My Christmas Vaca.

YAY! XMAS VACATION! I'm overly excited, even though I have a little bit of homework, including reading a couple of books for this class. However, I finished Price and Predujuce last night, and thought it was AMAZING! I love romance stories, and this one was really cute.

On the Friday school got out, I went to a Sunday School class party. Very interesting, especially since it's a class of like 15 boys, and only 2 girls (me and Rebekah Erickson). We brought a lot of food, including chocolate covered strawberries, chips, pizza, and candy. Of course we started out with eating (boys can never seen to wait), and Bekah practically ate my Sunday School teachers out of house and home. I didn't get any chocolate covered strawberries, since she ate 32 of them, and hardly any pizza since she ate like 8 pieces. Not even joking; it was disgusting. She ate more than every boy there! HAHA. I love Bekah....anways! So after that we played a game called House of Fire. Everyone is in partners, and every 4 people get a pair of dice. You pass them around, and each pair tries to roll one, one, two, twos, three, threes, etc. Once you roll six sixes, you get house of fire, and get to move to the royal table. However, if you roll 2 sixes at the same time (one on each dice), you have to start all over. I was partnered with Taylor Stringham, and unfortuatly, Bekah and her partner were right next to us. If she rolled 2 sixes, you'd better watch out, or Bekah would start attacking you. I have 3 bruises from her! She chased Taylor and I around the house like a maniac. It was...interesting. LOL.

That Saturday, I went to my cousins house. They live in the most ginormous house you have ever seen in your lifetime. Not even kidding. They live in Alpine, and as you're driving up to their house, you're thinking,"WOW. These houses are really nice." Then, when you come up over the hill and see my cousins house you think,"Hmmm...I wonder why they put a Hotel here...". It's really that huge. They have a bowling alley, movie theatre, raquet ball court, and game room in their house. I don't even know how many rooms there are. So, we went there for a family Christmas party. Everyone brought food, and we had a giant feast. After, we watched UP, and then let the little cousins act out the nativity. It was really great. Before we left, our grandma gave us all packages containing our Xmas pajamas we're to open on Xmas Eve. I love that tradition!

Yesterday after church, we went off to my other grandmas house in Farmington. We had a nice Xmas dinner there, with ham, puerto rican rice, fruit salads, pomegrante salads, then puerto rican flan and vanilla ice cream with a lime sqeezed over it for dessert. Yummy. I love going to my families houses, especially around the holiday. It's hard to believe that there's only 4 days until Christmas. I can't wait to get my laptop so I can write away!

LAPTOP! and my foot

YAY! I'm getting a lap top for Christmas...hopefully. I invested $200 in it already, so I'd better get one! But the reason I'm dying for one so badly, is because I really want something small and portable to write my stories on. I love to write, but I really hate only being able to write on my home computer when I can, and especially writing on paper. I know it makes me sound lazy, but why would I waste my time writing out every single letter when I could be going 10 times faster typing. I'm a pretty fast typest, so I don't really see the need to write everything down by hand. I mean, think about it, if we had to write our blogs and discussions on paper every week, that would take FOREVER! Thus the reason I really like this online Honors English idea; we have the technology...why not use it!

The lap top I'm hoping to get is a mini, because I really don't have the money or the need for a 15". My dad has a system thingy majig where you can download Microsoft Office onto 3 computers, and he said he would download the Microsoft Word, Exel, etc 2007 onto my little laptop! I love the new Microsoft programs! They're so easy to use, and organized so well. I really enjoy using them, and also because I'm in computer technology, so I'm learning new things to do on them each day. After we got 2007 on our computer, I used the 2003 at school, and I was about to shoot myself; it's horrible, and I don't know where anything is! New technology is just so helpful! :)

Some story ideas that have to write about is #1 christmas stories, because I love to write and I love Christmas. I really want to write a historical fiction, because I don't really like taking the time to think of a story background, and history is already so interesting. So I'm looking into that...but other than that I'm just waiting to think of ideas when I get my laptop!

Now, 2nd item of business. I have some friendly advice: Never ever, ever, ever break a bone in your leg; it's torture, and I speak from experience. I had a cast and crutches for almost 2 months, and was out of dance. It was really hard for me, because these months have been the longest break I've had from dance since I was 2... no joke. Dance is my life. It's been just horrible being out of dance, let alone being immobilized. Ugh! Don't even get me thinking about it. I HATED it so bad I can barely express it in words. It was like being a famous running and then having an 100 pound weight chained to your leg. BUT...the fabulous news is....I went to my foot doctor and just found out my foot is completely healed! I was off crutches, but it was still broken! Now it's healed and I can now start dance again! Hooray! The only bad news is, no high heels for the rest of my life, because the bone I broke is the bone high heels put all the pressure on. Oh well! I will do absolutly anything to avoid breaking it again, even if it means being a girl and not being able to wear high heels. It was a good escuse to buy new shoes anyways!

MY GRANDMA!!!!

