Happy New Year!!

Wow.
That year went by faster than I'd ever imagined possible. It's crazy how time flies...

But it was a great year. It was a year of change, goodbyes, new friends, and many many fun moments.
I honestly don't think that I've ever sat down and thought about the year that I was about to bid farewell forever. Now that I'm older and realize that every moment that you spend is so precious because it only happens once, I more reluctantly let the passing year go.
2011 was really a year worth remembering. There was a lot of world history made this year, many remarkable moments, and also many melancholy times.
Overall, I think that I can confidently look back on the year that I've spent and be proud of what I've accomplished and look on the things I've done with laughter and smiles.
Here's to another great year filled with joyous moments and success!
Happy New Year, everyone!

Sick...

First of all, I feel the need to start with an apology.
Sorry for the lack of posts, everyone...

I even was planning on doing a holiday post for you guys, but I didn't get the chance to do that. Now the reason behind all that is that I have been down and out with the flu for the past week and a half. It was horrible. I practically just came back from the dead.
Anyways, I am back now, free to blog for all of you, so you can come back to my blog every now and then once again because there will be a post every few days now.
So, how was my Christmas, you ask?
It was actually quite enjoyable, considering I spent it in bed, sick. I was pleased to see that Christmas went on like normal even though I was sick, however. We exchanged presents and had christmas dinner (most of which didn't stay down =.=).
I got a rabito iPhone case which I absolutely love, and two cute notebooks that I had eyed in a store in the mall a few weeks before christmas.
Thankfully, Christmas was still Christmas. :)

I am also extremely thankful that I am finally, after a week or two of absolute wretchedness.

Anyways, please comment below and let me know how your Christmas went! Tell me all about what you got too~~

Thanks for tuning in once again everybody!

Greetings from LA

So here I am, finally in Los Angeles, California.
Now it has come to my attention that I haven't been blogging for quite some time now, however, I must say, I've underestimated how hectic moving to a whole new country can be.
The first week or so of being here was absolute chaos. We were unpacking, buying furniture, buying food, and applying for countless things.
I have finally found the time to sit myself down and blog about the new chapter of my life that begins in L.A.
So far, I'm loving it here. I must admit, I miss Vancouver terribly, and all my friends I've left there, but it is quite enjoyable here. Living in LA has it's advantages. For one, the weather is absolutely magnificent. Although the some might find the sun beating down on you annoying, I love it. I bask in the sun all the time. We get the heat here in December that we never got in Vancouver in the summertime.
However, I do miss the cleanliness and nature centeredness of Vancouver. Here, it's completely different. The highways are tangled and confusing like a spider's webs, unlike Vancouver. There are cars everywhere, no matter where you go. There is also lots of litter and graffiti everywhere, disappointingly. I never realized how wonderful Vancouver was until now.
I've begun to go to my new school, David Starr Jordan Middle School. It was a huge change for me to go through, since we didn't have middle school in Vancouver. (For those who are confused, the grades go like this: Grades 1~7 Elementary school, and Grades 8~12 Highschool.)
There was no such thing as middle school, so I did have quite a lot of adjusting to do.
I was quite intimidated being faced with the fact that I had to move on to middle school.
However, despite all my fears, everybody at the school gave me a warm welcome and was happy with "the new girl." I was so relieved that I was accepted into the school environment.
And I was also happy with all my classes. It was so much more different than Vancouver, but it was a good different.
Anyways, I just thought that it was time I let you know that I made it to L.A. and am surviving the hectic chain of events that life is throwing at me.
I hope that my viewers will forgive me for not posting for so long, but I also hope that they will be understanding about my situation right now!
Thank you once again for tuning in to Sitting By The Ocean - from L.A.!!

Los Angeles, California, USA                       Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Mentorship ~ Meeting Mr. Harris

Today, I was privilidged enough to meet Mr. Harris, the lawyer. This was because I am part of the mentorship program. Ms. Milden, the head of the mentorship program, introduced me to Mr. Harris. Even though it was a one time experience, I thought it was magnificent! I had all of my questions answered, and really enjoyed it when he gave me a tour of the courthouse. It was a wonderful thing to do before I left for L.A., and I'm so happy that I was given the chance to do this. I loved every minute of our session!  When we first got there, he told me a lot about what it was to be a lawyer, and different types of lawyers, and all the basics. Then he started to answer all the questions that I had; he answered them with great detail, which was helpful for me since I don't know much about law. Then after a while of questions and answers, we made our way over to see his assistant, Goldie. I have to say, I kind of felt bad for her when I saw all the paperwork that she had to do. There was even more on the computer, and when she started to explain things to me, I could see how crucial her job was to Mr. Harris. After meeting Goldie, (and a brief hello to Cathy, and also what was leftover of the Halloween party) we went downstairs to see Miss Harry. It was actually pretty cool to meet a female lawyer, seeing from her point of view what it was like to be a lawyer. Everybody was really friendly and open to my being there, and I loved that about the place!! So after seeing everyone, we left to go to the courthouse. 

