The colors of my life

Red:

When I think of the color red I think of my boyfriend Jon. His favorite color is red so every time I see the color it’s a nice reminder of how lucky I am. Red is also the color of a heart. So in a sense red makes me think of love. But more often then not when I see the color red I think of blood. I must say I am not a fan of the color red.

Blue:

When I think of blue I can’t help but think about the sky. Those lovely days when there’s not a cloud in sight and you’re out walking around in the sun. I also think of the ocean and how broad and vast it is. When I think of the ocean I feel like life has so many possibilities. The color blue is always nice. If however it is navy blue I think of the night sky. I think of lying out under the stars with someone I love and care about. I think about how long it would take to count every star in the sky.

Yellow:

            When I think of yellow I see my mom. That’s her favorite color and it fits cause yellow is such a happy color and she always seems to be in a happy go lucky mood. Yellow also makes me think of the sun. I wonder how so much light can all come from the same place. Radiating over and warming everything below. I also think of baby chicks. I see them popping out of their eggs so ready to join the world.

Green:

            When I think of green I think of life, of the earth and all the trees and plants. Hostas somehow always come to mind. I also find myself thinking of grass and the plants ability to never stop growing even after the plant is always being knocked down. It always just pops back up again.

White:

            White makes me think of cleanliness, of heaven and of an empty sheet of paper. Like a new chapter waiting to be written. White also makes me think of clouds and how they are always so light and fluffy looking. Like cotton candy in the sky.

Black:

            When I think of black I think of a big dark hole. Like a well that has no bottom, going straight though the earth out past china and into the sky. But always dark. I think of sleep and all the colors I see behind my eye lids and how they always end up turning back to black.

The colors of my life

(437 words)

We Did It!

In my life I have been a lot of things, but this is my first, and probably my last, time I will ever be a national champion. After Happiness Inc, the varsity show choir at Kennedy High School, won nationals down in Nashville, Tennessee, the feelings going through me were crazy. I was happy, proud, excited, and even sad. This is what being a national champion means to me.

Being a national champion means that I along with the rest of my show choir have worked our butts off! It means that we have had the longest season ever stretching from July all the way to March. It means we never gave up and kept on trying to improve our show. We pushed the bounds of happiness up and over the sights we saw at the beginning of our season. Before it began, we only dreamed of the possibility to be national champions. Now that dream is a reality and we are all so happy for it.

Being in show choir is like having a second family. Being a national champion makes me proud of all my friends and makes me so happy for the years to come when we will reminisce about the glory days in Happiness Inc. This year we worked so hard and we managed to make it farther than any other Happiness group has gone before us. Being in Happiness Inc. of 2012 school year makes me proud to be a Kennedy student and it means that I have given my energy and attention over to something that is worth more than anything else they can offer us students in high school. It means we made life time friends, memories, records that other groups to follow us will strive to reach.

Being a national champion makes me sad. Now knowing that our season is over, we will forever miss the times and memories we have shared in 2012. Being in Happiness means that we will always have a connection to the people in our group, and even though were all sad that it's over, it will remain to be a “Happi” memory that none of us will soon forget. Knowing that half our group will be leaving at the end of this year makes us all sad. Nervous and excited, for us and them, to continue on knowing forever that we were the group that made it farther than any other happiness group had. Knowing that we made a bond that can never be broken.

Being a national champion makes me excited for next year. Although all the juniors will miss the leaving class, we are still so excited to see how the group will hold in next years season. We're excited to go back out with our heads held high knowing that we are one of the best. Knowing that it wasn’t easy to get to where we are now. We are excited to welcome all the new members who are lucky enough to achieve their goal and be a part of Happiness, Inc. next year. We are excited to go back out and work our butts off yet again trying to reach beyond the triumphs we reached this year

            Over all, we have had a GREAT season. Better than any of us hoped for, and better than anyone was expecting. We have pushed the limits and now our name is one being said across the nation. We ended up on top, and now it's time to bask in the glory of our accomplishments. We did it, Happiness Inc. We did what no one thought we could do. We bounced back up when we fell and worked harder than any group at Kennedy has worked before. We did it. And that’s what it means to be a national champion.

(631 words)

Vera v.s. Coach part 2

Accessories:

            When choosing between accessories my answer is clear. Vera Bradley has a very low selection of accessories. In fact, when clicking on the Accessories button on their page all that comes up is lap top cases and cosmetic bags, and in my opinion these are not accessories at all! However when clicking on the Coach Accessories button a wide variety of hats, scarves, fragrances, key chains, and pet accessories pops up! Now that’s what I call accessories! So my clear choice is Coach!

