the story so far

Originally, I was going to make my posts on this blog entirely about jeeps, but I procrastinated to this point and have seemingly found inspiration elsewhere. Today marks the end of a relatively successful first semester of college for me, and for most it’s probably just another stepping stone, but it took quite a bit of work and personal growth for me to get to this point.

About Three years ago, I graduated high school. Admittedly I was somewhat of an underachiever at this point in my life, having barely made it out with a 2.0. I knew if I had any interest in doing something with my life, it was going to be an uphill battle from this point forward, and it has been. Even If I were to get accepted there was no way I could afford to start college, as my parents didn’t have any money and I knew damn well I wouldn’t qualify for any scholarships. The next logical step in my mind was to join the Air National Guard and work to put myself through school, so I swore my oath of enlistment and was given an Aug 12 ship date.

I didn’t manage to get much accomplished for the majority of that summer leading up to basic, as I blew through most of the money I made working and spent most of my time just hanging out with friends instead of getting in shape. I also ended up going through a particularly nasty break up about a week before I left, which did not enforce the mindset I needed to be in at all.

Needless to say, Basic was quite the wakeup call for me. In some senses, literally as revelry at five AM might be the worst sound imaginable if you’re not a morning person (I am not). Furthermore, I wholeheartedly believe that if I were in any worse shape when I arrived I would have been kicked out, as I was a few seconds from missing the minimum time on the initial PT test. Being the slow kid that just graduated high school, I wasn’t exactly well liked in my flight (platoon, in army speak).

Before long some of the members of the flight started calling me sluggins behind my back, which in all honesty was kind of hurtful. But in a way I’m glad they did, of course it took a toll on my self-confidence for a while, but I think it also fueled the motivation to prove them wrong. I completed basic in October, and continued training as an aircraft mechanic for the next 7 months. I spent a majority of that winter in Sheppard air force base in Wichita Falls Texas, and later moved to Little Rock Air Force Base in Arkansas.I think technical training was really a turning point for me, both academically and in personal motivation. I graduated that march top of my class, with a 96 average.

After my technical training was finished I returned home as a traditional guardsman, only going to drill one weekend a month. I began working full time and take a couple of classes over that summer, both of which I did well on, but do to tax complications wasn’t able to attend Coastal Carolina University that fall. The following spring I tried once again to start classes with Lee university only to have financial Aid fall through again. At some point throughout the year something about Boone caught my attention and I decided I’d feel at home going to school here. So this previous summer I decided I’d save up enough to have a failsafe incase financial aid fell through again, (it almost did). I got a job landscaping, and within a couple of months was promoted to supervisor, which definitely helped me financially support myself throughout the summer and staring school

So today I’ve managed to complete my first full time semester in over four attempts to start school. In two years I’ve gone from nearly failing my senior year of high school to successfully managing two part time jobs, being a full time student and close to $1700 a month in bills without going into debt, (that number is painful to look at). I’m proud of the person I feel I’ve become, but I know I still have room for growth, and I look forward to it.

Finally!

Don’t you ever miss all those high school days? Well I don’t! thank goodness that all of my high school days are over and done with. My high school experience was a good experience but I personally thought that I didn’t go to the best high school *cough* Avery *cough*. Out of all my years in high school I would have to say that my senior year was defiantly the best out of the four, just because I was finally going to graduate! of course I was going to miss my friends and all the fun memoirs that we made at prom and on graduation day. Prom was a unforgetfull event especially since on the day of prom the power went out but that defiantly did’t stop us from having a good time, Graduation day was even better, walking across that stage knowing that you're never going to step foot in that place ever again. 😃

Camping ⛺️

When ever summer comes around one of my favorite things to do is to go camping. Camping to me is such a fun and relaxing getaway to stay stress free and not have to worry about anything that might be on my mind. We go camping every summer but we try to go at least a few times not just once. At the location that we go camping can be a little terrifying especially when it’s night time. This one time at the campsite the crazies thing happened! Their was another family camping up the dirt road from the site that we were at. It ended up being such an eventful night let me tell you. These two women came running to our site screaming and crying that their dad was going to kill one of the women’s son (something like that) but not to make the story short the guy died at the camping site, that was such a sleepless night just watching the police cars and EMS go by. To this day we still go camping at the same place to have fun and hopefully that never happens again.

Jeep

Jeep

    On Wednesday night I got a call from a guy that I had looked at a Jeep he had for sale on craigslist awhile back and we had bought it earlier in the fall, but when we went to go get it he had lost the title for it the day before we went to go get it. When he lost the title he's not allowed to sell it to us until her gets a new one. He ordered a new title and it took about three weeks to come in and the guy called me again to see if we still wanted it and he brought it to us Friday morning. I was excited because I bought it with my own money and it was the first big purchase I have made since I have become an adult. I will need to fix it up little like paint is faded in a few places but nothing that will need some serious work, but I'm happy with the buy because I'm not able to drive my daily driver up here when it starts to snow. I had to buy it because my daily driver is a 1970 Dart Swinger that my dad and I rebuilt for my first car. I love that car more than anything and it's very important and valuable to me, I wouldn't trade it for the world. The Jeep will be perfect up here for the winter but when it comes spring time I'm having my dart back up here as soon as possible. The Jeep has much better gas mileage but I'd rather have my dart here because I built it from the ground up and it's much cooler than my Jeep. I always get a thumbs up driving it down the road and it always feels good getting those because it shows people appreciate my hard work my dad and I put into the car to get it to where it is now. We bought it in a junkyard and now it went from a junkyard to a show car in just over a year.

