I'm baaaaackk!

Sorry that I haven't posted in so long, I got a concussion while swimming and couldn't use the computer or write for a while :p. My head still hurts but I can go to school full time again and actually do work (who woulda thunk it?). Yet, even through injury, here I am, ready to rise up once again and pour a little more of my heart out in each and every post. Get ready world! Also, if you did notice I was gone, then aww that's so sweet! If not, good job, you probably have better things to do anyway. So.... here's a funny picture.

Image courtesy of Pinterest

Can I Quote You On That?

Image courtesy of Buy Me Laughs

I love quotes. Inspirational ones, sad ones, happy ones, funny ones, loving ones, even confusing ones.  They are great ways to express how you feel. It's also great to be able to relate to someone else's words. Here are some of my favorite quotes, and why I love them so much.

Image courtesy of Brainy Quote

3. This on give you an outlook on life that's shockingly true, yet hilarious at the same time. We all know that we will die someday, we are mortal after all. Some may take this as a grim and depressing quote, but I think it's quite the opposite. It means to enjoy life while you have it, because it won't be forever.

Image courtesy of Brainy Quote

2. This is so true! People need to realize that sometimes we need to follow what we feel instead of what we see. Even if we can't see or feel something, like emotions, they are real! Embrace the fact that you have a heart and a brain, and that you can use both.

Image courtesy of Brainy Quote

1. This is so incredibly true I can't even tell you. Having a friend who has known you for a while is amazing because they know who you are. You don't need to be careful about how you act around them, you can be yourself. Also, you can do dumb things with them and have a good laugh over it all.

If you have some free time, try looking up some quotes. They can be about anything, sports, love, happiness, sadness, anything. Save your favorite ones in a folder or on a document and use them when you can. Have fun quote hunting!

Color

Image courtesy of Engaged Marketing

Color: the visual perceptual property corresponding in humans to the categories called red, blue, yellow, and others. That's the technical definition at least. Yet, isn't color so much more than just a visual perception of the world? Different colors can make us feel different ways, color combinations can please us, and almost our entire way of describing things revolves around color.

First, different colors can create different emotions for us. Just looking at a color can make us feel a certain way. Warm colors, like red, orange, and yellow, can make us happy and optimistic. Yet another thing red can do is make us hungry. That's why red is used on so many fast food signs and logos. Such as:

Image courtesy of Think.Shift

Other colors, such as blue, green, and purple, can be calming, but also sad. The way they are used and mixed in with brighter, warmer colors can affect how they are perceived.

Second, different color combinations are more pleasing than others. The most pleasing combinations are what people like to call "complementary colors." An easy way to explain the concept of complimentary colors is this. Find a color wheel. Now look at the colors that are across from each other on the wheel. Notice how well those two colors would go together? That's because they compliment each other, hence the term complementary colors.

Image courtesy of PixShark

Lastly, our way of describing things primarily uses color. Grab an object, any object. It can be right next to you are halfway across your house, you choose. Now that you have the object, describe it. I'll bet that a color popped into your head just then. This is because color is an easy way to distinguish objects from other objects. Imagine if the entire world was just black and white. It could be hard to instantly distinguish one thing from another thing because the most striking physical difference isn't there. Yes, shape and size are also big physical factors, but I've found that the thing you notice first about two objects is the similarity/difference of their color(s).

So color isn't just something pretty to look at. It is something that can calm or enrage you, help you or hurt you, and definitely stands out to you. I don't believe that color is something that should be taken for granted, but something that should be wondered at and appreciated. Color is a way we can express personal feelings and thoughts, and can effect other's feelings and thoughts too. Love color for all it is and be happy that it's there. I'm sure that if you do, it will appreciate it.

Everything's better, down where it's wetter, under the...pool!

Image courtesy of Disney Wikia

Today we shall talk about swimming, my dear readers! On top of taking up two hours a day of my life, it is my favorite thing to do. To give you an inside look at a BIG part of my life, here are the main reasons that I get in the pool everyday.

