Hello from I nearly forgot to blog again (thanks Anna Beth)

And since I have only 30 minutes to blog and not a very strong desire to do so anyway, here's the first 2 pages of that story Amy, Rachael, and I took turns writing back in high school Pre-calc.

*edit*
- Anna Beth has just told me that I've posted this story before on the blog. As I don't actually remember doing this, I'm going to be lazy and pretend that didn't happen. So enjoy a reviewing :P

A Wonderful Fantastic Story:
            Once there was a guy who didn’t realize that he was all powerful and owns a goat. He didn’t know why he didn’t know that he owned a goat, but he did. One day he and the goat were swimming in the ocean and met a water fairy who also had a companion: a dwarf. “So, what are you and your goat doing so far out in the ocean,” questioned the fairy.
    “We’re looking for a magical seahorse that will grant us three wishes,” answered the guy.
     “I would like to wish that my goat friend could talk. My second wish would be to become a prince. Not a king because they have too many worries. My third wish is to be able to talk to all living beings. I wonder what trees talk about as they stand in the same spot day in and day out.”
“Well, good luck with that!” cried the fairy. “And because you seem trustworthy, I’ll grant you a fish sandwich for lunch and my dwarf, Harold, to guide you.”
So the guy, whose name was Warren Peace by the way, set off ON A QUESTE with Harold, the goat, and the fish sandwich. As Warren followed Harold past the shore and sand dunes into the nearby forest, he heard a peculiar sound coming from the pocket where he put the fish sandwich. Oh no! A little, miniature kangaroo was eating the sandwich! He took out the little animal and said, “Hey, kangaroos don’t eat fish!”

“Too bad, I’m magical,” replied the kangaroo.

“Tell me little carnivorous kangaroo, do you know where to find a seahorse that grants wishes? Harold seems to be lost,” said Warren.

“I’m not lost!” said Harold, and he scampered off into the trees. When Warren followed, he saw that Harold had pushed a secret button to open the secret mines of the dwarfs. The Kangaroo ran after Warren in the hope of eating the rest of the fish sandwich.

“Hold on! Wait for me!” the kangaroo yelled.

“Baa!” exclaimed the goat as they squeezed through the passage.

Though it was dark in the caves, there seemed to be an eerie glow just out of the corner of each of the questers’ eyes. There was the sound of trickling water that became louder as they continued. When they reached the source of the sound, they saw it was an underground stream flowing into a deep pool.

“This is where I leave you,” sighed Harold.

“No! You can’t leave!” said Warren.

“Baa!” said the goat.

“Fish sandwich!” said the kangaroo.

“The water fairy said you would guide us but you’re leaving us in underground passage?” continued Warren. “Where are we supposed to go? How will we find the seahorse?”

“You won’t need me now that you’ve found the magical kangaroo. As long as you have the fish sandwich, he shall do your bidding. It seems luck is on your side. Plus, I must hurry and go back to the fairy. She promised that we will play chess today,” said Harold as he dived into the tunnel.

“OK,” said Warren to the kangaroo. “Where do we go next little kangaroo? Tell me and I’ll give you a bite of the fish sandwich.”

The kangaroo stared at Peace for a moment and replied, “First of all, my name is Lil’ Loo and second, you go into the pool – don’t worry, it’s filled with magic so you can breath underwater.”   

With a sigh of relief, Warren held out the sandwich. Lil’ Loo snatched it away and stuffed the whole thing into his mouth. “How did you do that?!” yelled Warren. “That was, like, a 2 pound sandwich, and you’re 5 inches tall!”

“I’m magical, remember?” answered Lil’ Loo as he started to hop away.

“Wait! Come back!” yelled Warren.

“Haha! You can’t catch me, silly human. The only power you had over me was the fish sandwich, and now – ” Lil’ Loo was cut off as he was suddenly jerked off the ground. He looked up to see that the goat had appeared and had snatched him by his scruff and now stood holding Lil’ Loo in his mouth. “No, don’t eat me! I’m magical. You’ll die just like the princess with the 7 dwarfs. You don’t want that, do you?” he yelped and pleaded to the goat. But his cries fell on empty ears for the goat was already moments from eating him. Using his arm and legs, Lil’ Loo held his mouth apart and continued to yell. “Don’t just stand there, tell this beast to stop!”

Warren replied, “Only if you promise to lead us all the way to the magical seahorse and then back home.”

