Those were the days...

There are certain things that can remind you of moments or things in your life. Whether these are good or bad memories they can be strong in your mind. I usually have this experience but mostly they are related differently. The strongest memories that stay in my mind are usually linked to the music I listen to at the time or that the memory reminds me of.

When I took my trip to Alaska with my Venture crew I listened to Sara Barielles pretty much the entire trip. I am sure the people I was on the trip with were sick of hearing me sing the songs over and over again. I would sing her song Love Song and Gravity. Now everytime I hear either of those songs I am reminded of my incredibly amazing trip to Alaska and it brings back good memories.

Since about a little more than a year ago I have had some pretty shocking impactful things that have happened to me in my life. It was really hard to deal with and I would be lying if I said I was not still dealing with those issues. I usually am a person to hide my emotions and feelings when I think it would better other people not to know. I like my problems to be my problems only and not really share them with others. Yet, this is exactly the problem when trying to get over something that is troubling you. My escape to let things out was through listening to certain pieces of music. I would listen to Warm Whispers by Missy Higgins and just cry all my sad or mad feelings out. It was the best release for me.

About every summer I have playlists of songs that I pretty much listen to all summer long. Each summer I have memories with each set of songs. I relate back to either good times or the bad. Along with the summer memories, some of those songs have memories with friends. Mainly my best friend gives me songs that I can relate to her. She is always singing songs or giving me new ones to listen to. We usually try to exchange the best new songs that we can whenever we can.

I love having memories linked to songs, especially good ones. This way whenever I want to relive the moment, whether good or bad, I can just by turning on my iPod. Music is the best way to express in any way.

Ohh the technology

Technology has started to take over our lives. Everyone has something, whether it be a cell phone, iPod, laptop, or handheld video game. Now the new Wii has come out and I have to admit I love it along with the rest. Technology always gives me something to do when I am bored. I can always text or call a friend, listen to music, write an email, or play an intense game of Tetris.

The only way to keep your life from revolved around a screen is to broaden your hobbies. I also love to read, sketch, paint by numbers (silly, I know), piano, guitar, and I also shoot guns, which is more of a sport though. Just having multiple things to turn to is so much better for your brain. I also like to mix things up a bit which is nice. Recently I have tried to do some calligraphy which turns out pretty cool and is not that hard to learn. The worst time and the most common to use a lot of technology for kids, is in the summer time when we have all that free time. It is easy to get sucked into watching tv or playing a video game all day long. This is the essential time to use that free time to spend it outside though.

I am not saying to quit using any form of technology. I think people just need to broaden their options of things to do, instead of always turning to a video game or computer. My brother went to the army right out of highschool. This is when I started to write letters. I think it feels more sentimental and memorable then a phone call. The person will always have the letters to look back on whenever they feel fit. I now try to write my brother as much as I can since he does not have a phone number that we can call. Recently I got a letter from my six year old cousin who lives in Minnesota. Her parents sent me and my little brother the letter she wrote along with personalized stationary for both of us to write back to her. Now I am trying to write to her as often as I can. It really means a lot to me that she even thought to write to me and ask me how my life has been going. I only want her to having that caring feeling too.

Technology does not have to be what your entire life revolves around. So the next time your bored and want to watch tv maybe sit down and write to someone you care about even if they live close.

Lock Down

I have talked to my brother since he has been over in Iraq. He has told my family a little bit of how he has been living and how things have been going for him. When he first arrived there, two of the deported groups were there overlapping their times. The ones that had already been there for a year were ready to get out. My brother first had to stay in a 10 by 12 room with seven men sleeping in it. He said that the mattresses were so old, that he would wake up with bruises from the springs. The food there is apparently the same every day and he has started to figure out what is the best to eat. For his job, he is in a big building where the Iraqis used to torture people. Most of the time he just sits by a computer he works with that has three different screens for him to pull up different things on. He says that there are also big holes in walls all over the fort, that are from J-dam's. The holes are about 5 feet wide and look like they would have caused a lot of damage.

As he has gotten settled in, he now shares a room with two other guys. My parents are starting to send him things back home that it would take away the monotony of the day and benefit his living. My dad sent him some comic book, candy, thermal clothes, and soon some boots. From Iowa to Iraq, it takes about two to four months to ship, depending on how big the item is and any difficulties along the way. I can not remember how long the first package took to get to him but I do not think it was too long for all the way across the world. There is a nine hour time difference between here and Baghdad. Usually he calls us when it is almost midnight for him on Sundays, making it around three for us. My dad always is great at keeping a good conversation with him. He found out that the people my brother used to get along with back at the base, now he can not stand and clashes with. And the people he used to not get along with he now does. He says that those people do not seem to have freaked out from the deployment over and their situation there and that is why he gets along with them better over there.