Deer Down

Deer Down

    This weekend I went to the camp hunting again with a group of my dads friends. before I was able to go I had to finish so many papers and test to be able to go, but worked all day Wednesday and Thursday to be able to go.  

    Waking up early that morning I had a really good feeling about today. Once the sun had just broke the surface and the light was shining through the woods I made my way to the stand. I didn't get much sleep the night before because of everyone snoring and I absolutely hate snoring with a burning passion, I laid my head back on the tree to take a nap since it was so quiet and peaceful in the woods. Just before I fell asleep I hear something creeping in the woods. I get to my senses and I'm alert to see if I see anything. I waited about ten minutes before a buck came from the thicket  up on the hill. Being very still and quiet I cocked the hammer  of the gun back and aimed the gun at the buck. I waited for it to stop moving and I pull the trigger. The gun misfired and made a click sound. the bucks head lifted right up and was staring right at me. not moving and staying completely still until the buck put its head back down. Once again I pulled the hammer back and fired. Hitting the deer just a little to the right of the heart the buck buckled and walked a few feet and fell to the ground.

    I was so excited because I knew I could make some deer spaghetti and some jerky. I texted my dad saying “deer down” he came and made me gut and skin the deer which wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Since I was little my dad has always done it for me but know he made me do it. It took a lot longer than I expected because I had to figure out how to do everything while my dad talked me through the process. Once it was gutted and cleaned we hung it up to let the cold crisp mountain air cool and harden the meat. The colder it is the better the meat is when you take it to the meat processor.

    I love being able to hangout and learn new things from my dad because he is one of my best friends and being able to spend time with him is always fun since I do not get to see him everyday like I used to since I've been in college. Things like this is something I will always remember and that's what makes it so special.

Thanksgiving Break

Thanksgiving break

    I went to the camp this weekend, the camp is in between Boone and Wilkesboro. The camp is on 10 acres of land on the top of a mountain with a gorgeous view. We planned on doing multiple things we needed to do around the cabin to fix it up and get wood ready to burn for the winter.

    We woke up around 6am early Saturday morning to get ready to go for a morning hunt. My dad was making coffee and some toast to have before we went to our deer blinds. The sun was just starting to break the mountain ridge and I started to make my way down the hill to the deer blind. It was about 7:05am went I got into the deer stand and was waiting for a deer to emerge from the hills. The weather was brutal that morning it was 32 degrees with 25 mile hour winds thrashing through the mountain valleys. Sitting there just waiting to hear or see something I hear some rustling on the other side of the mountain. I look around very carefully trying my best not to move to fast so that I wouldn't be seen. I see some movement but not enough to tell what it was. All of a sudden I see two squirrels fighting and chasing each other up and down the trees. The noise they were making sound just like a deer walking through the woods. After seeing them I decided to walk  up the hill to the warm camp and go get some breakfast. It was to cold to just sitting there and not see anything in over two hours. I walked back up the hill and my dad just pulled up and we starting cooking some bacon and eggs for breakfast.

    Later on in the day my dad was asked to build a new gate for the community and we brought it up with us to put on after our morning hunt. We brought the welder and all the part to put the new gate together since the last one was all rusted and falling apart. The gate was hand made and had some turkeys, a big deer head and some 30/30 rifles on the gate to make it stand out. It took almost two to three hours to put the gate on by the time we welded it on, painted it and put the lock system together, but once it was finished it looked amazing. My dad was very proud of his work he had done and what made it special to him is that everyone will see it when they are heading to there mountains houses.

    Once the gate was finished we went back up to our camp grabbed our gear and rushed to the deer blinds so we could get a hunt in before it was dark out. I love hunting but I hate hunting at night. Because you have to wait until it's dark out to come out of the stand and most of the time you can't see five feet in front of you. It's not that I'm scared of the dark it's that I'm not able to see my surroundings and there are about four or five bears we have seen up there and there's also coyotes up there I'm not scared of the dark I'm scared of what might be in the dark. I just don't like that I can't see anything only what my flashlight allows me to see. I made it out of the woods and I saw something in the field it was a deer. I aimed my gun but it was to dark to shoot it which is against the law. So I let the deer walk and I will hopeful be able to get one this weekend when I got back hunting with my dad and his friends.

