Hey everyone! Sorry I'm way late. I got a little upset on Sunday because I spent at least an hour, mostly likely more than that, typing up a post. Sigh... It got deleted when I tried to post it because I took a long time and the computer is very annoying that way. I'm just going to do a short post because I don't have much time. I'm going to do Sunday the 18th and today.
Wow. Nobody guessed 500 buttons? That was the right one. I would be absolutely, overly, amazingly excited to get 500 buttons for Christmas. That's the coolest EVER!!! I love buttons. They can be so CUTE!!!
On Sunday in church, my dad gave a talk on the 13th Article of Faith. I loved it! I liked the etymology he used. Those lessons are always my favorite. Classic in our family. Also, (um, no code name so his new code name is...) Scott gave a talk, too. I liked it. It was really good and surprisingly long for a youth talk, which usually only last about one to two minutes. His lasted about five or six minutes, I think. I was impressed. In Sunday school, we made lists of ten of different kinds of things we were thankful for like what we were thankful for in mother nature, people we were thankful for, things about ourselves we were thankful for, people we were thankful for, and so on. I loved it. I thought it was fun. In YW's, we got a cool present and a bag of popcorn with yummy white chocolate dribbled on it. It was awesome. We talked about Christ's birth and read Luke 2. I learned a lot. Afterwards we went home and I had a good rest.....
Today we got to go see a movie called Hugo. I loved it! I thought it was a really good movie. It's hard to explain, though. You can probably look it up. After the movie I had three friends over. Allie, Jett, and (no code name so...) Latrina. We had a good time hanging out and Allie and I went to 7 11 to get Slurpees which were shared and eaten. Yum. Soon it was time for them to go and after they left, I ate dinner and then went caroling with my ward. I was in group 2 of four groups and there were nine or ten of us. We went to a few people's houses and sang Jingle Bells and Silent Night. Then we were driven home by the bishop. We had family prayer and scriptures and then I started blogging. Now it's getting late so I have to go.
I love you all! I hope you have a very merry Christmas and a happy New Year!! :)
AJ McKay
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
December 14th My Birthday!! I can't believe I'm already 14!!
Hey, everyone! Today I'm going to tell you what I do for my birthday! I've been blogging throughout the day so everything was still fresh in my mind when I wrote it.
This morning I got out of bed at 6:43, Utah time, after my alarm had been going off for three minutes. Why did I get up this early? And why at 6:40 and not 6:45, like normal people? The reason for that is because that's the minute I was born. We always like to do that.
I was the first one upstairs. I didn't want to eat my breakfast (the tradition for birthdays is to have doughnuts for breakfast, with the whole family, with "special plates"). Usually we use red plates (fancy but not the fanciest we have) but when my dad got up, he (1) got out china plates and the normal mugs, giving me a snowman mug, (2) he actually made hot chocolate BY HIMSELF (which I was quite amazed and pleased about), and (3) he got the doughnuts and brought them to the table.
Then he asked me if I would pick someone to say the prayer for breakfast (which was a little funny since he was the only one there) so I giggled a little and asked him to say it. Then we ate our doughnuts.
When I'd finished my doughnuts and was drinking my hot chocolate (and reading a book by Richard Paul Evans, called Grace, which I've been really enjoying), my mom rushed in and said, groggily, "Happy Birthday!" with a very tired, I-just-woke-up-two-seconds-ago look on her face. Then she said, "This is the exact hour and minute that you were born."
She was right. It was 7:40 in Utah but I was born in CA at 6:40 and CA time is an hour behind Utah time. So it was 6:40 in CA. I'd forgotten about that part. I was glad I'd gotten up earlier, though, because otherwise I would have missed the exact minute. My mom is very sweet.
She looked at the china plates, the mugs, and the hot chocolate that my dad had set out and I told her that my dad had done it. She seemed pretty impressed about that.
My dad got everyone else upstairs (he had to threaten to eat someone's doughnut before they came up) and they sang Happy Birthday before we turned on Little House on the Prairie to watch while we ate.
After the episode was over, we turned it off and I started blogging. Then I took a break to open my first present for the day. Before I opened it, everyone yelled "Happy Birthday, Amory!" at me and I smiled. I love my family.
The present was four rolls of duct tape! I got gray, checkered, purple, and butterfly duct tape. My favorite was the butterfly one. I was so excited! Thanks, Mom! (By the way, I'll be posting pictures with this post of me with each of my presents and I'll also be putting my updated wishlist at the very bottom.) I put them with my stack of duct tape and I counted every one of my rolls. Turns out I have twelve rolls of duct tape.
I compared how much duct tape I had to how much Caden had. Caden had thirteen rolls, one more roll than me, but his rolls were all almost empty and mine were still mostly full, meaning that I did, in fact, have more duct tape than Caden. Ha! I passed up the duct tape nerd!
Then I took a shower, brushed my hair, and started blogging again. After that, I logged onto my computer to take a picture with me and my duct tape. There's a camera on my computer so it worked because we didn't have a camera (Mason dropped our last one. The one that we had before that got stabbed with a pen by him, too, the one before that also got dropped, and the one before that just wore out, I think. It got outdated) and because, really, we didn't need to send a picture of me with this one to anyone because it was from my mom and dad.
After that I blogged some more and then it checked my email while I was still on the computer.
Then I hurried and got ready to go to the house of my..... mom's friend's friend. Or you could say my friend's mom's friend. I don't know. But anyway. Her house was amazing!!! She decorated it and painted it all herself. She and her husband even made/carved most of the furniture and cushions and decorations in their house. She textured the walls like bricks and walls of buildings in.....I think she said Italy but I'm not sure. She was just amazing! She inspired and educated us in more ways than I thought she'd be able to in just one visit. She is really amazing!
