Gift Ideas

This year I have to get ten people gifts. So I thought that I would write a blog.

For my mom she gave my sister and I, a list this year which included pajamas and a coffee mug. Since my sister and I don’t have a lot of money to spend we both decide to pay half of a really cute coffee cup that says ‘Best Mom in the World’ (or something along those lines).

For my dad, my sister and I also teamed up to buy a bag of candy peppermints and a cologne for him.

Every year my family does a kids secrete Santa because there are four of us (and my mom has to pay for most of the gifts since my two littlest siblings aren’t able to work yet). This year I got my brother Adam (I have gotten him the past four years as well. It turns out that my sister Anna got my other sister Ella, who also had Anna. Which means that my brother had me. This is the same every year and we even draw out of a hat.) My brother Adam is one of the pickiest human beings on this planet because all of the things he wanted were mowing tools. So I asked the expert what to get him (this is my mom). She told me that the least expensive thing on his list was a pair of steel trim gloves. They were 30 bucks, so my mom said that she would pay a third of the price, if I covered the rest, because they were so expensive.

For my grandma, my sister and I pooled together again to get her lotion.

For my grandpa, my sister and I gave him lots of tick-tacks. (He doesn’t need much).

For my work secret Santa Katie, I got her a Starbucks cup, candy, fuzzy socks, and a five dollar gift card to Starbucks.

For my best friend secret Santa Ashlynn, I got her a perfume, lotion, and two pairs of fuzzy socks.

For my last secret Santa Zander, it was my show choir group. I got him a ten dollar Target gift card and a huge tube of the regular goldfish. (Why are guys so hard to shop for?)

What did you get your family members and/or friends this year? Let me know if you have any suggestions for me. Thanks, Emily.

Family

Every year on Christmas my mom's parents come down to visit us. My dad's parents used to come down, but now they go to Arizona to stay warm. A couple past Christmas's other family friends and relatives have come down to stay with us. Usually we play games, eat lots of amazing food, watch movies, and open presents.

One of my favorite parts is after Christmas day lunch, when everyone is sitting around the table play Phase 10. The game lasts awhile and when everyone is finally done with the game, my grandparents go into the living room to watch TV (they really sleep during this time), my littlest sister Ella will usually play with the toys that she got. (I usually help her set up her toys if she needs my help. My brother will go on his video games or play with his new toys that he got. My next sister Anna, will go put her stuff away and then get out a craft of some kind. My parents are usually talking with the grandparent that is still awake. Finally I will usually help my sister set up her toys like I said or I will go put my things away where they belong and then go grab a craft to do like my other sister Anna. Once everyone has rested for a while, we all head down stairs to the foosball table to play a ton of games against each other. Sometimes if there is a good movie coming out in theaters we will go see that. After our many rounds of foosball we go upstairs to get something to eat. At this time we are eating most of the left overs. Everyone heads to bed soon afterwards to get a good night’s rest because the next day we all do after Christmas shopping. The next day is busy with family members trying to get everything they need for the year. I like to hang out with my grandma and my mom because they usually buy me a few things that I would see in the store. My two sisters Anna and Ella also hang out with my grandma and mom to see if they will get anything also.

What relatives come down to visit you for Christmas? What do you do with them? Are there any fun games that you play? Let me know. Thanks, Emily

Christmas Decorations

Every year for Christmas, I am the person in my family who bring up all of the decorations from the basement and start opening the bins. One of my favorite parts of Christmas is putting up all of the decorations and seeing the final end product.

I start with the living room decorations which include a set of trees that we made by hand (they are red, gold, and green, on the tree we pin up candies.) There is also a Jesus scene that we lay out on a table. On our coffee table we have a cover and on top sits a metal sleigh that has fake plants and bells hanging from it. Near our fireplace we have cute penguins and trees. On our railing going down to the basement we hang our stocking. In the kitchen we have a Santa tree, which includes a Santa photo with all of the kids for the past 17 years. (This is how old I am...) Around the tree we have a soft re skirt. On one wall my mom hangs a crossed-stitched Santa that she had done in her teen age years. Around the Santa frame, we have tall trees with bright white lights and I reindeer candle along the bottom. Along the top of our cabinets we have other Christmasy things. In our sunroom, we have our live/real tree. It is decorated with gold pink and silver. (We just retired our artificial tree to being the 'kids' tree. It is bigger.) In the office we put up the kids tree, which consists of ordainments that all of us kids have gotten as a gift for the past 17 years. Also is the office, is my mom’s nutcracker collection. She has over 40 nutcrackers and at least five of them are over two feet tall. In my sister’s room, which is also on the main level, she has a grey and pink themed tree. She also has a wreath on her door that she made. In my parent’s room, they also have their own tree that is silver and brown themed. In the basement we have another huge tree added to the house. It is decorated with multicolored lights and ornaments. There is also a train around the tree. We also have other misc. Christmas stuff living around the basement. My sister and I also have a wreath on our doors that were made by us. I have a woodland themed tree in my room along with other Christmas stuff.

Let me know what you do to decorate your house for Christmas. Thanks, Emily.

Lights

               Christmas lights are amazing. One house in my neighborhood does an amazing job at decorating the outside of their house. They has Christmas trees in the windows along with fake Santas. In the yard they have lights on almost every tree. The have stick in the ground colorful lights that they make a lane with. They have a few blow up inflatables that they have around the front and back of their yard. I love it so much. My favorite part of it is when you are driving to the front of their house and you look up at the second story window you can see a Santa by a beautifully lit Christmas tree. (That is inside decorations so my favorite outside decoration would have to be a huge pine tree that is covered in colored lights).

               This year since we have just recently moved, we don’t have any full or strong enough trees to put lights on. Usually in the past years my dad has put lights on all of our trees and then done the lining of our house with white lights. For finishing touches we have a huge wreath that we would hang above our garage that had white lights and a gigantic red bow on it.

               Usually the day before Christmas my family and I drive around our neighborhood and the connecting neighborhood to look at the Christmas lights. They are so magical and cool. We go by eat house and give then a rating from 1-10. I like the houses with a lot of pretty lights.

               What do you and/or your family do for outside decorations? Can you please send me a picture? I love looking at decorated houses. Thanks Emily.

Traditions

               Every year my family has certain traditions of getting and decorating a Christmas tree the day after Thanksgiving. We also make cookies every year. One tradition that goes along with decorating the tree is we have a wish ornament. Every year for the past 5 years my family and I sit down at the table and we are all given tiny sheets to write down what we wish Santa will get us this year. When we are all done with ours we out it in the ornament. Then we take out the past years and read them aloud and see if our wishes had come true.

               Another tradition that we have is decorating the kid’s tree as we call it. It is a tree that we have in our dining room/piano room. Every year since we are born we get an ornament for Christmas. (We also get a few from relatives). So we decorate a certain tree with our ornaments. This year we are going to have to get a bigger tree because we have over 70 ornaments. We take a full night to decorate the tree, while drinking hot cocoa or apple cider.

               Another tradition we have is every Christmas Eve we celebrate by open two gifts, our ornament gift and our PJ’s that we pick out special for that year. Then we all change into the pajamas. Then we sit in front of the tree and take a photo for the scrapbook. After that we sit down with the treats that my family has made including a cheese ball dip with crackers, cookies, salami and crackers, and a few other things. For drinks we have hot cocoa and apple cider. Then once we are all settled in we watch Christmas Vacation. (Even though I have seen this movie a billion times it never gets old). Once the movie is over we all go up to bed and wait for Santa to come.

               In the morning on Christmas day my brother and I are the first to wake up at 3-4 am. (I have tried to sleep in later but it never works) Then it is my littlest sister Ella. Since we are so loud, my mom and grandma will come down telling us to be quiet. After a while my grandpa will get up and get ready, knowing that the bathrooms will be hogged later. My sister Anna comes down with my dad a few minutes later. We can finally dig into the gifts that have been tempting my siblings and I for so long. When we open presents we go from youngest to oldest one at a time so that we can each see what everyone else has gotten too. One of the last gifts that we open up are the Secret Santa gifts. Since my mom didn’t want us to spend all of our/her money we do a Secret Santa.

               What are your traditions that you do with your family? Do you want to start any new traditions? If so let me know what they are. Thanks Emily.

Christmas Cookies

Every year my family and I make Christmas cookies. Everyone in my family chooses their cookie that my mom, two sisters and I bake, but with some cookies we make then no matter what.

