Updates

Hey there! I know I haven't updated in awhile, and that's due mainly in part to my Grandmother's passing a week ago. She was killed in a car accident in Irvine, California on the 18th. Since then, I haven't felt like doing much at all, and this week was all funeral things.

However, I did read a bunch, so I should have some bookish things to update with! :D Also, some movie things. I did a lot of mindless fluff in the past week or so, since my brain needs a break.

Anyway, I will update soon on new and fanciful stuffzzzz. :D

Giveaway

Hey, are you a book lover!? Bookalicious is having a giveaway, with several prize packs of books. And you know what's really great about this giveaway? One lucky winner will walk away with a Barnes and Noble NookColor!

So, head on over here, or here, if you want a chance to nab a shiny NookColor for yourself. ;D

So I Went Shopping...

So, this last weekend I was able to go to Barnes and Noble. I have to say, that's my favourite place to be besides the beach. And my favourite B&N? The one in the Ontario Malls in California. It's freakin' huge!
(It also used to be by this /awesome/ Irish pub and grill, but it was just recently replaced with a Mexican restaurant. To say I was ticked off would be an understatement.)

Anyway, this particular B&N is so large and has the most sections I've ever seen. There's even a section all alone for movie books. And then music books. Never seen that in all the B&N's I've went too. (It also has the largest starbucks I've seen. ;D)

I literally went /everywhere/ looking at books. Sci-fi, music, movies, fiction, non fiction, cooking, games, sales (loooovvee), and the young adult section (fave). In the YA section was where I nearly had a panic attack. There, waiting for me in the corner of the very bottom shelf of the YA section, was the book I've been waiting for....My Soul to Steal by Rachel Vincent. The last one this ginormous B&N had! I was stoked. And then, next to it...The Iron King by Julie Kagawa! I've been trying to buy this book for ages, but every book store I went to didn't have it. >:F But I have it, and I am happeh! :D Then, last but not least, (on the next shelf over), was Ink Exchange by Melissa Marr. I've read Wicked Lovely many times (the only book other than the HP series I've read more than once), and have begged my mom to buy the rest of the series. I gave up, since I couldn't find it anymore like The Iron King. Alas! I found it, and I bought it!

Along with a HP: DHP1 bookmark that was next to the register. >:D Can you say impulse buyer? LOL

For some reason, blogger won't load this the correct way...but it's supposed to be turned portrait style. But its my new pwnsome books! :D

All the books I recieved from Christmas, above and below....busy shopping, no?

 Needless to say, I need a new bookshelf. Mine is now full. But I am so excited about all of these, that they received a special post. :D

Charlie St. Cloud

You know those stories by Nicholas Sparks? The ones that he says are romance stories not love stories....or is the other way around...whatever it is, those stories? Yeah, I don't like them. Never have. The plots are so hpredictable. They're basically cookie cutter plots and he uses that same cookie cutter over and over. So, I have refused to watch his movies...The Notebook, Dear John, The Last Song; I avoided them all.

However, my family wanted to watch Charlie St. Cloud. I was prejudice to the millionth degree because of it 1. being a Nicholas Sparks movie and 2. it starred Zac Efron. I never liked him after I found out how egotistical he was and that he went along for 3 High School Musicals. (C'mon...those are just silly. HS is not that way)

But...I watched it anyway.

I LIKED it. Can you believe it? I actually liked a Zac Efron/ Nicholas Sparks movie. Yeah, some parts were cliche...death, danger and whatnot. But there was no cancer or estranged family. It seemed a little bit more normal, and I love the "super powers" Charlie had. [spoilers!] How cool would it be, to still see a dead family member everyday and talk to them? Charlie got to do that with his little brother after their fatal car accident. Why could he? Because Charlie had died, but was brought back. He came back with this new ability.

And then he meets a girl he hadn't seen since High School. They fall in love and whatnot. (They sorta made out on their first date, which is stupid, but it's not when you figure it out later...) And then she gets in a crash out on the ocean and Charlie sees her. The thing is...he doesn't know that she's not really there. He thinks she's real.
[end spoilers!]

