Thoughts of a Dumb Blonde

     So it is now two days after Christmas and I have made it through four Christmases. My first Christmas was at my papa’s house. My aunt and her husband cane in to have dinner and exchange presents with us. My grandma got me an Instax Polaroid camera and my aunt got me a silver Penn State bracelet. My second Christmas was on Christmas Eve at my grandma’s. This year I decided to bring my boyfriend along and hope for the best. He’s been to a lot of family things but I’ve never actually thought a guy could handle Christmas at my grandma’s before. Christmas at my grandma’s is crazy because it’s about 35 people all packed into her small house trying to eat dinner and open presents at one time. My grandma got me fuzzy socks, candy, and a gift card, which  at my age is actually very appreciated. I got my grandma a new curling iron; this was actually my first year buying my grandma a present separate from my parents. My boyfriend got me a giant stuffed dog and a box of Her...

     Everyone seems to have traditions. Especially around this time of year. A lot of people have Christmas with their family. They decorate the tree, have dinner, and give presents. Many others have Hanukkah. Many people go to church to celebrate advent. Many people stay home and watch football. Not every person does the same thing. We all have our own traditions and beliefs that we follow. Some people always travel for the holidays. Other people can’t imagine being away from home over the holiday season. There truly is no set path for us as humans. We all adopt our own habits and traditions as we go through life. Your traditions may be exactly like the ones you experienced growing up; or maybe they’re completely different from your parents. The only constant about traditions is the fact that everyone seems to have them. I think the best thing for us to do is to try not to judge people for their traditions; but to support them and encourage them to do the things that mak...

     Christmas break started today with an early dismissal from school. I’m so happy for this break because after all the school work, tests, and sports stuff I’ve had over the last two weeks, I’m ready for a break. I don’t have to go back to school until January 2nd. I’m ready to spend some time just relaxing and hanging out with my friends and family. But before I get ahead of myself, I have a wrestling match to cheer at. It’s gonna be fun because my whole squad is wearing ugly sweaters with Christmas socks and dancing to a Christmas song. Christmas is one of my favorite times of the year, and I can’t wait to  get to see some of my family that don’t live around me.

Since I did a post Disney tips, I decided to do a Universal addition. I’ll try not to repeat things I mentioned on my last post. Definitely get your universal tickets online they are cheaper that way.  If you say at a Universal hotel you are able to enter the Wizarding World of Harry Potter an hour earlier.  If you are going during the busy months purchasing a Universal Express Pass might be worth consideration. If you are going during the slower time (ex. early November) you shouldn’t need the passes. In my experience most lines are at a bearable wait time.  If you are alone, or your party is okay with splitting up, most rides at Universal theme parks have a single rider line. These lines typically go much faster and allow single riders to be placed with odd numbered parties on rides.  If you have paid to park at Universal, your parking pass lasts all day. You can leave and return as long as you have your pass. Universal City Walk has restaurants, shops,...

     I’m back to talking about Disney! This time I'm gonna give you guys any tips I can think of on how to plan and have a good Disney vacation. I’m gonna put these in more of a list form so bare with me. If you can go in the fall or spring and try to avoid holiday. Holidays at Disney are very busy as well as the summer, not to mention the stifling heat.  Start planning early, especially if staying on Disney property. Hotels get booked fast and prices often shift frequently for flights.  If you are planning on going places other than Disney, rent a car. It’s convenient to be able to go wherever you want, whenever you want, and not have to rely on public or hotel transportation.  Buy your Disney tickets on line. They are often cheaper and you can find out if your day is a value day (cheaper due to less people being at the park) Make your Fastpass+ reservations as soon as possible. Popular rides run out of fast passes fast. (The time frames are: 3...

     Since i already did a blog on Walt Disney World I thought it'd be cool to give you guys a look into another Disney park: Disney's Animal Kingdom. I went back to Animal Kingdom this year for the first time in a few years. Animal Kingdom will always have a special place in my heart. Growing up I loved animals and I still do. As the name would suggest, Animal Kingdom has several animal exhibits. the park is divided into different lands name for different continents. Each land  has different attractions and animal exhibits specific to their continent. The Kilimanjaro Safaris in Africa are really cool. Guests get to ride in a safari truck and see and learn about different animals. Something else in Africa that I highly recommend is the Lion King show. You may show up and see how crazy the line is but my recommendation is to wait until after they start letting people in to try to enter. The odds are they’ll still have room inside and you can walk right in. The show...

