50. Faith

Faith is probably a very touchy subject for a lot of people. For the most part when people think of faith they think of religion and a God or gods. But this is not always the case. There are many different types of faiths and many things to have faith in. For instance,I have faith in my family, because I know that I can trust them. I actually think that faith and trust are very similar. The definition of faith according to dictionary is "confidence or trust in a person or thing" and the defintion of trust is "reliance on the integrity, strength, ability, surety, etc., of a person or thing; confidence". It seems to me that these two words are very similar. They pretty much go hand in hand. Without trust you cannot have faith. Not very easily at least. I would say I have a lot of faith in my friends and family. This is because I can trust them with pretty much anything and everything. I know that if someone breaks my trust, it takes a while to regain it, but I have faith that they can do so. Faith for a lot of people can mean religion. But that is just one aspect of faith. I admire people with a lot of faith, but then again, what if what you hold your faith in turns out not to be true? I can be pretty skeptical about a lot of things, so I have definately given a lot of thought into what I put my faith in. I definately wouldn't say I give out my faith very often, it takes quite a while to earn my trust/faith. I know a lot of people who are different though, and will believe anything that anyone says. I think that is a dangerous policy which is why I don't do that. So overall faith can be a tricky subject that can make better or sometimes ruin peoples lives, it's a hit or miss kind of thing.

49. Family

Okay myyyyy family. I have a sister, and a mom and a dad. Well, I have a very large family on my mom's side. I'll start out with my dad's side cause it's much smaller. So my dad has a brother (Michael) and a sister (Donna). (He also has a half sister(but she lives in Germany and I don't remember her name)) Donna married David and they had three kids (Heidi, April, and Michael). Michael married Chris, and they have two kids (Sierra and Allen). My dad's mom (Edith) married my dad's dad (Alfred), but Alfred died when my dad was 17. So she got married to Roger Hendricker and he is my step grandfather or something like that. So that's it on my dad's side. My mom's side is...harder to follow, so bear with me. *Taylor Gorda will make a guest appearence in this side of the family, just a heads up* Alright so, my mom has one sister (Kim) and two brothers (Mike and Tim). Their parent's names are Ken and Donna. Kim and Mike are single, but Tim married Joanie and they had two kids (Sean and Ryan). Here gets to the confusing part. Ken's brother's name is Bob. Bob married Ellen and they live in Ohio in Hilliard. They had four kids (Bobby, Connie, Doug, and Bill). Connie married some guy (I don't know his name they are divorced now) and had three kids (Linsdey, Kelly, and Kyle). A few summers ago Kelly married this guy who I think his name is Patrick but I'm not sure. Ok back to Bob and Ellen's kids, Bobby married Leslie and they have two kids (Meagan and they have a son but I can't remember his name either). Their son is engaged and is going to marry someone this summer named Leslie (isn't it weird, he's marrying someone with the same name as his mother!). Ok to Bob and Ellen's kids again, Doug married someone named Carol and they have two kids (Griffin and Adam). Then Bill, he married someone also, but I don't know her name. They have I don't know how many kids, but I know that they have a daughter named Katie. Remember Ellen and Bob? Well Ellen's sister's name is Marianne and her son is Taylor's dad! I'm sorta kinda related to Taylor. :) It's pretty distant and past a couple marriages, but we still count it. So yea that's about it for my family.

48. Spring Break

Well spring break just got over with, and I am not sure whether or not I'm sad about that. I mean I enjoyed the break and sleeping in and being able to do whatever I wanted, but I kind of got pretty bored. Since I live in Plains, 15 minutes away from Springfield and the majority of my friends, I was not able to go into town everyday. So on the days that I stayed at home or in Plains, I was very very bored. I did not go anywhere for spring break, so I got to sleep in every day (well almost every day) and I really appreciated that after so long of getting up at 7 a.m. every morning. Let's see....we got out of school on a Thursday, then the following Friday I do not think I did anything important, but I can't really remember. The next day, Saturday, I shopped for my prom dress. I ended up getting on from Bella Boutique in Springfield. That was pretty much the only productive thing I did over break. Well, I also painted my room. That was fun. It used to be like a robin's egg blue on two walls and a brownish color on the other two walls. I picked up this medium grey color and a little container of black. I painted all of the walls the grey color and I am going to paint something on the walls in the black sometime too. I really like it grey, at first I was afraid it would be too dark but I actually really like it. Other than that I did not do much at all over break. It was very relaxing though. A lot of the time I woke up at like noonish, did not even get ready until one or two in the afternoon, and sometimes I didn’t do anything that day. I had to work a few times but it was basically the only thing I did.