Before we'd gone inside to see her house (which was really and truly like a museum), a few of my friends (Jett, Allie, Willow, Chris, and (oh, she doesn't have a codename yet. Um, I'll just say.....Lucy)) came up to me and gave me hugs (even Allie, who doesn't like hugs). Jett brought me a big bag of skittles, a very cute duct tape bow for my hair, and black socks with blue and purple hearts on them (she said she'd heard that I wanted holiday socks but she couldn't find any so she got me those). Everyone else forgot but Willow gave them each a Pez candy to give to me (which was very sweet, thanks so much, Willow!) and Christ remembered that she had a candy cane in her pocket. It was broken but I told her that I would just use it for hot chocolate. It tastes the same broken or not. That made her happy. Lucy and Chris said they would bring presents the next day, Thursday, because we'd all be seeing each other at the Poetry Read Aloud Night for our Literature class. "Ok!" I said to them, and then we got Caden from a friend's house before driving home.
When we got home, I started eating my skittles while I read a book and my mom made my birthday lunch of tuna casserole and sourdough bread with butter (my favorite lunch ever!). We watched Little House on the Prairie while we ate and when the episode was over, I read my book for a while. Then I blogged again for a little while and took pictures of me with my awesome, rockin' presents. By the way, if my present was edible, I probably ate it already (except for the broken candy cane from Chris and the bag of skittles from Jett). Then I took pictures on my camera (on my computer) of my presents so I could post them at the end of the post.
After that, it was time for dinner. We had homemade Macaroni and Cheese and corn. Yum! I loved it! Thanks, Ma!
I opened the rest of my birthday presents. I was happy to get a pencil pouch, five mechanical pencils (with extra erasers and led, yay!), a CD with the 2012 YW's songs (by Lindsi Houskeeper), an awesome journal, the exact kind I wanted, like my mom's, and a check from my grandma (with a green bow on it). :) Thanks, guys! I love my presents SO MUCH!!!
Then it was time for mutual. Caden had his Court of Honor. I was upset that I missed it but I was glad I got to go to Mia Maids for the first time. When I got there, the YW's president said, "Amory, we waited for you! Ready, girls?" Then they all sang Happy Birthday to me and gave me my birthday present. Nail polish and remover, cotton balls (to go with the nail polish remover), nail polish, and a pack of Starbursts. Yay! I love Starbursts. Then, we frosted cookies and ate them and then we watched Polar Express. I think it's pretty good besides the animation. They just couldn't get it all right. I really liked the rest of it, though. I like that movie.
One of my leaders brought me home to a happy, cozy house. We read scriptures, gave each other hugs and kisses, and then my mom said I could stay up until 10:30 to finish blogging.
I took pictures for the rest of my birthday presents and then I put my Christmas wishlist on the post. Then I posted it! Ta da! There you have it. My birthday! :D
P.S. If you gave/are going to give something after my birthday, the pictures of your presents will be on this Sunday's post, I think. If I get your present after that, I'll do a separate post for it.
My Christmas Wishlist
This is where I'm showing you the clip.
My candy cane from Chris!
Ah. Whew. I fixed it. Yay!
My skittles! Thanks, Jett!
Yummy, yummy, in my tummy!!
I love my socks!
Up close.....
Kickin' around! (Sorry about the blur, it's really hard to hold still and click the mouse in that position.)
My YW's gift. Thanks, guys!
Yay! It's my CD! I'll be listening to this tonight. I listen to my other one every single night as I'm falling to sleep. It's getting a little old (seeing as I've been listening to it and only it every night for approximately four months).
Hopefully these ones won't end up being cursed and get lost..... If you're in my Writing and Lit. class, you should know what I'm talking about. If not, you can ask me and I'll explain.
I LOVE IT, I LOVE IT, I LOVE IT!!!! Thanks, ma! Lots and lots!!!
Interesting.....
And, of course, my pencils in their pouch. Yippee!! I love my birthday.....
(By the way, if you'll notice, some of the different pictures I've taken have different lighting. That's because I've taken them throughout the day. I hope my readers are happy right now! :))
Wow, that was more pictures than I thought..... Ah, well. See y'all next time!
AJ McKay
This morning I got out of bed at 6:43, Utah time, after my alarm had been going off for three minutes. Why did I get up this early? And why at 6:40 and not 6:45, like normal people? The reason for that is because that's the minute I was born. We always like to do that.
I was the first one upstairs. I didn't want to eat my breakfast (the tradition for birthdays is to have doughnuts for breakfast, with the whole family, with "special plates"). Usually we use red plates (fancy but not the fanciest we have) but when my dad got up, he (1) got out china plates and the normal mugs, giving me a snowman mug, (2) he actually made hot chocolate BY HIMSELF (which I was quite amazed and pleased about), and (3) he got the doughnuts and brought them to the table.
Then he asked me if I would pick someone to say the prayer for breakfast (which was a little funny since he was the only one there) so I giggled a little and asked him to say it. Then we ate our doughnuts.
When I'd finished my doughnuts and was drinking my hot chocolate (and reading a book by Richard Paul Evans, called Grace, which I've been really enjoying), my mom rushed in and said, groggily, "Happy Birthday!" with a very tired, I-just-woke-up-two-seconds-ago look on her face. Then she said, "This is the exact hour and minute that you were born."
She was right. It was 7:40 in Utah but I was born in CA at 6:40 and CA time is an hour behind Utah time. So it was 6:40 in CA. I'd forgotten about that part. I was glad I'd gotten up earlier, though, because otherwise I would have missed the exact minute. My mom is very sweet.
