About A Boy

Family Dynamics at Holiday Gatherings:

At what seems to be every holiday gathering that happens, stuff always goes down between the family members, whether it be good or bad. When you get that many vast family personalities together in one household after you have probably not seen in each other in  several months. Anything is bound to happen then. Sometimes you can't seem to get everybody apart from each other and at the end of the day when it is time for everybody to go home the conversations just seem to keep carrying on and on because everybody is having such a good time. Other times, everyone seems to get so tired of being around one another for so long we take off to the car and just sit in the car waiting for everyone else to come out so we can go home. It honestly just depends on the family that we are with on that holiday. Honestly, when we spend holidays with my mom's family we never argue, but when we spend holidays with my dad's side of the family arguments always happens. But, they are always easily resolved and never major problems so all works out in the end and we are still able to come together and have a good time.

101 Things About Me

1. I can't believe I'm about to graduate high school and start college.
2. I love sweet tea with lemon.
3. Chick-fil-A is the best fast food place, don't argue with me on this. 
4. I miss living in Arkansas.
5. Days spent with my family are days that I cherish most.
6. I have a slight OCD problem.
7. Sleepovers with my best friends are my favorite.
8. I have a love-hate relationship with my job.
9. Binge watching Netflix series is a slight problem of mine.
10. Romantic movies are my favorite movies, especially Nicholas Sparks movies, call me cheesy.
11.  Late night drives always clear my mind.
12. I can have a fun time doing just about anything.
13. I love riding roller coasters.
14. Haunted houses are my favorite.
15. I am very social and outgoing, but also enjoy my alone time.
16. Puppies make everyone happier.
17. Summer is my absolute favorite season.
18. Nothing I love more than seeing my friends and family happy.
19. Pool days and Jeep rides with my best friend make me the happiest.
20. The beach is my favorite place.
21. I can't cook to save my life.
22. My sister is my best friend.
23. My parents mean the world to me.
24. I hate reading, unless it is something interesting to me.
25. I love college football games in the fall.
26. Woo Pig Sooie!
27. I want to be a Neonatal Nurse when I grow up.
28. I hope I get to travel a lot throughout my lifetime.
29. I have eaten Eggo frozen waffles for breakfast for years now.
30. My favorite foods are Chinese food and sushi.
31. I don't want to graduate from high school at all.
32. I still have so much to learn in this life.
33. When I was younger I used to run around in a swimsuit all the time, no matter the season.
34. My fears include snakes, death, and car crashes.
35. I hate not knowing what my future holds.
36. I'm very sarcastic.
37. My favorite colors are teal and orange.
38. My faith is very important to me.
39. I hate driving other people.
40. I am very independent and hate relying on other people for things.
41. I hate coming to school.
42. I love staying out late and sleeping in late the next morning.
43. I love Pandora rings.
44. I have never died my hair before.
45. I am going to miss Friday night lights from high school most.
46. I am not sensitive at all.
47. I have a major sweet tooth.
48. I love going on actual dates, but am down to just hang out and watch movies too.
49. I love getting my hair cut.
50. I hate when my mom makes me make my own appointments.
51. I am from Arkansas.
52. I love country music.
53. My favorite TV show is Grey's Anatomy.
54. All my friends call me Hopester.
55. I hate super hero and action movies.
56. I am not artistic at all.
57. I hate when teachers assign projects to do in class that require me to show my artistic ability.
58. I move my mouth when I think really hard.
59. I talk a lot.
60. I forgive easily.
61. Breakfast is my favorite meal of the day.
62. I don't know what I am going to do next year when my best friend and I are at different colleges.
63. I love being tan.
64. I hate shopping.
65. I love anything mint.
66. I am not a big coffee person, but I still drink it.
67. I hate going into work, but I would never quit.
68. Lunch is my favorite class of the day.
69. I am very dramatic.
70. I love cracking jokes.
71. I love listening to my mom tell me stories.
72. I am very impatient.
73. I have to be early to everything and hate being late.
74. I hate waiting on other people.
75. I hate road trips and being in the car for long periods of time.
76. I hate the feeling of being left out.
77. But, most of all I hate the feeling of regret and knowing there is nothing you can do to change what you regret.
78. I used to love grocery shopping and would always want to go with my dad.
79. I am a clean freak.
80. I didn't make 8th grade choir and everybody made 8th grade choir if that tells you how awful of a singer I am.
81. I competitively swam for seven years, but quit this year.
82. I am good at writing but often hate writing so I lack putting forth edit into my writing.
83. I hate when time passes slowly.
84. I hate being bored more than anything.
85. If any of my friends ever needed me I would be there for them in a heart beat.
86. I love singing in the shower.
87. I love cappuccino chocolate chunk ice cream from Braums.
88. I dip my french fries in strawberry milkshakes.
89. I never wear my hair up because it gives me headaches.
90. I have a serious fear of giving blood.
91. I love coloring with markers.
92. I love driving myself around.
93. But, I hate spending money on gas.
94. I used to hate eating mushrooms but now I love them.
95. I have struggled in art classes since elementary school.
96. I turn 18 in less than a month and am very excited.
97. I am very content with my life right now.
98. I absolutely hate change.
99. I hate moving.
100. I love getting to know new people.
101. I am not a big fan of wearing headphones because they hurt my ears.
     
