Winter Weather

Today I wanted a 2-hour delay. Really really badly. I didn't get it. So far this winter, which has only been a few weeks, but the weather has been nuts so far. I invision a very snowy winter. I think there is going to be a lot of school alterations. I worry about musical, we might not get much done.

Touring Chamber Choir

Now that the madrigal feast is over, we are still keeping busy. We are now "touring" with our Chirstmas music (which happens to be very similar to our thanksgiving music). We have sung at a few things already including the concert and the senior citizens luncheon. This Saturday we will be singing at the Lebanon Country Club... they pay us!! and then the following Tuesday we will sing before school for the teachers. I believe that's all. Its fun, enough said!

Hunsicker, Masser, Madrigals

For the last few decades, the Northern Lebanon has had a Senior Choir as well as a choir that is smaller and harder to get into. While under the instruction of Max Hunsicker, this select choir was called the Northern Lites. They sang more challenging music than the concert choir did and were considered the better singers. Well he retired just 4 years ago, and, for the first year, the Northern Lites lived on. However, after that, the new instructor, Molly Masser, added a group referred to as the Madrigal Singers. The Northern Lites still sang the same types of music as before, but the Madrigal group sang just that; madrigals. These are older folk songs from the Renaissance period. During Mrs. Masser's third year of directing the high school, she decided to combine the two group and have one group called the Chamber Choir. This allowed to have the choir assigned as a class for school credit so that we could practice during the day instead of at 6:30 in the morning two days a week like we had been. I loved the change!
Another change that the chamber choir brought was that, since we were one group and had more time to practice, we performed more. Our director considers it "touring", but it is more commonly know (to the students) as getting out of school. We do a Madrigal feast around Thanksgiving time where we all get costumes and sing madrigal songs, as well as acting and performing skits, with many the occasional dance! Before our evening performance, however, we were able to travel to the four elementary schools in our district and sing a few songs for them simply for publicity. Some of the teachers actually came to the dinner theatre!

Auditions Stink!

Yesterday was singing auditions for the musical. These, unfortunately, did not go as well as the dancing ones. 47 people tried out. That's a lot. I think there were about 100 people there for the lead girl even though there were not that many total. I like to exaggerate; it makes me feel better. But I can say that I'm glad its over.
Today and tomorrow and possibly Thursday we will be having the reading auditions. These are key in deciding if someone gets a lead or not. Stage presence is important in a musical performance. I am predicting that there will be even more people at the audition today than there were yesterday. Which I guess is good for the overall benefit of the program, but maybe not for individuals personally!! haha. I hope it goes well. And quick. I don't want to be here until 6 pm. We'll see!!

Leadership event

One event in my life that had a significant effect on me took place one day at musical practice. I was nervous for my audition and was in a bad mood so I remember complaining about another girl. Shortly thereafter I heard the freshman next to me say something rude about the same girl and swear about her. I, being the upperclassmen that I was, explained to the girl that it was not good to say that and she should try to be more respectful. She went on to apologize and state that she only did it because I had and she swore because she thought I would think she was cool. I was discouraged, but while this scenario was unfortunate, it was a good eye-opener for me. I realized that since I am a Christian I represent Christ wherever I go. I want to live for him but that requires that I be a good example at all times. People will always look up to us and watch our actions, so God is teaching me that I need to always be honoring him in the things I do and say.

for some college thing

I am involved in many ministries including my church youth group, leadership team and servant team. I am the leader of the youth group worship team and love to help people find a place of worship with our maker and savior. I am also a junior high youth leader and find that this is a great way to connect with teens who look up to older teens so much and I also learn a lot. I am in my church choir and we sing at many public events and rescue missions etc. I am a member of our church praise team.

I became a Christian when I was 5 years old but certainly did not understand what it meant to die to myself and serve God. I attended church all my life and my father was and is the worship pastor at my church. When I got to middle school I saw much more of what the world has to offer and started making more of my own decisions. God taught me that the easy thing to do is rarely ever the right thing. Throughout high school I have been faced with many trials but God has blessed me with friends and rold models to get me through as well as blessing me for relying on him to get me through. I now recommit myself to him daily. I want to furter my relationship with Christ.

A skill I could work on

One leadership skill which I would like to develop is listening. I am not a shy person and I love to give guideance and pray with or for people, but I think I could work on listeing more. I love personal interaction an a key aspect in being a good leader means leading, but also knowing when to follow or simply take a step back. Listening requires more patience and compassion, which are also good things to be working on.

dance tryouts

today and yesterday we had dance tryouts for this year's musical. The musical is called Thoroughly Modern Millie. I am excited for it because there is a lot of dancing incorporated which is fun even though I'm not good at it. Musical is what I look forward to and remember most about previous years. I guess you could say its what makes me tick.
I hope auditions go well. I get nervous sometimes, although the dancing and reading ones are not nearly as bad as the singing auditions. brrr. it gives me chills.
My muscles might hurt after dancing because I am out of shape.

Friendship

Friendship is accepting someone just the way they are but loving them too much to leave them that way. I like that definition.

Elfing and Coldness (I know its not a word)

One of my current jobs is to be an elf. I get paid $8 an hour to stand along 22 with my best friend and dance like an elf. Although it is very cold, it is worth it. Our costumes consist of tights, tunics, waistbands, gloves, hats, bows for pig tails, and booties that go over our shoes, all in red and green of course. Its a good time!
Last Saturday was cold. And I was a total wuss about it. But yesterday... wow. So much worse. It was 19 degrees outside. I stood outside for seven hours in that weather and then went to the school to get ready to perform. I was numb. And wind burnt.
Typically our jobs are simply to stand along the highway and dance, do kartwheels, sing etc. but yesterday our boss was out of workers so Julia and I got to tag, bag and deliver trees. That was fun!!!

Madrigal Feast!

A Madrigal Feast is a dinner theatre that is set during the Renaissance period. Our school's Chamber Choir is going to be performing a madrigal feast tonight and tomorrow night at Jonestown Elementary School. We as a choir did the same thing last year in the sense that we performed a madrigal feast but it is also very different. We are doing many new songs and the script is completely different which means the skits are all different. Im excited for it, but I wish we could have sold more tickets. Im a wench. yay.

Life is Good

Life is good, eternal life is better

All around me smiling faces
Different people from different places
Time is short, don't wanna waste it
No ashamed so I'll just say it
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa
All around me your creation
Brings me to my knees in adoration
Beauty here cannot compare to
What I see when I first see you
Life is good, eternal life is better

I don't know what to blog about. This blogging this is good and does keep me writing. But unfortunately it seems like a large obligation today and I'm just not in the mood. I've been praying a lot lately, and the reasons vary but I see that a contributing factor lately has been for my bad attitude. I lack motivation apparently. Its frustrating. But the fact that I get frustrated over not being motivated proves that I am slightly motivated.. interesting. Wow, suddenly I have something to blog about. Its funny the way that works. Is the word "aint" in the dictionary?
On the way to school today the sky was red. It was beautiful and made me happy.
Red sky at night, sailor's delight,
Red sly at morning, sailors to warning.
Since I drive to school in the moring, that means sailors to warning. Which means there is weather coming that wouldn't be good to sail in. I would guess that its snow =)

Break

This word is on my mind because today is our first day back from Thanksgiving break. I had an amazing 5 days off from school and was able to get caught up on some sleep and relax with family and friends. Unfortunately I did have to work Wednesday night at Candylane and then Saturday at my other job but it is so much fun that I barely consider it work!