“Oh, Ok!” cried Lil’ Loo, and the goat dropped him. Brushing himself off, Lil’ Loo said, “I was going to follow you anyway to make sure you didn’t get in trouble.” And so the threesome continued their journey. They followed Lil’ Loo’s instruction to dive into the underground pool and swam downward. The water got darker and darker as they continued to dive. Eventually, Lil’ Loo tugged on Warren’s shirt and pointed to what looked like an underwater cavern or tunnel. Warren pulled the goat along with him as they advanced toward the opening. Holding his finger to his mouth, Lil’ Loo indicated to Warren to be quiet. Using his fingers, he told them that ‘guarding the cavern was a gigantic sea creature who is asleep. Once he is awake, he will yawn and cause a whirlpool that will suck them to his stomach.’ Still using sign language, Lil’ Loo asked Warren if he had any extra food. Digging through his pockets, Warren found that he had 8 sunflower seeds.

‘That’ll do’ signed Lil’ Loo. ‘It will be just enough to throw into Sentrax’s mouth when he’s yawning to stop the whirlpool, leaving him shocked and momentarily blind so we can go into the cavern.’

Warren stared at Lil’ Loo and fingered, ‘How do you know the creature’s name?’

‘Me and Sentrax play poker every other Thursday.’

‘Can’t you just ask Sentrax if we can go by?’ fingered Warren.

Lil’ Loo answered, ‘No, Sentrax is way too much of a workaholic for that, but the sunflower seeds will work.’

While they were having their signed discussion, the goat wandered/floated toward the opening of the cavern. It was suddenly knocked aside by a giant tail the color of the rocks around it. The goat was pushed back toward Warren and Lil’ Loo who looked with shocked expressions at the tail and what it was attached to, which was a giant serpent-like water dragon. The dragon stared at them, baring its teeth and flaring its nostrils while water around it began to boil.

‘Oh hey Sentrax! How’s it going?’ said Lil’ Loo.

Sentrax suddenly sneezed and then looked confusedly around him. “Oh it’s you Lil’ Loo. Did you come back to pay off your debt or to lose some more. We are now at 999 to 1 with me in the lead,” yawned Sentrax. “Since I don’t see/smell any fish sandwiches on you, I would guess the latter. So what’ll we play…today,” Sentrax said sleepishly. Suddenly his eyes opened wide and glowed green as he caught sight of Warren and the goat. “Who are you?” questioned Sentrax in a deep throaty voice that totally contrasted with the voice he had spoken to Lil’ Loo with.

“We’re a Mariachi Band!” yelled Warren who doesn’t work well under pressure.

“Heck yeah!” said Sentrax. “I love Mariachi bands! The word is so funny!” When the serpent-dragon gave a bellowing laugh, Warren threw the sunflower seeds into Sentrax’s throat.     

------------------------------

To be continued...(technically it already is continued, I just never typed the other several pages we wrote.)

Hope that was random enough to entertain.

Love,
Jill

Hello from a late blog. And I know, I know: I didn't blog last week either. Lame! But I had stuff to do. I'm a busy person. I mean, time traveling and all.
Anyway, this post is no longer timely, but it's always nice to smile, right?

Last week on Twitter, the hashtag #whyismile was trending.
 [For our mothers, who don't understand Twitter: A hashtag ( # ) is a way of grouping similar posts (tweets)...You know...One does not simply explain Twitter.]
Yeah, so #whyismile. And there's not much of a point here, except that people were just mentioning the things that make them smile, and I liked that idea for a blog. So here you go:

#whyismile

the squeak of sneakers on a gym floor, reminding me of school in years past
the smoky aroma of autumn
the silky, fraying fibers of a hammock 
that one photograph of me climbing up in Daddy's lap on the porch
when Momma and I start singing the same song unexpectedly
chocolate spread. on anything. in England.
rediscovering songs I forgot I used to love
a lot of songs, actually
lucky cats. glowing cats. all the cats.
when paint raises up off the canvas, not perfectly smooth
buskers
the bizarre thrill of an unrequited crush
the view from my window in a Paris hotel
lens flares
macaroni shaped like cartoon characters
quotes from fiction that make more sense than most things you hear in real life
inside jokes with myself
catching a reference that no one else gets
city lights at midnight, or just before dawn
cooking a meal with friends
doing my best thinking in the shower
sun beating down on my jeans and making them smell like ironing
rain, but only sometimes
the smell of rain, always
big, fat snowflakes sticking to my peacoat
stars
and planes
and all those things that technically could fall from the sky,
but instead drift across the horizon,
blissfully,
as symbols of hope,
of possibilities,
of someday.
************


Shut up. It's not a poem. Yeah, you. Shut it. :P

Love,
A.B.  ;)


P.S.  Song of the week, yo! 

