The Thankful List

Yeah, I've been meaning to do this for a few days.  It is, as it states, a thankful list!  Which will of course...list things I am...wait for it...thankful for!

1. I am thankful for League of Legends.  Yeah, it seems stupid and cheesy, but I have actually met some of my best friends there and it's also a place where I can go and "hang out" with my friends who live far away.
2. Obviously, my family.  I had a blast with them yesterday when we celebrated our family Thanksgiving.  My uncle can go from lying flat on his stomach, then going to a standing position, with my cousin and I on his back, our weights totaling over 280 pounds.
3. My friends.  Definitely these people.  They give me hugs, they give me love, company, support.  I'm even going with a friend today to see a movie, unless the weather gets too bad.
4. Music.  I honestly don't know that I would still be here without music.
5. Art.  What did I put for music?  That applies here as well.  In fact, in English, the teacher had a journal prompt, asking if we thought that FHS should cut out the music and art programs to offer the more "schoolbooky" type classes at an advanced level.  I bet you can't guess what I said!  Maybe someday I'll share it.
6. I am thankful that I got the solo I wanted for the Christmas Pageant!  It's a beautiful solo.  My one problem with it is that it's called "Shepherds", but practically tells the story of the wise men...just a slight issue....
7. I am thankful for my not one, not two, but three home churches.  I have a Sunday morning church, that does not have church at night, so we go to my grandparents' church, not only to spend time with them, but to go to night church there, then of course, my church that I go to on Wednesday nights.  I've just recently started going, but so far, I enjoy it.
8. I am thankful that even though I'm 18, I don't have to learn how to adult alone.  I have my mom, my stepdad, my friends, my family to help me.
9. I'm thankful for my school and the way so many people have practically adopted me and have kept an eye on me to make sure I adjusted well.  I'm thankful for the clubs I am a part of, like FCA...mostly FCA....  I'm thankful for all the good teachers and students.
10. I am thankful for my freedom of speech.  I'm glad I can type whatever I want on this blog.  I can cuss FHS out, I can cuss IBS out, I can cuss Obama out and I have that right.  Of course, I'm not going to cuss anyone out, but I could.  I could also elope, as I have told many people, but I don't plan on doing it for awhile.
11. I'm thankful for how easy it is to publish nowadays!  I can write the stories that flow through my mind in colorful pictures and share them globally...and I'm glad for that.
12. I am thankful for God's goodness and grace, because without them, I would not be here!  And I'm thankful that he knows what's best.  And the thing is, sometimes he lets you go through what seems like misery...and very well might be...so that he can give you something.  Like...people in my life that have made me miserable...because of one of them in particular, I have met friends that I will never let go.

I have so much to be thankful for and that's not everything I'm thankful for, it's just everything that's popped into my head as I was typing.  And the best part?  We don't have to wait for it to be Thanksgiving to be thankful!  We can be thankful on Christmas, and Halloween, and our birthdays, and Valentine's Day!  And you know, any other random day or holiday in the year.

~Katie

Church vs. Gym

I'm sure we've all (well...a lot of us) seen this picture on Facebook before:

I have issues with this.
When you go to church and are greeted by a nice couple, who says that they're Christians, the husband is a deacon, the wife is a Sunday school teacher, you're impressed!  But then on Tuesday, you see the husband cussing out a kid for walking across the yard and the wife screaming at the husband telling him to quit yelling at the kid, you're kind of going to be a bit skeptical on the Christian thing....
Or say if you told the couple something in confidence, then you heard them gossiping about it to their neighbor?  Would you believe them to be Christians?  No.  That is called a hypocrite.
However, if you go to the gym and see a man or a woman who has a little extra weight and ask them if they believe themselves to be in shape...the answer will most likely be "no.".  You could even ask someone who looks like they're in shape if they're in shape and because they know themselves and their body, they could also answer with a "no.", simply because they know that they were in shape and now aren't so much.
What's the difference?  One claims to be something that they aren't and the other knows what they are and owns up to it.  Am I saying that not going to church and using hypocrites as an example is a good thing?  Uh...no, not really.  For the majority of churches, there will always be hypocrites...but there will also be good, true Christians.  Sometimes you need to change churches and that is okay...so long as it's cleared by God.

