Merry Christmas and Song of the Week

I wish you all a merry christmas and happy new year here is a christmas song of the week:

4 days

Did anyone realize that its only 4 days until Christmas. I don't know what it is that makes me so peppy, I think its just the family tradition that goes behind it. In my family I go to my grandparent's on Christmas Eve and receive gifts from my grandparents and my cousins. It is all family time and everyone is in the same basement together, so theirs no avoiding each other. Then we all go home to sleep. On Christmas morning I get up, wake up my parents, then we open gifts together. Then we get dressed and go to my aunt's house. I love all the feelings that come with Christmas. I would describe it as a butterfly-anxious-excited feeling.

What are your traditions for the holidays?

Song of the Week

This week I wanted to choose a well know song that I think brings out the best in anyone.

Imagine By: John Lennon

Gifts

Gifts are semi-important to me on christmas. This is because if their were no gifts then I couldn't fulfill a lot of the traditions my family has. I don't think you need to get big gifts for your friends. (off to the side one cool thing you could do with your friends is each donate a few dollars then go shopping for children's toys to donate!!) I gave my friends each a bracelet that I made a few months ago. They loved them. Heres another tip, buy in bulk, get a pack of 5 nail polishes and give each one to a different friend. I don't like to get lotions if anyone knows me well enough they know my mom, who works at a school, gets lotion/body wash sets every year. We are actually not buying lotion any more and trying to get rid of our collection.
Here's what we have left, when we began this bag was EXPLODING!!!

Does anyone else have this problem? And how do you feel about getting gifts/What are your preferences?

Cookie Day

In my family christmas cookies are a big event. here are some pics from this years COOKIE DAY!!!!!

The First Batch

Yummy Chocolate Chips

YUMMY YUMMY IN MY TUMMY

COOKIE DOUGH

I think these are oatmeal raisin 

The first platter

Honey Cookies

I burned myself

This years load of cookies!!!

Is Change Good?

I don''t know if the evolution of technology and such is a good thing for our society. There are so many things I wish would't happen. Since I watched a very scary episode of The Twilight Zone, I believe it is entitled "to serve man." If that doesn't scare you or you haven't seen the episode then search it on hulu or something. It is one of the most phamous episodes ever. Back to change, I am afraid that since we are inventing so many new items the world is evolving negatively. For example in walmart the other day I saw gloves, they were meant for easy use of touch screen phones (or ipods) while your hands stayed warm. Is this bad, i really don't know. It scares me even more what people are eating, I'm not a fan of McDonalds sorry to anyone who is and my family is very healthy. For example we only eat wheat bread, no cow, no pig, a lot of fruit, vegetables with every meal, and homemade tea. I'm scared that people who don't do what we do will end up being very unhealthy. MORE CHANGES. I know that everything has to change but I feel with my heart that I was born in the wrong time period. But the way are society is so rapidly evolving I am scared to see what happens when I'm 50???

Sorry about how random this was I just needed to get it out. (apparently not very organized-ally)

Love and Hate

When christmas is here I often receive gifts in the mail a few days early. My parents make me wait and put them under the tree. For days they just sit their. Oh how I wish to open them early. Every Year I'm not lucky enough to get one early.

Is Belting actually singing

So we had a chorus concert and everyone liked us the best because of one girls solo in somebody to love. To some it seemed like singing but being right behind her it was screaming or in other words belting. Does this make her an amazing singer?

St. Nicholas Day

No not Christmas, St. Nicholas Day is when he comes to the homes of children's houses and puts candy, fruit, nuts, and small gifts in their boots. Usually I get one gift from my parents and my Grandma gives us each a ornament from a series we have been collecting. Just in case anyone cares I have been collecting the "Snow Buddies" series by hallmark for twelve years. It is a German holiday, and not a lot of people celebrate it. It occurs on the 6th of December. I mention it to people and they don't know what I'm talking about at all. So I thought I should tell you?

Christmas song

I started writing a christmas song here are the few lyrics I got:


What is it about christmas,
comes around every year
is it the miseltoe
the way things go
that brings us so much cheer!

