Happy Birthday, Stella!

Happy 4th, little one! I can't wait to see who you grow up to be.

Dynamic Duo (Part II)

Hannah is happiest when she's with Blu.



They work as a team.





What a pretty horse.

Harry Potter Dreamland

(LUMOS)
Hey, friends!

Recently, I had the honor of going to the Harry Potter Exhibition at the Sciece Center with my dear friends, Morgan and Amy.





Amy.



Morgan.

(Note: When I took these pictures I told them to "act natural". I particularly like Amy's pose :] )

When you first walk into the exhibit you are greeted by someone holding the infamous Sorting Hat. If you're brave enough to volounteer, they'll "sort" you! Of course, I had to, and naturally I was placed in Hufflepuff! The best house of all!

Unfortunately, taking pictures inside the exhibit isn't allowed. But the things they had in there were just too cool! For example, they had the awful pink wool suit that Professor Umbridge wore in the fifth movie, and the whole set of her atrocious pink office! That had He-Who-Must-Not-be-Named's wand AND robes. (Yeah. Uh huh.) They also had Harry and Ron's Hogwarts dorm room set, (complete with outfits and robes that both of them wore) a scale model of Buckbeak and Aragog, AND VIKTOR KRUM'S ROBES. Mmhm.

The gift shop has everything you could imagine (except Ravenclaw gear, which poor Morgan found irritating). I got myself a dandy Hufflepuff scarf and some other loot.

If you EVER get the opportunity to go (up until February 13, 2011!), DO IT. It is so cool if you're a fan of the boy wizard. I'd reccomend it to anyone.

Thanks for reading, and see you soon!
-Amelia
(KNOX)

(Insert Clever Title About Absence)

I'M BACK.

Yes, recently I took an inexcuasbly long break from blogging. I have returned with stories, news, and other things for your reading pleasure!

Let's start with the most exciting tidbit of information:
I have a Rebel. I'm in love.

15 megapixels of pure joy at 3.7 frames per second. Excuse me while I swoon.

Yes, friends. After months of saving up for this beast, I have obtained the camera of my dreams. It takes full HD video, along with the pretty pictures. It might just be the best thing I've ever purchased. Maybe. Yes, yes it is.

I mean, c'maaan...look at these pictures of Tasha. So crisp! So clear! So...*sighs* you get the picture. (tehe)



Anyway, thanks for sticking around despite my vaction. I hope everyone had a fabulous Christmas/New Year/What have you.

See you soon! (I PROMISE.)
-Amelia

(About) 1,000 Words

Here is 1,000 words from my NaNoWriMo novel.  Please, give me suggestions and ideas on how I can improve!

(Note: In the word document all the paragraphs are indented. I don’t know what posses Blogger’s copy-and-paste database, but this is how it is.  Carry on.)

Chapter 6

Saffron answered the phone on the third ring.

“Huoh?” she said. She sounded like she had a toothbrush in her mouth

“Hey, sorry to bother you. It’s Jane.”

“Oh, hi ‘Ane. Wha’ ime ih ih?” She asked. I heard her spit, and a steady stream of water run.

“I think it’s like eleven or something. I really need your help.”

“At eleven?”

“Yeah. Remember when you were twelve, and you were all over the news for saving your sister’s life?” I asked. I hoped I hadn’t struck a nerve or something, but this was a matter that needed to be discussed before she agreed to anything.

“Of course,” she said. She didn’t sound upset, so I figured I’d continue.

“Um, my mom’s painting got stolen. And you’re the only person I know who’s ever had anything worth more than their life stolen before. Like I said, I really need your help.” I begged.

Pause.

“At eleven?” she said again.

“Please? I’ll give you anything you want. I’ll pay you!” I said desperately.

Pause.

“Can’t you just call the police or something? They’d be more of a help than I am.”

“No, my mom cannot find out that this painting was stolen. I swore to death that I’d watch this painting if it took my entire being. And I failed. Saffron, I really need you.”

Pause.

“Please? I’ll pay you in cash! What do you want? A thousand? Two thousand?” I pressed.

