"I could have danced all night..."

So...happy Friday! :D Tomorrow is picture day at my dance studio which is always a bucket of joy ::) I love rehearsal and recital, but picture day is just cramped and hurrying and did I mentioned cramped? ;) ::) :p I'm going to be at the studio for three hours tomorrow b/c I'm in 7 dances and I teach classes, so...yeah :p But also tomorrow I get to go to a royal all with some of my closest friends! I'm sooooooooo excited! ;D ;D ;D We get to wear pretty dresses and do our hair and all that jazz ;) We get a full dinner and learn how to waltz and get our picture taken. Last year was the Disney ball, and we had one guy for our group of seven girls :p So my friend Liza(who you might know as Chris Bond), took off one of her shoes and the guy knelt down and held it up to us girls as we all "fought" for it ;) Then this old guy with a fancy camera found us and started taking picture and picture. It was like paparazzi ;D ;D I'm not kidding you, this guy was snapping pics of us for five minutes straight. Our poor "date" was getting a sore knee ::) ;)  I'm hoping there'll be more guys at this dance and that they'll have the courage to ask us to dance ::) I only danced with my girlfriends last year b/c there wasn't enough guys and I wasn't asked :p But I'm hoping I'll be able to dance with a guy this year who knows how to dance. And it wouldn't hurt if he was attractive *wiggles eyebrows* ;) ;D ;D 

I think I stared posting my book on here, so here's the next bit: 

I knew I was going to do my report on Rapunzel. My life is like hers. Going through the same pattern, day after day until you feel like a broken record. And four pages? I had more to write when I was homeschooled in younger grades. My dad's choice for me to do my senior year in public school was okay. Kind of. We were nearing the end of the first trimester, and I already felt like I was doing eighth grade work again.

Walking through the halls I went past my friend's locker and left a small smiley face sticker on it. That's our tradition. I walk past his, I place one on. He walks past mine, he places on it. We're as thick as thieves. I've known Joseph for almost my whole life. We both decided to come to the high school for our last year together and face the demons head on.

And Joseph wasn't at all like any of the other empty headed jocks running around. He had the build of an athlete, because of swimming, but luckily not the brains of one. Smart as a whip, he was already in the top ten seniors category. I would never make it because of stupid math and useless Chemistry. I stink at both of them, so that's why I have Joseph tutoring me. Because of him, I got up to high B's. My pony-tail swished side to side happily as I continued on my way to practice.

Gymnastics has been my thing, other than school. Staying in shape and toned was a big part of my life, and I'm never going to loose it. I can thank my parents for being the health nuts they are. I pushed open the metal doors to the large practice area, and the usual smell of sweat and disinfectant made my nose have a field day. Going over to my spot on the bleachers, I stripped down to my leotard and double wrapped my pony-tail.

“Hey Lorelei,” my coach, Gina Frazier said, glancing up from her clipboard.

“Hi,” I greeted back, and went to stretch over on the mats. I smiled to several of the other girls on the team, then breathed in deeply to bend over. My muscles creaked, but then went into normal flexibility. After a good fifteen minutes our coach called us over to the mats at the other side of the gym.

“This week we will start working on our routines for Divisions. So all of you on the floor. Time to choreograph.” My feet lightly padded the floor as I took my place in the second row. “We will do a beginning two minute routine, then split into the normal groups.” Mrs. Frazier said. “Rosa, Maggie, Felicia, and Debbie, I want you to do two chaines into a stag jump then a diving somersault. Heidi, Lorelei, Bianca, Tracy, and Regina, I want you to to a back walkover with two chaines and an illusion. Patty, Natasha, Caroline, and Holly I want you to do a one hand cartwheel into a front walkover and a toe touch. On my count, go.” I let practice sweep me away, forgetting my worries.

And here is your quote:

"What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet." ~Romeo and Juliet

Happy weekend! :)

Happy birthday Anna!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes, another birthday ;) My friend Anna is turning the big 16 tomorrow, and I'm going to her b-day party today. I just wanted to give her a big shout out because I love her a lot too! ;D ;D ;D

HAPPY 16TH BIRTHDAY ANNA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


And guess what?! I met one of my favorite authors on Thursday night, Julie Lessman.She write the Daughters of Boston series and Winds of Change series which is a continuation of DoB. The books are historical romances, and trust me when I say right out that these are not the Amish books. They're filled with passion, longing, rivalry, adventure, secrets, and the reality of how much God loves us. So Julie spoke and signed all five of my books. My aunt and I also got our picture taken with her and we got to have an actual conversation with her for near ten minutes ;D ;D My head was soooooooooo in the clouds! ;D ;D She said I was adorable and sweet, and I had a heart full of God's love and He has great plans for me ;D I just stood there nodding and grinning like an idiot ::) ;) ;D ;D But here's the links to her books(in order), and go ahead and read the first chapters of the books. They're amazing! The O'Connor family has become my second family ;D I want to come down in the morning in the kitchn and tell them "good morning!" ;D

http://www.fictionfinder.com/book/detail/328

http://www.fictionfinder.com/book/detail/329

http://www.fictionfinder.com/book/detail/330

http://www.fictionfinder.com/book/detail/948

http://www.fictionfinder.com/book/detail/1422

Okay, I'm going to start posting my story on here. It's a retelling of Rapunzel, and I haven't written in it since...January :p But here's the beginning:

A Ribbon in the Tower

Chapter One

Where should I start? The beginning of my day. The middle of my day. The end of my day. It's all one big blur, and no matter how hard I try, I can't seem to find a start and finish. Maybe I should focus more.....but when I focus too much on one thing, my mind wanders to another bigger one. Lord, keep me sane!, I thought, rubbing my fingers on my tired eyes. It was the last class of the day, the one I hated to love. Hated to love. Imagine a glorious forty five minutes dedicated to fairy tales and poetry, then comes in the timid, tired mouse.

