My Summer is So Separated.

Hey y'all. 

Ummm....I didn't post. 

I suppose I could blame the movie/sleepover party I went to on Friday, but Saturday I had no excuse. 

I feel like a sucky person now. 

I just...totally, honest-to-goodness cross-my-heart-and-hope-to-fly straight-out forgot. 

So this week, my older brother Timothy went with a dozen others from our parish to World Youth Day in Rio de Janeiro. They were one of four groups from the US to go, and they've been gone for a week tomorrow. 

They went on a mission trip to build a school, I think, and Tim managed to make it onto the Brazilian news. He has to go out of the country to make it onto the news. Go figure. 

But anyway, he loves it there, and even though my mom had a dream he got bitten by a giant tarantula smack-dab in the middle of his forehead, that actually DIDN'T really happen, and he's totally fine and loving every minute of Brazil. 

And the week before Tim left, my brother Josh ALSO left for Boy Scout camp (hiking in the Rockies. 8O), and he's been gone for two weeks. Only three days left until he's back, though, so yay! I've missed him a lot. :3

After Tim gets back the first week of August, I leave the next week for a camp in South Texas. It's a leadership camp my friends have gone to and it's supposed to be really amazing. ^-^

Our family is so split up this summer, though. Like you guys know, my parents left for two weeks on vacation, and my oldest brother, Paul moved into an apartment last month, plus now Josh and Tim are gone too. And soon...so will I. 

Plus, a lot of my friends are going off to camps lately too. Two of my friends left this morning, and two of my friends were gone a couple weeks ago, and one of my friends is gone for two weeks starting just after my brother Tim gets back. 

All in all, it's been kind of a separated summer.  

So I guess you could say I have a lot on my mind. That could be my excuse for why I didn't post. 

I guess it's still pretty lame, as most excuses are, but it's all I got. 

Anyways, this is basically just an update on my life, but I really enjoyed writing about laughter and happiness and optimism last week. That was pretty sweet. 

If you like that as well as (or better than) just talking about myself and being all vain and arrogant (sort of) give me a holler in the comments. I'd love to hear from you! ^-^

I hope you guys are a having a FUNtastic summer, and I wish you an amazing day, night, afternoon, dusk, dawn or whatsoever it happens to be where and when you are in time and space, and I'll see you next week! 

Love and peace and ALL the zen! ✌

Keep Calm and Endeavor On, 

~Adalyn

Thoughts on Us.

In midst of my crazy summer schedule, various thoughts of camps and trips within the next two weeks, buying new clothes, worrying/being excited about birthdays, trying to pen 20,000 words for Camp NaNoWriMo, and ranting about how angry I am when they use different actors and actresses for the sequel of a movie I enjoyed ((BATMAN)), I realized that today, (shocker), is Friday. 

And...I felt the need to stop, take a deep, calming, relaxing breath, and a long, hot shower, and write something about the mysteries of the universe and why we all love them so much. 

This is gonna be totally random, but since I've been running around like [insert un-scarring analogy here, since I couldn't think of one], I decided that doing a little theorizing might do some wonders for my poor, addled brain. 

In but a moment, I will write out several subject neatly on a peice of notebook paper, cut them apart, fold them evenly, and place them, one by one, in this hat. 

I will then commence wearing said hat as I turn your thoughts to the workings of us humans or the universe or something amazingly spectacularifying like that. 

Prepare to be dumbfounded by my intelligence. 

I will now do the whole subject-paper-hat whatsyamadoohicky. 

Here is my list:

Yes, I spelled "business" with a "y" the first time. It's summer, and I'm in NaNoMode. Gimme a break. 

Here are my little bits of paper inside my wonderfully summery hat, which isn't nearly as colorful on the inside as it is on the outside. Bummer, right? 

And now, to CHOOSE!!! 8|

That says laughter, kiddies. Let's get theorizing! :D

Soooo...laughter. 

'Tis a strange thing, most definitely. 

