Halloween!!!

Crey and Holly designing the jack-o-lantern face

Mac in his costume being creepy

Me (Clara) and Mac

Two really bad pictures from the party last night.

And the epic shirt

Happy and Crappy

Happy(s): Practically no algebra homework. Lilli is almost done with Inheritance and she's fangirling, which is really entertaining. Holly and Mac are being Annabeth and Percy for Halloween. Spanish was really fun today. We get food in Apologetics tomorrow. I'm gonna be Clara Oswld for Halloween (well, that's what I'm saying. She wears pretty normal clothes, so it'll be easy.) I got combat boots today. CYT is getting more fun every week. Veggie Tales is on Pandora and it's basically the happiest thing ever (seriously, it just makes life better and happier). I'm gonna be officially a published journalist in a week or two, and I'm actually pretty confident about it.

Crappy(s): Chemistry is a joy-sucker (I'm sitting here writing a blasted lab report that's due tomorrow). I'm always tired. It's so cold. I don't have time to read and write. I miss India. I want to get out of school and Kansas and routine. Our house is having issues. Dragons aren't real. 

I Need To Go Somewhere

Well, I got bored with Chemistry, and started writing... and this happened. Not sure how my thought process works, but yeah.

********

I'm supposed to be working on a lab report right now. Instead I'm procrastinating, sitting on the couch with music up and writing whatever comes into my brain.

Bunnies (no idea why I thought of that). Easter. Chocolate. Christmas. Presents. Operation Christmas Child. India. Elephants. Thailand. Thai food. The beach. Pirates. Hannah. The rest of the gang. Concert Choir. The Fault in Our Stars.

Okay, y'all need to read that book. Seriously.
If you want to know why you should read, click here.
If you want to know why I love this book, click here.

I really want to travel. Like, right now. I want to pack up my books and shoes and fly to India. I miss my "Indian" people. Of course, most of them aren't even there anymore. Some are scattered across the States. Others are in Thailand. But Hannah and Joel and Madelyn and Jonathan and Grace are there.
But then I'd miss my American friends. That's the worst part about being a TCK, guys.
I'm basically doomed to always, always missing someone.

Can I go to Europe? Please? I miss the chaos of traveling. I miss hearing twenty different languages in an airport. I miss seeing the ground drop beneath a plane. I miss landing and breathing in the smell of gasoline and smoke and cold air. I miss seeing ancient architecture. I miss riding on subways. I miss adventure.
I want y'all to experience it so bad.

It's hard though. It's crazy hard. It's hard to wait for hours in customs. It's hard to communicate when there's a language barrier. It's hard to keep track of where you get on and off of subways. It's hard to survive for ten hours on a crowded airplane. It's hard to not be in the same culture I grew up. It's hard to be so alone.

But I love it. Because I have always wanted adventure, and I got my taste of it, and now I want to submerge myself in cultures and languages and new things and beauty.

 Instead I'm procrastinating, sitting on the couch with music up and writing whatever comes into my brain.

My Extremely Splendid Four Days Off

A Summary-
Thursday: Sleep, cleaning, audio letter to Madelyn, Pottermore, A Thousand Splendid Suns
Friday: Starbucks, rain, pumpkin patch, A Thousand Splendid Suns, the discovery of the Veggie Tales Pandora station
Saturday: Rehearsal, library, The Fault In Our Stars, Hershey's kisses, Epic
Sunday: Church, cookies, blogging, Skype, White Collar

All in all, not bad. I never got to watch the Hobbit or eat Oreos, but okay. I'm sitting on the living room floor, getting thoughts out of my brain now. It's 12:01 am, according to the iPad. So I've been sitting here for a little less than thirty minutes. Before that I read To Kill A Mockingbird from 10:30 to 11, and then I lay in bed from 11 to 11:30, trying to sleep. I don't really like not being able to sleep. I'd like to be mentally present at school tomorrow, and I'd also like to wake up early enough to be a attractive at school (or as attractive as one can be in our school uniforms. #firstworldprobs) (that was the first and probably last time I use a hashtag).

Sooo now I'll waste time on Pinterest. v_V And write bio questions for the Blonde Mafia. xD

Ttfn

Wheaaahh.

That is my exhausted dying sound.
I had today and yesterday off from school. Yesterday we cleaned the house. Today we went to the pumpkin patch. Which I should talk about because it was fun, but I'm too tired. I'm laying on the couch right now, craving Oreos and The Hobbit. And also library books. It snowed today. The snow melted right when it hit the ground, but still. I'm so tired. >_< I was reading A Thousand Splendid Suns until 1:30 last night. That is a very sad book, and I'm barely half way through it.
Good bye.

