Senior Year: What it was like for me

This post was written ages ago and was never finished. I read back through my old posts when I'm feeling down. Felt like publishing this post now... after nearly 3.5 years since I wrote it. I'm 21 now and 2020 is just around the corner. I used this blog as an outlet and feel like I should try that again sometime. I won't touch petpetsroom though since it's a good time capsule for my adolescent ages. I regret not capturing more of my college and high school life (not big on social media), but I'll survive. :) Anways, enjoy what little I wrote 3.5 years ago:

Wow... it's been nearly a year since I've written anything.

My last post here was during last summer vacation. I was on the edge of depression, felt overly stressed, hated myself, anxious/feared my future and overall... I was lost. Now, nearly one year later, I am a high school graduate, I am confident in myself and my work, I'm going through so many exciting moments in life, and slowly learning what the real world is like.

It's amazing to see myself change so much in one year. Sure, I was extremely stressed during my Senior year, but I felt that it was the year I discovered WHO I was. I know I didn't write a lot about my Junior or Senior year, but let's just say, MY SENIOR YEAR ROCKED (and was nothing like High School Musical 3).

High School Musical 3 lied  to me...
but Senor Year was still amazing

People say that your senior year (your last year of high school or secondary school) will be one of the best years of your life. I truly understand that now. High school: the place I had wake up everyday at 5/6 in the morning to go sit in class with annoying classmates, deal nagging teachers, and see terrible people... has become more than that. It became a place of community, networks, supporters, and memories. Like I said, this was the year I discovered who I was. I will probably never miss those crowded hallways, terrible teachers, and jerks who were always on their skateboards (I swear, I was so ready to just trip one of them), but I will miss all the memories I made with my friends, amazing teachers, and my class of 2016.

So, I guess it's time to go into more specifics of my year. It is so hard to sum up one year's worth of content, but I'll do my best...

Teachers

I had most of the same teachers as last year, because of the IB diploma program I was in. I think I will miss many of them.
I'll miss my English teacher, Mr. D. I'll miss his passion for conservation, his "starters" with folk songs, and his amazing attitude towards teaching and learning.
I'll miss my Art teacher, Mrs. B. 

Under a Lot of Stress

So I know that I haven't wrote a post in an extremely long time and pretty much abandoned this blog.... But there are times when I feel like I need a way to get my feelings off. This blog is like a diary or journal to me where I can just write about whatever I feel experience. So here goes nothing...

Junior year has been amazing and went by as a blur for me. The problem is, it is the middle of summer vacation, I am nearing my high school experience... And I am on the verge of what feels like depression. Now I can't say that I am depressed because I have seen and heard what depression feels like, and I am not depressed... More like overly stressed that I am crumbling to a thousand pieces and facing a "mid-life crisis" (not exactly mid-life, but you get the point). My life and future is taking over me. Maybe I feel this way because I just have too much time to think over the summer, but I feel like I am crumbling.

I have little to no motivation to do any school work. In my heart, I really want to achieve great things, but I have no motivation. I want to create masterpieces, play music, read what I love, learn to dance to my favorite Kpop/Jpop songs, exercise, and do well in all academics... But I haven't been able to do that this summer. I have lost my drive and motivation to achieve and I hate myself for that.

I want my old self back. The happy motivational self from 3 years ago, because that's when I felt most happy. Maybe I felt happy then because I knew I had friends by me no matter what. Maybe that's because it was the start of high school and I just wanted to enjoy being a teenager. Maybe that's because I was more open to people and had plenty of who I have never spoken to face to face understand me. So many maybes, but never a clear answer...

I guess overall is that I am overly stressed  about trying to achieve things and the future of my senior year that I have broken down. I have kept my feelings, thoughts and everything bottled up for a whole year and I have fallen apart. I can't enjoy things like I used to as much and I just don't know....

I thought that staying away from social media, blogging, PSF, and everything would make life easier.... But it didn't. The Internet is my way to tell some random people how I feel anonymously (or somewhat anonymously). I miss having friends to talk to constantly on the PSF. Sure, we have other social media and such to communicate, but it's not the same. I dread looking at the forum because it reminds me of how dead it really is. It hurts to see that I no longer have all the role plays, games, random chats, and late nights. It just hurts... But I remind myself that we always need to keep moving on.

I don't really care if no one ever reads this. I wrote for the sake of myself. I might start writing on this blog just for the sake of getting feelings off my chest because I need to find a way to let things out. Talking doesn't help, so might as well write...