She looked at the china plates, the mugs, and the hot chocolate that my dad had set out and I told her that my dad had done it. She seemed pretty impressed about that.
My dad got everyone else upstairs (he had to threaten to eat someone's doughnut before they came up) and they sang Happy Birthday before we turned on Little House on the Prairie to watch while we ate.
After the episode was over, we turned it off and I started blogging. Then I took a break to open my first present for the day. Before I opened it, everyone yelled "Happy Birthday, Amory!" at me and I smiled. I love my family.
The present was four rolls of duct tape! I got gray, checkered, purple, and butterfly duct tape. My favorite was the butterfly one. I was so excited! Thanks, Mom! (By the way, I'll be posting pictures with this post of me with each of my presents and I'll also be putting my updated wishlist at the very bottom.) I put them with my stack of duct tape and I counted every one of my rolls. Turns out I have twelve rolls of duct tape.
I compared how much duct tape I had to how much Caden had. Caden had thirteen rolls, one more roll than me, but his rolls were all almost empty and mine were still mostly full, meaning that I did, in fact, have more duct tape than Caden. Ha! I passed up the duct tape nerd!
Then I took a shower, brushed my hair, and started blogging again. After that, I logged onto my computer to take a picture with me and my duct tape. There's a camera on my computer so it worked because we didn't have a camera (Mason dropped our last one. The one that we had before that got stabbed with a pen by him, too, the one before that also got dropped, and the one before that just wore out, I think. It got outdated) and because, really, we didn't need to send a picture of me with this one to anyone because it was from my mom and dad.
After that I blogged some more and then it checked my email while I was still on the computer.
Then I hurried and got ready to go to the house of my..... mom's friend's friend. Or you could say my friend's mom's friend. I don't know. But anyway. Her house was amazing!!! She decorated it and painted it all herself. She and her husband even made/carved most of the furniture and cushions and decorations in their house. She textured the walls like bricks and walls of buildings in.....I think she said Italy but I'm not sure. She was just amazing! She inspired and educated us in more ways than I thought she'd be able to in just one visit. She is really amazing!
Before we'd gone inside to see her house (which was really and truly like a museum), a few of my friends (Jett, Allie, Willow, Chris, and (oh, she doesn't have a codename yet. Um, I'll just say.....Lucy)) came up to me and gave me hugs (even Allie, who doesn't like hugs). Jett brought me a big bag of skittles, a very cute duct tape bow for my hair, and black socks with blue and purple hearts on them (she said she'd heard that I wanted holiday socks but she couldn't find any so she got me those). Everyone else forgot but Willow gave them each a Pez candy to give to me (which was very sweet, thanks so much, Willow!) and Christ remembered that she had a candy cane in her pocket. It was broken but I told her that I would just use it for hot chocolate. It tastes the same broken or not. That made her happy. Lucy and Chris said they would bring presents the next day, Thursday, because we'd all be seeing each other at the Poetry Read Aloud Night for our Literature class. "Ok!" I said to them, and then we got Caden from a friend's house before driving home.
When we got home, I started eating my skittles while I read a book and my mom made my birthday lunch of tuna casserole and sourdough bread with butter (my favorite lunch ever!). We watched Little House on the Prairie while we ate and when the episode was over, I read my book for a while. Then I blogged again for a little while and took pictures of me with my awesome, rockin' presents. By the way, if my present was edible, I probably ate it already (except for the broken candy cane from Chris and the bag of skittles from Jett). Then I took pictures on my camera (on my computer) of my presents so I could post them at the end of the post.
After that, it was time for dinner. We had homemade Macaroni and Cheese and corn. Yum! I loved it! Thanks, Ma!
I opened the rest of my birthday presents. I was happy to get a pencil pouch, five mechanical pencils (with extra erasers and led, yay!), a CD with the 2012 YW's songs (by Lindsi Houskeeper), an awesome journal, the exact kind I wanted, like my mom's, and a check from my grandma (with a green bow on it). :) Thanks, guys! I love my presents SO MUCH!!!
Then it was time for mutual. Caden had his Court of Honor. I was upset that I missed it but I was glad I got to go to Mia Maids for the first time. When I got there, the YW's president said, "Amory, we waited for you! Ready, girls?" Then they all sang Happy Birthday to me and gave me my birthday present. Nail polish and remover, cotton balls (to go with the nail polish remover), nail polish, and a pack of Starbursts. Yay! I love Starbursts. Then, we frosted cookies and ate them and then we watched Polar Express. I think it's pretty good besides the animation. They just couldn't get it all right. I really liked the rest of it, though. I like that movie.
One of my leaders brought me home to a happy, cozy house. We read scriptures, gave each other hugs and kisses, and then my mom said I could stay up until 10:30 to finish blogging.
I took pictures for the rest of my birthday presents and then I put my Christmas wishlist on the post. Then I posted it! Ta da! There you have it. My birthday! :D
P.S. If you gave/are going to give something after my birthday, the pictures of your presents will be on this Sunday's post, I think. If I get your present after that, I'll do a separate post for it.
My Christmas Wishlist
Christmas socks or other holiday socks like Halloween socks and Valentine's Day socks.
CD's by the a capella group, InsideOut (I love these guys).
Sculpey clay (found in craft stores like Joann's and Michael's)
There are certain little animals that are really high quality for toys that I'd like to have for my barn set-up. I couldn't find a link but I might be able to send a picture later if you ask me about it.
Sketch pads (ranging in ALL sizes).