The cookies that we always make are sugar cookies that we can decorate with frosting or colored sugar. We usually make 3-4 batches of these because they get eaten so soon. We also make press cookies that are like sugar cookies, just smaller and fatter. We decorate our press cookies with colored sugar. For our press cookies we make anywhere from 4-7 batches.

For individual cookies my dad always chooses the same cookie, or should I say pie. He chooses Tea Time Tassies. They are almost like mini pecan pies. We usually make two batches of these (my dad could eat all of these on his own, I honestly don’t prefer them.) My youngest sister Ella chooses the Almond Cookies. They are so good. I eat almost the whole batter if I am making them (there aren’t any eggs in these so they are safe to eat raw.). My mom usually makes 3 batches. By this time our house is smelling quite good. On to my brother Adam, who choses peanut butter cookies with Hershey kisses presses into the top of them. (I forget what they are called) We usually make 4 batches of these cookies. My other sister Anna chooses Frogs Eyes. We only make a double batch of these. Which are triple chocolate cookies with green frosting on top. My mom chooses peppermint bark. We usually have to make a couple batches of these depending on how thick they are. I usually don’t eat this because I don’t like peppermint. Last but not least I choose gingersnaps. They are the best cookies every especially when they are just out of the oven and are all gooey and warm. Since I am the one making these cookies I make around 5-7 batches.

The year that I remember making the most cookies was when my Great Aunt Reva came down to my house with my grandma. We had so many different deserts and cookies that we had tables in the living room set up. We also had pans of deserts and cookies waiting to go in the oven.

What do you make for your Christmas cookies? Send me the recipes and I will try them. Also try mine. If you need my cookie recipes let me know. Thanks Emily.

Christmas Tree Time

For the past couple of years my family and I have gone out and gotten a real tree. We usually get the soft pine needles, but this year, to help keep the bulbs on the tree better and get more bulbs on the tree, we are going to get a smaller rougher pine tree.

               The morning after Thanksgiving my family and I go out to Wiki Tree Farm and pick out a tree. We roam the tree farm for the perfect tree for our family. For the past couple of years we could only have a tree that is around 8 feet high. This year we were allowed to get a 12 foot tall tree. My dad and brother usually cut the tree down using a hand saw, but this year my brother Adam, two sisters Anna and Ella, my dad and I cut it down together (we each put a few cuts in the tree and then my dad finished it.) When the tree was almost cut down my two sisters and I went on the opposite side of my dad to hold the tree up and keep it from getting all muddy because it had rained recently. The trees needles were so sharp and pointy that my two sisters left it up to me to hold after a while. Once the tree was cut down my dad and sister Anna (whose is the strongest of all of the four kids) brought the tree down to be paid for, shaken (to make sure that Alvin and the chipmunks weren’t living in it), and then have it bagged and tried on my dad’s car. Once we got it on top of the car, we celebrated by going out to eat at Pancheros. Once we got home my dad put lots of white lights all over the tree. We then pulled out the boxes and tubs of ornaments and bulbs and started to decorate the tree. My youngest sister Ella finally put the start on top of the tree. Once the tree was decorated I had made hot cocoa for everyone. While we were drinking our hot cocoa, we were listening to Christmas music on my mom’s IPhone and were talking.

When do you get your Christmas tree? How big is it? Do you cut it down yourself (meaning your dad) or is it artificial? Do you have any traditions? Let me know. Thanks Emily.

Christmas Songs and Movies

One of my favorite parts of Christmas is the songs and movies. I love the songs that are from movies like when the radio plays movies from the Grinch. I love the song that Cindy Lou Who also sings from the Grinch. I like the song Last Christmas I gave you my Heart (I don’t know the real name of this song, but I am going to call it this). I also love the Straight No Chasers versions of Christmas songs. One of my favorite songs of the Straight No Chasers is the Christmas Can Can. I also love their version of 12 Days of Christmas. Another one of my favorite Christmas song is ‘Mary Did You Know’. It is amazing song that I could listen to over and over again. The Pentatonic also sing another version of ‘Mary Did You Know’ and it is equally amazing. I also love all of Pentatonic’s Christmas songs.

            One of my favorite Christmas movies is the Grinch (real life version). My favorite part of the whole movie is when he is going over his schedule and is saying “At 5o’clock dinner with myself, can’t miss that again. 6 o’clock, solve world hunger, tell no one.” It is the best part of the movie. Another one of my favorite movies is called Holidays in Handcuffs. It is about a woman who has to go home for the holidays and is always criticized by her family about her life. So this year, she is leaving from her job to go home when all of the sudden she has a great idea of kidnapping a random guy and taking him with her to her parents’ house to be her supposed ‘boyfriend’. She makes him do all of this crazy stuff and the whole time that her is there he is trying to escape. It is a hilarious movie. My favorite animated Christmas movie is the Polar Express. My favorite parts are the songs.

            In my car I only have one radio station that plays Christmas music. It is on almost 24/7(Sometimes it is good to not have all of your radio stations play Christmas music, it gets annoying after a while). My sister and I sing along to almost every Christmas song that we know.

What is your favorite song and/or movie? Let me know what you thought about my options and also listen to my songs they are awesome. Thanks Emily.

Christmas is Here

Christmas is finally here. Many TV programs like ABC Family and Hallmark are starting their Christmas movies and shows. ABC Family is having their 25 days of Christmas. It is finally December and it has already snowed!!! Time for everyone to put up their decorations for the inside and outside of the house, make and decorate the Christmas cookies, get Christmas gifts, see Santa Clause and tell him what you want for Christmas, and of course decorate your Christmas tree.

During the holidays I love watching everyone in my neighborhood put up their lights. When I drive by houses with lights up and running at night I slow my car down and look at all the elaborate designs people have used lights for. Some people go over board and have too many blow up floats. I love the lights only houses, where they are pretty lights in a nice line on the house ends. Another one of my favorites is the house from Christmas Vacation, which has 25,000 lights total on the house.

I also love all of the Christmas commercials that you see on TV.  They are so cute. Especially the Petco commercials that has many different cats dressed in different Christmas costumes!! They are so cute.

During the Christmas season, I feel so good because first it is my favorite time of the year, second the Christmas music playing on the radio, and more. I dislike the kids in high school that I hear saying that they don’t like Christmas or can’t take Christmas songs on the radio. These people are called a Grinch. People Christmas is only for 25ish days. You can live with it. Don’t bash everyone else spirit and use the saying “If you don’t have anything nice to say don’t say it at all.”

               I love when it snows. I may not like the cold weather, but I love to see all of the sparkly snow on the ground and covering the houses. The snow covers up all of the brown grass and makes it sparkle. I also love the pine trees that get frosted with snow. They look so pretty and with a few twinkling lights and when you drive by at night, they are the best.

               I fell like Christmas is very close but so far away at the same time. I have to go Christmas shopping soon, and I still have to decorate my house.

               Let me know what you are doing to prepare for Christmas this year. Thanks Emily.

Black Friday

Black Friday is less than a week away and the sales are better than ever. Most stores already have most of their sales started or they are getting ready for them. I work at Justice and to night we are getting ready for Black Friday. We are resetting up the store in a different way so that shoppers will be able to find what they want faster and easier. I have gotten my schedule and this week I work on Black Friday from 8:00 to 3:30. We are having a pot luck and I am bringing a veggie tray. I can't wait for Black Friday to come. Usually we are at my grandparents house and so I have never gone to or done Black Friday before. I hope that after I am done working I can go shopping with my mom. I want to go to American Eagle and victoria Secret because I love their cloths. I also would like to go Christmas shopping and knock some of that out of the way.

Let me know if you have heard of any great deals and what stores they go with. Have you been Black Friday shopping before? Let me know if you liked it before or not. Also let me know what your strategy is for the best way to get the best deals. Thanks, Emily.