Yep. That video was pretty cute, and the song was amazing. But I think this one is actually even better, so I had to come back and throw it in here:

P.P.S. Next Thursday, I get Question Thursday, but not if you don't ask me questions! Leave some preguntas in the comments, along with the reasons you smile. :)

Hello from my laptop! It's been ages since I got to do my blog with this thing! Sorry if this is a bit late, but I was busy doing research for the blog (no I didn't forget to write today...unlike some...lol).
Anyway the long anticipated wait is over! My Wheel of Time fantasy cast!!!
(okay...only I was waiting for this moment)
(and it's only seven characters out of a bjillion...but they are the first main characters you meet):
Rand al'Thor
Rand is the MAIN main character of the series. He is the prophesied savior of the world (spoiler alert) known as the "Dragon Reborn;" however he is also destined to break the world (in the process of saving it from the Dark One) which is why everyone waits for him coming in fear. As the Dragon Reborn, he will be able to channel (aka do magic stuffs), but there's a twist--only women can channel safely; men who do 'magic' will eventually go mad.
In the books he is described as handsome, fair-skinned, blue-gray eyes, darkish red hair, and VERY tall.
He was the hardest character to fit; not only does he have to be super tall but have REALLY good acting abilities to act a carefree youth in the beginning of the series to a super hard and serious man later.
But here's my pick: Hayden Christensen

Matrim (Mat) Cauthon
One of my favorite characters throughout the series, Mat Cauthon is a childhood friend of Rand. He is a joker and prankster, but who can be very charming with women (when he wants to be) and he likes to gamble and drink. Along with Rand and Perrin, he is also a ta'veren--meaning that he is a focal point in the world he lives. (A lot more coincidences happen when they're around..it's hard to explain).
He is  long-limbed with a wiry body and brown eyes.
My pick: Austin Butler

Perrin Aybara
The last of the trio of main male characters, Perrin is first introduced as the blacksmith's apprentice. He is a tall, stocky youth who has wide shoulder and strong arm gained from hours at the forge. He has curly brown hair and deep brown eyes that turn golden after he meets Elyas Machera and learns that he can communicate with wolves.
I'll try to get the quote right: in the first book when we are first introduced to Perrin Robert Jordan wrote something like (from Perrin's p.o.v.) "people like Mat might think that he was slow witted, but he just liked to think things through."  yeah.
p.s. he only starts to grow a beard after meeting Faile, in the second book.
Anyway my pick: Kellan Lutz

Egwene al' Vere
Egwene is a girl from the same village as the boys and when we first meet her she is studying to become a Wisdom (village doctor type). She is described as short, pretty, with large brown eyes and long dark hair. After leaving the Two Rivers (where she's from) she learns that she can learn to channel (remember? do magic stuff) and become an Aes Sedai (women who can channel, have studied at the White Tower, and passed 2 tests. There are novices, who are beginners, then if you pass the first test you become an Accepted, then there's a second and last test to become an Aes Sedai).
My pick: Emma Watson

Moiraine Damodred
Moiraine is the first Aes Sedai that we are introduced to in the series when we arrives in the Two Rivers. It isn't known at the time, but she is searching for the Dragon Reborn after hearing a prophesy that he was born 20 years ago when she was still an Accepted in the White Tower (there's a whole prequel to that story called A New Spring).
She is described as having dark hair, hanging in ringlets and looks about 26 years old, but with large, dark eyes that belong to a much older woman . This is the first mention of the ageless look that women who can channel receive (she is roughly 45 years old in actuality) . She is relatively short and has a melodious voice and wears  a fine golden chain that is woven through her hair that has a small blue stone that hangs on her forehead.
Also one of my fav characters.
My pick: Leighton Meester

al'Lan (Lan) Mandragoran
Lan is a Warder bonded to Moiraine.
A Warder is basically an Aes Sedai's bodyguard; while women train to become Aes Sedai, men can also join the White Tower to learn to fight. Both parties have to agree to bond each other (because it involves magic stuffs), but afterwards, the Warder gains greater stamina and strength, ability to sense Shadowspawn (evil creatures of the Dark One), and both can sense where the other is (or just a general direction if they are far apart). They also get a cool, color-changing camo cloak for becoming a Warder.
Anyway Lan has a face of stone and chilling blue eyes. He is very tall with shoulder-length hair greying at the temples, held back by a leather headband called a hadori (a traditional thing). He is also the uncrowned king of the of the fallen kingdom of Malkier.
My pick: Daniel Day-Lewis (though he'd half to bulk up a bit)

This was harder than I thought. I hope that my explanations were clear...
Rachael

I had fun doing this little project and seeing Anna Beth's reaction :)

Hello from Question Tuesday! It was actually supposed to be last week, but everyone (myself included) forgot about it, probably because of the awesomeness that was spring break. I dreamed that we went back to the beach last night :). Then I woke up and realized that it wasn’t summer yet :/. Oh well! I had the joy of finishing class by 10 o’clock this morning, so I guess it’s time for some questions!

