My 2013

A lot of stuff went down in 2013.



Best Book: 
The best book I read this year was definitely "The Book Thief" by Markus Zusak. I would recommend it. And if you really aren't the book reader type, (you know who you are. I hope you feel my disapproving scowl as you read this.) the movie was a great adaptation. The book was better, but the movie left nothing too important out.
Also "The Oath" by Frank Peretti. I'd recommend anything by him, actually. But I read "The Oath" in June. :)
Worst Books: 
The worst book I read this year was "The Book of Blood and Shadow." Just don't read it. Just don't. I stayed up until three in the morning to finish the book, and it ended so horribly I basically threw the book against the wall and went to bed angry. Don't read it.
A close second is "The Fault in Our Stars."
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Best Movies:
I saw a lot of memorable movies this year. However, I can't remember anything before May. SO, therefore, the best movies that I saw were "Frozen", "The Hobbit pt 2", and "Ender's Game."
Everyone I know liked Frozen. See it.
You might not like The Hobbit if you're a stickler about the books. Peter Jackson still tells the story brilliantly, even though everything in the movie isn't strictly in the book.
And "Ender's Game." I really enjoyed that movie. The kid who plays Ender was a great actor. And again, even though the movie is fairly different from the book, the story is still told well enough so one can understand it without reading the book.
Worst Movies:
"Iron Man 3." Gosh. It could have been SO GOOD. I really don't like it when someone other than the hero defeats the bad guy. And then how he destroys all the suits... What's up with that?

The more I think about "Man of Steel" the more I decided that I didn't like it. Although the guy who plays "Superman" was really good, as was Amy Adams, the acting couldn't hold up the unrealistic collateral damage, the cheesy camera shots, and horribly corny jokes.
See it. It wasn't horrible. But it wasn't great.
My brother brought up that compared to "Superman Returns" "Man of Steel" was excellent.

Also "The City of Bones." I saw this movie when I was about halfway through the book. The book sucked, and so did the movie. I can't really describe why it sucked. So just trust me on this one.

EDIT: "The Host" was also a horrible movie. It dragged on forever and the story could have been amazing but instead it was just some strange romance.
I talked to a lot of people my age who liked it, but I just couldn't get into it.

Most Okayest movie I saw:
"The Great Gatsby."
Also, "World War Z."

There were a lot of movies I finally saw in 2013 that didn't come out this year or I didn't see in theaters. All of them were pretty good.

• Like Crazy
• 500 Days of Summer
• The Dark Knight trilogy
• The Way Way Back
• X-Men First Class
• The Wolverine

SEE ALL OF THEM.  
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Best Album:
Icon For Hire's self titled album. Plus, since I ordered it early, they sent me Laffy Taffy with it. But the actual album is excellent, and way better than their first one.

Worst Album:
Not really bad, just kind of a let down, was RED's "Release the Panic." I like it, it just wasn't as good as I was hoping.
Also, the Jonas Brother's album that never came out because they broke up. :P

Most Okayest Album:
 Panic! at the Disco "Too Weird to Live, Too Rare to Die." Not horrible, but not good, either. Brendon has an amazing voice, but this album is super auto-tuned and the lyrics just aren't as good as their past stuff.
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Best TV Show:
The best show that came out this year was Agents of Shield. But I don't watch that much TV. There's probably better shows out there.

I recently got in to Sherlock on BBC. I highly recommend you watching that show. NOW. DO IT NOW

Worst TV Show:
Sleep Hollow.
That show creeped me out so bad......
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Best thing that happened to me:
I went on this missions trip to San Jose, Costa Rica with my class.
The whole trip was awesome but one of the best parts was when I played soccer with this kid named Jefferson.
A close second is this independently owned bookstore trip I took with my Grandma. We went to like 6 stores. It was awesome.
Also, I finished my NaNoWriMo novel at 51,086 words! Woot Woot!

Worst Thing that happened to me: 
As with good things, there's always bad things.
Probably one of the saddest things that happened to me was in January when a good friend of mine told me she didn't believe in God anymore. I still pray for her.

Also, on a less serious note, I had to go back to the orthodontist and also to the physical therapist and also to the oral surgeon to figure out my TMJ.  That, my friend, sucked.
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Other stuff that happened:

• I started a blog.
• I got a laptop
• My friend and I made plans to go to Europe in 2016. 
• I decided that I want to be a Lit teacher.
• I learned how to play the ukulele. 
• My taste in music completely changed from rock to punk back to rock. Now I like both.
• I learned some card tricks.
• Also, I just want to note that I went to my first haunted corn maze this Halloween. Never. Again. I mean, I'm glad I did it. Now I know to never do it again

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Some Stuff God Taught Me:
God taught me a lot of stuff. But these are the things that come to mind first that I had to be reminded of throughout the whole year:

1) Nothing you do for God is useless. (1 Corinthians 15:58)
2) God knows more than you. So when bad stuff happens, trust him and read Isaiah 40.
3) Sometimes you have to grit your teeth and obey a teacher, even if they're wrong or rude.