Right now I am actually at my grandmother's house eating brownies and ice cream just like a should be. I love my grandma. She's amazing. Just like the perfect grandma should be. She feeds me cookies, candy, pop corn, goodies, and to top it all off she's an amazing cook. I love spending time with her and sleeping over at her house on weekends. We watch movies together, go shopping, laugh, play games, eat, sleep, clean, have dance parties and do all sorts of great stuff. She's SO funny and cute, and I love going to her house!

Today, she picked me up around 5, and right off the bat we went to the Albertsons with the largest display of oranges in the world. Random, yes, but it was really cool. We had broccoli cheese soup for dinner, and now double chocolate brownies and pinnaple sherbet for dessert. At 9 we're planning to have a movie marathon all night, and attempt to wake-up for church in the morning.

Before dinner we decorated her christmas tree with random bows and bells and pinecones. My grandma also has two cute cats. I LOVE cats. I think they're so cute. Dogs, eh, not so much. Their barking drives me insane, and I've sworn to my legs and face that I will take out any dog that dares jump on me and lick me. Ew. And when they growl it makes me just want to go over there and kick them...anyway! I'm getting off subject! My grandma's 2 cats are adorable. They love playing with yarn and anything you give them, and are really sweet and cuddley...well one of them is anyway. The other hides everytime I set a foot into my grandma's house, and won't come out until at least a day after I'm gone. How rude.

My grandma is from Puerto Rico, and two of her sons (my uncles) live in Connecticut, so sometimes we get to go visit them there and chill at the beaches. This is summer I think just me and my grandma are going to visit, which is sure to be a total blast!!! I absoluty cannot wait!

Every year we always have Easter egg hunts in my grandma's yard, hiding easter eggs and prizes in every inch her her flowerful yard. My grandma really likes to garden and has tons of different species of plants, and it's really cool to hear her name them all.

We also go over to my grandma's house for Christmas dinner each year. Like I said earlier, my grandma is a fabulous cook, and always has a humungous feast prepared for us. Everything she makes is always totally delicious!

My grandma is truly an amazing person! She is my hero! I love her, and I love to spend time with her whenever I get the chance. I hope that when I grow old and have grandchildren I will be a grandmother just like her!

BALLET WEST NUTCRACKER

As you all know, I love Christmas, but of course we've already been through all of this. (BTW, only 26 days until Christmas ) But this afternoon I went to see my cute 11-year-old sister in The Ballet West Nutcracker as a Party Girl. Now, I have special connection with the Ballet West Nutcracker because I have been in it for 4 years, and my family has participated in it for 7.

The first year that I was in the Ballet West Nutcracker I was a Party Girl, like my little sister. I was in an adorable blue dress, because I was the "Military/Sailor Girl". I wore my hair in two cute braids on top of my head, tied with silky blue ribbons. The next year I was a lead soldier, as the Drummer, and the next year I was the Rifleman. The Rifleman and Drummer are the two main parts for soldiers, so I guess I'm just especially stiff. The last year I was in it (last year), I was an oriental servant. I wasn't able to be in it this year, due to my broken seismoid. However, I am totally planning on participating next year!

The nutcracker is great. I totally recommend anyone to attend the Ballet West Nutcracker at Christmas time. I love the choreography, the costumes, and everything about it. It makes it so fun to watch, since I've been in it so many times and know a lot of the parts, but it's also fun because I know a lot of the people in the company, and have been taught and made friends with a lot of them. It's fabulous to watch them each year, and see them do their parts. I also attend other Ballet West performences, but The Nutcracker is definetely one of my favorites. It just has that special Christmas spirit, and it also involves dancing, two things that I love! They change little things in The Nutcracker each year, and it's great to watch and see if I can notice them. They have a little Nutcracker Boutique with all sorts of little ornaments and Nutcrackers and snow globes and stuffed animals. I look forward to getting a new thing from the boutique each year to add to my collection of decorations.

The Nutcracker starts out with Drosslemier and his Nephew walking to a family Christmas party one dark, snowy night. There are carolers and someone selling chestnuts waiting outside the host's door, and then they enter the party. Next the party girls and boys come out to the party, and do a few cute little dances. The girls are presented with dolls, and the boys with trumpets. Then the parents come in the room, and they dance and have a good party. Drosslemier presents Clara, the host and hostess' little girl, with a Nutcracker, and she is very excited. Soon the party is over, and Clara sneaks out to sleep on the couch with her nutcracker. She falls into a deep sleep, and her dream comes to life on the stage. Mice and little soldiers are fighting each other, as well as The Nutcracker (which comes to life) and the Mouse King. The Mouse king dies, and the Nutcracker turns into a prince. He takes Clara to the world of Candy land or something like that, and dozens of performers dance for Clara and the Prince.

I highly recommend the Ballet West Nutcracker for the Christmas season! If you are interested in tickets, just call 1-800-355-2787.