Thanksgiving Day

Thanksgiving is four days away. I can’t wait. My siblings and I are going to go up on Wednesday instead of Thursday, to help my grandma with the baking and cooking. I am going to bring up some of my yarn so that I can knit and I am also going to bring up a book that I have to read for school (it is called The Kite Runner). My grandpa is going to be coming to get us. When we get there we are going to start baking right away. (this means that we are going to make sure that we have all the ingredient for the stuff that is needed for Thursday. Then we are going to make the dishes that are able to be made before hand.) I’m very excited because my relatives (cousins, aunts, and uncles) are going to be there as well. Usually, we have my grandpa’s homemade fish and fries the day before for supper. The fish is really special because my grandpa is the one who catches them and freezes them for us. Also the fries are homemade by my grandpa which makes them special too. The next day everyone is up early and in my grandparents study talking. Earlier my grandpa, dad, and uncle started the turkey. My grandma has the coffee maker running 24/7. Everyone has at least two cups of coffee because later in the day everyone needs to be wide awake. We talk about what has happened since the last time we all saw each other. We also talk about what is coming up. I usually tell my family members about last years show choir and this years show choir (including what our songs are and I show them our dances-they are on a special youtube channel), and we talk about how school is going for everyone. 

Once we are all caught up, the women in the family go up stairs to start the cooking and baking. I usually start getting the tables set up (there are so many people that some we need three or four tables.) I then find the table cloths and put them on the tables. Next I look for the white, glass plates and the sliver ware. Once all of it is found I set up the table. I then fill us the glasses with ice water and give everyone (even the kids) a wine glass. (The kids have sparkling cider.) At this time everyone starts showing up. We all say hi and ask how it is going. Pretty soon it is one o’clock at it is time to sit down and eat. We are all conversing while we eat. Once everyone is done eating, the guys take the dishes to the dishwasher and clean the dishes. Once everyone is ready for desert I help my grandma by taking everyones orders, cutting the pies, and serving it. After this the neighbors go home and everyone continues talking. Later at night we play card games and eat left overs. 

All in all it is a great day.

What do you do for Thanksgiving? Who comes to town? Let me know. Thanks, Emily.

Thanksgiving Dinner

Thanksgiving Dinner. The meal we look forward to all year. Everyone has their own traditions, but everyone has a turkey. In my family, my grandma makes a turkey, a ham, and little chickens for all of the kids, so everyone can have their pick of what they want. In our family my cousins are allergic to almost everything. They can't have dairy, eggs, flours, etc. so my grandma has to make double of everything. I love that she can do all of this for us. My grandma makes the traditional buns with butter (special buns and not real butter), gravy, cranberry cause, broccoli casserole ( this is my favorite part of the thanksgiving meal besides green bean casserole), green bean casserole (i usually make this), potatoes, sweet potato casserole, stuffing, a jello salad, and more. Since we have double of everything everyone has to help in the kitchen. In the kitchen everyone is scrabbling around trying to get their dishes sone. While this is going on my dad, grandpa, and uncle are making the turkey, ham, and little chickens. They have to wake up really early to start the meats. When the meats are done my grandpa takes them up stairs to be cut. during this time my siblings and I sneak into the kitchen to steal the juiciest pieces of the turkey and ham. For the deserts my mom is in charge. My mom has made pumpkin pie, pecan pie, and chocolate pie. This year I would like cherry pie, and peach pie included in the mix. (my cousins have their own chocolate pie that they make for themselves. For the pies we also make home-made whip cream. For drinks, people bring a sparkling sider for all of the kids. ( We usually need a bottle for each kid. All of them will be gone by the time the day is over.) My grandparents neighbors also come over. They each bring a desert or two with them to share. By the time lunch is over we usually have left overs. In years past, we usually eat the left overs for supper. I think that most of the left overs are better after they have been warmed up again. If there are any leftovers for the next day, my family will take it home and we will eat it throughout the next week.

Also if you would like to have my grandma make something special you have to call or text her a few days earlier and tell her about it. She will most likely make it if she has time. ( this is why you tell her a few days sooner, so that she can make time to make it.)

Extra Gum

Recently I was watching a TV show and during one of the breaks, an adorable commercial came on. It is called 'The Story of Sarah and Juan'.  It had a background song of 'Can't Help Falling in Love'. In this commercial a boy and girl meat in school and start dating. They go on dates, but then the girl has to travel away from her boyfriend for awhile. The boy and girl stay in touch and  when the girl gets back they reunite. The boy tells the girl to meet him at a restaurant. When she gets there she sees that this whole time that every time that she gives him a piece of Extra Gum, he would document what they were doing. He then framed each and everyone of them. In the very last frame it shows him proposing to her. This hadn't happened yet. So she started crying and when she turned around, she saw him on his knee holding a ring. (I know that the boy and girl have names, but I don't feel like putting them in at the moment.)
I love this commercial so much. I love the song they put with it. ( The song is sung beautifully by a girl) I think the best part of the commercial is when the boy is staring at him girlfriend. He looks at her so lovingly. It makes the whole commercial work. The commercial site is https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XLpDiIVX0Wo .
I also think that Extra Gum has other great commercials. I would watch all of their commercials at once if I could. They are all inspirational and fun to watch. I showed this commercial to my sister Anna, and she has been singing 'Can't Help Falling in Love' over and over again. From this I can tell that she likes the commercial too.
Do you have a favorite commercial? Please share it and tell me why you love it. Also include a link so that I can look it up too. Thanks, Emily

Ferugson

Recently, my family and I have moved into a rental house. One night we heard some meowing. My brother looks outside and sees this adorable cat. I of-course have this great idea of putting some cat food out for it. (we own a cat named Ripley) My sister Anna told me to call my mom to see what we could do to help it because it is a stray cat. So, I called my mom and she told me to give it food and water, but to not touch it because it might have a bad disease. My sister and I were watching the cat from the window right beside the door. It was so cute.
The following day there was a storm on the forecast. It was only my brother, Adam, and I home. It started to lightning outside. The stray cat was back and so I went outside to try and get in the garage. By this time it had started sprinkling out. The cat wouldn't get into the garage. I then called my mom who said that if it didn't want to go inside that I should just leave it. At that point I started to hear the tornado sirens. I run inside and get y brother, dog, and cat down stairs, hoping that the stray cat found a good place to stray during the storm. After the storm was over I went upstairs to see if the cat was ok. It was sitting outside the door waiting for us cold and wet. My mom got home five minutes later. We let the cat in the garage with some new food and water and some dry towels.
The next night the cat came back. My mom was home at the time, so she took a stick thing (it belonged to a dusting thing). She went out to the front stoop to see if it was a nice cat. The cat walked up to my mom and tried to rub up against my mom. It just wanted love and a family. My mom used the duster thing to scratch the cat. It was rubbing against the stick, scratching itself. I gave it more food and water also. My siblings and I asked my mom if we could keep it. She said that she would schedule a vet appointment. The rest of the night my family and I were trying to think of named for the stray. Minki was thrown out there and dumped into the garbage. I remembered the name Ferguson from 'New Girl'. Everyone liked it. (If it was a girl it would have been Fergi, but I saw that it was a boy cat.)
So far we have a vet appointment on Tuesday and Ferguson is currently making his home in our garage.
Ferguson is not afraid of our dog, Clover. Through the glass, Ferguson will walk up to Clover and paw at the glass. We are going to have Ferguson declawed so that he will not hurt anyone acciedntily while he is playing around. So far, Ferguson is far more playful than Ripley. Ripley lays around all day sleeping, eating, and pooping. When ever we have bought Ripley toys, he hasn't played with them. So far, from what I have seen with Ferguson, he is way more playful. I am very exited that I finally get to buy fun new toys and play with my cat, Ferguson!
Let me know what you think of taking a cat or dog in. If you have, can I have some pointers? I can't wait to add an addition to our family. Thanks, Emily.

American Idol Finale

Can you believe that the year is finally here? It is American Idols last year. I was/am so sad to hear this. I remember when I was little, my mom and I would sit and watch this at night together on the couch. I would always tell my mom that I want to try out for American Idol. Its fascinated me. I thought it was so cool. My favorite judge was Simon. I thought he was the best because he was the hardest to impress and if you could impress Simon, you must have been amazing. I also think that if you make it through American Idol you could do anything.

One of my favorite seasons was the one where Adam Lambert won. I thought that it was awesome that he won because he was a little different than the other contestants. He is also one of my favorite singers still. My favorite song that he has song was ‘Mad World’. He had performed this during one of his performances on American Idol. ( We did this song for show choir last year and I loved it)

I am sad that this is the last season. I wish they would keep producing the show for a few more years. Every year I look forward to watching it with my mom and two sisters, Anna and Ella. My brother Adam also likes to watch American Idol with us too.

