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?

Hey everyone!
So I'm blogging now because in the coming days I won't be on too much. Tomorrow begins my volleyball camp at the local university and it will certainly keep me busy! This is the schedule for it:
Sunday, July 20: 5:30PM- 9:00 PM
Monday, July 21-23: 8:30 AM- 8:30 PM
Thursday July 24: 9:00 AM- 12:00 PM
Based on that I should be on sparingly so I apologize in advance for the lack of comments! I will try to catch up when I have a moment or am not too tired! This camp should be fun because I'm going with one of my best friends and she's staying with me for the week too. My sister is going on a cruise with my cousin to Bermuda tomorrow so my friend will stay in her bed.

Yesterday I job shadowed a neo-natal nurse at the neo-natal intensive care unit at the hospital that I volunteer at. It was okay, not incredibly interesting. Last year I got to hold a newborn but this year all I did was watch a nurse write stuff in charts and occasionally tend to a crying baby. There's no denying though the babies were so cute. Three total- one twin who's sister went home the day before and she had to be fed through a feeding tube in her nose, a baby boy who had some irregular breathing patterns, and a baby girl who had trouble regulating her blood sugar. The sad thing about that last baby was the mom was on a drug that people take if they've previously had drug abuse problems and in about 24 hours it would register with the baby that they were no longer getting that supply of drug from their mother so they will begin crying and get figity Very sad and just proves what drugs do to people. One baby was transfering from a hospital about an hour away but I only got to see him for like 10 minutes then my shift was over. Overall it was a nice experience, but I can't say for sure if I'm going to choose that career path. Next week on Friday I'm job shadowing and ER doctor which I hope is fun!

Here's a little quiz to leave you with:

Do you have any pets?No
What color shirt are you wearing? Light Blue
Name three things that are physically close to you:Remote, blanket, computer
What is the last book you read? Umm...this is sad I can't remember...does Romeo and Juliet count?
Are you or were you a good student? Yes, good student.
What's your favorite sport? Basketball
Do you enjoy sleeping late? Yesss
What's the weather like right now?Thunderstorm/Raining
Who tells the best jokes? Uncle John
What was the last thing you dreamed about? Haha oh this is weird...I had a baby, but never was I pregnant nor did I actually "have" it, but there was this 2 year old girl and I had to name her and everything and she called me Mommy. LOL For the record I named her Isabelle and I was getting pissed because people were calling her Isabella not Isabelle.
Do you drive? If so, have you ever crashed? No and No
Do you believe in karma? Yes
Do you believe in luck? Yes
Do you like your eggs scrambled or sunny side up? Don't like eggs
Do you collect anything? If so, what? Yeah, I collect pins.
Are you proud of yourself? Yeah I'd say so.
Are you reliable? Very.
Have you ever given money to a bum? I don't think so.
What's your favorite food? Pizza!
Have you ever had a secret admirer? I don't think so...isn't that the point of a secret?
Do you like the smell of gasoline? Eww no!
Do like to draw? Not particularly, except I can draw Elmo and Minnie Mouse
What's your favorite invention?The Internet
Is your room messy?Not at the moment, but at times yes
What do you like better: oranges or apples?Apples
Do you give in easily?No
Are you a good guesser?Sometimes
Can you read other people's expressions?Yeah usually
Are you a bully?Never!
Do you have a job?Volunteer at the local hospital
What time did you wake up this morning?10:56
What did you eat for breakfast this morning?Bagel & Cream Cheese
When was the last time you showered?Last night
What do you plan on doing tomorrow?Volleyball camp!
What's your favorite day of the week and why?Thursday- I get to volunteer all day and play basketball at night and when it's not the summer, there's new office episodes!
Do you have any nicknames?No, well my aunt calls me Magoo
Have you ever been scuba diving?Nope
What's your least favorite color? Black?
Is there someone you have been constantly thinking about? If yes, who? I don't think so
Would you ever go skydiving? Probably
What toothpaste do you use?Aquafresh
Do you enjoy challenges?For the most part.
What's the worst injury you have had?Um, well when I was 4 and at my uncle's wedding, my brother was chasing me and I fell and hit my face on the corner of the piano bench and it was blood everywhere- thankfully my nose was not broken!
What's the last movie you saw? Get Smart!
What do you want to know about the future?Who I will marry
What does your last text message say?"Out Front" (Where my mom was picking me up )
Who was the last person you spoke over the phone to? Trish
What's your favorite school subject?World Cultures
What's your least favorite school subject?Economics
Would you rather have money or love?Love
What is your dream vacation?Mediteranean Disney Cruise
What is your favorite animal? Monkey
Do you miss anyone right now?Not particularly
What's the last sporting event you watched?I'm watching the Red Sox right now.
Do you need to do laundry?No, my mom does it
Do you listen to the radio?Yep
Where were you when 9/11 happened?I think I was sleeping, because I vaguely remember my mom waking me up and trying to explain what happened but I didn't know what she was talking about.
What do you do when vending machines steal your money?Punch it/ Get Pissed haha
Have you ever caught a butterfly?I think so
What color are your bed sheets?Purple
What's your ringtone?American Boy by Estelle
Who was the last person to make you laugh?Trish
Do you have any obsessions right now?Extra Berry Pearadise Gum and The Secret Life of the American Teenager
Do you like things that glow in the dark?Who doesn't?
What's your favorite fruity scent?Strawberry
Do you watch cartoons?Family Guy
Have you ever sat on a roof?Of a car.
Have you ever been to a different country?Yes, Mexico, The Carribean, the Caymen Islands
Name three things in the world you dislike:Terrorists, Gas Prices, Snow
Name three people in the world you dislike:the Joanas Brothers (sorry!), Miley Cyrus (Don't shoot me!), & right now Eric something from the Angels who just hit a bases clearing double against the sox
Has a rumor ever been spread about you?Nothing serious
Do you like sushi?Ew gross no
Do you believe in magic?In a young girl's heart