Must See Movies

We all love movies. Young, old, skinny or fat. The great thing about this day in age there are so many different options and genres to pick from. There are the main categories like romance, action or comedy but also more specific genres like children's, sports and scary movies. Everyone has different taste and its always hard to pick a favorite. But there are also certain movies in which almost everyone enjoys and can relate with. There are the timeless classics, the ones that our parents watch, we watch and our children will watch. For example, Forest Gump is just one of those movies that everyone has to see before they die. So I'm creating my own genre here called, “Must Sees.” Here the a few examples of the movies in my category.

The Harry Potter Series- Wizards, witches, magic and more. This series is based off books written by JK Rowling and follows a young wizard that grows up without knowing about his magical gifts. He goes to a boarding school, Hogwarts, and meets some amazing friends. They spend seven years at school while fighting many mystical creatures and their main fight is the Dark Lord, or Lord Voldemort. The series is split into eight movies, the last book was made into two movies. They are great because everyone kind of person will enjoy it. Considering some of the movies are a little scary for younger kids, they will still fall in love with the story and the characters. Harry Potter is must, must see!

The Titanic- It was sad, oh it was sad, it was sad when that great ship went down to the bottom the... Everyone knows the story. A ship called the Titanic set sail and was known as the ship that would never sink but it did. Tragically, a thousand people were killed when it sank. This movie depicts the events leading to the sinking of that great ship. It follows the story of a young women and her secret relationship with another man on the ship. This movie was one of the highest grossing movies in history. What makes this movie so great is that its not only a great love story, it tells the story of a major event in history. To this day, its still considered one of the greatest movies made.

Elf- This movie is one of those cheesy, yet hilarious, Christmas movies. Its one of those that you watch Christmas day and that everyone enjoys. It is about an elf from the North Pole and he goes to New York City to find is biological Dad. The twist is he actually isn't an elf. He is a full grown man, raised by elves. In the movie, its his first time in the real world. Its hilarious, totally hilarious. All ages will love this movie. I watched it with my 80 year old grandparents and I have never seen them laugh so hard. Watch Elf, you won't be disappointed. 

On the road again

Long car rides are just unenjoyable. There is barely any leg room, its always either too hot or too cold and the car rides seem like they will never end. The worst is when you start feeling car sick and there isn't anything to do about it. I have been on my fair share of car rides. Practically every weekend I am driving somewhere for hockey. Right now I am writing this as I'm on a 10 hour car ride to Ohio, on Homecoming weekend and I am here to share my advice from years of experience.

First, always bring a pillow and blanket. Its never a bad time for a nice nap. A pillow can always serve as a makeshift desk for school work and a blanket its the ultimate cuddly buddy. Also dress in layers. A car never seems to be the right temperature.

Depending on how long the drive is going to be, always bring things to do. A good book, homework, or playing cards. It is actually really easy to get homework done in the car because there isn't anything else to do. If you get car sick easily try not to read or do homework, it will make it worse! It is also good to bring a book light if you have one, then you can read on those late night car rides. Bring food and drinks, and also gum.

The one thing that is a must have for long car rides is an ipod/mp3 player. They are life savors! If your little sibs are getting annoying or your mom just won't stop talking, you can just put in the head phones and zone everything out. Before leaving for long trips it is also helpful to get some new songs to listen too. It spices up your normal playlists. Also bring a laptop or a DVD player so you can watch movies!

Number one tip: when in doubt, sleep. Sleeping is the best way to pass the time and who couldn't use an extra couple hours of beauty rest? If you can't sleep take some Nyquil and you'll be out in no time. Who knows, you might sleep all the way there!

These are just some of my tips for car rides. Long drives are always going to be frustrating but you just gotta make it through. Its all about staying entertained and trying not to think about how long you have left. I hope my words of wisdom helped! Happy car ride.  