Do you watch American Idol with your family? What was your favorite season and who won? Why did you like that season? Would you like the producers of American Idol to keep making a few more seasons of American Idol? Please let me know. Thanks, Emily.

Fall Cloths

I absolutely love fall cloths. It is the time of year where you can wear a light jacket, adorable sweaters, leggings, jeans, long sleeved shirts, and adorable dress with tights.

I love wearing boots. They come in all shapes and sizes. You can wear combat boots, high heeled boots, knee tall boots, ankle boots and more. There are also the cute boot socks that I love wearing because they are cute yet warm at the same time. You can also wear either a cute skirt, dress, or skinny jeans.

It is also the time that you can wear sweaters every day and no one can judge you. I like the big wool sweaters that hang on you a little. They are warm and come in awesome new patterns and colors. I love the day in school when everyone gets to wear an ugly sweater to school. For winter shopping my mom and I will get so many sweaters that our closet overflows with them. The only bad thing about sweaters is that you can’t wash them a lot otherwise they get bally. Usually at this time you have to throw the sweater away because they no longer look good.

I also love wearing scarves. They come in infinity scarves, outside scarves, and more. The can be more for looks or more for warmth. My mom, sister Anna, and I combined have over forty scarves.

Fall is also the time that you can wear dresses with tights. They keep you a little warmer and they look really good on you.

Let me know what your favorite season is and why. Also let me know what you like to wear in your favorite season and Fall (unless Fall is your favorite season). Thanks, Emily.

Kitting Ideas

Kitting time everyone. If you don't know how to knit ask some one, look it up on YouTube, anything. It is fun to do to pass the time, for Christmas gifts, for yourself to keep you warm, etc.
I have made scarves for my American girl dolls before (back when I still use to play with them), scarves for myself and scarves for other people.
This year I plan on making a green or red sweater for my cat Ripley (he has a Santa bread attached to a red Santa hat that he wears. So he will be even more like Santa.). A few scarves for myself, a couple hats and mittens, and a couple scarves for other people for Christmas.
My friends and I have knitting parties together, that consist of us getting together, eating snacks, watching a Christmas movie, and knitting.

My mom is the one who taught me how to knit. A few years ago my mom sat down with my sister Anna and I and had shown us a few basic stitches. From then we have taught ourselves a few more stitches. Now my youngest sister Ella can also knit. On Sunday mornings, we will come down stairs in front of the fire, all curled up, drinking hot cocoa, while watching Christmas shows on Hallmark, knitting.

You can also give people a knitting set as a gift for Christmas.

Let me know what you like to knit. If you have any patterns that you would like me to try let me know. Thanks, Emily.

Family Photos

Halloween has past. Thanksgiving is only 18 days way and Christmas is 28 days after that. The year is almost over. Right now fall is slowly transitioning into the winter season and this means family photos. My mom is obsessed with photography. So, every year she makes my family and I stand out in the freezing cold to get a family picture.

In the past years my mom has bought huge plastic blow up earths that all four of us kids have held up (we wore blue shirts, jeans, and white hats and gloves. It was in the middle of winter. There was snow on the ground and by the time everyone had gotten back inside we all looked like Rudolph with a red nose.), huge light up candy canes (at this time we had our dog Clover who wore a red scarf, the kids wore a grey shirt, jeans, and red hats, scarfs, and gloves. It was also the middle of winter. ) Another year we were in Texas so my family and I had to improvise and make a snowman out of sand. (I can't remember what we wore that year.)

A few times my grandparents have taken family photos with us also. My mom will usually hire a photographer because it is easier. We also had brought our dog out with us the few times that we have done this.

A few times we have gone to a studio called Kliks. If we had gone there we would get to bring our cat Ripley and our dog Clover with us. ( I always got to hold our cat Ripley because he was too scared to be held by anyone else.)

We have also gone to a park in Marion, Iowa. It is beautiful out there when the leaves are just starting to fall. We have used both my moms camera and a photographer when we have gone out there. There is a certain bridge in the park that I love to have my photo taken on.

Most of the time we use my moms camera. She is an amazing photographer even if she doesn't think so. She has bought a special long lens that she uses for the family photos. With the photos that she prints she puts in her scrapebooks. She has so many scrapebooks that I have lost count. She decorates the page and when it is finally done we start into the Thanksgiving/Christmas spirit.

This year my mom has decided that we are going to take the photos in our backyard of our house that we are building. It is basically a field with beautiful trees in the background. For our outfits we have gone with the colors white, brown, and black. I am wearing a brown turtleneck, a multicolored brown and black scarf, a cute brown button down high-waisted skirt, black tights, and black high heeled ankle boots. My little sister, Ella, wore a brown flower lace shirt with a fuzzy brown and white mixed fur vest. She wore black pants and brown boots. My brother, Adam, wore a dark brown sweater with jeans and brown shoes. My other sister, Anna, wore a white long sleeved shirt with brown stretchy pants and adorable light brown high heeled ankle boots. My mom wore a white shirt with a brown sweater over it, black pants, and black boots. My dad wore a brown and white plaid shirt with a brown sweater over it, jeans and brown shoes. We got individuals of the kids, my mom and dad together, the kids together, my mom and I, my mom and my sister, and my whole family and I together. I was a bit chilly, but was fun over all.

Let me know if you take family photos, have taken family photos are are going to take family photos this year. What are you going to wear, where are you going to take them. Thanks, Emily.

Bridesmaids

One of my favorite movies is Bridesmaids. If you are ever felling down, I suggest that you watch this movie. It is hilarious.  It is about a woman Annie who is a single woman whose own life is a mess, but when she learns that her lifelong best friend, Lillian , is engaged, she has no choice but to serve as the maid of honor. Though lovelorn and almost penniless, Annie, nevertheless, winds her way through the strange and expensive rituals associated with her job as the bride's go-to gal. Determined to make things perfect, she gamely leads Lillian and the other bridesmaids down the wild road to the wedding. My favorite person is Megan. She is so real with Annie throughout the whole movie. My favorite part is when Megan takes home 6 gift bags from Lillian's bridesmaids party.
Let me know what you think about this movie. What you liked and what you disliked. Also let me know if you have a favorite movie(s) that you would like to share with me. Tell me what it is about. What your favorite part is, etc. Thanks, Emily.

Nevember is Here

Can you believe that it is already November? It is one of my favorite months of the year because it is the perfect weather for a light jacket or sweater, scarves, boots, and more cute outfits that are too warm for summer or not warm enough for winter. It is the time where almost all of the leaves are off the trees and are covering the ground making it a colorful rainbow. November is also the month that Thanks Giving falls into. I love thanks giving mostly because of the amazing food that my family makes. (In another blog I will write about Thanks Giving too.) It is also the time when you can have a pumpkin flavored food or drink choice and no one can say anything about it to you.
Every year my family and I take a day to rake up leaves and take photos in the leaves. Usually my dad, mom, and I rake up the leaves into one huge pill for all of us kids to jump into. We play around in the leaves with our dog Clover also. When we through the leaves in the air Cover will usually try to and jump up and catch them.
Let me know what you like or dislike about November or what you favorite month is and why you think so. Also tell me about your experiences in the leaves with your family or friends.  Thanks, Emily.

