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?

I'M FREEEE!!!!!

So, now that I'm out of school, and summer is here, and life is good.

My last few weeks of school consisted of Prom (which was awesome!), Town Hall (my performing arts final, we all dressed as a character and had to spend an hour and a half being that character), scrificing my BFF in a rain dance (oh, the things you do on the last day of school ;p) and playing lots (and lots and lots and lots) of mafia!

Finals week was insane, and I'm not entirely sure what happened. I do know that on Thursday, after finishing our last exam, a bunch of friends and I went to the mall and hung out for a while. It was really fun and somewhat sad, since we won't be going to school together next year.

Oh, yeah, I'm going back next year! After a lot of indecision and weighing options, I decided to stay. I'm praying that I made the right choice... I'll be taking honers Chem and English, so that should be good. Yep.

On Friday my family packed up and went to my second house, where we stayed the weekend. My mom's side of the family came up on Sunday, it was so much fun! The tops of my hands got burned, though :p

Over all it was a great time :)

~Shaak Ti

Kraken Con 2014

(I made a page with all of my cosplays, and it's going to be updated with each of my costumes... check it out!)


Oooh look what I finally got around to! I guess I've been building up to this for the past... 4 posts or so? Well, here I am, finally posting about the big day :p

Who all went: Dad, my mom's parents (Grand and Big-C), my brother (Dante), and my aunt's exchange student (Peter)
Yeah, so I'm calling peeps by what I call them irl bc that's easier.

Sunday morning we started getting ready, so that we could try to be out of the house by 8:15. I made last-second finishes to my costume (oh, the curse of a cosplayer XD) and did my eye makeup as I waited for the glue to dry. Then I helped my brother get his costume on... lots and lots of safety pins! Once my grandparents arrived we all piled into my dad's car and were on our way!

Dad and Big-C sat in the front and listened to a church service. Grand sat in the back with me (she borrowed one of my Doctor Who shirts for the day), and Dante sat in-between us so I could paint Aangs arrows on him. We got to the restaurant where we were picking up Peter, so Dante and I walked in looking like crazy people in half cosplay! I had on super heavy eye makeup and nothing else, and my hair was back and I had a wig cap around my neck, no armor... just a black dress over my red shirt and pants (I looked like some sort of failed punk band :p)

Omg it's my face AAAAAAA

After the looooong drive up, we got to the con center, and I finished putting on my costume. Finally we were there! We turned in our registration and the fun began! When we got our wrist bands the volunteers were so excited about Dante and my costume, and they asked for pictures and, yeah, it was pretty cool! It would be fun to work at something like that, then you could see everyones costumes! Once we got to the main room, (after stopping for quite a few pictures- there was one girl who even did a selfie with us! Yay cosplay selfies! Haha ok moving on...

Unfortunately, I missed the first panel I wanted to go to- "Cosplaying in Character", which probably would have helped a lot for my Performing Arts final. Oh well, since I missed it, I had the oppurtunity for something else totally awesome to happen!

When we got to the main room, I see someone with a cosplay that looks familiar, and then I realized she was Toph (also from ATLA) and it was amazing! She ran over to us and we went all crazy fangirl, and then we were just like "CAN I HUG YOU OMG" and it was the best thing ever :D Quite a few people walking by got pictures of us, and then we all went to the photo studio together to get our pictures taken.

AAAA I"M SO PROUD OF OUR COSTUMES :D

After taking the picture, we parted ways, promising to meet back up again. My group took off to look around the Dealers Room, and I made a bee-line for my favorite artist, Yuumei. I was so excited to meet her! She's had a big impact on me and my art, and she was such a sweet girl in person, as well. She's used her talent and difficult past to really reach out to so many people, and honestly, it's really brave that she does that. She also has brought awareness to the pollution problems in China, and advocates to fix it. Haha when I found out that she was going to be there, I ran around my house like a crazy fangirl screaming all sorts of crazy stuff :p. I planed to spend only $10 to $20 at her table... obviously that didn't happen. I spent at least $40! Oh, well, it was worth it :) seeing her work on my walls makes me really happy.