How does it make us so happy
seeing a tree indoors,
with sparkles around,
and a lady on top
who just never ever... seems to stop

The holidays come around
fast but then so slow
The idea of waiting around
just one nigh for snow?

It may seem crazy,
it may seem weird
but so many countries celebrate this way each year

Tell me if you like this and if I should continue.

Thanksgiving

I don't think thanksgiving should be a national holiday. I think it should be a holiday WORLD WIDE. The point isn't to decorate or cook a big meal, just to bring your family and friends together. The whole point of the holiday is to appreciate what you have,even if its not much. There is a tradition in my family that before we eat we say what were thankful for. Forgetting about the turkey and the cheesy decorations. This is the time when we show how much we care. If you live in a country without thanksgiving, try to dedicate a day or just a meal to giving thanks.

Happy Thanksgiving!

HaHa Moment of the Day

So today inn Spanish class my teacher was letting us play bingo. It seemed cool because my teacher made it thanksgiving themed. She drew a page with all the pictures and copied it for everyone in all her classes. We started playing then my teacher realized that everyone having the same board means that when one person gets bingo, everyone gets bingo. hahahaha

a world without seasons

There are some places in the world that only have 2 seasons. I feel bad for people who live in these places because they are missing out. I live in a place where you can see the change each season brings. I love the snow covered winters, with their bare gray trees and the blooming springs where everything just acts like it is slowly being painted. I love the hot, torture-full summers, and the want to be inside and inside at the same time, and finally I love the gorgeous falls where you can find every color in the rainbow in your backyard, the reds of a beautiful maple tree, and finally the competition to see which leaf can stay on there the longest before it has to fall. I wouldn't be able to stand not having this it makes seasons really fall together.

Daily Pic

Grades:

It's hard to get good grades in high school I'm not going to lie. I am mostly an honors student, does this make me perfect, NO. I am anti-homework, and can't stand having to bring school work home. I think some people do not realize how they get good grades. I know the secret, its super simple. (For Parents:) Raise your child to have positive thoughts about good grades, but don't scare them if they get a bad one. For example my mom likes As and Bs but if I get a C she would never scream or erupt or anything she would tell me its okay and help me make up for it. One thing you want to remember as a parent you don't want to have your kids scared of you! make sure you raise them from their first day of school with good study skills and habits. (For Students:) Yes getting good grades is very hard, don't overwhelm yourself with everything you have to do. Plan your time, make a schedule, and stay focused. I realize I'm asking for a lot but all together it will help. I am good in almost all my classes but math, he barley ever checks the hw but today for the first time he did, fully. I wasn't such a good student and I only did half of the problems. The worst part of this is that in his class if you forget 1 hw you can get TWO points off your final grade. I began freaking out, and just started copping the questions into my note book, it worked. Maybe since I am a good pupil in his class or that I flipped the page there and back really fast but it worked. I started shaking and getting all nervous while that 5 minutes of my life went on but, I don't want to have anyone feel what I felt then because it felt like crap. So I think everyone should realize what kind of teacher they have and build up their skill in that region so that success becomes a bit easier.

Questions:
Are you/ Where you a good student?
What was/is your toughest class?
Do you like me giving advice?

Song by me

I've been crying inside
All those tears I had to hide
Have come to get me because I cried
oh because I cried

I cried so hard
 but there you are
my emotions came to get me
and I lied cause i couldn't show a thing

Now I breathe, stand with me
How very hard it seems
to let everything out

Bre-bre-bre breathe
breathe

LET IT OUT!!!!

You can't bottle things up
Cuz i will break them down
can't wonder bout how my lifes gettin round
everything i do
comes right back too youuuuu...


do not steal this song plz!!!!

Daily Pic

Everyone knows that moneys not

 grown on trees but I think some 

parents have lost perspective on how to

treat their kids. Here's my guide:

1.) do not spoil them 

2.) do not deprive them

3.) take them groccery shopping

     with you so they see how much

     real world items cost

4.) don't give them everything they 

     want for their birthday or 

     Christmas/Holiday

5.) let them earn a gift or money

6 .)once they get old enough to buy 

      things on their own give them an 

     allowance based on their chores

7.) deduct them some money 

    for not doing their chores

8.) teach them to save money

      for the future

Daily Pic

Yes I have braces, I hate them. I hope to get them off in March if not sooner. That may seem like a long time but I have had them for a year and a half now so a few months away doesn't seem so bad. My parents, like many others their age didn't have braces. I don't think they understand how painful it is. I think that people should realize:
1.) braces are not a sign that your a teenager it just means you want straiter teeth
2.) they hurt so don't make fun of people for saying their mouthes hurt
3.) respect the braces!!!!!!!