Job Shadowing

I had a really good time when I went job shadowing. It took me a long time to get there because it was all the way out by Lincoln Land kind of, off Toronto Road and way back in the back of this little place called Industrial Park. I went to Canham Graphics, and at first I thought it was going to be really boring because when they showed me around and I just thought all they did was made signs and put stuff on cars. But it was actually really cool when we got into it. They started of with showing me all of the machines that they use and a quick demonstration of how to use them. When they showed me the machines, I thought that was all they were going to do all day and that I was not going to like it, but that is not really what it was like at all. Until around 11 or 11:30, Doug (the guy I was shadowing) and Justin (another worker there) were putting a giant picture on a Chiles Team truck, and it was pretty cool. They used this like, colored vinyl that was adhesive on the back side, and had this just huge picture of the Chiles team. After they were done with that, they said we were going to order lunch. They even paid for mine. We got it from somewhere called Chaditos, or they call it, Little Chads. It was pretty good. After lunch they were pretty busy making more signs, so that was kind of boring because I could not really do anything but watch. It was interesting to watch, but not hands on or anything. At one point, they asked me if I wanted some leftover vinyl to take home. I wasn't really sure what I could do with it, and they said I could just put in on stuff and use and exacto knife to cut out stuff. So I took this really pretty aqua marine color, it was kind of metallic-y, and covered the backside of my phone with it. Then I took a some white and cut out a swirly design and put it on the back so the blue would come through. I like it, I think it looks really cool. They also gave me a bunch of other pieces of vinyl in different colors to take home. Towards the end of the day, Doug was working on a drag car for Tim Wilkerson, who I guess is a really big deal around here, he races drag cars and is basically in the dragcar version of Nascar. So he was working on the decals for that car and detailing some flames on the side with piping in a teal color...then he asked if I wanted to help pipe. I said yes, and he walked out of the room. I really didn't want to mess up since this car was kind of a big deal, but I didn't. i finished the piping on both sides and it looked really cool. Then day ended around 4:30, and overall I had a really good time.

47. American Literature Project

Well, so far I have mixed feelings on this American Literature Project. There are some aspects that I do like about it, and some aspects that I do not like very much. It may seem kind of confusing, but what I do like branches from what I do not like, so stay with me as best as you can. So I should probably start off with what I do not like to avoid unnecessary confusion. It is not the fact that we are working in groups that I do not like, I think it is just the fact that we do not have much guidence on the specifics. I mean, I know we have opportunities to ask Mr. Langely about anything we need help with, but I think that we kind of just got thrown into this project without much structure to it. It's pretty much willy nilly whatever we want to do with it. It could have also been helpful if we had had some kind of background on Emily Dickinson first. I just think maybe we could have learned about her (in generalities) beforehand so that the project made more sense. On the other hand, and it may sound contradictory, but that could just be because I am not sure how to completely express my feelings either way and they are kind of back and forth, but I do like that we get to pick our means of relaying the information. We get to choose the way we present the information, and I like that for the most part. I just wish that maybe there could have been a list of like 5 to 10 different predetermined ways to do it, instead of just letting us choose. So, I don't know if this makes any sense to you (whoever is reading this) but it makes sense to me. There are some parts I like, and some parts I don't, and they kind of go off of each other, but I guess I will have to wait until the project is completely over before I can say for sure what I did and didn't like.

46. Favorite Car

Well I do not think I have a favorite car?...I do not really have a preference when it comes to cars at all. As long as it gets me where I need to go, it works for me. I have a Chrylser Concorde. It is definately not the coolest car ever, nor is it the best, but I don't care. It is kind of cute looking and it gets me places. Um, well I mean I have always liked convertables. My aunt used to have a mustang convertable and I always really like it. The only thing I did not like about it was the fact that when we had the top down, my hair would blow around everywhere and I could not see anything, so the whole idea of having the top down to see everything and enjoy the outside and weather was kind of obliterated when my hair was in my face the entire time. Also, I would always get really really cold, no matter how hot it was outside. So, I guess a convertable may not be my favorite car per say, but I like them. I used to think that I like Porsches, but I think I just liked them because I knew they were expensive. So when it comes to cars, I do not really have a specific type of car, or brand of car, but I know what I like when it comes to what they look like. I like them to be roundish, not square. For colors, my favorites are light silver or dark greyish silver. After that I like black and that kind of light gold/champagne color. Other than that I do not really like any other colors. I like little cars, like sporty cars or little ones, but not like big trucks or vans or anything like that. I kind of like the car I have now, it pretty much fits my criteria, but I wish it was a shade of silver or grey, not the light gold it is now.