Lots and lots of duct tape. All colors POSSIBLE. I just got a bunch of colored duct tape but I'd still love lots of plain, gray duct tape (or colored duct tape is good, too, if you'd rather get that).
Lots of binder dividers. I want to start my own coupon binder.
Gift cards to lots of different places like pet stores, craft stores, music stores (maybe), and almost any other store like Walmart or Target.
I'd really like to have my own, good set of colored pencils.
There are certain little animals that are really high quality for toys that I'd like to have for my barn set-up. I couldn't find a link but I might be able to send a picture later if you ask me about it.
Sketch pads (ranging in ALL sizes).
Lots and lots of duct tape. All colors POSSIBLE. I just got a bunch of colored duct tape but I'd still love lots of plain, gray duct tape (or colored duct tape is good, too, if you'd rather get that).
Lots of binder dividers. I want to start my own coupon binder.
Gift cards to lots of different places like pet stores, craft stores, music stores (maybe), and almost any other store like Walmart or Target.
I'd really like to have my own, good set of colored pencils.
A new fish tank, filter, heater, thermometer, air bubbler, or fish food (pretty much an entire aquarium set-up). You can talk to my dad about what he thinks I need. I want to update my fish tank equipment, it's old.
Buttons, each a different shape, size, and color. I love buttons! Especially the classic kinds with cool stripes, polkadots, and other patterns and colors.
I have a certain list of books that I want. Here it is:
Any book by Richard Paul Evans. Even children's picture books of his. I especially like The Sunflower, The Christmas Box, Timepiece, and The gift (all of these are my reading level. Also, it might be a good idea to talk to my mom if you want to get one of his books so nobody accidentally gets the same one).
The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien
Any of The Lord of the Rings series. I want to read them. They're also by J. R. R. Tolkien.
Pretty much any dog, cat, bird, or fish book that has information about them or that has a lot of the different fish, bird, dog, or cat breeds. The biggest reason I get these kinds of books from the library is to learn breeds.
Any book in the Warriors or Seekers series by Erin Hunter.
Any American Girl book. I like reading these as some are written to give good advice on things and the majority of them is historical fiction (I've read all of the historical fiction books (when I was about 9) and I liked them so much I wanted to collect all of them to read to my girls when I grew up).
Any book in the A Banner is Unfurled series by Marcie Gallacher and Kerri Robinson. I love these books.
Any book you think I might like that is similar to these books.
(Also, I really, really like Elantris by Brandon Sanderson and I want to read more of his books, especially Mistborn.)
Here are the pictures of my birthday presents!
I tried to make it so you could see the butterflies on the duct tape. I love it!
My duct tape bow from Jett. Her mom made it. It's so cute!
Oh, no! It broke! Ahh!!!
My pencil pouch! I love it! I didn't even ask for one! I wanted one but I just hadn't thought of it. My mother can read my mind.....
(By the way, if you'll notice, some of the different pictures I've taken have different lighting. That's because I've taken them throughout the day. I hope my readers are happy right now! :))
Wow, that was more pictures than I thought..... Ah, well. See y'all next time!
AJ McKay
Thursday, December 8, 2011
December 6th
Happy December everyone! I love December! We just finished putting up all of our Christmas decorations and it just makes me so excited! We've been listening to Christmas music, making presents (at least I know I've been making a few presents), and reading Christmas stories. I just LOVE December. Today, I'm going to try something a little different. Instead of writing the way I usually do, I'm going to try writing in a different person. I'm not sure what this "person" is called but I know how to write in it. I want to know how everyone likes it and I might decide to use the style more often. Here goes!
On Monday, Amory sat in the living room with her family for a Family Home Evening about The Good Samaritan. She had a good time with her family.
After Family Home Evening, they made hot chocolate. Amory had some before checking her email and then going to bed. As she went to sleep, she thought, "I need to work on my homework tomorrow....."
On Thursday, Amory had a normal morning, without any classes. She read a lot of Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring. She got some homework done, checked her email, and even started making a duct tape bracelet. She got excited about that. Then she went to her Biology class. She thought the Biology class was pretty boring. She probably would have quit going a long while before if it wasn't for the two hilarious guys in the class. They made it fun.
Corr went with his friend after class and Amory went home to work on some more homework and her duct tape bracelet. She got her duct tape bracelet done but not her homework. "Oh, well," she thought, "I have the rest of the week to get it done."
Amory sat on her living room couch on Monday morning, reading a book before she took her morning shower. It was a book about a man on a walk. He'd had hard times in his life (he lost his wife and his co-workers in the advertising business left him) so he'd left it all - his friends, his family - and went on a walk to Key West. He lived in Seattle, Washington and Key West was in Florida. He was going to walk all the way there with nothing but his backpack and the coat on his shoulders.
Amory had just gotten to a part in the book where the man was going into a restaurant and ordering food when she suddenly thought it would probably be good to stop there so she could take a shower and start getting some school work done. She'd slept in and was "losing daylight" as people she knew sometimes said.
Amory hurried to take a shower because her friend Jett would be over soon to get her and her brother, Corr, so that they could go to the library and get some homework done and possibly read some books.
Amory braided her hair when she got out, thinking, "When these braids dry, I can take them out and my hair will be wavy. Jett might think that's cool."
When Jett got there (with her mom at the wheel) to pick them up, Amory had put her stuff in her backpack and gotten her sweater and shoes on. She was ready. She felt her braids to see if they'd dried yet. They hadn't. "They're getting there," she thought.
Corr took a minute before he got out to the car but that gave Amory, Jett, and Jett's mom time to make up a funny joke. Corr got in the car to them laughing and looked around at the three of them, asking what was so funny. They explained it to him and he laughed.