Then it was time for my first panel, which was on writing villains. It was very helpful, and the director really made us all participate, it was so much fun! Haha we got a little side tracked and started talking about FMA, and then later on he gave me some tips on my villain. He also talked a bit about world building, so that was cool, too. This summer I'm going to post all of my panel notes from this (school) year, so if y'all are writers, you may be interested in this one.

"Re-Imagine" by Yuumei

After the panel was finished, I went out into the dealers room and looked around, bought more stuff from Yuumei, and went upstairs to have lunch with my group. The food was really good (i got a burger), but a bit expensive (con food always is). I realized that eating with armor and collars and 3 lbs of vinyl is HARD. So I took it off and realized that the con center wasn't 150º, but more like 70º. Yeah... it was quite a relief. It was really funny to see all the characters from different fandoms eating together! Before I headed down to my other panel I ran into Toph again and we took a picture:

Azula and Toph have lunch together... because why not

The next panel I went to was on creating a web comic. It was really helpful, because I'm interested in starting one (I'll have more info for y'all later). Here's their site: Captain Quail. They write a Star Trek inspired comic that has birds instead of people. It's pretty funny! During the panel they wrote/drew a comic that was directed by the participants, so that was pretty fun!

When the panel was over, girls dressed as Anna and Elsa (who I had pegged as "MUST GET PIC WITH THEM) came up to me and asked for a picture, so we all posed and someone took our picture for us ^.^

My group was almost ready to leave, but we all decided to walk through the dealers room one more time. I went to a table that was selling posters and figurines, and got into a conversation about anime with one of the people selling posters as I bought a FMA wall scroll. I went by two steampunk booths- I bought a pin that reminded me of Winry (for my pin collection), and a rose hairpin (which I wear almost every day now lol). Of corse I stopped by Yuumi's table one last time and got one of her smaller prints. 

Some Cosplayers I ran into :)

Not the best pic but oh well :p

We ended up talking to a guy dressed as Buzz Lightyear and his daughter was dressed as Neytiri (I think... well, she was the blue chick from "Avatar" (the movie)).They were really fun to talk to! Father/daughter cosplayers, he got her into it. He made his Buzz costume back in 2001 or so, and it's really cool! Each button will actually play a different sound clip, just like Buzz's in the movie! It's also made almost completely out of cardboard- true cosplay dedication! 

The girl was really excited to be at the convention, and it was really fun to talk to someone so young who had already been immersed in con culture for almost their whole life :)

Thor! He's friends with Buzz, and his costume was just as amazing! he was telling us about how he made it... really impressive! haha this is one of my favorite pics (I feel like I perfected my Azula stance/face by then)

I wandered around some more, and ran into Princess Bubblegum and Jack Frost cosplayers. We all fangirled over each others costumes for a good five minutes before we calmed down enough to take pictures. Cosplay selfie! It was the perfect ending to such a fun day :D

Con Review
I had soooo much fun at Kraken Con! The panels were easy to find, the venders room was well organized, and not overly crowded, there wasn't too much of a bleed-through with noise from the video games and anime screening. There was a cafe' on the upper level (though it was a bit over priced :/ ), and instead of badges they had wrist bands, which I really liked, because then I wasn't having to deal with an extra thing around my neck.

For such a cheap convention, I would say that it was extremely well done. My only complaint would be the heat. There was air conditioning in the building, but it wasn't turned on until about three. Hopefully next time they'll turn it on earlier.


PS: I lost my camera charger, so art is still on hold :/ I might be able to find my old camera... idk we'll see what happens. Wish me luck on finals!

Skiing day 2 and 3

Day 2

Today was a great ski day. Clear skies, nice snow, and I didn't break any bones! The main downside was the wind.

Day 3
So right now we have stopped at a restaurant that I about half way down the mountain. Have you seen the Tumblr post thing about what an eggplant is called? I pretty much quoted that whole thing because our ski instructor is from the UK. I just used Tumblr in real life, and I don't even have a tumblr!
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Today was a PERFECT ski day, it looks like a painting from high up. There's no wind today, it's just sunny and warm. We had some great runs, and went through the race course a lot!

Yep, those are pictures of me :)

Skiing-Day one: the drive

So, like every year, our family uses our February break to go skiing. Today we are taking the looong drive to Tahoe; I actually love the drive up, because we get to see so much of California and how beautiful it is. My brother and I always watch The Phantom Menace part of the way.

