Nicola Faires

This weekend my cousin, Nicola Craig, now called Nicola Faires, got hitched. She is 25 and has been in Alaska, with the Navy, for one year and eight months. My cousins’ family is very religious and church always comes first with them. They also go by the “you don’t date until your ready to mate” policy. Well I guess my cousin was ready to do just that because only six months ago she met Mark. He is a missionary up in Alaska and has a plane that he uses to travel from city to city since there aren’t very many roads connecting all the cities’ up there.

            My cousin had a very nice church wedding and the entire congregation helped them with anything that had to be done at the church. Her dad helped pay for the bathrooms and a few of the rooms of the church to be redone and by the time the wedding came the whole church looked great. Nicola’s colors were royal blue and gray and all the groomsmen were wearing blue ties and all the bridesmaids were wearing royal blue dresses. The tables were decorated with blue tablecloths and big vases held many pretty flowers and peacock feathers!

            My sister is a cake decorator and my cousin asked her to do her wedding cake. She wanted a simple four-tier cake and my sister used whipped cream frosting and put flowers going up all the tiers. It was very pretty and my cousin really liked it! The dress Nicola wore was amazing. She is such a small girl and her dress just made her look as thin as a toothpick! It was white with lace all up and down it. It had a train with a bar back. It was not strapless but it was still very pretty and showed a lot of skin! The service was very simple and everyone enjoyed talking to family and just having a good time at the reception.

            The next day at church, there was a brunch for anyone who wanted to come from the wedding and they had some left over cake, cinnamon rolls and some other good foods! The bride’s father, my uncle, informed us that Nicola and Mark had left for their honeymoon and had told no one where they were going!  They only left the parents one emergency number to use. I guess it’s a mystery where the newly weds went to spend their first nights as a couple but wherever it was, I bet they will have so much fun, and all I can do is wish them eternal happiness.

(435 words)

The Big Dance

This weekend my show choir, Happiness Inc., performed in the Big Dance Competition at Davenport North High School. This was our second competition this year and only our fourth and fifth time performing our entire show. On Saturday, January 21, 2012, we woke up early to catch a charter buss, to Davenport. It was an hour and a half long bus ride, but when sitting next to your friends playing fruit ninja and doodle jump, no bus ride is long enough!

We had to be dressed and ready at 4:10 and because I was at a wedding in Davenport until three o’clock, I had to rush back to the school so I would have time to put my make up and costume on. We had our daytime performance at 5:00pm and the feeling of performing was great! We were all so jittery before and excited to perform. Our director had told us that when we were performing we should focus only on having fun and let everything else just fall into place! When we went out to perform, that’s what we did and although there were a few little mistakes, we all felt as if we did an awesome job.

Our critic went great and she gave our band and us some good things to work on. She was a very nice woman and we all enjoyed hearing what she had to say about our show. After our critic, we went to daytime awards and patiently waited to find out who would be going on to finals and who would be sent home. The announcer of awards finally got to show choir results and announced that Happiness, Inc. had come in first place in daytime awards! We had also gotten best vocals and best band! We were all so excited but we held back our yelps. saving our voices for finals. We also found out that our prep show choir had gotten first in the prep division and would be performing last in finals!

When we returned to our homeroom, our director told us we had beat the second place group by forty-one points! In show choir, ten points is a lot and we came out forty-one points ahead! We were all so excited for finals and that Protégé was going to be able to also perform in finals and we all rushed off to have dinner before we had to get dressed and ready for our 9:00pm performance.

Our finals performance was, if possible, our best performance yet. Since the, just have fun thing had defiantly worked in daytime, we did it again at finals and because we had all had time to get our jitters worked out in our first show there was almost no mistakes! I think that I had my personal best show and we all hoped we would pull out in first, as we had during daytime.

