Ninth Grade!

Ninth grade has gone by so fast. I honestly can't believe we are done with Junior High School. It doesn't really seem like we completed all four terms yet. I swear we are only half way through the year. But it's over. Crazy. This year has been great. I've met a ton of new friends and I've learned so much. I'm glad I rose to challenges this year, it has really made me a better person. Honors Enlgish was one of those challenges I took upon myself this year. At first I didn't think too much of it. The reading was a little challenging for me, but that's normal. Everything else seemed just fine. The assignments weren't too hard and as for the blogs, I was pretty good at getting them done on time. But as the year went on, everthing seemed to get harder for me. I started getting really behind on the reading, and I started missing a couple blogs and discussion boards every once in a while. And most of us know, that once you get behind it's really hard to get caught back up. Well, it was for me at least. I guess I just got really caught up in other things. Since Honors Enlgish wasn't a class that I was being forced to do, it was kind of just getting pushed down father and father on my priorities list. I know that there were times that I really, really wanted to just be done with it. I was ready to be done. But only having a couple weeks left in the class, why quit now? After all the work I had done, I wasn't going to just let it all go at the very end. So i'm really glad that I stuck with it.

The Way to Watch a Game

This is making up a post clear back from April... Ü


THE WAY TO WATCH A GAME


The way to watch a game is this—
Surround yourself with nothing but you,
the game, and maybe some snacks.
Release yourself from the problems of life
and focus in on the game.

The way to focus yourself is this—
Say goodbye to the world around you,
Say goodbye to your family and friends.
Do all your necessary chores in life now,
To leave you with no interruptions
When the game is at its most intense.
Grab your comfy blanket, your popcorn, and a drink-
Enter your room, leave the world behind.
Get comfortable. Get ready. Get cha’ game face on.
It’s time.

But never think your ever alone,
Your never the only one cheering.
There’s millions of people all around
Getting frustrated, then pumped,
Then right back down again until they
take the lead for the win.
This is when your really not alone,
This is when the screams and cheers
are coming out of everybody.
You are now complete. Your satisfied. You’ve won.

I Am...

I am a gymnast trying to achieve
I wonder what my scores will turn out to be
I hear the crowd cheering me on
I see myself on the winning team
I want to be the best I can be
I am a gymnast trying to achieve.

I pretend to be the best there is
I feel the pressure put on me to stick my routines
I touch the chalk to help me grip the bar
I worry about my hardest skills
I cry aobut the injuries that take place
I am a gymnast trying to achieve.

I understand the rules and consequences
I say to myself "I can do it, just like practice"
I dream of all my routines as perfect as can be
I try to improve everyday
I hope to succeed in gymnastics
I am a gymnast trying to achieve.

To Kill A Mocking Bird vs. Walk Two Moons

To Kill a Mockingbird and Walk Two Moons have many ways in which they are alike, and in which they are different. They both share a story about young children realizing life lessons, yet they are different in what they learn. These young children have completely different stories, but share a theme of judging someone too soon, or before knowing the entire story, is one that we can learn from.

Scout and Salamanca are alike in that they both are affected deeply by their friendships. In To Kill a Mocking Bird, Scout is taught by her friends to be accepting and brave in what is around her. In the story, Scout is complaining about school, and how she isn’t getting along with her teacher very well. Jem, being her brother and a good friend, tries to comfort her by saying “Don’t worry, Scout, Our teacher says Miss Caroline’s introducing a new way of teaching…” and later assures her that the older she got, the better school would be. This helps show that Scout is close with her brother, and their friendship between each other helps her to push through school, even though it’s a pain to her. In Walk Two Moons, Sal’s friend, Ben, helps her. In the book, Sal reads a poem in Mr. Birkway’s class about a traveler who mysteriously disappears. “The waves, with their ‘soft, white hands’ grab the traveler. They drown him. They kill him. He’s gone.” Ben said, “Maybe he didn’t drown. Maybe he just died, like normal people die.” I said, “It isn’t normal to die. It isn’t normal. It’s terrible.” Ben said, “Maybe dying could be normal and terrible.” This passage shows how Ben sees life more broadly, and suggests that terrible events are a normal part of life. Sal doesn’t realize that terrible things do happen and they are unavoidable in life, until the end of the book, when things start to make sense to her. Both these characters, Scout and Sal, have really strong friendships and are taught by their friends constantly throughout the book.

