New Pet

I'm so sorry I haven't written since October!!!! it's been busy,(we've been out so many nights this month and with school and stuff) and I haven't had much time to go on the computer. I guess that whenever I was on the computer, I was doing something more imortant than blogger:) So yes, I'm sorry. But I'm writing to you now on Christmas Eve (I know, right!?!), so that means that I've had this blog for more than a year. I'm really excited about Christmas, even though I'm sad that its almost over. I dont think I'm going to get all the things I really wanted off of my Christmas list, but this is probably because my sister and i got a HUGE gift- the greatest gift I've ever recieved. Want to know what it is? We got a kitten! We both really wanted a pet (especially a dog), but it's impossibe for our family to have one because they're so high maintenence and we're not home enough to take care of them. But cats are SO much easier to take care of. They're extremely easy to potty-train-all you have to do is show them where the litterbox is! And they're so playful, especially at a young age. Out parents gave us a letter two days before Christmas Eve, saying that they wanted to get a family pet. So the next day, we went to a local animal shelter and adopted a foster cat that they just brought in that morning. We took her into a room and played with her and cuddled her. She is brown-grey, and black tabby cat, while her stomach is a buff color. She has a very sweet nature-she loves to be held and she purrs extremely loud. We adopted her, and then went to the pet store and bought her some food, litter, and toys and took herhome for all the family, and extended family, to see. Yes, did I mention that our Virgnia family is here? My grandma, grandpa, aunt, uncle, and their dog. we're going to have to be careful putting the two animals together, but it should be fun. I can't wait til Misa (what we think is going to be her permanent name) gets completely adjusted to us and our house, and she realy becomes part of our "pride". I won't post again til after Christmas, so Happy Holidays!!!!!!!!!!!!

Princess Leia/Carrie Fisher

Carrie Fisher is an American actress, screenwriter, and novelist. She was born on October 25, 1956, in Beverly Hills, California to parents Eddie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds. Her paternal grandparents were Jewish immigrants from Russia. Her parents divorced when she was two (sad, huh?), but she began appearing on stage with her mother when she was 12, so it was clear that she would go into the family business: acting. She appeared on the Broadway show Irene after leaving high school early to join her mother on the road.

In the 1970s, Carrie enrolled at London's Central School of Speech and Drama for 18 months. She made her film debut in 1975 in Shampoo. In 1977, she appeared as Princess Leia in Star Wars Episode IV- A New Hope. The huge success of Star Wars made her internationally famous. Then Fisher appeared in the music video for Ringo Starr's cover of "You're Sixteen" as the love interest in 1978 on Ringo's TV special of that year.

In the 1980s, Carrie appeared in The Blues Brothers (cameo role) and on the Broadway show: Censored scenes from King Kong. Then she appeared again as Princess Leia in Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back(my personal favorite) and her final Leia appearence in Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi. After wearing the metal bikini (aka, slave girl outfit), Carrie became a sex symbol whom all boys in the adolescence stage fell for.

Some of the other films Carrie has appeared in are: The Man With One Red Shoe, Hannah and her Sisters, When Harry Met Sally, The Burbs, Postcards From The Edge, Drop Dead Fred, Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery, Scream 3, These Old Broads, Hook, and many, many more. She appeared in Broadway shows, and even does the voice of Peter Griffin's boss in Family Guy. Carrie has written Postcards from the Edge, 1987, Surrender the Pink, 1991, Delusions of Grandma, 1993, Hollywood Moms, 2001, (introduction) and The Best Awful There Is, 2004.

Carrie recently joined Turner Classic Movies host Robert Osborne on Saturday evenings for The Essentials with informative and entertaining conversation on Hollywoods best films. She guest-starred in the episode titled "Sex and Another City" from season 3 of Sex and the City with Sarah Jessica Parker. This episode also featured Vince Vaughn, Hugh Hefner and Sam Seder in a guest role. On October 25, 2007, Carrie guest-starred on 30 Rock for the "Rosemary's Baby" Episode 4 of Season 2 for which she received an Emmy Award nomination. She starred as Rosemary Howard. Her last line in the show was a spoof from Star Wars: "Help me Liz Lemon, You're my only hope!". On April 28, 2008, she was a guest on Deal or No Deal.

Carrie was married to musician Paul Simon in a relationship that lasted them several years (pretty good for Hollywood) and was in one of his music videos, and mentioned ina few of his songs (Hearts & Bones, Graceland, Allergies, and She Moves On). After their (i guess) divorce, she had a relationship with Bryan Lourd. They had one child together, Billie Catherine Lourd (born July 17, 1992). The couple's relationship ended when Lourd left her for a man (isn't that just sad???). She was linked for a time to Senator Christopher Dodd and was briefly engaged to Dan Aykroyd. She also dated broadcast reporter Bob Tur in 2004-2005. Carrie has publicly discussed her problems with drugs, her battles with bipolar disorder, and overcoming an addiction to prescription medication, most notably on ABC TV's 20/20 and The Secret Life of the Manic Depressive with Stephen Fry on the BBC. Carrie was raised as a Protestant, but often attends jewish services.

Carrie Fisher is very talented, and altogether my favorite actress. I first discovered her when I first saw Star Wars, but she has apeared in over 30 films. I have chosen her for my Halloween costume this year. Even though she has had some problems with drugs, and relationships, she could be a good person to follow in terms of career and personality. Who doesn't love a pretty heroine with a sense of humor?

