Liebster Award!

(hi sorry i disappeared. School's crazy + i got sick and didn't post this when I meant to... like a week ago. Sorry.)

Thank you Voronda at A Believer's Journey for the tag! It's great to see you back in the blogging world :)

thank and link back to the person who nominated you
list 11 facts about yourself
answer the 11 questions asked by the blogger who nominated you
nominate 11 bloggers who have fewer than 200 followers
(you can’t nominate the blogger who nominated you)
ask them 11 questions
let them know about the nomination

Ok! 11 facts!

I have blonde hair
I am ENTJ
I've had 7 cats total throughout my life
Working out is awesome (and that is a statement that you would have never heard me mutter under my breath until about 9th grade)
I want to go into a STEM career (aerospace engineer)
I LOVE CATS SO MUCH OMG CATS CATS CATS
I love cooking and baking
In the summer between 7th and 8th grade, I dyed my hair purple
I have strep throat right now :(
I love to sing/act
Did i mention that cats are my life?

they are cute but evil when they yawn
cats
yay

Voronda's Questions:

1. What was your favorite moment of summer so far?
Hmm... I went swimming with whale-sharks, and that was pretty rad. I also hung out with some friends right before school started and we had lots of fun then :)

2. Since this was fun with Anna. First word or phase that comes to mind when you hear:

a) Pineapple yuck!!

B) Force Use the force, Luke

C)Mountain Climbing

D) Skydiving Pandas I don't really know... but i pictured Po from Kung-Fu Panda skydiving lol

E) Crossbow Sports

3. What was the last book you read? That I finished would be "Snow Flower and the Secret Fan" (absolutely amazing btw) 

4. Look up from the computer, whats the first thing you see? My great-grandfather's portrait. 

5. If you could have a mansion. What would you put in there? Ooh so much. I hope to have a large house one day, and have a whole floor dedicated to guest housing. I want to alway be able to have friends and family over. I want a large kitchen connected with the dining room, so that on holidays, the whole family can come over and celebrate (much like we do now). I love Steampunk (like that wasn't obvious lol) and would have a bunch of steampunk inspiration around the house. I'd have a life size Darth Vader, because why not. 

6) Ultimate Crush. Real or Fictional? Um... idk how to answer this. I had a huge crush on someone in my elective last year, though.

7. Would you rather:

a) be a tiger for a day

or

b) an eagle?
Tiger! They're soooo cool! (and cat)

8. Do you have a weird, obscure but somewhat useless talent?
I can eat really fast? Honestly, I don't have any unusual talents. Actually, I can speak in a number of accents - Russian, Alabama, Deep US south, British (it's awful- still working on it), Italian, and Scottish (only if I'm reading out loud).

9. Your house if burning. What 4 things do you save?
Computer, The Lightning Thief, phone, art notebook (and if i can get my cat i would sacrifice my phone and grab her)

10. If you could break any rules, what would be the first one you break?
Well, at school I would dye my hair purple again, or blue :) i want to tip-dye it!

11. Do you like the new layout?(Yes, I went there!).
Yes! I think it looks great! 

Alright, 11 questions for y'all:

1. What are looking forward to most this school year? (even if you're not in school)
2. If you were given the chance to go ANYWHERE in the world for one week, and it was completely payed for and everything, where would you go?
3. On the topic of travel- what is the best trip you've ever been on?
4. Would you rather live in the mountains or by the sea?
5. Alternative or Pop music?
6. What would you do if you could spend the day with one of your favorite characters?
7. Can you name all 50 American states (and if you're not American- can you name all the regions/states of you're country?)
8. Favorite girls name beginning with "T" + its meaning
9. Favorite boys name beginning with "L" +it's meaning
10. What type of atmosphere do you like when you go out to eat?
11. What sport do you enjoy most? (And you can either participate in it, or just like to watch it. Whatever floats your boat :) )

And I Tag:

Ashley at Just Another Crazy Fangirl
Covert Knight at Knights Underground
Grace at Say Something, Grace
Annika at Pen and Camera
Shena at Pens, Thespians, and Words
Faith at Princess Faith
Gollum at Riddles in the Dark (this would be hilarious!)
Misty at Actor, Writer, Dreamer

And that's literally everyone who I follow who is currently active (and two of those are run by the same person!) Haha maybe I should start following more blogs...

Ciao!

I NEED COSPLAY HELP!! (it's more of an opinion thing)

As I may have mentioned before, I have two cosplays I'm trying to make before the end of the year. They both need to be done by the end of the year. The first is Captain Amelia, which is for October Kraken Con and Halloween. The other is a steampunk dress for the Dickens Fair.