Anna Beth:
What kinds of things do you see as symbols of hope?
Well, I see snow as a symbol of hope. Possibly because all children have it engrained into their brains that snow = no school. But also just because it’s so pretty and I like it :D

What song is stuck in your head right at this moment?

                                                        We don’t like
                                                       What we don’t
                                        Understand in fact it scares us
                                And this monster is mysterious at least

The musical was sooooo good guys!!! And I love the mob song, and pretty much all the songs in Beauty and the Beast, so I am perfectly happy to be reliving my musical experience in my head <3

Rank these in order of cuteness:

-         Babies
-         Puppies
-         Kittens
-         Hamsters
-         Birds
-         Old people
-         Shrubs

Hmm…

Ok:

1.      Babies
2.      Kittens
3.      Puppies
4.      Old people
5.      Hamsters
6.      Birds
7.      Shrubs
 
Rank these in order of cuteness:

-         Gerard Butler
-         David Tennant
-         Aaron Tveit
-         Liam Dryden
-         Ryan Reynolds

What? Why would you do this to me?!?!

Fine:

1.      Liam Dryden
2.      Aaron Tveit
3.      David Tennant
4.      Gerard Butler
5.      Ryan Reynolds

Being closer to my age does a lot to improve your cuteness.

What’s your favorite Girl Scout cookie?
Tagalongs! Mmm, chocolate and peanut butter…

Are you excited about (someday) being an aunt or being a grandma?
Aunt?

Which of your siblings do you think will be the first to get married?
Probably my sister. I don’t see my brother being in any hurry to get married.

Which of us bloggers do you think will be the first to get married?
I kind of want to say Anna Beth just to spite you :)

Do you think we’ll succeed at VEDA?
Well, I think we will succeed in making videos next month. Whether we’ll have someone for every day of each week is less likely.

What are the chances of a snow day worthy blizzard happening this week?
Well, greater than our chances during most of winter. But still pretty low. Kentucky is just not allowed to have blizzards :/

Do you like spinach?
Maybe? I don’t think I’ve ever had it. (Don’t give me that look…)

What’s your favorite comic strip?

How do you feel about camels?
They’re cool looking. But they also like to spit at you, don’t they?

Are there any circumstances in which you would rob a grave?
Well, I mean, anything's possibly, but probably no realistic circumstances.

Are these questions too random for you yet?
Never <3

Well, this is gonna be a tough decision guys. Who should win Question Tuesday this week? I mean, a lot of readers submitted a lot of questions. I think I’m going to have to go with… Anna Beth! Yeah, she definitely submitted the best questions this week. See you all next week! (literally! Cause it’s VEDA! Get it? :P)

Love,
Sara

So it turns out I legitimately forgot to blog today/yesterday.
Oh we'll, Anna Beth never blogged on Thursday as well :P

As an apology, here's one of the kittens I played with at the humane society on Saturday.

