This Thanksgiving break was one of my favorite holidays ever. After getting stuffed on turkey, stuffing, potatoes, and pie on Thursday, I had a great weekend. With a Thanksgiving dinner, with 15 people it was hectic in the house, but everyone got to eat. It was a great meal, and we had a lot to look foreward to, shopping on Friday. This Thanksgiving was the first time that I have ever gone shopping on black Friday. I didn't get up at 2:30 in the morning like some people, but I did get up at 4:00. We went to Wal-Mart, Sam's Club, and Shopko. There were some really great sales, and really long lines. Not just to get in the stores, but to check out too. At Shopko, we stood in line for 45 minutes just to check out. The line went all the way around the store! I don't think that I will be shopping on the day after Thanksgiving again.

On Saturday my family and I were going to see Wicked, the musical. We spent half the day walking around The Mall of America, looking at all the cool stores. The we took the light train to the theatre. That was a really cool experience, because I have never been on a light train before. The play itself was really good, just as good as when I saw it in New York. I found myself singing along with all of the songs. In New York, we went to a workshop and learned the moves to one of the dances. As I watched the play, I thought, " That dance is way more difficult, than they make it look." I know that they're professionals, but those dances are still difficult. I can't wait to go and see it again one day. I hope that everyone had a great Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving

This week we are celabrating a holiday dedicated to giving thanks. Many people will be traveling to share this time with family, and some will be at home hosting dinner. One thing we all have in common, is whether we acknowledge it or not, we all have something to be thankful for. Some people are bursting with thankfulness, and some are not. Yet, most everyone celebrates this day for giving thanks.
This Thanksgiving I am going to my Aunt and Uncle's house for dinner. It is going to be a lot of fun. We're going to have Wii bowling tournaments, and a lot of different games. But, at the end of the day, we're still going to be thankful, thankful for the time that we got to spend together.
Then on Friday we are going shopping, on Black Friday. What are we thinkging? The after Thanksgiving sales are crazy, and this will be my first time shopping them. I used to think that it would be a lot of fun, but the past few years a lot of people have gotten hurt, so now I'm not so sure. It will be very interesting. On Saturday I am going to the Off Broadway musical, Wicked. This will be the second time that I have seen this musical. I'm excited to compare the Off Broadway, and Broadway musicals. I'm sure they're not too different, but I'm still really excited, and my mom and sister have a chance to see it too. I think I'm more excited for them than I am for me.
This Thanksgiving I have a lot to be thankful for. Like the fact that I am able to go to college, in order to get a better education. And that I have a roof over my head and food in my belly, and a family who cares about me. It is at this time of year that all the food drives are starting up. So that people less fortunate than me can have a good Thanksgiving meal. I am thankful for the opportunity to help them, because someday I might be one of those people. You can never tell what will happen in the future, but it wouldn't hurt to start planning today. I hope that everybody has a wonderful and safe Thanksgiving Day!

New York

This past March I was able to go to New York with my high school band and choir. We fund raised for three years and were finally able to go on this trip. We left on a Monday after school, then the next day after 18 hours on a cramped bus, we were finally there. We were able to visit the Rockerfeller center, Madison Square Gardens, Ground Zero, Midevel Times, Wicked, The Blue Man Group, and the Statue of Libery and Ellis Island.

The Rockerfeller Center was really cool. We got the grand tour, and even learned how the stages worked. We got to see what it was like to have enough money for a balcony seat, equipped with a kitchenette. ANd while we were there Aretha Franklin was supposed to be there practicing! How cool! When we got to the bathrooms, most of us were taking pictures instead. The bathroom there is huge. It had a sitting room, a make-up room, a bathroom, and a washroom. My whole house could have fit inside this bathroom. It was also very intricat, with painting on the walls of women throughout the ages. We even got to interview and take pictures with a Rockette!

When we went to Ground Zero, it was a very special experience. There is an area where you can see into Ground Zero, but you don't really see much. My friends and I went into the World Financial Building across the street. We were able to go up to the second floor and see into Ground Zero. Even though I didn't know anyone personally who was lost on 9/11 it was still very emotional. We were all crying by the time we left 20 minutes later.

