Synthesis Paper...

How did everyone else feel about the synthesis paper? I thought it was kind of confusing and I wasnt quite sure what to write. I figured it out though and I think the comments that we get back will help a lot. Hopefully once I make some changes it will be better, but I will most likely redo a good portion of it.

Random...

I thought that last weeks controversial issue was very good. They did a great job with creating discussion and they also all dressed very nicely. :) This weekend I went to Grace Youth Camp with a bunch of people and we all had a great time. I was really tired when I got home on sunday though. My portfolio is very close to being done and I cant wait to see what people think of it. I worked on it for about 5 hours yesterday. Im really excited to have the day off tomorrow so I can finish my portfolio and get started on some other stuff. I hope everyone had a good weekend!

Going to Kentucky Soon!

So next week Im taking my exams early and taking my first road trip by myself down to kentucky. It's kind of nerve racking, but Im really excited and I can't wait to go. I just have to get all my stuff done early so Im ready! Tis going to be fun.

Whatever....

So I just read Ross's blog! It was a nice message, but oh well. I'm bloging this week early that way I dont forget!!! I'll also comment ALOT to make up for last week and get extra credit. Well right now I really want a nap and I'm so glad we dont have school tommorrow! Dont forget everyone, portfolios are due on WED!!!!

Thanks for coming out and reading my blog

Well I went to grace youth camp this weekend and it was really fun. I went indoor rock climbing, tubing and other stuff. I also went to this neon lights party, it was pretty sweet, glow sticks and black lights everywhere!!! but i got all my homework done before the weekend like a good responsible young male. And lastly, I really hope that you like this post that I wrote..... because it took 6HOURS TO WRITE IT!!!

True Story

I'm a failure.....

Well, at about 11:30, I saw that Jake and Luke had yet to post a blog.  So I went to call them, but then realized I didn't have their number.  So, I decided to call someone who knew it.  Now I know that they went to school with Taylor, so I went to call her using a phone book, but I guess it was out dated.  It said Elm street New Era, but I got a grumpy old lady saying "We don't do rentals."  Then I thought "Hey, Casey has Taylor's number!  And I have Casey's!"  So I called and she was asleep...  There was too many smiths in the phone book, and I even tried facebook, but to many smiths!!  Now it's just past, midnight, and my mission is a failure...

Freaking Out A Little Bit At A Time.

The rough draft is due tomorrow. I have been planning all weekend long (as well as finishing my portfolio) and my rough draft is still skeletal. I'm not sure what to do. I don't think I need help with writing it, but I need a better way to get my ideas down. I know what I want to say and I know the words I want to use, but transitioning and making my rough draft fluid is becoming an extreme challenge.

On a positive note, my portfolio is SO CLOSE to being finished! I have one quick question:

I was reading the professionalism page in the packet and it says to use a variety of fonts. However, I do not want a variety of fonts as I feel it will make my portfolio seem indecisive and unprofessional. I was wondering if I would get marked down at all for not using multiple fonts and sticking with one or two.

Time

I felt like the free write on Time was just me complaining about how much time I do not have. I am very stressed out about my senior portfolio and I'm hoping that I have enough time to make it look very good. I don't think that it will look as good as a scrap book but I'm going to try. I also was very stressed out about our synthesis essay and at first was very confused. I think I was able to get it down and hopefully it was what Mrs. K was looking for. Also, I wanted to say that Noble, Casey, Taylor, and Amy did a great job on Friday presenting on capital punishment. Some of the facts really surprised me and it felt like I actually learned quite a lot from the presentation.

Stressed Out!

Okay so this weekend has been intense. I've been working on school work just about 24/7. On Friday I came home from school and worked on my portfolio for about an hour and a half and then ate supper and then worked on it some more. Then Saturday I woke up at 10 and went to Muskegon to get some pictures I printed out (for my portfolio) at Sam's Club & Wal*Mart. And I also got some last minute things at Hobby Lobby, Target, Meijer, and Wal*Mart. Then I got home around 8 and my mom and I finished putting everything away like 40 minutes later. It was such an exhausting day that I just had to sit down and relax a little. I watched The Social Network and then did some more work on my portfolio. Then I went to sleep. I set my alarm to wake me up at 1pm, because otherwise I won't wake up. But I did wake up before that, I think it was like 8 because my dog wouldn't shut up. My dog is so annoying when she barks. She seriously just barks for no reason. Anyways I tried to go back to sleep and I kind of did, but then woke back up at 10. I worked on my scrapbook for around 2 hours while watching Life as We Know It, and then ate dinner. Then I worked on it again for what seemed like forever. I'm so stressed out about it. But I did manage to get everything done except for one letter of recommendation and my table of contents. But I'm also stressed out because I am still working on the synthesis essay and it's just not coming together. I wish there was an easier way of doing it. And I still have calculus to do that I don't understand. I guess we have a winter weather advisory right now, so I'm hoping for a snow day!

NO IDEA>>>>

I HAVE NO IDEA HOW TO DO THIS PAPER!!!!! like seriously! grrrr... so most of my portfolio is done. i think it looks super good!!! cant wait for our day off so i can just finish it. my ribs hurt really bad for some reason and i cannot think about this paper ugh it hurts so bad...

So here's one thing I've learned this weekend...

Working on my portfolio is taking me some time and because of that my back hurts pretty badly right now after laying on my stomach for so long. :) I think it is turing our pretty well though and I'm going to be very happy when I finally finish it (hopefully tomorrow). I didn't start working on my synthesis essay rough draft until today, so I know I'm definitely going to have to work really hard on it for the final draft after we get them back. I feel like all this weight has fallen off of my shoulders as I completed my rough draft because it has been there all weekend when I was unable to work on it. However, I had one of the best weekends as I was able to go with my family to Team State at the Kellog Arena in Battle Creek to watch my cousin and friends wrestle. The Hesperia HS Wrestling Team did their best and placed 2nd in the state! :) I'm looking forward to Individual State coming up on Friday, and I hope this week goes by fast and I hope I feel accomplished as we turn in our portfolio's and continue working hard in class.

