Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas! Hope everyone has a great holiday.

The Maze Runner

Yesterday, my family and I got to see The Maze Runner. One word to describe this movie: AMAZING!!! I absolutely love the book and now love the movie. The movie was about Thomas waking up and finding himself in this place full of boys ranging from little tweens to young adults. This place, named the Glade, is in the center of this maze that the boys have been trying to find a way out. And as soon as Thomas comes into the picture, everything starts to change. I would definitely recommend this movie to everyone who's into science fiction-y type movies or people who liked Divergent. This movie would definitely rank at my top 5 best movies list. This is a 10 out of 10 for me and I really can't wait to see Maze Runner: Scorch Trials that's supposed to be coming out next year!!!

UPDATE!!!

Wow! It's been a really long time since I've been on my blog. I really hope that everyone had a great Thanksgiving, I know I did. The menu at my house was turkey, chicken dressing, sweet potatoes, collard greens, mashed potatoes, macaroni and cheese, pumpkin bread pudding, and cherry pie. My family and I had an awesome time just cooking and spending our time together. School, on the other hand, has been really easy. Even though I'm in 8th grade and take some high school courses, my English I and Algebra I classes have been my easiest classes. Math for me has always been easy, so doing it repetitively helps me learn it quicker and now I'm a math tutor. In English, we just started reading George Orwell's Animal Farm and this has been no struggle for me. I mean, I love to read and the book is funny, so reading this book isn't hard for me. My Chinese and Spanish classes are alright. I'm learning these languages consecutively, so I just have to pay attention and study in those classes. US History isn't hard when you have a history-freak/lover for a mom. Science is probably going to be the downfall for me. I have an A in that class, but that doesn't mean I get what I'm doing. Science just doesn't make sense to me. Math, unlike science, is perpetual. It just doesn't change. There aren't any 'theories' or 'hypothesis' in math. It's consistent and never changes, unlike science. Anyways, I just hope that everyone has a great rest of the month and hope that they have a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, or whatever you celebrate.

Book Thief, the movie

Yesterday, I finally got to watch The Book Thief. This movie is about Liesel Meminger, who is living through the horrors of World War II, is taken to Germany where she finds comfort by stealing books and sharing them to others. In the basement of her home, her adoptive parents are hiding a Jewish refugee. This movie was just very sad. So many people died in this movie that were very important to her. This movie would be a definite 5 out of 5 because the movie actually fit the time period. Now I haven't read the book, so my opinion of the movie would be a 5 out of 5. Whenever movies are this great that means that the book is as great. Maybe even better.

Guardians of the Galaxy

Yesterday, my dad took Gracie and me to the movies. We watched Guardians of the Galaxy. The movie was basically about Peter Quill, known as the Star-Lord, that was taken away from his family after his mom died from cancer. He grew up to become a famous thief and comes across this orb that he later learns has enough power to destroy the universe. Quill along with his four friends find themselves as prime targets of Ronan the Accuser when they discover that his main goal is to destroy the planet of Xandar. This movie was just absolutely awesome. I can totally see how this movie was the number one blockbuster. This movie had the action, the adventure, the witty comments, and a touch of romance all put together. I would definitely rate this movie a 5 out of 5 for it's humor and action.

Making Muffins with the Family

Today, my sisters and I got to make banana muffins and quadruple chocolate muffins. Both muffins were delicious. My sisters and I are going to be making muffins for breakfast like these muffins more often for school because they're time-saving. The banana muffins came from Simply Recipes, though we made some alterations to the recipe. Below are the recipes for each muffin with a picture of our muffins:

Banana Muffins
Prep time: 10 minutes            Cook time: 30 - 40 minutes            Yield: about 17 - 18 muffins

Ingredients

• 4 very ripe bananas
• 1/2 cup melted butter
• 1 cup of sugar
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• Pinch of salt
• 1 1/2 cup of all-purpose flour

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C), and lay out 17-18 regular-size muffin cups on a pan.

In a mixing bowl, mash the ripe bananas with a fork until smooth. Stir melted butter into mashed bananas.

Mix in the baking soda and salt. Stir in the sugar, beaten egg, and vanilla extract. Mix in the flour.

Pour the batter into the muffin cups, filling only about 1/3 of the cup.

Bake for 30-40 minutes at 350°F (175°C), or until toothpick comes from the center clean.

Remove from pan and let cool. Serve with some butter and enjoy!



Quadruple Chocolate Muffins
Prep time: 10 minutes            Cook time: 17 - 19 minutes            Yield: about 23 - 24 muffins

Ingredients

• 1 pouch of Betty Crocker Hershey's Ultimate Chocolate brownie mix
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon of Nescafé Clásico
• 1/2 bag of Nestle Toll House Dark Chocolate Chips, 10 oz. bag

Directions

Heat oven to 325°F and lay out 23-24 regular-size muffin cups on a pan.