Resolutions:
Be healthier/run more.
Write every day. Finish editing my NaNo novel, write another one in April.
Get a job.
Get my driver's license.
Read. :)
Memorize scripture
Memorize that thing Gandalf says at the beginning of The Hobbit when Bilbo says "Good morning."
"Do you wish me a good morning, or mean that it is a good morning whether I want it or not; or that you feel good this morning; or that it is a morning to be good on?"


Well, thank you for reading this if you read this far. Which I don't know why you would have.

Happy New Year! :)

-Amanda

Stream of Consciousness 3

So, at first I thought "Do people even read these things? Should I keep doing them?" And then I thought "I don't really care if people read them or care about them. I shall do them anyway."

I realized how depressing my last blog post was, and I just want to reassure you that I am not depressed. After a few days I got over the book... So never fear, readers of my blog.

I'm currently printing out my NaNoWriMo novel so I can re-write it. It kind of sucks because you write something and you're so proud of it. But then you go to read through it again and realize that it kind of sucks. then I think about this one quote I saw I think by Ernest Hemingway that said, "The first draft of anything is [crap]." And it makes me feel better.
A lot of people would say just be proud that I finished. Which, I suppose I am. But I would like to make this good, you know?

Anyway, I'm filling out an application to be part of the Service and Leadership Training (SaLT) at Id-Ra-Ha-Je. It's kind of scary, actually. Because of all the questions I have to answer. I've never had to think so hard about what my opinions about alcohol are. Or what I believe about the Bible. THINK ABOUT THESE THINGS BEFORE YOU HAVE TO ANSWER THEM IN A JOB APPLICATION, PEOPLE.

Christmas came and went without much trouble.... It was strange because it seemed to come so quickly, with break starting the 20th and all.

I keep checking my grades on Engrade checking to see if my finals have been graded. When they haven't I get all mad, then I realize teachers have lives too.

Perhaps I'll do one of those year reflection things or whatever. I don't know. We'll see what happens.

I am seriously obsessed with Sherlock (the BBC show.) And I'm not sure why I fangirl so much.....

PICTURE TIME:

This made me laugh harder than it should have. 

Look at how legit this little guy is. 

Kay bye

-Amanda

The Fault in Our Stars.

So, there's all this garbage going on in my life right now. It's not necessarily happening to me, but I see it happening to everyone else. And this kind of sucks because I can't do anything to help them. So, I'm already kind of depressed and down, so I decide to read The Fault in Our Stars. Now, if you don't know anything about this book- I don't know why you wouldn't. It's supposed to be this great book. They're turning it into a movie, it was on the NYT bestseller list... It's about this girl who has cancer and falls in love. It's suppose to make you cry. I didn't cry. I was pretty close, though. The book just basically ruined my day. 

Seriously. I was in the car when I finished it. So I threw it in the trunk and just stared out the window for the last twenty minutes of our journey. (I was just going to Severance. So I suppose it wasn't that much of an adventure. But whatever.) My family kept asking me if I was okay. And why I read it if I knew it was going to depress me. In all honesty, I'm not sure why I read it. Perhaps I still had a little bit of faith in the YA fiction department. It didn't end how I expected it, but it didn't end any better than I predicted. 

Since the beginning of life, humans have been trying to figure out why we're here. Not collectively as a race, but each individual. Why am I here? Why are you here? This is the second book I've read that has tried to answer this question. (The first was called The Book of Blood and Shadow.)And both times it ends up with a horrible answer like There is no god. And since there's no god there's no afterlife. And since there's no afterlife there's only oblivion. No one's going to remember you when you die, so why try to do something memorable? Anything noteworthy you do will do more harm than good.

 And that is simply not true. 

I'm not sure where I'm going with this. And, quite ironically, my situation can be described perfectly by a quote from this book. 

I suppose I could have written it out instead of putting a picture. But, whatever. 

I'm not going to explicitly tell you to not read this book. 

It sure made me think, and there are a lot of symbolism and metaphors throughout the story. Also, if you care about this sort of stuff, there's some language and a little bit of sex. The content didn't really bother me, though.  But the whole theme and mood of the book is just depressing. The writing itself was excellent. 

If you do read it or have read it in the past, I would love to hear your thoughts about it. Especially if you liked it. 

