"Sittin' on a fence post...

...chewin' some bubblegum." - Girl Scout song

So uh...it's May 25, 2010. Today, it was raining. The APRIL showers are supposed to bring the MAY flowers! Not more May showers! haha. Anyhow, this week is going to be jam-packed. I still have quite the load of homework to do and this upcoming three-day weekend shall be buzz-buuzz-BUUUSSSY! I have to march with my school band in the city parade. Then it's senior prom! Then I shall arrive at church on Sunday at 7am to sing for three baptismal services. And then one day to recuperate. But I'll probably end up hanging out with all my friends. haha. My mother is making my prom dress and I have found where I get my procrastinating skills. My MOTHER. *cough* ;)
Quite honestly, being a second semester senior in high school, I don't think I should have to worry about doing homework and such. But for some reason beyond my comprehension, I still have dumb little assignments that I must do. GAH. JUST LET ME GRAJEEATE ALREADY, JEEPERS! haha.
We finally convinced our physics teacher to give us a final project instead of a final TEST. What will it entail? We must build a Rube Goldberg device/machine that will dispense hand sanitizer into someone's hand. It requires six energy exchanges. I'm pretty excited about it, to be honest.
I had been wanting an open-faced clock for my room...and I never got one. But at a garage sale this weekend, I found one. But it was not working properly, as it had a limp hour-hand. :( So they let me have it for a dollar. And I still took it because I LOVE to fix things and I thought it might be salvageable...and if not, I figured I would still hang it up somewhere because it looks cool. :D
Anyhow, when I got home, I quickly resolved the issue of the hour-hand. A simple fix. :) Then I put a new battery in it and it's as good as new! WOOP! I've figured out where I want to put it; now it's just a matter of actually putting it up. haha.
Also, today I fixed our vacuum cleaner. :) The belt had broken, so my mother bought a new belt and I replaced it. Then I vacuumed. Because I also LOVE vacuuming! hehe. I want a Dyson sooo badly! And everyone thinks I am crazy for it. But really, it is SO EXTREMELY PRACTICAL! A Dyson is the best thing since peanut butter. (My Calculus teacher says that a lot. Not about the Dyson, but about peanut butter. "_________ is the best thing since peanut butter." In his Oklahoma accent. teehee.)
So needless to say, I feel very productive aside from my schooling. haha. I want to brush my teeth.
BLAHBLAHBLAHBLAHBLAH. That's how I feel about schoolwork right not. GAH.
Phil Wickham is AWESHUM. Just sayin'. burblegurglejurgle. Okay, I guess I'll go now. :)




peace.

"And I'm finally free...