~Katie

A Scary Thought

Do you want to know a really scary thought?  No, probably not...people rarely want to know scary thoughts.  But...it's just something I've been thinking lately...don't ask why, just accept it....  The scariest part of rapists and murders and pedophiles etc., is that...they were all babies once.  Little...innocent...helpless...then they were little kids.  Running around, getting into all kinds of stuff, being cute.  Then they were older.  They went to school, maybe went to church, bought stuff at the grocery story, went to WalMart....  They probably had friends.  They had people who believed in them and loved them and cared about them!
And now...they're murderers...rapists...pedophiles...and it's got me sitting here going "How does that even work?!"  We'd like to say that those people are bad and terrible...and they are...but the thing is, we forget that they had friends at one point.  Maybe they had a good job.  Maybe they ran on the treadmill at the gym next to you.  And then...something inside them...somehow...just snapped!  And I'm over here all confused like...why?!  How?!
And that's Katie's scary/creepy thought of the day.

~Katie

Controversy in a Musical?

Okay, you've heard me mention my school's musical The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee and how there are some cuss words that were being changed and all that.  I'm not sure how much else I said would be changed, but I decided to share some of it.
In the original, one of the spellers has two gay fathers.  We're changing that to adoptive parents.  The cast and crew of our musical went to watch another production of the musical and ate at Braum's afterward (which was delicious) and as the production we watched was done by a college, they didn't change a thing.
While at Braum's I was sitting with one of the crew members and I told her that some of the things in that production, we were doing differently.  In the original, one of the kids gets an erection...and it causes him to lose the spelling bee.  Then he sings about his "Unfortunate Erection".  Thankfully, the writers realized that some schools may not want to do that version and gave another version where he sings about his "Unfortunate Distraction", which was daydreaming about a girl in the audience.  She was understanding of that change, because yeah, even though it was hilarious, a lot of people would find it inappropriate.
However, when I told her that we changed the two gay dads to adoptive parents, she became more defensive and asked why people were being homophobes (I have a lot of issues with that word, simply because it implies that people are scared of homosexuals...disagreement does not mean fear, nor does it mean hate....).  When our music teacher told us about the change, she said that she personally didn't have any problems with gays and I told this girl that and told her that the teacher also said that it was changed because of how conservative this area is.  She wasn't happy with that.
What I thought of later, that I should have told her, but couldn't, because I hadn't thought of it, was that...this is a high school drama.  Not a college drama.  Not a Broadway drama.  This is high school.  We are doing this for fun, not to take a stand on gay marriage or abortion or anything of the sort.  There is no reason to have controversy in a high school production.
If a group of high schoolers got together and decided that they wanted to promote gay marriage or abortion or spanking or even take a stand against these things, that would be one thing, but for the fall musical, it is just unnecessary.  For a college, go ahead.  Broadway...go ahead....  But not a high school.
This is designed to be humorous and entertaining...not for promoting someone's views.  Let it be fun, funny and enjoyable and forget the controversy...please....

~Katie

IBS vs. FHS Teacher Showdown...part 2...

This is continued from IBS vs. FHS Teacher Showdown, which you can find...here.

