Why oh why oh why?

Why did I decide to be a Loyalist? While I have to admit there are valid arguments on the sides of both Rebel and Loyalists, it would be so much easier to be a Rebel. Granted, I’d probably end up fighting the smarter half of the class, which would make it so much harder to have “good points,” but at least I wouldn’t be melting my brain out right now.

I just have to keep that big, shiny A grade in mind, that’s all. No matter what, I’m going to get that good grade. If that means my brain melts out, fine then. I should have worked on this yesterday instead of watching the movie Honey, as great as it was (Jessica Alba is my favorite actress).

School can be so pesky sometimes. I’d much rather be writing!

And for those of you who have no idea what I'm talking about: tomorrow my class is debating the Declaration of Independence. I decided to take the Loyalist's side and now I'm supposed to be coming up with an argument for why England did everything that they did to North America.

Random lovely, sparkly, wonderfully good things

Today has been a day of lovely, sparkly, wonderfully good things. I love good things, as I’m sure everybody does. Although today started out with over-sleeping and almost being late for school, plus rain and dreariness and freezing half to death in my classroom, it ended awesomely.

Reason number one: I got an A on my history paper! YES! I was worried sick about the grade I was going to get but it worked out well. That’s mostly due to my awesome teacher, Mr. Flagel. I was only around halfway through with the essay when I ran out of time, so he assigned points to my line of reasoning and where I’d been headed with it, instead of taking points off for incompletion.

Reason number two: I got to stay for a couple of hours at my sister’s apartment, which was lovely and peaceful and very quiet. I love my siblings like crazy but they can be loud. When I have a lot of homework, that can be a bother. Instead of noise, I got to sit in blissful quiet, watching a movie with Liz.

Reason number three: I got good reviews on California Girl! Enough said.

Reason number four: I had math tutoring, which was fun and invaluable, as I have a math test this Friday. I need all the help I can get; I’m still not one hundred percent sure how to use my borrowed graphing calculator.

Reason number five: I got to hang out with Kyra and Elizabeth and I got to see Chenise and my sweet, sweet baby. I love you EJ! I am your number one fan! I love that baby so much. He’s such a sweetie.

Tomorrow will be non-stop history and math studying so I’ll be prepared for both the math test and the history debate on Wednesday. That makes up twenty points of my final grade. Mr. Flagel said we get five points for each good answer we give, so I just need four good answers. Naturally I’ll be going for more than that, since extra points are always good, but four is the minimum.

Anyway, I decided to cut myself a break for good behavior tonight. I’ll just lounge around and read or write; I’ll do the bulk of my studying and homework tomorrow.

3 Things I Hate, 6 Things I Love

Things I Hate

1) Really bad critiques like “oh, I loved this!” or “this sucked!” Details, people! I need details if I’m going to make it better! *clears throat* Sorry. Pet peeve of mine.

2) People hating on Justin Bieber. He’s sixteen years old, for crying out loud. If you hate him, don’t listen to his music and avoid looking at posters/advertisements/etc. There are lots of music artists and actors who I’m not partial to but I don’t rag on them, especially not kids.

3) When I walk out of the house and look down and realize my clothes don’t match. It happens a lot.

Things I Love

1) The song “Pick Me” by Justin Bieber

2) My orange and purple horse poster that hangs over my desk

3) My best friend and cousin, Micah

4) My book, Journey of Turning Back

5) The belt I borrowed from my sister, cause it’s black with silver stars

6) The music group ZOEgirl, although I think they disbanded

Where I Went Today

I had to get up at five thirty today. I was sooo tired. Isn't it so weird to get up "in the morning" and it's not even light outside? For some reason, no matter how many times I do it, that always messes with my head.

So, my sister Elizabeth and I had to go to orientation at Columbia State University (we are now officially students! Yay!). I slept for the entire forty-five minute drive. Something about getting in a car makes my body shut down and go straight to sleep. That hasn't helped at all, since I'm supposed to be learning how to drive, and somebody says "car" and I think "sleep."

I'm completely off the map here (what is it about blogging that makes me start rambling?). What I'm trying to say is, Liz and I went to the campus in Columbia. Everything is so new and exciting! I can't believe I'm going to college.

