Giant Pad of Possibilities!

I used to have a giant pad of blank paper. My grandparents gave it to me and I LOVED IT. If I was frustrated or upset, I'd go to my room, turn on country music, and draw on that pad of paper for hours. It totally calmed me down. I've greatly missed that pad of paper...

A few weeks ago, my old roommate came over to visit. When I opened the door, she held out a giant pad of lined paper. She said, "My apartment had this for a while, but now there's no room. I thought you'd like it." I was SO THRILLED. She honestly has no idea how excited I was. It's not quite the same as the blank paper, but my biggest hobby now is writing, so the lines are great. I am so excited to start writing out story ideas and random thoughts on this Giant Pad of Possibilities!

I hung it on my wall since it's so big. :)

September, 11, 2001

On that day, I remember walking down the stairs to eat my typical cereal for breakfast before going to 5th grade. I walked into the family room and saw my dad starting at the TV. The TV was never on before school - it was a rule in our house. I started to ask my dad a question, I can't remember what it was, but it was probably something unimportant. He snapped at me, telling me to be quiet. My dad never snapped like that, and right then I knew something was wrong. I remember standing there in the family room, watching my parents stare at the TV, call relatives and receive calls. I went to school that day, but I remember the teachers being somber and the next day we all wore patriotic shirts.

Even though I don't remember much from that day, I do know that I will never forget what happened on September 11, 2001.

Where were you when the world stopped turning that September day?

Will breaks my back

On the left is my American Literature textbook. On the right is my monster of a textbook for my Shakespeare class. I have officially named that huge book Will so I can say things like, "Will is so heavy!" and "I hate you, Will!" Ugh. I tried carrying him in my backpack, but my oh-so-wise sister said it'd be better to balance the weight and carry him in my arms. It did help by back, but it's still annoying.

I feel pretty cultured thanks to this Shakespeare class. I am slowly adding his works to my "Classics I Have Read" list. I have read Romeo and Juliet (freshman year of high school), Taming of the Shrew (sophomore year of HS), Macbeth (senior year of HS), Othello (freshman year at BYU), and now The Merchant of Venice. And a ton of Shakespeare's sonnets, which are actually pretty beautiful (but I will argue that they are redundant).

AND! I forgot that I had 3 acts of the Merchant of Venice to read over the weekend, so I ended up having to read them the morning of class (EEK!). BUT GUESS WHAT?! I read all 3 acts in an HOUR! Yay, me! Basically, I was crazy proud of that. I didn't just speed-read, I comprehended! That made me feel a lot less stressed about this class. :)

So, yup. Feel blessed that you don't have a book the size of the universe to carry around. And go read some Shakespeare! He's not as annoying as I thought...

Jerusalem

My amazing and beautiful cousin Desiree is officially in Jerusalem for the semester! She is one of my very best friends and I am a bit bummed to not be joining her on this grand adventure. She started a blog and I thought ya'll might like to follow it. You can see it here.

This is a picture of us the night before she left - in her very Jerusalem-appropriate shirt! :)

When the BYU Jerusalem Center was built one of the "compromises" was that the students would not be allowed to proselytize. But then one of the Israelis asked the big question, "But what can we do about the light in the student's eyes?"

I know that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is true and I also know that Christ lives and walked where Desiree now has the opportunity to walk. This is a fantastic experience she is having and I am looking forward to reading all about it!

Book Review: Matched by Ally Condie

So....this book was good. Similar to The Hunger Games (which I strongly disliked) in the way it takes place in the future and the government has all together too much control. But it focused more on the "drama," as my friend put it, instead of the fighting/rebelling. Cassia is the heroine and I liked her a lot. She is an easy-to-relate-to character. Thankfully, there will be sequels to Matched. I was concerned because the ending was kinda lame. The next one will come out in November. Ally Condie is a pretty good writer, and this is her first novel. She is another Mormon author to add to the constantly-growing Mormon Author List. :)

Sorry for the choppy and short review, school is keeping me busy. Happy Reading!

Long Time No Post

Random thoughts from an official BYU Junior:

~ The Band Perry. LOVE THEM! Their lyrics are clever, her voice is lovely, and they are siblings. What more can you ask for? My favorite song -If I Die Young. It is so beautiful.

~ Utah. It's too hot. I get to class, and I'm already a sweating, sticky mess. Ew. Who's going to want to sit by me??? Although, it does make for intense popsicle enjoyment.

~ Writing. I've started kinda narrating my life as I wait for class to start, or someone to come meet me. Maybe I'll post some of them. I've also started writing me in an alternate world. For example, I was angry and feeling dramatic, so I wrote a brief chunk of what alternate me would do: scream, throw things, ect. It was quite exciting. Maybe I'll post a few of those as well.

~ Water. I am finally drinking it. Another benefit of the heat, I guess.

~ Hobo Gloves. I finally own some!!! That will greatly enhance my winter-typing.

~ Tron. Didn't like the original, didn't like the new one. Both are visually hard to look at, the plot line is lacking (reminds me of Gregor the Overlander), and I don't care for video games. Oh well.

~ Books. I am currently reading The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. I like it a lot. I finished Matched recently...I need to do a blog review...

Hmmm....what else? My cousin headed off to the BYU Jerusalem Center today. She is hopefully going to start a blog, and if she does I will share the link.

Ok, that's all for now. I have American Lit to read for. Happy Reading!

Book/Movie Review: The Help by Kathryn Stockett

The Help was fantastic. The writing was impressive, the characters touch your heart, and it makes you think. I love books where the characters find the courage to make a difference. I highly recommend this book - you will be impressed with Stockett's writing.

The Help is now also a movie, and I recommend that too. It was very well done and pretty much stuck to the book. The few things that were changed were a good idea since it was for a movie version. I advise reading the book before seeing the movie because there are details in the movie that you won't appreciate unless you've read the book.