I always wanted to be inside the courthouse, for I walked past it many, many times, and I finally got to be in there! I got to see the end of a court session, and everything was very official. Yes... official. That's the best way to put it. After seeing that, we got to see the library in the courthouse. It was filled with books as thick as dictionaries that were titled with very official titles. What was really cool was that there was a book that Mr. Harris wrote in the library! It was huge and heavy-I don't know how he managed to write all of it... I bet everything you need to know about law is in that library. A few weeks  (Who am I kidding) months of reading in that library, and I think that I could answer the many questions that I have myself!! That was the end of our session, but despite it being short, it was a great experience; I loved everything about it!! All in all, everybody I met really inspired me and made me think more about being a lawyer. The experience was really helpful and informative!!

Book Review #23 ~ Fever 1793

Alright so I realized that I haven't done a book review in quite some time, so I decided to write up another one. This book is actually quite an intriguing one, and although the beginning may be boring, don't be fooled; it's actually a quite wonderful story.
Fever 1793 ~ Laurie Halse Anderson

13-year-old Matilda is a confident and independent young girl who helps her mother run their coffeehouse. She lives in the hustle and bustle of Philidelphia, but then disaster strikes. People everywhere, all over the country start to fall over dead from the deadly Yellow Fever. It starts out as a topic for small talk at the coffehouse, then makes it's way up to the point where it's an epidemic. The once hustling, bustling Philidelphia now appears to be a ghost town, for everybody who isn't deathly ill has fled the town, fearing that they too may be a victim of the treacherous disease. Matilda also comes down with it eventually, and struggles to recover. She keeps fighting so that she may regain her well beign, and her strength of mind gives her strength of body, which makes her well again. When she recovers, she is with no one but her grandfather, who isn't in perfect condition either. They make their way back to the city after being attacked by highway men when they were fleeing. When she returns to the city, she starts helping with others that are sick, and as the people are slowly regaining their strength, Matilda faithfully presses on towards the deay when all of Philidelphia will be free from the horrible fever.

This book is actually based on a real event, and it has all the information about it at the back of the book. The book has quite a gripping plot, and it hooks you on to the story. However, it didn't hook you on immediately, as I would've liked, but later on in the book. It was still a great story, and I do recommend everyone to read it.

Thank you for tuning in, and come back next time for more!!

Comment

Hello universe! :)

So I've kinda' noticed lately that note a lot of people are commenting on my blog.

I just thought I'd make a post and let you know. Please feel free to comment. Whatever it is. Just tell me what you thought of my post or comment any questions that you might have for me. :) I'm happy to reply to your comments - Because I'm just that cool. I CARE ABOUT MY READERS!

It makes my day when I see a comment pop up on my blog, just because I'm glad to see that people are actually reading my posts! And for those who do not know how to comment on my blog, here is a set of instructions:

1. scroll down to the end of post and click '0 comments' (1 comments, 2 comments, whatever.)

2. Type in your comment in the box.

3. At the bottom, where it says 'comment as:' click Name/URL. You don't have to put in the URL, but you can if you want.

3. Click 'Post Comment.'

YAY YOUR COMMENT HAS BEEN POSTED!

So that is how you post a comment on my blog. Now that I have included the instructions in my post, please feel free to comment more often, folks!

Thanks! I'll see you next time~!!

The Rockies! Day 4

Although I haven't done a post on the Rockies in a while, I am still following up with it! So here I go with....
The Rockies! Day 4

So after sleeping at that horrible Lake Louise Campground, we finally made our way to the definitely not horrible Lake Louise. The lake really was as beautiful as everybody said it was. The colour of the water was simply heavenly. It was a blue-green colour, but had a turquoise hint to it. It had a bit of white thrown in too, so it made a lovely swirly colour in the water. The mountains in the backround just completed the scene, and made the whole place picture perfect.

 There was also a trail to hike, and that took us about thirty minutes. It wasn't too long, so I liked the hike very much. You basically just walk along the shore of the lake, so you always have a magnificent view while walking. After the hike, we looked around the Lake Louise Chateau (A Fancy Schmancy Hotel) and marvelled at all the wonderful items in the shops and around the hotel. We walked by the people eating lunch there a few times and my dad decided that we could eat there for lunch. Although the meal was a bit expensive, I loved eating there. The food was first-rate, and I loved the view of Lake Louise from the big windows inside the restauraunt. It was a beautiful hotel, and I ended up promising to my parents that when I got older, I would earn lots of money and send them to this hotel for their anniversary.

So after leaving the beautiful lake, we headed on to see Morraine Lake, the next stop on our list. Although it was quite lovely, I have to say that it was nothing compared to Lake Louise. When we got there, after walking a few steps down the trail with my mom, I got drawn to the gift shop and spent the majority of my time there, looking at all the small souvenirs that they were selling and trying on different sunglasses with my dad. The gift shop was quite fun, actually! After reluctantly being dragged away from the shop empty-handed, we piled into our van and drove on towards Banff Hotsprings. We were looking forward to sitting in that warm and pleasant pool after a long day of hiking and driving. After changing into our bathing suits, we went outside, and boy, was it chilly out. Certainly not weather to be running around in your swimming suit.