      

Music to Our Ears

1.) When I listen to music the feelings and emotions that get provoked depends on what type of music I am listening to. If I am listening to up beat and rap music then it puts me in a good mood and makes me really happy and energetic. If I am listening to more soothing, put you to sleep type music, then I get really calm and at peace. If I am listening to country music, my favorite type of music, then I feel content and happy with life and just at ease with everything. It helps to calm me down as well.

2.) My favorite song is She Will Be Loved by Maroon 5. I love this song because it is very soothing and just makes you feel loved and secured. I tie this song back to when I was in 6th grade and it has been one of my favorite songs ever since. It doesn't matter what mood I am in I can listen to this song and instantly feel better and more content and that is exactly what I like to gain from the music I listen to.

3.) My music taste over the years really hasn't changed that much. I feel like that is because I really was not that interested in music when I was younger and never really cared to listen to it. But, ever since I found an interest in music it has been mainly focused towards country music. I feel like country music is one of those types of music that people either love or they hate, and I can see both sides of it, but for me I love listening to it at all times. It is my go-to radio station year around.

5.) Most of my friends listen to the same type of music styles as me and I think this is important in some friendships. Music has the ability to bring people together and help people bond over their common interests. I know that having the same music taste as my friends makes long car rides a lot more enjoyable. Music is a form of expression and when you and your friends have the ability to express yourself in the same way through music I think it makes for closer friendships bonds to be built.

6.) Without music the world would be so much more quite. There would be no tunes to fill that stretch of silence on road trips. There would be no form of expression through sounds and your vocal cords. There would be no American Idol. So many people's amazing talents would be put to waste without the ability for them to share what they can do. Music is highly important in today's society.

Food for Thought

What Thanksgiving really means to me...

Every year all my immediate and extended family pile into my house to celebrate the holiday revolving around food and thanks. But if we are all being honest here, the food is what we really care about. Every year at my family thanksgiving we have the basics: turkey, ham, mashed potatoes and gravy, corn, green beans, cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie, seven layer salad, stuffing, and rolls. Lots and lots of rolls. But we have a specific food that is special just to our family: my aunt's special dip. This is the first food gone and there are never any leftovers for anybody to take home. Everyone normally eats this before Thanksgiving dinner is even ready, because we all get so hungry and impatient. At our family thanksgiving there are two things you have to do before getting to enjoy the meal: say grace and everyone has to take turns saying what they are thankful for. After both of those things are done then everyone eats and enjoys good company, naps or watches football, and all the girls in the family get ready to go black Friday shopping later in the evening. Thanksgiving is one of my most favorite and cherished holidays. I have some of the best memories with my family from this day that we celebrate every year and a lot of the memories I remember revolve around the food present at the Thanksgiving dinner table. A lot of people tie certain foods back to their memories and because Thanksgiving dinner is specific to each individual family and their traditions it makes everyone's experience on Thanksgiving unique.

Children's Story Feedback for Friends

Harper was a 10 year old little girl who loved riding horses.

Harper had a horse named Sassy and together they were super good at winning competitions.

This year Harper and Sassy had made it all the way to the Horsey State Competition.

Harper knew she was really good at the competitions so she didn't practice a whole lot.

Before they knew it the time had come for the competition both Harper and Sassy had been waiting for.

Harper was convinced she was going to win, she didn't even feel the need to try.

But Harper was wrong.

They fell short and by the time it was over they lost.

Harper was upset. 

So upset she wanted to quit competing.

Harper's mom knew Harper shouldn't quit.

She was good, she just needed to be reminded of it. (Maybe add a quote from her mom speaking to Harper)

So Harper's mom pushed her to get back to horse riding.

And pushed her (Add details on how she started practicing again)

And pushed her

And pushed her.

Until she finally got back to it

And that is when Harper realized all she had to do was push herself

And she could accomplish anything (Could possibly add a short story from the next competition she competed in)

• I really like how you have a clear and defined moral to this story and that it is straight to the point with no rambling. I also like the use of repetition you used in the story to add emphasis. I would add a detail at the end of the story talking about another competition that Harper competed in and possibly won after practicing so much.

Luis is a second grader from Barcelona, Spain who transfers to Jacobs second grade class. Luis isn't very good at English at first, and he has trouble communicating with the other kids. Seeing his trouble, Jacob befriends Luis and decides he will help teach him English. Their second grade class has a big project coming up: reading a book of your choice in front of the class, and Jacob wants Luis to be ready for it. The two meet everyday at recess, and Luis also helps Jacob learn a little bit of Spanish. (That's all I have so far, I haven't decided an ending or what happens after they begin meeting). My plan is for the graphic design class to do the illustrations, which will just be simple people and a couple of settings.

• I like the idea behind this story! I would recommend ending it where Luis is able to read the story in front of the class after practicing with Jacob. It will show children that you can accomplish anything if you work hard and practice for what you want.