These two narrators are also alike in which they both figure that people aren’t always who they think they are. They aren’t always who you expect them to be. In To Kill a Mocking Bird, Scout tells her father about how she feels about Boo Radley. “Atticus, he was real nice…,” Her father replies by telling her “Most people are, Scout, when you finally see them.” At first, Scout and her friends are suspicious and a little terrified of this Boo Radley. Making accusations, they think of him as a bad person, why else would he be locked up in a house for so long? There perception of him changes by the end of the book when he saves her and her brother’s lives. They then see he isn’t a bad person, but a kind, caring, and loving guy. In Walk Two Moons, Sal and Pheobe also tend to make such accusations towards Mrs. Cadaver of her being a murderer. Sal comes to realize later in the book that people are often different then they seem, just as Mrs. Cadaver ends up being a comforter to her father, and to her mother when she was on the bus. She says “…although there might be axe murderers and kidnappers in the world, most people seem a lot like us: sometimes brave, sometimes cruel and sometimes kind.” Both narrators seem to realize that no matter what they seem to be, people can be just as normal as anyone else, or end up not too different from yourself.

Although these two books have many similarities, they are also in different in a couple of ways. Both books seem to share a common theme of family, and being close to each other. But even though they share this theme, they share it in different ways. In Walk Two Moons, Sal is determined to find her mother, and is willing to do whatever it takes to reunite her family. “I prayed all night to the elm tree outside. I prayed that we would not get in an accident, that we would get to Lewiston, Idaho, in time for my mother’s birthday, and that we would bring her home…” Sal’s determination is completely different that Scout’s in To Kill a Mocking bird. While Sal’s is trying to get her family back together so that they can become happy again, Scout uses her family for comfort and advice, as she tries to figure out the world around her. “Jem and I found our father satisfactory: he played with us, read to us, and treated us with courteous detachment.” Scout’s father was good to her family; he taught her many things, including many life lessons and was a great person. Using his example, Scout learns to judge people the way they should be, and not by what they look like. Although both these books stress on family a lot, they are different in their ways.

In conclusion, these two books have many similarities and differences. Including how friendships have such a great impact on others, how people shouldn’t be judged too soon, and how family plays an important role in people’s lives. These themes are great lessons taught, that not only the characters of these books will take in, but also the readers.

Mother's Day

Mothers are amazing, don't you think? They do so much for everybody. I don't know what I would do without my mother. She is so helpful and loving to everyone, especially my family. She is always willing to help others out, and to have fun. She's smart, funny, and just has a great personality. She is loved by everyone, and is always getting compliments. She's told she looks way young for her age (she likes that compliment), and is always complimented on her entire appearance. From her hair all the way down to what shoes she is wearing. She works so hard to help support my family. She really does work like crazy, and we appreciate her. Her and my dad both work full time. She leaves for work as I leave for school, and she returns late each evening around 7:30-8:00ish, depending on how busy she is. She works for a company called JDClark & Company as an accountant. She is also one that likes to just kick back and have some fun whenever she can. She loves to take vacations, and just spend time with her friends and family. She loves to try new things all the time, even if we have to force her into trying some things (like big rollercoasters). She always gives into our peer pressure and ends up having a great time. She's very supportive of our family. She calls herself "A Proud Momma", because of all the things that her children have accomplished. She loves cheering us on at soccer games, gymnastics meets, football games, and all the other stuff our family does. She loves to see our family all together, especially when we all love eachother. She loves everything about our church, and our neighborhood. She is currently the second counselor in the Beehives, and she really loves it. She enjoys being with kids, and working with them. Her favorite is little babies. She loves them so much, and is always wanting to hold one that is nearby. And once she gets one, she never likes to give them up. My mom is an amazing volleyball player, and we tease her for playing on an "old lady league". She actually works out every week, kind of crazy huh? All around my my is just an amazing lady and mother. I love her so much, and I honestly don't know what I would do without her. She is seriously one of my favorite role models in life and I look up to her so much!

I decided to write this blog about mothers, but as you can see kind of turned out almost like a letter to my mom. It's all her instead of mothers in particular. But that's ok, she's that amazing that she deserves an entire blog dedicated to her. And your guy's mothers should too! It's Mother's Day! Don't forget to tell you mom how much you love her and all that other stuff. Oh and by the way, Happy Mother's Day Mom! I love you! I forgot to put that at the end up there Ü

No Time!

