London Fog Earl Grey Latte.

It was rainy this morning, so I thought it only fitting to do a post about tea. 
I made today a London Fog Earl Grey Latte. It. was. amazing. 

I shall give you the recipe now, so you can share in the amazingness.

LONDON FOG EARL GREY LATTE

INGREDIENTS: 

1 or 2 earl grey tea bags

Cane or granulated sugar

Vanilla extract 

steamed milk

lavender (optional)

a mug (preferably one with Snoopy on it)

PROCEDURE: 

Make your earl grey tea, brew with lavender for 3-5 mins. Remove tea bag(s) and strain out lavender. Add steamed milk. Add the desired amount of sugar. Add 1/4 tsp of vanilla. 

Enjoy! It's heaven in a Snoopy mug! 

So yeah. It's amazing, and I highly recommend it. 

I was so nervous about dropping my phone into
my tea, because I'm just that talented.

Yes. Leggings and knee socks. It's cold,
don't be judgmental, it's beneath you.

The nerd herself!

If you are unsatisfied with your results, either you did something wrong or... no, there is no or, you did something wrong. There is no not-liking this drink. Go be satisfied or I will send my flying monkeys after you. 

(Jaaaaykaaaay)(That would be so ridiculous. I don't have flying monkeys *scoffs* I have dragons.)

Bullying.

I've been bullied before. It's really one of the worst things ever because it makes you question everything about yourself. 
When I was little,  I guess I was an easy target for bullying. I was small and quiet and shy and pretty easily swayed into doing what other people wanted. I never had the guts to stand up for myself, which made me an easy target. 
Luckily, I had and still have amazing friends and amazing people around me, so even when I was younger, I wasn't bullied often. 

I can say from personal experience that when you get bullied, you want to crawl into a hole and never leave. I questioned everything I did and everything I said. The kind of pain that bullying inflicts upon you strikes so deeply. 

Nobody should be bullied, especially not for being different or weird. Everyone is fighting their own battles and who knows really what's going on in their lives? So what right do we have for pointing out the flaws of others for our own enjoyment? No one should have to have the constant feeling that who they are is wrong, because if you are who God made you to be, you will set the world on fire. 

My patron saint :)

Luckily, at my school, there's no bullying threat. My friends and classmates are all amazing and unique and can brighten my mood any day. They all crack me up. 

{For instance, today in Latin Lab, two of my classmates came up with a new name for the water fountain in the hallway... the mouth shower and the fountain of life. 

And I get to be with these people every day.} 

My only advice for bullied people is surround yourself with God and the wonderful people that God has put in your life. Don't focus on what they say about you because, in the words of Taylor Swift, (I know, don't judge me) 

Thank you for allowing me to rant. Again. I appreciate it. 

One Life LA 2016.

Being sick is a horrid thing. 

Yesterday my high school to LA for the Walk for Life event. It was very loud, very long, and the crowd was huge, but it was fun. There were only a few anti-protesters, which was surprising. When I went up to San Francisco for last year's walk, there were a ton of pro-choice people. 

I won't deny the fact that I did wish we had been able to go up to NorCal this year. Last year was so much fun. I am glad that I got to sleep in my own bed that night instead of on the floor in a sleeping bag in a crowded gym with like fifty people... 

We got to go to Mass afterwards with the archbishop in Our Lady of the Angel's Cathedral.(The Mass was live-streaming on the website. Did you watch it?? Wasn't it beautiful? I mean, I think I would have changed the music, but still...) It was two hours long, but it really felt shorter. That cathedral is so beautiful! Towards the end, they lit 200 candles had then turned off all the lights and observed 200 seconds of silence. 200-- because there were approximately 200 abortions throughout California since the sun rose that morning. 

During those 200 seconds of darkness and silence, I think a lot of us cried... 

It was beautiful. It really was. 

After Mass, we went and got a late dinner at Phillipe's, which was fun. It's a really cool restaurant, and if you're ever in LA, I recommend the pastrami. Then we piled into our carpools and drove home. 
The drive back was interesting. Shall I paint a picture? Picture a late night and a bunch of teenagers in a fifteen-seat van, everyone exhausted and stuffing their faces with cookies and donuts from Krispy Kreme, laughing their heads off because suddenly everything seemed hilarious. 
But we're good people. We did pray from some of he ride too. 
But I won't deny the sugar highs and and the laughing. 
At one point, we were stopped and there was a truck next to us that was also stopped, and on top of the truck was a water bottle. We all made bets on whether or not it would stay there when the truck moved. 
It shockingly did, at least until the truck turned the corner and we couldn't see it anymore. 