Who could have ever thought of it if it wasn't already just a natural thing to do? Even the smallest babies can laugh. Even children have a sense of humor. 

Think about laughing, really think about the action, the science behind it, what it might look like to an alien who's never ever even thought of the concept of laughter or amusement. 

I'm sure an alien, looking on from his invisible ship, safely behind his über-safe, lazer-proof glass and hidden by a cloaking device...I'm sure he would be thouroughly weirded out by a room full of people, doubled over with some spasmodic episode and a strange liquid leaking from their eyes. 

Laughter is an action of the diaphragm, which is why you can get hiccups sometimes from laughing so hard. Hiccups are when your diaphragm decides to be a torture device and make you make embarrassing noises until people think you're dying. 

((The best thing ever is when you have the hiccups, and you try to sing something sort of fast-paced. Because then you're cracking up and hiccuping and singing and it's just the best feeling in the world. ^-^))

But seriously, when you get the hiccups, and you have that strange feeling in your stomach, your diaphragm is moving. Nothing to flip about. 

But WHY do we laugh, is my question. Because I'm just an inquisitive person like that. Why is it that even babies, newborns barely even introduced to our big, green, beautiful world, even they know that when something is funny, you laugh?

Isn't it just the most adorable thing when little babies laugh? My piano teacher's little girl is about five months old, and she's just the cutest baby on the earth. When she laughs, she gets this little sparkle in her eye, and she has this cute smile, and her laugh just...oh, babies just make me SOOOO happy! 

Sorry. ANYWHAZE!

Laughter is programmed into us. It's something we've always done, and something we always will do. Everyone has a sense of humor, and I guess that's because God knew we'd need the outlook and the ability to laugh things off. Embarrassments, problems, grief. 

They say laughter is the best medicine, and I think they're right. Nothing makes me happier after all the tears of sadness are shed then when one of my good friends takes me to a funny movie, or offers me a book they thoroughly enjoyed, or just sits and talks with me and makes me laugh because I just love being with them. 

I genuinely love to laugh, because I like being happy. I figure there's no use being sad all the time because life isn't about the sadness. 

Sure, sad things may happen, and they do, to all if us. But just remember you can't have the light without darkness to compare it to. If you're in a room covered in LED lights, painted white, then bringing in one candle isn't going to do anything. 

But if you're in a dark room, empty of everything, and you bring in a candle, it can be the start of something amazing. All the darkness in the world can't stand up to even one candle. 

And also, even when it's night, all you gotta do is remember that on the other side of the world, someone, right here, right now, is enjoying the sunshine, and when the time for their brightness has passed, it will move to you. 

It's never dark everywhere. There's always light if you're determined and hopeful enough to look for it. 

So keep laughing, because it's not worth it to be sad. If babies can laugh, so can you, because you can obviously read and navigate the Internet. You're big enough to laugh. 

I hope you're having a funtastic summer, as cheesy as that is. Maybe I've made you laugh. Maybe I've made you think. Maybe you're an alien and you're just discovering the human race. 

We're kind of a gloomy bunch right now, but I've kept my candle alight. I hope it spreads to each and every one of you wonderful, beautiful, amazingly perfect and perfectly amazing people, and together, we can banish the darkness with our glowing, shining, burning light of hope. 

I believe in this world. I believe in us. And no matter what problems you're facing, no matter how dark it seems and how hard it's getting to try and push through, I promise you, there's someone in the world who's gone through that. And there's someone in the world who's made it out of that as a better person. And there's someone in the world who's encouraging you. And there's someone in the the world who loves you. 

Promise me you'll never forget that. 

I leave you with a quote now, from Catherine of Siena, which really helps inspire me when I'm tempted to fake myself, cheat myself on what I'm feeling and who I am. 

"Be yourself, and you will set the world ablaze." 

Together, we can spread the light. Even if you only touch one person, that's one person more than you touched before. Wouldn't changing someone's heart for the better be worth all the pain and struggle and tribulation? I think so. 