S#&$ has hit the fan!!!!

ok i have the essay about johnny got his gun done, and most of my portfolio, thats all good, but because of my ability to not remember, and no one reminded me, i forgot to ask for letter of recomendations for the portfolio. SOOOOOO I think im screwed there!!!!!!!!

Another Post

Well, I got a lot of work to do on my Senior Portfolio. It aint too difficult though. That would suck to fail, because then you dont graduate. Bummer! Well I'll see ya'll tommorow.

So...synthesis essay yeah??

So I'm sitting here desperatly trying to write a decent rough draft for my synthesis essay and I'm really struggling. The thing we are supposed to be explaining doesnt make much sense to me the way its phrased and I find the whole packet really confusing. Im also not sure on how long its supposed to be. It starting to get REALLY frusterating because I want to be able to do a good job on my rough draft so I have something solid to start with for my final draft but I have no clue where to start or how to put my thoughts together. Argh on giant confusing papers....yep just argh....

Johnny Got His Gun and Stuff!!!

First of i would like to share my thoughts about Johnny got his gun, personally i like the book alot. I like the way that the first half of the book is written , it is such a unique way that although it makes thing's confusing it allows for us readers to become more attached to joe, without this bond that develops between us the readers and joe the message of the story would be weaker and the book would ultimately not be as good,

And on a side note this weekend has been extremly busy, i have to finish my synt rough draft and my senior profolio

weekend

im ready for a weekend without a lot of homework! it seems like that's all i've been doing lately, i feel like im going to die. As much as i want to enjoy all of my senior year.. i really wish spring break could hurry up so i can finally relax for a while!... if we dont get to much homework over the break(:

Weekend?

My weekend consists of a lot of homework and its pretty much only for one class, this one. This class is definetly challenging and I am glad that I am taking it.

At The Week's End...

For being a four day week, it was a looooonnnng week! After having multiple things to do over the week, I am quite pleased that I made it to the end. I went with the science classes to the Bodies Revealed exhibit, had Concert Band Festival, and presented my groups controversial issue. To me that is a stressful week!
I am so happy with the way our issue presentation went! I was very excited to show the class all of our info, along with the movies which I thought was a new idea, and see what everyone thought about it. Hopefully the rest of you enjoyed it and learned a few new things about the death penalty (and liked the videos :])

My Weekend Ahead!

So my friday consists of College English and Criminal Law homework :(
I need a life, other than school! LOL
I haven't even started my essay, and am half way through my portfolio.
I'm really worried about my portfolio, since I'm one of the few doing an electronic one.
I think it's creative, yet professional...Hopefully!!!

Saturday is then going to consist of Competitive Cheer REGIONALS!!!!
Wish our team good luck, hopefully we make it out to state!

And Sunday I am actually breaking down and finishing my homework if it isn't done and I'm going to see "The Bieb's" movie; I'm a recently converted fan I guess!

Well happy homework days ahead! :)

Decidete

I'm writing this while listening to Funky. He's a Latin artist. A lot of the kids that came from Mexico to my church like to listen to him so naturally I picked up listening to his music. It's making me want to go to a Latin club somewhere. I want to dance to all the real Spanish music. However, I am VERY white. I can do a lot of the dances that they do, but like I said, I am white. It would be so much fun because I would be so awkward-looking!

I'm very excited about presenting our controversial issue tomorrow. I believe it will be a good one! We have Captial Punishment and from previous discussions with people about it, we should (keyword: should) have some actual debate about it instead of everyone agreeing on it. We shall see!!

ARGH!!!

Im so crazy stressed right not its not even funny!! With the rough draft for the synthesis essay due Monday and a youth retreat this weekend I have no clue when I'm going to get anything done!!! Not to mention the portfolio and the fact that I still dont have a binder to put it in. Wow I think its time to crack down and maybe hope for another snow day??

Senior Portfolio :)

as much as i am stressing about getting everything right on my portfolio...i am excited to have the finished product soon! :)
i love to scrapbook and be creative so putting it all together will be the easy part...
just have to do last minute edits to everything and the project will soon be done! yay!!

Portfolio!!

I'm a little concerned because it seems like everyone in the class is doing a scrap book portfolio, except me! I am not really the artsy type, and I love using PowerPoint, so I decided to do mine electronically. Once I realized practically the whole class was not doing PowerPoint's it kinda made me freak a little. I still like my portfolio and feel that it is coming along nicely, it just feels weird that I am not doing it like everyone else.

myrtle beach! :))

I have an amazing opportunity approaching me very soon. I get go to Myrtle Beach with a couple friends. I'm very excited but a little worried about this class. I have absolutely no worries with my other classes, but it puts me at ease knowing that ms. k is going to help me out a lot by emailing me and keeping me up to date... just a few more days! :)

Ta-daaa!

Just finished up my Portfolio!  I don't mean to brag or anything, but I think it turned out rather well.  As in, better than yours!  Just kidding.  But really, I'm very proud of the work I put into it.  And having another snow day always helps!

WOOHOO SNOW DAY!

I absolutly adore these four day weeks!! They give me an opportunity to catch up on all my work. Between this class, college stuff, job applications and scholarships my schedule is packed!! The days off let me consentrate on stuff for this class and my portoflio which by the way is lacking in almost everyway. I'm kind of confused as to how to put together the paper version. Any suggestions?? Johnny Got His Gun is getting pretty good! The indivdual stories make the chapters go by really fast! Im excited to see how the second book works. I wonder if it will be more short stories or if he will wake up and start to comment on whats going on around him.