Club Penguin

I've been playing Club Penguin for about a year and a half now. If you don't know what it is, then I'll tell you. It's a website where you can be your own penguin. You can waddle around in a little world called Club penguin. You can talk to people, make friends, play games to earn coins, and tons of other stuff. You can also dress up, which is my favorite part.
A while ago, I was just a regular penguin. I was relatively new, and I had a few clothing items, colors (yes, did I mention your penguin could be any color you want?), and player card backrounds. I wished I had more clothes, but I didn't know how to get them. Then I discovered a little thing called the giftshop, where you can use your coins to buy shirts, hats, shoes, jewelry, and even wigs. I immediatly started saving up to buy everything I wanted, which was practically everything. After all that was done, I waddled back to the giftshop only to learn that I was unable to spend my coins on all those wonderful items. Why? There was something called "membership". Then it hit me: you could pay money to be a member on club penguin and be able to get all those awesome items. I spent the rest of the day sulking, and I also learned that members could buy special igloos, instead of just having the teeny, plain white one that everyone got for free when they signed up. They could also buy awesome furniture in the furniture catalog, and I saw some other stuff that was just as cool as the clothes in the gift shop. I started begging my parents to ge me that membership, and after a few months, they finally let me and my sister have it, who wanted it just as much as I did. We were sooo happy. But after, like, a year, the whole thing started to get old. We cancelled our membership because we never played it anymore.
A few months later, my sister started playing on it again, but as a non-member. I eventually joined her, and soon enough, we were craving membership again. Now, it's early/mid-October. Our report cards come out on Halloween. My parents said that if we get straight A's, they would strongly think about it.
Now i'm trying extra hard in school so I can be a member again. It's the circle of....well, club pengiun. I hope it never repeats again.

Mark Groves/Carols By Candlelight

He's our new music minister! We've been without one for 18 months now. Our old music minister was awesome, and he and his family were so nice. But then God started speaking to him, and he felt God was telling him to take a job at a church in South Carolina. So he and his family moved there, and since then, we haven't had a permanent music minister. We've had a few interims, like Mrs. Susan Reed, Mr. Bruce Pafford, and Mr. Mark O'Conner. My dad even helped out a lot-he helped cnduct choir rehearsals numerous times, and even led church quite a few sundays. But recently, at the beginning of September, our new minister of music was put into office. I don't really know him that much, but he seemes like a nice man, and I've been able to hear our music ministry improve just in the short time that he's been here.
I've been asking my mom recently if I could sing in Carols By Candlelight-an annual program at our church where the choir and orchestra preform together at Christmas. It's really a special time for everyone. I was asking my mom to do this because I am unable to sing in youth choir (math tutoring), and I'm not exctly allowed to sing in the adult choir full-time, but I did come to a few of their practices during the summer (when youth choir had annually been put on hold), and I even sang with them in church one sunday. I loved coming to those practices because i haven't sang with an ensemble since sixth grade, and everyone there is sooo nice, and they all said they were sohappy to have me joining them. But, my mother has neglected to ask him time after time, and now she says that I can just come (without an invitation-i'm sure it will be fine). Tonight was supposed to be my first night, and I hope it will be, because my parents won't be there (meeting). Ihope I enjoy the time, because I've been looking forward to it all week. And I hope that mr. Groves will welcome me just as all the choir members did.

New School Year

It has started up again! I'm in 8th grade, yay! The oldest kids in the school! True, we got delayed a couple days because of hurricane fay, but now we're back, and I glad...mostly. I just really hate getting up so early (6:25 am!!!!!!!!!) Anyway, I really like all my teachers. I also like my scuedule. Here's how it is:
First period: Language arts with Mrs. Giangaspro (I just call her Mrs. G.) She's really nice and we get along real well. She was the same teacher that i had last year, but she moved up. Kind of like looping, i guess. She's also my homeroom teacher. I hope I have fun in her class.
Second period: Science with Mrs. Ishee. It's started out pretty good so far, even though it's not my favorite class. I also hope I have a lot of fun in that class, too.
Third period: U.S. History with Ms. Burke. So far, Ms. Burke has to be one of my favorite teachers. She's extremely nice, never yells at us, and even let us work together as a class to come up with our own social contract on how we want to be treated by her, and how she wants to be treated by us. She's really small (5'1), but very pretty. She wears high heels often, and I can't understand how she can wear them all day. When I first had her class, her hair was curly (like little ringlets) and pretty auburn color, and her eyes were sort of green. I LOVED her hair (by now you should know that I'm a fan of red hair), but last weekend she got it dyed dark, dark brown. I was sort of mad, but I'm pretty much over it. Anyway, I really like her and her class, and I hope I enjoy myself in the class for the rest of the year.
Fourth period: Band with Mr. Rankin. He's my other favorite teacher. I go to lunch at the beginning of this period, but when we come back, it's all music, music music. Now that I'm in 8th grade and not a beginner, we got to start playing our instruments on the 3rd day of school. I was even selected for Wind Ensemble, where all the students were handpicked by Mr. Rankin, and we're the best band group in the school. I play alto saxophone, but I really wish I had chosen flute, but oh well. This Friday, we're taking an afterschool field trip to Nease high school to play at a football game with their band. It's going to be so fun! I also really like Mr. Rankin. He's funny, nice, and cares about all his students.
Fifth period: Term elective/exploratory wheel. What this means is that each nine week I change to a different elective class. 1st term I have Intro to computers w/ Mrs. McLaughlin (also pretty, and nice most of the time), 2nd term i have art w/ Ms. DiMeo (yay for art!), 3rd term I have pre-engineering w/ Mrs. McLaughlin (her again-i had this last year too), and 4th term I have team leadership w/ Ms. Cooper. Yes, I actually have Ms. Cooper!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :) I was happy with the electives I got, and I'm sooooo glad i don't have to do P.E.
Sixth period: Pre-Algebra with Mr. Stubbs. I had Mr. Stubbs last year. He's a funny guy who's always trying to make us laugh, and using funny math videos in the middle of his notes (along with weird sound effects like boom!, crash!, and zap! in his notes). He has a round belly and enjoys wearing the colors purple, orange, green, pink, and anything else that's spunky and bright. I had him last year, and even though I hate math, he makes it a little bit more fun. Just a little.
So, that's my squedule. I hope I have a great school year, make new friends, be outgoing and fun, and just be myself.