Senior year is going to be stressful. I am in panic now due to the anticipation and fears, but I hope to get through it. I just need breathe and to take this year just like how I'm going to fix myself: one little piece at a time.

❤Petpet

Why I Went on a Three Month Haitus

...I don't know I can even call myself a blogger. I mean, I don't even consistently post. I'll post so much one month, then post once a month, then go missing from my blog for months!

I'm sorry.

I always choose a bad time to blog, and when not to blog. Example would be this very post that I wrote. It is two weeks before school starts, and instead of doing my extremely important homework for class, I decided to blog! You know, I had like two other months of summer break to blog, but I just had to choose now to blog. I make bad decisions. (I swear, I will regret this.)

So, why did I all of the sudden decided to blog again, even though I'm really "busy" this summer. Well, I decided to visit it after three months of not visiting and I read through my old posts. Reading my posts made me realize how much I really missed blogging. It is so time consuming sometimes, but I still love it. There is actually not a day where I say to myself, "Hey, I should totally blog about this!" (As pathetic as it may sound...) I always want to blog, but finding the time and motivation can be tough. My time management skills need serious handling...

Anyways, just letting anyone who still bothers to read my posts, that I did want to blog a lot this summer. The reason why I didn't was that I went into a "phase." It was a phase where I didn't want to do anything productive. I didn't want to sit and do actual work. I just wanted to do things that would require as little brain use as possible to recuperate my mind from the year of school. The last thing I wanted to do was blog, sad to say.

So sorry if you've missed me and my little posts (or not so little posts.) There's so much I always want to say, but it's always too hard to write it all down! I want to promise that I will write more, but I know that making promises won't help. Instead, I will say that I will try and get back to posting and learn to manage time better, so I don't always waste my time playing video games. Since school will be starting soon, I really will manage my time better. Please understand, that I want to post a lot, I just can't.

Blogging is one of my greatest pastimes, but I don't know how long I can do it continuously.
♥Petpet

Tackling Exams!

I am almost done with the school year!

*Let's out a huge sigh*

I really do need a break. These past few week have been constant work, study, and crave for sleep. I've been studying extremely hard for my AP Government and Politics test (which I took on the 13th) and for my Driver's Education class. Even though I got that heavy AP test done with, it doesn't mean that I'm done with school yet. I still have a lot of  projects to do and take even more exams.

Of course, I can't complain about exams, but I am lacking so much sleep. It's so unhealthy. It's just constantly stress and sleep. Hopefully, I can get back to my normal schedule once school is out for the summer, because right now, my schedule is so messed up... And so is my health (I've been trying to do yoga to destress, but sometimes I just don't have the time/energy).

I'll be posting tons soon. Just wait! Once I tackled these last 12 school days, then I'll be able to write more and excite you with my life (or not excite.) I am just ready for summer.

♥Your very tired and stressed out, Petpet

Chinese Language Fair

Our song was called "Jing Hua Ci"
by Jay Chou which is about a
 beautiful porcelain vase. 

Yesterday, April 17, 2014, I had to wake up at 5 o'clock in the morning to prepare for my Chinese Language Fair. (This is very similar to the Spanish Language Fair I went to last year.) Normally, I'd be fine waking up at 5 in the morning but this was during my spring break.. where I would have loved to sleep in and not worry about school. Anyways, I arrived at the school at 6:20 and had to practice my song with my group for the competition.

We arrived at the college where the language fair was taken place at about 8:00. At that time, we were just waiting to register for all the events and to start doing these events. I was unlucky and couldn't do a lot of the activities because my group insisted on practicing our song multiple times until it was perfect. (There was a lot of drama involved as well.)

My friend Summer and I managed to do some paper cutting activities and take a photo at the Great Wall of China though. I think my favorite part of the paper cutting activity was talking with the instructor. During the fair, we were only supposed to talk Chinese (which was difficult since I don't know a lot of Chinese) or else you would end up in "jail." Brooke, our paper cutting instructor, was so nice and spoke to us in English more than she should have. She was just so nice and had a friendly conversation with us (half in Chinese, half in English.) I think that if she wasn't so nice, we both would have been in "jail."

It was time for me to compete in my first competition. I had to recite a poem in Chinese and the judge would ask me questions on the poem. I recited "Jing Ye Si (静夜思)" by Li Bai and got a superior on it! (Ratings from highest to lowest: Superior, Excellent, Very Good, Good, Okay.) It was fairly easy and I was glad I practiced my tones. I am terribly at tones.

