Ever had those moments when...

Ever seen your life flash before your eyes?! Well I have...just today actually.


Before I go into what happened to me today I would like to tell you two incidents that happened to me before.


One incident occurred when I was up on the hill at my aunts farm riding four wheelers with my family. I never drove one before so I was so excited when I got the opportunity. It was a beat up old blue four wheeler, I hopped aboard with my dad on the back showing me how to use it. I started going and my dad hit the throttle about three times and the stinkin thing was going super fast. I was going to slow down, little did I know the brakes didn't work and my dad and I were headed into a tree that lead to many other trees going down hill. While heading towards the tree my dad and I both had that near death feeling. We hit the tree and luckily it stopped us and we didn't go rolling down the hill. We just had a mini heartache and I had a leg full of bruises.


Another incident was when I went to NYC for my 16th birthday. We were experiencing all the great things NYC had to offer. I knew the traffic was heavy and fast moving so I was careful. The group in front of me was crossing so I stepped in the road ready to follow them, when my brother grabbed my arm before a taxi took my life.


Today I was heading back from my walk with my mom when I looked both
ways and didn't see anything so I headed across. I live on a major route where the cars go 55-70 btw. All of a sudden my mom yelled my name and a car honked. I was literally two seconds from dying. Sad thing is it didn't really phase me and I haven't learned from any of these experiences. I have this way of thinking that people have the right of way and cars should stop for me not the other way around. I guess I am wrong about that and one day I will learn and I hope it isn't the hard way.

Book Report- Part 1

This book tells the story of the life of Alice Sebold. Alice lived in a small town right outside Philadelphia Pennsylvania with her parents and her older sister Mary. Her dad worked as a Spanish professor at Pennsylvania University and because of his great understanding and speaking of Spanish he traveled all across the world. Her mother did not have a job because she always had anxiety attacks that would interfere with her job. Her sister Mary went to Pennsylvania University where she studied Arab and always dreamed of moving to Siberia. Alice was attending Syracuse University and majoring in poetry. She loved reading and writing and attended every poetry class they offered and just fell in love with what poetry brought to the table. She made many friends along the way, but most of her friends just came and went, none really stuck around. She loved Syracuse because back when she went to school up there, there was little to no crime unlike today.  She loved cruising up and down Marshall Street, hitting up the bars for a good meal with her friends. One day after leaving a bar on Marshall Street she was heading back to her dorm when she encountered a man that would forever change her life.

Book Report- Part 2

The theme in this book is lucky which is pretty crazy when the book itself is called Lucky. When you go and read this book you will soon learn that her unluckiness turns to luck. Alice is a person that goes through a lot of ups and downs while trying to enjoy herself at college. She has a lot of things happen to her that we couldn’t even imagine happening to us. One day someone broke into her apartment and did something horrible to her friend. This part is ironic because the very thing that happened to her also happened to her friend a few years later at the same school. It was also ironic that the person who committed this horrible act knew Alice and was stalking her and her friend without them even being aware of it. Through all the hard times her friend went through with what happened to her, Alice stuck by her friend day after day and someone always traveled with her and took her wherever she needed to go. She had gone through exactly what had happened to her friend and had an idea of what she was feeling, although everyone has their own emotions. She stayed strong, something she was good at, for her friend and her friend’s family but in the end they thought she was only making the situation worse so they drifted apart.

            Alice had great character not only was she independent she was an extremely determined person who always fought for what she believed in. When this horrible act happens to most people they feel ashamed, dirty, scared, and alone. Yes, Alice felt most these things in the beginning she changed her attitude because she knew she needed to be strong for her family and seek justice. The incident that happened to her in the early pages of the book turned her into an even stronger person than she was before. She continued to be independent and determined, but she became even more determined at the end of the book. She was determined to bring justice to her and her family and find whoever assaulted her and they were going to pay for what they have done. The person that did this to her will not be out in the world ready to strike again, not for as long as Alice was alive. As I mentioned before, she was a very determined person and at the end of the book you will see how her determination paid off.