Daily Pic

I'm not exactly a big fan of this color pink but I just love bows

Happy Happy Happy

OMG I'm so happy, I can't believe whats happening to me
This crazy world is finally turning my way
My best friend came back to me to live our dream,
To complete the greatest years of our life together

She went way for more than a day
But, she's come to be my best friend again.
It may be hard to believe but I am so happy
If you can't tell I wish you could see

How Happy Happy Happy I can be

Song of the Week

Song from phamous youtube called davedays, he's an amazing artist soooooo, here's the link:

Olive You

Daily Pic

You may wonder what my favorite food is. You probably don't but lets say you do. My favorite food is the TOMATO. I consider them apples, and eat them like one. No not the cherry TOMATOES, big juicy, hard, TOMATOES. Just so you know TOMATOES are in fact fruits, because they have seeds. Here is some nutritional facts on TOMATOES:

Red tomatoes, raw

Nutritional value per 100 g (3.5 oz)
Energy	75 kJ (18 kcal)
Carbohydrates	4 g
Sugars	2.6 g
Dietary fiber	1 g
Fat	0.2 g
Protein	1 g
Water	95 g
Vitamin C	13 mg (22%)
Percentages are relative to US recommendationsfor adults.

                 Chart via Wikipedia

Daily Pic

Today I was called to the guidance office. It was the "beginning of school" chat (even though its Nov.).It was awkward but ok. She just asked me how things were and such. My friend was called to the principals office. Do people know how scary it is to go to the principals office. She was called down to make sure she would talk to her teacher. I hope they realize how freaked out you get when your called down to that office.

Teen TV

Have you ever noticed those Disney Channel and Nickelodeon shows are all based around being famous or becoming famous. For example:
Disney Channel:

• Jonas LA
• Hannah Montana
• Sonny with a Chance
• Shake It Up! (hasn't premiered but is know what its about)

Nickelodeon:

• Big Time Rush
• Victorious
• iCarly (web-famous)
• Gigantic*

It's just sad because kids are setting the expectation that being famous is easy. Well it's not. Think back to the clever ideas that tv shows used to have. Heres a few:

• What I Like About You
• Sabrina the Teenage Witch
• Drake and Josh
• Wizards of Waverly Place
• True Jackson VP

This is just what I think you can disagree, I don't care.

*Teen Nick show (a branch of nickelodeon)

Daily Pic

This is the poster to restore sanity and or fear. If you haven't heard about it you must be living under a rock. What I'm thinking about today is how early did they have to plan this event. John Stewart did say he apply for the rally at the national mall in the middle of summer, that was after he had all the details. He must have come up with this idea at least in the spring. So now that i explained that think of all the ideas people are coming up with for next spring, it seems weird to think about right?

Daily Pic

This is the cover of one of my favorite books. It is Avalon High by Meg Cabot. Meg Cabot is my favorite author. I can't say that it is not because of the contents, it's because of the new ideas she comes up with. The book is talking about a girl who move to a new town and becomes a reincarnation of The Lady of the Lake. Everyone else in town are also reincarnations of  King Authors Court. It is now becoming a Disney Channel Movie premiering on the 12th of November. I'm not sure if I should be happy about the movie judging how Disney can easily ruin a good story. I would defenatley recommend the book. If you hate books (why are you reading this) there is a "easy read" manga series. This week's daily pics will all be based on books.

Question:
Do you want me to do reviews?

The Fig of my Eye

I don't know if you know this but cookies are not healthy. One tough problem is finding cookies that are indeed healthy and delicious. I think that one of the best cookies are FIG NEWTONS. I could eat these things for hours. (no joke) Here's a comparison between Keebler's Oatmeal Rasin Cookies and Fig Newtons:

	Oatmeal Rasin Cookies	Fig Newtons
Serving Size	2 cookies	2 cookies
Calories	130	120
Fat	6 grams	1 gram

AMAZING! Right?