Star Wars

In 1977, a new movie came out called "Star Wars: A New Hope". Many people went to see it, having seen the advertisements and thinking that the film would be good. They were wrong. Way wrong. It wasn't good. IT WAS AMAZING. The computerized characters scenes, battles, and almost everything in the movie were spectacular-no one had seen anything like it before, since computers were just coming out. My mom went to see it when it came out, and she was about 16 years old. She said that "the whole idea of being in space was just unbelievable". Soon after, all kinds of action figures, movie posters, and even bedspreads came out with Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader printed all across them. Young, beautiful Princess Leia became the new crush of every fourth grade boy, and they didn't even care that her real name was Carrie Fisher. Even now, these movies are still popular, and my mom and I have been in the process of watching every one of them in order. I had never seen them before, and I think they're fabulous movies. They have great stories, plots, characters, computer animation, battles, and even romance. And after this movie first came out, new ideas began to form, and the next movies came out. The first half of the saga came out after the second half, which is weird, and sort of confusing. Other ideas sprang up for new types of movies, and I think that without Star Wars, we wouldn't have movies like Narnia, Harry Potter, WALL:E (and any Pixar movie, for that matter), Bridge to Terabithia, and all those others that are just ordinary movies to us today. But way back when, these movies would have been great, but not as great as the saga of Star Wars, which still lives on today, and hopefully forever.

Hurricane Fay

A catergory 1 hurricane is approaching Florida, and the city of Jacksonville. It's been named Fay-sort of a unusual name, but also sort of pretty-sounding. Anyway, the hurricane should effect us, but nothing more than lots of rain, wind, and general harsh storming. Even so, they've delayed the start of St. Johns county public schools until Monday the 25th. School was originally supposed to start the friday before. The open houses for St. Johns school have been postponed also-until Friday.
We went to the grocery store today, even though we already had dinner for the night. Mom said that we should get some for tomorrow, since we wouldn't want to come out in the bad weather. The store was more crowded than usual-I guess people were stocking up as well. We bought sausages to grill in case the power goes out and we wouldn't be able to cook with the oven (we do have a gas stove, though). My dad went to blockbuster (we got The King of California, the Great Debators, and Star Wars 5) and said it was packed. He said that there were about twenty people in line! That's unusual for the store near us. I guess people were stocking up on movies they could watch while they waited out the storm. Anyway, what I'm saying is: Hurricane Fay shouldn't cause any really serious problems, but losing power is a possibility. The nearby school district is also being careful in letting children come to school. It's not anything Florida hasn't experienced before. Trust me.

The Next Food Network Star is.....

Aaron McCargo Jr.! I was happy for Aaron when I watched the finale a few Sundays ago, even though I really wanted Lisa to win. He deserved it as well because he worked really hard and his family, well, sort of needed it. They're not the richest of folks, and Aaron's son Josh ran away from home recently before he went on the show. It was really sad. I'm also sad that the whole thing is over because I LOVE that show! It won't come on again until next year. Anyway, congragulations Aaron. His new show, "Big Daddy's House" airs at 1:30 pm eastern time. Go to http://www.foodnetwork.com/ for more info about Aaron and the whole Next Food Network Star experience that recently ended for this year.

I finished!

I'm so excited that I finally finished my story, "Silver Sea"!! I think it turned out really well and would be a great read for anyone interested in mysteries, ghosts, Ireland, or just a good short read. I finished typing it as well and it is a total of 50 pages. For me, and for any student, I think, that is pretty impressive. Writing is just something I'm good at and an art that I love to practice. I'm already cooking up ideas for my next story, more of a fantasy type. Keep tuning in to find out more!!!

Harry Potter........8???

So I was watching the O'Reilly Factor a few nights ago. Most of the time I think the news is boring, but sometimes they have interesting topics and I like to listen and learn what's going on in the world. Anyway, Bill's "Pinheads and Patriots" segment came on, and I heard that J.K. Rowling was a patriot because all her profits from her next book, "The Beetle and the Bard" would go to....some charity that I can't remember. Then I remember that in the 7th Harry Potter book there was something about Beetle and the Bard. So then I thought that maybe they would continue the Harry story with Harry, who would be grown-up, or his children, who have just gone to Hogwarts. I hope I didn't just ruin the 7th book for anyone, but I thought y'all would want to know about what I heard on the news. I hope she makes an eighth book!!!!!!Anyway, if you want to know who the pinhead was....well, that's another post.

The Next Food Network Star

It is, like, one of my favorite TV shows! The plot of the show is that ten people were chosen to compete against each other in cooking challenges including talking infront of a camera, cooking to impress judges, cooking with Rachel Ray on her show, and other related things. Each week they have a different challenge, and at the end of the show each contestant is critiqued, and one of them is chosen to leave and go home. It only aires once a year for about 11 weeks. 10 ordinary home cooks entered the contest and were chosen to compete on the show. Most contestants have previous cooking experience, like owning a restaraunt, working somewhere with food, or even graduating from Culinary school (big advantage). The top ten finalists that started from the beginning are: Aaron, Jeffrey, Adam, Cory, Jennifer, Kelsey, Kevin, Lisa, Nipa, and Shane. The final five ended up being Aaron, Adam, Kelsey, Lisa, and Shane. After Shane got "the boot", the final four went to Las Vegas. There, they were challenged to a Bobby Flay style throwdown, and Kelsey was chosen to leave. The second youngest of the group, Kelsey was my favorite, and my sister's as well. She was so cute, pretty, and sweet, which also gave her a slight disadvantage. Even though she was GREAT in front of the camera, and she had recently graduated from culinary school (she couldn't stop mentioning it) she struggled in gaining authroity, and she also flunked her final challenge. We were so dissapointed when she left. Anyway, just aaron, Adam, and Lisa are left. I do hope Lisa wins because she is my second favorite and I think she really deserves it. The show plays Sunday nights at 9:00 central (10 for all ye eastern folk), but the show from the previous week comes on sunday at 8 central. This is when my family watches it, even though we are a week behind.
Here is the food network star page at foodnetwork.com for you to check it out:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/show_nf/