45. Working with Google sites

Well up until the end of last week I had never used or even heard of google sites. Then in less than one week I encountered it in two different classes, English and American History. In American History each student has their own different site and in this class we have one site for each set of partners. In history, Ms. Radliff made each of our google sites and we just edited them and put in the information that we wanted in it. It was kind of different for this class because we actually had to make the site ourselves and make all of the modifications. I did not like working with the google sites for history...but that could have been just because I was not a huge fan of the project we had to do and put on the site. So far, for english I have not really formed an opinion yet because we haven't really used it very much. But if I were to guess I think I will like it better than using it in history. The difficulty level is pretty low too. It seemed to me that it was easy to figure out which is a good thing for those who are not computer-savy (and I don't know if I just spelled that right?) but anyways, it was easy to navigate (for me at least). So I don't really know...we will have to see. I have a good idea that I will not mind working with it because of its ease. Matthew, taylor, and I are going to be posting quite a bit on our site and it is going to look awesome! As long as we don't let Taylor pick that background called 'glitter', I think we will all be okay. As of now our background is rather plain, a couple shades of blue, but I think it will suffice for now until we get all of our information on the site and can actually worry about what it looks like later.

43. 2010 Olympics

Well I do not really see how I can write about the winter Olympics...because I have not watched them at all. So what do I write about?... The only thing I know about, and not even because I watched it, but because it was all over the news and everyone was talking about, is how that luger died. I am not sure if I even spelled luger right but it is 12:39 a.m. and I would really like to finish this. All I know is that some guy from somewhere ( I do not know where) once upon a time in a land far, far away, was luging, and I guess maybe he was going too fast or slipped off or something I am not sure, but I guess he flew off of his luge board thing and flew into a pole. Well I am glad I was not watching the Olympics, especially at that point because I am really glad I did not see that. Something like that would have been horrible to see happen, and I heard that many news stations were running the Olympic footage live and when the incedent occured, and they couldn't stop it in time to stop the video from reaching everyone watching their station. (Sorry if you can not understand anything, I will probably look at this tomorrow and realize that it is gibberish but I can barely keep my eyes open) So yeah, that is all I know about the Olympics. Except the other day I was watching the Singing Bee and one of the contestants on it said she was one of the people who ran the torch wherever for the Olympics in nineteen ninety something. I thought that was kind of cool, not many people can say that they did that! So I am not even sure if the winter Olympics are over for this year or not, but if they aren't I probably won't watch them.

42. A Narrow Fellow in the Grass

Well I feel that I am a bit jipped on account of I was not at school when this blog was assigned and I was not able to discuss it with other people so for this blog it will be alllllll me. Alright, so the first time I read this poem, I thought it was talking about a snake, saying how it divided the grass and what not. Makes sense right? I think so. Also, before I go any futher with my analysis, I would like to say that some of the time, I think that authors just plain wrote poems. They did not necessarily have to mean anything deeper than what it appears on the surface, it was just something they needed to do. I do that sometimes, but with drawing. If I can not think of anything good to draw or paint or whatever, or if I just have to draw something but do not have any ideas as to what, (and it happens all the time) I almost always just start scribbling or doodling until something good comes out of it, then I take those several lame ideas and work off of them to get one good thing. I think that that is what authors do sometimes too, sometimes they just need to write but do not necessarily have anything deep to write about at the moment so they just write about whatever they see. That could just be my opinion, but I stand by it. So what I was trying to get at with all of that was I do not think that this poem necessarily has to have another meaning to it. It could just be about a snake in the grass, maybe it was just a word-vomit poem like I was talking about. The poem does use a lot of imagery however, so Dickinson must have actually given the poem some effort instead of just throwing something together for the heck of it.

