Author: Ana

Moana Knows the Way

Disney came out with it’s newest Disney Princess movie on November 23. Her name is Moana and I could definitely say that this was another amazing feat by Disney.

The movie Moana takes place in Ancient Polynesia on an island where Moana, the daughter of the island chief ventures out to save her island and restore the heart of Te Fiti. In order to do this she has to find Maui, a demigod who stole the heart many years ago, and take him with her. Together the two sail the sea, encounter many monsters and challenges, and grow as friends. As this happens, there’s a lot of singing and good action that Disney always does a fabulous job with. I’m trying so hard not to leave any spoilers!

I really enjoyed the plot of this Disney movie as there were some twists that I honestly didn’t expect from Disney. They helped make the movie more emotional and intriguing.

The animation was amazing and Moana’s hair has honestly become my goals. Haha. The settings were well put together and the entire movie was professionally and masterfully put together. I would expect no less from Disney!

Moana, Maui, and the other characters who appeared more often in the movie were easy to relate to, had great stories behind them, and were so easy to get attached to. I absolutely loved Moana’s chicken, Hei Hei. Even though he couldn’t speak, his squawking and actions were hilarious and made him one of my favorite characters, easily.

The music for this movie was brilliant. After seeing the movie, I’ve listened to the soundtrack a little too much lately, but it’s honestly hard not to listen to it! The vocals and instrumentals were great and I really enjoyed listening to it. The music of Moana is different from any Disney movie, ever and I think that helps it stand out and really make it unique. My favorite songs from the movie are “Shiny” and “How Far I’ll Go”. They’re great.

Overall, I highly recommend Moana and hope that you all enjoy it or did enjoy it as much as I did. Moana is a beautiful princess and the message of the movie is very powerful and the different culture of Moana and her people is refreshing and interesting.

I can’t wait to see what else Disney comes up with!

December 4, 2016
Here Comes Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving is happening this Thursday! AHH! It feels like holidays are coming faster and faster every year. Maybe it’s just me… Anyway, Thanksgiving is a great time to reflect on everything we have to be thankful for. I haven’t done an acrostic poem/compilation of quotes in a while, and so now is a good time to do that.

T- The happiest people do not have the best of everything. They make the best of everything they have.

H- Harvey Mackay once said, “None of us got to where we are alone. Whether the assistance we received was obvious or subtle, acknowledging someone’s help is a big part of understanding the importance of saying thank you.”

A- “At times our own light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another person. Each of us has cause to think with deep gratitude of those who have lighted the flame within us.” -Albert Schweitzer

N- “No matter what our circumstances, we can find a reason to be thankful.” –Dr. David Jeremiah

K- Kay Arthur once said, “God is in control, and therefore in EVERYTHING I can give thanks – not because of the situation but because of the One who directs and rules over it.”

S- “Sincerely giving thanks not only helps us recognize our blessings, but it also unlocks the doors of heaven.” -Thomas S. Monson

Don’t forget that Thanksgiving isn’t the only day you should give thanks for your lives. Be grateful every day for all you have. Have a wonderful week and a great Thanksgiving! 🙂

November 20, 2016
A Review of the Galaxy S7

Both Samsung and Apple came out with their 7th version of smartphones this year. Personally, I am more of an Apple person but my parents have a plan with Samsung smartphones and finally decided to upgrade their own phones and allow Allyson and I to join their plan. This is the first smartphone I’ve ever had and I’d like to say that I’m pretty impressed with it. Here’s my impression on the Samsung Galaxy S7 phone.

I really liked the color choices on for the phone, even if black and gold were the only choices. They’re simple and classy. The screen is big enough to see pictures or watch videos and also view and send texts without having to squint or struggle to view them.

One thing I really like about the Galaxy S7 is how fast it runs and how high-quality the camera is. It takes really nice pictures and also offers many cool options for panorama pictures and even food pictures! The “selfie” camera is not my favorite, however because it makes your subject appear somewhat distorting, giving a person a bigger forehead or bringing out certain features in a weird manner.

Unlike Apple’s iPhone 7, the Galaxy S7 still has a headphone jack, allowing people to still listen to music through headphones you have to plug into the phone. Honestly, I think airbuds look kind of funny, so I prefer to use earbuds or headphones that you have to plug in.

The battery lasts for a long time, not that I can tell you exactly how long, but it lasts me throughout the day and even two as long as it was fully-charged.

The Galaxy S7 is easy to navigate as the apps are easy to locate and settings and other information are easy to access. Another really great thing about the S7 is the security options. I know that Apple also uses fingerprint ID to lock smartphones, but the technology with that is really cool. On top of setting a fingerprint ID on the S7, you can set up a passcode to maximize protection on your phone.