Updates for July and August

I have so much to say that I thought I would just update you with everything that's going on:
***Virginia trip***We had soooo much fun there! We saw and did a lot of things, but we also just hung around the house with our family. We got back Sunday and we didn't have to miss our favorite TV show!
***Swimteam***My sis and I only have one more week of swimteam practice!!! We'll have to give up our entire saturday because of championships, but after that, WE'RE DONE FOR THE YEAR!!!! I'm gonna try to convince my parents to let us do another sport next year because I hate swimteam sooo much :p
***Ms. Cooper***I found out that's she's actually not leaving!!!!!!!!!! Even though she's a Ms. (a teacher) instead of a Dean now, she'll at least be at my school again. I knew Mrs. Sparkman wouldn't ket her go entirely. She'll teach 7th grade. There is a very small chance that she'll be an eighth grade teacher (my grade) and even a smaller chance that she'll be my teacher, but still, I'm hoping. I'm just glad I'll still be able to see her some. On the last day of school I thought I'd never see her again.
***Silver Sea***I'm nearing the end of my story!!!!!!I'm really excited to get to the end because it will be a finished product, and maybe I can even send it in to a friend I know from church who owns her own publishing company. Also, I have another big story idea that's haunting me (in a good way). As soon as I'm done w/ Silver sea, I'll start working on that one. More details later.
***My updated webpage***Please come and visit! I made it even better, and I know that someone from google is reading it because the advertisements on the bottom (by google) have to do with ireland, folk songs, and Celtic Woman! It just makes me believe that there may be a chance for Meav to actually see my page and to be moved...She's what's it's all about!
Here's to address to my webpage. At the bottom, you'll see a link to go on to my second page that also is about Meav.
My webpage: http://pages.matmice.com/home/turtlefreak707/

Goin' to Virginia

I can't wait until this Tuesday (July 8th)!! Me, my little sister Jenny, and my mom are driving up to Arlington Virginia, which is only, like, two miles away from D.C. We used to live there, and sometimes I really miss it. We're going for ten days to visit my grandma, grandpa, aunt and uncle, their dog, my great-grandma, and our good friends, the Nuchos. I'm SO excited! We're making this scrapbook for my great-grandma (we call her Gropoopie-long story) because it's her birthday. We're giving her a big gift basket with all things that she loves- chocolate, balloons, our homemade scrapbook (which turned out amazingly good!), and a stuffed duck named David. When Gropoopie was in her twenties, she owned a real duck named David, that used to cuddle up with her a snuggle her (adorable! right?). We got her the Webkinz duck 'cause it's really cute and soft. She doesn't know what webkinz is, so that wouldn't really matter. My little sis got to keep the tag, making the duck (which she named David on the computer as well) her 15th Webkinz. I also can't wait to see my aunt because she's really fun to hang around. She's only 19 (5 years older than me), so she understands me. I can't express how awesome she is. I can't wait to see my grandma because she is a great snuggler and is just a wacky person! She is also really smart and loves to make us laugh. My uncle is really cool because he makes good jokes and knows a lot about bikes, and stuff like that. My grandpa (he's actually my step- grandpa) is cool too because he's really smart and knows everything about everything. He makes really good jokes too. My grandma teaches art class, and my aunt helps, so while my mom is at drumming camp during the day, we will go with them and do art! It's really enjoyable! We did it before, and I painted some really nice paintings and did great pastels. I'm taking some of my Ireland pictures so that I will be able to paint them. I'm just so excited, especially since I haven't seen them since Christmas.

Goodbye Dean Cooper

Wednesday, June 11th was St. Johns county's last dayof school. You might know that the state of Florida is facing huge money problems in our schools, just because people voted to get, like, $25 off their tax payments. It is causing us some major problems, and we're having to get rid of a lot of things that we shouldn't have to get rid of. My mom is just lucky to have her music job. So, each middle school in our county has 2 deans, a man and a woman. It's kind of required. But now, with all the budget cuts, our schools don't have enought money to employ two anymore. That means we have to get rid of one. And our principal is letting Dean Cooper go. Most people at my school hate her, but I've grown very fond of her, and it hurts me to think that I might not even see her again. Unless she is certified as a teacher as well as a dean...if she is, she could stay and teach. I hope she does. She doesn't really know me, but on the day before the last day of school, I asked her to sign my yearbook. She was all happy because I was probably the only one that had asked her to sign. I really do hope she stays. She was an important part of our school. She must be really mad. She lost her job just because some old retirees in South Florida wanted to pay a little less tax. It's SOOOOOOOOOO not fair! It makes me mad and sad at the same time.

