junior year

well this is the first year i have actually cared about school or tried at all. it has been very stressful but very rewarding at the same time, its crazy what a positive impact homework can have on your grade when you actually do it! although i would still describe myself as a lazy smart kid, at least i actually did my homework this year. also, this year i feel that i have gained better relationships with more of my teachers. moving away from my performance in school, i feel that this year i made fewer stupid decisions. freshman and sophomore year i guess i just didnt use my brain at all but i made a lot of stupid decisions. i am proud to say that this year i have not made as many stupid decisions and that is great. this summer i am going to my dad's house in florida, my aunt and uncles in california, my farm in tennessee, and my summer house in maryland, as well as the oshkosh airshow in wisconsin. these are things that i do every summer and i always look forward to all of them, i just wish summer was longer! as for senior year i plan to get all A's both semesters.

perfect playlist

in light of the end of the year, this is the perfect group of songs for a graduation or a graduation party

1. Graduation-Vitamin C

• This song is perfect for a graduation, oviously because of the name it talks about how as we move on      with our lives we will always remember the times we had with our best friends in high school

2. I'm Not Gonna Cry-Corey Smith

• This song is perfect for a graduation because it talks about how as you turn the tassle from one side of your graduation cap to the other you begin to grow apart from your highschool friends and move on to the next stage of your life

3. You're Gonna Miss This-Trace Adkins

• This song is perfect for a graduation because it talks about how everyone is so anxious to get older and most of us wish our lives away but once we are old we miss when we were young even the hard times

4. For Good-Wicked

•  This song is perfect for a graduation because it talks about the impact that a person has on another person's life and how they will never be the same because of the impact that person has on them. This is especially perfect for gradualtion because all of our friends and enimies we have made in high school shape us into the person we are today

5. I Hope You Dance-Lee Ann Womack

• This song is perfect for graduation because it talks about always taking chances in life and not always sitting on the side lines and watching it pass you by but getting up and really "dancing" through life

(i had to help some of my friends put together slideshows for their graduation parties recently that is why i chose this)

how to make a nutella roll up

craving chocolate but want to be semi-healthy? never fear the nutella roll up is here! but how do you make a nutella roll up you ask? well i will tell you. first you get a tortilla, and if it has been refrigerated heat it up for 10 seconds. then get out the nutella and spread a liberal amount of nutella onto the tortilla. after this is completed it is time to roll up the nutella roll up, just roll it, no special directions for the part. next, microwave it for 10 more seconds so the nutella melts a little and it becomes the perfect snack. this really isnt healthy at all but it tastes good, if you like nutella i am sure you will like this. this is perfect for any meal of the day, breakfast, lunch, dinner, dessert, a snack, sometimes i eat it for all my meals (just kidding) but it is really good.

Almost There

It is absolutely ridiculous how fast second semester has gone by, or junior year in general. It was (surprisingly) a good year for the most part. I managed to keep my grades up for the most part in all of my classes. I did not, however, meet my goal of not procrastinating and leaving things until the last possible minute. For example, this post.. Which was due two weeks ago. I have learned though that that doesn't always work and that I can not leave stuff for until I get to school. I have learned a lot this year- about school subjects, my friends, the people around me, and myself. I have seen different sides of different people and created new friendships throughout the year, and learned to appreciate them more. I also got more homework this year than I ever have before in my life, which is one of the main reasons I am so excited that there are only 13 more days left of school.
That, and I can't wait for summer. I am anxious to officially start my mentoring project, which I finally figured out. One of my (many many many) cousins is coming to stay with us over the summer and I can not put into words how excited I am for her to get here and get to spend time with her.( It's been 3 years. ) And in July, we will have a French Exchange Student stay with us. (Her name is Lise and she's super nice!) Throughout the entire summer though, I will be volunteering at UK Hospital, something that I've wanted to do the past few years but have been unable to.
I am very much looking forward to summer. And to coming back to school as a Senior.... But I don't want to think about coming back to school just yet.
So I'll leave it at that.
This is cheesy but thank you guys so much for an awesome English class!
And I am very sorry for all of you that actually read this entire post (especially those of you that hate parentheses...)