Jing Ye Si (静夜思)

After my accomplishment, we went back to do another activity. I chose to try the Singing Bowl out. I have never heard of it before in my life and it look so cool. You basically wet your hands and then rub your hands on the side handles of the bowl. If you do it just right, then the bowl will "sing." It's one of the coolest things ever.

Finally, it was time to compete in our singing competition. To be honest, we weren't as prepared as we could have been and not as loud as we could have been as well. Overall, we got an excellent on it.

I missed the awards ceremony except for the very end. Our school won for the sweepstakes. (All the competition ratings are compiled into points and you get a grand total.) At the end of the day, I had a really fun time but it was just an exhausting day. If our school decides to go again next year, then I will definitely go... even if it means taking part of my spring break again.

♥Petpet, who took a two hour nap once she got home yesterday

*Note: When I say "Chinese," I mean Mandarin. I can speak Cantonese, which is a different dialect from Mandarin. So when I say I don't know Chinese, I mean I don't know how to speak Mandarin.

**All photos belong to rightful owner. I do not own any of them.

Going to Make the Best of my Sophomore Year

Boy, does time fly by fast?! I can't believe that my sophomore year is almost over!

Well, I survived another term of school! To be honest, it went by way faster than I expected. (I guess we did have a lot of long weekends... maybe that's why.) The only problem is, I don't think I really socialized that much this school term. Sure, I still have friends but I haven't socialized as much. I didn't really go to any of dances. Hardly went to any events (except for the Robotics competition last week.) It was kind of an easy quarter, but I still had a ton of homework. I don't hate school. I just hate the people, schoolwork, and stress of school.

What it feels like my crush is doing constantly

Now that 3rd term has ended, it means that the year will be over in just less than 3 months! I want to try and make the best out of my school year. By doing that I'm going to try and socialize with my friends as much as possible. Spring Fling is coming up and it is girl's choice. So, if my friends are planning to go as a group, I want to try and ask someone and actually go to the dance. (I haven't been to a school dance since Halloween.) I'm going to try and ask my friend who I went to homecoming with. I've like him for awhile, but I've been trying to hide it-- which I know is a really bad idea. Hopefully I find the courage the ask him and actually get to go to Spring Fling.

Time to finish off my sophomore year strong and try to survive all my finals!

♥Petpet
*All images belong to rightful owner

Spring is Here... And so is a Creepy Cow!

Before you question my other half of the title... it's spring!

I don't know how much of a difference it makes that it's "officially" spring, because our year's weather is just insane. I mean, in February it only snowed about 3 times when it snowed almost everyday 5 years before. Even if we don't get snow, it's common to have lots of rainstorms. The first day of spring feels more like the middle of spring. This is all because of global climate change and I'm not liking it.

Now that it's spring though, I'm hoping to see lots of plants growing now! I really love spring for its colors and blossoms... What I don't like is the pollen though. I shall suffer from a stuffy nose to see the beautiful flowers bloom though.

As a celebration of spring, a conservative garden park/center near my house was having a charity event. They invited a whole bunch of stores and restaurants to come to the center and give out free food. Their goal was to raise $1,000,000 so they wanted as many people to come and take interest in the park and charity event.

Well, one of the sponsors was Chick-Fil-A. When there's Chick-Fil-A, there's going to be cows. These two cows were out causing trouble the whole night:

Of course, they made the kids happy and made the event more fun, but I honestly was a little uncomfortable with them... Especially the one in the red. Why? Well, for about the hour we were at the event, the cow came behind me and just put its face right in front of mine. This didn't happen once. NO. It happened about 6 times. At that point, I was just really wondering who was in that costume. Is if possible that the cow was flirting with me?! I don't even know any more!  Honestly, you shouldn't come up to the same people multiple times and messing with them. That just makes them/me suspicious.

I already have trust issues with chickens and now I have to avoid cows too? (Apparently, my cousins think they are trying to murder me or something of the sort.) Stop it meat products! I never did anything horrible so just leave me alone!

Hopefully, this never happens to me again.
♥Petpet

*I do not own any of these pictures, they belong to their rightful owner

Sorry for the Hiatus!