When we went to the awards ceremony the auditorium was jam-packed! There were people everywhere and we all tried to get a good seat next to all our group members!  The announcer for the final awards hushed the entire audience as we all waited, holding our breath. He announced the places from 5^th to 1^st and we waited just hoping our name was at the bottom of the list! When there were three groups left, he announced that Happiness, Incorporated had gotten two caption awards! We won best vocals and best choreography! We were so excited and just waited to hear our name! When he announced that Happiness had come in first place and handed over the huge trophy, we all swarmed the stage just trying to grasp and remember this amazing feeling! We later found out we had beat the second place group by 75 points and that was the perfect end to a perfect day.

 (639 words)

Synthesizing TV Coverage on Politics

In the 1960’s, political debates started being shown on TV. Throughout America there are many opinions on the topic. Some people believe that they are bad because it may make the presidential candidate look more like a celebrity rather than a serious political figure. I, on the other hand, believe that having the presidential process on TV is a good thing because it lets you get to know your candidate and makes it easier for everyone, in our extremely large country, to be more informed and involved in the presidential process.

According to Source C, showing political debates on TV is a bad thing because “Television had dumbed down the issues by forcing the candidates to respond to questions instantaneously” But when looking at this statement from my point of view, it seems that this would be a good thing. Any person in the world, you, I, or the homeless person on the street, can write something down. We could all come up with something that would sound great and make millions of people agree with us, but not everyone knows enough about what they believe to defend it on the drop of a hat. I want a president who knows what side he’s on, one that doesn’t have to have everything he is going to say written down ahead of time, one who is smart enough to speak for himself and has the ability to make America understand what he or she is trying to get across. Answering on the spot questions is not a bad thing. It makes the answer more genuine, so you know exactly what it is the candidate believes and not what some speechwriter wants him to say.

It says in Source B that on April 20, 1992 the candidate, Bill Clinton, appeared on a show on MTV. After being asked the question, boxers or briefs?, our former presidential candidate responded, briefs. The question is, is this a bad thing, showing that our presidential candidate was being asked questions worthy of that of a super star, or a rock singer? Or on the other hand were the young American voters just trying to get to know their candidate just a little better? Now I would be the first to say that this might have not been an appropriate question for a presidential candidate, but would answering this type of question really hurt his campaign? I personally don’t think so. By answering this question, Clinton’s audience just knew him a little better. It may seem to some that this is a step too far over some boundary, but I know I wouldn’t vote for a candidate I knew nothing about. I want to know my president and not feel like he is a total stranger. Later in the Source B article excerpt they state, “because of television’s sense of intimacy, the American people feel they know their presidents as persons and hence no longer feel the need for party guidance.” But still I would not vote for a person I didn’t feel I knew. I want some familiarity that makes my candidate more relatable and easier to understand. I don’t think that sharing personal things should really be considered a bad thing.

The main reason why I consider having the presidential debates and speeches shown on TV a good thing is because I feel that having more knowledge of my candidate makes them more relatable. As said in Source A “Television with it’s penetration, it’s wide geographic distribution and impact, provides a new, direct, and sensitive link between Washington and the people.” With the help of showing the presidential election process on TV more people are able to be involved. Young people who normally wouldn’t travel long distances to listen to a debate can now just sit at home and hear exactly what everyone else at the debate can hear. Because of this as said by Angus Campbell “Large segments of the public have been given a new, immediate contact with political events.” Now everyone wanting to hear what the candidates have to say can easily get him or herself involved. Because of television, the direct contact between candidates and a normal person has been restored.

As stated by source A, Frank Stanton, president of the Columbia broadcasting system once said, “Not even the sky is the limit”. In today’s world this is definitely true and having politics broadcasted on TV was just the beginning to many other beneficial things that will happen in America. Having presidential debates and speeches on TV has and will continue to be a great way for average citizens to get involved and learn about politics. I wonder if the people opposing the politics on TV would even know anything about their presidential candidates if it weren’t for all the political coverage around the country. It’s great that people from California to Maine can both watch the same thing on TV and gain the same opinions without having to leave the comfort of their own home.

(835 words)

SANTAAAAA

This year for Christmas Santa gave me many great presents! In my stocking I found some very funny things! First I pulled out a package of assorted adhesive mustaches! I was so very confused, but upon opening the Hulk Hogan mustache and placing a bandanna around my head, I instantly understood how much fun an assortment of adhesive mustaches could be! Also in my stocking was the Clapper! That’s right, Santa gave me a little plug in box that allowed me to clap things on, and clap things off. I have never expressed a need for the Clappe, but I will say my family and I had a great time hooking it up to the Christmas tree!