     Welcome back to my college confusion. I got a letter in the mail from Houghton College about me attending their school and being a part of their honors program. The college is almost exactly 3 hours from my house; which is just within my limits. The college locked really nice and their honors program is very selective. Depending on which part of the program you choose, you get to study abroad in different places. They also have a Pre-Art Therapy program. The only difference about the college is that it is a Christian college. Their belief system is based on the Wesleyan Church; I being a Methodist myself, it would work well. At the moment I don’t go to church very often but that’s not because I don’t like it. I actually really enjoy going to church I’m just busy often and when I do go I go alone. I’ve never been a really involved Christian and I often avoid the subject of religion because I don’t want to accidentally offend someone. This said, I think I might actuall...

     Yesterday I competed at my gyms home Christmas Invitational. It was terrible. I had been at the YMCA for 14 hours on Saturday watching my friends compete and helping work different parts of the meet. When I got their early Sunday, I felt sick. My head was pounding and I was sick to my stomach feeling as if I were going to throw up. The worst part was I didn’t have to compete until 5 and it was still before noon. I could barely get myself to eat even a little sandwich. I went most of the day with only the sandwich and a couple Excederine Migraines. Every time I competed it made me feel more nauseous. Then at the last event the messed up the setting on my vault. Between the altered setting and me being sick I competed horribly and dropped about a whole point off of my score. By the time I was done competing I felt so terrible I was in tears; which is something I really try to avoid at gymnastics competitions. But, even with all of this, I still got second place al...

     The older I get it seems like the less free time I have. Most of my week days are spent at school from 7:30-2:37 and I don't usually get off the bus until 3:10. I have cheer practice around twice a week after school until 5:00. Not to mention either football games or wrestling matches, depending on the season. Then in the spring I have softball, either practice or games, six days a week. On top of this I have gymnastics all year round two to three days a week with meets about two weekends a month from October to June. With coaching and practicing most of my gymnastics practices are 4:45-8:30. By the time I get home it's close to 9:00. I'm in honors classes at school so there is seldom a day that I don't have homework. With all of this I still have to find time for dinner and a shower. With everything going on when am I supposed to have free time. Time to hang out with friends; read; draw? I don't miss elementary school, but I do miss having time to myself. Hope...

     Growing up a lot of kids at school were big fans of Harry Potter. I was never really drawn to Harry Potter. I didn’t know much about it, but I still wasn’t interested. Then when Universal got the World of Harry Potter, I rode all the rides. They were actually some of my favorite rides, but I still didn’t understand what would pull so many people in and make them so interested that they would walk around in robes carrying wands in the heat. Then a couple of years ago, my cousins found out that I’d never watched any of the movies; for Christmas they bought my mom and I the whole 8 movie set. My mom and I took time and watched one at a time together. When I finished them with her I watched them all again with my boyfriend. Not to mention all of the “Harry Potter Weekends” on Freeform. I got involved in Pottermore. I started reading the books (even though I haven’t had time to get far.) And then the best part, I got to go back to Universal. I was so amazed by how I could...

     Black Friday. If you don’t know what Black Friday is well then consider yourself lucky. Black Friday is the day after Thanksgiving where tons of people go to stores at the same time to get catch big sales. Black Friday has gotten so overly popular that most of the sales actually start on Thanksgiving Day! Instead of eating dinner with their families people go out and wait an outrageous amount of time in insanely long lines just to get into the stores fast. People speed in often not caring if they have to push people out of the way and there are often fights over this and over the products for sale. Now I will say not all stores are like this but that’s the average experience. Luckily I myself have never been taken out Black Friday shopping unless it’s 1:00 p.m Friday afternoon and the crowds have died down significantly. Even by waiting I still get good deals. I don’t understand why people would miss out on family traditions or wait in crappy conditions just to buy p...