Movie Critique

A Few Good Men Movie Critique

RadioRebel

The movie I chose was A Few Good Men. This movie was directed by Rob Reiner and featured, Tom Cruise, Jack Nicholson and Demi Moore. The bias in A Few Good Men is that two Marines were ordered to give another Marine a ‘Code Red’. A Code Red in the Marines is an illegal punishment. This film is based on true historical events. However, the movie is lacking historical truth. The filmmakers stretched the truth many times. In the movie, the victim of the Code Red died, but in the actual event the victim did not die. Also in the movie there were only two Marines that were being accused but in the actual event there were seven Marines being accused.

In A Few Good Men, Lieutenant Kaffee, who has a history of plea bargains, gets assigned the case of Private First Class Louden Downey and Lance Corporal Harold Dawson. Downey and Dawson are accused of killing a fellow Marine, PFC William Santiago. Lieutenant Kaffee reviews their case and tells them they should take a plea bargain. Downey and Dawson reuse to take the plea bargain, saying they were given direct orders and they did nothing wrong. Lieutenant Kaffee gets upset and wants to resign as their attorney the next day in court. Kaffee shows up to court the next day and to his defense team’s surprise, he pleads not guilty. Kaffee and his defense team only have three weeks to gather enough evidence to prove that Downey and Dawson are not guilty.

I liked the movie. My favorite part was when Galloway was leaving Kaffee’s house and when she stepped outside of the door she turned around to say something to Kaffee and he interupted her. He told her that he knew they had both said things to each other in the past that they didn’t mean and that she didn’t have to tell him she liked him that he already knew. Then Galloway replied with, “I was just going to tell you we got this” and left. I thought that was funny. The only thing I didn’t like about the movie is that Kaffee didn’t believe that he could win. He said that he would just keep improvising but in the long run they would end up losing. I believe that the casting for this movie was amazing. I believe this because Kaffe was supposed to be a young inexperienced attorney and Tom Cruise played his part very well. He was young at the time and he had the right facial expressions and the right tone of voice for it. The Marines were also cast very well. The men who played the Marines honestly looked a lot like actual Marines. They were buff and just had the cocky attitudes like Marines have. Also the decision to cast Demi Moore as Galloway was a very good decision. In the movie Demi is playing a very independant, honest, smart woman. I believe that she played it very well.

This movie ties into what we learned about court in class. We learned how a court room is set up and how court cases work. In the movie there was a lot of time spent in the courtroom. There was also a lot of questioning going on. You can learn a lot about American government and law from this movie. You learn the process lawyers and attorneys go through while working a case. It shows how hard it can be. It also shows that everyone is innocent until proven guilty. In the beginning Kaffee thought that his clients were guilty but at the end it turns out they weren’t.

In my opinion I think that this movie did help me understand law a little better than I did before, I am the type of person that has to actually see something being done to fully understand it. So seeing a court case and seeing what the lawyers go through helped me a lot. Some things that occurred in the movie that I already knew about was the questioning process and the court layout. I knew how the court was supposed to be set up because I learned it in class. I also knew about the questioning process because I sometimes watch law and order.

Poem

Romeo standing below my balcony

How did you get here, I don’t wish to talk

I wish he would respect vows of chastity

Did his parents never tell him not to stalk?

Marry me rosaline please honey bee

I don’t know what I’d do if you said no

Who cares about chastity, please be with me

Romeo, I call out, please just go

Romeo left crying I feel so bad

I need to get ready to go and party

I've got to go, I am summoned by dad

I can't miss this party and be tardy

He has met Juliet I am so glad

Atleast now I don't have to tell my dad

Poems

Do you see her?

She’s sitting in the corner crying

She smiles on the outside but is she really happy?

People say mean things

Her mom says sticks and stones may break your bones but words will never hurt

She’s dying inside

With Every cut she remembers what they said

You’re worthless, No one will ever love you

She hears it so much she starts to believe it

Finally she has had enough

The world will be a better place without me she thinks to herself

If I were to die right now nobody would come to my funeral she thinks to herself

She sits in class staring into space

would it be worth it she thinks?

The next day she doesn't show up to school

The school gets a call from her mother

She’s gone she says

look around

Do you see that person?

