Ciao?

So this summer my mom, dad, little sister and myself took a trip to Italy.

The. Most. Beautiful. Place.

Ever.

   It was definitely the most amazing experience of my whole life to date. Every second of the two weeks we were there was filled with incredible food, friendly people, over the top shopping, and spectacular adventures.

   We arrived in Venice to start the trip, staying in a hotel that led right out onto the canals. Let just say that Venice was my favorite city out of the entire trip. The whole concept of the city is so fantastical, and being on the streets or floating down the canal, is just magical. That's the best word to describe it, magical. We spent 5 days in Venice, jam-packed with gondolas, trattorias, shopping, pigeons, operas, shopping, artwork, secret passageways, gelato and did i mention shopping? Venice was also probably the highlight of my trip, when you consider the fact that I turned 14 the second day we were there! It was the most extraordinary birthday I could have ever had.

Sailing down the Grand Canal, we soon got off our train in Parma. Parma is a small town of Italy, outside of Florence. We wanted to see not only the popular, touristy side of Italy, but also the quiet, beautiful, peaceful side. Parma was the perfect fit. My sister and I had the time of our lives, as our hotel was a former castle. Our room was decked out, the architecture was incredible, room service was awesome, and Larkin could not get over the fact that there was a sunroof on our ceiling. We spent three days just exploring Parma, spending one day on a tour of Parmesan cheese. Yep, cheese. They make a whole lot of that stuff over there. We also got to soon down the streets in our red and blue Vespas, as walking around Parma was a bit harder than Venice's tiny streets. It was definitely a gorgeous scenery and a relaxing part of our trip.

For the last five days of our escape from Baton Rouge, we conquered Rome. Overwhelming is an understatement. Colosseum? check. Forum? check. Ballet at the Royal Baths? check. Over 100 flavors of gelato? check (and YUM) Trevi Fountain? check. Pantheon? check. And about 1000 other things!

We also spent a whole day on a bus, fumbling through the ruins of Pompeii, more bus, climbing to the TOP of Mt. Vesuvius, and a whole lot more bus. The view from the top of a volcano on the edge of Italy is pretty jaw dropping unbelievable.

So yeah my summer was OK i'd say...

I don't think I'll ever forget a single moment.

Heaven is For Real

I can't read the book without crying anymore.

Ugh. I know I'm such a baby. "she always writes about her sister," you'll say.

Well, I have no other connections to make so Larkin is a pretty easy way out.

So Todd undergoes injury, after injury, after another injury in this book and it's getting kind of ridiculous! I don't even want to try and put myself in his shoes. i just can't even imagine.

When my family first officially "moved" to Memphis, TN for Larkin, we had a bit of a following of unfortunate events as well. My dad's car (which is way too old by the way, his fault) began to break down, and had to be taken into the shop at least 4 times. Our washer and dryer back home died, and has to be replaced so I could still wear clean clothes back home in Baton Rouge. Then my grandaddy went into the hospital in Atlanta, GA for heart pains. He was released soon afterwards, but it left us startled to say the least.

I can't remember, but there were so many more potholes that got in our way that year. That feeling of "why me, why now?" is as close as I'll ever get to Todd's dilemmas in Heaven is For Real I guess, and hope. The family's struggles keep piling up and a streak of bad days is dragging behind them. Hopefully there's a light at the end of the tunnel the the Burpo family. Gotta keep reading!

Help? Literacy Narrative

I Have Nothing. Well, nothing good.

I guess my small list of ideas fits into the two obvious topics, Reading and Writing

Reading:

• When I was about 3, my grandmother (who is the principal and owner of a preschool) gave me a basket filled with books for my birthday. There were The Golden Books, your basic princess fairytales, Author, Clifford, and lots of Dr. Suess. All those fun guys. I loved my book basket. I would drag it behind me throughout my house and beg my mommy to read me a story at every moment of every day. She would read to me whenever possible, and by the time I was five I was reading to my newborn sister, cousins, stuffed animals, and of course myself. That basket of books was all I needed to create this huge love of reading that I have today.

Ok so that idea is ok i guess but there aren't very many specific moments I can remember. Plus, Dr. D mentioned that we shouldn't have a triumphant ending, which this story obviously has. Any ideas that could help me? please let me know!