So I guess I shouldn't be surprised by the fact that I woke up sick this morning. I ate a ton of junk yesterday and... well, I was in LA all day. 
I'm off to drink more tea. 

Rainy Day Photo Shoot

Photography is its own form of art. And I am nothing if not an aspiring artist. 

Today was gray and drizzly and there was really cool light coming in through the window in my room, so I decided to test out the camera on my phone, as I haven't had many opportunities to do so. 
And I was bored, so it all worked out. 

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I have interesting views from my window. If it's not cloudy, and if you squint, you can usually see the ocean. 

I like black and white pictures... 

Because I watched God's Not Dead for the first time last night and OHMIGOODNESS SUCH A GREAT MOVIE!! I think I'm going to force my brother to watch it with me tonight. 

Okay, so there was that really cool lighting coming in through my window but I wasn't sure what to make the focal point of the photo... so I decided to sit on my bed dramatically and see how it turned out. 

I kinda like it. 

My sister left some river rocks on my desk. Not really sure I like this one... 

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In other quick news, if my character Anna's story had a theme song, it would probably be "Renegades" by X Ambassadors. I decided that yesterday. Still looking for a theme song for Miette's story, but her's is so complicated and deep, I'm not sure it's essence can be condensed into a song... 

Happy MLK Jr. Day! 

Californian Stereotypes and Back to the Future.

My biology teacher was talking about how everyone thinks that Californians wear shorts and flip-flops year-round and we're all blond surfers. 

Okay, maybe the shorts and flip-flops thing, but I'm very brunette. And I don't surf. It's a very sad thing actually, I've always wanted to. 

Seriously, there are nineteen people in my grade and only two are blond and surf. 

I think the only stereotype of Californians that's completely true is that we consider In-n-Out a way of life. 
And the flip-flops thing, but we pretend to have seasons so we don't talk about that. 



Also. 
I met Biff today. 
Biff. From Back to the Future. 

Yeah. 

Another stereotype of Californians is that we all live next door to famous people, and while that is so not true..... it's kind of true. 
Okay it's not.
How cool would that be though?? 

Anyways, Tom Wilson, who played Biff in Back to the Future, came to my acting class today at school. (Yes, I'm doing the play this year. No I'm not planning on dropping out...) He and the director of the play are friends because the director has worked with a lot of actors and stuff. 
I feel like it's not that fair. I mean, I got to meet Biff, but I haven't even seen the movies. And yet, Harrison Ford was in this cafe I go to a lot just a year or so ago and I wasn't there. 


I should probably go watch Back to the Future just to make it fair and so I can actually appreciate meeting him and all. 

He gave us a talk about acting and getting into character and memorizing lines and stuff and it was actually super cool. His advice was really good. It was seriously really great to meet him. 

So, I'm exhausted. I just ate a brownie and now I feel sick. It was so hard to get out of bed so early every morning this week, so I'm looking forward to sleeping in.
Good night, oh ye who read this, which is probably only like four people. 

You four peoples are very much appreciated and I hope your weekend is filled with happiness and pineapples. 

Trusting God with Your Life.

We all run into a point in our lives when we just kind of collapse and cry and feel like we can't go on anymore. Personally, when I hit this point, I usually just wish I could crawl into one of those solitary confinement cells with a notebook, a pencil, some music, and enough tea and Dove chocolates to get me through my life. And books. And maybe Netflix... 
But that's beside the point. 

We all have those moments. And I think usually it's in those moments that we most wish to be alone, and I think that's healthy. We all need to have a time-out from the world sometimes. 

Sometimes, we feel helpless. For me, I'm surrounded by amazing people with an amazing family and an amazing community, but I still get those moments when I end up in my room asking God why He's allowed certain things to happen because it baffles me and I don't understand.  
But I don't think we're supposed to understand. Yet. Maybe I'll look back in thirty years and understand it better. 
It's just hard sometimes. It's like those games you play in acting class where you're blindfolded and your partner has to lead you around the room and you have no idea what's going on, you just have to trust your partner. And then you take your blindfold off and realize that your partner led you through the obstacle course safely and it makes sense. 

That's what it's like. Really, truly. 

Life honestly is nothing short of an obstacle course. Every day, we make our own choices and we think our lives are our own. But they're not. 
And then we trip. Then we mess up. Then we end up in our solitary confinement cell, asking God why. 