We went to see the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island by boat, I suppose the only way you can get there. Seeing the Statue of Liberty in person was so cool. In the movies the Statue always looks a lot smaller than it actually is. Then we went to Ellis Island. There are so many artifacts from when it was still open. It is fascinating to learn what happened to all of those people, it is sad too when you think about it. All of the tests these people were put through when they got to America, how horrible it must have been to arrive here and then have to hop on another ship and go back. But, the people who passed inspection had to go through a lot in order to stay. There were so many rooms, filled with facts, and beds, wheelchairs, eating utensils, and other things that these people used so many years ago.

Midevel Times was a lot of fun. Even though it smelled really bad

because of all of the horses, it was still a lot of fun. We got to watch a really funny and somewhat serious show. We had to cheer for "our" knight. And we had to eat with our hands. We got soup, half a chicken, and a dessert. By the end of dinner, I was very glad that I didn't have to eat with my hands all the time. Here is the Prince and Princess, along with the fanfare trumpeters. Those guys were awsome, I can't play like that when I play my trumpet.

The part of the trip that I liked the most was going to Wicked, we even got to go to a special workshop and learn some of the dances that they do in the musical. I'd heard a lot of people talking about Wicked, but never really looked into it. I found it very enjoyable. It was a lot of fun and, a great experience. I could watch Wicked over and over and still enjoy it. My whole trip was a lot of fun and I would go back anytime. But, I would never live there, way too much traffic and noise for me. But I had a good time.

Snow

Snow is angelic, snow is a delight.

Especially when falling all day and all night.

It fills the ground, it fills the sky.

Children love it, but why?

Children play, and children show,

all the delight they find in snow.

Today the snow started falling at about 10:30. I really love to watch the snow fall, because it is so peaceful. A lot of adults that I know don't like snow that much. Mostly because of the driving conditions when it's around. Even though I have never driven in the winter, and I don't think that it will be fun, I am still happy that the snow is starting to arrive. Soon, all over the area we will begin to see children bundled up, with only their eyes showing, to go out and play in the snow. A child sees many delightful ways the snow can entertain.


Snowmen and women will be constructed in many front and back yards. As you go past school playgrounds, you will see large snowballs, lined up to make the biggest fort. You'll see snow angels dotting the ground. All of these show how much children love snow, even though they'll come in with runny noses, and cold hands. Only to expect a cup of hot cocoa or hot apple cider. That is what I look forward to most as a kid, the hot chocolate!
I hope that everyone has fun in the snow, but is also safe and mostly warm.

Winter

The leaves have fallen off the trees, and are laying on the sidewalks and roads. This seems almost impossible knowing that just a week or two ago they were just starting to fall. The weather is starting to grow colder and colder, and soon we will be hobbling around bundled up against the snow and the cold. I love winter, but sometimes it can be a big downer.
The reason I love winter is because you can go out into the snow, and almost forget the business of the world around you. When I go outside to play with my sister, I end up making snow angels. After a few minutes, I am just laying there. Listening to everything around me. It sounds so peaceful, I almost wish I could just stay there forever. Too bad I can't, otherwise I'll freeze.
There are some unpleasant things about winter too. The most unpleasant is the shoveling. All that back-breaking work. When you don't have a snow-blower you have to rely on your shovel, and that can take forever. Another unpleasant aspect is the driving in it. I have only had my driver's license since August, so this will be my first winter driving with the snow. I am a little nervous about all the way to LaCrosse from Sparta, but I will learn to live with it and learn to drive more carefully. Even though these are unpleasant, I still really like winter, and am excited to see it come.

Halloween

Tomorrow is Halloween. One of the most fun days of the year, where you get to dress up, act like a little kid again, and just have fun. I have been trick-or-treating ever since I was a little kid. Even though I am 18 years old, I still have fun going out on Halloween and getting candy. My best excuse for being able to do this is my 9 year old sister. If I didn't have her, I probably wouldn't be going out tomorrow night.
Every year since my sister was born I have been trick-or-treating with her. I have had some very interesting costumes. I have been a gypsy, a spider witch, a pink leopard witch, a hobo, a little old lady, and clown. The most fun costume is either the hobo or the little old lady. When I dressed as a hobo, I got to have coffee grounds on my face, and I rubbed dirt all over my clothes-to make it look realistic. Last year I went as a little old lady, and I looked like an old lady. I saw one of my friends, so I took my sister's hand and ran up to her. She thought I was a little old lady, and running was something she did not expect me to do. It was really funny to fool her.
This year I am dressing up 80's style, and my sister is going as a scarecrow. I think that it will be very fun. I always love going trick-or-treating, so I will make it be a good time. And, I will get a lot of candy-except most of it will probably get thrown out due to sitting around after I've had my fill. I can't wait, and hope you're all safe this Halloween.