Thanksgiving Break!!!!!!!!

We have a three day week this week and I'm so glad!!!!!!!!! Although frequently when we have short weeks they seem so much longer than regular ones. I think its because we anticipate the break so much that we mae it seem like its going slow... who invented mialboxes? Creative lad, I gotta hand it to em. And why arent they as famous as Albert Einstein or Benjamin Franklin? I want to be famous too. But what does that entail? And are we willing to work for that? I think not.

Friday!!!!!!! I put the fun in funeral..

hey yo. funeral has the word fun in it. shelly says hi. oh yeah and ecstasy is bad. really really bad. back to funerals... I was at a viewing last night and about to leave for a funeral now. They aren't exactly my favorite thing but I make to. And ironically enough there are about 4 this week that I should maybe be at. In the last 6 days, 4 men died, all who have grandchildren that I am good friends with. Why do people all die at the same time? And is it true that for every time one person dies, a new baby is born? Weird.
This is called the funeral song. Who gets paid to write this junk?
dumped you again
I don't understand
It's happened before
Can't take it no more
These foolish games
Always end up in confusion
I'll take you back
Just to leave you once again
I died in my dreams
What's that supposed to mean?
Got lost in the fire
I died in my dreams
Reaching out for your hand
My fatal desire
I've failed you again'
Cause I let you stay
I used to pretend
That I felt ok
Just one big lie
Such a perfect illusion
I made you mine
Just to hurt you once again
I died in my dreams
What's that supposed to mean?
Got lost in the fire
I died in my dreams
Reaching out for your hand
My fatal desire

Features

I never really spent this much time on this site before. I typically just write about whatever is on my mind and stop when I have enough words for my entry to count as a blog. But I am super bored right now, so I'm experimenting with some new features. Although it isn't really anything special, I am excited. Lame, I know. I was just about to put a picture on here but I was unable because the yearbook photos were all deleted. That's right, ALL of them. Yeah. Way to go, techies!

Sleep

I love my sleep. I need about 6 hours a night, but 7-8 is nice. However, lately I have not been getting that, especially during the week. So you would think that I could catch up over the weekends right? Wrong. They are even worse. I get abour 5 hours of sleep over the weekend. Life is so busy and its hard to put other things off. So the easiest thing for me to neglect is my sleep. Typically when I wake up then in the morning I am reluctant but I make it out the door and usually manage to look presentable. But once I sit down in a class, for some reason my sleepiness takes over. When I'm keeping busy and just sitting through a lecture, I fall asleep. Dozing off in class is the worst feeling ever. When your head is nodding and you struggle to keep your eyes open but they are just too heavy, you feel like you have no control over your own body! This brings me to the end of my story.

Bomb threats

As of now, there was no bomb threat today. But there was about two weeks ago and it made everyone miserable. Now there is talk that they will be one today also. One teacher just told some students that there will be a "drill" later on today, which usually means there is a note in some bathroom somewhere. Why can't we act like the high schoolers that we are? Oh wait, this is the junk that high school students are EXPECTED to do. Is that why we do it? If people had a good opinion of teenagers and gave us the benefit of the doubt, would be behave better? I wonder about these things.

The pathway is broken
And The signs are unclear
And I don't know the reason why You brought me here
But just because You love me the way that You do
I'm gonna walk through the valley
If You want me to
Chorus:
Cause I'm not who I was
When I took my first step
And I'm clinging to the promise You're not through with me yet
so if all of these trials bring me closer to you
Then I will walk through the fire
If You want me to
It may not be the way I would have chosen
When you lead me through a world that's not my home
But You never said it would be easy
You only said I'd never go alone
So When the whole world turns against me
And I'm all by myself
And I can't hear You answer my cries for help
I'll remember the suffering that Your love put You through
And I walk through the darkness If You want me to
cause When I cross over Jordan, I'm gonna sing, gonna shout
Gonna look into your eyes and see you never let me down
So take me on the pathway that leads me home to you
And I will walk through the valley if you want me to
Yes, I will walk through the valley if you want me to

A Productive Saturday! (An oxymoron, I think not!)

Today is Saturday. Typically, if I don't have to work, I take advantage of a Saturday and sleep in and maybe lay around for a few hours before doing something fun and social. But not today! I had one of the most productive days ever! I did sleep in, but not as much as I typically would. My mom was off to work and my dad went to Harrisburg with his parents. Danielle was out all day with Jordan and Emily went over to a friends and to go shopping. That left me here with a whole house to myself. Some kids might go somewhere, have a party, or just sleep all day. But I am proud to say that I cleaned for 6 hours today! I cleaned my room from top to bottom and dusted it as well as the whole downstairs and bathrooms. I scrubbed toilets and floors until my hands got pruney and then vacuumed some more. After rearranging the kitchen and family room as well as wiping down cabinets, doing dishes, doing laundry and organizing my moms closet, I was done. And I have to say the house looked pretty stinking amazing! (Smelled good, too!) After this I took my dog for a run and then got in the shower and cleaned it while I was in there. After all cleaning was done, I had gone through a lot of lysol wipes and was completely exhausted. I did some devotions and finished up some college application stuff and now feel so good about today. I got a lot done. Now why would I ever want to just lay around again for a whole day? I don't know, but it will probably happen next Saturday!

Asbury essay...

Do you have a personal relationship with Christ? Explain.

I certainly have a personal relationship with Christ. I became a Christian when I was about 6 years old. As I grew older and was met with more challenges and life issues, I learned much more about what it means to die to myself and serve Christ. I have had to make sacrifices and have been persecuted and gone through many trials during my walk with Christ, but it is worth it all. To me, Christian faith is about realizing a greater purpose in life. Its about deciding that we want to accomplish something here on earth and knowing that we can't do that in our own power. In my everyday life, I make mistakes and run into tough situations, yet God always brings me through and I learn more about myself as well as his forgiveness and undying love in the process.

