The First of Many

Finally Back on Blogger!!!! I promised someone that I would post and I never got a chance until now. I don't know what happened to my four day weekend. It was pretty chill over all. I still have one more day but I don't have anything planned.
He keeps calling but I decided not to answer. I'm definately not trying to get in trouble because of him this month. Last month I used up more than 2,300 minutes because of him and I'm not going to do that again. I'm not trying to get my phone taken away.
Things are going pretty well with him. I realized that I need yhim in my life more than I thought I would. Even though we are not officially together it still feels like we are because we still talk so much. I like it but if we are going to keep talking like this there was no point in breaking up. Well now I see what he means. I think that there actually is a reason why I left him. It was because calling him a BOYFRIEND causes me to change the way I talk to him. He doesn't notice it but I do. Also When we were together I feared saying some things because I thought there would be bad consequences but now that we are "not together" I can say whatever I want and it will not change a thing.
I think I like it better this way. I know I don't want to let him go again. This time I want him to stay in my life. Maybe if he lived closer things would be different. Actually I'm really sure that things would be different if he was here. He doesn't get how hard it is for me to tell him that we are not going to be "officially together" anymore. I really want to be but not long-distance. Maybe is he moves or maybe after high school. I don't know. Hopefully we figure things out before I lose him again because I really don't want that to happen.

Final Post of the 2010 School Year

     In this past year my writing changed a lot. My way of thinking improved. This blog helped me write more naturally. My thoughts became easier to express in writing. I do realize though, that my writings wouldn't change the world. The first topic I ever wanted to write about was memories. Now I'm realizing that I wasn't really writing about memories. If I look back at my blog I see that I'm making memories for the furture. I could look back on my blog and see how I thought, or how I felt at the time I was writing the posts. 

    One of my favorite posts was the one I wrote about the actual memories. The reason why this is one of my favorite posts is because I went more in depth than any other piece of writing I had done before this. I could say that this post was one of the more serious pieces of work that I had ever done. I think this was where I started taking writing more seriously.On this post I realized that I work better when I'm alone. I wrote this post when I was home alone. I guess to write things more in depth I need to be alone with my thoughts. Sometimes I need to be around people to actually think of something to write about. I guess the topics I write about depend on the environment I'm in when I'm writing. I'm sure that this happens to many people. This post shows me how I was thinking back then in the beginning of the year. My cousins death was still so present with me. Even though it has been two years. This post reminds me that I was actually planning to dedicate my whole blog to him. I soon realized though that my memories of him and I weren't c;ear enough to describe. They were also very private. When it was time for the next post I realized that I didn't choose such a good topic for myself since I'm not a very open person. I like to keep my thoughts and feelings to myself. My memories aren't so private but it is very hard for me to open up to just anyone. My Memories post reminds me of all the things I thought I could share. One of my least favortie posts was this one because it didn't have a clear topic. I kept jumping around because I was thinking about so many things at once. This post shows how I still have much to learn about writing. I actually found more posts that have the same problem. I don't make it clear what I am actually writing about. I don't even think I have an actual topic. These were just posts to say what was on my mind. There was no actually thesis. There was no actual point I was trying to make. This post shows me that I have to work on my writing skills quite a bit. Sometimes it is necessary to be corrected. This blog was a place where we could write about whatever we wanted but if we write about whatever we want then how are we being corrected. Some people don't take this assignment seriously. How will those people know if they are getting better at writinf. Will they just have to evaluate themselves?

    Having a blog has changed the way I think. I think about things more deeply. If I find something interesting I look back at it and see if I can make a post out of it. Like this post, I wrote after reading a book about slavery. I didn't put in many things from the book. This post was more about what I thought about the topic in general. From the blog it's hard for me to tell if I'm developing as a writer. I might think I got better at writing but other people might not. One thing I know for sure is that the blog made writing easier for me. Since I wasn't good at writing before I didn't like it, or maybe I wasn't good at it because I didn't like it? Well whatever the reason was, that all has changed. Since writing comes more naturally now, I don't really have a problem with it. I'm not carzy about it yet either. I'm not crazy enough about it to spend weeks writing a book. What I write about in my bog is usually stuff that goes on in my life or stuff I think about at the moment I write the post. This makes it easier. I'm pretty sure that is this blog was based on having to respond to writing prompts, I wouldn't be doing so well. As soon as someone tells you what to write about, that is where the writer's block begins. Having this blog has showed me that if you don't have someone telling you what to write about then writting can actually be cool. Since we started this assingnment I feel more comfortable with the way I write and I don't mind if other people read my work. Before I used to feel like other people were so much better than me in writing that I wouldn't want anyone to see my work. Now I feel more confident and I don't mind other people read it. The one thind I wish I had more of on my blog is coments. I think that if i had more coments I can see how bad or how well I'm doing. A little feedback would help my develop more as a writer.