WEDDINGS

Girls are so weird. We sit around and day dream about getting married, dating, and plan our future out, and obsess over everything. Boys, on the other hand, could care less about who they marry, when, why, how, etc. It's pretty funny, because I now have experience on this subject. I was being a "match-maker", and setting up these two people [lol]. I made a chart about everything that had to do with a wedding: Pictures, food, proposal, place, invitations, budget, etc. The girl filled everything out in a jiffy, and then we gave it to the boy. He was so stubborn. Maybe it was just because he thought we were freaks, but he took forever to even look at it, and when he did, he just said,"I agree with everything." So disappointing.

So why is it that girls care about their future and boys don't? I really don't know; it beats me. I think it's so funny to plan everything out, and have everything set up and ready! But boys on the other hand want nothing to do with it. It's hilarious.

When I was in...6th grade I think, my dad told me the terrible news that my uncle was going to be getting married. I was horrified. I just could not believe it. He was my favorite uncle, and I couldn't believe that he was betraying me like this! So after I was horrified, I became so angry! And when I become angry I start planning, mostly revenge. My older sister, who was equally horrified, decided to be my evil accomplice, and we began to plan. It was classic. Two pre-teens planning revenge on a 40-year-old man. When we learned that he and his fiancée were coming to visit, we decided that was the perfect time to launch our evilness...

That spring René and his wife Michel came, and we were ready. Before they arrived I made a special effort to be transported to my Grandmother's house were they were staying so that I could sabotage their room. I stole all the hangers, put random stuff down the covers of their bed, taped the blinds so that I would have a peephole from the outside, and left notes in all of the drawers of all the dressers and night stands.

On the day of their arrival my sister and I had planned out that I was going to dress up as Edna Mode with this afro wig and 100-year-old glasses. I had super tight, short stretch pants, and gave my self a fake mole, and stuffed my butt with pillows. It was pretty scary. My sister wanted me to practice for when my uncle came, so she bribed me to go to all my neighbors houses and say,"I"m an oooooold grannyyyyy." It was totally weird. I can't believe I actually did it. *sigh* Anyways, when my uncle came I totally chickened out on the Edna Mode thing, be we had lots of other plans; he invited us to his wedding that fall - big mistake. Unfortunately, I was unable to attend that historically phenomenal event, but I did send my evil accomplice to carry out my devilish plans of horror. She decorated their car, and tied cans behind it, put whipping cream under the door handles, and other things that I'm not totally aware of. But it was funny. My uncle has never looked at me the same since...haha. He's just better not do that at MY wedding...

School

School is great, sure. You get an education so that you can get a nice dandy job in the future, you'll know what's going on in the world, and you'll be easily obeying the law. Great. Exciting. In fact, in most other countries they arn't this lucky. So I should be grateful, right? Ya...except for one little thing; teachers. Teachers are great people considering that they are working for such a low salary compared to other jobs, and put up with all us stupid kids, but....they just don't understand. Let me explain how I believe the mind of the teacher works:

MIND OF A TEACHER

90% of brain spent thinking about = my class

8% of brain spent thinking about=kid's other classes

2% of brain spent thinking about=maybe I should recongnize that the kids probably have other homework in their other classes besides mine

Yes. Teachers seems to never recognize that we students do have 7 other classes to worry about, not just theirs. They keep thinking that we have nothing to do and hardly any homework because they don't think they gave us that much...in their class anyway. Do I have time to do 2 hours of Algebra 2 homework, 1 hour of Biology homework, another hour of english and what about Computer Technology, Spanish, Geography, etc. I actually have a life besides school. I have to stay in shape. I like to dance. I like my Alissa-time. Homework is good, but only to a certain point. Half the time it's not the actual homework that's hard, it's just fitting in time to do all the time-consuming projects. PLUS I have Mrs. Money for Algebra 2. Now, it's not Mrs. Money I'm complaining about, it's the math. Algebra 2 is just really hard for my to understand. Don't laugh at me- I'm not good at everything. I have to be bad at some things. Seriously. It's my hardest class with the most homework, and it's the toughest to understand. But I try.

I found this really cool website that I like called Vocabulary Builder. It has a "word of the day" and I copy it down in my writing notebook so that I can learn new words. Here's a link:

http://www.superkids.com/aweb/tools/words/wod.shtml

Check it out! It's really cool. There's different levels to click on, and they teach you new words each day. I think it's a good way to improve your vocabulary. There's also other links to click on that all involve building your vocabulary. It's a really good site. Another thing I want to try that has to do with vocabulary is writing in my journal in Spanish to improve my spanish writing. I think it'd be really cool! I think learning another language is really important for our educations. It really helps me out, anyway. And not only do we learn the other language, we also learn about the culture in that country. It's amazing. We learn about what dances they do, how they live, their traditions, etc.

:)

The Christmas Post

There is much debate over this subject, but yes, I become obsessed with Christmas after Halloween. People like my mother, however, complain that you shouldn't even starting thinking about Christmas until after Thanksgiving. Unfortunatly for her, my obsession with Christmas cannot be cured.

