My Last Two Posts, Combined

My last two posts were about the Beautiful Blog Award and School. So now, I'm writing about both.

I got nominated for the BBA again by O Williams (thanks so much! I feel so loved!)-- you can find the link to the questions and answers here since I don't want to write a super long post.

Also, my nominees (less this time):
-Hannah at In the Heart of Hannah
-MorningTime4 at The Ups and Downs of my Not-So-Average Life
-Julia at Running Through the Stars

My questions are the same as the ones on the last BBA post.

Thank you!

Now my next topic, school.

Tomorrow's my first day!!! My mom got me a new shirt to wear, and I have pants that will go with it perfectly (though not shoes, I wonder what I should do, hmm...) New classes; I have P.E. first which is a pain since I don't want to be all sweaty for the rest of the day. And I'm two years ahead of my grade in math-- I have Geometry this year and it's in the twelfth grade hallway! I'm in eighth grade, dear readers! What will I do?

I don't even know any twelfth graders.

And isn't my new design going splendidly? Thanks to Eve!!!

Thanks for reading, y'all, and good luck in the coming school year! Wish me luck, too, I'm sure I'll need it!

Beautiful Blog Award

I got nominated for the Beautiful Blog Award by MorningTime4... thank you!

It seems pretty much like the Liebster Award that I've been seeing a lot lately.

Rules:
-Answer the questions given to you
-Nominate others and pose questions for them to answer
-Tell the nominees that you've nominated them.

Morning's questions (and my answers!):

1) What fandoms are you are apart of?
Doctor Who and Harry Potter 2) What book/movie do you love but everyone else despises? None that I can think of-- however, vice versa, I did not like the Shiver trilogy in the least and everyone else loves it.  3) Your opinion on biscottis? Usually delicious but sometimes too dry for my taste 4) Lemon sorbet or key lime pie (for ice cream flavors)? Lemon sorbet!!! 5) Do you have any weird pet peeves? Probably, but they're not weird to me! Seriously, I can't think of any, but I'm sure that I have some. 6) If you could have any super power, what would it be? Why? Shape-shifting, because then you could become a bird and fly, or become a spider and be practically invisible... really, it's all of the superpowers in one. 7) If you could learn to do anything, what would it be? I would love to learn how to figure skate. 8) Do you believe in miracles? Oh yeah. 9) Finish this sentence  "There is beauty all around when ……" The sun first rises in the morning and everyone's just waking up; the air is fresh and cool; and it's a new day with no mistakes in it yet. 10) Why did the chicken cross the road? To show the opossum that it could be done.  11) Name one thing you would like to do before leaving this earth. Publish a book that would touch hearts around the globe. 12) What has been your biggest challenge? Being me when everyone else wants me to be everyone else. 13) If you could stay a certain age forever, what age would that be?

Eight or nine-- old enough to make jokes and understand a lot, young enough to still be cute and innocent.

Now my questions:

-Which fictional character are you most like? (be honest!)

-What made you want to start blogging?

-Where does your blog name come from?

-What is your least favorite subject at school?

-Favorite name for a girl? For a boy?

-Where would you like to live when you grow up?

-If you could live in any fictional universe, which one would it be?

And my nominees (no order):

-Bethan at Think. Read. Write. Dream.

-Ella at Simply Scribbles

-Eve at Eve of Womanhood

-Sarah & Bernie at Forever Changed

-MorningTime4 at The Ups and Downs of My Not-So-Average Life (this might not count)

That was a long post! Thanks for keeping up with me.

School

I'm back home, and today I had to go to my school and get registered for the new school year which is coming up way too soon! It's a real shock. One of my two sisters (I'm not naming names because I don't think they'd appreciate it) is going into sixth grade, and I saw a bunch of the upcoming sixth graders. I can't believe that I used to be that small! I mean, I remember being in sixth grade (it wasn't all that long ago, after all) and I'm pretty sure that I looked the same.

I guess a lot happens between being an upcoming sixth grader and being an upcoming eighth grader.

My cousin, who is a year older than me, is going into high school. Next year he'll get his learner's permit and start to drive (he won't get his actual driver's license till later, but you know). A more terrifying thought I've never had.

Ugh, school. Not that I don't like school, because I do. (honest!) But summer vacation went way too fast!

I'm excited though because I know that I got a couple really good teachers that a lot of people like.

Also, I went through all my brand-new school supplies and organized my binders, which is always a little bit fun. Call me crazy, but I like organizing school supplies. My own room, not so much.

