Sweet 16 Surprise!

I'm pretty sure every girl dreams about her "sweet 16" and how great it's going to be. My sixteenth birthday was pretty awesome, and definitely full of surprises. My best friend stopped by my school on my birthday and dropped off a huge blown-up killer whale, with a bunch of balloons tied onto him. I got the call from the front office saying "come pick up your killer whale!" and I was like what in the world...? At the end of school I went to the front office, and sure enough, there was the whale. And trust me, it was huge! At lease six feet long, way taller than me! Now this wouldn't have been a problem, except that I get picked up wayyy on the other side of the parking lot. I had to walk across the entire parking lot carrying a huge inflatable beach toy with a dozen balloons dragging behind it. I'm pretty sure my entire high school now thinks I'm crazy. Awesome. Thanks best friend! :)

Jewelry Gift Ideas Make Perfect Mothers Day Gifts

Jewelry pieces make perfect Mothers Day gifts. There are several choices that will surely fit your budget. Jewelry is very innovative and is always accepted with joy. Moreover, you won't have problems wrapping these gifts because they are extremely easy to wrap. Rings There are various styles of rings. You need to know the type of metals and gems that you mom likes. You can find the ring that matches the choice of your mom. It is always a good idea to give a mother's ring to your mom if she doesn't have any, or needs a new one. Pendants Another class of jewelry that is normally over looked is pendants. It can set any wardrobe item beautifully. When you give a uniquely designed pendant to your mom, it can surely draw attention and your mom gets the chance to be proud in telling who gave it to her. There are many, colorful designs for pendants such as wave, teardrop, swirl or heart. They are available in most jewelry stores. Pendants given with a pair of earrings is a perfect gift. Earrings A pair of earrings is a lovely gift. When choosing the type of earring to give to your mom, you need to know that type of earrings that she wears. You can buy silver or gold earrings because they will match with other jewelry pieces. You can also add gems to them. You can buy either diamonds because it matches most combinations, or you can choose a stone that your mother likes the most. Moreover, consider the design of earring that your mother likes such as long dangling, studs or ones the cover the ear lobes. Lastly, size should also be a factor to consider. Not everyone can wear large, bold earrings. Necklaces Necklace is the most common type of jewelry gift. There is also a vast selection of necklace to choose from. There are pieces that are polished with stones and beads. Some of the well-received gifts are gold and silver chains with gem stones. There are also some jewelry shops that sell kits that allow you to make a necklace on your own. This type of gift will add value to the necklace because of your personal touch. Bracelets Bracelets make good Mothers Day gifts too. These jewelry pieces are often overlooked but are wonderful to receive. Charm bracelets are very common these days. In fact, most jewellers allow you to personalize the charms. There are various designs and patterns that will truly delight your mother. You can also choose those watches that come with bands, which are really bracelets.

The News

"Post contributed by Fletcher Vargas

It’s getting hard to even turn on the news channel because all you ever hear is extremely devastating news. In my opinion ignorance is turning into bliss because it was getting to the point were I couldn’t sleep at night because of all the negative images going through my head. For the most part I stick to watching sports and comedies because they always seem to help me relax and brighten up my day because there is no negative images. I should probably just embrace the fact that this world is a messed up place and choose to be informed over hiding my head in a pillow but I feel like sometimes it’s just better not knowing. Husband always tells me that it’s our civic duty to be informed with the current events of the day but I haven’t always agreed with everything he’s said. All my girlfriends seem to feel the same way, one of them even gave me some greats on how to be informed and not have to watch all the images flash across the screen she also referred me to DIRECT TV which I was also very thankful for."

My first AP class

This year I am taking my first AP class in high school. I knew when I signed up for it that it would be hard and take a lot of work, but it really is A LOT OF WORK!! I have to read about 20 pages of my textbook every night, and take notes on it. And the textbook is not just a normal textbook. It is an actual college textbook AKA tiny print and very few pictures. And the tests are killers!!! I have never had to study very hard for any test, and I have always made good test grades. This class is very different though. I have to start hard-core studying a week in advance and even then I only make a high C or a B. Just taking one college level course sure is making me glad that I still have two and a half years of high school left! College is still a loonnngg time away! :)

Bro and Me, Fighting Again

"Bro and Me, Fighting Again

I appreciate the guest post, Jewel Rodgers

My brother and I (foolishly) decided to rent an apartment together during college and here we are, constantly fighting over the remote. We got DIRECT.TV a while back and he only wants to watch all the really sporty stuff…I came in the other day and he was watching women’s golf. Women’s Golf? Who watches that?! I, on the other hand, like to do the movies they run on FX and sometimes TBS and I love the series that replay in syndication like Seinfeld and Sex and the City. He can’t stand that kind of stuff though so we usually race each other home from class to see who gets to control the TV for the whole night – I hate losing that bet! If I do I usually end up drifting off to sleep to the soothing music of the Weather Channel or the guys on Sportscenter. I guess having Seth control the remote has done wonders for my sleeping habits – I haven’t felt more rested in years! That’s glass half full for you!"