So I eagerly jumped into the steaming pool and relaxed as I thawed my body out a bit. I loved that you could see the snow topped mountains in the distance and all the lush green trees surrounding it. It was really magnificent to be there. We wanted to stay until the stars came out, but because we didn't have dinner yet, we were pretty hungry and decided to leave. So we made our way over to the next campground we were to sleep at : Village II Campground. Now this campground was ten times better compared to Lake Louise Campground. Although it did have a feeling of parking on a street and sleeping there, it was so much better. The bathrooms were much cleaner and bigger too. Some people might say that it lacked privacy, but since everybody was tucked up in their RVs all warm and cozy, we didn't feel that way at all. Our plans were to eat dinner and then return to the hotsprings to soak ourselves some more, but seeing that we were all exhausted, we decided to stay in and rest instead. So we gulped down our dinner and clambered into the van, eager for the warmth. Although it was much earlier than when we usually slept, we lay down snuggled next to each other as sleep slowly overcame each of us.

That was the end of day three, folks! Thank you for coming to read my post, and stay tuned for more!

I Have News...

Alrighty everybody. Hold your breath. I have news.
It's actually really big news.

I... I... I'm moving again. But no, not just to a different home. To an entirely different COUNTRY!

Yes, I will officially be moving from Vancouver, B.C., Canada, to L.A., California, U.S.A. We will be driving to L.A., seeing all the sights on the way. We will be saying goodbye to Vancouver for the last time on November 4. I am, actually pretty excited, but then there's that pang you feel, the one you feel whenever you move away from someplace you've been for a long time. In my case, I've grown up in Vancouver and spent my entire school life here. I have made all of my friends in Vancouver and they all remain in Vancouver. I wonder what I'm going to do without them when I get to L.A. But truthfully, I am completely O.K. with our move. Yes, I will miss Vancouver; and Canada. Yes, I will be pretty downcast to have to leave my friends. Yes, I am quite worried that I might not be able to adjust to a whole new country as well as new friends and a new school. But I am still excited to go. I always think of it as an adventure, and there are a lot of bright sides to going, actually. I will get to see what it's like to move from class to class and have lockers! I will be able to bask in the sun more often. I can visit Hollywood Blvd. as much as I want~! I can get more of Pinkberry, my favourite frozen yogurt stand. DISNEYLAND + UNIVERSAL STUDIOS!!

As you can see, if you think about it, you can find the bright side in everything, although you may find a few bumps in the road!! (Remind me to tell myself that when I actually do come across 'a bump in the road.') I am especially excited for our trip there, when I think of all the sights that we'll see! But now that I have given myself a pep talk, here's what I'm worried about:

1. I will be going to a new school with a totally different curriculum than Canada.

2. New school means new friends. New friends are not always so easy to make.

3. The curriculum in the U.S. is harder than the curriculum in Canada.
4. How does the national anthem go again...?

5. What American history?

6. I will definitely miss going to the lush green mountains of B.C.

7. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I actually will miss the downpours that we get.

Those were a few of the many things that I am worried about when we get to L.A.

But as of right now, I'm happy that we're going. Part of the reason is because my parents promised that all three of us would get an iPhone 5. (Yes, it just came out a few days ago)

Anyways, I will tell you all about the trip there in November and how everything is going. But as of right now, I have to study up on Algebra 1, the national anthem, and American History.

Please wish me luck on our move!!

The Rockies! Day 3

The Rockies! Day 3
So I'm back to tell you about the third day of my trip to the Rockies.

As always, I was quite reluctant to get out of the warm, heated car to prepare to go to our next stop: Edith Cavell Mountain. Just to give you an idea of how cold it was: when you changed into your clothes in the morning after you got out of bed, your clothes felt like blocks of ice against your skin. Bascially everything in the car was almost frozen except for my family, our clothes, and our sleeping bags. I really didn't want to get out of bed, partly because it was so cold and partly because it was so early. But of course, there was no choice but to get up and move, so eventually I dragged my toasty warm body out into the cold (cold? More like FREEZING) morning air and prepared everything to go to the mountain. Edith Cavell was pretty close to our campground Wabasso, so it was convenient to go there. Edith Cavell was actually really beautiful. It had these lines on the sides of the mountains, like layers. When you got up there, it was pretty cold, but not exactly unbearable when we started walking up to the summit. It didn't take a long time, just a few minutes. And when we got up there, something really unexpected popped up in front of us. It was a lake that was frozen over. It was pretty thin ice though, so if you put any pressure whatsoever onto it, it would break into pieces. My dad and I had a lot of fun spending our time there, breaking off shards of ice and throwing them onto the ice,

watching them shatter on the surface. Although our hands got really red and freezing cold, it was still really fun to do. After we played there for a while, I caught sight of people walking up to a cave and decided that I wanted to go check out this cave. So we hiked up through the rocky path - it was literally rocky. Rocks everywhere. - to the cave. The cave was also frozen, and it had blocks of ice on the walls and ceiling of the cave that were dripping water onto the ground. It was actually really really cool, and the cave went deep into the mountain, but it was obviously too dark and dangerous to go through, even though I would've liked to.