...in the Love of the Father." - Jimmy Needham
That is from what I like to call a poetic track off Jimmy Needham's album "Not Without Love." I've listened to it just about...four hundred twelve times now. HAHA. Kidding. Totally kidding. But really, I've listened to it a lot lately. Very encouraging, very truthful, very UMPH-y. If you catch my drift. ;)
ANYHOW, guess what! I'm on my blog! First time in...a shamefully long period of time. ha. It's my senior year, alright? SPEAKING OF WHICH...I'm graduating!! :D Can we all take a moment to happy dance? That would make me very happy. Mother, I know you're probably reading this...in which case pay no attention to the time stamp on this post. ;) But really, I felt the need to type something out right now and I couldn't sleep. :/
AP tests are finished! This year I was victimized by the following:
-AP Calculus
-AP Literature & Composition
-AP Physics
My favorite class this year was AP Physics. BY. FAR. The best teacher ever, the best classmates ever, the best projects ever, the best experience and learning environment for me to be in. I think I really would have retained a lot information had it been at a slower pace, though. That's okay, I still feel like I can walk away from that class and say I learned so much and loved just about every second of it! :) Let me just recap on two of the crazy ridiculous projects we have done this year. We had to build a trebuchet that could launch a golfball at least thirty yards. And just recently had to put out buoyancy knowledge to the test by building cardboard boats to cross the school pool and back. My motto all year has been: when physics fails, get creative. Meaning, when I don't really know what I'm doing, just make it look pretty. It's been fairly effective so far. ;)
I am so excited for this next chapter in my life. I can't even begin to explain to you how I just want to be done with high school! Yet, at the same time, I'll definitely miss all the faculty and friends I know at my school. Ugh. Mixed emotions...eh, I'll get over it. hehe.
I had to have one more semester's worth of physical education in order to graduate. RIDICULOUS, RIGHT?! I mean, I've played soccer and been a highly active individual all my life and what is about to hold me back from graduating high school? P.E. DUUUMB! :P Anyhow, I took one semester as an a-period class; it started at a painstaking 6:50am. HA! Then, with one semester to go and less than a semester left in school, I realized that I really needed to get on that. So I frantically searched for a class from the community college to enroll in. Luckily, I found a swing dancing class! Which was perfect, because I always wanted to learn how to swing dance. :) I got there on the first day, only to find that my name was not on the roster. Cue PANIC. Fiiiinally, I found an online class through the local community college that would count as an entire year's worth of credit! A sixteen-chapter book in nine weeks. YUP. I actually did it! I just finished tonight. The final was difficult. Five essay questions in one hour. Twelve minutes per question? NOT COOL. Plus, it was on all the chapters, so I had to rack my brain and whatnot. I didn't particularly care for the experience at all. But I'm pretty darn sure I passed the class, so that is QUITE A LOVELY THING. Now, instead of being held back and not walking at graduation, I'm graduating with EXTRA credits! haha. One semester of extra physical education. Whoo wudda thunk it?!
On another note, Prom is this coming weekend and my mother is making my dress. So far, she's cut out the pieces. It's on Saturday. Minor freak-out. ;)
There's currently a small piece of lint sitting on my comforter that looks like an adorable little tiny elephant. Yay. :)
I got a really cool open-face clock at a garage sale for one dollar. They thought it was broken, but I wanted it anyway. So when I got home, I fixed it. YUS. I love fixing things! It just makes me feel so handy and cool and whatnot. :P
WHOA. BREAKING NEWS. Today, I was in Costco and I happened to decide to wander into the book section. (If you don't already know, I STRONGLY DISLIKE READING. I LOVE books, the idea of them, the way they look, the way they feel, the entire concept of them; I just don't like to read.) While in the forbidden area of the store, I stumbled upon this particular book called, "The Lost City of Z." Intrigued, I picked it up and read the back. Now I REALLY want to read it! hahaha. I think I'm going to wait until the summer, though. It's a nonfiction book about a possibly fictional place. Crazy, right? It's about a man who goes to look for a fabled ancient city, Z. And he never comes back. :O CRAY CRAY!! I really want to read it. Right up my alley. So, I think I'm going to go to Borders and buy it! Oh my nola, I'm going to purchase a book! Holy cow! This one's for the books! :P
My room is clean. I really like it this way. Worship music really sets the mood in my room. I try not to play anything else. It's not that hard, though...worship music is music straight FROM the soul, TO the soul.
I'm glad I started writing on this thing. It really helped me get tired. hahaha. Mother, I apologize. Please don't be annoyed, but understand that I believe two things:
1. I am clairvoyant.
2. I have slight insomnia?
So...not entirely number two, but I AM a night owl! Goodnight, world. Rejoice and be glad in this day that comes from the Lord. :)








peace.

"It's not the end of the world...

just you and me."