Stir brownie mix, Nescafé Clásico, oil, water, and eggs in a medium bowl until well blended. Mix in Nestle Toll House Dark Chocolate Chips. Pour the batter into the muffin cups, filling only about 1/3 of the cup.

Bake for 17-19 minutes at 325°F, or until toothpick inserted into center of brownie comes out clean.

Remove from pan and let cool. Serve with a cup of milk and enjoy!

 

 

First Week!!!

So this week was the first week of school and I can already tell you guys that I had an amazing week. I absolutely loved the school. The school is, in one word, different. All of the aspects of the school is different than what I'm used to. This is a new experience for me. My schedule for this school is just absolutely crazy-weird. I have math, social studies, science, language arts, art, lunch, Chinese, Spanish, athletics, and lastly my enrichment period/homeroom. All of my classes are awesome. The majority of the teachers come from other places around the country and some around the world. Both my Spanish teacher and math teacher come from Spain, while my Chinese teacher actually came from China. I think that I'm still trying to get used to the school and waking up early enough. Like I said in my other post about the school, this school starts at 7:45 in the morning. For me last year, that was usually the time that I woke up for school to get on the bus. That is sadly not the case for this year. I have to wake up at 5 a.m. in the freaking morning just to be out of the house by 7. This would be easy for me if I it was just me, but there's also my sisters. None of us are morning people, but, for me, it's easy to actually wake up than my sisters. Once I'm awake, I usually stay awake. Anyways, I'm really excited about this school year and I hope it goes really well. So a cabo la paz! Hépíngle! Peace out till next time!

New School!!!

This year my sisters and I are going to be going to a charter school for the first time. I am really excited about this new school because I'm going into eighth grade with a whole new group of people. The new school is called the International Leadership of Texas (ILT). The school's motto is to strengthen the mind, body, and character. I really am looking forward to going to this school because not only is this like a big restart button, but it also is a more advanced curriculum. Some of the differences between this school and Chisholm Trail MS (previous school) is this school has more hours. My previous school started at 9:20 and ended at 4:30, whereas this school I would start at 7:45 and end at 3:45. That's an hour added onto school. Another major difference is that this school looks like a community college and my old school looks like a regular middle school. The charter school also holds about 1300 students, whereas Chisholm Trail has only about 900 students. ILT has a total of nine periods. At this school, they teach Mandarin Chinese and Spanish to all of their students. Although this school doesn't have as many different electives, this school makes it up for its activities. At this school, there's soccer, volleyball, basketball, baseball, softball, track, and cross country. I love the variety of sports here and I really can't wait until school starts!!!

International Leadership of Texas

Chisholm Trail Middle School

Summer Music!!!

Besides being lazy and reading, summer for me is spent by listening to discovering new genres of music. Surrounded with music from a young age, I've always loved music. This summer, I started to listen to alternative music. Now, with summer break almost over, I am in love with alternative music. I could tell you that I only started listening to it because I came across it while going through radio stations, but I only started listening to this music because my favorite radio station was acting up. I now love this genre because the songs have so much good meaning and I just love the bass and drums. Below are YouTube videos of the new songs that I discovered that are all really good:

Need You Now by Lady Antebellum

 

Riptide by Vance Joy

 

Cardiac Arrest by Bad Suns

 

My Sweet Summer by Dirty Heads

 

Habits (Stay High) by Tove Lo

 

Do I Wanna Know? by Artic Monkeys

 

Stolen Dance by Milky Chance

 

Dangerous by Big Data ft. Joywave

 





Tea Party!!!

Yesterday, my two little sisters had their first tea party. Truthfully, this was the best tea party a three and a seven year old can have. We spent the whole day getting ready and preparing the food for the tea party. We ate a chicken quiche with potato salad on top of spinach and a carrot raisin salad with a strawberry kiwi tea. The food was really good. We also had some homemade sugar and peanut butter cookies. We all had a lot of fun and we all ate really good. I had fun and I really can't wait till the next tea party. Hasta luego!!!

UPDATE!!!

Wow it's been a long time since I've been on my blog. This summer has been just awesome. My definition of summer vacation is being lazy, read books, watch movies, and be lazy. All summer I've pretty much spent at home with the occasional outing to the movies or store. My whole summer has been surrounded by music and I absolutely love it. I think the only bad part about this summer is that my dad has to work the whole summer away from home. I miss him so much and I only get to see him with the occasional Face Time chats. Other than that I'm having a wonderful summer. I also get to go to this new charter school that's being built near me. I can't wait to go there. It means a new start. I hope you guys have an awesome rest of the summer and stay safe. PEACE!!!