Good Ole College Visits

I visited Messiah College. This was not my first college visit, and was not even my first visit to that particular campus. However, every Open House day seems to be full of its own interesting ideas and occurrences. At Messiah, we started off with the welcome where all prospective students along with their parents are in a large auditorium assuming they are just going to be greeted and sent on their way. Instead there is a panel of speakers and some music for entertainment along with speeches from the top administrators at the College. While I did find most of the speeches applicable, this process got a little long. My favorite part of this aspect was the entertainment. They had one of the school's touring singing ensembles perform a few songs for us and I thought I was hooked. Then they asked everyone to join in a few worship songs just to start the day off on the right foot. This was a substantial turn on for me. Worship is one of my favorite things, just singing with all your heart and letting the words and their true meaning penetrate hearts.. how exciting! Anyway, after this was finished, students and parents were dismissed to do as they please for the next few hours simply visiting different informational sessions about possible majors and eating lunch as well as touring the campus. I personally don't care for the sessions but did enjoy seeing more of the campus. After the Open House was over, there was a banquet for students who qualified for the Honors Program. This is an optional group to join where you can get 2/3 off your tuition. There was another informational meeting followed by a reception to meet with representatives. In my mind, this was the most beneficial part of the day. I was able to talk with people who know a lot about the college and some students, also, who had more relevant answers to my questions. Now I just have to make some decisions.... hmm....

Deuteronomy 30

Here's what will happen. While you're out among the nations where God has dispersed you and the blessings and curses come in just the way I have set them before you, and you and your children take them seriously and come back to God, your God, and obey him with your whole heart and soul according to everything that I command you today, God, your God, will restore everything you lost; he'll have compassion on you; he'll come back and pick up the pieces from all the places where you were scattered. No matter how far away you end up, God, your God, will get you out of there and bring you back to the land your ancestors once possessed. It will be yours again. He will give you a good life and make you more numerous than your ancestors.

Weightloss Incentive

About every 6 months, the school sends home what we students refer to as "fat letters" where the nurse tells the parents/guardians that their child should lose weight. These may be very necessary and I guess have the potential to save someones life and help them be healthier, but I doubt it. These simply discourage students, one reason being that they only factor in your gender, height, age and weight. Not muscle index or anything. So just about every athlete gets one. This year I got one. I showed my parents and didn't think much of it, but they felt otherwise. Both of my sisters are on a lot of medication for allergies, asthma etc. which contributes to some weight gain for them too. My parents could both afford to lose a few ponds as well. On top of all of this, our family does not always eat healthily. All of these facts considered, we had a meeting at dinner last night. We all weighed in using the same scale and wrote down our weight, my mom being the witness. We now have between yesterday, November 5th, and Devember 15th to lose weight. On December 15th we will find the difference and each receive 12 dollars per pound we lost. Immediately my mother was worried that we would starve ourselves, but my father assured her that we love food too much to be out at risk for that. So its time to lose some weight!

Evaluation Essay

The movie High School Musical 3 was released into theatres on Friday, October 24th. Since this movie is obviously the third in a series, the characters almost all return from the previous movies. The fun-filled, high-energy movie is already very popular among teen and pre-teen guys and girls alike. The director, Kenny Ortega, incorporates a high school graduation and key aspects of a senior year into this 112-minute movie. It can be classified as many different genres, including comedy, drama, musical, family and romance.
The pricing for the movie is not a true reflection of the movie, since standard theatre rates applied. The plot of this teenage romance is lively, including many large dance songs and group scenes. These are well choreographed and keep the viewer’s attention. While there is some humor inserted here and there, this third movie is more serious than its predecessors. The title of the film is Senior Year, so there are many themes addressed that seniors in high school are, in fact, faced with. These themes present viewers with identifiable topics and allow for students to imagine themselves in the roles and include Senior Prom, college visits, the school musical, final sports competitions, and graduation.
Some main points of the plot include Troy and Gabriella struggling with the concept of being separated when it comes time to leave for college. They, along with their friends from school, are all about to go their separate ways after graduation. East High School is staging their Spring Musical to correspond with the events that go on during a senior year in high school.
Many reviews I read have praised the film and commend the energy put into it. However, there have been some reviews that state that this series have overstayed its welcome. If a critic did not enjoy the first two, the third will not prove to be much better, although many people do like it the best out of them. Younger viewers might think the themes are too serious, while older ones joke that lacked purpose and had a “corny” ending. There were some cliché scenes which made it seem slightly immature or tacky.
Overall, I felt that the film was very well-made and the actors did a good job with their roles. There was more emotion expressed, and it kept my attention well. The music is high-quality and hopefully will be successful. I enjoyed the movie thoroughly and even returned to see it again.

Blogging...

Its been a while. And it was a nice while. No offense. I've concluded that while blogging can be very beneficial to your grade, it is one of those hard assignments in the sense that you forget to do it. Typically, I blog during English class when we have the opportunity and otherwise I do it in Yearbook. If I don't get it done there, it probably doesn't happen.

District Chorus

District Chorus Audititons were yesterday. Lets just say its interesting, even moreso than counties. What happens at these auditions is there are between 150-300 people in each of 8 voice parts. These people all have two songs to sing for four judges and once that process is over, each voice part is narrowed to 30 people who go on to the finals. The judges accept 25 people for each part, so once you make the finals, all you need to do is beat 5 other people to go on to districts and regionals. From our school, Ryan Wise, Alex Bailor, Becky Guldin, and myself made it to finals. This was a really big accomplishment considering we typically only take one or two. When it all came down to it, Alex and Becky felt really good about their auditions and Ryan and I did not. Alex made it with flying colors; he actually got 5th in the district. Becky made it too, as well as Ryan. I did not. I was so upset! I made it through the prelims which was so much harder than only having to beat 5 people and I got so nervous I don't even think they could understand what I was trying to say. What a day. grrrrr

Flavor Volcano

I just ate a Flavor Volcano. It consisted of habanero sauce, soy sauce, two green olives, a bummy bear, and sweet southern blue tea. It was absolutely nauseating and I wanted to vomit. In fact I was doubled over above a trash can. That's pretty bad. It was supposed to teach me about the parts of my tongue and what types of foods they relate to, but it just taught me to hate all of the above foods. This isnt really an entry, I already have more than enough. Bye!!

Psychology Class

I enjoy the topics we study in my psychology class. I am a people person and a leader so it is good to think about why people do the things they do. However, the class is very difficult. If you pay attention and do your work, you will get a good grade. But many students slack off and don't do their work and then complain to me. You might ask "why?" My dad is my teacher. This makes things very awkward. For example, we have a project due today and I procrastinate. Last night when our family got home, my dad told me to go to bed. I couldn't do that though because I had yet to do his project. He then proceeded to tell me how I shouldn't wait till the last minute etc.. Also people text or call me and ask questions about the assignments. That's weird.

psych paper

This hypothesis was created:
Given a random class of 4th graders, 7th graders, and high school students, the experimented will observe bullying and then pull the students to determine to what degree they are affected by bullying. The surveyor predicts that middle school students will admit to being the most affected by bullying because elementary kids are not yet at that level, and high school students are generally past that point. The surveyor also predicts that boys are more affected by bullying than girls.
My initial plan intended to simply observe bullying, but later I added a correlation study in the form of a survey. By talking to some of the teachers, I found that an observation would not serve my purposes because students act differently when there is a visitor watching their class.
I feel that this survey was effective and served the purposes I had intended it to.
My experiment was conducted on Thursday, October 16th at Jonestown Elementary school and Northern Lebanon Middle school as well as Friday, October 17th at Northern Lebanon High School. I observed a random 4th grade classroom at Jonestown and watched the way the students interacted with each other. I then proceeded to give them a written; four question survey pertaining to my topic. I did the same at a random 7th grade classroom. Since I surveyed a class and not a specific number of boys and girls, there are a few more middle school results that elementary results. I also observed high school students in the cafeteria and surveyed random students in period 6 lunch.
After asking the age and gender of the subjects, I chose four questions with which to survey the students. These questions were as follows:
How often do you see bullying at school? (Circle One)
Never Rarely Frequently Everyday
Would you stand up for yourself or a friend to a bully?
Yes No
To what degree do you agree with this statement; “I am never around bullying”?
Strongly Agree Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree
What kind of bullying do you see most?
______Verbal
______Physical
______Racial

Post-Hype Depression?