My MP3 player

Buying an MP3 player can be a difficult decision. There are so many types of MP3 players that sometimes it’s hard to know which one is best. In my case, I got lucky. I got my MP3 player as a Christmas gift from my grandparents. It turned out to be a really good MP3 player. Not only does it play music and show pictures and videos, but it also has voice recording as well! In fact, my MP3 player turned out to be so good that my brother also wanted one for himself, too. He wanted one so bad that my parents gave him one for his next birthday. They also gave him MP3 player accessories, such as a charger, armband, case, and other things.

If you are looking for a new MP3 player you have lots of different choices. Some of the top MP3 players include the Apple ipod, Microsoft Zune, Archos MP3 players, and a whole lot more. With all the choices you, too, will soon be able to enjoy your new MP3 player as much as I enjoy mine.

The Campout-Part III

We pulled on our ponchos and understood why dad had looked so worried. The park ranger had said the storm would be on top of groups A and B. We had gone farther then we had realized and had traveled straight into the storm! We decided that the best thing to do would be to go back. So we turned around and headed back into the woods. It turned out going through the woods is much harder in a rainstorm than in the sun. We didn’t know if we would be able to find our way back. Soon we thought we had gotten lost and we were trying to figure out what to do when I spotted a granola bar wrapper on the ground. It was from my brother’s snack, and he had left it on the ground. Well, at least we knew we were going the right way.
Once we finally got back to the campsite the rain had stopped and we looked like we had gone swimming in our clothes! It was time for dinner so we started a campfire and my mom cooked a delicious soup over the fire, which I enjoyed eating with warm clothes on and a blanket around my shoulders.
That night, as we sat around the fire talking about the adventure we had that day I gazed up at the smoke rising into the dark, night sky and felt the heat of the fire on my face and I wondered what would happen the next day.

The Campout-Part II

We started off and soon came to the section of the stream that had been blocked off so campers could go swimming. After we had swam for an hour we thought it would be best to get on with our hike. We quickly changed back into our hiking clothes and shoes and we were off. We hiked farther and farther into the woods, and the woods got thicker and thicker as we explored. We decided to turn back because we thought we were lost and we were all getting a little bit hungry. But before we could turn back, my brother, who had gone deeper into the woods than any of the rest of us, said he could see the woods thinning out a little bit farther ahead. The rest of us thought that once we ate our snack we would be all right, so we decided that after we ate our snack we would go on a little bit farther.
After we finished our snack we headed farther into the woods, and my brother was right. It did clear up. As we walked out of the woods we heard more thunder rumble, this time louder. We looked up and the dark clouds were looming right over us. We looked around and saw that nobody was outside their tents playing or hiking as they had been on the other side of the woods. We realized everyone was in their tents, and all their tents were covered in tarps. They were getting ready for the storm. We pulled out our map, trying to figure out where we were. My dad saw it first. “That can’t be right!” he exclaimed. When we asked him what was wrong he looked up, his face grim. “We’ve hiked all the way into group B,” he told us. We looked puzzled. Did it matter? He must have realized we didn’t understand what he meant, because he looked at us and said to pull out our rain ponchos. We were going to get wet!

The Campout-part I

Here's a story I wrote for school. I will finish it later.

Last year my father, mother, brother, and I went camping at a beautiful campsite we had never been to before. The first day we got there it was late at night, so we set up our tents and went to sleep. We woke up the next morning to the sound of thunder roaring, only a small distance away. I got out of the tent I was sharing with my mom and looked around. The sun was shining through the dark green leaves of the trees, but I could see the clouds coming up from the opposite direction. I could feel the cool wind blowing through my hair as I sniffed the beautiful pine scent from the forest. I heard the animals rushing to their homes, trying to get safe before the rain started. I turned on our portable grill, so that we could make pancakes for breakfast. I could feel the mist from the storm already on its way.
After breakfast we turned on the radio that the park ranger set out at every campsite. We turned the campsites station. The park ranger said that everyone in groups A and B would get wet from the storm, but everyone in the campsites C and D would get to stay dry. We were camping in group C so we knew we could stay out all day, unless the storm started moving closer to us. So after a little bit of thought my family and I decided to go on a hike. We packed up a snack for later, swim suits-for the stream where we could go swimming, sunglasses, water bottles, and rain jackets-just in case.

Scaredy-cat

Do you get scared easily? I used to. I would stay up over half the night in my bed trying to figure out which monster was going to come up from under my bed or which snake is going to crawl through my window-even though it was closed and locked! And let me tell you something. My imagination can go pretty wild, especially when I'm thinking about snakes! I was never allowed to watch scary movies, or even the news to close to my bedtime. I would be up all night, scared. Now I've grown out of it. I watch a lot of things before bedtime now. It might just be a little kid thing. I know my little cousins are still scared at night. Maybe they'll grow out of it soon, too.