Let me just first get this point across: Christmas is indeed the best holiday (in my book), and I love everything about it. The lights, the food, the feelings, the weather, the activities, the presents, the giving, the family, the music, the parties, the decorations...everything. I mean, I just love it! Every year I bring out my box of Christmas decorations and make my room very Christmasy. I have a nutcracker collection, complete with mini nutcrakers, tall ones, fat ones, glass ones, wood ones, etc. I also have sparkly sequin streamers and tons of little ornaments. I have a place for all the presents I get from people before the actual date, and also cards and things from past years. I have a mini Christmas tree that I set up, and tons of stuff from the Ballet West Nutcracker that I participate in (well except this year since I broke my foot).

Now when the time does come, my mother is very picky about Christmas. She has to have a very expensive tree with matching ornaments, and it has to be decorated how she wants it. The wrapping paper of the presents under the tree has to match with the tree decorations, or else it has to be re-wrapped. We have to have cute lights outside our house, and none of the bulbs can be burned out, or else my dad has to climb up there right away and change it. They have to glow to a certain brightness and give off a certain vibe when seen. Yes, crazy, I know. But it's actually quite nice sometimes, to have a beautifully lit Christmas tree with lots of matching presents under it :).

Some Christmas traditions that my family has are: A family Christmas party on the 19th. We all get together at my cousin's mansion in Alpine and have food, play games, give gifts, and hang out with the family. Luckily, my family is not boring, and each year is filled with the funnest games ever, and running around with the cousins and being maniacs, while filling up on tons of junk. My grandmother also gives our parents a big box before we leave, and on Christmas Eve we get to open the packages for us inside. We all already know that they're PJs, but the fun of it is to see what kind of PJs you get...

Christmas morning is the best moment on earth. I love it. I know, I'm still like a little kid, and I have contests with my sisters to see who can wake-up first. But let me tell you, it's fun...mostly because I always win. On Christmas I just always wake-up early (I'm talking 2 A.M.) no matter what! Of course I have to wait until I get the OK from my parents to come out, but whoever makes it to the tree first is the winner (usually ME!). I love getting and giving presents. It's way fun. I love the surprise of getting cool stuff, and the look on people's faces when they see what you got them. I always try to pick out the best suited gift possible for my family members.

Christmas day, always filled with playing with new toys and eating with the family, always promises to be great one. Not to mension winter break from school, and all the snow! I love messing around outside and being mean to my neighbors...hehehe....

One thing that is also very special about Christmas is its simbolism, and what it means to my family. We're LDS, so we always read the Christmas story, and it's great. It's a really nice time to think about what Christmas really means.

The Haunted Box

This Halloween my friends and I had a bit of fun with a "Haunted Box".

Since I couldn't go trick-or-treated because of my foot, (and we're probably too old anyways), my friends and I decided to make a Haunted Box. My friend's mom took her to Lowe's or something, and they were able to pick up a giant dryer box. One of its sides was already cut out, and we also cut a few holes of our own to make things more exciting. Next, we covered it with a big black table clothe, and cut a hole in the top of the box. Then we got a candy bowl, and also cut a hole in the bottom of it. When everything was ready, we filled the bowl with candy and set it on my porch. I still have the box, and its pretty ordinary looking...until you get closer...

When trick-or-treaters started to come, we put the Haunted Box into action. My friends and I climbed inside and let the fun begin. Anyone who came thought it was just a table with a candy bowl on it; they were wrong. We played creepy music and sounds from inside the box, moved the bowl back and forth across the table with strings we tied in, and stuck our hand up into the bowl to grab people's hands. If anyone lifted up the table clothe, we were ready, and sprayed them with silly string. It was pretty hilarious.

One family in my neighborhood (the Jones) have a little boy about 10 years old. The Joneses' son came to our porch and lifted up the table clothe. We sprayed him good, and he ran away crying, no joke. It was great.

We had all colors of silly string. Mine was green, my friends was pink. Hers was especially sticky, so it was hilarious to spray people with hers and watch them try to get it off. One family that was really funny was the Webers. The three girl's costumes were really cute, and they all came over. When the lifted up the table clothe, they wished they haden't. After they came, almost everyone was seriously afraid to come to my house. The children's parents weren't very happy. HAHA.

Next, these fat girls came. They were all wearing these disgusting costumes that were really revealing, and we decided to get them. They didn't lift up the talbe clothe, but we decided to get them anyways. We sprayed like maniacs, and the women's costumes were covered in pink and green silly string. It was so funny. What can I say? We're amazing.

I wish I could've done it all night long, but pretty soon it was late, and little kids were too scared to come. Haha. I hope we can do it again next year, because it was the best!

How To get Shelfari Onto Your Blog!