"Be stronger than what life brings at you. You can rise from this." 
--Mott 
from
The Shadow Throne 

^^All-time favorite quote from this book. (The Shadow Throne is the third book in the Ascendance Trilogy. Remember The False Prince?) 


Maybe this topic is too general, but I think it's an important one to discuss. Trusting God in life can sometimes be hard because we're the ones with the blindfold on and with no idea what the heck is going on. And then things go wrong and life takes a turn and you may not understand it, but God does, and that's all that matters. 

Don't ever give up on God because God never gives up on you. No matter what life throws at you, remember that God gave you you're obstacles because He knows you're strong enough to face them, even if you don't think so. 


"These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world." 
--John 16:33

Rainy School Days.

So, yesterday was the first day back at school, and as far as first days back, it was pretty amazing. 

I got to wake up to rain!! It was beautiful! And it rained all day at school, which was fabulous. Right before English, my whole English class was stuffed into our little classroom staring at the rain. It was pouring, like I don't think I've ever seen it rain so hard in California. The windows in my classroom where I have English is right next to the soccer field, and it was raining so hard that the field was completely flooded. My friend and I were watching out the window and he made a joke about how California finally gets rain and it kills all the grass xD. 
Geometry for the first day back was actually pretty tolerable! Mostly because it was pouring rain with lightning and thunder outside and I had tea (I bring tea to school. It's my way of coping with the world in the early morning) and we had no teacher. I think he's sick or something, so our headmaster gave us our assignment and let us be. It was so nice. 
During lunch was so chaotic, as it usually is. When it rains, we're supposed to eat lunch in our homerooms, but nobody actually knows which room is their homeroom, and there's only one hallway and it's super narrow, so there's sixty kids cramming through the hall with food, trying to find their grade. My class ended up in the lab, although I'm not sure if that's our homeroom, and it ended up with a bunch of people playing on the keyboard and another bunch of people playing cards (myself included), and people shooting rubber bands at each other and yelling at each other to not break anything because there are chemicals in that lab that could literally blow up the entire school, which is kind of terrifying. 

That's what a rainy day at school is like for me. Rather chaotic, but so wonderful. 

In other news, I have an iPhone now. I've never had anything like that so I'm still kinda like whoa what is this why is it doing that why is it making that noise UM UM UM what 
Technology is beyond me. Sometimes I think I was born in the wrong time period. 

I have discovered an amazing combination: leggings and giant sweatshirts. I mean, yes, that's nothing new, but I personally have discovered it. And now that's all I wear. It's an amazing thing. 
Bye. 

I am never going to get used to writing 2016 on my papers. I just got used to writing 2015. 

Happy New Year! Last night my brothers and I were up until midnight, though we didn't do much to celebrate. We ate chocolate and then I watched my phone at 11:59 until it changed to 12:00 and shouted HAPPY NEW YEAR and then I went to bed because I was thoroughly exhausted. I've been staying up until one or two AM for over a week now, so I need sleep. 

This year was... interesting. I say that because 2014 was just a super great year for me and so now in comparison, 2015 wasn't my best year. It was okay, just not my best. 

Some things of note: 

I finished freshman year and started my sophomore year. I turned sixteen. I got my drivers permit. I started driving. I finished my first novel and completed 98% of my second one. I did NaNo and won! I did my PSATs. I went to the San Francisco Walk For Life back in January. I finished ninth grade on the honor roll. I expanded my horizons both music-wise and show-wise. I went back east in June. I learned how to make lattes (its really not hard, I don't know what I've been doing for the past sixteen years of my life...). 

Throughout the year, I made some conclusions. I kept a list, actually. Here's a few of them: 

• a cold shower during a heat wave is the best feeling in the world
• Oreos are America's best product
• pickle-haters are not to be trusted
• acne and spiders should not exist within a 5K radius of any human
• "tickling the ivory" is the strangest phrase created by mankind
• stubbing your toe and stepping on Legos should've been used to torture people in the middle ages
• there is nothing happy about a room without a roof. It would probably be a very cold room
• nobody on earth knows how to shut doors properly
• even the people you think you know well will surprise you

That last one I added just the other day when Maddie told me (to my enormous surprise) that she had never eaten a pickle before. 
I was in shock. 
I was also extremely emotional because she told me this right when we were watching the last episode of Psych, but I ranted about that earlier... 

In case you were wondering, my new year started off with me having a horrible nightmare about coyotes and force fields that didn't work........ It was super weird. I hope your new year had a better beginning than mine. 

Happy New Year! Welcome, 2016!