Help me light the candles of everyone around the world, across the nations. Let's not cross the lines of race and color and religion and gender and opinions, but erase them.  Lines, straight or crooked, don't do anything in a world that is round. 

Help me spread love and encouragement and hope. Help me change the heart of someone who feels trapped, sunk unbelievably deep in the pit of despair. 

...Help me set the world ablaze. 

Keep Calm and Endeavor On, 

~Adalyn

NaNoWriMo, and Why I Am Late...Again.

I feel like I'm beginning to fall into a habit of this. 

Before i explain to you why I'm late this week, I also have an announcement to make. 

So, this month, I'm doing Camp NaNoWriMo, which is a program exactly like the regular NaNoWriMo, except for the fact that it's in the summer. I'm writing a book and I'm really liking it, and it's been taking up a lot of my time. 

I wanted to do it in April or whenever the first one was, but I couldn't manage it because I was still in school and I had a bunch of other stuff to do to get ready for the hot summer months. 

But I'm doing it this month. It's super exciting and fun and if any of you are writers, I suggest you check it out. There's a children's/teen's website called The Young Writers' Program at ywp.nanowrimo.org , and there's another program for 13-113 that's just plain-ol' National Novel Writing Month at www.nanowrimo.org . And for summer there's www.campnanowrimo.org .

It's super fun and free and you can participate in it at any age. In YWP and Camp NaNo, you set your word count goal, which is the number of words you aim to write in 30 days, though in the "real" NaNoWriMo, the set goal is 50,000 words. 

It's not nearly as hard or daunting as you think, because if you write a certain amount of words a day, you reach your WCG in no time at all! 

Anyway, if you want to try it out, you can do novels, biographies, screenplays, scripts, poems, songs, or even sentences if you want! All that matters is that you write and have fun. Check it out. It's amazing. 

NOW! To the excuses for why I didn't post and my updates on the 4th! ^-^

In my defense, I did have a very impromptu-ly crazy Thursday/Friday. 

So, as you who live in the Land of the Free, also known as that fat lazy country with those unrefined savages, or The United States of America, know, Thursday just so happened to be Independence Day! It's been that way for, oh, about over two hundred years. 

The Fourth of July is kind of an important day for us rebellious, independent US of A citizens, and hence we do stupid things, like throw big parties with lots of meat and potato chips and yummy drinks. And set off big, explosive, colorful and sometimes terrifying tendrils of flame to show our excitement and joy over our freedom and liberty from other countries. 

The only drawback from these parties and fireworks is when you're sitting there watching the show, and your neighbor, who's joined you for the big, delicious celebratory party, accidentally puts the firework in upside-down. 

And so it explodes about 20 feet away from you, shocking and scaring everyone there, making you scream as you feel the shockwave and see the brilliant burst of color that has exploded all too close to you and your friends and family, and setting off the car alarm of your best friend's brand-spankin'-new bright white Toyota Tundra. 

It was an awesome and exciting experience, and since my boyfriend decided I needed to be comforted, and wrapped his arms around me, it was also sort of cute, too. 

After the party, two of my friends slept over, totally ruined half of my makeup doing blind makeovers, and stayed half of the next day, when I had to clean the house and help prepare food for a get-together we were having with some of our closest friends. 

They stayed until ten, and after a long argument between my friend Brianna and her mother, she was allowed to spend the night. And we watched Les Mis. And we wrote, since we're both aspiring authors. And then fell asleep. 

Yesterday was Saturday, and I don't really have an excuse for not posting, and I was even going to post, but in the morning I had to return canopies and chairs to my neighbors that they had let us borrow for the party, and then I was reading all afternoon. 

I finished my book at 1:30 am this morning, finally went to bed around 2am, and then woke up at 11:28 to discover my family gone to 10 o'clock mass.

So here I am, two days late after a crazy weekend, happy that I broke my record for how late I've slept in ever because I'm not nearly as tired as I have been for the past week. 