;About an hour and a half from where we live there's this HUGE resivuior, and it's absolutely beautiful!

Right now I'm typing this on my phone I the back seat. We left Wendy's about 30 minutes ago with our takeout food. Oh! The lady at the register was named Wendy! So we went to Wendy's and got served by Wendy.

After we left Wendy's we passed a beautiful orchard of cherry trees that are in bloom. Well, there's not a whole bunch of interesting stuff that happens during a car ride, so I'll just post any more pictures I take along the way.
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So... We finished TPM, and now were watching I Love Lucy. I'm keeping a look out for signs of snow, but it'll probably be a few hours before I see any.
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AND WE SEE SNOW BARELY 20 MINUTES LATER, YAY! It's funny how its warmer here right now (55F) than it normally is at home (48F). Well, its going to be a while before we actually get there, its only 3:20 right now. Never mind, Dad said 45 minutes.
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So we are back on the road after a quick stop to get some water. Lots more snow! We're listening to U2. Um... yeah, I'm a little bored, that's why I'm rambling. Um... So Lord of the Rings. When rose were in Switzerland this summer I felt like I wa living in the Shire! Oh, there was snow on the Alps, so we got to have fun with that. I'm really excited to go skiing. Maybe I'll bring my phone up with me for pictures.
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4:30, still droving, 38F =D I love he cold! I hope we get there soon, I'm hungry!
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5:20, we have arrived! Unfortunatly we may be changing rooms, but we're not sure. Well, I guess the new room would have a better view than we have now: a parking lot.
I'm really excited for skiing tomorrow!
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Wrap up of summer

Wow! I've had a busy last month of summer!

We had family out in the beginning of August, and then again at the end of august. the time in between was spent creating an Ahsoka costume and planning stuff with the other TLF girls that were going.

(Ahsoka's lekku, my sunglasses, tea, and math book, and a whole bunch of sewing stuff)

One weekend we went up to our second house, and my brother had friends up so they could make a movie. I became the makeup artist. Actually, I'm not that bad in my opinion:

(bullet hole)

Not long after that weekend my cousins Torri and Elise visited with their parents. It was lots of fun seeing them again after so many years! The last time I saw them we were... about 4, maybe 3? It was really fun and I stayed at Grands house while they were here. While I was there I wrote the poems and drew the pics that are in the "Poems" post. I also found a picture I did when I was about 7 or 8, and re created it. Sorry, they're a little fuzzy.

Well, I think my artistic skills improved a lot after 6 years! I'm going to re-draw this picture again in a few years.

Well, after Torri and Elise left, we had about a week and then Mom's brother came into town for a few days. One day we made a family tree/photo album together with about a hundred old photographs going back to my great-great-grandparents (on my Grand's side, I think).

On Thursday, Aug. 23, my parents and I got up SUPER early (like at 4 am!) and drove to the local airport. Off to CVI!

A few pics from Europe

Bike in Lucca

Wall in Dabrovnik

Entering Venice

Gondolas in Venice

Grand Cannel

Leaving Vennice

Berries at Guido's garden

Roman Forum

So here are a few of the pictures from Europe! I promise I will upload more later, but I have 650 photos that I need to go through, delete bad ones, edit, take out red eye, and then find the ones I want to post. Also, its been reallllllllllly busy for me lately, between VBS (I had 7 kids in my group!), CVI planning, making my costume for CVI, family visiting, and school starting (OMG I'm starting high school!), I dont have a whole lot of time to do any of the photos. I'll try and get to it soon, though.


ATLA
I have close to 200 ATLA/LOK pics on my iPad. Its crazy! I cannot wait for next season. CANNOT WAIT! NOw every time I drink tea (like right now) I always think of something Iroh would say, in his confusing way of being wise.

Zuko: Anakin, Katara: Padme... in this picture, my ship is real!!

Doctor Who

They said that Amy and Rory would have a "heart-breaking departure". For most TV shows, that means they are off the show. For DW, there will be some HUGE tragedy (like being transported to another dimension, getting your mind almost blown up, having to forget who you are...) that will leave me depressed for DAYS!