Halloween Movies

From when I was old enough to trick-or-treat to when I was 12, I went out and got candy. The next couple years I have gone to Halloween parties that my friends would host. This past year I stayed home by my self.
When ever I would go to my friends houses we would watch a scary movie, eat lots of candy and food ( we would all bring food and candy to contribute), watch a non-scary movie after so that when we would go to sleep we wouldn't be scared, and then we would all sleep over.
The first year that we did this we watched The Call. The Call starts off with a girl calling a nine-one-one operator saying someone is in the house. The lady (main character) tells her to go under her bed and hide, but to also stay on the line. The man in the house thinks that the girl is gone until the phone call went dead for a second and the operator called the girl back and the girl answered letting the guy know that she was still in the house. He yanks her out from under the bed and tells the operator that its already don't. A few months later the girls body is found. On the news cast the girls head is blurred out. Again the same nine-one-one operator is called and it is of another girl. She had her friends track phone on her (theses are not track able). The girl is in the guys trunk (same guy that killed the other girl). Gets her to his 'workshop' (it is under ground at his old family home area). The operator is still on the line this whole time. She eventually finds the place he is keeping the girl. The reason that the guy is taking the girls is to scalp them for their hair because it looks like his dead sisters hair. The operator helps free the girl and lock the guy up in his workshop leaving him pleading to be let go and her saying that is already been done. We also started Children of the Corn.
The next year we watched House at the End of the Street. In search of a fresh start, divorcee Sarah and her daughter, Elissa , find their dream house in a small town. But when startling, unexplainable events begin, the pair learn that a chilling secret holds the town in its grip. Years earlier a girl killed her parents and disappeared, leaving a brother, Ryan , as the sole survivor. Elissa begins a relationship with Ryan, and the closer they get, the deeper they're all pulled into a dangerous mystery.
The next year we watched Gone. Jill Parrish  is trying to rebuild her life after surviving a terrifying kidnapping attempt. Though she is having a difficult time, she takes small steps toward normalcy by starting a new job and inviting her sister, Molly , to move in with her. Returning home from work one morning, Jill discovers that Molly has vanished, and she is certain that the same man who previously abducted her has returned for revenge. She tries to find him and ends up finding the place where see was held by the man and also she finds out that she wasn't the only one to be taken by him, but was the only one to survive.
Two years ago my friends and I watched a movie called Your Next. It is really creepy. It is about

the Davison's, an upper-class family, who are extremely wealthy -- but also estranged. In an attempt to mend their broken family ties, Aubrey and Paul Davison decide to celebrate their wedding anniversary by inviting their four children and their children's significant others to their weekend estate. The celebration gets off to a rocky start, but when crossbow-wielding assailants in animal masks suddenly attack, the Davison's must pull together or die.

This past year my friends and I have watched the new Nightmare on Elms Street. It is about

In Wes Craven's classic slasher film, several Midwestern teenagers fall prey to Freddy Krueger, a disfigured midnight mangler who preys on the teenagers in their dreams -- which, in turn, kills them in reality. After investigating the phenomenon, Nancy begins to suspect that a dark secret kept by her and her friends' parents may be the key to unraveling the mystery. You need to watch the movie to find out what happens next. This movie is the newest version. There are old versions of Nightmare on Elms Street one, two, and three also, which are equally as good.

Let me know if you have seen any of these movies and what you thought of them. Also if you would like to recommend one for me to watch that would be great also. Thanks, Emily.

Update on Dancing with the Stars

One of my new favorite weekly shows is Dancing with the Stars. I don't know why I like it, I just do. Right form the beginning, I, along with my sister Anna, am routing for Bindy to win. I think she is an amazing dancer and has a great, but sad story behind her. She isn't on the show because of something stupid. I also think that since Bindy is paired with Derek ( the best dancer and the hottest one on the show) she is going to win no matter what. Bindy and Derek were the first couple to receive a ten from one of the judges. It was the week that Bindy and Derek did a slow song that brought back memories form when Bindy was little. I having watched week eight yet, but I will soon. I also like Hayes and Alec. They are both cute too. My favorite dance was the one Bindy cried during the rehearsal of.
My favorite swap couple was Alec's pair. He also had his best dance that night too. I think that the way Bindy dances reflects how she was brought up ( her dad was The Crocodile Hunter, Steve Urwin, who died by being stung by a sting ray) by only her mom for most of her life.
I think that one of the weirdest dances was the Ninja Turtles dance by Hayes and his partner.
Let me know who you think will win. What you thought was the weirdest dance of the season. Also let me know what your favorite dance is from all of the couples and who your favorite swap was. Thanks, Emily.

SORRY DIY

Currently my family and I are building a new house. My mom is looking at all of our old furniture deciding what to keep and what to get ride of. The what it get ride of pile is sorted into piles of what to throw away, what to give away, and garage sale. The what to keep pile is also sorted into two more piles called what to keep the same and what to change. From our old living room we have two side tables, a bookshelf table thing, and a table that would sit in front of our sofas. My mom and I were trying to figure out what to do with them, then my mom had this great idea of turning the one that would sit in front of the sofas into a SORRY table. I thought that this was a great idea, so my mom striped the tables of the furnished color and went to the paint store to get a lighter color. Once the base was finished. My mom had my dad take the top off the base and bring it in the covered porch. Once it was in the porch. My mom took a pencil and ruler and drew where the board would be painted on the table. My mom then went to the store to but the paint colors she needed. She painted the background a medium grey-blue. She then drew the lines for the squares around the board and traced them with a black paint pen. She is currently painting and tracing the 'homes' for the SORRY pieces. For the pieces we are going to use the ones from the game because they are the right size.  I can't wait till the table is done. We are going to put the table set in the loft.
Let me know what you think of this DIY. Will you try it? What DIY's have you done? Thanks, Emily.

Haunted Houses and Decor

Usually for Halloween decorations my family and I do both the inside and the outside of our house. My dad brings up the Halloween bins from the basement, there are about  three or four bins, and there are a few bigger things that my dad also brings up. I am usually the one who starts putting the art work we made when we were kids, up around the fireplace on each side. Then my brother and sisters come and start helping with other things. My mom and I start setting up the mini Halloween town. There is a caraselle, bridge, a few trees, a haunted house, and a few other things. We have pumpkin candles we put around the house. On top of the mantle above our fireplace we put these three pedestals. They look like wine glasses with witch hats on top. The bottom of the glass looked like which feet with witch stockings up to the top where you put a candle in the cup part. The glasses are also different highs. There are a few other small things that we put up inside, but then we move outside. Outside we have our pumpkins that we carve on the front steps. In the garden part by our house we have a little grave yard. In the grave yard we have a couple tomb stones, a couple lanterns that light up, skeleton bones, and a few extra skeleton heads. Right beside the front door we have a few corn stocks on either side. In the corn stalks we have a little monster machine. It is motion activated, so when someone walks past it starts to vibrate and make weird noises. One year it freaked a little girl out so much that she would not come up to the front door to get candy. Every year we get a couple extra pumpkins to scatter around the yard too. In the front of our yard we have ghosts and cute, sparkly bat candle holders. Along the front window of my house we put up fake spider webs and then throw fake black spiders in it and every year one of my family members tries to scare my by putting a fake spider on me also.
The best looking house in the neighborhood is the house on the corner. In every window there is a covering that looks like a ghost is trying to get out or some thing else that is scary. Their front bushes are covered in orange lights. They have corn stalks on one side of their house. A blow up witch and ghost in their front yard, huge pumpkins all over the place, and red lights that shine towards their house to make it look creepy. The house is always the best on the street.
Haunted houses creep me out. I have never been to one in real life, but I have seen them in moves and I don't ever want to go in one. I have heard people talk about the houses that people can touch you in them or once you are in your in, you don't have a safe word to be let out with, there is also one the you pay $100 to get into, but with each floor you go up you get $10 back (there are ten floors). I personally would not last a minute in any of these houses. I think the outside looks cool, but them I am done.
Let me know what you think of Halloween décor, haunted houses, or what the best house on your street looks like. Thanks, Emily.

First World Problems

The Urban Dictionary defines first world problems as problems from living in a wealthy, industrialized nation that third worlders would probably roll their eyes at. I think that this is true. Many of our problems are so small compared to other countries problems. Here are a few problems that are said over and over again.
When you tap an app and it accidentally takes you to the app store. I have done with multiple times and it is one of the most annoying things to do. It is most annoying when it pops up right as you clicked something and takes for ever to load. First World Problem.
When you don't feel satisfied, but you don't want to be too full when you eat. I have this problem all of the time. I love the food I am eating and over eat or I don't like the food I am eating and don't feel satisfied. Another horrible thing is when you are hungry, but you can't find any thing to eat. Frist World Problem.
One pillow is too low and two pillows are too high. This is the worst moment ever. You are trying to get comfortable in bed to fall asleep, but either the pillow is too small or too big. There is no in between. Another thing is when the pillow(s) is too squishy or too hard. First World Problem.
The first five Sweet Tarts in the row were purple. I hate when this happens. This can happen to multiple food items like fruit snacks also. When you really want the blue fruit snack, but there are only green, yellow, and red colors in the bag. First World Problem.
Neither of the two dresses I ordered will be there in time for my birthday dinner tomorrow night. This had happened to me for homecoming. I ordered a dress two weeks before and it didn't arrive in time so I had to use a different dress at the last minute. First World Problem.
Netflix is down. I hate it when Netflix is not working or is going really slow. When I have extra time during the day/night I watch Netflix. There are so many good things to watch. Also if you are watching Netflix and you only have five percent left of your battery and you don't want to get up to get your phone/electronic charger cord because you are in a comfy position. First World Problem.
I won an Apple watch, but I own an Android phone. I personally do not have this problem, but I can feel for those who have to deal with this. First World Problem.
The Wi-Fi on my international plane is slow. I have only been on a plane once, but I might be going on a plane soon and if the Wi-Fi is like this at all I will be mad cause it is like a fourteen hour long flight. First World Problem.
I wish our school had escalators instead of stairs. I say this all of the time. In school my back pack is so heavy that by the time I make it to the top of the stairs I am panting. I always feel like I am going to fall down the stairs. I think that escalators would be so much better. First World Problem.
I need to use the bathroom, but I just painted my nails. I have this happen to me all of the time because I don't plan correctly on going to the bathroom before I paint my nails. I end up going to the bathroom and messing up my nails, which makes me have to redo them. First World Problem.
All of these problems are nothing compared to what other countries are living with. I think that we are only relating to our country because we haven't witnessed first hand of what is going on in their part of the world.
There are also videos on YouTube and Twitters that you can watch/read that are funny, yet serious if you are interested in hearing more First World Problems.
Let me know if you say any of these or have any of your own that you would like to share. Thanks, Emily.