I guess a good night's sleep solved all my problems. Anyway, my mom and dad are taking my siblings and I on a surprise outing, so I guess I'll see you all next week. Though I probably won't post until Saturday, since I have a birthday party to attend. 

At least I let you know this week, right?

....Right? 

;)

Keep Calm and Endeavor On,

~Adalyn

A Boring Narrative on My Boring Life. ;P

Hey, all! It's been another of those crazy weeks. 

VBS ended today, and at the end of the day, a bunch of kids came up and gave me a group hug. It was adorable. This is why I love Sing & Play; all the kids love you and give you hugs at the end of the week. 

I'm sad and relieved at the same time. Don't get me wrong, I love the kids and the acting and the songs, but herding children and memorizing skits at the same time as not having my parents home this week was just a teensy-tiny bit stressful. 

My parents are glad to be back in the States, and they brought me back (among other things) foreign sugar. My sweet tooth is unbelievable. But anyhoo, this is what it looked like. 

Weird, right?

I've been staying up late watching Bachelor Pad lately, which is shameful but entertaining, and I've also been getting up early because of VBS. 

I just realized how boring this week must have been to you. But it was crazy insane busy for me. :P

I'm actually about to head off to a 21st birthday party, so I suppose I'd better go. Sorry for wasting your life by telling you about mine. 

I hope you all are having a great, amazing, spectacular summer, and I'll see y'all next week! STAND STRONG! 

Keep Calm and Endeavor On,

~Adalyn

My Amazing Dramatic Camp

I've had a crazy week. 

So, this week, I was gone at camp for six days, with no wifi, no family, and no idea of what I was getting myself into. It was a totally new camp I'd never heard of. I was only there because my friend Claire had wanted some people she knew to be there with her. 

So I signed up. 

It was an overnight drama camp held at a school about an hour outside of the city. Like I said, acting has been a big part of my life lately, and this camp seemed like a great opportunity to enhance my talents and try something new at the same time. 

But on the first day...I was really nervous. 

I didn't know if Claire had been accepted, and since I'm a freshman I was probably going to be the youngest one there, and what if everybody was super cliquish and didn't really include me?

I was super, super, super nervous. 

But this really nice guy named Jon snapped me out of it and helped me emerge from my silly, fragile shell. And from then on, it was all fun and games. Quite literally. 

We played a bunch of ice breakers and theater games, and we all introduced ourselves to each other, and I had a really awesome time. There were a couple people that stood out in my book, but you'll hear more on them later. 

On the first day, we had to audition for what part we were going to play. And I was fourth on the list. 

I was also super nervous about that, even though I figured I'd get a small role. A freshman, brand new to a camp and everyone but one person in it? Yeah, I was definitely gonna get a leading role!

But anyway. 

I got the part of Kate, a girl with only one spoken line and two sung ones. But that was okay, because I didn't want a big part anyway. Too much pressure. 

And the rest of the week went by, with games at 9am until 9:30, and then vocal warmups, song practice, and then a run through of the play, with input from our directors (we had an artistic director and a music director) whenever it was needed. 

The people who played the main roles were super talented, for the most part. And the people who played Laurey and Curly were absolutely spectacular. 

It was a ton of fun, and I met a bunch of über-nice people who liked to make me laugh. You would expect the people who played the leads to be sort of stuck-up and have an I'm-too-cool-for-you-peasant kind of attitude, but there were actually no "mean kids" at this camp. Which was nice. 

And Clayton, the guy who played Curly, was always really funny and open and welcoming. He never frowned once and he always made sure I was having fun. 

Friday was our dress rehearsal, and we all got into our costumes, donned mascara and eyeliner and blush and lipstick, slipped on our cowboy boots, and jumped right in. 

It went really well, and we were all totally psyched for Saturday night, when we would put on the play for all our friends and family. 

Saturday was our cast party. We watched Le Mis, which I'd never seen, and then The Phantom of the Opera, the one with Gerard Butler. Which I love to pieces. Everyone was forbidden to sing during Le Mis, but no one cared if everyone belted their hearts out to The Phantom of the Opera. And a girl named Ella brought cupcakes. They were really good. 