Indiana Jones/Karen Allen

Now, I know you've heard of Indiana Jones and heard the "rousing adventure theme" (quote my TV's subtitles) that goes along with the movie. They're all really great movies, and the very first one came out when my mom was about 15 or 16. She went and saw it, and she loved it, along with everyone else who had seen it. I had never seen Indy on the screen in my life, until this Saturday, when my mom rented it the first one, "Raiders of the Lost Ark" (I had originally wanted National Treasure 2, but it was sold out for the second week in a row). I'm really glad I ended up watching it, because it was a really good movie! My favorite character was Marion Ravenwood, aka Karen Allen. She was 30 when she made the movie, and she's currently 57. She was really pretty and really funny and spunky in the movie, and I admire her for that. Karen was unaware that she would be in "Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" until Steven Spielberg called her one day and said, "Guess what, Karen! You're in the movie!" So, she still plays Marion Ravenwood, an older version, but this time there's a twist. A guy named Mutt Williams (played by Shia LaBeouf) comes to Indy and takes him to a camp where a Mutt's mother, Marion Ravenwood, is being held prisoner. Then, Marion reveals to Indy that Mutt is his son. I was like, WHOA....Anyway, you should definately rent the movie if you get a chance, remember, the first one!!!!!!!!!!!
PS-Anything you hear about Karen Allen being the same person as Margot Kidder is NOT TRUE!!! I've looked at pictures and they are NOT they same person. It's just a stupid conspiracy.

Swimteam

It's started up again. It's only for the summer, but me and my sister both agree that it sort of ruins it. You have to get up almost every day at 7:00 (yes, that's what I said!) and go jump in a cold pool and work out for an hour. It's nice that they give you the weekends off, and we don't go monday either because that's the day they clean the pool. But then, we have swim meets against other teams almost every Saturday. They last about five hours, and you only swim four times! It really ruins your Saturday. It just started a week ago, and I'm really out of shape. I pulled one of my stomach muscles, and it was painful even to lie down on the couch. Also, my arm and leg muscles were sore, but not as bad. The only good part is that our team has been undefeated for the past two years. But I've really come to love thunderstorms a lot more-if you know what I mean.

Silver Sea (by:Elise)

I don't know if you knew this, but I write stories. I just think it's so enjoyable to get my feelings down on paper. I've enjoyed writing sine probably second grade and I've been doing it ever since. I think I really started actually spending a lot of time on my stories last year in 6th grade. I wrote one story that I finished a while ago that was very successful. I won't get into that one, but I am going to tell you about "Silver Sea", my newest story (ps-silver sea is actually the title of one of Meav Ni Mhaolchatha's albums, and the front cover of it is where i actually got my inspiration for this story). It's about a girl named Kayleigh Granuaile who is full blood Irish but doesn't really care. Then she finds out that she and her family are moving to Ireland! Their house is on the Cliffs of Moher, these huge cliffs that jut out into the Atlantic. It's a big adventure for her and she learns a lot and meets some great new people. One of the things she learns is that a family lived in her house (which is actually close to 300 years old) a 100 years ago. The family had just one daughter named Muirin Flynn. She loved the ocean very much, and she asked everyone she met to call her Silver Sea. One day, she falls off the cliffs and dies. Many people belive that she wanders the lands as a ghost. Now, a hundred years later, Kayleigh and her new friend Kiera are discovering Silver Sea's secrets to try to help the ghost to rest in peace. It's a very cool story, and I'm enjoying writing it very much.
Please check out Kayleigh's blog:
http://www-kayleighinireland.blogspot.com

Updates for April

Hey, everybody out there! I'm sure you've noticed the template change! I really do hope you like it. It's been really busy around here lately, and I haven't gotten enough chances to blog. Let me give you some updates...
-We just got back from our spring break trip in Cocoa Beach! I had a really good time. We belong to this new Hilton timeshare now, so we got this trip basically for free (i would explain how that could be, but it's really long and confusing and my fingers can only do so much). The room we stayed in at the resort had 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, a good-ish kitchen, a family room, and a balcony. It didn't look out to the ocean, but you could see it if you tilted your head over to the side. We spent a lot of time at the pool, we went to the beach, we did Kennedy Space center (so awesome!), we went on an airboat tour and saw lots of neat wildlife, rented a lot of movies, played a couple games, and just hung out. After a while though, I was getting a little homesick and I'm glad to be back to the norm.
-There was this piano competition I did that was part of BRASS (Beaches Residents Actively Supporting the Symphony) a few Saturdays ago. We're not actually beaches residents, but we live pretty close and it was okay for us to come. I played two of my piano pieces, and the judges awarded me first prize!! I got a check of $75!! Mom promised she'll take me out to this Irish store called Celtic Charm so I can totally splurge.
Well, that's pretty much it. I'll try to blog more, so keep tuning in! Bye!

Goodbye Lance

You're probably wondering who Lance is. Well, he's my youth leader at church. He's in charge of the whole thing. Like, if the whole church was just made up out of the youth, he would be the pastor. I'm saying goodbye because Lance says that God is speaking to him and he feels like that he should be doing something else. He doesn't know for sure what it is yet, but he talked to Pastor Michael about it and he isn't going to be the youth minister anymore. :( Lance will still attend our church with his wife Carleen, but we're getting a new youth minister named Drew Pilkenton. I hope I like him and I also hope that he's as funny, caring, and helpful as Lance was.

Easter

Tomorrow's Easter!! I'm excited about it. We go to church at the regular time, but of course it's a special service. After all, there would be no Christianity if Jesus hadn't risen from the dead. After church, some of our very old friends (not old as in elderly, but we've known them a while) are coming for dinner at 5:30. It'll be 10 people all together. Liz (we've known her since we used to live in Virginia when I was little. She worked on Capital Hill. Then she retired and moved down here. She is very sweet and really cares about us.) and her boyfriend Tom, the Murrays (Marrienne, Jim, Claire, and A.J. who we've known since we moved to Florida when I was six) and us Roses. That's a lot of people, but it'll be fun to all be together again. We have the house decorated with little bunnies and roosters, and we have candle holders with eggs in them. Easter seemed to come a little early this year, but that's fine with me. I'm ready for spring and Easter whenever they come.

