The Girls' Camp Adventure

All of the young women from my church class got back from our camp on Thursday. We did a bunch of normal camp stuff: crafts, swimming, canoes, 7 hour of sleep TOTAL for three nights, etc. We even did the normal camp hiking, right? Sort of. All of the girls were dreading Wednesday morning because on Tuesday night (or should I say early Wednesday morning) we had fallen asleep at two in the morning and had to get up at five to go on a nine mile hike up the side of a mountain and back down. On Monday, the first day of camp, one of the girls gave me her cold, so I was already feeling pretty bad. Then, I looked at the schedule and saw that we had a six hour hike planned. The leaders all assured us that the hike wouldn't take nearly that long, but they didn't know how wrong they were. All of the girls slowly made their way up the mountain and we all had lunch and a lesson on the top. The view was beautiful and if you have never hiked high enough to be above the clouds then you don't know what you are missing. After resting a while, we all made our way back down the mountain to where we thought the camp was. When we had come up the mountain we had come down a pretty big hill, so the camp people decided to lead us around the hill to avoid having to go back up and over it. Unfortunately, there was only one person who knew where he was going. He got ahead of everyone and ended up losing all but about 70 of the 165 girls. It turns out that our detour had not taken us anywhere near the camp. The group I was with was about 10 girls and we came to a tree with one of those signs that says "Private Property. No Trespassing." on it. As if this hadn't freaked us out enough, we walked a little ways when one of the girls pointed to the ground and said, "Look at this cool metal lizard! Somebody must have dropped it!". One of the other girls walked up to her and calmly told her that, nope, that was a real lizard that got run over by a car and looked shiny because its blood and guts were all over it. Pleasant. So, we continued walking for another mile or so after the nine mile hike and we all felt like taking a break. We ran into another group of girls sitting at a boy scouts parking lot. One of the camp people finally caught up to us just to tell us that he had no idea where he was going either. All of the girls were sarcastically telling each other how happy they were to be lost in the mountains without any water and so many helpful people. One of the camp leaders decided to finally let the other camp leader know that she had had a phone with cell reception all along and we really hadn't needed to be sitting there for the past 30 minutes. Yay. This is about the time that the truck carrying the injured people from the hike drove by. (Yes, there were so many people injured on the hike that they had to have a truck come pick them up.) They told us that they would get someone to come pick us up, although no one had any idea where we were, so they didn't know where to send people. According to my sister, who was on the truck, they drove past a lot of groups like us. The camp leader who was with us called someone and told them we were at the Weeblo's Parking Lot and luckily someone knew where that was. So, they sent a bunch of the church leaders in their vans and cars to pick up all of the lost girls. We all made it back to camp safely, but that 6 hour hike ended up taking about 8 and a half hours. The leader driving the car I was in told us that we should have just kept walking because the camp was really close to where we were and then went on to drive for miles down a one way road with no paths leading off of it. Sure, camp was really close. When we got back to camp, the girls that had not gotten lost were already dressed, showered, bored of having so much free time, and were ready for dinner. Meanwhile, the rest of us were scrambling to share the few showers so we wouldn't be totally disgusting for dinner. After dinner we gave our testimonies and had some lessons and finally got back to our cabins at 10:30. That pretty much sums up Wednesday. The surprising this is that the girls weren't tired after that adventure and decided to celebrate the last night of camp by staying up until four in the morning and then complaining about how tired they were when they woke up at 7 the next morning. I finally fell asleep during the last about 15 minutes of the car ride home. Then I woke up, went home, took a "nap" from 12:30ish until 9:30 at night, woke up totally confused, ate dinner at around 9:45, and went back to sleep until morning. I am sure glad to be home :)

English Class + End of the Year= :)+ CRAZY CLASS, but mostly :)

Ok, so it is almost the end of the school year, so 2 things are happening.
1. The class is getting annoyingly talkative and crazy.
2. The teachers take our work off of the walls. This is partly due to the teacher strike that happened recently. If you havn't already heard about it then this is the story: The teachers were taking a pay cut and they wanted the school to say it was only temporary, but they wouldn't. The teachers were on strike for three days before the district made an agreement. Meanwhile, the kids who actually showed up to school (not me) sat in classrooms in big classes (only around 20 subs for the entire school of 43 teachers usually) and did star test release packets. I only wnet for 2 hours on the first day and didn't come after that anymore because I was doing 7th grade math questions in "class" when I am in an 8th grade math class, so that was pointless. Yes, while people were at school doing test release questions and watching movies I was at home doing homework, homework, homework, and some orange county fair stuff. My sister had so much homework that she probably wouldn't have finished it all if we hadn't had the strike.
Going back to my original topic: The teachers didn't want the subs or the tons of kids being stuck in each classroom to wreck the computers or the work on the walls, so they took it all down and put it someplace safer. This left the walls empty and the kids in my english class decided to write things on paper and stick them on the wall. Most of the posters were things like "We Love English" and "Yay for School", but a few of the kids got creative. There was one poster that said "This one goes out to all of the people who can never find a keychain with their name on it... love Darby". Another one said "An apple a day keeps the doctor away... but that apple goes down easier when it is coated in caramel :)". The last one that was creative and fun was "Texting + Facebook = Textbook Who knew studying could be so easy!?". Yep, by the end of the school year people tend to get a little bored. School leads to boredom, boredom leads to chaos, chaos leads to angry teachers, angry teachers leads to extra homework, extra homework leads to the realization that school is still in session, this realization leads to boredom, boredom leads to chaos... is it summer yet?