Pumpkin Picking and Carvings

Honestly I don't know how or why people thought about/started picking pumpkins to put on their door step during Halloween. I don't know if it scares away the bad ghosts or what, but in the 21st century the smiley-face pumpkins can't scare a baby. Every year my family goes to the pumpkin patch with your family friends. The mom's father owns the pumpkin patch so we get all of our pumpkins for free. It is about an hour drive away from my house, but is worth it every year. Since we have six people in our family, buying pumpkins gets very costly. When we get to the pumpkin patch we get our jackets on. Each year varies on how cold it is or not. Last year was not that cold. My mom would tell everyone to find their favorite pumpkin and carry it to the car. My parents rule is that if you can't carry the pumpkin to the car you can't bring it home. We are all only suppose to get one each but we all sneak a few extra in the car. My favorites are the white pumpkins, the gourds, or the mini pumpkins. They are so cute. My mom will then take many photos of us in the pumpkin patch. We are finally able to go home. When we get home we unload the pumpkins in the garage. Since this is a couple weeks before Halloween we don't carve them yet, otherwise they will rot before Halloween even arrives. This year we were not able to go because of our living situations (we are living in a rental home in Shellsburg while we build our home in Cedar Rapids). We are going to buy pumpkins this year instead.
Carving the pumpkins comes next. My mom only allows each of my siblings and I to carve a pumpkin so we all rush to the garage to get the biggest ones. Once we all make it back inside, we clean all of the dirt off with a wet paper towel. My dad had laied some towels out so that if we drip any of the insides it is easy to clean up. We had two bowls each. One for the pumpkin seeds that my mom would clean and bake, and one for all of the gross stuff. My dad would take our pumpkins one by one and cut a hole in the top. Personaly, I think that the worst part of carving a pumpkin is the first scoop of all of the gross stuff in the middle of a pumpkin. (I don't know what the stuff in the middle of a pumpkin is called so I am going to call it gross stuff for the time being) Once every one is done with the inside of their pumpkins, we get to start carving. Over the years I have done different designs. Last year I did one pumpkin eating another pumpkin. While we are carving our pumpkins. My mom is cleaning the pumpkin seeds, covering them in different topings like cinamine and sugar, and salt, and finally bakes them. Last year I hated eating the seeds because they always got stuck in my braces. This year since I got my braces off I can finally enjoy them. Once everyone is done carving their pumpkins, my mom makes us put then outside on the stoop. If it is not dark outside we wait till it is. When it is finally dark outside my dad puts candles in each of our pumpkins and lights them. Then my mom makes up each sit by our pumpkin and get photos. We also get a group photo with our pumpkins. This is usually the night before Halloween. We are finally all set to go for Halloween. If you are looking for carving ideas they sell them at stores and you can print some off online. If you have any cool ideas for pumpkin carving this year let me know. Thanks, Emily.

Halloween Costumes

This week for the fall topic i am going to talk about Halloween consumes. Every Halloween my mom would make all of my siblings and I wear layers for when we would go trick-or-treating. I didn't like doing it though because you can't see the amazing costume. Beauty hurts right. My first Halloween I was a lady bug.  My second Halloween I was a blue flower while my sister was a pink flower. The next couple Halloweens I twined with my sister Anna. We would both be a mermaid or Cinderella. Then I was finally a pirate all by myself. That was the year my brother Adam wanted to be a dragon, but then the day of Halloween he decided that he didn't want to be a dragon any more. My parents told him that he had to be the dragon and dressed him in it. When they put the hood on his face he started crying. I will never forget that Halloween. The next year I was half devil, half angle along with my sister Anna again. I can't remember and of my sister Ella's costumes at all for some reason. One year I dressed up as Nicki Minaj. I put a ton of dark foundation on my face to make me look tanner, put on HEAVY makeup, and out on bright cloths. That year was the first year that my family split up to go trick-or-treating. These past two years I haven't dresses up for Halloween. Instead I have gone over to one of my friends houses and watched scary movies. Which by the way I hate scary movies. I have wanted for the past year to stay home with my mom, to dress up in creepy outfits and scare the trick-or-treaters and give out candy. after I scare them. I was thinking that this year I would try and stay with my mom and do this, but my friends might be more tempting. Let me know what you are going to be for Halloween. Add photos please. I would have added photos, but my computer was acting up and wouldn't allow me to. Well any way, thanks, Emily. 

New Apples

Recently Apple has come out with IOS9 and the new IPhone 6. I have an IPhone 5s at the moment and have downloaded the new IOS9. IOS9 comes with many new features. They include news app, notes app, maps app, wallet app, ICloud drive app, multitasking, quicker typing, Siri, search area, music, emails, smaller updates, longer battery life, fast and more responsive,  and better security.
The news app is located on your home screen. The news app contains the most recent news stories from multiple different sources. The stories are based on what you like to read about so the more you use the app the more the stories or articles are topics that you like.
The notes app is located on your home screen. The new notes lets you write down quick thoughts, draw pictures to go with your thoughts, add photos, maps, or web links, and it will connect to all your devices through ICloud. The notes app has also been added to your share list. You can now add things to your notes where ever you are. There is an attachment browser sorts all of your notes in order for you so it is easier to find what you are looking for. You can now turn lists into checklists, sketch a picture on the notes app, and take a photo right on the app.
The maps app is located on your home screen. When you open your maps app you will see eight different options, they are food, drinks, shopping, travel, services, fun, health, and transport. With these new features you can find what ever you are looking for fast and easy. In the food area it will show up with popular places to eat, restaurants that are near you, grocery stores that are near you, fast foods places that are near you, cafés that are near you, bakery's that are near you, and dessert places that are near you. The places with show up from nearest to you to furthest from you. Maps also show transit views. This means it will show you routes and directions instead of a map with a blue line draw on it.
The wallet app is located on your home screen. You can access the wallet app with your home button when your phone is locked too. You can store discover credit cards on there right now and soon will be able to store rewards cards and other credit cards on there as well.
The new ICloud drive app is located home screen. All over your saved documents are right on this app and can all be located form it. You can sort you files by date, name, or tag.
On your IPad you can now multitask. This is great for when you are doing two things at once. You can 'slide over' to use the app you where just using before, use a split screen, or use Face time or watch a movie while checking your email.
You now have quicker typing with the new IOS9. There is a shortcut bar that helps you type so much faster.
Siri is now much faster and is connected to more. You can open photos to a certain time with Siri and you can have Siri give you reminders on certain things at certain point in time and places. The search screen is also more updated with what is going on in the world today like scores and weather.
In the new search area you can now see the most recent people that you have spoken with,  the most recent apps you have used, nearby places, and the news.
When you plug your headphones in your music or movie will automatically start from where it left off at.
Your batter will also have a longer life span of a hour, which in teenage time is a long time.
When you get updates, they will be shorter and faster.
Your phone will be faster and more responsive when you use it.
Your security will improve making it harder for people trying to get into your phone. You can now have a six-digit number passcode, which is tougher to tack, and you have to answer a security question to get on to things on your phone too.
I think that the new IOS9 will help benefit everyone. I haven't heard one complaint about it so far.
The end of my freshmen year my parents finally got me an IPhone 5s. I had had a slide phone until then. I love my IPhone, but I can't wait till my plan expires in the coming months because I would like to get the new IPhone 6 or if the new IPhone 7 is going to come out soon I will wait for that to come out and get it. I love how big the screen is for the phone. The only problem with it is that girl pockets aren't big enough to hold the phone. Any way let me know what you think about the new IOS9 or the IPhone 6. Thanks, Emily.