Avengers/Super Heros

Yeah, I couldn't get any more original that the poster

I love, love LOVE Marvel Super heros! I went to "Spider-Man" with the girls fromm my POTC blog (Syrena, Mystical Shadow, and Quater Master)  last Wednesday, and then we went to Syrena's house and watched Thor, while we attempted to do yoga... we were a little more interested in the movie. I went to see The Avengers" with my dad and brother, and it is now one of my favorite movies ever!

Merlin

Season 1 preview

Sorry for the bad quality, it was tho only one I could find. Merlin season 5.

I am a HUGE merlin fan, all thanks to my Mom, who is CRAZY about it! I cant wait for next season, which I think will overlap with Doctor Who. I love BBC si-fi/fantasy!

Jane Austin

Actually, I'm not the big fan, but my friend Emmy who just moved to the East Coast. I'm doing this in honor of her. I'm not a big Jane Austin person. Her stories are great, true, but its just not my thing. I do love watching the movie adaptions of her book, though, when I'm in the "I want to watch a really girly chick-flick that is nothing more that a love story" mood. Emmy, on the other hand quotes it constantly! I love how Emmy always is talking about Jane Austin, and then she can switch to Doctor Who with no warning. 

 That scene! I love his so completely love confession to her (which isnt that scene, but whatever)

Ok, my brother is begging me to get off. Bye!

Europe days 12-19

I got back home last night, so here is the rest of our trip.

 Days 12,13,14: Two sea-days, Pompeii

 Nothing really happend on the sea days, other when I watched a U2 (I'm a big fan) concert on the pool deck and got sunburned (what? i had sunscreen on! the sun must hate me!) Pompeii was very hot. I personally didn't like it much because of the heat, and I have already seen multiple crumbling buildings on other tours.

 Days 15,16,17,18: Rome, Italy

 We went to the Coliseum, but it wasn't very interesting. But, then again, I've seen lots of crumbling buildings in the bast few days. Days 16 and 17 were mainly spent sleeping/drawing/reading/going on JC's tumbler. We were in Rome for the hottest days of the year so far. I threw a coin into the Trevi Fountain, making a promise I would go back to rome. I wonder when that will be. It took my dad and his sisters 30 years! Today, day 18, we went to the Sistine Chapel. It is beautiful! Go, its worth the long lines (or extra pay), the heat, and the overflow of people to get in. So if you have the chance, go. after the chapel we left rome and drove to Lucca. I finally get ot meet my relatives! they are on Noni's side.

 Day 19: Lucca, Italy

 I met our family today! Well, only the side that lives in Lucca, but then we go to Ceva the day after tomorrow. Noni had set up times to meet some of the family before the dinner tonight (btw, I dont know how many of these people are related to me). Two of the three families we visited still own the properties that my great grandmother and great grandfather grew up on. *Family history: all of my great grandparents on my dads side came from Italy, my Noni's parents from Lucca and my Nono's parents from Ceva. Noni is a Barsotti, her mother was a Chelini. Both live in Lucca.* So first we met Pietro and Adelina B. We drove up to their house an they were standing just outside their door waiting for us. I had been waiting, like 14 and almost a half years to go to Italy and meet my family, so you can immagine how happy I was! When we went inside, Adelina pulled out a photo album. Most of it was filled with pictures of the last time Dad visited Italy, but in the back of the book, there were a few pages with pictures of me, OB, and Gino. We sat in the living room and talked for about twenty minuets, then Pietro showed us his backyard. It looks like our backyard! Probably because our yard was modeled after his. Ok. I was on a 21 hour flight last night, and I'm tired, so you will have to wait for the rest of day 19.

Europe Days 7-11 (haha! 7/11)

Day 7: Olympia, Greece

Olympia was awesome! Probably because we had a fantastic guide. He was really funny, and he brought everything to life. Greek food is amazing, especially fried cheese. If you ever go to greece, make sure to get the fried cheese pie. The outside is crisp, but the inside is soft and its almost completely melted.

When in the ancient city of Olympia, Dad, OB and I ran the original Olympic track!

Day 8: Athens, Greece

We went to the Parthenon. Actually, that's the only part of Athens I really recommend seeing. It is beautiful, and most of it is original. The city itself? The quality is like the dumpy parts of San Francisco, actually, probably worse. If you go to Athens, do the Parthanon and leave; there is not much more to see.