Then they drove to the library, looking at the star at the top of the IFA as they passed it. Amory and Corr knew the person who put it there and they explained it to Jett who laughed a little and thought that was cool.
When they got to the library, Amory quickly went to her two favorite sections; the section where the Warriors and Seekers books by Erin Hunter were and the section where the books by Richard Paul Evans were. She got two books by Erin Hunter. There weren't any books by Richard Paul Evans that were checked in that she hadn't read.
She found Jett and Corr at the computers and sat at another computer next to them to try checking her email and finish the poems she was supposed to write for Literature class. Because of the different, unfamiliar computers, she wasn't able to check and reply to some of the emails but she worked on her poems and got one of the ones that was a lot longer done. She felt proud of that poem because of the way she wrote it. It was different than she usually wrote her poems and some of it was Christmassy. It was also fourteen lines long and she'd never written a poem like it before. She liked that.
After a while, Amory, Corr, and Jett went to what they called the "circles" There were thick walls in between some sections in the kid book area and there were large circles cut into the walls. The large circles were lined with carpet and Amory loved to read in them. Jett liked them, too. They sat there for a few minutes. They wanted to go to Jett's house to watch Shakespeare plays for their "Royalty Status" (email Amory herself about what that means), for Shakespeare class.
Before they could call Amory's mom (which will now be called Susan for this blog because she told Amory that she used to wish her name was Susan), Jett was texted by her, asking Jett to tell Amory to call one of her friends. Amory called Susan first to ask why she needed to call her friend and Susan explained that her friend (which will now be called Indiana) wanted her to come to Boondocks at 5:00. Amory worked it out with Indiana and Susan and was able to have a great time going to Boondocks for her first time. After going to Indiana's house, she went home.
Since it was Monday and the beginning of December, Amory's family had a Family Home Evening of Christmas decorating which lasted far later than Amory thought it would. She went to bed tired but happy and had a good night's sleep.
* * * * *
On Monday, Amory sat in the living room with her family for a Family Home Evening about The Good Samaritan. She had a good time with her family.
After Family Home Evening, they made hot chocolate. Amory had some before checking her email and then going to bed. As she went to sleep, she thought, "I need to work on my homework tomorrow....."
* * * * *
On Tuesday, Amory groaned as she got out of bed to turn her alarm off. She went upstairs and ate her breakfast, then took a shower and got ready for the day's classes. She had fun listening to the teachers and playing games. When she finally got home after a long day, she ate her dinner, did some homework, and went to bed, catching up in scripture reading before going to sleep.
* * * * *
On Wednesday, Amory woke up to a bright, chilly morning, ate breakfast, and took a shower to get ready for the classes that would be at her house that day. She put her stuff in her backpack as if she would actually be going somewhere for school. It was easier that way. She wouldn't have to get up every time she needed something.
Amory's Speech and Debate class was fun. Her teacher was really funny and she loved the debate arguments they always had at the beginning of class. The teacher made them fun. She learned that being a judge for an argument between two people (about whether or not children under 16 should be allowed to use the internet) can be uncomfortable. The person speaking has to look at the judge (which was her) and the judge had to write down what they were saying at the same time. She found that hard but fun at the same time. The speakers were funny.
Amory almost dreaded Shakespeare class every week. She loved the parts of Shakespeare that didn't involve dancing but when they got to practicing their dances, she didn't like it anymore. It didn't really make her feel uncomfortable, it just felt wrong, like she shouldn't be holding hands with a guy. It drove her crazy. She hated it. She felt like she was getting the dances down and she was proud of herself. Other than that, she dreaded the dances.
Amory thought Home Economics class was fun. They made calzones or pizza pockets. They're like little pizzas folded in half. The first step to make them is making the dough. The class skipped that, though, and just made the calzones. Susan had made the dough before the class started.
Amory got some homework done after class. Then she went to bed, catching up on scriptures again before going to sleep. For some reason, though she couldn't exactly put her finger on it, she was beginning to feel as if her days and weeks were all mostly the same.
* * * * *
On Thursday, Amory had a normal morning, without any classes. She read a lot of Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring. She got some homework done, checked her email, and even started making a duct tape bracelet. She got excited about that. Then she went to her Biology class. She thought the Biology class was pretty boring. She probably would have quit going a long while before if it wasn't for the two hilarious guys in the class. They made it fun.
Corr went with his friend after class and Amory went home to work on some more homework and her duct tape bracelet. She got her duct tape bracelet done but not her homework. "Oh, well," she thought, "I have the rest of the week to get it done."
* * * * *
On Friday, she went to the temple with her friends, Mackie and Jett, and Corr. She had four of Susan's family names and Corr had five.
They had a good time there. They always did. They knew everyone that was there on Fridays and sometimes even had a joke or two.
Jett and Amory always sat next to each other. Sometimes they had to wait a while. The silence made them uncomfortable and they soon came up with a little joke to fill the silence, even though it was in a whisper. They did it somewhat out of boredness, too. There wasn't much to do while you waited but read scriptures or look at the one Temple magazine published by the church. Amory almost never knew what page she was on in the scriptures and she and her friends had looked at the same Temple magazine quite a few times.
Now, Amory looked at the ceiling. She liked to study the ceiling in the baptistry. It was beautiful. She realized she had never looked at the ceiling in this room. She looked up but the ceiling in there was bare. Only some golden colored stripes going around the edges and, of course, the lights.
She looked back down to Jett and, pointing to one of the corners of the room at the ceiling, said, "I like that corner. What about you?"
Jet laughed and said, "Well, I like that corner."
Amory said back, "But I like that light."
