The most frustrating thing for me in English class is peer editing. I can't even think of a good intro right now because I'm so frustrated. Here we go!
In my English class, people do not know how to write papers. The grammar is out of control, and I can't seem to function after staring at misplaced apostrophes and commas for an hour. This last week I read the sentence "Adolf Hitler was probably one of the most worst person ever to live." Well then. Okay maybe I can overlook that little mistake. I decided I couldn't overlook it when I read the conclusion which started with "this has been a very informational essay." No. You are wrong. This essay should be titled "How not to write an essay." The bottom line is, I really wish my teacher would give me the option to edit my own paper. I'd much rather do that as I know which areas I need to work on. I can't stand reading other people's papers when they have no clue what they're doing.
I apologize for the rant. This was what was on my mind this week and I just decided to share my frustration in case anyone else knows what I mean. My solution to the problem; print two copies of your paper. Edit the other person's paper quickly and efficiently to leave time for you to look over your own. Assuming you like to do that. I prefer to edit my own because I realize my own mistakes quickly when I'm reading. Maybe that's just me!
Thanks for reading today! I appreciate your time!
Sunday, September 28, 2014
Monday, September 22, 2014
Why Are Birds So Much Work?
As much as I love my cockatiel (Peeka) to death, he is a handful. This week I thought I'd explain why birds in general are so much work. I didn't think it'd be that bad when I got Peeka, and it still really isn't because birds aren't very high maintenance. The worst part is what you have to deal with when you have a bird or multiple birds.
The first thing that really annoys me sometimes is the noise. When you read online about how much noise they make, believe it. I didn't and I was sadly mistaken. I taught Peeka the Hunger Games whistle, and the whistle that people use to show they think someone is attractive. I don't know if there's an official name for that one, but it's alright. Anyways, the whistling is CONSTANT. When I wake up, when I come home, when I change, when I'm trying to watch TV, when I'm not. He always needs to whistle to show how proud of his learning he is. It's not always bad, but so very frustrating when you're trying to watch a movie. They love the noise.
The second thing I've grown to hate are their bathroom habits. Birds go whenever and they don't care about anything after that point. Whether it's my shoulder, my bed, or the carpet, I can't stand it. I know you can potty train birds, but if they end up not being able to get to where you potty trained them, (Newspaper, cardboard, garbage, etc) they'll explode because they know they can't go to the bathroom. So don't let your bird explode, but also make sure you always have towels down, or wet paper towels.
The third and final thing about having a bird that I cant stand is the vacuuming. My room always has feathers around Peeka's cage. That's just how it is. I've learned to keep a small vacuum handy.
Overall, a bird is a fantastic pet to have. They learn quick and are quite interactive while they can still be trusted to occupy themselves. I would recommend one if you're okay with all the extra busy work they come with.
Thank you for reading this week! Like or share, or whatever else you do! You rock!
Sunday, September 14, 2014
My Birthday Blankets Project
Betcha didn't think I'd write today! You were wrong. Today I'm going to be giving you guys some information about my campaign for homelessness. I figured this would be a good way to spread the word and give the back story all at the same time! Like and Share this post if you enjoy it. Thanks!
I'm going to go way back in time for a second here. I joined youth group at Church of the Open Door in 2013. I really enjoy every aspect of going to youth group, but I definitely love our service environment nights the most. For those of you who don't know, on a typical service environment night all the kids at our church split into groups and are assigned a place to go volunteer. This could be a homeless shelter, or a charity organization, or even someone's house to help them complete tasks that are difficult for them to do on their own. I would say when we volunteer we're usually there for about 2 hours.
One service environment night this year, I was assigned to go to Simpson Shelter in Minneapolis. I thought this would be a normal night. I had gone to homeless shelters before and it was actually pretty fun. This one was not. My group and I took a tour of the shelter and saw that the men had to sleep on mats on the concrete floor. The walls smell musty, and it resembled an old high school gym. A lot of the men had to sleep with multiple blankets. It was so cold and there wasn't enough to go around. Long story short, I left that shelter feeling absolutely terrible. It's hard to go there and volunteer. I have everything. They have to fight over a comfortable place to sleep.
Upon returning to the church I contacted one of my youth group leaders, Amanda. For a long time we emailed the donation director of Simpson Shelter. We were trying to figure out a way to get fabric donated so that we could make blankets. I knew that was something I could do to help. Maybe it wouldn't help a lot, but I knew I could make blankets and I knew if I were in their position, I would want one. Anyways, we got nowhere fast. Fabric is just so expensive and it's hard to get approved for fabric donations considering I'm just one small individual. I waited a long time before anything happened. Finally an idea came to me in the middle of the night. Hard to imagine this was only about 3 weeks ago. I decided I could use my birthday money to buy the fleece! Thus, birthday blankets was born.
I tried a few different websites that charged me a bunch of money until I found Fundly. They don't take a huge percentage of my donation money which is what I was looking for. With my stepdad's help, I set up an online account and started asking for donations instead of presents for my birthday this year. I've come so far and have raised $545 so far! The campaign ends on the 19th of September and I'm sure I'll reach my goal! It's so crazy to me that all because of youth group I've been able to start helping people! The whole experience has taught me that you can always do something. Even when you think you don't have the resources. I'm really thankful for the whole thing!