I'm so sorry that I haven't been posting. (What is this? My 9th hiatus apology post?) I guess I'm in the middle of a "mid-blog" crisis (I don't know if that exists. If it doesn't, it does now!) For the past few months, I haven't had the motivation to write on my blog. I don't have a lot of time, because of schoolwork. I swear I have a dozens of things to write, but I just don't. I mean, I still haven't wrote about my trip to Hawaii two years ago. (Whoops.)

I mean I have had times when I can't write, but that's because I had nothing to write about. Now that I do, I just don't write. My interest in blogging isn't necessarily lost. I still want to blog, but I just feel like I don't have the motivation to do it.

Maybe it's because I've been interested in other things that seem more interesting than just writing. (Such as Minecraft and art.) So right now, I'm wondering. Am I really just bored of blogging or am I just lazy and keep putting it off? I really don't know!

Hopefully, this "mid-blog" crisis will stop soon and I can start writing more posts a month rather than just one or two. Again, I'm sorry for the hiatus. I'll be writing again soon once I find the time and motivation to do it. I just hope I can get over it and write a dozen posts next month to make up for the 3 months of almost nothing.
♥Petpet

Zombie Like Me

I have felt like a zombie this past few weeks. By zombie like, I don't mean my brain is half dead, I am constantly craving brains, or that I am walking irregularly. No I'm talking about me not being able to show facial expression... Like a zombie.

How did this all start? Well, it all started with me with an itchy eye. I started noticing that my eyes have been really irritated, especially my right one. At first, I thought that it was maybe just my dry contact lenses. Then it really started to irritate even without my contacts. My next instinct was that I might have symptoms of pink eye (which I've had before.)

A little after, I started to notice that my face was "swollen." I mean, when I rinsed my mouth on Tuesday (4th of February) night, I noticed that my lips weren't closing properly. When I smiled, the left side of my lips went to the side more than my right. My first instinct was that the left side of my face was just swollen because I smiled irregularly. Plus, the left felt puffier than the right.

My mom and I went to the doctor's office on that following Thursday to see about my "swollen" face. Turns out that it wasn't swollen but rather the right side of my face wasn't working properly. My eyes have been so dry because my eye hasn't been blinking properly. Half of my face was paralyzed with something called, "Bell's palsy." It wasn't a stroke or a brain condition. It was just my facial nerves are in shock and don't work very well. Why? The doctor isn't sure but it is probably because I caught a nasty virus while being sick. The virus got to my nerves and made half of my face paralyzed. So for the past week, I've been "sick" and trying to recover my facial nerves. (I had to take a steroid for 7 days to try and stimulate my facial nerves again.)

What just happened to me?!

It's weird having half your face not working. I tell my brain to smile and only half of my face responds. No matter how much I smile, I only get it half way. My face looks abnormal and unnatural. The first few days of Bell's palsy, I looked in the mirror and smiled. When you cover half my face, the left side is happy and cheerful while the other side is like an unresponsive blinking doll. IT IS SUPER CREEPY. If it was Halloween, then Bell's palsy would make me an amazing costume/Halloween effect. Sadly, that wasn't the case.

I get to wear an eyepatch at night... so that's kinda cool?

It's been about a week since I've been diagnosed with Bell's palsy and right now, I'm feeling pretty good. Not all of my facial nerves are back but at least I can smile a little bit. My eye is less irritated and dry but still not blinking properly. (It still looks extremely awkward when I show a lot of expression like frowning or laughing though.) It sucks having Bell's palsy but I'm slowing recovering and support from friends and family help me through.
♥Petpet

*Pictures belong to rightful owner.
Read more about a reporter's experience with Bell's Palsy

Lunar New Year 2014

HAPPY LUNAR NEW YEAR!

I hope everyone has great fortune and luck for the year of horse. The horse year is supposed to be good for many people.

So eat lots of yummy food, watch lion/dragon dances, spend time with family, and get lots of red envelopes this year!

Gong xi fa cai! (Gong hay fat choy!)

❤Petpet

(Sorry for such a short post. I will post more about my Lunar New Year once I have some free time from the festivities and schoolwork.) 

Half way to 100,000!

Woohoo! GUESS WHAT?!

PETPET'S ROOM AND SPEEDY WING'S HIDEOUT JUST REACHED 50,000 VIEWS!

That is halfway to 100,000! It might not seem a lot but this blog has come a very long way. In about two and a half years, it finally reached 50,000 views with less than 200 posts!

