult time. But on top of being about the relationship between spouses, it is also about relationships between friends, co-workers, parents, and most importantly God.

The people who made this movie did a phenomenal job and most of the actors and crew members were volunteers from the local church! That is just amazing! You could tell by some of the special features that they were very God-centered or focused while filming this movie, and were more concerned with reaching a lot people through the movie’s message. The main message of this movie is, “Never leave your partner behind,” which in an of itself is important and nowadays so many people do not take marriage vows seriously. When saying, “For better or for worse” you are making a promise, a commitment. This movie really deals with this issue as well as with our relationship with God, another relationship that people take for granted.

I would definitely recommend this movie for anyone! It is amazing and very touching. Younger children may not understand the message they are trying to get across (or may not understand why everyone is crying, because you will be crying!) so it may be better for teens and older just because they will be able to grasp the meaning of relationships a little more. But it is a movie that should be added to your movie collection!

So I have taken down the Revenge of Captain Bronze for the time being. For those who may not know what this is, it was a story I started several years ago and have been adding a chapter here and there. Well it has been forever since the last time I have actually written anything for the story and what I have added was very poorly written, so I have taken it down to be edited and finished. The reason I had stopped was because I was losing interest and getting bored with pirates (I moved on to the Twilight phenomenon) so it was hard for me to keep writing. I mean this whole story started with me dreaming about being a pirate and every time I wrote a chapter is was completely improvised and written on the spot. So what I want to do is to take the ideas I already have and rewrite them to make them better and more detailed, to create better characters and make the main characters more dimensional. I really want to take this more seriously so I will not be posting anything until I am finished with the entire story and this is going to take time! I may be posting updates every once and a while to tell you where I am in the story but for now just know that is no longer on my site and I am planning on finishing it and posting it then.

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

So as I was surfing the web looking at different Christian artists, I found a website/cause that was started by BarlowGirl called “Never Silence Life.” The goal is to pray and to be a voice to the voiceless on January 20, 2008. It is a silent protest against abortion and the “Freedom of Choice Act.” Here is something from the website:

As a child, we are told all the time that everyone has the chance to make history and that everyone has a voice. It is our choice to use it for the good or for the bad. And it is our choice in this life how we are going to make a difference in the course of history.

We are all called to be something great, we all have passion and all have a voice… But some people aren’t so fortunate, some people don’t have a chance to speak and stand up for themselves.

So my question for you today is, will you be a voice for the voiceless?

Every 22 seconds a child dies. Not of starvation or of unclean water, but because someone made a choice for them. Someone didn’t want to be inconvenienced so they made a choice. A choice to silence that inconvenience, even though it was because of something they had done. That inconvenience is an innocent child, and they are being silenced every single day.

In America alone 1.37 million children are aborted every year; 3,700 a day. My generation is a part of the biggest holocaust in history. 1/3 of my generation has been killed. And it’s 1/2 of my generation that is doing the killing. And what have we done about it? Nothing. We say we don’t like it but we don’t stand up for it.

So another question for you today is, are you brave enough to stand up for what is right? Are you brave enough to make history? On January 22, 1973, abortion was legalized in the United States and since then 40 million children have been killed. We can’t go on one more day without letting our voice be heard. So will you stand and let your voice be heard?

This call is an attempt to come together in unity, with one voice, to be the sound of the heartbeat that will wake up the sleeping in our nation. So, on January 22, 2009, in a silent protest, we will stand in front of court houses, schools and in churches praying for the lives of the unborn. We will gather all across America. We don’t gather in violence, but with a repentant heart, we will lay our petitions before the Lord to have mercy on our country and bring change to the hearts of Americans and their view on the importance of a human life.

One Day. One Voice. One Heartbeat. Together we will stand for change. Together we will make history.

“Before you were formed in the womb, I knew you…” – Jeremiah 1:5

I think that this is just plain awesome! I wish I had known this a little earlier then just know because this actually started on December 14, 2008 with a 40 day fast. The last day of the fast is January 22, 2009. The 40 day fast was also 40 days to pray for something different, whether that was our new President Barack Obama, our country, our country’s leaders, or that abortion clinics (like Planned Parenthood) be closed. What I think is cool is that this is a “silent protest,” in no way does BarlowGirl want people to get hurt or for roits to start over this, but rather a way to gather together to pray for the babies in America and around the world that are killed because they are considered “inconvenience’ or they are “unwanted.” I myself don’t know if I will go anywhere (they suggest standing in front of courthouses, schools, and churchs) but I will definitely be joining in and praying for our nation, for the babies, and for the Freedom if Choice Act not to be passed. And I strongly encourage you to join in as well even if you stay at home, please pray for those who do not have a voice to protest.

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