Merry Christmas Eve Eve! {{2012}}

  Merry Christmas Eve Eve, everyone!  {{Or the day before Christmas Eve, if all of my eves are confusing you.}}  I can NOT believe that TOMORROW is Christmas Eve, and the next day is CHRISTMAS!  It's crazy to think that I wrote a post on this day exactly one year ago, and also exactly TWO years ago {although that post was lost with my old blog}.  It's becoming a tradition, and I think I quite like it.

  Christmas Eve Eve has been a good day, a day of both relaxation and preparation.  We're getting our meals all sorted out for Christmas Eve and Christmas day, baking cookies for family gatherings, and just generally being excited for Christmas, of course!

  Good smells are wafting through the house, tickling my nose.  Snow is lying on the ground, obviously staying put for quite some time.  These little scenes just make Christmas seem like it's really here, just waiting for the official day where it can come out and make its grand entrance.  There's no hiding that everyone in this household is most definitely excited for that day.

  These kinds of days make good days for reading, especially reading Christmas-y books.  I mean, who wouldn't want to curl up by the Christmas tree, a warm blanket covering your toes, hot cocoa sitting next to you, and read Little Women?  Sounds good to me!

  So I know I have written this post all . . . seriously, I guess, but I did just have to say that I AM SO EXTREMELY SUPERLY DUPERLY EXCITED RIGHT NOW.

. . . 

not.even.kidding. 

  I'm going to be doing some vlogging on Christmas Eve and Christmas day, too, so I hope you guys head over to my YouTube channel on those days and check out the videos!

  Hope all of you guys have had an AWESOME holiday season and winter break so far, and that it just keeps on getting better!

xoxo,
Carolyn

November in General ♥

  Might I just say that November has been absolutely lovely thus far, and I just can't wait for the rest of it.(:  Since I'm just great at compiling lists, why not make one right now?  XD

NaNoWriMo

  NaNo has totally took over my life lately.  XD  I'm a little behind right now, but I think it'll all be alright.  ;]  As of right now, I have 7,487 words, and I still am nowhere near done for the day! :D  I should probably have 10,000+ words by the 15th, since it'll be half-way through the month . . . or maybe I should have 10,000+ words by . . . TODAY since NaNoWriMo winning starts on the 24th!  XD  Who knows, but I really hope I'll get it done.  XD

ANTICIPATION!

I am so anxiously awaiting so many things right now.  XD

• My BIRTHDAY! :D
• My birthday PARTY! :D
• TAKE ME HOME!
• REACHED!

  Seriously, I am beyond excited. :3

Pinterest!

  I recently got a Pinterest, and I am ADDICTED.  O.O  You can follow me here!  :D  So yeah, please do!  XD

Reading

  I JUST finished The Maze Runner by James Dashner, and it was AMAZING.  It was a terrible cliff hanger, though, and I read the first two chapters of The Scorch Trials, and they're terribly cliff-hanger-like, too.  XD  Y'alls should all read it.  Really, really, really.  :3

~*~*~

  I'm obviously excited and happy about a million other things, too, these are just a few that came to mind.  ;]

  But anyways, I'd really like your help.  I really hate asking for people to follow me and such, but I really want to have my goal of 75 followers by my birthday.  If you guys remember, my birthday just so happens to be on this Saturday-or the 17th!  :D  I'm at 67 followers right now, guys, so I'm not too far away.  Please help?  I'd really appreciate it!  :D

Here!  Enjoy this random picture of a bok from who-knows-how-long ago!  :D

  November, I quite like you.  :3

xoxo,

Carolyn

Goodbye, October!

  So, I haven't posted in a long while . . . eek.  I apologize.  XP  I last posted at the BEGINNING of October, and today's Halloween, or otherwise known as the last day of October.  I really am extremely sorry, guys.  But I do hope you forgive me!

  So, October was a rather good month!  Full of fall colors, smells, sights, and sounds.  :]  My dad's birthday was the 19th and my brother's birthday was 24th, and they're both A YEAR OLDER!  :O  That's the oldest they've ever been!  :D  I've had lotsandlots of dance, which is AWESOME.  :3  And for Halloween, I didn't dress up, but I do have a costume to wear . . . for our Halloween dance TOMORROW!  <3

  So, I am very really extremely excited for November!  Let's compile a list of great things that will happen once November is here!

