"Santa clause is coming to town"

I hope you all have been enjoying Christmas break! In my opinion(and probably most people) it was time for one. Christmas break is more than a vacation to get away from school. It is a time to go be with family and appreciate what you have been blessed with. You get to eat yummy food that fills you to the brim. The food is pretty much a repeat of thanksgiving, except with a couple other things added. This is one of my favorite parts! Aside from eating, you get presents! This is how many people find joy in Christmas. Of course it is fun to receive gifts, but many people miss the true meaning of Christmas. Christ was born. If it was a day for opening gifts they would have called it "present day". Christmas should be a time to go to church and celebrate the fact that our savior came into the world on this day. It is a time to rejoice and give thanks. "Joy to the world, the Lord has come" "Come all ye faithful" "Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel!" The Christmas carols on the radio say it. I hope everyone had a wonderful break and is excited for 2013! Merry Christmas and Happy new year!

Whats the big deal with birthdays?

Why are birthdays so special? Well, first of all you were brought into the world on that day. I would say that is pretty important. It is the day when you took your first breath. You felt life in a pure way. You had not commited any faults; you were an innocent child. You became apart of the world that you would live in for many years to come. You recieved a name that would define you and by which you would be addresed by. On your birthday, you became an important part of this world. Birthdays are very special for all of those specific reasons, but they are also special because it is YOUR day. Everything is about you! YOU get presents, YOU have a party, YOU get sung too. It is a day for you to haev fun doing whatever you want! You get awesome presents from amazing friends which is also nice. I would say that a birthday is a time to celebrate your coming into this world, and a time to appreciate your life. Today is my birthday. Aside from partying and eating too much cake I will reflect on the joy of life.

Home

Narration- Home. I have many places I call home. This is because most of where I go with my family brings great joy to me. When I was eight I lived in Golden Valley with my two sisters and my Mom. My parents had just gotten a divorce so my Dad did not live with us. In the backyard of this house was a swingset my Dad had built for my sisters and I. We played many games on it. I really miss that swingset now because it reminded me of that house. It was a very cozy house with four bedrooms and a big kitchen. The hallway to my bedroom was long and the house was very friendly and inviting with its quiet atmosphere and soft colors painted on the walls. Home to me was this house. It brought me peace and joy. 

Description- Peace. Joy. Comfort. Sitting quietly by the fire and sipping hot cocoa with the family. All the children are listening to their Dad read them their favorite story before they go to bed. Dad slowly makes his way to the kitchen to grab the whipped cream out of the fridge for everyones hot chocolate. Mom asks the children about their day in school and their plans for tomorrow. They reply that they are going to ride their bikes to their friends house and have a play date with them. Dad returns from the kitchen with the whipped cream, sprays some into everyones glasses, then continues to read bedtime stories until the children are all soundly sleeping by the fire. 

Example- I cannot count how many times I have been to Disney World. Around 18 I think. You would think that I would be tired of it by now but I am nowhere near that. I feel like a little kid as soon as I step off of the plane to go to my hotel. "I am in Disney World!" I think with excitement. This may sound cheesy  but Disney World is so magical. All the characters running around greeting people with warm smiles and laughter, all the glimmering lights and thrilling attractions, send you into a magical place. Joy and happiness overtakes me every time I visit Disney. The wonderful feeling of laughing, singing and dancing is like home to me. I wish I could live in Cinderella's castle. That would really be home.

Compare/Contrast- What is home not? A place with no love. An empty, dark place that makes you feel alone and afraid. Afraid of what? Anything and everything. Home is not a place that has no hope. When times get tough, you need a place that provides comfort and a way out. Home is that place. It is where you can turn to feel that everything will be ok and you can make it through. It is a place where you can be yourself and not be ashamed of it. It is a place for freedom. What it is not is a place that closes you off from the world. Home provides the support and the strength to learn to be free. 

Process Analysis- You first need to build a home. This is done with many hours of building a structure that will hold the person/s inside. Before you start to build, you need a foundation. How big it is depends on the families preferences. The other important thing you need a a family or a person to stay in the home. Without a person inside, the structure is just a house. It lacks the qualities of a home. So make sure to have a human being that is willing to live there inside of it. The building process takes a while, so patient builders are also a necessity. In short, you need people that will build the home, materials to build the home, and a person who will live inside the home.

Division of analysis-  What are the parts of a home? The family or the person staying in is a big part. They determine the whole design of the home inside and out. They also make the house a home by bringing spirit to it and love to it by tending to it. The second part of a home is the love and care. When someone says that something is homey, they are feeling the warmth and love given off from the home. Without this, a home is just a structure that is waiting for some care. There are many parts to a home. What other ones can you think of?

Classification- Home can be classified as anything that brings you complete happiness, such as a place that makes you feel like you are a little kid again, or somewhere that brings back great memories. I guess you could say it is a food, but that is a little weird to think about. Whatever you want to call home     

 will do. Generally, it is a place that makes you feel like you are flying or you are on top of the world. It   should feel comforting and safe. It should make you feel loved and peaceful. 

Cause and effect- Home is caused by a want. This want comes from a person that desires a place to settle themselves down either by themselves or with another person. It is a want that is strong enough to drive a person to buy a place for lots of money and place all of their belongings in it. It is a want for comfort and love. The effect of this want is the actual house itself. When people want something, they usually find a way to get it. Thus, when a person wants a home, they buy one!