Hachiko

My mother and father picked me up from Hickory High school a couple years back when I was a freshman. When we arrived at home there was a puppy sitting on our patio couch on our porch. My dad thinking it belonged to someone because it had a blue collar with white polka dots advised us to bring it inside and feed it until someone came looking for him. We took care of him for two weeks. Within those two weeks the dog would run to the end of our fence as I was leaving for the bus and he would be waiting at the end of the fence when my bus pulled up to drop me off in the afternoon as well. After the two weeks my dad told me and my mom to start asking neighbors if they knew who the dog belonged to. Me and my mom went a couple streets down and posted signs instructing people to call us if they knew whose dog it was. We took signs to vets but never got a phone call back. We didn't have the heart to take it to the pound because we knew what would have happened to him if he didn't get adopted so we ended up keeping him. We named him Hachiko. We named him Hachiko after the movie of the dog who would walk with his owner to the bus stop to leave to the city for work and would wait at the bus stop when his owner would get off the bus from a work day in the city. This is a great movie, I highly recommend it to those who love dog movies. Max is another good movie about and army dog. During the time we had him which were about eight months Hachiko would manage to get out of the fence somehow about 1 every week or 1 every two weeks. After eight months he had run away, we looked and looked for hours it seems like. My dad found him three streets down. He had been run over. I have never experienced a death in the family but the death of that little dog hurt so much! It felt like I had lost someone so important in my life. I cried for a week straight. I didn't feel like going to school. I just wanted my dog back. It was so sad and pitiful. My parents also felt hurt. I told myself I never wanted another puppy again. Humans just as animals get attached and when something happens both parties suffer. Christmas of 2015, my boyfriend bought me a toy poodle, I've had her for a year now and I love her so much, I can't imagine what I will feel if something happened to her. As she gets older I also worry about her health and her age. I'm scared but I plan on loving her and enjoying her while she is with me! Pets are not just pets. Pets turn into family. They're smart creatures, I have learned a lot from Luna. It's easy to get attached to your fur babies when they're so cute and loving. Luna is very lovable she loves to cuddle and play fetch. At times I feel bad because between school and work sometimes I can't dedicate time to her that she needs.

Motivation for school

I admire those parents who have a full time job, handle kids, and as a cherry on top, their managing to get through school also! Sometimes I feel like giving up on school because my job intervenes too much and leaves me with restless nights of school work. Good thing I don't have kids otherwise I wouldn't be able to handle it so well like these parents. I wish I could find the time to balance everything and all of the jobs so I wouldn't stress out so much. I think that the kids of these parents that are going to school are their motivation to keep going. To be able to provide them with so much more in the future. For them to be able to get their kids through school and lead them to success as well. These parents have determination and are showing it. What motivates me to keep going through school is getting a better job where I'm not belittled and appreciated. There are others who are motivated by different motives but lets not forget that school is the key to a better future even though it doesn't seem like it at times, or you may have a great job that you think you'll have forever. Truth is we never know what our future will look like. It's best to have a plan or even a back up plan.

Animals

Humans need food and water to survive. We depend on animals for food and lakes and bodies of water that go through a filtration system in order to be safe for us to drink. We get our meat from animals, but a lot of those animals are being mistreated. These animals are being given drugs, steroids, and chemicals in order for them to grow bigger and faster. Companies are benefiting from this because it is allowing companies to make more money and to have enough product to fulfill the company needs and the populations needs. I don't eat red meat, but I sure do love chicken. I understand in order to provide for humans we must kill animals to have meat, to have food. Nevertheless, I don't agree with how companies treat these innocent animals. There are so many less painful ways to go about killing the animals!

RN to BSN

Thinking about my new semester schedule is going to be tough. I will be taking Psy , Eng , and Bio. I am working toward getting my nursing degree. I received a letter in the mail stating I could be on the waiting list for Medical Assistant Degree since I've done all the pre-regs to be enrolled into the program. My heart is set on being a Registered Nurse but I feel like it's going to take forever for me to accomplish that goal because I am a full-time mother & work full-time at the hospital as a Certified Nursing Assisant , feeling overwhelmed. I try so hard and keep my faith. This semester was tough for me but I'm not going to give up. I plan on walking across the stage before I turn twenty eight, I'm twenty five now. When attending school you have to go in each semester with a fresh start thinking positive. I hope all my fellow classmates accomplish their own life goals =)

Holidays

I love the holidays. My favorite holidays is Christmas and Thanksgiving but I work on those days as well which sucks my mom usually makes brunch for everybody coming over. I've learned working in the healthcare field you can't decide when and when not to work on holidays it's a requirement. Some jobs I've worked you switched every year so say I work this Christmas Day , I would work Christmas Eve next year. I low key wish I didn't have to work on any holidays but my duty is to take care of the patients first. When you love what you do then all the madness goes away.  On the bright side I will be home on Christmas to watch my son open his gifts, Children grow up so fast so I'm glad I still get to be there for the special moments.

15 Años

I’m going to assume that very girl has wanted their Sweet Sixteen. I on the other hand didn’t do the whole Sweet Sixteen celebration, I celebrated my fifteen which we call Quinceañera. A Quinceañera is celebrated to recognize the journey from childhood to maturity. This celebration gets all of our family and friends to have a good time full of food and music and of course dancing. I could live the moment that I celebrated my Quinceañera over and over again, if I would do it for when I turn 19 I would do it in a heartbeat.

Sneak Peak into the hispanic life

I don't know if you guys have already noticed but i’am hispanic. As that been said mostly all hispanic parents are very, very truthful about everything and will say anything that’s on their mind, well at least my mom is. My mom is a very funny person and also a very talkative person. She’s the one that well roast me all the time for every little thing that I do (literally everything) i’m just so used to this type of thing. Hispanic parents also like to give out nicknames to no just their ow kids but to everyone that they know. The translation to these nicknames sound so mean when they are translated into english. For example pendejo/a, Gordo/a, cabron/a, etc. are just a few that they call my brothers and I. You’d be very surprised by the reactions that I get when I tell my friends what those things mean. They are always like “That’s so mean” or “They can say that?”. That’s just how I’ve been raised we all just laugh about it, it does not offend anyone when you say these kind of words since we do take them as a joke and laugh it all off. 