So after taking a satisfying amount of pictures, we left for the Colombia Icefields, which is basically self explanatory. It's like a field of ice, and so we stopped there and ate lunch in the car, then hiked up to where the icefields were. You can actually pay to go with a group in a special car and drive around the icefields, but we didn't do that. We just hiked up. The hike up was pretty steep, and you wouldn't believe how windy it was. It was extremely windy, and the temperature was probably below zero. And as far as I know, windy and cold don't really make a great combination. But I have to admit, it was pretty breathtaking once you got to the top, and the windiness actually got pretty enjoyable, seeing your hair whip around your face in all directions. After being whipped around by the wind a bit, we hiked back down, taking baby steps so that we didn't fall and tumble all the way down. Then we drived and drived and drived until we reached the Lake Louise Campground. We had to wait in a really long line to get in, and I have to say, if I could describe it in one word, it would be... HORRIBLE. The campground was horrible. The showers sprayed all over the place and were cold, the bathrooms were small and dirty, you had share one big campground space, a train passed, tooting it's horn, making you wake up every few hours, and there were no lamposts or anything, so it was pitch black. The reason there were so many people there was because it was the only campsite in the area that had full hookups. I recommend that you keep driving until you find some other place, because Lake Louise Campground has so many things to complain about. I had a restless sleep that night, waking up every few hours because of that loud train...

That's it for today, folks, I'll see you next time!!

Mentorship

Hello, fellow readers~!!

So I have come back with somewhat- well, I guess pretty exciting news. I went to an interview to see if I qualified for a mentorship, and after a while of answering Ms. Milden's questions, she informed me that I was accepted into the program and that they would try to find a mentor for me to work with. The area of mentorship I qualified for is writing. I actually love writing a lot, hence the reason I started this blog. I actually started out just writing once in a while, but my love for writing grew and grew as I started writing more often on this blog. It was great to get the chance to be interviewed, and I loved it even more since I got accepted and will get to be with a mentor that would help my writing skills climb higher and eventually (hopefully) write a story!! You see, my main goal is to write a capturing story that makes the reader smile and be driven to tears and burst out laughing. Anybody can start a story. Not a lot of people can continue on and finish one. I'm kind of one of the people that can't figure out a good enough ending to finish it. Sometimes it's because my mind is completely blank and I'm just sitting there, trying to conjure up an idea from the back of my head. Sometimes I have a million things running through my mind but I just can't decide which one would stand out against the others. I could really use a mentor that would give me bits of advice here and there and help me to create a riveting story. Anyways, it's a really great experience that I am grateful to encounter! Special thanks to my teachers (from my old school and my new school) that recommended me for this program! I am forever thankful, and I often wonder what this word would be without teachers!

Sorry, I'm getting sidetracked.

Anyways, I just wanted to tell you that I'm beginning my mentorship, and I just thought that I would share the news with you!
Stay tuned for more, folks~!




                                                                                           
                                                                  Above: What a mentorship looks like. :)

Thankfulness

Hi Everybody!!

So I was thinking today, about how thankful everybody should be. We hear people complaining about not having the newest phones, or the coolest toys, or the most in-fashion clothes. It is human nature to want more and more, but come on. If you think of all the people in third-world countries struggling to have a sip of water or a bite of food each and every day, it sounds pretty selfish and, well, spoiled what we complain about here. Now I'm not saying that I don't complain and want other things. All I want is a little more than I have now, right? ;) I'm sure everybody knows about all these people suffering all over the world, but the thing is despite the massive number of people that know about what's happening, not many do anything to help. We feel sympathetic for a few days, and then something comes up in our schedule, something more exciting or whatnot, and that sympathy is gone. Just like that. It's pushed to the back of our brains. We're right back to our usual I-want-more selves. We should just be thankful that we can get clean water to drink! Imagine walking for miles with a heavy jug to fill it with muddy water from a puddle. That's right. Not a lot of villiages have wells that they can go to. But us, with just a simple turn of the tap or a push of a button, we have running water. It's so, so much easier than walking miles and miles. And we have shelter. Shelter to keep the wind and rain out. Isn't it wonderful to have somewhere to hide when it's pouring buckets of rain? Isn't it great to come inside to a warm, heated kitchen and sip hot chocolate after being outside on a cold winter day? And what about right now. You're looking at a computer screen. Isn't it amazing that we even have a computer, one where you can search anything you could possibly imagine, one where you can email people that are halfway across the world in just a matter of seconds? It's really amazing what we have here, compared to others. We have so much, so much more than we really need to survive. I just think that it's ridiculous that we're spilling over with blessings and all this great stuff but still complaining for more, while those in poorer countries are begging for food, water, medical attention, and so much more basic needs, and they don't ask for anything more than what they need to survive. Although you might not have the most fashionable shoes, or the best gadgets, you should be thankful for what you own now.

Of course everybody looks at those who have something that you don't have and think to themselves, gosh, I want that. I want it more than anything. But, when you start thinking that, think of what you have now. Think of the people that would look at you and say, I want what they have. So lets start being more thankful and think of all the things that we should be grateful for.

