New Year's Resolution...

New Year's resolutions seem like such a stupid thing. We all make them, then end up abandoning them by the 2nd week of January. I am guilty of that as well, so this year I decided  to make a resolution that I would actually stick to. My main resolution is to read 300 books by January 1st, 2012 at midnight. This seems like a large task, but in 25 days I have read 11 books already, and for those that know my schedule, that's a pretty big accomplishment. I plan on posting every title/author for every book I read on my blog.
January 25, 2011- 11 books read, 289 books to go (these are in no particular order by the way, because they are randomly spread out through my book journal)

Rockstar- Jackie Collins
Room- Emma Donoghue
Princess Ben- Catherine Gilbert Murdock
Half-Baked: a memoir- Alexa Stevenson
Betrayed, a House of Night Novel- P.C and Kristen Cast
Chosen, a House of Night Novel- P.C and Kristen Cast
Picture Perfect- Jodi Picoult
Handle with Care- Jodi Picoult
Front and Center- Catherine Gilbert Murdock (3rd book in the Dairy Queen trilogy)
Out of my Mind- Sharon M. Draper
Parrotfish- Ellen Wittlinger

If you are looking for something to read and would like a synopsis of what these books are about, please comment and I will hook you up with some. As my Accelerated English/Composition teacher says, "Happy Reading!"

Living each day to the fullest

Every day when I walk into my seventh period Composition class, the first thing written across the top of my teacher's board is "Today is the only (insert date here) you will ever experience. How are you going to live it?" Many of us take things for granted, whether it be our health, our family, or something as simple as it being January 25, 2011. This quote always makes me think "What am I going to remember about today?" It could be a funny story from the day, or a good grade I got on a test. Sometimes there are days that I don't want to remember, and those will always stick with me no matter what, purely because I don't want to remember them. Hopefully, those are the memories I will someday tell my kids, or grand kids. We need to remember those memories, and the people present in them, because life is unpredictable. One of my favorite country songs by Tim McGraw is titled "Live like you were dying." None of us want to think about dying or losing one of our loved ones, but the reality is, we don't know when it's going to happen, only the big guy upstairs does. We need to take advantage of every opportunity given to us, because otherwise we may never get to do it. Do the things that you want to do!!! Get that crazy tattoo, tell that guy your true feelings, or go skydiving. Whatever it is you choose to do, just remember : today is the only January 25, 2011 you will ever experience, how are YOU going to live it??

Religion...

I am writing a defense for my Composition class, and I have chosen to do it on the misconceptions people make about the Catholic church. I am finding very interesting how much I am learning through my research(one example, Martin Luther was a Catholic priest before breaking off and creating the Lutheran church), which is stuff you would think I would know from attending CCD classes...but that is not the case around here I guess. I quit confirmation two years ago due to "lack of time", but I honestly felt that I didn't learn anything in CCD from the time I was in Kindergarten to when I quit freshman year. If I was going to go through the process, I wanted to gain some knowledge from it, not just waste two hours sitting there.  Most probably assume when  they hear of someone quitting their confirmation program that they do not believe in God, and the fact that their parents allowed them to do that is not Christian-like.  I would like to turn this into a defense of sorts, and say I do believe in God, and I am a Christian. That's another thing that creates heated debates, what makes a person Christian? Is it attending church every weekend, or is it being a good person and doing what you know is right? My opinion sides with the second answer. Just because a person attends church every weekend does not necessarily imply that they are a  good "Christian" person, and vice versa, not attending church doesn't make you a bad "Christian" person. My family attends church semi-regularly, we have my whole life, but my parents have also instilled values of helping others and praising our Lord in me, and that is what makes a Christian. I would someday like  to be confirmed. Will it be in the Catholic church? Your guess is as good as mine. Until that day, I will proudly say "Yes, I might not attend church every weekend. Yes, I may not be confirmed. But I am a Christian, and I love our Lord just as much as anyone."

First post!

With all the excitement going on at school about teachers creating blogs, I decided to create one for myself...a way to let my feelings out and share with friends. This should be kind of fun!!