Moorcroft: Music Festival 2013

Today I woke up at 4:00 AM along with all of the high school choirs so that we could board a bus at 5:15 and head out to Moorcroft, Wyoming for this year's Music Festival. For the past two years (aka my first two years of high school), our school has hosted the Festival, which means I only missed a few classes instead of a whole day. Missing a day and having twice the homework was SO worth it, though. I had SO much fun at Festival this year. It was an amazing experience.

We arrived in Moorcroft, home of the Wolves, at about 8:00 AM this morning and thus we got to run through all of our songs once before performing for the judges at 8:40. We did well when we gave our official performance; we were also the only choir that didn't have an audience. (The other choirs hadn't arrived yet. Haha.) After we went and put our things away my friends and I sat together to watch the rest of the choirs. The Buffalo Girl's Choir went right after we did, followed by our school's girl's choir (called Treblemakers), the Buffalo Men's Choir (AMAZING!!!), and our Honor Choir. After that we had lunch and got back on the bus to go home.

The bus rides both to and from Moorcroft were actually pretty fun. My friends and I talked and played games to pass the time. Most of the conversation on the way back was concerning my friend Cassie, whom all of the guys at our lunch table like. The problem is, she can't decide who SHE likes. There's a guy from Buffalo, two guys from our school, her ex-boyfriend...yeah. Complicated stuff. I feel bad both for her and for the boy who asked her out for the fourth time yesterday. XD

Anyway, all that being said, I am TIRED. I took a brief nap when I got home today and thankfully didn't have to babysit tonight (my brother kind of took over my spot...I'm sure he's thrilled. Haha). I've spent the quiet time tonight listening to some awesome music and doing my homework and drinking pop to keep me awake. (It hasn't really worked.) I'll probably go to bed early tonight, as much as I would prefer not to. At least tommorow is Friday! WOOT! What happened to this week? I don't remember most of it.

Also, I took my ACT on Tuesday. I think I did pretty well except for the last half of the math section. I'll be finding out my score in 5-8 weeks, so until then I'm on the edge of my seat (not really). After the testing was over and we went to our classes, I was kind of in a bad mood (as were most of my teachers) just because I was so drained and did not want to be there anymore.

So there you have it! My life this week was crazy, but today made all the chaos worth it. Moorcroft has a wolf on display in their cafeteria. HOW COOL IS THAT?! (I love wolves, haha.)

To close out today's post, I think I will share another of Skillet's new songs, "American Noise." LOVING IT! Their album comes out on the day of my last choir concert this year. Cool, huh?)

ACT Prep & My Writing

Being a junior in high school is hard, just like they told me it would be. And here comes the hardest part of the entire year: the dreaded ACT. Teachers have been prepping us like crazy for this (specifically the English teachers, though obviously I'm not worried about the English section...) and now, finally, the entire junior class will be taking it on Tuesday morning.

Usually I do fine on tests like this. Obviously I always ace the English section, so I'm not taking any prep courses for that. I have been and still am, however, taking prep classes for the Math and Science sections. Today my math teacher gave us a practice test, during which I got 33 questions done in 30 minutes. That's not bad, considering the ACT gives you 60 minutes for 60 questions.

Last year I also took the PLAN test, which is like a preview of the ACT. When I received my scores it told me that I would most likely get anywhere between a 20 and a 22 on the real deal, which is awesome. What is even more awesome, however, is that if I get a certain score on the ACT (I think it was a 25) and maintain a cumulative GPA of 3.9 or higher, I have the opportunity to receive a full-ride scholarship to the University of Wyoming (which, I'll admit, has put even more stress on my doing well on this thing). If I don't get the desired results, however, it won't be the end of the world. I plan to go to our local community college for the first two years and then, depending on financial details, I'll transfer to UW or the University in Billings, Montana. I plan to major in English and minor in Spanish and be an author for the rest of my existence.

So, to sum up: am I worried for the ACT? Answer: Not really. I've always done well on these kinds of tests, and if I continue to take the math and science courses offered until Tuesday, I believe I will get a satisfactory score.