    Although writing was never really been my thing I feel like that is slowly changing because of this blog. I'm willing to try my best to improve every year. This year my blog was just a place to vent out my thoughts. Next year I think setting goals for myself would be a good idea. Maybe if I planned out my blogs and actually put more time and effort into them then I could be even better. This being my last blog of my 2010 school year I'm happy to say that I feel accomplished. I learned a lot about myself and I have developed quite a bit in my writing. I think I'm prepared for what Junior year will bring.

Planet Pregnancy - Final Book Review

    Planet Pregnancy by Linda Oatman High has been a great book. I actually finished really early. I couldn't put it down. It is a story that many girls now a days can relate to. Before teenage pregnancies were not popular around the world now it is not such and uncommon thing. I don't think I could do what Sahara did. She kept her pregnancy a secret from everybody for a very long time. I would've needed to talk to someone about it.

    Sahara is a normal high school girl. She is full of life. One day she finds out that she is pregnant and her world turns upside down. She doesn't know what to do. She doesn't know who to tell. The first few months of her pregnancy is a complete blur to her. In school she is no longer that happy girl she used to be. At home she tries not to be noticed. Since the boy she was with is not someone she could rely on she has to find a way to tell her mother. Sahara changes a lot in the book. You see her mature. You see her get shaped into what a mom should be. She has to make a big decision, and looking back at the ending, I think she made the right choice.

    I think this book is for teenagers. It shows how a regular girl dealt with her problem. Maybe other teenage girls can learn form her. I think this is for teenage girls because this a story of a teenage pregnancy written in a teenage point of view.

    The main character, Sahara, is who I found the most interesting. She developed and changed her views throughout the book, witch is what made her inspiring to me. She made a bad choice in the book, and she realized that, but there few options for her to choose from. In the beginning of the book, Sahara was "Miss social butterfly," and after she found out that she was pregnant, her world turned upside down. She did not want to go out in public, she was confused, she was scared, she was scared. when she first found out that she was pregnant she was thinking that getting rid of the baby was the only way out. Thank god that she did not end up doing that. I think that because of the baby she grew up as a person. She was no longer the teenage girl she was before she got pregnant.

    After a few months of her pregnancy she realizes that she cannot hide the pregnancy much longer. She finally decides to tell her mom that she is pregnant. Although she shows more maturity with that, she does not tell her the complete truth and that shows that she still has some growing up to do. We see all the things she thinks about during her pregnancy. One of the main questions she asks herself is what will people think. She knew that there were other teenage moms out there but she never thought that she would be one of them. Her sort of perfect life turned into hell. I think sahara shows that she is becoming independent throughout the book. She spends a lto more time by herself. She thinks really deeply about what she want in her life. she realizes that she doesn't have many people to depend on.She has her best friend Emma and her mother, but nobody else. She is going to be a single mom just like her own mother was for a while. The soon to be father, sahara's ex-boyfriend, does not believe he is the father. sahara doesn't even want to be with him. She just tried to let him know he was the father, if he didn't belive her there was nothing she could do anymore.I think that when she realizes that her ex-boyfriend is not going to support her, it reminds her a lot of her mom and dad's relationship and how it fell apart.

    The author may have had many reasons to write this book but I think that her main reason was to tell the story of a teenage pregnancy. A lot of teenage pregnancies are not planned and unwanted. In Sahara's case it starts out as many other teenage pregnancies, unwanted. This story ends on a good note. This shows that teenage pregnancies aren't always bad. Although most teenage girls don't want to get pregnant, there are those unusual few that really want to get pregnant. In the beginning of the book Sahara doesn't want to have a baby and her only thought was to get rid of it. You see a real change in her torwards the end of the book.

I just want to build a canopy over my baby and keep it from danger

 

   

     This shows how Sahara is maturing. It shows that she is ready to be a mom. She is thinking like a mom.When it comes to the final day when she actually has the baby she realizes that her baby, Grace, will be the love of her life.