We had one last run through of the show before we went to dinner, and then rushed to the dressing rooms before the 8pm show. 

I put on my blue, floral costume, knowing it was the last time I'd ever wear that ridiculous dress, pulled my hair back in the assigned hairstyle, and pinned my bangs back so I could put on the makeup I'd bought on Friday.

Red lipstick went on over Chapstick. My naked blue eyes were outlined in black and my eyelashes darkened and fanned out. My cheeks became artificially rosy, even though I knew they'd get pink as soon as I started dancing. 

Even though I'd been really nervous about coming on the first day, I found I wasn't nervous at all before the show. No butterflies. Not even little ones. 

As a final touch, I unpinned my bangs, slipped on my boots, and settled my hat on my head. And then I skipped out into the world of Oklahoma!, arm in arm with Claire. 

The play went perfectly. My family brought me flowers and I got a bunch of contact information for a bunch of different people. I've already texted/ emailed most of them, and I'm going to get in touch with the rest of them today. 

Overall, it was an amazing experience, and I can't wait to head back next year. The directors both said I was amazing, and the acting director said he had plans for me for next year, so I'm super excited! 

I think I'll relax a little today, because I have VBS tomorrow! Yay! 

I'll post on Friday this week, so....

Keep Calm and Endeavor On! 

~Adalyn

An Update On My Stressful Misery.

Hello, all you beautiful people who read my blog! And hello all you gorgeous new people who have never seen me before and are just browsing blogger/ the Internet/ NaNo, and just happened to stumble across my blog or my profile. You are beautiful too. 

Everyone is beautiful today. 

I don't know why I'm in such a good mood right now, considering I'm having a crazy, aw-screw-it kind of day. 

First of all, I've told you guys I'm helping out with VBS again this year. It's Athens, like I said, and I have to be this Grecian girl named Thalia who is learning from St. Paul. 

It's stressful because my parents had an opportunity to go on this amazing vacation for a couple weeks, and they took it, and so...they're gone for VBS. My parents and our family play a big role--the only role, really--in making and setting up all the decorations and sets for our week-long Vacation Bible School. 

And since they're gone, all we have is a list of directions and a few good luck wishes from our parents, instead of a guiding hand as far as setting everything up. 

And I have to memorize six skits and work them out with my friend Marge on top of other lines and choreography which you will hear more about in just a moment. 

Another thing is the fact that I'm currently the only wannabe maternal figure in our house. And also the only one who doesn't have to work full-time who possesses the knowledge of how to operate the washing machine properly. 

My brothers kind of fail. 

But, then again, they're better and more willing cooks than I. And I only have to do two loads of laundry every day. They have to slave over the stove for hours. 

Or something like that. 

The third thing that's stressing me out is that I'm going to be gone at a camp this week, and we have six days to perfect the play Oklahoma! before we have to preform. I've never seen the full play/ movie, so needless to say, I'm a little nervous. 

Plus, it's an overnight theater camp, which means my family will be without any maternal figure whatsoever for six days. 

Keep in mind, none of them know how to do laundry. 

I've never been in a musical like this before, though I've been in plenty of plays. I'm still nervous though, because I was never much of a dancer. Hence why I dropped out of ballet, jazz, and tap when I was seven. 

Also, we've gotten a lot of rain here the past week. The streets are sodden. 

I went to run lines with my friend Marge, who lives across the neighborhood.

Our neighborhood is about two miles all the way around. 

And so, in it, I would not recommend scootering in the rain, through large puddles there is no possible way you can avoid. You get mud all over the back of whatever pant leg is not pushing, and you don't even realize it until there's this freezing feeling on the back of your calf. Also, your favorite flats get soaked, and you're just really thankful you brought socks in your bag. Oh, and your script is soggy. 

What? Haha. No. Pshhhh...No, no, I've never done anything like that. Haha, I'm so much more clever and practical than that! I'm not an idiot. That would be stupid. Pshhhhhhhhhhhh. 