That's all I have for you today! I hope you enjoyed reading the story! It was fun to write. If you have any questions feel free to comment on this post, otherwise message me! If you'd like to donate to Birthday Blankets the link is right here ( https://fundly.com/birthday-blankets ) Thank you all so much. I'm really looking forward to getting these blankets put together and donated!
I'm going to go way back in time for a second here. I joined youth group at Church of the Open Door in 2013. I really enjoy every aspect of going to youth group, but I definitely love our service environment nights the most. For those of you who don't know, on a typical service environment night all the kids at our church split into groups and are assigned a place to go volunteer. This could be a homeless shelter, or a charity organization, or even someone's house to help them complete tasks that are difficult for them to do on their own. I would say when we volunteer we're usually there for about 2 hours.
One service environment night this year, I was assigned to go to Simpson Shelter in Minneapolis. I thought this would be a normal night. I had gone to homeless shelters before and it was actually pretty fun. This one was not. My group and I took a tour of the shelter and saw that the men had to sleep on mats on the concrete floor. The walls smell musty, and it resembled an old high school gym. A lot of the men had to sleep with multiple blankets. It was so cold and there wasn't enough to go around. Long story short, I left that shelter feeling absolutely terrible. It's hard to go there and volunteer. I have everything. They have to fight over a comfortable place to sleep.
Upon returning to the church I contacted one of my youth group leaders, Amanda. For a long time we emailed the donation director of Simpson Shelter. We were trying to figure out a way to get fabric donated so that we could make blankets. I knew that was something I could do to help. Maybe it wouldn't help a lot, but I knew I could make blankets and I knew if I were in their position, I would want one. Anyways, we got nowhere fast. Fabric is just so expensive and it's hard to get approved for fabric donations considering I'm just one small individual. I waited a long time before anything happened. Finally an idea came to me in the middle of the night. Hard to imagine this was only about 3 weeks ago. I decided I could use my birthday money to buy the fleece! Thus, birthday blankets was born.
I tried a few different websites that charged me a bunch of money until I found Fundly. They don't take a huge percentage of my donation money which is what I was looking for. With my stepdad's help, I set up an online account and started asking for donations instead of presents for my birthday this year. I've come so far and have raised $545 so far! The campaign ends on the 19th of September and I'm sure I'll reach my goal! It's so crazy to me that all because of youth group I've been able to start helping people! The whole experience has taught me that you can always do something. Even when you think you don't have the resources. I'm really thankful for the whole thing!
That's all I have for you today! I hope you enjoyed reading the story! It was fun to write. If you have any questions feel free to comment on this post, otherwise message me! If you'd like to donate to Birthday Blankets the link is right here ( https://fundly.com/birthday-blankets ) Thank you all so much. I'm really looking forward to getting these blankets put together and donated!
Monday, September 8, 2014
Back To School
Hey all! I'm finally writing again! I'm so excited to be doing this on a regular basis again. My whole schedule got all messed up this summer considering we were moving and I was trying to figure everything out. BUT, I am finally back and ready to bring you new thinks, thoughts, stories, and whatever else on Sundays and Mondays! I'll just jump into my topic for this week then; how to survive high school.
I'm a junior in high school if you didn't know, so I have picked up a few tricks on surviving and making the most of school. Read all the way to the end to get my friends' top tricks as well!
Tip #1.) Make good friends. This may seem like a simple thing, but for a lot of kids it isn't very easy; myself being one of those kids. At my old high school I didn't think I had a lot of friends. What I came to realize was that I had surrounded myself with good friends. I didn't have a high quantity of friends, but I had good quality friends. The kind that want to hangout, and don't get jealous when you're with someone else. The kind that don't smoke and don't drink, and they never abandoned me to be somebody else's friend. I could tell those people anything. I wasn't pretending to be someone else and they accepted me for all my awkwardness. It made school a lot easier for me. I didn't have the added stress of getting in trouble because of my friends, and I had people to talk to. I also learned that to make good quality friends you have to put yourself out there and meet people. They aren't going to come running to you.
Tip #2.) Know where you're going. This is the god of all high school tips. You knowing how to get places eliminates so many problems. If you don't know how to get anywhere, figuring it out can get time consuming and embarrassing. Personally open houses and maps helped me a lot. I never actually used a map in the hallways, but since I had seen the school in advance, I knew where everything was. This made it easy for me to take ten minutes before the first week of school to plan my class routes. What way should I take everyday? Are there bathroom nearby? What about locker stops? Once I had a set way of walking, I knew for a fact I'd be on time, and also met other kids that walked the same way. This makes tip 1 even better. When you have friends you can walk and talk with them on your way to class. Assuming you have some classes in common. Maybe you'll even have two in a row.
Tip #3.) Don't make your teachers crazy. I can tell you right now, the kids that torture the teacher might be funny, but it gets SO old. Leave the teacher alone and get your stuff done. They are not above holding grudges and they definitely have favorites. Talk to them like they are a normal human and don't be a jerk.