Today is the first day back to school since Homecoming. Everyone looks really tired and is falling asleep in class. Now that the game and dance are over, there is not much to look forward to between now and Thanksgiving break. Therefore, people are depressed. School is about to get a little tougher before finals.

an end to the madness

homecoming week is finally over and this entry is gonna describe the way i feel. im not gonna use proper grammar and im okay with that! i am so exhausted and just need to be lazy for a little. the week of festivities ended with the football game which we won and then the dance. i spent much time in the hall attending to the punch table and the coat check room and other student council duties and very little time dancing but i am perfectly okay with that. this is how i describe high school dances: everything i hate about high school thrown into one night. yeah. good times. anyway, once i got to the school after running around all day (at the school at 7 am to set up until 1. then home to do 3 ppls hair getting done at 345 and starting my hair and makeup.. i had to leave my house by 445 to drop off clothes for some people from my church and get to my first picture destination at 5. i arrived to meet some friends and had to leave early to meet my escort but not date at 6 and be at the school at 620 for court pictures) i was able to relax a little more. i put the batteries in the candles and added the final decorations that we had realized we still needed that morning. the dance began at 7 and things went on as usual. i got plenty of pictures and not soon enough it was time for the crowning. i could go into detail about all of that but since no one wants to hear it anyway, i wont! kara crowned me and bama and me danced on the stage, fearing it would collapse under our feet with every step. the rest of the night was spent with people i dont know asking for pictures with me and asking if i was suprised. i was. so i told them that. after the dance i stayed to clean up and was the second last student to leave (yay magen rosinski, thank you!!) i went to a friends house and ate lots of unhealthy food until about 3 when i went to bed. i had to be at chruch at 8 today. life goes on!

Self-Confidence essay

Concept Essay: Self-Confidence
Self-Confident can be defined as being content with who you are. Confident people are highly esteemed and assured in their identity. This way of viewing oneself can play a big role in the overall happiness of one’s life, and more specifically the teenage years. When one hears the term “self-confident”, they may think of its antonym: insecurity or timidity.
To a teenager, being able to convey an air of confidence and boldness is quite a task. During these years, one may be presented with many different challenges and obstacles. Teenagers are frequently compared to other people whether it is by others or by their own thought process. This makes self-confidence seem more like a goal that one can strive for, but never quite achieve.
The main reason for eating disorders and suicidal thoughts and feelings is a lack of self-confidence. People who experience these obstacles think they don’t and won’t measure up to the standards of the world. Although everyone may have this feeling from time to time, only those who believe it and base their identity in trying to change it actually develop the illnesses. While eating disorders are more prevalent in teenage girls, anyone could be a victim. The same goes for suicide and severe depression.
When applied to the work force, a person’s self-confidence can be life-altering. It affects the way people interact with others. If someone lacks this sense of worth and doesn’t think highly of themselves, it is much more difficult to love and accept other people. It is often said, “To love others, you must first love yourself.” Insecure people tend to be more reserved and, in a work setting, may isolate from others and not be a team player. When a person walks into a room and feels intimidated or threatened, they will not walk boldly and you can instantly tell that they lack self-confidence, at least for the time being. Some people may be more confident in some settings than others.
While it is considered a good attribute to be content with your identity and sure of yourself in character, it is a negative quality to be arrogant. Intriguingly enough, people are typically classified into two general categories, whether it is done subconsciously or not. If the relationship between two people isn’t intimate and personable, they may write others off as either being insecure or arrogant. This judgment is based on their perception of the person’s self-confidence.
There is a fine line between arrogance and self-assurance. Being overly confident will not get you far. “Pride comes before the fall.” However, when people are brave and bold and believe in themselves, they can do things they never imagined. When someone decides they can do something and puts their mind to it, promising not to quit until they succeed, they have the ability to far supersede their expectations. In the same way, thinking that something is way out of reach and classifying it as impossible leads to failure. Self-confident has a strong impact on our daily interactions, relationships, and emotions. While a person may feel that there is no reason to love them self, there is always a few positive attributes in everyone. This simply calls for a change of perspective. So is having self-confidence a choice? Yes, to a degree. It is a combination of nature and nurture. Being confident is an attitude that is altered by personality types.

Beach!!

My family went to the beach this past weekend for the long weekend since we had a day off of school. We left Saturday morning and arrived to our home around noon. This was our first vacation with a) my sister's boyfriend and b) the dog. This made for a very entertaining weekend, as you may have guessed. Overall the 7 of us got along pretty well. Just like any other family we had our quarrels here and there but in the end we made out happily! We spent most of Saturday laying around and recovering from the last few weeks of sanity. (I, however, spent the time worrying about the upcoming week and the things back home that I was missing.) Saturday night we threw some football on the beach and I went for a nice, leisurely run. Its interesting the way I have to be practically forced to run at home, but at the beach I love it! We all slept well that night and absolutely loved sleeping in Sunday morning with no deadlines and no church obligations(a rarity in and of itself). The majority of that day was spent on the beach; the weather was amazing for October! I even got some sunburn. I was more happy about that than I should have been once I figure in all of the threats about skin cancer etc. Monday morning we went to breakfast at a pancake house in Ocean City where we all enjoyed our food imensely. After a few last pictures on the beach and saying goodbye to the Atlantic until summer, we packed back up and headed home to dive back into the stresses of everyday life. We felt slightly more prepared to do so now!