Children's Story Draft

Never Satisfied Suzy

1) Little Suzy never satisfied. She always cried and cried, never pleased.
2) Never satisfied Suzy sat down at the dinner table. Her mom put broccoli on her plate and Suzy frowned.
3) Suzy threw herself on the ground. Suzy rolled round and round, kicking and screaming. Suzy was steaming.
4) Never satisfied Suzy went to the park with her friend named Mark.
5) Suzy wanted to swing, but all the swings were taken. Mark said "Suzy don't be shaken. Let's go down the slide instead."
6) Suzy shouted, "No! I want to go home!" Mark replied, "Okay, then to home we will roam."
7) Never satisfied Suzy woke up on Monday morning. Time for school, but Suzy said, "No! School makes me want to drool."
8) Suzy pulled the covers over her face and refused to get up. Her mom replied, "Come on Suzy all grown ups get up out of bed."
9) Suzy got up, but never stopped pouting. As Suzy kept pouting, her mom kept shouting. All the way to school Suzy pouted like a fool.
10) Never satisfied Suzy had to go to the grocery store with her mom. Of course, Suzy threw a fit, said she would stay in the car and sit.
11) Suzy's mom said, "These fits have got to stop. I have to shop!"
12) Little Suzy cried and cried, trying to get her way. But Suzy's mom said, "No Suzy! Not today!"
13) Continuing, her mom said, "Now Suzy, we don't always get our way, sometimes we have to say, 'that will be okay'."
14) And for the first time never satisfied Suzy looked a little satisfied. I guess sometimes Suzy is satisfied.


(I do not plan on doing my own illustrations. I would like to either get images from the internet or have a someone from graphic design do them.)

Author Bio

Children's book author, Hope Villines, has been writing children books for several years now, writing countless childhood stories based on her own childhood experiences with a touch of humor and fiction added to them. She was born May 23, 1999 and resides in Springfield Missouri with her family. Most of her stories take place in her hometown in Arkansas since that is where she spent a good portion of her childhood. The short stories mainly revolve around events that happened between her and her sister growing up, so they are very relatable for anyone that has grown up with sisters, you will definetely understand the humor behind the stories if you too have sisters. In her free time Hope enjoys spending time with family and friends, listening to music, traveling to the beach, going to Arkansas Razorbacks football games in the fall with my family, and eating ice cream. Her books reflect her personality as a whole and her own life experiences. Great books for young children learning how to read.

Books for Kids!

The book Horton Hatches the Egg is a classic that I'm sure you all spent time reading over and over again when you were younger. It is a classic Dr. Seuss read, and if you didn't read it growing up then what were you doing with your childhood? The book follows the story of an elephant who sits on the nest of a bird with eggs inside while the mother bird, Mayzie, frolics around Palm Beach, Florida for a vacation getaway. So, Horton sits on the egg for an entire year and when Mayzie finally comes home a bitter custody battle breaks out. The egg hatches and is actually an elephant-bird, a cross between the two animals. This story takes place in the jungle. I would recommend it for children ages 6-10, because it is a rather long read for a children's book and does include some larger words. However the story does include lots of humor and rhymes to follow along with.

Childhood Questions

1. The most important figure I had in my life growing up throughout my childhood was my mom, and she still is to this day. I have always admired how she handles herself in situations, how independent and honest she is, and how unconditionally she loves me. She has helped shape me into the person I am today and I have taken after her in many ways. She has been my biggest blessing and greatest role model throughout my life so far and will continue to be for the rest of my life.
2. If I was granted 24 hours of my adulthood life to be child again I would spend it outside again for the entire day playing with my sister and all the neighborhood kids. This was a time period when there was absolutely nothing to worry about except for what game we were going to play next. In return, if I was granted 24 hours of my childhood life to be and adult for a day I would spend it going out and doing everything that requires independence in adulthood life, because I remember that being what I wanted so desperately when I was a child: independence.
3. When I was younger a "family fun night" consisted of going to Incredible Pizza. We would always go eat pizza and then play games for hours afterwards. Then we would spend way too long standing in the prize line for some cheap little prize that would probably break in less than 20 minutes. But for some reason this was always something special my sister and I would look forward to, because it was not something we got to do very often.
4. A cartoon from my childhood that I spent way too much time watching was Tom and Jerry. I would sit in front of the box t.v. in the living room on the floor with my blanket and just laugh and laugh and laugh at every episode of Tom and Jerry that would air. I don't know why I thought it was so funny, but I did for some reason, and my mom would just laugh at me for laughing so hard at Tom and Jerry. If it were to be made into a blockbuster movie now I would probably go watch it for nostalgic purposes and to just give me a little dose of my childhood again.
5. One time I had this birthday party at the park in my hometown, it was my fifth birthday. All of my friends and family came and the adults grilled hamburgers and hot dogs while all the kids ran and played around at the park. This is one of my favorite birthday memories.
   