Tip #4.) Get a head start on homework and projects. I don't know if it's just me, but I don't like doing homework unless it's something artsy. I do, however, start my homework right away regardless of how I feel about it. It is so nice to be the one in class who is done when everyone else isn't. You basically just get time to talk to your friends who are still working on their projects which you have already timely completed. I find that when I don't get things done I get more homework in other classes until it starts to overwhelm me. It's easier to just do it. Trust me. Not always, but on projects for sure!
Tip #5.) Have fun. Clearly this needs to be a rule. High school can suck and it can be really awesome. It depends on your choices. It will travel with you forever. I'm not going to preach too much about this one, but there are ways to have fun and get your stuff done. I'll tell your firsthand grades DO matter, but you won't be able to keep up with them if you don't have enough energy and happiness floating around. High school only happens once. Make it count.
Thanks for reading everyone! I tried to get my top 5 tips out in the open the best I could! Like or share if you can! Below are tips from my friends Corey, and my mom Lisa. Check those out too!
Tips from Corey:
1.) Stay out of all the drama.
2.) Be responsible all around
3.) Enjoy high school while it lasts. When you're in college you'll miss it!
Tips from my Mom:
1.) Be nice to everyone. If somebody takes the time to talk to you, then take a minute and have a conversation with them. People can surprise you once you get to know a little bit about them.
2.) Don't get stuck in a clique. Clique-y people never learn how to actually socialize and it causes problems as an adult. Hangout with as many different types of people as you can.
3.) LISTEN TO YOUR PARENTS. They know more than you do. Do you want to know why? Because they have two plus decades of knowledge that you don't have. Seriously guys. You don't know as much as you think you do.
I'm a junior in high school if you didn't know, so I have picked up a few tricks on surviving and making the most of school. Read all the way to the end to get my friends' top tricks as well!
Tip #1.) Make good friends. This may seem like a simple thing, but for a lot of kids it isn't very easy; myself being one of those kids. At my old high school I didn't think I had a lot of friends. What I came to realize was that I had surrounded myself with good friends. I didn't have a high quantity of friends, but I had good quality friends. The kind that want to hangout, and don't get jealous when you're with someone else. The kind that don't smoke and don't drink, and they never abandoned me to be somebody else's friend. I could tell those people anything. I wasn't pretending to be someone else and they accepted me for all my awkwardness. It made school a lot easier for me. I didn't have the added stress of getting in trouble because of my friends, and I had people to talk to. I also learned that to make good quality friends you have to put yourself out there and meet people. They aren't going to come running to you.
Tip #2.) Know where you're going. This is the god of all high school tips. You knowing how to get places eliminates so many problems. If you don't know how to get anywhere, figuring it out can get time consuming and embarrassing. Personally open houses and maps helped me a lot. I never actually used a map in the hallways, but since I had seen the school in advance, I knew where everything was. This made it easy for me to take ten minutes before the first week of school to plan my class routes. What way should I take everyday? Are there bathroom nearby? What about locker stops? Once I had a set way of walking, I knew for a fact I'd be on time, and also met other kids that walked the same way. This makes tip 1 even better. When you have friends you can walk and talk with them on your way to class. Assuming you have some classes in common. Maybe you'll even have two in a row.
Tip #3.) Don't make your teachers crazy. I can tell you right now, the kids that torture the teacher might be funny, but it gets SO old. Leave the teacher alone and get your stuff done. They are not above holding grudges and they definitely have favorites. Talk to them like they are a normal human and don't be a jerk.
Tip #4.) Get a head start on homework and projects. I don't know if it's just me, but I don't like doing homework unless it's something artsy. I do, however, start my homework right away regardless of how I feel about it. It is so nice to be the one in class who is done when everyone else isn't. You basically just get time to talk to your friends who are still working on their projects which you have already timely completed. I find that when I don't get things done I get more homework in other classes until it starts to overwhelm me. It's easier to just do it. Trust me. Not always, but on projects for sure!
Tip #5.) Have fun. Clearly this needs to be a rule. High school can suck and it can be really awesome. It depends on your choices. It will travel with you forever. I'm not going to preach too much about this one, but there are ways to have fun and get your stuff done. I'll tell your firsthand grades DO matter, but you won't be able to keep up with them if you don't have enough energy and happiness floating around. High school only happens once. Make it count.
Thanks for reading everyone! I tried to get my top 5 tips out in the open the best I could! Like or share if you can! Below are tips from my friends Corey, and my mom Lisa. Check those out too!
Tips from Corey:
1.) Stay out of all the drama.
2.) Be responsible all around
3.) Enjoy high school while it lasts. When you're in college you'll miss it!
Tips from my Mom:
1.) Be nice to everyone. If somebody takes the time to talk to you, then take a minute and have a conversation with them. People can surprise you once you get to know a little bit about them.
2.) Don't get stuck in a clique. Clique-y people never learn how to actually socialize and it causes problems as an adult. Hangout with as many different types of people as you can.
3.) LISTEN TO YOUR PARENTS. They know more than you do. Do you want to know why? Because they have two plus decades of knowledge that you don't have. Seriously guys. You don't know as much as you think you do.
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