??

sooo im hoping for no school tomorrow. The roads are kind of bad out already and we got quite a bit of snow today I was surprised. this weekend was alright nothing great, the dance wasn't so good nobody came and the music wasn't good. hopefully next weekend i have a lot less homework then i had this weekend.

Well...

Well I'm pretty confused about whether we have school tomorrow or not. A lot of people say we don't but its not on the news. I think I'll just not go anyway. But anyways we were suppose to blog about the particular thing. I guess my particular thing would be my guitar because music is my thing. If i didn't have my guitar I would probably cause a genocide (but not really). Ohh and good job friday girls you did great.

No school

So i guess there is no school tomorrow!!!!! YAAAAAAAHHHHH I think that im going to go sledding and hang out with my super cool sister Maddy. I really love her so much she is so pretty. Anyways im sitting here ready to go to bed in my boxers and i had to wait for a good while to get onto this blog because my computer and internet are from the stone age. Anyways I guess we are supposed to write about a particular thing to us, i know ms. K has told me many times what it means but i still dont fully understand the point. So maybe my particular thing is my ability to listen and comprehend life and others people's ideas. So yeah no school woo i dont have to see all you people tomorrow except maybe you Brian ;) good night.

My Particular thing

Well, I saw some people had a particular thing post, so I hope its not to late to get credit for that post. Anyways, I'd have to say my particular thing is the Green Bay Packers because I'm from Wisconsin and they have always been apart of my life know matter what is going on in my life. And they won the Super Bowl this year! woo hoo!

Hoping for a snow day

So its snowing quite a bit and it would be sweet if we had a snow day tomorrow! That would give us an extra day to study for the quiz! Soo everybody do your snow day dance!

Weekend!

Well sadie hawkens was actually alot more fun than I thought it would be. I expected there to be more people then there was, but It was fun. I just went a catholic mass for the 4th time in my life. I always feel awkward because I don't know all the sayings and chants, but its a new experience. I hope we have a snow day tomorrow!

~word~

Another Quick Thought...

I'm really hoping for a snow day tomorrow. I need another day this weekend to relax. I feel like this past week has been rather busy--even though we didn't have school Wednesday. I was at the hospital all day long so it didn't feel like a day off.

I'm having mixed emotions about the snow. I love how pretty it is, I'm just really sick of being cold all the time. I can't wait until I don't have to put on different clothes for being inside and outside. I like in the summer when I can just go outside without worrying about making sure I'm not going to be cold.

Reflections...

I've been thinking a lot about college lately. I'm really torn between a few and I know where I want to go, but I keep having second thoughts. Calvin is such an amazing college and I absolutely love it. I can see myself there and I know it will be great for me. However, there are things pulling me towards Hope and MSU. I've visited all three and I love all of the campuses. I liked how MSU was it's on little city, how Hope is a part of Holland, and how Calvin seems like a community close to Grand Rapids. I think that educationally, Calvin or Hope would put me in the best position to get accepted into medical school. But, MSU is more known for that. U of M medical school loves Calvin students, which is the main reason why I'm leaning more towards Calvin. But I'm still torn....

As far as the quiz tomorrow, I'm EXTREMELY nervous. I have been reading this book so quickly, because it is so good, that I forget to annotate because I don't want to miss anything.

Another thing:
I'm still confused as to why we discuss the themes of the book after the first couple of chapters. I thought a theme was something that the whole book was about, which would imply figuring it out at the end of the book, not in the first couple of chapters. I don't know what the themes of this book are and we have a quiz about it tomorrow. It doesn't make sense to talk about them because we haven't read the whole book yet. It would be so much more enjoyable of a book if we didn't have to try to predict what is going to happen as a class. When I read books just for fun, I try to figure out what is going to happen early, but it's more fun to guess by myself rather than hearing other people's guesses. And it bothers me when someone gives away part of the book because I want to read it for myself, and not because someone tells me.

I still have no idea what a "particular thing" is.

Controversial Issue and My Weekend

I'm just going to start out by saying I am very glad my groups controversial issue is over with! We had plenty of time to work on it and got it done on time, but I was pretty nervous after hearing quite a few students say that they didn't know how much of an "issue" it was really going to be since a lot of people feel the same way about it. I'm really glad that we had questions that got people talking and understanding why abortion is and has always been an issue not only in America but all over the world. Overall I feel we did a pretty good job while trying to stay on topic and keep the conversations going, so I hope we got a good grade! :)
As of my weekend, once again it was a pretty crazy and tiring one. At the end of the day Friday, my sisters and I had to hurry home and get ready to leave for Lansing. Once we arrived we watched the Michigan v. Michigan State wrestling meet. Michigan took the win with a final team score of 24-15 (I believe). I was very nervous as I watched my cousin Dan and his friends wrestle some tough matches. I had a lot of fun and I'm glad I could go with my family. :) We then went to Denny's to eat some dinner/breakfast. I shared an omelette with my dad along with some toast and a hash brown. We didn't leave until around midnight and arrived home around 2:00 in the morning. Saturday I woke up at 10:30 and went to Sabbath School with my family. Later in the evening on Saturday, my sister Kaylee and I got ready for the Sadie Hawkens Dance as my sister Kirstie painted our nails and her friend Carly did our hair. We took some pictures and then went to the dance around 8:30. It was pretty fun but I was quite tired. We then went to my church's youth lock-in after the dance and played sardines for a little while. Overall my weekend was fun and now I am just relaxing at home and hopefully will work on my portfolio quite a bit today. :)

Abortion!!

So we had our Controversial Issue today, and it wasn't very CONTROVERSIAL! It stinks when everyone in the class thinks the same way! Its ok though, im not mad, I just thought it was kind of funny!

not a fan...

i thought 1984 was such a good book but everyone said to just wait until we read johnny got his gun. everyone said it was so great but i just cant get into it....at least not yet.
i am hoping the big starts to pick up a little bit and get more interesting soon!!