Day 9: Mykonos, Greece

Beach day! We didn't take any tours, just hung out on the beach. To most people was cold, but to me it was warm. Probably because the ocean where I live is FREEZING. Like, you don't have time to get used to the temperature before your legs cramp. While in the water I met Hanna, a girl on our ship, who likes "Star Wars"! Towards the end of the day, OB and Gino buried me and Hanna in the sand.

Day 10: Ephesus, Turkey

Turkey is amazing! You may be thinking "middle east, Muslim, oppression". That's not what it's like. Many of the women are getting educated, looking for jobs, and being threaded as equal. It is more if a western country.

It's really cool to be there, because Mary (Jesus's mom) is buried in Ephesus. She is one of my heroes, because she went though so much, and she was so pure she could be the mother of God!

I got a few comments on my eye color, I guess blue eyes are unusual in the middle east.

Day 11: Santorini, Greece

Today was quite an adventure! Our family (minus Mom and OB) did a tour of the volcanic island Santorini. First: wine tasting! Because we're not old enough to drink, Gino and I had smoothies. Then we went to a near by town which didn't that've much other than a church that was like a mini art museum.

Then we went to another town where we had lunch. I was going to have octopus, but had a gyro instead, and fried cheese for dessert (i cannot eat enough of that stuff).

Dad and I took the stairs to the port. All 598 of them! I rode a donkey the last 10%.

Europe days 19-26

Day 19: Continued

Next we went to visit the Barsottis and Chelinis, who live in adjoining homes. It was really cool to see where my great-grandparents lived! Not many of the relatives spoke English, but my dad and grandmother were there to help out.

Dinner was lots of fun! One of my relatives, Irene, speaks pretty good English. Actually, most of the people that I sat with did speak pretty good english. Because of that, and my little experience in Italian, I was able to communicate with my cousin Melissa, who is about my age. Irene and Stefani have an adorable three month old son. He's the newest member of the family!

Day 20: Lucca, day trip to Florence.

Today Mom and I took a train to Florence. We got dinner and I sketched the Medecci Palace. On the way back to Lucca, we met a model from Brazil.

There was a concert next to our hotel, the band was Blink-182. We were able to see from right outside the lobby!

Day 21: Ceva, Italy

Ceva is about a three hour drive from Lucca. I read Eragon, I'm almost done! We went through about 125 tunnels; try holding your breath for 2 miles! Yeah, I can't.

When we got to Ceva, we had about an hour to rest and get ready for the family dinner. We had a 10 courses, we had a cake that said something in Italian with our last name, and an American and Italian flag next to each other.

Tomorrow we leave for... Como, I think.

Day 22: Costa (family), drive to Como

When we were leaving Ceva, we went to Costa to visit family before we left. We had lunch with them, then walked through the town (one street with old buildings), and Guido showed us his garden.

On our way to the hotel here in Como, we got a little lost. I'm really tired... yeah. More driving tomorrow.

Day 23: Como/ drive to Isltwalt

We went to the lake house today! I got to stand where they filmed the scenes in AOTC. It's beautiful, and there are a bunch of places to explore.

We drove thru the Alps to Switzerland (MAJOR CAR SICKNESS!! DO NOT DRIVE THROUGH THE ALPS!) Iseltwald is a very pretty town. We are staying on the lake, which is a beautiful blueish- green.

Day 24: Iseltwald, Switzerland

Dad, OB and I went to a model train show. It was actually pretty cool. Other than that, I read ( finished Eragon) and went on TLF. I tried to update my blog, but my iPad deleted my post. Ugh.

Day 25: Iseltwald

Rented a motorboat.

Day 26: Drive to Genova, Switzerland

On our drive, we stopped at a chocolate factory. It was a really fun tour, which showed the history of chocolate, then how they make the chocolate good. We bought TONS of chocolate, mostly for friends. We leave for home tomorrow!

Day 27: Home (aka: a 21 hour plane flight)

Well, I must have missed a day somewhere, we were in Europe for 28 days, this flight being the 28th.

I watched quite a few movies, and my favorite episodes of ATLA on our way back to America. We were in business class, so we had chairs that completely transformed into beds!

