My day...

Here is a little timeline of my lovely Sunday...

7:45 - alarm went off, snoozed twice.

8:03 - got up and got ready for church.

9:00 - went to Sunday school.

10:00 - went to main service.

12:00 - service ended. Sat and chatted with friends and decided what do do for the rest of the day.

12:30 - decided to spend the day at the Dunfee's house.

1:30 - went home and ate some lunch while watching Doctor Who. Then packed up some stuff to go to the Dunfee's.

2:30 - Arrived at Dunfee's. Sat in the kitchen while people went in and out being busy with some chores.

3:00 - Started watching "Muppet Treasure Island" while drawing some illustrations for my Creative Writing Project.

5:00 - Movie ended. Made some tea and sat showing some people my blog.

5:30 - now I'm still at the Dunfee's, sitting on their couch, writing this blog post.

Thank you for listening.

~M

Back in my hometown...

Hello everyone! I just arrived back home today after being on vacation in Oregon at my grandparents house. I had a very nice time and enjoyed my trip. Here's some updates on what happened while I was gone:

My mother, my sister, and I began to make the drive up to Oregon on a Monday morning. On the way we stopped at the house of my cousin and his fiance to see them and their adorable little baby boy. Sadly, my cousin was not there because he was at work, but we enjoyed the time that we had with his fiance and sweet boy.

From there, we continued on and stopped one more time to visit my aunt and uncle (my fathers brother) and their two daughters (my cousins, also the sisters of the cousin I mentioned before) and their (total of) six kids. We hung out with them all evening and I thoroughly enjoyed all of the bonding time that we had. It was a very cool experience. We stayed the night at my aunt and uncle's house and left in the morning to complete our trip up to Oregon.

We arrived the next day at my grandparents wonderfully amazing house, and so our vacation officially began.

Over the course of the time at my grandparents house, we would have days where we would just sit around and rest, watching TV, reading books, just doing whatever we'd feel like doing until it was time for dinner. My sister made a couple very delicious Ukrainian dishes for us over the course of the first three days. I enjoyed that very much.
We also had a couple work days. One of the missions that we had to accomplish while on vacation was to move my sister into my grandparents house. She is going to be working on a internship for the Elisha Foundation in Oregon, and the family that she is working for lives there, so she's moving in with my grandparents. So, while my mom and grandma were unpacking her stuff I would usually be doing homework in the upstairs room.
One night, we had dinner with the Reimmers for their son Abe's birthday.
On Sunday, we all went to my grandparents church and then went out to lunch at The Original Pancake House, which was delicious. While I was there, I ate two pumpkin pancakes, one sour dough pancake, two sausage links, two eggs, two very large pieces of bacon, and white a bit of potatoes. I ate absolutely all of it and was completely stuffed. That night, my aunt and uncle (my mothers brother) and my cousin came over for dinner.
The next day we just rested and I did a little bit of homework.
On Tuesday, we had to wake up at 6:00am to take my sister to the airport because she was going on her first trip for her internship. After a very teary goodbye, my mom and grandma and I went back to The Original Pancake House and had breakfast there again. From there, we went home and got ourselves ready for a shopping day to cheer ourselves up. We went shopping for a very very very long time, then, at 8 o'clock, we went to a restaurant called Baldy's to have dinner with my aunt and uncle again. At dinner, I ate a (petite) rack of baby back ribs with coleslaw, beans, and a delicious appetizer of fried okra. Again, I ate all of it.
On Wednesday, I did homework all day long until 8:00, then I sat for two hours and watched Restaurant Impossible and America's Got Talent. At 10:00, I packed up everything for the long drive home the next day.
The long 10 hour drive back home to Patterson the next day consisted of some music, a lot of doodling, ice cream, and almost the whole second half of the Hunger Games.
That was basically the whole of my trip, missing a few minor details.