Inspired by Hopper

Nighthawks

This painting reminds me of late night adventures to Steak n' Shake with my best friends in the summer. The people in this painting are in a cafe shop with very few people in it and it appears to be late at night. There is no roaming traffic outside the window and everything is moving at very slow pace. Much like those night I spent at Steak n' Shake at midnight with my friends. Just sitting up there and talking for hours about life and everything in between. I imagine the smell of waffles, hash browns, and coffee feeling this cafe shop. I imagine quiet, muted conversations between the few groups and couples in the cafe that late. I imagine the sound of rushed waiters and waitresses in the midst of their jobs, the sound of glasses and plate hitting against one another. All of these are things I experience when spending late nights dining with my best friends.

Window Poem

Straight ahead I see
the open road, endless and straight,
a setting sun covering the sky,
and signs giving directions to my next adventure.

To my left I see
bright green trees,
hitchhikers strolling down the asphalt,
and rocks lining the road.

Something is different today,
the sky is dark and gloomy,
the sun didn't set today.

Always pondering out
that car window.

I look out the window and see
auburn, crisp leaves falling,
the harsh air fogging up my window.

Looking harder ahead I see
a split in the road,
two directions.
Which way should I go?

Artist Profile: Pablo Ruiz Picasso

Pablo Ruiz Picasso

Pablo Picasso was born October 21,1881 in Malaga, Spain to the parents Don Jose Ruiz Picasso and Dona Maria Picasso y Lopez. His father was an art teacher and also Picasso's life long teacher throughout his life. His mom stayed at home and took care of the house and family. Picasso never received much schooling while growing up. His father taught him almost everything he knew. However, Picasso did attend Barcelona's School of Fine Arts for a short while before dropping out and roaming the streets of Spain painting on his own. Something many people may not know about Picasso, or find shocking, is that he was an incorrigible womanizer. Throughout his life, Picasso had two marriages, but he also shared in many affair, girlfriends, and flings throughout the span in his life as well. His first wife was Olga Khokhlova and his second wife was Jacqueline Roque.

Pablo Picasso did not live an easy life. Throughout the course of his life he underwent many struggles that shaped  him into the man he was. At a young age, Picasso experienced the death of one of his close friends, Carlos Casagemas. This is what led Picasso into his depression stage. He suffered from severe depression and this is what inspired his Blue Period of artwork. After recovering from this severe depression, he later experienced the loss of his second wife, Jacqueline Roque, to suicide.

Despite, all of Picasso's struggles and set backs he still managed to create some of the most famous art pieces to this day. Several of these pieces include: Blue Nude, Two Nudes, and Card Player. Picasso's work still resides in the hearts of many today and his work will forever have a lasting impact.

Inspired by Your Artist

Girl Before A Mirror

By: Pablo Picasso

The classic story we all want:

To love

and to be loved.

But, how are you seen through your lover's eyes?

Love is the timeless story that will never grow old,

and let's hope it never does.

If you take away the feeling of love, 

then what are you living for?

Everybody deserves to love 

and to be loved by somebody.

Three Musicians

By: Pablo Picasso

Three old time friends,

different upbringings,

different personalities.

All strung together into three

life long best friends.

Bound together 

by their passion for music.

Strumming,

humming,

and rhyming

building a friendship through the rhymes of music.

Newspaper Headlines

Missouri State swimming and diving reclaims conference championship

This title of the newspaper sticks out to me because I swam for seven years up until this year. So it was a huge part of my life for so long. I swam for Missouri State Aquatics before transferring over to the Drury Swim Aquatics Program and then transferring to the Kickapoo High School swim team and swimming at school. I made so many close friends throughout the course of the years that I swam and only quit swimming due to the amount of time it took up. Swimming competitively is very time consuming and I made the tough decision to quit my senior year because I wouldn't to make time for all my friends and family that are close to me before we all part ways and grow up and start our own journeys. I knew those would be the memories that I looked back and valued over my swim memories that I already had 7 years worth of.

Six Word Memoirs

Southern roots beginning, city living currently

Writers as Readers

1.) When I read I need a quiet environment that is relaxing. I can't read if there is a lot going on around me or in a very social environment. I like dim lighting and soothing atmospheres, too much going on around me and I tend to focus on my environment and not my book.

2.) The types of writing that interests me is realistic, true stories. I find them very inspiring and either heartwarming or heart breaking and I enjoy reading both. On the other hand, sometimes I enjoy ready utopian societies and that are not so realistic. This can help me escape from the real work and have my mind focus on something else than what is going on in the real world.

3.) One of my best memories connected with reading is back in 6th grade when I was really invested into reading and did it a lot, more than just books I was required to read at school. Although, when I was in 6th grade we had book talks once a month and I believe this is what helped me get into reading so much. As I've grown older I don't read as much, or at all really, but I wish I did because I really enjoyed it back then.

4.)  I don't think I would ever write a book of my own, although, when I was younger I did write my own little short stories. I never seemed to finish them and I feel like this is why I could never write a book someday. I tend to lose interest in projects very fast, I'm not sure why but I just can't seem to hold my focus.
I am also just very personal so I tend to make my writing personal as well and I just don't think I would want the whole world reading my personal writings.