              I'm crying and laughing at the same time....I'm in total love

     Her new baby is going to definately be one of the greatest things that will ever come into her life. I wonder if all new moms feel this way.

    I would have to say the one weakness about the book was that it had a bad ending. It said something about her Sahara's mom waiting at the curb when Sahara walked out of the hospital. I wish the book told a little more about the life of Sahara after the birth of Grace. In my opinion, a lot of books have this same problem. They leave the reader wanting to know more. Sometimes they don't write a sequel or anything, they just leave the readers wondering and imagining ther own endings. I know somwhere torwards the end of the book Sahara says

                 ...and I know everything will be fine...

    That makes me imagine a lot of endings. Everything could be fine for now but I would've really liked to know a little bit more. The ending left me with a lot of questions. Does she end up with her ex-boyfriend Dustin? Does her mom treaat her the same? What does Emma reply to Sahara's txt message? Does Sahara tell her dad about his new grandaughter? These questions were left unanswered so I think of the book as incomplete.

    Other than the ending, the rest of the book was great. As I said before, I couldn't put it down. The book was easy to read and understand. I would recommend this book to all teenage girls. These kinds of things can happen to anyone so why not see what to expect. This book shows what a general teenager does when she finds out she is pregnant at 16. There are a lot more things that make Planet Pregnancy a good book. Check it out.

Planet Pregnancy by Linda Oatman High - Part 3

     In the third and final part of Planet Pregnancy by Linda Oatman High, you see a complete change of heart in Sahara that you can't really understand. In the beginning of the book, all she was thinking about doing was getting rid of the baby. Well she changed her mind. Sometimes I think "what if I was in that situation? what would I do?" Well I thought about it and at first I said to myself that I would never get rid of a baby. I thought everyone deserves a chance to live, but then I thought about it more deeply. What if you weren't ready to raise a child and you knew you had no one to stand by you? I know I would be so scared. This to me is a very difficult situation that Sahara shouldn't have felt the need to deal with alone. After she thought about th situation she decided to tell her mom because she wasn't going to be able to hide the baby much longer. Her mother, like any other mother I know, freaked out. Then Sahara felt better with herself. She knew that her mom would not be happy, but she also knew that her mom wasn't going to put her out on the street in that condition. I think she should've done this from the beginnig, but of course she neede time to think. torwards the very end of the book Sahara's feelings torward the baby change.

I just want to build a canopy over my baby and keep it from danger.

     This shows that she is beginning to care for the baby. She wan'ts the baby to be fine. She is starting to feel like any other mother, who is ready to have a child, should feel. I think she starts to feel this way because now her pregnancy is not a secret. I think telling her mother made her feel that it didn't matter what anybody else thought. Because she didn't have to hide anything anymore, she thought more openly about the situation.

I'm laughing and crying at the same time............I'm in total love.

     Sahara says this after she gives birth. I think this shows that everything is going to be fine and that she made the right choice. I'm not saying that teen pregnancies always turn out this way but this was a appy ending. In this situation, by making one big mistake Sahara gained a lot. She matured and thought life through. She realized that Grace ( her new daughter) was one of the best things that happened to her. I would want my experience with my first child to be like this. The only thing I would change is the age. I would like to wait a while before I decide to become a mom.

Summer

    School is almost over. A couple more weeks and we are out. I still have no plans for summer except going camping with some of my family.
    It is going to be my second time going camping and I hope I have more fun than last time. Last time I didn't even get to go in the water because I was feeling sick. I was on the boat watching the smallest kids while everyone else was swimming. I didn't mind at the time because I wasn't feeling good but looking back, I missed out on a lot of things. I didn't get to ride the sea doos. I wasn't really thinking about that at the time but now I'm mad. I did have fun but I missed out on a lot. I loved being with my family, especially because it's the side of the family that I don't get to see a lot. I loved hanging out with them for a week. I wish we stayed longer.
    The only thing I wish would change would be to stay just a little bit longer. I don't remember exactly where this lake is but it's a beautiful lake. I really want to go. My cousins are already getting prepared for the trip. Last year not everyone in the family went. This year supposedely everyone is going so it's going t obe even better. The only people that are not going are my parents and my grandparents.