Thank you for listening.
~M

My Favorite Things

My Favorite Things 

Revision by Marie Frankfurt

Warm socks on cold feet and warm fireplaces
  Tea pots and tea cups and lots of big sweaters
Office supplies and new printer paper
These are a few of my favorite things

Rain and umbrellas and cloudy grey skies

 Owls and bookshelves and big walk-in closets
Camping and eating and sleeping, too
These are a few of my favorite things

Library books and those long summer days
Climbing big trees and playing board games
Sunflower seeds and unsweetened iced tea
These are a few of my favorite things

When I fall down
When there's spiders
When I'm feeling ill

 I simply remember my favorite things
And then I don't feel so bad

I'm back... Again.

Well, here I am, back to blogging again! It's for real this time, I promise. I know that in my last post that I said that I was back and that I had something exciting to post for everyone; however, things did not really work out as I had planned them and I'm sorry for that. It's just a part of life. Things come up and plans change.

The truth is, I had planned something exciting for you at the start of the summer, because I thought that I would have a lot of extra time to blog because school was over. It turns out that my summer was much more exciting and action packed than I had expected it to be; therefore, I never got around to blogging.

But now, summer is over, school has started, and I'm ready to pour out my thoughts and emotions onto my blog for you and all of the world to see!

I am very excited about this year and all of the new things that it will bring. I am a senior now, just starting my last year of high school. I am a little scared and nervous about everything that is happening and that is to come. I have a ton of choices to make within the next two years that can change my life drastically. I am a little terrified, but I know I'll survive. Generally everybody does, the difficult part is just figuring out how.

Seriously though, I'll be fine. I have my family, who have all gotten through high school and (mostly) through college and have turned out all right. In fact, I think they are all pretty magnificent. There's my mom, my dad, my two brothers and their amazing wives, and my older sister. They have all been through the same things and they understand. We all look out for each other and I know that they are always here for me. No matter what I do, where I go, what choices I make, or what my plans are for the future, they are always around to help me out.

I also have my friends for support. They are my never ending supply of comedy relief, and I love them for that. That fact alone makes me feel like the luckiest person in the world to have them all as friends. Whenever I lose sight of reality and I get all stressed out and anxious, my friends are always there to remind me that I'm not in it alone. They remind me that I'm not the only one who is struggling at times. We're all generally experiencing the same things, and we can all relate.

The best support that I have and will every have is my Savior, Jesus Christ. He is my rock, my shelter, my healer, my father, and everything that I will ever need. He is the best reassurance that I'm not in this alone. He is by my side throughout absolutely everything. One of my favorite Bible verses is "Cast all your cares upon Him, for He cares for you.", 1 Peter 5:7. If I ever forget that, the Lord just hits me upside the head pretty hard with a Bible, I remember, and I'm good to go remembering that He is my everlasting support.

There you have it. I will survive because I have my family, my friends, and God to help me through. Every now and then I do need someone to kindly tell me "Suck it up... pull yourself together and focus. You will be fine."
So, with the loving, yet firm support of those most dear to me, I embark on a new adventure where many things are going to change. Be prepared for some new and exciting posts along the way and every now and then we can have a little(very one-sided) chat kind of like this one. 

Thank you for listening.
~M

P.S. any suggestions for a new blog background would be greatly appreciated. I'm tired of searching. Thanks. :)

I'm back!

After a very long time of neglecting my poor and lonely blog, I am back to take care of it again! After a couple weeks of not really having any actual blog assignments in my English class, I kind of forgot about my blog. Well, maybe I wouldn't say "forgot", it was more like "I'm so busy that I really don't have time to blog right now and people probably don't even read my blogs anyway so why should I even bother at the moment while my brain is about to burst and melt out of my ears from being crammed with homework and I am about to be put into an insane asylum because I keep laughing and crying all at once and I'm really tempted to burn all of my homework and textbooks right now and this probably doesn't even make any sense and - *passes out from lack of breath*". That was how I was feeling at the time. I suppose that can be normal for busy high schoolers and I hope that I was not the only one who was feeling that way. (Actually, I know for a fact that I am not the only one who was experiencing this.) Some of those feelings are still lingering, but by this Friday, they will be completely gone because school will be over for the year, thank goodness! I know that people always say that we should enjoy the easy and stress free time that we have in high school because it's only going to get worse as you get older, get a job and go to college an someday start a family... And I know that that is true, but for us high schoolers who are feeling stressed, tired, miserable, and terrified of thinking about what to do past high school, all of those feelings are very real to us and we would prefer that you would try to understand us at least a little bit and tell us that you've been in our position at least once before instead of brushing of our feelings entirely. Thank you.
 Basically, what I wanted to tell all of my readers is that I had been completely swamped in homework and that I was having a moment of panic. However, I have worked things out, gotten things done, and calmed myself down considerably and am now doing just fine. I still have a couple pretty big things to finish before school is over this Friday, but I know that I can do it! I am very excited to be back to blogging and I already have some really cool ideas ready for the summer that I hope everyone will enjoy!