NaNoWriMo!

NaNoWriMo is starting tomorrow, and I'm going to try my absolute hardest to achieve my goal of 25,000 words!  :D  I'm writing the sequel to my first NaNoWriMo book, The Fall of Olympus: Storm!  :3  I'm really utterly excited to become re-acquainted with all my lovely characters!  :]

The Fall Dance!

Tomorrow is also the day of my first school dance of the year!  :]  It's a fall/Halloween dance, and there's a costume contest!  :D  I'm dressing up in an extremely comfy costume that's quite original, if I do say so myself.  ;]  What is it, you ask?

  And if you guessed Harry Potter, you're wrong.  Who else wears circular, black, glasses?

. . . 

WHERE'S WALDO, OF COURSE!  :D

  So yes, I am very excited for the dance.  I'll be slow dancing with my lovely friends, because we're all #foreveralone.  XD  {{#hashtagswag #hashtagsdontbelongonblogsbutidontcare}}

TAKE ME HOME AND REACHED!

The new One Direction CD comes out on November 13, and I am COUNTING DOWN THE DAYS!  Ahhh, so excited, as I am me, the obsessive fangirl Directioner!  :D Which reminds me, my Jack-o-Lantern this year was the 1D symbol.  ;D

And also on the 13th, Reached by Allie Condie-the third book in the Crossed series-is coming out!  I can't wait for this, either!  <3

MY BIRTHDAY!  {{And my mom's.  XD}}

I am SO excited for my birthday!  November 17th, only 17 days away!  :]  We're having our family birthday party this weekend, and my birthday party with friends will be on the 16th and 17th!  :D

My mom's birthday is on the 30th, too!  :D  We're both November birthdays!  ;]

~ ~ ~ 

  So, I've got a LOT to look forward to in November, and that's not even all of it!  :3  November's going to be a good month.  I can just feel it.(:

xoxo,

Carolyn

Falling for Fall

  First, please let me apologize for not posting in A MONTH.  But let's not dwell on that.  XD  So, let's get on with the post! :]

  Fall is officially here.  The leaves are brilliant shades of orange and red, and they make such a satisfying sound as I walk on top of them.  The temperatures have dropped rather significantly, and it's basically the perfect weather for hot cocoa and reading good books.  :]

  I got rather excited when October came rolling around.  October means a lot of things to me, so I guess I'll compile a list of those many things!

1. Fall is officially HERE
2. My dad's birthday
3. My brother's birthday
4. Cool temperatures
5. Nutcracker practices! :D
6. Dance team!
7. My schedule becoming routine
8. Homework -.-
9. Reading
10. Warm sweaters, jeans, and tall boots <3
11. Halloween 
12. NaNoWriMo is near!
13. . . . And so is my birthday!
14. . . . Which means so is my DSLR!  {{Well, hopefully. I'm saving up!  ;]}}

  Needless to say, I'm excited for this month.  Oh so much.  :]

  I decided to take this opportunity to talk about some books I've read/am reading/am really excited to read/hope I get for my birthday.  XD

  So, I recently finished re-reading The Hunger Games!  It took me a REALLY long time to re-read it, as I had a lot going on in August and September.  But come October, I just powered through it.  XD  I did enjoy it a LOT, though {I mean, how couldn't I?  It's The Hunger Games, for goodness sake!}, don't get me wrong.  ;]

  So, a couple days after I finished The Hunger Games, I decided to start The Maze Runner by James Dashner!  :D  I'd been wanting to read this book for some time, since I'd found it through Goodreads.  So, at the beginning of the school year, I noticed my English teacher had it on her bookshelf, so I checked it out as fast as possible!  I just started it yesterday, actually, and I'm loving it already!  <3  It's such an interesting concept, but it does have that Hunger Games vibe to it that I find in most of the books I read.  XD  It also reminded me a bit of The Heroes of Olympus series, which is another AMAZING series!  {{I'll return to that topic soon.}}  But anyways, it's really awesome, so you should check it out.  ;]