Needless to say, I will not be seeing the movie... 

- Amanda 

When Tragedy Hits

This is simply another response to the Arapahoe shooting that happened recently... I've been thinking a lot about it this past weekend and at church this morning the youth pastor basically just answered questions from the students about the whole issue. I thought it provided a really nice perspective. There are just a few things that I want to say:

First, it's horrible. I'm so tired of all these things happening. Seriously. The theater shooting was terrible, and very alarming since I live fairly close to the theater. And then the Sandy Hook shooting made me think since I lead a group of first graders in my AWANA group. And now there's this, my school is like two miles away from Arapahoe. I was at school when it happened and it was kind of scary because no one really told us what was going on, but my principle was going around and making sure the doors were locked. Eventually word got around of what happened. And the whole school was in this eerie silence for the rest of the day.
Honestly, my first thought was "Not again."  Not ANOTHER shooting. Not ANOTHER tragedy. My mom texted me to let me know that my cousin wasn't hurt. Well, I didn't even know that she went to that school. So I was simultaneously glad she was okay and then terrified that there was a chance she could have gotten hurt. Then I got home and saw that my other cousin went there too. And it was just... terrible....

That being said, these past few days have really made me think hard about life. It's scary to think that we aren't guaranteed life. There is no reason why I should expect to make it to tomorrow. I remember after the theater shooting I didn't want to go anywhere, because what if I got shot?
And to that I say- don't live in fear. If you just stay in your home for the rest of your life, well- you might as well be dead, right?
At youth group this one kid asked "How can I feel safe if anyone can come in and shoot me?" I thought it was a reasonable question. One that all of us struggle with when this happens. As a Christian, I think, we can answer that question better than most.
This life is not all there is. Death is tragic. It's horrible. But really, this isn't our home. Life on this earth is fragile. What happens when it ends? As a Christian, I know for certain that if someone were to come in and shoot me right at this instant, I would go to heaven, which is incredibly better than anything that I could have right now.
Now, I don't want to turn this into a preachy gospel thing, but it needs to be said. In light of this tragedy, I have hope. I have joy that some may say is unreasonable. I trust that God holds my life in his hands and cares about me. I honestly, don't understand how someone who doesn't believe in God can function. Even if I am fooling myself. Even if religion is made up by some lunatics, would you not rather have hope than trying to live a "good" life while you still have it and then- what? Die and cease to exist? I don't know....
So, even though all this happened, I will not live in fear. A life lived in fear is not worth living.

One thing that I have been taught every year at Summer camp and was reminded of today- what's your anchor? Have you ever been repelling? Like, legit repelling down a cliff? Well, there are these things called anchors that you use. At Id-Ra-Ha-Je (the camp) they are screwed into the rock, and then the bolts expand into the rock. Basically it would be very, very difficult to pull them out. Pretty much impossible. That is what you hook into to go and walk down a cliff. The hardest thing to do is trust. You need to trust the rope, the anchor, the equipment, and the counselors who are trained to do this stuff. It was seriously one of the most terrifying things that I've ever done. But I didn't have it as bad as my other friend who got her hair stuck in the rope. When that happens, your weight is taken off of the main rope and put on the backup rope which is in the hands of the person at the top. I remember my friend freaking out because she was just hanging there trying to get her hair out of the thing.
The point of that long winded story is, when things go wrong, who do you put your trust in? If my friend had continued freaking out and pulling on the rope instead of trust the counselors and the equipment, she never would have gotten out. Instead, she probably would have gotten herself into more trouble and pain. So when struggles come, are you going to trust yourself? Or your friends? Or whatever else you think will help you and make you succeed. If you do that, you'll only disappoint yourself.
God, however, will never fail. If you trust him, he will get you through anything. Hard times will still happen, but dealing with them becomes immensely easier when you have the one thing that you know for a fact is true. One of my teachers who is also my principle always tells us that whenever stuff like this happens, go back to Jesus. Go back to what you know is true and rest in that. 

Things like this shake us. They scare us. But we can't dwell on the fear. God loves us and he give those to believe in him a life beyond this, one without school shootings, and cancer, and abuse. Once you have that, no one can harm you. Well, sure, they can kill you. But none of that matters when you have Jesus!!! 

I pray for all the students and their families. Especially the families of Claire and Karl. I pray that the community will surround them and help them, but I also pray that God will use this horrible effect of sin and turn it into something good. And I ask you to do the same. I also pray that the community will be able to forgive the shooter for what he did. Not excuse it, but forgive.


I leave you with a verse from Psalm 27:1 
"The LORD is my life and my salvation-
Whom shall I fear?
The LORD is the stronghold of my life-
Of whom I be afraid?

