California Babyyy(:

Kevin and I on Twin Peaks

Last summer, I braved the long, boring, terrifying 5 hour plane ride and flew down to San Francisco. I went down there because my cousin, Kevin, and Aunt Sharon live there. I very rarely get to see them, maybe about once or twice every year. So when I got the call that I was being invited to fly down there, stay with them for a week, and go to Kevin’s graduation, I was pumped.

I was so excited that I got to go that I didn’t even think about how much everything would cost. The plane ticket for round trip was $450 with two baggage checks. Thankfully, my grandparents are crazy and like to travel around the world and fly all over just for the fun of it. Because of this, they had saved up enough flying points to get me an affordable, $25 plane ticket. Now I was even more excited.

The night before I was supposed to leave, I had started packing and had no idea what to pack because the weather in San Francisco is much different than in Ohio. It literally took me 2 hours to pack and I even had friends over to help me.

Finally the day had come. I went to my last day of sophomore year then when I got home, left to pick up my grandparents and headed for the airport. I was so excited I couldn’t even focus. I was shaking my legs and twittling my thumbs until it was finally time to board the plane. This was my first time being able to fly and old enough to actually remember it so on top of the excitement, I was so nervous.

After the long 5 hour plane ride, we finally landed at midnight in San Fran. My cousin and aunt came to pick me up from my grandparent’s hotel where they were staying and we let the great week begin!

One side of the school

Throughout the week we all traveled around San Fran seeing all of the great things there are to see, going to plays and movies, great restaurants, seeing the huge malls, experiencing taking the train and buses, Haight Street, the Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz, and best of all, the graduation. Kevin’s graduating class had 400-500 people in it so it turned into a 4 hour ceremony. Thankfully, the unusual weather came that day and it was sunny and 70 degrees. I even got sunburn! His high school sat on the top of a hill and was literally the biggest school I’ve ever seen in my entire life. It had 3 floors and a basement.

Aunt Sharon and I

After being there for just a week, I wanted to turn around and go back! Hopefully I will go back this summer and have some more stories to tell!

Golden Gate Bridge

Cody Simpson yeahhhhh!

Cody Simpson is going to be the new Justin Bieber. Cody is a new aspiring singer/songwriter and musician. When he was a small boy, he always liked to watch his father play his guitar and sing for all their family and friends.  Cody loved the way that the music brought people together. When he was seven years old, he asked for his first guitar and to take lessons with his new guitar. He had a strong passion to start writing songs when he learned how to play his guitar. The first song he wrote was something about putting a chicken in a diaper. When he wrote this he was only 7 so who knew what he was thinking about?

Once he was twelve years old and of course writing better songs and singing other songs, he started to record himself singing and playing his guitar and put the videos on YouTube.  Some of the inspiring singers whose songs he was singing for YouTube include Jason Mraz, Justin Timberlake, and The Jacksons.

Almost a year later, Cody got a message through his YouTube channel from a producer that wanted to meet Cody. Shortly after he got the message, Cody and his dad flew to the United States from Australia to meet Shawn Campbell. In April the following year, Cody signed with Atlantic Records and has produced many songs. His first released single is his most popular song called “iYiYi” featuring Flo Rida.

Cody definitely isn’t as popular as Justin Bieber but he still has a great voice and everyone should at least take a peek at his songs!

My Life of Hunting

My 10 point buck i shot this year

            One thing that a lot of people probably don’t know about me is that I am very big into hunting. Hunting is like a sport for my family and I. when I started hunting I was 8 years old. When I was younger around the age of 6, my dad always took me with him to sit with him and watch and learn. When my dad finally decided I was ready to get my hunting license, he took me to the great Gander Mountain to get the hunter safety course book. I studied for days and filled out that book completely until it was finally time for me to start the class. The place I had to go for the class was a freezing greenhouse. The class was 8 hours long and it was the middle of winter. As soon as we stepped foot in the classroom area, everyone turned and looked at me cause guess what? I was the only and youngest girl. Half the class was adults.

            So throughout the day I endured the freezing cold and nasty hot chocolate given to us because I knew it would all be worth it in the end. After our half hour lunch break, we kept going through our books. Finally, it was time to take the test. One of the instructors took me outside to help me read or if I needed anything because mind you, I was only 8 years old. Even though he was there to help me, I didn't need him. I finished my test in about 15 minutes and ran to the teacher to get it graded. Everyone continued to stare at me as I stood over and watched him grade.

            After an agonizing wait, I passed! I got a 96% on my test at 8 years old! The teacher stood up and announced and all the adults happily clapped for me. I was so excited I grabbed my dad’s phone and called my mom as soon as they handed me my license.

            Over the next week or two, my dad and I went out and bought all of my hunting gear. When I had everything and was ready to go, my dad picked a good night to go hunting and the date was set. I was so excited for going I smiled the whole car ride to the property. When we got there I was used to the usual drill because I had sat with my dad before but this time, I got to carry my crossbow.

            We walked back into the woods, climbed up our tree stand, and sat and waited. Within the first 45 minutes of waiting, a buck stepped right out in front of our stand! I was so excited I was shaking and couldn’t focus. My dad taught me a trick to control my "buck fever". It’s a method called "bras". It stands for breathe, relax, aim, and squeeze. I thought of that the whole time, told my dad to stop it, and pulled the trigger! I shot my first deer! I was so extremely excited that I started crying.

            About 15 minutes later, my dad’s friends showed up to help us track the deer. It took about 5 minutes to find it because I made a pretty good shot. Ever since this day, I have been hunting in all different places and all different animals. I have shot a couple of pheasants and 5 bucks and around 3 or 4 doe. This year’s hunting season I got the biggest buck of my career. My first buck was a little 8 pt and this years was a big 10 pt.

            I’m so glad my dad got me into hunting and I plan to always hunt!

Cyber Bullying

Each year, cyber bullying affects one-half of the children ranging from ages 6-18. According to most studies, girls are the main cause of the bullying. In 2008, middle school students were surveyed and the majority of the students that had been cyber bullied were also bullied in school. Cyber bullying can consist of many different things. The most common thing is sending mean, vulgar, or threatening messages to other people to hurt them. A lot of time, other students will post mean, sensitive things or lies about a person on a public website.

Facebook is only one of the few places where cyber bullying occurs. Cyber bullying can also happen through emails, instant messaging, blogs, chat rooms, text messages and phone calls, and also even video chatting. A lot of times, teens and children will make up fake people and harass the other person. Because the children being bullied actually might think that the made up person is actually real, the affect of the bullying may make kids feel that they don’t want to go to school andmake them very upset.                                                                            

A survey on the affects of cyber bully/victims showed that these kids had the highest rate of anxiety, depression, and school absences. The kids that were not the victims of the bullying were shown to have the highest self-esteem, good grades, and the fewest symptoms of health problems.

A lot of times the kids that are doing the bullying don’t get away with it. 75% of the time, the people get caught. If you’re being cyber-bullied the best thing to do is to save everything and tell the school immediately. Hopefully, the school will be able to figure out who did it and they will stop the child from continuing. Also, just because people do it to you doesn’t mean you can do it to other kids. Stop the bullying!