Summer is Fading Fast...

This last month has been insanely busy, what with hanging out with friends & family,  going to youth group, and trying to keep my room relatively clean in the meantime.  Even this week was fairly busy.  But today is not, and I thought I could write a bit on here, which I haven't done nearly enough this summer.

But alas, I will be a sophomore in just two weeks.   And that in itself is both terrifying and really exciting.  Summer is great, and sleeping in is even better, but it's getting to that point where it's too hot to do anything (except swim, but we don't have a pool or belong to one).  So I'm almost ready for school to start.

Almost.  As I told my friend the other day,  all I want to do is have choir and lunch, because this year classes are harder and we take the PSAT…not to mention that I'll be trying out for tennis, and getting my driver's permit--then license, hopefully!  Yikes, isn't that a strange thought?  Being able to drive…guess I can't escape the reality that I really am growing up.  Where's Neverland when you need it?

I don't really want to grow up, but it's also exciting, and I trust that God has a plan for me :)

Until next time!
-Blue

Blog? What's a blog?

Do I even remember how to do this?  I'm not quite sure.

Hello, friends and family.  If anyone still reads this...

Anyway, my intentions were good.  I really did want to post weekly and I stuck with my blogging routine for a full semester.  But second semester picked up a lot and before I knew it, I hadn't updated my blog in months.  So here is the valuable lesson I have learned: blogging regularly and school are not compatible in my life right now.  However, finals are next week and after that I am on summer break, so I will have more time to blog--but I can't promise that I'll post regularly.  It's past the point where I can promise that, haha!

I think I'm getting back into the flow though.  I'll try to post some writing at some point this summer as well as other things.  Thanks for bearing with me,

Blue

We're All Mad Here.

I thought there would be a whole post involved, but really we just had dinner and I hung out with friends.  It was fun, but my posts have been slacking big-time and this wouldn't make it much better.

When I went to Wonderland on Saturday it reminded me of that time I tried to write Alice's daughter falling into wonderland...

“Oh, bloody...I’m late!  They were expecting me to be there 20 minutes ago!” the rabbit said.  Then, he saw me, took out a pocket watch, and tapped it.
“My dream.  Is this a dream?” I asked under my breath, but I knew better.
He scampered off, and I tried to follow him.  He quickly vanished, however, and I had only the rustling in the bushes to follow.  I saw him dash around a tree, then I heard no more.  Tiptoeing over to the tree, I found a large hole.  Leaning down on my hands and knees, I called down, “Hello?  Mr. Rabbit?”  
Suddenly, a large chunk of ground crumbled from beneath my hand, and I tumbled down into the gap.

***

“Ahh!” I screamed as I fell, my dress flapping around (though luckily not flying up) and my shoes falling away into the darkness.  I saw all sorts of strange things, from a bookshelf to a piano that nearly took my head off to a floating tea set.  Down, down, down I flew, gravity playing with me while I shrieked and plummeted literally head over heels towards an unseen floor.

I'm pretty impressed with my use of "gravity playing with me" at age 11, but other parts of that story shall never see the light of day (fewer things are more embarrassing than the majority of my elementary school writing).

Hope you enjoyed this post, even though it was short.  Thought you might enjoy some dusty old Blue stuff, pre-Misadventures :)

-Blue

Busy Bee

My homecoming is today, and hopefully it will be super fun!  Sorry for not posting lately, we were in Los Angeles and I had lots of homework to make up for the days I was gone. I'll post about homecoming tomorrow--you'll get a full report :)

Thanks for being patient with me, everyone!

-Blue

Math Blogging

I tend to do most of my blogging after math tests, because we have extra time to do whatever (quiet) activity we want.  Also, blogger isn't blocked on the school's internet. 

I suppose that a life post is in order, because all of my posts have been school, school, and school.  Here is an update for you all!

Choir is fun, and I suppose it counts as school. But it doesn't feel like it. We had two concerts last weekend, thanks to everyone who came and to those who didn't, there's always the Christmas concert!

