being sick

          BEING SICK. Being in high school you have much responsibility to stay on top of things and not get behind, so being sick doesn’t really mix well with the whole staying on track thing. But recently I have seen the number of people in my class day to day go down and down, and now at this very moment I am sitting on my butt typing this blog sicker than ever.

            Over my schools entire winter break I was sick, at work I was constantly poppin cough drops so I didn’t fall to the ground in pain and agony. Okay, I know I’m not that sick but still my throat was killing me. Anyways whatever is going around is not fun at all. When we came back on Wednesday from break I was feeling alright but as the day progressed I just felt more sick and finally when I went home I went straight to bed. Today I started feeling much better after going to the doctor’s yesterday and now I am here to write a guide for you! This is my guide to staying on track while being sick:

1.      DON’T GET BEHIND:           of course you will already be a little behind when you come back all healthy and smiling, but if you were already behind in the first place there won’t be any smiling coming from you. So if you have homework the night you went home sick or homework that was due a few days later get it done so that when you come back you aren’t super behind from the days you already missed.

2.      BE 100% HEALTHY:              do not come back to school a little sick, you will not be able to focus and most likely get either sicker or get sick again, make sure you are getting your sleep and that you are drinking plenty of orange juice! Plus you don’t want to get everyone sick with you!

3.      KEEP FOCUSED:                  when you come back go ask all your teachers or peers what you missed and get started on everything right away so you aren’t super behind! That night when you get home make sure you do as much as you can plus more, it will suck but in the end there won’t be as much stress!

4.      YOU GOT IT!                         Make sure you are not stressing out too much and have some confidence that you can catch up 100% so that way you won’t have any worries or stress!

If you follow those 4 key things you should be fine when you come back to school all healthy. I understand that staying home sick isn’t fun at all, I would much rather be at school then home sick any day. Also when you come back it can be rally stressful, so my key advice is to just not stress too much. (478)

be thankfull

          Recently in AP Lang I read an article about being thankful and it really made me think. After I thought pretty long and hard about it I realized America is somewhat crap when it comes to this holiday. We celebrate on Thanksgiving about being thankful for everyone and everything we have in our lives, and then 5 hours later we go shopping for ourselves? Just think about how crazy that sounds. Are we all really coming to that?

Also in the article it talked about how sometimes people get hurt during the so called holiday “Black Friday” and how we have other people being thankful for having just a little bit of food. This is so wrong, so very wrong. I am a strong participant in “Black Friday”, and I do it for the fun, I have never personally seen anyone get injured of die while shopping. I just feel that the author pieced two very different things together.

            I do believe that shopping is a bit overrated and now when I think about it, it’s kind of wrong. It is just an American tradition though, I don’t feel like we are being selfish by doing it, also I don’t think we are intending to show or bring off the message that we aren’t thankful. Ironically though it still makes me feel a little bad, I’m not intending to be unthankful but it comes off in a way that I am. Not everyone feels that way I hope.

            Every year at the crack of dawn when I go shopping I go for the thrill of it, and I’m speaking for many of the black Friday participants I know of. I am so very thankful for what I have and never look back on that. Maybe next year while I’m shopping I can buy a Christmas present for Toys for Tots and donate it, so maybe someone else can be thankful too. Always be thankful for what you have. (329)

cat fishhhh

            Can you imagine having a relationship with someone over the internet for a long period of time and never meeting them or seeing them and when you get the chance they end up not being the person you thought they were but yet a person you talked to with a completely different appearance? On MTV there is a show called “Catfish” , it’s about people meeting other people over the internet that they have never seen face to face and these people get the chance to meet them in real live person and usually they end up being someone completely different. And these people are shocked each and every time!

            The creator of the show actually experienced it himself; he fell in love with a girl over the internet that in her facebook profile pictures was a young, skinny, pretty brunette. After about a year they met and she was an older more obese but not fat women, he was shocked and wanted to help others in his place and that’s why he made the show.

            Personally I really enjoy the show but there are some things that I don’t like. I think it’s awesome that these people have relationships and all, but if you meet someone over the internet that doesn’t have Skype or doesn’t send any pictures then I don’t see how you can think they are 100% the person they say they are. Also I don’t like how once he comes into the picture suddenly he knows if they are who they say they are or not and all that. Some of the people on the show just aren’t very smart you could say. Other than that I really like the show I think it’s awesome that he helps them find their love even though most of the time it doesn’t turn out that way.