High School

High school is like a big competition
Beauty contests, prom court is the mission
There can only be one queen, one king
Everyone voting, everyone competing
But these are the rule, the way of high school
If someone puts you down
That's so high school
Someone talks behind your back
That's so high school and when you you have to get them back
That's also high school
I know I'll be graduating early

Cuz, high school
Could be
A mini me of the rest of society
There's always
A prom queen
There'll always be, always be seroritys
Sadly
Some will be
Eternally keeping score of popularity
And just 'cause
They all do
Doesn't mean we have to act like we're in high school

High school is like the state of the nation
Some people never change after graduation
Believing any light you shine makes their's lesser
They have to prove to everyone that their's is better
These are the rules, the ways of high school
If someone puts you down
That's so high school
Believing they're too cool for you
That's so high school and you believe it too
That's also high school
I know I'll be graduating early

Annville's Homecoming

I used to go to Annville. Now I go to NL. These two school happen to hate each other. A lot. Tonight our school plays football away at Lancaster Catholic and, although we have an almost perfect record, it will be a close game. Last year we beat Catholic and it was an amazing upset. So this year they are out to get us. I hope we can pull through but we'll have to wait and see! Anyway, I am going to Annville's game instead of ours. Tonite is their homecoming game so it should be exciting plus my cousin is on their court so I want to support her. Annville announces their queen at the game too (which I like and wish we would do too). I am excited to see who wins. I know all of the girls on court and though I shouldn't have an opinion, I do! I hope Annville and NL both win our games this week!!

homecoming week!!!!

Hall decorating is tomorrow after school. I just got done cutting out lots of shapes to represent the sports played by each senior athlete. Every year, each class is assigned a hallway and given two hours to decorate it for homecoming week. And, also every year, the Sophomores win. The class officers from each class are responsible to get the tools with wich to decorate. Therefore the freshmen never have much to brag about. (none of them can drive, and really don't even have the motivation to ask their parents to get them supplies). The juniors frequently come in third place, just after the seniors who give their all at everything since its their last shot. Who do the sophomores always win you may ask? Simple. THE STODDARDS. They are the advisors for the Sophomores every year and are very organized. They buy supplies to make crafts weeks ahead of time and rally the troops to start painting and making signs. Every year the sophomores come in expecting to win. Well not this year!! The seniors are here with a vengeance and we plan on taking first. I guess you could say we have some pretty cool class officers =)

Revelation

My life has led me down the road that is so uncertain
And now, I am left alone and I am broken
Trying to find my way
Trying to find the faith that's gone

This time I know that you are holding all the answers
And I'm tired of losing hope and taking chances
On roads that never seem
To be the ones that bring me home

Give me a revelation
Show me what to do
Cause I've been trying
To find my way
I haven't got a clue

Tell me should I stay here
Or do I need to move?
Give me a revelation
I've got nothing without you
I've got nothing without you

Homecoming in the High School

Homecoming is an interesting time of year. Generally speaking, students either love or hate it. This time is filled with many social activities including car painting, hall decorating, powder puff, a bonfire, pep rallies, musical chairs, football games, a dance and so much more. The students who are "involved" tend to enjoy these opportunities. The people who you can find at the above celebrations are also the ones on the sports field and in all of the clubs. Therefore, these students get particularly stressed. As we approach the end of a marking period, they struggle to juggle (haha) keeping up their grades, getting their PR in their last XC meet, winning a soccer game, writing their speech for senior night, making powder puff tee shirts, learning the spirit team dance, learning the district chorus music, and finishing those final projects and papers. Oh yeah, did I mention getting a dress!?! These are a few things running through my mind as I try to blog.. As well as the fact that I should stop running 2 miles with my neighbor every morning during XC season beacuse I have to run 6 more later anyway. I'm a freak.

Weddings

Weddings are fun, but too long. People feel the need to have the longest weddings ever and torture their guests. All their lives they probably complained about how long other weddings were, yet when it comes time for theirs, they want it to be "the best ever". I was at my cousin's wedding yesterday and it was a happy wedding. They are perfect together and he just glowed the whole time. Their lives seem pretty much set, which is awesome for them, but kind of discouraging for the rest of us.
Last night, after the wedding, my mother and aunt and myself went dress shopping. I happen to hate shopping. With a passion. I think I tried on about 37 dresses in 3 hours and left empty handed. Dances are overrated. Girls spend days and lots of money caring about what they will look like, but no one even remembers other people because they are too consumed in their own appearance. I just want to wear soccer shorts and a tee shirt, but I don't think that's acceptable on court. Bummer.

Political Debates

Tonight is a Thursday, which means that a new episode of The Office should be on. However, the vice president debate for the upcoming election is on basically every channel. For some messed up reason this takes precedent over The Office. Some could argue that the priorities are in all the right places here. But honestly, come on. When weighing the knowledge that is attainable from watching this epic show versus a debate where we argue about the same things that we have been debating for months, I think the answer is clear. Granted this may have some affect on the nation for the next four years, but I can't vote anyway! That's all I have to say.

rough draft

I am observing Mrs. Webb’s fourth grade class. The eerie morning bell just rang and students are filing into the room with a surprising excitement that high school students definitely lack. I realize that this joy the students share is not the only thing that is unique to elementary school. The walls are brightly decorated with attention-grabbing posters and the students’ artwork. The cubby holes start filling up with book bags and lunchboxes as more of the curious children enter their classroom.
“Back to school” time must be a more joyful experience for primary school teachers than for intermediate instructors. The carpet in the back of the room with smaller rugs waits patiently for students to bring a book during story time. Nearby, the hand washing station is ready to fight all of the germs that can spread around this bacteria-infused room. On the back wall hangs the homework board where the teacher neatly writes the objectives for the week in the typical teacher handwriting. The board contains a total of three assignments. Those were the days.
The fourth graders have a morning procedure they are responsible to do every day. There are numbered toothpicks they must move to specify whether they are packing or buying, and the numbers correspond to the labeled makeshift lockers. The children then proceed to get out their notebooks and work on class work that is on the board. This is intriguing to me. I think it would be virtually impossible to get high school students to do bookwork before the school days officially begins.
On the overhead projector is the morning work that they kids are happily working on. There is confusion written all over their nine year old faces as they try to comprehend the Goliath-sized words “subject and predicate”. Once Mrs. Webb begins to explain what these terms mean, her pupils listen intently; treating every word like it has great significance. She could say absolutely anything and these kids would believe it.
One aspect of elementary school that I had forgotten was tattling. As a senior, there are some unwritten rules including, “never tell on anyone else”. This rule does not apply in the fourth grade. This little boy in the back row enjoys picking on the girl in front of him. I didn’t imagine he would do something like this with me sitting here observing him, but now that I think about it, that could be why. He throws small pieces of eraser at the petite red-head girl.
There are many aspects of elementary school that I had forgotten until now. Some things are missed, but overall, the high school setting is slightly more mature and sophisticated. While grade school was much easier, more fun, and care-free, high school has taught me more life lessons. It’s going to be interesting to see these kids once they get to high school!

county chorus

Yesterday was county chorus auditions for Lancaster and Lebanon counties. This is always an interesting day. There are people from literally every walk of life. Every single race, religion, and orientation is clearly represented. Here is a brief summary of what occurs at county auditions:

+10-40 people from every school in the area arrive at McCaskey High School -7:30 am (unless you are NL in which case 8 people arrive at 8)
+The students sit in the auditorium for about an hour while the directors are in a meeting. This time consists of massage lines, creepy warm-ups and nervous breakdowns, while a few of us watch and laugh.
+Next the head director tells each voice part what portion of the song they are going to use to audition
+The students split up and go to their respective rooms according to voice part to practice and begin the auditions.
+Unfortunate numbers one through five have to go. Those of us who are number 43 wait for three hours.
+As soon as soneone exits the audition room, you can probably tell if they will make it or not. Tears are a good indicator.
+Once everyone auditions, we wait for the results to be posted, followed by leaving and having and van ride home full of singing.

