Christmas Tree Adventure

Everyone knows that Christmas season starts as soon as Thanksgiving ends. Really, the day after Thanksgiving we wake up and think, "Oh I need to get a tree". This might be a side effect from eating so much food..or maybe we just don't want to get let down after having enjoyed one small holiday. However you choose to look at it, it happens.
Now this strange phenomenon happened in my household. We woke up Friday morning and thought, "Christmas!". Unfortunately nothing happened on Friday or Saturday. By Sunday we were getting a little anxious, at this rate we might miss Christmas all together! So we had to take drastic measures.
Now, I live in a small city. In another country. And this particular city does not have a Wal-mart. Or at least it did not have one until last Friday. For some reason, this Wal-mart had Christmas trees even though no other stores have them out yet. (This particular country isn't huge on Christmas trees. In fact, that whole strange phenomenon I was talking about is very American). So because we were in danger of missing Christmas, my family decided to go to Wal-mart and get ourselves a tree.
We circled in the traffic before the parking lot for about half an hour. Playing Christmas music all the while. we were very festive. As soon as we parked, we jumped out and ran into the store. My mom went straight for the line. My sister and I went to go get the ticket stub for the tree and my father and brother got some donuts.
About two hours later we bought our items and went outside for the tree. For some reason the tree guy was not around. He showed up with a nice big tree and proceeded to make a stand for it. 30 minutes later he handed that tree over to some other families and got started on ours.
Yeah, you get the picture. Well we did get our tree and decorated it the next day. I think it was worth it. Do you?

How to Write a Good Book Title

So here I am in a VERY small library looking around at the different book titles. There are boring titles such as The Race for Rome by Dan Kurzman and there are wierd titles like Bless This Mouse by Lois Lowery. I mean bless a mouse? Does that scream read me to you? Maybe if you really liked mice...
So how does one go about picking a great book title? Follow these simple steps and you can write a best-selling title in no time at all.
First keep in mind that a title needs to be catchy but not way far out. It still has to somehow relate to your story. Okay so here we go.
Step 1) Have someone mentally say their ABC's. Tell them to stop and whatever letter they stop at will be your letter. Example:
My Boyfriend- (in his head) A, B, C, D, E, F.
Me-(interupting his thoughts) STOP!!!!!!!
My Boyfriend: Your letter is F.
Me: yeah! :)
Okay you get the picture.
Step 2) Now think of something in your book that starts with that letter. Example:
My story was about a depressed girl who gets candy and lives under a double rainbow and is never depressed again. My letter was F. So my word would be Freckles, because the girl has freckles.
Step 3) Now pick you bestest most favoritest adjective in the whole world. BUT! If your book is sad it needs to be your favorite sad adjective, if it is happy, the happy one and so forth. Example:
Fantabulous...So now I have Fantaboulous Freckles.
Step 4) Not done yet! To finsh your title switch words around and if you need to add something to get a better picture do it. Make sure the words are not in normal order. Example:
Do not write Fantabulous Freckles Under The Rainbow. Instead write Freckles Under The Rainbow Fantabulous!
Step 5) Underline it. Now you have a title! Now finish the book. Example:
Freckles Under the Rainbow Fantabulous!

Update on Me

Amazing surprises happen! So about three and a half weeks ago I found out that Colorado College, my top college choice, was going to pay for me to fly out and visit the campus. I was super stoked! My mom was already flying up in a week and a half and so I got tickets to match hers. So for the rest of that week I worked my tail off and got two weeks ahead in school. Then on November 1st we were Colorado bound.

I love Colorado! It is probably my favorite place on earth. which is saying a lot. (I have lived in many beautiful locations) Anyway back to my narrative... I stepped off the plane, did some customs stuff and jumped into the arms of my boyfriend :) My mom borrowed a car from a friend and went to my grandparents and me and my boyfriend went up to my hometown Bailey. I surprised a friend of mine in King Soopers and ate cake and cookie dough ice cream .

Next day! Went to my old high school and surprised some more of my friends. Later I went down to Denver, watched Courageous (very good movie) and got dropped off at my grandparents. The next evening i went to the WinterJam with one of my friends. RED, Newsboys and some others were playing. Very cool :) 

I did other cool things, hung out with friends, went sledding, ate foods, a little bit of shopping, etc. John and I went ice skating and saw an Avalanche game. That was fun, although we lost...again. I went to my home church and saw all my friends from there.

Of course I also went to Colorado College. That was very fun. I applied early decision so if they let me go, I´m going. I´ll find out if I´m accepted in December. So I will keep you posted.

After Colorado College I did a few last minute funess such as; frisbee golf, raquetball, sushi, 500 Days of Summer, chai, fire station tour (BF is training there), peppermint hot chocolate and more cookie dough ice cream.