I know I have been slacking a lot but I appreciate each one of my followers that still bother to read this blog.
I also appreciate those random people who come and just visit to learn a little bit about Poptropica or read weird stuff I post.
 I also appreciate Shoeless Panda who was my first co-writer and helped me out a little bit (even though she suddenly vanished months later.)
And Animalfan for attempting to be a writer here.
A huge thanks to my other co-writer and friend, Captain Busy Seagull for taking the time to write his wonderful adventure to "Legendary Swords" and "Poptropolis 2012." (For those wondering where he's been, he is still really busy with school and life so it's uncertain when he will start writing again.)
Another thank you to whomever else I'm forgetting! (Shiny Sun doesn't really care too much about the recognition, in case you are wondering.)

I hope that I have time to post more soon! Right now, I am a month behind schedule on what I want to post. So, it's not that I don't have stories to tell, I just haven't had the time to write them all down in an entertaining way. ^^;

Constant schoolwork is getting to me right now...

Thanks for all the support and hopefully, we can get to that 100,000 views soon!?
♥Petpet

These pictures belong to rightful owner. I do not own any of them.

Welcome 2014!

Happy 2014 everyone!

I felt like I slacked a lot on my posting in 2013 but I also had a fun/busy year! 

Here are the few highlights of this blog in 2013.

• I started Project 365... It only lasted a week.
• I tried archery for the first time!
• Started a new series: Animes, Watch or Not? I'll do more this year.
• Rocked at my second attempt at archery
• Survived 3rd semester of school
• Poptropolis started sinking
• I dissected chicken wings for Biology class
• Poptropolis Sunk
• Crazy post about how to lose your eye
• Posted some of my digital art
• Year of the Snake
• Special treat on Valentine's Day
• Introduced everyone to Lindsey Sterling
• New Poptropica Look for me
• Lied so I could take care of mom
• We had a huge drill lockdown at school
• Had a bracelet activity at school
• Dissected frogs for biology
• Wrote an outstanding policy paper
• Opinionated my voice on how Dreamworks is not Disney
• FAILED April Fools
• Reached 20,000 views
• Talked about Boston Bombing
• Day at Spanish Language Fair!
• Watched Iron Man 3
• "Graduated" from 9th Grade
• Cried on my Birthday (Since my last day at the school.)
• Had 1 Book Reviews: #11: Night
• Introduced to a great group: Pentatonix
• Celebrated Shiny's 11th Birthday
• Drove for the first time (my only time)
• Went to Vegas during my Busy Summer
• Went to the lake
• 10th Grade Registration
• Gave tips on Poptropica's "Create Your Dream Island" Contest
• Started 10th Grade
• First week of High School
• Got rid of my braces
• Tips on how to have fun at an amusement park
• Went to Homecoming and slow-danced with a guy for the first time in my life
• More artwork
• Wrote a proud sonnet
• Poptropolis Games 2013
• Went to my first Husky Howl
• Missed Pocky Day
• Showed-off my hour spent Still-Life
• Watched a production of the Wonderful Wiz of Oz
• Attempted to post 7 days straight and failed. I only managed 4: Winter Break, Christmas Eve Joys, What We Got for Christmas, Fashion from the Room: Boots

(Petpet= Spongebob. Readers= Gary)
Readers: "HOW LONG IS YOUR LIST, PETPET?!"

I posted more this year but I felt like I didn't post as much about Poptropica, Fashion, or Book Reviews. Overall, there was a lot of "firsts" in 2013 for me. :)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Now time to see if I followed my New Years Resolutions:

In 2013, I resoluted:

Live life
I'm still alive, right?
Keep up my grades
Still straight A's!
Be more social
Eh... I tried but the school change didn't help.
Help out my parents more
I did this... more or less.
Try to not come online when I have homework (this is gonna be a tricky one)
Haha. No.
Improve my music skills
It's improved but I still get nerves
Post more
I posted much more, for sure.
Make the world a better place
I've been trying to help people I know and don't know when they are having a hard time so I guess I made the world slightly better.
Try new things
I tried being a little more edgy... and more social.
Become a bigger Otaku

This, I didn't have to try at all.

Not too bad... Got most of my resolutions crossed off! 

This year, I'm going to make it short and similar to last years:

• Post more
• Keep my grades up
• Socialize
• Stop angering parents (not staying up so late, helping out, etc.)
• Start volunteer work
• Find a job during summer?
• STOP PROCRASTINATING (Difficult)
• Stay healthy
• Improve my music skills, writing, and reading skills
• DRAW MORE (added on January 2nd)
• Confess the guy I like? (Not a resolution but something I want to do during the year.)