Hello, new followers!  I've never actually had followers on my personal blogs who are not my family.  What would you guys like to see?  Comment ideas. 

Halloween is coming up (how did it sneak up on us so fast?) and my current idea is to be a fox. And not because of "What Does the Fox Say"...I haven't even seen that video.  It's mostly because foxes are cool and it's a good idea that has been suggested by my friends.  Another suggestion was a pumpkin cat, but that might be a little hard to pull off.  My third option as of right now is to be genderswap Calvin from Calvin and Hobbes.  What are you gonna be for Halloween?

It doesn't feel like fall and it's mildly upsetting. Fall is supposed to mean sweaters and tea and rainy days but all we've gotten is 70-80 degree weather.  It's October, we shouldn't have to wear tank tops!

We had to write a short story for English class and if you want me to post it, I will.  It got 100% so maybe it's good enough for people to want to read.  Let me know :)

Finally, we have a four-day weekend which is awesome in so many ways.  Although I will most likely spend it babysitting my siblings and catching up on TV shows, maybe somehow human interaction will happen. 

Oh!  We're going on vacation next week, so I don't know if I'll be able to post.  If not, then I apologize in advance.  If so, then I'll just talk to y'all then!  And I apologize for the lack of pictures, it's a combination of me blogging from the iPad and my iPhoto refusing to open.  Dad is working on fixing it. 

Thanks for reading, everyone!  Have a great rest of the week :)

-Blue

Off to Hogwarts

I will steal a flying car if I have to, so help me

So, it's off to Hogwarts today, for all the people who actually got their letters when they turned eleven.

I'm still waiting for mine.

Actually, instead of going to Hogwarts, I've spent the day doing homework and trying to pick out a biography for my book report.  Give me spells and potions any day!

This week has been a busy one.  Not only have I been assigned two essays and a book report, we also had two tests and two quizzes, homework upon homework upon homework, and struggling through PE even though I'm pretty sure I pulled a muscle in both of my legs.

Then we had our  first school social on Friday, which was at a trampoline place, where I had lots of fun and lost my voice and messed up my legs even more (but it was worth it), and afterward there was a party, and then a birthday party yesterday, and how do popular and social people do this?  It's tiring!!

Alright, time to keep researching biographies.  'Till next time!

-Blue

The Friday Post

Today was orientation!  I learned several things today:

1. Pep rallies are really loud.

2. My school looks much smaller from the outside.  Wait, where are my classes again?

3. The seniors are really nice!  Or at least the ones I've talked to.

4. When faced with the question, "What's your favorite food?" I will not be able to give you an answer right away.  And when I do, it will be brownies even though I like apples more.

5. I'm pretty sure we have an algebra pretest on Tuesday.

6. Getting up at 6:30 in the morning is going to take some getting used to.  Being ready by 7:30 is going to take even more getting used to!

7. Almost everyone plays sports.

8. Spanish looks fun--as long as you do your homework you won't get behind, and the teacher throws fiestas at least once every quarter :)

9. I know a lot of people who are in the class of '17.  I also don't know a lot of people.

10. High school is going to be an adventure!

The comments section is working again!  To my adult readers, what life lessons did you learn in high school?  And to the other teens out there, what are you excited for this year?

Thanks for reading!

-Blue

Adventures

As summer is almost over (for me, at least), I've been thinking about all the things I've done and haven't done this summer.

The list may not be long or impressive but everything we did was a memory that will definitely stay with me for a long time :)

•Florida
Okay, this was technically in April.  But I count it as part of our summer vacation.  We had a lot of fun in Florida!  We went to Disney World and camped in different places all over the state.  We wanted to visit the Florida Keys but couldn't make it, but I swam in the Gulf of Mexico, got dozens of bug bites, learned about pirates and Spanish soldiers, saw--and smelled--a natural sulfur spring, and had a really great time with my family.