Announcer:  We have returned after a day long break for cookies, ice cream, and Netflix to continue our IBS vs. FHS teacher showdown.  From IBS, we have the music teacher, Mr. Miller; the science/history teacher, Brother Todd; the former English teacher, Miss Montgomery; the former English teacher Mrs. B., the former English teacher Mrs. Weinand; and last but not least, the P.E. Teacher, Brother Steve!
*audience claps politely*
Announcer: And from FHS, we have the music teacher, Mrs. Fischer; the science teacher, Mr. Weilert; the English teacher, Ms. Schlabach and last but not least, the weights/P.E. teacher, Mr Barnett!
*audience claps politely*
Announcer: Last time, Mr. Miller and Mrs. Fischer tied...Mr. Weilert and Brother Todd tied...and now, we're ready for the English teachers!  English teachers--my goodness there's a lot of you....  Would it be 'a' university or 'an' university?  Write your answers on the white boards provided, then hold them up for the audience to see.
Miss Montgomery: *a university*
Mrs. B: *an university*
Mrs. Weinand: *a university*
Ms. Schlabach: *a university*
Announcer: I'm sorry, Mrs. B, you are incorrect.  It would be 'a' university, because although it starts with a vowel, it makes a consonant sound.  BUT you are not disqualified.  We will continue with our next question.  Have you, as an English teacher, made your students write at least one essay a year?
Miss Montgomery: Yes, ours was about what actually swallowed Jonah, they did research and everything.
Mrs. B:  Yes, they chose their own topic and wrote about it using the internet and practicing using note cards for their citations.
Mrs. Weinand: Yes, they chose their own topic and wrote about it using the internet, books and any other sources they found, but they had to have books as a source as well.  I let them keep track of their citations how they wanted, but they still had to cite them with MLA format.
Ms. Schlabach: Yes, they're actually in the process of writing an essay comparing two different translations of Sophocles' Antigone, MLA format, as expected.
Announcer: Very good!  A tie!  And now...the students will be the ones deciding your fate....  Miss Montgomery...your students say that you taught well and they knew they better work.  Mrs. B, a note from one of your students says that they didn't particularly like you as a teacher, but when they were able to just talk to you, they enjoyed it.  Mrs. Weinand, your students completely loved you and they said something about...apple pie?  Ms. Schlabach, And again, no complaints for you!  It's a three way tie, between Miss Montgomery, Mrs. Weinand and Ms. Schlabach!  Mrs. B...I'm sorry.  BUT you get a consolation prize of a $100 gift certificate to spend however you like, wherever you like!
*audience claps politely*
Announcer: And now...for the final two...Mr. Barnett and Brother Steve, please step forward.  What are your workout regimes for your students like.
Brother Steve: Well...we mostly just play games.  *laughs*  Volleyball when it's cold, softball when it's warm, sometimes we play softball when the girls are complaining that it's too cold, but they can live with it.
Mr. Barnett:  We play games on Wednesdays and the rest of the time, we're in the weights room, lifting and doing other workouts.
Announcer:  Well, either workout regime sounds fun and of course, we all understand that IBS does not have sufficient funds for a weights room, so the weights room does not play into whether or not a teacher is disqualified or not.  Annnd...again a tie!  But, how do the students feel about these men?  Of Brother Steve... "Brother Steve is a kind hearted man and I greatly enjoyed his P.E. class.  My only complaint is that he constantly picked the same people to be the team captains.".  Of Mr. Barnett...  "Mr Barnett is an easy going, fun loving guy, who even at a public school is still a very good Christian influence.".  Again with the ties!  What was the point of this even?  Why have a battle!  They all tied!  *flips desk over, muttering about wasting life away*  That's it, I quit!  I WANTED BLOODSHED!  I WANTED FIGHTS!
*audience watches with odd expressions*
Announcer:  I WANTED THERE TO BE A FIGHT AND BE BIASEDNESS!  WHY CAN'T I HAVE BIAS HERE?  IT'S NOT FAIR!  *begins flailing arms and legs, kicking and hitting the floor*  I WANTED A FIGHT!  WHY COULDN'T I HAVE A FIGHT?  WHY DO THE TEACHERS ALL HAVE TO BE EQUAL?!  WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!
Katie: And this draws to a conclusion the IBS vs. FHS Teacher Showdown....  Now excuse me while I take care of our announcer....

~Katie

IBS vs. FHS Teacher Showdown!

So, I've been thinking recently about what would happen if there was a contest between the teachers at my old school and the teachers of my new school...who would win???  Here is how I believe the showdown would look....