Seems pretty easy... but will I do them all? Probably not. Happy New Year, everyone! I hope you had a great 2013 and look forward to the new year!

Let's start this year right!

♥Petpet
Pictures belong to rightful owner!

Fashion from the Room: Boots

When it is cold outside, you want to keep your feet warm. One of my favorite ways to keep warm is not only to wear "fuzzy socks" but to also wear boots. There is a wide variety of boots to wear. From short ankle boots all the way to knee high boots. Not only do they keep you warm but they can match many outfits, depending on the boots.

If you have just have simple boots in black or brown, they are always easily matched with. It is likely to see a girl wearing her simple boots with her usual outfit. Boots are one type of shoe that I think girls should have. They are warm, cute, and can be worn formally and casually. I usually prefer the simpler boots just because it is much easier to match with outfits.

Here are examples of boots that I preferably like (all from my Pinterest board):

If you are feeling wild, you can always try different boots that are unique and a bit more flashy.



So get some boots if you haven't already. They don't have to be super fancy. They just have to be comfy for you, something that you like, and something that you could match with clothing easily (so you don't only wear it for "special" occasions.) Hope this gives you more of a fashion idea!

♥Petpet

Previous Fashion from the Room: Scarves

What we got for Christmas...

I hope you all had a Merry Christmas! I was so busy and lazy today that I yet again, posted when it's almost midnight! I stayed home all day and slept in, so there wasn't really much I did but relax. There just wasn't very much for me to do.

I did get to open my presents though. This is what I got:

I got clothes, make-up, perfume/lotion, paints, a pen, and The Piano Guy's Album. I have to say, it's not everything that I had on my wishlist but I'm happy with what I got. Warm clothes are always nice for cold winter days. Cute skirts are nice for when I'm feeling a little girly (as well as the make-up). I've been into piano and painting a lot this year so those are also perfect gifts!

Shiny Sun/Hannah Bunny got a couple of gifts too:

Shiny got a Kidz Bop Sing-a-Long microphone toy, a "Crazloom" bracelet kit, a kid's art kit, and a "Trio" tablet. The Kidz Bop toy was just something I found at the store that I thought she would like... I was wrong. I wanted to find Harry Potter/Pokemon stuff for her but it's impossible to find cheap items of those brands at stores now-a-days. The two art kits are for her to be creative since she loves to draw and make bracelets. (I should get her to post some of her drawings sometime.) And then of course, there's the "Trio" Android tablet. That has to be her favorite gift. (Now she no longer has to steal my iPod.) Shiny also got a few other small items such as ornaments and clothing.

One of our aunt/uncle gave the two of us a kit that is almost the exact same as the "Crazloom" kit our other aunt/uncle gave to Shiny. Well, great minds think alike, right?

I also got little presents from my friends and our neighbors which were delicious. (Chocolate, banana bread, and popcorn galore!)

So that was my Christmas. I was originally going to get an iPad but I really didn't want it. My mom has been asking for an iPad for almost a year now, so instead, I gave it to her as a surprise. I am happy for what I got and I don't want any more electronics than I need. Sure, it would be nice to play on Xbox and Playstation but sometimes, it's nice to have little gifts that will make me happy then play games all day. (I already do enough of that on the computer.)

I hope you all had a great day or a Merry Christmas! (Depending on whether you celebrate it or not.)

♥Petpet [and Shiny Sun... kinda]

Christmas Eve Joys

Today has been a good day. A lot of good thing has happened. 

•Visit from a few neighbors: A tradition in our neighborhood is to give gifts for people on your street (or just your closest neighbors.) We already delivered our gifts but there were a couple of neighbors who came to our house to give gifts. I just love seeing all these small presents from my neighbors. Even if we aren't super close to each other, it's nice that we are all a community. So it was nice to get little treats from our neighbors. :)

•"New" neighbors: On one of the neighbors that dropped by our house today were familiar faces. Except, the last time we saw them, they didn't live 2 houses down the street! Today, my childhood guy friend who lived only a few blocks away, became my next door neighbor (well, almost next door neighbor.) I was surprised to hear that because I thought that I would never be able to see him again after I left our neighborhood elementary school. Now that he lives two houses down, I can no longer avoid him. I just hate that he had to see me looking my worst (messy hair, glasses, bad outfit, etc.) Not a good impression.

