An Adventure!

"What? An adventure? Surely you jest!"

"Surely I don't!"

"But an adventure can't happen in our day and age!"

"Want to put money on that?"

It's true. I went on an adventure last weekend.

It was my first car trip all by my self-- and sheesh, I went 200 miles away from home? The destination?

chicago!

Yeah, man! I'm absolutely crazy, because you know what I did? I drove two-hundred miles to go see a movie with people that I have NEVER met in my LIFE!

I knew them in a way. I met them through a site called NarniaWeb, an awesome Narnia Movie News site and Discussion Forum that is the cleanest and most fun forum I've EVER been on. Seriously-- the people there are so nice! I know it's really hard to trust people on the internet, and most people would think I was nuts (and you're probably thinking it right now) that I voluntarily went (alone) to meet them in a strange city, but I did it anyways.

A little history, to clarify the extent of my nuttiness:

My parents, my sister, and I went to a "Lion" Party (play on "Line" party) for the Narnia movie Prince Caspian back in 2008. There we had arranged to meet a few NarniaWebbers (translation: people from NarniaWeb) and see the movie together and then go get lunch. It was a wonderful experience; the people were really nice and we had a really fun time discussing our lives, getting to know each other, and watching the movie.

Then, to make a long story short, we went with some different NarniaWebbers to a Lord of the Rings Movie Event in my city where a symphony played the movie score as the movie played on a big screen. My dad even asked them to stay at our house (which is typically considered NUTS) and it turned out great! The people were really, really nice, and I love them to pieces.

They came to a different Symphonic Event this past year, so basically, the stage was set for the lion party. Why? We had met many different NarniaWebbers on multiple occasions, and they were ALL great people. That gave me pretty good odds that people from the same site that had also seemed nice in their online persona would be good and nice and un-dangerous.

So I went! What an adventure! Even though we had had good odds before, would this time be the horror story?

No! Aside from getting lost twice on the way to Chicago, I had a perfectly marvelous time! All of the people there were really nice, especially the one who had organized the party. I single her out in particular because I was sitting next to her and got to actually talk to her for a while. It was really fun, too, that she had sisters that were my age! I'm hoping to see if I can get their e-mails or home addresses and be pen-pals with them; they were SUPER fun.

Well, that's my adventure! Crazy, wild, random, and totally awesome! You have to take risks to get places sometimes. I wasn't going in cold, but I never knew what would happen. Then and again, I was prepared, and not being stupid like getting in their car or going off alone with one of them from the group.

You always hear horror stories about web-stalkers, and I know that's true, but I've had some marvelous times with people I've met from online, and I'm very glad. :)

-Tina

Hats and Cuties!

Don't you love littl'uns? I don't appreciate them enough. Then I have a sweet, fun moment with my niece or nephew and I feel all gooey and loving inside.

I know a girl who doesn't like kids. But can you see a sweet smile like that and not melt? I pity the person that can. Sure, they can be holy terrors, but my niece and nephew are my holy terrors! And sometimes they can be cute and fun. Sophia (2 and a half) and I had a jolly time with my hat yesterday.

Wyatt (Sophia's older brother) is five, and he can be capitally awful. But he can also be perfectly debonaire! He hates to see me cry. I was talking about some rough issues with my sister the other day and started crying cause I'm emotional. He was over to me in an instant, wondering what was wrong. Even though I reassured him that I was okay, he took it upon himself to cheer me up and would not stop singing and dancing until I stopped crying. Even then he was still worried! :)

Even though I don't like my nieces and nephew alot of the time, I always love them.

-Tina

Life in a Nutshell

Bonjour, mes copains! (Hello, my friends!)

Life lately. Does anyone every feel as though each day is so chock full of stuff that all of the time just flits away? Slips away, more like.

I've been feeling like that a whole lot in the past couple of weeks. I feel like my day consists of waking up, going to French class, practicing piano, and doing schoolwork. Ah yes, and going to sleep.

I feel as though my life is completely filled up by work. I know that saying that sounds like I'm exaggerating, but that's how I feel nonetheless. Some days I don't finish my school-work until around 9 at night. The days that I let myself do something fun in the evening (i.e. Youth Group, Go to a Play, the Library, etc.) I don't finish until around 11 PM. It's driving me insane. I feel as though I'm slogging through school and the only bright point is the weekends. Even those are sometimes filled with revising papers.

So what? So what do I do about this life where I don't have much/any time to call my own? I've tried reorganizing my priorities so that I get all of my school and piano practice done in the early bits of the day so that I have evenings to myself, but the fact of the matter is that there is too much work.

My main problem is not the work, however. It's the lack of play. Remember, "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy." I guess I'm becoming something of a dull girl. How can I find the balance? I want to do something fun during my days, but I feel like I don't have time. How can I compromise- how can I know when to let some of my schoolwork go to do it the next day and set aside some time for myself.

I sure don't know. But that's my mind right now.

-Tina

BY THE WAY: The film festival was very fun. I didn't place, but I got an honorary award for "Best Screenplay" and it was neat to see my film up on the big screen. :) Here it is, for those who want to watch it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mWcVcS06bLY

Somewhere...Beyond the sea.

Or three streets down and to the left. A bookstore. A haven for the weird, the writersome, and the bookish. I love them. The prize birthday present? A giftcard to a bookstore.

So that's where I went to-night. Some people may have problems with having problems deciding what to get. You know, where they are exasperated that they're exasperated? ;) You get it.

But while I am so dang excited and not sure exactly which books to get while I'm at a bookstore, it never bothers me. In fact, I LOVE it that I have all of those marvelous choices. Ah! Bookstores are wonderful. Have I said that already? Let's say it again. I. Love. Bookstores. There we are!

Just browsing through the marvelous shelves upon shelves of books and opening up a crinkly new book and smelling that new-book smell. It's lovely. All in all, I had a lovely time tonight. If you want to make me happy, take me book-browsing/buying at a bookstore. I could stay in bookstores for hours. My chief problem in them is getting distracting by all of the interesting knick-knacks and books that are everywhere. Each book is like a happy, silent invitation! I love it.

So that was my night! It was great.

G'night!

-Tina

Writing binges...

School is winding down and I'm coming to the end of school for the year.

The problem with this is that I have a problem with finishing my school papers. I'll begin them on the specified day, but I won't finish them. I'll have this file of incomplete papers on my computer and I'll keep putting off doing them.

I'm homeschooled, but this doesn't mean that I don't have to get my papers graded. Oh no. I'm sure as heck not that lucky. I use a program named Seton Home Study School and I have to upload my papers to the internet for the graders at Seton to grade them. That's how I get transcripts and report cards etc.

The transcripts aren't available unless my papers are uploaded and graded, and my papers can't be uploaded and graded unless I write them. Thus one can see my dilemma. Added to this is that I need to take classes at the community college this fall and they need my transcripts.

My mom has been urging me to write my papers for this reasons but I've been putting her off. My dad learned of this on monday, and do you know what he did?

He told me that I couldn't do anymore normal school until I finished my papers. Told me I had to go on a writing binge. And there is the inspiration for this post and its title. Luckily, I finished them all by the friday of that week and I'm catching up on school this week.

Writing binges are productive. I'm all caught up! I guess it should be a lesson for me, but I still don't like finishing my papers. Thank heaven for school ending soon!

-Tina