Parents

Have you ever wanted to do something that your parents are completely against you doing? Well I have or for  better say every idea I get they automatically will say no. I don’t see why though I’m a very responsible,cautious, and trustable person (well most of the time but that doesn’t matter). Sometimes you kind of have to to thing in a very secretive way so that they don’t find out. For example I’ve told my parents that I was going to get a tattoo, I didn’t even get the whole word out and they automatically started saying esters loca, pendeja, primer en el culo (they cuss me out all the time, especially my mom). I don't see why they have a problem with it not of them have tattoo’s in which they did themselves while I’ll be getting mine done professionally. They should just get the idea across that the more they prevent me to do something the more i’m going to do it.

The sky

I have always been fascinated with what takes place in the sky. There are so many cliches about looking up at the starry night sky. I have actually laid down on the ground and tried counting the stars multiple times. Obviously, I failed every time, but I love doing it anyways. My thoughts seem to float away and then there is a smile on my face. Shooting stars that make you wish and hope for good things to happen. The moon is so beautiful, and I can never seem to get a picture of the beauty it holds on different nights. Blood moons, super moons, blue moons, and so many others that make you stare in awe. I would sit outside all night and watch a lightning storm if I was allowed. I have so many videos of lightning shooting across the sky from when I was at the beach. I was mesmerized how each strike of lightning was never the same or happened at a time you predicted it to. This was also kind of aggravating because since you can not control the timing, you miss such amazing actions in the sky. The different colors the lightning depicts in the sky depending on the time of day it is striking is crazy. Also, the kind of creepy scene that is captivated when the lightning cracks around sections of clouds that you did not even see before in the shady, dark sky. The thunder that pounds in the sky and makes the lightning even more epic when it bursts above you. I also enjoy watching clouds floating by in the sky. When I look out a window and see a sky full of clouds moving, I slip into a daze while watching them. I could absolutely never leave out sunsets. I love seeing a marvelous sunset at the end of the day. No two sunsets have the same colors, and the colors change in a matter of a minutes. Each is unique and I honestly feel like every one should be captured in a photo no matter how many times my phone says I have no storage left. I am always left speechless by what I see in the sky and could not even begin to explain the love I have for each one of a kind characteristic that is shares with us. Please do not forget to look up at the sky. It will amaze you, believe me.

When I was in eighth grade my mom and dad surprised me with a dog. She is a great Dane, and if you don't know what type of dog that is, it's just a really, really, big lap dog. Her name is Casey, she is now two half years old. She started off really small, I used to be able to hold her, but now she is a 130 pound horse. Casey is my first dog, but she certainly won't be last, I never knew what was missing before she came in my life. Yeah their are some dozen downfalls to having a big dog like food disappearing off the counter, and shoes becoming food. Casey is so tall she reaches the counter, and all she has to do is lift her head a little and she can eat the food right off the counter. This one day my dad made a ham, well after the whole family got a slice and went back to doing whatever we were doing, Casey decided to jump up on the stove and eat the WHOLE HAM, we were all pretty mad. You can't be mad at a dog for long because if you just look at them and it breaks everyone's heart with their puppy eyes. Just a few weeks ago it was Thanksgiving and my family was coming back from my grandparents house which is about 45 minutes away from my house. Casey was lying asleep between my sister and I. When we got home and I stepped out of the car and realized that my whole leg was soaked and that the seat had a really big puddle. CASEY PEED IN THE CAR AND ON ME.. I was so mad, and ran inside to get a towel so the pee wouldn't stain, but I was too late. Even though she peed on my (multiple time) since we got her, I wouldn't change it for the world, I love her playful self, especially when she is snuggling beside me on the couch. Even when dogs are mean and ruin things that you really liked, they will still love you even when you yell at them. If you need a forever companion, you have it… in a dog.