            The show made me scared to ever meet anyone over the internet not that I’m looking at all , but I mean can you imagine meeting someone you were in “love” with and they turn out being someone completely different! On the 1^st episode I watched this 23 year old girl fell in love with a 23 year old guy model from L.A. who claimed he traveled a lot and wrote cue cards for Chelsea lately, anyway this so called GUY turns up to be a 18 year old GIRl!!!! WHAT THE HECK! WHAT WOULD YOU DO! It’s just so crazy, if you were the person being fake? WHY! I just feel that it is so wrong on so many levels, and rude! These fake people have problems and you should never hide who you are! Ughh sorry this show just gets me going. Overall I really enjoyed this show and would definitely recommend it! (463)

gross,gross,gross

Last Sunday it was one of those rainy & cold days… perfect for going to the movies, Righhhhht. My boyfriend and I decided to go see “The Collector”. I personally didn’t know it was a scary movie, until I started watching, but I soon realized. I really enjoy scary movies but not this one. This movie was very disturbing and gross, period. Neither Mason or I liked it, it was just too continuous, and you could always call out what was going to happen. The movie in general I would rate a 4 out of 10. It was just way to over the top and creepy.

I love scary movies don’t get me wrong, but I don’t enjoy the whole blood and guts and this movies was full of it, even up to the part of hearing bones being crushed (not my favorite sound in the world… let me tell yah). The movie highly reminded me of the “Saw” movies, which also I don’t enjoy watching. They are in general disgusting and really creepy. But I mean at least saw had a purpose, I really have no idea what the purpose of this movie even was.

The background of the movie was about an area where all of these abductions were being done and the numbers of people were going up every day, and not one body was being found or coming about. & then a certain guy’s daughter goes missing and he does whatever he can to find her. Anyway the guy doing everything is keeping these people in little “boxes” in this motel that has been deserted for years in the middle of nowhere; the motel is full of traps and things that can only hurt the people. Overall it was just really weird movie. By the end of the movie there was still no reason or background for the guy doing it. I don’t even know it just kind of sucked in general.

Also it was pretty creepy because who in their right mind would think about a movie like this, that is the real question. It’s weird to think about the people that actually make these so called “scary” movies, and what gives them all their ideas, but that’s another day and another topic. P.S: I really don’t recommend viewing this movie in theaters. (389)

tis the season

There’s always a first for everything, right? Well now being 17 and employed, this will be a bit of a different Christmas for me, considering I can personally purchase presents for my friends and family from my very own pocket. You may be thinking, well wow how dumb, but honestly it means a lot.

I am the youngest of the family of 3 girls so I’ve had to rely on my parents to do all the gifting for everyone from me sense I can remember. Now, this year, when I give someone a gift I will know that it was me that gave them it and I worked for it and everything. I feel like it’s different if you just give a gift from your parents:

You could care less what the person feels about the gift, I mean it doesn’t really matter to me if the person love or hates it because I put none of my time or effort into it. & this year I have already got some of my shopping done and I can honestly not wait to see some people open their gifts and see that it REALLY came from me. It just makes this Christmas better and more enjoying. I guess the saying “the gift of giving” really does mean a lot this Christmas will be better because of it! (227)

communication gone down the drain

Samantha Hunter

Communication gone down the drain

Every day there are changes, some may be big, and some may be small. The introduction of cell phones and the internet have strongly made a huge change over time. Technology in this century is amazing compared to just ten years ago. While there have been very positive aspects of technology there have been very negative ones as well considerably with the use of cell phones. Cell phones at one time were purely used to make phone calls but in today’s society they are used for much more than that. This overuse of cell to cell communications is having a negative effect on the way humans communicate when it comes to interpersonal communication skills.

The first cell phone to be created was in 1917 by a man named Martin Cooper in Japan. Currently in 2012 there are about 6 billion subscriptions, so roughly one for every 86 out of 100 people. Cell phones are very helpful to mankind, they help us communicate with people, use the internet, and now they can even start our cars. The thing with cell phones is that when we txt our friends and have a conversation with them it isn’t a face to face one. The way our society is evolving in terms of communication is at a steep decline. With generations growing up with cell phones they are coming increasingly popular. One thing for sure is that cell phones have changed us, society, friends, and families drastically over the years. All over the world Cell Phones have become a huge part of people’s lives. As computers were once stationary items for research and work use, they are now used for games, Facebook, twitter, online buying, etc. You can virtually do anything you want, and buy anything you want on the computer. Today, Cell Phones have now become a mobile computer at the palms of your hands.