Daily Pic

You may not recognize this man before your eyes. This is Christopher Columbus. Everyone thinks of him as a great man. If you read the article below you might find out something you never expected.
Article

Daily Pic

This looks like an ordinary glass of milk, its not. This is soy milk, it is way yummier and just as healthy. Sorry for the short posts but I've been busier then normal.

Philosophers

Today we have those THINKERS, not exactly a job but something to do with life. Maybe we would call them AUTHORS, because they happen to write down their ideas. Am I a PHILOSOPHER because I tell you what I'm thinking. Lets look back to  ancient Greece. To Ptolmey , Galileo, Plato, or even Aristotle. These guts were the real PHILOSOPHERS. What has happened to them. They may not exist any longer. I believe that we need these kind of people who think so far out of the box that they fall off the table. They don't need to come up with new belief's that defy what scientists have discovered as fact. I think about these kind of things many a time. I never really had a place to put these ideas of mine until now. I couldn't tell anyone because they would think I was stupid, even my parents would say that it is impossible and that that could never happen.

Silly Quotes

"I may be a geek just because I value my sleep"
                                         - Natalie 10/10


This is something I came up with yesterday, monday morning as I talked to my friends. It is totally true I love to sleep and it may sound geeky if I go to bed at 9p.m. but thats the way I am.

Daily Pic

How Valuable is Yoga


I have been taking yoga classes once a week for 3 years. It definitely has not made me super flexible but thats really is not the point. I take the class so that I can cool down after a busy day/week. I like how I always feel better walking out of the small rec. room. I also love being able to stand up straight after carrying around books all day. After all that yoga is the perfect way to cool down. I would recommend it to anyone because classes are pretty cheap if you go through rec. departments or gyms. A lot of people have some pretty strange feelings about yoga but it is actually really fun.

p.s. that "oammmm" pose is called GYAN MUDRA call it correctly!!!

After Dinner

In my family we have a nice big meal about five days a week (my mom thinks Fridays and Saturdays are leftover night). We eat earlier and the meals are almost allways prepared fresh. I actually ate dinner and I'm so full!!! After I eat meals like these I feel like Santa with a big belly and the eurge to take a nap then and there. I was wondering If this happens to anyone else because I kind of find it embarassing to want to fall asleep after dinner especially when we eat sooooo early.
So does this happen to you???

Daily Pic

I HATE MATH

ugh, math is not easy, so I hate it.

Getting up in the Morning

It's not an easy thing for anyone to get up on a Monday morning. I have the same problem, pretty much I lay around until I know I need to get up. What I want to talk about is getting dressed. I get up around 5:30 a.m. and every day I want to wear a pretty skirt or dress. but when its 40 degrees outside. I want to wear sweats. Every night I tell myself that I WILL wear something other than jeans. In the morning I have big conversations with myself, like a debate in my head. Whats your technique to stay warm.

BTW: I don't get in a car and warm up I stand up at the bus stop for 8-10 minutes. For people who get to take a car to school/work... LUCKY

Halloween

Olive almost all holidays, but sometimes people look past the origin of the holiday and go to the commercial holiday. Don't get me wrong I love holiday. It's just people have turned it into a money ploy (if that even is a word). I wanted to tell you the thruth of Halloween. Originaly it was called all Hallow's eve or all saints eve. It was a christian and Celtic tradition. They believed that on that night anyone from the otherworld (a.k.a. Hell) could come out and walk around. The costumes were so the Spirits would not come bear them. Hence the scary costumes.
In the words "trick or treat" the trick means threat and treat means well, treat. So the phrase meant I will do something bad to you or you could give me a treat.
(off wikipedia a good statment)
Halloween costumes are traditionally modeled after monsters such as ghosts, skeletons, witches, and devils. Over time, the costume selection extended to include popular characters from fiction, celebrities, and generic archetypes such as ninjas and princesses.
I think more people should know the tradition of Halloween and the begining of it.

Movies

Here are some of my favorite movies. I didn't want to tell you only one because when I'm in diffferent moods I want different kinds of movies.