Thank you for tuning in once again, and I hope this post helped you to realize how blessed we are!!

The Rockies! Day 2

Hi Everybody!!
I'm back again, to tell you about my second day at the Rockies.
The Rockies! Day 2

So on the second day, we headed out from the Blue River campground after a nice, cozy nights' sleep. (It was really cozy, because it was so warm in the car and so cold outside...) We were headed towards Jasper, Alberta. We were actually meaning to get there on the first day, but we decided to be on the safe side and stay at a campground for the night. So we drove for about an hour and half until we reached Jasper. Jasper was a pretty small town in Alberta, but the town was actually really nice. The buildings were really cool, they were like wood cabins that you would see in movies, and it was a really nice, homey feeling town. The people there were pretty friendly too! You should probably stop there. There's nothing much to see, but it was still nice to have a little break as we rested there. So after stopping at the visitor information centre and getting a bunch of pamphlets and brochures and maps and whatnot, we kept going towards Mt. Robson. I really recommend that you stop there. Mt. Robson is really beautiful, and it's supposed to be one of the tallest mountains in the world!! The

 hiking trails there are pretty long. It goes from 4km to about 21km. So we didn't hike. We just ate lunch at some picnic tables (And I tried my first coffee! ... I'm never trying it again.) and then went to pick blueberries!! The have this big blueberry field and anybody can just go there, pick a few blueberries and eat 'em. So you don't have to pay. The blueberries aren't your usual blueberries, however. They're really tiny. They're like mini blueberries, but they taste just as great as the normal sized ones. So if you stop by at Mt. Robson and you see a bunch of people bending over picking at something, follow them over there and try some!!

After filling ourselves with blueberries, we drove on to Maligne Lake and Medicine Lake. It took a little while to get there, and we just drove past Medicine Lake, but they were both really beautiful. The vastness and the colour of the lake was breathtaking. You should definitely stop there. Snap a few photos.

By the time we left the two lakes, it was about time to eat dinner, and so we drived and drived until we found another campground. It was called Wabasso. (Oh and by the way, all of the campgrounds that we went to had full hook-up) Wabasso was an O.K. campground. It was pretty clean, so I liked that. There were other ones, but they were all full or had no hook up, so we couldn't go. So after getting all settled in and laying out the sleeping bags, we ate dinner and eagerly climbed into the warm van and slept a deep sleep until morning.
END OF DAY 2

I hope you enjoyed reading about the second day at the rockies, and please stay tuned for more!!

Book Review #22 ~ Savvy

Hi, folks!
So I'm back with another book review! I thought that you guys might like this book; it's pretty unique, and the writer was really creative, in my opinion.
The book I will be reviewing today is called:
Savvy - Ingrid Law

Our story is about the Beaumont family. They are quite different from ordinary families. You see, the thing that makes them special is that when the Beaumont children turn 13, their supernatural power - their savvy - kicks in. But on the eve of Mibs' thirteenth birthday, her father is injured in a terrible car accident, leaving him in a coma. Mibs and her family are absolutely devastated when they find out what had happened, and Mibs isn't sure she can get through her birthday without her father. She is no longer anticipating the moment when she will find out what her savvy will be, but instead thinks about her father every single minute of the day. Of course, she is not able to enjoy herself, what with being sick with worry for her father. But when her brothers, friends, an unusual but spunky old lady and a delivery man that is a nervous wreck embark on an extraordinary adventure, the day takes a turn... for the better or for the worse you'll soon find out. The journey is an odd one indeed, and it takes them to new places and new people; on top of all that, Mibs' savvy suddenly appears and shocks her and the people around her when she starts to act strangely. Their adventure envelops everybody in a turbulent chain of events.

I thought that this book was actually really good. It was very creative and I think that if I was writing a story like this one, I would really have to think out of the box. The story wasn't very predictable (that's a good thing - I don't really like stories where you know exactly what'll happen next) and took you through lots of different events. I thought the book was 5 out of 5 stars, and although it might be a bit easy for some, I definitely recommend that you read it.

Anyways, thanks for tuning in, folks!!

Book Review #21 ~ The City of Ember

Hello, fellow readers!
So I have just finished this PHENOMENAL book called:
The City of Ember. By Jeanne DuPrau

So our main characters, Lina and Doon, are 12-years old and live in a city called Ember. But Ember is unlike any other city. It is underground, and the city has been manmade many years ago. The citizens of ember do not know anything about the world above them. They have been taught since they were children that Ember was the only light in a world of darkness. They don't know anything about sunlight, grass, or animals. But after living in this city for over 200 years, the supplies in the storerooms that were once by the thousands are now steadily running out. But not only that, the lights that hold the terrifying, swallowing darkness back are starting to flicker. Some citizens are starting to worry about what will happen when their supplies run out completely or when the lights go out and don't come back on. Then one day, Lina and Doon set off on an adventure to find an exit from Ember, and hopefully, lead to an enterance to a better city when they find instructions on how to do so.
I found this book very intriguing, and it had me on my toes throughout the entire story. It is filled with suspense. The author is very creative, thinking of this kind of story, and the story is riveting. I wouldn't hesitate to read it twice. It's science fiction for those who don't like science fiction. :)

I'll be back soon with more posts, everyone!!