Thank You, Jesus

Thank you, God, for sweaters. For books and tea and music. Thank you for parent-teacher conferences, and four days to rest. Thank you for my family and friends. Thank you for Pandora and Pinterest and YouTube (well, the good sides of those things). Thank you for creativity and art and joy. For words and literature and Star Wars. Thank you for doughnuts and Starbucks and bananas. Thank you for elephants and saris and mehendi. Thank you for Target and best friends. Thank you for nail polish, Netflix, and Nutella. Thank you for sleep. Thank you for the little things that make my life so blessed.
Amen. 

It's October? When Did That Happen?

I mean I knew... but I didn't really comprehend this. I've been in school for two months. I've finished a musical. It's almost Halloween. Starbucks has Pumpkin Spice stuff. I'm wearing a sweater. I finished House of Hades. We had Barn Dance.

When did summer end??
Oh.
Like, two months ago.

Well, here's the bucket list. Italics means one of us did it, but not the others.

1. Make Ice Cream
2. Music Videos (Love Story)
3. Shaving Cream Fight
4. Drive-In Movie
5. Make Covers
6. Call Hogwarts Hotline (+17814524077)
7. Buy A Trampoline (We wish)
8. Messy Twister
9. Musical Movie Night (lol, every night we're together :)
10. Color Hair
11. Water Balloon Fight
12. Go Bowling
13. Do a Pinterest Craft
14. Tie-Dye Stuff
15. Make A Time Capsule
16. Take TONS of Pictures (of everything on this list)
17. Say Yes To Everything For A Day
18. Go Camping
19. Paint Balloon Fight
20. Princess Diaries Paint Dart Thing
21. Sidewalk Paint
22. Write Messages and Put Them In Balloons And Let the Balloons Go
23. Melted Crayon Art (FAILED)
24. Photo Bomb Random People
25. Prank Call
26. Midnight Premiere of Some Movie (PJASOM??)
27. Picnic
28. Make Butterbeer
29. Dance In the Rain
30. Bubbles
31. Photo Booth
32. Forts
33. Go To the Pet Store and Play With Puppies
34. Go On a Long Run, Followed by Jumping In The Pool (Holly wrote that)
35. Play in the Sprinkler
36. Cloud Gazing
37. Star Watching
38. Set off Fireworks
39. Sleep in a Tent Outside With S'mores and Friends
40. Catch Fireflies
41. Build a Puzzle
42. Ride in the back of a Pickup Truck
43. Take Food and Drinks to Giant Fort and Live There
44. Volunteer
45. Lemonade Stand
46. Write Letters
47. Send Postcards
48. Make Movies
49. Eat Cupcakes in Ice Cream Cones
50. Fly Kites
51. Try On Fancy Dresses (With Heels) and Take Pictures at the Mall
52. Blind Makeovers
53. Mani-Pedis On Each Other
54. Plant Tree
55. Climb Tree
56. All Nighter
57. Harry Potter Marathon
58. Watch a Sunrise and Sunset
59. Make a New Friend
60. Root Beer Float
61. Rollerblade
62. Ice Skate
63. Laser Quest
64. Watch Veggie Tales
65. Have A Treasure hunt
67. Explode a Bunch of Two-Liter Sodas (Holly wrote that too)
68. Finger Paint
69. Have a Pool Party
70. Homemade Sundaes
71. Make Bracelets/Necklaces
72. Make a Tire Swing
73. Get a Hammock
74. PJ Day - with breakfast for every meal (Holly)
75. Opposite Day - ice cream for breakfast (Holly)
76. Go Into an Elevator and push all the buttons. And don’t let anyone else on!!!
78. Go to the Arb
79. Create a Cool Band
80. Go on a Bike Ride to an Ice Cream Place
81. Go Skateboarding
82. Plant Flowers
83. Make Fun Artwork (THIS FAILED)
84. Minute to Win It
85. Rock River Rapids
86. HSM (all, or at least 2 and 3)

29 of 86. Not bad. And honestly, we did a lot less of sitting on our butts this summer. It was really good.

Summer is gone. Farewell, sleep, flip flops, Doctor Who marathons, swimming, hanging with Lilli everyday, a cute hat, a relatively clean room, spare time, finishing five books a week, and beautiful weather.

Hello sweaters, premieres, coffee, craziness, musicals, homework, friends, cold, boots (oh, wait. School rules. -_-), tights...