So far I'm registered for four classes: Pre-Calc Algebra *shudder*. Art History, Intro to Psychology (I think my older sister Kyra is taking this same class and I will be stoked if she is!). Hm... what was the other one? Well, it was something. I didn't get into the English class I wanted, but I'm hoping some space will open up in a couple of days. After all, what fun is college without English?

I just drew a complete blank on what I was going to say next. Honestly, I think my brain went out to lunch and never came back.

I'm going to go find it.

I have just about one more chapter to write on Summer Rush and then I will be done! Whooo! I'm super excited about that (I always reward finishing a book with chocolate or ice cream or both). But that is not the only thing I'm excited about today.

My college acceptance letter came today! AAAAHHHH!

It might not be my dream college (I love you Murray State University!) but it is the first step in getting to my dream college. And besides all that, hey! I've been accepted into college! I made it! Hold on just a second while I play that song, I Made It (Kevin Rudolf ft Lil Wayne and somebody I can't remember).

Okay, it's playing. I feel like jumping up and doing a victory dance! On top of all this wonderfulness - I've been making words up left and right lately - my birthday is in nineteen days! I will be seventeen years old! Yay!

iPod Touch!

An iPod Touch is amazing. Whoever invented touch screens is amazing. They're so awesome. You can watch movies, listen to music, watch podcasts, take notes, send and receive emails, surf the web, manage your calendar, look at pictures.

*Sigh*

Anyway, it's kind of obvious I just got an iPod Touch, huh? I named him Perry after Perry the Platypus from the cartoon Phineas and Ferb.

I've lost a lot of sleep messing around with Perry until all hours. I'm seriously thinking about confiscating him from myself after ten o' clock.

An old story...

I was reading through some old stories the other day and came across this story I started called The Companion. It’s a typical fantasy with a quest, a chosen one, etc. Apparently I was telling it through the eyes of the Chosen One’s companion, a halfling named Sonora. Anyway, I just thought I’d share the prologue :)

<>

It was early morning. Mist swirled lazily across the ground like scuttling snakes, around the roots of the white trees, and above the surface of the water of the river. There was absolute silence, so think it was almost like a blanket over the entire world. Not a single animal stirred. Not even ghosts were about.

But wait. Perhaps there were…ghosts.

From nowhere came a soft sound, like ghostly feet on dew-dampened dirt. Slowly, through the mist, came a figure.

It was a young woman. She had delicate, elfin features and long hair not much darker than the mist with a faint bluish tint. She was as pale as snow and wore a garment the color of a starless night. In her hands she held a bundle. As she walked soundlessly across the ground, the bundle squawked. It was a child.

The woman stopped. She stood in the center of a meadow, surrounded by the crystal clear waters of the river on three sides, and a stately line of white trees on the fourth.

There was no sound now. She stood there, clutching the squirming child to her chest tightly. It was so very still. She seemed frozen.

Then, more movement.

Something dark moved through the white trees and missed. It was tall and so very, very dark; it seemed to suck all light into it. The woman watched it approach, her features frozen in a mask of iron.

Carefully, the darkness moved into the meadow. It was not quite human. Its skin was jet black and covered in gleaming bluish-black scales. It had large ears like those of an elf and long black hair. Its eyes, the only discernable feature on its face, were the color of pure gold. It had a cloak, also black, and it held it round about itself.

“Did you bring the child?” Its voice was harsh yet gentle at the same time.

The woman smiled and held out the bundle. The darkness moved to stand before the woman, its slate smooth and almost mirror-like face tilted down to view the child.

“Sonora,” he said softly.

The child glared at him. Her eyes were the same hypnotic gold as the darkness’ but rather than being a single disc of color, they were like the slitted eyes of a snake.

“She is not like the others,” the woman said. “But they will not cast her out. She is one of us, no matter her parentage.”

The darkness stroked the child’s curly, whitish hair with a slightly humanistic claw. “She is the One. Nobody can deny it.”

“We shall see.”

From deep in the white woods – a snarl. The darkness stiffened. “They come for her.”

The woman shrugged her shoulders. Two large, jet black wings exploded into view. She stepped back, once again hugging the child to her chest. The darkness watched silently as she flapped her wings once and took swiftly to the air.

A low, reptilian hiss came from behind him. “The Chosen One… she is ours…”

Something began to emerge from the mist. The darkness pulled his cloak about him and, with a puff of black smoke, disappeared.