Ok so, one day I was just randomly messing around on the computer and I mysteriously figured out how to get my Shelfari shelf onto my blog. It was really cool. Then I realized that I didn't know how I did it. Soooo, I went back and discovered the secret that I accidentally discovered. So, if you want to be able to get your shelf onto your blog (like at the bottom of mine) just follow these instructions:

First: Log onto your Shelfari account. When you are at the home page, look for the tabs in the middle of the page that say HOME, PROFILE, FRIENDS, etc. Make sure you arn't looking at the tabs at the top of the page - they are the ones in the middle of the page! :)

The very last tab says MORE, with a little down arrow. Put your mouse over that arrow, and the following list should appear:

The very last option on the MORE list says My Widgets. Click on that.

Next a bunch of Widget options will come up on the page. Near the bottom it will say CREATE A NEW WIDGET. Click on that.

Now your computer will show a big blue box telling you to add your shelf onto your blog...

In the top right corner of that screen it will have a little thing saying enter your blog's URL and GET STARTED. I don't think I entered my blog's URL; I just clicked right on GET STARTED.

Next you choose your widget destination, or the website that you want your shelf to appear on. Obviesly, you choose Blogger, unless you want to put your shelf on some other website.

Once you pick Blogger, a list will come up, asking you to choose which book you want on your shelf. Books you've read, you're reading, Favorites, etc.

Once you pick that, you click on Customize your widget in the top right corner.

Here you can choose what your widget's name, what color of shelf, and all that extra stuff, but the most important things is that you enter your blogs website address.

On the right side of the screen it will display a preview of your widget. Make sure it looks how you want it to, and then click Save and Continue right above the preview.

On the next page it should have a grey button that says INSTALL ON BLOGGER.

Now your shelf should be on your blog. Check and make sure! I hope it works for everyone!

THE HOST

I have recently finished The Host by Stephanie Meyers from my good friend Amanda Conrad's shelf on Shelfari. Let me tell you; it's a very long and confusing book...at the beginning. Once you get into it, it goes by so fast, and you can barely stand to put it down! Many people have had similar things about Stephanie Meyers' Twilight series. I guess that's just an excellent quality Stephanie Meyers has in her writing.

The Host is currently one of my favorite books. Why? First of all, it's a love story. And who doesn't love a good love story every once in a while? I could read a love story any day, and be perfectly fine. The second reason I love this book is because it has a good story line. It's all about Aliens taking over the world. That may make it seem like another one of those Sci-Fi books, but really it's just a fiction book tied in with a good love story. The third reason I like this book is a reason I've already mentioned: once you really get into it you can't put it down! Seriously. At the beginning of the book (as I've heard many people say) its very confusing and hard to understand, beacuse it starts in the middle of a scene in the hospital, and you have no idea what's going on. Of course it's all confusing, because the main characters are Aliens, and they do a bunch of weird stuff.

Ok, so this is basically what happens in the book: The Aliens come to earth and take over. Turns out, the Aliens are simply little "souls" that could fit in the palm of your hand. They can't survive long without a host (duh. The Host. Makes sense). They've already overthrown dozens of other weird planets humans never discovered, and they then came to earth. They would find a human, knock them unconcious, and insert a soul through the back of the neck. The soul would then take over the body, and the human would eventually fade away. Well at least they were supposed to...

One soul named Wanderer is placed in a host girl named Melanie. Melanie is very stubborn, and refuses to leave. She is always stuck in the Wanderer's head (well, actually it's Melanie's head, but...ya). At first they detest each other (why wouldn't they), and the Wanderer can see all the memories that are Melanie's. Wanderer soon finds memories of a man and a boy (Melanie's lover and her little brother) and Wanderer soon shares the love for them that Melanie has. They go out to try to find them, because there were tons of undercover resistant groups of humans not yet captured by the Aliens. They soon find them in the desert, and join their group. The group doesn't trust Wanderer (they know she's an Alien) and it takes a while for them to discover that she is really on Melanie and them's side. Jared (her lover) and Jamie (her brother) are in that group, and she ends up falling in love with another man, Ian. I probably shouldn't say much more, but it is a REALLY, reall excellent book! I totally recommend it. Just try to squeeze through the beginning, although its tough to understand, and you'll be glad you did!

Swine Flu

As many of you may be, I am pretty much terrified of getting the dreaded "Swine Flu". Let me relate to you a short story illustrating my fear...