I really want to think of a unique, signature ending that I can use for my "talky" posts like this one... If you have any cool ideas, let me know in the comments below! :)

10 Things...

1. I have along list of books that I would like to buy, but I can't buy them all at once because: I don't have money to be spending on books just because I want them and I'm already running out of space on my new book shelf.
2. There are some really cool, nice leather journals that I would like to have from Barnes & Noble; but, just like the books, I have to wait to buy one. I'm making myself use up my other two notebooks(they're not even cod journals. Yuck.) and it's also a little pricey, so it would have to be a treat.
3. My Grandma is currently visiting for a few days while my Grandpa does some coin business in Livermore.
4. I have taken a recent liking to the game of softball. I like to play second base. It can be pretty nerve-wracking, but I still think it's fun.
5. I have lots of math homework to do.
6. I'm loving being able to drive!
7. I would like to buy a cool clock to put up in my room.
8. I need to get two new pairs of dance shoes. Whenever I get new dance shoes, I still keep the old ones. I just can't part with them yet, they mean a lot to me.
9. Instrumental music often makes me want to cry. (In a good way!)
10. I locked both my keys AND my cellphone in my car while I was at the library, so I had to borrow a phone from the very kind lady at the desk in the library in order to call my Mom to come rescue me. Ugh... It had been a somewhat stressful day and I felt like an idiot. My Mom was being really nice about it and she just kept telling me "It's ok, it happens to everyone." and "You really don't have to feel bad, everyone does it at some point in time!"
Thank you, Mom, for rescuing me. :)

Just a little get-together...

When my friends and I hang out and have little "get-together"s, we usually just sit around and watch a movie with some snacks. Now, don't get me wrong, movies aren't at all bad! In fact, watching movies with friends is one of my favorite things to do. I just want to get a little more creative with what to do when we all hang out.
Here is a list of some ideas for a get-together with my friends. Some of these ideas are what other people suggested and some ideas are my own. A lot of people will probably think that some of these are really nerdy ideas. I do admit, some of them are pretty nerdy; but what can I say, I think nerdy is fun. :)

1. A murder mystery party. It would be like a "glorified game of Mafia".
2. A children's book party. Everybody would bring their favorite children's books that they read when they were kids. We would look at/read eachothers books and talk about the memories attatched to them.
3. A literature based party. It would be exactly like the idea with the children's books, but instead of children's books, it would be with poetry(poetry we've written ourselves or not), books, short stories, etc...
4. A picnic. A legitimate, full out picnic. I'm talking picnic baskets, picnic blankets, a sunny day at the park, and alone food you can eat! Everyone would bring a blanket and as much food as they would be willing to bring! :)
5. A Disney movie marathon night! Everybody brings their favorite Disney movies and snacks and we watch Disney movies all night long!

Magnetic Poetry. . .

"Apes, French Fries, and Potpourri"
             by Madeline Freres

I gaze into my velcro wrist watch,
And as I look beyond the face
With the colorful Roman Numerals
Looking back at me,
I see my future and the present time.

I see in my future some apes,
French fries and potpourri.
Yet, I'm stuck in a stuffy red room
Full of secret trunks, the game of
Kerplunk, and pictures of helicopters
And ornithopters.

In the stuffy red room
My cranium is at it's limit.
I'm all dressed in blue, thinking of you
And my future that lies in my
Velcro wrist watch with the colorful
Roman numerals staring back at me.