Some other things I found in my stocking were Pickle Band-Aids, which also included a pickle sticker! How great! I guess I can add this year’s funky Band-Aid to the others from past years! Including Lips Band-aids, and Bacon Strips. (Please remember I am a vegetarian) Also in my stocking, I found some Corn Dog Mints! (Again…I am a vegetarian) I just love Santa’s stockings!

Mysteriously enough, I saw my mom buying one of my Christmas presents this year. It was a beautiful pair of black button Uggs. However, upon opening my Santa gifts, I realized that he had also bought me a beautiful pair of black button Uggs! But I then realized that the Uggs my mom had bought me were not under the Christmas tree! I guess my mom found out Santa was getting them for me and decided to return them! Good old Santa!

The last Santa present I opened this year was an I -Pod Touch! Earlier this summer my I -Pod Nano died! It wouldn’t charge and it wouldn’t turn on, it was dead! I wished and wished for Santa to bring me an I –Pod Touch and he did! Thank goodness for that too because I am getting very tired of radio music and am very ready to get back to listening to my Glee songs in the car! I had a fantastic Christmas this year and I just can’t wait till next!

 (356 words)

An Unexpected Surprise

Why do so many girls not like the way they look? Why do they feel the need to cake on the make up every morning? Why does no one make the effort to tell every girl like this that they look beautiful just the way they are???

            Just last week I was in the girls’ bathroom and when I walked out of the stall to wash my hands there was a little blue post it note right above the sink. It said, “Don’t cake on the make-up. You are beautiful, just the way you are!” When I saw this little note I was taken aback! I didn’t understand why someone would put that over the sink in the girl’s bathroom. I then looked above the other sinks and saw that there was other notes above all of the other sinks also written on little blue Post it notes. After curiously reading through all of the notes I went back to class and was thinking about the little blue notes awhile longer. Finally I came to the conclusion that the post it notes were, in fact, a very good thing!

            There are so many girls out there who don’t think they are pretty. Even worse they make up for their “not prettiness” by putting pound after pound of make up on. They try to cover up the imperfections that make them who they are. Girls use bronzer to make them look tanner, and fake eye lashes with thick eyeliner, all in hopes of making themselves look prettier. When in fact, God has already made all of them beautiful. He makes no mistakes.

            Some of the other post it notes said things like “Embrace today, you are BEAUTIFUL enjoy it”, “Embrace your imperfections. You are beautiful.”, “Beauty is found in the heart, not the mirror!”, and lastly “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. You ARE Beautiful”. These notes are great because you never know what girl is going to read them! They could have been having a really bad day and needed the pick me up that these notes supplied. Whoever was nice enough to write those notes could have made someone’s day ten times better.

            All it takes is telling someone you like their shirt, or shoes, or hair. You could be responsible for making that girl feel great about herself on the inside, and on the outside!

(399 words)

Family Presents!

After opening my amazing Santa presents, I got to open all the presents from my siblings and my parents! First I opened my gift from my oldest brother, Drew! A few years ago my friends and I found the Pretty Little Liars books! There are around eight of them and we all passed them around to read! I ended up getting bored right before I read the last book so unfortunately I never was able to find out who A was. The reason I’m telling you all this is because when the first show of Pretty Little Liars aired, my brother and me watched it together! We thought it was just so funny that Aria started making out with a guy in a bar, later to find out that he was her teacher! We watched a few other episodes but none of them lived up to the first for Drew! However we continually joke about how dumb the show is to each other! Then on Christmas I opened up my present from him and he had bought me the last Pretty Little Liars book! Now I can finally read it and find out who A is!