Memorial Day Weekend

Yesterday, I went to the lake with my family. We had a barbecue that consisted of hot dogs, hamburgers, cole slaw, variety of chips, fruit tray, pound cake, and soda. I had an awesome time with my family. My sisters and I got to play catch with a softball. Memorial Day was weird because there was barely any people at the lake barbecuing and that was unusual considering the fact that we were at a Navy Reserve. I wasn't mad that it wasn't crowded. I got to get a bunch of shells and rocks from the lake. I really want to make a necklace with them.

Texas Steak Cook-Off

This past Saturday, my family and I went to Hico, Texas to go to this steak cook-off. There a bunch of chefs come to this tiny town to see who cooks the best steak in Texas. My family and I always go to this event. We just go around sampling a bunch of delicious food. One of the dishes that I remember from the trip was this dried apricot with asiago cheese wrapped in bacon. It was absolutely delicious. I suggest that everyone should go to this fair because it's awesome and I had a lot of fun. It happens every year on the 3rd Saturday of May.

http://www.texassteakcookoff.com/ 

Godzilla

I watched Godzilla with my family last weekend. Godzilla was just awesome. It was one of the best movies I've ever seen. This movie was about Godzilla fighting these two bug-looking monsters. The movie had some of the best special effects. My favorite part of the movie would definitely be when Ford, the main actor in the movie, was with his son looking for his wife. That was a really sentimental moment when they found his wife. This movie was one of the best sci-fi action movies I have ever seen. I really liked watching this movie. This movie would be a five out of five because it awesome like that and it had some of the best effects.

Noah

Last weekend, my family and I went to go watch the movie Noah. Noah is man who was chosen by God to build an ark. Noah and his family went through many changes when they built this ark. This ark was made to hold only two of every single creature on this earth. Noah's family is threatened by others who find out about the great flood. I think that this movie was okay because the overall idea was like the biblical story, but I wouldn't call it a story based off the bible. The movie included some things like when Ila and Shem were together and they did some inappropriate things, it didn't go with the movie. Other than that, the movie was really good. It had some boring parts, but it could probably be improvised. I would rate it a 3 out of 5 because of the boring parts and lack of any real action.

Mother's Day Weekend

Last weekend, I had an awesome time with my family. My dad took the whole family out to go just hang out. We watched a total of three movies,we went shopping at several different stores, and we got to eat dinner at Texas Roadhouse. My weekend with my family was awesome. We all had an great time with each other. I'm just really excited that I got to spend some of my birthday money!

My B-Day!!!

Last Saturday was my 13th birthday. I had an awesome birthday. The whole day I got to spend with my mom and my sisters and watch movies. We watched the Internship. That movie was really funny. My favorite part of the movie would be when the young interns got the older guys to go to a college and talk to "Professor X." We ate pepperoni pizza and a cookies and cream ice cream cake. I got two jackets, a travel bag and $130 from my parents and a $25 Visa gift card from my cousins. I really loved my birthday, but I really can't wait till this weekend when I get to go SHOPPING!!!

School after STAAR

I had my last STAAR test last Wednesday on reading. In my opinion, what's the point of going back to school after STAAR. I mean, before STAAR all we did was study and get ready for STAAR, so what's the point of going to school once STAAR has passed by. I hate school after STAAR passes because its almost like we worked really hard for some tests and then we still have to go to school after these tests. THERE IS NO POINT! The stuff that we do after STAAR isn't even somewhat hard. Most of it is just things that we already learned and are reviewing. I think going to school after STAAR is dumb because it's just a waste of my time as a student and the teacher's time.

Divergent

This past weekend, my family and I went to go watch the movie Divergent. This movie is now my new favorite movie because it actually followed the storyline. Most movies that are about a book completely jack up the storyline and it completely messes up the movie. The movie was about Beatrice "Tris" Prior and how she goes from being the a selfless Abnegation to being apart of the courageous Dauntless. Tris struggles with keeping her Divergence from showing because this could lead to death. Along the way to finding her true self, Tris meets Four and they have an immediate connection between each other. Tris doesn't know that Four is actually also Divergent until he tells her his deepest secrets through his own fear simulation. The movie was just great. That just about sums it up. It's one of those movies that you have to watch to actually know if you like. Divergent isn't as slow-paced if you like post-apocalyptic and romantic type movies. Though I will warn you that there only is one part of the movie that Tris and Four actually kiss which kind of annoyed me, but you can't have everything. This movie would definitely be a five out of five because it was just amazing. I would suggest to everyone to go and watch this movie and read the book. The book is ten times better than the movie. Currently, I'm re-reading the book and will get a recommendation out soon.