Without giving away the ending, I have to say that it was pretty dang good. I wouldn't be against watching it again. :D

Reading

Hey there. So one of my favourite things to do is, read. I love books, old or new, and I love to read them.

Right now, I'm reading the first Lord of the Rings book, The Fellowship of the Ring. I've already read The Hobbit twice before, and I'm glad that I started with that. It helps a lot with making sense of this book. However, The Fellowship of the Ring is so much more interesting than The Hobbit was. 
Anyway, I've always wanted to read the series, so I've started. I'm on page 245 of 458, and it's right at a climax. The things I enjoy most of this book, are the poems every now and then.On of my favourite ones is this;

"All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all who wander are lost.
The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep roots are not reached by the frost.

From the ashes a fire shall be woken,
A light from the shadows shall spring;
Renewed shall be blade that was broken,
The crownless again shall be King."

I love that poem so much that I'm writing it with my calligraphy pen in a pretty type. I hope I can frame it later. =] I also love Aragorn, so far, and that poem seems to be about him as well. I'm really interested to find out.

Goodbye, 2010

2010 was a big year for myself, as well as my family. I just wanted to reflect upon it one last time as a way to say goodbye and bring on good things for this year. =]

January:

On the 10th, my Grandfather turned 90! We had a big celebration with a sort of family reunion. One Aunt was unable to make it, but it was still enjoyable. My Grandfather was so very happy. It was a great day.

On the 22nd, I believe, my town was hit by a huge storm and then a tornado. Over 100 telephone and electrical poles were knocked down in our town. Many roads were blocked. We were without power and water for over a week. We were displaced out of our home for five days by the American Red Cross. When powered was restored to our home, we had to go through our food. We lost over $700 in food that week. Only the food in the pantry was left.

February: 

On the 12th, by Father turned 56. We had a nice party for him. =D

Towards the end of February, my Grandfather who just turned 90, had a stroke. He was placed in an elderly rehabilitation center. He had lost his basic motor skills and could not walk. For the rest of February, all of March, and most of April we drove the 4-5 hour drive to help him, and returned home every week after two or three days. We never unpacked, basically. Eventually, he regained his motor skills, talked a lot, and was able to sit up and read the paper at breakfast. His walking skills never returned. 

March:

My Grandfather returned to his home, but had to stay in a provided bed. Hospice was used to help take care of him since my Grandmother couldn't do it. We continued to travel to see him.

I got to go to Newport beach around the 3rd. I have never felt more relaxed. :D

April: 

At our local fair, I won Best of Show on a drawing of Elizabeth Swann's wedding dress from Pirates 2. I also won Best of Show on a photograph. For my other photographs I won three first places, two seconds, one third, and two honorary mentions. :D

My dad spent a week with my Grandfather. Nothing had changed.

A few days after, he had another stroke. He could no longer talk very well, and couldn't eat or drink.

We visited and stayed for a week, in which my mother had many good memories with him. I stayed with him until the last few days, since he didn't look much the same anymore.

My Grandfather passed away on the 16th.

On the 28th, there was a memorial and celebration of life for my Grandfather. Many family members came that I hadn't seen in years. It was bittersweet, really.

The 29th my family and I went to Disneyland to celebrate memories of my Grandfather. It was the wrong time to go for us.

June:

I officially ended my homeschooling, and enrolled in the local High School. So exciting!

We went to Disneyland at the end of the month - a much better trip!

July:

Participated in a book-a-thon during for a couple days. I read three books. Pretty shabby considering how much I read. :D

August:

Went to Big Bear, Ca on the 10th and stayed in a four room cabin for a night! It was the most splendid place I'd been to in a long while. The air was so clean and crisp, and the trees were absolutely gorgeous. I wanted to bike a trail, but we didn't get around to it. We were able to go to Moonridge Zoo right near Big Bear, and I got to see over a dozen Timberwolves! They were gorgeous! My mother made them howl. XD

On the 13th, I celebrated my Sweet 16. :D I had a Mad Hatter Tea Party in the style of Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland. It was a birthday to remember, surely.