A few months ago, when everyone was freaking out about the Swine Flu in Mexico, my 11-year-old sister, Sarina got sick. Of course, being the dramatic person I am, immediatly diagnosed her with Swine Flu, and got to work. I first got on my beloved computer, and quickly made dozens of signs and posters and notices to hang all around my house, inside and out. If anyone came to my front door they would have seen "BEWARE OF SWINE FLU" written with chalk all up the walk way and on the porch leading up to my front door. On the door they would see a poster with the most ridiculous picture of my sister I could find and the words "BEWARE - THIS HOUSE IS CONTAMINATED WITH THE SWINE FLU. ENTER AT YOUR OWN RISK. FROM: YOUR FRIENDLY HOUSEHOLD DOCTOR". They would then come inside and see two display tables at my door. First a bar stool table with a bottle of hand sanitizer, Lysol, and Klorox wipes, along with a sign reminding them about the dreaded Swine Flu. Next was a donation jar for the medical bills for my poor sister. If they continued walking through my house they would find signs next to every bathroom sink reading: WASH YOU HANDS, OR THE SWINE FLU WILL DOMINATE YOU, or something like that. Also, on every door of every room there were 2 signs. 1 that said: BE REASSURED; THIS ROOM HAS BEEN DISINFECTED WITH LYSOL. The 2nd said: BEWARE. THE SWINE FLU VICTIM MAY HAVE ENTERED THIS ROOM. TOUCH NOTHING AND WASH YOUR HANDS. On my sister's bedroom door was a huge poster reading: BEWARE. SWINE FLU VICTIM'S LEIR. DO NOT COME WITHIN 6 FEET OF THIS ROOM. IF YOU CAN READ THIS SIGN YOU ARE TOO CLOSE! One of my favorites was the random signs on the couch, at a certain spot on the table, at the computor desk, reading: BEWARE. DO NOT TOUCH THIS AREA; IT HAS BEEN INHABITED BY THE SWINE FLU VICTIM, AND IS WAITING TO BE DISINFECTED. These signs could be found in the most random places, and it really cracked me up. I would follow my poor sister everywhere with Lysol, spraying everywhere she walked, and everywhere she touched. I swear, we must have gone through at least 3 bottles of Lysol during that time period.

Then came dinner. I was left at home to babysit my little brother and my sick sister. Ew. I had to feed them dinner, and did I want to get Swine Flu? No. No way. I got me and my brother face masks from downstairs, gloves, and goggles. It was a great sight. At dinner my brother and I were safely eating at the table, while my poor sister was isolated at a mini table across the room. Her fork, bowl and cup were all disposable and wrapped in napkins. She had a bell to ring if she wanted anything, and I wouldn't let her leave until I had time to disinfect everything. I made her stay in her room the rest of the night with a whistle for room service calls, and I wouldn't let her have dessert. Swine Flu victims can't eat anything cold, or anything chocolate, I decided.

Now, you may think I am mean, and an overreacter, but guess what? I didn't get the Swine Flu. No siree. I made sure everything was nice and clean, and took the proper precautions to keeping everyone away from the victim. I made hand washing charts, and if someone didn't wash their hands as many times as the chart said, I made them hug my sick sister. Now that the Swine Flu is coming back, guess what I have to do? Make all new signs and post them in my Dad's office! Ya, my Dad has Swine Flu - nasty, huh? And guess what else? Right now my little neighbor is over here, holding hands with my brother and sister and sharing lip gloss! SICK! I kicked him out! I don't care if he thinks I'm mean; first of all he's 3, second he looks like a swine, and third I DON'T WANT TO GET SWINE FLU! Tonight I have my signs all ready, and I'm prepared to visit my Dad's office with my Mom.

If you learn anything from this blog, remember that I WILL NEVER GET THE SWINE FLU. NEVER! NEVER!!!!!

I LOVE HALLOWEEN!

For anyone out there who is going to even think about arguing with this, I'm just going to tell you right now that Halloween is one of the best holidays there is. That's right, almost better than Christmas.

Who wouldn't love Halloween? Seriously. It's full of excitment and surprises; you never know what's lying behind the next corner. You never know what's going to jump out at you, or what's going to happen next. Where the maze is going to lead you, or what turn will take you where. I love it. People can be so creative at Halloween time!

So first of all, there's Trick-Or-Treating. Of course that's fun just because you get to be immature, and get tons of candy before the night's through. And costumes are the funnest! I love picking out the coolest/weirdest costume ever! Last year I was a ninja with Sierrah Taylor. We had ninja swords and everything, and even stole someone's pocket knife out of their pocket at my ward Halloween party. Totally ninja, right? Haha.

Then there's the haunted houses. By far the best part of Halloween, along with Frightmares at Lagoon. They have the chainsaw guys, the haunted houses, the weirdos, the decorations, the whole works. There are 4 haunted houses. The first one (and also my personal favorite) is The Funhouse/Clown House. You are forced to wear these 3D glasses. There are strobe lights everywhere, and if you don't stick close to your group you're sure to get left behind with all the creepy clowns waiting in the corners...
The next haunted house was called Deception, full of optical illustions, and scary mazes with strobe lights. Now listen to how mean my friends are: they were too scared to come into Deception, so they made me go in by myself, on crutches! I couldn't beleive it. But at least I had a good time, excluding the part where I got lost in a maze with a chainsaw guy...
The next house was a Haunted High School. I thought this one was pretty fun. It had a bunch of class rooms with creepy teachers trying to make you donate body parts for class experiments. One of my favorite rooms was the lunch room. They had lunch trays with body parts on them and this robot barfing into a garbage can with real green barf! Ew!
The last Haunted House was a haunted junk yard. It's pretty much like the baby haunted house, but the begining was scary because there was this guy in a mask just sitting on the fence. Then, when we got really close he jumped out at us! It was a blast!