My Six Word Life!

Here's a six word memoir that sums up my life.....

I like to sing and act!

I've always loved acting and singing. I got a Kerioke machine for Christmas one year and I still use it and love it very much. I started acting five years ago at the age of six. I've gotten a lot better and have recently been in the play Annie in the part of Molly. It was a lot of fun!

Anne Frank

Anne
Who is loving, hopeful, sympathetic, a writer
Daughter of Otto and Edith Frank; sister of Margot Frank
Who loved her diary, her family, Peter van Pels
Who felt scared, sympathy, love
Who needed her family, her friends, her diary
Who gave love, hope, and comfort
Who feared the Green Police, the Nazis, Hitler
Who would like to see her books published, world peace, her friends
Who shares love, comfort, hope
Known for her writings, her hope, her sad story
Born in Frankfurt, Germany
Frank

Ready for a Pet?

You may know that pets require a lot of care and love. If you are considering getting a pet that requires a lot of attention, you may want to think about if you will be able to spend a lot of time with your pet. If you work at an office all day, and are not home very much you might want to think about waiting until you are not so busy to get a pet. If you want a puppy or a kitten you will want to be sure you can spend a lot of time with it. It is good to have a bond with your pet. You will want to be sure that you are ready for one, and not jump to the conclusion to get one just because it is cute.

Time for Braces!

We went to the dentist and the dentist told me that I needed braces. I told my mom. She hit the roof! She told me that we don’t have enough money for braces. We don’t have dental insurance or health insurance. That’s when my mom found out about Ameriplan.

Ameriplan is not like other insurance companies. They will make sure you can afford what you need, when you need it! That’s why my mom decided to look further into the company. She thought it would be good to have dental coverage for my braces. She found out that for a low monthly fee she could get the health benefits we need to help cover the cost of my braces.

Things to do on Thanksgiving

Here is a list of ten things to do on Thanksgiving:

1. Watch TV (turkey bowl....)

2. Tell jokes

3. Make pumpkin pie

4. Eat pumpkin pie

5. Have a big Thanksgiving dinner with your friends and family

6. Have a good time

7. Eat turkey

8. Put Thanksgiving decorations in your yard

9. Make Thanksgiving traditions

10. Spend time with your family

The Princess's Trick part III

Timothy laughed. What a scaredy cat," he thought as he walked up to the door of the same house. He knocked on the door. "Trick or-what?"he said when the person opened the door. The person was dressed as a princess. O.K. that's not such a big deal. A lot of people dress up as princesses on Halloween. But this princess looked exactly like the one he had scared. In fact, it was the same one! "Trick or treat," she said sweetly, as she dropped a piece of candy in his bag. As he walked away he shook his head and laughed. He said, "I may have scared her, but she sure tricked me good!"

The Princess's Trick part II

The princess heard something rustle nearby. "What was that," she asked herself fearfully. Frightened, she kept walking, closer and closer to the door. As the dark clouds covered the moon overhead and a chilly wind passed over her, she shivered. She thought, "Maybe I don't like being alone after all. I have a bad feeling that something is about to happen and I won't like it." Suddenly the boy, Timothy, jumped out at her from behind the house. And what else would he be dressed as but a vampire of course! "Boo!" he yelled out. The princess screamed as she ran away. "Help!" Timothy laughed, "hahaha!" The princess yelled back at him, "I hate vampires. I hate, hate, hate, hate them!

The Princess's Trick part I

It was Halloween night.Everyone was outside trick or treating. A princess walked up to the next house on her street. "This is so much fun," she thought. "My parents finally let me go by myself this year, because I am ten years old now. This is my favorite time of year, besides Christmas and my birthday of course. It's sort of scary out here by myself, though. I hope there aren't any vampires out right now," she thought as she walked up the driveway. She couldn't see the boy, Timothy, on the side of the house, since it was so dark. But Timothy could see her. "Hehe, he said. "Someone to frighten." Quickly he hid.

The ungrateful crane

One day as a crane, standing by a pond, saw a wolf, who looked in pain. The wolf came up and asked him if he would pull a bone out of his mouth, because it had gotten stuck in his throat. The crane agreed once the wolf promised to pay him a large amount of money in return for doing the favor. As soon as the crane had finished this horrendous task he demandingly asked for his reward of money. The wolf haughtily laughed and said, “Don’t you have a reward big enough, for I have been kind enough to let you safely pull your big, empty head from the jaws of a wolf. Surely you are not ungrateful for that!”

the flea's question

One afternoon, while a flea as talking to an ox, working in the field, the flea curiously asked him, “Why is it, that while you are so big and strong, you serve men day after day, while I, because I am so small a creature, drink their blood and feed on their flesh?” The ox answered him, “I am well loved by strong, friendly men, who pat me on my head and shoulders all the time.” The flea unbelievingly then replied, “While you like this patting, whenever this same thing happens to me, it brings me great sorrow and destruction!”