Memorable Passage

“Because you aren't just someone I loved back then. You were my best friend, my best self, and I can't imagine giving that up again." He hesitated searching for the right words. "You might not understand, but I gave you the best of me, and after you left, nothing was ever the same.” 
― Nicholas Sparks, The Best of Me

This particular passage has caught attention and been engraved in my memory since the moment I read it because to me it just captures everything a relationship should be. You should be bettering yourselves together and giving each other everything you have. I just feel like this passage describes love perfectly and everything it should entail. It captures love and heartbreak in a matter of a few sentences. It is one of those passages that pulls at your heart strings and makes you think. I feel like at this time in our life, my generation, focuses on love and finding someone and finding the person you want to spend your life with, and I feel as if Nicholas Sparks captured my generation's emotions perfectly. He put into words the works of falling in love and how it can be gone in a heart beat, and he worded it so beautifully.

Keeping It Real (Like Dan)

2. Three tips I would give to parents of teenagers are: you have let us make our own mistakes and learn from them, we are going to develop our own beliefs as we grow older, and please support us even if you don´t always agree with us because life is all about learning.

7. I don believe that you can know if you love someone or not after only three days. I feel like part of loving someone comes from knowing everything about a person- their flaws, their interests, what makes them who they are and loving them through and despite it all. How are you supposed to know all of this about a person after only three days?

10. I feel like family should know their limits when it comes to getting involved in a family member´s relationship. I feel like there is a fine line between knowing about what is going on in the relationship and involving yourself in the relationship like it is your own relationship. I feel like parents should understand the difference and respect it. Parents that often over involve themselves in their child´s relationship make it ten times harder on their child when the break up happens I feel like.

12. I feel like illicit love is more appealing to us because we all want what we can´t have. When there is something in front of you that everyone is telling you that you can´t have, it makes it that much more desirable in society I feel like. I feel like this is a mind set that will last forever, it is why temptation seems so desirable.

17. My idea of a perfect day would be spent at the beach with my best friend and family. We would spend all day on the beach, laying out and playing in the beach waves, and then we would go back up to the condo and get ready to go out for dinner that evening. The beach is my happy place and I can´t imagine spending a more perfect day at the beach then with the people I love the most.

27. I feel like we teenagers are pretty hard on our parents. They are learning how to deal with everything with us for the first time just like we are and they only want what is best for us. Also, if you think it parents only know what we decide to tell them is going on in our lives, which is troubling to think about, but teenagers keep secrets and parents know that because they were once teenagers too.

"Reely" Good Quotes

"Mama always said life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get."
~Forrest Gump

"We're all pretty bizarre. Some of us are just better at hiding it, that's all."
~Breakfast Club

"Ugh! As if!"
~Clueless

"Because you aren't just someone I loved back then. You were my best friend, my best self, and I can't imagine giving that up again. You might not understand , but I gave you the best if me, and after you left, nothing was ever the same."
~Best of Me

"Reel" Life

1.) One of my favorite movies is Forrest Gump. I love this movie because it is one of those "feel good" family movies that you can sit back and watch if you are in a bad mood and it guaranteed to make you feel better. I enjoy watching these types of movies because sometimes when life is going hard all I want to do is watch a movie that is going to help me forget, even if it is just for a little while.

2.) I normally don't care too much for action and superhero movies. I find them very unrealistic and I enjoy watching films that are tied to reality or are true stories. I like watching things that I know there is a possibility of it actually happening life, not something that I know could never happen. It takes the fun out of watching the movie to me.

3.) I don't watch movies that often, but when I do it is normally when a new release of a movie just came out that I really want to see so I will go see it in the theater with my friends. Other times I watch movies is when we have family movie night at my house sometimes on the weekends. Other than that, I am not in to watching a lot of movies, instead, I spend the majority of my time watching TV show series.

4.) To watch a movie I need a quiet and dark environment that is comfy and relaxed. If there is a lot of background noise going on then I get very distracted and can't focus on the movies. I also have a hard time watching movies with people that talk the whole way through the movie, because that defeats the purpose of watching the movie.

5.) The survey told me I was 92% extraverted, 42% agreeable, 92% conscientious, 58% emotionally stable, and 17% open to new experiences. The survey said I love pleasure seeking and nostalgic films, and I would highly agree with this. Based on the fact that one of my favorite movies is Forrest Gump, this film is both pleasure seeking and nostalgic.

6.) If my life were a movie I would hope it would have a happy ending. I would want Liana Liberato to play me. I would want the movie to capture my childhood spent with my family, my high school experiences, my college experiences, and my future spent with my own family.