Do you ever have days that just seem like they are packed full of so many things? And you feel like you day is never-ending? Or too short to fit in everything that needs to be done? I've felt this way for about a month or so. It's crazy. With gymnastics, school, church, and everything else in my life, things are just getting hard. Gymnastics has always been a huge part of my life. I would go to school for the first half of the day, and then for the other half i'd been in the gym. It's been this way for a long time, ever since I started competiting in gymnastics, which was about 8 years ago. So it's been awhile. But I've gotten used to it, it's just become a normal habit. School, then gym. That's how it's always been. But lately things seem to be getting harder for me. It's hard for me to fit everything in my life that I want to. Before it's been easy, there wasn't much to choose from. But as I get older, it just seems like the possibilities are getting endless. I'm having to pick and choose what things are more important to me, and what things I could live without. Take Honors English for example. At the beginning of the year it wasn't too hard. I mean yeah, the reading was really hard for me, but it seems like I had the time to really focus on what I was reading without stressing over getting other things done also. And even though I didn't use it very wisely, it just seems like I had more than enough time to read and really understand the book. But lately, i'm falling behind so bad, it's getting hard for me to catch up. Like these blogs, I think I'm missing about three...not including this one. :( . I have actually thought about dropping this class so many times, but then I just think of what a waste the first three terms would of been. I can't give up now, that would be really dumb of me. Might as well, stick it out til the end as best I can. I don't know why it's getting so hard for me, but it's not helping me at all. I think that my gymnastics is a huge part of why I don't have enough time. It's not to hard to figure, i'm in the gym almost every single day. But just like honors english, i've put so much time into that quitting now would just be a huge waste. I should of known when I got so serious in gymnastics that I would be dedicating so much time into it. But still, like I said, it's been this way for a while. So why is it coming back to haunt me now? Not only is it with Honors English, but it's also with school too. I was gone to California last weekend, and I ended up missing about 3 days of school. Thursday, Friday, and Monday. And after checking with most of my teachers, it didn't seem like I was going to miss that much, or at least it wouldn't be too hard to make up. But when I got back I was in for a treat. For the most part, my teachers were right. I had only missed a quiz, and some notes, and just some stuff that I could easily make up within a night. That wasn't the hard part. Fitting that in with the rest of the new homework that was given to me that day was kind of a challenge. For those next two days I was back, I don't think I've had so much homework in my life. And trying to get it done within so little time is hard. I even spent a whole day of doing just homework to get it done. I didn't quite finish it all, and to tell you the truth i'm still finishing a couple things up tonight. Crazy. But it's not like I could have asked my teachers for extra time or something because that wouldn't be fair. But let me tell ya, sometimes I sure wish I could. Life is just crazy right now. My friends and I have come up with a theory that time is being shortened as we get older. Doesn't it seem like it? I think so. Well, I'll tell you about that later. Maybe in one of the three other blogs I still have to make up. I am such a procrastinator. :(.

Aquarium of the Pacific

During my vacation to California for gymnastics, we did many things. One of which was visiting the Aquarium of the Pacific, which is located in Long Beach. This Aquarium is home to more than 12,500 ocean animals, and it represents nearly 500 species. Since there was so much to see and do down there, the main gallery we focused on was the Southern California/Baja Gallery.
The Southern California/Baja Gallery represents the diverse marine environments which are mainly found within the California and Baja California waters. Part of this gallery features a large bed of giant swaying Kelp, some colorful garibaldi (which is actually California’s state fish), giant spined sea stars, California Scorpionfish, and many other examples of local Southern California Ocean life. Examining this was really cool because of the diversity, and numbers of all the ocean creatures. There was a ton of fish! Also in this gallery is where we found the Seal and Sea Lion Habitat. This was one of my favorite parts of our adventure through the aquarium. The Seals and sea lions were really interesting to watch move around and swim. It was really cool to see how they could adapt from water to land and from land to water. We also got to visit the touch pool area in this gallery. They had many things available for us to feel, but the most common was the sting ray. They had sting rays ranging from very small to GIGANTIC. They were literally huge. Feeling them was really cool because of the texture of their smooth, almost slimy feeling skin. It grossed me out, I have to admit, but it was worth it to be able to examine them up close.
All in all, this trip was really fun and I definitely learned a lot about ocean life. I learned how many different kinds of fish there are, and that there’s still a ton more out there for us to discover. I learned that there are so many different types of one creature or fish, and that none of them are alike. Each type has their own characteristics that make them unique and interesting to learn about.