Short Stories...

Setting: Back of an ambulance in Russia
Tone: Angry
Genre: Comedy
Written by: Madeline, Bonnie, Joel, and Ben.
2012
   (Madeline) The French man was yelling and thrashing around wildly resisting the help of the paramedics. He was obviously upset about something, but the paramedics didn't think about it much because that often happened. The paramedics were. . .
(Bonnie) unsure what to do, though. He seemed to be trying to tell them something. Finally, the man stopped talking. He just stared at the top of the ambulance. They were quite close to the hospital, so the paramedics weren't thinking to much about the man. However, immediately after being brought. . .
 (Joel) into the hospital parking lot, they were instructed to go to a different hospital across town. Curses in French and Russian filled the ambulance like popcorn fills a kettle. The driver screamed something threatening that even the other Russians couldn't understand. The irate Frenchman layed on his back as the beeping of the heart-rate monitor sped up to the pace of a. . .
(Ben) humming bird's wings. Now even more so were the paramedics upset. On top of having to go to another hospital,  their patient was now going into shock.



Setting: Croatian Fashion Show
Tone: Angry
Genre: Documentary
Written by: Madeline, Bonnie, Logan, Joel, and Jordyn.
2013
   (Madeline) Every year, the country of Croatia hosts a fashion show, one of the most competitive and terrifying events in the world. The fashion show is set up like a competition. It is an exclusive event and only Croatian designers can enter into the competition. Each of the designers has five years to prepare a new line of clothing. In the past, the amount of time that the designers had to prepare their clothing had to be extended to five years because the competition had grown so fierce. The designers are now in a mad race to win the competitive Croatian Fashion Show.
(Bonnie) Not only do the designers have to take five years to ready their designs, but the models must re cooperate and train in that time. The arena that this fashion show is held in holds only thirteen thousand people. They stay behind the protective bullet proof glass for protection; not just for the audience, but for the designers and models as well. No model is allowed any weapon but what the designer had put into the clothing themselves. In earlier years, if the audience didn't like an outfit or model, they were known to attack them. This was outlawed, the contestants were only allowed to be attacked by other contestants.
(Logan) Most models leave the arena on stretchers, others never leave. A few models, however, are known for their war tactics and physical strength. These contestants are ruthless, often choosing decapitation as their killing method. The designers for these models are also fierce. They send their contestants in battle-ready and sometimes join the competition, attacking the other designers. One year, a designer actually used her model as a bat, grabbing the girl by her legs and swinging her about. This effectively took down 7 models and 13 designers. The designer responsible was later disqualified for giving her contestants machine guns before they went on stage.
(Joel) However, catty designers have resorted to designing outfits out of live attack-dogs and grenades. This year, it is rumored that one designer has even found a way to convince the judges that. . .
(Jordyn) a dress made of dogs would be a powerful statement towards activists that believe these fashion shows are inhumane. The judges went with it; however, the designer would have to feed the dogs. She agreed to set off to find suitable food for seventeen  Rottweilers. She had to feed them nine models to make them stop whining. This eliminated all competition and she won by default.

Things that frustrate me...

I'm not really one to talk about the things that irritate or frustrate me just because I have the time to. However, right now, I randomly felt like sharing with you some things that frustrate me(and of course, it's in the form of a list!). They're not huge and they're really not a big deal, I just find them to be rather frustrating.

1. When I'm driving and other people don't use their blinkers. Didn't your Drivers Ed teacher ever tell you that, aside from your other lights, your blinker is the only form of communication that cars have?!? Think about it, that makes them highly important! They are there to insure the safety of you and others drivers around you. So please, use your blinker.

2. When you pour yourself a bowl of cereal but then find out that there's no milk left. Great. . . Just great.

3. When your washing your face and it feels all fresh and clean and you turn of the water, dry your face off, hang your towel back up, look back at the sink, and. . . There's water. EVERYWHERE!!!!

4. When your text message inbox is full, but your phone fails to tell you, so you don't receive any texts for almost a week before you notice the problem.