Talent Show

At my school, there's going to be a talent show! I have a few talents, one of them being singing. I LOVE TO SING!!!!!!!!! When I get older, I'm probably going to get a college degree in voice and be a professional (just ike Meav, except her degree is in law. She found out that singing was her passion. She is so my idol!). Right now I'm at Wards Creek Elementary with Mom, and I'm on her school-owned Gateway laptop. I was just on iTunes and I found a great karaeoke version of "The Prayer" from Quest To Camelot (I originally heard it from Celtic Woman singer Chloe Agnew). I'm pretty nervous because I don't want to mess up in front of all those people, but mainly I don't want people to think I'm stupid because of the song I picked. Most of the kids will be doing hip-hop songs. But I know that it shouldn't matter and I should just move forward with my passion.

Listen to "The Prayer" from Celtic Woman Chloe Agnew:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sASfv9EEhrw

Celtic Woman Concert

The night of March 5 was easily one of the best nights of my life. For me it was like a dream, having Chloe, Orla, and Mairead performing in front of me! Lynn and Alex were new, though. Lynn is actually really pretty (keep in mind-doesn't even come close to Meav), but she doesn't around all that much, and I think she could use a little more expression. As for Alex, I didn't really like her that much. I didn't like the style of her voice, which was kind of a broadway style, and it didn't fit in with all the other voices and the Celtic music. But I welcomed both newcomers in my mind. Speaking of in my mind, Mairead was definetly the star of the show. I used the binoculars, which were amazingly cool because I could see the faces up close. Mairead just used sooo much fun and expression in her face and her actions, like when she danced all over the stage, which had been very nicely decorated and it looked like a mini version of what the stage looked like in the DVDs. But the thing that happened that night that I will never forget is that while I was looking at her through the binoculars, Mairead looked at me. Like, 3 times. It was so awesome! She was smiling and moving her body, and she looked right into my eyes. I had seen some of the others (like Lynn and Chloe) sort of look at me but just for a second. But Mairead just held her gaze for 3 seconds or more. And I just smiled at her, nodding at her performance and how good it was. We also purchased a souvenier tourbook with really nice pictures and writing that I promised myself I would never cut out and hang in my room (it was hard). But i had a great time, and I was so sad when it ended and it was time to go home. But it was night I will never forget.

Ireland/Concert

St. Patrick's Day is now officially my 3rd favorite holiday (after Christmas and Halloween), thanks to Meav and the rest of Ireland, my favorite country. On Saturday me, Mom, and little sis Jenny went out shopping and I got all my St. Patty's day materials. I got shamrock earrings, green nail polish, sparkley green and silver bead necklaces, and the stuff to make my special shirt. I didn't want one of those Target shirts that everyone wears (Everyone loves an Irish girl, Kiss me, I'm Irish, etc.). I wanted something special. We got a white t-shirt from Michael's craft store alond with some green, orange, and black fabric paint. On the front will be the Irish flag and IRELAND written on it, and on the back (in smaller letters), it will say THE EMERALD ISLE, because that's its nickname. I hope I can wear it all year round. I also got a very nice big book on Ireland that has awesome pictures and was on sale! Yay! And speaking of Yay, I'm am now officially off of Celtic Woman recovery!! I burned a cd of them that has their 2004/2005 songs on it from their debut concert at Helix Center in Dublin. Some of the songs are One World, Walking in the Air, Si Do Mhaimeo i ("The Wealthy Widow" in Gaelic), Orinoco Flow, You Raise Me Up, and others. I just try to keep my exposure to them limited, not to watch or listen to them too much, because I will regret it later (can't really explain it to you, sorry). Their concert is in 2 days!!! It'll be so cool to watch Mairead dance with her fiddle right in front of me, and to watch Chloe and Orla sing in the same building! Lynn and Alex I don't know yet, but I'm sure they're talented. And Meav and Lisa, we all miss you so much!!
So...Look out Ireland, here I come!! (someday...) ag deireadh! (The End)

I Got Sweeped

If you go to Pacetti Bay middle school, you probably know that we have tardy sweeps, and if the Dean sees you out of class when the tardy bell rings, you have to come with him/her to the auditorium and get a punishment. Well, until Monday, I didn't know what the punishment was until it happened to me. If you go to my school, you probably know how long it is from the band room to the green house, where most of my classes are. If you don't, well, IT'S LONG. It takes me a while to get to geography from the band room. And Dean Gifford was in the green house at the time, so when I was about 25 steps away from my classroom, the bell rang and he ordered us to the auditorium. This usually only happens to bad kids and if it happenes to many times, you can get demerits, detentions, and even worse. So when I went in there, I saw Mrs. Sparkman (principal), Mrs. Calloway (vice), Mrs. Seaton (guidance), Dean Gifford (man dean), Dean Cooper (woman dean), and Officer Keisler (school cop) all in one place. Wow. They gave us a harsh lecture about getting to class on time. I felt really bad. I mean, Mrs. Sparkman's my friend, and I don't want her (or Dean Cooper) to think that I'm a bad kid. The high majority of the kids in there were 7th graders, too, and everyone had to write down their name so they could keep track of who's been there. Well, let me just say this. Mrs. Sparkman, I know you know I'm not a bad kid, and I was late for a good reason. And Dean Cooper, you don't really know me that well, and I want you to think highly of me, so don't judge me by this. This is something I will definately try to not let happen again.