Announcer:  From IBS, we have the music teacher, Mr. Miller, the science/history teacher, Brother Todd, the former English, now Bible teacher, Miss Montgomery; the former English teacher, Mrs. B.; the former English teacher Mrs. Weinand; and last, but not least, the P.E. teacher, Brother Steve!
*audience claps politely*
Announcer: And from FHS, we have the music teacher, Mrs. Fischer; the science teacher, Mr. Weilert; the English teacher, Mrs. Schlabach; the art teacher, Mr. Houghton; and last but not least, the weights/P.E. teacher, Mr. Barnett!
*audience claps politely*
Announcer: To begin, we will have the music teachers stand up...  Mrs. Fischer, Mr. Miller, come forward.
*they come forward willingly*
Announcer: Please, lead your choirs in warm-ups.  Mrs. Fischer...ladies first.
Mrs. Fischer: *leads choir in the 'bottle pop' round*
*audience claps politely*
Announcer: Mr. Miller, can you and your choir upstage her?
Mr. Miller:  *leads choir in 'Ho-ho-ho Hosanna'*
*audience claps politely*
Announcer: Excellent!  You both have done very well.  Mr. Miller, you appear to have a smaller choir, but despite that you've trained them well.  Mrs. Fischer, your choir is larger, but you have also trained them well.  We collected polls from students that have "served" under these teachers and out of three of Mr. Miller's students...previous or current...all three have stated that he is an excellent teacher and that they enjoy being in his class and doing choir tour with him.  However...for Mrs. Fischer...out of three of her students...they also enjoy class with her!  Congratulations!  It's a tie!  Now for the science teachers....
*they step forward*
Announcer:  Please, demonstrate how you teach your students about the metric system.
Mr. Weilert:  *condensed and fast forwarded*  We use the English system which not even the English use.  Here, look on these crackers...English AND metric.  *tosses behind*  Can of peas?  English AND metric.  *tosses behind*  Cereal?  English AND metric!  *tosses behind*.
Brother Todd:  *looks throughly stunned*  I think something might get broken if he keeps doing that....  *condensed and sped up*  The English and metric systems of measurement are both listed on everything except for--
Mr. Weilert:  What??  There's no English measurement.  That's because the scientific measuring system is the metric system.
Announcer:  Perhaps we should have taken turns...it appears that while Brother Todd is a more laid back person--
Mr. Weilert: What now, Katie?  You're sucking me dry girl!
Announcer:  *clears throat*  BROTHER TODD IS A MORE LAID BACK PERSON...however, though they have different methods of teaching are both good teachers.  There appears to be a bit more chaos in Brother Todd's room...we have live footage of a stepfather of one of the students coming into the room with a whale puppet singing a song about...about...saving whales...I don't even know...  HOWEVER...this tie, again...will be broken by the students...and again...unanimous on both sides!  Congratulations, gentlemen.
Announcer:  You notice that we only have four teachers that are competing...this is because some of the teachers Katie had at IBS, she only took those classes while attending IBS, such as math and others she's only taken at FHS, such as art.  As such, these teachers automatically win against the ones from the opposing schools.  Principals are disqualified as they are not technically teachers, but administrators.

...to be continued...

~Katie

League of Legends

As was mentioned a post or two ago, I've started playing this game called League of Legends.  It's a team based game and is really very fun when you have people to play with.  My ex, Josh, got me into the game and introduced me to two of his friends...well, four, really, but only two that played regularly, that also played League.
When you first start League, they have you play a tutorial game that really confuses you, but if you have friends that are playing, they then take you into Bot/AI games and teach you whatever it was that you misunderstood from the tutorial.  You're given a set amount of RP (Riot Points) with which to buy skins or champs or other things of that ilk.  When you play games, you get something called IP (Influence Points), with which you can buy champs with...maybe runes, but I've never bought runes, so I wouldn't know.  Once you run out of RP, you're out...unless you buy some with real-life money...which I'm not planning on doing.
Every week you have...ten...(?) free champions that you can play, without having to buy and/or own them.  These champions are what you play in the game and each one of them has five skills.  A passive, which you can't control, and four skills that you control via the Q, W, E and R buttons on your keyboard.  The R is known as the 'ult', or 'ultimate' and you can level it up three times; at level 6, 11, and 16.  When in a match, your champion can level all the way up to 18 and you can level up your skills each time you level up, but only until each skill (other than R) has 5 points in it.
In a normal match, there are three lanes (top, middle/mid and bottom/bot) and a jungle.  In a bot match, you have two top, one mid, and two bot.  In a normal match (or a ranked match) you have one top, one mid, two bot, and a jungler.  The role of the jungler is to kill jungle monsters and gank lanes.  Ganking means that they come out of the jungle and essentially ambush the enemies that are being meanie heads to their teammate.  The top laner is typically a bruiser (which means they do damage) or a tank (which means they can take a lot of damage without dying, the midlaner is usually a mage, who scales off of ap (ability power), the botlaners are a support (a champion who keeps other champions from dying and helps to set up kills, while usually not doing any killing at all), and an adc (attack damage carry), who is supposed to do a lot of damage and get a lot of kills.