•Meg
I wrote a whole post on Meg, if you want to read that.  But meeting her was definitely one of the best parts of my entire summer, if not The Best!  We talked and laughed and had a fabulous time, and even though we only got to hang out for a few hours it felt as though I'd known her my whole life.  It was awesome and I love her to death!  Hopefully we can see each other again sometime <3

•Santa Cruz
I go to Santa Cruz every year with my amazing best friend!  We wake up at 5:30, leave at 6:30 and get there just before 8.  And then we spend the whole day on the beach!  It's so fun and even though I got super burnt--my face and legs didn't heal for almost a week--we had an awesome time.

(She's a cheerleader)

•Santa Cruz 2.0

This time with my family!  We went on Saturday and even though we sat in three hours of traffic when it should have taken only an hour and a half, we got to visit the Seymour Marine Reserve, make a quick stop to see the Natural Bridges beach, ate delicious burgers, and walked along the Boardwalk beach.  Overall we spent more time in the car than out of it, because we hit traffic on the way home too, we laughed and talked and sang and had a really good time :)

•And, of course, all the sleepovers and everyday adventures too.

This summer I've had lots of friends over, either for the day or for sleepovers, been to the county fair, WaterWorld, gone out for lunch, and more.  Someone told me recently to have little adventures every day, so that you're ready for the big ones when they come along.  I try to appreciate the small things, because they matter just as much as the large ones.  So find an adventure!

(Yeah, that was really cheesy...)

But with that, I'll leave you 'till next week.  And speaking of weeks, school starts in just two!  So you bet there will be some school posts in the near future.

Have amazing adventures!

-Blue

Twentysomething

So yes, this post is late.  Tuesday was busy though!!  We're busy people!  But at least I didn't skip the whole week.  I'm still here :)

By the way, school starts in twentysomething days.  I think, specifically, 24.  Where did summer go??  I wasn't doing anything and then the past month has pretty much been visit after visit after visit.  In just the past two weeks I've had a friend over, two sleepovers, and a day at the beach.

And on top of that, school starts in just about four weeks and we haven't even gotten a school supplies list.

We'll see how that turns out.

Anyways, I really don't have a big story today because I'm tired and there's nothing too exciting happening.

Next week I'll try to have a post on time!  Thanks for reading and being patient :)

-Blue

Let's Go to the Beach

We went to the beach on Saturday!  It was a really nice day, cool but clear and sunny.

The ocean was pretty calm, and we got our toes wet :)

Daisy, however, was not a big fan of the water.

It was low tide, and some of the tide pools had fish, crabs, and anemones!

We also saw our cousins, who happened to be on the beach as well...cool coincidence :D  And on Sunday, I got to go to Alameda County Fair, which was crazy and fun.  Not to mention how entertaining it was to see the Loverboy concert, what with the band members (you aren't nineteen any more, fellas) and the adults in the audience who were attempting to dance.  Good times :D

All in all, this weekend was super fun!  Hopefully the rest of the summer will be as exciting, I've finally begun to plan things with friends and such.

Thanks for reading, see you next week!  

Love,

Late Again

I had a blog post all planned out yesterday, but then plans got canceled and it kinda collapsed.  So again, the promised post of the week comes a little late.  Sorry, I'm just not used to a schedule for this thing yet.

It's summer!  Though it's been cooler here this week, and doesn't feel like summer so much as spring.  Guess the seasons have been off, since winter came in March.  Get back on track, mother nature!

Personally, I don't like to do a ton of stuff in the summer.  The school year packs in enough work for anyone, and summer is for relaxing.  Though I have a friend who is packing her bags for Europe, we're staying at home.  And that's great.  But honestly, that's also what I've been doing for the past two years during school.  So it's easy for one to get bored when cooped up in one's house all year, not old enough to go out alone, not young enough to see the house as a huge playground.

So I get creative.

Collages, drawing--endless drawing--listening to music, and reading are my go-to things to do.  But I also like hanging out with friends, bike riding, swimming, and watching Netflix (I'm a sucker for BBC).  And I'm working on getting out more.  This week a lot of my friends are at camp, but hopefully there will be some sleepovers in the near future.  