  So, speaking of The Heroes of Olympus!  THE MARK OF ATHENA CAME OUT NOT TOO LONG AGO AND I'M KIND OF FREAKING OUT.  :O  Seriously, I NEED TO READ THIS.  Bleah, if you're reading this, I read that you're feeling the same way.  XD

I'm kind of adoring the fact that my house now has a blue front door.  :3

  So, fall, I love you very much.  I am so happy that you're here, and I'm most definitely falling for you.  ;]

xoxo,

Carolyn <3

{{By the by, I'm ten away from my goal.  And I'd really adore that ten by my birthday.  Thanks so much for all the follows, lovely people!  <33}}

My Proofs and an Update

{{Boring title, I know.  XD}}

  Yep, so I'm going to be gone for quite some time.  :3  I might schedule some posts if I get a chance, and I might write some on a document in the car and then covert them to a blog post if I get the time.  :]

  So, I'll talk to you . . . whenever!  XD

Lots of Love,
Carolyn

P.S.- First post while doing Unplugged!  Not too bad!

P.P.S.- I'm working on a 4th of July video with pictures and video in it.  :]

  It's May!  {{Surprise there!}}  It's crazy how fast time flies lately, it seems as if we were just in winter, we hadn't even had Christmas, but it's May, and school's almost out.  **SQUEE!**  And when school's over, what does that mean?

Summer.

  And because I am so excited, I will have a short list of things I will do to fill up my lazy days:

--STRETCH!
--Go swimming {in our pool!}
--Take lots of pictures *nods*
--Rearrange my room
--Make lists :]
--Complete my 102 things!
--Hang out with friends
--Color {OF COURSE!}
--Play my instruments
--Sing :]
--Write
--Read

  And by the way, I've been doing a lot of that last thing lately, reading.  And just to prove it . . .

Terrible picture, I know.  XP

  Yep, this year I've read seven books!  I know some people read seven in a month, but oh well.  XD

  Right now, I'm reading Divergent by Veronica Roth.  It's FANTABULOUS.  If you like The Hunger Games or Matched, you'd like this book.  Lots.  XD  And so, when I get done with that book, I'm planning on reading Delirium by Lauren Oliver.  VERY excited to start this one, too!

This looked a LOT better on my camera.  XP

  Now, I was just thinking.  Once I finish Divergent and Delirium {kind of jumping ahead, but . . . XD}, I'll have nine books read, and my goal is ten this year.  I think I'll pass that easily, but I'll keep it at ten for now.  Which reminds me!  On Goodreads, there's a 2012 Reading Challenge, where you set how many books you want to read and then update when you've read more.  So far-as I said-I've read seven.  They say I'm four books ahead . . . OH WELL. XD

  So, I only have twenty days left of school left . . . I am just SO excited.  XD  But believe me, I LOVE school-no joke.  I just love summer, too.  :]  So yes.  XD

Love, Love, Love, Hug your Books for Me,

Carolyn <3

Two Words

Hunger Games

  Oh.My.Goodness.Golly.Gracious.Me.  I JUST FINISHED THE HUNGER GAMES TODAY, AND IT'S THE BEST BOOK I'VE EVER READ.

. . . Can you tell I like this book a little?  Maybe a teensy, WEENSY, bit? . . . Yeah, I thought so.

  ANYWHO!  If you haven't read the Hunger Games, this post will make NO SENSE TO YOU!  And if you plan on reading the Hunger Games and/or are not done, DO NOT READ THIS POST UNLESS YOU WANT THE BOOK TO BE RUINED!  Thank you.  XD

  Alright, let's start off this amazing Hunger Games post with a picture.  :D

Please don't take this picture without asking.  I  found the picture off of Google Images and edited it myself with a quote from The Hunger Games!  :D

  First thing's first, I bet you're all wondering if I'm "Team Peeta" or "Team Gale", right?  Well, I personally don't like the whole "Team _____" thing because it's too much like Twilight, and Hunger Games is superior to such nonsense. {XD}  So, I'm neither, but I am a 100% Peeta FREAK!