Changes

As I drove home from school today, I noticed many different things. One of the first things I noticed, was that it looked cold outside. Not to mention that it really was cold outside. Even though it feels like autumn just arrived, it feels like it's leaving just as quickly. It seems like we will be hearing more and more of that dreaded s word, yes, snow.

Another thing I noticed was that most of the crops are being harvested, but some are not. As I drove, I saw that one farmer picked his corn, but the next did not. In my head I was wondering why aren't all the fields being cultivated? There must be a reason, but I don't know what it is. My parents say that the corn has to be dry before being picked. But why aren't all the fields in one area cultivated. This was just a thought that came across my mind.

The third thing I noticed on my way home, was that it is no fun driving to and from anyplace alone. Since the first day of school I have been driving to TC from Sparta everyday. At first it was kind of fun because I've never driven anywhere that far away, by myself. Now it just gets really boring. Most days I don't recall very many facts about my way to or from school. There was an exception this morning though. Not even half a mile down the road this morning I thought I saw a cat crossing the road. As I stopped and waited for it to cross the road I saw that it was not in fact a cat, but it was an opossum. I have only seen an opossom one other time, so it was really cool. As I waited, this little creature meandered across the road not even seeming to notice me. It really made my day, and maybe I'll start looking for things like this on my daily drive to TC.

Lost

Corn mazes are a very fun way to pass time, and a lot of time passes while in them. A few weeks ago I was able to accompany my little sister, Brianna, and her friend, Alyssa, around the maze. When we first went in the two 9 year old girls decided to go into the difficult part of the maze. Our task was to find "checkpoints," and punch our cards to show that we found them. As we were making our way through the maze, the girls would each go one way when we came to a split in the trail. Several times I had to go and find one and then go find the other.
The first checkpoint we came to was at the very "top" of the maze, up near the bat (in the picture). Then trying to find more checkpoints we came upon the entrance. The girls decided they wanted to try the easy side now, because they were getting discouraged about not finding any checkpoints.
As we entered the easy side, I made sure to note the direction, and keep tabs on where we were. The next checkpoint we found was at the bottom right hand side of the maze. We looked at the little map at the checkpoint, and headed off to the next checkpoint. Unfortunately, we found the same checkpoint again. Finally, we headed off toward the exit, and after several more attempts, and wrong turns we made it out.
As we came out of the maze, both of the girls decided that they didn't want to go in another maze for a long time. An employee greeted us as we came out and said, that for having two little girls we did very well. We found 5 checkpoints, and were only in the maze for two hours. By the time we got out, all of us were tired and ready to go home. But we had a great time and a lot of fun. I can't wait for next year's corn maze.

Favorites

It is that time of year again, when the leaves start changing color and the breezes blow colder. Yes, it is fall again and the beautiful scenery of reds, oranges, and yellows are coming out again. Autumn is a beautiful time of year, and one of my favorites. All of the beautiful trees mixed with the trees whose leaves have not yet begun to change. The crunching of fallen leaves underfoot make the season seem more real.

I like autumn because you can watch mother nature put on its winter clothing and gear up for all of the snow. Fall has been one of my favorite times of year ever since I was little. As a little girl my family lived in a house with four huge silver maple trees in the front yard. Every fall we would attempt to rake up all of the leaves and put them into bags to dispose of them. And, every year we would give up half-way through because there were so many leaves. We would end up jumping into them and making a bigger mess, and wait until they just blew away.

The past few years my family and I have lived in a house with no trees around whatsoever. I found that I really missed having to rake the leaves. I missed seeing the leaves in the yard, and the beauty of the leaves on the trees before they fell. Now, we live in a house where there are several trees, but not too many leaves to rake. That is a perfect combination for a perfect Autumn.

Thank You

Last weekend we had our huge rummage sale. We had a good turnout and made quite a bit of money. As I sat there selling our old stuff, I started to observe things about the people coming to our sale. Everybody that came to our sale was so different. Some were there looking for a specific item, some didn't even plan on coming, and some came just to look around.