Recently for a couple of weeks we did not hear anything from him. My mom was worrying, but then again she always does. He finally called us but it felt like he was very distant. He seemed scattered and he could not really talk about anything. Then about a week or so ago he called again and seemed more talkative. He told us that they had been on lockdown and did not have internet or phone use. Two of their men had been killed when they were on patrol. Since their group had been there they never really felt the danger until then. The deaths really made things more realistic.

Sore throat :(

In the past day I have been getting a sore throat. So far it has not been too bad for my singing that I had to do earlier at my speech performance. Tonight went well with the performance but I could not really feel it, so I am not really sure how well it actuallly was.

Tonight I just really want to get all of my homework done so that I can go to bed and try to get better before Saturday comes up. I can not afford to have a terribly sore throat on Saturday when I perform the musical theater bit from Avenue Q and later that day perform for show choir. Not only do I want to be able to sing, but I just want to be well so that I can fully be dedicated and actually be able to enjoy the performance on stage.

Since I am currently stuck with this minor, yet threatening sore throat I need to find a way to help cure it. There are some peculiar remedies to helping the throat get better. One of the best ways seems to be mixing cayenne together with water and then gargle it in the back of your throat. Many people have commented on this to work well on the swelling of the throat. If the cayenne is too hot for some people it is also suggested to use it in orange juice. This will ease the spice and make it easier to use frequently. If you do not have any juice or your mouth is still burning afterwards you should not drink water or milk to try to take it away. They will only spread it around and milk might upset your stomach. The best thing to do is use sugar. This will absorb the hotness from the pepper. Bread is also another good option to use to get rid of it.

The next closely ranked remedy is mixing apple cider and vinegar. Along with this apple cider and vinegar, people would use honey into to the concoction. I am not really sure if I would try this one first. I think the other remedy seems to have the much higher success rate. I might just try good old sleep and warmth to try to get better and hopefully my sore throat will go away as soon as possible.

Mi Hermano

My brother has currently been in the army for about a year and a half now. He went in straight out of high school. College was never really his thing to do first. It is kind of harder to deal with because I never really get to see him. He came home for Thanksgiving break once and then Christmas but those were the only times I saw him. He has always been a very smart kid in school but never really applied himself. I think that his ideas have always been different and never has seen the direct point of the way things are done in school. This is mainly why I was concerned for him to go into college so I was glad when he decided to join the army right out of high school.

He took the test and passed with very high scores so he had many jobs to choose from. In the end he chose to train to be an intelligence analyst. Since he has joined the army in a time of war there was always the possibility of him being deployed over seas. The possibility happened and he was sent over on December 5, so he missed Christmas with us. Before he was deployed he got to come home for a couple weeks though, which was very nice since we wont see him for probably over a year.

My brother has always been a major part of my life and one of my best friends. I always worry about him no matter what, even if he thinks nothing bad will happen. He was an eagle scout when he was involved in boy scouts. My dad has always been a big part in pushing us kids to be involved in scouts and get high ranks. I wish there was a prestigous level for girls but girl scouts was never really my thing. I always would watch my brothers and want to do what they did instead of the girly house wife activities we did in girl scouts.

After boy scouts came a crew called Venture 2000. Here us kids were introduced more to shooting sports. This is how come my brother has excelled in shooting and maybe gave him more interest into joining the army. I have been so happy for him since he has been noticed outshining a lot of the other guys around him. He stays focused and puts his all into it even if he does get down on himself sometimes.

Since he is now in Iraq, I wish him the best and hope he just keeps impressing who he needs to impress to make his life better. All I want is for him to come back alright so I can stop worrying about his life and go back to only worrying how his ex that I don't like wants him back.

Coming Up...

In a couple of days, our show choir will be having another competition. My weekend is going to be really full with things to do and I just hope I can accomplish all of the homework I need to finish. I am excited for all the events I have to do, but also I want everything to go smoothly and exceptionally.

Tonight I have the speech concert, where I perform my musical theatre part for friends and family. Right after school though, I have a tennis meeting to go to until who knows when. Then since speech is going to get in the way of show choir practice tonight it has been moved earlier now to 4:30. So somehow I will have to get home to change for that and then go to practice until 5:15 where I then have to go have one more last practice with my musical theatre group. Then at 6:30 all of us will meet that are performing tonight and soon after we will do the performance. I am just hoping that it will get done early so I can get my homework finished for the night.