Most humans cannot function without having their Cell Phone with them. If someone leaves his/her phone at home they usually say they feel "naked". Not only do Cell Phones take over learning environments and social events, they are also accused to cause brain cancer. Cell Phones have gone from being a means of talking in case of emergencies or questions to causing fatal car accidents due to people sending a text message with the content "LOL". In today’s society with texting and cell phone games, people rarely every spend quality family time anymore, and many accidents and problems are caused because of Cell Phones. By having pretty much everything at someone’s fingertips on their phone, overtime people have become lazier and less likely to verbally communicate with others. To me it’s just sad that our society would interact through Facebook, and text messaging, instead of face to face. Sometimes, having all that technology is not as beneficial as some may think. Just twenty-five years ago a telephone was just a telephone, a way to contact people if they happened to be at home when called. (504 words)

what if....

            In my last blog I know I went on and on about the weather being all weird. Lately there has been much talk at my school regarding December 21^st, 2012 and the weird weather….. sooo it made me think about it. If the world is truly going to end on that day (it most-likely won’t) maybe the weather does have something to do with it, you never truly know. I mean maybe the sun is going to explode or something and we could all burn within a millisecond. But you have to again put the whole “What if” scenario into place again.

            When I talked to my mom about it she just kind of gave me the “are you crazy look”. But she did have some good advice. She brought up the fact that if the world ends then you most-likely won’t feel a thing; it would all happen in a blink of an eye. Suddenly earth would be gone and so would all of people with it. She also did the whole whatever happens, happens thing. She probably thinks I’m crazy but I’m mostly just curious.

            Also the other day I was talking to some friends about it and we were just thinking of what COULD happen, not saying it ever will. We got really farfetched with things like a zombie apocalypse or deadly virus hitting the entire world. At that point I didn’t even know what to think about, it would just be so beyond this life. We then started talking about what if you survived?! You would have to defend yourself and most importantly began a completely new and different life.

            If you’re reading this, you probably think I’m crazy. I’m not saying it is going to happen but I’m just saying a lot of “what if’s”. I know that there have been a lot of predictions about the world ending and such and none have never actually happened to my knowledge. I wonder what other people think though. With December 21^st coming soon, I wonder if there are people out there preparing for the world to end! I also wonder when the day comes or before the days if people will commit suicide so they don’t have to go through it. Yes, I know that is very weird to say but in the entire world ending movies you see people kill themselves so they don’t have to endure what it so come.

            I’m not trying to creep you out or anything, but just think… What if….? (420)

i'm getting really angry with you mr. weather

            Growing up in Iowa I have always gotten the chance to witness the four seasons. But this year things are happening a little differently, currently it being December it has been in the low 60’s and mid 50’s. I just don’t get this, like it seriously doesn’t make sense to me. I mean yah I’m happy about it because it’s nice weather but it’s just really weird and honestly I don’t know what to think of it. Lately it feels like Iowa is on a weather roller coaster. We slowly work up to it being colder and colder, then bam within one day the temperatures are up and its short and tang-top weather.

It being around the holidays, it is generally freezing but nope not this year.  I usually have to prepare myself whenever going outside with putting on my mittens, hat, scarf, and coat. But I haven’t even had to do that once yet. We might not even have a white Christmas, just one without any snow! I don’t know what to do! Last year it seemed like it was constantly snowing but nope not this year. If there is still no snow by Christmas I just don’t know what I will be with myself. It also feels completely wrong to celebrate the CHRISTMAS holiday when it is so warm outside. It just doesn’t really feel like Christmas time. The weather also totally defeats the purpose of drinking hot-chocolate… I mean COME-On.

I must say there are some positives that come along with warm weather though. One would be all the driving, considering most drivers in my city have no idea what they are doing and completely suck at driving & the fact that I’m a new driver and snow kind of scares me in that department. Another thing that would be nice is with all the shopping going on, you don’t have to dread walking outside so much. (That sounds like an American typed that last bit, lazy, lazy, and lazy) Other than those reasons I don’t see much good coming out of the whole weather change. But wait, watch sense I just said that and complained about it, we are probably going to get hit with a tonnnn on snow. (I wish) Well whatever happens, happens I guess. (381)

           

falla la la la la la

CHRISTMASSSSSS. You definitely know it’s the best time of the year… when 25 days of Christmas on ABC Family begins, and last night that moment happened. Yes it did. Christmas is right around the corner and I am soooo ready for it.  Whereever I go I hear all the Christmas songs and see all the lights. I even decorated my room! Christmas is a time of giving and it makes me oh so happy.