Not Enough Time

I am starting to really hate the tests that we have been having. I know that my structure needs to be worked on but I just hate the feeling I get when I see the questions and feel like I will not have enough time to answer it properly. I see on my paper that it says to outline but wouldn't that take up quite a bit of time because on my outline I would have to write topics to write about plus I would then have to write about each topic. I know I need to get better at it but I just always feel pressured with the time limit but I know there isn't anything we can do about it. I have been taking good notes but and I know the material, its just that I can't get it all on paper. I know I would be able to explain my thoughts verbally but I need to work on doing it on paper. Hopefully I get way better at that.

IDK?

I don't really understand what a "particular thing" is. I am not really sure if I have one. I don't keep things from when I was little. The longest thing I have ever had is a pet I guess. I've had this cat for 10 years. So I suppose that would have to be my particular thing. Haha. I also love my family like Amy said! :D

my particular thing.

In class I wasn't sure I had a particular thing, I didn't know what they were or what they could be. After leaving class, I was left thinking and wondering what is my particular thing? Then I realized my particular thing as to be my family. I have two older brothers and one little sister. We are all spaced in out in age, but we all get along great, for the most part. Along with my parents. Though they may be split they still talk, and remain friends. Whenever I think of my childhood, it always has my family involved. They are my particular thing. (:

I MISS WINSTON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I hope it is ok that I am not typing up my particular thing. I already shared it in class, so I don't think I need to share it again! Instead, I wanted to talk about how much I dislike Johnny Got his Gun and like 1984. I really miss the layout of 1984. I like knowing what is going on in Winston's head, but also getting to know other characters in the book, and seeing how they interact. I dislike in Johnny how we are constantly in his head! I want to know what other characters in the story are feeling, not just Joe! 1984 was so much easier for me to read because it was fast moving and kept my attention. Now, I find myself struggling to read through the chapters because either I am confused, or just bored! I MISS WINSTON!! I am sure that Johnny is a great book, and maybe I will grow to somewhat like it in the end, but for now I am NOT a fan!!

Are YOU Particular?

Reading some blog entries about Particular Things got me thinking about my own.

I specifically started thinking about my brother. We have a really close family so having one brother he's extremely important to me. I've often told him that he's made me the person that I am, mostly because if I was an only child I would have been intolerable. This is what a particular thing is about, something that makes you unique. It builds your character. Just as all of the flashbacks build the character of Joe.

Portfolio

Quick question, does our portfolios have to follow the order given in the back of the handout we were given?

It goes,
Cover,
table of contents,
introduction letter,
resume
letters of recommendation
life skills and exhibits,
academic skills and exhibits
miscellaneous.

I have mine in a different order, and I was hoping I could keep it that way,
I don't want to redo pages of information to match what I'm trying to say.

Each Has A Story...

Opinions are beautiful things; they let us express ourself and our stands on issues. It certainly seems like we're exercising our opinions quite frequently in this class! And yesterday's discussion on honor was a perfect example.
I agree with most people that we have different ways of describing what honor is. To me, receiving honor is to be recognized for your actions. Whether those actions be academic (honor roll), military, community (awards for service), or otherwise, being honored for something means you did something that others feel was good for society. One memory of being honored was at a middle school science fair. I received an honorable mention award for my project. It said to me: You did a good job on this project and we appreciate you coming out and presenting it to the community. Being honorable doesn't always mean putting your life down for your country or others (which is most definitly honorable), it can be as simple as recognition at a science fair.
I haven't had many interactions with honor. What I do know is that it can be bestowed upon different types of people and circumstances. This is just my vision of what honor is to me, part of my opinion. If we all put our opinions together without critisism, we could make a beauiful mosaic of opinions and people!

Honor

I was a little confused today when we talked about honor because it means different things to different people. I don't that we should be judged when it comes to our opinion. When I think of honor I think of one of my friends older sisters. Her Fiance went to war around 4 years ago. He died when a bombing took place. She told us that she wanted to go fight for him and do what he loved since he couldn't anymore. So she decided to join the army. She has been there fighting ever since and she loves it. Thats what I think of when we talk about honor.

Honerable Mentions?

So...Today was a little awkward.  No one was really talking, and when we did, our views on what was honerable were always clashing.

When your contry goes to war, people HAVE to go and fight.  If they don't, the government will draft and get rather violent in finding recuits.  And I think that volenteering to go to war knowing that someone else will not have to is very honerable.  I also think that if the extreme conditions (such as Joe's situation,) are enlarged and showed to everyone who enlists themselves, then that is even more worthy of honor. 

This is almost a completly different view on honor compared to Dalton's, but I feel this is true.
Please comment and tell me if you think this is a decent or poor description on honor and enlisting.

Particular Thing

My particular thing is actually an event that has happen to me, It is when i worked as a teaching assistant for sumer school. This is a particular thing for me, because this was when i figure out what i wanted as a career

My 'Particular' Thing... (Haha we aren't supposed to use 'thing!)

So my particular item is about 8 inches tall, 18 years old, and stuffed. It's a stuffed horse named Puffy. I've had this stuffed animal since I was born, and I'll continue to have it untill either him or I die first. He's connected through my childhood; memories of loosing him, him comforting me when times got hard, and just the companionship of something close to you. Plus this stuffed animal survived my house fire, it's almost like we were meant to be! :) I know it sounds stupid, I'm 18 years old myself and I still sleep with a stuffed animal. Oh well! It makes me happy, so what else should matter? My 'particular thing' is like a best friend to me, and he doesn't talk back!! :)

That Coldplay Song

Viva La Vida!