So...this Halloween I think it would be totally fun to make my own haunted house in my basement. It sounds so funny. I've already started planning. I want to like stretch a tarp over my stairs and make everyone slide down into my creepy basement. Then they would walk around a little, and finally climb out a window or something. Ha ha. I can't wait.

ABOUT...writing.

I'm just going to tell you right off the bat how I feel about writing: I love to write. Love it. I love to write when ever I can, where ever, whatever, however, and ya. I just love it. I really do.

I know a ton of people's Moms that force them to write in journals so that they will be able to remember the things that happened to them, or whatever. They go out and buy them a journal and a pen, put it in front of them. and make them write every week or whatever, just because they want them to. That is not the case with me. I have written in a Diary pretty much my whole life. Notice I say Diary and not journal, because journals are more like, "Today I did this. Then I did this. After I did this. The End.". Diaries are more, "Let me tell you how I feel about this and this and this. Oh! And guess what happened to me today! I was so embarressed! Then I got mad because of bla, bla, bla. And yesterday I went to this. It was amazing! Let me describe it to you! I was so facinated!". Ya. Diaries have more feelings, and plus, girls always write in Diaries, just because they are dramatic girls.

Ever since 6th grade I have written more than once almost every week until the Diary was full. Before that I just wrote in little books are whatever. But since 6th grade I have really cracked down in writing in my Diary each week. Not only do I love to write, but I want to have something to look back on about my past and the things that I did in my childhood and stuff. Even now I look back in my 6th grade Diary and laugh at some of the things I wrote and did. I can't even imagine how grateful I'll be when I'm 20, or 30, or 40 or even 70, that I wrote in a Diary every week. I also like to paste things in my Diaries, like pictures or drawings, or little papers and cards I get. They are really fun to look back on.

So far I have filled 41/2 Diaries, not counting the ones before 6th grade. I made a deal with my parents that everytime I filled up a Diary, they had to go buy me a new one. I LOVE picking out Diaries - a new, different one each time. My first Diary was a hardback, spiral bound quilt Diary. My second Diary was a small, leather pink Diary, with a magnetic latch. My third was a hardback, blue and brown swirly Diary. My fourth was a white polk-a-dot Diary with a lock. My Diary right now is a leather Diary with music notes on the front. It is so beautiful, and I love to write in it! So far I've filled exactly 100 pages!

I write all sorts of things in my Diaries, and some are really personal. I love filling them up, picking out new ones, and looking back on them! They are so fun for me, and give me an oppertunity to express myself, and get all my feelings out on paper! I love Diaries, and I love to write!

Week of 10/4, or whenever this one's due

Today I shall write about my Pet Peeves, some of which are annoying me as I write...

First there are doors. Open doors. They annoy the heck out of me. I cannot stand for more than 5 seconds to be in my room doing homework with my door open, even if it's just a crack. Why? I don't know, maybe it's because I have 4 annoying siblings who are constantly interrupting me and my thoughts, etc., and bursting into my room uninvited. Maybe it's because I have OCD, and everything has to be perfectly in order and set. Maybe it's because I need silence to do my work, or because I like to be alone; I do not know. But I do know this: one of my Pet Peeves even worse than just an ordinary open door is when I have the door shut, and someone comes in to get something, then walks out and just leaves the door open. Then, I have to get up off my butt and close the door behind them or it will drive me insane. I can't stand it!

Another one of my Pet Peeves something we call the Crying Child. This may easily be a Pet Peeve of many people, as it is annoying and very interuppting. Actually, I am listening to a little 3-year-old bawl his head off right now. Ugh. So nerve racking. Why can't they just shut their mouths. Is it really nessisary for them to just sit on their fat little baby butts and cry? No! They cry because they don't get what they want, they cry when they wake up, and they cry for no reason to annoy you. I've actually gotten pretty used to hearing my siblings cry, but when other people's babies cry, it makes me just want to get up and stuff their mouth's full of stinky socks or broccoli or something.

Next we have going to bed. Now don't get me wrong, I love to sleep, but I'm just a night owl, and I never seem to be tired...well except in the morning when I didn't get any sleep the night before. Then I have nagging parents: "Go to bed, Alissa!". "Turn your light off!". "Give me that book!". "That's it! I'm unscrewing your light bulb!". Sheesh. I don't see the problem with staying up; if I'm tired in the morning I'm the one who has to suffer, not them. But no, they still nag me all night until I finally go to bed, and just sit there listening to my iPod or something until I fall asleep.