It went on back and forth a few times and then Amory and Jett just giggled quietly. When Corr asked what was so funny, they explained it to him and he laughed. Mackie laughed, too, but didn't join in. She just thought it was funny to watch us and sometimes point to a line on the wall, saying, "I like this line." Amory thought it was fun.
Corr and Amory watched Jett be confirmed and then they went into the baptistry. They were each baptized and since Amory and Corr had family names, they were comfirmed at the font.
They all went back to the waiting room to call their parents and wait for them to get there to pick them up.
Jett went to their house afterwards. They played Apples to Apples and laughed about random, non-important things. Then they watched Merlin, the episodes, until Jett's mom got there.
Amory went to sleep quickly. She was really tired because Jett had stayed at her house almost all day and really late.
* * * * *
On Saturday, Amory slept in. She liked sleeping in on Saturdays. It gave her a chance to catch up on the sleep she missed during the week and then she had more energy to do fun stuff.
Susan put Amory to work as soon as she was done with breakfast and her shower. Amory got her jobs done, then found out that her friend (which will now be known as Strawberry but might be changed sometime in the future) was coming over until later in the day when she would leave and Amory's family would go to Temple Square to see the lights.
Amory and Strawberry had a good time. They played on the Wii for a while and Amory decorated a couple of pens with duct tape flowers. They made a couple of smoothies (that tasted really good, Amory thought) and When about 5:00 came, Strawberry went home.
Then, Amory's family started to get ready to go. They all got shoes and socks on and ppicked out sweaters or coats to wear. It was very cold. They took a while to find parking and then they got the stroller out and started to walk towards the temple and the visitors' centers.
They had a good time there, for the most part. Mason liked to see the train and Sariah liked to see the horses and the carts that were all around. They went up and down some escalators. The younger ones thought that was fun, especially Mason.
After going to Temple Square, they all got something at Arctic Circle, including delicious shakes, Egg Nog and Candy Cane shakes. Amory got and Egg Nog shake, which she loved, and she had a bite of a Candy Cane shake. She liked the Egg Nog better. While she and Corr ate their food, their dad (which will now be known as Johnny) gave them a riddle. He suddenly said, "Root beer is a Queen Anne but 7-Up isn't." This was after Amory and Corr had been giving him a riddle. Corr messed it up and told him what it was but it was made up when Johnny said, "Root beer is a Queen Anne but 7-Up isn't." It was a new riddle. It puzzled Amory and Corr for a long time, until Susan figured it out and started giving them hints. She wasn't supposed to give them hints. If she hadn't, it would have taken longer for Amory and Corr to figure out. After they did, Johnny told them that his mom had given him and his siblings that riddle and that it had taken him months to figure it out. They were astonished. It had only taken them about twenty minutes! But, again, without the hints it would have taken them a lot longer.
They went home and read scriptures as a family and then she went to bed. She caught up on her own scripture-reading again and then she went to sleep.
* * * * *
On Sunday, Amory and her family went to church, of course. After church, Susan had a meeting with the primary presidency. When she got home, they started making dinner. After they ate, they went to a essiah sing-along. The three youngest kids played in the gym while Johnny, Susan, Corr, and Amory participated. After Amory figured out where her part was and when to sing along, she had a great time. It was a classic in her family and they all loved singing.
Every once-in-a-while, she was sent to check on the youngest children in the gym. She was fine with that until there was a misunderstanding when the conductor said something. He said, "It is custiomary to stand during this song," but he should have said that it was customary to stand on the third "hallelujah". This messed them up. Susan and Johnny thought there was another song besides the Hallelujah chorus that you were supposed to stand for because he said it wrong.
They sent Amory out to check on the little ones right as the song was about to begin. The Hallelujah chorus was a very important song, a favorite in their family, and she was slightly upset about missing the first few hallelujahs. Johnny said sorry as soon as she got there, just mouthing it, and at the end of the song he whispered, "Sorry, Amory, it snuck up on us! We thought it was a different song because they skipped a few other ones and they didn't say it right." She quickly forgave them and just giggled, saying, "That's ok. I've got a lot of 'Shakespearean cursing' coming at you when we get home!" Johnny smiled and told Susan and she laughed.
What she meant by "Shakespearean cursing" was that she'd be combining three words from her list of Shakespearean curses that she'd gotten in class. It was just funny and definitely didn't include and real swear words.
When it was over, they went to the gym to get the younger kids. They ran around and tossed some balls for a few minutes and then decided it was time to go. When they got home, they all got ready for bed, did family scriptures, and then went to their beds. Amory caught up on scriptures again and then went to sleep.
* * * * *
Amory had just gotten to a part in the book where the man was going into a restaurant and ordering food when she suddenly thought it would probably be good to stop there so she could take a shower and start getting some school work done. She'd slept in and was "losing daylight" as people she knew sometimes said.
Amory hurried to take a shower because her friend Jett would be over soon to get her and her brother, Corr, so that they could go to the library and get some homework done and possibly read some books.
Amory braided her hair when she got out, thinking, "When these braids dry, I can take them out and my hair will be wavy. Jett might think that's cool."
When Jett got there (with her mom at the wheel) to pick them up, Amory had put her stuff in her backpack and gotten her sweater and shoes on. She was ready. She felt her braids to see if they'd dried yet. They hadn't. "They're getting there," she thought.
Corr took a minute before he got out to the car but that gave Amory, Jett, and Jett's mom time to make up a funny joke. Corr got in the car to them laughing and looked around at the three of them, asking what was so funny. They explained it to him and he laughed.
Then they drove to the library, looking at the star at the top of the IFA as they passed it. Amory and Corr knew the person who put it there and they explained it to Jett who laughed a little and thought that was cool.