Riding in the car with friends, the radio starts playing the song, "I used to rule the world, seas would rise when I gave the word," and then I start screaming "OH MY GOSH! This is the song that was playing when my mom and I dropped my brother off at college. It makes me sad, because it reminds me of the time when I basically became an only child, because I'm the only kid left at home!" But then I stop screaming, because I realize that my friends probably don't care. By this time the chorus starts, "I hear Jerusalem bells are ringing, Roman Cavalry choirs are singing." The song Viva La Vida by Coldplay is one of my particular things because of the connection I hold between my brother parting and the song being on the radio.

Particular things are all around us, whether we see them clearly or not. Johnny Got His Gun has actually got me thinking a lot about the particular things in my life.

Busy Mid-Winter Break

Thursday: Had an awesome night with Kristen and Alexandria at Kristen's beautiful home. When we first arrived, we at Little Ceasars pizza. It was pretty much awesome! Later worked some on our controversial issue project, listened to music, ate some delicious peaunt buttery ice cream and talked.

Friday: We woke up around 8:30 to get ready and then head to GVSU! :) There we talked to a counselor lady about different questions and important info we need to know about next year while attending this awesome college. Then we took a tour of the campus (my first, and Kristen and Alexandria's second) which was extremely cold and too long. It helped me a little more since I hadn't taken it yet. Although, my sister Kirstie has given me a brief tour when I went to the campus on a visit earlier, and she did a pretty good job. :) Later in the afternoon, we did a little shopping at Walmart and then Kristen took Alexandria and I both home.

Saturday: My mom, my sister Kaylee, and I all woke up around 5:30 am to be at my grandma's house in Hesperia by 7:00am where we would then hitch a ride with one of our dear friend's, Jenna. We then left and were on a 3 and half to 4 hour ride in order to get to Oscoda High School. Here the Hesperia Wrestling team had a tournament. I haven't been to any of theirs this year, and since I am a senior, I decided that it would be nice to watch my cousin, Zack Yates, (a freshman at Hesperia High) wrestle a little bit before I graduate. They all placed (about 11 in first and 1 in each of the second, third, and fourth places) and all did an awesome job. It was a very exhausting day, however, as we didn't arrive home until midnight. It was a lot of fun and I'm really glad I went. :)

Today (Sunday): As of our last day of break, it was more relaxing at first. My dad and I then worked on my mousetrap car for physics (your welcome Andy Brozek) for about an hour and a half. Then around 3:45 we went to meet up with my sister, Kirstie and her boyfriend Bobby at the Main Street Pub in Allendale near to her apartment. We ate out for the Valentine's weekend and just to see each other again since my family hasn't seen her in over 2 weeks. We had fun, and of course we all got full. It was sort of depressing though because they were out of deep-fried dill pickles (their the best!) and sweet potato fries. :( It was good anyways. We then arrived home after making a quick stop at Walmart and Goodwill where I baked a Valentine's cake for my design class and worked on some other things. Now here I am telling all of you about my busy, exhausting, and fun-filled 3 day weekend. I hope you all had just as much fun (and sleep) as I did. See you all tomorrow! :)

(I don't think I really could have waited any longer to post this. :) )

Bummer...

Well this weekend wasn't the best. What better way to spend the midwinter break than sitting at home doing nothing... good job Andy, Brian, and Dom friday even though you guys lost your slides.......... and that's my blog for the week.
Stay classy Shelby!

(:

sooo im thinkin that I dont like the new book as much as I thought i would, or atleast not yet. im sad i misses the issue friday hopefully it all went good im looking forward to the topic this week! sooo spring break needs to get here asap so we can be that much closer to graduation(:

Yeah Yeah

Well, our controversial issue didnt go exactly the way we wanted to but whatever. Stuff happens. I'm just watching the grammys. Pretty entertaining. The new book is pretty good. Well I'll see ya tomorrow.

ready to graduate!

From working on last minute applications and scholarships to narrowing down my choice of college has made me ready to graduate! High school has gone by extremely fast but I am ready to start a new chapter in my life!
I am very grateful for this class in preparing me for college courses.
GRADUATION PLEASE COME QUICKLY! :)

College life

Sam, Christopher and I went to MSU this weekend for the ADS competition. We had so much fun! I kind of felt like I was in college with freedom for a whole weekend. Sleeping in a hotel room with a roommate was like getting a new college roommate (and mine was really awesome, btw). I think I'm going to love college.

...

im so glad that we got to have a three day weekend! but man am i tired. i should be doing productive things but cant bring myself to do it. i better go and get my homework done (talk about the last minute.) ready for another long week of school... :(

I hope everyone enjoyed are small break.  I had a great time I was able to hang out with some friends and go for a nice snowmobile ride.  Its nice to start getting some warmer temperatures im kinda bummed that the snows all melting but cant wait for the things ahead this summer

Lots of Stuff on My Mind

I had a really fun three day weekend. On Thursday I went with Kristen to Chelsea's house and we hung out for a while, then we went over to Kristen's house where we all spent the night. After eating some pizza and ice-cream of course. And then we all woke up super early and headed to the most amazing place on Earth. And of course I am talking about Grand Valley. All three of us have basically decided that that is the place we're all going to be next year. I was looking forward to visiting my brother, but I found out two days before we left that he was going to Washington D.C. for that weekend, which means I don't get to see my brother! Then I decided I wanted to visit my brother's friend (Kirstie) but she got the flu and didn't want to get out of bed. So we went to Kristen's admissions appointment and then went on a tour. It was Chelsea's first official tour and Kristen and I's second official tour. Afterwards we did some other stuff. And then Saturday I got to be lazy, I accidentally fell asleep in my living room Friday night (my mom hates when I do this). And woke up and 5 in the morning, then I went upstairs and fell back asleep in my bedroom and woke up around 11ish. I really didn't do anything all day except work on our Controversial Issue PowerPoint. I got a lot done with that. Then I fell asleep around 1 or 2 in the morning and woke up at 8 o'clock because my dad was supposed to pick me up and take me shopping around 10ish. So that's what I did today. I went to my dad's house and ate breakfast, then I went shopping (I got a dress and some new Converse), and then I went back to my dad's and his wife made me a cake for Valentine's day (the cake was heart shaped red velvet with cherry frosting and heart sprinkles on top), and now I'm at home working again on the Controversial Issue project and FaceBooking and texting and playing Freecell (game #9211 the only one I can win).