Friends

Okay, I would like to start off by saying that is my favorite TV show in the whole world. The theme some is also my favorite song too. The TV show Friends is about a group of friends who go through different situations together. There are a total of ten seasons. There are six friends in the group. There is Ross, Rachel, Joey, Feebee, Chandler, and Monica.
Ross is Monica's older brother and the favorite of the family. He is a huge nerd that can 'play' the piano. Ross has loved Rachel since they were in high school.  He just hasn't gotten the nerve to tell her until a couple seasons in and also let me tell you if you are ever on a break with your boyfriend/girlfriend that does NOT mean that you can get together with another girl/boy. Ross learned his lessen the hard way... Also in the beginning of the show Ross is just getting a divorce from a lesbian that had his child named Ben. And if it is not weird enough his lesbian wife starts dating another woman.
Rachel is a daddy's girl and had to have Monica break her from her shopping habits. She loves Ross and is Monica's best friend. She is kind of dumb in the show, but it makes her really funny.
Joey is my favorite character. In one of my favorite episodes, a salesman rang Joey's doorbell. He went to the door to open it and the salesman asked him if he was ever lost talking to him friends, and was just nodding along to what ever his friends said. Joey said yes and the salesman said that Joey should get an encyclopedia. He let Joey look through one and Joey found out that there was a lot of information in them. Joey wanted to buy them, then the salesman said that they were $50 each. Joey could not find any money in his pockets and then went to Chandler's pockets to find money. In the end Joey could only find $50. The salesman asked Joey what one he wanted and Joey said the letter V(this was the book that the salesman had to show people). So later that day Joey started asking his friends if they wanted to talk about volcanos or the Vietnam War. Then all of the sudden his friends start talking about the Korean War and Joey started just nodding along again. Joey is also Chandler's roommate.
Feebee is a weird person. She has her brothers kids... and her mom killed herself or so you think... is a personal massager, and has a psychic. She is a vegetarian and is always saying things about it. When Feebee was younger she used to live on the street and one time she was telling a story and it had to do with Ross.
Chandler is a hilarious person. His is the jokester of the group and let me tell you, you will never know what Chandler does for a living. Chandler and Joey are best friends and help each other out through rough times. Chandler has also been Rosses best friend since college when they were roommates together. Chandler used to come home with Ross over the breaks and one year he left with only nine toes. Chandler's parents are divorced and his dad is a drag-queen.
Monica is a neat-freak. She needs to have everything perfect. She is Rachel's best friend since high school and was very fat in high school too. Monica then lost the weight when one o her friends told her that she was very fat. Monica is a chef for many restaurants throughout the seasons.
After I had my jaw surgery I was binge watching Friends on Netflix. This was the worst idea in the world. It would hurt to smile, so every time that I would laugh at the show I would start crying because of the pain I was in. I should have stopped watching it, but it was too good to stop watching.
If you have seen this show tell me what you thought of it and your favorite part. If you haven't seen this show I would recommend that you watch it. Thanks, Emily.

New Hair

The new thing this year is short hair. I personally think that only certain people like Emma Watson, can rock the short hair style. I am one of those who can't do short hair. When I was little I always wanted to have short hair. My mom tried to talk me out of it every time, but it never worked. I sometimes look back at old photos and videos and think why did I do that to myself. I was just horrible. I like my long hair. I can do so many styles with long hair. I like being able to put all of my hair into a pony-tail without having some hair left out. I like doing French braids, fish tails, Dutch braids, etc. My final opinion of short hair is that I don't like it. Girls should keep their long gorgeous hair. You can do so much more with long hair. If you do have short hair and you like it good, I am not saying that it looks bad, I just think long hair is so much better.
I think that both long and short hair have their pros and cons. Pros for long hair is that you can do so many hair styles. You can make you hair look short also. A few cons are you have to maintain. You can leave it natural but it might not look the best. You have to do something with it. A Pro with short hair is that it frames your face nicely (sometimes), and sometimes it makes you have a longer prettier neck too. Another pro for short hair is that you can wake up and just go. You don't have to do anything at all. A few cons are that if you ever put your hair up you will have to use many booby pins if your hair isn't long enough. I would hate having to keep putting bobby pins in my hair. Another con is that if you cut your hair short and do not like it you have to wait for your hair to grow long again and personally, my hair takes forever to grow. I has taken a couple years for me to get my hair almost to my lower back and this is with me only getting a few trims throughout the year. Another con would be that you can't really do any hair styles with short hair. You can really only have it curly or straight with maybe a small braid that you can add in there if your hair is long enough.
If you have any thing to add, like if you agree with me or not, let me know and comment. Thanks, Emily.

Yummy Pumpkin Flavors

Recently, I went to Hy-Vee and to but groceries for my family. While I was there a passed a stand that held Oreos and noticed the new flavors pumpkin spice and coconut. Of course I had to splurge and buy the pumpkin spice flavored Oreos. I hadn't tried them yet so when I got to school the next day I opened them up and tried one. They were one of the best things that I had ever had. I would recommend these to anyone and everyone. I think that these were the right way to start fall off.
One of my friends also told me about pumpkin spice Hershey kisses. So yesterday when I went to the store I had to buy some. I have not tried it yet but I will be soon. Also while I was at Hy-Vee I saw that they had a whole section for new pumpkin/fall flavors. They consisted of pumpkin muffins, pumpkin cakes, pumpkin breads, etc. I tried to convince my mom to let me get the donuts, but she told me not today. I will try and convince her next time.
There is also the many pumpkin drinks at Starbucks that are all amazing!
My favorite pumpkin treat in the fall is the original pumpkin pie. It is always so good. Well if anyone has a favorite holiday pumpkin treat that they want to share with me comment. Thanks, Emily.

Scream Queens

A new TV show has just aired called Scream Queens. Now I know that you are thinking this sounds like a stupid TV series. Well, I am here to tell you that it is a great TV show. To start off I thought that it sounded dumb and I honestly didn't care to see any of the episodes. I went over to my friend Anna's one day and she asked me if we could watch the first episode of Scream Queens that she had recorded. I said that it was fine. After about the first ten minutes of the show I was hooked. To describe the show I would have to say it almost makes fun of Pretty Little Liars in a way. The show starts off in 1925, with a girl with bloody hands at a frat party. She gets her sorority sisters to follow her to where another sorority sister just had a baby in a bathtub. The leaders don't care and tell the girl that they want to dance to one more song and will be back in a minute. When they get back, the girl in the bathtub is dead and the other girl is holding the baby. Fast forward twenty years to 2015. A girl, whose mom died when she was two, is joining the sorority group when all of the sudden there is a serial killer killing everyone. The serial killer is called the Red Devil. I usually hate scary shows and I can only watch this one during the day, but it is really good.
The actors in the show are also amazing. Emma Roberts plays the mean head sorority girl, Chanel. Emma Roberts plays Nancy Drew in another movie too. Skyler Samuels plays Grace the new girl. She is also in the TV show called The Nine Lives of Chloe King. Arianda Grande is playing Chanel number two, because remembering their names is too much work for Chanel. Lea Michele plays a weird girl who obsesses over the dead named Hester. Lea is also Rachel in Glee. Glen Powell plays Chad the dumb jock. His best friend Boone is played by famous singer and song writer Nick Jonas. Diego Boneta is Pete, the stalker crazy boyfriend who likes Grace. Pete wants to be an undercover reporter when he grows up and as his first break though story he want to uncover what is going on in the girl's sorority house and about the killer. Another famous actor is Jamie Lee Curtis. She plays Dean Munsch who hates the sorority house and will do anything to take it down.
One of my favorite parts in the whole show is when Chanel number two dies. You have to watch it.
So where I left off at the end of the first episode I thought that the baby whose mom died is the Red Devil. I think that the mom who died when Grace was two, had helped the baby and that is why the Red Devil has a fascination over Grace. I also think that the Red Devil wants to give something back to Grace in return for what her mother gave to him/her. Comment on what you think is happening with the Red Devil or what you think is going to happen with the Red Devil and Grace. I did not get to see the last thirty minutes of the first episode either, so if anyone could write me a summary with a lot of detail that would be great. I left off at the part when Chanel is telling Grace about the mother who died in the bathtub and how Dean Munsch covered it up. Also if anyone wants to give a stab at why the Dean would cover something like that up too, because in the beginning of the show she wants to take down the sorority house, go ahead. What is so different from then and now. Let me know what you think of the show. Thanks, Emily.