41. PPHS and Mythology

Let's see...well, I do not know anything about Greek mythology. Nothing at all. So I looked some stuff up for this blog, and it will be interesting to see how everything fits!
We have a Zeus here in Pleasant Plains, his name is Mr. Ward. Like Zeus has his brothers Poseidon and Hades, Mr. Ward works closely with Mr. Peterson. Zeus and Mr. Ward both are like in charge of all of the other gods. Hera is Zeus's wife and sister. (kind of weird if you ask me) She is the protector and helper of marriage. Marriage is an important decision, so Mrs. Brandon is sort of like Hera in that sense, since she helps all the students make important decisions such as what classes to take the following year. Ares is Zeus and Hera's son. They did not like Ares very much, for he was always getting in trouble and doing something wrong. Ares is like the population of students who are trouble makers and who are always in trouble and in the office. Athena represents another sect of the Plains students. Athena was Zeus's daughter, and his favorite child. She was extremely good and prosperous. She reminds me of the teachers' pets and those who are good at every single class, because they are the teachers' favorites because they do so well and maybe kiss up every now and then. Hermes was the messenger god and was extrememly fast. I think that the people at Pleasant Plains High School who best represent Hermes would be the assisstants in the office. They can call students down to the office without doing anything more than pressing a button and announcing it all over the school. They can get all of their information out to whoever it needs to go to as fast as possible. So those are not all of the Greek gods out there, but those are some who just really reminded me of some of the people here at the school.

40. Decision Making

So when I make decisions, I do not really have a set process in which I follow through each time. If it is a super important decision, I will take a longer amount of time to think about it than if it were a mediocre decision and not as important. Sometimes I do not necessarily make the best decision but the one that I like better. For example, I have been wanting to gauge my ears for a while. Not too big, but just a little. My mom however, would never allow me to do so. I had the first decision to make - listen to my mom, or go ahead and do it anyways. Well...I decided to do it anyways. So I went to Hot Topic and got the gauges I liked and took them home. Another decision to make- read up on the information about how to do it properly, or just do it myself without information. Again, I made what would be the worse of the two, and I decided to just try it before I read up on it. The sizes I got were 12's, which are a lot bigger than they look in your hands. I started to put them in and it hurt really bad. I figured this was normal, so I just kept going. When I got them both all the way in my ears were burning so bad so I had another decision - google it and see what was wrong, or just let them be and hope everything turned out alright. This time I made the better decision and looked it up. The website said that you shouldn't hardly feel any pain at all. That was the first hint that I did something wrong. Later on it said that if you haven't had your ears pierced for at least a year, then they wouldn't be ready to stretch. Well, I haven't had them pierced for a year, so I knew they weren't ready yet. So I tried to take out the gauges and my ears started bleeding, which was another thing the website said...if they bleed at all, they aren't ready. So my last decision - keep them in despite the issues, or take them out. Even though I really didn't want to, I had to take them out and I will have to wait a few more months.

39. Multi-tasking

I personally think that I can multitask very well. If I am ever doing anything, chances are that I am actually doing a few things in addition to the first thing. I do that all the time with homework, I will be listening to music, doing homework, usually helping my sister with her homework, and maybe helping cook dinner too. It is the same way at lunch at school, because more times than not I am eating, listening to music, doing some homework, and talking to my friends all at the same time. If you think about it, the concept of multitasking is kind of interesting. It is kind of cool to think that you can do several totally different things at the same time with ease. Well, I guess it is easier for some people than it is for others, but I guess that could depend on your attention span and capacity for doing more than one thing at a time. I know that while I can juggle a million things at a time fairly well, my sister is completely the opposite. She absolutely can not focus on more than one thing at a time, which is probably not a good thing for the most part. My dad is like me, he is extremely organized, therefore if he does need to do several things at a time, it is very easy for him to do them all. Multitasking is definitely a valuable thing in high school, because as students, we get so much thrown at us at a time that if we were not able to multitask at all or very well, there is a very small chance we could get everything done. It could also depend on your work load from school, because the students who do not have very hard classes would not get as much to do so they would probably not need the skill of multitasking quite as much as someone who has a lot of tough classes and a lot of homework.