Found here.  I want this SO BADLY.  It's a cell phone charm, if you were wondering.  XD

  Peeta is so perfect.  He's lovely, so nice, and not too strong and not too weak.  Plus he makes bread, which I just adore.  XD  Life would be easy with Peeta, I don't understand how Katniss can have mixed emotions between him and Gale.  Gale's like a brother, not a boyfriend.  And, katniss, I know it's hard to fall in love because you don't want to have children to endure that, but so what?  You can still fall in love and get married without children!  {XD}

Found here.  Also love this!

  Rue, oh Rue.  I love her SO MUCH.  She was my favorite character {with Peeta in a close second, of course ;)} from the beginning.  :)  When she died, I seriously almost cried.  When Katniss put all of the flowers around her and sang her to "sleep", I was feeling like BAWLING.  The part that made me the most sad was definitely when Katniss was walking away and the mockingjay went in front of her and sang Rue's song.  Goodness, HOW MUCH MORE SAD COULD THIS GET?!

  The song Safe and Sound by Taylor Swift is absolutely beautiful, but apply it to Rue.  You feel like crying!  I got shivers listening to it.  Tis one of my favorite songs as of right now!

  Well, being the crazy Hunger Games fan girl I am, I just HAD to show you some of my favorite Hunger Games merchandise {besides the cell phone charms, of course!}.  :D

All of the shirts are from HERE!  :D

  This is obviously my favorite Hunger Games quote on a shirt, and it's very . . . tasteful {the style, colors, and such!  :)}.  I love the mockingjay pin on it, too!  :)

  I LOVE this idea, so cute!  I'd love to wear this, and I'd wear it ALL THE TIME, I am most certain.  XD

  Goodness, I love this shirt.  It's PEETA.  XD  And yes, I do love him.  I'd love to wear it to school and see peoples' confused faces!  XD

  33 days until the Hunger Games movie!  I CAN'T WAIT!

Your Screaming Fan Girl,

Carolyn

{{By the by, I want to dress up as Katniss for when I go to the Hunger Games movie, any suggestions on what to wear?  ;)}}

When I Grow Up

{{A response to Hannah's post.}}

  When I was little at my preschool graduation, one of my teachers stuck a microphone in front of my mouth and asked me the question, "Carolyn, what do you want to be when you grow up?"

  I graciously took the microphone out of her hands and loudly proclaimed, "I wanna be a mermaid!"

  I heard the adult's quiet laughter in the room, but I just smiled as the clapping echoed through the church {the school was basically part of a church} and walked towards the stage where the rest of my classmates were standing.  None of them found it odd, rather normal, actually.  Still, everyone else said pretty stereotypical children's occupations, a ballerina, a police, a fire fighter, a teacher, but a mermaid was my dream.

 A few years later, new town, new school, my last year of preschool.  I wanted to be a veterinarian.  Little did I know that I had to do a lot of things with animals that I wouldn't be able to stand.  That dream faded away quickly.

  In kindergarten, my friend and I planned on growing up and doing all the same things.  We had who we were going to marry planned out, our kids' names, and our jobs.  We'd live in the same town and do the exact same thing.  When my dream job changed, hers did, too.

  Our first dream job was going to Iraq to serve in the military.  Not exactly a normal kindergarten girl's biggest wish, right?  Well, her dad was in the war at the time, so we wanted to be like him.

  Next we wanted to work at Shamu.  Our other friend had this dream, so we decided to copy her.  Again, DEFINITELY not a normal dream.

  Finally, we decided to choose our own jobs.  She wanted to be a ballerina and I decided to be a teacher, and let me tell you, I wanted to be a teacher for a long time, on and off whenever I started enjoying something else.

  In second grade my friend and I wanted to be masseuses together.  You know, the people who gave massages?  Yeah, that was our career choice up until third grade.  It quickly went back to a teacher, though, for quite a long while.

  Finally, just last year, my ideas started changing immensely.  I wanted to do something with dance.  Something with dance really bad!  So I decided I wanted to be a professional dancer.

  Later I decided I might not want to spend so much time away while being a professional dancer, so I changed my ideas to a dance teacher.  The thought had always been in my mind, but I was thinking there must be something cooler out there.

  I personally want to still be a dance teacher, but I'm not sure if that's what will happen.  For sure I want to be an author.  When I write, I can express myself so well, and it's not something I really have to think about.  The words flow from my pencil on to the white paper, or from my fingers on to the blank screen.  This is the reason I love blogging so much.