And can you believe it's almost the end of June?  All I have left of summer is July and the first week and a half of August!  Gotta cram in as much fun as possible before school starts. And there's back-to-school shopping, not only for supplies but for clothes, since my new school doesn't have uniforms, too!  It's gonna be a crazy rest of the summer.

Next week, I'll have a post on time!  Pinkie promise!

-Blue

Graduation

Sorry that this post is a little late, but I wanted to talk about graduation.  And since graduation was last night, there wasn't a chance to blog about it before I headed off to bed.

Anyway, my friends graduated 8th grade last night!  Now we're all freshmen :)  It was nice to hear the teachers talk about everyone, and I could tell that even though the members of the class of 2013 were described as "monkeys", they'll also be missed.  I know I'll miss my friends who are going to different schools!

I saw a few people who used to go to my old school as well.  It was really nice to see some old friends.  One girl, turns out, was homeschooled too!  Too bad we didn't know about that before, because we could have hung out and worked together.

It was a really fun night, and I wish everyone the best of luck next year. :)

Until next week!

-Blue

Meg

Testing out the Tuesday blogging schedule.  If this ends up being too difficult to keep up I'll try Thursday instead.

So, today.  Yeah, I'd say today was pretty awesome :)

Today we got to go the Academy of Sciences!  Which is always fun anyway, of course.  But this time was extra-special.  This time I got to meet Meg!

Meg posted this picture of herself on her blog.  She calls it, "The Blogger in Her Natural Habitat".

Meg is a friend that I met over the internet.  One day a while back, she wrote a blog post about how she was feeling like nobody really cared about her or listened to her opinions.  I wrote her a message telling her that I hoped everything would get better and that if she needed someone who would listen,  she could always come talk to me.  So she did.  And we got to talking.

Last month she mentioned that she was visiting Northern California with her family, and thought that it might be cool if we got together.  So we set a date and a time and suddenly today was here and we finally got to meet!  She's super nice and funny, and we had a great time talking and wandering around the museum.

Honestly, I was a little nervous that we wouldn't have much in common and wouldn't be able to find anything to talk about, but we got three steps away from our parents and started chatting and laughing like old friends!  It was kind of crazy.  Books, movies, and blogging bring people together like that :)

So we had an amazing time, and hopefully we can hang out next time she comes to California too!  I'm super happy that we got to meet.  It was awesome.

Guess that'll wrap up this post.  Look forward to another one next Tuesday!

-Blue

Hello!

Hey there!  As it says in my description, you probably know me as Miss Education, from my old blog.  You can read my posts from my two years of homeschooling by clicking the "Homeschool Misadventures" tab above.  But this is a new blog, and a fresh start.

Welcome to Ink Stains.

This wasn't in the original poll that I ran on Misadventures.  It actually just kind of...came to me, I guess.  You may know that I love to write.  And even though most of my work is done on the computer, I write things by hand as well, and afterward my hands are usually smeared with ink.  Thus, Ink Stains.

I may or may not change it, but the URL will likely stay the same.

Also, let me introduce you to my new screen name, Blue.  There are a few reasons why I chose this name.  One reason is because I wrote a poem in second grade (I think it was second grade) about my cat, whose name was Baby Blue Eyes.  That poem was published somewhere, in a magazine or something, and I was really proud of it.  So Blue ties me to my writing.  Blue is also my favorite color.  And it's simple, no fuss.  Just Blue.

Presently, I'm trying to work on a blogging schedule, which will probably change once I start school, but the plan is once a week, probably on a Tuesday or Thursday.

And finally, this blog is not only about school and life and that kind of thing, it will also include beauty stuff.  Not as much as the others, but it will still come up (probably when I don't have much to post about).  If you'd like to skip over that, just look under any tabs not labeled "Girly Girl".  You'll find blog posts according to the headings there.

Thanks for stopping by, whether you've been reading since the very first Misadventures of a Homeschooler post or just found this blog recently!

-Blue