Love,
Jill

Hello from the future. I am, in fact, a time lord. I told you I regenerated when my adenoids grew back!
Anyway, no matter. Present Anna Beth, I have a message for you. It's going to be a difficult week. You'll be stressed. You'll be cold. You'll be a tad upset and more than a bit confused. You won't sleep much. But you'll make it. Because it's not all bad.
You'll go to Wal-Mart at one in the morning, just because. You'll get a fancy dinner at the Bistro with an international filmmaker for free. (P.S. One of your professors grades papers at the bar. I won't say which. ;) Then again, another likes to watch slasher films while grading. Interesting folks.)
True, because of your posh dinner, your friends will have Taco Friday without you, but they'll leave you the leftovers. No worries. Then you'll get to watch Les Mis, and we all know how much you enjoy that. Don't worry about your homework; you know you won't get that done until Sunday anyway.
Oh, and the Harlaxton reunion on Saturday? Don't be nervous. Nothing stupid happens. On the contrary, it's all very enjoyable. It may be a little awkward at first, but not for reasons you'd imagine. It'll just take you all a little bit to get used to each other again. You've all been apart for so long. Once everybody clicks again, amazing adventures await. P.S. you find a great hiding spot during Sardines! Play. Have fun. Be young; be open to possibilities.  But, just a tip: don't get the lemon shrimp whatever at Applebee's. It's not great.
I'd be lying if I said the days following the reunion will be as great. You do have all those assignments, after all. See, you shouldn't procrastinate. I'm from the future; I would know. 
Have fun interviewing the old people on Monday. Joyce is a hoot! And don't worry so much about the bagpipe video on Tuesday. You'll get it edited, and it won't be too bad. Plus, your shot sheet project will earn some praise for what is probably the smoothest dolly shot in the class. Be sure to thank Jill. I'm pretty sure she was responsible for that one.
Now, Wednesday night is going to be a tough one. You won't know what you're doing or what the right answer is, but you'll be alright. It'll work out fine. At least, it has so far. You're still unsure at this point, but you're helping someone in need the best that you can. That, and praying, is all you can do. You hear me? That's it.
But get excited: there's a ton of fun stuff in your future! The film festival is really gearing up, and you've got that fencing tournament quickly approaching. Oh, and you finally get that appointment with the Office of Scholar Development. Yeah, your letter needs a bit of work, but your resume is great. Get those revisions in. Get that puppy sent! You've got this. I mean, I'm only speaking from a week in the future here and I really don't know yet, but if it's not this, it'll be something. Have faith. Have hope. Go get 'em.
Love,
Future Anna Beth

Hello from the library! We're still sitting underneath Java after D-group and our conversation has justed moved on from our new potential jobs at Amy's restaurant.
Umm...we went to my second home on Sunday where I finally got another library card. I then proceeded to I crazy and check out all the books! Then wal-mart happened and I got food for the week and I think we decided on taco Friday?
I like kit-kats. I had one today.
Nayab also recently said I could pull off dressing up like Katara--maybe for Holloween? If Jill doesn't want to dress up as part of Team Rocket with me (not as Jessie and James, just part of the group).
Today I wanted to spilt myself into 3 or 4 people so I could read, play Zelda, do homework, and nap all at the same time. If you had the choice, would you guys choose to split yourself into multiple people (up to 5 people) or be able to stop time for up to 3 hours a day?
And priority registration is coming up soon--what kind of classes is everyone planning to take? (Open question to all our readers--I'm talking to you Dwain!)
And stuff
Good news though; we're halfway through the semester! Wee!
Night!
Rachael

This blog has been random, but I like it that way: I feel like it's more entertaining for you guys this way.

Hello from the Humane Society! Well, I’m not there anymore, obviously, but that’s where I just came from. One of my group projects for Block requires 7 hours of community service, so some of my group members and I went over there today to walk doggies and pet kitties. It was fun, though I was just about completely covered in cat fur by the time I left.

We only ended up walking dogs briefly, because they were being a little bit difficult today. Like, snarling at the other dogs, making a break for freedom when we opened their kennels difficult (that wouldn’t have been so bad had there not been four dogs to try and push back in). 

Also, I at least was a little confused by the system they have set up to tell you which dogs to walk. It’s a chart that says, like, which ones are sick or potentially dangerous or have already been taken out or for some other reason should be avoided by volunteers, but then you have to go back and forth between the chart and the kennels to figure out which ones are which. I guess it’s not actually all that complicated, I just didn’t look at it very hard.

So then we pretty much spent the rest of the time picking out kitties to hold and pet. And they were all sooooo cute and sweet! We played with the two who were spotlighted for having been there the longest, and I honestly have NO idea why they haven’t been adopted. One of them is gray with a white belly, and the other one is gray and brown and SUPER soft. They were so adorable and friendly, and really I just want to take all the kitties home. But I can’t. Can’t have every cat :/

Ooh, and there was another pair of kitties we took out that were a lot of fun. They were both really big, like probably around 15 pounds, and super fluffy to boot. There was this cat ladder kind of thing on the door of the room we were in, and it was kind of a combination of funny and scary whenever they would get on it, since they were so big that you could see it shaking like it might not hold them. And then they both decided they wanted to be on at the same time. It held, thankfully, but we were all a little leery.

So that’s been my cuddle-tastic day so far! I must say, playing with kitties and puppies is not a bad way to spend a couple of hours. But now I have to try and make myself be productive before fencing tonight, since I have to get ready for kindergarten tomorrow. See you guys next
week!

Love,

Sara