In other news, I'm getting a blog redesign. Excited for that! I won't post who's doing it until it's actually done, though... but I've never done a thing like that before.

All for now.

Writing Contest

Back home... sigh...

This great blog, Eve of Womanhood, has hosted a writing contest and here is my entry. It's sorta long (a bit over two pages, but an easy read), so I've linked this post to Google Drive and you can find it there.

About my entry:
I live in a very wealthy community-- but my family is very average with an average income and a smallish house. Therefore, sometimes my school asks for very expensive things on the school supply list, and sometimes the teachers suppose you have an Apple device (iPhone, iPad) and plan the lesson around a certain app that can only be found through Apple. This bothers me, as I don't have an Apple device, so I wrote a story about two kids who kind of rebel against their wealthy, expensive public school.

Please read it and enjoy!

Written at the Ocean

Today was beach day... and here's a short bit I wrote about it.

We go to a beach where the sand sparkles with tiny golden specks and smooth stones dot the shore instead of seashells. I stand at the edge of the crashing waves, looking over the ocean. Wide and vast and grey and blue.

The waves are water horses, raging and angry as they crash against me. They gallop towards the shore, sea foam dripping from their mouths.

I welcome them with open arms. 

The sand is wet beneath my feet as I walk farther into the ocean, the water coming above my knees. Soon I am joined by my mother, two sisters, and my grandfather. They laugh as the cold water splashes over them, over me. 

I feel something nudge my foot. Is it a fish, or one of the smooth, wave-tossed stones? "Watch out for crabs," my grandfather warns. I yank my foot back and he laughs. It was only his toe; he was trying to scare me. I brush myself off as haughtily as I can manage.

Some of the waves slap against me, others come softly, and still others roar-- angry and magnificent. I lose my balance once, twice, three times, when big waves hit. The water horses take me. I stumble each time and fall, salt water splashing everywhere. I can't act haughty when I'm laughing so hard.

Seagulls cry loudly in the clear blue sky, making known their existence. I look up as one flies right over me, its wings flapping lazily, soaring on the wind. The air smells of salt, of the sea, of sunscreen and sand in your bathing suit and books read on the shore and the sun in the sky. 

A piece of seaweed clings to my ankle, a watery hand. I don't know what it is, at first; I shake it off, shuddering. We rush farther in, small against the enormous ocean.

And I wish I could stay there forever.

In Which I Talk About My Book

My California trip is drawing to a close... it makes me so sad :( Tomorrow I'll be on the airplane back and the day after I'll be shopping for school supplies, kind of last-minute but not really.

On the bright side, I am over 14,000 words into my book, yay!!! 

About my book, I'm not going to tell you much. I want it to be a surprise. But I will tell you the last sentence I wrote, at the end of the sixth chapter.

"Flesh-eating birds," said Dahlia simply, and left it at that.

It's not as bad as it sounds-- and not nearly as violent. But I think it's a pretty good cliff-hanger ending to a chapter, don't you? 

Today I'm going to the beach. I love the beach so much. The California beaches are usually cooler than the rest of the state, as opposed to Costa Rica where they're hotter and much more humid. Anyway, it's really nice; yesterday we celebrated the descent of the temperature from 102 degrees Fahrenheit to 100 degrees Fahrenheit... that would be about 39 degrees Celsius to about 38, if you are not American and therefore don't use weird terms of measurement. 

I'll keep you updated on my book: And I will tell you when it's published! (It probably won't be published, but I have high hopes!!!)

Knott's Berry Farm

Yesterday, I went to one of the coolest amusement parks ever. No, it wasn't Disneyland-- $96 dollars per ticket is a bit much-- but it was still so much fun.

Knott's Berry Farm had nothing to do with berries as far as I could tell: They sold jam and raspberry preserves in the general store but that was about it. What it did have, though, was a bunch of roller coasters and rides.

It's a theme park, which basically means it has a theme (obviously). The theme here was Wild West and, in a different section of the park, Charlie Brown and Snoopy.

What was my favorite ride?

Probably the log ride though I screamed. It goes down really fast at one part, and that scared me, but it was so. much. fun. Besides, it sprayed water and it was so hot yesterday!

The log ride at Knott's Berry Farm. See that practically vertical drop? That's where I screamed.

I was really worried for my camera, because I have a bunch of pictures on it and I would be really sad if it got wet and stopped working. But it was fine.

Also, there was this:

I chose not to ride on it. 

My California vacation is drawing to a close! It's so sad-- because then I have to go back to school pretty soon after :( I like school, but I still don't want to go back.