38. The Origin of Valentines Day

So, the origin of Valentines day. I do not want to look up the real story behind it, so I will make one up.
Once upon a time in a land far, far away, a 'cute' little couple whose names are Robby and Rita, wanted to celebrate their love. They thought long and hard about what they could do to make a public display of their affection for each other without, literally doing so. They came up with the idea to make a day about love. They would call it Valentines Day because they wanted to name their first child Valentino. They decided to make Valentines Day on February 14th, because that was the day of the anniversary of the day they met. So, February 14th finally came, and Robby and Rita celebrated Valentines Day. They tried to pass it along to other people in the town that was so far, far away, but people just kept getting annoyed at them..the majority of the people at least. Some of the other 'cute' couples in the town hopped on the bandwagon and thought it was a great idea. But, for the most part, people just thought it was annoying and resented the idea, whether or not they were in a relationship. So, the few couples who did like the idea of Valentines Day kept it going and passed it on to later generations, and it is still around today. What is also still around is the mixed opinions on the day. Some people like it and totally buy into it, while others (the smarter ones) realize it is a dumb holiday and a holiday that candy stores and flower stores live off of. I think that Valentines Day is a rediculous holiday. And I use the term 'holiday' lightly. If a couple wants to get each other gifts, flowers, or candy, or celebrate their feelings for one another, shouldn't they be able to do that on any day? Not just on a predetermined day? It just does not make sense to me.

37. My favorite meal

I do not think I really know what my favorite meal is. Ever since I was little I have been a very very very picky eater. For the longest time, all I would eat was macaroni. I still love macaroni but it probably is not my favorite meal. For the past several years I have been a vegetarian. I have never regretted this decision since. Since I do not eat meat, that very much limits my 'favorite meal'. I think if I had to pick a favorite meal, it would be something that I took from head west. If you have ever been there, they have this sandwich called a griller. It is basically a sandwich with a Morning Star patty on it. (Morning Star is a brand that makes a bunch of vegetarian/vegan friendly meat products and they are actually really good!) I have had a griller from Head West twice before, so now I just get the ingredients and make them at home myself. I start out with a morning star patty. I put it in the microwave for a minute and a half, and while it is cooking, I get out the rest of the ingredients. I get out bread, mustard, mayonnaise, Italian dressing, lettuce, and cheese. I usually like to take the patty out and microwave the cheese on the bread then put the patty on. On the other piece of bread, I put a mixture of the mustard, mayonnaise, and Italian dressing. Then I put a few pieces of lettuce and put the sandwich together. I will usually make some broccoli to eat with it. Broccoli is probably my all time favorite food besides cauliflower. Cauliflower is totally the winner, hands down. Any way you cook it, or raw, it is the best. But we usually have brocolli not cauliflower so that is what I make. And I love milk, it is the best beverage ever, so I have that to drink.

36. Preparing for the ACT/PSAE

There are probably many ways I could prepare to take the ACT and the PSAE. I have not had any experience taking the ACT, as I know many other Juniors have due to prior commitments on the testing days. Even though I have not taken the ACT before, I have taken the PSAT. I do not know exactly how similar the PSAT is to the ACT, but really, are not all standardized testing the same? In theory? Sure they have different questions and different subjects and different formats, but those tests are more about psyching out the test taker and seeing how they can work under that pressure. The tests actually, in my opinion, do not mean as much as the test makers hope or colleges assume. I am generally a fairly good test taker, because I do not let the pressure of the grade get to me or make me nervous. However, I know many people who unlike me, are horrible at taking tests. They freak out and can not remember anything, even if twenty minutes prior, they knew all of the information! Tests can be very very intimidating and can screw over people who would otherwise know all of the information. But, since I am not in charge and I do not get to make the rules, we all have to take those standardized tests. Which means, we should all prepare for the tests as well. I have heard of several different methods, but I think that I do better on tests if I do not cram the night before. If there are a few things I need to go over, then I will. But I do not like to review information over and over again if I already know I know it. So I just plan on taking the ACT prep classes provided at the school and I won't sweat over every little thing the night before, and hopefully I will do well!

35. Chanting the Square Deific

There is a part in particular in the poem Chanting the Square Deific that could most definately be taken as religious or a reference to Jesus. The part I am talking about is the very last stanza:



Santa Spirita, breather, life, Chanting the Square Deific
Beyond the light, lighter than light,
Beyond the flames of hell, joyous, leaping easily above hell,
Beyond Paradise, perfumed solely with mine own perfume,
Including all life on earth, touching, including God, including Saviour and Satan,
Ethereal, pervading all (for without me what were all? what were God?),
Essence of forms, life of the real identities, permanent, positive, (namely the unseen,)
Life of the great round world, the sun and stars, and of man, I, the general soul,
Here the square finishing, the solid, I the most solid,
Breathe my breath also through these songs.