“Ok. I’ll help you. Wow. This friendship is off to an intense start, Erickson. Five minutes,” she said.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you,” I said until well after she hung up.

Immediately, I grabbed a backpack. I didn’t really know what a rescue mission entailed, but I grabbed the necessities from around the house. A flashlight, a change of clothes, some pepper spray, a pocket knife, a map of the area, and for good measure, a handful of granola bars. I even tapped into the emergency cash jar and withdrew 50 dollars. I would either use this as a down payment for Saffron, or for gas money. Whichever came first.

I ran downstairs to Maddy and kissed her goodbye. I told her to keep him tied up and call me every hour, on the hour as a status update. Also, I said that if he wakes up don’t let him starve or anything like that. Lock all the doors, and if you need to call me and I could be home in an hour. She said ok and that she wasn’t afraid and walked me to the front door. I hugged her harder than ever and waited on the sidewalk for maybe 45 seconds. It gave me time to think about what I was doing. Am I really leaving my ten-year-old sister in charge of some guy? Am I that irresponsible? Saffron’s van pulled up and I got in the passenger seat. I guess so.

“Which way, captain?” she asked. I pointed, and told her that I didn’t really know what I was doing, let alone how to find the guy. Saffron nodded and puffed out her cheeks. “Well, I guess we’ll start on the freeway. Did he say anything about where he was going?”

I thought about it. “As he left, he shouted corn maze,” I said. I doubted that this had any significance at all. What kind of weirdo stole art and took it to a corn maze?!

“Well, let’s start there,” Saffron said. She turned on to the interstate.

“Huh?”

“The Fairhaven Pumpkin Patch. It’s the closest legit corn maze from here,” she said.

“Thanks, Saffron. What would I do without you?” I said.

“Ugh. Please stop calling me Saffron. It’s a grandma name. It’s a kind of yellow. Yellow. I go by Saffy, or something of the sorts.”

“Oh. Sorry, Saffy.”

“’sall good Erickson. I’m going to call you Ricky, by the way. Saves some time. Get some sleep. You’re driving tomorrow,” she said with a smile.

I closed my eyes. We were in for one heck of a night.

Chapter 6 ½

Mitch finally pulled the moving truck into the unusually deserted parking lot of the Fairhaven Pumpkin Patch. His gas gauge was on empty, as the little orange light had just blinked on. He glanced over at the painting and found it to be in the exact position it was in an hour and a half ago. He clutched it in his gloved hand and exited the truck.

He could not get caught. As quickly as a 275 pound man could run, he made his way to the main entrance. The gate was locked with a simple combination padlock. He withdrew a hammer from his belt and took it off in one swing. He paused and looked around. The clang hadn’t woken anyone up, so he gently opened and closed the gate, replacing the damaged lock with a new one. This would stall the owners who would open the patch in the morning.

He looked around at the farm. The barn lights were all turned off, except for the floodlight perched above the door. Wooden figures of pumpkins were set up, all of them with a hole big enough for a face cut out of them. The thought of happy families taking their children here made Mitch want to be sick.

The painting was starting to get heavy, and Lord knows he had a long walk ahead of him. He wished he’d picked an easier meeting place, like a truck stop or something. Instead, he walked to the corn maze opening marked “entrance” and began his descent into the corn.

432 Hours… and Golf!

I have 432 hours to prepare for something SO COOL. Beginning November 1, 2010 I’ll be embarking on a voyage only a few brave souls dare take.  One so dangerous, it sucks up all the free time you’ve spent sitting around on your lazy bum *cough, Amelia…* that you could have spent doing something productive like…

NaNoWriMo!

Or, known to some as National Novel Writing Month.  Definition:  write a 50,000 word novel in 30 days. I know, I know.  It’s a bit ambitious, seeing as the longest thing I’ve ever written that I’ve gotten recognition for is only 1,000 words.  But a girl can dream!

I know that chances are I won’t finish.  And I’m okay with that!  It’s all about the experience anyways, right?

In other news…

Today I’ve concluded that I need to play a sport.  Unfortunately, I’m not very fast, I have a fear of being hit by a flying projectile, and have yet to learn how to play basketball.  So where should I turn?