Starbuck's New Fall Flavors

Starbucks has officially come out with their new fall flavors of the year. My all-time favorite is their Pumpkin Spice Frappuccino. The real question is who doesn't like pumpkin spice in October?! This past week my sister Anna and I went to Starbucks and each got the new flavor Toasted Graham. We both ordered the non-fat with whip, but they forgot the whip-cream. Thought that the drink tasted amazing. It was like a honey graham cracker, but not as dry. Other Halloween flavors this year are the Cinnamon Roll, which sounds really good. I have yet to hear one person who has tried it though. There is also Cotton Candy and let me tell you, this was the worst Starbucks drink I had ever gotten. One of my sister’s friends told me that it was her favorite kind so I tried it. BIG mistake. It is the vanilla bean with raspberry flavoring in it. The color of the drink was a bright pink. Let’s just say I haven't ever gotten that kind again. They also have Red Velvet Cake and Cupcake cream. I haven't tried these flavors yet, but I hope to soon. When I get a drink form Starbuck, I usually get it with coffee (unless it is their Mango Black Tea Lemonade which is to die for), but they also have the choice of no coffee (cream), which is what my brother gets.
Let me know what you think of these new and exciting fall flavors and if you want to tell me about your favorite comment below. Thanks, Emily.

The Weekend

The band The Weekend is an interesting group. I didn't even know about the group until my little sister Ella, told my mom and I that she was watching a music video and the main soloist looked like he had an octopus on his head that had a crab underneath it. I thought that it was really interesting for a ten year old to be describing a guys hair-do that way. This was so tempting that I had to look it up for myself and interestingly enough she was right.
Another interesting thing about the group is their choice in music. I was listening to one of their songs on Z102.9 when they were rating songs. The song The Hill and I didn't think it was that good. Many people who called in to rate it didn't rate the song that well. I honestly thought that the song was just a bunch of mumbo-jumbo. You couldn't make out most of their words and what you could make out didn't really fit together.
Their song I Can't Feel My Face is one of the worst songs that I have ever heard. It makes no sense to me and I have to hear one person who can explain to me what the song is trying to get across. The line "I can't feel my face when I'm with you, but I love it" is not logical. I feel like the song writer was not in his right mind when they were righting the song.
I haven't heard any of their other songs yet, but I have yet to be impressed with one of their songs. Let me know what you thought of their songs and if you can explain the song I can't Feel My Face to me, please do. Thanks, Emily.

The Immortal Instruments

I am in the middle of one of the best book series I have ever read. I will probably say this a lot in the posts coming up, but I have to say that this is the best series I have read so far. The first book is called The City of Bones and is about a girl named Clary who finds out that her world that she lived in was a huge lie. She has to go through many obstacles dealing with her family, friends, romance, and everything that she believes in. Clary goes into a world of demons, vampires, werewolves, and more. There are six books in the entire series. There is also a movie that goes along with the first book. The movie is action packed and thrilling throughout the whole movie. Although, I would recommend to read the books first and then watch the movie, but that is up to you. If you decide to read the books or watch the movie let me know how you felt about it. Thanks, Emily.

The New Vogue Fall Collection

Vogues new fall collection consists of 12 new trends. The first one is all about bringing your home with you, by taking couch or rug fabric designs and using them to make cloths like coats. The second trend is long coats. You can dress these fashionable coats up with tall heels. The third trend is adding fur to your coats or dresses. A few types of fur would be fox, mink, and lamb. The fourth is a high neck fluffy collar or a black lace collar. This is bringing back a 19th century type of look. The fifth trend is a 'slip' dress. You can wear this dress over jeans and is made to look wintery when layered. The 80's is coming back with the sixth trend. Bright colors and mutton sleeves are making their way down the runway. The seventh trend is a simple white blouse. Designers are dressing them up with bow-ties and ruffles, while also layering them under jackets. The 70's are also making a come back with patchwork. Using bright colors to design the cloths for the eighth trend. The ninth trend is the pantsuit. Women are working this design back into the 21st century. Dragons, lace, and gold are all apart of the next design. Chinese designs where making their way down the runway for the tenth trend. Velvet is coming back. With loose wide-length pants, skirts, coats and jumpsuits, trend number eleven has never felt better. For trend number twelve you are head to toe shiny. Shiny pants to shiny shirts.
               Out of all of these trends I like the twelfth trend the best because you can pair anything up with a shiny shirt and who doesn't want to be shiny. Let me know what you think about the new fall trends and why you made that decision. Thanks, Emily.

The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt

Every now and then I will recommend a show or movie that is on Netflix and in this post it will be a TV show called The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. This is one of the most hilarious shows I have ever watched. It is about four girls who have been kidnapped by a reverend. He put them underground and formed a cult. Years later they are rescued and set free. One of the girls, Kimmy Schmidt, goes to New York to start over. The rest of the season is about how she survives in New York without money and a place to stay. Kimmy is very optimistic and funny. Another reason why I like this show is because of the theme song. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LIdFa1qLgNQ The theme song is very catchy and hard to stop listening to. There is only one season of The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. I would recommend you watch this is you want a short season to pass the time with. Thanks, Emily.

Zoey 101

Everyone remembers watching an episode of Zoey 101 at some point or another and recently a video was posted. https://twitter.com/search?q=Zoey%20101&src=tyah&lang=en On twitter a ten year reunion was posted of Zoey 101. In the video Chase finally finds out what Zoey thought of him on the video she made ten years ago. To clear it up for the readers who have no idea what I am talking about I will explain. When Chase and Zoey where in school together Zoey am a video about Chase and Chase found out. He did some stupid things and Zoey punished him by letting him watch the video in 20 years. In the video you find out how she lessens his punishment and what happens when he watches the video. I would also recommend to watch this TV series. It is amazing for people of all ages. Comment on what you think about it and what you think will happen next. Thanks, Emily.

TV shows that are coming this fall

Everyone has their TV shows that they love to watch every year and this fall there are great new shows out there. One of my favorite TV shows is Vampire Diaries. I can't wait to see what is going to happen this season. There are more like Bones, Scandal, Criminal Minds, and more. Another great TV show is that is premiering on September 22 is Dancing with the Stars. This season they have Tamar Braxton, Gary Busey, Nick Carter, Paula Deen, Victor Espinoza, Any Grammer, Hayes Greir, Bindi Irwin, Alexa Penavega, Chaka Khan, Carlos Penavega, Alek Skarlatos, and Kim Zolciak Biermann as the guest stars. Another show that I can’t wait to watch is Greys Anatomy. I have just recently started to watch Greys Anatomy from the beginning a few weeks ago on Netflix and I haven’t been able to stop watching it. I am not even close to done and on September 24^th the season premiere will be on at 8:00 p.m. on ABC. I heard that the producers had brought new people in the end of the last season (season 11) and can’t to see what happens next. So for all the Greys Anatomy watchers out there be prepared for another great season. Another show that is showing is The Middle. My whole family loves this show. Everyone in my family can relate to someone in the show. My mom and dad are exactly like Frankie and Mike. My mom tells me that I remind her of a mix between Brick and Sue. My littlest sister is like Sue, my other sister is a mix between Axl and Sue, and my brother is like Axl. My favorite character is Axl because he has a dry sense of humor. I think at any family could relate to this family because the Heck family is always running around trying to get from place to place, trying to get things done, family outtings, trying to get the house cleanfor when family comes over, etc. It makes my family laugh when we watch it cause we are so alike them. The last TV show that I will mention is The Walking Dead. I am a little iffy on this show because I hate scary movies, but The Walking Dead is an addicting show. I have marathons with my mom before every season to remember what just happened. I can only watch them during the day also because I get so scared. I hope everyone who reads this likes my first blog. Thanks, Emily.