The people that came also had some very different personalities. One man, a World War II Veteran, came looking for war memorabilia. When we said we had none of that, he proceeded to tell us that he was going on a trip to Washington D.C. with a whole bunch of other Veterans. Then he told us about his grand children and what their interests were, and then he thanked us and left. Another lady started talking about her 8 kids and her hard life raising them. She also said she was only looking for things that her grandkids could use. She kept talking until another costomer came, which was about 15 minutes later. I'm sure that these two elderly people have very few people to talk to, so we were glad to listen to them, and agree with them. I'm thinking that they were happier when they left and I'm very glad for that.

Some other people who came were very rude I thought. Some of them didn't even stop. I'm not saying that this is bad, but we live at the end of a dead end road, out in the country. You would think that if someone drove all the way out there, that they would at least stop and look around. Others didn't even say hi when I greeted them or thanked them for coming to our sale. Many times I was glad to say, "Thank you," and let them be on their way.

All in all we had a fun time. Now that it's over I can't wait until next spring to do it all over again. I'm sure we will see many of the same people, but will also see new people too.

Your total is...

Earlier this year my family and I moved into a new house. Now, we are swimming in things that no longer hold any interest for us. Our solution to our object pool is a rummage sale. Rummage sales take a lot of time. A lot. For us, what takes the most time is unpacking and going through things that we haven't even seen in a while. As we went through our boxes we have found so many things, that we were looking for but could not find. Now we realize that we don't want them anymore. Our garage is full of tables with items waiting for their price tags. Tonight all items will be priced. We price our items to sell, not to make a ton of money like some people. We have so much stuff to sell, we may not have enough table space.
My favorite part of the rummage sale is selling things. I get to sit at our table with the money box and haggle with people about prices. Last time we had a sale we sold almost everything on our tables. This time we have so much more stuff to price and more opportunities for making some money. Tomorrow I'll wake up early, go and sit in my sweatpants in the cold garage. Then I'll sit and wait, most of the time customers show up way early, but I hope they wait 'till opening time. At the end of the day I will be so glad to be closing up, but then I'll wake up early the next morning and do it all over again. Then at the end of the sale on Saturday, we pack up what's left (hopefully not much) and take it to Goodwill. I hope that a lot of people think of the old cliché, one mans trash is another mans treasure!!

Broad tailed

Do you know what the worlds smallest birds are? Hummingbirds. There are many different types of hummingbirds, with the smallest being the bee hummingbirds. All hummers are beautiful and all are very fast. Over the past few days I have learned a lot more about hummingbirds.
As I was leaving for school on Monday my mother found a small, and injured hummingbird laying on our front porch. It was in no condition to fly, let alone take care of itself. We found ourselves being caregivers to this tiny little beauty. It was female and fairly young, and all we knew to do was to give her some sugar water. She could not feed herself, so we had to hold her up to the feeder. That night we made a makeshift cage so that she would feel better.
The next morning we were relieved to see that our new little friend made it through the night. She could even flutter around in her temporary home. By the end of the day she had tried to escape three times, but she could not land. Her feet seemed to be paralyzed or broken, so we could not let her go.
By this time we were constantly saying, "She...,and Her...", our bird needed a name. We did not know what kind of name to give her. Being that she is a Broad tailed Hummingbird, we wanted to give her a name that started with B. Brenda, Billi Jo, Brianna, Brynn...Brynn it was. Now she had a name and was getting a lot better.
Today, Brynn seemed as if she wanted to go home. I would too, if I had been with strange creatures for four days. She was even using her feet some. As I left for school today I knew that she would be let go soon. When I returned at the end of the day I went to look at Brynn, but the cage was empty, and Brynn was home free. I was sad to see that she had gone, but was glad that she had gone to her own home.

Phases

At the end of August many of us started the secondary school known as college. For many of us it was the beginning of a new phase of our lives. To some, starting college is a scary time, to others it is fun and exciting. And yet, to others it is just another school year.
For me, starting college was kind of scary. Even though I was not living in the dorms or on my own, just living at home and commuting several days per week. I was coming out of my comfort zone, and doing things entirely different than I have been for the past four years. Yet, my friends find it very exciting because they are moving out and away from home.
I hope that getting into a routine and becoming familiarized with the school will help me to be less scared. I also think, that even though I'm out of my comfort zone I will begin to be more excited towards what is to come in the next few years of college. Being scared is perfectly normal, but being excited is much more fun. Have a good semester and study hard!