9/11

I'm sure that everybody knows what I'm talking about.

The twin towers demolished and gone, the hundreds of innocent people killed...

It was a real tragic event, and people all over the world were irate at what had happened. They wanted whoever was responsible for this horrible event dead. And so, to gain revenge, the U.S.A. sent troops out to Iraq with one plan in mind; to kill the leader of this terrorist attack. They did kill the president of Iraq, Saddam Hussein, so in a way, they succeeded. But, in the process of killing Hussein, they also killed tens of thousands of innocent people. And I'm completely against the ruthless killing of innocent people. Who isn't? Yet, whenever war breaks out, it's inevitabe. Many innocent people will lose their homes and suffer many casualties. I hate to see this happen. I understand the killing of Hussein, but why must we kill all these other people? Even children, (CHILDREN!!) died from this war. Now, don't get me wrong. I do feel just as angry as everybody else that this terrorist group caused such pain and suffering to everybody. The people that were killed during 9/11 were all innocent people, people just like you and me who would've never dreamed of this kind of thing happening to them all of a sudden, out of the blue! Of course, it's not right, of course we feel vengeful. Although I am against the purposeful killing of anyone, there is such thing as commiting a crime, a crime so severe that you can only pay for the lives of the thousands who died with your own. BUT. We are miserable that these people that were in the plane or the World Trade Center died, but what about those innocent people whose lives were taken in Iraq? Does that make sense to you? It doesn't to me. Just because some horrible, terrible man came and killed all these people, does that mean that we must charge into their country and shoot all these people down just as ruthlessly? No. Just the man behind 9/11 should've paid, not all these poor people. They've done nothing wrong. A lot of them probably didn't know what Hussein did in New York and were taken aback and horrified to find the U.S. troops marching into their country.

Anyways, my whole point is, just because someone hurt the innocent ones in our country, it doesn't mean we should hurt the innocent ones in theirs back.

Alright then, let's just remember today, the lives of those that were taken, both in Iraq and in New York.

I'll be back soon with another post, readers!

The Rockies! Day 1

Hi everybody!!
So you may have been wondering why I have not been posting for the past week.

Well, I have been driving to the Rockies and back. I have been on a road trip, and boy do I have a lot to tell you.

I guess the next few posts about my trip to the Canadian Rockies is going to be kind of like a travel journal/a travel guide. I will tell you everywhere you must stop, and places that you shouldn't.

Alright then, here I go!

The Rockies! Day 1

We left for Valemount in the morning, with everything we needed packed. We had packed so much stuff, mostly food to eat for 7 days. We brought along three Iceboxes and 4 reusable green bags filled to the brim with food to eat. Confident that we wouldn't lose our way what with the new GPS that we had, we took off and started our journey for the Rockies. We drove through Merritt and through Kamloops and throughout the entire first day, we were just driving, driving, and driving. By the time we passed Kamloops, the sun was starting to set, and we were desperately looking for an R.V. Park or a Campground to stay at. We were driving for what seemed like forever until we came across a campground called Blue River Campground. By this time, we were too desperate for a place to sleep to be picky about it, so we just went in the first campground that we saw. Thankfully, that Blue River Campground was very clean and it was quite cozy. The price wasn't too bad either. (I definitely recommend the place. If you're traveling in that area, it's a nice place to sleep.) So we set up our dinner, and ate quickly as the sun shined it's last and disappeared under the horizon. We were quite down that the sun had set quickly, but soon the stars started to appear one by one in the sky. The stars, -sigh- the stars were just... they were breathtaking. It was amazing. Remarkable. Sensational.

Staggering. Stunning. Phenomenal. Extraordinary. Prodigious. I could list all the words, but you have to see it for yourself. It was about as sparkly as.. as.. as Lady Gaga's sequin dress. If you live in the country, it's even more spectacular, since you can't see nearly half-ahem- let me rephrase that. Nearly one tenth as many stars as there are in the country, away from all the lights. And then we started a campfire. The flames wouldn't catch, and time after time the burning embers would die away. But then my dad brought over a burning log from a different campfire (Thank you neighbours) and that finally got the fire going. A word of advice: don't stand directly where the smoke is coming out. I learned the hard way. I know, it is common sense, but I didn't really realize that smoke was different from steam... Anyways, just don't do it. Your eyes sting. A lot.

After about an hour of sitting huddled around the campfire in our parkas, (yes, you read it right. Parkas. In August. It was much colder than we had expected, and by nighttime, I was frozen to the bone. I'm talking four layers. So if you go near the end of summer, PACK WARM!!) we got up, brushed our teeth, washed our faces, used the washroom, washed our feet, and ran back. We ran partly because it was cold, and partly because we had washed all the bug repellent off and the mosquitos were attacking every bit of bare skin there was on our bodies. When you go, bring bug repellent. You'll need it.

I even got a mosquito bite on my butt. Yes. That deadly little sucker pierced through my jeans and my underwear and bit me.