This one is definitely one of the more annoying Pet Peeves of mine; boys who say, "Girls don't need make-up! Take it off! You don't need it!". Ok, first of all, who are they to say that? They're boys, for heavens sake! What do they know? Second, most all boys who say that don't even know what I look like with no make-up on, so how do they know I "look better"? Do they even know what make-up is for? It's not just so you can have fun putting a bunch of crap on your face - it's to enhance your appearence. Plus, I hate to break this to you boys, but almost all girls wear make-up, and almost nothing you say is going to make them not wear it. It's just what girls do. I LOVE make-up. It's fun to put on, fun to buy, fun to try, and fun to share and do with other girls. It's just a fact of life; girls will be girls.

And there you have it- my top four Pet Peeves! 0:) < angel

Week of 9/21

This week was a good week for me, english-wise.

Now, I don't mean to get all religious on my blog or anything, but this week I mostly read the Book of Mormon and studied my scriptures. Of course, that's good for me and my religion, but one thing about the scriptures that helps me in english is that I like to use the Topical Guide a lot, which is sort of like an Index to the scriptures. You can look up any subject/word you want to, and it will give you a list of scriptures that go with that subject, or have that word in it. I have to look things up alphabetically each time, and then actually find the scriptures in the book, etc. This is really good practice for me, as searching/ looking up things and finding them hasn't always been a strength of mine. Also, for any of you who have read the scriptures, you probably know how difficult the scriptures are to interpret and understand. They use many parables that you have to often figure out on your own, and use words and language used around 2610 years ago. With all the "ye"s and "art"s and "thou"s and "thy"s, it tends to get a little confusing, and takes some getting used to. One thing I find (as well as many others who have read these books) is that I often find myself just reading words, and not actually thinking about what I'm reading. I've never really done this before in my normal reading, but since the scriptures are so different and complex, you don't really think about it, you just read it. So...I often have to make an extra effort to actually think about what I'm reading and what it means. I realized this, and now I try to not only not do that while reading my scriptures, but other normal books as well.

Another thing that is very fascinating about the scriptures is that no matter how many times I read them I find literally hundreds of new things I didn't see the last time. For example, about a week ago I was reading 1 Nephi, and today when I was in seminary, my teacher asked us to skim through the same part I had been reading before, and even then I saw and read what I had read the week before in a whole different view/perspective. That part of the scriptures meant something totally different than it had before. Of course, Mormons might say this is because the spirit is guiding you while you read, and all that, but I was just thinking that maybe I should try to reread things more often, so maybe I can find new things than before and see things differently, even in my normal reading.

Another thing I love to do is mark my scriptures - mark things that stand out to me, or that are important and special. I spend hours just finding cool scriptures and marking them. Then, sometimes I like to flip through my scriptures and find all the cool things I've marked and read them again. This is a good skill for my normal reading and english, because it helps me pick out the things that are important and need to be remembered.

So....that's basically what went on. I had a great week :)

Week of 9/14

Right now I am reading Rocket Boys for Biology and English. Another name for the book (and the name of the movie based on the book) is October Sky. I actually went to a presentation thing by Homer Hickam Jr. (the author), and he told us that if you took all the letters from Rocket Boys and mixed them around, you could make the words October Sky. Hmm...interesting. He also talked a lot about his adventures as a NASA engineer, scuba instructor and consultant of aerospace projects. Of course I'm just reading it for credit in class, but it actually is an interesting book.

It's a memior by Homer Hickam Jr., and is all about living in a mine town, and how he was destined to work in the old mine until he won the science fair and got a scholarship to collage. I think it's really great writing, and so far I'm about halfway done. The main character is Homer, and he is in love with Dorthey Plunk. His friends (Roy Lee, O'Dell, Sherman, Billy and Quintin) are all very interested in Rockets and such, and decided to make a club called the Big Creek Missile Agency (BCMA), and began experimenting building rockets, and making powdery concoctions to make them soar into the sky. All of the boys' teachers (The Great Six) want them to put their project on rockets into the science fair, and at first they are hesitant. Over time, they find a big empty space where they can launch their rockets, and with scrap supplies make a launch pad and a little hut to hide in and watch the rockets after they light the fuse. After they got a few good rockets (some flying to 1500 feet), they decided to post announcements of when they were launching their latest rockets. Soon they got at least 50 people to come and watch them shoot them off, including their teachers and mechanics that helped them build all of their rockets in Homer's father's mine workshops. They get into trouble at times, but for the most part they are really successful for just being high school boys. That's about as far into the story as I am right now, and I am eager to read more!

Before I started reading Rocket Boys, I was reading The Host by Stephanie Meyers, but I had to pause that so I could get Rocket Boys done in time. I was about halfway into the book, and it is AMAZING so far, although it's a bit hard to get into at first. It's about aliens rading the earth, and nearly taking over. I don't know if they actually DO take over since I haven't finished yet, but I was at a pretty exciting point in the story when I stopped reading. The main character is a girl named Melenie. The aliens take over by using the humans as hosts, and are put into the human bodys and then taking over the human. It's a very interesting read...

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