In addition to these many features of the Galaxy S7, it is water-resistant, meaning it will not be damaged if you drop in water or spill a liquid on it. I would not recommend submerging your phone in water for a long time, just because that doesn’t sound like a good idea, even if the phone is water resistant. What you could do is purchase a life-proof case and then use your S7 underwater if you like. The idea of phones and water just don’t mix with me, but it’s so cool that the technology today allows people to do things like that!

If you’re looking for a new smartphone that has a good battery life, good storage, high quality camera, and many other good features, I would recommend the Galaxy S7. It’s a neat phone with a lot of great features to help make your life more simple!

November 6, 2016
How Was Homecoming?

My school’s homecoming was yesterday, which is kind of late for a homecoming. I am definitely tired today and I slept in until around noon which was really nice. Homecoming was great!

My school does an entire celebratory week around homecoming with spirit-dress-up days, Llabtoof (Powder-puff football), a huge homecoming assembly, and the big home football game on Friday. This year, our theme was games, board games, video games, really any type of game (not including sports). We called it “It’s Your Move: A Week of Games” and our spirit days revolved around the theme. We had Cranium Day where everyone dressed like a nerd, Dance Dance Revolution Day where everyone dressed in Jazzercise attire, school-spirit day, Game of Life Day where everyone dressed as either a baby, toddler, frat boy, mom, dad, or senior citizen, and then class color day. The days were easy to dress up for as well as a lot of fun. Who wouldn’t enjoy wearing leg warmers and fuzzy green dance spandex to school? (I definitely wore leggings under the spandex.) It was cool to see most of the students participate in the spirit days.

Throughout the week we also had our llabtoof game which is the powder-puff football game. The junior and senior girls played flag football and the junior and senior guys were the cheerleaders. Freshmen helped cheer for the juniors and sophomores cheered for the seniors. Before llabtoof, student council helped put on a tailgate and a lot of people came to hang out and eat some good food. It was really cool to see the entire school come together and have some fun. This all took place on Wednesday.

On Friday we had our homecoming pep-assembly which was sweet! We called it “Battleship” because the whole week was like a battle between the classes, like the game Battleship in a way. So clever… Anyway, there were several games that were played and there was a lot of cheering during the assembly. People seemed really excited about homecoming and I heard that many people think it was one of the best homecoming assemblies yet! At the big football game Friday night, we won 54-13 (YEAH!) and announced our homecoming royalty. Another special thing done that night was a presentation of roses to all of the alumni.

After all of the excitement during the week, on Saturday we had the dance which was themed Candyland, still tying into our theme of games in general. Even though the dance floor was small and our DJ could’ve been a bit more enthusiastic and passionate about his work, the dance was so much fun. We had a photo booth, jumbo chess, checkers, Connect 4, and even Dance Dance Revolution at the dance. There were a lot of activities for people to do besides dance and I think that helped make it a packed and successful homecoming.

I’m so glad homecoming went well and I hope it went well for all of you that attended it! I hope you all made smart decisions and made some lasting memories at homecoming. Most schools don’t have many dances, and homecoming is a special time in high school. Until next year! I’m probably going to go take a nap now. 🙂

October 23, 2016
Getting a Grasp on Junior Year

I’ve had friends tell me that junior year of high school is the most fun year besides senior year. I’ve also heard that it’s the worst, in that you’re swamped with homework and you’re contacting colleges, and everything is a mess. While I would say that I’ve enjoyed school so far, I would definitely agree with others on that junior year is rough!

Almost every night, even during the first week of school, my minimum homework load is 2 hours a night. That makes sense granted that I’m taking three AP classes and advanced physics (ugh). It’s important to challenge yourself and do what you can to learn all that you can, so that you’re prepared for college. Something important I’ve learned about junior year, is that you need time for yourself and time to let your brain take a break, otherwise you’ll be toast. At the beginning of the school year, I was staying up at least until one in the morning most nights doing all of my homework and I was absolutely miserable. I relearned that procrastination is NEVER the way to go and time-management is key to balancing school, tennis, student council, piano, and everything else I do.

I’ve also learned that I really enjoy using a planner this year. I have a color-coding system I use to symbolize what assignments I’ve completed and still have to do. I also use different colors to highlight events in and out of school daily. This ranges from quizzes and tests to a tutoring session or something for student council. Writing for my blog is even in my planner! What I’m trying to say, if you didn’t get it already, is that organization is crucial to knowing what’s going on in the world around you. You want to stay on top of your life and a planner is a good way to do that.

One other thing that I’ve found to be really important with junior year is allowing myself to have some fun and do things I’ve never done before. I’ve gone to more sporting events to support a variety of my school’s athletic teams. I’ve been more vocal in student council, attended multiple leadership conferences, and done a bunch of other cool things to make this year even more memorable than freshman or sophomore year. High school only happens once so you have to make the most of it while you’re there!