Smile for the Camera

In this photo I see two young children-twins (a boy and a girl) who look to be around the age of five. They look very annoyed and impatient with how long it is taking the photographer to capture the image of them. I know that back to when this photo was dated taking a photograph was no easy job for the person behind the camera. That is often why the people in old photographs, like the one above, are not smiling. It took the photographer so long to capture the image of the people that the people in the photo could not hold their smile for that long. I imagine these twins to be named Doug and Ann Thomelson, who grew up in a wealthy home with two parents in New Hampshire. I imagine that they liked doing activities that every young child does and I imagine they were very mannerly. I think they grew up in a well off family based on how they are dressed. I imagine that these two children grew up a very ordinary life, going to church, raising a family of their own, and living a long life with many happy memories to follow them, including this photograph.

Photos of the Millennium (so far)

Here is a man mourning the death of his son 10 years after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. I was only two years old when the planes attacked the twin towers on September 11, 2001 early at the morning, and although I cannot personally recall the attacks because I was so young, I will forever remember the lasting hurting effects it has had on our nation ever since. This image captures the hurt, the pain, and the heartbreak experienced by so many on that tragic morning. It is crazy for me to think that those thousands of people were just going about their day. It started off just like any other day for them, they were going to their jobs, just like they did every other day. The last thing they would have expected would have been the heartbreak that laid ahead of them that day. It is so scary to me how we never know when something could go wrong at any moment. It really puts into perspective and reminds me how I am not in charge, I have no control, God has all the power and I need to trust in him. This day has had a lasting impact on the hearts of many, even those who were too young to remember it like myself, and it forever will remain that way. The hurt and heartbreak people experienced that day is something that could never be forgotten.

Photo Hunt

 Throughout the past four years of high school Jared has never failed to make me laugh with his hilarious personality and he has always made classes fun to be in. #ContagiousLaughter

 Madi has a contagiously happy and positive personality and is someone who makes the bad days a little more enjoyable. I aspire to be more like her. #HappyHappyHappy

 Something round: taking paper plates and creating emoji-like faces out of them. This is something creative and funny that put a smile on my face. #EmojiLife

 This birdhouse reminds me of my grandparent's farm house that I would spend countless summers at when I was younger with my cousins. #Nostalgic

 Calligraphy has always been a very unique and calming talent to me, very inspiring. #HandwrittenMessages

 Never been one for reading, but there is something special about finding a book that interests you and not wanting to ever put it down. #ReadersDiary

 It may look like an electrical outlet to you, but I see a stunned cartoon face where you would normally plug in your iPhone charger. #AnimatedFaces

 The dreaded chrome books that never seem to load anything, won't connect to the wifi, and will never let you login. #Chrome

 Nothing more annoying or irritating than the KHS bathrooms with soap dispensers that don't work, sinks that never turn on, and stall doors that won't lock. #IrritatingThings

I'll never forget these halls that I have walked for the past four years. The halls that were the place of constant laughs and talks with my friends in between classes. #SappyMoment

Caged Bird- Inspired Piece

Trapped and alone,
the feeling of helplessness consuming her every being.
She doesn't know where to go next,
who to go to,
what she needs to do.

She does nothing instead,
waiting,
her hope drifting further away
with every passing person
that walks by her.
Not noticing,
or just not caring.

How could you not care?
I care,
I care for others just like me,
she thinks.

Alone in her own thoughts,
she ponders the idea of
feeling important,
longing for the feeling of hope.
She longs for the day she feels again.
Feels anything at all.

Maya Angelou Reflection

3.)  Angelou says she doesn't even like talking about her bad dreams because she feels as if it gives them too much power. I don't necessarily agree with this because I feel like sometimes you need to talk about the things you are dealing with and the things that are not so pleasant in your life in order to help yourself get through them. Sometimes speaking out is the only way to deal with your problems and if that gives your problems too much power then I feel like that is okay, because that power is only temporary. Once the problem is dealt with then there will be no power left to the problem, you will have all the power because you would have dealt with it instead of just covering it up and hiding it.

5.)  Angelou went through a major trauma at age seven that caused her to go completely mute for five years. I cannot even begin to imagine being completely silent for five years, not saying a word, and only listening. I'm sure I would learn so much;
I would learn to pay attention to peoples' body language more and their actions, rather than focusing so much on what I'm going to reply to them in response after listening. I talk too much and voice my opinion too much to be mute for that long. I think the longest I have ever gone without talking is 15 minutes max. I am an extrovert and am very social, so I feel like taking away my voice would be like taking away half of my personality.

7.)  Angelou often said she had "total recall" of the events that happened in her life, I consider myself to be very much like Maya Angelou in this way. I have a very good memory and I think this is because I am a person that pays close attention to detail; I like to remember the little things. I often notice that I have better recall of the times in my life when I was the happiest or when I was the saddest, but not as much recall of the times when I was angry. I have found that as the years pass by I often forget what I was so angry about in the first place. But I feel like you never really forget a deep, true sadness and you never forget how your heart hurt so much. I feel like our minds also choose to remember the happiest of moments in our lives because it is naturally human nature to want to be happy.

9.)  Angelou plays solitaire with a deck of cards when she needs to occupy her "small mind" and focus in order to get something done. I often notice that when I really need to focus I need to be in a quiet room that is very calming. I can listen to soft music, but often get distracted when it comes to listening to loud, harsh music while trying to focus on a task in order to get something done. My biggest distraction when it comes to getting something done is talking. I am a very social person who likes to talk and this often gets me into trouble when I am working in a room with other people. I often find that this is why I do a lot of my class work at home as homework because I have a hard time focusing in class because I get to caught up in talking to other people.