     Thanksgiving break started today and Thanksgiving is tomorrow. What I'm really thankful for right now is a break from school because it seems like it never stops. Not that that's the only thing I'm thankful for. Obviously I'm thankful for my friends and family and the fact that I have the opportunity to even go to school. Well I guess maybe that's not so obvious since so many people these days don't seem to be thankful for anything; but I already covered the whole being thankful all year round and not just this week. I personally have three Thanksgivings. I just happen to have three grandmas who each have to have their own diner with different parts of my family. So I definitely get my fill of food; which if I'm being honest is one of the best parts of Thanksgiving. K hope everyone has great Thanksgivings and remembers to be thankful all, the time not just now.

     Thanksgiving is almost here and everyone is starting to share what they are thankful for. Thanksgiving is the time of year that everyone suddenly realizes that they should be thankful for a lot of things. In reality we should always be thankful. Personally I feel thankful for the opportunities that I have and the privilege of being able to live my life in the United States. I’m blessed with many things that other people could only dream of. Those of us that are lucky enough to live in safe places, have food to eat, clean water to drink should be thankful. Those of us that are lucky enough to live everyday not in fear should be thankful. I’m thankful for everyday that I am given on this beautiful earth. Our world may not be perfect but we are lucky to have it. We sometimes forget the privileges we have and the opportunities we are given. We shouldn’t just be thankful one week of the year. We should always be thankful for what we have been blessed with.

     So I still have absolutely no clue what I’m doing for college. Like I don’t even know what I want. I wanted to be far away, but now not so much. With all these babies on my family, I’ve decided 2.5-3 hours is probably my limit. But now I can’t decide what do do for my major. My future career doesn’t have just one set path so there’s literally a million different paths I can take. I could  try a Pre-Art Therapy program or double major in Art and Psychology. I could major in either Art or Psychology and minor in the opposite. Also if I would choose to go to Penn State I could major in Rehabilitation and Human Services with focuses in Art and Psychology. That would also give me the opportunity to take some Special Education courses. There are so many different paths and options that it’s all just overwhelming and I only have so long to figure it out. I guess my next step is to wait and get my PSAT score to get an idea of where I could go.

     This year I got to go to Volcano Bay, Universal’s new water park in Orlando. The water park is centered around a volcano that is built  around three or four different water slides. It’s really an amazing view. As soon as you enter the park you receive what is called a Tapu Tapu; which is an electronic band you wear on your wrist. These bands are actually one of the coolest features of Volcano Bay. At the beginning of the line for each slide at Volcano Bay, there is a board telling you whether the slide's wait time. If the rides wait is below around 30 minutes then the sign will say "ride now;" if the wait is 30 minutes or more you will have the option of joining the virtual line at the check in station near the ride by placing your Tapu Tapu against the mountain symbol on the machine. after you do this, your Tapu Tapu will display the amount of time you have to wait before returning to the ride. The time is usually around 10 minutes before the wait time of th...

     Right now where I live it is 1:10 a.m.  I know I need to sleep but I just can’t. I tried reading my new book, Turtles All The Way Down , by John Green; which I should’ve know wouldn’t help because I get lost in books way too easily. In this book the main character, Aza, has these things she refers to as “spirals” in her mind. Basically, she has these thoughts that she can’t control and tries to fight, but she can’t so they just spiral out of control continuously tightening and overwhelming her. This made me think of the feeling I’m having right now. I know I need to sleep because I have school tomorrow and I want to sleep, but my brain just won’t shut off. I’ll think of one thing and that’ll lead to another and this continues until I’m either overwhelmed or too exhausted to possibly continue. Why is it that the human brain can be so active when it should be resting? Why can I be in the living room, awake, needing to do homework only to get a headache that i...

     So now that I have written about Disney, it is time to introduce you guys to Universal Orlando. I'm going to include Universal Studios and Universal Islands of Adventure. Universal's Volcano Bay will be the subject of a later post. I'm going to start with Islands of Adventure. Islands of Adventure is probably the more action-packed side of Universal. as you enter you can take either a left or a right. I'm going to take you a left. This takes you to Marvel Superhero Island. The first ride as you enter is the Hulk roller coaster. The Hulk is easily the most intense ride in either of the parks. Its line also goes relatively fast so it's a good first choice. Every time I go I make sure to ride this multiple time. Also in this island is Doctor Doom's Fearfall and The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man. Doctor Doom's Fearfall is a set of drop towers that take you up fast and drop you just as fast. It is a quick thrill that also takes you up high enough to se...