Just another Homecoming post

This is Homecoming week. Insane, busy and fun. We all love it and also hate it. There is so much that comes with Homecoming. Powderpuff, football game, spirit days, getting your nails and hair done, finding a place to eat, picking out a tie with your date and ordering flowers. Considering I am going to be gone for Homecoming, I don't have to deal with all the craziness. So this week I get the chance to be a total third party observer. Man, its all everyone talks about. And there is drama, lots of drama.

“Oh my god I'm so done with finding a place to eat.”

“I don't want so and so in our group.”

“I want so and so in our group.”

I mean come on people, its really not that big of a deal. It is one night out of the thousands of nights in your life. If someone doesn't want to be in your group or go out to eat with you, don't stress over it. Let everyone do what they want. Also try not to get your parents involved, we are all old enough to make our decisions on our own. The moms can wait. If you can't decided on where to take pictures or where to eat, try to meet in the middle. Compromising is key.

Another thing about Homecoming week that could have a face lift are spirt days. We have the worst spirt days. They. Are. The. Same. Every. Year. Why can't we mix it up a bit?! Like instead of lazy day every year on Monday lets do something more exciting like ti-dye day or beach day. Also twin day has got to go. We need a spirit day that you can actually tell what it is when you walk into school. Twin day just seems like a normal day because you will most likely wear everyday clothes when you match with your twin. How about dress up day or animal day? MEOW. RAWR. Also I think we should have spirt day on Thursday because the boys and girls will be wearing football jerseys.

Overall, Homecoming is just one of our many high school experiences. So let's try to make the best of it. You are never to cool to participate on spirit days or play powderpuff. When it comes to the actual day try to respect other peoples decisions. Everyone has the right to a great week! YAY HOMECOMING.

All I want for Christmas is a...

My sister is in a different country and my brother is at college. I'm lonely, so lonely. My parents are at work and I'm usually home alone. Don't me wrong I love having the house to myself but I miss the sleep overs with my big sister or playing video games and eating pizza with my brother. So I want a baby sibling and I plan on proposing the idea to my parents in this way....

Dear Mom and Dad, I want a baby sibling for Christmas. Make a difference and adopt a child that doesn't have a family. Our house is so quite without the big sibs and I don't like being the youngest. Then when can buy him/her cute little shoes with monkeys on them and decorate the spare bedroom with teddy bear wallpaper. DOESN'T THAT SOUND FUN!?!? It sure does. Also we can have an excuse to watch Disney movies and play hide and seek. We can bake cookies and go for bike rides (with training wheels of course).

I bet for those of you that have younger siblings get really annoyed of them and sometimes wish you were the only child but I just want to experience what its like to have a little sibling to look after. Well, maybe we should get another pet instead...

Is it possible to be too strict?

In high school, we constantly being nagged by our parents. Do this, do that, don't do this, don't do that. Be home by 11:30, don't text and drive, clean your room, finish your homework. I absolutely love my parents but sometimes the nagging has got to stop. Honestly, I don't even have to experience the worst of it.

One of my good friends that I have known since I was young has the strictest parents around. She couldn't date until she was 16. She can only go out one night a weekend, she has to go to church every sunday, and she didn't even have a cell phone until half way through her freshmen year. The funny thing is that her parents think they are turning her into this perfect angel that will grow up to create some charity to stop world hunger. But they are very, very wrong. She goes behind her parents back about everything. She dated before she was 16 and she sneaks out often. This begs the question: does being strict as a parents really help your kids? In my opinion, no it does not.

I am the youngest of three kids. My parents have always been the laid back type, they have always trusted us. They give us enough space to learn how to make the right decisions on our own and also they give us enough space to make mistakes and learn from them.

My older siblings have made their fair share of mistakes, big ones too but they learned from them, grew and moved on. I know I'm bound to make mistakes too but I know when I do my parents will tell me, “Take responsibility for your actions, apologize, learn and move on.”