Girls golf! You get to wear an awesome polo, I get to spend time with Morgan and Amy, AND YOU CAN GET A SCHOLARSHIP FOR BEING A CADDY. I KNOW!!!

So needless to say, I’m excited.  For the former and the latter.

Did you play any sports in high school?  Were you any good?

Homecoming

Ah, yes.  Homecoming.  A football game, a parade, and a dance.  What more could you ask for to enrich a freshman experience?

I went with an EXTREMELY large group of friends (some of those friends, I might add, went with other friends in the group.  This is why it was “EXTREMELY large”.)

I’m in the way back on the right.

We got dinner at a lovely restaurant by the name of Lighthouse.  It reminds me of that place in Seattle, Coney Island, where you can get the best ice cream of all time.  OF ALL TIME!! 

Thanks to Dee and Joan for decorating the place for us!

Number one! **Note classy Pepsi cups for this formal occasion…**

How did your homecoming go, as a teenager or recently?

Thought Dump

After a painfully long hiatus, I've returned!

This time: Freshman style.

Yep. Freshman. Freshmeat. Bottom of the food chain. And I am LOVING IT!

I love absolutely every aspect of high school so far. The assignments, the teachers, the diversity. Simply everything.

Also, I've come to realize that my life is boring. Therefore, I have nothing to say! I mean, I guess I could mention that my guitar is going well, or that I have a newfound photography/film passion. But that's all I really have to say about the both of those things...

Homecoming is coming up. And by coming up, I mean Saturday. I'm going with my gal pal (and I suddenly feel old for saying that...) Morgan and a group of friends. So that'll be fun.

The only thing that sucks about Homecoming is that ASB is in charge of the floats. The theme is "Around the World" and the Freshmen class is doing Antarctica. It's just a stressful time. Note to self: PLAN AHEAD FOR THESE THINGS. Sheesh...

There. I hope we feel caught up now.

Hey, sorry about the lack of posts. As I mentioned, I have nothing to say! My life is really low key an boring! I mean, unless you want a lesson on how to do the distance formula, or the definition of "pangeyric", I've got nothing! But I hope to be posting more frequently!

Love, Amelia

Stella Originals

I love what she's done with the pillows...





Surprised Papa!



Oh. Hi, Mama!



Awww...

Thanks, Stella!

Dynamic Duo

This is Hannah.

This is Hannah’s horse. CR Two Blue Dunnit.

 

Blu for short.

They came for a visit this morning.

Tasha was jealous.

 

This ‘ll end well…

…or not.

Hannah loves Blu.

Blu loves grass.

And Hannah too, I suppose.

Three Things

 

I’d like to pose a formal complaint to the makers of blogging software. The little blinking line that shows up whenever you pause before typing IS SO INTIMIDATING. It’s like, “If you don’t start typing right now I’ll just keep blinking until I explode!” And unfortunately for you, this is all I could come up with to begin the drastically late blog post.

I also feel I should mention my hatred for the squiggly red line.

Moving on.

This post will include three things I would like to discuss. Thing one:

  I’m going to be a freshman soon. This is super cool! well, alright. MAKING MY INSIDES GO AFLUTTER. Yeah. There we go. That accurately describes this feeling.

Thing two:

I really like this picture. I took it at the fair this past week. It’s of all the rodeo court, sitting on a bench, just waiting. I call it “Downtime”.

Speaking of fair, Hannah did great! She came home with a couple reserved champion ribbons, and nothing short of a blue! We’re all really proud.

I have a video ready to be uploaded which I will be posting sometime in the next month. No sooner because

Thing three:

Girl Scout camp is coming up! It’ll be my last year as a Program Aide (PA for short) before becoming a unit leader! Being a PA means that I get to help out with the activities that the girls do, such as jazzercise, crafts, and games. I’m excited!

So yes. I would also like to apologize for the lack of posts. I just feel like I have nothing to say! You’ll here from me soon I promise!

With love,

Amelia.