Every girl knows that in order to feel confident on the inside, you have to be happy about how you look on the outside. Looking good on the outside can be hard sometimes, having to get up early to go to school looking fabulous, or just going out for the day. My mother and sister always say that you need your “toolkit” which is basically your purse, in your purse every woman needs her favorite lipstick, some gum, and other accessories. Every girl who wears makeup or cares about her style, she knows it's not cheap. I personally wear CVS and ULTA makeup everyday. I self-taught myself how to put on make-up and do my hair. My favorite thing to put on when I am getting ready is my red lipstick. To me my red lipstick gives me a sense of power and confidence. After I finish my makeup I always imagine what I am going to wear that day and then I pick out jewelry. I love jewelry, for example earrings, necklaces and rings. Just recently I have really been thinking about starting my own blog, just because I am really into expressing my beauty tricks and my choice of style. Every Girl is beautiful in their own way. No matter what size or shape. I am a plus size woman and I am very tall. It's hard to find clothes that fit well for me because most of my height is in my torso. One of my most favorite places to shop is Cato’s. Actors is a clothing store that sells, jewelry, plus size clothing, and dresses. Most of everything I own is from cato’s, or goodwill. My mother loves shopping at goodwill. I use to hate wearing everything she bought from their, but now I can personalize the things she buys me, by either putting on a scarf or a necklace. Since it is winter I love wearing my blanket scarf. Blanket Scarves go with everything, from red and green to just black, and when you get cold you can just wrap it around your shoulders. I personally own two blanket scarves. I know what you're thinking “ONLY TWO??.. I'm trying to get more.. I have a red and green scarf and a darker green scarf. I love wee spring them both, even the day after each other. If I don't feel like wearing a scarf that day I normally wear jewelry. my favorite kind of jewelry is gold jewelry. I love the rose gold color, I have watches, earrings, and even my IPhone is rose gold. Anyway, back to jewelry, I wear this rose gold watch I bought from Sears with another bracelet, and normally a flashy necklace. I have this one necklace that I love the most, it is a Gold heart necklace that my grandmother gave me, it is real gold and very valuable to me.If I don't wear that necklace I wear a bold blue bubble necklace. This necklace goes with everything, and always ties the outfit together. After talking about makeup, clothes, and jewelry it's now time to talk about sunglasses. I am a hoarder of sunglasses, i have them everywhere. I recently just bought a new pair that is cat eye. Since I have a fat round face I love wearing big bold glasses, if i'm not in the mood to wear cat eye glasses I have mirror aviator glasses that are my all time go to glasses. After choosing and picking everything for my outfit out, I feel ready for the day and to conquer the world.

Dear Coffee, I love You

Everyday, no matter what time, early in the morning or in the afternoon, I need my coffee. Growing up my sister and I watched “Gilmore Girls” as much as possible. If you have not seen “Gilmore Girls” it is about this young mom who had a baby girl at 15 and their life in a town called Stars Hallow. From season 1 to season 7, the show takes us through the love of coffee from both girls and how they drink coffee fifteen or more times a day. I started drinking coffee when I was thirteen, and haven't stopped since. Depending on the season, whether it is, fall, winter, spring, or summer, all year round coffee is there, hot or cold, you can always drink coffee. If it's in the fall, you can have pumpkin spice creamer flavor that just makes the whole fall festival season come to life. In December, my most favorite flavor of all, peppermint mocha. Peppermint mocha brings winter wonderland into your coffee mug. With Spring and Summer, I personally only drink french vanilla coffee creamer. I can hardly ever drink black coffee, I need sugar and creamer. I love my coffee strong and hot, and it's best when you're in pajamas and snuggling with a dog. Since it is December I am going to talk about peppermint mocha coffee creamer, and all the coffee places I love to visit. The peppermint mocha I use comes from the grocery store, but the creamer is still so good. This morning I drank coffee from my huge coffee cup that my friend Greta gave me. Anyway, I sat in front of my family's christmas tree with my coffee and put a candy cane in the coffee for a little extra deliciousness. With temperatures outside being so cold, the best thing that can make your day or night will be a hot cup of coffee goodness. I personally drink coffee in the morning and at night when im cold, to most people since coffee has caffeine they don't drink it late at night so they don't stay awake and can get some sleep. When I drink coffee since it's hot, it warms me up and makes me sleepy. No matter what time, place, or season, coffee will always be delicious and make you feel all warm and awakened inside… literally for some people


.

My Impressions of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

  

*WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD*

     Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them in my opinion is a great movie that is a very good addition to the Harry Potter universe. Even though this movie has nothing to do with Harry Potter himself or any of the other main story characters other than a few references to Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them has a plot that is just as interesting as the other main story movies that leaves the watchers with unanswered questions that hint at even more movies to come that will further expand the Harry Potter universe.

    The first thing that made this movie a great expansion of the Harry Potter universe is the character design. All main characters were well thought out and played key roles to the movies plot development. The main character Newt Scamander was a healthy change for the series that pushed the stereotype for the “hero” while not crossing over into “anti-hero” territory . Most heroes are thought of as outgoing, popular, and accepted. Newt Scamander is a character that is more reserved and less ready to jump into a fight than most heroes would be. At first it seems as if Newt Scamander only cares about these magical creatures that no one else in the series really seems to like. But throughout the duration of the movies you find out that Newt Scamander also cares about his friends and their well being. He cares about the conservation of these wonderful magical creatures that everyone else seems to think are more dangerous than anything. Another main character that I really enjoyed was Jacob Kowalski. Jacob Kowalski is a just a no-mag or muggle( non magical person). Jacob gets caught up in the wizarding world on accident when he accidentally acquires an egg that belong to Newt Scamander. After this he ends up getting bit by another one of Newt Scamander's creatures and has to be taken into the magic authorities in New York city. Throughout the movie Jacob Kowalski travels all over New York city with Newt Scamander trying to catch some of the magical creatures that were released and running all over New York city. In the end though he ended up losing his memory due to the law that muggles are not suppose to know about the magic or the wizarding world at all.