Volleyball is not for me

I remember the first time I played volleyball, I was so short the ball never came to me. So I did handstands while everybody played around me. And just as I kicked up into the perfect handstand, the ball flew over my head. Total genius.

I played volleyball yesterday with my uncle and cousins at my cousin Ashley's graduation party. First of all, my uncle in one word: COMPETITIVE. I was just glad I wasn't on the other team (although we lost) because he hits the ball hard. My cousin Gabrielle, who is tiny, got hit in the face three times.

The game was pretty intense, plus it was in the dark. You'd just look up and see this white orb sailing towards you and, depending on who you were, you yelled and got out of the way, or you hit that thing like there was no tomorrow.

Anyway, I've written 80,300 words so far this month. I was hoping to get to 100,000 but that's obviously not going to happen.

Skinned - by Robin Wasserman

I read the book Skinned by Robin Wasserman last night (and part of this morning). It’s a novel set in the future, about a girl whose body was destroyed in a car crash. But her mind was downloaded into a computer and they put that into a synthetic body. Theoretically, she’d still be her same old self. Excepting all the stuff where nobody likes these downloaded people, or Mechs, as they were called.

The girl, Lia, is alienated by her friends. Her sister hates her. Her father regrets making the decision to have her “saved.” A Mech can’t die. They back up their minds and night and if anything happens to their mechanical body, their mind can simply be downloaded into a new one. Mechs don’t feel pain like ordinary people. They’re perfect, and most humans hate them for that.

I thought the novel was pretty good. The beginning was intriguing. It hit a lull at about chapter two and continued quite a ways into it. Towards the end, however, it got really good. At the very end, I was floored. How could the author just leave it like that? Then I realized it was just the first book of a trilogy. I’m looking forward to reading the other books.

Skinned was the fifth Robin Wasserman book I’ve read. I read the Chasing Yesterday Trilogy, which was YA but came off a lot like juvenile to me. I also read Hacking Harvard, which I absolutely loved. I recommend that to anybody who either doesn’t mind or can get past the language. A lot of language.

I’d give Skinned three out of four stars. The positives: great beginning, great plot, great description and setting. The negatives: some dull writing, non-endearing characters, over-used “after the world was bombed…” plot piece.

I'm so excited!

I have shared a room with at least one person for my entire life (sometimes it was three people, one time it was five). It's at the point where I don't even know what I'd do if I had my own room.

I've also had to share a bed. And now, for the first time in about eight years, my dad is getting me my own bed! Whoo!

I sound like I'm three, don't I? :) I can't imagine having my own bed. No tug of war over the blanket. No fighting for pillow space - my sister and I both have really big pillows. I can sleep with my computer. That's not as crazy as it sounds, I promise. I don't have a stereo so my music is all from my computer, so it's nice to have it within arm's reach and not down in the crack between the wall and the bed, like it is now.

Oh, and I can use the twin-sized comforter my other sister bought for me! I'm so happy :)

Writing

I always thought writing on two books at the same time would be really hard but it's not so bad. My two current projects, Summer Rush and Dark Angel Rising, are complete opposites of each other but I can write on them on the same day without batting an eyelash.

Usually when I write I have to really get into it. I'll read back over what I wrote yesterday or look at my brainstorm document so I can get back into the right character mode.

Anyway, I'm about halfway done on both books. Hopefully I'll finish them before the end of the month. I have to write at least ten thousand more words for July Novel Writing Month. I can't lose that. My friend Karlee would never let me hear the end of it :)

It's Official

I have slept way too much this summer. I can never fall asleep at night anymore. For some reason my inner clock is completely reversed so I'll sleep all day and be bouncing off the ceiling at night. It's crazy. Just the thought of actually staying up all day long to get my clock back in the right order is exhausting but I'll have to do it sooner or later. I don't think they have nocturnal colleges.

I'm giving my friend Ryley at least part of the blame for this. He lives in Canada. I ended up staying up later to talk on MSN because of the time difference. So, yes, he's partly to blame :)

On a happy note, I have my favorite ever book from the library: The BHS Book of Natural Horsemanship. I love that book. It's so interesting and it was one of the first books on natural horsemanship I've ever read. Which reminds me, the library has a new natural horsemanship book I need to check out.