From our school, four of 8 made it. That isn't terrible, but not good either. Ryan Weis got first bass one and Becky Guldin got fourth for alto II, which is also my part. She beat me by two, which means she made the chamber choit and I didn't. But im still happy with my position. It was better that I thought I did. The other person from our school to make it was Alex Bailor. I'm excited for Districts!!

Our School Smells

Our school is located in Fredericksburg aka "Chicken Capital USA". Therefore our school always smells like dead chickens. Right near our school is a huge chicken plant, where I'm told hundreds of chickens are slaughtered everyday. Gross, right? Well the stench isn't too terrible typically. We get used to it. Some days are worse than others, and it seems to be stronger around the tennis courts, but I have no idea why. Anyway, today there was a very interesting and out of the ordinary stench. It was poop. But not just a faint sent of a diaper or anything, it smelled like there was liquid manure poured all over the school, and more specifically the English hallway. Some suggested that it was spreading manure from the nearby fields, but I think that even an immense amount of that stuff couldn't be as powerful as what we inhaled all day today. Distracting, to say the least.

Arsenic and Old Lace

Arsenic and Old Lace is the name of a play, and it happens to be the play that we are doing this year. For decades now, Northern Lebanon has done a junior class play and a senior class play. However, this year we decided to mix it up. Right now we are praticing for the senior/junior combined play. Arsenic and Old Lace is about two old ladies who murder men. They are very proper about what they do, and don't see anything wrong with it. They call their thirteen victims their "gentlemen". They are two pleasant old women who have a "charity" of putting old men out of their mysery and loneliness. Practices are going relatively well for now. But its still early...

Bridal Showers

Today after church I had both the priveledge and the obligation to attend my cousin's bridal shower. This wasn't my first one, so I wasn't completely unaware of what the happenings would include, but every one is different from the last. Nellie's bridal shower turned out to be one of the less awkward that I've ever been to. Sometimes the gifts are focused on sleepwear more than pots and pans, and, while that may be more fun, makes everything really odd for future inlaws. All in all it went smoothly. I spent the last hour carrying the strangely shaped gifts to the car and throwing away bows. Good times.

Deleted blog

Yesterday in class I blogged. It was about three to five things that I am interested in or curious about. One was sky diving and another was country music. That intrigues me. I don't know why. However, my laptop couldn't handle the strenuous work it was required to do. The school was testing the system to see how much was too much, and apparently mine was too much. Long story short, my blog about the wonders of country music, sky diving, and a few other things that I don't happen to recall, was deleted.
Today was a rough day, but now I have a weight lifted off of my shoulders to have it over with. (oops, yet another cliche) I had three tests that I was, unfortunately, not prepared for. I know there is no one to blame for this other than myself, but I still like to complain every now and then; somehow it helps. Then I had a tennis match. We played Lebanon at their courts. We won, and if we hadn't I think we all would have just handed in our rackets on the spot. All of the singles matches won but seemed to take much longer than typical. Then Erika Baluch and I went back out to start the number one doubles match. We were playing an 8-game pro set since it was already late. Basically the most annoying thing that can happen in tennis is to always split sets so you remain tied for a long time. We were always up, but then they would tie it. It ended up being seven to seven so we had to play a seven-point tiebreaker. We continued to split points here, and since you must win by two ended up winning 10-8. Painful? You bet.

Monday, Monday. Ba ba, Ba ba ba.

Mondays are always interesting days. I don't usually happen to enjoy them, but I get through. Today was pretty typical- the last thing I wanted to do in the morning was wake up, yet somehow I did and got to school looking half-decent with time to spare. Classes went as they normally do and after school I had a home tennis match. Ironically enough both our number one and our number two players were gone today, the day we played Lancaster Mennonite. Therefore, everyone was moved up two spots from our normal ranking, making us even more uncomfortable and nervous. I played number four singles and actually surprised myself with how well I did even though I lost the two sets 6-3 and 6-2. In tennis, a score like that doesn't ever fully reflect the overall match because we got to deuce four or five times some games. Once I was done I had my ten minute break and got back out there for number two doubles, where Alicia Snyder and I did even better than singles, losing the eight-game pro set 5-8. We were done with this match at about seven, at which time I was officially a half-hour late to LEADS meeting for my youth group at my youth pastor's house. I drove there in record time (completely legally) and participated in the majority of the metting. After leaving at 9:13, I came home and showered to get rid of the dead rodent smell from having played tennis for 3 consecutive hours and now am doing school work. Funny how that always takes the back burner... (oops, that was a cliche)

Sunday afternoons

Sunday afternoons are known to be a relaxing time. People enjoy going home from church and having lunch with the family followed by laying down for a nap or watching some football. Today, after a far from typical church service, my family went to the Hinklefest for lunch. At church today my father and I were on praise team and everything went smoothly which is good. However, as the second service was letting out, some kids were playing around in the lobby and knocked over a podium which then fell on a woman's ankle. This doesn't seem like it would be a big deal, right? Wrong. Someone called 911. She was lying on the ground bleeding profusely. Some good Samaritan thought they would be kind and prop the bloody leg up with some of the cushions from the new couches nearby. Why in the heck!?!? That's really all I know about the incident... I tried to distance myself from the group of about 283 people who stood nearby gawking. Anyway, lunch was fun. My family ate all kinds of various chicken products and then played some BINGO, a seemingly innocent form of gambling. Now we are home and everyone is asleep except me. I am blogging and writing an article for Psychology class, and let's just say there is a little pressure to succeed in that class.

Yet Another Eventful Day

Today was busy, but fun. I think I am over-involved. Okay, I know I am. Today was Saturday, also known as my only day of the week to sleep in. But that would just be too nice if I actually could. I decided about a month ago to join the church worship team as a keyboardist and vocalist. I realized one Saturday morning that I had almost two whole hours of free time, so I figured I needed to find something to take that away. This was what I chose. Sometimes I get quite angry for doing these mindless things to myself. Anyway, I had practice this morning, but was unable to go because I had two other simultaneous commitments. As we have already established, I play both tennis and cross country, and they both had their county competitions this morning. Both were at Cedar Crest. Both were at 9 am. I chose tennis (who wouldn't?). I played number two varsiry doubles for our school and, although my partner and I lost, did suprisingly well. I played with Erika Blauch. She is one of my good friends this year, since most of my closer friends graduated and already forget anything or anyone related to this dreaded building. Erika is a junior, she's fun. She's a little better at tennis than I am, but I hustle a little more so it balances out. We played ELCO (no one likes them) and lost but it was very close, so we were proud of ourselves. After I sweat nonstop for about three hours I left and came home and showered. I had a few loose ends to tie up around the house and, since I was home alone, was able to do that fairly quickly. I picked Erika up from work in Hershey at four and we shopped at the Hershey outlets for a while. Shortly thereafter her boyfriend and three of his friends met up with us and my evening had just become incredibly awkward. Erika's boyfriend goes to Annvile High School. I used to go to Annville. I had a best friend who went to Annville... I know a lot of people from Annville. Since our schools hate each other, many many jokes were cracked about us "farmers". This went on for about three or four hours until I decided I wanted to go home. I had homework. So I left Erika to fend for herself with the boys. I got home at about 930 in time to find my dad waiting for me to go to church to practice for tomorrow. Uhgh, not what I had in mind. It is now 1106 and I just got home. Yeah, ridiculous, I know. Now I am blogging and then eating maybe and going to bed beacuse I have to be up at seven. Night.