    The second thing that makes this movie a great is the magical creatures. The design of these creatures was very interesting and added a lot the plot. Mostly as problems to the main characters. There were a few creatures that was highlighted throughout the film such as the thunderbird. The thunderbird was actually the reason that Newt Scamander was in America. He was there to return his thunder bird which he rescued in Egypt back to its natural habitat in Arizona. Thunderbirds are a species very closely related to the phoenix and mad storms when they fly. Another creature that is important to the plot of the story is the Demiguise. This creature is able to become invisible when threatened and its sight is different from normal. It only sees the most possible or likely outcome of what is about to happen. This cause Newt Scamander as he tries to catch him, but also leads him to discovering that another one of his creatures has escaped. The other creature that escaped is called an Occamy. This is serpentine creature that has what looks like a bird beak that can grow to amazing lengths or shrink to tiny sizes depending on its habitat or what its eating. One other creature that plays an important part to the plot of the story is the niffler. A niffler is a smaller magical creature that is black and has a snout. These creatures have an obsession with anything that is sparkly or shiny. Newt Scamander's Niffler escapes and starts stealing everything that it can find. Newt chases it into a bank where he drops the egg that Jacob Kowalski has finds. The two are introduced and Newt teleports them through apparition and they go and find the Niffler in the vault of the bank. These are just a few of the magical creature that play big roles in the story and contribute to the plot.

    The other thing that I thought was very interesting in this movie was the main antagonist and main problem of the story. The main problem of the movie changes throughout the movie. The main problem shifts from Newts creatures being released to the appearance of an obscurus.  An obscurus in a magical parasite that is formed when a child( normally a child) with magical abilities has to suppress them. This magical parasite is very powerful and can strike out if the child wishes, but it will kill the child normally. In the movie a boy named Credence Barebone is tasked by the main antagonist to find the child with great power AKA the obscurus. Credence Barebone was adopted by a muggle organization that believes witches are real and evil. Credence wants to be a wizard, but has to suppress it. In return for finding the obscurus the main antagonist will teach him to be a wizard. What the antagonist does not know is that Credence is the obscurus that he was looking for. What makes this so special is that Credence is older than any other obscurus has ever been, which means that he is super powerful. He ends up attacking the main characters and causing vast amounts of damage. This is great main problem in my opinion because of the depth and the surprise that I got from it. The other thing that I thought was good about the movie was the main antagonist. The main antagonist is a wizard from Europe that caused huge amounts of damage and upset in the wizarding community. His name is Gellert Grindelwald. In the movie he is disguised as a magical authority named Percival Graves. In the movie at first you thing that Percival graves is a normal magical authority with a dark temper. As the movie progresses you get more and more of the feel that Percival Graves is not a normal wizard, much less a good one. Then at the very end when the you think that the story is over a major scene happens. Newt Scamander deduces that Percival Graves is actually Gellert Grindelwald. Gellert Grindelwald is then taken away saying more as a statement then a question “ do you really think you can hold me”. I thought this was an excellent way for the main antagonist to leave because it gives the sense of foreboding and dread that an villain this powerful might break out and cause trouble once again.

In conclusion Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is an excellent movie on its own and as an extension to the current Wizarding World of Harry Potter. In terms of plot Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them had many story and character elements that were interesting and kept the watcher on the edge of their seat the whole time. The movie is made even better by the nostalgia the watcher gets from stepping back in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter.  

Falling

So I am used by my sister as a PSA (public service announcement) to warn my young nephews of the dangers awaiting them at the swing set.  I don't mind to tell you this somewhat embarrassing story, I mean I was six, who doesn't have at least one embarrassing story from their childhood.  Anyways I bet you are wondering just WTH happened with a swing.  Let's set the scene... First off it was a beautiful spring day towards the end of the year.  I was in first grade and on recess after lunch.  My favorite spot was either playing around this huge pine tree with roots exposed or on the swing set.  You had to be quick with the swing set, everyone wanted on it.  The goal being to swing as high as possible.  That day I picked a branch on a nearby tree.  The goal sadly wasn't to get my foot above the branch that would have taken more than that particular swing set had to offer.  The branch was on a tree to the far right and I was on a swing to the far left, so it just needed to look to my small eyes like my feet were higher than the branch I had picked.  I started out slow and soon enough I had picked up some real speed.  The problem was that my pants were starting to slide down with every swing back and forth.  To my six year old mind there was nothing more embarrassing than for my pants to fall down and show my undies to the boys in my class playing nearby.  I came up with a plan and thought that I had it all figured out.  Obviously I couldn't let go with my feet up in the air and my back to the ground.. so I would wait until I was coming down towards the rut the ground.  Then I would quickly let go with one hand and pull up my pants, the problem was that I wasn't quick enough!  Soon I was made the transition from the rut, the back swing, and was quickly moving towards having feet back in the air.  The last thing I remember is a boy in my class calling out to warn me and then I woke up on the ground with my right arm at a strange angle underneath my body.  I got to my feet and went quickly over to Mrs. Sprinkle carrying my right arm with my left.  With fingers that I couldn't manage to wiggle and crying out when my teacher touched them it was decided I had broken something.  My grandmother was called to come and pick me up and the story is much longer and includes a few other DO NOT's but at the end of the day I came home with a red cast.