I got to see my big sister Kyra for a few minutes today. She's so busy all the time and I miss seeing her. My youngest sister Jasmine had to quit gymnastics, so Kyra doesn't coach her anymore; before, when we were at the gym, I'd see Kyra at least once a week.

Writing has been coming along so-so lately. Every time I sit down to write, my mind starts wandering. I think it's because I have too many distractions in my room - partly the mess, partly the dozens of posters on the wall, partly the other projects lying around.

You can tell my mind is going crazy because of the randomness of this post :) That reminds me - actually, I have no idea how that reminds me. But anyway, I need to find my list of things to do for 2010. First I have to go check on dinner before it burns.

Beautiful Picture!

It takes me between ten and thirty minutes to decide on a picture for my computer desktop. I eventually settled on this gorgeous Friesian. My brother Darius and I decided to name her (her? him?) Prestige. I almost used a King Julien background because I love Madagascar. Does anybody watch the Penguins from Madagascar?

My favorite quotes from Pirates of the Caribbean

"No survivors, huh? Then where do the stories come from I wonder?" - Captain Jack Sparrow

"There's a lot of big words in there, missy. We're naught but humble pirates." - Barbossa

"Buried on an island that can't be found, except for those who know where it is." - Barbossa

"I'm curious. After killing me, what is it you're planning on doing next?" - Barbossa (I'm starting to see a pattern here...)

"So there is a curse. That's interesting." - Captain Jack Sparrow

Will: "So after my mother died I came out here, looking for my father." Jack: "Is that so?"

"Mr. Cotton, do you have the courage and fortitude to follow orders and stay true in the face of danger and almost certain death?" - Captain Jack Sparrow

"Mostly we figure that means yes." - Gibbs

"It's bad luck to have a woman aboard. Even a miniature one." - Gibbs

"Borrowed. Borrowed without permission, with every intention of bringing it back." - Captain Jack Sparrow

Will: "How can we sail to an island nobody can find, with a compass that doesn't point north?" Gibbs: "Aye, the compass doesn't point north. But we're not going north, are we?"

Norrington: "No additional shot or powder. A compass that doesn't point north. And I half it expected it to be made of wood. You are undoubtedly the worst pirate I've ever heard of." Jack: "Ah. But you have heard of me."

Gillete: "That's got to be the best pirate I've ever seen." Norrington: "So it would seem."

"And thirdly, the Code is more like what you'd call guidelines than actual rules." - Barbossa

Ragetti: "You're s'posed to be dead." Jack: "Am I not?"

I had to take the baby for his checkup

Me, my mom, and my sister Liz took EJ to the pediatrician for his six month checkup. He was so happy up on the table, crawling around, ripping up the paper, and bonking his head on the mirror.

And then it came time for the shots.

I felt awful! I had to hold him still, and he was glaring at me (you gotta watch out for this baby; he will seriously pinch you if you make himunhappy), and then the doctor injected the needle.

His eyes went huge and then he just started bawling. I almost cried, too. I also found out the sight of blood doesn't sit too well with me. EJ cried and cried until he fell asleep, and then he woke up crying. Now I feel guilty every time I look at him.

The no-music thing isn't as bad as I thought it would be. Mostly because I didn't use my computer at all yesterday - partly because I broke the rules a little and listened to the radio turned down really quietly when I went to bed. I can't sleep without some sound. I'm guessing it's from all these years of living in my noisy house :D

Wake up call

I got a wake up call today. I've done absolutely nothing productive for almost an entire month. I feel awful just writing that. In five minutes I could probably come up with ten excuses why I haven't (sadly, making excuses is something I excel at).

This month I've managed not to drive, read - fiction, nonfiction, or my bible - write, walk the dog, or hang out with my siblings. I pretty much spend my entire day playing with EJ or listening to music.

So I have come to the decision that I need to take a break. From music, I mean. I cringe at the idea of not listening to music twenty-four seven but when that's all I'm doing, it's definitely time to take a step back. Starting tomorrow morning (yes, yes, I know. But I am really going to do it!) I'll be cut off from music for a week. No doubt you'll hear me whining about it in a while.