Anyways, when we ran back, we had a warm electric mat waiting for us. Don't know what that is? It's pretty much something you put under you when you sleep, and it heats up so you can sleep without freezing to death. We didn't go in an R.V., we just went in our van, so we felt the need to bring our electric mat. So finally, we slept on an electric mat all warm and cozy and slowly drifted off to sleep.

That's the end of day one, everybody, I'll be back soon with day two!!

New GPS!!

Hello, fellow readers!

So I am posting to you about the GPS that we bought yesterday! I was really looking forward to buying it, and for the first hour or so yesterday, I was playing around with it until it ran out of batteries and we needed to charge it again. I tend to do this a lot with new electronics that are bought... Anyways, my mom complained that we would have to charge it again now that I had used up all the batteries. I quickly retorted that it was a chance to understand how to use the charger, so she sent me to the car to plug it in. See the thing is, I plugged it in, but I don't think it charged. Maybe you had to have the engine on? I don't know. I just couldn't do it. I spent a while fiddling around with it until I came back telling my mom that I couldn't figure out how to do it.
The point is, now it's completely out of batteries and I can't play with it anymore. That's a bummer.
But I am so glad we finally got a GPS. Everybody else I knew had one, and although I had been told that it can be annoying what with the robotic "TuRn LeFt" every few seconds, I still wanted one. What can I say? All I want is a little more than I have now~!

Anyways, thank you for listening to me drone on about being all excited over the new GPS, and I hope you enjoyed the post!!

Now Posting To You... From A Different Home!

Hi Everybody!!
So as you know, I have moved to a different home.

I have stressed to you about adjusting to the different home, but you know, it's really not that bad. I've managed to adjust very quickly, and the neighbourhood is great. Even though the 2nd floor cannot compare to the 22nd floor, it's still not that bad. One benefit that I realized: If a burglar is in the house, I can easily jump out my bedroom window, land on the roof, and make a safe landing to the ground. Whereas from the twenty-second floor? Erm.. not as great of an idea. We are all settled in already, so the place feels more like ours what with all our pictures and furniture everywhere. I guess it's not so bad to move. Of course, you are pretty busy and you have lots of things to do, and it seems like there's endless things to pack and then unpack and organize and so on. However, it's nice to have a change every once in a while. Have I wanted to go back to my old home? A few times. Do I miss my old home? To be honest, no. I mean, it was my house and everything, but now, this new place is what I call home. Afterall, they say that home is where the heart is!
So basically, I'm just posting to you that I have moved in safely, and nothing broke or ripped (that's okay Teddy, I can sew your ear back on) and I'm letting you know that I am now posting from a different location! Honestly, to you, it won't be that much of a big deal because you get the same posts, and my location does not really matter to you people, I guess.
Anyways, I will keep you posted on everything that happens (new schools, new friends, etc.) and of course, I will have the occasional book review and movie reviews, which I have decided to do!
Have fun for the rest of the- HOLY MACARONI AND CHEESE THERE'S A WEEK UNTIL SCHOOL STARTS AGAIN!!
Alright then, you folks go and frolic and have your barbeques and what not, because SUMMER'S ALMOST GONE!!
Have fun, everybody!

Adjustments

Hi Everybody!!
So as you know, I am moving. Alrthough not far, there's still a lot of things to adjust to. A new school, a new neighbourhood, new friends, and a new house.

It will be rather hard adjusting from my noisy downtown apartment to the quiet, humble home in a nice little neighbourhood with houses that look like the ones that you would see in fairytales. And now we have next door neighbours and a small garden. Also, I do not come out onto the sidewalk to meet a bunch of stores and cars and people anymore. Now I come out to see a big, big field in front of me, an occasional person, and a bunch of small houses painted all different colours. I also cannot see the ocean from my house anymore. No more taking walks along the seawall in the evenings. That's really sad. I love living by the sea. -sigh- And here, when I go to bed and turn out the lights, I can still easily see in the dark because of the light coming from the other buildings and the streets. But now it will be pitch black when the lights go out, since there's nothing but the streetlamps. The last thing I hear before I go to bed is usually people screaming or cars on the street. Now it will be silence. The last thing I hear before I go to bed will be nothing. That kind of creeps me out. Nothingness creeps me out.

And the house is a huge thing to get used to one of the big things is the elevators. Probably half of the six years of my life I have lived in my building I spent going up and down the elevators in my building. I am just so used to them. I have to get used to the stairs now. not even that many. And just going up two floors... not 22. We have gone down 20 floors. That's a pretty big difference. And another thing is that we have landlords. Which means we can't be too loud; which means that I can't scream whenever I feel like it anymore. I also have to get used to sleeping in a different room. And eating in a different kitchen. I just have to get used to the entire house in general.

New school, new friends. This is a big one. A major thing. I will miss my school, my small school by the sea. It'll be a shame to have to move to a different one, as I have spent pretty much all of my school life there. And of course, a new school means new friends. Making new friends can be exciting and a little bit intimidating at the same time. Everyone likes the friends that they have now and nobody - I mean NOBODY would like to say goodbye to them. As of right now, I am quite convinced that nobody could replace the wonderful friends I have now, and no one could be as great as they are. However, I still wish that I found friends that would welcome me to the new school and the new neighbourhood just as my old friends had. -sigh- I hope so.... I really hope so.