Below is a map of Summoner's Rift, which is the map that is most typically played on.

Then there's also the matter of items.  Throughout the match, you will generate gold and you will also earn gold from killing minions, which are little things that aren't champions and don't do much damage, but love to have at each other and do little bits of damage to you.  You earn gold from destroying turrets, which attack you if you go in without a minion wave( which is why you kill the enemy minions), which is generated after...I'm not sure how many seconds each, but the first minion wave spawns at 1:30.  With the gold that you get, you can buy items to increase your armor, health, mana (which, for most champions, lets you use your skills that are on the qwer thingy, though some champs don't have them.  It can be pronounce man-uh, or mah-nah...I've heard both.), ability power, attack damage, yatta yatta yatta...ask your skilled friends what to build on your champs, k?  K.

Most items have smaller items that can be built into them and if you can't buy the entire item when you first back/recall (return to base, by pressing the b button, which takes 8 seconds to load you back there and if you sustain any damage your recall is canceled and you have to stay and fight.  This also rejuvenates your health and mana), you can usually buy the little items that are built into it.

There are other game modes where you can play with three people...or six people...or have only one lane...or have only two lanes...it's a pretty in depth game, actually and I never realized how in depth before I started explaining it all....  I haven't even mentioned summoner spells or counter-jungling, or skins...wait, I mentioned skins, but I didn't explain them or anything.  There's a lot I didn't go into, actually.  There are a lot of champions to play and I own a grand total of...23...I think.

So, yes...this is my obsession, although I prefer to play with my friends.  There's also a game mode that is like the normal game mode that I mentioned, although it's called ranked.  For ranked, you play ten games and that's called your provisionals (I've played four so far) and then once you hit ten games, you can begin playing for something called LP (League Points...I think....) and once you hit 100, you get a rank.  There's bronze, silver, gold, diamond, platinum...I think....  And I think they're in that order, as well.  I am currently unranked.  But, in order to even play ranked games, you have to be summoner level 30 and you level that up by playing more games, be they bots, or pvp (player versus player).

Again, this is my obsession.  It is not the reason why I stay up until midnight every night...tonight it's not midnight yet and also, I blog and talk to people and stuff like that...sometimes I try to clean my room a bit....

To the people who hear about League all the time...I'm so sorry.

~Katie

To My Friend, Mike

I know I already made a blog post today, but then I went to my friend, Mike's, blog and read one of his posts.  I had a comment all typed up and it wound up being rather long, so I asked if he would mind me sharing his post, with my reply on my blog and he said that that was fine....

Mike's Blog Post

And here is my reply:

Sometimes crying shows strength. The man is supposed to be the example for the woman. If her man always holds back his tears and refuses to let them show, she may feel as though she needs to do the same.
Throughout the Bible, men have cried…and not just because of deaths. Jacob cried when he was reunited with his son, I believe Jacob and Esau cried when they saw each other and were making peace, the father of the prodigal son cried when he saw his son…so much crying…all by men… If God didn’t want people (male and female) to cry, he wouldn’t have made people designed to cry.
When a person is born…usually, the first thing they do after taking a breath, is cry. When you fall down, you cry. When you laugh too hard, you cry. When you suffer a painful break up, you cry. When you grow older, when you’re extremely happy, you cry. If you’re moved emotionally at all, you cry. Crying is good and healthy and something that is perfectly okay for men, women, boys, girls, babies, teens, preteens, and any other humans I may have left out to do.
God KEEPS your tears. He keeps them. In a bottle…and in a book. Psalm 56:8– “Thou tellest my wanderings: put thou my tears into thy bottle: are they not in thy book?” That wasn’t just for the writer of that psalm…that was for everyone. Including men. Which includes you.
And besides all of THAT, there are plenty of healthy reasons to cry. When you cry, it releases proteins that can cause bad moods or health issues…and I know what I’m talking about, I wrote a whole essay on it my Sophomore year of highschool. If you don’t want to cry around people, that’s fine and completely understandable…but don’t force yourself not to cry or feel weak for doing so…because it’s fine. Biblically and…professionally? No, that’s not the word I mean, but you understand what I mean, I hope.
I’m very much a hypocrite for saying this, because I force myself not to cry a lot of the time…I first remember doing that when I was four…so it’s something I need to remember too. Crying is a-okay.