Lovey- The Princess Bride
Science- The Fifth Element
Action/Comedy- Get Smart
Chick Flick- The Wedding Planner
Stupid- The Last Unicorn
Disney- The Princess Diaries


Your Question:
What r ur fav. movies?

Daily Pic

Today's pic is the youtube logo. I am truly addicted to youtube. Thats it check out these cool channels.

Mystery Guitar Man- http://www.youtube.com/user/MysteryGuitarMan
Cynthia- http://www.youtube.com/user/thecynchannel
Rhett and Link- http://www.youtube.com/user/rhettandlink?blend=1&ob=4

---I am not being paid by these channels I just think their really cool.

Song of the Week

This week I chose a song from the Steve Miller Band called Dance Dance Dance. I used to listen to them when me and my mom went on long car trips. I think this song comes with a lot of energy.

HERES THE LINK:

Dance Dance Dance by the Steve Miller Band

Daily Pic

As you can see this is a dancer. I am a dancer. I have been lacking since I pulled my hamstring 2 weeks ago. The text below is an essay/personal narrative i wrote for english:


When I call myself a dancer you would think three main things. First, that I have been dancing for at least ten years. Second I take a million different classes. Third, I am the most flexible person alive and can do splits in mid air. None of this is true. I started dancing at the beginning of eighth grade. I didn’t go to learn to dance or to get more exercise. I wanted to be with my best friends who all danced. At first I assumed that it would be easy to fit in with girls around my age, but was I horribly mistaken.
The truth is I had been in that studio before; I took a ballet class there in second grade. I quit after my first year because I hated it. As I  walked into that studio again it felt like a flashback, especially since some little girls were leaving. As their tiny tutus left to meet up with their parents I walked in. The dance room was bright with blue tile floors and four rooms. I learned that there is a bathroom, storage room, waiting room, and office. When I first entered it looked barren, but seconds later I saw more girls coming in for the beginning of class.
Many of the people that came in I didn’t recognize because there were so many thoughts were going through my head. Were they from different schools, towns, or even home schooled? I was focused on finding someone I actually knew. Soon enough my friends came in. While two of them were changing, my friend Emily showed me around. She had been at the studio for eleven years and knew basically everything about it. She showed me what to do and introduced me to some of her, “dance friends.”
First was a sixth grader with blonde hair. Her name was Emily as well. This Emily was short and really skinny. We had just begun talking when another girl came up to me. She was in eighth grade but went to a private school. This girl was wearing a studio t-shirt and had on way too much makeup on. After that I talked to a few people I had recognized from our grade. Eventually a young woman came in. Emily told me that she was our student teacher who did stretches and warm-ups with us. The class wasn’t easy because I had no clue what in the world I was doing. I needed help with all the exercises and felt stupid. By the middle of the class, I realized that dancing was not going to be something easy to learn.
Surprisingly I lasted all year, from September to June. At the recital I was so proud of myself for beating the odds and accomplishing something I thought could never be achieved. Now this year, as I start a new year at the studio, I feel more confident, more fit, and a lot more like a dancer. This was one tough situation I faced because, as everyone knows, it’s not easy to fit in.

If you read all that, thanks and tell me if something like this has ever happened to you.

Sleeping and Eating

Because of school I have a really weird sleeping and eating schedule.

Sleep Schedule:
I wake up at 5:15 a.m.
I go to bed at 9:30

Eating Schedule:
Breakfast- 6:00 a.m.
Lunch- 10:30 a.m.
Snack- 3:00 p.m.
Dinner- 7:00

These are not completely exact but these are the times I have to deal with because of school. It's weird because on the weekends my mother and I go out to lunch and I'm always starving really early. I'm wondering does anyone else have to deal with weird schedules? If so what times do you eat and sleep?

Daily Pic

I am not one to be overly girly, but I love to shop. It is not the idea of trying on different clothes. I like that I can find good deals and get things very unexpected. I love getting things off the sales rack and getting them for a better price. Examples are most of my wardrobe. I don't think people should spend over $100 for a shirt, a pair of jeans, or some shoes. It's sad how people walk around my school in Abrocrombie, Hollister, Juicy, and Pac Sun. I have nothing against the clothes from these brands but there prices are outrageous!!!!!!