Tennis, Tee shirts, and a Tired me

Lately, my life has been decently hectic. That is a HUGE understatement. Playing a sport for the school is a large time commitment; I choose to be playing two. Tennis and cross country are both sports that I enjoy a lot. However, they make me extremely busy. This year, since I am a senior and the only four-year player, I am team captain. This adds yet another obligation. For some reason, our school loves some sports more than others and tennis happens to fall into the "other" category. The largest indicator is that we don't have uniforms. At this point, it is over half-way through the season, so to order anything would be virtually pointless. But we are teenage girls and these kinds of things are fun so we want tee shirts at least. Therefore, I, as captain, must collect the money and do the ordering- a seemingly simple task that ends up being extremely time consuming and stressful. Yet another thing to add to my list! So the tee shirt ordeal seemed overwhelming, but I thought I could place the order and then work on collecting the money with the other captain. I should have known that it would find a way to complicate itself soon!
I think standing in the rain all day at work is getting the best of me. I'm getting sick and its not fun. When I run, my nose runs with me, just faster. This proves to be quite an annoyance. I am also very tired all of the time. I find myself falling asleep in my more boring classes (not English, don't worry Mr. Miller). I look for a solution to this, but with sports and school work and all of the other things I am involved in, there is just no time for getting to bed early. So until further notice, I will make due with getting to bed at eleven and waking just 6 hours later.. good night.

Too much? I think not.

Today is Tuesday. That means school. It also means Cafe, the student-led bible study that a group of kids from the school organize. We meet weekly at 6:30 am to start out our days on a good note! However, this means waking up nearly an hour earlier. Since I decided to be a high spirited fan and attend the high school boys' soccer game last night at Pequay Valley, I only got home at about eleven, which was when I began my school work. Needless to say, I was tired. I also have a bit of an issue called overinvolvement. I do everything, and am very busy. For exapmle, today in homeroom (normally a time for students to get ten extra minutes of sleep or finish homework or just relax) I had an Honor Society meeting and I am an officer so I had to be early to take attendance etc. Then I left for Chamber Choir where we sang for a period while I was filled in on all of the drama that I missed the previous eveing. We rehearsed for the upcoming Madrigal feast, a mini musical of folk songs. Second period is my free period to get things done so I decided to try out for the class play. I need one more thing to do, right? Auditions went well which I think is a good thing, but its looking like I won't have much time to attend practices anyway. In yearbook, I ordered the teeshirts for the tennis team, since I am the captain, which was actually a much more painful process than you think. Psychology came next which consisted of notes and a lecture. Lunch was boring, followed by English. Spanish is full of work as usual, and Calculus wasn't any less stressful than a typical day. After school, I was planning on going to my cross country meet, but it was cancelled due to rain. Instead, I would attend tennis practice, but that was cancelled as well. So went to auditions again!

Messiah application essay

I had to write this essay today to accompany my application to Messiah College. I know its really early to be doing this, but I want to get it out of the way.
I am prepared to be a student whom is intellectually mature in character and faith, while taking my studies seriously. As a student at Messiah College, I expect to be challenged both scholastically and spiritually. The mission statement states that we as students will be encouraged to lead “lives of service, leadership, and reconciliation in church and society.”
For students whom have not been raised already living up to such standards, this may be seen as a challenge. However, I feel that I have been trying to attain a very similar goal all of my Christian life. I have been involved in the leadership of many organizations including clubs at school, my youth group, and community projects. Especially my senior year, I was voted the advisor of many of these groups.
I am a big advocate for service. I have been on five missions trips now; some in the state, some in the country, and others international. Mission trips are a big part of who I am. I love to serve other people and bring joy to their lives as well as give back just a portion of the time and efforts I have been given.
Reconciliation is a big part of maturing. I feel that mission trips are a good way to help bring that healing to other people. However, you do not need to go to another country to help people with such issues. There are times in high school where it is necessary to address issues, and confrontation might need to take place. A student leader’s responsibility is to take the initiative and pursue peace in these scenarios.
I think Messiah College will be able to further prepare me for the world beyond my schooling. I hope that I can work toward fulfilling this mission statement by searching deeper still into these aspects of life and gaining knowledge along the way. I am excited to be challenged and am committed to striving for excellence and doing my best in every aspect of this new phase of life.

Head colds

I didn't think being in the rain yesterday would get to me, but I was wrong. It did. I woke up today feeling kind of like I was hit by a Mac truck while sleeping. Really, it was that bad. My whole body is sore, which is odd cause I didn't even excercise yesterday. And I was supposed to. I can't breathe out of my nose which causes me to use my mouth, leading to a violently sore throat. Additionally, I need a tissue about every 49 seconds. For some reason, I feel like my eyes aren't open all the way, even when I'm fully awake. These are just a few of the sensations I've been able to experience during church this morning. Now I have a lot to get done before this week starts up. I need to:
Buy birthday gifts for Melyssa and Julia
Cash my check, pay parents back
Do my Calculus homework
Find a picture to submit for the student of the month article in the paper
Schedule a time to take the SATs again, and have EXTRA BATTERIES!
Call my photographer and pick up my senior pictures
I'm sure there is a lot more, but I'm unable to think of it all right now. I know this probably isn't the intended use for this blog, but its helping me keep everything strait!

Rainy days

Today is Saturday and its raining, as it has been since I woke up today at about 9:43. That is considered moderate sleeping in for me. I am obviously up before then for school and church six days out of the week, but on a given Saturday where I dont have to work, sleeping until three in the afternoon is very possible. However, today I did have to work. At least I thought so. I woke up and went for breakfast with my parents to have a "calendar meeting". You know the world is a sick place when families have to take their children out one at a time to plan the next two weeks of their lives.
Once I got home from breakfast, I quickly showered and got ready for work. I checked my emials, made a few phone calls, considered blogging but opted not to, and then left for work. It took me almost ten extra minutes to get to Hersheypark, my current place of employment. By the time I got to the locker room, changed, and clocked in at the office, I was thoroughly soaked. I reluctantly went to my post where I stood for about an hour and ten minutes before a supervisor came by and told me to go home since there were about six people in the entire park. I drove thirty minutes home, and officially spent more in gas commuting to and from work than I earned at work.