-Relient K

WOO! the weather has finally brought about some variety around these parts. Meaning, it's overcast and chilly today! I'm so happy. The fall to winter transition is my favorite time of year, and this weather just gave me a glimpse of the joy that is to come! haha. :)
I made myself a nice and tasty bowl of one of these:

probably the most common flavor out there.
AGH! I'm just so elated that this weather is finally starting to make up its mind and be emotionally stable for one day instead of being freezing in the morning, nice during mid-morning, hot during the day and perfect at night. Plus, my soccer team is doing a "team building" event tonight at a local, and quite difficult for that matter, corn maze. I've done it before...and, uh...let's just put it this way. I entered with four and left with two. JUST KIDDING! haha. but I did enter while the sun was shining, with four's company, and left in the dark night sky with six. care to know where the other two came from? they were working the corn maze. We got so badly lost, they had to send out two people to come find us and lead us out. hahaha! funny story, fun experience. Hopefully this time I'll remember to bring my flashlight and actually use the map they provide. ha.

School just started up again after a week of "fall break," which I wish would last until June 16. I toured five colleges in Southern California and did a couple auditions for the music programs. One school offered me scholarship money, and a spot in their women's and university choirs, and the other offered me less scholarship and a spot in their women's choir. The more generous of the two seems more attractive, financially. However, the director of the second made a good point of saying that the schools with lesser programs offer more money. And the second school is actually my top choice. A private school, but I'll have $11,000 in scholarships automatically with grades and music, etc. PLUS, they have the best program for what I want to major in. And it's really good. really good. :)
So we'll see, but I'm really praying about it. God will work it out. They have a full scholarship available. But my SAT scores were short by FORTY STINKIN' POINTS. So I took them again on Saturday. haha. Hopefully I'll get those forty points so at least I'll qualify to apply for the scholarship. The way it works: people apply. They weed out the people who don't qualify. (I guess they thought it was worth a shot! haha.) Then, everyone who qualifies gets $1,000. Then they narrow it down to 40 people to fly out and interview for the scholarship. All of those people get $5,000 extra (a total of 6k). THEN, they choose five people to receive the full scholarship. And it's obvious what they are awarded with. haha. So as long as I even qualify, that's one thousand dollars more than I would have had! renewable. :)
In the music scene-- I STRONGLY suggest the new Relient K album, "Forget and Not Slow Down."
it is filled with strong melodies, harmonies, catchy tunes, full sound, and just all-around profound lyrics. seriously, I think it's one of their greatest yet. check it out on their myspace or something, if you don't want to buy it. but you probably will want to after you hear all of the songs.


alrighty, that's it I suppose.






peace.

"I don't need a soul...

...I don't need a soul to hold."
-Relient K

Well, it's finally senior year! and at this rate, I won't even have a soul by the time college applications are due. haha. My summer was super fast, short and BUSY. But wonderful. :)
To be honest, this year is going by extremely slow(ly?). I know, I know, by the end of the year, I'll wish it hadn't gone by so fast, right? But I really don't think so...I'm so ready for college. It's ridiculous. I just wish all my friends would go to the same college. haha...
This year, I'm enrolled in :
a-period p.e. (not by choice, I'll explain later.)
AP Calculus
AP Physics
Orchestra Winds/Full Orchestra
Photo
Government
AP Literature

The only reason I am taking a-period physical education, which by the way, is the class BEFORE school. And you know how late I stay up! SUPER late. but only because that's just naturally the way it happens. Anyway, the only reason I'm taking that class is because, going into the summer, I needed three semesters of physical education to get credits for. And THAT is because I chose to take band and Spanish for three years without any open classes to complete the physical education requirement. So over the summer, I enrolled in a yoga class offered by the local community college, worth only one semester of p.e. credit. Therefore, I still need one year of p.e. credits to my name in order to graduate. Luckily, my school was fortunate enough to have sufficient funding for an a-period physical education class to be offered. Anywho, I really hate waking up before I ever thought I was capable of in order to do; what. EXERCISE?! haha. that's a joke. but the most ironic thing is that school physical education is supposed to be a joke. But the teacher is the football coach. so what do we do? FOOTBALL TRAINING. you've got to be kidding me! agh. it's ridiculous, Needless to say, I do feel really good about myself after I start my morning with a decent over-exerting workout. haha...
alrighty, well that's all for now folks! I'll try to keep you updated...if I remember. :)





peace.