Cpt. Amelia

She's not the one I really need help on (though if you have suggestions i would love to hear them!)

My steampunk outfit is white. I have a plain white skirt, I have white boots, I have a white hat, I have a cool off-white lace overskirt, I have white fabric with a cool blue-grey design that I'm going to use for the corset. I don't know which style of corset to do.

I have it narrowed down to 3 patterns, but I don't know which one I like the best, so please choose one!

all of the boning (dark stripes) will be pale pink. the "frill" on top will be leather, as well as the busk (the parts that close it together)

CORSET A

CORSET B

CORSET C

So, yeah, just let me know which style is your favorite! Hearing other opinions will just help me decide which one I want to do in the end :) 

(and "whichever you want to do" is not an answer :p I've been through plenty of patterns, so these are my "top 3"- and their all relatively easy patterns, as far as corsets go)

~ShaakThusa

*sigh* (not so much of a sigh any more)

Back to school it is, then.

I think August 5 is too early, but it's not like i can change anything. so yep. schooooollllllll

i'm going back to the same school i went to last year, by the way. there was a lot of debate of if i was actually going back, and it looks like i am. i hope that it works out.

i guess i shouldn't be so picky. its just hard, after being in such a strange schooling situation, to really adjust. if you didn't know, i went to a very... hard core? rigorous? demanding? school from pre-k to third grade, then went back in 8th grade. Even when I was homeschooled (4-7 and 9th), my family kept the same standard of academic excellence while I was homeschooled.

Last year TC (the school i go to now) wasn't exactly... level with my previous standards. Students could not hand in homework and get away with it.

______

(I wrote all of that a few days before starting back up- didn't have time to post it. here we are at the end of week 2 and, wow, things have changed!)

Well, as I said THINGS. HAVE. CANGED!

And I think I'm probably the only person in the world who can be so excited about something like this. (For a little background, I'm ENTJ...)

Last year, I would get so frustrated because people would not do/turn in their homework. Students would yell out in the middle of class the score they're getting on the video game they were playing. Disrespecting teachers was too common.

It was awful (remember- I was at that one school and then homeschooled. I didn't have to deal with things like that. Failing to turn in homework and disrupting class has always been punished in my world).

On the first day of school, there was an announcement. Apparently, the whole  "student's aren't turning homework" thing wasn't working for the school. They decided that academic standards needed to be raised.

pretty much me when they said "Academic standards need to be raised"

So now there are much stricter rules and punishments and stuff for people who disrupt class and fail to turn in their homework and stuff! Some things are a little extreme, but, whatever, i won't have to continuously watch people slack off all year, so I'm not complaining :)

I also have really great classes/teachers this year! I have two of the academic advisers to the school as my math and english teachers, I have the same history teacher as last year (he's pretty awesome) and finally....

i needed an excuse to use this. don't judge me

I got into honors chemistry (I'm assuming. they haven't kicked me out yet lol) and the teacher is doing a very lab-based curriculum! He's a pretty good teacher so far :) I'm kind of sad that Anna isn't going to school with me anymore... she was my science buddy xD haha we had so much fun, i'm going to miss her soooo much when she moves :'(

That's off topic...

But yeah, I'm also the vice pres. of the art club, and the costumer for the drama club! I'm really excited!

It looks like my junior year is going to be pretty great :D

(Also, here is a wonderful line from my Girls Bible/Contemp. Issues teacher who got married last year: "You should all come to the beach party! Then you can meet my husband and see how hot he is!!" lol!)


Fun Fact:
it will be another 873 years (or so) before we have another August with 5 Fridays, 5 Saturdays, and 5 Sundays

we live in some pretty rad times

~ShaakThusa

Remember how I went to Europe in 2012?

Well, now I bring you, a little over two years later, pictures from the trip. Idk why I didn't post these sooner, but whatever. Have fun! (and these arent' in chronological order)

Croatia

Venice, Italy

Ceva, Italy

Dubrovnik, Croatia
story behind this: if you could balance on that brick, it would bring you good luck. The tradition started back in the late 90s or so when a guy asked a girl if she would go out with him if he could stand on the brick. He could so she did. Ever since, locals and tourists alike have found it as a symbol of good luck  (I think theres a few other versions of the meaning/story, but that's the one I heard)

Dubrovnik, Croatia

Same as above

Sistine Chapel, Rome, Italy

Idk where this was, but there were 598 stairs that my Dad and I walked down to get to the port
We could have just taken the gondola

Ephesus, Turkey

Lake Como, Italy
Fun Fact: This is the Lake House that Anakin and Padme got married at

Lucca, Italy

Ephesus, Turkey??  I think??

I think this was Athens?