~Katie

Pros and Cons of Public/Private Christian Schools

I meant to do this a long time ago, so I'm sorry this took so long!  Awhile back, when I switched from being homeschooled to going to the Bible school, I made a pros and cons list.  I thought...well, why not do the same for private Christian school and public school?  We'll start with what I left....

Private Christian School
Pros:

1. Everyone knows everyone.
2. Higher levels of freedom to worship God without being told to take it elsewhere..
3. You don't have to worry about having Evolution crammed down your throat as a fact, instead of a theory, which is what it is.
4. Smaller student to teacher ratio, so more one on one help.
5. Christian songs and pretty hymns in choir.

Cons:

1. Everyone knows everyone.
2. Hypocrites (yes, you'll see them everywhere and it is a con everywhere).
3. Strict dress codes.
4. At the school I just left, being forced to wear your hair in a bun at school.
5. If your doctrinal beliefs are different, you're looked at oddly.

Public School

Pros:

1. A larger selection of electives.
2. More opportunities to take the same class.
3. Clubs!  For example, I am in FCA (Fellowship of Christian Athletes).
4. Dancing is actually allowed....Psalm 149:3a.....it should be allowed in Christian schools too....
5. A looser dress code...and yes, you can still be modest.  No, not everyone will choose to, but you can be.

Cons:

1. There's always that chance that you'll get told that Evolution is the only way the earth could have come into being.
2. People may not always understand when you pray over your food or why you dress how you dress.
3. Cuss words every day.
4. A bigger student to teacher ratio (although my school is actually pretty small for a public school, so we do have a pretty good ratio)
5. Having to awkwardly ask your Weights teacher if it's alright if you wear a skirt for your class instead of the required shorts...thankfully, he's also the sponsor of the FCA and understands why I wear skirts, why my mom wants me to wear skirts and why that's what I feel comfortable in, so he just nodded and said that it would be fine, so long as I had shorts underneath so no one would see my undies...actually, he didn't say so no one would see my undies, but it was implied.

So, as you can see, there are pros and cons to both schools...at least both of the ones I've attended....  And yes, I did, in fact, put 'everyone knows everyone' as both a pro and a con...because, honestly it is.  Everyone knows everyone, so you don't have to worry about talking to strangers...but also...everyone knows everyone, so if there's something going on in your life...it's gonna be pretty dang easy for everyone to find out about it....

~Katie

Goodness!

My goodness, it's been forever since I've regularly blogged!  So...let's try a recap of the past year up until this point....

January--New Year, obviously...trying to remember specific things that happened that I want to share...not really any...actually....  That could have been when new management took over at the daycare I was working at, I'm not sure.  I suppose I could go get my journal and check, but I haven't been journalling regularly either.  Ahh, after reading back posts, I remember the most duh thing of all...I got my own computer!  Which I still use.
February--I'm kinda in the same boat with this month as well, I guess.  I've been focusing mostly on these recent months and working on school and things like that.  My back posts don't help any with this, because it was merely musings.  How in the world am I supposed to know things and little details that happened during this time period, if I don't write it down??  Again, I probably did in my journal.
March--...Okay, I'm not good at this....
April--I believe that this was the month that I felt a peace about switching schools.  It was also the month of the Junior/Senior Banquet, where my cousin Andrew (who is now at boot camp :'( ) took me, because he's a sweetheart.
May--I was one of the flag bearers (grrr, I iz scary bear) at the graduation, which was lovely, as most graduations are.  I also went to my uncle's niece's graduation and was favorably impressed by the school building and all dat.
June--I started Driver's Ed and either June or May I started playing League of Legends...if you want a life, don't start playing!  I met Mr. Barnett, who is also now one of my favorite teachers.  I also went to Abilene-not-in-Abilene-anymore Youth Camp, although I think I enjoyed it more my first year.
July--Makin' new friends through League all over da place--THAT'S A SHOUT OUT TO YOU WOLFIE!...and everyone else, but I talk to Wolfie the most....
August--Eep, school started!  I was so nervous and initially, she had me in the alto section, but said that if we thought it was the wrong place, just let us know, so I did and I am now where I belong with my high notes and all that jazz.
September--Auditions for the musical and I got the part of Olive, which I was secretly wanting really badly, but not wanting to say.
October--Hey, that's this month!  I think we did auditions for solos this month, but it could have been in September, near the end, and concert, which was awesome.  I had two solos (one I was really nervous and I wasn't angling my head right, so I sounded kinda pitchy) and had a blast doing them.
Now, let's see if maybe I can possibly post once a week or something.  Once a day is a little overkill...after all, you know, school, homework, things of that nature....  But, there's a recap of my year thus far!
~Katie