So for those of you curious about junior year, yes it is hard, but yes it is also a lot of fun. Study hard, ask questions, stay organized, and have fun. You’ll stay afloat that way.

Have a great week! 🙂

October 16, 2016
Empowered Poem

I played in a tennis tournament yesterday that went really well. I feel like I’ve been struggling a bit lately to feel confident in my playing, but yesterday helped boost that. I may have won three of my matches and lost three of my matches, but everything I learned will help me improve my actual game as well as my mental game.

It’s also really awesome that fall is starting to actually show up on the trees here in Colorado. We had a nice, rainy day this week and I got to wear a cozy sweater and feel all bundled up. Winter is definitely my favorite season, but fall comes in at a close second.

Anyways, I’ve been able to do a lot of writing in my AP Lang class and we recently were able to write poems based off of pictures we took of words throughout the school. Here’s what I came up with. Enjoy!

No one can make you inferior without your consent
You don’t need a reason to help people,
Learn your weaknesses and fears.
Embrace them, then nobody will be able to use them.
Everyone is a genius,
so be kind and love others.
Your silent presence is more powerful than a million empty words.
You are worthy.
You empowered.

Sorry for such a short post this Sunday. Poems are fun to write and when you have an idea of what you want to write, they’re quick and easy to get done. Gotta love writing! 🙂 Have a great week!

October 9, 2016
I’m Going to New York!

Today has been an extremely busy and also exciting day. This evening, I found out that I will be heading to New York in July to attend the IMTA, or International Modeling & Talent Association convention. Ahh!

For those of you that aren’t familiar with the modeling industry and IMTA itself, IMTA stands for International Modeling & Talent Association (as mentioned above). It’s the biggest and most prestigious convention of its sort in the entire world. There will be over 800 other models and talents there and over 300 agents, casting directors, and other people searching for new faces to represent their agencies and work for them worldwide. There is not a guarantee that I will sign with an agency through my time at IMTA, but it will be a wonderful chance to get to meet some amazing people and have some fun!

Through my agency, I will be going through some training to prepare for the events I will be competing in over the next eight months so that I will be comfortable with my events and be prepared to do well.

At the audition, I had to do a cold read commercial, walk, and talk with some amazing ladies from my agency as well as a scout from IMTA who was super sweet and a pleasure to get to meet.

I’m so excited about this is that I haven’t been able to do a lot of modeling through my agency because I was injured and there hasn’t been much to do. I’m honored to be able to represent Southwest Models and Talent and the biggest modeling and talent showcase in the world. IMTA will be a great opportunity to improve and show myself to agents from all over the world.

In addition to that, I haven’t been to New York, ever so this will be another adventure for me. It’ll also be another chance for me to add a keychain to my state keychain collection. I’m such a dork, haha.

Counting down the months New York! 🙂

October 2, 2016
Creative Writing Piece

In my AP Lang and Comp class, we’ve had creative writing time on Wednesdays since the beginning of school. I feel like outside of this time in class, I haven’t had much time do write because I’ve had a ridiculous amount of homework the past week or two. Yay for not going to bed until 1:30 on most nights! Not really, but anyway, here is my creative writing piece from class. Enjoy!

The character I was given was Angelica Barner, age 31. She is an astronomer. She enjoys tap dancing, playing her trombone, and has 14 pet ferrets all named after Harry Potter characters.

“Oh Harry, I can’t tell NASA that I discovered an alien race. They’ll destroy them! Well I know they’ll find out eventually but this is too much to bear right now. I just found out I qualified for the International Professional Trombone Competition and this job with NASA is something I was hired for only a week ago. Now I know being the head of the Pioneer Telescope traveling into Galaxy XS3-1 is a huge responsibility and there’s other people’s jobs riding on my shoulders but is the destruction of another race worth my position at NASA? I don’t know what to do. I’m required to report new findings from the telescope to my director, but I can’t. I simply can’t. Snape, I don’t appreciate the sad ferret eyes right now. Now’s serious time. Something doesn’t seem right about Director Johnson’s whole mission into this new galaxy and if it involves knowing about extraterrestrial life, I won’t let him have it. My funded tap-dancing lessons may be taken away and my job could possibly be as well, but maybe that’ll give me enough time to figure out how to save this alien race. So for now, I’m going to sit here with all my babies on my lap, play a tune on my trombone, and figure out how I’ll protect this alien planet.”

Have a good week!

September 25, 2016
Marty and Boo the Adorable Two

In case you didn’t know already, I have two wire-haired bundles of energy named Marty and Boo who are seven and six. I feel like I haven’t written about them as much as I could be and now felt like a good time to write about them.