The Newest Emoticon!!

My mom was having a facebook chat with my sis for some reason and they were just doing random stuff, so my mom made a new emoticon. She calls it the Earless Dog emoticon:

:+}

Yep, my mom wants it to catch on, so try to fit it into every typed or texted conversation you get into. :+}

Little Me!

I was at a church activity and they were introducing the newest girls that turned twelve since the last time they did a big activity like this one. They were showing pictures of the girls when they were babies. They called my name and this is the picture that they showed and that I thought was really cute:
And as I was looking through the file to put that picture on this post I found some other random pictures.

Also, I didn't think this post would be worthwhile unless I posted something funny, so here is the story of the activity.
When they were calling the girls up they would say a poem about the girl and made everyone guess who it was. My poem included something about stirring. The leader reading the poem turned to me and said, "You'll have to talk to me about that." The reason my mom told her that is because every time my mom is cooking something that needs to be stirred I always ask if I can stir it. I have no clue why, but I just find stirring fun. :-)
And for those of you who are wondering, that last picture is when I had clothes on that were way too big for me. So no, I was not really that fat. :-)

Some Are Fans of Justin Bieber...

But for those of you who are not, my friend Marcea showed me a youtube video of someone named Charlie McDonnell.

The Math Project From You Know Where

As I write this my sister is still working on the project... and she is NOT happy about it. I am in advanced math and my sister is in regular math so, even though she is in 8th grade and I am in 7th, we both ended up in algebra. For some reason the teachers always decide to give out tons of homework the week before spring break for no apparent reason (although my science teacher says it is because they need to rush through the curriculum because they are not sure whether they will be going on strike and being replaced my substitutes who will not teach the curriculum even though this does not explain the onslaught of homework in years past... gotta love having her as a teacher). Anyways, the point is that I got assigned an English project that I had about 2 1/2 weeks to do that was pretty fun, some other homework in various other classes, and... the math project. Put together four of these for various equations,

four of these graphs for the the four equations,

a six paragraph write up about parabolas and quadratic equations, a real world example, neon orange posterboard, bright pink cardstock, bright green cardstock, and blue cardstock and you get this: (I know the poster looks yellow in the picture but I still havn't figured out my camera yet so bare with me and pretend it is orange. I guess I will eventually have to read the manual... grrrr...)

my math project from you know where. My english project was not as hard and I had 2 1/2 weeks to do that. This project took eternity and had to be completed in... wait for it... around 5 days. Yep... this is what my life is like during the last week of school before spring break. What happens when you have two annoyed teens working on a difficult and messy math project that has to be done in a matter of days?


*sigh
Thank goodness for an eleven day break.

Hehe :-)

I was outside after school today and saw that our new strawberry plant had a strawberry on it.

Here is a sort of blurry close up of it. If you read my last post then you already know, but I have issues when it comes to focusing my camera...grrr...

The reason I decided to write about it is because if you look back at the first picture then you can see that it has the normal looking strawberry part and then it has a bump on its side. This is the conversation that went on when I saw it:

Me: Mom! Look at the strawberry plant! It has a little weird looking strawberry thingy
growing on it!
Mom: Aww, now you insulted it.
Me: Oh... sorry little strawberry.
Mom: You have a sweet spirit strawberry!

I just thought I'd share :-)

Spring! :)

I tried everything. Different settings, different angles, different distances, and even putting my hand in the picture, but I could not figure out how to get my camera to focus on anything other than the background. These next three pictures are ladybug larvae.

Yay for spring!!!

The New and Definitely Improved Schedule

Alright, the schedule has cleared up significantly:

Monday: Homework
Tuesday: (Still insane) le Sommet, church activity, homework
Wednesday: Homework
Thursday: Homework
Friday: drama club

Soooooo much better! I wrote a story and here is the story of how it came about:
My two friends and I love to write but we never have a reason to write or anything to write about. We all decided to give each other different things to write about and, eventually, the end goal is to compile all the stories into a book. My first friend had to write a story that includes a platypus, my other friend has to include a giant muffin, and I have to include a talking tree. We had a week to write them. I usually write in third person and write about happy stuff, but for some reason I felt like writing a depressing story in first person. Anyways, here it is:

A Strange Tale of Change

I look out the dusty car window. My new “family” says they are taking me home, but I don’t believe them. I am practically dead already. I speak up and tell these people to take me back. Everyone shrieks and suddenly I find myself on the curb, alone. I ponder my life and when it all went wrong. It was that one fateful day in August, 2010.