When I stepped out of the last airplane, it was about 8 pm. Wh had flown into the local airport, which is only a few minutes away from home. The sun was setting, and I could smell the ocean.

That song "This is home" was one of the first things to pop into my head.

Moms parents came to see us, and the Jessi picked us up and drove us home.

Now what am I supposed to do now that we aren't traveling? Well, in two weeks I volunteer at our churches VBS, then cousins on my moms side come to visit (thank God they speak English;)) then her brother comes to visit, and then off to CVI to meet my TLF sisters! On the weekends in between all of that, we will probably go up to our second house. When will I have time to work on my Ahsoka CVI costume?
Yay! I get to watch LOK tomorrow!
.........

This is where my journal for the trip ends. Next week I am volunteering for VBS, and the dress for my Ahsoka costume came yesterday! Because can be expecting pictures from our trip to be up by next Sunday. Actually, I'm thinking about making pictures from trips it's own page... Idk.

Have a fantastic summer, everybody!

Europe: Days 1-6 + Travel

As some of you know, I am on a Mediterranean cruise with my family. It's for my dad's mom's birthday. I wanted to post pictures, but because of the bad Wi-Fi, I have to wait until we get back home. The travel plan is: go to Venice for a few days, board the 12 day cruise which we get off of at Rome, then drive through Italy to Luca and Ceva to visit family. Then my Noni, Zia Linda, Zia Diane, Uncle DL and little cousin Gino will fly back to America, while my parents, brother and I will drive up to Lake Como where we will go to the Lake House where AOTC (So Excited!!!!!!) was filmed, then go to Switzerland where my mom lived for a while, then fly home. All of that will take about a month! I am going to copy my journal entries from the past few days.

Day 1: Venice

We arrived in Italy last night, some time around 7:30 (Italian time). We took a boat from the airport to Venice! It was so cool going on a taxi here, because, well... you don't have water taxied in the US, do you? Me on the taxi: :):):):):):):):);)!!!!!. Yeah, that's the best way I can put it.

Once arriving to the island area, we went straight to our hotel. Back home in the US, everyone wants the biggest room, the best room service, the newest TV, the softest bed etc. I'm not really expecting any of that, but I was not expecting what we got, either! There is a bridge, then a little store, then a sign with the Hotels name on it sticking out of the wall! The rooms wear tiny, but I loved it! I have a picture I will post when I get home, its totally non-American.

Day 2: Venice

We went to Morano to see glass blowing. Went on a gondola after dinner. Noni, Zia Diane, Zia Linda, Uncle DL, and Gino came late. I haven't seen them yet, but will tomorrow.

Day 3: Venice, then boarding boat

Again, we got up late. Ed walked around Venice, visited land marks, and went to lunch with Viviana and her mom (Viv was Zia Linda and Uncle DL's most recent exchange student). Before leaving Venice, I got a ask for my "Lady Vader" costume for CVI.

We boarded the boat we boarded the boat, and got totally lost on the wag to dinner. The buffet has SO much food! I'm going to have some of everything.

[no entry day 4; I didn't really do much but sleep]

Day 5: Dubrovnik, Croatia

Today Dad, OB (remember my little brother?) and I walked around Dubrovnik and went into a lot of churches/ monasteries (we found a weeping angel. Don't blink!), ate ice cream, bought stuff at the market, and felt like we were in an oven. There are days when modesty is nowhere near my top priority!

I loved Dubrovnik, it's a port city, so it's something I am comfortable with (we live on the ocean), and it's really pretty. If you have seen "The Prince of Prussia": if it weren't for the fact that most people were wearing their swimsuit, it could have easily made a market scene in the movie, it's loud, hot, and people are sitting on the walls playing music.

Day 6: Corfu, Greece

We took a bus up a mountain (the engine fan thing broke half way up!( and had lunch. Dads side of the family wasn't with us today. Now I'm siting on OB's couch-bed writing this.

Yep! That sums up my time here so far.

Washington DC part two

Ok, so we basically spent our time walking everywhere looking at monuments. What I will always remember from the trip probably won't be everything I learned about history, but more of what I learned about me, my friends, and also all of those random things that happened, so that's what I will tell you.