Going off of the idea that this could have a religious meaning, it seems fitting. Santa Spirita, breather, life, could all be used as describing words for Jesus. Santa is a name used for the happy fellow that everyone likes. Plus, the second part, Spirita, could refer to how Jesus is part of the diety, Father Son and the Holy Spirit. Then breather would fit too because if you so believe, God created life and is said to have 'breathed life into man', so that name also works. Then the final one is life, so again if you choose to believe so, Jesus is said to be the 'everlasting life' and all about how you can get to Heaven, or eternal life, through him. So I definately think that this stanza is describing Jesus, and that's just from the first line. After that, it talks about 'beyond the light, lighter than light.' In the Bible, Jesus is said to be 'the way the truth and the light', so this could be another reference to him.

34. Ground Hog's Day

I do not think I have a ground hog's day story, I have never really cared about what the groundhog "told us". I never have thought that the groundhog has super magical powers and that he could predict or even change the future of the weather for the following six weeks. So if the groundhog sees his shadow, we have six more weeks of winter? And if he does not see his shadow spring comes early? Well that does not really make sense...What if the sun is not out because for some reason the sky is really cloudy and therefore the groundhog will not see his shadow? That seems pretty far fetched in my opinion. But whatever, if people want to make it a huge deal and make it a holiday, then they can go for it. Obviously enough people care about it to have live news reports watch some guys wake up a ground hog and have him come out of his hole so he can tell us what the weather will be like for the next six weeks. Well, today was groundhog's day and I heard that the ground hog did see his shadow, which means six more weeks of winter. The thing that gets me curious is how it had been cloudy aaaall morning, yet the people are saying he say his shadow. Well of course he saw his shadow if you have a bunch of cameras and lights around his hole to video tape it? He will definately see his shadow then, no matter what the other conditions are. If you can not tell already, I think Ground hog's day is a very dumb 'holiday', if you would choose to call it that. Oh, also, I have never seen the movie Groundhog's Day, but I have heard that it is really good so I would like to see it sometime. I remember by middle school english teacher bringing up the movie every time ground hog's day rolled around.

32. Reporter in the War

I obviously have never been in a war, or a reporter in a war, so I definately do not know what it would feel like to be there, but I sure can imagine. It owuld be scary, most of all. I would probably not even want to do it. Actually, I definitely would not want to do it, but, for the sake of the blog, let's say for some reason I have to go. So...I am in a war zome...trying to get a good story, while trying not to die. Well that sure sounds like fun. Not... The only benefits of doing these things would be
1. If you knew someone there and get to see them while you were working.
2. If you as the reporter get paid really well.
Talking about number 1, say you knew someone in the war. Under the highly unlike circumstance that you got to go exactly where that person was stationed, you would get to see them after a while of not being able to see them. you could even talk to them for your story if you wanted to. So seeing someone you know would definitely be a good reason to go into the middle of a war to get a story.
Benefit number 2, getting paid well, is a major incentive for many people. They will do anything if you give them enough money for it, which is kind of sad really. I am not sure how many reporters die while they are in the war zone, but even if it is just one, that is one too many for me. Money would not get me in a trench with bullets whirling past my head. No way no how. But if some people want to risk their lives for a few bucks, that is their own problem. Needless to say, I would not want to be a reporter in the war at all. If I had to be, I would be scared out of my mind and probably could not even hold myself together. So, I sure hope I never get put in that situation...but it is a pretty safe bet that I will not.

31. Persuasion

So this blog is about persuasion. More specifically, a time I tried to persuade someone to do something that I really wanted to do. For me personally, the main person I try to persuade of something is my mom. I am sure I have so many stories of times when I wanted to do something and tried to persuade my mom to go along with it and she has said no. There is one instance that was not too long ago, and I am still working on. About six months ago I decided I wanted my lip pierced (I still do too). I just really like the way it looks and at this time is not a totally mainstream piercing like ears or bellybutton. I decided that even though I already knew the answer, I would ask my mom if she would let me. I planned out how I was going to ask, because this was something I was serious about, and if I was just like, "Hey mom, can I pierce my lip?" she would probably just laugh. So I made sure I had researched it sufficiently so I could show her all of the information before she just said no without knowing anything about it. Unfortunately, when I asked, she said that I could not do it. I was really mad because this was something I had really wanted for a long time, not one of those things where you think you want it for a week but then drop it. This was important to me and she said no. I found it sort of hypocrytical too, because I have my ears triple pierced on both ears. It is not like she is opposed to earrings, so what is wrong with a lip ring? Maybe that is just me, but a piercing is a piercing. It's not like I'm asking to get a tattoo which is permanent, you can take out a lip piercing whenever you want. The whole ordeal still aggravates me, and from time to time I still bring it up, hoping she's changed her mind, but as of now she hasn't. But that's okay, once I'm 18, I can do it. :)