Friday is not so busy I guess, since I can not really do anything because my hair has to be put in sponge curlers early that night for show choir. At 5:30 on Saturday morning all the speech people are meeting at school to get on a bus to drive to our competition site. This is why I have to have my hair done so early, so I can take them out early in the morning. My musical theatre group performs at 10 and from there we are supposed to carpool over to Davenport where our show choir will be performing around 3. I probably won’t get back until really late that night.

I really hope that my entire schedule works out alright. Especially I hope competing for the speech competition and then quick trying to get over to the Davenport show choir competition will be fine. If it does not work out this year then we won’t be allowed to be in speech next year, and I have been really enjoying it so far. As I said earlier, speech has really been a new area I found that I want to keep pursuing and I do not want a confliction with show choir to stop that.

Overall, I am very excited to show what I can in every performance that I will be doing. I think every moment should be very fun and enjoyable. I want everything to be a great performance so we can do well. I think the busy schedule will feel worth it if that happens and I won't mind doing what homework I can during my only free times.

Avenue Q!

Alongside show choir I've been involved in the speech team. The past years have not been quite as interesting, but this year we got a new theatre director. The whole program has been turned around, and our director has devoted a lot of his time to it.

I was not even interested in trying out for the speech team, but one of my good friends convinced me since they needed some girls. I tried out and I was really hoping for a singing part, since that is what I enjoy doing out of all the options on the team. I ended up getting a part in the Avenue Q musical theatre group. The friend that convinced me to try out said my part of Kate, was the part that a lot of the girls wanted to get. I was so excited and could not wait until practices started. The group had six of us and I knew everyone pretty well from show choir. The chemistry I have with all of them is great.

As we began learning our parts, I really tried to embrace who my character was. I also tried to get myself more familiar with the entire musical itself. I found the character named Lucy the Slut. As soon as I listened to her part, I desired to perform it! The voice range is perfect for me, and it is always fun to act a little slutty for a role. I wished so much that she was in the section of the musical that we performed. Now I can only dream of what it could be.

Practices started slow, getting everything together. Everyone clicked really well and that created a lot of talking and distractions during practice. Things still were accomplished though and I am really excited to perform it. These last rehearsals are more focused and I love being able to create and put input into the play itself, rather than just having everything told to you. Recently we had a man come in to help us on our technique of singing. Most of the people were unable to thoroughly sing because they had lost their voice to show choir the night before. I did not scream full out the night before...smart. When I sang my part, the man told me that he did not even have anything to say to me because it was great. That was probably the cherry on top to this entire experience so far. Tomorrow we have a performance to our friends and family at home that I can not wait to show everyone. Then this weekend we have a competition that I am really hoping we do well in because I would like to move on to the next level.

There are speech t-shirts that are supposed to be really cool. I can not wait to wear it in a couple days. Tight t-shirts just really make everything feel legit. This year in speech has really been a great stop and I do not want it to end.

Yes Man!

Yes Man was a recent movie that has shown itself in theatres with high viewings. The classic Jim Carrey funny man movie is one that just keeps you laughing. He's been in recent movies such as Ace Ventura and Bruce Almighty. Alongside Jim Carrey in the new movie was, Zooey Deschanel. She has been in one of my favorite movies, Elf. I think her almost dry and laid back personality is very appealing and new for an actress. I really think she will be one of my favorite new actresses.

Jim Carrey's character has been going nowhere in life. He always said no to every opportunity that comes his way. Through an old friend he goes to a seminar where he thinks you need to say yes to everything. Once he gets out he starts to agree to every question or event that is presented to him. Even things he really does not ever even want to do he does. The things he says yes to come with great benefits for him. When he refuses to accept an offer, he almost gets bad luck or bad karma. He starts to think that this is a sign that the spirits give him to never say no.

He meets the character that is play by Deschanel through one of his acceptances. His relationship with her becomes something incredible that he enjoys and never had before he started to say yes. Saying yes starts to get in the way of that relationship, since he can not say no to opportunities that would affect their relationship. His ex starts to want him back and he can not say no to her, but he wants to since he has another relationship that he is interested in more. This occurrence sends him into not wanting to say yes all the time. When Deschanel's character finds out that he has always been saying yes to everything, she gets offended because she thinks everything that has made her like him has pretty much just been a lie.

Carrey's character ends up going back to the guy that started the entire seminar and asking him why his life was turning upside down. The man tells him that you literally do not have to say yes to everything, but rather be more open to new things and do something out of the ordinary once and a while.

Overall I really enjoyed the movie, though it was not my favorite. I think it had an interesting story line and kind of a good idea to keep yourself open to try new things all the time. I also liked the interesting combination of the two actors together to mix things up in the industry a bit.

Oh Boy!

