For all those interested, I just wanted to let you know I've revived my previous edition of Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? and posted a brand new game over on the Fun & Games Forum. Even if you've played in the other edition or have no clue what it's even about, EVERYONE is eligable! Check it out!

I hope everyones having a great summer, and here's a quiz I stole from Ivy! (Thanks! )

1. Grab the book nearest to you, turn to page 18 and find line 4:
"brother from across the courtyard. Old French songs like "Sur le pont".... from my mom's book called Sarah's Key

2. Stretch your left arm out as far as you can. What do you reach?
A tootsie roll wrapper

3. What is the last thing you watched on TV?
Eunice Kennedy Shriver memorial coverage

4.Without looking, guess what time it is:
5:56 pm

5. What time is it really?
5:53 pm...I'm always thinking ahead! Like a carpenter...that builds stairs.

6. With the exception of the computer, what can you hear?
Air conditioner

7. When did you last step outside? What were you doing?
A few hours ago..I went to the local pool and laid out in the beautiful sunshine!

8. Before you started this survey, what did you look at?
My Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader game!

9. What are you wearing?
Black running shorts and a nike running tank

10. Did you dream last night?
I dream every night But did I remember is the real question!

11. When did you last laugh?
Today

12. What are on the walls of the room you are in?
Me and my siblings school pictures, a star thingy, a clock, a mirror

13. Seen anything weird lately?
My brother

14. What do you think of this quiz?
Random!

15. What is the last film you saw?
Unfortunately I was babysitting this morning so it was Barbie's 12 Dancing Princesses or something like that

16. If you became a multi-millionaire overnight, what would you buy?
A hot tub, new house, and new clothes!

17. Tell me something about you that I don't know about.
I can make a clover with my tounge?

18. If you could change one thing about the world, regardless of guilt or politics, what would you do?
Equal opportunities for children in all aspects of their lives.

19. Do you like to dance?
Not Really

20. George Bush:
Sucks?

21. Imagine your first child is a girl, what do you call her?
Either Lily, Isabelle, Rose, Abby

22. Imagine your first child is a boy, what do you call him?
Probably Zachary

23. Would you ever consider living abroad?
Yes!

24. what do you want God to say to you when you reach the Pearly Gates of heaven?
Your grandma's waiting for you right over there in the bingo hall..

Hey everyone! Again, I know I haven't blogged in a while but in a nutshell I went to Florida in April on vacation, and did all the Disney things like last April. I played varsity tennis this spring and for those of you unfamiliar with how the sport works, everyone on the team is ranked on a ladder by skill level from #1-however many are on your team. Only #1-6 get to play a singles match and most likely those 6 will play in the doubles matches. I played #6 throughout the season and won about half my singles matches and about 3/4 of my doubles matches. This is only my second year playing tennis so I think it's pretty good! Overall, however, my team finished 3-11, but we lost a lot of seniors last year so this year was kind of a rebuilding year anyway. Right now I have 21 days of school left and counting! I cannot wait for the summer! This summer I will be going on a leadership workshop for girls in June and I won an all-expenses paid trip to Indianapolis through an application process which will take place in July.

For those of you who are Amazing Race fans, you should signup for the new Amazing Race ORG over on the Fun and Games Forum. We need about 5 more people before we can start and would love to do so soon! Even if you've never seen the show you can still play! It will be fun and Amanda, who is running the game, is very committed so we will have a dedicated host.

Have a great memorial day weekend everyone! To the country's fallen heroes along with those currently serving our country (and their families) I salute you and sincerely thank you for allowing me to live freely and safely.

So it's been 4 months since I've blogged. Since the redesign I've really cut down on my time on the site, so I apologize for my prolonged absence from commenting on your blogs! I think a wrote a blog a while ago, but it never posted so I didn't feel like re-typing the entire thing! In order to catch you up, here are 5 things that have happened to me since August....

1. Made Varsity Volleyball Team- So as many of you know I went to a volleyball camp this summer, and I assume it paid off because I made my school's first ever Varsity VBall Team! And as a bonus, I was elected captain! Unfortunately we finished a whoping 0-18, but to be honest I didn't expect much as our school is in the highest conference in the state. Hopefully next year we can improve to at least .500.
2. Made JV Basketball Team- Basketball season is well under way and I must admit it is kicking my butt! There's a new coaching staff in place and we condition A LOT. So far we are 2-0 and it's looking promising again (my team is the reigning state champs) though. We practice 6 days a week, 2 hours each day so I've been busy with that and schoolwork.
3. Moved up to #2 in my Class Rank- It has not been easy but I've worked really hard with my studies. I understand that I need to work really hard to maintain this!
4. Got Re-Hooked on The Sims 2- This one takes a little longer to explain, haha. So back in the second week of December, you may have heard about the massive power outages in the Northeast. Luckily I never lost power, but I did lose my INTERNET and CABLE! Therefore I was extremely bored by day 3 so I installed my old game of the Sims 2. Have any of you ever played it? It's horribly addicting!
5. Started the Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? Chapions Edition- Finally! I've created the Million Dollar Challenge from my long-running game over on the TV Fun & Games Forum. It involves all contestants who won at least $25,000. If that's you please respond to my PM!