Book Report- Part 3

I loved this book and I would read it again for sure. It was a book that was very detailed at the beginning and I couldn’t believe I was reading what I was reading. In this book Alice Sebold did a great job at using her words in a way that you could picture everything she was describing good or bad. I would not change a thing about this book it was fantastic in my eyes. It could be because I live 30 minutes from Syracuse and I could picture some of the streets she was talking about and picture Syracuse University as she talked about it but I felt so connected to the book in that sense.  When I picture Syracuse I picture scary shootings on every street and the Carousel mall but she described a Syracuse I never got to witness, a Syracuse that she described as safe. She described stepping out of her dorm room and walking everywhere she wanted to go and I am pretty sure people would not dare to do that nowadays and know exactly what streets to avoid if they happen to be walking.  I would recommend this book to teens, probably 8^th grade to senior citizens. This book is for anyone that understands what’s going on in the first few pages and people who are comfortable reading about it. I would recommend it to these people because they should understand what she is talking about.

It is very risqué in the first few pages and throughout the book but it has a great moral and theme and that’s why I would recommend this book. This book has a great story within it and talks about that even though something terrible can happen to you, good can come out of it. It also shows how if you fight for what you believe in you can succeed and to never give up on what you believe in. People these days of all ages need to realize that if you have a dream you need to follow it and let no one get in the way. This book proved that determination is the key to everyday success. Alice was really determined to make the person that caused harm to her and her family pay for what he did and she worked endlessly day and night for years to hold this person responsible for his actions and she did just that. The title tells it all she was definitely lucky with the outcome of her terrible situation.

Neighborhood junkyards

I'm sitting here sleeping my day away at my dads and looked outside just to realize how junky my neighbors houses are. The one next door is becoming more and more like a puppy mill. They get a puppy throw it in the fence, get another throw it in, and just last weekend got another one, so they can make babies. They aren't social at all and are almost big enough to jump over the fence and eat someone alive. ( the dogs that is not the people). The neighbors don't clean up their dog crap, it just piles up and when the wind blows lets just say either stay out back or close your windows because that smell is unbearable. When my neighbor was a bachelor he kept that house looking neat and clean then he married a woman and her three children, then they went on to have another. The house went from beautiful to nasty within a year of them being there. Throughout the years it has just gotten worse and they are never home and never attempt to make it look nice.


Across the road we have, well let's not mention their name because most people know them and they are just as trashy. Broken cars just laying around the yard, sofas and recliners out on the curb, btw we live on a major high way, many people drive by and see the trash. When the family before them owned it the house was nice and pretty and the pool was usable not green and you could mow the whole grass and now they have too much to move so they mow around all the crap. They have kids running everywhere and the more kids they have the more trash fills the yard.


I just don't understand how hard it is to keep your house looking nice. We own a house with another acre of yard attached. We have trees planted around and a garden. We keep the huge yard raked and mowed. I love mowing so I make sure that is done. When some dirt bag drives by and decides to use my lawn as a garbage can I am out there picking it up. It isn't hard to keep it looking nice. And to think my neighbors have twice the kids my dad has, it's just me and my bro, and we can keep our yard and house looking nice, imagine what you could have it look like with twice the hands. No they use their double the kids as an excuse of why their yard looks like that in the first place. My next door neighbor mows, if we are lucky, 4 times a year. I know it's hard work to push mow and I'm lucky I have a rider but he has two teenage boys that can take a turn. Moral to the story people judge, always have always will, so if you want them thinking nice things about you then keep your house looking nice. Lots of people judge you either based on your clothes, car, or house, so keep your whole package looking nice so people will look at you differently.

Are strangers danger?

Today I was at my dads sitting on the back deck when I noticed a car slowly driving by, I was a little concerned at first but I was more concerned when I saw him put his turn signal on toward my house. Knowing my brother was outside alone and the suspicious car was now entering my driveway where my brother was shooting hoops scared me a little more. Then he started approaching the front door so I went to greet him. I said hi how are you? because I'm friendly like that and he asked me if I would put some water in a tube for him for a sample and I said yeah. I went to get the water, I came back and he asked me to fill out some questions which I did willingly. He proceeded to tell me that it was going to be 81 out tomorrow (which I am holding to him) and drop down to 50 on Friday and continued to talk about how weird the weather has been lately and I agreed, I said thank you and he proceeded to the next house down the road. I watched him approach that house where the people didn't want to take part in his water test, which I thought was rude, it isn't that hard to fill a tube with water and answer a few questions. Anyway when he went back by he waved and I waved in return. I now officially feel like I made a new best friend today.