Luggage:

            Under this category there is no competition! Literally! Coach doesn’t even have a travel or Luggage section on their web page! How can this be? Coach lovers must go on vacation sometimes! However Vera has multiple duffels, rolling luggage, dopp kits, luggage tags, and backpacks that make travel so much more fun and colorfully organized! So obviously my luggage allegiance is pledged to Vera! For now and forever more!

Apparel:

            This category is just pathetic! Coach has an assortment of coats and jackets and that’s it! Not T-shirts or jeans, no tank tops or underwear! Coats and jackets is all they have to offer! But this offer is better than the one given by Vera for there is no apparel on that web page. Vera has nothing to wear on your body. Period. Not even jackets!

School:

            Another Clear win for Vera. When looking at all the school options coming from her end you end up with laptop cases, dopp kits, pens, laundry bags, coffee mugs, blankets, picture frames, everything you could possibly need when getting ready to go off to college! Coach however is no comparison. All they have to offer is a dinky lap top case. LAME! How am I supposed to carry my laundry home in a laptop case! Selection is much too stingy!

Men:

            The final category discussed on this blog is men. When browsing through Vera I see nothing manly enough to make it into a guy’s wish list! So unfortunately I must say that Vera looses this one. Coach has a variety of shoes and bags for men. Not to mention phadoras, key chains, wallets, and belts. So the win for the Men category goes to Coach!

(368 words)

Vera v.s. Coach

When someone asks me my two favorite brand names I have no problem finding my answer. It would defiantly be Vera Bradley and Coach! But I don’t know if I could say which I like better. I like them both for different reasons!

Shoes:

            When I think of shoes I defiantly like coach better! Coach has a very wide variety of shoes such as boots, high tops, heels, exc.! The list goes on and on! Almost any style of shoe you could possibly want you can get in any color! Vera however only has flip flops! Although flip flops are great in the summer I really only wear them when going to the pool or beach! I, not being one to take a visit to the pool very often, find myself standing strong with Coach on this one.

Bags:

When it comes to bags, totes and clutches alike it is a very tough decision. I would probably have to say though that I prefer Vera bags. There are so many styles and patterns there are probably millions of combinations that could be made to personalize a bag to my style. I being a softy for options have to choose Vera. Coach though does have very good bags! I myself have quite a few purses and clutches at home. But the patterns aren’t as exciting and the variety just isn’t as broad. So Vera it is!

Sunglasses:

Although I don’t own Coach or Vera sunglasses I would have to say I am a Vera sunglasses fan. Most Coach sunglasses are quite big and chunky and I am much more a sleek sunglasses fan. I did come very close to buying a pair of Coach sunglasses once but now looking back and comparing them to the Vera sunglasses I want now I simply couldn’t go any way but Vera! The bold patterns and thin-rimmed glasses frames sore far above that of the chunky rimmed Coach sunglasses.

 (324 words)

Floaters, Sinkers, and Skidders

Growing up in a family like mine you learn a lot of very different things. You may be thinking, yea so what my family knows fun facts too! But trust me! My family is especially knowledgeable on any topic most would think to be odd! One of my mothers favorite thing to talk about is Poop! She is a health freak so when she learned that you can use poop to gauge how healthy you are she dove right in!

Poop can be classified into three groups. There are the floaters, the sinkers, and the skidders! Now you may be thinking, floaters?..skidders? Well no worries! In due time you will be a poop expert!

Most people eat meat during every meal, every day! They think to themselves, well protein is good for you! So they just go right on eating. Animal after animal. Well im here to tell you your poop disagrees! Too much protein is not good for you! Have you ever looked in the toilet after taking a nice steamer and noticed its position in the water? No? well im here to tell you that it probably ALWAYS sinks down to the bottom of the toilet! this my friends is not good! When your poop sinks down to the bottom of the toilet it almost always means you have consumed too much protein! Protein is good to some extent but too much is just no good! Don’t belive me? Ask your poop!

The next kind of poop you may have is a skidder! Now when you think about skids they really aren’t a good thing! Weather its breaking to fast in your car or falling down on the cement, skids are never a good thing! Well my friend’s skids in the toilet are no different! When your deuce leaves skid marks while exiting the Lou it means you have eaten too much sugar! We all know sugar is bad for us so why do we continue to stuff ourselves will unhealthy sugary snacks? Well let me tell ya your poop wishes you would stop! Nothing ruins a good bowel movement more than looking down to find that your unhealthy life style is affecting your poop!