And the madness begins...

with SUMMER! it's finally here. and, to be honest, I am more motivated now to do school work than I have been in an extremely vast period of time. it's kind of ironic...I've finished out my junior year. reputed as the "most difficult year of high school," and it's really flown by. but thank HEAVENS, for that! I've checked my grades on the more often evil than helpful "schoolloop" and I have maintained my GPA! WOO! My parentals shall be very pleased. I honestly canNOT believe I'll be a senior next year. It freaks me out just a tid bit. I was always prepared for it, talking about how I couldn't wait for my turn...and now it's here, and I'm not sure what to do with myself. Everyone always told me that it would come faster than I expected it to, but this went by faster than anyone could have ever mentally prepared me for. I have to apply for colleges, scholarships, and anything else humanly possible to make it easiest for my family to get me through the ever-so expensive senior year/transition to college.
I had to watch one of the greatest teachers I've ever had slowly tear down the inspirational decor of her room like a tooth, slowly decaying from the inside out. it hurts on the inside, even though it doesn't look like anything is wrong from its appearance. She really was one of the best. she pushed us all to work hard not for our GPA's, our parents' or families' expectations, or even for her reputation, but for ourselves. one of the few teachers I've met that turned the kid in the back corner with an iPod in their ear, hunched over doodling on their desk, into one of the most attentive, involved, and front row-sitting students. but it's all about motivation. She was so great at making learning fun (as cheesy as it may sound). I looked forward to that class each day and I always knew I could count on a superb lesson, lecture, or just a good ole class discussion full of interesting insight from fellow students that intrigued the minds of all of us who paid attention. She really knew how to stimulate our brains and get us involved with what we were learning and why we were learning it...how to use it. She didn't just teach us stuff because she was getting paid to, or because it was part of the curriculum, or even to pass the AP test. I believe she taught us because she really wanted to share her knowledge with us and she loved seeing the light bulb go off in someone's head. She loved to see us succeed. And that's what made her such a great teacher. Some teachers lose the heart to care, to try...in turn, they lose powerful respect and authority from students that could be helping them; the students become lethargic and begin to fail a class. I'm not blaming the teachers for any student who is flunking. I'm saying that in come cases, it is the teacher's fault that the students don't absorb the information that could possibly expose to them a future career path, or goal in life.
This teacher, however, was not one of the bad apples. She received the best response from students of all areas of life, social status, social class, and even age. If you knew who she was and had her as a teacher, you were lucky. Not only did she prepare me for the AP test, but she did a darn good job making it one of the best courses I've ever taken. Just today, as we were going over some of our final projects, a kid that, to the average adult eye, just looking at him, you wouldn't expect too much greatness or emotion. Nothing but a body roaming around high school because he's got nothing better to do. He'll never make anything of himself (exaggerated.), got up to read his writing piece to the class. He was the last one. As he got up there and read it aloud, everyone knew he wrote his paper about our beloved teacher. And after class, I spoke with him as he said, with tears welling up, "I had to finish it. I was about to start crying." he slowly and as non-chalantly as possible, caught the tears on his fingers before they could leave a moist trail of sadness as a map of his true emotions. A line formed for pictures with the teacher and I asked him if he wanted me to take a picture of him with our teacher. He simply replied, "No, I'm not taking a picture. I just want a hug." As he continued to catch the premature tears from just under his eyes, I rubbed his shoulder and told him to go ahead of me. I could tell he wouldn't last much longer in the same room without breaking down. He gave and received a quick, yet meaningful and sincere hug. Just as sincere each comment on each essay was marked, just as meaningful as each one of her students was to her. I'll never forget the first day of school. I came home and de-briefed my mother on what would be my schedule for the upcoming year.
.
.
.
"Oh...and Ms. ---- was SO. MEAN. She was yelling at the people who came in late! They didn't even know where they were going yet, I mean...come one, it's the first day of school! She was soooo strict and I just KNOW, I'm going to hate that class. I don't know how she could be so rude to people she doesn't even know. I wonder if I can transfer into the other teacher's class..."
.
.
.
And now, I can see that she had to set an authoritative first impression. Without that first day of school, if she had shown us her fun side and her funNY side, we would have had no respect for her and taken advantage of what we knew she could get side-tracked on. But I appreciate what she did...now. Now that it's too late to say thank you and run back into her classroom and wave goodbye one more time. Now that she's going back to grad school; because she's an achiever. Now that she's setting an example for what she knows we're capable of. Now that she's my role model.