On a note that does not include myself, my family had a lot of fun on Father's Day. We got my dad a My Touch Slider. For awhile he wanted to stick with his old phone, a Razor, but when he figured out all the stuff his new phone could do, he warmed right up to it :)

Pictures of the Munchkin baby and other stuff

That's my new nickname for EJ - Munchkin Baby. Don't ask where it came from because I really have no idea :)





Here's a random picture of a flower growing behind my house. I used a little Picasa on it, in case you couldn't tell.



And here's a picture from the graduation. I'm on the right, Elizabeth is on the left, and that's my grandfather in the middle.

Graduated!

I am officially a high school graduate. I just love saying that now. The ceremony was so awesome. I've watched it about six times, for all my older sisters and cousins, and I finally got to experience it from the graduate side.

My dress was so pretty. My older sister Kyra bought it for me. It was even purple, my all time favorite color (not according to my Aunt Julie, but that's a whole other story). I wore the heels I've been wearing for about a year, to lessen the chance of my doing something crazy and tripping and falling on my face up on the stage. Which I didn't; fall, I mean. I took tiny little steps to make sure of that :)

After the ceremony, and after the impromptu photo shoot with my Uncle Robert behind the camera, we all went back to my house to celebrate even further. We had a gigantic barbecue and I got barbecued ribs! Yum, I love those. On a random note, my mom got these chocolate chip cookies that were scarily addictive. I was eating them all night.

My mom gave Elizabeth and I each a photo matte that people could autograph. It was a lot of fun to go around and collect everybody's autograph; some of the things they wrote were so sweet I almost cried. On Liz's I wrote "No rest for the wicked awesome. Go forth and conquer!" We had some fun with that :)

Anyway, so now I'm officially graduated. The plan is to do two years at a community college here at home and then go to my dream college, Murray State University in Kentucky. But we'll see if and how my plans match with God's.

Two More Days

There are only two more days until my graduation! Well, my and my sister Elizabeth's graduation. I took my senior picture (it was absolute agony. I hate getting my picture taken). My grandparents and my cousins are getting here tomorrow. All the invitations are out. I got my graduation dress, which is dark purple and amazingly beautiful. My sister Kyra and I picked it out.

I still don't have shoes, which is probably just as well. I found this awesome pair but the heels were five inches high, which would make me six foot two. So not happening. I guess I'll wear the shoes I got for my best friend Micah's graduation.

There was this piano song, Croatian Rhapsody, which I was planning to play for my grandparents but I haven't quite gotten the hang of it yet. Unless a miracle happens I don't think I'll be playing it tomorrow.

Speaking of piano, I graduated from the music school I'd been going to for the past seven or eight years. I'm kind of sad about that. But they let me keep the upright piano I borrowed for them, which is awesome. I'd miss my piano and after all the years I'd been spoiled on it, I'd probably whine about having to go back to a keyboard.

You know the best part about graduating at sixteen? You get to do semester in college with your second oldest sister. That will be so much fun. Me and Kyra and Elizabeth in the same college. Liz and I are already planning all the way we're going to bother Kyra.

Besides that, not much has been happening. I finished another novel after three months of sweating blood over it. I have a ton of library books still to read. I have to make this big picture collage that'll be on display at the graduation ceremony. I should probably get to work on it. After I read the rest of my book. It's called "The Naming" and it's really boring, but I hate to not finish a book.

How I Read

I love books. I have been an avid reader since I was old enough to handle a book with the proper reverence it was due. My mother writes books and reads books. My older sisters loved reading so much, they'd read the backs of shampoo bottles. It was only natural that I follow in their footsteps.

When I read a book, I require several things. First, no audience. I cannot stand people watching me when I read. I would rather not read at all than be watched. Secondly, I have to be able to prop my feet up. There's no explaining that one so I won't try. I don't like dog-eared pages, funky fonts, or when people don't use quotation marks. There's a new and coming style of using dashes instead of quotation marks: {-I'd rather not.} versus {"I'd rather not."} It drives me up the wall.

It's preferable to have Oreos, an oatmeal creme pie, or some other form of pure calories on hand when I'm reading. I always feel like a lazy bum when I read and eat but it can't be helped. I've cut back on it a little since my mother banned reading at the table, but not much.

I like to curl up with my books under a blanket, under my bed, or outside on the trampoline. I usually listen to music twenty-four seven but when I'm reading I can do without it. If I am listening to music and I come across a song I think fits well with the book, I will put it on repeat and listen to it over and over again until I finish the book. I also like to come up with theme songs for the book characters.