Great

This was a great LONGGGG weekend, i hope everyone enjoyed it. Uhm i hope we did alright for our presentation thing i think we did. Anyways i dont know what to say really?

New + Old = ???

I'm really starting to enjoy this class. It's making me accountable for projects and assignments that might not be mentioned in class, which helps me to stay on top of what we're doing. It's probably a good habit to get into, which is part of the reason I took College English.
Johnny Got His Gun is certainly an interesting piece of literature. It's so metaphorical and leaves you in the dark in so many places that you have to think about it in order to understand what you're reading! I love things that make me think, especially a book, thats part of reading.
Well, my groups Controversial Issue is fast approaching and I'm looking forward to putting it together and presenting. It will take alot of time from everyone in our group, but each of us has so many good ideas that it won't be any problem at all :]
Senior Portfolios are also coming up quick! I'm surprised at how time flies, especially when you have a deadline... :/ Most of mine is put together and ready to go, but I still have a couple parts to add to it. I really like looking over what I've done through the years, even though there aren't that many of them!

College English in general

So this three day weekend has flown by! Of course, that might be because I spent friday being sick like the rest of my family...nasty little flu bug! YUCK!! Anyway, on to things englishy in nature! Johnny Got His Gun is starting to get really interesting! I really like the way Trumbo wrote this book. The only downside is that flipping back and forth from reality to memories can get quite confusing. Hopefully as the book keeps going things will begin to settle down as Joe realizes where he is and what's really happening! On a more depressing note, my portfolio isn't doing very well at all. I can't seem to figure out how to make all of my pieces match in tone or find a good way to lay them out and present them...gr. Maybe just maybe inspiration will fall out of the sky...here's to hoping!!

Weekend!

This weekend has flown by, but its been a good one! The portfolio is coming along and falling into place. Im looking for a good $$$ summer job, any one have good ideas?

:P

This weekend has been great. Friday I went to GVSU with Chelsea, and Alexandria. Even though I have already been there, we decided to go back to show my dad. I think I have finally made the decision (it took forever!) lol. I am still working on my portfolio and its coming together very nicely. I've had a lot of fun with it!

Johnny got his gun Quiz???

I must not have been paying attention in class cause i don't know if we have a quiz on monday when we get back, does anyone?

Good Stuff

Well Im so glad we have friday off! Plus we don't have any homework those days! Lucky us! I'll finish my portfolio this weekend and be done with everything! Today's debate was funny today. I liked it.

...college english (:

Now that I am in College English and used to the way things run, I'm not so stressed anymore. It's still challenging, but well worth it.

I'm not liking this book Johnny Got His Gun, their is to much tragedy and pain, magnified in this book for me, but I can handle it.

ohhh, and goood job Andy, Brian and Dominac you guys did really good for not having much of a slide show. At first I was nervous about controversial issues but, I have faith in my group and I am sure we will do fine.

Johnny Got His Gun

Johnny Got His Gun so far is pretty interesting. I do find it sort of difficult to read when Joe goes back from his memory to reality. I thought we were supposed to read more so I am now on chapter 8 but am starting to realize more what is the reality and what is not. I think the assignment we had in class over what was imaginable and what was real helped me out a bit. I am finding it hard to take notes on this book because I don't really know what I am supposed to be looking for. In 1984 I knew when something stood out and I feel like this novel has so many things going on that it is hard to really decide what is important and what is not. I heard this book gets really good and so far I think it is interesting but hopefully it gets less confusing.

Also, I would like to add in that Andy's group did a good job today. :) I thought you guys did great especially since you didn't have all the information with you. It really showed that you guys knew the information well.

Johnny got his gun!!!!

We are only 5 chapters into the book but i thought that i'd post my thoughts about it. I feel that the book doesn't sugar coat what acctually happens in war. This results in a story that is very tragic and i feel that it is only going to get worst as it goes along

Controversial Issue!

So, my groups controversial issue is fast approaching (next week!) and I as starting to get nervous! I know that we will be prepared, but I hope the class participates in the discussion questions that we provide! Since our topic is on Abortion, I hope this creates a heated debate! Don't forget class to feel free to share your personal opinions.... please!!!!!!

Strive

Out of popular request (and the requirement), I'm going to post my free write on "Particular events"


Don't run through life, stop to smell the flowers.  Don't get credits, live the jokes in Calc. and games of dodgeball.  Remember the lyrics and message, not the singer or show.

As you die/pass on, you are left with your memoires, and if your memoires are achievments, not stories, then you did not have one life to live and wasted a life.  You will not be remebered, your life is of no significance when your dead and you've touched no one.

Embrace your journey to the end, don't abuse it.



I thought this free write turned out pretty well...well...well enough to post.
What do you guys think?  Is your life about the flowers or the path?

The Particular Thing

Here is my free-write for today. I didn't want to share in class because it seemed irrelevant to what we were talking about:

"I know that there must be some sort of significance in the 'particular thing' because otherwise we wouldn't be writing about it. However, i don't see what the significance is. He says that it is something that sticks with you but doesn't have a reason to stick with you.

I'm not sure what a 'particular thing' to me is. I guess it could be music (because we are listening to it right now). I love all kinds of music and i get rediculously distracted by it sometimes. My love of music stays with me, but it draws away from things. I don't like music with lyrics because it limits the power of it. Without lyrics, it could be saying anthing; with lyrics, it's confined to mean what the words are.

There are times when I'm watching movies and the music tells the story way better than the video and script can. That way, everyone can kind of make their own version of what happened instead of what some director wants to happen.