Thus sealing my fate as a future story to my nephews to keep both hands on the chain of the swing at all times.

* side note we spent a week every summer at the beach... I did not get to keep the cast with all of the signatures of my 6 yo friends.. the doctor threw it in the trash.

Veggie tale

I became a vegetarian for one reason... I no longer felt that it was acceptable or moral for me to eat meat.  I have not always lived this way, in fact I come from a family that grew chickens for Tyson.  I wasn't the type of person that had to have meat for every meal.  However, I was the type of person that didn't see the cow hidden in the cheeseburger on my plate.  Then I started practicing yoga and a lot of thoughts I had started to change.  I gave a half-hearted attempt at giving up meat, but like anything else in life cutting back is just an excuse to continue the behavior.  I found myself thinking about why I thought that it was okay for me to eat cows or pigs when I would never eat a horse, cat, or dog.  The answer was so simple, I thought that there was a difference between them.  I realized that it was a matter of perspective and mine had changed.  It had changed so drastically in fact that one day as I was driving down the road I looked over at a field of cows right as I was taking a bite of a burger and immediately spit it out.  I felt guilt and shame.  I gave up meat and got mixed responses from family.  Some thought that they could persuade me to start eating meat again, others wondered why I would avoid a vegetable just because it had been cooked in bacon grease.  I don't regret my choice and recently a friend asked if I thought that I may ever eat meat again at some point... my answer to them was a very definite NO.  I just don't see it. I was once a girl that loved a good cheeseburger and I am still a girl that loves a good burger, just these days it is a veggie burger.  

first semester of college

The first year of college is always the scariest year I think. You are going from the top of the school to the bottom again. You are at the bottom of the food chain as people say. This semester has been great for me. I enjoyed my first semester of college. My classes were easy except for anatomy and physiology. I had English, psychology, and anatomy. Anatomy was hard to me because my teacher never explained the things that he was teaching good so it was always hard to comprehend what he was saying. His tests weren’t that hard but most of the time I didn’t understand it. We learned about bones, cells, tissues, and muscles. We also had a lab along with our class and I liked the lab a lot better. During lab, we were usually only in there for like 20 minutes and then we could leave but we had a weekly quiz that you got to take as many times as you needed to make a 100. Which that right there really helped my grade. He also took away our lowest test grade in both lab and lecture so that was nice of him. If you take anatomy be ready for a lot of work. English wasn’t hard it was probably my favorite class this semester. My English teacher was so cool and fun she was very understanding also and not pushy. We had about 3 or 4 papers to right during the semester. We also had journal entries where we had to read from our book and that helped me a lot with my writing and how I write now. I think English was probably the easiest and the one I learned so much from about writing and how to perfect your writing. Psychology was an interesting class. I liked psychology a lot though, it was another one of my easy classes. In there we learned about disorders and how they are misconceived. We also learned about human memory, human development, and motivation and emotion in your body. I thought this was an interesting class because you somewhat got to see how the mind works in different ways. I liked how my teacher went into detail about everything he never left you wondering about anything. Overall I think this semester was good and I hope next semester will be just as good. I have some good classes next semester so hopefully they won’t be super hard.

Christmas time

Christmas is a very important time for my family. We have so much to be thankful for and a lot of people take so many things for granted in this life and my family tries to see all of our blessings. One of our many traditions during Christmas and Thanksgiving is that we go around and say what we are thankful for before we pray and bless the food. My family has been blessed in many ways and most people know that. My grandpa came from nothing and made something of himself through hard work and determination. He started with one truck back in the 70's and now the company is up to 400 plus trucks. Yes, I'm talking about tractor and trailers. Our grandpa has showed us what hard work looks like and has taught us to never give up on our dreams even if you struggle you never give up. During the Holiday Seasons we really take notice on our lives and how truly blessed we are for the life the lord has given us.

Mountain or Valley ?

Yesterday at church the fill in pastor had a great message. He talked about how in life there are moments that you are on the mountaintop and life is going great and you don’t think it could get any better. Then there are times that you are in the valley and life is terrible, and you don’t think it could get any worse. When you are on the mountaintop it is like you know God’s hand has a place in that part of your life. For me I’ve been in the valley and I thought I would never live through it. I was so down on myself and I thought I would never get out of the valley or even close to it. After a few months of struggling and never giving up and just trying to find happiness, it finally happened. Now I’m on top of the mountain and I know I might fall back off of it again, I actually know I will at some point in life. It seems that the more you struggle and the more hurt and pain you go though gives you a better appreciation when you are on the top of the mountain.