•Visit from an old friend: My mom's friend came over with her 4 boys today and they were happy to see us. They are the cutest boys ever. It was just nice to see them after 6 months.

•Visit from my Aunt Lisa and Uncle Minh: Right when I thought we couldn't get more visitors, we got one more visitor before leaving for the Christmas party. My aunt and uncle came and dropped off presents for ShinySun and me.  It was nice to see them before Christmas. I don't see them enough.

•Christmas party with the family: I had a Christmas party at my cousin's house (Uncle Loc's house) and it was so much fun. Sure, I didn't do much but it was nice to hang out with family. The adults had a gift raffle and it was amazing. Not only did people get good stuff but others got bad stuff... Like underwear and dog toys. It was a priceless moment. My mom got a cute little towel cartoon thing and it was adorable. I am typing this at the party because I know that I won't get home until after midnight... So yeah. The party was so much fun but it was exhausting.

I hope you all had a nice Christmas Eve! I sure did. I'll be sure to post my Christmas stuff in a couple of hours. Goodnight for now!

❤Sleepy Petpet

P.S. Sorry if the text is different. I typed I from my iPod Touch notepad.

Winter Break!

Don't worry. I didn't forget about my promise.

I've just been so busy with Christmas shopping, doing housework, and other things that I haven't had the time to actually sit at my computer and type up something until now... when it's almost 12PM. (Hooray for Christmas preparations! Making me as busy as ever.) Although it is probably December 24th in majority of the time zones... But it's still the 23rd for me, so it counts!

At this point, I am so glad to not have school. I mean, my last week of school was just one word: TESTS. In almost every single one of my classes, I had an assessment (which was a test or project of some sort) before the end of break. It is really stressful to have to worry about Christmas, piano, and 8+ different assessments in one week. While other schools are watching fun holiday themed movies and just chilling, I get work in all of my classes. I didn't get to watch any movie or play any games. I just sat in a classroom, taking tests and such.

Friday wasn't all that stressful but everyone was hoping that school would be cancelled since it was a day before the break started. We had a big snow storm on Thursday so everyone was hoping there would be enough snow the next day (Friday) so we could just not go to school. Sadly, the snow stopped all of Friday and decided to come back on Saturday instead. Even though we didn't do much on Friday, I'm kinda glad I went to school.

Boy's Drill Team performed these girl's dance to
"Jingle Bell Rock."

There was an assembly at the end of the school day (which majority of the seniors and juniors left) that was just a school holiday concert. The band, concert choir, bell choir, and dance company performed for different segments of the assembly. There was a lot of laughing as the student body officers tried to raise as much money as possible for our school fundraiser. It was just a fun assembly to get everyone into the holiday spirit and a "Happy Holidays from Your High School!" I have to say, my favorite part of the whole assembly was when the "Boy's Drill Team" performed. (The "team" is just the male student body officers making fun of the girl's drill team.) Their Christmas performance was very amazing. Not only did they do some choreography from "This is Halloween" from The Night Before Christmas but they also performed "Jingle Bell Rock" from Mean Girls. They didn't have the dresses but the red short-shorts, red snowman t-shirt, and black panty hose was good enough to make it memorable.

Hopefully things will calm down a bit after Christmas because right now, my winter break has been crazy hectic (even without school.) I hope you are all having a nice winter break as well!
♥Petpet
Pictures belong to rightful owner!

To my Fellow Follwers...

I apologize to all my fellow friends and followers for not posting recently.

The amount of work I've been doing this past month
(Okay, maybe that's a slight exaggeration.)

As you probably guessed, I've been extremely busy with school and life. I've been wanting to post a lot of stuff but I haven't had the time with the amount of things going on in life! Not only have I had to study for many classes, write essays, do projects, and keep up my social life, I also had to get ready for the holidays coming up!

I've just been completely swamped with things to do  that I don't have time to write. So, as an apology for not posting for almost a month, I'm going to make a commitment and post something everyday next week! Yup. I have never posted more than 2-3 days in a row so this will be a first for me! (I'm doing this because I need to post more and my winter break from school starts next week.) So look forward to the 7 day post from me! It will start on December 22 or 23.

Also, here's a little piece of artwork as an apology for my inactiveness. I did not too long ago for a contest. I didn't win but it was fun to draw.

