american beauty

For our fourth and and final paper of our writing portfolio, I am excited to be critiquing the film American Beauty.  It has always been a film that I have wanted to see and never got around to it. Film has always been a passion of mine. I've grown up in a house where my family watches all types of movies and we have the lines memorized of all of our favorites. My favorite type of movies are the ones that make you think about it; there's nothing worse than something predictable. When choosing American Beauty, I knew it was going to be one that I could watch over and over for this project. And after watching it for the first time on Saturday, my prediction was right. It's a movie unlike anything else I've ever seen before, and I am excited to watch it again. And again.

daylight savings

Ever since the switch a few weeks back, each night has gotten darker and darker, and it's been happening earlier and earlier. It's 4:50 P.M. right now, and the sun has already disappeared. I know we supposedly "gained" an hour of sleep in the morning, but I'm already tired. It looks like night time, so my brain keeps thinking one thing: bedtime! As much as I love winter, and that first snowfall of the year, that we haven't had yet... something in me is missing those summer nights where the sun is just beginning to set at 9:00 P.M.

what is something that you wish you were better at?

One thing that I wish I could excel at would be mathematics. Sounds boring, I know. However, I am one of the few people that actually finds math "fun". My favorite thing about it is how there is just simply one answer. I love how once you figure out how to do a certain problem, that you can do another one, and another. I'm obsessed with organization. And with math, that is quite easy. Forming exact ways of solving problems, organized on the page is nice. Some people even joke around with me saying that I have OCD, and for the most part I agree with them. If I was better at math, I would have an easier time doing something that I really enjoy, and love for the most part.

free time

Finally, the swim season is over. Instead of getting home at 6:30PM after practice every day, I get home around 2:30PM, which creates an extra four hours of my day! Today I drove my younger sister, Molly, home from school. I had a doctor appointment after school that my mom and drove to as soon as I got home. By the time that was over, it was not even 3:30PM. So, instead of rushing home to do my homework which I usually do, I convinced my mom that we "needed" to go to Barnes & Noble. There's nothing better than finding a new great book to read, and I was excited to finally be able to do some "recreational reading" rather than just reading for school. By the time we got home it was not even 4PM. That's two whole hours before I even am thinking about getting out of the pool. I wasn't even sure what to do with myself! This extra time feels like such a luxury, and I can't wait to indulge in it again tomorrow...

vacations.

The last real vacation I went on was in eighth grade. My family went to Mexico, and it was over both Easter and my birthday. Everything was so warm there, compared to now (I'm wearing layers upon layers of clothes and I can still feel the chill creeping in). I went parasailing in Mexico, and was suspended high in the air above the Pacific Ocean below me. The world seemed so huge in that moment, and I had felt so small.

Before Mexico, the next nearest vacation was Disney World. I was in third grade. I still remember the 'scary' rides that just my dad and I would go on, leaving my mom and younger sister to the baby rides. I remember all of the signatures we got of those people dressed up like all of the characters. (Sidenote: in my opinion, that would be THE worst job.)

Apart from that, we've gone to other places in Minnesota, and Wisconsin. I traveled to Las Vegas when I was in kindergarten for my uncle Mike's wedding, and the first time that I went on a plane was to Arizona, I was just a one year old. My family has never exactly been world travelers. That's maybe why I am so passionate about seeing the world and even just the rest of the United States in the future. My dream is to be able to bring my parents to wherever they want. They deserve a vacation, and someday I want to be the one that gives it to them.

snow snow snow (rant)

We live in Minnesota.
There should be snow here before:
Wisconsin,
Iowa,
and those people on the East Coast that think they are cool for experiencing a minuscule earthquake, a 'hurricane', and snow storm in the past few months.
We live in MinneSNOWta.
Well, that's not really the name.
I love snow,
I love snow.
Did I mention I love snow?
This cold air outside is taunting me.
Why should it be cold if there isn't snow along with it?
Last year we had snow by now.
It makes the world so quite, and sparkly.
But no, we only had a few flurries that didn't do a thing.
Until there's snow...
I'll be dreaming of a white Thanksgiving.

bonding time

Ever since I can remember, my mom and I have loved driving around looking at houses. Spring, summer, fall or winter, we will pile up in one of the cars and choose a neighborhood to explore. It becomes a game, finding which house we wish we could live in and the houses that we would fix up. Our favorite houses are on top of this large hill near our house. The neighborhood is constantly adding these gorgeous new homes to the mix. I was stressed out so my mom had suggested we go to that favorite area of homes. We know that the homes are ridiculously over priced, but to us they are gorgeous and it's fun browse. Relaxing even. I told her that I want a job that can get me one of these houses. I imagine in the future, when I'm looking for my first house, I know my mom will be there with me.