From what I've seen, being a strict parent only makes your kids rebel from you even more. Its important to give us space, let us mess up now rather than later when we are out on our own. Love ya mommy and daddy, thanks for everything.

Dance the night away...

Of course I can’t go to homecoming this year. Of course I would have a hockey tournament that I can’t miss on homecoming weekend. WHY. ME? Not being able to go to homecoming sucks. Especially when it is all everyone seems to talk about these days. Don’t get me wrong I love to hear about who is asking who and what everyone’s dresses look like but it still is disappointing not being able to go.

The worst part about not being able to go to homecoming is not being able to pick out a dress. Let’s be honest here, even if you don’t like to dress up/ wear makeup/ get your hard done it’s still fun to look pretty for one night. Looking at dresses is something you only get to do a couple times a year and it’s the best feeling when you find that perfect dress. Since I can’t go to homecoming I still picked out a dress online which was probably a bad idea considering it made me even sadder that I can’t go. So it’s booked marked on my computer with the color and size picked out. Maybe I still have a little shred of hope left that for some crazy reason I will be able to attend that dance.  But this I know is not true.

Another disappointing part about not going to homecoming is the thrill of being asked. Whether it’s by your boyfriend or just another guy who wants to go to the dance with you being asked in a cute way is a great feeling.  So boys, don’t be afraid to ask a girl to homecoming. As long as you put time and effort into an original way to ask her, she won’t say no.

There are also some perks about not going. You don’t have to worry about who is going to be in your group or where to go for dinner. Also you don’t have to stress about not having date. You save money by not having to buy a dress or get your hair done.

Overall, I think the pros outweigh the cons. So if you are considering not going to homecoming, you should still go. Have fun because some of us won’t have the chance to!

Life of the Youngest Child...

Being the youngest in the family definitely has its perks but also some not so good things. I am the youngest of three kids and there has definitely been time were I love it and times I absolutely hate it. It always seems like everything revolves around older siblings. Those of us who are the youngest are drug to numerous sporting events, music concerts and academic assemblies all because we can't be left at home alone. This got so annoying growing up. But the funny thing now is that they aren't here to watch our games or watch us at our important moments because they are at college or in the real world.

Another thing that is hard about being the youngest is hammy downs. So many hammy downs. The other siblings always got the new clothes and the youngest just get what they don't wear or what they grew out of. Another bad thing is being picked on. In my family my brother closer in age to me than my sister so I always got beat up by my brother for being the “annoying little sister” and he would physically push me around. One time he even picked me up and threw me off the couch. I'm not going to lie, I probably deserved some of it but the other times he just took his anger out on me.

On the other side of things it might be harder to be the older sibling. They have to stay home and babysit the younger kids and also always be acting as role models. From their point of view it might also feel as though that the younger sibling get more attention.

I don't think being the oldest or the youngest is any harder or easier than the other. Both have good and bad things about it. On the bright side we should always be lucky to have siblings because they will almost always grow to be your best friends.

Wakey Wakey! Eggs and Bakey!

Breakfast is the best meal of the day. No questions asked. Most mornings its the reason I get out of bed. I'm not kidding. Well maybe a little bit. Anyways, not only is breakfast amazing its also the most important meal of the day! By eating breakfast, it will help you balance your metabolism and feel more energized. It can actually help you eat less because your body won't be craving so much food when lunch comes around so you won't eat as much. Also eating a healthy meal is always rewarding in the long run!

The best time to eat breakfast is one hour after waking up but for most people that isn't doable. Breakfast doesn't have to be this large meal just as long as its healthy and can fill you up for a couple hours.

Being an athlete I can't function with out breakfast. Especially during the season when I am  burning a lot more calories at practice. I try to eat a healthy breakfast every morning. Game days are different. On these days the best thing to eat is eggs, fruit, yogurt, peanut butter or cereal but try to stay away from bagels, pancakes or french toast because these are high in complex carbs which take longer for your body to digest thus longer for you to get the needed energy. But if you aren't play for a couple hours after eating breakfast than these complex carbs are fine to eat because your body will have time to digest it.