I probably should go back to the 'particular thing' that I am supposed to be writing about. i think that Joe's 'particular thing' with the phone is more than a phone. It's a symbol of something more, I just don't know what it is."

114 Days...

So this is really random, but it's been stuck in my head for the past couple of days: the topic of Graduation. 114 days left, including weekends and breaks, untill Graduation. I honestly can not wait. I just got my post card in the mail about picking our caps and gowns up in March. I'm so anxious, I want June 3rd to come really quick! Okay, ranting is over with.

Reading through Johnny Got His Gun seems waaaay more interesting than 1984. Don't get me wrong, I like the political aspect and rebelling against the government, but it was a boring read. JGHG is more in depth with emotions, and War is a topic that is hitting home for a lot of people these days. I like how the story jumps back and forth between time periods because it keeps you, as the reader, engaged in what is being said. Hopefully the book only gets better from here!

P.S: Come see the Varsity Competitive Cheer team today @ our home meet tonite @ 6! :)

OK I ADMIT I FORGOT

Ok well i was in the great counrty of Canada this past 6 days or so, so i was informed to make it up by blogging tonigh. I hope everyone enjoyed their long weekend ;) Anyways that test was a real dousy it really sucked in better terms. I wasnt really prepared for it and i had a tough time thinking of ideas. Anyways maybe she will give us some grace or something.

Snow Days

Im glad we had a couple snow days in a row.  It was nice to take a break and relax.  Hopefully we all didnt foget about 1984 and were all able to focus on are quiz tomorrow.

Last Minute Blog

I realize I've waited a little longer to blog than I should have, but I guess it's because I knew I had a lot of time to do so because of all the time off we had. :) So, I had a pretty good week being able to just relaz at home, watch movies I haven't watched in forever, and hang out with my sisters. I actually got to go sledding! :) I haven't gone sledding in just about forever (or so it seems). My little sisters and I had to shovel all the snow in front of our porch, under our deck in our back yard, and out to our dogs pen on Wednesday afternoon. Afterwards, we decided to go sledding down one of the huge snow piles my dad has been building up all winter using his plow on the tractor. It was pretty fun. We went the on Thursday as well because it was so fun! Then we (me, my sister Kaylee, my mom, and my dad) went to Hesperia's Snowcoming Saturday night after decorating for four hours on Friday and then for three more hours on Saturday before the dance. We had a good time, as always, but were also very tired afterwards. We came home around midnight and didn't go to sleep until about 1:30 this morning (I guess that's why I slept in until 11:00 instead of 9:00). Well, I guess that's just about it. I didn't really do anything too exciting this week, but I had time to just breathe for once. Now I'm getting ready for bed and waiting for morning to come and bring another week... one I am sure will be busy. :)

Snow days

The snow days were great. I got a lot done with homework and reading. I feel like I don't know what day it is anymore! lol Its not good. Well i'm kind of nervous about the essays now because I never got to conference because of the snow days. Hopefully my moms advice will be good enough.

Thanks 4 the Snow Days

I have had some time to work on my op-ed essay and have fixed things that Ms.K and I went over. I hope most of it is fixed and I hope that I receive a good grade for it. I also started reading Johnny Got His Gun and felt like I was kind of confused in the first couple pages. I won't say much because I don't know if people have started reading it but I figured we still had to even though there were snow days. I have heard that the book is really good and that is what I am expecting. I still am dreading the test on 1984 but I know its better to get it over with.

...

Having the last few days off has been nice because i've been able to get caught up on some homework. Im hoping that this week we can start Jonny Got His Gun, I dont know anything about the book but I've heard its really good. I also can't wait to get our tests for 1984 done and out of the way!!!

Senior Year

Well I know this really is off topic because I'm not really talking about College English, but whatever.

Anyway, I've been thinking about how much I have changed since ninth grade. In ninth grade I had three really close friends and now it's our senior year and I don't talk to any of them. Not because I think I'm better than them, but because we just drifted apart, plus I think I matured a lot! For the most part I hang out with a lot of people that I never dared to speak with four years ago. It's just so strange how much a person can change in four years! I've definitely opened up. I think I'm pretty much up front with everyone about everything. Last summer I had a realization that I have no idea when my life will end, so I need to live this life while I'm here. And at camp last summer (National Leadership Conference.. which I know Jake and Luke went to for their first year, but it was my second year) I had my quest group help me over this wall (both literally and figuratively) and I just knew at that moment that I had to stop pushing people away and start opening up. I've become so vulnerable and I know this is true because since the beginning of senior year I've done things that I have never done before! I'm so proud of myself and I hope all this strength that I've gained will help me next year when I'm at Grand Valley State University.

Totally just ranting, sorry!

Feels good!

I'm getting my portfolio done!

Snow Days Are Da Bomb!

Thank God for all these snow days! Three days off is a new record I think!? It's been great taking a load off and relaxing for a change! I hope we don't get pounded monday with tons of work that we're behind on! ... I can't wait for SPRING BREAK!

Well This Sucks...

Well our Op-Ed essay is due today but I haven't had the conference dealio with Ms. K... so my essay isn't going to turn out as good as I would've hoped. Well let's just hope that the 1984 test isn't that hard on monday... Ohh and since we don't have school today when are we going to do the contreversial issue for this week?

snow hey day

I've already received many Op-Ed essays via email. If you were going to print a copy, bring it on Monday. Sorry that I didn't get through all of the conferences that I would have liked because of the snow days.

You are all very prepared for the Test over 1984. It's not much different from the quizzes which you have shown steady improvement on. Hopefully, we will be back to school on Monday and get that over with so we can move on.

Tuesday I would like to go over the first three chapters of Johnny. You've had the books, but if someone left them at school they will be able to get caught up Monday night.

Freaking Out!!!!!