     Disney is one of my favorite things and their parks in Orlando have been a big part of my life. I've been going to Walt Disney World Resort since I was about three years old. When I was little I loved going there and getting to meet all of the characters and get their autographs. I have books full of signatures and pictures. The characters are one of the biggest appeals for kids because the get to see their favorite characters go from the screen to real life. Another big aspect for both adults and young children are Disney's unbeatable parades. They feature huge themed floats topped with popular characters along with characters and dancers who walk/dance the entire route while doing fluent routines. The best part for the kids is when their favorite characters take the time to wave at them or give them a high five as they walk by. The actual rides are the perfect way for all guests to become a part of the worlds of their favorite characters. With each ride followin...

     I’m on an airplane on my way to Orlando, Florida! My family takes a vacation to there every year. This will be my twelfth time going there since I was born. Orlando is one of my favorite places to go. I have family that lives about a half an hour outside the city. I’m staying with them one night this year. We’re staying in a hotel really close to Universal Orlando Resort; we’ve stayed there multiple times. We’re going to Universal, Volcano Bay, Animal Kingdom, and Disney World. We go swimming at our hotel and go out to dinner every night. I’m so excited for this trip. Right now I just can’t wait to get off of this plane.

     This past weekend was very eventful for me. Friday night I cheered at my last high school football game of the year. I rode the bus home with my squad and we stopped to get food at Sheetz. I got home late and went to bed. The next morning, my cousins brought their babies over so I got to spend time with them. After they left I started getting ready for my gymnastics meet. I competed at 6:00 p.m. I got first all-around with a score if 35.75 out of 40 on the 4 events. I got a snow globe for placing first. I was excited because I had been trying to get a snow globe at that meet since I was ten. After my meet, my mom, dad, and I went out to eat at Kings. Sunday morning, my mom and I went shopping with my cousin and her baby girl. After we got back, my mom and I met my cousins to go to a haunted house at an old amusement park. My cousins like to pick on me, so I had to lead our group through the different sections of the haunted house. The very last section of the haunted...

        Today I wanted to share one of my favorite videos. It’s not a really complicated video and it’s not conventionally funny. I love dogs and I think pugs are adorable. And this pug jusping around not being able to run is cute and laughable. I’ve had a really long day and I wanted to share something that might help lighten up anyone else’s mood that might have had a long day too. I hope you enjoy it. Warning : this video may offend some people. The language is changed to be family friendly put still may resemble language some people may not be comfortable with. 

Yesterday was the first meet of the 2017/18 gymnastics competition season. We always starts off the season with a tri-meet (a meet where three teams compete at the same time) at our local YMCA. This year I had to be there at 8:00 a.m. to warm up. The first session was for levels 4 and up. We started competing around 8:30 a.m. and did not start awards until about 1:00 pm. My team started competing at vault. There I got first place with a score of 9.1 out of a possible 10. We then moved to bars where I got second with a score of 8.4. Next we went to beam, which is my personal favorite. Here, I got another 9.1 and received first place. Finally we competed at floor and I did my round off back tuck for the first time during a meet. I missed my connection on my front pass so I started at a 9.5 start value. Because of this I got a 7.8 and received second place. For All-Around (a combination of all four scores) I got a 34.4. I got first place all around and I qualified to compete at nationals....

     Today most of the junior class in my high school, as well as various schools across the country, took the PSATs. The PSATs are the practice tests for the actual SAT. Many juniors take the SATs to help them get into college. Taking the PSATs helps students figure out what subjects they need to improve in before they take the actual SAT. The school gave us five periods to complete the test. This is from 7:45 a.m. to around 11:30 a.m. It took my class an hour just to get through the directions. Each section of the test is timed differently. We had two English and two math sections. Personally the English was pretty easy. The math on the other hand made me question if I knew enough to pass. Overall the test wasn’t near as terrible as I had anticipated and I’m not too concerned about my results. I get my results in December; which will give me time to figure out what I need to improve on before the SATs in March. So now, I wait.