Writing:

• When I was in fifth grade I had the best teacher ever. Ms. Allred was not only the coolest (she was a swimmer, duh) most creative, and most understanding teacher I've ever had, but she sparked my interest in writing. My class was given the assignment of writing a book. Yep, a whole book. Now apparently Ms. Allred, my parents, and most of my classmates and friends were expecting a book to be about 10-15 pages of a story with a pretty cover. How was I supposed to know that? I always write too much! When my story reached it 40th page, Ms. Allred had to ask me to end the book. "There can always be a sequel..." she kindly explained. I didn't agree her one bit. All the books I read at that age were huge books with tons of chapters and (wait for it...) NO PICTURES! That's what I wanted to write, a real book!

Honestly, I don't know if this one is going in a very good direction. I like the story and there are plenty of moments in Ms. Allred's classroom I can remember. I just can't find a specific point for this story...

If you have any suggestions that would be super duper :) Let me know!

Heaven Is For Real

This week: 1hr 45 min of reading ;( yea... 154 pages in

 So this book i've started reading, Heaven is for Real by Todd Burpo,  is super interesting and overwhelming. It tells the story of a little boy, Colton, who is undergoing serious medical surgery and passes away. The crazy part, he survives. And not only does this amazing miracle occur, but Colton's story describes angels of God greeting and singing to him as he sits upon Jesus's lap. Colton went to heaven and returned.

 The story is retold in the words of Colton's father Todd, who explains the phenomenal events in a very creative way. The book has kept me very interested so far, through the incredible storyline as well as through Todd's writing techniques and skills.

 What I find most inviting about the story is how inspirational it is to families. My own sister as probably all of you know... had to undergo the struggles of cancer and such three years ago. Although she's doing incredible now, the shock of something like that happening can really give a family a pretty big blow. There was a moment I remember so vividly ( oh yea word choice there ;) that occurred during Larkin's second brain surgery in 2009. My mom, dad, grandparents, and myself were sitting in Larkin's hospital room as she went "under the knife" for the second time that month. About two hours in, the doctor in charge of Larkin's specific surgery came into the room with and expression resting on his face that was so shocking I can still picture it in my mind today. He showed regret, pity, exhaustion, and the only thing that would race through my (and i'm sure the rest of my family's) mind was "Oh My God, she didn't make it..." You don't want to feel that. Ever. My mom immediately stood up and said "how?" Just the simple word "how?", but it was the only word she could use to express the crazy emotions that come with that much shock.

  We later learned that Larkin was perfectly fine, the surgery was just running behind and she would probably be in to operation room for several more hours. But the main thing I'm trying to say is that shock is an insane feeling. I can't even begin to imagine just how impossible it must have been for Todd to hear the news of his son passing away on the operation table... it's just too much. The family seems so incredibly strong and courageous, and their belief in God must be over the top. I cannot wait to see how the story ends, and hear about how on earth they managed to stay together and stable through the crazy adventures they've endured.

Just Be Yourself (i know you've heard it a million times...)

So I finished Uglies by Scott Westerfield this week, reading 2 hours and 20 min whenever I could find time. I have a super busy schedule this year but I making time for reading as best as I can!

   So as a conclusion to Uglies (keeping in mind that there are 3 more books in the series) Tally finds herself stuck in an "Old World" community with no technology, parties or pretties. Her intentions of finding this area called The Smoke are not clear when she embarks on her journey, but she makes the right decision in the end for her friends. She stays ugly...

  Being "ugly"can be so much better than being "pretty". We have become so set in our social life that we don't realize how amazing things can be from any perspective. Whether your smart, athletic, artistic, outgoing, introverted, or just outright loving life you can be a good person. I know it's sounds cliche but just Be Yourself! That's all it takes. In Tally's world, models from out time would not even qualify as beautiful. People are so high in status that they lose sight of being a good person, they lose sight of themselves. People can lose friends, break goals, and ruin reputations by becoming something they're not. If you stay true to who you are and what you can do, then you can always succeed.

So sorry for bugging you with all that emotional high school advice. I know you'll hear it all again in advisory, but this book really taught me something. It was a really great read and I look forward to continuing the series.