Here are a couple of my favorite pre game breakfasts:

 Toasted bagel with peanut butter and cinnamon sugar

 Cereal and a banana

 Eggs with yogurt and fruit

 Peanut butter and jelly with an apple

Becoming a Life Saver

This summer I got Lifeguard and First Aid certified through the Red Cross and honestly I don't think I could save anyones life...

Three hours a day for two weeks I went through the training program. The first thing you have to do is swim 300 meters straight, without stopping, and let me tell you, this is not easy to do if aren't a regular swimmer. The 300 meters is definitely doable because there isn't a time limit. You can take your time and also swim any stroke.

Next, is the brick test. A 10 pound brick is dropped to the bottom of the deep end. You have to start at the opposite side of the pool, swim to the brick and then dive down and retrieve it. Then you have the swim with the brick on your chest to the opposite side. All in less than 1 minute and 40 seconds. This test is by far the hardest part of becoming a Lifeguard. The most challenging part is when you are at the bottom of the deep end freaking out because you have no air left and then you have to grab this brick and swim it all the way back. Luckily, you have a maximum of two tries.

After doing the skills test you learn how to actually save victims. We practiced entries into the water and how to approach people who are drowning. There is two different types of drowning victims: passive and active. They are pretty self explanatory but they both require different saving techniques.

To become First Aid certified we had to watch many videos. They were boring, so boring. In these video you are taught how to do CPR and life saving techniques. The most fun part of the whole program was practicing CPR and dummies. They even had baby dummies!

Once the training is complete you have to take a multiple choice test. Most of the test questions were common sense but some were more challenging but its pretty easy to pass the tests. You also have to do an in water test. This is where you show your instructor that you can save a victim in different ways.

After passing both tests you get a pretty certificate that says you are a Professional Lifeguard and First Aid certified and that you are responsible for the life of others when you are on duty.

So yeah, I still don't feel as though I can save someones life. If you happen to swim while I'm on duty I'm going to apologize now if I can't save you from your horrible drowning situation.

School Lunches Gone Bad

Each year lunches here at Kennedy are getting worse and worse. My freshmen year we could get as many desserts as we want and they also had Pizza Hut pizza every day. My older siblings said that when they were students at Kennedy the cafeteria offered Hy-Vee Chinese and many other options. It seems that each year we are offered fewer options than the year before.

My sophomore year (last year) they changed from having Pizza Hut every day to only on Monday and Wednesday. I felt like that was pretty reasonable considering Pizza Hut pizza is very fattening and high in carbs. Also last year you could only get on dessert per meal. And we thought that was bad but we had no idea about what was in store for next year…..

NO DESSERTS. WHAT?! Yup that’s right. No more cookies, cake or cookie dough. Nothing. Zip, zero, nada.  Now instead of desserts you have to get a fruit or vegetable. It’s not like you have a choice on whether or not you want a fruit or vegetable, you are forced to take one. The lunch ladies will make you go back in line and take one. First off, I’m not sure how old those fruits and vegetables are and how many pesticides have been sprayed on them to stay fresh. Secondly, I simply do not want a fruit or vegetable!

I understand why we are given more healthy options; two-thirds of the countries citizens are overweight but why are we not allowed to have a simple dessert? We are almost adults now and we know the consequences of eating too much of unhealthy foods.  So all I have to say is thanks Michelle Obama for implementing the Healthy Kids Act. Now I can’t enjoy a simple cup of cookie dough after a long morning of note taking and tests. Thank you, thank you very much…

Decisions, Decisions, Decisions....

Every day we make decisions. Both small, and large, that well affect us for the rest of our lives'. Even a small decision like choosing to text and drive or not wearing a seatbelt can change us forever. These little things can turn into life altering events. Being high schoolers we are faced with decisions all the time. They might not be ones major ones like deciding to get married or choosing a career but our decisions now will affect the future ones.