     Something that is really popular in my town is Applefest. Applefest is an annual three-day festival that takes place the first weekend in October. It happens downtown and takes up the two parks on either side of our courthouse. A lot of people come from many different places to Boy stuff. There are many venders with a lot of crafts, baked goods, and food. For my friends and I, Applefest is a place we can go and hang out with a little bit of freedom. This past weekend was this years Applefest and I went all three days. I had a lot of fun with my friens and family. I looked at crafts, got food, and even watched my school marching band perform in the street. I also got to see a lot of people who have graduated in recent years. It’s nice to know that no matter what Applefest has a way of bringing people, new and old, to our little town.

      In one of my recent blog posts I talked about the national anthem protests because at the time they seemed important. Today that is probably the last thing on anyone's mind. Last night, at a country music festival where some of my favorite artists were playing there was a mass shooting. This was a concert that was attended by mothers, fathers, brothers, and sisters all alike; a concert that, a couple of days ago, I would've loved to be going to. But now I am more than grateful that I am on the other side of the country. People showed up united in their love for country music and many left on stretchers or in body bags as victims of the worst mass shooting in US history. So far, about 58 people have been pronounced dead and as many as 515 people have been injured. This attack all carried out by a 64 year old man that had no criminal history, and as of now, no clear motive. Hearing about things like these makes my head spin. I just don't understand how someone coul...

     Homecoming was yesterday and it was so much fun. I went with my boyfriend; he’s a senior and it was his first school dance ever! It was exciting to be able to share that experience with him and I’m really glad I got the opportunity. We had a group of six and our group worked out a lot better than I thought. Everyone got along and had a lot of fun dancing and taking pictures. The pictures we took turned out really well and there was even a photo booth at the dance. This was my third homecoming and the best one yet. My friends made it an unforgettable night. I already can’t wait for my first prom later this school year. Hopefully it turns out even better.

     Homecoming is Saturday. I’m so excited but I have a lot to do before I can go to the dance. I got my dress about a month ago and my heels this past Saturday. Today my friend and I left school early from our half day of school because I had a dentist appointment. After I got done my cousin came to pick us up and take us to the mall. There we got stuff to put in our hair and got our nails done. My best friend got acrylics and I got a pedicure. I also bought fake glue on nails. Tomorrow I have the homecoming parade and football game that I have to cheer at. Then my other friend is staying over and we’re getting ready together saturday. My cousin is coming Saturday morning to do our hair and then our boyfriends are meeting us at my house to go take pictures at a bridge near my house. I already can’t wait.

The last couple of days, almost everyone has been talking about what is happening during the playing of the national anthem at American sporting events. Many players, mainly those of the NFL, have been staging what are referred to as protests during the national anthem. The first protest was by Colin Kaepernick during the a 2016 preseason game where he refused to stand during the national anthem. His protest was not noticed until two games later. In response Kaepernick said, "I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses Black people and people of color," Kaepernick said. "To me, this is bigger than football and it would be selfish on my part to look the other way. There are bodies in the street and people getting paid leave and getting away with murder." Before the 49ers last preseason game Kaepernick had a conversation with Nate Boyer that made him change his mind about sitting during the national anthem; instead Kaepernick and hi...

     It’s officially fall. Fall means it’s time for wearing sweaters, boots, and scarves. It’s also time for carving pumpkins, corn mazes, and haunted houses. All the leaves are turning beautiful colors and falling. It's cold enough for hot chocolate. Christmas is only three months away. Here in PA the snow will be falling in about a month, but right now everything is beautiful. The weather is comfortable, the sunsets are gorgeous, and im ready for it all.

     I played my first game of fall ball ever yesterday for my school's team. I've always been busy in the fall and haven't wanted to put the extra effort into fall ball. Now that I'm getting older I've decided I need to make time for playing fall ball since softball is my first priority for sports. My goal is to play in college, but if I want to be able to keep up with other girls I need to start focusing more on softball. I've always been a player that can usually keep up with any position. I got thrown into catching my freshman year because there was no one to catch for our JV team. I had to star from the very basics and learn how to catch step-by-step. Surprisingly I ended up really liking it. It was a lot of work but I stayed in that position for JV for all of my freshman year and most of my sophomore. I also played outfield off and on for JV and some for Varsity. I went into yesterday thinking that if probably be in the outfield, which I was for an inning ...