Next my brother Ethan passed his presents around! He had bought me the Phantom of the Opera CD. I love Phantom of the Opera, and I’m currently practicing one of the songs, All I Ask Of You. I may sing it at the opening of my sisters wedding this June. Also at the bottom of the box, I found an Orange Leaf gift card! For this I am so grateful! I went to the Orange Leaf for the first time, to spend my new gift card and it was DELICIOUS! I love frozen yogurt and all the fruity flavors with the little strawberry and orange balls were just fantastic! I can’t wait to go back and spend the rest of my gift card!

The last of my siblings to hand around their gifts was Elise! Because she is the only one of my siblings who lives on her own with a full time job, her presents are always great! I had really wanted a new curling iron for Christmas and she bought me a wand! I was so excited when I opened it! Now I just have to figure out how to use it! The first time I tried curling my hair with it, I looked like I had just been trampled by a herd of cows, so I guess I’m going to need a little practice!

Finally my parents handed around their gifts to us! Every year my parents give us a book! This year my book was 1000 Places to See Before You Die! Because I have already had the opportunity to visit France, Spain, and Korea, I was very excited to start highlighting all the places I have been in my book! Another usual gift from my parents is a “do- gooder” gift! Almost every year my parents buy pigs for a poor family in Nepal or a beehive for a family in Africa! These things may seem small but they really help a family make money so they can try to be more self-sustaining! This year they bought a bicycle for medical workers in Africa, in my name. Last but certainly not least, my parents gave me a Vera Bradley blanket! I LOVE Vera Bradley and I was so excited to have a new blanket! I got some great presents for Christmas, but I really just loved being able to spend all this great time with my family!

 (598 words)

The Girl Who Kicked The Hornets Nest

The reason I chose to read the book, The Girl Who Kicked The Hornets Nest is because it is the third, and final book in The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo series. I was very excited to read this book because the first two books in the series were very engaging. This book was challenging to read for many reasons. Throughout the book many story lines are taking place, there are many new characters not included in the first two books, and also unlike the first two books there is a lot of government lingo that I do not understand. However in spite of all the challenges that come with this book, I still heavily encourage everyone to read it.

The main reason why this book is challenging is because of the entire Government lingo! Plus the fact that the government in the book isn’t even American! This makes the book challenging to read because the book will suddenly switch into a government officials point of view and with all the big words and complex sentences I often find myself having to reread multiple pages at a time. Also along with the lingo I’m unfamiliar with, they bring up past trials and big incidents that happened in Sweden that I know nothing about! I then would find myself not understanding anything they were talking about and sometimes I would even have to Google some of the incidents mentioned so I could continue to follow the story line of the book.

Another big reason why this book was challenging is all of the new characters that have suddenly been introduced into the series. Throughout the past two books the characters have stayed basically the same, but once I started getting into The Girl Who Kicked The Hornets Nest many new and confusing characters have entered the mix! Also because they all live in Sweden and have Swedish names I sometimes cannot seem to pronounce the names and then get confused with who is who. Another confusing detail is the fact that I feel as if all the new male characters have names that start with E. Such as Edklinth, Evert, and Ekstrom. When looking at them they may seem like very different names but when all of the new characters are being introduced around the same time it becomes very confusing. Yet one more confusing detail is that many of the new characters are good but some of them are also bad! It’s sometimes hard to distinguish what characters are on the good side and bad side leading yet again to reading many pages over at a time trying to understand what’s happening.

The final reason that this book is challenging is that throughout every chapter there are many different characters talking in their own point of view. There are the old characters and the new characters and the parts where all I see is a bunch of government talk that I don’t even know who is apart of. Also because it just switches in the middle of the chapters it’s hard to follow who is talking, especially if who they are talking to doesn’t say their name shortly after the conversation starts. Because of all of the characters and all of the story lines some of which go together, some of which don’t have anything to do with the other, this book can be very challenging to go along with.

Even with all of the challenges that come with this book, it is still very good. I actually like all of the challenges in this book because I feel as if all of the learned vocabulary and government lingo I will be able to better understand other books with confusing story lines such as this book. Like the other two books in the series, I still find myself not wanting to put it down, and if anyone is looking for a book to read I highly suggest that they start with The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, and read through The Girl Who Kicked The Hornets Nest. The book is very intriguing and I just don’t want the series to end.

(698 words)