In my haste to leave school on tuesday i forgot my 1984 book, now i am freaked that i won't do good on the test tommorow cause all of my reading logs were inside it, I'm hoping for the best and maybe this test wont be so brutal

Mandatory snow days....?

It is just amazing how much stuff I've gotten done today and yesterday!! It seems to be a trend of mine; finding nothing to do on a snow day but the work I need to get done. It's not all a bad thing, considering that this time I literally couldn't get out my driveway to go do stuff with friends (which I was not pleased about). I sat down and got my Op-Ed done yesterday and began on assembling my portfolio today! To me, it seems like when I've not pressured to do anything during the day, I get alot done! Having a mandatory snow day every week doesn't seem like that bad of an idea to me. Along with my work, I still had time to play with my dog, find some new shoes online, and make brownies (snow days rock!) :]

How About That Op-Ed?

So Ms. K what happens about our Op-Ed when we haven't gotten it back from you yet or even had our conference? What do we do? :/
I'm kind of freaking out!

Oh summer, how I miss you!!

So wednsday started out normal enough. Slept in, had some great coffee, worked on my essay, and then my dad decided that we needed to go to town to check the stove in his office. We got all the way down our driveway and half way to the next road when we got stuck. The road was drifted shut!! We had taken the truck because we knew it would be bad but we didn't think it was THAT bad. So we got the truck stuck...we tried unstick and when that failed we walked home. It was like a 2 mile walk which wouldn't have been so bad if the snow hadn't been up to our knees the whole time! Then the real fun started! My dad decided that we needed to go back to get the truck. So what did we do? We hooked two sleds up to the snowblower and drove down the road snowblowing a path. Needless to say my brother and I had the best time ever riding down the road on sleds behind a tractor/snowblower. Here's your sign right??
Half way down the road we see something moving towards us. We had no clue what it was so we just kept going. As we got closer we realized that it was a person. When we got up next to them we realized that it was my very good friend Jasmine. She had walked half way to my house in the crazy weather!!! So she jumped on the sleds with my brother and I and rode back down to the truck. We started to dig the truck out and Dad was blowing a path around to try and see if we could at least turn around. By the time we finally got the truck unburied the road had drifted shut behind us!!! So what did we do?? Well I jumped in the driver seat and dad got the tractor in front of the truck and gave us a little bump so that we could over the hump behind us and get the wheels straight. Then I followed Dad who was snowblowing a path backwards all the way home at 2 miles an hour. Pretty intense huh?? All that before noon! Snowdays ROCK!!!

OK SO....

ok so ive been putting the final touches on my op ed essay and im sad to say idk what im doing lol. like ive been so parranoid about underdeveloping my ideas that ive over developed them!!!! and right now its at 730 words and theres no way im done so im thinking im going to HAVE TO cut stuff out of it..... but its so good right now!

hmmm...

well...right now i am working on my op-ed essay.

its writing surprisingly easy.

thanks to all the help from ms. k i think this is going to turn out :)

but...do we really have to read?

because i was gone tuesday which means i dont have my book.

soo...i hope we have just one extra day or something?

sydney

All this time (:

I was happy to hear we had a snow day wednsday. I planned to work on my Op-Ed so I started on my final draft then I got distracted, and it was done poorly. But I did study for 1984. Then, I found we had a snow day for thursday too, I was so relieved. Now, I really can work on my final Op-Ed draft, and put much needed time into it. I can also look over, and review some more 1984. I love what all this time allows me to do.


P.s. This was in the draft section, it was supposed to be posten on the on the 3rd =/

Opec-essay

Okay, so.....yeah.
How is everyone else's op-ed essay turning out?
Mine is in a mix between lackluster and craptastic.  I could really use a snow day or two!...wait....OH SNAP!  I'm putting the time into it, but the results always turn rash.
In other news, how is the test going to be?  I'm glad I didn't study or do homework AT ALL!  That way I can put all my effort into thrusday.  But seriously, do you guys think the theme idea is going to be hard?

Buried Alive

I got my mom's Suburban stuck in our driveway. I wanted to get some butter to make some chocolate chip cookies so i grabbed her car. There's no way my G-6 would have made it out alive, so I figured 4-wheel drive would be a good idea. The driveway was drifted with about 2-3 feet of snow and it was no problem, until I got to the end of the driveway. Unknown to me, the end of the driveway was drifted with about 4 feet of snow and the Suburban got really stuck. I put it from auto-4 to 4 high and nothing. So I put it in neutral and switched to 4 low. Still nothing. I decided to walk back to the house, but I couldn't open the door to the car. I started freaking out until I realized that if I pushed on the door hard enough, the snow piled up behind it would move. Eventually, Christopher came over and I was going to go to his house. He had a tug strap in his Jeep so we attached it to the tow hooks on the front of the Suburban. After digging all four tires out and some pulling, the Suburban was freed, but still no butter for my cookies. It's 12:36 am and I'm really tempted to go get some, but it's WAY too cold outside!

I'm working on my Op-Ed essay and I'm worried that it's not going to be good enough. I'm putting so much work into it, but it's still not going to be good enough...

SNOW DAY!

Today the snow day was a nice break. I think it is funny that it happened because everyone was saying that we would have one. But I shoveled snow a lot today. Hopefully Ms. Kreilick forgets about the 1984 quiz... haha

Yeah! Snow Day!

Finishing up my Op-ed essay! I think it is going better! This was the perfect day to have a snow day! Do we still have to read Johnny Got his Gun for tomarrow?

a day to catch up...

snowday! yay!! i am sure everyone is just as excited as i am about this!

even though its a day to sit and relax, its also a great day to catch up on our portfolio and op-ed.

i will HOPEFULLY be using this time wisely....

and i was very happy with the results of my last 1984 quiz, hoping the final test is a success as well!

have a good snow day everyone! :)