Question???

Do you like shopping? If so where?

School

School is not a bad thing, sometimes it can suck and sometimes you don't want to get up but you have to. I only hat one thing about school, math. It is not the subject, I believe in some world you could have a good time doing math. It is my teacher who I despise. He sits in front of the class giving examples of what were doing but never actually shows up how to do the problems. Here are a few examples of things he will say.

Student- I don't understand why you add three?

My Teacher- Whats not to understand?

Student- But that doesn't make sense.

My Teacher- Of course it makes sense.

He also over loads us with math homework every night even on the first day of school we go 20 problems to do. Here's the math hw I got tonight:

rd. pgs.119-121 #'s 1-43 odd
pg. 114 #'s 35-45 odd
pg. 114 #'s 51-70 all

(note: these are not simple math problems they take time)

Daily Pic

I love the seasons. They allow me to survive. I live in an area where there are a distinguished 4 seasons. Unlike California we feel the change in temperature coming on and I brings new traditions. We may not always have "white christmas's" but we do have cold ones. I would never want to live in an area where there is a hot and cold season because with each season comes new styles of, life.

Your Question:
Could you live with only 2 seasons? And if you do do you like it?

Cake Mix Cookies

Ingredients:
1 box of ANY cake mix
2 eggs
1/3 cup of vegetable oil

Steps:
1.)Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees
2.)Mix all ingredients in a large mixing bowl
3.)Put balls of dough on a pan (about 9-12 per pan based on size)
4.)Put in oven for 12-15 minutes
5.)Let the cookies cool before removing from pan and eating

Chef's Note:
This is not my recipe you can find it on the internet but my mom taught me to make these from a young and I still make them today. Feel free to add in chips, fruit, or nuts. This is an awesome recipe to make it only takes about 30min. to finish off all the dough.

Picture of the Day

Funny pic ain't it, you could take a good long look at it too. This is a picture by Josef Frank one of my favorite artists. I discovered him one day when I opened up Google. I saw this image:


I clicked on it only to see his name and some images. The Google Homepage was celebrating Josef Franks Birthday. I suggest you check out some of his other pieces they are all incredibly different from things you see day to day.

Food Phases

Have you ever noticed yourself making certain kinds of food or eating certain foods. It lasts like forever, or maybe this is just me. A few months back my mother got into a phase where she made oriental food at least once a week. Now she is heading out of her phase and making that kind of food less and less. She has gone through many phases such as Mexican, seafood, Mediterranean, and vegan. You may be thinking what about Italian. I would never be able to survive without Italian once every two weeks so we do eat Italian quite a bit. If you have any ideas what she will turn to next tell me. Also do you go through food phases like I do???

I've heard some weird things before and some really funny quotes. I wanted to share one of my favorites with you.

SILLY QUOTES

"I am a dork and I embrace it to the fullest"

This quote is totally true about me. My friend go insane when I'm sad about a B- or when the I do super good in a class and the teacher hates me because I ahead of my teacher. I don't see anything wrong with doing good in school but I find myself a bit uptight. So if your like me ENJOY YOURSELF MORE!!

Luv,
Natalie

Poem-Back Again

Before You Read:
this poem was written to my journal because I hadn't been writing for about a year.

Back Again
Though we have not spoken for long a day,
And I thought I regret the pain
The Anxiety, The Love, and the nervousness have not gone away.
And I am here now, to happily greet you again

Coming Back was a hard choice,
With so many voices going round in my head
In my mind I'm sure I followed the right one.

So I have to say hello to your faded face
And take a good long look around the place
So long I admitted my feelings to
And I am here now, to happily greet you again

About Me

As part of you getting to know me and myself getting to know me. Every day I will post a picture about me. Something i love, hate, or want. It will be just something to do so I am not some random person on the internet. SO HERE'S TODAYS PIC:



There's just something about the Eiffel Tower that intrigues me so much. It's not the whole idea of France just this one piece of architecture.

Hello World

Have you ever had some weird ideas, ones that make your brain actually think. I wanted to make a place where I can share all the slightly weird, kinda crazy, and pointless stuff I do.