At the hotels, the boys were on one side of the hall, and the girls on the other. Every night around 10ish, the teachers would knock on our doors to make sure everyone was in the room. I would normally be the one to answer the door. Almost every night, one of our other teachers would be talking to one of the boys across the hall from our room. The weird/ awkward part: he would be standing in the doorway with no shirt on! Like, seriously? You couldn't bother to put a shirt on before you answer the door?

We had to be in our rooms by 9:50 each night, so sometimes we could go from room to room. Girls were allowed in boys rooms and vise versa. You can imagine how that would occasionally get a little awkward. Nothing super awkward or bad happened, thankfully!

On the first morning, Emma knocked on the door, so I go to get it, she also had three guys with her. Jenny had barely woken up! We were all like "Leave!"

On the plane ride home, I watched about four hours of Disney Chanel.

Washington D.C.

Hello, everyone! Last night I got back from a school trip to Washington D.C., and I had lots of fun!

I got up at 1:15a.m on Sunday, got to school by 1:45, then left at 2:00. On the bus most everyone slept. We arrived at the airport at 4a.m. I was SO tired! We checked in our bags and went to wait. The plane flight took about four hours. I read The Phantom Menace novelization by... I think Terry Brooks, but I'm not sure. Then we had a 45 min. layover, then flew for another hour or two. Then we landed and drove for another two hours. FINALLY we got to our hotell at 8:30-ish. I shared a room with Paige, Jenny, and Allie. Paige and Jenny went to sleep right away, so I went to go visit friends in another room. Yep... that's all that really happend on Sunday.

On Monday we went to Williamsburg!!!!!!!!!!! I have been wanting to go there since I got the felicity movie when i was eight, about 6 years ago. It was amazing! Everything I wished, and more! It was beautiful, and then eventually it started raining. That made the trip twice as cool. The buildings that were considered "mansions" in the late 1700's, and they are still large, but they are not that large. What is so amazing about them is the elaborate decoration inside. The marble and diamonds and color and the everything! I was just like "dude..."

Tuesday: Nothing really amazing, just Monticello and some monuments. Well, it was amazing, but I'm half asleep right now, so it dosent seem like it was all that cool. But yeah... I'll finish the rest of what happend last week later, and post pictures.

Ciao!

Camp, cakes, and crushes, oh my!

Well, the title of this post cant state anything more clearly: I wint to a camp, something happend with a cake, and someone has a crush.

Camp:
I went to camp with my church, and we had TONS of fun! the video is favorited on my YouTube account.  Anyways, it was great to be there, and learn about God. The theme was "Live the AWEfull life". All about how God sent His one and only son to die for us. Not just for rich people, not just for good people, not just for the people who are already going in the right direction, but for all of us. For people like me who have messed everything up, then God pulled it back together again.

Cake:
Well, I spent FIVE HOURS in a car for my birthday... oh what fun. Actually, because I was with all of my friends from church on the way to camp, it was TONS OF FUN!!!!!!!!! Once we got to camp, we went tubbing (there was snow) and had dinner. Well, I had one of the BEST birthday dinners EVER!!!
Here I am, turning 14, and I am with some of my closest friends. Only two were missing. Anyways... while sitting around a table eating camp food (as in: they-should-hire-good-cooks food), I heard over the speakers "is there a *my name here* in the room?" I go up to the front, and the camp directers have me sit down, and EVERYONE in the room STAND ON THEIR CHAIRS!!!!!!! And sing happy birthday to me.

When I got back to my seat, I thought "the only thing missing is cake, and then it would be the best birthday ever." Well, the next thing I know, my mom was bringing out an oreo cookie cake. The BEST cake in the whole world.
The perfect birthday.

Crushes:
Well, what can I say? I'm 14... and so are many of my friends. You can imagine how that turnes out. This girl likes that guy but he says he likes someone else when he really likes the first girl, and then the first girl changes her mind and the guy "suddenly" changes his mind and I was sick during the school dance so I couldn't ask the guy I like tho dance during a "girls choice" song and two of my friends like the same guy, i think, and a good four guys are stalking me, but i dont like them like that and I feel bad talking to them because it may give them false hope, especially because I will probably not marry any of them and *gasp* my english teacher would be horrified if he could see this sentence.

Whew! that was a long sentence!
I just dont want to be caught up in this type of stuff.

Well, thats my rant.