Ayways, everybody says that you should be able to adjust well to different surroundings and people. They say it makes you a stronger person and someone that becomes more experienced and all that other good stuff. I guess it's a good thing if you can do it because adjusting to something else - something that you're not used to - is hard.
So I hope you readers enjoyed reading this post, and understand what I mean by having trouble adjusting! I will see you all next time!!

Moving...

Hi everyone~!
I just wanted to tell you that I will be moving next week. Not far, just to another part of Vancouver. We are moving into a rental home, but it isn't as bad as you think it would be. Our landlord is really nice. He is 78 years old and is like a grandfather to me!! I am so glad that the landlord is somebody nice and not crabby and a clean freak who would hyperventilate because you spilled water on the carpet.
So yes, we found a nice house to live in temporarily. It's pretty spacious and clean, so...
We are moving in next week. It will be kind of hard to adjust to a new home since I have been living in my apartment for 6 years. But I'll adjust soon. I'm pretty good at adjusting.
One big thing I have to adjust to is my new school. I have been at my school for a really long time, and I am kind of reluctant to leave so suddenly, but I guess I'm okay with it at the same time. I am reluctant and excited to leave at the same time, and scared to live my friends here but am also anxious to make new friends there. If that makes any sense to you. There are a bunch of bad things about leaving, but there are also a bunch of good things to make up for the bunch of bad things. Hmm. Even I'm confused about what I'm saying. Oh well, I hope some of you understand what I mean...^^

Alrighty then. I just thought I would let my readers know that I am leaving my home soon. (My wonderful, wonderful home... ) But you know what they say, "Home is where the heart is."
So I'll see you folks next time when I tell you about my life and such!!

Wonderful Card!!

Hi everyone!
So I have just checked out my friend's blog,( http://dumberthanarock.blogspot.com/ )

and I found that she had written a blog about the birthday card + presents I had given her!! Well, I thought that I should say that her card is the better of the two cards. It's wonderful, what with the detail to the facial features and the beautiful mixture of colours... my friend is a real artist. Don't you think so?? She's so creative and I loved her card so much. I SHALL KEEP IT FOREVER!!
And as she mentioned in her blog, I am moving. Unfortunately, my friend Una and I will be split up (NOOOOOO) and we won't be able to see each other as often anymore. I am hoping that we can keep in touch though, and keep making each other beautiful birthday cards (Exhibit A---->).
I just want to give a shout out to my awesome buddy!!!!
Thank you Una, for your wonderful, creative, artistic card!!

Book Review #20 ~ Iqbal

Hello fellow readers!!!
I have come back with another novel to share with all of you wonderful people who have come to read my blog. This book is a very emotion-filled book. You might cry. You might scream with anger. You might laugh with joy. It's a wonderful book, and it's beautifully written. The words just flow. Here it is:
Iqbal - Francesco D'Adamo

This novel is based on a true story. It's based on the life of Iqbal Masih, a child slave in Pakistan. Iqbal's story begins when he arrives at a carpet factory run by Hussain Khan, a ruthless man who deprives his child workers of a decent life. You can't even say child workers. It's child slaves. Child labour. CHILD ABUSE, FOR HEAVEN'S SAKE, CHILD ABUSE!!!

Anyways. Back to the story.
The children were not kidnapped or anything though, as you might possibly be thinking. They were sold into slavery by their debt-ridden families and must work until their debt is paid off. Of course, their family extremely reluctantly gave up the child who would work on behalf of their family. But they had to. It was the only way to pay off the debt. Of course, Hussain Khan is the opposite of fair and nice and good words like that.
He would like the child workers to stay longer and work for him so that he could make more money with the carpets. So, children whose debts should've been paid off long ago are still there, working for Hussain. Yet, they don't know what is going on. They just keep working and working for years and years, assuming that their family's debt is extremely large. Hussain Khan is cheating them the entire time. -tsk tsk tsk-
But when Iqbal arrives (Yay, Iqbal, our little rebel!!) all the children begin to have sparks of hope about returning home to their families one day and gives them hope.

He is like their own hero. After working for a while at the factory and escaping once or twice, he finally attracts the attention of the Bonded Labour Liberation Front of Pakistan (BLLF).

Unfortunately, I cannot spoil the story for you, for the story has you on your toes the entire time. You are always dying to know what happens next, and for me, I was so enveloped in the book that I was scared if I put it down it would go on to the next part of the story without me like a T.V. I was scared that I would miss something. It is such a good book, and you must read it. MUST. Trust me. This is a book that is worthy to be in every single libarary. ... In the world. It's really that good. Loved it.
I rate it 6/5 stars. No, I'm not horrible at fractions, I just want to try to tell you how great of a book it was!
Anyways, I hope you enjoyed reading my book review, and I hope it encouraged you to pick up the book and read it!!
Thank you for visiting!!