For example, in high school we start forming friend groups. The people you hang out with usually have things in common and they have the same values. A decision you have to make is which type of people you want to associate yourself with. Some of these groups don't make the smartest decisions like choosing to smoke and drink all the time. If you choose to be apart of this kind of environment you can get into trouble and that can change your life. Choose your friends wisely...

Another huge decision we have to make is college. College. Its such a scary thought. Were you decide to go will truly change you. Thousands and thousands of dollars will be spent which makes the decision so much harder. You have to choose whether you want to leave all your friends and the place you call home. You have to choose whether you want to take that leap and say goodbye to your old life. Or just stay here in Iowa. Either way you are changing the your corse dramatically.

Overall, decisions can be hard but you just have to go with your gut feeling. Don't be afraid to tell people no and don't even be afraid to scream yes! Try not to make your decision based on friends or boyfriends/girlfriends. Its your life not theirs. If they are true friends they will support you with any decision you make. So next time you find yourself choosing which path to take just simply follow your heart.

Life of a Hockey Player...

September through April. Monday through Friday. School, homework, practice, sleep and repeat. Saturday and Sunday. Sit in a car, or on a plane, for hours.Wake up, eat, warm up, play your butt off and repeat. This is the insane life of a hockey player.

In my opinion ice hockey is one of the most underestimated sports. It takes the endurance of a runner, hand-eye-coordination of a tennis player, strength of a wrestler, mental toughness of a boxer and all while doing all of this we are standing on a 1/8^th inch strip of steel.

Not only do we work hard on the ice but we also work hard off the ice. We run like soccer players and life weights like football player. After all of that we gear up and skate for hours. Your legs feel like jello but its all about finding that extra gear inside to keep skating hard.

After practicing until 10 o'clock at night homework time comes next and very little sleep. Friday nights are spent driving or sitting in airports. Games are played all saturday and then its right back at it early sunday morning. I've had a game that ended at 11 pm and we had to play again  the next morning at 7 am but it was all worth is because we went home that weekend league champions! Once all the games are played we hop back into the car, or on airplanes, and finish our homework as we fight to keep our eyes open because we've gave it all we can give during our games.

Even though hockey is extremely challenging its so addictive. Once you gear up and step on the ice for the first time it surely won't be your last time. Hockey players are some of the most passionate athletes you will meet. We will do ANYTHING to get the chance to play the game we love. Even if it means missing Homecoming, parties, and countless days of school. We live for that feeling when you score a goal or when you beat the reining national champions, and also the fact that you get to spend all weekend with your 15 other best friends. Its more than a sport, its a lifestyle.   

Movie Stays True to Book

           The Hunger Games Saga has become an international phenomenon. Its a three book series that sets place in the future country of Panem. The story follows Catniss, a strong and adventurous girl, on her fight against the government and as she battles through the Hunger Games. These books can be read by almost all ages and once you start its hard to put the books down.

The story has a mixture of action, romance and friendship. You learn to love all the characters and you really feel as though you are going through their life's with them. In March of 2012 the first book premiered as a blockbuster hit. It was considered the movie of the spring season. The cast for the movie were picked perfectly and really portrayed the characters well. The movie really stayed true to the book.

For example, it showed exactly how Catniss lives in a poor area and that they will do anything to make it by. There were even things said in the movie that were word for word from the book. This is very rare for books that are made into movies. Another example of how the movie stayed true to the book was how they portrayed the Hunger Games. It showed just how awful and scary the games are. The actors did a great job at showing the fear felt by the characters as they were competing in the Hunger Games. Most of the actions scenes were just how they are in the book and are really close to how you picture the scenes as you read the book. I would strongly recommend reading The Hunger Games and watching the movie. You will become a instant fan.      (287 words)