Now last year my grandma was home and this guy, a different one then up top, came to my grandmas house and asked her if she would like to buy some magazines for some trip he was going on for some group he was in. She said no thank you and handed him 5 dollars for his sale and said have a good day. Before he left he asked her if he could use the bathroom and she said sure. He had been walking up and down the street all day selling magazines so of course you have to go sometime. She showed him the way to the bathroom, he went and left. A few minutes later she heard that the police were down at her neighbors house and wondered what for so she drove down to see. The police told her that a guy had stopped by and asked to use the bathroom but instead looked all around the house and started up the stairs. Her neighbor said to the guy why are you going up stairs the bathroom is over there so instead he started asking her about all the medicine he saw laying out on the counter. She proceeded to tell the guy that was none of his concern and to leave. He left and later the police found the man sitting on the side of the road. Later that evening my uncle, who lives on the same road, said that his neighbor, who was only 18, was home alone when the guy came to her door. He asked her if she would like to buy some magazines and she said no and headed upstairs to her room. When she got in her room she turned around and the guy was there sitting on her bed. She asked him to leave and followed him out. When the guys took him away they took him to the hospital and he was just dehydrated and they let him go because he wasn't on drugs or alcohol and didn't steal anything.


So the question is should you or should you not be friendly to people who come to your door?

Cows...

Cows. Cows are my favorite animal and I love them. My uncle owns a farm in DeRuyter and I love going there. Although I never visit the barn, I see them from a far and love the smell of cow manure. My dad use to be a security guard at the barn over at Cornell. I would visit every weekend and hit up the stalls. I would go to the pens where the calves were and have them lick my hand, what a cool experience, feels like sand paper. Once when I went over there I got to feed a calf with a bottle and I was so excited. I grabbed the bottle and the cow came rushing forward and jumped up on me, I was thinking that was going to be my last day on earth, but what better way to go then by being attacked by a baby cow, come to find out I was just being over dramatic like always. Anyway my all out dream is to move to Alabama, meet a nice country boy, who is a farmer. Well he doesn't have to be a farmer because I don't really think I would like to do all the barn chores, which I would probably not have to do, but still. I would like to either live on a farm, have one of my husband’s family members own a farm, or maybe just live by one where when I wake up I can just look across the road and see them roaming the fields. I want to be able to wake up every morning and smell cow manure and see cows because that would start my day off and it would be great. 

Is this a crazy, wild dream of mine, maybe, but you might as well dream big and live your life to the fullest because you only live once so live how you have dreamed to live, work hard for what you want, and don't let anyone change your mind.  

Good bye New York hello...

Well to point out the obvious I am going to talk about how bipolar New York weather is for a second. This past Sunday it was so warm out I could wear a tank top and shorts and tan on my dad’s deck unlike last Sunday when it was snowing so hard we couldn’t see while driving back from Auburn. This warm weather is the weather I love. I am not a fan of shoveling but I love mowing the lawn. I love New York because we get to witness the four seasons unlike other states. Fall is one of my favorite seasons I love watching the leaves change from green to red, orange. My favorite season is summer though because I love the warmth and tanning my days away.  I love the warmth so much that I am moving to Alabama, a place where I can stay tan all year round. I want to venture out and keep New York in my rear view mirror. I want to live in a place where my parents can come visit and have a warm place to stay. Of course I am going to graduate here and go to college for my first four years here but after that adios New York hello Alabama. People may ask why Alabama? don’t ask because I don’t know why haha.

Are you ready for college?

Before you know it we will be walking across the stage to our future. Most of us are ready to go although the idea of college can be a little unsettling. College is a place to meet new people that could end up becoming our life long friends. We are all use to high school and already have the friends we love and are nervous about starting over. I know for me starting over means change and I hate change. College will be great for everyone though because you will go and begin learning on how to become what you have always dreamed of becoming. It will be a place that you will make your home away from home. Most of us are leaving the nest and are going to have to learn how to do a lot of things on our own. I am spoiled in the sense that my mom still does my laundry and cooks for me. I am sure I will be able to cook if I have to and I heard those shout color catchers really work so I might not have to worry about separating my laundry. College will be a great thing for everyone attending and a new beginning for great things to come.