Dream Threads

I was unable to focus on one of the 10,000 thoughts running through my head.
So, I laid there feeling restless,
helpless,
useless.

Tossing and turning I shifted
from one side of my bed to the other,
from one end of my bed to the other,
and then back in the middle.
My feeling of restlessness.

My own imagination consumed my every being.
I couldn't manage to control my own thoughts,
my own creations.
My mind more awake and conscious
than my own body.
My feeling of helplessness.

The night dragged on,
my body more awake than the moment before it.
Nothing I could do,
but lay there and ponder.
My feeling of uselessness.

I looked back up at the clock:
five more hours,
I told myself.

Dream Marks on my Pillow

There are always those restless nights I have every once in awhile where I just can't seem to sleep and my head won't hit the pillow just right. It seems as if the hours of the night drag on for eternity, as I just lay there tossing and turning for the majority of my restless night. I lay there wishing I could fall asleep or that it would be morning already so that I would't be the only one wide awake, so that I would't be so alone. Sometimes it's my thoughts that keep me up, other times I am just restless and uncomfortable. I dread nights like these. It is one thing to be awake and consumed in your own thoughts, but it is dreadful to be awake in the middle of the night with not even your thoughts to keep you company. Other nights my own nightmares keep me awake and I can't fall back asleep because my brain won't quit wondering- "What if it were real?" I hate restless nights like these, spent tossing and turning until the sun finally rises. It is as if I can only finally let my body rest when I see the sunshine coming thru my window.

If I Were in Charge of the World

If I Were in Charge of the World...

If I were in charge of the world
I'd cancel Monday mornings,
Sunday afternoon blues,
long essay assignments, and also
decaf coffee.

If I were in charge of the world
there'd be longer summers,
shorter winters, and
more college football Saturdays.

If I were in charge of the world
you wouldn't have stressful days.
You wouldn't have credit card limits.
You wouldn't have bad attitudes.
Or "Make sure you eat your vegetables."
You wouldn't even have vegetables.

If I were in charge of the world
a chocolate chip cookie cake
loaded with thick icing would be a vegetable.
All alarms and deadlines would be silenced
and a person who sometimes forgot special occasions
and sometimes forgot to say "I'm sorry"
would
still be allowed to be
in charge of the world.

Color Collage Poem

The faint peach pink of the dress swayed as she danced,

just as elegantly and gracefully as her.

The ballroom stopped just to watch her feet grace the floor.

Fast and swaying just like the train of the dress.

As if her feet were telling a story,

that everyone should follow and listen along to.

Without rhyme or reason she danced,

but its all she wanted to do.

Color Story

Blink Of An Eye

The sky gaped with different shades of cold blue, swirled together like it was a painting from Vincent Van Gough’s blue period. Eva walked down the beach in a slow manner, in sync with the churning waves to her left. She would stop every so often to pick up a musty shell she would find buried deep in the sand. Only to pick it up and then throw it back down when the shell lost its beauty to her. After throwing the shell down into the dewey sand, she noticed a roaring of violent waves coming from the once calming, slow moving waves just moments before. Looking up, she noticed the once sedative sky, now had clouds turning and roaming in violent patterns.

A mukey light olive green had now filled the sky. The one true sign of a violent storm approaching. Eva had made it inside to her beach house, not much protection from the storm brewing just outside the four walls of her shabby, siding house. She didn’t know where to go, who to turn to, so she found the best protective corner of her house and decided to wait out the storm. Tucked away in the back closet corner, the walls painted various shades of dark colors, she listened as the waves slapped on the back and sides of her beach house.

The turning of the waves against her house seemed liked it had lasted a lifetime to Eva. Only when she saw the peach orange of a sun shining through the blinds was her hope restored. She removed herself from the dark corner of her house and onto the back deck of her house, where she saw the sun shining in a sky that was once dark with hate just moments before. She wondered how a place that was so calming, could be so violent in the blink of an eye. As she stood on her back deck, looking out at the now settled waves, she realized every other house torn to shreds as her’s was still standing.

The beige siding of her house was now chipped and torn in places, spots were flooded, and the amber wood surrounding the house was worn, but it was still standing. Still standing in the midst of a storm. Eva quickly snapped out of her trance and ran from house to house checking on the neighbors who lived in the houses that once stood next to her. She stumbled up and down the beach searching, stumbling over her own two feet as she was still in such shock.

Paint Chip Poems

Haiku:

Nature's sky covered

in a hazey, purple fog
refusing the sun.


A dream in the mind
restlessly and magically
keeping the mind alert.


The sky oh so pale
not shining after the rain
drifting helplessly.

Acrostic:

Soft and restless
Easing along with the current
Aimlessly headed for no where

Sand in the air
Purple in the sky
Rage in the current
All swirled together
Young and restless

Free Verse:

A penny for your thoughts
carelessly waving through your mind.
Allegories of your mind
tossed together
without rhyme or reason.
Just searching
for a heirloom
to tie the memories together.