On top of all of that studying and prepping and homework and etc., I have also been working really hard on my current novel, "Follow the Raven." It's certainly a work in progress, but I believe I'll have things figured out soon if I keep at it. I had a friend of mine from school read the (terrible) first draft so that she and I can get together on Wednesday after school and talk about it. In the meantime, I've been working specifically with characters and plot, trying to figure out the best way to revise the story (because, sadly, there are many things that need to be fixed).

When I need a break from that project, I turn to my Sonic fanfic, "The Albion Prophecy," which is the sequel to my first book, "Everything." The latter has over 6,000 reads and has gained many votes and comments over the course of nine months. Book Two is coming along slowly because of school and whatnot, but it is still fairly popular. Once I have more time this summer I'll be able to wrap that up and work on "Follow the Raven" more as well. If you are interested in reading "The Albion Prophecy" or catching up with Book One, you can read it here: http://www.wattpad.com/user/ShadowsGirl101. Both books are available on this page. Just click on the one you want to read.

I love being an author.

Anyway, that's my hectic, chaotic, and somewhat stressful life right now. I don't think I've ever been more ready for summer vacation.

"Sick of It"

Yes, folks, it's finally here! Skillet's brand-new song from their new album is available, and it's AWESOME!! I may be home sick today, but I am certainly not sick of this song!! Listen here!!

I can't wait for their album to come out!! :D

Heroes and Villains...Working Together?! *Spoilers*

When I first heard the title of TMNT 2012's newest episode, "Baxter's Gambit," I wondered if it would be anything like "Bishop's Gambit" from the 2003 series. The answer was no, not in the least, but it was still one of the best episodes I've seen in this series. So good, in fact, that it is now competing with "Never Say Xever" for my favorite episode.

I liked a lot of things about this story. The #1 thing I like about it is the connection that Raphael and Xever are forced to realize as they make their way through the maze together.

Actually, I should probably explain the plot first. In "Baxter's Gambit," the techno-geek Baxter Stockman (who works for the Shredder along with Xever and Bradford) creates an optical-illusion maze that he manages to get both the Turtles and his co-workers into. His intention: have both parties destroy each other so that neither group emerges alive. Thus, the enemies are forced to work together in order to get out.

Back to Raph and Xever (I think it's funny that I still call him Xever when everyone else calls him Fishface). While in the maze, the two of them are separated from the rest of the gang and must go in a different direction to find their way through. During this time the two of them end up talking to each other and, after Raph asks about Xever's background, they realize that they aren't so different on the inside. That was really cool to watch, as well as learning about my favorite bad guy's history.

The ending of this episode was pretty thought-provoking as well. Once they've finally made it out the two groups are too tired to fight, so they decide to call it quits for one day and each go their separate ways. Mikey says that Raph and Xever made a pretty good team, though Raph says that they are still enemies and will still try to finish each other off.

Another thing I really liked about "Baxter's Gambit" was watching Splinter and April's relationship grow. April has kind of taken up the role of Splinter's "daughter," since she is so close to the Turtles and is now training under him as well. Throughout the story it kept flashing to scenes of the two of them, in which April was trying to find a weapon for herself and ended up seeing the picture of Splinter's lost family for the first time. Splinter then gave her a Japanese fan that also had a blade on the end, which he had intended to give to his daughter if she had lived.

All in all, this is a great episode. Lots of cool things for TMNT nerds like myself to drool over. Haha. Make sure you keep up with the series! This episode is now available on Animeflavor.com! :D

Skillet's new album is coming soon and I'm "sick" of waiting!

As I've mentioned before, Skillet's new album, "Rise," is coming in May! Recently Skillet released a 40-second teaser that obviously got people excited for the album, but it was nothing more than a prelude with eight words that were whispered over and over. It didn't really give you an idea of what their new album will sound like.

NOW, however, they've released a preview of about the same length that has really been getting people excited. Have a listen here:

Sick of waiting? The wait is almost over! :D