Now, I'm sleeping. Adios. 

People Should Seriously Read More. And Think More. And Be Less Stupid in General.

I hate stupidity in all forms. Especially when it comes to not reading.

I can deal with  faults.
All but one.
And that one is dislike and disregard of reading and books and literature.
It. Drives. Me. Crazy.
Some people have excuses. But most just claim they hate reading.
To which I instantly cry "HOOOOOW?!?!?!?!" 
The answer is, almost always "It's boring."

....

What?

How is reading boring? How are those words even in the same sentence?
Now, some books are just a struggle to read. For example, we're reading the Scarlet Letter in school right now. And while I like the story, I'm struggling with this book. But there are soooo many other books out there! There's knowledge and adventure and life and happiness and imagination and everything!

Do you know how much I've learned from books in my life?

A lot.

Respect. Friendship. Freedom. Love. Adventure. Hope. Choices. Mythology. Duty. How epic the world is and how brilliant people can be. How broken the world is and how cruel people can be. History. God. How to strategically design a fortress. How to make a sword. Cultures. People. How to be logical, for crying out loud. How to take over the world. How to destroy a world. How surprisingly often God shows up in books (that probably has a lot to do with my worldview, but still). How choices have consequences. Morals.

And a looooot more.

I've become hundreds of characters and been to thousands of places.

It's like, my personality, my mind, my soul, is a book. And every book I've read has added something to my soul book, be it a sentence, a paragraph, a page, or a whole chapter. They're helping shape me.

Nancy Drew and the American Girl books started it. And then I was reading anything I could get my hands on when I was like eleven. School books. Classics. Fantasy. It seriously didn't matter to me. I was almost addicted to the words and thoughts etched into paper. I was amazed at how books made me feel and think. Still am.

I think the most important lesson I've learned is how to relate to people. Reading has given me a heightened sense of empathy.

I wouldn't trade that knowledge for anything. How could anyone not want that?

I feel like, if people read more, they'd think more. They'd appreciate more. Intelligence would be so much more common. People would be less stupid. 

But they don't read. They live in their bubbles of stupidity. I hate it. Things like "YOLO" and the word "Cray-cray" drive me so insane. It's like people don't realize they have a brain that they can use to make rational decisions.

Personally, I don't want to go out and do stupid stuff because "YOLO". I want to make something out of my life and build it and use it to make things better for people. 

I hate stupidity. By "stupidity" I mean the conscious act of not using your God-given brain, whether it be by cheating on a test that you could easily pass if you tried, or by making a dumbed down movie, or by getting drunk for the sake of "YOLO", or anything. Can't you people at least try to be smart? I know you are, deep, deep down.

End of rant. 

Alright.

This weekend has been... crazy. I've barely been home. And now I'm reallllllyyyyyy sick of the human race in general. No offense. >_> I just want to watch TV and sleep and read. With tea.

Friday was the PLAN test (practice ACT) at school, which was terrible, but then we had a half day, which was good. I went home and watched Merlin and The Tigger Movie (splendid movie). Then I went to CYT rehearsal, and I was preeeetty grumpy. >_> Because Trinity's first football game in OUR AMAZING NEW STADIUM was that night, and I was missing it.
BUT. Then the weather was horrendous, and the game didn't actually start until like nine. So I still made it for a lot of the game. YAY!!! We lost, but it was still really fun.

Saturday my mood was much improved. I had rehearsal from nine to three, and then it went over, so that was exhausting, but good. We actually got a lot done, I feel like. Then I went home and got ready for Barn Dance. Which was basically 1000% epic. I rode the mechanical bull and lasted 11 seconds, thank you very much. I danced and ate M&Ms. We got pictures at the photo booth. It was me, Josh, and a bunch of juniors most of the night, which was really fun, actually.

And then I went home and crashed.

Getting up Sunday was a struggle. >_< But I did it and we went to church. After church, we looked at houses, and Dad saw a sign for a glider plane, so we had to go check that out. Then they dropped me off for the Drood cast party, which was basically snapchatting, the video of us (which is sooooo epic), and food. I had fun. x) Then I came home and did homework. -_-

Annnnd then today was boring again.
BUT HOUSE OF HADES COMES OUT TOMORROW SO ALL WILL BE WELL (for like 6 hours while I read it. Then I'm pretty sure my heart will break. Again.) AND I'M SO EXCITED!!!!! :DDD

The End.

P.S. I just made soup. And rolls are rising. I feel so accomplished. xD