Teacher of the Year Banquet

If you keep up with my blog, you probably know that my Mom was selected as Teacher of the Year for her school, and then nominated as one of the 3 finalists to become Teacher of the Year for the whole county. Well, the banquet was on Tuesday night, and we got to find out who was the big winner. It was a big and fancy banquet, with 630 people there. My sister and I wore dresses, my dad a coat and tie, and my Mom looked very pretty in a navy blue dress and silver high heels. It was, like, the 15th dress she tried on until she found the one that was perfect. A lot of people from my school were there. My principal, Mrs. Sparkman, my vice-principal Mrs. Callaway, the teacher of the year, Mr. Ryan and his wife ( who is actually one of our P.E. coaches), Mr. Anthanseas, our maintenance supervisor, and our 2 Deans, Mr. Gifford and Ms. Cooper (ps-she's only 34!). And I also got to see a lot of teachers from my elementary school that I haven't seen in a while, so that was nice. So Mom and Mrs. Miller, a pretty 2nd grade teacher who's our Rookie teacher of the year (teacher that's taught for 3 years or less), sat together and awaited the 2 big announcements. Mrs. Miller didn't win, and Mom didn't either :(. But she's happy for Mr. Dodd, the guy that did. He teaches music at St. Augustine High, and Mom was glad that a music teacher won, because they sometimes get overlooked. So, that's the story of our big night. It was a fun (and suspenseful!) one, and one that we will probably remeber forever.

Ann Reinking

Have you ever heard of her? She's an American actress, dancer, and choreographer. If you've ever seen the movie "Annie" (the well-known one made in 1982), Ann Reinking stars as Grace Ferrall, Mr. Warbucks' private secratary. She choreographed and was in "Chicago". She was also in "Goodtime Charley" (a Tony award winner), "Dancin' ", "All That Jazz" (winner of 4 Academy Awards) and "Fosse", which was loosely based around her life and her relationship with Bob Fosse, another famous choreographer. She's won a Tony Award, A Drama Desk Award, and a Bob Fosse Award. But I like her best in "Annie". I think she did a great job on the role, and seemed to work well with Aileen Quinn (the girl who played Annie) and Albert Finney(who played Oliver Warbucks, she had to kiss him in the end). I also think she looked very pretty in the movie. Well, times have changed, and she's almost 60 now. I just hope she never forgets her famous career as a talented actress, singer, and great dancer. And I hope people don't forget her, either.

Check her out in these scenes (ps- she's the brunette):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XBwyANWjyls We Got Annie
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_nM_-CFRBS8 I Think I'm Gonna Like It Here
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GRnXvPQVtaE Cheek To Cheek (not from Annie)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OVasewV7OpA&NR=1 Jagger And Gideon! (All That Jazz)

Updates

I'm really sorry I haven't posted in a while!! It's been kinda busy around here lately (and I've been on C.W. recovery). But it's the start of a 4-day weekend, and I thought I'd give you some updates:
Teacher of the year banquet-feb 19. Get to see if Mom is the county winner!
Celtic Woman- Lisa (my 2nd favorite celtic woman) will not be at the concert either, because she is expecting a new baby. Also, sometime between 2004 and 2005, Meav got married and had a baby girl named Anna (didn't think she was married before because in this concert dvd we have of them made in 2004, I looked and I didn't see a ring). There are 2 new ladies taking their place named Lynn and Alex (who I think is only temporary for Lisa).
Valentines Day- is today! Didn't get a heart gram or a carnation flower (which were on sale), but I did get a box of chocolates and a card! Tonight after dinner, each member of the family is opening their own valentine box filled with cards, not having a clue what they are! Yay!
Jenny- my little sister, who just turned 11 years old today! Yes, her birthday is on Valentines Day. Pretty special, huh?

I'll try to post more blogs, but for now, Hasta Luego!

Why Meav, why!?!?

If you keep up with my blog, you probably know that I am obsessed with Meav Ni Mhaolchatha, one of the soloists on Celtic Woman. But here's the thing. She's taking a full-time break from Celtic Woman to focus on her solo career. I know that she's probably all happy about her new cd, Silver Sea (coming in the spring) and all of the concerts she'll be having, but what about me and all of her other adoring fans??? How does she think that makes us feel?? I mean, I want to be happy for her, and it wouldn't really matter as much as it does if we didn't have Celtic Woman concert tickets. I'm gonna go, and my favorite person in the world isn't going to be there like I had thought? Yeah, I was upset. This lady named Lynn Hilary is taking her place. And I know that this is Meav's dream, it's just, well, she kinda ruined mine.

Good Friends Come To Visit

It's Saturday, and our good friends Jim and An Golterman have come to visit for a week! My dad has known Jim since they were in the US Army Chorus together. His wife, An (ah-n) is from Korea, and she doesn't speak english very well. But she's gotten much better after the 3 years we say them last. They are great to have around, but unfortunatly, Me, Jenny, Mom and Dad still have to go to school and work. But Mom says they're used to it and they'll be fine.

Teacher of the Year updates

We've had 2 three-day weekends these past 2 weeks, so that's kool. Right? I mean, it's Friday right now, and I'm sitting in Wards Creek elementary school (where I live half my life), when I should be at home. Not kool. Right? Oh, well. Me and my sister brought some stuff to entertain ourselves. See, my mom's a music teacher here, so she has an inservice day, and we had to come with her. And my sister is a fifth grader here, too. But guess what happened to my mom!? She's teacher of the year!! And she's also one of the 3 finalists! So, that means that she might be teacher of the year for our whole county! And then she can move on to our whole state!! It's all really exciting! So that's kool. Right?