Being the Oldest

OK so last week I told the story about my cousin William swimming for the first time. It was nice to see all the comments people made about it and made me feel like I should tell more about it. Plus, Dr. D has a couple questions that made me want to elaborate on the topic...

   So yes, I just so happened to be lucky enough to be the oldest of 7 grandkids on my mom's side. If I made you a list (if I can remember) there's Owen (11), Conor (10), my sister Larkin (10), Arden (7), Cooper (6), and William (5). All of my cousins are amazing kids! They all love being around each other, and even though I'm 9 years older than William we can hang out like best friends whenever we get to see each other. Conor and I really bond as cousins because Conor sort of followed in my footsteps... He's joined his school's swim team at (unfortunately) U-high, and yes there's family rivalry there but that's another story. He also can be quite shy like myself, enjoys acting, and we both have that white blonde hair my family's so famous for. I love spending time with all my cousins but Conor and I can really relate.

   Watching these kids grow up is a pretty awesome thing. I get to see what kind of person they are, what talents the've discovered, and just watch them enjoy all the things I've done throughout my life so far. Watching William swim across that pool was such a special experience. To elaborate... How did the water feel, the sky look, and what emotions did little Will express? Well that's pretty deep for a five year old, but I know he must have been overwhelmed and overjoyed. The water felt so cool and was so fun to splash around in with him after he conquered his fear. The sun was out, but even when it began to set William just kept on swimming... maybe he'll never stop? I can't wait to find out!

1st Steps... Underwater?

So yeah Hurricane Isaac took my power for five days and pretty much ruined my whole "hurrication" that most everyone else had the pleasure of enjoying, but I still had a super fun Labor Day.

Every year on Labor Day, my mom, dad, sister, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, (on my moms side) and myself, get together and have a BBQ/swim party. I love this tradition for many reasons as a whole. My dad and I cook all the barbecue; briskets, ribs, yada yada yada... I love cooking with my dad! I also enjoy spending time with my family. I am the oldest of 7 cousins (all under that age of 10) on my mom's side and love getting so play and visit with them. I also love watching them grow up...

This Monday when we all got together, my youngest cousin William took his first steps, in the pool. He  started to take "swimming lessons" at Crawfish Aquatics over the summer, but had always been a bit of a scaredy-cat and never did more than blow some bubbles. His oldest brother Conor and myself are swimmers and tried to help and encourage him all we could but he just never seemed into it. But when all the cousins raced to the pool this last night he was right with them. He even explained to me how he had brought his special goggles and flippers. "I'm gonna be a fish like you, but faster!", he told me. And sure enough, once I had helped him down the steps, he was off and running. He swam a full length of the pool before her finally realized what he had done. "I DID IT!", he shouted, and we were all pretty much amazed. He had always seemed so scared, but that night he was the last one out of the pool!

I loved getting to see him swim for the first time. He was really proud of himself and I'm super proud of him. Even though it only happened  a day ago... it was definitely the highlight of my break.

Uglies vs. Pretties

So... is being pretty worth it?

Tally is starting to realize some things in this book, as I have started to notice things in my daily life. Tally's best friend Peris has recently gone "under the knife" for the pretty surgery. Tally, unable to stand being separated from her best friend (as uglies and pretties obviously couldn't mix) she sneaks peeks of him from near and afar. She realizes that yes he is definitely more overwhelming and in most ways perfect... but is that all? Peris isn't the same boy she befriended so early on in her life, he doesn't love her anymore.

When people look the part, they tend to act the part. I think this is very evident within these characters Scott Westerfield has created. Kids and people in general send to sort themselves into certain groups when put into a situation. The"pretty" ones, or people who are though better of, tend to all group together. This can sometimes be intimidating or dramatic, and interfere with the other group of "uglies", or people who are more shy and behind the scenes. These groupings can create tension, and if kids in our society were given a chance to switch from group to group, things would be awful. Friends would be lost, personalities would change, and people would get hurt.

Overall, I think Scott is slowly getting across his point that people are who they are, and they should stay that way. While at the same time, everyone overall should be equal and no one should treat others unfairly because they are at a somewhat lower status that you.

I'm still loving the book and I'm hoping to reach the end soon!