1. The water- I LOVE the pool! Honestly, it's my favorite place. The water is cool and refreshing, and it's a place to just let the stresses of the day flow away. Sometimes the water is a little too cold at first, but once we start working, it feels good. Once I start swimming, I get into this rhythm that almost counteracts the chaos of the day. As I go along, I can feel my body relax and let my mind wander. Sometimes I think about what I need to do after school, sometimes I think about problems my friends or I are having, or what I'm going to eat next. The latter seems to be a favorite topic of my brain and stomach.

2. The people- Everyone on the team is just amazing. They are all sweet, kind, caring, and want to help others in every way. Team dinners are a good example of that. Once in a while, we have a team dinner where everyone gets together, usually at a team captain's house. There is tons of food and everyone just hangs out and relaxes. These dinners are usually right after practice, so almost everyone who can't drive needs a ride from someone on the team. There have been times where people literally fought over who they wanted to drive. Another time my team mates are especially amazing is at swim meets. If you get a bad time or seem sad, they will approach you as soon as they notice and make you feel better. However, if you get a new best time, they will be just as excited, if not more, as you are about it.

3. The benefits- There are many benefits of swimming, but my favorite one is the ability to eat whatever. Swimmers may be skinny and strong, but it's definitely not because of small eating habits. It's the contrary. Any swimmer on my team will tell you that they eat a ton. The only reason that I get away with eating my body weight in food every day is because I swim. If I stopped swimming I would balloon up and gain just about four-hundred pounds, give or take. At every practice I burn an insane amount of calories (remember, sweat is just fat crying).

In conclusion, yes, practice is hard everyday, and yes sometimes I don't want to even touch the pool. But I love swimming too much to ever quit it. Even if I didn't love swimming, I wouldn't want to leave all the amazing people who are on my team.

Stress!!!

Image courtesy of Mindwerx

Now, as every high schooler knows, stress is a big part of our life. Juggling deadlines, projects, sports, clubs, and still trying to have time to be with family and friends is a full time job. Personally, I know a lot about these stressful times. Since this is such a common problem, I thought I would write  about how to handle and maybe even decrease this stress.

First, DO NOT PROCRASTINATE. I know it sounds appealing, but putting things off until tomorrow is not the answer (although I wish it was). Here's a little step by step on how to avoid procrastination:
1. First, find a comfy spot to do your homework. Grab a pillow or a blanket, maybe a snack, make yourself nice and snug. I've found that if I'm comfortable, I'm less bummed about doing what I need to get done.
2. Now, make a to do list. What I like to do is to go through my classes and write down what I need to do in all of the them, and when everything is due. The due dates help me plan on when I need to get everything done by (well, duh). But really, seeing the exact date of when something is due helps me.
3. Go down your to do list, completing everything in the order you wrote it. As you complete a task/assignment, cross it off. Keep going until everything is done. Congratulations! Now you can do whatever you want to do, as in sleep.
*A little tip from Natalie- take breaks! Just because you want to get everything done doesn't mean that you need to completely overload yourself with information. Every forty-five minutes or so, take a ten minute break. This has helped me a lot, and I think it will help you too.

Another way to decrease stress is to see if you can get assignments done early. In my H. English class, we have a weekly assignment called Vital Vocab. My teacher (hello Mr. Parker) has a page where we can find all the Vital Vocabs for the entire quarter. This has been awesome for me, because when I had some extra time, I got all of them done. This helped because I no longer had to worry about forgetting to do them or having to keep up with the deadlines. Getting something done early is an awesome way to avoid the stress it could have caused you.

I hope this helps you guys! Remember, stress and problems are temporary and can be avoided. High school may seem hard, but I know we all can get through it and succeed in it. Remember that your teachers, counselors, family, and friends are there for you whenever you need it. Don't forget to make memories, not just of stressful nights and long days, but of football games and sports teams and friends and good times.

Gif courtesy of Animations A2Z

The Loving Connection Between Books and Romance

Image courtesy of Love Quotes on Twitter

Pick up a book. Any book. Now, if you have read it, remember what happened. Was there some sort of romance going on between any characters? The answer is probably yes (with some exceptions, such as "The Cultural Landscape," my AP Geography textbook, which has no love in it whatsoever). I've found that if there isn't anything going down between zombies and aliens at the moment, or the characters have stopped being hunted down, the author still needs some way to keep the story going.
A largely popular way to do that is to create a romance between two characters. Since now every love is the same, I have found that there are three different types of novel romance...