I was young, beautiful, blossoming. Standing in the park day after day, I was in paradise. The beauty that surrounds me is almost surreal. Most would be miserable if put in my position, but I cannot imagine life any better. Day after day, week after week, all spent in the same solitary spot. I have one friend, and he is all I need. That is, I have one person who talks to me even though I cannot reply. The gardener. He talks, I listen. He speaks, I have no way of replying. January, February, March, April, all the same. June children come to see me, and it makes me happy to see them so full of joy now that school is out. July, the annual 4^th BBQ. Finally, August, which I will soon find out will be the best, and worst, month of my life.

The gardener was telling me the usual news when he said something that surprised me. He tells me that my beauty is too wonderful to be kept locked up in this small park. Sooner than usual, the gardener leaves and doesn’t return for over a month, causing me great boredom and sadness. When he finally comes, he is holding some sort of a vial filled with an odd green liquid.

“I’ve finished it!” he exclaims. “No longer will you be confined in this tiny park!”

He tips the vial, spilling the liquid onto the dirt beneath me. “Run free,” he says, “run free young tree!” Tree? I think Is that why I am so mute and immobile? I can feel my roots lifting from the soil and transforming, followed by some of my branches turning into arms. The next thing to form is something that I have only dreamed of having, a face. Sight before this moment has always been a mystery, but through my new eyes I can see things with much greater clarity. Along with these eyes, I now have a mouth!

“Thank you,” I barely manage to whisper, “This is something I have only dreamt about.” The gardener takes of his sun hat and holds it over his heart.

“My goodness,” he says under his breath, “It works! It actually works!” I can sense his excitement as he begins to dance around. “Come home with me and see yourself,” he demands and grabs my arm. Home… this is something I have never had and have only wished to experience. Seeing this as a wonderful opportunity, I follow willingly to wherever this home may be.

Before long, I have stumbled my way, somewhat in the same manner as a baby, over to the gardener’s truck. I am told to hop on back, and I do what I am told. Moving aside a multitude of rakes, shovels, and other gardening utensils, I am able to clear a spot big enough for me to sit down. On my way to this “home”, I take the time to look down at myself. Miraculously, I am wearing a leaf-green shirt and blue jeans, though where they came from, I have no idea. My hands are covered in rough skin, about the same hue as the gardener’s. Coming into view is a brick wall that stretches, continuing on to form the house of the gardener.

I am lead inside to a mirror, where I can finally see my full self. Eyes the color of the grass I know so well, hazelnut colored hair, and a single cherry blossom tucked neatly behind my ear.

“I’m…” I stutter.

“Beautiful,” the gardener finishes. Although this may be true, it is evident that I am not human. Rough patches of skin where the bark still partially remains, and, if the sunlight hits just right, green streaks in my hair that are marks of the leaves that were once there. Sensing my discomfort and the reason for it, the gardener says, “I can fix that.” I decline, knowing that, although I am sure the new life I will soon begin will be wonderful, I would miss having this small reminder of who, or what, I used to be.

“Thanks for everything, but I must be going if I am to figure out what this life is all about,” I say.

“How true, how true,” said the gardener, “but that’s a lot like life I guess. You get somewhere only to find that you must be going again. Farewell and good luck.”

I step out the front door onto the cold, hard pavement, only to look down and realize that I’m not wearing any shoes! I know my feet will soon be freezing cold, but this fact does not bother me. I am prepared to walk as long and as far as I need to go.

Five miles later, I come across one of the scariest things I have ever seen in my life. Hundreds of trees, all cut down and stuck in sacks. An abandoned nursery. I stare at one of my own kind, a cherry tree. I am very afraid that this could have been my fate. Looking around at the other cherry trees, I begin to cry. I could have known any one of these trees! One of them could even be my sister. I begin to think why couldn’t it have been me? I find a solitary corner of the nursery and curl up to cry.

“I want to go back! I want to go back!” I cry to myself. I try to console myself, but it doesn’t work at all.

Suddenly I feel a tingling sensation and I look downwards. Waist up, nothing has changed, but below is no longer legs. I realize that the fate of those cherry trees will soon be mine when I see the sack where my legs and feet once were. Before long nothing human is left except my mouth, eyes, and nose. After what seems like forever, a car pulls up. A family of four climbs out of the car and walks in my direction.

“This one!” shouts the youngest as the mother brags to the father about how she was right about the location of the abandoned nursery.

“Good choice,” agrees the father. They pick me up and stick me in the back of their car. Everyone climbs in and we begin to drive off.

Presently, I am sitting on the curb, reminiscing about the past. It is now that I realize it that our deepest wants truly do control our destiny.

My friends all loved it, even though I thought it was just depressing. My one friend helped me think of the ending that is really deep. The thing about the wants controlling our desires. Hope you liked it!

Reason For Lack of Blogging

I know I have no posted, but the reason is my schedule.

Monday: School, DI (after school creative problem solving team), Homework
Tuesday: School, Le Sommet (Special 1 and 1/2 orchestra), Church Activity, Homework
Wednesday: DI, School, Homework
Thursday: School, Some Homework, Drama Rehearsal, Homework
Friday: School, Drama Club

Luckily, DI just ended, which makes my Mon. and Wed. free, and my drama class that I rehearse with will soon be over. Hope I will be able to blog more!