On a Brighter Note…

I did have some good adventures at camp! Here’s a quick video:

Thoroughly enjoy.

Plot Twist

A True Story.

My name is Amelia. As a typical teenager, I had yet another experience spending a week at 4-H camp. Of course there were your everyday crafts, such as lanyard making, pony beading, painting wooden figures and t-shirt design. There was swimming, canoes, one of those play parachutes, and a volleyball court. And what would camp be without campfire, a mess hall and a good ol’ counselor hunt?

While I thoroughly enjoyed camp, there was in fact one set back.

As you may know (or at least assumed.) electronic devices are not allowed at camp. No, cell phone withdrawal was NOT the aforementioned set back. However, one of my friend’s dad was a chaperone, and she was texting another friend of ours.

As all of us were getting ready for bed after a rowdy night at the carnival, she pulled me aside. She said, “Kyle told me that a Miller student passed away.”

Naturally, I was shocked. So I asked, “Who? An eighth grader?”

She nodded and told me the name. I thought she was joking. There was no way.

Unfortunately, yes. My good friend Josh died on Sunday because of an ATV accident. He was probably the nicest and funniest boy in our school. He made learning about protons and neutrons fun, just by being in science. I remember sitting in front of him, and even though he always kicked the back of my chair, just hearing what he had to say would brighten my morning. He went to great lengths to get everybody to laugh, such as telling abridged versions of Harry Potter.

I’ll miss him terribly, as will everybody who was lucky enough to know him in his wrongfully short life. My heart and thoughts are with the Johnson family in this trying time. Rest in peace.

Voyage Eastward

I’m back!

Washington D.C. was a blast! We saw literally EVERYTHING and went EVERYWHERE. It was rad, and so now in no particular order, are some photos of my trip! (Click to enlarge)

                   Washington Monument!

                                                White House!                                                 The Gang!                                  Yes, it was as hot as it looks.                                                             Iwo Jima!                            The Capitol from the top of the Washington Monument!                                       See where the bricks change?                                Lewis and Clark meet Lewis and Clark!                                                     Lincoln Memorial!                                                                Chester!                              Holy sideburns, Batman!                                                            Mt. Vernon                                          Michelle Obama’s inaugural gown!

Tweet.

As you know, my DC trip is only days away! I won't be able to blog while in our nation's capital, but I still want to keep you updated. If you're interested, you can go to http://twitter.com/ameliainDC to be taken to a twitter page that I will be updating as often as possible. No need to sign up!

I know nobody would want to do this, but if you want my updates sent to your phone, click the little icon under my picture. Seriously though, don't waste your time. I'll just clog your inbox. Seriously.

Have a nice solstice!
-Amelia

Middle School? Check.

All done!

Summer vacation has once again graced us with it’s presence. After a very successful eighth grade year, I’m ready to get this show on the road! I leave for the nations capital in five days(!!!!!), and I have a bunch of camps to attend. But for now, here’s some pictures of me and my friends.

I wore a schmancy dress.

So did Morgan, Molly, Jessica and Libby.

A few guys dressed up too.

Classy Aaron is classy.

I love these ladies.

Even if Josh doesn’t.

I like this picture. Swin and her editors. We made one   bomb-diggity of a yearbook.

So basically what I’m saying is that I had an intense year. I’m gonna miss that little ‘ol school. Because I’m a freshman now, and freshman miss their middle schools.

I think.

x,

Amelia

BLAST OFF!

ROCKETS. The most fun way to study force of motion.

I teamed up with Danielle Rose. Or Dani. Or Danja-D.

This kid:

We made a rad rocket.

Minus Colton in the background, we needed to make it clear that our rocket is legit.

TOO legit some might say. After all, it was the              Legit-O-Tron 300.

(Hence the shiny tape from the previous post.)

It flew pretty well at our launch today. The parachute deployed. It had a decent height.

Unfortunately, one thing did not go so well.

THE EGG.

Our little eggnaut did not make it back to Earth. Even thought he was incased by a shot glass stuffed with cotton. He cracked.

Bummer.

But nobody’s rocket was as legit as ours.