Now the most uncommon type of poop! A floater! If I had to guess I would think that right about now your thinking, wait a minute, my poop has never floated! Well to be honest most peoples don’t! But that doesn’t mean it’s a good thing! If you drop the kids off at the poop and you notice that they float, then that means you have been eating food that has a good balance of everything in it! Not too much protein, not too much sugar, just the perfect balanced diet! So floaters are good!

 So next time you pop a squat on the john take a looksy after wards to see how healthy you really are! And remember “Floaters” good! “Sinkers” and “Skidders” bad!

(492 Words)

So Many Choices

As high school students of the twenty first century we have so many things offered to us. There are so many different things we can do during our high school career, it really seems as if there is no limit.

At my high school you can be any person you want to be. We have something for everyone it just depends on what your interested in. For example If you like video games we have a actual video game club you could go to. If your more of a do gooder there is multiple volunteering clubs at school you could get involved with such as Interact club or key club. Or if these aren’t to you liking you can come to school and make your own club suitable to anything you like to do! We have so many options and this is only the beginning.

Also at my high school we have AP courses. You can take any you like and there are multiple in all different subjects! We have AP for government, economics, US history, Human Geography, World History, Music Theory, Psychology, Calculus, Biology, Chemistry, Language and Composition, the list goes on and on and these are only the beginning. You can be in any classes you want to and it’s all offered to us in high school.

Another thing you could do in high school is be involved in the arts. We have classes for choir in all grades, ceramics, sketching, show choir, select choirs, jazz band, band for all grades, orchestra, and again on and on goes the list. There’s so many things you couldn’t possible manages to do even half of them!

One very different thing offered by my high school is classes at Kirkwood community college. You can excel in high school and once you have gone as far as you can you can start taking college classes that go towards you getting your high school diploma! You can take classes for engineering and math or anything else you wish to excel in.

Most obviously high schools have sports. You can try any sport you want and most of them are offered at your school. You can do things from track to wrestling and cheerleading to football. It doesn’t matter what you want to do your school will most likely provide it.

High school allows us to find out who we are and what we like to do. It lets us excel in things and maybe even suck in things to. But without high school our lives would not be as diverse as they are in today’s world. We are lucky to have so many options.

(441 words)

VEG-HEAD THREE-BEAN CHILI

Welcome back to my blog! I hope all who tried out the Black Bean Burger had a successful experience and are ready to try out my absolute favorite vegetarian dish! This meal although very different from the Black Bean Burger is still very good and would just taste lovely on a chilly night.

VEG-HEAD THREE-BEAN CHILI

I know when most people think of a good tastin chili they think either lots of meat, lots of hot sauce, or lots of both! This recipe while not hot or meaty is still amazingly good! I never turn down a good bowl of vegetarian chili and this dish will just leave you wanting more. This recipe will make four good sized servings and everyone, vegetarian or not, is sure to enjoy it!

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons olive ore vegetable oil

1 medium yellow skinned onion, chopped

1 large red pepper, seeded and chopped

2 large green pepper, seeded and chopped

4 cloves garlic, crushed and chopped

1 cup pale beer or vegetable stock/broth

1 (32-ounce) can crushed tomatoes

1 (14-ounce) can black beans

1 (14-ounce) can dark red kidney beans

1 tablespoon ground cumin

2 tablespoons chili powder

1 tablespoon cayenne hot pepper sauce, several drops

1 teaspoon coarse salt

1 can spicy vegetarian refried beans

The first thing to do would be to sauté onion, peppers, and garlic in the olive/vegetable oil. This should take about 3-5 minutes over moderate heat. Then add in the beer or broth, tomatoes, black beans, and the red kidney beans. Make sure to stir and combine the ingredients.

Now season the chili with the cumin, chili powder, hot sauce, and salt. To thicken the chili stir in the refried beans. Now just let the chili sit over low heat for 5 to 10 minutes longer and you are ready to serve.

When serving the VEG-HEAD THREE-BEAN CHILI make sure you have all the needed toppings such as, shredded cheese (Monterey jack or smoked cheddar! YUMMM), sour cream, and always bread and butter for the side!

Now that you VEG-HEAD THREE-BEAN CHILI is completed and your toppings are ready it is time to serve! This chili is guaranteed to please!

Bonne Apetite!

(364 Words)