Candy Land

Have you ever played it? It's a kool game, and there's a lot more to it than just moving your figure along a path of colored bricks. IT'S A WHOLE OTHER WORLD- King Kandy, the Imperial head of Bonbon and Grand Jujube of Candy Land has disappeared. The king and his castle were simply no longer where they should be...
Plumpy, the last of the PlumpaTrolls, says "It's just so distressing." as he takes care of his plum trees. Mr. Mint, a peppermint lumberjack, says his peppermint picolos have been rather off key ever since the king disappeared. And Jolly, the official Gumpdrop Mountains Greeter, says that the mountains just don't glow like they used to. But Gramma Nut, who lives in her peanut-brittle cottage, says that a very special boy and girl will cetaintly find the king. "But who will they be?" she asks. "The Candy Land kids of course!," Princess Lolly of the Lollipop woods. "I just know they will find my father." But Lord Licorice thinks different. "They'll never find the King or his castle," he says. "For I have hidden them out of sight so all of Candy Land will be mine!" The villian (of course) has always had a heart like rock candy. "Utter nonesense." Queen Frostine says of Lord Licorice's evil plan. "The Candy Land kids will certaintly find the king." as she sits adrift a peaceful float in the Ice Cream sea. "When the Candy Land kids pass my molasses swamp, the king and his castle are sure to be found." Says friendly old Gloppy, the Molasses Monster.
So all of Candy Land is willing to help (except for Lord Licorice) find King Kandy. But you know how the rest of the story goes, right?
I WIN!!!

Whew! I'm done!

Done with what you say? Well, get ready.......I'M DONE WITH MY MIDTERM EXAMS!!!!! Yea.
We started them on monday. I had an exam in science and another one in Language Arts. We took the part 2's of those on tuesday. Then on wednesday we had our math and our geography. And i finished my math part 2 today! I got an A and a B on my science ones, so that's good. And i got an 100 on my geography! I'm pretty happy. Let me just say it again: Whew!

Because That's Love by: Elise (me)

It's important to have friendships. Not all last. Like Taylor, or Hannah, or anyone else. But you should remember them anyway. Because that's love.
When friends move away, like to South Florida, or North Florida, or even to Spain, keep in touch with them. Or at least try to. Don't just forget. Keep communicating. Because that's love.
When friends act like jerks, don't follow suit. Be smart. Try to make them see the truth. Don't lose them over a fight. Be kind back to them, no matter how hard it may be. Because that's love.
When you have feelings inside of you, bubbling like a cauldron, don't leave them brewing. Tell your friends. Terrible stuff happens when you keep things inside. Let your friends know. If they're true friends, they'll understand. Let out your feelings. Because that's love.
Let your friend know that you appreciate them. That you think about them often. These words make joy in people's hearts. Let your friend know that you care. Because that's love.
If a friend is being mean to you in a small way, like laughing at your appearence, your crush, or anything else about you, tell them that it hurts your feelings. If you don't, bad things can happen to your friendships. Be honest with your friends. Because that's love.
Make sure to always let your friends know that they can fly. Because that's love.

Great Great Aunt Pearl

Are you related to a famous person? Well, I'm Pearl S. Buck's great-great neice. Pretty kool, huh? Pearl Buck was a very famous author. She was the first woman to ever win the Pulitzer and the Nobel prize for literature. She wrote books called The Good Earth (which Hollywood made into a movie), The Patriot, The Angry Wife, and many other books. She wrote over 80 novels, 200 short stories, and was a human-rights activist. Her parents were missionaries in China, where she lived as a child. The home she lived in as an adult is in Pennsylvania, which is now a national landmark, as well as her birth-place in West Virginia. She died in the 70's, but it would have been really kool if she were still alive today. I would've of really liked to have met her. She could've given me some great writing tips to use in my stories, which I love to write. Now I know where I got it from!

Youtube videos you should try

1) Taylor, the latte boy (sung by Kristen Chenoweth)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zXS0nEOx_20
2) Killer whale lands on kayak
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rRDusxig_vQ
3) Argument to Beethoven's 5th
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EEhF-7suDsM
4) Maximum ride comes alive...? (This video works best if you've read Maximum Ride)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYvi6KKhcRE
5) Snake coughs up hippo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0qacIuWUMR8
6) Tribute for Meav (it made me cry because I admire her SO much!)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7Yb2bkuh9I

Please Watch and Enjoy!!

Celtic Woman

I really think their name should be women, not woman, because it's a group of Irish singers, not just one. You've heard of them, right? I mentioned them in one of my earlier blogs, "I'm feeling glumish on Christmas Eve". (ps- I'm going but Meav isn't going to be there :() They're a group of young ladies that sing really well. Their names are Chloe, Orla (who plays the harp and sings), Lisa, Meav (No, not meav that rhymes with weave, May-v is how you pronounce), Hayley, and Mairead (Mare-ay-d is how you pronounce it), who plays the fiddle and doesn't sing. They are all Irish and really pretty, but I think that Meav is probably the prettiest. She is my favorite out of all of them. You can look her up on google (type in Celtic Woman Meav to get best results). She sings really well, and so do the others. Check them out:

Google (images and web)
Cds or DVDs
PBS
Youtube- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQN9gr-Hb_Q(this one a great one for beginners) Meav is the angel in my story, for those of you who have read it

New Years Day stuff

It's Jan. 1. Yay!! I was in a hotel room in Orlando last night (new years eve) watching huge fireworks out the window. They seemed to be coming from Disney, Seaworld, and i think that;s all. Me and my sister blew on our noisemakers just at the right time and I'm sure we woke up the whole hallway on floor 9. We came back home today, though, just in time to watch the CapitolOne bowl. I was having a hard time rooting for either team, because I'm a Gator fan and a Wolverine fan, but i think i was really going for Michigan. You did watch the game, right? My dad is a University of Michigan alumni, so that's pretty kool. I hope you had a great New Years too.