     Everyone feels helpless at least every once in a while. Sometimes it’s because you can’t change something that you want nothing more than to change. Sometimes you, yourself, feel like you can’t be helped. Also there’s always the situation where one of your friends needs help, but no matter what you do you don’t feel like you’re helping. I find myself in the last category most often. Noone's life is perfect; everyone has to deal with the situation they are in. Some people need help to pull themselves out of a bad place when they’re struggling. It may give you a sense of importantence when someone comes to you for advice or help. However, it can also take a toll on you. I’ve had multiple people talk to me about the things they have to deal with in their lives. These people all handle their situations differently. I’ve had friends who cry and let everything out. I’ve had friends who held everything in and became suicidial. I’ve also had friends that drank or did drugs i...

      It was this day 16 yeas ago that thousands of innocent people lost their lives. Even though I am too young to remember how that day felt I will never forget. We will continue to tell the story to make sure that what happened on this day is never forgotten. So tonight remember send respect to those who lost their lives in the attack, those who lost their lives trying to save others, and those who saved others and are still here today. Also send your thoughts and prayers out to their families. And always remember everything can change in a blink of an eye so don't take advantage of the life you are blessed with. Live everyday to it's fullest, follow your dreams, and if you love someone tell them because you never know what could happen.

I was sent this post: http://www.ericgarland.co/2013/05/25/how-to-disagree/  by Eric Garland from my English teacher. The chart included above is from his post and is titled "How to Disagree." The different levels of the pyramid show different methods that a person may use to disagree with another person. The methods most widely used are on the bottom and work their way up the chart to the least used method at the very top. When you see people disagree with one another, especially online, the often do using methods that are lower on the chart. This includes responding to tones, ad hominem, and name-calling. People while online leave comments to others that often are composed in a matter of seconds. They don't take time to rationalize their thoughts. They respond immediately and without much consideration of how it may effect the other person. Leaving a comment that has no explanation may cause the person it is directed towards to feel confused or even hurt. Often ti...

     If you're a High School student like myself then there's a chance that you are either beginning or in the middle of your college search. As a junior I need to start narrowing down which colleges I am actually interested in. As an academic student I have been getting emails, postcards, letters, etc. from so many different colleges I've lost count. The first thing I do every time I get something from a college is check to see if the have the majors I am considering. If they don’t then I try to eliminate them from my options. My next step is to look and see where the college is located. If the college is not in a place that I would want to be then it would get eliminated also. I then look at the price of the college and try to get rid of any college that is more expensive than what I’m comfortable with. Even though private college may seem better they are way more expensive. Most private schools are upwards of $40,000 a year. Often times state colleges or other four-yea...

     A couple days ago I was asked to read the quote I have included above by my English teacher. The first thing I noticed about this quote was that it is not just some "cheesy" inspirational quote you would hear on a weekly basis; this quote is meant to make you think deep and maybe even re-evaluate yourself. What this quote wants to remind you is that everything in your life, including time, is a choice. Even at my age I have heard the phrase "I don't have time" probably more than I could count. Most of the time this is just an excuse not to do something you don't want to. When that phrase is changed to "it's not a priority" it is easier to differentiate whether or not this is a logical excuse.      If you don't want to do something (usually something unnecessary), such as ironing your sheets, it is not very important; so the phrase "it's not a priority" is an exceptable reason. When someone is speaking of something mor...

     As the school year approaches one of the many questions people ask you is what your goals are for the year. For me, as I enter my junior year of high school, the main thing I'm hoping is just to pass for the year. A lot of people say junior year will be the hardest year out of all four, and I'm less than a day away from finding out if that statement is true. My highest goal is to finish this year with completely A grades in all of the quarters. Grades this year are just as important, if not more important, than any other year. This is especially true if you are applying for college. Graduating college is one of my long term goals. To play off of this a short term goal for this year is to narrow down my college search for the colleges I want to apply to.      Outside of school the thing I want to do most is learn from every experience. Yes school is important, but there is more to life than your education. I would like to learn how to get better at sof...