Our teacher, miss Elinor Ash, had received her doctorate in English and British Literature from Oxford. From her high society name down to her proper demeanor, this woman was a left over from the eighteenth century. I felt bad for her, I suppose. Miss Ash seemed to love anything that had to do with literature, but why leave the mother country to come here to loud America, I wonder?

Was it that they had too many Miss Ash's in England? Or possibly she was enchanted by tales of the free land, where anything goes. Personally, I think the school board was so desperate to find a teacher who lived and breathed literature they looked all the way over the ocean. And that's where my dilemma comes in. I love this class. Essays on the tales every two weeks, then an essay on the next poem two weeks after that. Story, then poem. Story, then poem. I got A's in this class. But Miss Ash? I would get an F trying to figure her out.

“Afternoon everyone. Please turn your books to 255.” Elinor Ash got straight to work. After I found the page number, I felt my body hum with anticipation. Rapunzel. One of my favorites of all time.

“Since this is the last story of the trimester, we're going to be spending a little more time on it.” Miss Ash began. Some of the boys in the class found the page number, then groaned and slumped in their chairs.

“Seriously?” One of them asked. “What are we supposed to learn from this? That the longer hair gets it becomes more infested with bugs?” Miss Ash looked down at her petite feet, then looked back up, her blue eyes strained. “No, Mr. Trent. We are going to learn the truth of independence and the reality of love. Lesson number one: love that tries to own you pushes you further. Love that gives space brings much more in.”

Huh. That had to be one of the most philosophical statements Miss Ash has ever made.

“That is why I feel to get the most out of this class and all we have learned, you're last assignment will be to write a four page report on a fairy tale or poem of your choice.” Groans and disgusted sighs resounded throughout the room. I was the only one smiling. Writing? Loved it. Writing on a fairy tale of my choosing? I was in heaven.

***** 

Finally, here's your quote for today:

"In returning to Me and resting in Me, you shall be saved; in quietness and trust shall be your strength." ~Isaiah 30:15

Have a wonderful weekend and week ahead! :)

Happy birthday Grace!!!!!!!!!

As many of you may or may not know, today is my wonderful forum twin sister's birthday ;) So to make that a little easier sounding, Grace is one of my best friends in the whole wide world. The only problem is, she lives in VA which is like...14 hours from where I live, give or take a few hours :p But distance cannot keep us apart! We are constantly exchanging e-mails back and forth and sending pics of our crazy family to each other. And we are both members of the Fairy Tale Novel forum ;D We met online of all places in August of '09 in a Latin class. About a couple months into it, we asked each other for our email addresses and voila! History was made ;) My parents surprised me a year later in November of 2010 and sent me out to her house to stay for a week. That was a dream come true ;D ;D ;D We've webcamed a couple of times since then and we need to do it again ;) I'm really hoping I'll see her in person again soon. I'm going to Franciscan University next fall, so we're already making plans for me to take my Thanksgiving breaks at her house since it'll be closer compared to my house ;) ;D Anywho, I just wanted to give big shout out to her, because I love her soooooooooooo much and she's an amazing person!

HAPPY 18TH BIRTHDAY GRACE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D 


And last but not least, here is your quote for today:

"God gave us the gift of hope at our baptism. Our task is simply to accept the gift and incorporate it into our lives." ~Gina Loehr

I wish you all very happy weekend and week ahead! :)

March!

It's finally March!!!!!!!! I can see the light at the end of the tunnel ;D And speaking of which, I just saw lightning outside our window. It's raining cats and dogs and I love it! And I just heard thunder! Hallelujah! :D :D :D All of this means spring and warm weather you know ;) And since I live in MI, once March hits, we rebel against the weather. We try our hardest to wear lighter clothes and coats, and try to make do with pockets instead of gloves. I had on a knee length denim skirt and a long sleeve purple shirt with lilacs on it today with purple clogs, and my sister said I look too springy. I told her it's March 2nd; I can look springy now ;) ;D ;D Anyway, I can't see who my followers are again, so would y'all kindly tell me who you are again? ;) Oh, and I think I did a review of a book called Waterfall awhile back and mentioned the next two books in the series Cascade and Torrent. The author just put out an e-novella of the 4th book. It's not as long as the other books, but it tells us what happens right after the end of the third. Such as men coming home from war, and a romance finally coming out of the shadows...but yeah, it's only an e-book, so I had to download the Kindle app to my computer to read it :p I'm old fashioned; I have to have a book in my hands. But unfortunately I couldn't for this, but it was fine reading it on the computer. And the app was free, so I only had to pay for the book which was .99. I'm happy ;D Anywho, here's your quote for today:

"You musn't be afraid to dream a little bigger, darling." ~Inception

Happy weekend!