Now I am back and will get right back to my blogging. 

Get them Zs

Some people can sleep just about anywhere. Specifically people like Elfantasmita22. He can drop down and catch a few winks of sleep anytime anywhere. Take for example our beloved Doctrine class. This kid has had to stand up for the entire class because he was SNORING!!!!! Once or twice he voluntarily stood up, knowing he would fall asleep as soon as he sat down. To be able to sleep like that is astounding. No need for quiet, no need for dark. No need to even lie down. Just give him somewhere to semi rest his head and he'll be out.



I got this from this website.


It was Elfantasmita22's birthday this past Saturday and to celebrate a bunch of guys slept over at his house and they did a bunch of guy things like play Call of Duty and watch 300. So anyway these guys told me that at some point in the night/morning. Elfantasmita22 said he was tired and was going to go to sleep. Poof! Just like that he was fast asleep. Crazy huh?

The whole phenomenon of sleep and how to get the most of it amazes me. So any of you guys who are insomniacs, or just plain can't sleep very well I suggest you shoot Elfantasmita22 a message and ask him for some tips. Either that or you can repeatedly bang yourself in the head until you get knocked-out. Your choice.

Snapshot

Snap here. Snap there. Andre and his camera are extensions of one another. It is as though his camera portrays the uniqueness of his life. Like the photos he takes, each moment is a snapshot. He uses his camera to capture that moment. Keep it there, don't forget. Serious moments. Like the first day of school, going to the village, sharing the gospel with friends, youth group. Silly moments. Like conversations about flirting, winning at Knockout, eating baked goods, laughing about inside jokes. Each of these moments are captured. Either in the memory or on the film. Nothing will escape forever. Sure he will forget somethings, and others will have a lasting impression. But his camera, that extension of himself will always be at hand.
Looking back through old snapshots. Life keeps moving. The snapshots help him remember and remind him of the future. Its his senior year. This is it. he and his camera are going to hit the school hard. Things will change, traditions might be broken. It's a waiting game to see if it is all for the better. Memories sometimes fade, but a picture can last forever.

The photo is Andre's.

College Rant

College is a royal mess. Applying and finding scholarships and everything else that goes with it can be so annoying. This becomes especially true if you happen to have attended a different high school for every single year! And it gets more difficult when each of those high schools is from either a different country or a different state. Let me explain. College applications tend to ask for things like teacher recommendations, school counselor recommendations, proof of schools, transcripts and addresses. When you have never had a teacher for more than one year, its hard to find someone who is willing to write a good letter. When your current school does not have a counselor that problem gets bigger. Anyhow it becomes a huge mess. Doesn't even matter that you have good grades and cool background. Okay so it does matter and I am venting here but hey! What does it matter?
So here is how you can avoid all these problems.
1) DO NOT CHANGE SCHOOLS EVERY YEAR!!!!!!!!!
2) Keep good record of all your transcripts and make sure they are correct( My freshmen years grades got skewed once and we didnt find out til my junior year)
3) Save all your big tests. That is AP, ACT and or SAT.
4) Write more then one essay and pick the ones you like best. If you write more then one you will find out that some ideas are better than others.
5) Make sure your junior year is fantastic. DO NOT SLACK OFF your junior year!!!!! Colleges take junior year very seriously. Its the most important year of high school. Take hard classes and do good in them.
6) Know what your favorite coleges want. Some colleges require you to take all the core subjects every year. This is something you would want to know.
7) Keep looking and praying. God will provide. Just because college is expensive does not mean you have to go head over heels in debt.
8) One last thing, you do not have to go to college. It might not be the right thing for you. Make sure and pra about it. College should not be something you do just because everyone told you to.

People Are _______

Two years ago El Klutzo suffered a severe near-case of  pneumonia. His doctor ordered him to suck on a cough drop during his classes. For reasons unknown El Klutzo decided to suck on one corner of the cough drop until it was sharpend to a pinnacle. He then proceeded to poke his finger repeatedly with the sharp edible object. After a short period of time blood began to ooze out of his finger. El Klutzo began to pierce the air with blood-curdling screams. Oddly enough, his blood did not curdle but continued oozing. His classmates laughed, he got reprimended and the day was finished.
 The next year El Klutzo was once again enjoying cough drops. His classmate Aradan reminded of that fatal day. El Klutzo denied the possibility of history repeating itself. He claimed it was a "freak accident". To prove his point he began poking himself repeatedly with the cough drop. Unsurprisingly he started to bleed. He looked sheepishly at his finger while his classmates roared with laughter.
Tune in next year to hear the same story...again.