30. Finding out your true self

There are many ways people can find out who they really are, their true self. For some people, if they are religious, they can go to church and stuff to find out who they truly are. If they are not religious, they can spend some time alone and reflect on what they enjoy and focus on that. I do not think I have ever tried to 'find my true self' but I think I have a pretty good idea. Finding out who you really are seems more like something older people do. When you are a teenager you do not really have time to just spend time soul searching or anything. It, for most people, would be a long process and would require a lot of focus, and while we are at school, all of our time and energy goes into our schoolwork. I think it would be pretty hard to find your true self without any help or guidance. It would be easier if you had help from someone. Not completely, they cant be totally involved, but maybe to push you in the right direction. I do not think I have found my true self yet. I am still working on it. I know a lot of people have life changing experiences where afterward they come out a different person, but I do not think I have had anything like that happen to me. I do not know exactly who I am as a person completely, but as of now I am pretty happy with who I am. I have a family and friends that I can count on and confide in, I know what my strengths and weaknesses are and I am trying to enhance my strengths and make then better, and work on my weaknesses so that I can fix them or come to be alright with them. So even though I am not completely sure what my true self is as of now, I am working on it and hope to soon find out.

29. Tested by Nature

I can remember a time I was definately tested by nature. Last spring, around March or April, Taylor and I went on a walk around Pleasant Plains. We ended up going to a spot in the woods where there was a creek. We needed to get to the other side of the creek and I saw a tree running all the way across it and thought we could cross over there. I told Taylor that I would go across the tree first. So, I held on to some branches from a tree that was solid and above ground to hang off of and step down onto the tree going across the creek. Well, I anticipated on it being very sturdy, so I stepped on it. Right as I did so, the tree stretching across the creek broke and I was left hanging over a moving creek by tree branches that were now way above my head. And in fact, LAND was way above my head! I was totally out on a branch looking up to Taylor several feet above me who was now extremely panicked. I was so not sure what to do, and Taylor definately was not helping at all. The two of us, in our particular situation, should have been acting as the other was. I was cracking up laughing, (I have no clue why, I was 10 fingers away from falling far into a creek) and Taylor was screaming things like, "What are you doing?!" and "Tareyn, GET UP HERE NOW!" (Like I could do anything about it?) I am not exactly sure but somehow, I got back up. For some reason I can not for the life of me remember how I got back up, but Taylor says she didn't help me so somehow I did it on my own. This whole incedent was odd and pretty scary at the moment. But it is a funny story to laugh at now.

28. Christmas Break

This Christmas break was not really that eventful. For Christmas, my family opened our 'santa' presents on Christmas eve. I got many things that I wanted, my favorite being an acoustic guitar. It is black and can be plugged into an amp and I really like it. I got a bunch of clothes and art stuff too. We had about five or six Christmas celebrations this year with different sides of the family and friends. Before Christmas and between Christmas and New Years were several days to just chill out at home or to go out with friends. Most of the time I was not at a family thing, I was hanging out with Taylor (Gorda). One of the days, we went to Wal-Mart. While we were there, I found an open skateboard, so I started riding around on it. We rode past the children clothes and we saw a kid's footie pajama set with iCarly on it, so Taylor tried it on. It was really funny. Then I found a little paddle in one of the aisles, and Taylor took a video of me skateboarding down an aisle, pretending to use the paddle. There were several other occasions when Taylor and I hung out and did stupid stuff like that. One night though she spent the night and we tried to watch seven pounds but we could not concentrate at all so we just gave up on that. The week after Christmas, I went ice skating twice. Monday I went with Taylor, Maddie, Morgan, Cori, and Ivar and we went to Subway afterwards to eat lunch. Then on Friday, I went again but this time with Taylor, Josie, Laura, Stephanie, Caitlin, Emily, Maddie, Morgan, Liz, Claire, and Sam. After ice skating a few of us went to Laura's house and watched Baby Mama (aka, one of the best movies ever). Besides all of this, I didn't do much else but hang out every now and then with friends and family, so it was a good Christmas break.