5. When your doing your homework and you decide to make yourself a delicious cup of unsweetened peppermint tea... After you make it, you continue doing your homework but get so focused on it that you completely forget about your perfect cup of tea! Then, by the time you remember it, it's completely cold. :(

6. When the lady at the Forever 21 dressing room assures you that she's going to keep track of your extra clothes while your trying on all of your other stuff, but when you go back out for the rest of your stuff and you ask the lady for your extra clothes, she asks "What clothes?". And it's gone. All of it.

7. When workers at a clothing store are really extremely grumpy (and their obviously not trying to hide it) when you ask them for help about something.

8. When one of your ponytail holders breaks while your trying to put your hair up. First, it scares you half to death and makes you jump, and second, your left without a ponytail holder. Oh, the sadness, crying, and mourning!

9. When you trip and skip a step going down the stairs, sending a horrible chill all the way up your spine and giving you the scare of your life.

10. When your name is Madeline and people assume that your nickname is Madison. Story of my life.

17 Things...

Some one that I know recently turned fifteen, and they posted a blog of multiple lists of fifteen things that they like. Having just recently turned seventeen, I thought it would be fun to do the same thing with the number seventeen. I know that I post a lost of lists, but let's face it, I really like lists. I promise, I'm not trying to take the easy way out when blogging, I just genuinely love making lists of things. I think they're fun, and it keeps everything organized. :)
So, without further ado, here is a list of seventeen of my favorite things (in no particular order).

1. Food
2. Sleep
3. Dance
4. Books. And not just the act of reading books, but actual books themselves. The binding, the pages, the font, the smell. . . Everything books!
5. Taking pictures
6. Putting outfits together (a.k.a. getting dressed in the morning and helping other people with their outfits every chance I get)
7. Owls. Anything having to do with owls, I love it.
8. Instrumental music. The kind that makes you unbelievably happy and makes you want to cry all at the same time. It gives you butterflies in the pit of your stomach like your nervous and excited and it makes you feel all warm and tingly inside like your falling in love with someone, but your really not because it's only a song. . . and it doesn't even have words, but it moves you just as much, if not even more than music that does have words, and you feel like you could dance to it forever and ever and never get tired of it as long as you live! *sigh* Yeah, that music. :)
9. Old trunks, especially the ones with hidden things inside of them! Those are the best.
10. Warm blankets and socks. :)
11. A warm, toasty fire to sit by
12. Going to the ballet.
13. Anything antique or old with a history behind it to discover.
14. Small cottages and large mansions.
15. Walk-in closets
16. Rain, umbrellas, rain boots, coats, and colorful scarves. :)
17. Playing hide-and-go-seek! I know that I'm seventeen and I'm probably "too old" to like this, but it is truly one of my favorite things to do. :)

Grocery List

My usual grocery list, which mainly consists of produce:

• Bread
• Milk
• Lettuce
• Apples
• Tomatoes
• Cucumbers
• Potatoes
• Onions
• Garlic
• Oranges
• Carrots
• Bananas
• Zucchini
• Green Beans
• Corn
• Canned Beans (Black, Italian White, Garbanzo, refried...)
• Canned soup
• Canned diced tomatoes
• Granola
• Oats
• Pasta
• Brown rice
• Polenta
• Orange Juice
• Ramen noodles

Some of My Favorite Movies...

1. Braveheart
2. Troy
3. Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves
4. Robin Hood (2010)
5. Gladiator
6. The Last of The Mohicans
7. A League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
8. Lord of The Rings
9. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
10. The Village
11. P.S. I Love You
12. Pride & Prejudice (1995 and 2005)
13. Sense & Sensibility (1995 and 2008)
14. West Side Story (1961)
15. Seven Brides For Seven Brothers
16. The Mummy
17. The Mummy Returns
18. The Princess Bride
19. Pearl Harbor
20. The Avengers
21. The Hunger Games
22. Sweet Home Alabama
23. Star Wars
24. Bride Wars
25. Up
26. Sherlock Holmes
27. Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows
28. The Pirates of The Caribbean (All films)
29. The Harry Potter films
30. Batman Begins
31. The Dark Knight
32. Inception
33. The Prestige
34. Thor 
35. Captain America
36. Hello Dolly!
37. X-Men (All films)

To be continued. . .