When they got to the library, Amory quickly went to her two favorite sections; the section where the Warriors and Seekers books by Erin Hunter were and the section where the books by Richard Paul Evans were. She got two books by Erin Hunter. There weren't any books by Richard Paul Evans that were checked in that she hadn't read.
She found Jett and Corr at the computers and sat at another computer next to them to try checking her email and finish the poems she was supposed to write for Literature class. Because of the different, unfamiliar computers, she wasn't able to check and reply to some of the emails but she worked on her poems and got one of the ones that was a lot longer done. She felt proud of that poem because of the way she wrote it. It was different than she usually wrote her poems and some of it was Christmassy. It was also fourteen lines long and she'd never written a poem like it before. She liked that.
After a while, Amory, Corr, and Jett went to what they called the "circles" There were thick walls in between some sections in the kid book area and there were large circles cut into the walls. The large circles were lined with carpet and Amory loved to read in them. Jett liked them, too. They sat there for a few minutes. They wanted to go to Jett's house to watch Shakespeare plays for their "Royalty Status" (email Amory herself about what that means), for Shakespeare class.
Before they could call Amory's mom (which will now be called Susan for this blog because she told Amory that she used to wish her name was Susan), Jett was texted by her, asking Jett to tell Amory to call one of her friends. Amory called Susan first to ask why she needed to call her friend and Susan explained that her friend (which will now be called Indiana) wanted her to come to Boondocks at 5:00. Amory worked it out with Indiana and Susan and was able to have a great time going to Boondocks for her first time. After going to Indiana's house, she went home.
Since it was Monday and the beginning of December, Amory's family had a Family Home Evening of Christmas decorating which lasted far later than Amory thought it would. She went to bed tired but happy and had a good night's sleep.
* * * * *
On Tuesday, she had a good time listening to the teachers and learning new things. They read each other's sonnets, guessing who wrote them after they were read. Amory's was read and Jett guessed it right away. That was only because she had read a couple of lines when they were at the library the day before. She laughed and reminded Jett that if she knew for sure who it was, she wasn't supposed to say anything. She smiled.
For Geography class, there was a presentation. Tey had been learning about Asia for the last two weeks and the teacher had invited an older couple who had been to China to come and talk about what they saw and did there. They had taught an English class in China for a year. They'd collected many significant trinkets and passed some of them around. There was a nativity carved into wood, a "statue" of a man carved into wood, and there was also a big quilt but they didn't pass it around. Amory thought it was a lot of fun to listen and to look at the things they passed around.
Afterwards they all got an eggroll and then they got an extra fifteen minutes of a break in between Geography and Choir, which Amory was glad for. She got to spend some time walking with Jett and then she got a drink of water before Choir started.
She liked the Choir songs. She just didn't like singing them over and over and over again for 1 1/2 hours. For the most part, though, she liked Choir. They practiced Away in a Manger for a while, then reviewed the songs they had already been working on.
After the day's classes, Corr had his friend (who will now be known as Gobo on this blog) over. They hung out for a while until Gobo's mom came to get him.
After that, they all ate dinner, read scriptures, then went to bed. Amory was tired. She had a good night's sleep except for the odd dream that she had. (The dream will not be described on this blog because the writer believes some might not enjoy reading it for it is slightly gory. Only slightly, though.)
* * * * *
Amory woke up on Wdnesday morning and went upstairs for breakfast. She ate quickly, only reading a little of her book, Miles to Go (the book that comes after The Walk, the book she was reading on Monday) and then quickly taking a shower and braiding her hair before going out to the living room for class. She had her backpack ready again and sat down on one of the couches after a few of the people in the class had already gotten there.
When Jett got there, she sat down next to Amory and they had a quick laugh before class began.
They practiced "Sparring" most of the time. Sparring is an organized argument between two people and Amory and Jett just watched two other people do that. One of them was really funny and it was hard not to laugh.
For Shakespeare, they had a few fun activities besides dancing, which Amory was glad of. They did a human knot and untangled it. Amory thought that was really weird because she had to step over and under arms and hold hand with one of the guys. Other than that, she liked the human knot.
They each made a house/box that they lived in. It was imaginary, of course. Hers was a tall, blue house with a purple door, a silver doorknob, and a square, red window. She had fun making it. Then she was a partner with Corr and they had an imagunary rope that they played tug-of-war with. Then they were in a group of four with two others and they turned the rope into a jump rope, which the other guy "jumped" with and then tripped and "dislocated his ankle". He "put it back in place" and then was fine.
Then they all picked a different partner and had to pretend to be inanimate objects that didn't like each other. Like a pizza and a pizza cutter. They had to make up two object that "didn't like each other" and then act out what they thought the objects would do. Amory's partner, Allie, and her picked a stocking and a stocking stuffer. Amory was the stocking. She made my arms into a circle and Allie hopped in. Amory said, "Ah, robber! Get out of me!!!" Allie said, "Ugh, it's hot in here. I'm sorry to disturb you, I'll just be in here until the morning, when the kids wake up. Then I'll be out of this hot, stuffy place and I'll leave you alone." The audience was supposed to guess what they were and it was guessed right away. Amory thought that was fun. Someone else did a Christmas tree and the star and they argued about how the other was more important than himself and that wasn't fair. Then there was a sewing machine and a piece of fabric, a few trees and axes or chain saws, and two people in Wizards' chess. Amory thought it was funny.