Freedom!

People have many freedoms in America.  I believe Miss Montgomery was talking about that in Geography last year...and one of the things she said is "You do not have the freedom to not be offended.".  And that makes a lot of sense.  After all, the freedom of speech cannot co-exist with the freedom to not be offended.
I can say whatever I want.  I could call someone ugly and that would be perfectly aligned with my freedom of speech.  Of course, it would most likely offend that person.  *I* am offended when I read people talking about how abortions are "okay" because I don't believe that way.  Guess what, it's their right.  They have the right to their own opinions and feelings and I have the right to my own opinions and feelings.
If someone has a blog or a radio show or a book and they put their opinions and feelings into it, SOMEONE, somewhere, will get offended.  There is a perfectly good solution to that...just don't read it.  Don't watch it.  Don't listen to it.  Of course, if you don't like it, you also have the freedom of speech to tell them you don't like it and that it hurts your feelings.  Does that mean they'll stop?  If it's a personal blog or book or something like that, probably not.  Because THEY have the right to put THEIR opinions and feelings out there, regardless of whether it offends you or not.  And while that can sometimes wind up with hurt feelings...that is a wonderful thing to be able to do.  Put your feelings and opinions out there freely....

~Katie

Update on New School!

Alright, so, if you've been reading my blog, you know that I had been attending a private Christian school and am now attending a public school...and man, let me tell you something.  I love my new school.  Love.  With an L.  And and O.  And a V.  And an E!  Not eros...maybe philia...but...love.  Yes.
When I went from being home schooled to going to the private Christian school, I made a pros/cons list about them.  Perhaps I should do the same here?  I think I'll put it in a post right after this one, that way this one doesn't get completely swamped, because there's a bunch of stuff I would like to cover here.
If I had continued attending IBS, I would have to take Algebra 2...because for some reason, my Freshman year, I was forced to take Consumer Math, yet it was counted as an elective, although I had no choice in taking it, therefore, it was not recognized by IBS as a math credit.  Here at this public school, they recognized it for what it was: a math credit.  Therefore, I do not have to sit in Algebra 2 every day this year.  Which really leads to a much less stressful school year!
I am also one of the lead roles in my school musical, which is called the 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.  There are some parts of it I don't care for, some parts that are going to be changed, and some parts (many parts) that are funny.  My name is Olive and I am very shy and my only friend is a dictionary. One song that I sing for the Musical.  Please feel free to come watch!  It's the 20th and 21st of November.  If you need directions or anything, contact me!  And just a heads up, any cussing in the songs I post on facebook or on my blog, will not be in our production.  The cussing is in the original/"professional" version and will not be used in the highschool reproduction that we are doing of it.
I may not have a ton of friends at this new school, but thus far, my experiences at this school can be summed up in these two pictures that my stepdad posted on facebook:

I had a pros/cons list written out, but then I copied something else and completely lost it, so I'll have to rewrite it later on.
I also had found out that a teacher (whom I admired) told the principal, in front of my stepdad, that I would be back after three weeks at this public school.  This is the beginning of the fourth week and there is no way I am going back.  I was also told by a fellow student, when I visited before my school had started, that I would hate public school.  I love it.  People don't know me as well as they think they do.  And I hate that they think they do.  But too bad!  :D
~Katie