Books I Have Read...

1. Harry Potter
2. 1984
3. The Great Gatsby
4. Frankenstein
5. The Giver
6. The Chronicles of Narnia
7. The Spiderwick Chronicles
8. The Hobbit
9. The Diary of Anne Frank
10. Little House on The Prairie
11. A Series of Unfortunate Events
12. The Books of Bayern
13. The Song of The Lioness
14. The Squires Tales
15. The Last Sin Eater (I'm currently reading this)
16. Bud, Not Buddy
17. The Outsiders
18. Bridge To Terabithia
19. Ella Enchanted
20. Where The Red Fern Grows
21. A Wrinkle In Time
22. Peter Pan
23. Cinder Edna
24. Oh, The Places You'll Go!
25. Charlie and The Chocolate Factory
26. Charlie and The Great Glass Elevator
27. Hoot
28. Holes
29. The Borrowers
30. Shakespeare's Macbeth
31. The Hunger Games
32. Little Women
33. Coraline

To be continued. . .

My talents

1. Dancing! I have taken classes in Ballet, Jazz, Lyrical, Hip-hop, and Tap.
2. Whistling! I taught myself how to whistle over the course of two days. I drove my mom practically insane because of it, but at least I know how to whistle! :)
3. Drawing
4. Doodling (Yes, I believe that doodling can be a talent in and of itself)
5. Singing
6. Having different accents
7. A wee little bit of acting.
8. Knitting
9. Crocheting (I prefer knitting)
10. Sewing
11. Some gymnastics... I used to do a ton, but sadly, I have lost the majority of my skills. :(
12. Playing the piano... Like gymnastics, I played the piano a lot when I was younger but haven't in quite a while, so it doesn't come quite as naturally anymore.

This is a pretty generic list of talents, but I plan to post another list in the future and hopefully it will be a bit more interesting than this one. :)

10 Reasons...

10 reasons why I can't clean my room at the moment...

1. I have a TON of homework that I need to do because I procrastinated today. Shame on me...
2. I am going on a school field trip on Monday, so that adds even more homework to my usual load.
3. When I am not doing homework, I'm at dance. And not just my usual classes, I have an extra class this week because I'm assisting for someone who is currently out of state.
4. I can not clean UP my room because I have to clean it OUT first, and that takes much more thought and time than just cleaning it up.
5. Why can't I clean my room "at the moment"? Well, because instead of actually doing it, I'm blogging about it on the computer of course!
6. Uhhhh . . . Because sleep is more important? Maybe?
7. I have to eat . . . All the time.
8. Because I'm too smart! (Not true)
9. I am waiting for the house cleaning fairy to do it for me. She's purple and her name is Cordelia.
10. I am a huge procrastinator when it comes to cleaning my room. That is that.

I just need to suck it up and do it whether I want to or not. It's really important that I do it soon because I'm supposed to be getting a new mattress over the weekend and I'll be rearranging my room. However, I can not do that if I have clothes lying all over the place. Ugh.
Well, good bye for now. I am going to go do some more homework and wish that I was cleaning my room instead.
   Farewell!

10 Blog Prompts...

Here's a list of blog prompts that I would like to see other people write about. Some of them are easy, some are a bit harder, some will make you have to think more.... I am so excited about some of these that I will probably write about them myself! :)
Happy blogging!

1. A list of your favorite movies and why they're your favorite.
2. A list of your favorite books and why they're your favorite.
3. Your life as a window in a shopping mall. The events that you see, the people you see, the things you hear, etc...
4. Where you see yourself in 5 years, 10 years, 15 years....
5. If you could live anywhere in the world, where would you live and why?
6. The history of something random, famous, funny, common, strange or rare. (i.e. the history of:  the toaster oven, the grand-father clock, various musical instruments.)
7. A pet that you want and why you want it.
8. Your talents. The normal ones, the weird ones, the secret ones... Any at all!
9. Your favorite and least favorite chores.
10. Your favorite childhood memories.