On the 23rd, I started public High School for the first time. I was stoked.

September:

On the 8th, my mom turned 52. We went to Disneyland. Again. xD

October: 

CAHSEE and PSAT tests. Ugh!

Halloween. I went as a Victorian vampire. Pretty fun. 

November:

On the 18th, I was inducted into the National Honors Society. I am so happy.

On the 22nd, I went to see Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 in IMAX. I cried twice. Once when Harry found his parent's headstone. And when Dobby died. I couldn't help myself. Might I also say, that IMAX makes Harry Potter beyond magical!? It was flippin awesome. I must see it AGAIN. :D

On the 26th, it was my best friend's 18th birthday; Nicole at WORD. I love that girl beyond belief, and I was so happy for her that day. I bought her a signed photo of Richard Armitage. =]

December: 

On the 9th, 10th, and 11th, my high school had it's annual Talent Show. I signed up for Sound Crew. Worked out alright but I was able to do nothing since the seniors were in charge of it. I switched to Stage Crew and I had the most wonderful time. I was also placed into the Junior skit for the last two nights. We performed to the song 'White and Nerdy', because that basically is the Junior class. XD We won every night and overall. :D

I also met a new friend there, and he's awesome. I was able to become closer friends with a couple people there too. I have some pretty fantastic memories being Stage Crew too. <3

The week of the 13th, was Finals week. Ewwww. I received my PSAT scores. I soared to better than 90% of the nation on my scores. I was stoked. On my CAHSEE (California High School Exit Exam), I passed with the highest score possible on my English section, and the highest score in the school for the Math section. Total, the highest score in the school. :DDD I was so happy. I can graduate at the end of my Junior year, if I wanted.

I passed all my Finals with a great scores too. A pretty awesome present before Christmas.

On Christmas Eve, I went to a Candlelight service at my church for the first time since I as a baby. It was beautiful. Then we went home to partake in tradition; watch The Polar Express before midnight with hot cocoa. :D

Christmas Day was wonderful. Religion wise, we had a great day celebrating. Present wise, I received some pretty awesome stuff. Harry Potter books (from London in a new cover :D), Harry Potter Film Wizardry stuff. A limited edition red Wii. The new Harry Potter Deathly Hallows game for it. Wii Fit (yay for yoga! :D). TONS of books. And games. And my parents received wonderful presents, like a season set of my dad's favourite show and the biggest cookbook EVER for my mom. XD

New Years Eve was my parent's anniversary for 16 years. =] We stayed up to midnight and toasted, and rang in, the New Year with wine and sparkling cider! :D It was wonderful.

-----

So, that was a whole year for me. Too much for me. XD

A quick summary of random things;

Books Read: 33+ 

Movies watchted: Over 68 movies!

Things learned: 1 new language, a new art, and invaluable lessons from life.

Awards: 10

Other: I gained many friends this year! That makes me so happy.

It was a good/bad year in ways that I'm not able to list, but I'm hoping that 2011 will triumph with more. :D

Hey There!

Happy New Year! This is the first day of 2011! I made a resolution to start a blog, and keep it updated. Last year, I started one and only kept at it for a couple of months. I've made a few in the years past but gave them up due to lack of people looking.

Why, then would I start yet another one? Well, I have been wanting a way to just write. Write about myself, how I feel, what I'm doing, what I like. Anything, really. I think it's the only topic, besides books, that I could write about consistently. So, here I am, starting a new blog.

I am the Spork Master. I have an army Sporks, and I love them. We shall one day rule the world. This blog is just one step towards it. ;] (If you're starting to think I'm insane here, don't worry. It's just a silly thing. But you should still love Sporks.)

This blog will probably consist of things going on in my mind, and it probably won't be updated every day. I don't want to commit to that in case I fail at it. I'm so very busy.

However, this blog should become interesting! :D I lack the creative juices for that right now, but this is just the start of the year! I'll post better stuff soon, I promise. ;)