After I read a good book, I will sometimes sit down and write a scene very similar to one of my favorites from it, only with my characters. It was a writing exercise I found in a book once and I find that it gives me a sense of satisfaction to reinvent what I've read.

When I'm finished with the book and my sister has read it as well, we discuss it while we're supposed to be sleeping. I'll generally talk about a good book anywhere between two days and two weeks after I've read it. By then everybody is sick of hearing about it but I'll keep analyzing and marveling and wondering until I've dissected it to death. When I reach that point, I'll have finished another book, and the process begins all over.

Eldarwen (http://thefaithfulelvenprincess.blogspot.com/2010/04/lets-party-shall-we.html) is having a blog party and an awesome giveaway for the Owl City cd Ocean Eyes. And here’s the tag (I love tags ^_^)

1) How old are you? I’m sixteen. Seventeen in August.

2) What name do you go by on blogger? Gabriellan

3) When is your birthday? August 30

4) If you could live anywhere in the world, besides where you live now, where would it be? California. I was born there and I loved the beach.

5) How did you find out about Blogger? From Earwen. I found out about WordPress from her, too.

6) Tell us something interesting about yourself: Hm. My little brother and I have this game where we tickle each other and then blame it on an invisible man. Huh. Sounds less crazy when you’re actually doing it.

7) What was your favorite toy when you were little? Plastic horses. My favorite one was a bay named Star that my sister gave to me for my birthday. My cousin broke off all his legs. *sigh*

What is your favorite meal? Have you ever cooked/helped cook that meal? My favorite meal is barbecued ribs and mashed potatoes, or Shepherd’s Pie. I’ve helped cook both.

9) If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be? I’d want to be less lazy. I enjoy napping way too much.

10) Are you an outside person, or an inside person? I don’t know. Depends on the season.

11) Are you a mommy’s boy/girl, or a daddy’s boy/girl? Neither, although I spend more time with my mom.

12) In one word, describe the feeling you get when you stub your toe, after just being told by your parents that you are grounded for the next month: (gotta copy Earwen on this one) AARRRRGGGGHHHH!

13) Let’s say you TP’d your friend’s house (for those of you who don’t know what TP’d stands for, it means toilet papered. As in, put toilet paper on their trees, cars, house, porch, etc.). If someone asked you why you TP’d your friends house, you would say: It seemed like a good idea at the time.

14) Have you ever gone swimming in deep, dark, dirty water? Yes, at the South Carolinian beach. Right after watching Jaws. It was…interesting.

15) Have you ever dreamed about getting ready to leave the house, and forgetting to get your pants on? No. But I have started out of the house in my pajamas; and in clothes with slippers.

16) Have you ever done something so ridiculous, that you wish you’d never done it? If so, what? I love doing ridiculous stuff, like making faces at other people when we’re driving. I haven’t regretted any of it. So far

17) Imagine that you saw a purse snatching. What would you do?

a) scream and run away. b) move out of the state/country. c) tackle the purse snatcher to the ground. d) ignore it, start whistling, and turn the other direction. c, definitely. I’m always happy to help – plus my dad had me and my siblings do wrestling matches when we were younger. I like to hit people.

18) How many friends do you have on blogger? I d’know… but I love em all!

19) What makes blogging so much fun for you? I like to talk, and on a blog I don’t have to try to talk louder and faster than all my siblings

20) You’re a turtle, who has bet that you can win a race with a rabbit. How does it turn out? I’d probably feel bad for the rabbit and let him win. I’m such a pushover.

A Funny Story

Why did I say this was a funny story? Because it’s not funny. AT ALL. It’s a terrible story, actually, filled with my misery. This is what happened.

Sunday night, me and my friend Karlee decided to have a writing contest. I forgot I had a dentist appointment. Early Monday morning my mom drags my sorry self out of bed to the dentist so I can get my spacers on. I had no idea what spacers were and in case you don’t know, either, I’ll tell you. THEY SUCK. They’re tiny little rubberbands stuck between your teeth. You’d think they wouldn’t hurt at all. Think again. My teeth are so close together, when the spacers went on my mouth was so sore I couldn’t even sleep. I couldn’t eat, either, so I had to sit at the dinner table and have yogurt while my family had chicken.