We got Marty six days after my tenth birthday and I had never been more excited to get anything in my entire life. He had a little black and orange bow attached to his tiny blue collar and his tail was wagging a hundred miles a minute when he saw us for the first time. We got Marty from a dachshund breeder in Cortez, Colorado and she did an amazing job prepping him to live with us. Marty already knew how to sit, sit pretty, and roll over for belly rubs. He was also potty-trained too which was so helpful for us. Since that first day with our little Mar, he’s been a wonderful, silly, and SUPER smart companion.

We got Boo a short year and a half later from the same breeder. We knew that Marty was lonely when we left the house, and so getting him a little brother was good decision. Boo was so much smaller than Marty when we first got him and he was the shyest and sweetest little dachshund I ever met. Boo has a really cute little bunch of silver hair on his head that sticks up on its own when it gets long enough and his left ear sits funny. We call it his “awkward ear” and Boo also earned the nickname, Punk Skunk after the silver streak top of his head. Anyways, Boo and Marty have gotten along great and have been the best playmates and brothers ever, even if Marty considers himself alpha around Boo.

Both Marty and Boo are super smart, cute, and talented. They also have a strong passion for eating. (Who doesn’t?!) Marty and Boo both know how to do the basics like sit, sit pretty, fetch, speak, and so on. Marty also knows how to say my mom’s name and beg for carrots. Boo prefers to bark at my family until he gets what he wants. On top of that, Boo enjoys singing along when I play the piano. He pulls the notes and gets louder and quieter as I do. It’s adorable! They both know the words “squirrel”, “car trip”, “walk”, “up”, and “upstairs” very well. Marty and Boo eat a wide variety of things, including Eukanaba specific breed food (Dachshund), carrots, cheese, celery, cucumbers, spaghetti, chicken, rice, apples, and so much more. I’m pretty sure I could write a solid blog post about all of the things my doggies eat… I’ll save that for later if I ever need to.

On the way to New Mexico, I decided Marty needed to try on my sunglasses. Definitely a good idea.

Boo was probably just about to start barking in this picture.

So that’s Marty and Boo! I’ll probably write more about them in the future so I hope you look forward to that! If you’re interested in getting a furry, four-legged companion, and specifically a dachshund, click here for the link to the breeder that my family and I got Marty and Boo from. I know that their wait list is pretty long for puppies right now, but it’ll definitely be worth the wait if you’re interested. In addition to that, Marty and Boo are on Instagram at martyandboo if you’d like to follow them there.

Dachshunds are great dogs. They’re super smart, adorable, and active pets. Marty and Boo are two of the most amazing creatures I’ve ever met and I’m so glad to have my fuzzy little boys in my life.

September 18, 2016
Here’s a Few Jokes

Today marks an important as well as very sad day in American history. Thank you to all of the first responders and those who helped recover people from Ground Zero. My thoughts and prayers go out to all of the families affected by the tragedy. Never forget. On this day, I’d like to be able to give everyone something to smile about. With that in mind, here’s a few jokes!

Why did the chewing gum cross the road?

He was stuck on the bottom of the chicken’s foot.

Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson decide to go on a camping trip. After dinner and a bottle of wine, they lay down for the night, and go to sleep. Some hours later, Holmes awoke and nudged his faithful friend. “Watson, look up at the sky and tell me what you see. “Watson replied, “I see millions of stars.” “What does that tell you?” Watson pondered for a minute. “Astronomically, it tells me that there are millions of galaxies and potentially billions of planets.” “Astrologically, I observe that Saturn is in Leo.” “Horologically, I deduce that the time is approximately a quarter past three.” “Theologically, I can see that God is all powerful and that we are small and insignificant.” “Meteorologically, I suspect that we will have a beautiful day tomorrow.” “What does it tell you, Holmes?” Holmes was silent for a minute, then spoke: “Watson, you idiot. Someone has stolen our tent!”

A burglar broke into a home. He heard a soft voice say, “Jesus is watching you.” Thinking it was his imagination, he continued his search. Again, he hears: “Jesus is watching you.” He turned his flashlight around and saw a parrot in a cage. He asked the parrot if he was the one talking. The parrot said, “Yes.” So he asked the parrot his name, and the parrot replied, “Moses.” The burglar asked, “What kind of people would name a parrot Moses? “The parrot replied, “The same kind of people who would name their pit bull, Jesus.”

Parallel lines have so much in common. It’s a shame they’ll never meet.

What do you call a fake noodle?

An impasta!

Me-What mouse walks on two legs?
Friend- I don’t know.
Me-Mickey Mouse
Me-What cat walks on two legs?
Friend-I don’t know, what cat?
Me- Tom from Tom and Jerry
Me-What duck walks on two legs?
Friend- Daffy Duck!
Me- No all ducks stupid!

Have a good week everyone. 🙂

September 11, 2016