I hope you all stay happy and warm... if you are in the northern hemisphere.
♥A busy and freezing Petpet

The Wonderful Wiz

The Original "The Wiz"

On Thursday, November 21st, I went to see my high school production of "The Wiz." I usually don't watch live productions because they aren't cheap. (When they are though, I am all over for the production!)  "The Wiz" is a production of The Wizard of Oz. It's not any version of "The Wiz." It's the "soul version" of the Wizard of Oz!

I really enjoyed the show. The cast did well. Not only was there a lot of good music and dancing, but there was also a lot of good humor and acting. The main leads did an amazing job portraying the characters. I loved all the characters-- Including the Wicked Witch of the West.

As I watched Dorothy and her new friends travel on the yellow brick road to the Emerald City, I felt as if I were on the adventure with them. I was always hoping for the Lion to gain his courage, Tin man to gain his heart, and scarecrow to gain his brains. It was also a little nostalgic because I always remembered being afraid and also loving The Wizard of Oz when I was little. It just kind of made me happy to see everything I watched as a kid on TV, coming to life by mypeers.

Dorothy's slippers were originally
silver until the 1939 movie of The
Wizard of Oz made the slippers ruby
to take advantage of "Technicolor."

I went to not only watch the production, but to also support my friends who are in the musical! Although they didn't have any lead roles, they did an amazing job as part of the chorus. They spent days after school rehearsing for the musical. Even if they have small roles, they change the mood of the auditorium quickly. I
was so proud to see them perform.

♥Petpet

P.S. I feel that my favorite character now has to be Lion and Tin Man. I never really liked them until I saw them on stage. The actors portrayed them so well that I fell in love with them. (I also fell in love with the Good Witch of the South: Addaperle. She was so optimistic and quirky that I loved her. Glinda used to be my favorite witch but that might have changed....)

Pictures belong to rightful owner!

My Awesome Still-Life

I have drawn (or at least attempted to draw) a still-life before this year. The result? Let's just say... it looked nothing like a still-life. In fact, it just looked like a black and white charcoal outline of random objects.

So this year, I had to draw another still-life for Drawing 1 class. We could either bring a picture of the still life to class or choose from our teacher's collection of photos. I couldn't figure out what I wanted to do so I chose something random from my teacher's collection. (None of them were easy.) My instinct was 'I'm going to fail.' Of course, I didn't want to fail so I spent about 9-10 hours total on my still-life.

It could have improved much more but that's all I wanted to do since I spent so much time on it already. I turned my project in and received a 98%, which I was proud of.

Earlier this month, the school announced that they were displaying student artwork at the front of the school in front of the auditorium. MY STILL LIFE GOT DISPLAYED! All the other artworks displayed were original still-lifes and only my friend's and mine was from the teacher's collection.

I'm usually proud of my artwork but this is one of the best ones I've had yet.
❤Petpet

I MISSED POCKY DAY?!

For those of you that don't know, I am huge fan of Japanese culture. Last year, when I was really getting into Japanese culture, I learned that November 11th was Pocky day! I didn't even know that something like that existed but it did... which I was so excited about. I promised myself that I would remember it this year (2013)... TURNS OUT I FORGET!

So, what is Pocky? It a thin biscuit stick that is covered in chocolate or different flavors. This is a common snack for Japanese teenagers but most people like pocky because it's such a light snack. Pocky can be addicting though.

The only flavors I've tasted are strawberry and chocolate but in other countries, they have dozens of pocky flavors. (I really want to try them all someday!) You can usually find these in Asian supermarkets and they are usually pretty cheap.

Since there's a holiday to celebrate Pocky, there must be a game with Pocky too, right? I've heard of the "Pocky Game" many times but I've actually never played it before. It seems kinda fun though:

The only "problem" with the Pocky Game is that your face is literally less than a foot away from your friend's face. I guess another point of the Pocky Game is to also get two people close enough so their lips touch and they kiss. (The things Japanese teenagers play!) I guess it's a good way to get two people who like each other together but, it's not my type of thing. I learned a way to win the Pocky Game without kissing though. Don't even take it slowly. You just go and bite the middle in one big swoop and intimidate your friend. (You can't both do it though or else everything won't end well.)

Or you can just do this and not play at all:

Well, that was your education on Pocky for today! Hopefully next year I won't forget about Pocky Day! I really want to try and make my friends eat some Pocky and have them try the Pocky Game. 

Until next time!

♥Petpet

All pictures go to original owner! I just wanted to share about Pocky and wanted to use these images as a reference. I take no credit with ownership of the pictures.