Definition- Home is a place for someone to stay. They place their belongings in this home and begin to form the inside of the home with their belongings. Home is where the heart is. This is a popular saying that means a persons heart can mostly be found in a home. Home is a place of happiness, peace, relaxation, and love. A person feels the warmth of a home through the love it gives off. A home is a peaceful place that provides support, love, and safety. 

Argument/Persuasion- Home is where the heart is. I believe this saying, but is it really true? Does everyones heart lie in their home? Or does it lie in their boyfriend that they have been dating for three years? Or is it in their favorite sport? Maybe they do not have a good home that provides love and support. Maybe it is a place of danger and anger. No ones home is the same, and no one person is the same. Depending on the person, home can be where the heart is or not.  

Time for a redo

Let's be honest. Everyone has regrets. When I was a child, I messed up on a lot of things. Wether it came to not making my bed in the morning when my Mom told me, or staying up to late with my sisters, I messed up a lot. One thing that I regret when I was a child was not listening to my Dad when he told me no. I have two sisters, Dena and Maria. Before I moved to Plymouth I lived in Golden Valley. I had a beautiful house that had a swingset my Dad built in the backyard. My sisters and I loved to play games on that  swingset. In the winters we would sled down the slide and make snow angels all over it. In the summer we would play water games on it. We had a lot of fun with that swingset! One day, Dena and I wanted to go out and play on the swingset. It was a hot summer afternoon and we had a dinner we needed to be at later that night. Now that I look back on this I am  not surprised by  my Dad's response. "No". He said. "But whyyyy???????????". Asked Dena and I. "Because we have things going on tonight and I don't want you two dirty. "Fine". Well, of course Dena and I went and played on it! We were in our swimsuits and decided to soak the entire swingset with water. Slowly, the ground turned in to mud and Dena and I played our hearts out in it. After all the excitement, we thought we were sneaky and slipped back into the house. Right in the doorway stood our dad, angry as ever. In a very calm voice he said"leave your swimsuits on and get in your beds. Stay there for an hour. GO." He spanked Dena and I and we ran to our beds as fast as a lightning bolt. We layed  in our beds and rolled around feeling the mud cake onto our skins. From underneath her covers I heard Dena say "Nicki, this was a bad idea." All I could say was "Yes, yes it was." We both came out after an hour and our dad let us shower. He did not say a single word about that instance the entire night. Form this, I regretted not listening to my Dad. I wish I would have. It would have saved me from a dirty bed!

The power of humor

Today I was bored and felt like I needed a laugh. I knew the perfect song. Humor has many positive effects. For one thing, it makes you live longer. Yes, there are studies on it. Most of all humor creates smiles and creates joy. This song says it all. Everyone wants to laugh. You are filled with a great feeling when you laugh. There are no words to describe it. Please enjoy this video. If you do not know the musical this is from I strongly suggest that you watch it.

My glorious Friday and Saturday(Sunday was not bad either)

My title does not lie. My weekend was quite glorious. Friday was filled with lots of events. First was of course, was school. I wouldnt say that was amazing but it was better than usuall. After school I went to a friends house and did homework. Ok, so far you probably are thinking that there is no way my weekend was glorious. It gets better. So I did my math homework. The best part was that I sang with my friends the entire time. We sang Mozart(yes, I amchoir nerd), Wicked, christmas carols, Taylor Swift, and The Sound of Music. This made math a million times better. Everyone had a great time and was singing along. Dont worry, we actually got homewrok done! We were all starving by the time we finished singing so we all went to Smashburger, a.k.a the best burger place EVER. Everthing about it is great except the fact that your hands smell like grease for about two days. It is definatly worth it. My friends and I laughed so hard at our table that the entire resturaunt was staring at us the entire time. I have not laughed that hard in a while. We all managed to stop laughing and make it out the door into our cars. We drove back to our freinds house and guess what we did? We played more music! This time it was the violin not our voices. I am proud to say that I know how to play the violin. I did not say how well, but I do know how. My Friday ended with a couple youtube videos when I got back to my house. Then came Saturday. Not as eventfull as Friday but pretty fun! I woke up and went to The Original Pancake House to celebrate one of my close friends birthday. I had three AMAZING pumpkin pancakes. I was in heaven. We all wished our friend a happy birthday then went to the same friends house to hang out. We sang again(shocker) and created a caroling group. There are around nine people in the group and we have planned to go too two senior citizens homes and one hospital to carol. The songs were figured out and we all practiced. We all sounded amazing. If anyone wants some good caroling for Christmas let me know! Later that night I went with my Mom adn her boyfriend to a raffle where I ate really great food. If there is food involved I am always there. It was very exciting except I did not win anything. Oh well, better luck next time. I saw some very interesting people there. There were manythat should not have had another drink. It was dinner and a show! Now the boring part of Saturday started. I had to get some lovely chemistry notes to do my homework. I got it done after an hour of pulling my hair out. The rest of the night was filled with homework. Sorry for the boring ending. I have not gotten to Sunday yet but I am sure it will be just as glorious as Friday and Saturday.