It's not that we would have necessarily gone back into your classroom and visited you everyday next year, but there is a certain comfort of familiarity. Knowing you're there and being sure that you could see them if you wanted to. But now that hope is vanishing...
Thank you, Ms. ----. We'll all miss you...terribly.

Alert! Alert! We're all going to die.

that's basically what everyone is freaking out about right now. yeeep, you know what I'm talking about and I haven't even said it yet. it's the infamous SWINE FLU! AH!! Take cover and actually wash your hands instead of leaving them as a tiny germ's playground. Because you know, there are a total of 350 cases worldwide! that's a pandemic if I ever heard one. So you know what that means? Everyone needs to start washing their hands and sneezing into their sleeves, as opposed to the normal into the air. Because, you know, everyone has the Swi--err, I mean H1N1 virus.
Look out! Only elbow-fives from now on...everyone is infected, don't you know?
5.2184338356694357e-8% of the estimated world population (as of July 2008) has been reported to have a confirmed case of the H1N1 virus!!!
that's .000000052184338356694357%, so we'd better freak out now. Don't let your time slip by, people! Take those extra steps out of your regular habit and actually wash your hands as a safety precaution, and remember to always throw away your tissues after you use them! We can't let this tragic pandemic ruin the lives of innocent people.
Don't let another day go by without dreaming of the effects of this menacing virus attacking your family!
Shut down ALL facilities. DO NOT, I repeat, do NOT let nature take its course. We, the humans, are at the top of the food chain, and therefore control all that happens in this world. We REFUSE to let this flu infect our lives; it's not a hiccup in life, this is a massive speed bump.
Don't let your family leave the house! We need to stay protected and remain healthy. Our plan of reverse psychology on the tiny virus has become a growing idea practiced now among the masses. What is this master plan?
Quarantine the healthy people!
Stay indoors. Don't go out. Shut down all pubic facilities.
Don't worry, friend, we'll make it out alive...but most likely, we won't.

I don't use this word very often, but this truly is...EPIC.

So, as many of you know, I am an aspiring musician. And as most of you probably don't know, my favorite band is Relient K. Ao naturally, I have a cover of one of their songs on my youtube page. It's the only cover of that song, and I was hoping they'd see it, but I didn't want to get too excited about it.
I got home to relax after a fairly quick week of school (hallelujah!) and got on youtube. I had 1 new comment! I looked at it, and it was on my cover of their song...the comment simply said:

"well done!

js"

so I'm sitting there thinking, who on earth is "js" and why on earth would they expect me to know who they are?! And then...it HIT ME. JS. Jon Schneck is a member of the band! So I started freaking out and looked at the youtube profile. IT WAS JON SCHNECK, GUITARIST OF MY FAVORITE BAND COMMENTING ON MY VIDEO!!
and on top of that, he's been a member of youtube since May 2006. That's a pretty long time. And within that time frame, he's only watched 962 videos. MINE was one of them!!!
:D
AND he commented on it! OHHH my goodness, it just partially completed my life!
ahhhhh...anyway, I hadn't written a blog in a while; I never really had reason to. But I dare say that is a CONSIDERABLE amount of excitement and highly worthy of a blog post. so there you have it.

also, I'm going to see them in the end of May, so if I happen to meet them (considered highly probable), I plan to tell them who I am! not that they'll necessarily remember, but I'm still doin it!
:D




peace.