For Art class, everyone got to show some off the art that they'd done in the last two weeks and the class learned about the history of paintings of Christ. Amory showed the nativity she'd drawn for her book report on The Christmas Box by Richard Paul Evans. Then they each made their own, three-person nativities, consisting of Mary, Joseph, and Baby Jesus. They were all blocks of wood with a wooden ball for their heads. Amory painted her Joseph green, her Mary red, light-blue, and blue, and her Jesus light-blue. The heads were all skin-color and none of them had hair. She finished last and as she watched what others did, she thought it might be best not to try painting faces or hair on them. She glued the heads on and looked at her finished work, very pleased with herself.
Then she listened to a Shakespeare play, worked on reading her Biology, and also worked on writing her blog post.
Dinner was heated from the other night and the family ate. After it was cleaned up, Amory and Corr went to mutual.
In YW's, they made cards for wounded soldiers that had to stay in the hospital over Christmas. Amory made one with a few trees and a snowman in the middle that said, "Have a Very Merry Christmas" and she wrote a note on the back. Then she made one with a Christmas tree that had red ornaments and there was swno all around it. She wrote a note on the inside and signed her name. She finished last with her card, too, but it was ok because one of the leaders (who had led the activity) and her daughter, a beehive, stayed until Amory was finished and then took her home.
When Amory got home, she found Susan in her room, reading a bedtime story to Sariah. Susan had to go Christmas shopping for a little while so she asked Amory to stay home and watch the little ones until she and Johnny got back. That worked out and Amory got some stuff done while they were gone. As soon as they got back, they gave each other hugs and Amory went to bed. She was tired after a long day of classes.
* * * * *
When Amory woke up in the morning, she realized her alarm had been going off for over an hour and 40 minutes. She groaned. She would need to figure out how to get herself to actually wake up when it went off. It just seemed too quiet compared to the loud splashing of the water coming from her aquarium filters.
She got up and ate breakfast, then loaded the dishwasher and ran it before taking a shower. Then she braided her hair and started on her homework. She finished her Biology reading, then listened to her last Shakespeare play that was required for her "Royalty Status" (again, email Amory herself if you want to know what that is).
What is she doing now, you ask? She is typing away on her computer, and just now has asked me to tell you of the important things for this post. She says to tell you that if you figure out what the Queen Annes are, she will send you a card (after you email her your house address) congradulating you. She also says that she wants me to put her updated wishlist at the end of this post, which I will do. Thank you all for reading!
~ The Writer
Christmas socks or other holiday socks like Halloween socks and Valentine's Day socks.
CD's by the a capella group, InsideOut (I love these guys).
Sculpey clay (found in craft stores like Joann's and Michaels)
There are certain little animals that are really high quality for toys that I'd like to have for my barn set-up. I couldn't find a link but I might be able to send a picture later if you ask me about it.
Individual art things like fancy colored pencils and sketch pads (ranging in ALL sizes).
Lots and lots of duct tape. All colors POSSIBLE. I want to up my duct tape supply tremendously. Also, lots of plain, gray duct tape.
Lots of binder dividers. I want to start my own coupon binder.
Gift cards to lots of different places like pet stores, craft stores, music stores maybe, and almost any other store like Walmart or Target.
Pencils (colored pencils and especially mechanical pencils).
I have a certain list of books that I want. Here it is:
Any book by Richard Paul Evans. Even children's picture books of his. I especially like The Sunflower, The Christmas Box, and Timepiece (all of these are my reading level. Also, it might be a good idea to talk to my mom if you want to get one of his books so nobody accidentally gets the same one).
The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien
Any of The Lord of the Rings series. I want to read them. They're also by J. R. R. Tolkien.
Pretty much any dog, cat, bird, or fish book that has information about them or that has a lot of the different fish, bird, dog, or cat breeds. I like to know the breeds, mostly.
Any book in the Warriors or Seekers series by Erin Hunter.
Any American Girl book. I like reading these as they give good advice on things and the majority of them is historical fiction (I've read all of the historical fiction books (when I was about 9) and I liked them so much I wanted to collect all of them to read to my girls when I grew up).
Any book in the A Banner is Unfurled series by Marcie Gallacher and Kerri Robinson. I love these books.
Any book you think I might like that is similar to these books.
There are certain little animals that are really high quality for toys that I'd like to have for my barn set-up. I couldn't find a link but I might be able to send a picture later if you ask me about it.
Individual art things like fancy colored pencils and sketch pads (ranging in ALL sizes).
Lots and lots of duct tape. All colors POSSIBLE. I want to up my duct tape supply tremendously. Also, lots of plain, gray duct tape.
Lots of binder dividers. I want to start my own coupon binder.
Gift cards to lots of different places like pet stores, craft stores, music stores maybe, and almost any other store like Walmart or Target.
Pencils (colored pencils and especially mechanical pencils).
I have a certain list of books that I want. Here it is:
Any book by Richard Paul Evans. Even children's picture books of his. I especially like The Sunflower, The Christmas Box, and Timepiece (all of these are my reading level. Also, it might be a good idea to talk to my mom if you want to get one of his books so nobody accidentally gets the same one).
The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien
Any of The Lord of the Rings series. I want to read them. They're also by J. R. R. Tolkien.
Pretty much any dog, cat, bird, or fish book that has information about them or that has a lot of the different fish, bird, dog, or cat breeds. I like to know the breeds, mostly.
Any book in the Warriors or Seekers series by Erin Hunter.
Any American Girl book. I like reading these as they give good advice on things and the majority of them is historical fiction (I've read all of the historical fiction books (when I was about 9) and I liked them so much I wanted to collect all of them to read to my girls when I grew up).
Any book in the A Banner is Unfurled series by Marcie Gallacher and Kerri Robinson. I love these books.
Any book you think I might like that is similar to these books.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)