I haven’t begun shopping yet, but I better get started soon because it’s going to start getting crazy out there! I love getting gifts for people and finding the perfect one for them. During Christmas time everyone is just so happy and full of joy.

Every year in student government we get a grant of money and get to go shopping for people that don’t have enough money to shop. It is awesome knowing that even if you aren’t well off, you can have an awesome Christmas and everyone can be happy. I love shopping for these families and this year I am hoping to be able to deliver them and see how happy the parents are. It’s really awesome to be a part of it!

Christmas again is one of the best times of the year! Maybe this Christmas you can do one small thing to impact someone else’s Christmas and make it better! (230)

black friday.... period

In my family Black Friday is a ritual almost, every year we always get ready to go! The women (girls) in the family always make a plan and we all go do our business. We tend to take black Friday very very seriously. You do not want to mess with us.

This year however was a little different because of the fact that all of the stores were opening a lot earlier than usual. None of us were very happy about it because our thanksgiving dinner starts at 6:00 so we are done by 7:00 and usually rest it up and play card games and have fun for the rest of the night, but this year we had to go earlier than usual so we had a lot of planning to do. Before we ate dinner we all sat down at the table and mapped out the places we wanted to go to, then we made a list of which place we will got first, second, and so on. Last we all made our own list of what we needed and wanted at the stores. We then ate and rested up because Black Friday can be a verrryyyy stressful event.

During Black Friday you usually tend to see the worst of people, I narrow it down to about 3 types of people:

Person #1: Devil Shopper: the shopper that tends to be the rudest and most selfish. They tend to budge in line, push people if they are in their way, very determined to get what they want ( and yes, even if it involves taking it out/stealing it out of someone else’s cart). Mainly when you come about one of these types just ignore them and stand your ground, don’t let them get away with it!

Person #2: Caffeine Runner: this is usually the shopper that a) drank four monsters before coming shopping or b) is still drunk. These shoppers are my favorite, they are usually hilarious to watch and are very excited and jumpy, they tend to run and never stop talking, when they shop they aren’t very determined but they have fun all in all.

Person #3:  The Guy: this person usually doesn’t really care about shopping, yet they get stuck with all the crappy things, like carrying bags or getting the car and pulling it around, or the worst saving a spot in line. When you see them they are usually never happy and sometimes grumpy, I try to stay away from them. All in all I feel very bad for them.

My family is mainly full of the type two people, we go to have a good time and still get what we want, and if we don’t we don’t, and yeah it sucks but we move on, we make it a ritual and its one of my favorites. (474)

shine bright like a diamond

            Recently my school had Thanksgiving break, and let me tell yah it was definitely much needed. It was so nice to have an entire week of no homework and being able to sleep. I now can’t wait until Christmas break! WHOOO HOOOO.

            This Thanksgiving at my house was kind of a big one. My sister Jayme is 23 years old and she got engaged. It was funny because everyone knew about it except her. Her boyfriend Shawn of 2 years talked to me and my mom for advice. Overall Shawn went through a lot to get everything perfect and done.

            First he had to figure out the ring. He went alone the first time, just to see what he was looking for exactly and which ones looked perfect to him. The second visit he took his sister and they narrowed it down a bit, too about 5 or 6 rings. On the last visit he took me and we made the final decision. It was so exciting and made me want to cry just being there and knowing how happy my sister will be! The rings that he had were so shiny and sparkly. He knew that my sister would want something big and that’s exactly what he picked out! With the final ring we made sure it was perfect and got all the ring sizes done, they told us that he could pick it up within a week or so. When he bought her ring I could tell how happy he was, and when I asked him if he was nervous he just shook his head and told me “No, because this is what I want”.

            Second he had to figure out HOW!  At first he wanted it to be around a holiday, because Jayme had mentioned she wanted family around when he did it. When he asked my mom what to do she told him Thanksgiving because all in all he is thankful for her. Shawn thought about it for a few weeks and decided Thanksgiving it was! He planned that before we had our dinner with the whole family, he would break the news to her. Well as the day started going he became very very nervous, whenever he was about to do it, he wouldn’t. Then his sister and I started writing notes and holding them up in the air at him when Jayme wasn’t looking. Finally he did it, he pretended that he had did something really wrong and told Jayme that he was sorry and that she would be really mad at him, then right away he got on one knee and did it!! It was awesome and she was ecstatic! She couldn’t stop smiling the rest of the day!

            Jayme will never forget this Thanksgiving, and within the next year she will be married! It is crazy to think that my OWN sister is getting married but at the same time I am so happy for her. I wonder if she will be a bridzilla or not…. I hope to god not! (509)