Image courtesy of Straight Up Love

Number one: the love at first sight. These two characters fell in love the moment their eyes met! They are instantly physically and mentally attracted. There is usually a scene where the author describes, in great detail, every moment of their first meeting. They are shown to be perfect for each other, harmonizing in ways you never knew they could, and understanding each other about every hardship that they endure. The reader finds a satisfaction with this type of romance because it's the ideal relationship. Everyone wants someone who is simply perfect for them.

Image courtesy of Greater Than We

Number two: the big secret. This one is a little more complicated to explain, but here goes. Okay, so he loves her, and she loves him, but he doesn't know that she loves him, and she doesn't know that he loves her. This one is more of a secret between the author and the reader where the author slips in scenes from each character's point of view showing how they feel about each other. At this point, the characters are still in their own little worlds. As the book goes on, however, the author lets more and more of their feelings for each other show. Hopefully, the characters reach the ultimatum of knowing that they are in love and being together. This intrigues the reader and leaves you frustrated and screaming, "They need to be together!!! They just don't know it yet," to your mother at three o'clock in the morning because those two need to get their lives together and be in love already (not that I've ever done that.....)!

Image courtesy of Blog(dot)PosterJack

Number three: the meant to be. This is only slightly different from the love at first sight, but enough so that I thought I would recognize it. These characters also fall in love at first sight, the difference is they don't know it yet. Instead of knowing that they love the other character (like in "the big secret"), they don't even know their own feelings. Sometimes the author lets us see little moments that they have, like locking eyes with the other person and feeling their heart beat just a little bit faster. Or when they see the other character with someone else, they feel jealous and don't know why. Eventually we hope that they will discover their love, and that's usually what happens. I have yet to come across a book where they never realize their feelings, and if I did then it would be a very stressful read. The reader seems to be able to relate to this kind of love, and they like slowly watching the characters become knowing of their own emotions.

Romance is incorporated in a lot of books, and is a way to keep both the story moving and the reader interested. It gives us another layer of the story that makes the story itself more plausible. Whether the characters are in a huge arena fighting for their lives, or in a society that's trying to kill everyone who is special, romance brings the story back down to earth. Readers just seem to love love, and authors everywhere know it.

Holiday Cheer

Allie, a seventeen year old girl with Down syndrome.

They say the holidays are a time for giving, and I definitely agree! This year I did a project called UAID. This was for kids with disabilities and special needs who live in institutions. They, along with their caregivers, fill out a slip with what they need and a couple things that they would like. The person we chose was named Allie and she has Down syndrome, the same thing my little brother has. She is 17 years old, but her intellectual age is 6. The difference between an age and an intellectual age is that your age is how long you have been on the Earth; an intellectual age is how old your mind is. It pertains to how you can function in society and how developed you are.

The crazy thing about this was that when I looked at what she wanted for Christmas, I was blown away. She needed socks, underwear, a shirt, a coat, a hat, gloves, sweatpants, and a hygiene kit. The only things that didn't seem necessary to her life were a One Direction CD and the Frozen DVD. It was incredible that their lists were filled with what we look at as the bare necessities. They needed what we take completely for granted. While I have a closet full of clothes, she just needed something different to wear.

To get her gifts, we drove to Walmart. It was awesome! It was super fun to go through the store to find stuff for her. We made sure that the coat, hat, and gloves would look good together, got clothes that were in bright colors, and even got one extra thing. When we were walking over to find the One Direction CD, we saw Frozen blankets. We couldn't hold back and got her the one with just Elsa. The reason it sounds like we almost didn't get wasn't because we didn't want to spend the money or something, but because, in the institution, they can get jealous. They share things like DVDs and CDs, but if one person gets the child they picked too many special, personal gifts, they others can get jealous. We decided to get it, because if she needed clothes and socks, she probably needs a nicer blanket too.

All in all, this was an amazing experience! There are so many different organizations and projects that people can donate to, and I recommend you do. It is so worth the happy feeling you get when you know that your presents really will be loved and that someone will be thankful for the hour and a half you spent running around a store for them. In conclusion, Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanzaa, and happy holidays!!!