Anyhoo, running lines went fine. Margie gave me a towel to wipe the mud off my jeans, ((shut up.)) and we had fun tossing lines back and forth. 

And then...I started to scooter home. 

Just kidding. I had learned my lesson. 

And with a humble and contrite heart that had no desire to get more mud on it, I walked. 

And I had a book idea on the way, inspired by the soaked hems of my favorite pair of jeans. So that was okay. 

Anyway, I'm gonna go take a nap and eat some candy. Not in that order. 

I hope you all have a wonderful Friday, and I wish you an absolutely fantabulous start to the summer! I hope your first week or two was awesome. 

Keep Calm and Endeavor On, 

~Adalyn

Today Was The Craziest Day...

I sing in the choir at my church. I think I've told you that before. 

Today was the beginning of a Catholic homeschooling conference here in my state, and there was going to be a graduation mass for the class of 2013. 

It was my mom's idea and so she had to set it up, which meant finding a pair of priests, altar servers, a Eucharistic minister, and a choir, as well as transporting an altar, crucifix, vestments, and various other things necessary for a Mass. 

So, I had to sing for this mass with my choir, and since our choir director is sick, we had to draft someone from another parish to accompany us. 

Which meant that I had to copy, print, staple, and deliver a dozen copies of the songs we were going to sing, AND help my mom set up the altar, crucifix, hymn books and pamphlets. 

It was a total hassle, but the mass was celebrated by the bishop that confirmed my brothers and I, and it was an absolutely beautiful mass. 

Afterword, we had cake and lemonade at a reception for the graduates. 

My brother is severely allergic to nuts. And you'll never guess what. 

There was almond extract in the cake icing. 

So on the way home, he started swelling up, and he was having trouble breathing, and he had hives all over his body. 

Needless to say, my dad took him to the emergency room. 

So I had to babysit my little siblings until my parents got home. 

(That would have been my Friday post, but I fell asleep while putting my youngest sibling to bed, so I didn't post. This would have been the post from Saturday.) 

My dad woke me up at 12:30am and told me to head up to my own bed, where I promptly collapsed. 

And, because my body likes to torture me, I woke up a little before 6am. For some stupid reason, whenever I wake up in the middle of the night, my body decides I need less than eight hours of sleep to function. Genius, right?

My brother was fine. He'd had an IV in and they'd pumped Benadryl into his bloodstream, so he was out of there relatively quickly. I found him sleeping on the couch in the Living Room that morning. 

So I got my chores out of the way and got dressed, and then waited around for a couple hours until we left for the second day of the conference. 

It was actually pretty good. They had a speaker talk about what to expect in and about college, and then after a half-hour break, they had several religious of varying stages come in and talk about vocations. 

Then we had pizza for lunch and after that, I had a gig watching the elementary school-age kids for three hours. 

So I basically calmed down a few rowdy kids, watched Veggie Tales, helped a few kids tracing and coloring their hands, watched more Veggie Tales, and got paid $15 for it! :D

And then...after the day was done I bought some jewelry and headed home to freshen up a bit for my very first high school dance! 

It was held at a dance hall a little ways out of my city, and I went with my older brothers and a few friends. 

We were taught a bunch of line dances, and then we basically just did whatever to a specific playlist until the last song. 

It was really fun, and I can't wait for next month when there will be another one! 

I went swimming at a friend's house today, and we spent an hour and a half in the pool before drying off and getting dressed for mass. 

And that was basically my day. 

Oh, and I had three chocolate-chip cookies. 

Now that you've caught up...yay! 

I'm sorry if it's ridiculously long. And I'm sorry I posted two days late. But, you know, my brother was kind of in the hospital, so...

I promise next Friday, you'll have a post. As long as nobody I know is mauled by a monkey or run over by a trigonometry book, I swear on my favorite hat, I'll post on Friday. 

Keep Calm and Endeaovr On, 

~Adalyn