  Just lately I haven't been so sure what my job will be, probably because my mom and I were talking about what we think my job will be, and she wasn't so sure.  It made me less certain of what I wanted to be, but I don't need to worry about it quite yet, I have time, and God at my side.

~~Caro

N♥vember

It's finally November.

  You do NOT know how long I've been waiting for this month.  Why, you ask?  Well, here are my reasons:

♥ It's actual fall weather!
♥ NaNoWriMo!
♥ My birthday
♥ My mom's birthday
♥ Mall of America//Birthday party
♥ First snow

~Actual Fall Weather~

  It's definitely fall.  :)  The leaves are beautiful, resting on the ground.  Their firey reds, oranges, and yellow vivid and fresh.  It's been raining.  A lot.  Especially today!  I've been at home today because I was sick.  I have been feeling outstandingly better the rest of the day, which is fabulous.  ;)  But it's been raining all day, and it even . . . I'll save that part for later.  XD

~NaNoWriMo~


  What in the world is NaNoWriMo, you ask?  National Novel Writing Month.  What do you do?  Well, write a novel, of course!  There's just one catch, you have to write the novel in a month!  I am in the Young Writers Program or YWP.  In this program you get to set your word count goal {how many words you want to type}.  In the NORMAL NaNoWriMo program {for adults} you are set 50,000 words.  My word count goal is 9,000 words, but I'll hopefully get to 10,000!  :D

  What is my novel about?  Well, that's hard to explain.  If you really want to know, COMMENT and I will give you the link to my story.  :)

~My Birthday and my Mom's Birthday~


  Go November birthdays!  :D  Yeah, my birthday is the seventeenth, but my mom might not want me to tell you hers . . . so, just don't ask.  XD  I'll be turning 1{other number}!  :)  YAY.  XD

~Mall of America~


  Yep, I'm going to Mall of America!  Some people know when {if you do, PLEASE do not say}, but I'm not going to share that here.  c(:  Anywho, I'm getting a doll and two outfits!  :D  I'm SUPER excited!  I'm also going with Sara {my best friend in real life}, so we'll have a BLAST together!  Look forward to photos and videos from the American Girl Place on my Picasa, here, and my dolls' blog!

~First Snow~

  That was today.  :)  Nothing crazy, there's so much rain that it was just a few flurries, but it's still snow!


~

  November is a happy month.

Excuse the Horrid Design

**Cough**  Yeah, sorry about the design.  I should've apologized earlier, but oh well.  I'm waiting for my design from Britts {my dear!  Sorry, she'll *probably* get it}, so until then I'll have a white background.  :P  I made a really awesome background, but I can't upload it because I don't have a Photobucket or anything like that!  I have a Picasa, but the links don't work with Picasa.  If you can help, PLEASE DO!

  ANYWAYS!  I have a loose tooth.  I mean, it's REALLY loose.  Yeah, I'm kind of a slow tooth-looser, don't judge me on that.  XD  It hurts pretty bad . . . and I HATE pain . . . and blood.  Yeah, tooth pulling isn't for me.

  Hey, what about a "What has she Been Reading?" session?  Well, I've never really done one, but I certainly can!  Well, here ya go!

**SPOILER ALERT.  IF YOU HAVE NOT READ ALL OF THE LOST HERO, ARE NOT BEYOND PAGE 363, OR ARE PLANNING TO READ IT, I RECOMMEND NOT READING THIS PART OF THE POST.**

Book Title: The Lost Hero


Author: Rick Riordan


Favorite Character: LEO VALDEZ.  <3  {{Pfft, I'm so totally fifteen!  Quinlyn will get this . . . if she's reading.}}


Part you're At: The half-bloods {Jason, Leo, and Piper} just had an encounter with with King Midas and they just escaped!  It's Piper's turn to take over the story now . . . XD  Yeah, I don't know, this isn't very exciting, is it?

~~

  Heh, sorry if that was boring . . . like, incredibly boring.  I might've been, it probably was, but oh well.  ;)  At least I'm posting, right?!

Your Dancer,
Carolyn