This weekend we had our first show choir competition for Happiness. It was called Supernova. Everyone seemed to have mixed feelings on it. Many were excited to show others what we had got or even to perform in their first competition. Others were nervous to see how we would do. The night before when the prep show choirs performed, all of us from the other choirs came to support our prep group. They did a great job and ended up getting first place in prep that night. Everyone was so happy. I think some varsity people were nervous to follow up after our prep had gotten first.

The next morning we came early to watch our freshman group. They put out a lot of effort and I really think their show could be something this year. They all have the drive to really be great. They ended up only getting second out of the two groups there though.

The thursday before we had performed our entire show for our audience of friends and family. Our show choir director was sick and couldn't make it there though. He was still a little sick on saturday but he pulled through and came at ten for the day. We all knew that this day round performance had to be amazing right away. We were competing against eleven other amazing show choirs that all had a lot to give. All of us were just worried about getting into finals let alone where we actually placed if we got in.

When we got out on the stage, I knew we all had to pull it together. We had to really sell our show and all we could do. After leaving the stage we all felt generally good about our entire show. We knew not everything was perfect but we set out to have fun and perform and that was what we accomplished.

All of us went to day round results. We ended up making finals! As we were making our way back to our rooms, there were rumors of what groups placed where. I did not want to listen to everyone, since I just wanted to find out from our own director. The wait was such a long time and everyone was talking about the rumors. There were rumors that we came in first and that we came in seventh in finals.

When our director came in. Everyone was so excited that we just made finals that some people were crying. Our director told us that we had... guess what? We were ranked 1st in day rounds! There was excitement and talking everywhere. We had just beat out eleven amazing groups and set fear in all of them that Happiness can be the best.

That night we ended up going last, knowing that every other group wanted to really see how good we were. We all knew we still had to bring it, and we were not a guarantee to get the place we got in the day round. There were new judges and it was a different mind set going in to the performance. I was really afraid that everyone was not going to fight as hard as they could be.

The groups all performed before us and had stepped up their game. As we went on to the stage, I really felt important and no matter what happened the day round had really made us feel like we could all accomplish what we wanted and had worked hard for.

Right after our performance we went to the gym to see the results for finals. Our group knew it had been a much better performance then the day round and was really hyped up. At that point I don't think we cared what place we were going to get, we were just in the moment and enjoying it. As the results came we ended up getting second to the varsity group from Urbandale. I never saw their show, but they usually are the group to beat. Even though we did not get first we still were proud and excited that we had beat out ten other amazing groups that day.

This just gives us something to work for and get better to be the best. I can not wait for our other competitions to see what our group will really do and if we will keep this fight to win in our minds when we perform.

Nobody's Prize

This is the sequel to the first book called Nobody's Princess. These are books about the younger days of Helen of Troy. Helen has many adventures continued from the last book and finds many more. The book is mainly based to the sea in the beginning, then it changes into other struggles to just get home and fix all the trouble she has made by following her dreams.

Helen is under disguise of a boy when she takes her journey. There is no other option for her to accomplish what she wants and not have her brothers or parents at home worrying about her. She travels to many different cities along the way and her disguise soon changes to different characters. Along the trip is her friend Milo, which she had earlier bought his freedom.

They all take a trip across the sea in search for a golden fleece. The men that are all on the adventure are there to try to be part of this quest and be an important hero. They all are searching for their own glory. Helen and milo are taken along by a friend as weapons bearers on the ship called the Argo. This way they can keep low. Helen mainly needs to keep away from her brothers who had decided to journey and test their well trained skills.

As Helen travels on the ship, she discovers that one of the men have a very strong attraction to her, even though she is disguised as a boy. His own weapons bearer is one that Helen herself is attracted to, but has to keep her feelings inside of her. Soon enough that boy becomes jealous of his masters attraction towards Helen.

The Argo travels closer and closer to their destination to find the golden fleece. Helen starts to develop into a woman. She is soon discovered to be a girl, but now everyone thinks she is Atalanta instead of the princess Helen. At the new city, Helen gets in trouble with the Queen that is in rule there. She uses herbs as almost a medicine woman. Not all of her knowledge is used for good. The Queen becomes obsessed with the man who put the entire voyage together. She starts to think that he is infatuated with Helen instead of her and becomes jealous. Helen is supposed to get the man to be attracted to the Queen. There is soon weird occurances and Helen is almost killed with poison from the Queen. At the last minute Helen and Milo escape and try to go back home.

Even though they have escaped this danger there is still danger that lies ahead. Helen gets in trouble with a man from her past. She is taken captive and forced to become her soon to be Queen. Just like she always does, Helen finds a way to escape. Then there is word from where her sister is supposed to be queen, has said that another has moved in to take the throne. What happens to her sister and the outcome of Helen's journey and lies is resolved.