...The rest of my first draft

At first, the thought of a stranger talking to me in an environment where I no longer felt safe did not appeal to me. But I quickly got over this, realizing that crying on the floor probably wouldn’t speed up the process of being reunited with my parents. The clerk spent a few minutes trying to decipher my tear-filled story and, after understanding that I was lost, acted responsibly and did what any good employee would do; help me find my family. The first step of doing this in such a big place is to announce the names of the either the child or the parents on a loudspeaker that is projected to the entire Ocean City boardwalk and beach area. “Would Dan and Beth Hess please report to the front gate of the water park immediately?” Hearing this announcement I felt some small sense of relief mixed with a lot of embarrassment. I couldn’t imagine how my sister would nag me for this one.

Sure enough, within seconds I hear my mom say my name. Not yell my name, just say it. Boy did I feel like an idiot. I turned around in the direction of her half-concerned, half-laughing voice to see my entire family of eighteen sitting together on a few benches not ten yards from where I had been. They were all gathered around three tubs of the Johnson’s popcorn that I knew they were on their way to buy. I ran to my mom and thought I was having a hallmark reunion, crying in her arms. No one else seemed to agree though. She asked what happened, and apparently didn’t even notice I had fallen behind. I told her the story along with the rest of the curious bystanders, who found it intriguing that our presence at the water park was now known to the thousands of vacationers.

Once the shock of the seemingly life-threatening incident had passed, I was able to enjoy some of the fresh caramel corn that we look forward to every year. Although still embarrassed, I could now laugh at the occurrence and roll my eyes when my family says, “Bet you won’t disobey like that again!” Of course, that wasn’t the case and I’m equally stubborn to this day… I just make sure I know where they are going!

First Draft- Personal Experience Essay

Every year since my parents were young, my extended family on my dad's side has traveled to Ocean City New Jersey once a summer where they have spent a week renting a beach house. Once I was born, I was taken along and have many many good memories of our crazy outings to the beach, boardwalk, our favorite restaraunt The Crab Trap and spending quality time around the house with each other. Most of my memories with my cousins from little on up have been made on such trips. My ninth trip there was in 2001. This was just like any other trip to the beach filled with treasure hunts, sun burn, and aloe. However, it was one of my older cousin's birthdays while we were there, so we decided to celebrate with something extra special.

My cousin Caleb was about to turn fifteen so we planned a day trip to a water theme park on the boadrwalk. This was a very exciting new concept for me since I had never been to a real waterpark before. We spent the day swimming in the pools (similar to the ocean, minus the seaweed, salt, and the occasional syringe) and dodging manmade waves. There were some water rides that I found frieghtning at first but then grew to love.

It was an amazing day and everything went well except for one aspect; the waterslide. My four older boy cousins as well as my older sister were tall enough to ride a six-story waterslide. I, however, was not. Once I found this out, every positive aspect from the day was completely gone from my memory. It was as if nothing good had happened all day. In fact, I was officially the least fortunate person in the world... for the time being. I watched my cousins ride the slide time and time again, and grew more and more impatient as they seemed to be having the time of their lives. Soon my parents said it was time for the eighteen of us to head over to the Johnson's Popcorn stand where we always but the world-famous caramel corn, and then go home and clean up before dinner.

Although I had been having what I thought was a miserable time, I did not want to leave. I would not admit it, but I was enjoying watching the waterslide activity. The cousins all prepared for the walk back to the house but I stayed at the entrance to the waterpark. There was one little girl who looked to be about my height but that's not possible because she was on the waterslide and I wasn't. The family threatened to walk away without me, but I knew they couldn't just leave me there. So I stood right where I was like the stubborn little girl I had proved to be. The girl flew over bumps and splashed around turns along the way down the slide, laughing all along the way. Once she was done with her joy ride, I turned around knowing I would find my family patiently waiting for me. But they were gone.

I couldn't believe it! Two minutes ago they were right by my side. Now there I was, nine years old and stranded alone in Ocean City in the middle of July. Needless to say there were a few emotions running through my mind. My first instinct was to retrace my steps, but they were nowhere to be found. My next idea, to cry. I sat down right then and there and waited for someone or something to come save me. I said a little prayer and soon enough an employee of the park came up behind me.... to be continued.

Day off of school

Today is Monday, Labor Day, and we don't have school. I'm grateful for the day off although I'm sure I will be as busy as if we did. I just got home from practicing a few songs with a kid from school that we perform at a coffee house once every month or so. Now I am getting some homework knocked out before I leave for a family picnic at my cousin's house. I can't stay there very long, though, because I have to be at work at noon.
My job is a very intersting one. I started working at Hersheypark at the end of school last year. For the first day of the job, I enjoyed it. Primarily because it got me out of the house and gave me something to do. However, after a week or two, I loathed going to work. I work with people who are visiting the park and are at times very angry. They therefore look for the nearest innocent worker who has no control over the situation and choose to complain to them. Their only goal seems to be to relieve some immediate stress and make this unfortunate imployee's day worse. When the guests are upset, the employees are upset. Simple equation right? Wrong. We as employees are not allowed to be anything but "Hersheypark Happy" all of the time. I find myself smiling while being screamed at and saying, "Hello, welcome to the theatre" while standing in the pooring rain and moving other people's strollers.
Needless to say, what seems like it should be an easy, care-free job, is actually quite stressful and I dread going. And with that, I'm off to work!

The Introduction to English Comp 101

Yesterday we received our first homework assignment of the year; to read the introduction in our text books. To sum it up, this pretty much gives an overview, like all text books do, regarding the information to follow and how to use it to the best of your ability. The introduction gave many reasons to write and write often, and said that wrinting and reading frequently increase your skills in the other one.
Tonight is the first football game. I am relatively excited, although that usually leads to dissapointment. We'll see if this is worth the hype or not. We are favored to win by a landslide, so I guess we'll win but it won't be by the propecised landslide.
I am really busy and it stresses me out. Tomorrow I have a cross country meet early in the morning and then strait to work. So by the time I get to work I will be exhausted already, and then have to put in eight hours.

Here's to my blog.

Today is the second day of school. Yesterday was rough, but then again when is a first day of a school year considered fun? Today was, therefore, better than yesterday but not by much. My schedule is relatively simple. It accomidates the courses that are required for me to graduate, so I guess I shouldn't complain. I have two study halls too many in which I do virtually nothing. My calculus class seems like its going to be difficult, but the new teacher is friendly enough. I'm excited for Environmental Science and the many field trips that are included, as well as English and Psychology just because they are topics that I enjoy and the teachers are fun.
School today went faster than yesterday which is definitly a good thing. I get out of my period twelve class early today for a Cross Country scrimmage at Tulpehocken. Their course is very difficult so i hope I finish with a good time. That's about all for today, now I'm off to Spanish IV!