Early Tuesday morning I am once again dragged out of bed and to the dentist to get the braces put on. First they had to yank the spacers out, in which process I just about cried, and then they jammed on these metal bands in the back of my mouth. My eyes watered then. It hurt, and the only thing I had for comfort was Spongebob on TV. So finally the braces are on and I’m thinking, not too bad. By the time I got home, I was thinking something else entirely.

Mom gave me aspirin. My mouth had actually stopped hurting so bad by then so I figured I’d take some aspirin and I’d be back to normal. After all, I had a piano recital later that I needed to be in top condition for. The aspirin didn’t do anything and the recital was absolute misery. There was even a reception afterward, and I couldn’t eat anything, which put me in an exceptionally bad mood. My bad mood was helped along even further when we got home and I found my sister had made my favorite dinner, which I also couldn’t eat.

So, starving and miserable, I took that wretched aspirin that hadn’t helped at all, and took…well, a bit more than they said to take. It was just the generic stuff – how potent could it be? Pretty potent, turns out. I got a headache, a stomachache, and a couple of interesting hallucinations for my trouble. The whole point of this to say, while I couldn’t write, the last hallucination gave me a great idea for a plot twist for my novel.

My WIP

My current work in progress is Nobody’s Angel, the fourth part of the Promise Trilogy. Yes, I know, a trilogy is only supposed to have four parts. But the third book, Promise Child, only opened up a thousand new plot threads and it was impossible to end them all. I’m still calling it a trilogy, though. A trilogy plus one, maybe.

At the moment, the novel has thirty-eight pages, 21.300 words, and four chapters. It’s a decent count. I started the novel on the seventeenth of this month. My sister Dominique and I are racing to see who can finish their novel first. It’s not really a fair race. I have my own laptop, my navy blue Toshiba named Tasha, and Dominique uses the ancient desktop in my parents’ room.

My word count goal is 80.000, the same as the other three books. The plan is to be done with the first draft before the end of the month, so I can devote all my time to studying for the ACTs. Not to mention my mother and sisters are threatening to read the first two books. They probably won’t appreciate not knowing what happens in the end.

I finally got my book!

I've been sick for a couple of days (during spring break no less) but on Thursday I finally managed to get up and walk around without running into any walls :) And I got my proof copy from Createspace!

You’re supposed to name eight books you would really like to live in for a week, then tag eight people. Here are my answers:

1. Maximum Ride

2. Any of the Secret Series books

3. Timelock

4. Curse of the Blue Tattoo

5. Firefly Dancer (my first ever novel)

6. Phantom Stallion

7. East

8. Line of Fire (my other novel)

I tag: Everyone who loves a great book! ^_^

Photo Contest

I entered a photo scholarship contest with one of my absolute favorite pictures. You can see the picture (and vote for it, if you'd like!) at the bottom of my blog.

Seven Things...

Here is a list of seven books that everybody should read.

1. The Name of this Book is Secret by Pseudonymous Bosch - it's the first book in the Secrets Series. I think it's YA but pretty much anybody can read it.

2. The Angel Experiment by James Patterson - excellent cast of characters, fight scenes, and flying kids. YA

3. Eon: Dragoneye Reborn by...um, I forgot - my favorite book ever, containing invisible dragons and a girl masquerading as a boy. YA.

4. A Voice In the Wind by Francine Rivers - the first of the Mark of the Lion series. Once again, excellent characters. Christian Romance, I think.

5. Dairy Queen by Catherine Murdock - DJ is one of my all-time favorite novel characters. She lives on a dairy farm, which she basically runs by herself, and she wants to play football. YA

6. Firestorm by I have no idea - first book in the Caretaker Trilogy. Has a very interesting style of writing. For the older end of YA.

7. Mara, Daughter of the Nile by Eloise Jarvis McGraw - I had to read this for school. It's historical fiction. I absolutely loved it; five out of five stars. I guess it's YA.

Driving lessons

It's been a month and four days since I got my learners permit and I got to drive on the road for the second time today! My dad is teaching me and my older sister Liz at the same time and it's fun to see how differently we drive. She loves the accelerator and I love the brake. In spite of my being taller, I drive with my seat closer to the wheel than she does. And everybody said I was going to be the crazy driver :)

When my uncle heard I was driving he said, "Everybody get the women and children off the roads. I'll call the police and have them set up a road block right now." But I just barely hit 25 MPH today.