    The reason why my parents aren't going is because my mom has never been much of an outdoor person. I most definately didn't get that from her. The only thing I don't like about being outdoors is bugs. Here where I live that is not a problem so I love being outside. Another thing my mom doesn't like about going camping is that everyone goes swimming. To me it seems like she is scared of the water because she doesn't know how to swim. I don't know how to swim either but I'm not scared of the water. My goal for this summer is learning how to swim.

    This summer is going to be fun but not exactly what I wanted it to be. I was really looking forward to going to Mexico this summer but it seems like that is not going to happen. Time goes  by so fats. I can't believe it has already been two years since I went to Mexico. I love going to Mexico. Over there I am basically free. It may be a little dangerous but since it's my parents vacation too, they are a little less strict. They have there time to relax and I have my time to go out. We used to go to Mexico to see my great granmother, but now that she is back living with us, I don't know when we will go to Mexico again. I hope that we go soon because we do have other family over there that I miss.

    After this summer, I only have one more summer until I graduate. Time goes by so fast!!!

Rules of Love

    In relationships today couples aren't very conservative. They can tell eachother anything. They call eachother a lot of names, good and bad, and they are not as respectful towards each other like they were before. The line between what nice guys do and don't do is hard to see. One thing would be that nice guys do not hit girls. However I think that the line between what nice girls do and don't do is different. I think that because a lot of the drama in a relationship is directed to the girl, the reactions of the girls should be tolerated a little more than the guys. In a lot of relationships it is the guy that starts and causes a lot of the arguments so whatever the girl decides to do is understandable. Another thing that nice guys don't do is cheat. If a guy does not want to be with the girl anymore then why cheat, why not just break up. Also nice guys do not disrespect their girlfriends parents. This would also apply for a girl.
    Different rules are set within different relationships and depending on how badly the rule is broken, there are different consequences. Some people just drop the situation because they don't want big arguments. In other relationships one mistake and the relationship is over. I think that consequences ddepend on mutual tolerance.
    It is not clear where the rules come from.I think it is just morals. It is just how you are taught to behave. Although that is not always the answer because sometimes even if you know something is not right, you would still do it. I guess it would depend on the individual. Not all people live by the same rules therefore I don't think there are actual rules set for love. Different people like different things. Although people like different things I think everyone would like respect.

Slavery

    Slavery. It is something that no matter how hard we try, doesn't seem to disappear. There are more slaves in the world now, than ever before. The only difference about slavery now is that it's not all out in the open like before. There are organizations around the world trying to stop slavery but it doesn't seem to help. In the TED talk we watched a while back, Kevin Bales raised a good question. I'm not sure exactly what he said but it was something like, "if we don't have the power to free slaves then are we free?". At first I was really confused by this question.
    I believe we are free in most things but not in every aspect of life. We only have certain freedoms. Of course are freedoms are limited, or else there would be no structure in the world. Some things are a little too over the top though. Before if you were born a slave then you served your whole life as a slave. Now many of the horrible people who own slaves think of the slaves as disposable. It is scary to think that a person can actually be used like that. Even though I know that this actually happens I would like to believe that it doesn't. Would that be considered naive? I don't like to hear the troubles of all the other people in the world. It's not because I don't care(because I do), it's because I think that there is nothing I can do about it. It makes me feel so sad that many people just watch as bad things happen to others. Why is it so hard to get rid of something like this.
    I know that people know that slavery is still going on, I'm pretty sure they know where it is going on too, so why can't they stop it? For slave holders it is easy money. The slaves are cheap and "disposable" so they don't even bother keeping them healthy. They don't care how long they live or if they die because they are easy to replace. You can actually replace a life? What's next? Slavery has been going on for so long now that it's probably too big of a thing that people probably think it's a waste of time to try and stop it. I know that there are people out there who are actually fighting to stop slavery but they haven't gone very far. I wonder if it is even possible to stop slavery after it has expanded to this extent. What can we do? Is there anything we can do? These questions don't seem to have answers.
    I think that to stop slavery there are going to be a lot of processes to go through. After something has been let go so far it's hard to stop it I guess. Has Slavery gained so much power? When I wake up in the morning I don't wake up thinking that I will get beat or tortured or anything like that. I wake up happy not worrying at all about what is going to happen. We lead a worry free life while as we speak thousands of people are getting beaten, people are dying, or getting tortured.When will this end?