- Amanda 

Stream of Consciousness 2

I changed the name of my blog... In case anyone noticed....

It is the last few weeks of the semester and there is quite a lot going on right now. I felt the need to blog. Also, I may be procrastinating my History paper. But that doesn't matter here.

Junior year is more challenging than I expected it to be. Last year, when my brother was a junior and I was a sophomore, he hated junior year. And all I kept thinking was “It can’t be THAT bad, come on, Tim.” 

However, now that I am here and I am actually facing the horror that is junior year, I am seeing that he was right.

Anyway, I’m almost halfway done with Junior year. Which means that I’m almost a senior. And that’s just terrifying.

Probably the most frustrating thing about this year is my teachers. Up until this point I've always felt that my teachers were  fair in the way that they graded and treated me and my classmates. Of course, there is no such thing as a perfect teacher. But some are better than others. Having a teacher that is constantly talking down to you, or treating you like you’re five when really you’re a high school student, is probably one of the most frustrating things in life. Especially since you have to respect them, even when they have no respect for you.

A teacher should expect a lot from their students. Challenge them and actually believing that the students can achieve what you set out for them. Rather than expecting nothing from most of your students, and treating the few students that you like more than the others as if they are somehow perfect. Of course, you’re going to have your favorites, but perhaps just a little more impartiality when it comes to grading, yes?

Nevertheless, Junior year hasn't sucked too bad. But it is quite difficult to write all these papers after creative writing for a month straight. Like… Really difficult. I was trying to write this History paper and I just had this sudden urge to write a scene from some story that I don’t even know….

And after I did that… Well… Hope was lost and I couldn't go back to writing about Manifest Destiny….

But speaking of writing, I've been reading some fanfiction lately. Mostly because I end up getting consumed by fictional worlds, and after that I’m basically gone. But one of my biggest pet peeves in fanfiction is when an author changes a character.

No. You just don’t do that.

If the character you want to write about is evil, ruthless, yet charming. Do not make him goofy, sweet, and of average intelligence. Sure, give them a soft side that you imagine they could have, but do not change the character.

The whole point of fanfiction is to take the characters/situations/settings and put your own spin on them. For instance, the Percy Jackson characters in the Hunger Games, or a romance between Oh.. I don’t know… Hermione Granger and… Draco Malfoy? That’d be interesting.. I don’t ship it…. But either way you get my point. If I’m going with the Hermione-Draco (I need a ship name…) I’m not suddenly going to make Draco nice, now, am I? If the two went on a date, how would they react to each other? The characters that JK already created. How would THEY react to each other, not the characters you made up with the same names. Arg. Goodness….  Now, I love fanfiction. It’s like… the best.. when it’s done correctly. 

Also, I know that you are more creative than to just write about the sex that you wish the characters had. Come on, I know you can write about more than that!

That’s why I don’t write it. I can’t do it.

Writing is beautiful, though. Any kind. It’s beautiful. It takes skill to construct a story that will cause the reader to actually feel invested in the story, in the characters. To make them feel the same way that a character does. I had to write a paper on this in my Lit class. It really does take a lot to describe things. It’s beautiful.

I heard a quote one time that said something along the lines of  -  Every reader brings something different to the story. Their own pains, victories, and love. – Isn't that just amazing? Just thinking about it makes me happy.

I seriously cannot understand why people don’t like to read. Sure, if you’re busy and don’t have time. But not getting enjoyment from it? I cannot understand it. It makes no sense to me.

Perhaps people think the same of me when I say that I don’t like art. Like, actual paintings and whatnot. But seriously. HOW CAN YOU NOT LIKE TO READ. DAJSFKLASD JGKLFASDJ”FKACLJSDKV

 My Facebook has been hacked twice in the passed two days.... Dang flabbit.....

I'M GOING TO SEE THE HOBBIT ON FRIDAY.

Okay.... I guess that's all. Now I have to go and edit papers and take tests. 

-Amanda Page

Dora's Apprentices

Quite some time ago, my friend and I wrote some marvelous stories about us becoming Dora the Explorer's apprentices.... Here's Sarah's, it's pretty much the best thing ever:
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You can't always trust what the TV tells you. The television screen twists and distorts reality. There is one person for whom this is most true: Dora the Explorer.
Sure, she may seem nice and adorable. She's a little girl who goes on adventures with her money friend, Boots, and teaches children basic Spanish, right?

WRONG.