That's about it for now. My holiday was pretty low-key by the way. We played our annual Laser Tag, but it was a little different because another family was in there with us. But we got to hang out with my aunts which is always a blast. How were all of your holidays? Plus, what have you been up to since we last talked? Happy New Year everyone!

Picture of the Day:

Song of the Day: I'm Yours by Jason Mraz

Hey everyone!
Ok, well I realize I've been home for almost a week now, but quite frankly its taken me that long to adjust and just chill after the crazy two weeks! So a few points to cover...

• Unfortunately with all the Olympic coverage, my family was not too motivated to play the games I talked about . But on the last night I just took out Cranium and basically made everyone play. At first it was you know, grumble grumble, but once the game got going I think they had a good time. It was very fun, and I turned out to be the "charades master" on my team! I got a card where I had to move my aunt like she was a puppet to get my team to guess "Meter Maid". So instead of having her act that out, I had her tug her ear ("Sounds Like" symbol in charades) and then had her point to my dad, Peter. My mom guess "Meter" shortly followed by "Meter Maid" within 20 seconds!
• We had EXCELLENT weather! Where I live it literally rained for the two weeks, but in New Jersey it was sunny and beautiful. Plus I got a nice tan, which is normally a rarity for my Irish skin! At the beach my brother and I got to play some beach volleyball which was a first for me. It is definately a lot harder than it looks! Especially when the sand is very hot!
• At the boardwalk down the street from my aunt's house, one weekend there was this little festival that had tents set up with carnival type foods, including one of my new favorite desserts- ZEPPOLES! For those of you who don't know, it's a ball of dough put in grease and then covered in powdered sugar. They are soo delicious; in fact, one day I decided to have them for lunch! When in Rome, right Michael? Here is a picture of them, without the powdered sugar though:
  
• We got to go to SIX FLAGS New Jersey one day which was a blast! It was me, my sister, my brother, and my cousin/godfather. I got to ride their main attraction, Kingda Ka, which is the tallest and fastest roller coaster on earth! It shoots you from 0 to 128 mph in 3.5 seconds and then shoots you up 456 feet, then straight back down! The only way I could describe the feeling of going up was like I was in a spaceship being launched because you are so perpindicular to the ground and all you see is sky! Here's two pictures of it: Please note the size of the car in relation to the track in the second picture!
  
  
  
• Other than that we just kind of hung out, but spending time with the family was fun enough! My little cousins are so adorable. They are 4 and 2 and their dad is my godfather. Of course the vacation went by wayy to fast but I enjoyed myself. Now I'm just trying to cram in all that Latin work and finishing my summer reading. I finished the Kite Runner which was a very good book that I reccomend for those of you who haven't read it. Now I'm onto "Into the Wild" which isn't nearly as good.
• LEAVE SOME GREAT COMMENTS!

Hello all! I feel like it's been so long since I've talked with you guys on the site! I'm done with volleyball camp, basketball camp, and I'm finally on my vacation! Here's the rundown of how it went...

Volleyball camp was amazing! I had so much fun! My coach was one of the players at the university in which it was held at and it was so cool just to get to know her. The school is Division I NCAA sports so these players are very skilled. My team was okay. At first we were very bad but by the end we were competative and able to win games. I definately think the lessons helped develop my skills, and plus I used the camp as an opportunity to learn another position which I'm hoping will help me out with tryouts in late August. My best friend that came with me did pretty well to for her first time playing! It should be interesting to see how the week helped us when we try out. I'm hoping to practice what I learned...especially now that I'm on vacation and there's a beach volleyball net just down the road! :8

Basketball camp was fun too. I was pretty exausted by then because it was this past weekend and I didn't even have a day break from that and the vball camp. Overall we went 1-4, but looking at the bright side...we were in the varsity bracket and had no players with any varsity experience on the team. If we had our normal varsity squad I think we would have done a lot better. The games we lost were only by 4, 4, 5 and then Sunday morning at 845 we lost by a much larger margin, but come on, who's wide awake and ready to play basketball at 845 AM?!

Once those camps finished, I got to depart for my vacation! We arrived to my aunt's house last night around 7 and had the best New Jersey pizza! I'll be here for two weeks and I can't wait for Saturday because my cousin is flying in from Las Vegas with his wife, parents, and his two young daughters who are adorable! Should be a blast. We love to play games as a group- does anyone have any good ones? Among our favorites are Cranium, Mad Gab, and imaginiff... Imaginiff... is probably not a very well known game, but if you haven't played it before I highly recommend it! It's great when playing with a large group of people you know well.

All in all I'll be on when I can. I have my laptop but I also have to start cracking down on my Latin I studies as well as summer reading. I just began The Kite Runner which is one of the required books, and I know I've heard it's good...but I'm just not that big on reading. Also I have to read Into the Wild. Have any of you read these before? Any opinions?