Narrative: Charming Pink

Covered in rose she walked
down the staircase towards
her prince charming.
His face dropped in reverence
of what appeared before him
breathlessly and without words
they swept across
the lonely dance floor.

Comments for Classmates: Object Writing

Hey Madison, this piece was very intriguing and interesting to read. I really like how you connected it to something very real and personal! The twist was definitely something unexpected but it made it very interesting to read.


Hey Bailey, I loved how descriptive you made this piece, I could picture it exactly how you were describing it as I was reading it. I love the ending to this, it was different than how I was expecting it to end. I feel like we normally expect stories to end with the perfect and right ending and I like how this story did not conform to that!

Hey Lyss, I love how you tied this story to your own personal experiences! It made the story so much more personal and easy to imagine as I was reading!

Love the Bible verses and quotes at the end, very inspiring!


I completely agree with the mouth full of words and uncontrollable laughter, I am the same way!


I love how you talked about how you are ever-changing! Very true, because we are always changing and growing up!

Pearl Earrings: Object Writing

Jasmine rushed around her room, stumbling over the countless items of clutter that were carelessly tossed around her room. Jasmine’s mornings went the same everyday: she woke up to the final snooze of her alarm going and proceeded to spend the entire morning recklessly running around late for school. But, following the chaos of her hectic school mornings came a one, fleeting moment of serenity as she would stand in front of her oak wood dresser. Every morning as she would stand in front of that dresser she would pause, and then ever so carefully, pick up her set of pearl earrings and clasp them on each of her ears. Pausing, in remembrance of her mother who had passed away just six short months prior. I say short, but to Jasmine those months drug on like eternity, never ending, every day just as bad as the day before. The pearl earrings belonged to Jasmine’s mother, who shared the same dark black hair as Jasmine did. The whites of the pearls perfectly contrasting and standing out against Jasmine’s jet black hair as she stood in front of her dresser and remembered the day her mother put them on for the very last time.

Jasmine could remember it like the day was yesterday, she could remember every detail of her mother’s last morning down to the minute. Jasmine had placed herself on the edge of her mother’s neatly made bed, it crumpling up beneath her. Her mother standing directly in front of her, tossing her hair to one side and placing the earring through one of her ears, before proceeding to do the same with her other ear. Her pleasant perfume filled the room as she made casual conversation with Jasmine about the day that was to proceed the two of them. Looking back, Jasmine remembers how unengaged she was in that last conversation with her mother. She wishes more than anything that she would have stopped her mother, told her not to take the bus that day, told her that she could drive the car to work that day. But instead, Jasmine took the car to school and her mother boarded the bus with her briefcase in one hand and her purse slung over the shoulder of her other arm. She gave Jasmine a quick kiss on the top of her forehead and said, “Be good today Jasmine.” Half joking, and half being serious, as this is what she told Jasmine every morning before leaving for work. This was the daily routine between the two, Jasmine thought nothing of it until the day her mother was no longer there to complete the routine with her every morning.

Jasmine snapped out of her trance just as her dad banged on her bedroom door, “Jasmine it’s time to go. You’re going to be late, again.” His voice sounded so broken and fragile, almost as if his words would be the last thing that Jasmine could handle. She replied a steady, “Okay” while she admired her earrings for a second longer before transitioning her long black hair from behind her ears to over her ears, covering the shimmering whites of the pearl earrings. She remembered how bright and white the pearls used to look to her when her mother wore them, and to other people she’s sure they still look like this, but to her they no longer sparkle. They look dull and subdued, covered with the pain and the loss of her mother. Jasmine still wears them regardless of what they look like to her though, because this is what helps her carry on the morning routine she shared with her mother, who is no longer there to wear the earrings herself.

Author's Note: This writing was inspired by the pearl earrings that my mother wears everyday and our conversations in the morning.

I am...Hope Villines

I am…

Small town, lots of family, and back roads in Arkansas

Younger sister, with an older sister that keeps me in line

Four-wheeler rides with my grandpa and cousins

Summer days spent at my grandparents pool

Dinner with my family around the little round table after a long day

Endless talks with my mom that never seem to end

Waffles for breakfast every morning

Sweet tea no matter what time of day it is

Cleanliness and tidiness, everything is always in its place

Dramatic, but sensitive at times

Always laughing at myself and joking

Late night car rides with my best friends that have no destination

Countless summer sleepovers with my best friend and pool days to follow

Calling the hogs every college football season

Shopping trips to Fayetteville with my mom and sister

Restless nights when I can’t sleep and my thoughts take over

Early mornings when I never feel like talking first thing when my feet hit the floor

Church on Sunday mornings and lunch with the family to follow

Over sized t-shirts, messy hair, and birkenstocks

Country music blaring, windows down on a summer day

Old journals i kept of myself

Five years old again riding on my dad’s lap in the pick-up truck

Early Saturday morning trips to Lowe’s with my dad

I am me.