School's out for Summer

Junior year was stressful for me but most of high school has been stressful- school wise. I became a part of a newly established but highly accomplished sustainability council. There were multiple changes going on at my church, which caused me to take more charge as my role as youth representative. I started driving and driving with my mother is no joy ride. It was the second year as being an 'only child' and having my oldest brother, who typically lives 45 minutes away, gone for all of second semester just meant even less visiting and communication with them. Figuring out my mentoring project for next year while finishing this year was a juggling act. Applying for jobs and getting a steady 3 hour a week job that I will have as long as I want were good and stressful. Planning my summer is exciting and at the same time overwhelming. I came into this year knowing it is the most important year to colleges and the fact that I want to apply early action puts all the more pressure on this school year. As far as grades I think I accomplished my goal there. I am not pleased with how I performed in Spanish first semester but I am not completely surprised. I am awful at Spanish. But I have plans to fix that grade over the summer. Once that is fixed I think my Junior year transcript will read the way I want it to. Many people would look at it and say how could you feel accomplished but there are double the people that would wish they had the same as mine. Knowing myself the grades I earned show accomplishment. As far as having everything prepared and ready for applying, I still need to work on my standardized test scores. I am slowly but steadily making strides to the score that I want but I am not there yet. It will always be in the back of my mind and cause me stress until I reach the ball park score I want and I know I can apply to the schools I am interested in with confidence. One thing I can cross off the to do list is college visits. Over spring break I visited 5 in 3 days; not too shabby. I am not completely done with the college search, I would like to take one more glance around to make sure I'm not crossing any worth while colleges off the list.
I am nervous but also can't wait to start my mentoring project. It is something I am passionate about but it could also make or break my career path decision. I plan to get as many hours as possible completed in the summer that way I don't have to crunch it all into the school year and I can decide what college to attend with confidence that this is what I want to become.
This all sounds like everything lined up perfectly and I accomplished everything I wanted. My met my goal as of grades, I surly didn't exceed them. I am still narrowing down my college search but only to widen it again to see if I narrowed it down to quickly. Many days through out my summer will be spent researching colleges and trying to become an ACT expert.
My final piece of information is something I am so excited for but also embarrassed to admit. Once I get my restricted license I can buy a(my) car! I have it picked out and it's got my name on it; I currently refer to it as my baby. It will make my senior year so much easier. Dealing with mentoring hours, going to work (if I get my car soon enough I could get three jobs in the summer, do I hear $$chaching$$), going to and from my parents houses, and not waiting at school until nearly closing time everyday.
I'd say I had a pretty successful Junior year but I'm hoping for an even more successful Senior year.

Au Revoir Mr. Logsdon, I have enjoyed blog posts more than you'd realize. They get me thinking and I have seen writing in a new light. Keep up the good prompts. Thanks!

Perfect Playlist

My mom has always been a fan of clean. In Colombia we had Maria Helena and she made that happen for us. Then we moved to the States and we ran out of luck in that department. So every Saturday ever since, we have a big (too big, if you ask me) part of our day doing chores. And tiring and annoying as chores can be, music makes them bearable. So here is my Chores Playlist:

(All of these songs are going to be in Spanish, so... Just a heads up..)

I realize that four out of five of these songs are old (all but the last one) but I think that's part of why I like them so much. At home, it wouldn't be a party without them. 

1. Ojala (Silvio Rodriquez) - I honestly can't explain why I like this song so much or how it makes chores easier to handle. The lyrics are poetic and wonderful and touching and all that good stuff. I think this is the slowest song on this playlist though. It's calming but it doesn't put you to sleep, which would be bad while doing chores. But this song is just beautiful overall. 
2. No Te Das Cuenta (Alberto Cortez) - Okay. There are no words for how much I love this song. I think I've listened to it a million and one times but I love it more every time. Every day I go to school in the United States and I am around English all day long and during the week I do my homework in English until 8 or 9. During chores, I am around my family who speaks Spanish to me all the time with (mostly) Colombian music blasting. And I've always liked that. This song talks about how no matter how long you're in the United States, you will always be Colombian or Mexican or Venezuelan. So I guess this song has always rung true to me and that's why I love it so much. 
3. Cali Pachanguero (Grupo Niche) - This song kind of goes along with the one above except it's specific to Cali, a city in the Valley (I think that's how you'd translate that.) Salsa always seems to brighten my mood too. So I guess that helps make it a favorite too. And it's a song that you can dance to easily while doing chores. 
4. Un Millon de Amigos (Roberto Carlos) - I LOVE THIS GUY'S VOICE. Just sayin'. Anyways. The message of this song is probably what I like the most about it. It talks about the beautiful thing that is friendship and how it makes you stronger and "makes it easier to sing louder." Okay. I'm not going to try to translate. It's better in Spanish. This song is fun, it's sweet, and it's upbeat-ish, perfect for pushing me to finish chores.
5. Volvi a Nacer (Carlos Vives) - I got introduced to this song back in December and I don't think I've stopped listening to it since. And as cheesy as this sounds, it's about the beautiful, amazing kind of love that people dream about. That, and it's fun to sing into my broom-mic. So there's that. 

I could add about 100 more songs to this playlist and not have noted them all. There are too many. Not only that, most of them don't even have words and the only reason they make the playlist is because they're fun to dance to. But...  These are just a few of this Saturday's favorites.