Nora

Everyone dreams about having the ideal family. Everyone is always happy, everyone is kind, and there are no problems. There definitely are some advantages to this “ideal” family, in that because everyone is always happy and kind, there is no arguing or fighting, and everything is good. In the “ideal” family, your parents will let you do what you want, and there are no consequences for your actions. Your parents will help you with your homework, and drive you wherever you want to go. Everyone gets along, and everyone helps each other.

Who doesn’t want that? Who doesn’t want to be loved and cared for? The “ideal” family sounds amazing, but even being “ideal” may not be all what you expect it to be.

Being in a disfunctional family is not fun and never easy, and you may long to live in “the family next door” or the “ideal” family. But, in the real world, no one lives the “ideal” family, There are flaws in every family; some we can deal with and others that can tear us apart. In my opinion, however, some good can come from that. We learn from our mistakes, and we can bond and grow closer to our family and friends through bad experiences. it makes us stronger and we can help others going through the same kind of thing, so it won’t be so difficult for them.

There are many different kinds of family, and each one is unique and important, so even though it may be hard, they are definitely worth the effort.

Someone I believe to be a true hero is a man named Ray Schellinger. He, along with his wife, Adaila, and two daughters Michelle and Melissa, live in Tijuana Mexico, and have created a safe place for abused women and children to live. They live in an enclosed compound, where the women live, called “Deborah’s House”. There is a playground for the children to play, and the women are taught skills that they will need to make a living. (etc. sewing, jewelry making) In this place, they are protected and hidden from anyone trying to hurt them.

I was able to visit and work at this wonderful place last spring break in March. I helped build a second story to “Deborah’s House”, and I created some relationships that I will never forget. Everything that happened down there was incredible, and I am highly grateful that I could be apart of it.

Ray is a hero because he had an idea to do this wonderful thing, and put it to action. A hero doesn’t have save someone from dying, or serve in the military in a different country, it can be anyone. With this idea, “Deborah’s House” has become huge, having lots of help from volunteers and mission teams. I believe that each person that has helped or volunteered there, is a hero, in a way, because they are apart of something so big and so powerful. It can take one hero to make something happen, creating others along the way.

One of my favorite colors is red. Its vibrant, loud, and screams “Look at me!” The prettiest flowers, the shiniest apples and the largest fires are all red. Red is the color of love, but is also the color of hate. The color red can express many different emotions, including passion, and it expresses extreme boldness, including the color of blood or a heart. I love the color red because it can express good or evil; love or hate.

An animal I would like to see in the wild, rather than the zoo, is a lion. Or another wild cat. In the zoo, all you can see is the actual animal, not how they would normally act, in attacking prey and caring for their young. It would be very interesting seeing them in their natural habitat, using their natural instincts. I’ve never seen a lion, in the zoo, or in the wild, and I think it would be interesting to see one.

Below is a link that gives more information on lions.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lion

I have never thought much about Earth Day, or what it means, or in fact, what day it was on. But I realize now, that it’s a very important day and should be noticed.

Our planet has gone from bad to worse, and we need to do something about it. I really like the idea of the three R’s-Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle, and I think if we follow them, we can have a greener planet. I try my best to follow them- by reducing the amount of electricity I use, reusing plasic bags and bottles, and recycling as much as I can.

I think Earth Day should be recognized, but we should not only care for the environment on Earth Day, but on every other day as well.

Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli

This post has been written on “A podcast, Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli” as part of The Edublogger’s Student Competition!

I was lying in bed, trying to fall asleep when the door creaked opened.

“Yes?” I asked. “Is anyone there?” But I recieved no reply. I rolled over, thinking maybe the wind blew the door open. As soon as I did, however, I heard a rustling on the ground next to my bed. I looked down and I could see something moving, but I couldn’t tell exactly what it was. The next thing I knew, the moving figure jumped up onto my bed and started rubbing against me; it was my cat. It had pushed open my slightly ajar door and jumped up onto my bed.

I enjoyed the podcast of “Speak” by Laurie Halse Anderson. It really grabbed my attention and I wanted to find out more about the book. The different music used created a nice setting for the podcast. Different voices presented different characters and thoughts Melinda had. I’ve already read the book, but if I hadn’t I would want to find out more about it and read it. The music has a rythm, which makes the words flow through the readers mouths. The podcast portrays “Speak” as a sad, yet inspiring story of a girl and something she is struggling with. She longs for her friends to accept her, but she doesn’t know how without telling them. The language used was strong and reflects what Melinda went through, and I think the quotes picked for this podcast were good. Overall, I throughly enjoyed the podcast, and explained the book well, pulling in readers.

http://odeo.com/episodes/3900223-Speak-by-Laurie-Halse-Anderson