Dad said I can drive on the roads more often once I make my turns tighter. I love driving. It's so much fun. At this rate I just might be driving before graduation. Oh. Right. That reminds me of something I was supposed to be doing...

Return of the King poster

My mom got me an awesome Return of the King movie poster on Saturday =) I am now officially out of wall space.

EJ

I've spent the last two days at my older sister Ne-Ce's apartment, helping babysit my adorable nephew Ezekiel James. He is so cute, I could say that all day. He practically has a fan club everywhere he goes and I finally have some pics of his adorable self.



He talks to himself sometimes and loves dancing. His little baby noises are adorable (and I've definitely used that word too many times). I miss him already, even if I'm going to see him tomorrow...and the day after...and then again on Wednesday...

And yes, the picture is upside down. I took it from a weird position.

Old Writings

I was cleaning out my desk area today and I came across an old binder. I used to write these newsletters for my nana and the binder was full of them. It was so much fun to read back over all my old writings. I documented everything from the completion of my first novel to the weight of my dog. But my absolute favorite were the poems. Here’s one I wrote about school, oh so originally titled “School”:

Pencils, paper, and my math book.
“Here you are, Teacher, take a look.”
No more free time, no more play
Everyone waits for Saturday.
Lots of homework every night.
Will I ever get these problems right?
Gotta’ go to bed with no TV
I have to go to school in the morning, y’see.
All these math problems in my head
Never get no rest, even in bed.
Teacher says I’m smart and I don’t see why
She says I’ll learn a lot if only I try.
I can already do addition ad count to ten.
So why do I need to go to school again?

Frozen Vegetables

In some families they use ice packs. Some go to the doctor. In my family, we just like to use frozen vegetables.

We used to have ice packs, back when my two eldest sisters lived in the house. They were both competitive athletes and Ne-Ce had a tendency to tumble into concrete walls. But after they left, all our ice packs got busted, and the frozen vegetables were born. Now, whenever something is swollen, somebody says, "go grab some frozen corn/broccoli/greens from the freezer." So far, frozen vegetables have done their duty on needle-pierced knee joints, twisted ankles, fractured toes, broken toes, busted heads, and nail-pierced thumbs. Needless to say, we have a thing for getting hurt... But with frozen corn, who needs the doctor? :)

G.I Joes

I watched G.I Joes a couple of days ago. It was a great movie. Well, except for the part where everybody went psycho. If I'd been the one to write the script, I would have left Ana's brother out of it. My favorite character was Ripcord. My cousin has a sense of humor just like his :)

On a random note, am I the only one who think bringing people back after they die in a novel is a massive no-no?

Liz's Birthday

Can a girl wear a man's watch? Because there was this really cool mens watch that I wanted to get for Liz, but Mom said over her dead body, it was too manly. I thought it was pretty. It had digital and regular time, and a stop watch and an alarm. It was about an inch and a half across the face, so it was pretty big, but it was still awesome.

Create Space

I've been working on my novel, Sacred Promise, so it'll be all nice and shiny and...well, edited, for when I get a proof copy from CreateSpace. I made my cover today. I was pretty sure it was going to be awful but I ended up loving it so much I'm using it for my computer background (sorry EJ, I'll put your picture back up soon ^^).

Yes, this is very random, but I've decided to see just how random I can make my posts. As if weren't already clear how bored I can get ^^

Randomness

I haven't posted anything in a while. Attack of the Chemistry Tests and all that :) Pretty much all I've done this year is study for the ACT which is *gulp* next month, edit novels, and read. And I've been trying to come up with a present for my sister, Lizzy, who just turned eighteen on the tenth. I feel like this should be an extra awesome present, since eighteen is such a huge birthday and I really want to make it special for her.

On another note, I watched the movie Inkheart, which I loved. I'm halfway through the book, and I'll finish it whenever I can figure out where I left it last. And I'm waiting for the book Eona: Dragoneye Reborn to come out. The first book, Eon, is my new favorite book.

I decided to play some sort of ball sport this year, although I can't decide between basketball, soccer, or football. Football would be so much fun. Everybody always tells me I should play basketball because I'm so tall. Soccer, on the other hand, just looks fun, but I have the least experience playing that.

On a random note, has anybody heard anything about the movie Toy Story 3?