In reality Dora is the most hardcore, no-nonsense, ruthless little girl you will ever meet. I should know. My best friend, Amanda, and I were her apprentices.
Dora means business. She has to in a world where fictional characters are constantly fighting for your mind. That's why you must go through a specialized training program before you can get a permit to write fiction.
Amanda and I went to Dora. She's the best. She only accepts 2 students for every year-long training program. Amanda and I were very fortunate to be chosen. Dora believed that both of our stories had great potential.
Training was hellish, but it was well worth it. We learned how to use all of the vital tools: Map, Backpack, and seat belts for safety.
Amanda and I graduated successfully after the program and received our writing permits. As we wrote we took extra precautions to make sure our characters stayed on the safe and not in our minds.

That was before Brandon.

Brandon: Amanda's amazing villain. He was handsome, charming, ruthless, the perfect villain. Too perfect. He began to grow powerful and jealous. It wasn't enough for him to be perfect in Amanda's book, he wanted to be the perfect villain. He wanted to escape the pages and inhabit the Page. Through Amanda he could execute his plan. 
Brandon struck quickly when Amanda was at her weakest. He infiltrated her dreams and penetrated her consciousness. Amanda never woke up, but Brandon did. I went over to Amanda's house after I called her multiple times and got no answer. I felt that something was wrong. 
When I knocked on the door, Brandon answered.
"What have you done with my muffin?" I demanded.
"Silly girl, Amanda meant nothing to me in the scheme of things. How could you not see that? It was only blazingly obvious." Brandon replied in his intoxicating voice.
 I was panicking. I would be lost without my muffin. Suddenly, I heard Dora's voice echo through my mind. "Swiper no swiping." It said. All of my training rushed back to me. 
"Brandon no swiping." I said weakly.
"I can't stop now! Oh no. I've come to far!"
"BRANDON NO SWIPING!!" I screamed. "Dora taught me how to handle these situations!"
Amanda punched Brandon in the face and stood for a moment to ponder the shame of ruining such a gorgeous face. Then she turned to her muffin, "Dora's taught you well."
"Tis a shame indeed that such a beautiful face must be shattered." I replied, "But it's for the greater good."
I linked arms with Amanda and we skipped gloriously off into Muffinland together.

THE END.
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Mine isn't as great, but I shall share it since I promised my muffin that I would do so:

The jungle was dark at this time of night. The backpack was heavy on my shoulders. I opened up the map that I had been given and spread it out on the damp ground. My partner and sole companion was standing above me, watching for thieves and other animals. I hurriedly chanted the small song that I had been taught. “I’m the map. I’m the map. I’m the map.” It was a boring yet crucial step in survival. I couldn't see the path that was supposed to appear on the map, though. It was pitch black. I muttered something under my breath.

            “What?” My companion, Sarah, whispered.

            “Nothing.” I said irritably, regretting my tone.  I fumbled around in the violet backpack for a while. My hand closed around the flashlight, but I couldn't lift it. I sighed and looked up, “You need to do this part.”

            I stood up and watched my friend’s back as she muttered Spanish into the backpack. Soon she had the flashlight in her hands and was examining the map. “Okay.” She announced. “We simply need to keep going through the jungle. There should be a banana tree on the left. After that we cross the bridge and we should be at the magic cave by noon.” She said, pointing at the map.

            I nodded and wrapped the map up. Sarah put the backpack back on and brought out a machete. She began slashing at the vines in front of us. I followed her, pointing my pistol behind me in case we were to get attacked. After a while of hearing nothing but our own breathing and footsteps, I heard Sarah whisper, “Amanda! Swiper!” I turned to see a man standing in our path. He held a machete similar to Sarah’s. Sarah shone the flashlight beam into his face.

            “Gosh! Will you please turn that dang thing off? What, are you trying to blind me or something?” He wore a fedora and a pinstriped suit.

            “You came all the way out here in a suit?” I asked.

            The man shrugged, “It’s all about the style, is it not?”

             Neither I nor Sarah said anything. 

            Swiper began to walk forward, “So, you are the two ‘chosen ones?’ The next big explorers?”

            “One more step and I’ll shoot you.”

            “No you won’t!” Swiper laughed as he continued to walk towards us.

            I shot him. He fell to the ground with a thud.

            Sarah looked over to me, “That was uncalled for.”

            I shrugged. “How many things would be solved if the good guy just shot the bad guy when he had the chance?”

            Sarah shrugged and stepped over the body, continuing down the path.

            The rest of our journey was quite uneventful. Once we arrived at the cave, we called out for Dora to come and greet us. “We did it! We did it!” I yelled. Dora jumped down from the trees, congratulating us.

            And then Seal Team 6 came in and attacked us all, apparently Dora was in cahoots with the terrorists…..

THE END 
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Kay so, that's all. haha. 

Much love,
Amanda. :)